I received this today from my sister, Andi. She gets a daily devotion from Kathy Stephens. If you do not know Kathy, WOW what a woman of God. When I read these I can just hear her speaking it. This was one that I really thought everyone needed to hear.


Date: Thursday, April 24, 2008, 4:57 AM


Beloved brothers and sisters in Christ,

Our passage for today is Romans 12: 9-11


9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be
devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above
yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor,
serving the Lord.



Sincere. Without pretense. Without false motives. Love simply for the
sake of loving. Love must be sincere. Not only those people who love
you back. Love must be sincere. How sincere are our hearts when it
comes to loving someone? Agape love. Transparent love. Do those you
meet each day feel your love for them? Is it evident? Is it sincere?



Hate what is evil.
I don’t know about you, but I can feel the increase in the spirit of the
Antichrist as we approach these last days. We are told it will happen
in scripture. Evil abounds! It saddens me to turn on my television set
to just about any station and witness evil abounding…..on the big screen
and on the news. Evil abounds. We are to hate what is evil. Too
often, we grow accustomed to evil. Accustomed to the world. Tolerant
of evil. God does not change! His standards have not changed since the
garden of Eden! We don’t fight against flesh and blood, remember. We
are fighting the powers of wickedness! Hate what is evil!



Cling to what is good
Here again, we can get way to worldly. CLING to good! Embrace all that
is good and pure and of GOD! When I think of the word cling I think of
static in my laundry. It causes things to “cling”, to stick together.
Often times we don’t stick closely enough to what is GOOD! What is God
speaking to you today? What evil to you need to be fleeing from and
what good do you need to be clinging more tightly too?



10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above
yourselves.
Here it is again…..LOVE! Devoted means loyal, faithful, dedicated. Are
there people that you have failed to be devoted to the past few days or
months or years? Is there someone you need to love with brotherly love?
As Christians we should just OOZE the love of God! Think about your
actions at work the past few days. Have you been devoted to loving with
brotherly love? And honor others above yourself. Ouch! Are there some
that you don’t honor at all? God calls us to treat the people around us
with respect. Now that is a tough order in some situations, I
know…..but it is what God requires of us! To treat others ABOVE
ourselves. (That is certainly not what the world teaches us to do, is
it?) Try living this verse today!



11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the
Lord.
Oh I love this verse! WAKE UP, CHURCH! WAKE UP, CHRISTIANS! Where is
our fervor? Where is our ZEAL for the LORD? Has it grown cold again?
Are you COOLING OFF? FAN THE FLAME! FAN THE FLAME! FAN THE FLAME!
You do this by being in His Word! You do this by being part of a body
of believers who have zeal for the LORD! You do this by finding someone
else to TALK GOD WITH! (New fourth day, have you found a reunion group
to join?) Does the ZEAL of the LORD CONSUME YOU? Ask God to renew your
ZEAL! Ask GOD to consume you and then start pursuing HIM with fervor!



Sincerity and Zeal. What a lethal combination for the enemy! Living
lives of sincere love for others with FIRE in our hearts for GOD! That
is a life of victory! Hallelujah!



Father GOD, HELP US TODAY! We know how far short of the mark we fall.
Give us agape love, sincere love for the people who cross our paths
today! Give us fresh FIRE in our hearts for YOU! Give us discernment
to KNOW good from evil and help us CLING to what is good! Oh, LORD,
encourage today! ENCOURAGE! RENEW US IN YOU! As the Spirit of the
Antichrist (evil) increases in these last days, help us to have such a
ZEAL and a FERVOR for you that we SHIFT the atmosphere in our families
and our workplaces and every where we go with our LOVE! FILL US AGAIN
with your spirit, JESUS JESUS we pray! AMEN AND AMEN!


I love you with an everlasting love,
Kathy


Reminder: for those who want to come…..Ark of Safety this Friday night
(tomorrow!) 7:00. Worship service led by Janet Douglas.