A New Thing

December 31, 2007

The year is ending, tomorrow I start something new with the devotional as we read through the Bible in historical order and the devotions will be based on something in the days reading. I invite those in the mailing list to read along with me and put some of their own devotionals and post them to the group. There is only 10 of us so it should be low in traffic. Why am I doing something new? God does it as well.

Isaiah 43:19 CEV
(19) I am creating something new. There it is! Do you see it? I have put roads in deserts, streams in thirsty lands.


It is a new year, make it new for yourself, put the trash on the dump truck and let it go.

For those that want to follow along, you can download a file that will give you each days reading in an easy file. Go to http://groups.google.com/group/daily-devotions-by-bob/files and download the zipped file to your machine and unzip it. If you click on the HTML file it will open it up but you will not be able to do any editing to it.

Join me if you can. For January 1 read Genesis 1:1-3:24.

Badger Skins

December 30, 2007

God wants and always has wanted the very best for His people. We are His people so we should live in that very best.

When God tells Moses to build the meeting tent for Him, Moses is told to cover it with badger skins. Some translations say dolphin skins, others say some other valuable skin of the day. The thing is, that God wanted the people to use the very best for the tent where He was to live among the people.

Now notice, in Ezekiel, when God is giving a history of Israel, from finding here as an abandoned child and breathing life into her, look at his description of her clothing.

Ezekiel 16:10 KJ2000
(10) I clothed you also with embroidered work, and gave you sandals of badgers’ skin, and I clothed you with fine linen, and I covered you with silk.

He wanted to dress Israel in the very best. The same material that covered the tent of the meeting, he wanted to give them as covering for their feet. And the rest of them was covered in nice fabric as well.

God wants the best for us. But like the people of Israel, we can turn away from it and not receive it. What have you turned back to God today?

Perfection

December 29, 2007

As I am writing this, my football team, the New England Patriots, are in the hunt for a unbeaten season. The spots press and the NFL network are talking about a perfect season. While I know that they mean perfectly unbeaten season, it just sounds kind of funny to me. I mean, I have been watching the replays that they have been showing on TV, and I can tell you their games were far from perfect. Brady was sacked a lot of times, passes that should have been caught were dropped, this is perfection.

What I thought was interesting was a shot of Bellicheck, talking to Brady, telling him not to be afraid to make an incomplete pass. He was giving his star quarterback the right to make a mistake.

1 Peter 5:10 KJV
(10) But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect,stablish, strengthen, settle you.

We are not perfect and cannot be. God allows us to be in-perfect. But in our in perfections, we are called by God and he makes us perfect when we go through our difficulties. For me, that is more important than a perfect football season.

Other Side

December 28, 2007

Luke 8:22 KJV
(22) Now it came to pass on a certain day, that he went into a ship with his disciples: and he said unto them, Let us go over unto the other side of the lake. And they launched forth.


When God tells you to do something, it is best to get up and do it. Jesus told the disciples that they were going to the other side. The lacked faith to some degree. They had to wake Jesus up. When he was awaken He reprimanded them for not having faith. He had said that they were going to the other side. Nothing was going to get in their way, He was going.

When God speaks to you to do something, do you do it, do you get to the other side?

Do not leave the way you came...

December 27, 2007

Out of the mouth a child can come some interesting observations. I read to my children each night from the Bible. We have been dragging our way through Ezekiel for a while now. It starts sort of interesting but really gets long and it seems to go on forever. When I read I try to explain what I think is going on and will let they give their thoughts as well. There has not been a lot of talking, just a lot of reading. But tonight my youngest came up with a brilliant observation as we read this passage:

Ezekiel 46:9 Complete Apostles' Bible
(9) And whenever the people of the land shall go in before the Lord at the feasts, he that goes in by the way of the north gate to worship shall go forth by the way of the south gate; and he that goes in by the way of the south gate shall go forth by the way of the north gate: he shall not return by the gate by which he entered, but he shall go forth opposite it.


It basically says, without giving any reason, that if you as a Old Testament believer went into the Lord from the north gate, you left by the south gate. Likewise if you enter from the south you will leave from the north.

'I know why', my son says. As this has been another dry reading I let him have the floor. 'When you go into meet the Lord, you get changed, and you should not go back to what you had before but leave by a different path.'

Simple thoughts but so true. Any time we worship the Lord, we should be changed in some way and not want to go back to what we were. God should have free reign in our lives to speak to us what needs change, and we should change it.

The weather

December 26, 2007

As my daughter and I left church tonight I turned to her and said. look at the six inches of predicted snow we have. She exclaimed, Wow it is so soft and fluffy and INVISIBLE. She was right, there was no snow on the ground and all we really had was a light mist all night. In fairness, when we had the ice storm a few weeks ago, they hadpredicted light rain, turning over to snow and a light snow at that. I do not think they want to get caught with a good forecast gone bad again. But how many people listen to these people each day and base what they are going to do the whole day on what they say?

James had problems with people like this as well:

James 4:13-15 ALT
(13) Now listen! The ones saying, "Today or tomorrow we shall travel into such and such a city and shall spend one year there, and we shall carry on business and shall make profit,"
(14) [you*] who do not know the [events] of tomorrow. For what [is] your* life? For it will be a vapor, the one appearing for a little while, but then also vanishing.
(15) Instead, you* [ought] to be saying, "If the Lord wills, we shall live, and we also shall do this or that."

We can not predict the future. Now weather is a science, so we can try to predict what will happen. You know what though, the laboratory has to many variables to work with. They are just guessing. As we are when we try to predict what will happen with our lives.

Live the life that God gives you as God gives it to you. You will be blessed for it and not be surprised when things change your plans.

The Birds

December 25, 2007

Merry Christmas to all...

John 1:14 NET
(14) Now the Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We saw his glory — the glory of the one and only, full of grace and truth, who came from the Father.

Jesus came and lived among us.

Paul Harvey, the great news commentator, tells a story every Christmas that is so meaningful. Briefly, a man is invited to go with his family to church on Christmas Eve but he turns them down. How could God become a man or even want to. No, let them live in their mythical make believe. While reading that night he hears a noise of a bunch of birds hitting his windowattracted by the lights and the heat. He wants to try to save them so he goes out and turns on the barn lights hoping that they will see it and turn that way, but they do not. He panics, how can he save these birds who are going the wrong way? Why the only way would be to become one of them and lead them on the path that they should follow.....

The only way Jesus could lead us was to become one like us.

Thank you Jesus.

The real reason for the season

December 24, 2007

Listening to a sermon the other day the speaker said something that really got my attention. We have heard so often that Jesus is the reason for the season when it comes to Christmas. While I understand the reason for the sentiments they are not necessarily true. You see, I am the reason for the season. I can hear the brain cells going 'he is really self-centered isn't he?' Well you are the reason for the season also.

John 3:16 KJV
(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.

If it was not for you and me being in a sinful state, then Jesus would not have had to come and be born. Because we needed salvation, He made himself a human, though He was equal to God. I am thankful for the babe in the manger but I am more thankful for the man who saved me. Take time to meditate on the real reason for the season. God bless.

The real reason for the season

December 24, 2007

Listening to a sermon the other day the speaker said something that really got my attention. We have heard so often that Jesus is the reason for the season when it comes to Christmas. While I understand the reason for the sentiments they are not necessarily true. You see, I am the reason for the season. I can hear the brain cells going 'he is really self-centered isn't he?' Well you are the reason for the season also.

John 3:16 KJV
(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.

If it was not for you and me being in a sinful state, then Jesus would not have had to come and be born. Because we needed salvation, He made himself a human, though He was equal to God. I am thankful for the babe in the manger but I am more thankful for the man who saved me. Take time to meditate on the real reason for the season. God bless.

Rains

December 23, 2007


There are times when I wish the Lord would return quickly. Days when nothing seems to go right. Weeks when you can not make ends meet. The Bible tells us that the time is coming soon, we just do not know.

James 5:7 ALT
(7) Therefore, wait patiently, brothers [and sisters], until the Arrival of the Lord. Look! The farmer awaits the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it, until it receives [the] early and latter [or, autumn and spring] rain.


There will be signs that it is coming. We have to be patient and wait for it. Just as the farmer as to await the rains that take care of his crops, so we have to be out and doing what God wants us to be doing.

Money

December 22, 2007

We always seem to think in our lives that money will solve all of our problems. I know that money is needed to live, but one of the greatest Kings of Israel had all he wanted but was not happy. Solomon wrote:

Ecclesiastes 2:7-11 KJV
(7) I got me servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me:
(8) I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces: I got me men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments, and that of all sorts.
(9) So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me.
(10) And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labor: and this was my portion of all my labor.
(11) Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labor that I had labored to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.

If Solomon could not be happy with all the money in the world, how can we be happy? The truth is that happiness comes from within, not from without.

Heart Transplant

December 21, 2007

Heart transplants. Something that has come up in my lifetime. Taking the heart of one person and putting it in the other. Someone dying and giving life to someone else. It is a new concept, or is it.

