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What can we do...

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Colossians 3 (English Standard Version)

Put On the New Self

3  If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2  Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your[a] life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

5  Put to death therefore what is earthly in you:[b] sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness,which is idolatry. 6  On account of these the wrath of God is coming.[c] 7  In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self[d] with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.11  Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave,[e] free; but Christ isall, and in all.

12  Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved,compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13  bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Rules for Christian Households

18  Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.19 Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them.20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. 21 Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged. 22 Bondservants,[f] obey in everything those who are your earthly masters,[g] not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. 23  Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.25 For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality.

Here for you...

ACTS Adoration -  Spend some time praising God for who He is and what He has done

Confession - admit to God where you have blown it or fallen short

Thanksgiving - Thank God for your forgiveness and the other great things He is doing in your life.

Supplication - This is the part where you bring your prayer requests to God

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What are some Bible verses on prayer?

"This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of him" (1 John 5:14-15).

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6-7).

"…The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective" (James 5:16).

"And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints" (Ephesians 6:18).

"In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express" (Romans 8:26).

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

"When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures" (James 4:3)---

Sometimes I need to be reminded (quite often) about how important prayer, worship and training in spiritual matters are.  Quite often, I can catch myself doing acts of service, family things and letting all the daily jaunts of life get in the way of what really should matter (Who really does matter)!

If you have time, take a few minutes and listen to Matt Redman's song, Here for you, to put things in perspective.  It is songs like these that make me realize how awesome and mighty our God is.

When is the last time we took time to pray like ACTS?

Finding my way to my knees tonight!

What about you?

Dante

Trials & Tribulations

Trials & Tribulations

 Testing of Your Faith  JAMES 1:2  “Count it all joy, my brothers,[b] when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 5  If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8  he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. 9 Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, 10 and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass[c] he will pass away. 11 For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits. 12  Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.[d] 18  Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

Hearing and Doing the Word  JAMES 1:19  Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. 22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. 26 If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless. 27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”

Sometimes life catches us in places where we can be rocked to our core.  Sometimes life throws us a curve ball makes us question ourselves and makes us wonder what we really are trying to do.  And sometimes life places us into valleys that we are not sure we can ever climb out of.  Gary, Lance and I, are all in one of these phases of life right now as we speak.  Gary dealing with very serious health issues, Lance struggling with his two children on a move away from their friends and the consequences that are resulting from that (along with teenage years) and myself with my own tribulations in my life.

In the Book of James, I am not sure about the rest of you, but for a very long time I struggled with the statement from James (The brother of Jesus) when he wrote, “Consider it pure joy…” through trials and tribulations?  Seriously?  How can someone truly say that without having a very wry smile on their face?  How do any of us tell Gary not to worry about life threatening health and to trust God through it all?  How can any of us tell Lance that he should keep praying and trusting God through this and to be an example for others (and his children to follow)?  How can someone tell me that I cannot remove some circumstances in my life, that there has been put a thorn in my side that God has intended?  To keep me humble for His grace is enough…?

Only through Scripture and prayer can our lives find a rhythm.  In Romans 8, we read how God is sovereign.  His plan is and should be our plan.  Not our will be done, but His will be done. Our lives are but a mist, how we serve God and finish this life is what really matters.  What attracted me to this website was the idea of leaving a legacy for my kids and future generations to follow.  When my life fades and I meet my Savior, I would like my kids to say more than, “He was a nice dad.”  I want them to own my faith even more than I do.  I want them to know the comfort that I knew when my mom died a year ago this past March.  I want them to have security that can only be given to us by a God who gave his son’s life for you and me.

Tomorrow is Father’s Day.  It is one day out of the year that we celebrate fathers all around this country.  For most, it is a great day to spend with the family and be loved by so many.  For others it could be a painful day for either a bad relationship or a life gone by the wayside.  Whatever the case, we (at Legacy Dad) want you to know that there is a Father in Heaven who knows what love is.  A father who knows how to comfort, urge and encourage us to live a life worthy of Him.  When we profess our belief in His Son and confess his name – we are a living temple to the living God.  Our bodies are given the Holy Spirit.

This Father’s Day, think on these things and ponder God’s grace and mercy and provision for our lives.  Rekindle your love, adoration and gratitude for a God who sent his only begotten Son for our sins.  We are redeemed and loved.  When we trust and our in obedience to His word and we walk by Faith, then we can know the things that God wants to know.  We can feel the comfort that he and only he has for us.

To all our legacy dads out there, we want to wish you all a very Happy Fathers Day.

Serve and finish well!!!

Best wishes,

Dante

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Supplemental vitamins for your spiritual walk

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Healthy living is paramount in the 3 realms of our life:  Physically, Mentally and Spiritually.  Exercise, healthy eating and making the right choices are beneficial to this lifestyle and will likely play an integral part in our longevity.  Some people take vitamins and protein along with actively hydrating to help supplement their physical needs.  (I find it amazing how many people are chronically dehydrated). The key to all of this is balance.  The pressures of life and busyness pull us in every direction in sometimes ways that are not honoring God and family.My kids are 8, 6 (soon to be 7) and 5.  I can see just how society (through hobbies, sports and the like) are already pulling us in every direction instead of building the family up, we could be potentially tearing it down.  I don’t want the sport enthusiasts or activity gurus to come down hard on me.  I believe that all of these have fruitful abilities in raising a child (teamwork, discipline, obedience to rules and building confidence).

Mental awareness and health are also critical and keeping the mind sharp and active are irreplaceable.  There are so many studies out there that I don’t even want to get into the particulars on this.  I will, however, give you one thing that my father always told me and that is, “Dante, you will never be old enough to keep learning.”  Those words are very true, and for the most part (minus the days of running around for my wife and kids), keeps me sharp and active.

I was reading some scripture the other day and I came across these verses from 2 Peter 1: 5 “For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue,[a] and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities[b] are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brothers,[c] be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. 11 For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

As of today, I will refer to this Scripture as the supplemental vitamins for a healthy spiritual walk.  If we can train our spiritual walk in these supplements then we are given certainty of our entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior.

Virtue          moral excellence; goodness; righteousness.

Knowledge   acquaintance with facts, truths, or principles, as from study or investigation; general erudition

Self-Control control or restraint of oneself or one's actions, feelings, etc

Steadfastness  unwavering, as resolution, faith, adherence, etc.

Brotherly-Affection  “brotherly affection” (philadelphia), is just what it says. It’s the        affection of a family that comes with long familiarity and deep bonds.”

Whether we turn to the right or to the left; when we find ourselves in God’s will for our lives, then we can count on the abundant life that God has in store for each of us.  Plans not to harm us, but to prosper us.  Prosperity that comes form godliness, not from ways of this world.

Have you taken your vitamins today?

 

Remember two things:  Finish Well & Serve Well.

God Bless you,

Dante

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