GIVE UNTIL IT HURTS
I rather think there is an immense shortage of Christian charity among so-called Christians. -Truman
2 Corinthians 9:7, Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.
Have you ever been around someone that is as stingy as a hungry baby with a bottle? When an offering plate is passed, they ask for change for a five-dollar bill. Not because they don’t have the money to put it all in but because they are just that stingy! If they can’t get change, look out because the whining will begin. I knew I should’ve gotten change before I came! I won’t be coming back here! Why don’t they have change machines in the lobby of the church?
Really folks, there are people that way. I truly hope you are not one of them. You see, God loves a cheerful giver! He loves it when we give our tithes and offerings! He loves when we give our time for the work of the Lord! He loves when we give our talents for the cause of Christ! Are you being stingy with what God has blessed you with? Are you robbing God?
THE BIBLE STANDS EVERY DAY
The Bible will live on even after we are long gone! – Jay O’Dell
Isaiah 40:8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.
Just this week, several people jumped on board with the hoax of a broom standing on its’ own because of the Earth’s gravitational pull. It is amazing what we as a people will believe without facts or proof. Isn’t it crazy that, in our ignorance, we will believe almost anything on TV, social media, or even on a shelf at the grocery store?
I know one thing that has proven facts and I have seen proof that it works; God’s Word! God’s Word has stood the test of time! Many have tried to stamp it out! Many have attempted to water it down. Many have attempted to remove it from schools, government buildings, and public squares. But friend, the Word of God still stands!
If you could ask the Roman Emperors who tried to destroy the Bible and Christianity if it worked, they would say no. Voltaire thought within a hundred years the Bible would cease to exist. However, within that hundred years the Bible was being printed on the very printing press he used to print propaganda against God’s Word. These and many more like them have come and gone but the Word of God stands! And it will remain—forever!
THE BIBLE BRINGS HELP
The study of God's Word, for the purpose of discovering God's will, is the secret discipline which has formed the greatest characters. --J.W. Alexander
Romans 15:4, For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
I am amazed at how many people follow man and not the Bible. In the early church, there was only the doctrine of the apostles. There were not any denominations because there was only the true Word of God and it prevailed. However, when man’s ideas were imposed on the bible, man started following men instead of the Word.
God is not the author of confusion friend. Anytime there is confusion, Satan is the author of it! If you and I were to get in the Bible more, reading it instead of what some man thinks of the Word, there would be less confusion and more repentance, confession, holiness, and Godly living! The Bible will bring help to a lost, dying, and hurting world when that world reads it!
READ THE BIBLE!
The Bible will keep you from sin or sin will keep you from the Bible!
Hebrews 4:12, For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
I read the testimony of a former Mormon minister one time. He said; “I grew up in a Mormon house, I got baptized in the Mormon church, I went to the Mormon seminary, and then I started reading my Bible.” That old boy got saved that morning. If you haven’t, why not be today! Have you read John 3:16 lately? Read it again and think what God gave for you to be saved- His only begotten Son!
STUBBORN MUCH?
A stubborn, bullheaded, rebellious heart will cost!
1 Samuel 8:19, Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us;
In 2008, Harry R. Truman dismissed warnings about the impending eruption of Mt. St. Helens. The 83-year-old Truman said, “The mountain is a mile away.” “The mountain ain’t gonna hurt me.” Well, Harry along with 52 other people were killed when the volcano erupted.
Samuel warned the Israelites; A king will take your children; making them servants in the army and servants in the king’s house. The king will take your wealth; your flocks, your land, and the fruit of your labor. The king will take your servants making them his servants. No matter what Samuel told them, they had a rebellious stubborn heart and they did care what Samuel had to say. Their response; “we will have a king over us.” The Children of Israel got exactly what Samuel described to them: a self-centered, self-serving, greedy king that would eventually do exactly what the Lord had said.
Child of God, do you have a streak of stubbornness when it come to what God wants for your life? Do you always question the authority God has placed over you? Do you push doors open that God has closed? Stand by, that stubborn, bullheaded, rebellious heart is going to cost you some relationships, some money, and if you don’t repent and trust Jesus as your Saviour, it will cost you your life for eternity!