The Old Testament talks about a heart transplant.

Ezekiel 36:26 ACV
(26) I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. And I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.

Not only is God going to do a heart transplant but a spirit transplant as well. Think of it, He takes a stony heart out of us and then replaces it with one that loves. He takes a dead spirit out of us and replaces it with a living one.

Well that does not apply to me, God did that long ago when I got saved. Guess again. Many Christians need a heart transplant. Have you got bitterness towards any one. You have at least a little stone in that heart of yours.

Let God operate on you today.

Advocate

December 20, 2007

John 15:26-27 KJVR
(26) But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:
(27) And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.


The Greek word for Comforter here is an interesting word. It is the word paraklētos and can be translated as advocate. We know Jesus is talking about the Holy Spirit here. An advocate is like a lawyer, pleading your case for you when you can not. In this case, the Holy Spirit is bearing witness that Jesus was sent by God.

The next verse is more telling. We are to be witness that Jesus also came from the Father.

How good of a witness have you been today?

Signpost

December 19, 2007

Joshua 4:3-8 DRB
(3) And command them to take out of the midst of the Jordan, where the feet of the priests stood, twelve very hard stones, which you shall set in the place of the camp, where you shall pitch your tents this night.
(4) And Josue called twelve men, whom he had chosen out of the children of Israel, one out of every tribe,
(5) And he said to them: Go before the ark of the Lord your God to the midst of the Jordan, and carry from thence every man a stone on your shoulders, according to the number of the children of Israel,
(6) That it may be a sign among you: and when your children shall ask you tomorrow, saying: What means these stones?
(7) You shall answer them: The waters of the Jordan ran off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord when it passed over the same: therefore were these stones set for a monument of the children of Israel forever.
(8) The children of Israel therefore did as Josue commanded them, carrying out of the channel of the Jordan twelve stones, as the Lord had commanded him according to the number of the children of Israel unto the place wherein they camped, and there they set them.

It is important to pass on your heritage to your children. They will be the ones that take up the baton in the relay race called life and lead their generation to Christ. If we do not put up signpost, they will not know what we believe.

Take time to pass what you believe in to your children. They will need it.

Favor

December 18, 2007

Nehemiah 2:7-8 JPS
(7) Moreover I said unto the king: 'If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the River, that they may let me pass through till I come unto Judah;
(8) and a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king's park, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the castle which appertaineth to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into.' And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.

Nehemiah is really a quite interesting story. He was a man who worked as a wine taster for the king, not a job with a real future if you know what I mean. All it takes is one sip and you might be dead in the place of the king. He longed to be back home and to rebuild Jerusalem. Even though the king had come to rely on Nehemiah, and Nehemiah was well taken care of, he knew that he had a destiny that no one else couldfulfill . So he asked the King for help and the king gave it to him. What these verses do not show is that he prayed to God for favor before he asked. Not only could he go, but the king gave him stuff to rebuild the temple with.

Take time for a quick prayer to God before you try something. It may just help you make it through with favor.

Sacrafice

December 17, 2007

You know, I am an idiot. I hear students tell me that all the time. I have to reassure them that they are not. That we are all smart in one thing or another, and that is why they are in class, to learn computers better.

But, I am an idiot. For some reason I cannot get my pea size brain to understand why Jesus did what He did?

Philippians 2:6-7 CEV
(6) Christ was truly God. But he did not try to remain equal with God.
(7) Instead he gave up everything and became a slave, when he became like one of us.

He gave up everything and took on the form of a man. I know why He did it, so we could have salvation. But why did He do it. Why did he take our form, what was it like? Did He lay in his bed and know He was God? Did He somehow forget all that, and that with a single burp form Him, miracles could happen? When He was six and helping Joseph out around the wood shop, did He look at nails and know what they would be used for on Him. Did every event that He saw remind Him of what was to come?

How could He go from knowing the universe to not being able to see only what was around His physical body? That is what I can not understand. How could Jesus have done that? What was His young life like? Salvation is easy to accept. What Jesus sacrificed in just leaving the presence of the Father God, that I can not comprehend.

Whitewash

December 16, 2007

Ezekiel 22:28 GNB
(28) The prophets have hidden these sins like workers covering a wall with whitewash. They see false visions and make false predictions. They claim to speak the word of the Sovereign LORD, but I, the LORD, have not spoken to them.

Arts and crafts with kids can be fun. Kids in a group setting always try to outdo the other, mostly in speed. Haste means usually something gets ripped. It can usually be fixed with a little scotch tape, maybe a glue stick, and a lot of love for the child.

When I bought my house seven years ago, the old owner had just painted it inside. I found out why later. Many places in the house later showed signs of cracking. He had used the paint to hide the imperfections in the house. In the days of the Bible, this would be similar to a thing called white wash. You would use white wash to make something look clean, but with the first good rain it wore off. Then, like my house, the old problem you tried to cover would still be there.

Fixing the mistakes of children is one thing. As noted, glue and tape can fix things well. Fixing the mistakes of adults is another. When we have trouble getting along with others we try to seek out blame them and say it is not my fault. By doing that, we use whitewash. We may feel good about ourselves, but it will wear off with the next storm in your life. What is worse, like today's scripture, you may have people telling you that what you are doing is Godly when in reality it is not.

If you have trouble in a relationship, the time is now to get the glue that will hold you together. Get in the Word, get wise councilors who know the Word. Do not try to whitewash it, the junk is still there and it will only look nice for a while.

Priceless

December 15, 2007


Hebrews 8:1-6 Complete Apostles' Bible
(1) Now this is the main point of the things being said: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,
(2) a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord set up, and not man.
(3) For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices; therefore it is necessary for this One also to have something to offer.
(4) For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law;
(5) who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses had been warned when he was about to complete the tabernacle, for He says, "See, you shall make all things according to the pattern shown to you on the mountain."
(6) But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted upon better promises.



Bull to sacrifice for our sins......... $5,000
Tabernacle to do sacrifice in.........$10,000
Cost of priest to do the sacrifice.....10%

Jesus doing once and for all so we do not have to...... priceless

Some sins you can try to get forgiven yourself, for everything else there is Jesus (even for the ones you try to do yourself)

Jesus, accepted the world over.....have you?

Coat tails

December 14, 2007

I know of people that try to live off of their parent's faith. It will not work you know. Mom and dad had to accept Jesus and so will they. But that does not stop people from trying.

Ezekiel 14:12-14 ESV
(12) And the word of the LORD came to me:
(13) "Son of man, when a land sins against me by acting faithlessly, and I stretch out my hand against it and break its supply of bread and send famine upon it, and cut off from it man and beast,
(14) even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness, declares the Lord GOD.

Noah, Daniel and Job. These are three great men of faith. But they could not save anyone else but themselves with their righteousness. You cannot skate in on anyone else. Three great men of faith cannot do it for you. This is important because too often we do not tell our children about Jesus and lead them to the Lord. And they grow up thinking they do not have to do anything.

Stop and think if you are riding someone else's coat tails. More important, who is trying to ride on yours.

Agape

December 13, 2007


2 John 1:6 KJV
(6) And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.


Love and commandments, they go hand in hand. When asked what the most important command was Jesus was not slow in replying. Love God with your whole heart, and then to love others as you love yourself.

Love. What does it really mean? As noted in other devotionals, the Greek words for love are many and varied. The word for love here is agape, the highest type of love, sometimes called the God type of love.

God wants us to walk in agape to all in our lives. Even to those we do not like.

Ponder your love for others, do you walk in Agape?

Peace or War

December 12, 2007

I belong to a few online communities where people will post questions and other reply. I tend to steer myself to Christian ones as I feel that I will not have to be defending my faith in them. Some of them I have to from time to time. The one I wind up defending my faith the most at isChristDot (http://christdot.org/).

As usually there, the discussion went to current events and of course the terrible shootings in Colorado this past weekend. One person got on a rant that guns should not be in church. This man could have been stopped any number of ways, but killing him dammed his soul for all time. According to him, God does not promise us peace in our lives, he promises war and our churches should be no different and any pastor that preaches a life of peace to his people should be fired.

My thoughts:

John 14:27 KJV
(27) Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

In reply I told the man that maybe we should rip that out of the Bible and question if the words of this speaker should be believed in at all. Of course, the speaker is Jesus. He offers us peace. The verses go on to talk about that it is not the word's peace, but His. That just begs the question, what is Jesus' peace.

I do not have any answers folks, just questions. Does it bother me that there was a gun in the church, yes. I also understand that there are crazy people out there and it is a necessary evil (if you will pardon the expression). I know my own church (a fairly large one) has people with guns on their hips as well. Does it make me feel more comfortable? No. I realize they are a first line of defence should a man make his way in.

What is Jesus peace, and how do we receive it? Is it something we should strive for in a corporate way, or just for ourselves.

