Temptations endured equals blessings to follow.
Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. James 1:12
I wished that every time I have been tempted I could say, “I endured”. But the truth of the matter is; I have often failed. I have often succumbed to the temptations the world, the devil, and most of all my wicked flesh throw at me. We should be reminded that; “Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.” As well as, “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. 1 Corinthians 10:13” But as children of God when we find ourselves succumbed to sin be reminded HE forgives!—“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9”
What are you listening to?
The sermon has dimensions-height, depth, and breadth. The people who do the listening are sometimes painfully aware of a fourth dimension-length. -Brown
The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Isaiah 40:3
Ah the sound of a Gospel Sermon is more than music to my ears! It gives me strength to face life’s toughest trials and truth that settles my heart! But in many pulpits the Gospel message has become nothing more than a good moral story. While that may make you feel all good inside, it will never get you to heaven! The only sermon we need to hear is the one that preaches about the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Nothing more, nothing less!
Think about His love
Thou hast made us, O Lord, for Thyself and our heart shall find no rest till it rest in Thee. –Augustine
When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? Psalm 8:3-4
Do you ever sit and wonder why God would put up with us? Think about it, why would The Creator put up with selfish, self centered, unholy, wicked people? One word comes to my mind; love. And that my friend is something for us all to ponder on today….
The love of God is greater far
Than tongue or pen can ever tell
It goes beyond the highest star
And reaches to the lowest hell
The guilty pair, bowed down with care
God gave His Son to win
His erring child He reconciled
And pardoned from his sin
Could we with ink the ocean fill
And were the skies of parchment made
Were every stalk on earth a quill
And every man a scribe by trade
Hell is paved with good intentions. –Boswell
For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. John 6:38
Yes, Dad I’ll take the trash out. Yes, Mom I’ll wash the dishes when I get home from school. Yes, preacher I’ll take care of that for you. We have all heard it before; that person who has said that they would do something but then fails to do it. A man’s word is not what it used to be that’s for sure.
Except our Lord’s Word isn’t the same! The Lord tells us years before the birth of Jesus He would send the Messiah to deliver the sinner. He doesn’t do this with good intentions; He does it with a Great Guarantee! He came to do the will of His Father. He came to seek and to save that which was lost! That was you and I friend! And… ”That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” Romans 10:9
Decisions...Decisions!
It is a wicked thing to be neutral between right and wrong. --Theodore Roosevelt
And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word. 1 Kings 18:21
No one likes someone that cannot make decisions for themselves. They stand in the line at McDonald’s and they look like a deer in the headlights of a car. I am like, “Can you make a decision on those chicken nuggets and get out of my way…Please?”
But fortunately to have life is a bigger decision than that of nuggets or a burger. It is Heaven or hell. It’s life or death. It’s peace to turmoil. I believe I will echo Joshua when he said, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!”
Walkin through the valley with victory on my mind!
Death to the Christian is the funeral of all his sorrows and evils, and the resurrection of all his joys. –Aughey
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Psalm 23:4
Death will only touch the physical body of the Child of God yet he has nothing to fear! You see, with the closing of our eyes in death brings about the life we have longed for; life everlasting with our Saviour. It is just a transformation from this life of death and destruction to one of eternal days and endless delight! What an awesome promise for the Child of God! (1 Corinthians 15:50-58)
Godly influences gives great gain!
The people with whom we travel are much more important than the place to which we travel. –Wright
He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed. Proverbs 13:20
One of the ways we assist in our own spiritual growth is to surround ourselves with Godly influences. They give us sound spiritual advice when we need it. They push us to go further with the Lord. They are even brave enough to tell us when we are wrong.
Who have you surrounded yourself with? I am reminded what Paul told the church at Corinth, “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?” 2 Corinthians 6:14
Gazing at God gives Great Gains!
Faith is not a once-done act, but a continuous gaze of the heart at the Triune God. -Tozer
Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father; Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God. 1 Thessalonians 1:3-4
It has been said I am saved, I am being saved, and one day; I will be saved. Let me explain;
1. I am saved from my sin the day I trusted Jesus as Lord and Saviour and asked Him to forgive me of my sins.
2. I am being saved from myself each day I live for Him. It is when I give into my own selfish desires that God allows me to have my way and I end up in the slop pits of this world.
