Articles for April 2017

Matthew 16:24, “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” 

If you are going to follow Jesus, He requires that you deny yourself. (Wow!  This is HARD – it’s up there on the top of the list of difficult things to do in life!)  From the time that we are born we seek to satisfy ourselves.  Jesus said if we want to follow Him, we must not allow self to control us or our decisions.

Our first consideration should always be – what does God desire that I should do?  Do the decisions that I make line up with His Word?

I can think of many ways that self and obedience to God are in conflict. We face these choices every day.  Think about which ones win out in your life.  We know that there are certain areas that are definitely in the “I should do – because it pleases God” category.   Such as:

• Spend time in the Bible every day.
• Pray for others and self.
• Be a witness for Jesus.
• Be in church when church is in session.
• Live godly lives – choose right over wrong.
• Be…this list can go on and on. I’m sure you get the picture.

We must decide if these areas take top priority in our lives or do we allow them to be crowded out by the desires of ‘self’? Jesus says if we are to be a true ‘follower’ of His, we must deny ourselves and put God first.  How do you measure up?

Ephesians 4:26, “Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath. 

God’s Word is filled with so much wisdom. He knows man’s nature so well and He pinpoints areas that we need to deal with in order to be the testimony for Him that He desires.

When we are angry, we tend to act with quickness and harshness. We are so opened to acting irrationally during this time.  We seem to lose control and focus concerning what is really important (being a good testimony for the Lord) and we often sin as a result.

God knows that anger will come into our life, and He is addressing this issue here. He seems to be saying, “Okay, I know you will get angry…but don’t let that anger carry you into sin.”  Nip it in the bud, short circuit it, and be the testimony you should be for the Me.   When we are angry it seems that our whole being is caught up in the emotion.  There is no room for praising God, praying, or reading God’s Word.

The second half of this verse, “let not the sun go down on your wrath,” is God telling us not to hold grudges.  We are not to stew and fret over what we perceive as an injustice.  Let go of it.  (You need to give it over to the Lord and then ask for His help to leave it there.)  God knows that fuming and replaying something over and over again in your mind will hurt you more than the person you are angry with.  This advice from God is for you.  God says that before your head hits the pillow, resolve the problem so you can face tomorrow with a spirit that can serve and please Him!

Matthew 6:33a, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness;”

When God laid on my heart to write a blog, I was excited. I can honestly say I love doing it.  I love the Bible and I love the things that God is teaching me through His Word.  It is wonderful to be able to share these verses and thoughts with others.

I determined to spend the first part of the day reading the Scriptures and working on these blogs. WELL – I’m sure you can relate – life keeps wanting to get in the way.  There is so…so…much to do.  Important stuff – or so it seems.

This morning my mind was racing with a list of ‘need to do’ chores. I began to convince myself that I needed to do these first.  I have to smile because God always has a way of reminding me of what my priorities should be.  Logic says,  “I need to do – this, this, and this – first.  As I was beginning to agree with my ‘logical’ thoughts – God simply recalled to my mind Matthew 6:33, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God.”  I realized that the Holy Spirit was telling me loud and clear what is really important. Meet with God first.

Don’t let life crowd God out.  Don’t let the ‘need to do list’ crowd Him out.  Don’t let anything crowd Him out!  Your day will go better and your life will go better if God has the proper place in them.

Remember – God First – before everything else!

Proverbs 25:21,22, “If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink:” “For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the LORD shall reward thee.”

The concept of feeding our enemies when they are hungry and giving them drink when they are thirsty is so contrary to our way of thinking, yet, God says to help them if they have a need.

Jesus, Himself, gives us similar instructions in Matthew 5:44, “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;”

Remember, this is how God wants us to behave. This is how HE wants us to live. This is what HE expects of us.

When we can put aside our own feelings, and follow God’s ways above our own, we are accomplishing two things:
One – we are showing obedience and submission to God.
Two – we are being a testimony to the world that God has made a difference in our lives.

Certainly the natural man would not consider helping an enemy, but God’s man would.

There is a little bit of irony here because verse 22 says that this will “heap coals of fire upon his head.” God has a wonderful sense of humor.  He says be kind to your enemy – it will drive him crazy.  Probably trying to figure out your motives behind your kindness.

The best part is that God says if you do this – follow His instructions, even when you would rather not (who wants to help an enemy?) That He (God) will reward you.

Obedience is always the best way!

I Corinthians 13:4,5, “Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seekth not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;”

This verse is God’s definition of ‘LOVE’. It is universal, representing all the types of love demonstrated by man:  love of a spouse, love for children, love for friends, love for parents, etc.  Or, maybe, I should say that it represents the way ‘love’ should be demonstrated.  (This may be an area we need to work on!)  We all know that the word charity can be interchanged with the word love, so that is the word I will use in this devotional.  I appreciate the way that God’s Word can say so much in such a small space.  These verses represent a beautiful picture of what genuine love looks like.

• Love suffereth long – it doesn’t give up. It is in there for the long haul.
• Love is kind – it is not quick or hurtful but thoughtful and helpful.
• Love envieth not – it is not jealous of what others have but is encouraging.
• Love is not puffed up – it isn’t boastful and smug. It does not put itself above others.
• Love does not behave itself unseemly – it is not show-offy. (Not sure that’s a word)
• Love seeketh not her own – it doesn’t say, “me first” and want everything done MY way.
• Love is not easily provoked – it is patient and doesn’t fly off the handle easily.
• Love thinketh no evil – it does not jump to conclusions or think the worst.