Sorry gang. Normally I try to tie these all up with some pat little answer to the question I pose. Tonight I do not have one, just too many questions. Any comments?

Commands from God

December 11, 2007

I had to spank my little girl the other day. She is 11 and is having problems with mom from time to time, all kids do. But in front of me and her brother, when her mom had given her a request to do something, she started yelling at her louder than I have in a long time. So, being the good Christian dad I was, she got a spanking. She went to her room angry and hurt and I let her be. After some time had passed, as I have learned in parenting her older brothers, I went down and we talked about why she had gotten spanked and how to correct it.

Ephesians 6:1-4 KJV
(1) Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.
(2) Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;)
(3) That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.
(4) And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

We have all told our kids that verse, to honor your parents. Usually they take it, thankfully not getting another whipping and get it over with. Not my girl, she looked up at me and said, 'how can you honor someone who is not acting honorably?' She can ask some tough questions. She knows verse 4 says for fathers not to provoke a child, I am glad she can not look up in a concordance to see that it could just as easily been translated parent or parents. So what do I tell her?

Annie, I said, the word does not make that an option, it makes it a command. Even if a parent is not acting in an honorable way it gives her no excuse not to honor him or her. I then went on to tell her a story about her big brother Gabe and what he did every night when she was 2. Gabe was in high school and was working nights. His step mom, my wife, left him a job to do each day when he got home. Annie would get every toy out of her toy box during the day (and she had a lot). Since I was working nights also I did not get to try to train her to pick them up, but my wife had made that Gabe's job. Now, as I remember, Gabe did not care for it, he went to school and went to work and when he got home he wanted to get homework done and go to sleep. And even though he felt she was acting dishonorably, he did what she told him to honor me. If I got home in time to help him I would, but he would usually have it done. When family meetings came up he would ask for help, but never got it. Gabe know it was a command and so he did it.

Annie thought about that a while, and then I let her be. She did not like the answer, or the story, but she saw that a man she respects in her life had walked it out before her and she was going to have to do the same.

Meanwhile, I meditated on some other verses from the chapter before:

Ephesians 5:22 KJV
(22) Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.

Ephesians 5:25 KJV
(25) Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

You see, we also, as adults have important commands for our marriage. I am not given the option of giving up on my wife and she is not given the option of giving up on me. She can not say I will not give you any respect since you do not give me any love. And I cannot say that I will not love her if I do not get respect. We are each given a command to do. Too often we want to tell the other one that they need to do what God tells them to do, but we do not do what God has told us to do in the first place.

Take some time to study these few verses. They can and will change your walk with God.

----------------------

On a side note: Any who live outside of the Tulsa area can you keep us in your prayers. While I have not lost power, many in my area, like 16,000 or more, are without power tonight, some for the third night. We had an ice storm strike the area and it has done much damage. I will probably be weeks removing the tree limbs in my back yard, but a neighborhood teenager helped me clean out my front yard to today. Thanks you for your prayers, not for me, but for those around me.

Encouragement

December 10, 2007

Not that there will ever be a good year, but it seems like this year has been bad for Church scandals. In some, ministers have repented, admitted their guilt and gone on. In others, they have not, maybe cause they are not guilty, or maybe because that have felt superior to others in the church.

Hebrews 3:12-13 ALT
(12) Be watching, brothers [and sisters], lest [there] will be in any of you* an evil heart [fig., inner self] of unbelief [which] falls away from the living God.
(13) _But_ be encouraging one another daily, while it is being called "Today," lest any of you* be hardened [fig., are made stubborn] by [the] deception of sin.

When someone thinks they are better than the rest of us Christians, then they show they have not read Hebrews very well, if at all. The writer of Hebrews makes in quite clear here that we need to encourage people day by day. If we do not, either we or they, or both, will become hardened. Then we go to sin.

It is an easy path to sin, some that are at the top of the ministry have to ask themselves every day 'have I encouraged someone today.' The bad part is those at the bottom can get the same way. Have you encouraged someone today? Do you know someone who does? Send an e-mail to them to encourage them, give them a call. (No, send it to someone else not me.) Encourage people while you can...

Being Unpopular

December , 2007

Jeremiah 50:1-2 KJ2000
(1) The word that the LORD spoke against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet.
(2) Declare you among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and conceal not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded,Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces.

Jeremiah lived at a time when Babylon ruled the world and his prophecies from God had told it in advance. Now God has him speak another message. One that is not quite as popular with the Babylonians.

God may give us unpopular things to do or say in life. When we do what we are asked, we know we have His protection however.

God preserves us

December 8, 2007

Psalms 12:7-8 GNB
(7) The wicked are everywhere, and everyone praises what is evil. Keep us always safe, O LORD, and preserve us from such people.

The devil was able to take over the earth when Adam fell. If not, we would not have the sickness and disease that we have in the world today. We do not need to fear. God protects us in everything.

Isn't nice to know that no mater what the devil tries to throw at you, you can stand against it.

When the sniffles strike this year, know that the devil can not give you that.

The light has come

December 7, 2007

Isaiah 60:1 NET
(1) "Arise! Shine! For your light arrives!
The splendor1 of the LORD shines on you!

What do we really celebrate this time of year. Most people celebrate the birth of Jesus, though some just celebrate commercialism. But what did the birth of Christ really mean?

The light has come into the world. If i were not for Jesus, we would be in the darkness of hell. So how did that happen? Most people do not tie Easter with Christmas. It is too much to really see that the cute little baby will become the man who dies at the cross. They are the same though.

The light has come to take us out of darkness.

Do you know someone in darkness?

Foolish and wise

December 6, 2007

A lot can be said about the company you keep. If you hang around with criminals, it will wear off on you and you most likely will be one also. Likewise, if you hang around negative people, some of that negativity will get into your system and make you negative as well.

Proverbs 13:20 NET
(20) The one who associates with the wise grows wise,
but a companion of fools suffers harm.


Notice how the New English Translation puts these words. The original Hebrew was not translated well in the King James (and no I am not picking on it).

Proverbs 13:20 KJV
(20) He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.

If you are with a wise man you will be wise. The original Hebrew uses two different words. One we translate wise (the first one) and one we would translate wiser. We grow in wisdom when we hang with wise people.

As a teacher I have had a lot of people tell me that they cannot understand computers because they are stupid. I have to tell them that they are not stupid, they just lack knowledge in computers. I tell them that what they are good in I would be stupid. Find people who are wise and get with them.

But people who feel stupid begin to hang with others who feel stupid. In that case you will come to harm.

Know that you cannot be wise in all things, but you can pick your friends that are.

Love v. Fear round 2

December 5, 2007

My daughter has a fear of spiders and other small bugs. While she can play with plastic ones that are so life like it is incredible, she jumps and screams at the sight of a live one. There is not trying to reason with her. But dad always steps in and saves the day. I kill the bug and take away her fear. Why because I love her.


1 John 4:18 BBE
(18) There is no fear in love: true love has no room for fear, because where fear is, there is pain; and he who is not free from fear is not complete in love.


God loved us too. He could have let us live in hell for the rest of our lives but He did not. He had perfect love, Jesus, come down to earth and take the punishment that we should have had. Like I squish the bug for my daughter, He went to hell to squish our chances of ever going there. And a Father watched a Son die, because He had perfect love for us.

Walk in Love

Passwords

December 4, 2007

I love old comedy movies. My daughter sat with me one night watching the Marx Brothers in "A Night At the Opera". I have never seen that girl laugh so much as she did that night. The knew how to do jokes back then. In another Marx film which name escapes me,Groucho and Harpo are trying to get into a speak easy during the time of Prohibition. They knock and a little door opens and a voice says 'what's the password'. Now Harpo knows the password is swordfish but he never talks. He reaches into his jacket and pulls out a swordfish. They let him in.

I got to thinking about that today. We as Christians are sometimes guilty of using the buzzwords of our faith. They can be bewildering to someone either new to the faith or outside of it totally. Without meaning it, we can set up a password to our lifestyle. If they do not know the right way to speak, they will not really be accepted. Jesus is not like that at all.

Revelation 3:20 Murdock
(20) Behold, I have been standing at the door, and I will knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.


Jesus wants to come into all lives, but do we somehow keep Him out to others by making a password. He wants in. Let's not put a password to him for others because He did not it there Himself.

Fear v. Love

December 3, 2007

2 Timothy 1:7 VW
(7) For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

The devil wants you to be a coward you know.

As I have mentioned a few times I volunteer in my churches children's department running sound. My interaction with the kids is minimal a lot of the times, but a few months ago we started doing small groups and I had to face a group of them and talk to them about the lesson that was coming up and take prayer requests. I basically did a little talking about the lesson but left the major stuff to the staff to take care of. Of course, especially with six year old kids prayer requests can take a long time, there are a lot of sick pets out there. Asking them if they wanted to receive Jesus was out of the question. Leave that for the specialists.

