Monday, 1/18/16 Ps 89:1b, With my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations. Homework: in the next three days, remark to 3 people about God’s faithfulness. One person in the generation older than you; one in the younger generation, and 1 your same age (3 generations). Pro 13:6 Righteousness (actions) keepeth him that is upright (position) in the way: but wickedness (actions) overthroweth the sinner (position). A Christian can’t settle for the status quo. Stopping only guarantees failure. ILL: a bicycle. I can’t be good if I don’t do good.
Tuesday, 1/19/16 2 Tim 1:5, When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother...mother...and I ampersuaded that in thee also. Could your unsaved relatives or associates be persuaded concerning the Gospel by logically looking at your life before and after you got saved? What is God’s formula for gladness and joy? Do you know? Ps 90:14, O satisfy us early with thy mercy: that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Are you satisfied (filled with to the point of being almost tired of, have plenty of, satiate) with His mercy? When was the last time you partook of His mercy and got really clean spiritually? When was the last time you acted "in Christ's stead" and offered His mercy to a fallen believer or an unsaved sinner?
Wednesday, 1/20/16 Pro 12:12, The wicked desireth the net of evil men: but the root of the righteous yieldeth fruit. A net denotes the idea of catching by stealth. A root speaks of planning, preparing, sowing and reaping. The verse is talking about methods of acquisition: the speedy, violent, possibly illegal manner vs. the merits of work. Ps 11:1, In the Lord put I my trust: how say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain? Choosing to do right is the first step, but there will always be temptations to go back on the proper choice. Think of it this way: if we’re considering making a positive decision, the Devil attempts to abort it. Once we’ve made a right choice, that decision doesn’t have a deep root system yet, so the Devil will try to uproot it while it is still small. Basically, whenever we choose to take a godly, God-directed step, the Devil will try to commit infanticide to our choice.
Thursday, 1/21/16 Ps 15:2, He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart. Notice these 3 positive words. To receive God’s blessings, it’s not enough to NOT do wrongly; we must actively, persistently do rightly. Pro 17:20a, He that hath a froward (perverse, crooked) heart findeth no good. A critical person may be: one who analyzes the situation and sees all the details, but has no tact about expressing their observations; OR, a very intelligent person who sees flaws in the current setup and feels free to point them out; (these however, if they’re honest, will see the good too.) However, one who sees NO good has a fundamentally bad heart.
Friday, 1/22/16 “Do as I say and not as I do!” (A major sign of a Pharisee) Matt 23:3, All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not after their works: for they say, and do not. Lesson: how to live under bad spiritual leadership: know your Bible and obey the leader whenever he agrees with the Bible. Ps 13:1, How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me? Bible characters were just like us: either as good or as bad. They went through everything that we go through so we can learn what to do or not to do from them, and to get encouragement from them. Lesson from this verse: Don’t despair simply because you’re despairing. Don’t get discouraged over the fact that you’re discouraged. Don’t get fearful just because you’re fearful. The negative reactions that we have to the negative events in life are normal. Live by schedule and do right even when things are going wrongly.
Saturday, 1/23/16 Ps 143:10, Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God. His will or your will? True God or false god? His Spirit or the world’s spirit? His leading or self leading? Land of uprightness or the land of selfishness? These are daily choices to make. Psalm 15 details how a person can be close to God. It lists several positives to do, several negatives not to do, and at least 1 negative to do. All are important. Some Christians are sugary sweet, but they also do a lot of wrong. Others don’t do much error, but also don’t do much good. Others stand firmly against sin, but seldom do acts of righteousness. Any of these would be like having a part of your body developed normally and part to be stunted. Don’t be a warped believer: we’ve too many people in our churches who are spiritually “developmentally disabled” or with “spiritual birth defects.”
