{"id":25499,"date":"2019-04-14T03:30:12","date_gmt":"2019-04-14T10:30:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/?p=25499"},"modified":"2019-04-11T13:27:15","modified_gmt":"2019-04-11T20:27:15","slug":"april-14-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/2019\/04\/14\/april-14-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"April 14, 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"fusion-fullwidth fullwidth-box fusion-builder-row-1 fusion-parallax-none nonhundred-percent-fullwidth non-hundred-percent-height-scrolling\" style=\"--awb-background-position:center top;--awb-background-repeat:repeat-y;--awb-border-radius-top-left:0px;--awb-border-radius-top-right:0px;--awb-border-radius-bottom-right:0px;--awb-border-radius-bottom-left:0px;--awb-background-image:url(&quot;http:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/April-2019-Devo-Template.jpg&quot;);--awb-flex-wrap:wrap;\" ><div class=\"fusion-builder-row fusion-row\"><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-0 fusion_builder_column_1_6 1_6 fusion-one-sixth fusion-column-first\" style=\"--awb-bg-size:cover;width:16.666666666667%;width:calc(16.666666666667% - ( ( 4% ) * 0.16666666666667 ) );margin-right: 4%;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-flex-column-wrapper-legacy\"><div class=\"fusion-clearfix\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-1 fusion_builder_column_3_4 3_4 fusion-three-fourth fusion-column-last\" style=\"--awb-padding-top:40px;--awb-padding-right:10px;--awb-padding-bottom:40px;--awb-padding-left:10px;--awb-bg-size:cover;width:75%;width:calc(75% - ( ( 4% ) * 0.75 ) );\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-flex-column-wrapper-legacy\"><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-1\"><p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>\u201cWatch, standfast in the faith and be brave, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.\u201d\u00a0<\/em>1 Corinthians 16:13-14<\/p>\n<h2><em>\u00a0<\/em><strong>Continuing On<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Sometimes I get tired, overwhelmed, or just plain done. I know this is a bad attitude and I have no excuse. The Lord has blessed me so much, how can I even entertain this place or have this state of mind?<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m so glad Jesus never quits or gives up, always watches, and continues to love. It\u2019s not that I quit loving, I just fail to love well. In confessing this ugly attitude, I feel relieved and strengthened to move on. 1 John 1:9 is true! <em>\u201cIf we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.\u201d\u00a0<\/em>Halleluiah! I know I\u2019m cleansed and strengthened to move on.<\/p>\n<p>I know I can\u2019t love without Jesus\u2019 love pouring through me. I\u2019m His vessel and this truly is my happy spot because I know I\u2019m in His will and in His love. So how do I continue to watch, standing fast in the faith, being brave and strong, and doing all in love? I ask the Lord, and He is faithful to speak to my heart and say to take one step at a time, focusing on Him and His purpose and heart. With this reality, things falls into place.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cTherefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart\u201d\u00a0<\/em>(2 Corinthians 4:1). The verses after this say we are commending man\u2019s conscience by walking in the truth, showing others Christ\u2019s love.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<em>For the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ<\/em>\u201d (2 Corinthians 4:6). This is how I can continue to watch, stand fast, and love well: by realizing it\u2019s not me! It\u2019s all Him! I love how Scripture continues to show and remind us of His powerful love that never stops and is always strong and brave! It\u2019s that abiding faith, hope, and love! He promises to never leave or forsake us, regardless of bad attitudes or our ugly state of mind. He continues to love and draw us back to the \u201cright\u201d place in love.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cBut we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us\u201d <\/em>(2 Corinthians 4:7<em>). <\/em>I know life is hard and I am hard-pressed on every side, but I have a treasure in my heart that never stops. I can be brave and do the hard thing, continuing on in an uncomfortable situation and enduring in love with patience and a smile, and not being cranky!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>\u201cFather God, I am so thankful for Jesus who always forgives and then strengthens us to continue on in Your love. Thank You that even though I may give up, You never do; You recover and restore us to Your purpose in Your faithful love.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><div class=\"fusion-clearfix\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-women"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p92wjD-6Dh","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25499","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25499"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25499\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25500,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25499\/revisions\/25500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}