Last week however, things changed at a service that I was not even supposed to be working at. I showed up and they were short so I stayed. As praise and worship ended and we were about to go to the small groups, I heard the lead teacher say, team ministers, do not forget to ask the children if they know Jesus. Well, never let it be said that I do not follow orders.

See I did not think that I was proper enough to lead other peoples kids to the Lord. Leading mine was one thing but other kids. The paid staff do that the best, I might say something wrong to the kids.

So I had that group of six year old children bow their heads, and I ask them if any of them would like to accept Jesus as their savior and begin a new life. Three children rose their hands. I stumbled a bit, not sure what the protocol was for this. But never let the kids smell fear. We broke from the groups and I notified the associate children's pastor that we had three children that wanted to know Jesus. I figured he would take over.

"Have you had them pray the prayer yet?"
Well no."
"OK, you do that while I get the paperwork"

Well, I stumbled a bit more but made it through it. You see, the devil had built up a fear in me that I could not do what God has called me to do. It does not matter if I get them at 6 or 60, they are souls that need to brought into the kingdom.

Yesterday, as we broke in the groups, a little voice inside me said, it was a fluke. That the kids would not respond again so don't even try. Good thing I do not listen to little voices that try to install fear in me. As the clock ticked down and I was running out of time, I thought, do not try it again there is not enough time. I quickly asked the children if any of them wanted to know Jesus as their savior. Two hands went up.

If I listen to fear, then I am not loving to those children. God did not give me a spirit of fear. He gave me power to talk to those children. He gave me love to help them accept Jesus and a sound mind not to listen to the Devil try to shut me down.

Is there something that you fear in your life?

Spiritual Crutches

December 2, 2007

Judges 4:4-10 JPS
(4) Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, she judged Israel at that time.
(5) And she sat under the palm-tree of Deborah between Ramah and Beth-el in the hill-country of Ephraim; and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment.
(6) And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedesh-naphtali, and said unto him: 'Hath not the LORD, the God of Israel, commanded, saying: Go and draw toward mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children ofZebulun?
(7) And I will draw unto thee to the brook Kishon Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into thy hand.
(8) And Barak said unto her: 'If thou wilt go with me, then I will go; but if thou wilt not go with me, I will not go.'
(9) And she said: 'I will surely go with thee; notwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall not be for thy honour; for the LORD will give Sisera over into the hand of a woman.' And Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh.
(10) And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali together to Kedesh; and there went up ten thousand men at his feet; and Deborah went up with him.


This story has a happy ending, the bad guy is killed but like Deborah had said, it was at the hands of a woman. What is interesting is the sad start it has.

Barak had been told to go take on the enemy, look at verse 6. God has spoken to him! He was in disobedience to what God had told him to do. He had a serious lack of faith. We would call it fear. So what does he do? He demands Deborah to go with him. Why? Can she hear better from God what is right for his life. He had every thing he need except a crutch to fall back on if he looses the battle.

Do you have a spiritual crutch that is holding you back today? Is someone else getting the glory that you deserve?

A Bird in the Hand...

December 1, 2007

Genesis 26:2-3 NET
(2) The LORD appeared to Isaac and said, "Do not go down to Egypt; settle down in the land that I will point out to you.
(3) Stay in this land. Then I will be with you and will bless you, for I will give all these lands to you and to your descendants, and I will fulfill the solemn promise I made to your father Abraham.

Why did Isaac want to go down to Egypt. He wanted to go because that is where the food was. There was a famine in the land and they needed to live. The natural told him to go where he could provide for his family.

The supernatural on the other hand told him to stay put. If he would do what God told him to do, the promises of Abraham, his father would be given to him.

Tough choice. Do you stay put because God told you to stay, or do you jump for what you think is the best deal?

Life is full of those promises and they put you where you are today. For my money, listen to God, for He always provides.

November 20, 2007

Proverbs 24:30-34 GW
(30) I passed by a lazy person's field, the vineyard belonging to a person without sense.
(31) I saw that it was all overgrown with thistles. The ground was covered with weeds, and its stone fence was torn down.
(32) When I observed this, I took it to heart. I saw it and learned my lesson.
(33) "Just a little sleep, just a little slumber, just a little nap."
(34) Then your poverty will come like a drifter, and your need will come like a bandit.

One can look at these scriptures and say they are about a man who does not take care of his house and farm. And that would be right. Any person who does not take care of these things will have a problem. Some can look at them and see a business lesson, ignoring your business can result in it falling apart. I do not fault either possibility. I do offer however a third.

The writer of Proverbs could be saying to us not to let our spiritual vineyard get into disrepair. So easy it would be to just sleep in on a Sunday morning, at least this week. And then next week you say the same thing. How easy it would be to skip my devotional time with God, or reading the Bible each day.

And if you do these things, just a little nibble here, a little nibble there, and you are into spiritual poverty. And though it will seem like it came in quickly, it was just your lack of will power that did it.

Tonight I faced that. I know there are only 10 people in the mailing list (though I would love more, I take what God gives me). I faced a grueling day today. I taught this morning for 3 hours, drove to work and worked for 4 hours and then took some time off that was coming to me. That time off was not for myself, it was to work at Parents Date night at my church. Parents got to drop kids off so they could go shopping, to a movie, etc. I got put in with the 2 and 3 year old children , though eventually we pulled out the 2 year old children to another room, 16 3 year old children was enough. When I got home I tried talking with my wife. I finally got to sit down to the computer to do this and it was midnight. I could have said forget it, no one is reading this anyway. But I knew, that a nibble here and a nibble here would eat away at my spiritual life.

So though it is late, some where in the world it is still Friday November 30. And I need to pray about tomorrows devotional and get some sleep.

Take time to get into a habit that will bring you closer to God, then keep at it. OK?

Shadows

November 29, 2007

John 5:39 Complete Apostles' Bible
(39) You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and these are they which testify about Me.

Almost every item in the Old Testament is one of two things. It is the history of the Hebrew people, or it is an pre-shadow of things to come when Jesus gets here. In some cases it is both of them at the same time.

When the Passover lamb was killed that had no blemish, it talked of Jesus who also had no blemish. When it's blood was put on the sides and the top of the doorway, some of the blood would drip down from the top. You know what would happen if you drew those lineshorizontally and vertically, you would have a cross.

It takes time to read God's word. I encourage you to read it each day and look for those things that point to God and to Jesus. The first of the year I will be reading through the Bible in historical order and I invite you to read with me. The devotional each day will come from a few of the verses from what we read. I am preparing some tools to help you now, and I hope that you will join with me in thechallenge to read through the Bible.

Controls

November 28, 2007

Is there something in your life that seems to have a life of its own? For me it was anger. I was very slow to anger, but once that fuse got down to the explosive powder, watch out. I would spew all over you in less than a second. I would justify it also. Then I would calm down and try to get back to normal, leaving a bunch of concerned people in my path. I thought I was controlling my anger cause I would bottle it. In reality, it was controlling me.

How about you? Something in your life? Money, sex, popularity, what drives in you inside so badly?

2 Peter 2:19 DRB
(19) Promising them liberty, whereas they themselves are the slaves of corruption. For by whom a man is overcome, of the same also he is the slave.


As long as something is inside you that drives you, then you will never have liberty. And you cannot promise anyone else that they will have liberty either. Anyone who tries to follow anyone other than God is just following another slave to corruption. If, like me, you are a slave to anger, it controls you and not you controlling it, then you cannot have the liberty that God wants you to walk in.

Now I am not perfect. I still get angry sometimes, but now it is the exception and not the rule. I have learned to let the anger out in a controlled motion (most of the time) and express myself a lot more clearly.

Learn what controls you, and then learn to control it.

Your mouth

November 27, 2007

I grew up Catholic. I am not putting them down, they have done many good and bad things just like so many other religions and religious people. One of the rules that they had was we were not to eat meat on Fridays. It was true in my earlier years, but they later revised it so that only during Lent, the time between Easter and the 40 days before it, that we were not to eat meat on Fridays. Because of that I grew up hating fish and was not to fond of Pizza (cheese only) either. Seems that is all we had on Friday. It was to respect the fact that Jesus died on a Friday that we did it. If we did not do it we were sinning.

Mark 7:15 CEV
(15) The food that you put into your mouth doesn't make you unclean and unfit to worship God. The bad words that come out of your mouth are what make you unclean."

Now that I am grown up I can look at verses like this and see that is not true. It is not what we put into our mouths that makes us sin, it is what comes out of us. Do we lie to get our way? Do we say harmful things to people because they hurt us? Do we stretch the truth to make itconvenient for ourselves?

Let's take our words as well as our thoughts captive.

Opposition

November 26, 2007

Jeremiah 48:42 CEV
(42) You are finished as a nation, because you dared oppose me, the LORD.


These words were spoken by Jeremiah to Moab. They may as well be spoken to us today. We are a nation here in the United States, and more and more we reject God. And it is not out country alone doing this. Many spiritually rich countries are rejecting their beliefs in God in favor for their own ways.