Love is not just a word to be spoken but a word to be demonstrated. We show true love, God’s love, when we put the actions that these verses express into practice.  It is what we should strive for every day!

Titus 1:2, “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;” 

I don’t think we even begin to grasp what this verse is saying and how much of our faith is wrapped up in this truth…

“God, that cannot lie,”

Cannot means ‘unable to do.’ This means that EVERYTHING that the Bible says is absolute, set in granite, and unchangeable.  (All scripture is given by inspiration of God…2 Timothy 3:16a.)

Every word, every promise, and every warning, is absolutely for sure.

When God tells us what to do and what not to do – we had better listen. So often man will try to reason away what the Bible says.  Man often will deal with what seems ‘logical’ to him.  But God says in Isaiah 55:8,9,  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

As you read the Scriptures, remember that it is total truth that will never change.  Don’t allow your mind to explain away the parts that you prefer not to follow.  This does not work.  If God says it – that settles it – PERIOD……..

 Because God cannot lie!

Proverbs 14:4, “Where no oxen are, the crib is clean: but much increase is by the strength of the ox.”

I picture here a person who doesn’t want to do the extra work of taking care of oxen. It takes effort to care for and feed them.  It is also a lot of work to clean their stalls, so…so… it definitely is must EASIER to have no oxen at all.  Hence, there will be no work and a clean crib.

BUT, God says that the work is worth it because the oxen will work for you and your wealth will increase. I think this is saying that good things happen when we are willing to work for them.  Sure, we can sit back and not take risks.  (We can keep the crib clean.)  But, this leads to no productivity and no increase in our well being.   Nothing is being accomplished.

This is another example of God telling us not to be sluggards – get up and get to work and do something for self and God.

I believe that God desires to bless our lives, but He expects us to be in there doing our part. He directs – we follow.  This definitely can involve work, sometimes a lot of work, but the result will be growth both spiritually and physically in our lives.

Proverbs 19:21, “There are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand.”

Man’s heart is deceitful, selfish, fickle, changing its mind frequently. It also can be kind, thoughtful, and forgiving. Up, down, all around – describes the heart of a man. Sin seems to be rampant today. What was immoral a few years ago is now moral, and to do right is considered intolerant and wrong. Men’s minds change with the whims of the circumstances of life. There doesn’t seem to be anything that is stable in our world today!  Just watch the evening news if you question this statement.

How thankful we should be for the counsel of the LORD. That never changes. The Bible is absolute truth that will stand forever. What is right today will be right tomorrow – you can count on it.

To combat these evil devices in the hearts of men we need to know the Word of God. This can only be done through a consistent and diligent study of the Bible. We need to BELIEVE and STAND on what the Scripture says. God cannot lie, so every word in the Bible is truth. God’s Word is forever settled in heaven. There should be no vacillating, or wavering, or up and down, and all around confusion in a Christian’s life. Of all people, we should be the most stable. We know the truth and we know that what God says will never change!

Let’s live lives that demonstrate this truth to the world!

I John 2:3, “And hereby we do know that we know Him, if…” 

I John chapter two gives us a clear check list to see if our salvation is genuine. Are we who we say we are?  If so, there will be certain things that will be evident in our lives.

1. If we know Him we will keep His commandments.  (v.3)
   (Plain and simple we will do what He says in His Word.)
2. We will keep His Word. (v.5)
   (In order to keep His Word, we must know the Word.  We will be studying and meditating
   and following what He tells us in the Scriptures.)
3. We will walk even as He walked. (v.6)
   (Jesus will be our example and we will try to pattern our life after Him.)
4. We will love our brothers. (v.10)
   (There will be a genuine love and fellowship with other believers.  We are now part of the family of God and this will be evident in our lives.)
5. We will not love the world. (v.15)
   (We will separate ourselves from the activities of this world.  We will be DIFFERENT!)

This is a well rounded description of ‘Who’ the Christian is: He knows the Word and follows the Word.  He tries to live as Jesus lived.  He loves other Christians and it shows.  He does not participate in worldly activities and is different from the world.

Remember, these are God’s standards for the Christian. How do you measure up?

Proverbs 4:26, “Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.”

 Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defines ponder as: to view with deliberation; to examine, to consider.

This verse is basically saying, think about what you are doing.  Often our lives consist of moving and going but there is little thought about the value of what we are doing.

God is saying THINK about your plans, have a thought out purpose to where you are going and what you want to accomplish. Every day is precious and should be used wisely.  None of us know how much time we have to serve the Lord, so we shouldn’t waste it.

The second half of this verse says that we should let all our ways be established. The word established means:  set, fixed firmly.  If we direct the path we are walking in the direction of serving God, we will be established in our faith, and  we will have the strength to live for God in an uncertain and evil world.

Ask God daily to guide your feet. Then, walk in the path where He leads.  Remember–
Psalm 119:105, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”

        God directs us through the reading and meditating on His Word so don’t neglect your daily Bible reading!