Archive for September, 2011

Keep Thanking God

Keep Thanking God

1 THESSALONIANS 5:18 CEV
18 Whatever happens, keep thanking God because of Jesus Christ.
This is what God wants you to do.

There are many things in life we may not understand. But we
can understand this verse, and know that God gave these
instructions for our benefit, to help us — not because God is
so insecure that He needs constant thanks.

When bad things happen, what should we do?

Will it help to gripe and complain and feel sorry for
ourselves?

No. That only makes things worse.

When bad things happen they seem to contradict belief in the
goodness and care of God.

But we must remember that there is an enemy, the devil, who is
out to steal our faith, our peace, and our joy. We are
commanded in Scripture to resist him, staying strong in our
faith.

Giving thanks is a powerful way to resist the devil. Even when
we do not understand, and it seems like things are out of
control and going downhill fast — we should force ourselves to
stay in faith and be thankful.

(I am not saying God is responsible for evil, or to thank God
for evil. Instead, I am saying we can thank God for what He is
doing, and what He has already done for us in the sacrifice of
Jesus — no matter what may be happening.)

1 THESSALONIANS 5:18 NLT
18 No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is
God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

SAY THIS: I will keep thanking God, no matter what happens.

God Feeds The Birds

God Feeds The Birds

MATTHEW 6:26 LB
26 Look at the birds! They don’t worry about what to eat — they
don’t need to sow or reap or store up food — for your heavenly
Father feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than
they are.

Have you ever watched birds eating on a snowy day? It takes
some effort on their part. They don’t just sit around waiting
for someone to put food in their mouth.

Is God feeding them? Directly or indirectly?

Jesus stated clearly that God is the one who provides food for
the birds. This implies that God provides for every creature.

Yet, if a bird sits still, instead of gathering the food God
has provided for them, they will starve.

Birds must have faith that food is available somewhere, so they
keep searching. They don’t sit in the spot where they found
food yesterday and wait for more food to show up there today.
They keep looking, obviously confident that food is available
somewhere.

Yes, the birds can be a good lesson for us. Although they have
nothing stored up for their future, they don’t worry. Neither
should we. They gather daily what God provides for them. So
should we. (This is not to say it is wrong to save or invest
for your future, but only that you should trust God either
way.)

I don’t know whether the birds are thankful to God, or not. But
we should be thankful. And we should recognize that God is the
Source of all the good that we enjoy in life.

So work, but don’t worry. (And if you can’t do normal work –
still don’t worry, because God cares more for you than He does
the birds, and He will provide for you somehow.)

And when you have a need, keep searching for the provision
while keeping your focus on God, because you know that God
always provides for you.

SAY THIS: God cares for the birds, so I know He will take care
of me.

Enjoy The Lord

Enjoy The Lord

PSALM 37:4 NKJ
4 Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the
desires of your heart.

You should enjoy the Lord — not just serve Him out of
obligation.

If you have a friend you enjoy being with, it is something you
look forward to, not a burden or obligation.

PHILIPPIANS 4:4 NKJ
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!

God is the most unselfish being in the universe. His
instruction and concern is not for Himself, but for others. So
He does not try to get you to draw near to Him so He can feel
important, but for your benefit.

PSALM 100:2 NET
2 Worship the LORD with joy! Enter his presence with joyful
singing!

The reason you need to worship God is because you will be
blessed. I usually have a daily time when I shut out other
things and pray because I enjoy it and it benefits me. (It is
also true that God is worthy, but I do not do it for that
reason alone.)

God gave Himself to us so we could enjoy Him and choose to love
Him.

It is a mistake to view prayer as a legalistic obligation.
Prayer is a privilege. Time with God is a privilege. It should
never be looked at as a duty. We are not doing it for God’s
sake, but for our sake.

Would you like it if your friend or spouse only spent time with
you as an obligation, instead of enjoying it?

God wants you to do right. God wants you to draw near to Him.
But He does not want you to do it because you were forced, but
because you chose to do so. This is why God gave us a New
Covenant, based not on law, but on His grace and our trust in
Him.

SAY THIS: I will enjoy the Lord for He is good!

Deception

Deception

DEUTERONOMY 11:16 NKJ
16 “Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and
you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them,

If there was no danger of believers being deceived, the Bible
would not warn us about deception.

LUKE 21:8 NKJ
8 And He said: “Take heed that you not be deceived. For many
will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and, ‘The time has
drawn near.’ Therefore do not go after them.

1 CORINTHIANS 15:33 NKJ
33 Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.”

GALATIANS 6:7 NKJ
7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man
sows, that he will also reap.

The devil is a deceiver. That is his only real weapon against a
believer in Jesus Christ: to deceive them, so they will not
accurately act on God’s Word.

2 CORINTHIANS 11:14 NKJ
14 And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an
angel of light.

REVELATION 12:9 NKJ
9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called
the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast
to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

The thing to remember about deception is that the person being
deceived does not know it. No one who is being deceived
realizes it. Otherwise, by definition, they would not be
deceived.

JAMES 1:22 NKJ
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving
yourselves.

This verse is very sobering. When we don’t act on God’s Word,
we open ourselves up to deception.

We should never be so proud as to think we could not be
deceived. Yet, as we walk closely with the Lord, depending on
Him, we need not fear. But we should live soberly, realizing we
need to love Truth and diligently press in for understanding of
God’s Word.

SAY THIS: The only defense against deception is understanding
and acting on God’s Word.

Your Body Is Your House

Your Body Is Your House

2 CORINTHIANS 5:1 NKJ
1 For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is
destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with
hands, eternal in the heavens.

The “real you” is not your body. Your body is just a house you
live in so you can function here on earth.

Just as someone can change houses where they live, you can, and
will someday, leave your body and still exist.

We focus too much on our body. The inner part of us is most
important. These bodies we live in are not eternal.

It is not wrong to take care of our bodies, any more than it is
wrong to take care of the house or apartment where we live. It
is a mistake, however, to spend all our time on our body and
neglect our spirit and mind.

1 TIMOTHY 4:8 RSV
8 for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of
value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life
and also for the life to come.

Who a person is on the inside is more important than what their
body looks like.

We judge too often on the house (body) that people live in,
instead of focusing on the real person living inside that body.

SAY THIS: My body is only a temporary house where I live.