Friday, January 17, 2025

Timely Tidbits of Truth 49

Timely Tidbits of Truth 49
-Roy Lessin, Meeting in the Meadow

Jesus does not have light, He is the light, and that makes all the difference. Just remember the lesson that we learn from a child…there is no need to fear the dark when the night light is on.
 
The Lord is my light and my salvation— so why should I be afraid? The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble? (Psalm 27:1 NLT).
 
Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life” (John 8:12 NLT).




#timelytidbitsoftruth #meetinginthemeadow #roylessin #devotional

©2025 Roy Lessin, Meeting in the Meadow. Used with permission, all rights reserved.

Wednesday, January 15, 2025

What’s Happening on the Inside?

What’s Happening on the Inside?
-Roy Lessin, Meeting in the Meadow


 
A familiar prayer in Scripture is “Thy kingdom come...”  Where does God want to establish His kingdom?  Our tendency is to only think of His Kingdom coming outside of ourselves—a kingdom that He will establish when Jesus Christ returns. As we wait for His kingdom to come upon the earth in the future, God wants to establish His kingdom within us today.
Romans 14:17 tells us that the kingdom of God within us is established in only one way, through the person of the Holy Spirit. Our problems come when we try to establish God’s kingdom in our lives through our own efforts or systems. We cannot produce or establish anything that is of God.

We cannot, by doing outward things, however good they appear, make ourselves into what God wants us to be.

There are three things the Holy Spirit works within us to establish God’s kingdom: righteousness, peace, and joy. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to produce all three. God does not want one-third of His kingdom established within us, or two-thirds, but the whole. The kingdom does not come within us in sections or on the installment plan. God doesn’t say, “Be good and I will give you righteousness. Be very good for a long time and I will give you peace. Be very, very good for a long, long time and I will give you joy.”

People become restless and joyless when they try to establish their own righteousness. What we do outwardly does not change us inwardly. The Scribes and Pharisees who lived during the years of Jesus’ ministry were a group of outwardly religious people who went about trying to establish their own righteousness through their works and by keeping their man-made rules and traditions.

They worked hard at it, but it did not produce any joy or peace within them. Instead, they were without faith, hard, demanding, angry, critical, and judgmental. Their outward form of righteousness left them empty. And, when they were confronted with the reality of the kingdom of God through Jesus Christ, they became more miserable.

We cannot walk in daily peace and joy if we carry unrighteousness in our hearts. The unrighteousness of bitterness, resentment, and unforgiveness, will rob us of our peace and joy; the unrighteousness of worry, fear, and anxiety will quench the flow of the Holy Spirit within us.
Everything about righteousness is good, pure, clean, wholesome, and healthy to our inner-man.

Attitudes of unrighteousness will quench the peace and joy of the Holy Spirit, but righteousness will release them. The fruit of righteousness is not sour grapes.

Inward righteousness comes from the Holy Spirit, not disciplines or rituals.  Inward peace comes from the Holy Spirit, not from ideal circumstances or times of silence. Inward joy comes from the Holy Spirit, not from entertainment or good times. As believers in Jesus Christ we need to yield to the Holy Spirit and allow Him to produce the life of the Kingdom within us. Let Him anoint you with the oil of joy and clothe you with the garment of praise; let His peace rule in your heart and guard your mind; let His righteousness bring health and wholeness to your spirit.

Today, may your prayer be, “Lord, let your kingdom come in me.”

For the Kingdom of God is...living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17 NLT).




#devotional #righteousness #fruitfulness #holyspirit #inwardjoy #kingdomlife #roylessin #meetinginthemeadow

©2025 Roy Lessin, Meeting in the Meadow. Photo by Marina Bromley. Used with permission, all rights reserved.

Monday, January 13, 2025

My Morning Prayer, Conversations 1

My Morning Prayer, Conversations  1
-Roy Lessin and Marina Bromley

No weapon formed against you shall prosper, 
And every tongue which rises against you in judgment 
You shall condemn. 
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, 
And their righteousness is from Me,” 
Says the Lord.
Isaiah 54:17 [NKJV]

Welcome to a new short series that will be featured on Our Morning Prayer postings each Monday. The series is titled Conversations and its focus is upon Biblically based responses to the temptations the enemy brings into our thoughts. We pray that this series will help equip you with the power of Biblical truth to combat the internal conversations that challenge you in your daily spiritual walk the Lord.

Conversations 1
-Roy Lessin, Meeting in the Meadow
 
The tempter said to me:
You are a nobody and nothing you do is important.
 
I answered:
I am content. I’ve placed my life into the hands of the One who truly is Somebody and He can do all things.
 
For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen (
Romans 11:36 NKJV).




My Morning Prayer
-Marina Bromley

My dearest heavenly Father, thank you for being trustworthy and dependable. Thank you for all that You provide for me, for guiding me and leading me by Your Holy Spirit. Your foundation is the strength of my life. I AM content. I trust You to do all things and manage all of my difficulties for Your glory. Your will is all I desire in my life and I want nothing more than what You will provide in my life. Please help me to recall scriptures to combat the lies of the enemy. Place God-following people in my path to lift me up and help me remember WHO I am and WHOSE I am. I know You love me, and it is because of Your kindness towards me, a sinner, that I am led to a deeper place of love with You. I am yours. In Jesus's name, amen.

#mymorningprayer #conversations #devotions #devotion #meetinginthemeadow #roylessin #prayer #marinabromley

©2025 Roy Lessin, Meeting in the Meadow. Prayer and photo by Marina Bromley. Used with permission, all rights reserved.

Friday, January 10, 2025

Timely Tidbits of Truth 48, Peace

Timely Tidbits of Truth 48, Peace
-Roy Lessin, Meeting in the Meadow
 
Songs, and cheers, and festive places,
bring no peace to anxious faces;
All that tries to calm and please,
Brings peace like a swarm of bees.
Nothing bought can bring true peace,
But helps to keep it out of reach!
 
Peace in hardship, peace in fear,
Peace not distant, always near.
Peace from heaven Jesus brings—
Peace that comforts, peace that sings.
Peace He freely gives to you,
Peace in all you’re going through!
 
Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid (John 14:27 NKJV).


#timelytidbitsoftruth #meetinginthemeadow #devotional #roylessin

©2025 Roy Lessin, Meeting in the Meadow. Used with permission, all rights reserved.

Wednesday, January 8, 2025

Success and Trials

    Success and Trials
-Roy Lessin, Meeting in the Meadow
 
Have you ever noticed that your greatest trials can often appear shortly after your greatest times of success? Why does this happen? God allows this for love’s sake. He allows it to keep your heart from entertaining the one thing that can bring you down quicker than any other sin—pride!

    God wants to bless you, use you, and cause you to prosper. God is a good Father, and for love’s sake, He does not want any of His blessings or favor to puff you up or lead you away from His presence and into self-confidence or self-sufficiency.

The next time you experience a great trial after a great success, keep these four things before you and hide them in your heart:

1.     Without Jesus I can do nothing. 
2.     God is using this trial to show me my weakness and to help me to continue abiding in His strength.
3.     I have more grace working for me than the trial that is working against me.
4.     Anything that exposes my weakness and helps me to be fully dependent upon God is something I can respond to with thankfulness.

    A final reminder…
Put your hand down if you’re trying to pat yourself on the back. Lift it toward heaven instead!
 

    I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud. Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong (2 Corinthians 12:7-10 NLT).





    #devotional #successandtrials #pride #roylessin #meetinginthemeadow

    ©2025 Roy Lessin, Meeting in the Meadow. Photo by Marina Bromley. Used with permission, all rights reserved.