It is a beautiful Saturday morning, great time for a run, walk, swim or other workout. Most of us have considered diet plans, workout plans, and vitamins at some point in our lives, Why do we do these things? To look better, to feel better, to live longer? All of which are good reasons.

One other reason we should include is written by Paul in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, where he writes, “Haven’t you yet learned that your body is the home of the Holy Spirit God gave you, and that he lives within you? Your own body does not belong to you. For God has bought you with a great price. So use every part of your body to give glory back to God because he owns it.” TLB

So when we are thinking about what we do with our bodies, we should remember that our body is God’s body, and we should treat it with that in mind.

Dear Lord, thank you that we live in a time where we have so much opportunity to keep our bodies fit and healthy. Help use to use our bodies in ways that bring honor and glory to you. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

The disciples and early Christians in the bible often greeted each other with the words “peace be with you.” What is the significance of them wishing each other “peace?”

Peace is contentment, tranquility; The absence of fear, worry, want, anger, and frustration. Jesus is described as the Prince of Peace, and He tells his disciples in John 14:27, “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart!”

We can have the peace he offers if we keep our focus on him and not our problems and the things that take away our peace.

Isaiah writes in Isaiah 26:3, “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!”

Dear Lord, help us keep our thoughts and trust on you so that we may have your perfect peace. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

I have a friend who, when things seemed to unexpectedly work out in his favor, would jokingly say it was due to his “clean living and high moral fiber.” This would always get a chuckle from those around.

Psalm 27:11 actually says something similar. “Light shines on the righteous and joy on the upright in heart.”

In Romans 1:17 Paul reminds us that we are “made righteous by faith.”

So when things go well for us, we can say, “God’s light and joy are on us due to our faith in him.”

Dear Lord, how wonderful it is when your light shines on us and we can know the joy of being right with you. Thank you for this blessing. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen

I drove by my old house a few days ago, and in the yard was a tree I planted 20 years ago.  When I planted it, it was about four feet high and a couple feet across.  Now it is 20 feet high and spreads about 10 feet in each direction.

Psalm 92 uses the growth of a tree as a metaphor for the life of a believer, it says in verses 12-15, “But the godly shall flourish like palm trees and grow tall as the cedars of Lebanon. For they are transplanted into the Lord’s own garden and are under his personal care. Even in old age they will still produce fruit and be vital and green. This honors the Lord and exhibits his faithful care. He is my shelter. There is nothing but goodness in him!”

When we submit ourselves to God and honor him, he transplants us into his garden, and promises to care for and shelter us. 

Dear Lord, help us be the godly people that honor and submit to you, so that we may grow and flourish. In Jesus’ name we pray.  Amen. 

When you are having problems in your life and you are tempted to do wrong, do you ever think, “Why is God doing this to me?” Implying that somehow, God is tempting you to do wrong, or putting problems in your way leaving you no choice but to do wrong. God does not tempt us. It is typically our own wrong thoughts and desires that put us in these difficult situations.

For example do we give into the temptation to: cheat when we are not prepared rather than being honest and accepting the result, lie rather than be truthful and accept the consequences, come up with our own theories about life rather than reading and accepting what the bible tells us, ignore God’s morality because it doesn’t fit our viewpoint.

God does let us experience the consequences of our actions and He lets us experience temptation in order for us to learn to make the correct response. We may go for a long time experiencing the same temptation over and over while God waits for us to change our response to the right one.

James writes in 1:14, “Temptation is the pull of man’s own evil thoughts and wishes. These evil thoughts lead to evil actions and afterwards to the death penalty from God. So don’t be misled, dear brothers.” He says in verse 12, however, “Happy is the man who doesn’t give in and do wrong when he is tempted.” TLB

Dear Lord, help us look at ourselves, find, confess and turn away from those behaviors and thoughts that we know are wrong and become the happy men and women James speaks of who do not give in when tempted. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.