1 John 3:18-20 (The Message)
18 -20 My dear children, let's not just talk about love; let's practice real love. This is the only way we'll know we're living truly, living in God's reality. It's also the way to shut down debilitating self-criticism, even when there is something to it. For God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves.
The Apostle John writing to those who believe in Christ tells them to practice demonstrating real love in their life towards others. By doing so one knows they are fulfilling God’s purpose to show His love through them to others. Yet there are times when failure to do so hinders our thoughts and makes us critical of ourselves. The apostle reminds us that God is greater than our worries and already knows what is going on with us. So we can confidently come to God knowing He is ready to ease our fears.
The American writer Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote, “No man can for any considerable time wear one face to himself and another to the multitude without finally getting bewildered as to which one is true.” People will often deceive themselves and others by putting on different masks to hide their inward emotions. They do this to hide self doubt, fear, anxiety, depression, hurt, resentment, guilt and shame. These masks are uncomfortable to wear because we fear we might not be wearing the right mask for the right group. Relationships are false because we present a false image to others. Eventually we even begin to believe in our false self putting aside problems, difficulties or sins we are dealing with. And thought we might fool others and fool ourselves; God is not fooled. God knows who we are. God knows the motives behind our actions. God knows our heart and all of our ways. God knows our every thought. He is aware of our faults, our pains, our joys, our hurts, our happiness and our worries. God is not and cannot be fooled by the masks we were. Taking off the masks can be painful. It means being honest, it means being vulnerable, it means showing others our inward emotions. For most of us the masks have held back pain and kept it hidden inside of us. You may think you have it “all together” but in reality everything is falling apart. It is nice to know that God even seeing through our false masks loves us unconditionally. You might not believe that, but God is the only one who knows everything about you and loves you despite your flaws. God delights in us and finds us precious in His sight. It is time to let God help us take off our masks and stop pretending. It is time to let God enable us to see who we are and to be real with others.
Pray, Heavenly Father I want to be real to You and others. I am tired of trying to be someone I am not. Father please help me to be the person You called me to be. Remove these false masks I wear so I know who I really am in Christ. Help me to be honest with myself and others. Guide me where I need guidance. Most of all Lord thank you for loving me when I find myself not lovable. I ask this in Jesus name, Amen.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
The devil made me do it
James 1:13-14 (NLT)
13 And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, “God is tempting me.” God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else. 14 Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away.
The Apostle James reminds us the temptation to sin does not come from God. Logically James states if God is never tempted to do anything wrong; then how could God tempt someone to do wrong? God does not promote that which He Himself considers evil. Therefore temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and call us to follow.
The comedian Flip Wilson was responsible for creating popular cultural phrases, such as “What you see is what you get”. It was so popular Xerox used WYSIWG (What You See Is What you Get) as an acronym to describe viewing and printing. Another famous quote Flip Wilson coined was, “The devil made me do it!” Often in Wilson’s comedy routines the character Geraldine Jones would explain to her husband, the reverend, she was not to be blamed for her actions because “the devil made her do it”. If she bought a dress, wrecked a car, gambled, etc, her excuse was always “the devil made me do it”. The bible calls Satan the tempter, but nowhere in the bible does it say Satan controls our thoughts or our response to temptation. The truth is our sinful nature wants to blame someone else when we sin. I really don’t need any help to sin. I sin just fine by myself. Satan may point out opportunities to sin, he may place the enticement in front of me, but he does not and cannot make me sin. If I sin it is my own fault and I bear the responsibility for my sin, not Satan, not God, not my wife, and not my friends. We may be tempted, but we are not forced to sin. I thank God he does not leave us alone to our own demise. God gave us His son Jesus Christ who paid the penalty for sin. It is Christ who gives us strength to resist that which we wrongly desire.
13 And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, “God is tempting me.” God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else. 14 Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away.
The Apostle James reminds us the temptation to sin does not come from God. Logically James states if God is never tempted to do anything wrong; then how could God tempt someone to do wrong? God does not promote that which He Himself considers evil. Therefore temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and call us to follow.
