I thank God every day for the brothers and sisters God places in our paths at work. The encouragement and strength that comes from the Lord through our fellow believers clearly manifests the love that the Father has for His children.
The following devotional writings come from one of my brothers at work, Patrick Egle, who was led by the Father to begin a daily e-mail ministry of sharing God's Word. My prayer is that you'll be blessed through his efforts.
Keith Ricker
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Proverbs 9:12, "If you are wise, you are wise for yourself, and if you scoff, you will bear it alone." The word "wise" that is used here means "to be wise, act wisely, make wise, or show oneself to be wise." It is moral rather than intellectual in that it is the conversion of what we know to what we ought to do. Meaning, we are all held accountable for what we know, and the decisions that we make with that knowledge. This is a truth that I think we all forget from time to time; every decision that we make has consequences. Wise choices will have good consequences; foolish choices will have bad consequences.
Notice the difference though between being wise and scoffing (mocking) at wisdom. When you use wisdom (applying God's Word/Truths) as the foundation of the decisions you make, you are blessed. You prosper, you gain in wisdom, you help yourself! But when you scoff at God's wisdom, and ridicule it, the point is clearly made that "you will bear it (the consequences) alone." The word "bear" means "to hold or support a weight or something heavy." This speaks of the eternal weight of sin. I believe this scripture is not just referring to normal everyday decisions, but even more so, the eternal decision of surrendering to Jesus Christ or not. When we ask Jesus Christ into our hearts, and truly surrender our lives to Him.He carries our burdens, He forgives us of our sins, and He pays our debt. Without surrendering to Him, we carry our burdens, our sins are not forgiven, and we must "bear it (consequences of sin, death) alone."
Galatians 6:7-8, "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life." So we need to ask ourselves.what decisions are we making today.and more importantly, what is the source of making those decisions.God's Word/Truths, or our what we think? God has made it so simple for us to be victorious.read, know, and apply His Word!
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Proverbs 10:12, "Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all sins." We have all had people hurt us at one time or another. Whether it was intentional or on accident, people have wronged us, and it hurts. And more often than not, our first reaction is to get even with that person. Whether that means lashing out at them and hurting them right back, or telling everyone we know how they hurt us, we are driven to make things right. Yet, is this what we are taught by the instructions and the example set by Jesus Christ? No, not at all.
Jesus taught us in Matthew 5:44, "But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you." And this wasn't just lip service either, Jesus lived it. Remember when He was being beaten, flogged, and having His beard ripped from His face? Remember when He was having stones thrown at Him and being spat on as He was carrying the cross to Calvary? Remember when He was being mocked and ridiculed as He was willingly hanging on the cross for all of us? Did He once strike back at any of these people? Did He once try to get even with them or yell at them? No, in fact in Luke 23:34 He prayed as He was hanging on the cross, "Father forgive them!" And in 1 Peter 2:23 we are told that, "When they hurled their insults at Him, He did not retaliate. When He suffered He made no threats."
Jesus lived these words and set the example for all of us to follow because He knew that nothing good comes from lashing out or striking back. All it does it hurt us and make the situation worse. Proverbs 15:1, "Harsh words stir up anger." Notice it doesn't say, "harsh words relieve anger" or "harsh words pacify anger", but it specifically states that harsh words will only stir up anger within us even more. Kind of like adding fuel to a fire.
Harboring and giving into anger and bitterness is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die. All it does is tear us up and hurt us, not them. So Jesus says pray FOR those that hurt us and persecute us, not against them. Why? Why should we pray for these people? Because if we are truly praying for someone, we can't hate them! We can't be mad at them! We can't harbor anger and bitterness towards them! When we pray for someone our hearts change towards that person because we are taking part in an act (choice) of love towards that person, and as we are told, "love covers all sins." Before we know it, the anger and bitterness that we once felt is gone and we have forgiven that person.
