Keep Your Eyes On Jesus

Keep Your Eyes On Jesus "Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you." Proverbs 4:25 The only thing in life that really matters is that we keep our minds and eyes focused on the future. I am not talking about our earthly future, but our eternal future. This life on earth will one day end, and for some it will be sooner than later, but it is inevitable that it will end. I recall an old saying, "No one can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today, and make a new ending". If you begin to think about this statement, you will come to the conclusion that you don't start over; but you begin again right where you are, making things better in your lives. If you are a believer in Christ, it is not about saying I will do this, and I won't do that, and then dropping the idea or falling short. It is more about asking God to help you each day, to establish a closer relationship with Him. This way your focus will be set on the things of heaven, and not on the things of the world. Since we are beginning a new year, I would encourage each of you to make a New Year's resolution, to establish a deeper commitment, a deeper love, and a deeper relationship with God. Make God first in your life this coming year, as He wants your undivided attention, so He can shield and protect you from falling prey to the distractions and temptations that await you. If God is your main focus in the days ahead, this year could be the best New Year of your life, as your life can finally be filled with hope and peace. If you are a Christian, but you are feeling stagnate in your relationship with God, now is the time to rekindle your relationship with Him. Fix your eyes on Jesus, so you will one day hear him say, "well done my good and faithful servant, I am well pleased." My Daily Devotional Volume Six January 7 Robert William Brock, Jr.

God Never Fails

God Never Fails "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." Psalm 73:26 How does the trials and troubles of this world affect you? Do you allow them to harden your heart, make you sour, bitter, angry, resentful, prideful, and take away your peace and joy? The trials and troubles that you will face do not have to affect you in this way, as although they may be painful and hurt, they can give you a fresh vision of God, and a new outlook on life. If you make your troubles an opportunity to learn more of God's love and His power to aid and bless you, then they will teach you to have a stronger trust and faith in Him, knowing that He will always provide, even in the darkest hours. When children have problems, they turn to their parents for help, as they know that they will be taken care of. This is the way God wants us to respond, as He wants us to turn to Him and trust Him, for all things. You need to trust God with a child-like dependence on Him as your loving heavenly Father, and that no trouble or trials can destroy you. Even when Jesus was facing His crucifixion, He said, "I am not alone, because the Father is with me." John 16:32 If you are facing trials and troubles in your own life today, and don't know how to handle them, or where to turn, remember that you are not alone either, as your Father is with you. God knows what you are facing, and He understands why you are facing these trials. It may be His way of changing you from a dangerous path that was leading you astray, and is giving you a new vision and outlook on life. He may be telling you that you are not in control, but He is. Even in your darkest hours, even though your flesh and heart may fail, you will be able to depend on your Father, to give you peace. My Daily Devotional Volume Six January 6 Robert William Brock, Jr.

Jesus Changes You

Jesus Changes You "Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day." 2nd Timothy 1:12 Does asking Jesus into your heart really change you? Does Christianity work? Does anything really happen when a person repents of sin and receives Christ by faith? These are questions people have asked me over the years as I have talked to them about their salvation. I can only tell you that it worked in my own life. I know that for most of my adult life, I did not have a personal relationship with Jesus, although I had grown up in a Christian home, where godly values were always practiced. Even after Margaret and I were married, I went through the motion of going to church with my family, but never committed my life to God. However, all this changed, when I finally decided to ask Jesus into my heart, and gave my life to serving Him. Jesus gave me a purpose and pointed me in the right direction. Instead of wandering aimlessly through life, I now knew what God's plan and purpose for my life was all about. My whole world began to come into focus, and my attitude about myself and others changed dramatically. I began to seek God's will for my life, instead of doing things my own way. No, I didn't become perfect, but my life changed. I haven't regretted turning my life over to Jesus, as I have finally discovered the peace and joy that only He can give. I am no longer concerned about what the future holds for me, as I know that I am in God's hands now, and that I am content with what He has in store for me. God has allowed me the opportunity to lead others to Jesus during these past several years, and I have yet to find anyone who has regretted giving their lives to Christ. My Daily Devotional Volume Six January 5 Robert William Brock, Jr.

The Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever--the Spirit of truth." John 14:16 When Jesus was on the earth, His presence was experienced by only small groups of people at one time. He did not have the luxury of the mega-churches of today, or the modern technology to reach millions of people like we do today. This is why, all down through the ages since Christ, we have the Holy Spirit, that can lead and guide us to God. The other "Counselor" referred to in the scripture above is the Holy Spirit. The apostle Paul wrote, "Do you not know...that the Spirit of God dwells in you." 1st Corinthians 3:16. The Holy Spirit is given to every believer, to lead and guide them through all the temptations that Satan will bring to bear in their life. We have this Holy Spirit at all times in our heart, not just for a limited time, but forever. Without this Counselor in our heart, we would be in deep trouble, as Satan would easily be in control of our hearts, and would lead us on the paths of destruction. The Holy Spirit is our protector, our conscience, and whispers in our ears, through gentle whispers, the encouragement and wisdom that keep us from falling prey to Satan and his evil schemes. The Holy Spirit is there to give us all the gifts of the spirit that the Bible promises in the book of Galatians "love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control." The Holy Spirit is God's gift to you, and you can experience it in your life today. Why don't you accept God's free gift now, and let it begin to work in your life, as it can give you peace, and the ability to withstand Satan's fiercest attacks. My Daily Devotional Volume Six January 4 Robert William Brock, Jr.

