Sunday, 4/26/15
Deut 33:2c-3a ...from [God’s]
right hand went a fiery law for them. Yea, he loved the people... God’s
rules are not unnecessarily limiting (like those of a cruel babysitter): they
are protective, just like we had and enforced rules on our toddlers re:
electrical outlets or knives or playing in the street. You’ll understand God a
LOT more if you view yourself as about a 15 month old and not as a mature
adult. Pro
21:21 He that followeth after
righteousness and mercy findeth life, righteousness, and honor. Do you
chase after righteousness? (Maybe I should ask about your church attendance and
Bible reading record.) Do you pray for holiness? For a revelation of your sins
so you can correct them? Do you thrill for opportunities to extend mercy and
rejoice over others being given mercy?
Monday, 4/27/15 Ps 137:9 Happy shall
he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones. These
are the words of a bitter person, wallowing in self-pity, suffering for results
that they themself caused. Never be happy for another’s misfortunes: we’re to
love everyone, even the cruel. To not do so is to show your spiritual
immaturity.
Tuesday, 4/28/15 Ps
139:18 If I should count [your thoughts
of me] they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with
thee. God thought about YOU all night last night. How often will you think
about Him today? How can you up that number? Ps 139:23-24 Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me,
and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in
the way everlasting. It takes a lot of courage to ask God to see if your
heart is pure, for a revealing of sin in there: are you willing to SINCERELY
ask Him? Then, what’ll you do with what He points out? Bottom line: DO--YOU--WANT--TO--BE--HOLY?? Or, are you
just playing the Christian game?
Wednesday, 4/27/15
Gal 4:19 My little children, of
whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you. We often see
the work of the soul winner as spiritual prenancy (faithfully going, enduring
rejection, trying over and over til someone accepts Christ), but are you “in
labor” to mature anyone? Matt
13:11 He answered and said unto them,
Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven,
but to them it is not given. Here’s something you may not have thought of:
have you ever asked for this gift? The gift of understanding the things of God?
God didn’t write a book to deceive us and because He didn’t want to communicate
the truths therein. He wrote it to be understood, but He won’t cast His pearls
before swine either. Do you WANT to know your Bible and the God who wrote it?
Do you WANT a deeper, more meaningful
relationship with Him? (The secret is in v12: acting upon that which you
already have.)
Thursday, 4/28/15 John 13:34 A
new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you,
that ye also love one another. We were told to “love our neighbor as
ourself” back in Lev 19:18. Is the new commandment simply one of degree:
instead of loving as a man can, we’re to do it “as Jesus loved”? Pro 9:12 If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for
thyself: but if thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it. Ultimately, most
of what we do or become, we do for ourselves. WE will endure or enjoy the
majority of the consequences or blessings of our choices; WE will personally
answer to God for the choices. We will lie in the bed we make...so be wise my
friends. (Speaking of such, you will go to the eternal place you choose: God
does NOT decide our destiny. Do you KNOW you’re going to Heaven...with biblical
backup, or is it just “I know it...in my heart, I know it...”?
Friday,
5/1/15 Ps 25:10 All the
paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his
testimonies. If the things of God are a drudgery to you, something’s wrong.
(And I doubt the problem is with Him...) Ps
143:1 Hear my prayer, O Lord, give ear to
my supplications: in thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness.
A reminder that any prayers we get answered are not because we were good, but
because He is good. And most that weren’t answered were not because we were bad
(nor was He), though our blatant and unconfessed sins do prevent Him from
answering “in thy righteousness.”
Saturday, 5/2/15 Pro
27:4 Wrath is cruel, and anger is
outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy? Beware the “little” sins,
the “socially acceptable” sins. Better to be too cautious and thereby too clean
than to suddenly find yourself entrapped.What are YOUR “little” sins? Ps 144:2b ...my shield, and he in whom I trust; who
subdueth my people under me. Bosses, how do you control your underlings?
