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Take a stand

18 Jul

Take a stand

Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

I had a conversation with an elderly customer last night that is still fresh in my mind about the state of affairs here in America. She told me of how her father could not believe how the world was changing in his lifetime. She said of her own, “The things we used to shun, have now become the norm, and what we used to uphold, is now shunned.” There is abundant truth in that statement. Our world is sliding away into depravity in every area of political and moral decline. Our means of acceptance of every lifestyle is leading our decay. Ruth Graham has been quoted many times about her note to Billy from 1965; “If God doesn’t soon bring judgment upon America, He’ll have to go back and apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah!”

When you truly step out in your faith, you go against the tide of the world. You will become an outsider; you will be ostracized for your beliefs. Satan wants us all to get along because under that ruse is his hidden agenda; to keep you from Christ. 1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.  He is at work in big ways in our society under this agenda, and has people in power working for him. But see it for what it is, a trojan horse. John 10:10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

John 15:19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Dare to be different in a world that will not. Stand up for your faith and deny what you know is wrong. These stand and persecutions will only be temporal, and the rewards for them eternal.

 
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Posted by on July 18, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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Teach them thy ways

11 Jul

Teach them thy ways

Deuteronomy 6:5-7   You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.

Last night I was headed for bed early when my oldest son crawled up into bed wanting me to read the Bible to him. How could I say no? He is reading it on his own now, but he wanted me to read it to him. We read the story of Noah and the Great Flood. I went to bed thinking of the study I had just completed on the life of Joshua and the generations after him in Israel.

Joshua understood the importance of passing down our faith. When he knew his days were becoming short, he gathered all of Israel including the children to remind them of how God had delivered them to the Promised Land. Joshua 23:2 And Joshua called for all Israel, for their elders, for their heads, for their judges, and for their officers, and said to them: But sadly their history was lost in the generation after that when Joshua died, and they rebelled against God. Judges 2:10 When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel. 11 Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Baals; 12 and they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; and they followed other gods from among the gods of the people who were all around them, and they bowed down to them; and they provoked the Lord to anger. Their parents had forsook their responsibility of leading their children to the Lord.

It is truly sad to read of how our inheritance is lost by simply not passing down our history and faith to our children. Of how our responsibility as parents, and our first ministry is our family, or more directly our children. How will they know if we do not tell them? But they will suffer for our mistakes. Joshua gathered more than his children, he gathered the tribe and made sure that He passed on what the Lord had done for them. Israel was falling away from God and He wanted to right them in his last days. He was making sure he passed on Israel’s history for the generations he was leaving behind, for he understood the importance of it.

Sadly the generation after Joshua did not pass their history onto their children. Judges describes the falling away of that generation and the Lords wrath against them. Every where they went the Lord was against them. All likely because they did not know of how the Lord had delivered their people and had blessed the generations before them. Can you truly afford not to teach them?

 
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Posted by on July 11, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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Early morning sunshine

22 Mar

Early morning sunshine

Romans 5:5     Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Why do you even bother to get out of bed? Is it the drudgery of the tasks that lie in the day ahead, or is it the hope that lies within you to arise and see where Christ will have you today? The attitude when your feet hit the floor can follow you all day. Hope is an underlayment on our awakening and our actions throughout our lives. “You are what you believe” a close friend once told me. The hope that lies within us upon Salvation is the Holy Spirit whom brings light to truth, wisdom to our hearts, and joy in our souls. I love how Hebrews 6:19 puts it; “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast,.” That anchor that rests in you provides the peace and security to face the dawn of a new day.

Hope is the expectation of eternal that God has placed in us by His design. We all undeniably have that longing for life after this; it is the way we are all wired. That desire is hope, and the hope grows deeper upon hearing of the Good News. Colossians 1:5 because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel. Unfortunately the world preaches hope as monetary possessions and pleasures of temporary satisfactions. We all have seen the last few years how temporal they can be. Hope is eternal, is steadfast, and is the reason you have been given the power to face a new day. With the hope of a life in paradise with Christ, what can fall before you today that could be so temporal to waive the power of eternal? Awake tomorrow with a smile and a hope to face the day; “always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.”

 
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Posted by on March 22, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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The deaf rebel

18 Mar

The deaf rebel

Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction.

This morning I was thinking about writing about the time spent early every day seeking God. Of how I believe God honors that time by speaking to us when we honor Him by doing so. Jeremiah 29:13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. When we set a time every day to place honor to Him, what do we place before Him that takes away from that appointment? There is not a right or wrong time, just a set time I believe. That lets God know you are serious about your relationship with Him. As a result of this study, it took a somewhat different turn in Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Proverbs is written by Solomon, the wisest man to ever live. A man who sought God and counsel to gain understanding of the things of God. I encourage you to read this chapter, for it speaks plainly of the draws of the world that tug us away from God, and the results of it. It is written as a father who speaks to their rebellious child, and the enticements of sin that draw that child away. Of how God is the voice of reason, rebuking that sin, desiring to protect us from our calamity that lies before us. I lived this life for many years, “the rebel without a cause”, and I know the destruction that came as a result of it. My plea to you is to heed the warnings, listen to His voice, and rest in His security. Proverbs 1:33 But whoever listens to me will dwell safely, And will be secure, without fear of evil.”

 
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Posted by on March 18, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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Christ – Death & Taxes

09 Mar

I was listening to Dr. Adrian Rogers speak Wednesday of Hebrews 11, and I found myself there today. What a great chapter in the bible of the patriarchs of great faith. Those men and women who had stepped way outside the box of understanding and seen the power of God and the blessing of God as a result. Somewhere during this I felt led to the promise of Him never leaving us…….I love how God works when we spend time in His word. Thank you Jesus for that eternal security that only you can provide.

 

 

Christ – Death & Taxes

Deuteronomy 31:6  Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.”

We have all heard the only two things we can count on are death and taxes. While truth lies in that statement, there is another, and they are numbers two and three. We can count on Christ never leaving us above all. Death will come unknowingly, and taxes are the largest variable for us all. But Christ and the Holy Spirit we are given are promised even from the first book in the bible to never leave us.  Genesis 28:15 “Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.” Christ’s promises ring throughout the Old and New Testaments.

We live in a society that is volatile, unsure, and constantly evolving right now. Not even the stability of jobs in large corporations is available any longer for they have only become corrupt on a larger scale. All of this volatility breeds selfishness and wanting more, doing whatever brings happiness for the time, the security of the moment, yet insecurity in the future. We live in a state of fear of tomorrow and beyond. But look at the promise and security for eternity that you can rest on in Hebrews 13:5-6 Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we may boldly say: “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” In a world that is crumbling before you, you can possess an eternal security they can never kill or tax. You can live today in a peace they do not understand, but desire. It is all found through Christ and His Spirit that He places in you upon Salvation, that you are eternally secure and promised a paradise with Him once this world passes away. Where else can you find a promise such as this?

 
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Posted by on March 9, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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