December 28, 2021

“Stop Deceiving Yourselves…”

18 Stop deceiving yourselves. If you think you are wise by this world’s standards, you need to become a fool to be truly wise. — 1 Cor. 3:18 NLT

1 Cor. 3:18-23 NLT

It is good to have knowledge, but just having knowledge is not being wise. Wisdom is the application of that knowledge to life situations. As we are told in Proverbs “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”. To discover Who God is and accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior is the first step. In the book of James, we are told to ask God for wisdom and he will give it to us abundantly. Reading commentaries and listening to sermons can add to our knowledge, but for wisdom, we need to go straight to the source. No matter how wise someone thinks they are and no matter how much we respect them and their ministry, we need to always check everything we hear to see if it aligns with the Holy Scriptures. There is a lot of misinformation being taught as Scriptural. Don’t be deceived. God is waiting to give you more wisdom. Don’t be caught up with a person’s charisma or their passion. There is only one perfect person and that is Jesus Christ. Humans make errors and it is up to each of us to discern the truth and walk in it.

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

January 10, 2020

“According to What You Do”

17 And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward you according to what you do.— 1 Peter 1:17 NLT

1 Peter 1:17-21 NLT

We will all be judged for what we do and we will all be judged by the same standards. Jesus paid the exact same price for each of us. No one person is more valuable to Him than any other person. Because of the price He paid, we all owe Him everything. Giving Him everything does not even scratch the surface of what we owe Him. He paid a debt that we could never pay. While we were still leading those sinful lives filled with nothing, He loved us enough to shed His blood for us. Because of that and the example He set for us, we have come to trust in God. The God that has never broken a single promise and has never gone back on His Word. He is the Rock on which we can plant our feet and never be moved. He holds the future in His hands, therefore we have eternal hope because He raised Christ from the dead. He can also raise us from the dead and one day He will do just that. Without that hope, we of all people would be the most miserable. So let us continuously give Him praise and glory all day, every day!

15 Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name. 16 And don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God. —Hebrews 13:15-16 NLT

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

Post 01-10-2020

May 21, 2018

Divine Discipline

even-smaller-bug-light1

⁹Since we respected our earthly fathers who disciplined us, shouldn’t we submit even more to the discipline of the Father of our spirits, and live forever? – Hebrews 12:9 NLT

Hebrews 12: 7-11 NLT

As babes and young children, we submitted to the discipline of our human parents. We accepted their teaching and corrections on a daily basis. Our human parents corrected us using the standards they thought to be best for us. As we grew older and our own personalities developed, some of us tended to disagree with some of the points and rebel to some degree. In some points, we may have been right and in some points, we were probably wrong. As we grow older, we no longer look to our human parents to discipline us. When we became (or become) babes in Christ, we need to submit ourselves to the teaching and corrections of the Holy Spirit. His discipline is always for our good, even though we may not agree with it at the time. We may question the timing and the why of some of the discipline that God allows us to go through. We need to understand that what we are going through is a part of the sanctification process The two big differences in being children of human parents and being children of the living God are these:
1. Human parents are sometimes wrong, God is always right.
2. As humans, we grow more and need our parents’ corrections less and less. We study to get our degrees in various occupation. As Spiritual children, we mature and in that process, we learn that we need Jesus more and more, not less and less. When it comes to learning about God and His Word, I seriously doubt that many of us ever make it through kindergarten, much less earn any degrees.

15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. — 2 Timothy 2:15 NIV

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

Post 05-21-2018

May 28, 2017

Don’t Prejudge

even-smaller-bug-light1

1 My dear brothers and sisters, how can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people over others? – James 2:1 NLT

James 2:1-4 NLT

We must be careful not to make quick judgments and choices based on how someone looks or the price of the clothes they wear. God created each of us in His image and has a plan and a purpose for each of us. We must learn to look at people as God sees them.

7 But the Lord told Samuel, “Don’t look at his appearance or how tall he is, because I have rejected him. God does not see as humans see. Humans look at outward appearances, but the Lord looks into the heart.” –1 Samuel 16:7 (GW)

Of course, we can’t actually see into their hearts. So, what we must learn to do is withhold our opinions of them until we get to know them. Until then, we should not show favoritism to one person over another. We must also remember that whatever standards we use to judge and form our opinions of others are the same standards that will be used to judge us.

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

Post 05-28-2017

October 15, 2015

External Symptoms, Internal Issues

20 Since you died with Christ and were made free from the ruling spirits of the world, why do you act as if you still belong to this world by following rules like these: 21 “Don’t handle this,” “Don’t taste that,” “Don’t even touch that thing”? 22 These rules refer to earthly things that are gone as soon as they are used. They are only human commands and teachings.23 They seem to be wise, but they are only part of a human religion. They make people pretend not to be proud and make them punish their bodies, but they do not really control the evil desires of the sinful self. — Col. 2: 20-23 NCV

We think we are far advanced from the first century AD. In technology, dress, and the comforts of life, we are. But human nature itself has not changed much. We still have those who want to regulate everything that each individual does or wants to do. That is why we have so many laws that we can fill numerous buildings storing all the paperwork. But, as Jesus knew and we should have learned, external laws don’t keep us from sinning. Jesus pointed out to the religious leaders of His day that they kept adding man-made rules and regulations to the laws God had given them. These had no spiritual value since what goes into us that makes us obedient or disobedient, it is what comes out of us.

