Articles for May 2017

Proverbs 22:19a, “That thy trust may be in the LORD,” 

I love these ‘short’ verses that have a ‘long’ meaning. The Bible is full of them.   There are many verses that talk about trusting God.  Why does it seem so hard to follow this simple admonition from the Scriptures?  It is probably because      ‘trust’ is not simple at all.  Trust, belief, faith – all of these are unnatural responses on our part.  We want to know why.  We want to understand.  We want to see where something is leading and know the results before we commit.  But, God says – NO – look up.  Look beyond the problem and see Me.  I am in control.  I will work everything out for your good and my glory (Romans 8:28).

God tells us to step out when we don’t have an answer and cannot see the end result. He is telling us to KNOW that He is in control because He has told us so.  God tells us in John 3:16, that He loved us so much He send His Son to die for us.  He has promised never to leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). The Bible is full of verses that talk about how much God loves us.  This knowledge alone should cause us to trust that nothing comes into our lives that He does not know about and He is allowing it for a reason.  His desire is for us to trust Him – no matter what.

When we look at life through the eye glasses of faith, there will be no room for anxiety or fear. We need to pray as the apostles did in Luke 17:5b,  “Lord, Increase our faith.” Know that to trust in the midst of problems and hardships is difficult – but it is not impossible when you reach out and ask the Lord to help you!

Matthew 9:29 “Then touched He their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you.” 

In Matthew 9:27, two blind men followed Jesus begging Him to heal them. Jesus simply asks them a question.  “Believe ye that I am able to do this?”  They answered,  “Yea Lord.” Jesus then touches their eyes and says,  “According to your faith be it unto you,” and their eyes were opened.

In this particular passage (Matthew 9:27-29), Jesus was asking these blind men if they believed He had the power to heal them. Their answer was a definite, “Yes, Lord”.  The verse goes on to say that Jesus replied, “according to your faith be it unto you.”  I believe that Jesus looked into their hearts and saw true faith and confidence in Him, so He honored their faith and healed them.

Jesus is asking you this same question today. “Do you believe that I am able to do this?”  The “this” in the question can refer to any need that you have in your life.  He is asking you to line up your need side by side with His power and ability to meet that need.  He is asking you to decide in your heart if He is capable of taking care of the problem. The verse goes on to say, “according to your faith be it unto you.”

Your faith really does determine how God can work in your life. What you accomplish for God is in direct proportion to your belief that God will give you the strength and ability to do whatever He asks you to do, and that He will take care of any and all problems that should arise in your life.

Let’s not hinder His work in our lives because of our lack of belief!

  (This blog is an excerpt from chapter 11, “I Want to be a Better Me for God.”)

Philippians 2:3, “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.” 

Lowliness of mind – if this were the attitude of our hearts, there would be very little strife going on around us. Life seems to be full of worrying about self. All of us – young, old, educated, uneducated, etc.- seem to be affected by the “How does this affect me?  syndrome.  BUT, this is not God’s way.  He says we are to put others first.  You can’t explain the statement, “let each esteem other better than themselves,” in any other way.

I’m sure you are all familiar with the acronym for Joy:

Jesus – first — Others – second — Yourself – last.

Simple, yet, so true. This is God’s way, but it is not the natural way of man.  It takes a concentrated effort on our part to put self in the back seat and put others first.

There are other verses that express this same truth:

Romans 12;10,  “Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;”

Romans 15:1,2,  “We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.  Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to  edification.”

If a decision, any decision, is based only on how it affects you – you may have to step back and ask yourself if you are following God’s admonition to put others first.  When you do something for others, with no thought of getting something in return, you are obeying God and being the testimony that He desires for you to be!

Matthew 11:28, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” 

If you are heavy laden with a great burden, Jesus says, “Come unto me, … and I will give you rest.” It is interesting that He should use the word ‘rest’.  He doesn’t say, come unto me and I will take all of your problems away.  He doesn’t say that He will solve every difficulty in our lives.  What He does say is that He will give us rest in the midst of these problems.