Chances are that we will never "feel" like praying for those that hurt us, but I don't remember Jesus ever telling us to go by our feelings. He just says to do it. And the truth is, when we do make that choice to pray for others, we grow in strength and faith and we are blessed for it.
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Romans 8:28, "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." This verse is timeless and its comfort is never ending. Just look at the emphasis here, "all things work together for good to those who love God". "ALL THINGS" it says. Not some things, not a lot of things, but "ALL THINGS.work together for good to those who love God." I remember when the pain was more than I thought I could bear and I was crying out to God. It was then that I remembered this verse. As I thought about it, I realized that God has allowed this for my good. Do I understand why or how it will be used for my good? No not at all. But nowhere in the Bible are we ever promised to understand all of His ways. But rather we are promised a "peace that SURPASSES understanding."
John 14:27, "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you. Let your heart not be troubled, neither let it be afraid." So where does this peace come from and how do we get it? It only comes from the knowledge and application of His word. Even though I was hurting, this verse brought me so much peace because once I realized and chose to trust in the fact that God is in control of all things.and somehow, this WILL be used for my good and His glory, everything was ok. I was now fine with everything and I was at peace.
But there is a condition here that we need to recognize. "All things work together for good to those WHO LOVE GOD." So this promise is based on those "WHO LOVE GOD." How do you know if someone loves God? Scripture answers that for us, John 14:23-24, "Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father (God) will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. 24) He who does not love Me does not keep My words." God's Word is not a set of rules or regulations that we have to follow because He is a tyrant. Follow my commands or die, that kind of thing. That is not what He is saying here and that is not what God is about. Understand that the Bible is a love letter from our Heavenly Father to us. And in the Bible, God has given us wisdom and guidelines to follow, to protect us, and to help us to prosper and grow. Just like when we raise our children.we instruct them not to do certain things because we want to protect them. And we instruct them to do certain things because we want to help them prosper and grow. It is no different with God. The Bible is instruction manual to all of life!
Jesus says that if we truly love Him, we will take it upon ourselves to read His Word, learn it, and apply it. It is the ultimate profession of trust and faith in a God who just wants us to grow and prosper. And when we do this.all things will work together for our good!!!
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Proverbs 12:26, "The righteous should choose his friends carefully, for the way of the wicked leads them astray." When I was thinking about this verse, I thought about the fact that we can't choose our family members (moms, dads, etc), we can't choose those that we work with, but we can choose who our friends are. You know, those people that we bring in to our inner circle. Here we are told that, "The righteous should choose his friends carefully" because if we choose poorly, "the way of the wicked leads them (us) astray."
First off, let's be clear about who the "righteous" are here. The righteous are those that have been made righteous by Jesus Christ. Because apart from Him, there is no way that anyone of us could ever be righteous. So we see that this verse is talking about those that have surrendered their lives to Jesus Christ.
Thus the "wicked" would be anyone who has not surrendered their life to Christ. It's interesting to me that as a society we separate and classify people into so many different categories.race, color, creed, citizenship, denomination, etc. But when you really think about it, there are only 2 kinds of people in this world.believers and unbelievers. Or in other words, the righteous and the wicked.
The point that this Proverb is making is that whoever it is we choose to hang out with.that is who we are going to become like. Proverbs 13:20, "He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm."
And this truth goes beyond just our friends. This goes with boyfriends/girlfriends, business partners, and especially those we choose to marry. Deuteronomy 7:4, "For they (unbelievers) will turn your sons (the righteous) away from following Me, to serve other gods." Notice though, its not the wicked that leads the righteous astray, but it's the WAY of the wicked that does this. Meaning its the way the wicked live their lives, the beliefs they have, the choices they make, and the example that they set.
The point here is that we need to surround ourselves with those people who encourage us to trust, have faith in, and rely on God. Those whose living examples encourage us to apply His word and walk closer with Him everyday. And not with those who would encourage us to trust, have faith in and rely on ourselves, or the world's wisdom, or our feelings. We really need to think about the people that we are choosing to surround ourselves with and are exposing ourselves, and our children to. Because, again, who we hang out with, is who we are going to become like. So let me ask you, who's in your five?
