Sunday,
1/4/15 Pro 30:5 Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their
trust in him. The trust occurs first, then later comes the shield. If you
see the shield benefit already, it’s not faith. Faith has an element of doubt
or blindness built into it. Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. The Bible
vs. Evolution: they’re both a matter of faith: we must believe what someone
else says happened. Believers of each have the same evidence, but make
different conclusions/interpretations.
So, you and I must determine: 1Who has the better track
record of being right? (I think God and the Bible win this point, hands
down.) 2If there is a God, He was the only eye-witness to the
event. At best, the evolutionists are relating historical fact. So, do you
believe God’s word? (This is the crux of the whole debate: do you believe what
God said happened?) 3Whose character is higher, and therefore, whom would I
be more likely to trust? (Again, God
wins totally.) 4What is the agenda for each side? (God wants to redeem man and give him eternal
happiness. The evolutionists want to eliminate God from the conversation...God
wins.) 5What is the end result of each? Trusting the Bible brings hope and
blessings. Trusting evolution causes
despair and uselessness. Since it’s a matter of faith, I’ll take the choice
that brings me hope. Five out of five: 6 days of Creation is what I believe.
Monday,
1/5/15 Jer
27:6 ...Nebuchadnezzar the king of
Babylon, my servant... The wickedest of unsaved people may unwittingly be
serving God. If the “whole world seems to be against” you, it could be that you
didn’t listen to God’s earlier admonitions. Rom 12:18 If it
be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.
Remember, all of the Bible was written to you and no one else. I wonder, do I
give my spouse/kids/boss/friends an opportunity to live this verse because I’m
too hard headed or oblivious to notice my own habits/actions that drive them
crazy? Do they have to bite their tongue to keep from biting off my head
because I refuse to change, or worse, because I don’t notice their indicators
of frustration?
Tuesday,
1/6/15 Luke 11:39 Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup...but your inward
part is full of ravening and wickedness. V52 Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge...
A clean heart (eternally and temporally) is the key to Bible knowledge. In Jer 29:1-7, Jeremiah writes a letter to
the Jews who’d been deported to Babylon on the first captivity. He tells them
to build houses, plant gardens, get married, and allow their kids to get
married, and to seek the peace of the locality in which they now lived. In our
vernacular, he told them to “make the best of a bad situation.” All of us, at
times, find ourselves on a totally different path then we wanted, planned, or
foresaw. Life is full of surprise twists and turns. If your situation is such, 1Accept
it; quit living in Fantasy-ville or If-Only-land. 2Quit
complaining and dragging others down. If you must grieve over a lost dream or
loved one or plans, grieve as quietly as possible. (You’ll drive others away if
you are constantly bringing up your situation again.) 3Turn
the situation over to God. I know it sounds trite, but if living by faith were
easy and fun, everyone would be doing it. Who needs faith when the bills are
paid, health is good, and the skies are clear and bright? Faith is dependence
for what we can’t see or do. Sometimes there are hard “semester projects” in
the “School of Faith.” Sometimes there are major exams in “Faith 406.” Growing
in our faith means stepping out of our comfort zone: muscles aren’t built by
lifting the same weights as before. Jer
44:18 But since we left off to burn
incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we
have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine.
I have found that it’s hard to pinpoint causation, and if-then timelines. These
people had a superficial revival, but God’s judgment still fell, so they drew
wrong conclusions. It’s good to think and analyze, but remember that the best
conclusions you can derive are still fraught with human error and faulty
judgments. Objective opinions will help with this. Also, prayerful and
submissive supplication.
Wednesday,
1/7/15 Pro 3:9 Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all
thine increase. There are 2 commandments here: the 2nd one is to
tithe on all your increase. The 1st is to honor (not shame) God with
what you already have. Are 0 for 2? 1 for 2? 2 for 2? Matt 27:29 ...and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail,
King of the Jews! The majority of the world is still mocking His deity; His
love; His redemptive offers...but their foolishness will end in His wrath and
judgment. Is your worship sincere? (In other words, do you walk the walk or just
talk the talk?) (See v31: And after that
they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment
on him, and led him away to crucify him.)
