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Some of us would love to be rich and not be in any need for the rest of our lives. But can riches, or even the longing for riches, hurt your relationship with God. The answer is clearly yes. The first passage we will look at is in Proverbs 30:7-9 7Two things I asked of You, Do not refuse me before I die: 8Keep deception and lies far from me, Give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me with the food that is my portion, 9That I not be full and deny You and say, "Who is the LORD?" Or that I not be in want and steal, And profane the name of my God. In verse 8 Agur actually prays that God would not give him riches. Why? Agur was concerned about how he would react if he was no longer dependent on God to have his needs met. In verse 9 he foresees the possibility of becoming full and denying God. Even if we don't have riches, just longing after wealth can stunt our Christian growth. One passage that warns us about our growth being stunted is "The Parable of the Sower" This parable is found in more than one Gospel but today we will look at a portion found in Mark chapter 4. There is no getting around it. Notice that ".... the deceitfulness of riches..." is listed among things that will keep the Word of God from bearing fruit in your life. 19but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. Also when our priority is to get wealthy we are setting up an idol in our heart. It can consume us and steal away our love for God. In fact our love for God can be replaced with despising Him or even hating Him. Matthew 6:24 24"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other You cannot serve God and wealth. Scripture quotations taken from the "NASB" (www.lockman.org)

Today I would like to talk about ungratefulness. It can discourage those who are serving God. And it can be a discouragement within relationships as well. The passage we are going to discuss is Luke 17:11-19. I'll start by giving a brief summary of the text but please follow along in your Bible too. Jesus enter a village in which ten leprous men cried out to Him for help. Jesus sent them to the priests to be seen by them. And while heading there they were all healed. All ten received a tremendous blessing. But only one turned back to thank Jesus. The enemy would like to use the ungratefulness of people to discourage the good impact you are having on others. He might whisper in your ear and say, "You're not making a difference. You are not a blessing to anybody. If you were, wouldn't they tell you so. But, look no one is thanking you, or giving you positive feedback, so you must not be making a difference." Going by this passage the exact opposite may be true. So don't judge your effectiveness based on the response of people. And don't have your joy dependent on that feedback. Practice love and rejoice in the love you show. Rejoice independent of external encouragement. Even if there are no thanks at all still rejoice. In addition encourage yourself with this thought. My effectiveness may be more than I realize. My impact, like this passage, may significantly exceed the feedback I receive. Scripture quotations taken from the "NASB" (www.lockman.org)

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Are you weary and heavy laden? God wants to give you rest Matthew 11:28-30 28"Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. 29 "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. 30 "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." Are you weary and heavy-laden? Do you want to find rest for your soul? The one who promises you this rest is Jesus. The starting point of that rest is accepting him into your heart as Lord and Savior. You need to accept Jesus into your heart as Lord meaning that with His help you will turn away from sin and learn to walk in obedience to the Bible. You need to accept Jesus into your heart as Savior so your sins can be forgiven. If you have never accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and would like to do so now then please pray with me, " God I know that I am a sinner. And I know I can't enter Heaven unless my sins are forgiven by your son Jesus. Jesus I ask you into my heart as Savior and Lord. Forgive me all my sins and help me to turn away from sin and obey what your Bible teaches." If you just prayed that prayer please contact me I would love to hear the good news. Scripture quotations taken from the "NASB" ( www.lockman.org )