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Proverbs 16:3, "Commit your works to the Lord, and your thoughts will be established." The NIV translates this verse like this, "Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed." The word "commit" that is used here literally means to "roll, or to roll upon." The visual that is painted here for us is to take everything in our lives, and actually roll them over to God, placing them in His possession. By doing this, we are giving God complete control over the outcome of that situation. And when we do, "our thoughts will be established" and "our plans will succeed."
The word "establish" means to "set up, fix, or prepare." So whatever we roll over to God.He sets up, fixes, or prepares for us, to make sure that whatever the outcome, it will always benefit us. What an amazing promise! But this truth goes so much farther beyond just plans we make, and works we do. This verse encourages us to commit everything to God. Our worries, anxieties, troubles, sickness'.God wants everything so that He can set them up, fix them or prepare them for our benefit. 1 Peter 5:6-7, "Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on Him because he cares for you." Jesus says, cast ALL your anxieties on Me because I love you! I will carry them for you and I will work them out for your benefit.just let go of them and give them to Me!
Most importantly, I believe this verse encourages us to commit our entire lives to Him. Think about it for a second, if we gain such amazing victories when we simply commit our works, plans, and anxieties to Him.imagine how much more amazing it would be if we fully committed our very lives to Him! So let me ask you, what's wrong with life today? What needs to be set up, fixed, or prepared? Jesus says, whatever it is, commit it to Me.and it will be established! So today, let's all commit our lives to Jesus by surrendering all things to Him. Let's commit our lives to Jesus by applying His Word and following His commands, because when we do, we will be established.we will succeed!
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2 Corinthians 11:3, ".the simplicity that is in Christ." Simplicity is the secret of seeing things clearly. A saint does not think clearly for a long while, but a saint ought to see clearly without any difficulty. You cannot think a spiritual muddle clear; you have to obey it clear. In intellectual matters you can think things out, but in Spiritual matters you will think yourself into cotton wool. If there is something upon which God has His pressure, obey in that matter, bring your imagination into captivity to the obedience of Christ with regard to it and everything will become as clear as daylight. Spiritual muddle is only made clear by obedience."
I read this devotion by Oswald Chambers a couple of days ago and the Simplicity of the Word of God really blew me away. Here Mr. Chambers points out the difference between intellectual matters and Spiritual matters. The difference is this.you cannot think Spiritual matters through, you have to obey them through. They may not make sense when we get our instructions from God, but once we obey, they will become as clear as daylight. Many times in my life God has impressed something on my heart that I need to do. Me being me, I would think about it, imagine what the results would be if I did it, or if I didn't do it.and then I would base my decisions off of those things. By doing this I was relying on my thinking, my feelings, and not the Word of God. Here in-lies the problem.
When God speaks to us though His word or His Spirit, and instructs us to do something, we are not to dwell on it, think about it, and reason with it. We are simply to obey it. And the sooner we obey it, the better because the longer we wait to obey His instructions, the more likely we are to talk ourselves out of it.
In case you don't know, I am a huge video gamer..well, a while back, I was about 1-2 years old in my Christian walk, I went out and bought this video game. It was the brand new, highly anticipated, Grand Theft Auto. I really didn't know too much about this game, just that everyone was gaga over it. So I got the game home and started playing it. Right away, I felt God tug on my heart saying, "Patrick, this is not a game you should be playing." He was right.there was a lot of profanity and sexual themes in this game that I was not aware of. Well, I knew that I couldn't take the game back because it was already opened. And I knew it wasn't right to sell the game to someone because then they would be exposed to this filth.so what was I to do with this game?
