What Is Acceptable to God?

A Bowl of Encouragement by Herb Cotton

God Speaks:

Psalm 19:14 King James Version (KJV)

14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.

King James Version (KJV)

Public Domain

Listen to God Speak & Obey:

The Psalmist reveals in our focal verse for today two things that God requires in the lives of His people. 

I invite you to focus on these passages and to make God's desires for you the desires of your heart. Notice what the Psalmist says about the desires of God's heart and our heart. What God expects of His people He gives them the means to meet His expectations.

Psalm 37:4-5 King James Version (KJV)

4 Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

5 Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.

The Psalmist says that God has desires about what comes out of our mouth. Are the words of your mouth consistently acceptable to God? Test your words using the standard of the Word of God.

Psalm 141:3 King James Version (KJV)

3 Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.

Ephesians 4:29 King James Version (KJV)

29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

The second thing the Psalmist says is that God has desires about the attitude of our heart. Test your heart using the standard of the Word of God.

Proverbs 4:23 King James Version (KJV)

23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 King James Version (KJV)

18 In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

Prayer:

Our Father in heaven, we come before You with praise on our lips and thanksgiving in our hearts because of the love that You have poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit that You have given us.

Father, give us a burning desire to be obedient and dedicated to You every day of our life on earth as it is in heaven. In the mighty name of Jesus, we pray, Amen.

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God's Invitation to You - Come to My Home in Heaven

My answer to the Facebook question, "What's on your mind, Herb?

I am on my way to The Promised Land. My mission is to take as many with me who are willing to go to my Father's House. It is the place where my Savior, Jesus the Christ of God, is preparing a place for me to live with Him forever.

My story is real, and I'm sticking with it as I happily and joyfully walk with Jesus up the Kings Highway.

Isaiah 40:31 Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

31 but those who trust in the Lord

will renew their strength;

they will soar on wings like eagles;

they will run and not become weary,

they will walk and not faint.

Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.

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Link to my new devotional book Amazon Author's Page. Everything about the book is found there with pictures, and more to come.

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How Do You Determine the Truth?

A Bowl of Encouragement by Herb Cotton

God Speaks:

John 14:6 King James Version (KJV)

6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

King James Version (KJV)

Public Domain

Listen to God Speak & Obey:

What is your go-to source for the truth? What do you believe? Who do you believe? These are three questions we need to examine if we want to know the truth or subscribe to the lies, and to know the difference.

John 17:17 King James Version (KJV)

17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

The God of the Bible has something more to say to us about the source of truth. However, it begins and ends with our focal verse for today; John 14:6. Jesus is the truth.

Numbers 23:19 King James Version (KJV)

19 God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?

John 8:32 King James Version (KJV)

32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Romans 3:4 King James Version (KJV)

4 God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.

As for me, here is what I believe: "God said it, and that settles it; whether anybody else believes it or not."

Prayer:

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Father, I exalt Your name above every name on earth and in heaven.

Father, speak to hearts that are open to knowing and doing the will of God and walking in the footprints of Jesus. We offer up to You our prayers in the name of Jesus, Amen.

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Link to my new devotional book Amazon Author's Page. Everything about the book is found there with pictures, and more to come.

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Are You Living the Best Life?

Today's Bowl of Encouragement by Herb Cotton 

Title: Are You Experiencing Daily the Power and the Peace That Comes From Living In the Presence of God?

God Speaks:

Psalm 25:5-9 King James Version (KJV)

5 Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.

6 Remember, O Lord, thy tender mercies and thy loving-kindnesses; for they have been ever of old.

7 Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness' sake, O Lord.

8 Good and upright is the Lord: therefore will he teach sinners in the way.

9 The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way.

King James Version (KJV)

Public Domain

Reflect and Respond:

How amazing is it that our creator and the maker of every humankind desires to live in us, and have a personal relationship with us.

O, the peace, provisions, and power we forfeit when we do not live in the presence of our God. Our Lord and Savior Jesus invites us to come and live near to Him every day of our life in the world.

Matthew 11:28 King James Version (KJV)

28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

What is your response to the invitation to come to Jesus and live in His presence every day of your life here on earth?

Romans 8:31-32 King James Version (KJV)

31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

Prayer:

Father, we delight to live in Your presence now and forever. Father, we ask you to align us with enteral life by directing our steps to live near to You today as we aspire to do forever in heaven. Father, give us faith to believe Your Word that we can do this for Your glory right now by the hope we have in You.


Romans 5:5 New Living Translation (NLT)

5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.


Father, we are so grateful that we are just pilgrims down here, and that heaven is our home. In the mighty name of Jesus, we accept your invitation to live daily in Your presence, Amen.

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Link to my new devotional book Amazon Author's Page. Everything about the book is found there with pictures, and more to come.

https://www.amazon.com/author/herbcotton

 

Sharing the Word: Do You Know Him?

Sharing the Word: Do You Know Him?: Today's Bowl of Encouragement by Herb Cotton   Bible Text for Today's Meditation and Application: John 1:11-13 ...

