Rebirth and Renewal

Titus 3:4-6 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior,

I spent lots of quiet time with God today. Not talking or anything, just being. I read several scripture passages before I finally settled on this one from Titus. This is a passage that has so much in it and I had to keep going with the verses, hence the 3 verses today. I love all of the words of this passage. There is so much here, but I will focus on "the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit". Both of these must go hand in hand for us to truly get the fullness of who Jesus is in our lives. We must be washed by the blood of the lamb on the cross to gain a rebirth into a sinless life. Our sin separated us from God and Jesus is the only way to bridge that gap forever. Once we have the washing of rebirth, we must be filled to the fullest by the Holy Spirit. This must be so in order that we not fall back into our old pattern of sin, but that we can experience renewal through Him and become a new creation. Glory to God for His mercy and grace!

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His Strength

Psalm 100:5 For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. I was prompted to read this verse and it was perfect for today, of course. All of Psalm 100 is praise to God. For me today, I am praising God because He was faithful in something He had revealed to me a while ago. Let me explain. Have you ever asked God for His strength? Not just strength, but His strength. This is something that I was prompted to do about a year ago, not to just ask for strength in general, but to specifically request His strength to be given to me. I know it sounds a little like a bit of rhetoric, but keep reading. In requesting God's own strength, I have noticed something tremendous has happened each time. When God bestows His strength within me, it is so much more than just endurance. His strength comes with clarity of mind, lightening of the spirit, and a depth of inner joy that cannot help but make me smile. I feel energized in a way

For Mom

1 Corinthians 13:4-5 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. This is a post for Mom. She is the embodiment of these words written by Paul. When I think of Mom and who God created her to be, this is it. Each of these phrases describes her perfectly. Mom learned very early on in her walk with Jesus to let Him have His way in her life. Who she is and has been to people is the testament to that. Her patience with a super naughty 2-year old, namely me, rivaled that of Job. I don't ever remember her getting angry. Quite frankly, Mom and the word angry in the same sentence is laughable. She never bragged or boasted about us (even though we know she's proud of us) because that wouldn't be showing love to her listener. Mom was never rude, she was always serving others, and she was never judgmental of anyone, no matter their past or

The Heart of Jesus

John 8:32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. I have had a difficult time finding a single verse today. I have been all over my Bible, reading and thinking. I'm settling on this verse, mostly because it is closely related to one of my favorite verses. I sometimes get caught up in thinking I need to do certain things to grow in my faith. These things are not inherently bad, nor are they necessarily good. Two big stumbling blocks for me are fasting and tithing. I find myself getting hooked into the religious value of them rather than the relational value. I find that spending time with God gives me a clearer picture of my own motives for wanting to do these things. I find that I usually feel the need to fast when I'm feeling poorly about my body image. I find that wanting to tithe usually comes after reading verses in the Old Testament about God blessing Israel for its offerings. Both of these are motivated by my selfishness. I am always am

Abbie Coffey

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