Think about how conflicts and problems affect our lives: we get upset, we get all nerved up, we worry, we fret, we can’t sleep — these symptoms can go on and on.  (Now, the word ‘rest’ takes on a whole new meaning.  It is exactly what we need during these times!)

This rest is available to all of us. Our responsibility is to take our cares and burdens to Jesus and — this is important — leave them there.  Trust that He is taking care of them – even when you cannot see how He is working.  Rest in this knowledge and rebuke any hint of taking the problem back.  Unfortunately this is a tendency we all have – we give a burden to God and in a very short time we are back to fretting and worrying about it again.  This is not the trust that will result in rest.

Remember Jesus says…….COME TO ME — TRUST ME — FOCUS ON ME…….and the problems of life will take their rightful place and you will have rest for your souls.

(This devotional is an excerpt from the book “I Want to be a Better Me For God”  chapter 9)

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

I love this verse and quote it often in my life. I’ve already used it as the theme of several blogs – but here I go again.  The message is so great because it deals with priorities.  For some reason our society has gotten so mixed up about what is really important.  God’s Word is so clear and to the point – put God first – period!

I asked myself this simple question – “How is seeking God first in my life translated into the reality of living?” What is it that we need to do to actually put God first in our lives?  Here are some of the thoughts that came to me:

• Think about and consider the day ahead with God in mind. (Not as an afterthought but as a first thought.) Be willing to use your time doing things that matter to God more than things that matter to you.
• Read God’s Word and spend time in prayer every morning. I know some mornings are very hectic – this does not need to be your main Bible reading for the day, but it does need to be included in the start of each day.
• Ask the Holy Spirit to lead you to someone to minister to during the day. Either with the message of salvation or of encouragement.
• Remember to do everything that you do with the thought of ‘doing it heartily as to the Lord.’ (This can make even the worst task, a blessing!)
• Spend disciplined time reading and meditating on God’s Word every day. (This means to spend some ‘serious’ time in the Scriptures – fellowshipping and communicating with God.)

I want to encourage you to make your own list of how you can show, by your life, that you are ‘seeking to put God first.’   It is worth taking the time to set your priorities (with God’s help) -write them down and refer to them often.  Remember……

“Only one life twill soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last!”

.Psalm 100:2, “Serve the LORD with gladness, come before his presence with singing.” 

We all know that life has many demands which cannot be ignored. Work, maintaining a home, raising children, to name a few.  Every day requirements can seem overwhelming….soooo…. how does serving the Lord enter into the picture?

Serving God is actually an attitude of the heart. I Corinthians 10:31 says,  “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”  Colossians 3:23 states,  “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily as to the Lord, and not unto men;”  We have covered these thoughts before but focusing on them again can reinforce these truths.

The fact of the matter is that no matter what we are doing can be defined as serving the Lord — washing dishes, going to work, teaching a Sunday School class, singing in the choir – all of these fall into the category of the ‘whatsoever’ found in these two verses.

The difference between plain work and service for God is our focus and motivation. When you approach a task with the thought of doing the best you can and doing it cheerfully as unto the Lord – then it takes on a whole new dimension.   It jumps from the mundane – have to do job – into the category of serving the Lord with gladness, (Psalm 100:2).

Today as you approach the job of ‘living’, ask God to help you to look at every task as an opportunity for service and do it as unto the Lord. Serving the Lord with gladness does lead to a life filled with singing!

Philippians 1:12, “But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel;”

Everything in Paul’s life was centered around Christ. Here he was in prison, held in bonds.  Instead of complaining, he is praising God.  Philippians 1:14 says that because of what he was going through many of the brethren had become bolder in speaking out for the Lord.  This cannot have been a very pleasant way to live, but Paul is not focused on the ‘woe is me’ syndrome. He is thankful that He can serve the Lord and the gospel is being furthered.

Joy in the midst of turmoil. Praising God in the times of hardship.  It is not our natural tendency to do this.  Often minor inconveniences can cause us to gripe and complain.  We can question God with a list of ‘whys’.   Paul had his eyes in the right place – not on what was going on around him but Who was in control of what was going on around him.   Because his attitude was right, he was being a testimony for Jesus and the gospel was being advanced.

