Day 23

Freedom House Dayton Church

Media App

Day 23

Want to know God’s will?

October 24, 2022 • Pastor Bill Kalina

Give

Romans 12: 1-2 “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
This can’t be any clearer. Bodies and mind. We are to offer our bodies as living sacrifices, and not conform to this world but be transformed by the renewing of our minds…
How do we sacrifice our bodies? By letting go of anything that we hold more dear than Jesus (including Oreos). By taking care of our health. By walking as Jesus walked (lived) and involving Jesus in our physical decisions. Instead of walking in a comfortable, anything goes lifestyle where we sit on our couches for hours of TV entertainment and eat however much we want of whatever we want to eat with no regard for our health, we have to be mindful of our health. Ouch!
What does it mean to be transformed by the renewing of our minds? -Philippians 2:5 “Let this mind be in you which is also in Christ Jesus.” This is a return to Imago Dei. We give up thinking the way that the rest of the world does and take on the mind of Christ, which changes how we think about God, ourselves, everything around us, everyone around us, our choices, etc.
-Then we will know the will of God. We have to sacrifice our will/desires/way of thinking, to be able to know his will. I don’t know about you, but I can convince myself that just about anything is God’s will if it is something I want to do. So, I definitely have to have myself out of the way to be able to really hear the Spirit speaking His will. This goes along with Ephesians 4:22-24 “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”
Prayer: Lord, I need you to show me how I can be a living sacrifice in this world. I need you to transform my mind to your image so that I can love you and others the way you do. Help me to surrender everything into your loving hands and receive this amazing gift that you have for me.

More from Rebuilding the Temple Devotions

Day 35

November 5, 2022 • Pastor Bill Kalina • Matthew 7:7–8, 1 Thessalonians 5:23–24

Day 35 End of the road? This is not the end of the road. Your journey has just begun. Take a few minutes to review what you have learned these last 5 weeks. Talk to the Lord about it and ask him to clarify anything you are unsure about. Matthew 7:7-8 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” Ask and He will make you holy/sanctify you. Seek to know him more and you will find him. Knock and He will open the doors of heaven and pour his Spirit out upon you. Enough said… 1Thessalonias 5:23-24 “May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.” Pray: Lord, I offer myself up to you now, please sanctify me, fill me up with your Holy Spirit and make me holy. Remove the sin from my life, give me your heart, restore in me your image Lord. Help me to seek you with all of me and to know you and your love more every day. Help me to trust you with all of me from this day forth. Thank you for your perfect plan.

Day 34

November 4, 2022 • Pastor Bill Kalina • Jeremiah 29:11–13

Day 34 HOPE and a Future If we could just understand that He never, ever, ever, ever, wants anything but the best for us, we would not hesitate to surrender all. Jeremiah 29:11-13 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” He knows us more than we know ourselves and he knows what tomorrow holds; -and we don’t, so we can trust His will and His decisions. We forget that he wants the best, that his plan is good (the best) and so we hesitate or even outright fight him on it, or just run the other way. We didn’t learn anything from Jonah, did we? When we realize that he only wants the best and he knows us better than we know ourselves, maybe then we can let go of our own ideas and plans and walk in his. Many times, we discover that we end up loving his plan better. When we let Him take us on His journey instead of ours, we find out more about ourselves than we ever knew. Plus, often His plan would have saved us heartache or disaster because He knows what is ahead. This doesn’t mean that we won’t have hard times, Jesus told us we would, but he is with us always and he overcame the world, so our victory is coming. See John 16:33. It is not at all about what we lose or give up, in time we will always gain more than we lose. Pray: Lord, I get caught up in what I have to give up, or get fixated on what I think is best, or what I think I want. Help me to remember your perfect love that ALWAYS wants what is best for me. Help me to surrender my desires and will into your perfect loving hands. Help me to embrace your plan for me, for my life, and for my future.

Day 33

November 3, 2022 • Pastor Bill Kalina • Romans 8:31–35, Romans 8:37–39

Day 33 If You Only Knew… Romans 8:31-35, 37-39 “What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” IF WE REALLY KNEW HOW MUCH HE LOVED US WE WOULD NOT THINK TWICE ABOUT GIVING UP EVERYTHING. He loves us, -not just so much that he gave his life, but he loves us enough to: • Want to spend time with us • Want the best for us • Intercede for us • Protect us • Be patient with us • Offer us more than just salvation • He loves us so much he wants a relationship with us • He wants to restore us to Imago Dei, -even though we messed that up If We Only Knew… Pray: Lord, as you teach me about the depths of your love, help me to know it, down in my heart and soul, in my being, not just in my head. Help me to know it so much that it changes me. And help me to love you back the best that I can, -with all of my heart, mind, soul, and strength.