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Today we will talk about God's unwillingness to answer the prayers of those who stubbornly reject Him. Please follow along in the Bible. We will be in Proverbs chapter 1:20-33 In verses 22-23 God calls out to three different groups of unsaved people. He calls out to the the naive, the scoffer and the fool. God expresses willingness to accept them and teach them His ways if they would listen and obey. But verses 24-25 shows that these people didn't have any willingness to obey. And verses 26-27 show one consequence of their actions. Trouble will certainly overtake them. Some of the words used to describe their coming trouble are: calamity, dread, distress and anguish. And there will be an additional consequence. God will be unwilling to answer their prayers and help them in their distress. Their prayers will go unanswered and their waywardness will ruin them. ( Please note that there are times when the ruin of the wicked is delayed. Sometimes the wicked flourish and even prosper before their ruin comes. See Psalm 73) I think it is important to understand a little bit more about God refusing to answer their prayers. The prayers of these people were coming from hearts that wanted nothing to do with God. The use of the word "all" in verses 25 and 30 shows their wholehearted rejection of God. Those verses mention that they, "... neglected all my counsel;" and they "... spurned all my reproof." So when these people that reject God seek Him in prayer their prayers are rejected too. Why? Because the sole purpose of their seeking God was to escape their trouble. They didn't want a relationship with Him. They wanted a change in their circumstances but not a change in their sinful conduct. And as a result of being stubbornly disobedient, God would not answer their prayers when distress came upon them. Is there any hope for the one who rejects God and has calamity on its way? Is there any hope for the ones whose prayers won't get answered? The answer is yes to both questions! First lets talk about the calamity aspect. If a person seeks God with a repentant heart then God may change His mind concerning the coming distress. Remember what happened in the book of Jonah. God sent Jonah to warn Nineveh that He was about to overthrow it. And the people of Nineveh believed there was calamity coming and repented of their sins. And when God saw that they turned from their evil ways He changed His mind. God did not send the calamity upon them that He had planned. The same applies to unanswered prayer too. If a individual stops rejecting God and chooses to listen and obey then the Lord will open His ears to that persons prayers. Jesus talked about prayers being answered when a person was abiding in Him and God's Word was made so much a part of him that he would live by it. Jesus said it this way in John 15:7 7"If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. But the first step in order to achieve the above solutions is to receive Jesus into your heart as Savior and Lord. If you want to do that and get things right with God today then go to this link. "What must I do to go to Heaven? " God bless Scripture quotations taken from the "NASB" (www.lockman.org)

Today we will talk about the occasion where Peter denied Jesus. I will be paraphrasing and quoting a small portion of the passage, but its a good idea to read the entire account. One place the account is found is Mark 14:27-72 . Shortly before His crucifixion Jesus spoke to His disciples. He told them they all were going to fall away. But Peter insisted that even if the others fell away he wouldn't. Peter even mentioned that he was ready to die with Jesus. Peter was sincere in his statements. And here within Mark 14:32-38 we see that Jesus acknowledged his genuine desire. Jesus also mentioned something that suggests the source of Peter's failure. 32 They came to a place named Gethsemane; and He said to His disciples, "Sit here until I have prayed." 33 And He took with Him Peter and James and John, and began to be very distressed and troubled. 34 And He said to them, "My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death; remain here and keep watch." 35 And He went a little beyond them, and fell to the ground and began to pray that if it were possible, the hour might pass Him by. 36 And He was saying, "Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will." 37 And He came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, "Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? 38 "Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." Jesus said, ".....the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak" In saying this He gave Peter a compliment. He acknowledged that he really had a willingness to do the things he said. But, even with a willing heart, Peter still denied Jesus. If Peter was sincere than what caused him to fail? It appears that a lack of prayer led to failure. Jesus came and found Peter asleep. Peter had missed a time of prayer shortly before he would deny Jesus. His heart was willing to obey. But he needed the extra help that would only come from watching and praying. Peter ended up doing the thing which he strongly opposed. But afterwards he was truly sorry and wept. So we need to learn from this passage so we can have victory. We must be committed to our personal time of watching and praying. Without prayer we can have a spirit that is willing to obey but lacks power. But with prayer our willingness can result in strength that leads to victory. Scripture quotations taken from the "NASB" (www.lockman.org)

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Today's devotion encompasses several things. It speaks about avoiding bad company and it's deadly consequences. To be more specific it speaks about the dangers of joining a gang in order to obtain easy money. For being lured into these things leads to spiritual death and can result in physical death too. Please turn to Proverbs 1:8-19 so you can follow along. In verse 8 we see one safeguard against being lured into this trap is listening to the Biblical teachings of godly parents. Note here the importance of the mother's teaching within the home. The child needs the teachings to be reinforced from both father and mother. Starting at verse 10 notice the use of words that are plural such as: "sinners", "us", "we", "them", and "they". This refers to a group of people. Since verse 11 states the group's desire to do harm to the innocent it is possible to label them as a gang. And how are they enticing him. In a couple of ways. In verses 13-14 they are enticing the youth with fast and easy money. In verse 13 notice the use of the phrases, "all kinds", "precious wealth" and "fill our houses". The gang is painting a picture of obtaining various kinds of wealth that is of high quality and that is plentiful. There is another enticing draw in verses 13-14. The youth is being offered the opportunity to be part of a brotherhood. They promise that everything that they obtain will be shared amongst themselves. We will all be one big family. But this promise of being a brotherhood is deceptive. They attack the innocent because they lack compassion. Since they lack compassion, how can the youth expect them to fulfill their promise of being a tightly knit family? The advice from the youth's godly parents is don't consent to go with them. Avoid their company altogether. Their deeds will boomerang back on them. It will take away their life. And you will suffer the same fate too if you align yourself with them. Here are a couple of additional safeguards against this type of temptation. Since the desire to be part of a brotherhood was part of the enticement, one counteragent would be developing a network of godly friends. Choose to meet that God given desire for fellowship with godly people. Another safeguard is to recognize that happiness can't be found in material things. I'll close with what Jesus said in Luke 12:15 15 Then He said to them, "Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.". Scripture quotations taken from the "NASB" (www.lockman.org ) God bless

