Proper Boasting

August 7, 2019

“Boast Only About the Lord”

18 For it is not he who commends himself that is approved, but he whom the Lord commends.— 2 Cor. 10:18 NASB

2 Cor. 10:12-18 NKJV

God has given each of us certain talents that we are to use for our livelihood. These talents are also to be used for Kingdom work here on earth. The workplace is our mission field that God has given to each of us. Our jobs may be temporary, short term or long term, but it is where God has planted us for now. Use your talents to to do the work well. Not everyone is called to be a pastor, missionary, music director, etc., but we are all called to be servants of one another to make the church stronger. Our job is to minister to (serve) those that God puts in our path. Our vocational work may give us earthly rewards, but we are to lay up our rewards in heaven. We can do that by loving and serving others.

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous

Post 08-07-2019

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June 21, 2019

“I, The Lord, Have Spoken”

24 But those who wish to boast  should boast in this alone:that they truly know me and understand that I am the Lord who demonstrates unfailing love
    and who brings justice and righteousness to the earth,
and that I delight in these things.
    I, the Lord, have spoken! — Jeremiah 9:24 NLT 

Jeremiah 9:23-25 NLT

We may be well-educated and very intelligent but education and intelligence does not necessarily produce wisdom. God grants us wisdom when we ask humbly without wavering in our request. We may be in a position of authority, but if we are, God has elevated us to that position and can take us down quicker than He raised us up. We should humble ourselves under His mighty hand and He will lift us up in due time. God may have allowed you to amass great wealth, but that wealth can disappear like coins from a pocket with a hole in it or take flight like a bird and be gone before the day is over. There is only one thing that we can be sure of and that is God’s unchanging love. It can’t be earned or bought and once you have accepted Him as your Savior and Lord, you can not be separated from Him. So, if you must boast, boast in the fact that the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the Creator of the universe has chosen you to be His heir. That is a boast that you can take with you throughout eternity. You are safe and secure in His unchanging hands.Romans 8:12-17 NLT

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous

Post 06-21-2019

January 15, 2018

Keep the Message Simple

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9 This false teaching is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough! – Gal. 5:9 NLT
Gal. 5:9-12 NLT

Just as it only takes a little bit of yeast to make the whole batch self-rising, it only takes a little untruth to make the whole message a lie. God does not need our help to make His glorious Good News any better. He doesn’t need us to stretch the truth to make His miracles any bigger and we don’t need to add anything to His plan of salvation to make it effective. We must be very careful in witnessing to others that we do not add to or subtract from what God has said. We must be confident in what we believe and share it with the love of Jesus Christ. Anything more or less than what Jesus said takes away everything that He did for us at the cross. We must saturate our efforts with prayer and the love of Jesus Christ. But, just as Paul was adamant about rebuking those that sowed confusion to the new converts, we must be courageous in sharing the Gospel. There are lines we do not cross and there is a stance from which we do not back down. Share the Gospel with love, pure and simple, with no apologies.
32 “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. 33 But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.–Matt. 10:32,33 (NIV)


“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” -Anonymous

Post 01-15-2018

October 23, 2016

Boast Only in the Lord!

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24 But those who wish to boast  should boast in this alone:
that they truly know me and understand that I am the Lord
    who demonstrates unfailing love
    and who brings justice and righteousness to the earth,
and that I delight in these things.
    I, the Lord, have spoken! — Jeremiah 9:24 NLT
 
Jeremiah 9:23-25 NLT


We may be well-educated and very intelligent but education and intelligence does not necessarily produce wisdom. God grants us wisdom when we ask humbly without wavering in our request. We may be in a position of authority, but if we are, God has elevated us to that position and can take us down quicker than He raised us up. We should humble ourselves under His mighty hand and He will lift us up in due time. God may have allowed you to amass great wealth, but that wealth can disappear like coins from a pocket with a hole in it or take flight like a bird and be gone before the day is over. There is only one thing that we can be sure of and that is God’s unchanging love. It can’t be earned or bought and once you have accepted Him as your Savior and Lord, you can not be separated from Him. So, if you must boast, boast in the fact that the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the Creator of the universe has chosen you to be His heir. That is a boast that you can take with you throughout eternity. You are safe and secure in His unchanging hands.

Post 10-23-2016
October 5, 2015

Help Me!

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​7b …. ​Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. — 2 Cor. 12:7b-10 NIV
​In the verses​ from 2 Cor.11:5 to 12:7a, Paul has been making the case that only a fool would boast about the things that they accomplish in their own strength. He is is making two points. One is that as long as we think we can, God won’t and the other is that we are foolish to think that we can do any of God’s work in our own strength.  Jesus made that fact very clear.

5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. — John 15:5

We are not put here on earth to brag and boast about ourselves and our accomplishments.​ Our purpose here on earth is to bring praise to God ​in our words and actions.

9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.​ — 1 Peter 2:9​

​It is in our weakest moments that God shows up to deliver us, it is when we come to the end of our rope and ask God for wisdom, that He shows us the open door through which He will take us to safety. Therefore, let us, like Paul, delight in our weaknesses and in whatever situation we find ourselves, trust God. ​
​As long as we think we can, God will allow us to struggle on our own.
Post 10-05-2015