Do You Know Him?

Today's Bowl of Encouragement by Herb Cotton 

Bible Text for Today's Meditation and Application:

John 1:11-13 King James Version (KJV)

11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

King James Version (KJV)

Public Domain

My Reflections on the Word of God Today:

The following verse was spoken in my hearing last week, and the idea for today's topic was born. The setting is a blind man that was given his sight by Jesus; the Son of God and self-identified as the Son of Man.

John 9:30 King James Version (KJV)

30 The man answered and said unto them, Why herein is a marvellous thing, that ye know not from whence he is, and yet he hath opened mine eyes.

King James Version (KJV)

Public Domain 

I did a Google Search asking the question, "Where does it say, "I am the Son of Man?" The answer I got said in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke 69 times. 

On the other hand, another major search app told me, "I just don't get this gender thing." Of vital importance is what Jesus said about Himself, and how essential it is that we know Him.

John 14:6 King James Version (KJV)

6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Do you know Jesus? Do you have a personal relationship with Him?

John 1:12 King James Version (KJV)

12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

Philippians 3:10-11 New English Translation (NET Bible)

10 My aim is to know him, to experience the power of his resurrection, to share in his sufferings, and to be like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

New English Translation (NET)

NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.

Prayer Offered to Our Father in Heaven:

Father, hallowed be Your name. Lord God Almighty, the words of the Apostle Paul represents the aim of my heart, and with our whole heart, I pray that everyone who reads or hears this message will with one voice unite in saying, Amen.

James 1:22 King James Version (KJV)

22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

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Link to my new devotional book Amazon Author's Page. Everything about the book is found there with pictures, and more to come.

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What Shall We Render to the Lord for His Lovingkindness and Tender Mercies?

God Speaks:

Romans 11:33 King James Version (KJV)

33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!

King James Version (KJV)

Public Domain

Listen to God Speak & Obey:

O how God loves all of His people; Jews and Gentiles. Notice the conclusion of the matter in the last verse of the following quotation of the Old Testament.

Romans 9:25-29 New King James Version (NKJV)

25 As He says also in Hosea:

"I will call them My people, who were not My people,
And her beloved, who was not beloved."

26 

"And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them,
'You are not My people,'
There they shall be called sons of the living God."

27 Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel:

"Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea,
The remnant will be saved.

28 

For [a]He will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness,
Because the Lord will make a short work upon the earth."

29 And as Isaiah said before:

"Unless the Lord of [b]Sabaoth had left us a seed,
We would have become like Sodom,
And we would have been made like Gomorrah."

How will you respond to the encouragement of the Apostle Paul?

Romans 12:1 New King James Version (NKJV)

Living Sacrifices to God

12 I beseech[a] you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your [b]reasonable service.

Prayer:

Father, hallowed be Your name. Father, we are so grateful for Your unfailing love for Your people.

Father, in humble submission and obedience to Your will and Your way, we offer up to You the sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving. In the mighty name of Jesus, we pray, Amen.

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Link to my new devotional book Amazon Author's Page. Everything about the book is found there with pictures, and more to come.

https://www.amazon.com/author/herbcotton

Can You Live Without Knowing Everything?

God Speaks:

Ecclesiastes 11:5 King James Version (KJV)

5 As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all.

King James Version (KJV)

Public Domain

Listen to God Speak & Obey:

Ecclesiastes 11:1-6 King James Version (KJV)

11 Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.

2 Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth.

3 If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth: and if the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be.

4 He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap.

5 As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all.

6 In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.

Prayer:

Father, hallowed be Your name. Father, help us to live our lives in complete dependence upon You.

Father, speak to our hearts and instill within us the discipline to live in Your presence and to walk in the footsteps of Jesus each day of our life on earth.

Father, hasten the day when we show the character traits of those who claim, by faith, Jesus as Savior and Lord of their life. In His precious and royal name, we pray, Amen.

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Link to my new devotional book Amazon Author's Page. Everything about the book is found there with pictures, and more to come.

https://www.amazon.com/author/herbcotton 

How to Prosper When the Heart is Weary?

God Speaks:

Psalm 68:3-6 King James Version (KJV)

3 But let the righteous be glad; let them rejoice before God: yea, let them exceedingly rejoice.

4 Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name JAH, and rejoice before him.

5 A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation.

6 God setteth the solitary in families: he bringeth out those which are bound with chains: but the rebellious dwell in a dry land.

King James Version (KJV)

Public Domain

God's People Pray:

Father, I ask that You heal all who have broken hearts, sickness in their body; the tent that is the House of the Holy Spirit, the finances of your children, and any other trouble each person is facing today, and some for many days.

Father, we bring all of our cares and needs to You in prayer. In the name of Jesus, we pray, Amen.

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Link to my new devotional book Amazon Author's Page. Everything about the book is found there with pictures, and more to come.

https://www.amazon.com/author/herbcotton