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There are times in our Christian walk when we need encouragement and strengthening but there is nobody to lift us up. At those times we must be able to grab a hold of the word of God by ourselves and encourage ourselves. We must strengthen ourselves in the Lord. David had a situation where he had to do just that. We find this account in 1 Samuel 30:1-6 . While David and his men were away from their families the Amalekites made a raid on the Negev and on Ziklag. During this raid they took captive the families of David and his men. In addition to the grief of having his own wives taken captive, he also was distressed because the people were angry and talked about stoning him. David is very troubled and has no source of encouragement. He couldn

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Before we start this short devotion lets look at the two most important commandments that God gave us. In fact every command that God expects of us can be summed up in these two central commands. They are found in Matthew 22:35-40 35One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, 36"Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" 37And He said to him, " 'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.' 38"This is the great and foremost commandment. 39"The second is like it, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.' 40"On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets." I like to evaluate myself from time to time and see how my walk is doing. I ask myself several questions. Am I growing in loving God? Am I growing in loving my family? Am I showing kindness to my co-workers? Am I showing love to my neighbors? As I think on these things, I have to be careful that I don't set aside growing in love for my neighbors. It is a big teaching. In fact half of what Jesus teaches in this verse is loving our neighbor. If I'm not growing in this area I'm missing the broad side of the barn. How often do you do good to your neighbor ? Do you know them by name? I am not saying these things to make anyone feel bad. If you are falling short then make a plan right now to show some kindness this week. Have your mind ready to act. Ask God for wisdom on how to be kind this week. Then act on it. Before you move on from this devotion to do something else please stop. Stop and don't think about anything else until you make a plan of how you will show kindness towards your neighbors this week. I hope this stirs someone up to show love. Scripture quotations taken from the "NASB" (www.lockman.org) God bless

The purpose of this devotion is twofold. The first is to realize that God's children can please Him. And the second is developing a mindset where we consciously choose to make Him glad. Before we start I want to make sure the words "please God" are not misunderstood. When I say "please God" I am not suggesting that you can earn Heaven. Because the only way to Heaven is by accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. So for sake of confusion lets look at this devotion from the standpoint of someone who has already received Jesus as their Lord and Savior. The Bible tells us many wonderful things. One wonderful thing is the knowledge that we can please Him. Lets first read Hebrews 13:16. 16 And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. This verse talks about doing good and sharing. And there is no mistaking the last three words in this verse "God is pleased." But at what point in time do our actions please Him. If we look carefully at this verse we'll find we can please Him right now. The word "is" talks about the present time not some point in the future. "God is pleased" as He watches us show love. It is so encouraging to know that we can make God smile today. ( note: in Matthew 25:14-30 there is mention of our master being pleased with us at a future date as a result of faithful service ) And we should make pleasing God one of the motives of our actions. We can set one of our motives to be a blessing to people. And we can set another to please God. Whenever possible, I like to set my motives before I actually show kindness. Lets use an example of giving some cookies to my neighbors. I first set my motives as to why I am giving them. I make a conscious decision that I will express love. I do self-talk and determine in my mind, "I will do this to make God smile and I will do this to bring good to my neighbors." Additionally, it is a good thing to set our motives to please God while doing routine tasks. Why? One reason is to build our love for Him. The more we act on love the more it becomes part of our character. Another reason is to maintain a joyful attitude. When we do a task as an expression of love to God we can rejoice in that task . And when we rejoice in our work it can keep routine tasks from becoming monotonous or burdensome. Finally, lets sum things up. Start with a conscious decision to make the motivations of your heart to bless others and to bless God. Then realize that your expression of love is bringing good to others and is pleasing God too. Then, rejoice over the good you are bringing to people and the gladness you are giving to God. As soon as you are done reading this devotion I encourage you to show love towards God. Bless Him, do something that is pleasing in His sight and make the Lord smile! Scripture quotations taken from the "NASB" (www.lockman.org)

