Articles for July 2017

Webster’s Dictionary defines ‘Happiness’ as a state of well being and contentment, joy, pleasure.

We often hear people say that they just want to be happy. There are many verses in the Bible that tell us how to find this state of contentment but today we are going to zero in on two of them.

Proverbs 8:32b, “…for blessed are they that keep my ways.”

Proverbs 8:34a, “Blessed is the man that heareth me…” 

All the things that people reach for and labor to achieve in life mostly bring stress and frustration, but not true happiness. Somewhere along the way we have put our relationship to God at the back of the line.  The pursuit of wealth, possessions, and pleasure, have taken first place.  Our focus on life has become mixed up and out of order.

True happiness comes from trusting and serving God. To wake up every morning knowing that God loves you and you have a future with Him forever in Heaven, should bring joy and peace to your life – no matter what is going on around you or how much money you have.

Keep God’s ways – read the Bible and follow what it says. (Proverbs 8:32b)

Hear what God is telling you – listen with your heart and be open to His commandments. Put His will before your own.  (Proverbs 8:34a)

God says when you do these things, your life will be blessed and happy. Trust Him and strive to put first things first in your life.  (Matthew 6:33)

True happiness is available to all of us,  IF  we follow God’s plan!

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

Let nothing be done through strife (contention in anger) or vainglory (empty pride) – 1828 Dictionary. In other words – not ever, no way, no how, should we allow anger or self promotion to motivate our lives.  Self cannot be allowed to be number one in our considerations.

This is so-o-o-o contrary to our nature. It seems to be automatic for us to make decisions on the  ‘how does this affect me?’  basis.  But, God says – NO.  We are to put others before ourselves and we are to be kind while we are doing it.  We are even to consider that others are better than we are.

God is instructing us here to be humble. God desires that we should be free from pride and arrogance.  The Scriptures are full of God’s directives on how He wants His children to live, they are to be: kind, forgiving, loving, soft spoken, not argumentative, helpful, humble, not grumblers…  I’m sure you can add many more desirable traits to this list.

God does have standards of conduct for our lives if we profess Jesus as our Saviour.   Our desire should be to know these standards (by reading and studying the Bible) and then by striving to incorporate these traits into our lives.  How we live is how we show to the world that God has made a difference in our lives.

We all know that we are not capable of making these changes in our own strength. But remember Philippians 4:13,  “I can do all things through Christ which strentheneth me.”  God is always near to help us – we just need to want to follows His ways and then ask for His help to do so!

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!

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!

Psalm 112:7, “He shall not be afraid of evil tidings:  his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord.” 

This verse is the answer in a ‘nut shell’ to all the evil tidings we are bombarded with every day. Morally, politically, economically, spiritual false teachings – the list can go on and on.  It seems to get more bizarre every day.  The world seems to be going crazy and evil seems to be taking over —

But, Praise God, the Christian needs not to be afraid in the midst of all of this chaos.

Fixed means: settled, established, firm, fast, stable  (1828 dictionary).

God says our hearts (our innermost self) need to be fixed (settled and established) on Him. Our eyes need to be looking at Him and His power, not on man and his evil ways.  When we are trusting God and acknowledging that He is in control, then we will be able to stand firm in our faith, and nothing will be able to shake our resolve to serve God.

Our emotions do not need to be on a roller coaster because our society is so off kilter. Watching the news can make you want to stop the world and get off!  But, God says that if our eyes are focused on Him and we are trusting Him no matter what is going on around us, there will be no room for anxiety and fear.  What a GREAT PROMISE!

1 Corinthians 10:31, “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” 

A couple of days ago the Lord laid it on my heart to publish a blog talking about the “whatsoevers” we have in our lives. Interestingly enough it’s what was laid on my heart again this morning.  I’m beginning to feel that this is an area in which God wants us to pay attention.

Service for God is actually an attitude of the heart – it is wrapped up in living in God’s presence and seeking to live a life that is pleasing to Him. It’s reading His Word and doing what He says.  If you are in the place that God wants you to be and doing the job He has called you to do, — your life will be blessed and God will reward you.

The ‘whatsoever’ in our lives are different for each one of us. You may have a job to go to each day.  My work may consist of washing the dishes and cleaning the house.  You may be a teacher, a nurse, a professional of some kind  —  makes NO difference in God’s sight.  He is looking at the heart.

Every day you have the opportunity of great service for God if the ‘whatsoever’ you are doing is done in an attitude of thanksgiving and praise to the Lord. God is no respecter of persons.  He blesses all those that seek to serve Him and to put Him first in their lives.  What you are doing is not as important as the fact that you are doing it ‘for the glory of God’.