WHAT ARE YOU BUILDING?
The home is a preparation of life in Heaven. —Jay O’Dell
Psalm 127:1, Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.
I use to build HVAC systems for a living. On occasion we would have to install complete systems in homes that never had any duct work or anything in them. If we didn’t do our job inspecting the home it would cause huge problems for the company. It would cost me more money than I had quoted, it may cause mold and or mildew issues, or the system may not have even worked at all. In a nut shell, I would be a failure at installing systems.
The home is set up as an earthly example of what Heaven is going to be like. This is why Satan attacks the home. He doesn’t hold anything back either friend. He hits the home with everything he has got. From the time our children are born, there is a fight for their soul.
Before any child is born though, man ought to be preparing his home to share the Gospel with his children. Our ultimate goal for our home should be to build disciples for Jesus Christ. Anything less would be less than what God designed it for. So GET UP, GET READY and GO TO CHURCH so that you may lay a few blocks on your foundation of a godly home!
HOW YOU LOOKING
There was a Man who dwelt in the East centuries ago and now I cannot look at a sheep or a sparrow, a lily or a cornfield, a raven or a sunset, a vineyard or a mountain without thinking of Him. -Chesterton
Isaiah 46:9, Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,
How we look at things is determined by what we know about things. For example, I see my wife after a long day at work and a lump will form in my throat, a deep joy comes over my heart, and I greet her with a, “How was your day?”. This is all due to the fact I know her and I love her. Not good enough for yah? Well, consider a man who has been told he only has a few weeks to live. All of a sudden he is faced with the knowledge of the brevity of life. How he looks at his life, his country, and the world he lives in will change in a short period of time.
Now, consider if you knew Jesus, the One who gave His life on Calvary’s hill for your sin, as your Saviour. How you look at the lost would change. How you look at the drunk would change. How you invest your money would change. Your whole life would change because of what you know about what Jesus did for you!
HOLINESS IS POSSIBLE
It is a mistake to suppose that God does not want us to be holy until death, for that would mean that He wants us to be unholy until death. God does not want us to be unholy at any time. -Anonymous
Romans 12:1-2, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
To say, “I cannot be holy”, is to say, “God is a liar”. For God has commanded us to be holy. The catch is, in and of ourselves we cannot be holy. We must have the Holy Ghost of God living in us. We cannot be holy without being saved. We cannot be saved without repenting of our sin and trusting Jesus Christ as Saviour. Holiness begins with one act, then another, and then another.
GET IT TO THEM
World Missions begins across the street, not across the sea.—Scott Caudill
Acts 1:8, But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
As you go out today, do not forget about souls. Don’t forget about the man whose wife just left. Don’t forget about the woman whose husband just beat her. Don’t forget about the drug addict. Don’t forget about the prostitute. Don’t forget about the millionaire. For each of these, and millions of others just like them, need Jesus. You and I are the conduit in which God uses to get the Gospel to them.
Will you get it to them as the Lord commands?
THERE ARE DIAMONDS IN THERE!
Digging in the Word will find treasures you never knew were there.
2 Peter 1:1-4 Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
Encouragement is something each of us needs and desires. Peter was an encourager. He was a teacher and an inspirer. The later part of this portion of scripture tells us we have precious promises. There are so many different promises in the Word of God it would take a very long time to list each one but man what a journey that would be!
Looking for the promises of God in scripture is like looking for diamonds in sand. Each time you find one you are inspired and encouraged to keep digging. You pick it up and place it into a bag or some type of holding device. So that later on you can look back at them.
Not they I have ever found a diamond in sand but looking for those precious promises are the very same. We go digging for them by reading the Word of God. When we find one and we hide them in our heart. We bank those precious promises each of us need. It gives us encouragement and inspiration from the best source we have!
Battling discouragement? Pick up The Precious Promise Book- the Bible and read it, study it, memorize it, and last but not least apply it to your life!