Christian Holiness Journal

One Minute Memory Verse 

Look to the Lord and His strength. Seek His face always.

 – 1 Chronicles 16:11

Previous Memory Verses

Philippians 4:6

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-19 

Rejoice always. Pray continually. Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit. –

One Minute Bible

John 4:13-26 NKJV

Jesus answered and said to [the Samaritan Woman], “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”

The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water?  Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?”

Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”

The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.”

Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.”

The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.”

Jesus said to her, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’ for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.”

The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet.  Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.”

Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father.  You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews.  But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.  God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.”

Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”

One Minute Prayer

Father, help us to reach out to the outcasts. Remind us that you died for sinners, the homeless, the poor, prisoners, and the sick.

One Minute Praise

Psalm 63:1-5

O God, You are my God;

Early will I seek You;

My soul thirsts for You;

My flesh longs for You

In a dry and thirsty land

Where there is no water.

So I have looked for You in the sanctuary,

To see Your power and Your glory.

Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,

My lips shall praise You.

Thus I will bless You while I live;

I will lift up my hands in Your name.

My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness,

And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.

One Minute Wisdom

Proverbs 25:25

Like cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country..

One Minute Devotion

Comedian Mark Lowry understands this: “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick” (Mt. 9:12). He jokes that we should “Throw the doors open and let them in” –  the outsiders. He has a point.

In the Mark. 22:1-14 The king commands, “Go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.” Christ says it is our job to beat the bushes and bring them to the marriage feast of the Lamb.

Jesus has a table spread Where the saints of God are fed, He invites His chosen people, “Come and dine”

One Minute Memory Verse 

Look to the Lord and His strength. Seek His face always.

 – 1 Chronicles 16:11

 

Previous Memory Verses

Philippians 4:6

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-19 

Rejoice always. Pray continually. Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit. –

One Minute Bible

Acts 2:37-47 NASB

Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?” Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.”

And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!” So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.

One Minute Praise

Psalm 116:1-2 NASB

I love the Lord, because He hears my voice and my supplications.

Because He has inclined His ear to me,

Therefore I shall call upon Him as long as I live.

One Minute Wisdom

Proverbs 17:22

A joyful heart is good medicine,

But a broken spirit dries up the bones.

One Minute Devotion

For most of the last 20 years, my motto has been, Live Life Desperately. Let me explain:

The day after Thanksgiving in 1997, I stood in my office watching a terrific rain when a firetruck flew by, sirens blaring. Seconds later, an ambulance and several police cars followed. I remember saying a prayer for the situation, whatever it was. My boss shortly took me to his car. “Your wife has been in an accident,” he said as we drove the same way as the firetruck.

Kathy had been on her way to work when an oncoming car lost control and slid sideways into her car. She wasn’t wearing a seatbelt.

I began to pray desperately. I prayed non-stop. For days, I spent my every waking moment begging God for her life.

Seven surgeries and a pacemaker later, she was discharged to rehab. A year after that, she was again walking. Twenty years later, she is in pain daily, but she is alive and walking.

It took years for our family to recover. We eventually did. It took as many years to realize that, during the desperate and sad times that followed, I was drawn closer to Christ than I had ever been before. I have since practiced praying continuously. When I forget, I simply remember that there was a time that I didn’t have to be reminded to pray. I prayed because I was desperate.

Oh, fragile man that I am, though my eyes may be blinded to the evil that surrounds me, am I not always desperate for God’s guidance? Live Life Desperately!

This is my daily bread

this is my daily bread

your very word spoken to me

And I’m, I’m desperate for you

And I’m, I’m lost without you…

One Minute Memory Verse 

Look to the Lord and His strength. Seek His face always.

 – 1 Chronicles 16:11

 

Previous Memory Verses

Philippians 4:6

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-19 

Rejoice always. Pray continually. Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit. –

One Minute Bible

2 Samuel 12:1-7 NKJV

Then the Lord sent Nathan to David. And he came to him, and said to him: “There were two men in one city, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds. But the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb which he had bought and nourished; and it grew up together with him and with his children. It ate of his own food and drank from his own cup and lay in his bosom; and it was like a daughter to him. And a traveler came to the rich man, who refused to take from his own flock and from his own herd to prepare one for the wayfaring man who had come to him; but he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.”

So David’s anger was greatly aroused against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this shall surely die! And he shall restore fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing and because he had no pity.”

Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man!

One Minute Prayer

Father, teach us the importance of confessing our sins.

One Minute Praise

Psalm 51 NKJV

Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your lovingkindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies,

Blot out my transgressions.

Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me.

Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight—That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge.

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me. Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me hear joy and gladness, That the bones You have broken may rejoice.

Hide Your face from my sins, And blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners shall be converted to You.

Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, The God of my salvation, And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, And my mouth shall show forth Your praise.

For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it;

You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,

A broken and a contrite heart— These, O God, You will not despise. Do good in Your good pleasure to Zion; Build the walls of Jerusalem. Then You shall be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, With burnt offering and whole burnt offering; Then they shall offer bulls on Your altar.

 

One Minute Wisdom

Proverbs 28:13 NIV

He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.

One Minute Devotion

A 12-step program Kathy and I led was full of love. We learned to love God and one another. We supported one another, and confessed our sins and shortcomings to one another. That little group that met on Tuesday nights became a true church. Confession was key, both to growing closer to Christ and growing closer to one another.