Focus on God in your life. Focus on the thought that ‘whatsoever’ you do today, you are going to do your best and you are going to do it in the attitude of doing it for the Lord.  Thank Him for His presence and thank Him for His love as you walk through this day of ‘service’ for Him!

Proverbs 5:21 “For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and He pondereth all his goings.” 

I was teaching a Sunday School class recently: it was about the sin of Achan as recorded in Joshua chapter seven. Achan took spoils from the city of Jericho.  God had instructed the people to destroy everything that was in the city.  Achan disobeyed God and tried to hide the stolen items in his tent.  He and his family were judged because of this sin.  In fact, the whole nation of Israel was judged as they lost the battle of Ai along with thirty six men.

This lesson was centered around the fact that we cannot hide anything from God, referring to the wrong choices we make. As I was teaching, it occurred to me that God also sees the right things that we do.  He is paying attention.  When we choose to do right and follow His ways, this pleases Him.  This opens up the opportunities for wonderful blessings in our lives.  I believe that God keeps a record of all the right decisions and choices we make – large or small.

The next time you are faced with the dilemma of choosing – picture the Lord as being there right beside you and seek His guidance and help. (Just make sure you are listening to His answer!) 

He’s here!       He’s here!      He’s here!    –    We really don’t need to say anymore.

 (This blog is an excerpt from the book, ‘I Want To Be a Better Me for God”, Chapter 5)

Colossians 3:23, “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;” 

Ecclesiastes 9:10a, follows this thought, “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.”

The ‘whatsoever’ in these verses covers a lot of ground. Come to think of it – it covers everything.  God is telling us (quite clearly) that any job, small or large should be done with zeal and eagerness and to the best of our ability.    It doesn’t matter if it’s singing in a choir, teaching a Sunday School class, working at a job, or doing the dishes. If our thoughts are wanting to please God in what we are doing, then this will be counted as serving the Lord.

We are all on equal ground.   It’s true that some may have more talents or abilities than others, but it is a matter of the heart.  If the ‘whatsoever’ you are doing is done with a humble spirit and wanting to please the Lord, it has the same value before God.

God made you–you. So thank Him for the abilities YOU have, and serve Him with those abilities to the best of your ability!  (O.K. I overdid that word – but I am sure you get the idea.)  You can be a great servant for God by following His leading and by doing the best you can in whatever you are doing.  This is God’s way and this what He desires from YOU!

I John 3:1a,  “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God:”

Perhaps the biggest question we face in live is -“Why does God love me?”

The idea of God’s love is so far above my human reasoning that I truly cannot understand it.

Why God loves me is unanswerable, but, the fact that He does love me is simple to answer.  I know that He loves me because the Bible tells me so!

There are many verses that clearly state that He loves us. For example:

• John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
• Romans 5:8, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
• Romans 8:38,39, “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

We need to grasp the truth that this wonderful, all powerful God loves us. When we accepted Jesus as our Saviour, we were born into His family,  (John 1:12).  We are now His sons and daughters and He is our heavenly Father, (I John 3:1).  He loves us as a Father and He is always there for us as we walk through this uncertain life.  He desires to fellowship with us.  He desires to lead us.  He desires to be an active, vital part of our everyday living.  (Isaiah 41:10)  He also will discipline us when we go astray, (Hebrews 12:11).

It is true that I cannot understand this unconditional love, but I do accept it and I do thank God over and over again every day that He offers this love to me. The purpose of today’s blog is to bring into focus this amazing truth.  God is no respecter of persons – He loves us all equally.

So why is it that God uses some people more than others? It isn’t because He loves them more. It is simply because they are more willing to submit to His leading in their life.  They step out in faith and trust that God will give them the strength to do the work that He has called them to do.  They are doers and not hearers only!  (James 1:22)

My prayer is that we would all embrace the truth that God loves us – it would change our lives forever!

II Corinthians 12:9, “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.  Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” 

This verse is telling us that God’s grace is sufficient – it’s enough. Actually it’s more than enough to meet every need we may have in life.

As we read God’s Word, much seems to bounce back into our laps. God says His grace is sufficient – if it doesn’t seem so to us – guess who has the problem…WE DO!.  God’s promise is there, and He cannot fall short on a promise. Therefore,  all the frustrations and anxieties we face in life are magnified simply because we do not reach out and accept this grace that God has promised to us.

This verse is not saying that there will be no problems or heartaches in this life. What it is saying is that God’s strength is available to us so that we will be able to face these problems with assurance and peace.

“That the power of Christ, may rest upon me.” What a great thing.  We can walk in the power of Christ.  We do not have to depend on our own feeble strength to get us through the day.  This promise sure makes the future look brighter and the hardships we may have to endure seem less daunting.

God’s grace and Christ’s power – This is a promise we need to claim daily!