Right on cue I felt God say, "Patrick, you need to destroy this game!" Well, as I sat there and thought about this, I was like, "God, I spent $50 on this game, do I have to?" And it was like God said to me, "Patrick, is your soul worth $50?" I knew at that moment that I needed to obey God's instructions. I also knew that if I did not obey God and destroy that game at that very moment, I would eventually talk myself out of it and disobey God. So, before I could even think about it or reason about it, I ran out back and destroyed that game. And you know what, from the moment that I destroyed that game, I knew that it was the best $50 I had ever spent!
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Proverbs 18:1, "A man (or woman) who isolates himself seeks his own desire; He rages against all wise judgment (sound wisdom)." The word "isolates" that is used here means "to divide or separate". This word generally has more of negative emphasis to it than a positive one. The word "seek" means "to find something that is lost or missing". And the word "rages" means "to be obstinate, stubborn, or refusing to change."
Separation in itself is not a bad thing. In fact the Bible instructs us to "come out from among them and be separate", 2 Corinthians 6:17. God is telling us to separate ourselves from "the ways of the wicked" or in other words, from the beliefs, the choices, and the overall way of life that the unsaved and the worldy choose to have. But the proverb this morning speaks of those times when we separate ourselves in an unhealthy manner.
These are the times when something is lost or missing in our lives, and instead of going to God and to the Body of Christ (brothers and sisters) for help, we isolate ourselves, and we try to find it on our own. Notice the emphasis in this verse, "A man who isolates himself seeks his OWN DESIRE". By isolating ourselves from God and our brethren, all that we are doing is seeking our own desires. We are now making decisions based only on what we think and feel, and this will only lead to certain failure. Proverbs 11:14, "Where there is no counsel, the people fall."
And let's look at the results of isolating ourselves and seeking our own desires."He rages against all wise judgment". We become stubborn and hard hearted. We get in this state of mind of "we know best" and we refuse to listen to any wisdom whatsoever. This is a very slippery slope to walk on because when we isolate ourselves, and our hearts become hard to any kind of wisdom whatsoever, we will never even realize how far we have fallen away until we are completely broken.
The amazing thing is that we have a loving heavenly Father who wants us to come to Him. Matthew 11:28, "Come to Me, all you who are labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Hebrews 4:16, "Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and FIND GRACE TO HELP IN TIME OF NEED." Look at the only condition that God gives us to receive help in a time of need, "Come to Me.come boldly" and we shall receive!
We are all going to face times of trials and difficulties in this life, and our first instinct may be to go home, lock the doors, turn the phones of, and wallow in the hopelessness of isolation. Take it from someone who has lived with depression his whole life, it never helps. We need to go to God, seek prayer and counsel from more spiritually mature brothers or sisters, and when we do these things, we will receive help in the time of need!
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This picture (a beautiful rendition of Jesus standing at a door and knocking) is based off of Revelation 3:20, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me." Holman Hunt painted probably the most popular rendition of this verse, and many versions like this one, have been based off of his original concept. If you examine the picture, you will notice there is no doorknob on the outside of the door where Jesus is standing. Now, you can't see it in this picture, but in Hunt's original you would notice that the only doorknob is on the inside of the door. Hunt's explanation for this was that since the door represents the door to our hearts, if Jesus was to ever come in to our lives, we must be the ones to open the door and invite Him in.
Understand this, God is a gentleman. He is not going to force His way into anyone's life. Yes, He knocks on the door of our hearts and calls out to us every second of every day, but if He is ever to be Lord of our lives, we must surrender and ask Him to come into our hearts and take over our lives. John 14:6 says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." Jesus makes it very clear that the only way to heaven and eternal life with Him is through Him. There is no other way.
But how do we know that we are truly saved? I believe we are saved when we ask Jesus Christ into our hearts and it is not only our lips moving, but it's really our hearts that are moving. Proof of being truly saved is defined throughout scripture. Matthew 7:16, You will know them by their fruits." Matthew 7:21, "Not everyone who says to Me, ?Lord, Lord', shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven." John 13:35, "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." We will know that we are saved when there is a radical transformation from who we were to who we are. It may not be an overnight thing, but it will happen, guaranteed. We will begin to desire to know Him, spend time with Him, serve Him.but most importantly, we will have love for one another. Our heart of stone is replaced with a heart of love and compassion when Jesus comes into our lives. Out with the old, in with the new!