Sunday, 1/24/16 Pro 16:8, Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right. Better to have nothing with substance than to have substance with nothing. Do you believe that? Do you live like that? Ps 93:1b, The Lord is clothed with strength. To be like Christ, we’re to be “clothed with strength.” We need emotional strength: we can and must govern our feelings; we must choose how to feel and what to display. We’re to govern our intellect: chose what to think about, and choose to learn more about all aspects of our life. We’re to clothe our physical with strength: maintain God’s temple; control our intake and force ourselves to exercise. Live on purpose, with purpose and for a purpose...God does...be like Him.
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Miscellaneous thoughts from others:
- You will never get out of the rut, if you maintain the circumstances or actions that caused you to get in the rut initially.
- The Word of God is not to match your actions. Your actions are to match the Word of God!
- Everything that is worthwhile is earned and then received. Everything not worthwhile is received and then earned.
- Anyone who is wrong still maintains some respect for truth, if only by accepting the responsibility of his choice.
- To some their word is their bond until it comes to money.
- Don't stab someone in the back & then expect them not to bleed! If you can’t say it to their face; it should not be said!
- God is my light. Faith is my switch.
- Christians are to be first responders to the fallen not first condemners.
- Do not confuse working for God with walking with God. If you do not do the latter you will become feeble in the former.
- God did not bring me this far so that I would only come this far.
- Delilah couldn't get Samson's hair until she got Samson's heart.
- You will become what you will not forgive in another.
- If you want a leader like Moses who can go up to Pharaoh and say, “Let my people go!” Then you can expect an occasional fit of temper.
- I do not think the devil cares how many churches you build, if only you have lukewarm preachers and people in them.
- The level of my growth in grace is directly determined by how much grace I am willing to extend to that person who has hurt me the most.
- Everyone notices when you fall, but Heaven notices when you get back up.
- Responsibility always says, "I can't play until my commitments are finished, then I can play."
- Someone may say, "I don't have time." That only means that the time is being designated for something more important. That's all it means. Each of us get the same exact time. Then we prioritize.
- If a man is unwilling to read his Bible every day, then God cannot speak to him verbatim. That man will forever be a victim of his surroundings being kicked from circumstance to circumstance.
- The more you give God, the more He can make of you. If you want God to make something of your life, He only has what you give Him to work with.
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Bible thoughts from some others:
- Everyone is going through something, so "As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men...," Galatians 6:10a.
- Bible thoughts! Ps 18:2, The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. How can we fear when we have such a great and powerful God on our side??!! Wow! He's so mighty!
- God told Noah to lead his family and get in the boat. They followed him. God told Lot to lead his family and get out of Sodom. They mocked him. Noah and Lot were both believers. The difference: Noah kept his convictions. Lot forsook his.
- Dependency upon God is a spiritual matter, just as dependency upon milk for a babe is a physical matter. The babe hardly knows how much or how often he needs milk, he just needs milk and without it, he will die. Feeding the body and feeding the Spirit are the same. It is possible to feed one and neglect the other. One can live while the other dies, leaving him half dead. The Psalmist certainly knew this! (Psalm 55:17) "Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice."
- Pro 19:2a, Also, that the soul be without knowledge, it is not good. I/We need to be reading considerably more than I'm/we're watch TV, or movies, or play video games! (...if that's what I'm/we're doing.)
- Yet again, advice to guard what we say: Pro 21:23, Whoso keepeth his mouth & his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles.
- Pro 17:28, Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding. Continually throughout Proverbs God tells us to get wisdom, knowledge and understanding. Here, IMHO, he confirms that old saying, “You can learn something from everyone you meet."...even a fool. (I’m still working on holding my peace more frequently!!)
- Bible thoughts! Ps 22:8, He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him. Let it be known among all of our neighbors that God is our Lord and shield!
- I love how beautiful God makes the sky every morning right before the sun comes up. His artistic creations are always so unbelievably different. Ps 113:3, “From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the LORD'S name is to be praised.”
- Bible thoughts! Ps 23:3a: He restoreth my soul. What wonderful words! Nuff' said!
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