The comedian Flip Wilson was responsible for creating popular cultural phrases, such as “What you see is what you get”. It was so popular Xerox used WYSIWG (What You See Is What you Get) as an acronym to describe viewing and printing. Another famous quote Flip Wilson coined was, “The devil made me do it!” Often in Wilson’s comedy routines the character Geraldine Jones would explain to her husband, the reverend, she was not to be blamed for her actions because “the devil made her do it”. If she bought a dress, wrecked a car, gambled, etc, her excuse was always “the devil made me do it”. The bible calls Satan the tempter, but nowhere in the bible does it say Satan controls our thoughts or our response to temptation. The truth is our sinful nature wants to blame someone else when we sin. I really don’t need any help to sin. I sin just fine by myself. Satan may point out opportunities to sin, he may place the enticement in front of me, but he does not and cannot make me sin. If I sin it is my own fault and I bear the responsibility for my sin, not Satan, not God, not my wife, and not my friends. We may be tempted, but we are not forced to sin. I thank God he does not leave us alone to our own demise. God gave us His son Jesus Christ who paid the penalty for sin. It is Christ who gives us strength to resist that which we wrongly desire.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
How righteous we think we are
Mark 10:17-22 (NLT)
17 As Jesus was starting out on his way to Jerusalem, a man came running up to him, knelt down, and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked. “Only God is truly good. 19 But to answer your question, you know the commandments: ‘You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. You must not cheat anyone. Honor your father and mother.’” 20 “Teacher,” the man replied, “I’ve obeyed all these commandments since I was young.” 21 Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him. “There is still one thing you haven’t done,” he told him. “Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 22 At this the man’s face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.
In these verses we find a young rich man running up to Jesus calling him “Good Teacher” and asking what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus replied with a question and a statement before following up with the answer the man was expecting. Jesus first asked “why do you call me good” and then he replied “only God is truly good.” Jesus was good and Jesus was God. Jesus never denied those facts, but He was testing the man’s faith to see if he understood who Jesus really was. Then Jesus quoted the Mosaic commandments and the man said he had obeyed them all. A pious answer considering the statement Jesus just made saying Only God is truly good. Had the man understood how unjustly he saw himself he would have seen his need for the loving grace and salvation of Christ. Jesus gave the man another action; one to give up what he owned and follow Him. The man walked away sad for his desire for possessions was greater than his desire for salvation.
Proverbs 3:7 says, “Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It is so easy for us to get wrapped up in the idea that we are without fault. It doesn’t matter how righteous we think we are or how good our actions have been. The truth is we are unable to see the extent of our sins even if they are right in front of us. The Bible tells us for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. There is no one exempt from sin. Therefore “ALL” of us are sinners and need the loving grace and salvation provided through Jesus. So before we look at the actions of another and say, “That person is living a sinful life.” We must first stop and consider our own life. When the woman was accused of adultery by the religious leaders Jesus calmly said to them, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” With those words each man realized how sinful they were and could no longer pursue their desire to punish this woman for they knew they also deserved punishment. Praise God for His Son Jesus Christ who takes away the sins of the world.
17 As Jesus was starting out on his way to Jerusalem, a man came running up to him, knelt down, and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked. “Only God is truly good. 19 But to answer your question, you know the commandments: ‘You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. You must not cheat anyone. Honor your father and mother.’” 20 “Teacher,” the man replied, “I’ve obeyed all these commandments since I was young.” 21 Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him. “There is still one thing you haven’t done,” he told him. “Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 22 At this the man’s face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.
In these verses we find a young rich man running up to Jesus calling him “Good Teacher” and asking what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus replied with a question and a statement before following up with the answer the man was expecting. Jesus first asked “why do you call me good” and then he replied “only God is truly good.” Jesus was good and Jesus was God. Jesus never denied those facts, but He was testing the man’s faith to see if he understood who Jesus really was. Then Jesus quoted the Mosaic commandments and the man said he had obeyed them all. A pious answer considering the statement Jesus just made saying Only God is truly good. Had the man understood how unjustly he saw himself he would have seen his need for the loving grace and salvation of Christ. Jesus gave the man another action; one to give up what he owned and follow Him. The man walked away sad for his desire for possessions was greater than his desire for salvation.
