OUR DAILY BREAD/GOD SEES HER/IN TOUCH/ PASTOR C. STANLEY

CONT: In Touch w/Pastor Charles Stanley;
 "OBEDIENCE CHANGES EVERYTHING and HOW YOU KNOW YOU'RE GROWING".  READ ( Luke 5:8-11, John 20:30-31, Psalm 16: 5-11, Ephesians 4:11-16). *Plus few more I'll add .
   Obedience to God Never Disappoints.
   Obeying God Makes His Power Evident in Our Life.
   Obedience Helps Us Understand God and Ourselves.
   Some People DON'T BELIEVE JESUS IS GOD, so they claim HE was simply a good person. Others may intellectually acknowledge Jesus as God's Son but have no personal relationship with HIM. His true followers, however, believe in their heart that Christ is Savior (Roman 10:9) and they've been adopted into HIS family. Ephesians 2:1-2 says that those who don't have a personal relationship with Jesus are spiritually dead and living according to the sin nature. But when a person places faith in HIM, spiritual birth takes place-  he or she is made alive in Christ and becomes a new creation no longer enslaved to the "flesh" (John 3:3; Eph.2:5; Cor.5:17).  
   OUR position in the LORD affects everything about us-attitudes, emotions, conversation, and conduct. The status quo of society no longer fits us. Instead, believers grow in Christlikeness, embracing thoughts and deeds that are pleasing to God.
   Jesus willingly took OUR SINS upon HIMSELF and experienced divine wrath in OUR PLACE. God Jehovah accepted HIS death as full payment for OUR SINS and then raised Jesus from the dead to a position of divine glory (Eph.1:20). Let the truth of who Jesus Christ is sink in and strengthen your commitment to follow HIS WAYS.
   When "David in the Bible" looked at his self, he saw God's fingerprints all over it. We, too, should learn and train our eyes to notice indications of our heavenly Father's presence in our own life.(But this isn't a now-and-then kind of thing-it's a lifestyle commitment.
   I developed a habit years ago that has helped me do this:
   Before I go to sleep, I try to recall the events of my day. What I'm really doing is looking for evidence of God at work.
   How did He guide this decision?
   Answer this question?
   Protect me in this situation?
   Help me in this relationship?
   Appreciation the Lord's handiwork etches the reality of HIS care more deeply in my heart.
   In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God" (Matthew 5:8). In other words, those with a clear conscience will cast out unholy thoughts and words, taking them captive to the obedience of Christ(2 Cor. 10:5). As a result, believers have a spiritual clarity that makes them more aware of God's involvement in their circumstances.
1) We all want to grow in our faith.
2) We become increasingly aware of our sinfulness and weakness.
3) We recognize the potential benefit of struggles.
   Faith is often developed through hardship. But remember, no-matter where we are at in our "FAITH", it's just a starting point . Spending time in the WORD and in prayer is the best way to get closer to Jesus and learn who HE really is. Be assured that no-matter what, for those who, "WILL" wait on Jehovah God and trust in HIM completely, He will act in their behalf (Isa. 64:4).
   DO READ THROUGH PROVERBS, and you're likely to notice God has some harsh words for those who are arrogant. But that doesn't mean we're to embrace self-loathing or low self-esteem. In fact, both are a form of pride, as they involve determining our value for ourselves rather than leaving that to GOD. 
   Jesus told HIS disciples, " I am the vine, you are the branches; the one who remains in ME, and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from ME you can do nothing" (John 15:5).
   To rightly esteem ourselves, we must first rightly esteem the LORD. Resting in the HOLY SPIRIT, we become vessels of HIS power, wisdom, mercy, peace, and love-fruit we can count on bearing in the world regardless of our strengths or weaknesses. Relying on HIM is the path to true confidence.