3. One day I will be saved from this world we live in. The temptations of this world are strong but I am thankful for scripture such as “…greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.”
Are you gazing at the heart of the Triune God? Or are you griping at the heart break of this world? I guess it all depends on if you’re saved or not!
Inspect the dark places in your life!
The unexamined life is not worth living. –Socrates
Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139:23-24
Friend, when is the last time you really did a thorough inspection of your life? When is the last time you asked the Lord to search your life? It would do us all good to let God inspect those dark places in our life! When we do…He will lead us in the way everlasting!
Bless the Lord- Oh Bless the Lord- Bless His holy Name!
The tongue blessing God without the heart is but a tinkling cymbal; the heart blessing God without the tongue is sweet but still music; both in concert make the harmony which fills and delights heaven and earth. --R. Venning
Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Psalm 103:1
We truly have so much to thank the Lord for. We do not have enough time to thank Him for all He blesses us with this side of eternity. But should that stop us from trying? One person said, “Our thankfulness should be equal to our blessings.”
When is the last time you stopped and thanked the Lord for something He has blessed you with? Today would be a great day to do just that!
Happy Father's Day!
One of the most important things a father can do for his children is to love their mother. -Theodore M. Hesburgh
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it. Ephesians 5:25
The only way a husband will truly know how to love his wife is if He is saved and understands the love that Christ has given him. Think about this for a moment; the unrepentant church beat, ridiculed, mocked, spit upon, lied about, and eventually put Him on the Cross. But yet Jesus gave Himself for the church. Husbands, you want to be the best Dad in the world? Learn how to love your wife like Jesus loved the church…unconditionally!
Daddies, in may ways, determines destinations in life.
And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Ephesians 6:4
John C. Maxwell once said, Success rises and falls on leadership. In the home, God has designed the Father to be the leader. So in the family, the Father is responsible for much of the spiritual success or lack thereof in the home.
Dad, are you leading in devotions? Dad, are you taking your family to church? Dad, are you praying with your children? Dad are you spending time with your children? Dad, are you consistent in the way in which you raise your children? I believe all of us parents could use a bit of sharpening our parenting skills.
Victory in Jesus!
I often laugh at Satan, and there is nothing that makes him so angry as when I attack him to his face, and tell him that through God I am more than a match for him. –Spurgeon
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Romans 8:35
Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. Romans 8:37
O victory in Jesus,
My Savior, forever.
He sought me and bought me
With His redeeming blood;
He loved me ere I knew Him
And all my love is due Him,
He plunged me to victory,
Beneath the cleansing flood.
No matter what happens to this old body of mine, nothing will be able to separate me from the love of God because of the victory I have in Jesus! Do you have that victory?
If you got it, be willing to give it!
He, who is not liberal with what he has, does but deceive himself when he thinks he would be liberal if he had more. –Tulner
Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9:7
If you have an opportunity to participate in giving, whether it is your time, talents, or treasures, then do it! Why, you may ask; because God loves a cheerful giver, because He wants us to give out of love and not duty, because that is how He gave to you and I! For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16
God's promises are there for the ones that will ask in faith.
As you read God's promises over, one after the other, you say to yourselves, "This is my checkbook. I can take out the promises as I want them, sign them by faith, present them at the great Bank of Grace, and come away enriched with present help in time of need." That is the way to use God's promises. –Spurgeon
Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Psalm 37:4
I stand amazed at how many people are full of worry and fret. Some act like they have never heard one story from the Word of God when trials and tribulations come. They whine and complain until either their trouble is turned into triumph or it has, in their opinion, ended in turmoil. Child of God, stand up and rejoice in whatever situation God has placed you in. He has entrusted you with it so praise Him for it and share the hope you find in His Word with a lost and dying world. I mean really, what’s the alternative—singing the world’s song of gloom, despair, and agony on me?