The world uses various motivations, threats, rewards, and philosophies. God can
do it for you...if you’ll ask Him. (And it’ll probably be done more
efficiently.) BTW Boss, do you pray for your subordinates? Do you love them? Do
they know both of these facts? Follower...the same goes for you.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Thoughts from some others
- I love the hymn, "Standing
on the Promises," but I am glad we can fall on those promises as well
knowing that He is still faithful.
- If you live to please people you
will have to take on their values in order to please them and that is where the
danger lies.
- It is sad when a former prodigal
son himself, becomes an elder brother.
- If it is wrong to demean,
belittle or despise others, then it is wrong to demean, belittle or despise
self.
- Sometimes it takes more trust in
the Lord to do nothing than it does to react to our hurts.
- Don't throw in the towel. Instead
use it to wipe another brow or to wash another's feet. As long as you keep
using the towel it will give you reason not to throw it in.
- Lying to yourself by saying you
forgive someone when in your heart you know that you are still filled with
bitterness is worse than coming to God and openly confessing that you have not
truly forgiven them. When we confess our weakness then God becomes the strength
we need to forgive. Be honest lest that seed of bitterness creep in and keep
you from enjoying the peace of God's perfect forgiveness.
- The sun never quits shining even
when you can't see it and God never stops loving us even when we can't feel it.
- If you find yourself in a
difficult, even heartrending relationship with a child, a spouse, or anyone
else, just consider that it means you are the person God specifically chose and
equipped to demonstrate His love to that person at this time.
- The Christian you most wish you
could be like has probably been through trials you least likely would want to
endure.
- The truest apologies are short
and without excuses.
- Our worse trials are our best
opportunities to trust God.
- It is difficult to train children
to have common sense when they sit for hours and watch nonsense.
- People who are not busy lifting
fallen people usually have plenty of time to tear them down.
- How can we claim to have prepared
our children for the future when the one thing they need the most they seem to
possess the least? We have taught them to trust what they know, trust their
standards and convictions, trust how they've been taught to serve, but all that
will crumble if they don't learn this one thing upon which everything else
hinges. TRUST GOD!
- Today's opportunities await you
in the form of hurting people. We miss them because we are looking for things
to do rather than people to help.
- Have you ever considered the fact
that the father who no doubt was clean and wearing fresh clothes ran out and
without thought embraced the filthy son with no thought of the son's filthiness
soiling his own clothing and self? So, why do we think God wants us to come to
Him clean before He would have anything to do with us?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
- Ps
40:13 Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me.
O Lord, make haste to help me. This is the cry of a man to his God after
looking at his iniquities and fleshly human weaknesses. We all have them, and
lest we get proud or self-righteous, we need to allow the Holy Spirit to
convict us and drive us to our knees.
-
Pro 26:20 Where no wood is, there the
fire goeth out; so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth. No
gossip and no talebearer = no fussing, friction, or strife. We need to guard
our mouths and bridle our tongues as God’s emissaries and as members of His
family.
Do
you feel like you “just can't get ahead”? Do a self-examination. This is NOT
meant to be condescending; but a help to anyone who needs it! Pro 28:13 He that covereth his sins shall not prosper:
but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.
Ps
28:7 The Lord is my strength and my
shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly
rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him. When we trust the Lord, He
rewards our faith with peace that only He can give. He's so wonderful!
Bible
thoughts! Ps 29:4 The voice of the Lord
is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty. God's voice, and the
words He speaks are enlightening and uplifting! We should definitely take after
Him when it comes to our speech!
Ps
1:6 For the Lord knoweth the way of the
righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish. The path may seem VERY
unsure to us, but not to the Lord! He knows every mile, every stretch, and
knows exactly where our road will take us! Isn't that great news! He's a great
navigator!!
Ex
2:!2 And he looked this way and that way,
and when he saw that there was no man, he slew the Egyptian, and hid him in the
sand. The reason we often sin and then try to hide the evidence is because
we are more conscious of who is on the right and who is one the left than we
are of Who is up above.
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Contact me at baptistcity@gmail.com for information on subscribing to the weekly email or daily text messages from Terry.