Sunday, 1/12/14 Job 31:1 I
made a covenant with mine eyes: why then should I think upon a maid. Job
promised to not look lustfully on a woman. He then therefore, restricted his
mind also. If an action is wrong, getting close to the action is, at best,
unwise. God sets the boundaries regarding sin:
where are your protective ropes to stay safely away from that line? Ps 137:1-3 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down,
yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in
the midst thereof. For there they that carried us away captive required of us a
song... Don’t be surprised if those around me: 1) don’t see that I have a
burden or the depth of it, 2) don’t care
about it if they know, 3) don’t change
their behavior because of my burden, or, 4) act surprised when I haven’t gotten over it
as quickly as they have. And, 5) never
expect the unsaved to act like a Christian.
Monday, 1/13/14 Pro 11:5a The
righteousness of the perfect shall direct his way. You ask: “What should I
do in this situation?” “What would a
good Christian do in your situation?”
“Is there a Bible example of someone in that type of situation?” “What is the ‘right-est’ choice you could
make?” Ps
32:1 Blessed is he whose transgression is
forgiven, whose sin is covered. We are blessed (happy, content) because we
know God has forgiven us. Does your spouse, kids, friends know that you’ve
forgiven them and that the slate is clean?
Tuesday, 1/14/14 Notice the progression of the people’s
spirituality here: Ps 106:12-14 1Then believed they his words; 2they sang his praise. 3They soon forgat his works; 4they waited not for his counsel:
5but lusted exceedingly in the wilderness,
and 6tempted God in
the desert. If you don’t want to end
up at v14, keep doing v12. Jud
1:28 And it came to pass, when Israel was
strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute, and did not utterly drive them
out. In their mind, they devised a better plan than God had. It turned out
to have short-term benefits (slave labor) and long-term negatives (enemies
close-by, temptation for idolatry). Think through and get advice on your
“better ideas.”
Wednesday, 1/15/14 Pro 11:6 The
righteousness of the upright shall deliver them. If you don’t have
righteousness of your own, borrow another’s. How would a righteous person
handle your situation? Matt
15:32-33 Then Jesus called his disciples
unto him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue
with me now 3 days, and have nothing to eat...and the disciples say unto him,
Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to fill so great a
multitude? The disciples didn’t learn from the Feeding of the 5000. Here
was a similar situation and none of them proposed that Jesus could do it again.
Do you learn from Bible stories? Look at God’s promises; look at the conditions
to be fulfilled to trigger the promise; then fulfill the conditions. The Bible
is not God’s journal in which He just doodles, nor is it filled with “fluff”
cuz God had to fill up a certain number of pages for His publisher. The Bible
is simply a spiritual recipe book: follow its directions.
Thursday,
1/16/14 Isa 40:6, 8 ...All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower
of the field: the grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God
shall stand forever. The best you have in your fleshly beauty, brains, or
heart is as a wildflower: pretty, but basically good only for kindling. Major
on the eternal things and not on the “grassy” things. Lev 11:4 [Certain animals are] unclean to you. God instituted dietary restrictions on the Jews as
an obedience test, and to make them different from the heathen so the heathen
would stay away. However, in Acts 10, Col 2, 1 Tim 4 God says that the dietary
restrictions were lifted.
Friday,
1/17/14 OH!!OH!!OH!! Watch the progression here: Isa 41:1 Keep silence before
me, O islands; and let the people renew their strength: let them come near;
then let them speak: let us come near to judgment. Quit whining to everyone; get your strength
renewed (40:31 - wait upon the Lord);
then speak to God; then obey Him. I
Kings 19:14 [They] have forsaken thy
covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and
I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away. Elijah
felt alone, misunderstood, and unwanted: a misfit. God ignored his complaints,
gave him work to do, then said, in passing, “Oh, BTW, there’s 7000 others just
like you.” Lessons: 1Others are going through your same temptations (I Cor
10:13). 2A major cure for depression is work and
distraction. 3Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.
Saturday, 1/18/14 How do you react around someone who brags a
lot on God? “Oh, he’s such a
phony!!” “Who does she think she is?
Susie Spiritual?” Ps 34:2 My soul shall make
her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. The
humble like to hear God exalted. Isa
40:1 Comfort ye, comfort ye my people,
saith your God. While a leader must
correct his followers (sometimes harshly), most of us need to major on
encouraging each other.
Thoughts from some others
- Pro
12:24 The hand of the diligent shall bear
rule: but the slothful shall be under tribute. The ambitious hard worker
deserves a leadership position, but the lazy ought to be under supervision.
- Pro
13:24 He that spareth his rod hateth his
son: but that loveth him chasteneth him betimes. This is a Bible truth that
the ungodly hate, but check the children of parents who believed and practiced
it. We never felt unloved or abused. Check the crime rate and respect for
authority of past generations and ask yourself, “Who is right?”
- It is more
important that we accept Christ’s service than we give Christ service. John
13:9 ...if I wash thee not, thou hast no
part with me.
- Ps
33:12a Blessed is the nation whose God is
the Lord. America needs to wake up and know Who is the source of all we enjoy.
We must have leaders who depend on God if our children and grandchildren are to
enjoy all we have.
- Ps 32:7a
Thou art my hiding place, thou shalt
preserve me from trouble. How blessed we are to know a God Who is a hiding
place in times of trouble.
- 2 Cor
2:2 For if I make you sorry, who is he
that maketh me glad, but the same which is made sorry by me? If we are
negative and pessimistic, we shouldn’t expect encouragement and praise from
those around us.
- 2 Cor 3:15-16 But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the veil is upon their
heart. Nevertheless, when itshall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken
away. The unsaved are blind to the
truth of God and the Gospel until they turn to the Lord.
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