Sunday, 3/6/16 “I don’t get much out of the Christian life...” SO WHAT?!?!? It’s not about you: never has been, & never will be. Rev 4:11, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for THY PLEASURE they are and were created. ‘Nuff said? Ps 65:2, O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come. He says He hears...so why do we doubt prayer so much and do so little of it? 1It’s a spiritual activity so our flesh will always rebel against it. 2It allows God prime opportunity to poke His finger into our lives and point out areas to work on, i.e. it’s convicting. 3He has His own timetable and we’re impatient. 4He has His own agenda but we insist that He adopt ours. 5He demands compliance and we tend to be rebellious. 6He has His own priorities (building our faith, building His kingdom is more important than our money or life situation). The solution: 1pray about your prayer life. 2Be willing to surrender on the issues of your sins, your impertinent demands, your self-will, and your short-sightedness.
Monday, 3/7/16 If the Christian life is a boring drudgery to you, you’re doing it wrongly!! Ps 126:2, Then [when God intervened in our lives after we confessed our sins] was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing. His ways works, if we’ll work His ways. Ps 126:5 They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. Though often used for soul winning, in context, I think this verse is just talking about life in general. 1Even if you’re weeping, do what you’re supposed to do. (In other words, don’t live based on your emotions; don’t let them dominate you: live by principle and schedule.) 2Life is cyclical: no one rejoices all of the time. 3Work, even if you’re crying. 4Life is composed of formulas: one of them is that it takes work to produce a crop. 5There will probably be some lag time before you see the fruit of your labors.
Tuesday, 3/8/16 Pro 5:1b, ...bow thine ear to my understanding. Often this wording refers to humbling ourselves, but here it refers to listening carefully. If you’ve not heard God talking to you recently (instructing, correcting, or prompting), it’s too noisy where you are, or you’re not listening. Pro 5:3, For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil. More often than not, God’s words are “as an hammer,. i.e. not very attractive and soothing, which is why we prefer to listen to the world’s tones and tunes. Will you give yourself what you want or what you need? (Junk food is more attractive than a balanced diet...until and unless you make yourself learn to like proper food. God is a “foreign” taste to our fleshly appetites...He is a developed taste...but worth the time and effort to develop.)
Wednesday, 3/9/16 John 8:28, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he... Problems revealed what He was to others. Your problems don’t make or break you: they unveil what you already are. John 1:11, He came unto his own, and his own received him not. His own people didn’t receive Him 2000 years ago, and the story is oftentimes still true today. We refuse to acknowledge His office, His wisdom, His authority as it is offered from the pulpit or from personal devotions.
Thursday, 3/10/16 Heb 11:35, Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured... Living by faith, being faithful, pleasing God doesn’t mean that we will receive a “good” outcome, even in the long run...unless that long run includes Heaven. John 9:2 distresses me each time I read it: And his disciples asked him, saying, Master who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind. Their view of God was that He was SSOOOOO petty and mean. But, so often, I am the say way: “God is mad at me...” “I’m not one of His favorites...” “I’m not good enough...”
Friday, 3/11/16 John 11:4, When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby. Lazarus was dying: probably pain-filled and misery filled...and he didn’t know the rest of the story. Do you want, would you want God to use you for His glory...if He chose this? John 9:25, He answered and said, Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see. No one can argue with the power of a changed life. Is your life different enough to confound the unsaved scoffers and critics? Or, are you as worldly and sexy and inebriated and foul-mouthed and greedy as they are?
Saturday, 3/12/16 How close are you (or want to be) to Christ? John 3:21, But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. If you’re not as close as you’d like, you need to do more truth. Pro 9:9, Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase in learning. The just man is a ready student who learns facts. The wise man not only does that, but also learns more wisdom (seeing things from God’s perspective and acting accordingly), i.e. he determines how and when to use best use the new info.
Sunday, 3/13/16 Pro 9:9, Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase in learning. Being a just man, a “religious” man, makes you a better student. 2 Kings 17:2, And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, but not as the kings of Israel that were before him. It is not a positive thing to have said about you, “He’s not as bad as so-n-so.” Honestly, do you measure yourself by being/committing less bad or by doing/wanting to be more holy?
Monday, 3/14/16 2 Kings 19:19, Now therefore, O Lord our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand,THAT all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord God, even thou only. Why do you and I want our prayers answered? Much of the OT is simply an illustration of NT truths according to 1 Cor 10. Hebrews says that if a believer is never chastened (spanked) by their Daddy, then they’re not saved. 2 Kings 17: 23, Until the Lord removed Israel out of his sight, as he had said by all his servants the prophets. So was Israel carried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day. God was patient for hundreds of years with His nation, but His hand of judgment fell very painfully on His people, His nation, “the apple of His eye”. Believers living in union with the world today: He’s patient, but if you’re His, His hand’ll fall on you just as surely and just as painfully.
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Miscellaneous thoughts from others:
- “There is dust enough on some of your Bibles to write "damnation" with your fingers.” – Spurgeon
- No reason to complain! Anything above not going to Hell is pure bonus!
- You will not be measured by the number of victories, but by the number of times you rebound from defeat.
