-Tuesday, 9/10/19 Acts
24:16, And herein do I exercise myself,
to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men.
Very simply, how’s your conscience? Have you offended the Lord? Offended your
neighbor? We all have...so go balance the scales and apologize and ask for
forgiveness.
Mark 9:24, And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief. Belief always has had, as a part of it, unbelief. Pure faith is...sight. Faith is always mixed with doubt. So, if you’re not 100% sure, you’re still on safe ground. You can still act by faith...so go on, hold your breath, calm your fears, and step out.
- Wednesday, 9/11/19 Job 34:31-32, Surely it is meet (proper) to be said unto God, I have borne chastisement, I will not offend any more: that which I see not teach thou me: if I have done iniquity, I will do no more. Improvement and honest effort is all that can be expected of us. Grade yourself in this area. Matthew 1:19, Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. Think of Joseph’s mindset here and how much pain he was enduring: his beloved wife/fiancée had evidently cheated on him and was so brash as to invent some ludicrous story of an angel talking to her. He didn’t believe her else he wouldn’t have been planning to divorce her. He would’ve been crushed by her supposed betrayal. Yet, he would not do it in such a way as to hurt her. If we love somebody, nothing they do should make us WANT to hurt them.
- Thursday, 9/12/19 Matthew 9:2, ...they brought to him a man sick of the palsy...and Jesus...said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee. Like this man, we have aspects in our lives over which we could gripe. Also, like this man, our sins are forgiven. On which will we focus today? Genesis 11:6-7, And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. Basic thought: differences divide. When entering any relationship, the more that we can share in common with the other, the better chance of success we’ll have.
- Friday, 9/13/19 “Follow your heart!” Well, where would a person’s heart lead them? John 3:19b, ...and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. It would lead into darkness, i.e. confusion, pain, sin, and loneliness. No, follow God’s word and Its principles, examples and commandments. Psalm 9:1, I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works. We must frequently be reminded and choose to remember that we have choices. Our minds and wills are not slaves to our circumstances, but instead, we have the ability to praise God despite the presence of dark skies and troubled paths. Are you under the clouds today? Praise Him, by choice, with your whole heart. Tell someone of His marvellous works.
- Saturday, 9/14/19 Genesis 27:38, And Esau said unto his father, Hast thou but one blessing, my father? bless me, even me also, O my father. Praise God that even if sin takes away our first blessing, our God still has another one for us. Don’t wallow in past failures; exalt in current promises. Psalm 9:3, When mine enemies are turned back, they shall fall and perish at thy presence. This verse, at first glance, sounds like a victorious verse, but it is actually one of defeat. If David had defeated his enemies, they would not have turned away; they would have fallen. But, in victory, they were turning away from David and came face-to-face with David’s God. Remember, that even if we individually fall in battle, our King stands strong and will/does win.
- Sunday, 9/15/19 Matthew 13:9, Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. As many times as this commandment is repeated (c.16x), perhaps we need to give more thought to HEARING the Bible. I’m referring to reading it out loud to ourselves and listening to it on our audio devices. Psalm 12:1, Help, Lord; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men. How does David go on to say that that they godly and faithful are failing and ceasing? V2, They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak. By way of ungoverned and undisciplined speech. I’m guilty, and so are you. “Let’s talk about Jesus! The King of kings is He...”
- Monday, 9/16/19 Proverbs 12:25, Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh it glad. This would be a GREAT guiding verse and goal for our lives. Go bring some gladness to work today, and bring some home to your family tonight. Titus 1:16, They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate. How is your life...AWAY from church? Does your home life, your video life, your music life, YOUR WORK LIFE sync with what you say you believe at church? We all are inconsistent...but does your inconsistency bother you? Do you apologize to the Lord and to the people affected when you are “out of sync”? (Honesty check...red reset button alert...)
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