There are times when we are hurt by someone and we need to forgive them. But forgiving someone isn't always easy. It can be an internal battle that requires diligent effort. Here are a few suggestions that can help us forgive the offense. When we don't forgive we are the ones that suffer First, we must understand some of the negative ways our anger is effecting us. When we churn with anger and bitterness it steals our happiness. We are focused only on negative things and our mindset is sour. It can cause us to be irritable in general. And that irritability may spill out on others. Also it can interfere with our ability to concentrate and put our thoughts together. And if you are driving, the inability to concentrate can be disastrous. Also, sustained anger can lead to depression . Understanding how an unforgiving attitude effects us is important because it strengthens our resolve to forgive. Forgiving through dependence and diligence Some offenses are harder to let go of than others. Go to God in weakness and ask Him to help you forgive. Then in addition to prayer add diligent effort. Forgiving can be like a wrestling match. Our opponent must have his shoulders pinned down by force. We must choose to forgive. And we must make diligent effort. Praying for the person you need to forgive In addition to making a choice to forgive you can also start praying for that person. Pray and ask God to bless that person today. If you know about a specific need then ask God to bless in that area. As we pray good things for that person it will start to soften our hearts. And it will make it easier for us to forgive them. Showing kindness aids in the forgiving process And here is something else that will help us remove the unforgiving attitude. If it is appropriate, do something good for them. Here is just one example. Let's say the person is a coworker who likes donuts. Why not bring in donuts for everyone and go out of your way to offer that person one. Also ask God to give you an opportunity to do them good. Then look for that opportunity to come and be ready to act on it. Doing good for them is a powerful tool for releasing an offense. Also if we are God's children, then we should forgive because of how much we have been forgiven. I'll end by quoting this verse found in Matthew 6:14-15 14 "For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 "But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions. Scripture quotations taken from the "NASB" (www.lockman.org) God bless

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Today we will discuss the principal of making friends by first being a blessing to them. The passage we will discuss is Luke 16: 1-14. I'll summarize the passage first. In this passage there was an unrighteous manager who was squandering his masters possessions. When his master found out he removed him from his position. The manager then goes to each person that has business dealings with his master and reduces the size of their present bill. With no job he needs help from friends. And the friends he made by reducing their bills are the ones that help him. And even though the managers actions were wrong his master praised the man because of his shrewdness in making friends. And sadly Jesus mentions that the unsaved are more shrewd about making friends with their own than christians are with other christians. Here is one thing we can take away from this passage. We can shape the way we get treated by the way we treat others. If we make it our habit to bless others we can experience their friendship in return. Our favor with them can increase. Also, it can stir up a normal reaction to bless us in return. This can set a good cycle in motion. A cycle in which you bless and then receive a blessing and then bless back again etc. But, this principal can work both ways. If it is our habit to dish out nastiness, then we shouldn't be surprised when we get a dose back. If we are hurting people we shouldn't expect them to show us favor, blessings and friendship. It doesn't work that way. Here is one verse that warns us about setting a vicious cycle in motion. It is Galatians 5:15 15 But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another. God's ways of love make good sense. And walking in them brings us favor with God and favor with man too. But walking in an unloving way doesn't make sense at all. We don't find favor with man. Our lack of love leads to quarrels and strife. Additionally, when we choose these paths God may need to express His love for us in the form of discipline in order to restore us to ways that are good for us. And when we show kindness we should be willing to express it first. We should express love first just as God showed us love first. Romans 5:8 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Since these thing are true, lets set our mind to walk in kindness. Lets discipline ourselves to walk in paths that result in favor and blessing. And lets avoid the snares that are found in unloving paths. And lets consider the costly price Jesus paid to purchase our salvation. And let that thankfulness be another motivator to walk in love. Scripture quotations taken from the "NASB" (www.lockman.org)

There are many things in our lives that envelope our time. Some are needs, some seem to be needs and some fall into the just for enjoyment category. But, with all sorts of things competing for our time, it is important to keep things in balance. This is especially true when it come to our relationship with God. In the following passage we will see Jesus keeping a balance between ministering to people and maintaining His relationship with God. The passage is Luke 5:15-16 15 But the news about Him was spreading even farther, and large crowds were gathering to hear Him and to be healed of their sicknesses. 16 But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray. Notice that there were large crowds gathering. And large crowds meant a lot of needs. They wanted to press in close to Him so they could hear His teaching and be healed of their sickness. And having a compassionate heart towards the needs of people is a good thing. Under such circumstances it could be easy to develop a certain mindset. One that thinks, "I can't pull away from these people and spend alone time with God. There is so much to be done." But Jesus didn't allow Himself to get out of balance. He did pull away to pray and verse 16 says He did it often. Your maximum effectiveness with people flows out of your personal relationship with God. If you don't guard your alone time with Him then your effectiveness will decrease. And worse yet your walk could suffer too. Take time right now and ask God to help you guard your alone time with Him. And make a decision today that you won't allow busyness to keep you from the one that truly loves you. Scripture quotations taken from the "NASB" (www.lockman.org) God bless

