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.