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Philippians 4:8, “Finally brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”

I could easily say – devotional done for today. This verse says it ALL.  This is God’s list of what He desires for us to think about.  This is how He wants us to occupy our minds.

Look at that list again. What you think about should be:

True,     Honest,    Just,     Pure,     Lovely,     of Good Report,     Things of Virtue and Praise.

Now think about the things that you DO think about. More than likely it is quite different.  Often our minds are filled with worries and concerns, problems of life, even pleasures of life, but they do not always fall into the category of the things that God desires for us to be thinking about.

God knows that what we fill our minds with will eventually dictate our actions. So…He in His great wisdom and love for us is telling us (quite clearly) what types of things He wants us to be thinking about.  Learn to squelch any thought you know is displeasing to God.  When the Holy Spirit prompts you, listen to Him, and change the direction of your thoughts.

You know that kind, thoughtful, God honoring person, that you would like to be – it can happen…if

YOUR THINKING IS RIGHT!

Galatians 6:9, “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”

Being tired is a natural part of working hard, but this verse is talking about something else.
It’s talking about getting tired from doing good deeds. It’s about getting weary trying to follow God’s ways in an ungodly world.

• It’s about choosing right over wrong.
• It’s about doing good works that are a testimony for God.
• It’s about helping others and being kind.
• It’s about showing God’s love through your life.
• It’s about putting self in the back seat and putting others first.

Often times there is no one out there saying thank you or appreciating the efforts that you are putting forth. Always remember, that God knows all about it, and He tells you quite simply – don’t get weary and don’t give up.  Keep on keeping on. You are doing it for Me and I care.  I see the work you are putting forth because you love Me and I will bless your life and your efforts.

You sow the seeds of doing good and God promises you will reap – if you don’t give up!

Proverbs 10:9a, “He that walketh uprightly walketh surely.”

 Webster’s 1828 dictionary definitions:

Upright – Honest, just, not deviating from correct moral principles.
Surely – firmly, without danger of falling.

Do right, do right, do right. In other words, walk in an honest and just manner and don’t deviate from God’s ways.  This will ensure that you will not be in danger of falling down in your Christian life.

To do right is a theme that runs throughout the entire Bible. It’s God’s way.  It’s God’s commandment.  There should never be a quandary over which way to go when confronted with a choice between right and wrong.  (Be careful, our mind likes to play games when we want to do something.  We can justify our choice by moving it into the ‘right’ category, when it really belongs in the ‘wrong’ column.)

Man is an interesting creature when it comes to manipulating. BUT, God’s ways are clearly presented in His Word and He never wavers or changes.  Right is right and wrong is wrong.  Make sure your choice/choices  line up with the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit’s promptings.

    You need to know the Word and you need to live the Word if you want to walk ‘surely’ before the Lord.

Proverbs 6:23, “For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life;”

The commandments of God are a lamp–they light up the way and show us what God expects of us. We would never know what displeases God or what God considers sin if we did not have His Word and His commandments.

God does not leave us in the dark concerning how He wants us to live.  He desires that we walk in light and provides that light in His Word. Not only do we need to be in the Word regularly but we need to be open to what God is teaching us.

People fuss about rules. They do not want to be told what to do.  Unfortunately,– some even don’t want God to tell them what to do.  BUT, God does tell us in His word what He expects of us – many times, over and over again.  He makes it perfectly clear how we are to live in a manner that will please Him.  This should not be a burden for the Christian but it should make us thankful that we can KNOW what God wants from us.

The last part of this verse says that the reproofs of instruction are the way of life. This verse is saying that when we stray from God’s way, He is there to show us the error of our way and encourage us back into the fold.  (Sometimes gently and sometimes more forcefully.  It all depends on how well we are listening!)  For our life to stay on track for God, reproof is often necessary.

   Know the Word and follow the Word and your path with be lit by God Himself as you walk through each day!

Proverbs 24:10, “If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.”

I believe that we all desire to be strong, but how can we prepare ourselves to stand in the storms of life?  Where can we find strength to meet the trials that may be hurled at us?  It is for sure that our drummed up self-will won’t hold us up during these times.

There is only one answer and that is our strength must come from the Lord.

• We must be fed and nourished daily by the Word of God.
• We must develop endurance by walking with the Lord and keeping our eyes upon Him.
• We must learn to depend on Him and trust Him in all the trials of life.
• We must pray and ask God to increase our faith and help us to stand.

There are a whole lot of ‘must do’s’ in those preceding sentences but they are all necessary if we are to be able to stand in the day of adversity.

God is the only one that can hold us up when there is a threat to us and our faith. I fear that hard times may be ahead for the Christian.  We may be called upon to stand up for Jesus as we never have had to before. We can be confident that we will not faint because our strength is not our own but it is coming from God.  Isaiah 40:29,  “He giveth power to the faint; and to them that hath no might he increaseth strength.”  Claim this promise!

Isaiah 40:31, sums this truth up nicely. “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint.”

Remember this promise of strength is to them the WAIT UPON THE LORD.

Proverbs 28:9, “He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.”

God expects something from man, but man wants something for nothing. These are two opposites of the spectrum.