This Bible devotion is going to show another facet of what we already talked about in "Rejoicing Essential Part 2." In that post from Genesis chapter 1 we talked about - doing good, looking upon that good and rejoicing in that good. But today we are going to talk about how that same process has a by-product of a healthy self-esteem. The focus of our Christian walk is not our self-esteem but rather building godly character. However, a by-product of godly character is an improved self-esteem. When we see how our actions brought good to another then we can rejoice about the good we brought them. When we rejoice about our actions, as a by-product we feel good about ourselves. Our self-esteem is elevated by loving others. I'll use an extreme example to get the point across. A firefighter saves a baby from a burning building and returns the child unharmed to a very happy mother. He meditates on his actions and is glad about the good he brought them. As a result of his deeds he feels good about himself. But we don't have to do a big thing to rejoice. It blesses someone, and God is also pleased, when we give a cup of cold water to someone in need. In contrast when we do wrong we feel bad about our actions. And at that moment we have a lower esteem of ourselves. We all sin and fall short. And a troubled conscience can be a weight on how we feel about ourselves. So, after a fall, lets reverse that negative process as quickly as we can . Repent, confess, trust that God has forgiven you and then also forgive yourself. Forget the past and move forward doing what is good today, and then rejoice in that good. Doing good for others changes our whole perception of ourselves for the better. As always, walking in God's ways is good for us! ( Note: this post is not a substitute for Professional counseling or Doctor directed medicines ) Scripture quotations taken from the "NASB" (www.lockman.org)

Good deeds must have good motives In my last post ( Rejoicing Essentials Part 2 ) we talked about doing good and then rejoicing in the good we have done. In this post we are going to fine tune that a little further. We need to make sure that each good action also has a good motive. Philippians 1:15 15 Some, to be sure, are preaching Christ even from envy and strife, but some also from good will In the scripture above a good thing is being done. Christ being preached is a good thing. But notice how the verse shows that a good thing can be done with pure motives or it can be done out of selfish motives. So this tells us that we must always attach a good motive to a good action. We are warring against our sinful nature. As a result it can be very easy to start doing a good thing with pure motives and then drift over to selfish motives. I need to do something to help keep those selfish motives under control. My friend gave me a picture of Jesus smiling and I put it by the front door where I see it all the time. If I am going to show someone a kindness I try to wait before I go outside. I pause and look at that smile and say I will do this to please God and I will do this to show kindness to this person. It doesn't take long. Just take a moment to do some self talk and it will help you keep on the right track. Scripture quotations taken from the "NASB" ( www.lockman.org )