10 After Jesus called the crowd to him, he said, “Listen and understand what I am saying. 11 It is not what people put into their mouths that makes them unclean. It is what comes out of their mouths that makes them unclean.” — Matt.15:10, 11

As Christians, we have liberty, but we must use that liberty wisely in choosing what we do and what we don’t do. We must be sure that we are not adding to what God has said is right and/or wrong. We must not allow the things that we have chosen to rule our lives to the extent that they become our “god”‘ and we impose those things on others as if they were laws or commandments.

12 “I am allowed to do all things,” but not all things are good for me to do. “I am allowed to do all things,” but I will not let anything make me its slave. — 1 Cor. 6:12

Wrong choices are external symptoms of an internal problem. The problem is that we have not allowed God’s Word to conform our thoughts. If we bring all of our thoughts into captivity to God, we will not need external “dos” and “don’ts”. It will be our hearts desire to do what God wants us to do and not do the things He doesn’t want us to do.

4 We fight with weapons that are different from those the world uses. Our weapons have power from God that can destroy the enemy’s strong places. We destroy people’s arguments 5 and every proud thing that raises itself against the knowledge of God. We capture every thought and make it give up and obey Christ. — 2 Cor. 10:4, 5 NCV

Post 10-15-2015

October 2, 2015

On Guard!

2 I beg you that when I come I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be toward some people who think that we live by the standards of this world. 3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 6 And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete. — 2 Cor. 10:2-6 NIV

After admonishing the Corinthians for allowing impurities in their worship service and then expressing his joy because of their repentance, Paul expresses his concern that some of them still haven’t gotten the full message. They are still trying to bring the world into the church instead of carrying the church into the world. Just as with the Corinthians, our actions do not always back up our teachings. Paul starts teaching the Corinthians and us about where the problem is and how we should attack it. The problem is our mindset and that is not a battle that can be won with worldly weapons. The world and satan hits us with a constant barrage of violence, sexual innuendos, and all manners of chaos. To protect our minds, we need to fill them with the knowledge of God and be constantly filled with the Holy Spirit. Every thought that comes to our mind, must be immediately processed and either deleted or stored in our arsenal of divine weapons. We can’t dilly-dally or play games or we will be overpowered with fleshly desires. Be on the alert! Be ready to punish and cast out every vile and sinful thought.

8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. — 1 Peter 5:8, 9 NIV

Post 10-02-2015

September 5, 2015

Accepting Corrections

7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 8 If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! 10 They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness.11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. — Hebrews 12:7-11 NIV

As babes and young children, we submitted to the discipline of our human parents. We accepted their teaching and corrections on a daily basis. Our human parents corrected us using the standards they thought to be best for us. As we grew older and our own personalities developed, some of us tended to disagree with some of the points and rebel to some degree. In some points, we may have been right and in some points, we were probably wrong. As we grow older, we no longer look to our human parents to discipline us.

When we became (or become) babes in Christ, we need to submit ourselves to the teaching and corrections of the Holy Spirit. His discipline is always for our good, even though we may not agree with it at the time. We may question the timing and the why of some of the discipline that God allows us to go through. We need to understand that what we are going through is a part of the sanctification process The two big differences in being children of human parents and being children of the living God are these:

1. Human parents are sometimes wrong, God is always right.

2. As humans, we grow more and need our parents’ corrections less and less. We study to get our degrees in various occupation. As Spiritual children, we mature and in that process, we learn that we need Jesus more and more, not less and less. When it comes to learning about God and His Word, I seriously doubt than many of us ever make it through kindergarten, much less earn any degrees.

15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. — 2 Timothy 2:15 NIV

Post 09-05-2015

November 3, 2014

Condemnation or Conviction?

God is waiting to show you the Way.

18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”—John 3:18-21 (NLT)
God has not condemned anyone and He doesn’t send people to hell. People are condemned when they reject Jesus, That is a personal choice and they have to earn their way to hell; “the wages of sin are death” (Romans 6:23) It isn’t God’s will that any should perish/go to hell. We each make a choice to accept the gift of eternal life or work our way to hell. A Christian cannot be condemned since we don’t “practice evil” We certainly fall occasionally but that is not our lifestyle. Condemnation comes from satan but conviction comes through the Holy Spirit. The feelings of guilt that a Christian has are not condemnation but conviction for failing to live up to the standards that Jesus has set for us. Jesus died once for all our sins, He is not going to the cross again. So, if you are feeling conviction and we all do at some time or other, don’t wait, ask God for His forgiveness and start to walk with Him in joy once again.
8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.–1 John 1:8, 9 (NLT)
Post 11-03-14

Morning Meds (Take 1 each Morning with all the Prayer You Need)

Lifestyle and Encouragement

standards