Paul sums it up nicely in Philippians 1:27, “Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: …….that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.”

This is what the Christian life is all about – living right, standing together with other Christians – being in agreement and working together for the cause of Christ. People are watching how you live and how you react to adversity.  Ask God to help you to be the example you should be so that others will be encouraged stand and serve no matter what is going on in their lives.  People need to know that Jesus saves — and we need to be the ones to tell them!

Proverbs 16:23,   “The heart of the wise teacheth, his mouth, and addeth learning to his lips.” 

Our mouth definitely needs teaching – or bridling – or stopping – or at least being controlled!

This verse puts a humorous picture in my mind. I can see here a person giving his mouth a lecture.  Instructing it on proper behavior and admonishing it for speaking improperly.

Aside from my imagination, I believe that this verse is basically saying that it is the heart that controls the mouth. If your heart is right: filled with God’s truths and seeking to serve Him — then what comes out of your mouth will be right.

Let’s examine a few of the verses that talk about the mouth or the tongue. The Bible is actually full of verses on this subject and it would be a worthy study to do on your own.

• Ephesians 4:29, “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.”
• Proverbs 16:24, “Pleasant words are as a honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.”
• Psalm 89:1, “I will sing of the mercies of the LORD forever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.
• Proverbs 15:1, “A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.”
• Psalm 141:3, “Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.

A wise and learned person will keep a close watch on how he speaks. Our prayer needs to be the same as David’s in Psalm 19:14,  “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.”

We have a great opportunity every day to use our words to serve God and to build up and encourage others. Let’s make a conscious effort to ‘teach our mouth’ to speak in a manner that will honor God!

Philippians 1:6, “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” 

There may be times in your life when things seem difficult. This may be caused by family problems, health problems, financial problems, or possibly having too much to do and not enough time to do it.  Whatever the reason – you may feel like giving up.  But, it is wonderful to know that God never gives up on you.  He is always there doing a good work in your life.  This promise has no expiration time – it never becomes outdated.  God says He will be there working in your life all the way up to the time that He calls you home or Jesus comes again.

Our lives can take many paths after we get saved. This often depends on our motivation and dedication to following God.  God has given us a free will to choose our course of action in life.

Once you are born again into God’s family you become His child. The Holy Spirit enters your life and is always present to lead you and guide you — AND — to convict and chastise you when you choose to go your own way and not God’s.  Just remember if you choose to live contrary to God’s ways and leading you will have no peace and no happiness.

God is telling you that at the moment of salvation, He began a good work in you and He will continue that work. You can always be assured that He is there for you at any stage of your Christian life.  You may not always be what you ought to be, and you may not always be living the way you ought to live – but God is always there working.  Don’t waste your time (or your life) — surrender to God and let Him do the good work that He desires to do in your life!

Remember, you are never alone. God is always there.  Isn’t it wonderful that God doesn’t give up on us?

Psalm 128:1, “Blessed is every one that fearth the Lord; that walketh in his ways.” 

Happy are you if you reverence God. A few days ago we talked about needing to understand ‘Who” God is.  He is the all powerful and all knowing creator of the universe who is in control of everything that happens.  We need to keep our hearts and minds focused on this truth at all times.  When we see God for who He really is, all the problems of life fall into their proper places.  We begin to see that they are no match for His power and majesty.

I love the fact that this verse says – blessed is EVERYONE that fears God. Everyone of us – with no exceptions, are included in this promise.  We are all on equal ground.  We just need to reverence God AND walk in His ways for this promise to be ours.

Stop and brainstorm all the ways of God that you can think of that would represent walking in His ways. I just started to write out some examples, but, YOU need to make this a personal exercise.  Make out a list of all the things you can think of that you can do to demonstrate to God that you love Him and are desiring to live the way that He wants you to.  The Bible is full of instructions on how He desires for a Christian to live.  Our goal each day should be to try to DO what He says and seek His help in doing it.

Walking denotes a continuing action. It’s what you need to do – today, and tomorrow, and the next day.  Don’t give up.  Just keep on, keeping on, and God says you will be blessed (happy) as a result. Great Promise!