This verse is basically saying that if we want our prayers answered, we must be willing to follow God’s ways and laws. There are many instructions for life in the Scriptures;  there are many directives in the Bible concerning how a Christian should walk and live.  When God says do this, we need to do it.  When God says don’t do something, we need to not do it.  Sounds simple enough, but our minds seem to be able to justify (or ignore) the things that we do not wish to obey.

The ‘I want’ part of man sometimes seems to be stronger than the ‘I want to obey’ part.  It can be hard to put self down, but we need to have respect for the laws of God and we need to follow them.  Salvation is a free gift from God, Romans 6:23, but after that, God expects us to live differently.  John 14:15 seems to say it all,  “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”  If we desire to fellowship and communicate with God in prayer then we must be in the Bible and we must obey the Bible.

There is no way we can live contrary to God’s Word and receive blessings in our lives!

Proverbs 26:6a, “He that sendeth a message by the hand of a fool cutteth off the feet,”

I picture this verse as saying — if a person is known for being foolish and not productive than anything that they say will have no value or credence. It basically will be ignored.

We can apply this to the Christian life. How we live affects the message that we are presenting.  Jesus left us with the command to go into all the world and preach the gospel,  (Mark 16:15).

It is our responsibility to tell men that they are sinners and that Jesus paid the price for that sin on the Cross. By accepting Him as Saviour, they can be born again into God’s family and will spend eternity in Heaven.

Now, we need to look at ourselves. Are we reading the Bible and trying to follow God’s standards so that it makes a difference in our lives?  Can others see Jesus in us, or are we living unto ourselves?  We should be living truthful, righteous, and holy lives.  If we are not – then anything we say will have no value.  It’s like the fool with no feet saying follow me.  He cannot lead because he cannot walk.   He cannot relate a message because there is no respect for what he is saying.

People need to see God in our lives. It should be evident that we have something that enables us to live in this unstable world with peace and joy.  They should be able to see that we have a faith – that they need!

When we are living God honoring lives, then our message will have value and people will listen!

Colossians 1:10, “That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God.”

This is the third part of the verse that we started two days ago.  If you have not read those blogs, please go back to them and read them first.

Third, we are to increase in the knowledge of God.

The entire Bible is filled with verses encouraging us to increase in our knowledge of God. The book of Proverbs seems to major on this theme.  We are all aware of the fact that the only true and reliable source of information we have about God and His attributes are found in the Scriptures.  Therefore the only way we can increase our knowledge of God is to increase our knowledge of the Bible.

The word ‘increase’ means to become greater in quantity; to grow (1828 dictionary). This is exactly what God desires of each one of us.  Growing is an action, and increasing in the knowledge of God is an action.  It takes discipline and work to consistently be maturing in our walk with God.  We need to be in the Word reading and meditating EVERY DAY – no exceptions.

I’m sure we have all made New Year’s resolutions that have fallen by the wayside by January 10th – sometimes sooner. This is not what I am talking about.  This is a total commitment to be in God’s Word daily with the purpose of wanting to grow in our Christian life and increase in our knowledge of Him.  We also need to have a heart that wants to apply the things that we learn so they will make a difference in our life.  This is the only way that we will be able to walk worthy of the Lord and to be fruitful in every good work.

This is a goal that you need to make today!

Colossians 1:10, “That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God.

This is the second part of the verse we started on yesterday. If you have not read that blog, go back to it before reading further.

Second, we are to be fruitful in every good work.

Good works are an important part of the Christian life. How do I know – because God refers to them often in the Scriptures.  We all know that God judges man, looking at his heart.  He looks at  the motivation of why he does the things that he does.  But, God knows that man judges men by their outward actions.  What you DO speaks volumes about who you are.  What you DO speaks volumes concerning God’s influence in your life.

Matthew 5:16 seems to sum up the importance of good works in the Christian life.

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” When others see your good works, they will see God working in your life, and that will ultimately bring glory to Him.

Never forget that what you do reflects on God – for good or for bad. Colossians 1:10,  “Being fruitful in every good work,”  is saying, that our lives should be productive and filled with good deeds so that we can bring glory to God.

Our motivation each day should be to let others see God in us through doing good!

Colossians 1:10, “That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;”

This verse is packed full of good instruction for the Christian. It is so rich that I am actually going to break it down into three blogs.

First, we are to walk worth of the Lord unto all pleasing.

It is interesting to me that unworthy people can walk in a way that will be pleasing to God. Isaiah 64:6a says, “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags…”  The truth is that when we accept Jesus as our Saviour, our standing before God is changed forever.  We are now His children, born anew into His family.  He is now our Father and He loves us like a Father.  This fact is hard to wrap my brain around.  God loves you and me and cares about you and me.  The Bible tells us that we can live in a manner that will please Him, or obviously, in a manner that will be a disappointment to Him.  The choice is really ours!

We need to ask ourselves, “How do we walk worthy of the Lord?” It starts with reading the Scriptures and paying attention to God’s instructions.  I think that we know if what we are doing is putting God first.  I believe we know when a choice is made with the thought of desiring to please God or if self is the motivating factor.  I believe that we honestly know if what we are doing is right or wrong.  One thing for sure – God knows!  God has not left us clueless about what pleases Him.  The truth is if you are listening, God will show you through His Word and the leading of the Holy Spirit how to live in a manner that will be pleasing to Him.

As you walk through today, focus on this simple fact – is what I am doing pleasing to God?