Today I want to share several points found in the passage about the Prodigal son. It is always good to have the Bible open when someone is sharing so you can check out the facts yourself. The passage is found in Luke 15:11-32. In verses 11-13 we see the younger son asking for his share of the estate. He leaves soon afterwards and goes to a distant country far away from his father's house. There he wastes all his wealth in the pursuit of pleasures. First lets look at some points about being pleasure centered. We find that being pleasure centered will deaden our compassion. He wanted money and he wanted pleasure. His desire deadened his compassion towards his father. He coldly left the father that loved him dearly and went far away from him. Second, lets look at how loose living leads to ruin. He brought poverty upon himself by being pleasure centered. The thought is summed up nicely in Proverbs 21:17 17 He who loves pleasure will become a poor man; He who loves wine and oil will not become rich. This verse contains two thoughts concerning wealth. The first half of the verse talks about how being pleasure centered can take you from a place of wealth to a place of being poor. The second half of the verse talks about someone who already is poor and will not be able to attain wealth. In verses 14-17 we see that he is flat broke, hungry and no one was giving him any handouts. And we see that his wretched state brings him back to his senses. He began to think about how there is no lack of food with his father's hired men. It took a physical need to bring him back to his spiritual senses. While he had plenty he continued in sin. When he came to a place of desperate need he then developed a repentant attitude. I just want to make a little side point here about enabling sinful behavior. What I am about to say is not in the passage. But, lets pretend that in that distant country there was a rich widow who had pity on him. She says to him, "You may go out to my barn and lodge there. You may eat as much as you desire. My former husbands clothes are your size you may have them. And here is some money for any other needs you may have." I would like to suggest that the son would not have returned to his father when he did. He would no longer be in a place of need. And since being in need brought him back to his senses. His daily needs being sustained would have hindered him from returning to his father. Meeting all of his physical needs before he came to his senses would have enabled his sinful condition. In verses 18-19 he develops a repentant heart. He knows what he did was wrong and plans to confess his sins to his father. He has a humble attitude. He wanted to return to his father's house even if he is only a hired man. In verse 20-21 we see his repentance was not short lived. He had a long journey home from a distant country. While he was far away he planned on confessing his sins and when he got home he followed through and confessed them. He maintained a repentant attitude. Also in verses 20-21 Oh what love the father had for his wayward son! First, because he was longing for his return he kept watching for him. This was the reason he was able to see him a long way off. And when he saw his son he didn't stand there with an angry face, and his arms folded over a resentful heart. But he was filled with emotion. He was filled with compassion. It greatly pleased him and he ran to meet him. Overflowing with joy he embraced him and kissed him. Verses 22-24 The son had planned all the things he would say when he confessed his sins to his father. But the father was so overjoyed to have him back that he interrupted him half way through his confession ( compare the planned confession in verses 18-19 with the interrupted confession in verses 21-22). He interrupted his confession and he excitedly gave commands to prepare a celebration. He also blessed him with a ring and sandals and a robe. And not just any robe but the best robe. And in this passage the father is our heavenly Father. It shows how great his love is for the one who has gone far from Him. And how He longs for you and watches for your return. And how He is eager to run to you and embrace you and call for heaven to celebrate with Him when you return with a repentant heart. Oh how wonderful is His mercy! And how great is His love! Oh how delightful that our compassionate Father shows us mercy with cheerfulness! Scripture quotations taken from the "NASB" (www.lockman.org)

This devotion is not intended to be an exhaustive study on why prayer goes unanswered. But, I hope a few of these principals will increase your answers to prayer. The first thing we

Feeling rejected, abandoned or lonely? Find help in God Feelings of rejection, abandonment, being unloved and loneliness are awful. We want to be loved but sometimes others stop loving us. At times we have been hit hard when friends, family members or even a spouse doesn't care anymore or even rejects us. In those times God's love is all the more precious. We see that there is only one who never stops loving us. Only one who never abandons us. Only one who takes us in when others cast us away. God is the only one. Put your hope in Him. God will never fail you. When rejected by the closest relationships God desires to take you in. Psalm 27:10 10 For my father and my mother have forsaken me, But the LORD will take me up. God loves you and wants to be a true father to you. And He has a plan for your loneliness Psalm 68: 5-6 5 A father of the fatherless and a judge for the widows, Is God in His holy habitation.6 God makes a home for the lonely; He leads out the prisoners into prosperity, Only the rebellious dwell in a parched land. To those who receive Him as Lord and Savior He will never abandon them Hebrews 13:5 5 Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, "I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU," God's love sticks with us closer than even the best relationships Proverbs 18:24 24 A man of too many friends comes to ruin, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Would you like to have this Father that takes you up when others forsake you? Would you like a love in your life that will never desert or forsake you? Then you need to become His child today. God will become your Father as you accept His son Jesus as Lord and Savior. Accepting Him as Lord means that with His help you will turn away from sinful ways and start obeying His ways. Accepting Jesus as Savior means acknowledging that you are a sinner and you need to receive the forgiveness of your sins that comes only from Jesus dying on the cross. If you would like to invite Jesus into your heart right now then pray this with me. "Jesus I know that I am a sinner and that I can't earn Heaven. I ask you to come into my heart right now as Lord and Savior. Give me power to change and obey you. Forgive me of my sins according to your death on the Cross." If you just prayed that then please let me know. God bless Scripture quotations taken from the "NASB" ( www.lockman.org )

There are some basic things we must do to learn the things of God. We must regularly attend a church that gives sound Biblical teaching. We must engage in fellowship with other believers that Love the Lord. We must personally read the Bible on a regular basis. Studying a reliable Bible commentary is a good idea too. But in addition to these things, two other things will cause us to excel in insight and expand our understanding. Those two things are meditating on God