Proverbs 3:7 says, “Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It is so easy for us to get wrapped up in the idea that we are without fault. It doesn’t matter how righteous we think we are or how good our actions have been. The truth is we are unable to see the extent of our sins even if they are right in front of us. The Bible tells us for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. There is no one exempt from sin. Therefore “ALL” of us are sinners and need the loving grace and salvation provided through Jesus. So before we look at the actions of another and say, “That person is living a sinful life.” We must first stop and consider our own life. When the woman was accused of adultery by the religious leaders Jesus calmly said to them, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” With those words each man realized how sinful they were and could no longer pursue their desire to punish this woman for they knew they also deserved punishment. Praise God for His Son Jesus Christ who takes away the sins of the world.
Monday, September 27, 2010
God's promises
Hebrews 13:5-6 (NLT)
5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. 6 So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.
To covet is to have an over eager desire to obtain items of the world while envying those who have more than we ourselves have. The Lord reminds us to be content with what we have for His presence is always with us and He is our helper in times of need. We should have a bold attitude, not fearful, for there is nothing man can do that stands against God. And God will stand with you when you trust and depend upon Him.
God provides many promises for us in His word. Above we are told God will never leave or forsake us, never ,ever. How many friends or relatives can we say that about? We are told there is full forgiveness for those who have faith in Jesus. Who do you know that will forgive you unconditionally once you ask them to? God tells us the Holy Spirit indwells within us to set us free from sinful habits. Many of us fall into habits of sin and think there is no hope, yet God has said there is hope for us to be free from sin. Our eternal future is secure. God has promised if we place our faith in His Son Jesus our sins are forgiven and our eternal life in heaven is secure. God promises His love for us is greater than any we have known. When we feel unlovable, remember God loves us beyond measure. When we feel hopeless, remember with God there is hope. When we feel our sin and shame is too great to carry remember Christ said He will carry them with us. Everyone else may let you down in life, but God will not let you down. Give thanks for a God who ands to fellowship with you and demonstrate His deep love for you!
5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. 6 So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.
To covet is to have an over eager desire to obtain items of the world while envying those who have more than we ourselves have. The Lord reminds us to be content with what we have for His presence is always with us and He is our helper in times of need. We should have a bold attitude, not fearful, for there is nothing man can do that stands against God. And God will stand with you when you trust and depend upon Him.
God provides many promises for us in His word. Above we are told God will never leave or forsake us, never ,ever. How many friends or relatives can we say that about? We are told there is full forgiveness for those who have faith in Jesus. Who do you know that will forgive you unconditionally once you ask them to? God tells us the Holy Spirit indwells within us to set us free from sinful habits. Many of us fall into habits of sin and think there is no hope, yet God has said there is hope for us to be free from sin. Our eternal future is secure. God has promised if we place our faith in His Son Jesus our sins are forgiven and our eternal life in heaven is secure. God promises His love for us is greater than any we have known. When we feel unlovable, remember God loves us beyond measure. When we feel hopeless, remember with God there is hope. When we feel our sin and shame is too great to carry remember Christ said He will carry them with us. Everyone else may let you down in life, but God will not let you down. Give thanks for a God who ands to fellowship with you and demonstrate His deep love for you!
Friday, September 24, 2010
Find rest for the soul
Matthew 11:28-30 (NLT)
28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”
Jesus invites those weary and laid with the burdens of trying to fulfill the law to come to Him for rest. In Luke 11:46 Jesus said, ““what sorrow also awaits you experts in religious law! For you crush people with unbearable religious demands, and you never lift a finger to ease the burden.” The religious experts taught how to follow rules and laws, but they failed to properly teach God’s love and His desire for a repentant heart. So Jesus offers something not offered before, rest from a heavy burden by helping to carry the burden’s placed on the people.