We need to stop what we are doing as nations, but the slippery slope has already started. Is it a sign of the end time? It could be. Or maybe we will face what all nations do that reject God. The remnant of believers survive, the rest are destroyed.

Time to bring your neighbor to church?

Can God make a rock He can not lift up?

November 25, 2007

Years ago I was in a service where the preacher was talking to people about leading others to Jesus. In it he said that when someone argues with you about the unsaved that will never hear about Jesus not to answer that question. Like the woman at the well in John's Gospel, they are trying to change the subject. Another thing that he could have said was:

2 Timothy 2:23 YLT
(23) and the foolish and uninstructed questions be avoiding, having known that they beget strife,

Foolish arguments can be any number of things. I joke with my daughter when I ask her the question, if God can do anything, can He make a rock so big that He can not lift it. She finally got smart and quoted this verse to me! It really is a useless question, like the one about the unsaved ones. The focus should not be on those who never hear about Jesus but the ones that do. The focus should not be on the fact that God is so powerful, but that He uses that power for us.

Stay out of foolish arguments, especially with your husband or wife. Look for God in everything.

Black Friday

November 24, 2007

Yesterday, the United States celebrated what we call black Friday. Anyone who works in retail knows why we call it that. The Friday after Thanksgiving is the traditional start of the Christmas shopping rush. We celebrate the gift of God giving us Jesus' birth, by going out and spending money we do not have to give gifts to people. I guess that is a good thing. I mean, giving the gifts and all. By giving gifts to others, we show that we appreciate them.

There was another black Friday years ago. It also has to do with Jesus.

Mark 15:33-34 KJV
(33) And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.
(34) And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

Jesus had blackness engulf Him both spiritually and physically that day. We tend to look at the gift of Jesus as the little baby in the manger. In reality, the true gift comes at Easter. That is when the gift took place, the gift of eternal life.

Take some time as you rush through these hectic Holiday times to reflect on the other black Friday.

The Devil Made Me Do It

November 23, 2007

When I grew up there was a comedian named Flip Wilson whose signature line was 'the devil made me do that.' So often as a child I would hear others, adults and children try to use it as an excuse. Sometimes to laughs, but most often, when we young ones would say it, to punishment (some how parents knew that we did it not the devil).

Years later, it is still said. It is not said as a joke, and not even with those words. It is said as a way to escape blame. Things are said like, the devil tempted you to do that. Or, the devil just got into me and I do not know what I did.

2 Timothy 1:7 AUV-NT
(7) For God did not give us a spirit [i.e., a disposition] that makes us cowards but one that gives us power and love and self-control.

Saying the devil made you do it in any way, shape or form is just so wrong on so many counts. The spirit of God is in us, and we are not cowards to the devil.

We have self control to anger. I am not trying to pat myself on the back, but I can mostly only speak from my experiences. A few weeks ago, my 9 year old son was using my laptop computer, one of the last few good things I got before I got laid off. Without thinking when someone called him, he stood up and the laptop hit the floor. The screen is now half dead, only the upper left works. I can hook it up to an external monitor to use it but it is no longer portable like it was. I also just found out the CD/DVD drive does not work anymore. My son went running knowing that dad was going to blow his top. I did not. I kept my cool. No amount of yelling was going to bring t back, and would only make it worse for all the family members. My 11 year daughter later asked me why I could be so cool and not get angry. I told her I was angry. I was very angry, but I chose to walk in peace in that situation so the house would be at peace.

You see, we have the power to walk under love and self-control if we wish to. Do you wish to?

Bitter or Sweet

November 22, 2007

Revelation 10:8-11 KJV
(8) And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel whichstandeth upon the sea and upon the earth.
(9) And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.
(10) And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.
(11) And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.


The Gospel (the book given to John here) can be both a bitter thing and a sweet thing. To those of us who have listened to what it says and follow it it is so sweet a thing to have. On the other side, you can sit and watch loved ones reject the Word that they receive and it becomes so bitter to us that we will not see them in heaven.

Know that you need to give it over to God and go for the sweet. My mom is an example. She never told me not to tell her about God but did not believe what I was talking to her about. As time went by I just said, you take it God. Some ten years later, she was on the phone with me one day and she started telling me about a woman who lead her to the Lord.

I could have let the bitter stay in my stomach, instead, I went for the sweet. She knows God now in a way she did not before.

Go for the sweet.

Give thanks to the Lord

November 21, 2007

As we here in the United States approach tomorrow, we celebrate Thanksgiving. A day set forth by our forefathers to celebrate and give thanks. We are to give thanks, not for the large amounts of food that we have, not for the football games we can watch from dawn to dusk and then some, not for the traffic we endure to meet our families, and not even for our families themselves. We are to thank God for God. Our forefathers told us when they created this holiday to thank God for allowing us to be alive. The Bible tells us so as well:

Psalms 107:1 KJV
(1) O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.


As you pass around the turkey, remember to thank God, because his love endures forever.

Thanksgiving

November 20, 2007

Holidays are not good for me. I have a condition that when the days get shorter, the lack of light brings on a depression and I have to be aware of it. That added to a rough childhood where my dad would use the Thanksgiving/Christmas time as a time to openly display his drinking instead of hiding itlik he usually did and I just do not like this time of year.

In my first marriage, as this time of year approached, the hostility between my wife and I in the later years did not make for good Thanksgiving dinners. There was usually some degree of tension there. The first year after my divorce, I found myself eating at an all you can eat buffet for Thanksgiving, by myself. While I was lonely, I knew that there would be peace, even if it was not the big feast I was used to. What was funny was that I ran into a family that we had know eating there as well. We sat for a few moments together and shared some memories and I could feel the friendship from them.

God's word speaks about this:

Proverbs 15:17 GNB
(17) Better to eat vegetables with people you love than to eat the finest meat where there is hate.

Now do not go canceling your Thanksgiving plans with the in-laws cause the Bible says these words. Do think about them. Maybe the people you know are not the ones that you love. Maybe you need to take the time to find something about them to love. Hate comes about because of a lack of love. Find something to love about them.

Of course, there is always the vegetables...

Temptations

November 19, 2007

Hebrews 4:14-15 KJV
(14) Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
(15) For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

One of the things that separates Christian beliefs from other major religions (and minor ones also) is that we have a high priest that died for our sins. He is like us in many ways, but unlike us in one key way. He was tempted to sin but He did not. Because He went through those temptations and did not sin, He knows what we are going through when we are tempted. God the Father cannot even say that he knows what we went through. Jesus does. And He makes intercessions for us because He knows what we are going through.

What an awesome thing. We can say to others often, that they can not know what we are going through. That does not work in dealing with Jesus. He knows what we are going through and can hold our feet to the fire when we try to excuse sins.

Captive thoughts

November 18, 2007

As I was in praise and worship this morning I was having a terrible time. Was it the praise and worship team at my church? Nope! They are top notch. Was it the dread of the preaching that was going to come up? Nope, I love listening to my pastor. Was it the lighting, the chairs, too loud, too soft? No, no, no and no. It was me.

For some reason I would start to get into the songs and something would cross my mind. My mind would wander away on it. Since I work Children's church sometimes I was worried I might miss the coded request for help form the numbers display for babies needing comfort. From there my mind would wonder to what we would be doing in Children's church next time we met. OK, got that knocked out and then on to worship. Well, how was I going to cook the chicken when I got home? And on and on it went. I would think of something, pull myself back to praise and then wander off again. Since I take notes during the sermon, it is harder to wander during that. But it did just once, when pastor read the following verse:

2 Corinthians 10:5 Complete Apostles' Bible
(5) casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ,

Now, he was preaching about being in rest knowing God has it under control. I did not hear that though. I knew exactly what my problem was. I was not taking my thoughts captive. God will not take those thoughts away from us. They are there and we have to deal with them. I had to say, thoughts, get out of here, this is God's time, let me worship Him!

How about you. In your time with God, in or out of church, do you take your thoughts captive? In your daily walk, do you think Godly thoughts and keep captive those thoughts that are not Godly or of a good report? Neither do I, but I am now working on it.

Rewards

November 17, 2007

2 Thessalonians 3:13 NET
(13) But you, brothers and sisters, do not grow weary in doing what is right.


It is so easy to get tired of doing what is right. If you do not get a reward here on earth it can seem like no one cares and you are out there all alone. Paul tells us not to worry about that. Why? Because we have a reward that is not here. It is in heaven. We may get a reward here on earth but that is not where the real reward is.

Do right, it is its own reward. And do not grow weary in doing it.

Clue Bat from God

November 16, 2007

Romans 9:22-23 CEV
(22) God wanted to show his anger and reveal his power against everyone who deserved to be destroyed. But instead, he patiently put up with them.
(23) He did this by showing how glorious he is when he has pity on the people he has chosen to share in his glory.

