1 Samuel 3:10 And the Lord came and called as before, “Samuel! Samuel!”
And Samuel replied, “Speak, your servant is listening.”

The first few times the Lord spoke, Samuel thought it was Eli talking to him. What I'm thinking here is that we need to be able to discern God when He is speaking to us. And the big thing would be the response, "Speak, your servant is listening"!

Psalm 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me.

This is more important than the daily shower. I love that David has poured his heart out and laid it all right there at God's feet. True repentance is knowing how your sin interferes with your relationship with God and turning from it so that He knows that you are serious about a wanting Him to use you!

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
16 Always be joyful. 17 Never stop praying. 18 Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

Keeping your eyes on Jesus, our Lord and Savior, you will be able to see the hope that lies ahead, no matter your present circumstance. What joy and peace knowing our future is in His hands! #NationalDayofPrayer

Matthew 7:15-16
15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?

So easy to get caught up in what this world is doing to scripture. If churches have softened the Gospel to be accepted and grow, imagine what others will do. Everything must be backed by Word of God!

Psalm 19:12-13
12 How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart?
Cleanse me from these hidden faults.
13 Keep your servant from deliberate sins!
Don’t let them control me.
Then I will be free of guilt
and innocent of great sin.

My prayer is that each morning I start out with examining my heart by comparing it to your Word that I may see my sins and strengthen my walk for the day by using your Word as my armor! We need to be sensitive to hear our Lord's voice.

2 Timothy 3:1-2
1 You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. 2 For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred.

Sound familiar? #itisfinished

1 Corinthians 9:25 All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize.

To be really good at something requires time, effort and sacrifice to try and achieve your goal. So, what is your goal in your life? How much do you sacrifice for these temporary things of this life? #itisfinished

1 Peter 1:6-7
6 So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. 7 These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.

Keeping our eyes on the prize, eternity with our Savior, Jesus!

Hebrews 5:8 Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered.

The thing is, do we learn from our past mistakes, or what we may be going through right now? Are we looking at ourselves to see if we just may be the problem? I pray that God's Word reveals the Truth to me so that I may see clearly who I am following, myself or Jesus?

2 Corinthians 3:18 So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.

Can you look back and see any changes in your life? Do you feel others can see that change? My prayer is that I draw closer, and more like Jesus every day! God knows our heart so you can't fool Him, but we can fool ourselves. Check His Word on everything!

Psalm 61:1-2
1 O God, listen to my cry!
Hear my prayer!
2 From the ends of the earth,
I cry to you for help
when my heart is overwhelmed.

"Oh God I’m desperate
Down on my knees
Send help from heaven
Cuz that’s what I need
Redeem this wreckage
Restore my peace
I’m not asking I’m begging
Lord come through for me" Desperate - Jamie MacDonald

I firmly believe that times in our life will bring us to a point where we need something only God can bring, His peace! We can try to find other solutions that this world may offer, but Jesus is the ONLY answer!

Romans 6:16 Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living.

I love the way we express growing with Jesus as a relationship with Him, but the truth is it is much more than that. You are in relationships with so many others, but they are not your masters, are they? Seriously, think about it. It makes me a very uncomfortable how much I allow the world to get in the way! It is the way of Jesus, or you are not going to make it!

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

This is probably the most well-known verse of the Bible, but do we really consider the depth of this verse, or just read through it? The humiliation, pain and suffering that Jesus went through for my failures is incomprehensible to me (read about the description of crucifixion). God loves me (us) so much, He has given us a way for an eternal life in Glory! #itisfinished

1 Corinthians 1:30 God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin.

We have done nothing to deserve the grace and mercy we have received! God gave His Son for us! Are you willing to give your life for Him? #itisfinished

John 1:29-31
29 The next day John the Baptist saw Jesus coming to him. He said, “See! The Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world! 30 I have been talking about Him. I said, ‘One is coming after me Who is more important than I, because He lived before I was born.’ 31 I did not know who He was, but I have come to baptize with water so the Jews might know about Him.”

John had a job, reveal Jesus Christ to others. Well, that is our job too. My only question is "am I doing it"? #itisfinished

1 Corinthians 10:31 So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

I think that pretty much anything we are doing, or saying, needs to be focused on glorify our Father!

Genesis 3:9 Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

You know God knew where he was, so why did He ask? When you do something, you know is wrong, you want to hide or at least hide what you did. God came to Adam with grace, mercy and His desire to reconcile. We can't hide what we have done, but we can turn to our Lord and seek His forgiveness and wisdom to move forward! #itisfinished

Proverbs 12:15 Fools think their own way is right,
but the wise listen to others.

It's a really good idea to surround yourself with other believers. The advice you get should come from a source that is very trustworthy. I would suggest a follower of Jesus whose advice comes from the Word of God!