Now maybe you are saying to yourself, "I know this already.this is Christianity 101 Patrick." Well let me ask you this.do your husbands/wives know? Do your children know? Do your parents, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews.do they know? Do your co-workers know? Do your friends know.do your neighbors know? Does the guy who asks you for money at the gas station, does he know? We are not here to be served, we are here to serve. Jesus gave us our marching orders in Matthew 28:19-20, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.' Amen." This is called the Great Commission, not the Great Suggestion. It's why we are here and it is the "will of My Father in Heaven."
I feel led to ask that if there is anyone reading this who has not given their life to Christ, I would love to talk to you more about it. If there is anyone who doubts they can share the Gospel of Jesus Christ, I would love to talk to you more about sharing your faith. I pray that today, as God brings people across our paths and across our minds, we would make it a point to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with them, because when we do, seeds are planted in their hearts and His word will have its perfect work in their lives. Isaiah 55:11, "So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it."
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Proverbs 21:1, "The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes." We have talked before about how God is in control of all things, yet this verse seems to take it to a whole new level. Not only does God direct the most insignificant things, like the way water turns, but He also directs the significant things such as our hearts. Now when I say "our", I mean every man, woman and child in the world.not just those who are saved. The word "heart" used here includes not only the motives, feelings, affections, and desires of a man, but also the will, the aims, the principles, the thoughts, and the intellect of man.
There are many people in this world who think they live independently of God, and yet we are told here that God holds our hearts in His hand, to move and direct them according to His will. God uses believers and unbelievers to bring about His will whether they realize it or not. Proverbs 16:1, "The preparations of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord." Proverbs 16:9, "A man's heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps." This is not to say we are a bunch of robots, truly God has given us freedom of choice, but God has a plan and a will that is going to come to pass and there is nothing we can do to stop it. The only question is, are we going to be a willing participant in His works and be blessed, or are we going to be obstinate and miss out on that blessing.
A great example of this is the story of Queen Esther. If you have never read the Book of Esther, I would really encourage you to read it as it is an amazing book about choices and the consequences to those choices. Here, the Jews are on the brink of extinction as the evil man, Haman, influenced the heathen King, Xerxes, to order the destruction of the Jews in his kingdom. Unbeknownst to either man, Queen Esther was a Jew and when her uncle, Mordecai, sent her word of their plans, it grieved her tremendously.
Mordecai instructed Esther to approach the King and ask for the lives of her people to be spared, yet Esther was afraid to do this because back in the day, if anyone, even the Queen, approached the King without invitation, he had every right to kill them on the spot, and the King had not asked for her presence in about 30 days. Here is Mordecai's response to her, "Do not think in your heart that you will escape the king's palace any more than all the Jews. For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" Esther 4:13-14.
The point Mordecai was making was that God is going to save His people regardless of what Esther does. She can be obedient, do the right thing, save her people and be blessed, or she can choose to save her own life and lose it. Well, after 3 days of prayer and fasting, Esther approached the King uninvited, and God moved his heart to hear her request and the Jews were saved. AMAZING! God already had all of this worked out, all Esther had to do was be obedient. Though she thought there was a real chance of Xerxes killing her, "the king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes." God is in control!
When God directs our hearts to do something, we should do it knowing full well that He is a God of victory and success, not of failure. We should do it knowing that God controls all things, even the hearts of men. Proverbs 3:1, "My son, do not forget My law, but let your heart keep My commands. For length of days and long life and peace they will add to you."
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Psalm 118:24, "This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." As I watched the sunrise this morning, I could not help but think of this verse. In context the Psalmist was probably referring to the day of deliverance or maybe the day when the stone was made chief cornerstone, but when I meditate on this verse, I only think of today.the here and now.this day, that the Lord has made for us.
Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the plans (thoughts) I have for you,' declares the Lord, ?plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a future and a hope." Thousands of years ago, from the very depths of all that He is, God envisioned you and me. And as He poured out His whole heart into our creation.shaping and testing every line, curve, freckle, and dimple.He finished and He said, "It is good." After that, He meticulously thought out incredible and awesome plans for our lives. Plans that would just knock our socks off! Today is one of those days! Today "is the day the Lord has made!" God has made this day, September 23, 2008, specifically for you and for me.to "propser" us, and "not harm" us.to give us "a future and a hope" so that we could "rejoice and be glad in it!"
I believe the Psalmist understood this and that is why he says, "we will rejoice and be glad in it." But notice that he is making a choice here. He says, "WE WILL rejoice and be glad in it" because "this is the day the Lord has made!" He is not saying "we will rejoice and be glad in it" because of a warm, fuzzy, feeling he had.or because something good happened to him that morning. He is basing his whole decision to rejoice and be glad in this day on the sole fact that God created it! But the question is, how do we do that everyday? I mean, life is hard and trying and difficult.how do we rejoice in the day when circumstances overwhelm us from time to time?
The secret is that this man knew God. He didn't know of God, but he knew the very character of God.he knew God intimately through prayer and worship and the reading and application of God's word. This is why he could say rejoice and be glad in it! And the truth is, the only way that we'll ever be able to truly say in our hearts, "This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it", is if we truly know who God is.
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1 John 3:16, "By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us."
What is true love? I grew up thinking that love was a warm, fuzzy feeling that we get inside of us. If I didn't have that feeling inside of me, then it wasn't love. Well, the truth of the matter is, this is not love at all. Look at this verse, "By this we know love, BECAUSE He laid down His life for us."
Here God gives us the true definition of love. He says love is known by Jesus' death on the cross. Now let's think back to Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, the night before He allowed Himself to be captured.I don't remember Jesus feeling all warm and fuzzy about the cross, do you? In fact, if we look at scripture, we will see that He was agonizing over this. So much so, that He was sweating drops of blood from His head! But let's be clear about something though, it wasn't the physical death that Jesus was agonizing over. It was the fact that when He became our sin, He would have to be separated from God the Father for the first time ever! Imagine that.being separated from God as you endure something as horrific as becoming every man, woman, and child's sin.this was truly an amazing act of love by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
The point regarding love that we all need to understand is this.love is a choice that we make, not a feeling that we have. I know this is very foreign to a lot of us because generally we are led by our feelings. But think about this for a second, Jesus had the same freedom of choice that we have today, and He could have chosen not to die on the cross for us. But, He made a choice. He made a choice to become sin and die for us because He LOVED us. And He made this choice even though it went against everything that He was "feeling" at the time. This, my friends, is true love.
There are going to be people in our lives today, tomorrow and for the rest of our lives that we are not going to "feel" like loving. But when we make that choice to love someone.regardless of who they are, or how they treat us.not only will our hearts change towards that person, but their hearts will change towards us. And more importantly, their hearts will change towards Christ.
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Proverbs 25:19, "Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a bad tooth and a foot out of joint." The word "confidence" that is used here means "object of confidence" or "state of confidence". So trusting in an "unfaithful man" or woman, as the object of our confidence is a huge mistake. Trusting in what they say, or what they think, or what they believe, is a huge mistake. We are told that it's like having "a bad tooth and a foot out of joint", meaning that when we do this, it's going to just make our troubles even worse than they already are, adding to our misery. There is only One we should trust in and go to for help, Psalm 46:1, "God is our refuge and strength, A very present help (abundantly available help) in trouble." Hebrews 4:16, "Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." This is one of the reasons why God gave us the Bible, to find help and instruction in times of need.