Without a doubt there is someone reading this message that is carrying a heavy burden. Life has overwhelmed them and they cannot see the hope that has been placed before them. They feel failure and distress. They wish there was something that would ease their pain. They may already know Christ, but they have forgotten the words He gave us above, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” There is nothing Christ cannot handle, but one has to turn over those problems to Christ so He can help shoulder the burden. We may believe there are things we must do to make life successful, but Christ will show us instead that maybe we should rest. Remember to turn to Christ in your times of need and Christ will teach you how to find rest for your soul.
28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”
Jesus invites those weary and laid with the burdens of trying to fulfill the law to come to Him for rest. In Luke 11:46 Jesus said, ““what sorrow also awaits you experts in religious law! For you crush people with unbearable religious demands, and you never lift a finger to ease the burden.” The religious experts taught how to follow rules and laws, but they failed to properly teach God’s love and His desire for a repentant heart. So Jesus offers something not offered before, rest from a heavy burden by helping to carry the burden’s placed on the people.
Without a doubt there is someone reading this message that is carrying a heavy burden. Life has overwhelmed them and they cannot see the hope that has been placed before them. They feel failure and distress. They wish there was something that would ease their pain. They may already know Christ, but they have forgotten the words He gave us above, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” There is nothing Christ cannot handle, but one has to turn over those problems to Christ so He can help shoulder the burden. We may believe there are things we must do to make life successful, but Christ will show us instead that maybe we should rest. Remember to turn to Christ in your times of need and Christ will teach you how to find rest for your soul.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Put God first
1 Kings 11:1-3 (NLT)
1 Now King Solomon loved many foreign women. Besides Pharaoh’s daughter, he married women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, Sidon, and from among the Hittites. 2 The Lord had clearly instructed the people of Israel, ‘You must not marry them, because they will turn your hearts to their gods.’ Yet Solomon insisted on loving them anyway. 3 He had 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines. And in fact, they did turn his heart away from the Lord.
Solomon out of his love for God had built a temple dedicated to God. Now in Solomon’s old age his attention had turned from his love of God to his love of women. Solomon began to build shines for his wives dedicated to their foreign Gods. Solomon began to follow the practices of his wives worshiping gods other than the true God. God had warned Solomon what would happen, but Solomon still allowed his love of women to turn his heart away from God to follow the practices of his wives.
Romans 8:38-39 tells us, “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” God loves us and there is nothing that can get in the way of His love for us. Yet we allow things of this world to get in the way of our love for God. Solomon allowed his love for women to separate him from God. The Apostle Paul writing to Timothy said it is our “love” of money that is the root of all evil. When our attention is turned to loving something more that we love God we lose sight of God’s purpose for us. In the book of Revelation Jesus says to the church of Ephesus, “But I have this against you, that you have left your first love”, for even while they did good deeds their affection for Christ and God had grown cool. Put your love for God first and don’t let your heart grown cool in your love for Him.
1 Now King Solomon loved many foreign women. Besides Pharaoh’s daughter, he married women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, Sidon, and from among the Hittites. 2 The Lord had clearly instructed the people of Israel, ‘You must not marry them, because they will turn your hearts to their gods.’ Yet Solomon insisted on loving them anyway. 3 He had 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines. And in fact, they did turn his heart away from the Lord.
Solomon out of his love for God had built a temple dedicated to God. Now in Solomon’s old age his attention had turned from his love of God to his love of women. Solomon began to build shines for his wives dedicated to their foreign Gods. Solomon began to follow the practices of his wives worshiping gods other than the true God. God had warned Solomon what would happen, but Solomon still allowed his love of women to turn his heart away from God to follow the practices of his wives.