Thursday,
1/8/15 Jude 20 ...building up yourselves... Building spiritual muscle takes time,
just like physical muscles. If I need to be able to lift 250 lbs tomorrow, I
can’t start training today: I’d be a year too late. Since we don’t know when
our spiritual trials will come, we must prepare always. Faith will work for
you...if you will “work out” today, and tomorrow, and the next day. Acts 12:13 ...and
John departing from them returned to Jerusalem. John Mark quit here, but
later wrote the Gospel and was declared “profitable” by Paul: in other words,
he was allowed to come back to God and God’s people. If someone you love quits
on God (through neglect, rebellion, bitterness, or another flagrant sin
[alcohol, immorality, love of money, etc.]) be sure to love the person and try
to make sure they understand that you’re against their choices, and not them
personally. That’s hard to do, and their sin may distort their perceptions
regardless of your intent, but try to “confirm
your love toward [them]”, while separating from their sin (2 Cor 2).
Friday,
1/9/15 Luke 16:21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s
table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. There are people in
this world whose desires I know nothing about, and whose hardships are truly
hard. Maybe I should rejoice a l-i-t-t-l-e more?? Jer 44:18 But since we left off to burn incense to the
queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have wanted all
things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine. I have found
that it’s hard to pinpoint causation, and if-then timelines. These people had a
superficial revival, but God’s judgment still fell, so they drew wrong
conclusions. It’s good to think and analyze, but remember that the best
conclusions you can derive are still fraught with human error and faulty
judgments. Objective opinions will help with this. Also, prayerful and
submissive supplication.
Saturday,
1-10-15: Matt 28:19-20 Go ye (plural: all of you) and teach...whatsoever I have commanded you.
You need to consider putting out your own daily text. For 5 years today, I’ve been doing so, and
nothing has opened the Bible up to me more than that. Ps
34:3 O magnify the Lord with me. For 5 years today, I’ve been putting out a daily text with a Bible
thought. (For 4.5 years, I’ve put a 2nd, different thought here on
FB.) God has been so gracious to me!! But, the Bible can open up to you if
you’ll do what I’ve done: share what you know. I challenge each of you who read
my daily posts, to start to share what you see. Maybe, it’ll just be an
observation: “I never saw that this person did....” Maybe it’ll be a challenge:
“This verse says thus-n-so. Let’s all try to therefore, do this...” Maybe it’ll be almost a confession: “This
verse rebuked me. Maybe someone else needs to see it.” BTW, expect some
opposition when you start: “Who are you
to post Bible thoughts?? I know how you live!!”
Strive to have 2-3 decent posts a week. Read your Bible with pen and
paper handy, and put some pressure on yourself: if you don’t see anything,
confess your hard-heartedness, and then re-read your scheduled reading for that
day. Make yourself find
something. Pay more attention than you did when you did your required reading
in English class in high school. God’ll speak to you too. I’m not His pet,
believe me. (BTW, I never post just the verse: I always comment on it. Tell me
WHY that verse spoke to you, what you got from it. The Bible phraseology is
“gave the sense.”)
Thoughts from some others
Pro
3:12-14 Whom the Lord loveth he
correcteth: even as a father the son in whom he delighteth. If we can sin
without conviction or correction, I really wonder who our Daddy is and Whose
spirit indwells us.
1 Sam
15:23-24 Rebellion is as the sin of
witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the
Lord, he hath rejected thee from being king. I wonder how many men of God
have forfeited their right to the blessings of God because of disobedience to
the known commands of God?
Pro
22:4 By humility and the fear of the Lord
are riches, honor, and life. God’s standard for wealth is different from
man’s.
Ps
75:7 But God is the judge: he putteth
down one, and setteth up another. Promotion and publicity from God will
come in His good time if we live by His rules and please Him. God’s approval is
far more important than man’s!
Ps
81:16 He should have fed them with the
finest of the wheat and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee.
The saddest of statements: what could have been? I wonder how much we have
forfeited and missed of God’s blessings and provisions because of disobedience
and willful defiance of God’s perfect will in our lives.
1 Sam
16:2 And Samuel said, How can I go? If Saul
hear it, he will kill me. And the Lord said, Take a heifer with thee, and say,
I am come to sacrifice to the Lord. It’s refreshing to find great men of
God also had fears and apprehension.
2 Cor
5:7 For we walk by faith and not by sight.
It is one thing to read about and talk about faith, it’s quite another to
believe, have confidence in, and live by it.
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