Share God's Love "They are from the world and therefore speak from the view point of the world, and the world listens to them." 1st John 4:5 We live in a society today, that is of the world and where Satan is running rampant, and through his temptation, is leading people astray, and away from Jesus. Christian's are in the world, and yet they must not be absorbed in the world, and led away from the godly values of God's Holy word. Sadly however, I am afraid that so many people are compromising their values, by wanting to fit into the many prevalent social groups, and are compromising their values and being conformed to the worldly ways of these groups. God does not want us to conform to the world, but wants us to conform to Him by the renewing of our minds. In the Bible we see that Jesus dined with publicans and sinners, but He did not allow their social groups to overwhelm Him and conform Him to their ways. Instead, He used every opportunity to present the spiritual truth of God's Word to them, and many were conformed and turned their lives over to Christ. Our social contacts should not only be pleasant, but they should provide us the opportunity to share the saving grace of Jesus and also our faith. Today, you will have many opportunities to share your faith, and let others see the presence of Jesus in your own life. You may be the only chance they will ever have, to know what a personal relationship with God can be like. Take the time, with all the people you meet today, to share Jesus with them. Let your light shine brightly, and demonstrate by your speech, your actions and your peace, that there is something they are missing in their lives. Let them sense the warmth of Christ's presence through you. My Daily Devotional Volume Six January 3 Robert William Brock, Jr.

God's In Crowd

God's In Crowd "Therefore whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 18:4 In our world today, people seek popularity and praise more than at any other time in our history. Being in the "in crowd" seems to be the thing that so many of the younger generation strive for, as they want to be accepted. Being accepted, by itself is not a bad thing, however, it can be a very dangerous thing as well. Trying to fit in with the "in crowd" can turn them from God, if the "in crowd" has values that are not godly values. Trying to fit in with others can lead them away from God, without them even being aware of it, making us like those in Jesus' day who "loved the praise of men more than the praise of God." John 12:43 It is so easy when things go well in our lives to lose our perspective. If wanting to please others, and have praise bestowed on us becomes our main focus, instead of having a passion to please Christ, we can be lead to destructive behavior and actions, that will lead us away from our primary mission, which is to make Christ number one in our lives. If you are struggling today, with wanting to fit in with the lifestyles of others, I want you to step back and evaluate and consider, if these are really the lifestyles you want to follow. Remember, you want to follow the lifestyles that God gives you in the Bible, as these are the ones that are important. You don't have to conform to the lifestyles of this world. When you follow God's standards, He will enrich all your circumstances, and you will not be concerned and worry about what others think. You will be content with whatever your situations are, and will have peace and comfort knowing that you are in God's "in crowd" which is all that matters. My Daily Devotional Volume Six January 2 Robert William Brock, Jr.

Jesus Is Your Defense

Jesus Is Your Defense "There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known." Luke 12:2 This is such an important scripture, that every Christian should embrace in their everyday lives. We should live our lives as if Jesus was watching us every minute, as He really is, but so many don't realize this. Jesus is all knowing, and sees our actions all throughout our day, and knows all our thoughts. In our society today, there is hardly any where we go anymore, where we are not captured on security cameras. The banks, grocery stores, department stores, and now even many of the streets have security cameras, that capture all our actions and movements. God has been capturing all our activities and our thoughts, ever since we were born. He knows all about us, and one day all of our life history will be laid at his feet, as He will judge us on all of our life activities. Nothing will be concealed, as every aspect of our life will be revealed, and we will be held accountable. We will then be judged, and either found guilty, or not guilty of being the kind of person God wanted us to be. The sad reality is that everyone will be found guilty, as none of us will be found worthy, and pass God's test. The only chance we will have is to have been forgiven by Jesus, who will be our only defense. Jesus will come to our rescue, only if we have invited Him to defend us. He is the only one that can save us from Hell, but we have to ask Him to come into our hearts. He is the only one that can wipe our slates clean, and remove all the blemishes from our life history, so that when God looks at our record there will not be any stain. Unless you ask Jesus to defend you, it will be hopeless. Jesus is your only hope, so call on Him today, before it is too late, to save you from Hell. My Daily Devotional Volume Six January 1 Robert William Brock, Jr. This new book was just published and is available on Amazon.com and also on Kindle E-Books