Some of the image that many Christians have about a vengeful God come from verses like this. What they do not look at is what follows at the end of it. He patiently put up with it. I know that in my life I am not patient with the people that I have to deal with. I often joke that I want to get a big inflatable bat and hit them over the head with my 'clue bat'. Some support questions that I have to answer over and over again, and all from the same person. I do however try to take my cue from this verse and patiently put up with them.

God loves up and shows us His glory. He will do it over and over again. Eventually though, He speaks to us in His Word, or people come across our path to give us the advice. Sort of like a gentle 'clue bat' from God. Eventually, He will have to let us go. That is not His choice. He wants us to work with Him. Take some time to listen to what He is saying. Nothing hurts worse that a 'clue bat', especially one from God.

Decisions

November 15, 2007

Jude 1:11 Murdock
(11) Woe to them; for they have gone in the way of Cain; and, after the error of Balaam, they have lusted for gain; and, in the rebellion of Korah, they have perished.


Winding up our look at Jude 1:11 we can ask what one thing they had in common?

It would be that they wanted what they wanted they would not let anything get in their way. Even more than that, what they wanted was not what God wanted for the,. When you put what you want in front of what God wants for you, disaster will result. Each one of these people should have known better. We should learn from their mistakes.

Speaking for God

November 14, 2007

Jude 1:11 ISV
(11) How terrible it will be for them! For they followed the path of Cain, rushed headlong into Balaam's error to make a profit, and destroyed themselves in Korah's rebellion.

Many people will not be familiar with the third member of our trio. Korah is found in Numbers 16. He is a descendant of Levi, but not of the priestly tribe. He comes to Moses with about 250 other men. He tells Moses that Moses is not the only one that can hear from God because the whole tribe is Holy. Moses did not try to resolve the problem himself, He let God help him. He basically told Korah to have his gang meet with him in the morning outside God's tent. God would answer who was to be the one to speak for God.

Well the next day Moses said if he Moses was the only one to speak for God, these men would not have a natural death, otherwise, if they lived, they could speak for God. God answered by opening the ground and swallowing them whole as well as their families.

Korah wanted to be able to speak for God, but he did not want to pay the cost that Moses had to pay. In the end, he wound up being buried alive.

I find it funny sometimes in talking to people who say they are called into the ministry. They want to rush out and go to Bible school. I will try to talk to them about some things in the Bible and they have never heard of it. I ask them about their Bible reading plan, have they read the whole Bible. A lot of time they have not. I know that the ministry will wind up swallowing them alive if they continue with their plans. You can not claim to speak for God if you do not know His word.

Using God's gifts

November 13, 2007


Jude 1:11 EMTV
(11) Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, and in the error of Balaam they have rushed for profit, and have perished in the rebellion of Korah.

Today the life of Balaam gets a look at. Balaam was a person that had been given a gift of prophecy by God. As best we can tell, he used this gift for what God wanted him to do. The problem came when someone offered him a lot of money if he would come and speak against the people of Israel. They were heading to the promised land and the King wanted them cursed before they could get there. At first Balaam did not want to go, but the promise of large rewards turned his head.

Using God's gifts for just our own gain is not really a good idea. I know none of you would do that, at least no knowingly. In thinking about that, you might want to consider what you you do for a day to day job. I am a computer person. In using the skills that God gave me to help people with their computers I earn money. Keeping that money just for myself and not giving some to God makes me no better than Ballaam. Just something to think about.

God's aproval

November 12, 2007

As noted yesterday I wanted to spend a few days looking a the three people mentioned in Jude 1:11.

Jude 1:11 TCNT
(11) Alas for them! They walk in the steps of Cain; led astray by Balaam's love of gain, they plunge into sin, and meet their ruin through rebellion like that of Korah.

Today we will look at Cain.

We all know what happened with Cain. He tried to give a sacrifice to God that was not accepted. When he could not get acceptance from God, he went and killed his brother. What he wanted was to be accepted. It is a common feeling that all of us have when dealing with people. In this case though, he wanted to be accepted by God. The question now becomes, why did God not accept him?

One reason could be his choice of sacrifice. He chose products of the earth. We learn later in the Bible that the blood must cover the sins of the people. Could Cain have known this? I would say yes. When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden of Eden, they covered them selves with leaves. God killed an animal to make clothes for them. The first animal sacrifice was done so that people could be covered. Blood had to be shed. God may not have given His acceptance to Cain simple because it was not an animal sacrifice.

The other think to think about is that Cain did not give his best to God. He gave what he wanted to, not what was the best of his garden. God always wants his best from us. He does not want to take what we think is OK for Him.

In either case, Cain did what he wanted for God. He did not want to do want God wanted him to do. He wanted God to accept him on his own terms, something that God will not do. Do we ever do the same thing? Do what we want to do and ask God to bless it?

Who do you want to live like?

November 11, 2007

The Bible gives us many examples of people to take as an example of how we should live. What is interesting is that in one verse we are given an example of three people that we should not be like:

Jude 1:11 KJV
(11) Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.


In each of these people, who I plan to look at in the next few days, they wanted something that they did not deserve.

What is in your desires that you do not deserve? If Jesus were to come today, would He be happy that you were wanting it? Is anything that you want something that you should not have? Look into yourself the next few days as we look at these three men.

Comfort

November 10, 2007

Comfort is something that we should give each other. But what type of comfort should we give?

1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 BBE
(16) Because the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a word of authority, with the voice of the chief angel, with the sound of a horn: and the dead in Christ will come to life first;
(17) Then we who are still living will be taken up together with them into the clouds to see the Lord in the air: and so will we be for ever with the Lord.
(18) So then, give comfort to one another with these words.

God is returning. No matter what problems we have in life, we should be cheerful that when He comes, we will be with Him for eternity, an eternity of joy.

Encourage one another.

Pride

November 9, 2007

Obadiah 1:3-4 GNB
(3) Your pride has deceived you. Your capital is a fortress of solid rock; your home is high in the mountains, and so you say to yourself, 'Who can ever pull me down?'
(4) Even though you make your home as high as an eagle's nest, so that it seems to be among the stars, yet I will pull you down.


The people of Edom were living high, literally. They lived on a cliff on the rocks. Makes the area easy to defend, no one can get down to them from above or up from below. They will be seen coming and the city could defend itself.

What they forgot was God. God brought them down.

We need to think about that. We may think we are so good that we cannot be beaten by the devil, maybe even take pride in it.

God can help you understand that you know. He will make sure of it.

House Divided

November 8, 2007

Luke 11:17 Complete Apostles' Bible
(17) But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them: "Every kingdom divided against itself is made desolate, and a house divided against a house falls.

While Jesus in this verse is speaking about Satan attacking his own demons to stop them doing what he told them to do. It is so true for real life as well. A house that has a husband and a wife quarreling and at odds with each other cannot stand either. I speak from experience when I say that if one wants to be doing God's will and the other drags their feet, the house will ultimately fall.

The decision to marry should be done carefully. I urge those reading this that if you have trouble agreeing on things with your spouse, then it would be a good idea to get counseling to bring you back in line with each other. Your house will ultimately fall as well.

Laws

November 7, 2007

It is amazing how people can justify their sin by saying that God has not punished me yet. He must either be non-existent or does not care about my sin. We can justify almost anything it seems.

When the people of Jerusalem were about to be hauled off to captivity Jeremiah tried to tell them to stop their evil ways. They did for a while but then tried to blame Jeremiah for the problems since they had stopped worshiping their false Gods.

Jeremiah 44:19-23 NET
(19) The women added, "We did indeed sacrifice and pour out drink offerings to the Queen of Heaven. But it was with the full knowledge and approval of our husbands that we made cakes in her image and poured out drink offerings to her."

Hey, they say, we had it good when we were worshiping the stuff you say we are not supposed to.

(20) Then Jeremiah replied to all the people, both men and women, who responded to him in this way.
(21) "The LORD did indeed remember and call to mind what you did! He remembered the sacrifices you and your ancestors, your kings, your leaders, and all the rest of the people of the land offered to other gods in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem.
(22) Finally the LORD could no longer endure your wicked deeds and the disgusting things you did. That is why your land has become the desolate, uninhabited ruin that it is today. That is why it has become a proverbial example used in curses.
(23) You have sacrificed to other gods! You have sinned against the LORD! You have not obeyed the LORD! You have not followed his laws, his statutes, and his decrees! That is why this disaster that is evident to this day has happened to you."


Jeremiah tells them, yes, God did remember. And He did everything He could to bend over backwards to get you to come back to Him. Do not blame this on God, you and your ancestors brought this on yourselves.

God has rules for us. While we are not under the law, they are like the laws of Gravity. If you try to defy the law of gravity you will get hurt. If you try to defy the laws of God, you will get hurt also.

Take some time to listen to God today and seek out His laws for you in your life.

time

November 6, 2007

There is a time in your life that you will be called to do something for God. He may call you and equip you for it long before it happens. When you actually get to do what He asks may take a long time.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 KJV
(1) To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

When the time is right, God will let you know. There is a time for it to happen. And God will help it get done when it needs to be done.

