10/28/2010 Living by God's Word or Man's wordScriptures: Psalm 37:23-31, Jeremiah 10:28
God wants to help you plan your life and His ability to plan our lives well is infinitely beyond our ability. Its our mission to overcome our fears and allow God to connect to our plans. The Bible tells us that "the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord," but who is a good person? A good person: follows God, trusts God and tries to do God's will. If we are living by man's word, we already know the outcome of life's events before they happen. How? Because we are living by our own expectations! When we live by man's word, we believe that we are held back by mankind. We are victims of man's desires and feel that life position, nationality, corruption, government, etc. can hold us back! We must realize that human thinking is contrary to God's Word! When we live by God's word our thinking becomes filled with faith, hope and promise. These verses from Psalm 37 show us that: "...Steps are ordered by the Lord": this is saying that our steps are directed by God and His Word becomes our compass. The Word of God is reliable; while man's word is laden with lies, forgetfulness, change and unfulfilled promises. The Bible contains the words of a holy, trustworthy and unchangable God. "...The Lord upholdeth us with His Hand": He holds onto to us, even when we fall. He's watching out for us, like a parent with his child. "...The righteous are not forsaken...": He blesses us financially. "...The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom and judgement": He endues us with wisdom and ability to make wise judgements in our lives. "...None of his steps shall slide.": He keeps us sure-footed and directed. Its time to give up trying to survive by man's word! God's words guarantee you will live well. Let's live by His Word and enjoy successful life! 10/25/2010 Harvest TimeScriptures: Matthew 9:35-38
The harvest is a key time for farmers, if there is no harvest they have nothing to farm. Everything depends upon the harvest and the harvest waits for no man. All of these things are in the earthly sense, but they are exactly what the Bible tells us about the spiritual harvest. Its our duty to take care of the harvest by reaching souls for Christ. Without the harvest the church does not exist and without the Gospel message the world will never know about salvation! There is always someone to tell about Jesus, but is there always someone wiling to share? Let's take a look at three principles of the harvest that we learn from these verses: First, the Bible tells us that the Harvest is plentiful, saying that "Jesus saw the multitudes." The harvest is ready now and we just have to see it. The shortage is not the harvest, but the laborers: "the workers are few." Second, the harvest is valuable. The existence of the church depends upon the harvest. Recently a Gallup Poll was taken of six million people with the question: "what would it take to get you to church?" The answer: "someone to ask me to attend." People are simply waiting to be invited! We must remember the multitudes are not numbers, they are people. The poll "then asked Christians how they came to the Lord and seventy-four percent said a friend or relative. " Finally, the laborers are special. Workers of the harvest are chosen and sent by the Lord. They do not mind getting dirty. They gladly bear God's sickle the sickle of life. "The harvest is many, but the workers are few..." Will you be a part of the few? 10/21/2010 A Changed ManScriptures: Luke 16:19-31
In these verses, we read about a rich man who went to Hell. Hell changed this man, it made him different than the person he was on earth. What changes did he experience?
Seeing all of these differences in this man, we can ask the question "why did hell cause such a change in this man? Hell became more than a story, it was a reality, where he was plagued with constant remorse and despair. He was faced with an eternal desire for freedom, while being consumed by regret, loneliness and the memories of lost opportunities. So how does this relate to your lives? We are reminded that we have the opportunity to experience these changes now! We are given the opportunity to choose a life with God now. Repentance and vision are available readily to us. We can separate ourselves from evil and eschew the temptation to compromise. God gives us the mission to reach the lost and we can help others find Him and experience life-changes this side of eternity! 10/14/2010 The Spirit of TimidityScriptures: 2 Timothy 1:6-11
"God hath not given us the spirit of fear," in these verses we see that Timothy was dealing with a spirit of timidity. Where did this spirit come from? Two possible places: Timothy's own personal baggage or from the pit of hell. Paul directed Timothy to "stir up of the gift of God, which is in thee." The Holy Spirit helps us overcome our fear of what others might say or do. God equips us with three fundamental tools through His spirit: 1) Power- the spirit of power brings to us competence and courage. 2) Love- the spirit of love is the ingredient that enables us to attract and connect with others. 3) Sound Mind- A sound mind gives us wisdom to take the right steps, to see with a Godly perspective, The Word tells us: "be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord." God has given you everything you need through His spirit and He empowers us to help us overcome the spirit of timidity. |
Archives
April 2020
Categories |