- Preacher, don't forget that your preaching needs God's Word more than God's Word needs your preaching.
- Leaders don't do things because they are convenient, leaders do things because they are needed.
- (Read this carefully...this one will take some thought.) True criticism takes well-crafted words and an intelligent mind that edifies the hearer as opposed to tearing them down.
- Wives, become an expert on your husband’s strengths, and not simply a noticer of his weakness.
- The Bible is the only Book Whose author is in love with every single reader.
- People who do not like you, or even may hate you, are not bad people but broken people. (Or, it may be that you have some distateful traits...don’t overlook that possibility!!)
- I have discovered that it is a great accomplishment to do right, but it is an even greater accomplishment to remain humble after doing right.
- Be aware today. Of what? Nothing in particular, just be aware. Awareness is fully living in each moment God has given you.
- Today be kind to unkindness, cheerful to grumpiness, generous to selfishness, loving to hatefulness, patient to impatience, and gracious to ungraciousness. Be the antithesis to all those who come into your path whose spirits are not Christlike, and may our prayer be, Let Christ be seen in me, Oh Lord.
- Supposedly 8 rules from George Washington Carver: Be clean both inside and out. Neither look up to the rich nor down to the poor. Lose, if need be, without squealing. Win without bragging. Always be considerate of women, children, and older people. Be too brave to lie. Be too generous to cheat. Take your share of the world and let others take theirs.
- Never cloud up and rain on your children without afterwards sending a rainbow.
- If what you did yesterday controls your mind today-you have not done enough today to make a better tomorrow.
- Educating the mind while not educating the soul is only half an education.
- Sometimes getting your family to church, and running a van seems like a major operation, but major operations save lives. Hallelujah!
- As a teenager, I talked things out with God here so many times. It's comforting to know that when I come back, He's still here... ready to listen...ready to help...with a love as vast as the ocean.
- One of the advantages of taking the high road is you are closer to God.
- When others think they have you figured out, always remember they haven’t figured themselves out yet.
- You just DO the will of God. Do it and never seek it. Do what you are suppose to do where you are.
- It cost God nothing to create the entire universe. He spoke it into existence. However it cost him his only begotten Son to recreate me into his likeness. To think that God paid more for me than all of creation combined is beyond my comprehension.
- As flowers lean towards the sun, may I lean my life towards the Son.
- The purpose of humility is to be a servant not to be known as being humble.
- Grace is not permission to sin, but it is permission to come home to the Father when we do sin.
- Your praise to God is not very genuine when it only occurs when you like the outcome.
- I should be offended by the same sins that offend God and I should forgive the same sinners that God forgives.
- Fix the problem without fixing the blame.
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Bible thoughts from some others:
- A mother's instructions, a father's correction, God's word: they all help guide you to keep you from stumbling in the dark. They're not, “just to control you!" Pro 6:20, 23, My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother. For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life.
- Christian, a fall is not a defeat, it is a temporary setback. Your victory was guaranteed on the cross when Jesus cried, "It is finished!"
- Pro 31:10, Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies. A godly, morally pure helpmeet it invaluable and priceless.
- Ps 135:6, Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he, in earth, in the seas, and all deep places. Thank goodness He has control and does as He pleases!!
- Pro 28:5, Evil men understand not judgment: but they that seek the Lord understand all things. Godliness and the Lord’s input in leadership is more important and necessary than all other assets put together.
- Pro 29:18, Where there is no vision the people perish, but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. Vision is divine revelation and a planned purpose to know and preach God’s revealed truths from the KJB for us. Without it, we have chaos and disaster.
- Job 9:33, Neither is there a daysman betwixt us, that might lay his hand upon us both. Thanks be to God that we don’t have to face this dilemma today. We have God’s perfect Mediator, His eternal Son, Who represents us and never fails. I John 2:1-2.
- Ps 139:12, Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee, but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee. Why we think that we can get by with sin, wickedness, and ungodliness in the night times, under the cover of darkness?
- Gen 21:11, And the thing was very grievous in Abraham’s sight because of his son. No dad should love 1 son over another: the result of a wife’s attempt to help God and her husband out. It is never right to do wrong!! It always leads to heartache and problems.
- Ps 137:4, How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land? We live in a strange, foreign land. Heaven’s songs will take effort.
- Pro 6:25, Lust not after her beauty in thine heart: neither let her take thee with her eyelids. Immorality begins, is formulated, and grows in the heart, and the gateway to the heart is the eye. Men, we must keep our hearts right and guard our eyes continually.
- Ps 143:6, I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land. If we are to be spiritual, have a heart for God, and walk daily with our God, it won’t be by accident. It will take a hunger and thirst that we have nurtured and developed on purpose.
- If your situation is hopeless, your dreams are dead, and your heart is broken, do this: Remember Lazarus.
- There are times when we hear the truth [about ourselves] and it hurts bad - like a punch in the stomach!! Sometimes, you might be left reeling for a few days - like a boxer that's about to pass out; but do what you can to recover soon! What we do and how we react to that rebuke makes the difference! Pro 9:8, Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee. Eccs 7:5, It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools. Pro 9:9, Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.
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