Romans 8:38-39 tells us, “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” God loves us and there is nothing that can get in the way of His love for us. Yet we allow things of this world to get in the way of our love for God. Solomon allowed his love for women to separate him from God. The Apostle Paul writing to Timothy said it is our “love” of money that is the root of all evil. When our attention is turned to loving something more that we love God we lose sight of God’s purpose for us. In the book of Revelation Jesus says to the church of Ephesus, “But I have this against you, that you have left your first love”, for even while they did good deeds their affection for Christ and God had grown cool. Put your love for God first and don’t let your heart grown cool in your love for Him.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
The prudent forsees danger
Proverbs 22:3 (NLT)
3 A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.
There is a benefit to wisdom and taking wise thoughts into consideration. For the wise will see dangers heading their way and they take the necessary precautions to prevent those dangers from affecting their life. The wise are aware of the temptations they face and they put on God’s armor for defense. In the face of a storm the wise retreat to His strong tower for protection. The simple believe all things which flatter them and they are naïve to the dangers awaiting. The simple thrown their selves into danger ignoring the warnings they have been given. Blindly they walk into sin and only repent after their consequences have been dealt.
There are many different addictions: alcohol, drugs, sex, gambling, shopping. It is difficult to estimate the number of Americans with these addictions, but it is safe to say they number in the millions. An addiction is a behavior that functions to bring about momentary pleasure to escape internal discomfort. Addictions are characterized by recurrent failure to control the behavior even though the individual faces significant negative consequences due to the behavior. Addictions alter brain areas over time that is critical to decision making, learning, memory and behavior control. This may help to explain the compulsive and destructive behaviors of addicts. In a survey by the Gallup Poll the words emotional, devastating and horrible were most often chosen by family members to describe the addiction of a loved one. People are led into addictions by many issues, whether genetic, mental issues, childhood trauma or social environments. It is not uncommon for a person with an addiction to have co-occurring addictions and disorders. But for all who are involved in an addiction the first step was making a choice that did not foresee the dangers ahead. The person was so intent on getting a fix for one problem they foolishly introduced themselves to a new set of problems. They just didn’t take precaution to prevent the addiction and they didn’t seek out wise counsel or ask for help. Instead the addict chose their own path leading to danger. A person can recover from an addiction, but successful long term recovery requires a lifetime commitment to healthy decisions and actions. Relapse can occur and all involved should prudent in the evaluation of their actions. Turn to the Lord for wisdom and let Him walk with you on your journey.
3 A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.
There is a benefit to wisdom and taking wise thoughts into consideration. For the wise will see dangers heading their way and they take the necessary precautions to prevent those dangers from affecting their life. The wise are aware of the temptations they face and they put on God’s armor for defense. In the face of a storm the wise retreat to His strong tower for protection. The simple believe all things which flatter them and they are naïve to the dangers awaiting. The simple thrown their selves into danger ignoring the warnings they have been given. Blindly they walk into sin and only repent after their consequences have been dealt.
There are many different addictions: alcohol, drugs, sex, gambling, shopping. It is difficult to estimate the number of Americans with these addictions, but it is safe to say they number in the millions. An addiction is a behavior that functions to bring about momentary pleasure to escape internal discomfort. Addictions are characterized by recurrent failure to control the behavior even though the individual faces significant negative consequences due to the behavior. Addictions alter brain areas over time that is critical to decision making, learning, memory and behavior control. This may help to explain the compulsive and destructive behaviors of addicts. In a survey by the Gallup Poll the words emotional, devastating and horrible were most often chosen by family members to describe the addiction of a loved one. People are led into addictions by many issues, whether genetic, mental issues, childhood trauma or social environments. It is not uncommon for a person with an addiction to have co-occurring addictions and disorders. But for all who are involved in an addiction the first step was making a choice that did not foresee the dangers ahead. The person was so intent on getting a fix for one problem they foolishly introduced themselves to a new set of problems. They just didn’t take precaution to prevent the addiction and they didn’t seek out wise counsel or ask for help. Instead the addict chose their own path leading to danger. A person can recover from an addiction, but successful long term recovery requires a lifetime commitment to healthy decisions and actions. Relapse can occur and all involved should prudent in the evaluation of their actions. Turn to the Lord for wisdom and let Him walk with you on your journey.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