But this proverb begs another question to me.what is our object of confidence for joy, happiness, and fulfillment? For the longest time I placed the responsibility of my joy, happiness, and fulfillment on finding the right girl. I thought that when I found her, I would then have joy, I would then be happy, and I would then find fulfillment. Well one day as I was walking and praying, Jesus spoke to me very clearly and said, "Patrick, I am the One you have been searching for." And all of the sudden it hit me, Jesus IS the only One that will ever bring joy, happiness and fulfillment to my soul. For me to put that burden on any person is not fair to them, because we are flawed, and weak, and no matter how great a person is, they are going let us down at some time or another.
Maybe as we think about this we find that our confidence for fulfillment is in possessions, or money, or a job. The truth of the matter is that all of these things will leave us unfulfilled and thirsting for more.they will never satisfy us. Whereas with Jesus, we will always be fulfilled and satisfied! John 4:13, "Jesus answered and said to her, ?Whoever drinks of this water (worldly things) will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life."
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ROMANS 1:17, "The just shall live by faith."
The word "just" that is used here speaks of those who have been justified and made righteous by surrendering their lives to Jesus Christ, because only in Him are we justified and made righteous. The word "live" that is used here has the emphasis of eternal life in Heaven. So basically what the Apostle Paul is saying here is that, ?Those that have been made righteous through Jesus Christ shall have eternal life in Heaven by faith."
But notice that everything hinges on having faith. Without faith in Jesus Christ, we will not be justified or be found righteous, and without faith in God's method of salvation, we will not have eternal life in Heaven. EPHESIANS 2:8-9, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." So we see that we are not saved by works or deeds or anything that we can do. We are only saved "by grace.through faith" in Jesus Christ!
So where does faith come from? ROMANS 10:17, "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing the word of God." So we see that faith only comes to us by hearing the word of God. Well, how do we hear the word of God? By reading the bible! But is it enough to just hear the word of God? No, absolutely not.
Faith is hearing the word of God and then acting on it. Because if we just hear the word of God and do nothing, is it really faith? No. Well what about if we hear the word of God and believe it, is that faith? No. Faith is hearing the word of God and then applying it to our lives.
See, faith requires us to take action. It requires us to take God's word, and stand on it, trust in it, and apply it to our lives, regardless how we feel, what we see, or what our circumstances are. Faith is "the evidence of things not seen" according to Hebrews 11:1. Meaning that true faith is not based on visual or physical evidence. But rather faith is based on a divine assurance in a loving God that sent His only begotten Son to die for us. So today, let us all take His word, apply it, and live by faith!
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Romans 1:16-17, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, 'The just shall live by faith.'"
The Apostle Paul was imprisoned in Philipi, chased out of Thessalonica, smuggled out of Berea, laughed at in Athens, called a fool in Corinth, and almost killed in Galatia...yet he never quit preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. Why would someone endure so much pain and ridicule and yet not give up? Because the Apostle Paul knew that the very word of God was the only thing that would save people's lives. He knew that it alone has the power to save. The word power that is used here is the English word 'dynamite'. Imagine trying to break solid rock with a toothpick, its not going to happen is it? But you get some dynamite and that rock is going to crumble to pieces. Us trying to bring people to Christ aside from the word of God is just that, trying to break solid rock (a heart of stone) with a toothpick, its never going to happen. But when we preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, look out...hearts will crumble (become hearts of flesh) for it alone is power of God to salvation.
We all know people that are not saved. Many of them are our families and friends and in our haste and desire to save them, we often try arguing them into the Kingdom of God. Well, if we do argue them into the Kingdom of God, know this, the enemy can argue them right out of it. If people are to be truly saved, they must make that choice for themselves, they must believe...we cant make that choice for them. This word believe is the same word faith that I spoke of last Friday. Its not a one time thing, or a one day thing, but is an everyday, for the rest of our lives thing. Notice the word is in the present tense, believes. That means it must be something that is lived out continuously for the rest of our lives.