Encouragement

November 5, 2007

Sometimes life can be discouraging to people. Everyday people can find things to get them discouraged. Often it is the people that they know that do it to them. The married couple may say discouraging words to each other, or worse, one may put the other down constantly , maybe even without realizing they are doing it. Co-workers may be out to get the best deal for themselves so they discourage what the person is doing. Even just looking at the news may be discouraging.

But that is not what God wants from us. God wants us to encourage people.

Hebrews 10:25 AUV-NT
(25) We should not neglect our assembling together [as a church], as some people are in the habit of doing, but we should encourage one another [spiritually], and [do it] all the more [diligently] as you see the day [of judgment] coming closer.

God does not say to go to church to do it. We are not to gather in our services and get encouragement, though it can and should be done there. God does want us to encourage the people we meet on a day to day basis. Look at your actions to others. Are you being encouraging to them, or are you letting them get by or maybe even putting them down.

Take some time to encourage others today, God told you to, not me.

Sleep

November 4, 2007

Proverbs 24:30-34 KJV
(30) I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding;
(31) And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down.
(32) Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction.
(33) Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:
(34) So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man.


Sometimes reading a proverb like this can get lost in the translation to our time. As people involved in agricultural, they had to work daily to get things done. If they did not, they would loose the crops. Too much of that and the farm would go into ruin. But we do not work in farms today do we?

Seems like I go to work every day. I can do two things at work. I can do my job over and over again till it is done. Or I can waste time doing things that do not have any thing to do with my job. I can say to myself that since I do not get paid enough, that the company is getting what they paid for. Then I can complain when I do not get a raise.

When I fool around on the job, am I not having a little sleep, a little slumber? What comes next?

Complaining

November 3, 2007

This morning someone asked a group of men that I was with how did God bless you this week? I felt bad because I really had nothing to say. It has been a rough week for work and I have had some personal problems. In the end I kept my mouth shut. But was it the right thing to do?


Numbers 11:4-6 VW
(4) And the mixed multitude who were among them lusted after their lusts; and the children of Israel turned back and wept, saying: Who will give us flesh to eat?
(5) We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic;
(6) but now our soul is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes!

While I did not complain like the people of Israel did that they got just manna when they wanted meat and fruit to eat, I have spent much of the week complaining to God about what was going on in my life, like God does not know all that already. This group did nothing but complain, have I done much less.

Do you know what happened next in this story? God decides to feed them the meat they want. But He also made it so much that they ate till it came out of their noses. They gorged themselves on the food. But God is not happy with what these people have become.

Numbers 11:33 VW
(33) And while the flesh was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the wrath of Jehovah burned against the people, and Jehovah struck the people with a very great plague.

What will happen if I get complaining all the time? Will he give me what I want? Will he give me so much I get sick over it? Do I dare even ask the next question?

I guess it may be time to get out of my complaining to God all the time. What do you think?

God loves you

November 2, 2007

Psalms 86:15 Complete Apostles' Bible
(15) But You, O Lord God, are compassionate and merciful, longsuffering, and abundant in mercy and true.


I have mentioned the image of God I grew up with many times. It came as a shock to read verses like this for the first time. We were never really encouraged to read the Bible, accept what was read to us from the pulpit. This meant that a lot of the hell-fire and brimstone stuff was read to us.

God however is not like that. He is a loving God. He is one who will bend over to reach us and help us through our sins. He will not be be trifled with though. You will have to accept Him. But His mercy is there.

Getting the glory

November 1, 2007

Isn't it interesting that you can see verses that you have read lots of times but just one time they jump out at you?

John 5:44 CEV
(44) How could you possibly believe? You like to have your friends praise you, and you don't care about praise that the only God can give!


Where do you get your glory? So many of us are still like we were in grade school. Tonight when I got home from work, she was in tears because she had lots of problems with her classmates not liking her. She wants her friends to like her and has not fully realized that not everyone will like her. Are most of us any different from her when it comes to wanting to be noticed, especially us men who want to be noticed because we do some simple household chore, or get some skills with some sort of ball.

Jesus clearly tells us we are not to desire the praise of men. God's praise of us is what is important. Men will praise you, that is not the problem. Desiring that praise is what is the problem. Do not desire that praise, desire God's praise and live your life in such a way as to achieve it.

Traditions

October 31, 2007

Traditions can be a good thing. As I write this, I have helped at my church in the presenting of a Hallelujah party. It is an annual event done as a web for a safe alternative to trick or treat. The church has done it as far back as I can remember, long before I became a member there. It is a tradition. Traditions can get to be a problem though.

Mark 7:9 ALT
(9) And He was saying to them, "[All too] well do you* regard as nothing the commandment of God, so that you* should keep your* tradition.


If what we do in our traditions counteracts the word of God, the Bible, then we are wrong. We can wind up calling something a tradition, but in reality it is a sin. As a Christian, I let the world celebrate Halloween , it is not something that I will do or let my children do. I have had people tell me it is a silly tradition. Tradition, maybe; silly, nope! It is a holiday that worships evil spirits. You can wrap it up any way you want, but that is what it is. Because of that, it is a tradition that I will not keep, I will obey the commands of God.

Of course that is just one. Any one else have some traditions that we need to shut down?

See yourself

October 30, 2007


Genesis 17:5 VW
(5) No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations.


I always wondered why the name change. God had a simple reason. He need to get Abram to change his image. Abram in the Hebrew means high-father. Usually this meant the one who rules. But Abraham meant father of many nations. By changing his image from one who is a ruler (which he did as he was a rich man) to one who had many children, God changed Abram's image of himself.

We often have to do the same thing. While we do not do anything as drastic as a name change, we need to change our image of ourselves. If we do not, we will not see us as God sees us.

Time machine

October 29, 2007

Acts 13:47 CEV
(47) The Lord has given us this command, "I have placed you here as a light for the Gentiles. You are to take the saving power of God to people everywhere on earth."


God gave the command to Paul to go to the Gentiles. He was to be a light to them. It was a command that he did.

What an interesting thing if he did not. We would not have the liberty we have in knowing Jesus.

What command has God given you? Will it affect someone tomorrow, or maybe even 2000 years from now?

Swear

October 28, 2007

Hebrews 6:13 KJV
(13) For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself,

Did you ever think about the promise God made to Abraham. He made a promise to Abraham and as a way of promising that it would happen he swore by himself. When you swear a promise you have to do it by someone or thing that has the power to make it come to pass. Who could God go to.

There is no one greater than God. And you know what else, there is no greater name than the name of Jesus.

Condemnation

October 27, 2007

John 3:17 AUV-NT
(17) For God did not send His Son into the world to be its judge [i.e., to condemn it], but [rather] so that the people of the world could be saved [from condemnation] though Him.

Jesus did not come into this world to judge it. What a delight it was to learn this. I came from a strong sin conscious denomination when I was growing up. What a relief to find out that God and His Son did not come to judge me, but to save me from being condemned. WOW!

Now, can I do stuff wrong. Yes, and I do. I ask God to forgive me and I know it is done because Jesus covers my sins. I cannot continue to sin in those ways with out getting some punishment, but each time I as forgiveness when I sin, and I really mean it, then it gets harder for me to sin that way the next time.

I no longer have that image of God with a big hammer wanting to get me, more like a father who wants me, His child, to succeed.

Eyes of Fire

October 26, 2007

Ever wonder what Jesus looked like? I have. One day I came across this description in Revelations and it scared me.

Revelation 1:14 RYLT-NT
(14) and his head and hairs white, as if white wool -- as snow, and his eyes as a flame of fire;

Can you imagine seeing Jesus in heaven? Those eyes, flames of fire looking at you. His hair whiter than any thing that you have ever seen. What will those do when they look at you. Will they remind you of every sin you committed? Will you be able so see because the white hot light of His hair.

I am glad that I have Jesus as my savior. I wonder if this look of his was for men like John who were still in their natural bodies. It does make you wonder what He will be like.

You've got questions...

October 25, 2007

Philippians 4:13 KJV
(13) I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Many times over the years that I have fixed computers, I have come across problems that I could not solve. It is a very difficult feeling, not knowing what to do to get the problem resolved when I am suppose to be the one that knows all the tricks.

At times like that I have relied on scriptures. One of them is today's. When I feel that I cannot answer the question, a quick prayer to God to help and you know what? The answer looks at me in the face.

It happened just today in getting a network to work that was not cooperating.

Take time to ask God when problems come your way that you cannot solve. He strenghtens you to get the answers you need.

What did you get ...

October 24, 2007

Deuteronomy 6:10-12 NET
(10) Exhortation to Worship the Lord Exclusively

Then when the LORD your God brings you to the land he promised your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to give you — a land with large, fine cities you did not build,
(11) houses filled with choice things you did not accumulate, hewn out cisterns you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant — and you eat your fill,
(12) be careful not to forget the LORD who brought you out of Egypt, that place of slavery.