If those people we love so much, or anyone for that fact, are going to be saved, it must come from the word of God because though people may find our words and stories interesting and compelling, only the word of God will stir their hearts. So let's not be ashamed to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to anyone, regardless how they may treat us or what they may think of us, because it alone will change and direct and heal and encourage and comfort.it alone has the power to save because in it the righteousness of God is revealed.
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Proverbs 13:12, "Hope deferred makes the heart grow sick."
Have you ever hoped for something that wasn't, or hasn't been fulfilled? You wait and you wait and you wait.and as time goes on, you begin to get depressed, you begin to lose all hope and soon your heart just becomes sick? Well God tells us here that when "Hope is deferred it makes the heart grow sick." He tells us this is for two reasons, 1) so that we will understand that this is something normal that happens to us when we have to wait because we are a people of very little patience and very little faith; and 2) so that we won't lose hope and take matters into our own hands. It's kind of like cold medicines that have the disclaimer, "Will cause drowsiness" written on them. They tell us this so that after we take the medication and we get really tired, we're not freaking out and wondering why we're so sleepy all of the sudden. In the same regard that is what God is telling us here, "When you hope for something and you have to wait for it, you're going to start getting depressed, so don't be surprised when it happens and don't buy into it."
So how do we endure this time of testing? Well first of all we need to remember what Proverbs 13:12 says.that our hearts are going to grow sick and we will feel as though there is no hope. So knowing this is going to happen, don't give any credence to these feelings of hopelessness because they are just a side effect of waiting. Much like with the side effects of the medicine, we now know that though our hearts grow sick, there is a greater work going on inside of us.
And second, we need to ask ourselves if we are placing our hope in that particular person or thing, or if we are placing our hope in the God of hope. Romans 15:13, "Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit!" Notice that when we place our hope in the God of hope, we will be filled with all joy and peace in believing and we will abound in hope! And really that's the key to enduring this time of growth. See when we place our hope in God, and not in anything else, we will find joy and peace in believing that with God, we will never be disappointed, even if that hope is never fulfilled. Romans 5:5, "Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us." But if we place our hope in that thing or that person, we will always be disappointed.
So regardless what we are hoping for today, whether it's a husband or a wife, or healing, or a child.let's place our hope in the God of all hope, knowing that He will always do what is best for us, even if it means not giving us what we hope for.
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Proverbs 29:18, "Where there is no vision, the people perish; but he that keepeth the law, happy is he."
The word "vision" that is used here means "message received by prophetic vision". In other words this verse is referring to the absence of the Word of God. Now whether its absent in someone's life, in a community, or in a country.look at the result, "the people perish." Both the New International Version (NIV) and the New King James Version (NKJV) translate this word "perish" as "the people cast off restraint". It literally means "to loosen" and carries the idea of having "loose morals". So we see that when the Word of God is absent in our schools, our communities, and our countries.we will cast off all morals and live according to the sinful nature of our flesh.
Romans 1 speaks volumes on this subject. Here is a brief part of what the Apostle Paul wrote about concerning the absence of God's Word. Please take a couple of minutes and really read through these verses, and see if there is merit to what Paul is saying. Do you recognize any of these things in our country? Romans 1:28, "And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who knowing the righteousness of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them."
The more our country, our communities and our schools continue to "not retain God in their knowledge", the more that these unfitting things are going to creep in and take over in our society. Now let's take this to a personal level.if there is an absence of God and His Word in our homes, our families will "perish". If there is an absence of God and His Word in our lives then we will "perish." We will be just like these people that Paul wrote about, and we will "do those things which are not fitting."
But look at the last half of this verse, "but he that keepeth the law, happy is he." "Happy" literally means "a state of prosperity that is bestowed by God". God makes it so simple for us and our families to be successful and prosperous in this life and in all that we do, yet we willingly perish by ignoring Him and His Word. All that we need to do to is take those unfitting things in our homes and in our lives, and replace them with God and His Word and we will dwell in "a state of prosperity that is bestowed by God."
Be Blessed for He is God!