One night last week, storms hit the Tulsa area where I live. I was at work, trying to get computers fixed at the college where I work. I was really getting grumpy because, just as soon as I would get a computer back to a state where I could work on it, the lights would go out and I would have to wait for them to come back on again. Now I had not worked for or owned those computers. I did not pay for the problem electricity. I was just a guy getting paid to do a job. Why was I getting so upset.

What I did not realize till I got home was that across the street from the college was a mobile home park. In one of those mobile homes, a guy was getting up to get himself a bowl of cereal. As he moved into the kitchen area, a tree fell across his house, right where he would have been sitting. He lost his home.

So often we get upset with things that we should not be getting upset with. And stuff that does not even belong to us. And if it does belong to us, who gave us the power to get it in the first place. Let us make sure that we do not forget the LORD who gave us what we have.

No Lament

October 23, 2007


Jeremiah 16:5 KJV
(5) For thus saith the LORD, Enter not into the house of mourning, neither go to lament nor bemoan them: for I have taken away my peace from this people, saith the LORD, evenlovingkindness and mercies.


A lot of people that I have tried to talk to about Christianity have asked me about how a loving God could let so many people die in attacks from the Hebrews when they took over the promised land. Even today's verse could come into question.

If we take every thing on face value, it does look like this is true. He is a loving God, how could He do this to people who did not know what was going on?

The truth is that He had warned these people, as He did the people that he tells Jeremiah not to mourn for. They did not follow the rules and were living lives that not o only did not glorify God, they also brought man up to a level of a god.

Do we ever do that? Do we ever put ourselves on a level with God? When we do, it is time to understand that punishment may be right around the corner. When God speaks we had better listen.

Check up from the neck up

October 22, 2007


Titus 1:16 KJV
(16) They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.

I know that I have said many times here that you cannot do any works that will get you into heaven. And I stand by that. But, works are still important. I never want to let you think that you do not have to do any works. In fact, Paul wrote to Titus to watch out for people who say that they know God, but they show that they do not know God by the very things that they do (or do not do).

In conversation with my daughter tonight she told me she was having trouble with people in her class that are Christians teasing her. I said, 'how do you know they are Christian?' She replied, 'they say they go to church.' I told her that because I go in a garage does not make me a car. While we are not to judge there salvation, just because they say they go to church does not mean that they are a Christian. People who say they are Christians, both who are and are not, can and will do stuff wrong. It is when we do this stiff on a consistent basis that we better do a check up from the neck up, so that we can see if we are really acting like the Christians that we say that we are.

Attract Sinners

October 21, 2007


Luke 15:1-2 KJV
(1) Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him.

What is it that attracted sinners to Jesus? Of course not all sinners wanted to get near Him. The religious leaders wanted Him dead. So I guess that that only certain sinners wanted to be around Him. Still what was the reason they wanted to be near Him? What can I learn from Him, so that people will want to be near me and I can lead them to Jesus? I do not have any answers on this one. All I can do is ask and hope that someway God will answer me (or those on the mailing list may come up with some ideas).

One thing I know. When you start making friends with the sinners, expect some problems with the religious people.

(2) And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.

Something that has not changed in the years since Jesus walked the earth. If you start helping the sinners and bring them into the kingdom of God, then the people that act like they love God will start to hate you. Maybe that is the answer to my original question. They act like they know God, maybe, and I am not judging here, they act and do not really know Him. Maybe what people saw in Jesus, that could be in our lives, is the fact that Jesus knows God. What a concept.

One day in the house ...

October 20, 2007

Does going to church seem like a chore to you that you have to do? Or do you really want to do it. Look at what David felt about it.

Psalms 84:10 KJV
(10) For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.

We have a honor to go to church. We should love it. But so many people dread it and I have yet to figure it out. Maybe it is that they do not like the people. If that is the case, that is a sad fact. We do not go to church to be with the people, we go to worship God with the people. If you cannot do this, maybe it would be time to look for a church that you can worship God at. You need to feel that time with God.

Law

October 19, 2007

Romans 3:28-29 KJV
(28) Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
(29) Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also:

I know that I have talked about it before, but the Bible talks about it a lot so I guess I will also. We cannot do anything that will get us in to heaven. In fact, it does not matter if we are Jew or Gentile, and for that matter, black or white, male or female, well you get the idea.

So what can we do to get this salvation. Only one thing, FAITH. If we do not have faith we cannot get to heaven. There is just no way around it.

Ashamed

October 18, 2007

I can imagine it now. A guy has a wife and when he goes to a party, he tries to fact that he is married to her. I imagine when he gets home, he will hear about it. I wonder if God feels any different about it?

Mark 8:38 Complete Apostles' Bible
(38) For whosoever is ashamed of Me and My words among this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him, whenever He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels."


I guess He does not. Jesus makes it clear that he will not tolerate being ashamed of Him. So do you hide the fact that you are His brother. Do you walk away from off color jokes? Do you tolerate people using His name as a cuss word? Would you do the same for someone you love? If so, do you love Jesus?

What can you imagine

October 17, 2007


1 Corinthians 2:9-10 GW
(9) But as Scripture says: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined the things that God has prepared for those who love him."
(10) God has revealed those things to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches everything, especially the deep things of God.

I can not imagine what heaven is like. One time I just let my self get lost in the thought of what it would be like. All I could visualize was a sea of people that were turned to a light source that seemed to bring peace to all that were there. And no matter how far you were from it, the light seemed to be right next to you. I have tried to ask God if that is what it is like but have never gotten a reply. While I have read similar types of descriptions in the Bible, never one just like it. What a feeling though as I could visualize it in my mind.

But even as beautiful as that seemed, Paul's letter to the Corinthians, tells us that we will never comprehend what God has prepared for us. We can get some thoughts on it because we have the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will guide you in anything you need. And it is from Him that we are able to communicate with and understand God.

Take some time to get quiet, and listen to what the Spirit says to you.

Foolish Vomit

October 16, 2007

Albert Einstein has an interesting quote:

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Albert Einstein, (attributed)
US (German-born) physicist (1879 - 1955)

Interesting. I wonder if he read his Bible because it talks about it as well.

Proverbs 26:11 BBE
(11) Like a dog going back to the food which he has not been able to keep down, is the foolish man doing his foolish acts over again.


While it sounds disgusting, have you ever watched a dog eat to much, get sick and then eat it and get sick again. It is not an uncommon thing. While I think dogs are wonderful and beautiful, in some ways they act just plain dumb. And so does the foolish person. He keeps trying to do the same thing over and over again and hoping things will change.

How about the way we do things. Do you treat your spouse the same way every day, hoping that he or she will change to meet your needs? Doesn't work does it? Do you want friends but do the same thing to get them every time and wonder why you do not have them? These are only a few examples, you will have to look into your own life to see if you are doing things as a fool would.

Full of Joy

October 15, 2007


1 John 1:4 KJV
(4) And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.


God wants us to all have a good time. You do not have to take my word for that, take the word of John, the apostle that Jesus loved. He writes to us so that our joy can be full. Now a lot of people will say, yes our joy will be full when we get to heaven. There we will be with Jesus and there will be no more sorrow. That to me is a bunch of garbage. Did not Jesus tell us in the sample prayer that things should be the same on earth as they are in heaven?

Why should the world have all the joy while we look like we have a sour look on our face? Would you want to be a Christian if that was the way Christians looked? No.

Yes, Jesus said we would have troubles but He said to be of good cheer because He has overcome them.

Find time to put some cheer in your life. Jesus can help.

So which do you worship and which do you burn

October 14, 2007

We think it is foolish the way that the ancient people used to worship gods. Even Isiah thought it was funny. He talks about a carver of wood, that goes out and cuts down a tree.

Isaiah 44:16-19 BBE
(16) With part of it he makes a fire, and on the fire he gets meat cooked and takes a full meal: he makes himself warm, and says, Aha! I am warm, I have seen the fire:
(17) And the rest of it he makes into a god, even his pictured image: he goes down on his face before it, giving worship to it, and making prayer to it, saying, Be my saviour; for you are my god.
(18) They have no knowledge or wisdom; for he has put a veil over their eyes, so that they may not see; and on their hearts, so that they may not give attention.
(19) And no one takes note, no one has enough knowledge or wisdom to say, I have put part of it in the fire, and made bread on it; I have had a meal of the flesh cooked with it: and am I now to make the rest of it into a false god? am I to go down on my face before a bit of wood?

I think it is funny. How did he know which part to cook with and which to carve? We would never do any thing so stupid as this would we?

Where do we put our time? Do we compartmentalize our time? Is our time of worship relegated to a few minutes reading a devotional and Sunday mornings? How do you know when to worship God and when not to. God wants us to to spend all of our time with Him in worship. It is not hard to do you know. Just be aware of Him as you go about your business. Talk to Him like He is right there. He is you know. He wants to be with you more than you know.