Sorry I have missed a few days! I have had to replace a sewer line at my house and found I had some drainage problems too! Have you ever started a job and figured it was gonna take a certain amount of time and then got into the work and found out it was gonna take atleast twice as long as what you had figured? That is this job! My yard is tore up! We hit a gas line. We hit a power line. The leaves caught fire. It has been comical at times. The concrete we had to break turned out to be 8 inches instead of 4! I could go on and on but you get the picture. I praise God that no one got hurt and the main part of the job is done....just lots of yard work now. I tell you all this because I am pretty sure you have been in this same boat at some point. It brought to mind this verse:
2 Corinthians 4:17
17 Our troubles are small. They last only for a short time. But they are earning for us a glory that will last forever. It is greater than all our troubles.
We may have troubles. They only last for a short time. My troubles in last few days are over. Here is where the lessoon is for today. How did I handle these problems? Neighbors were watching. My kids were watching. God was watching. When things go wrong did I rant and rave and cuss??? No. Even in the truobles of life we are to represent Christ. Was I upset? Yes. Did I ask ...why me? Yes. You see when we have problems all we have to do is look around and we can see that someone elses problems are far worse than mine. Sickness, cancer, death of a love one, ect. My problems are nothing compared to these problems. The rest of the verse above tells us that when we endure our problems the way Christ has taught us we are earning a glory that will last forever and that is where we need to keep our focus through the hard times....on our heavenly home where there will be no troubles.
Have a great day and keep your eyes on Jesus!
Tom
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Thursday, March 25, 2010
How is your faith?
We must have faith in our walk with God. It is not an option. For many having faith in someone they have never seen is very hard. Let me ask you this morning how is your faith in God this morning?
Read this verse:
Hebrews 11:6
6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
This verse is very powerful and imformative. In the first part of the verse it says we can not please God if we don't have faith. That is pretty straight forward and easy to understand isn't it? The verse goes on to expalin that if we come to God we must believe that He is. My brothers and sisters let me tell you this morning....God is! Look around...look at your children, look at nature, look at the universe, God is shouting to all of us I AM! Oh my friends I can not understand how folks can live a day without Jesus in their life. I remember how miserable I was...then I met Jesus and believed that He is and my life has never been the same. The peace God provides through faith is undescribable, you must expirience it for yourself. The verse goes on to say God rewards those who diligently seek Him. God knows those who are putting on a show and those who are truly following Him with everything they have to offer. God promises rewards to those who do seek Him. Now I just talked about the peace God gives and I believe that is part of the reward but the rewards more than we can comprehend we will receive when we get to heaven one of these days. What we gain here on earth are just bonuses because this is not our home!
So how is your faith this morning? Is it strong? Is it in the middle just kinda there? Or is it weak. Get on your knees and talk to God...He desires your conversation and wants a relationship with you. Get in His word! If you pray and read God's word I can promise you your faith will be strengthend.
Chcek this video out...what a powerful song about faith. It has become a favorite of mine.
http://www.tangle.com/view_video?viewkey=caaac134f59280ad991f
Tom
Read this verse:
Hebrews 11:6
6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
This verse is very powerful and imformative. In the first part of the verse it says we can not please God if we don't have faith. That is pretty straight forward and easy to understand isn't it? The verse goes on to expalin that if we come to God we must believe that He is. My brothers and sisters let me tell you this morning....God is! Look around...look at your children, look at nature, look at the universe, God is shouting to all of us I AM! Oh my friends I can not understand how folks can live a day without Jesus in their life. I remember how miserable I was...then I met Jesus and believed that He is and my life has never been the same. The peace God provides through faith is undescribable, you must expirience it for yourself. The verse goes on to say God rewards those who diligently seek Him. God knows those who are putting on a show and those who are truly following Him with everything they have to offer. God promises rewards to those who do seek Him. Now I just talked about the peace God gives and I believe that is part of the reward but the rewards more than we can comprehend we will receive when we get to heaven one of these days. What we gain here on earth are just bonuses because this is not our home!
So how is your faith this morning? Is it strong? Is it in the middle just kinda there? Or is it weak. Get on your knees and talk to God...He desires your conversation and wants a relationship with you. Get in His word! If you pray and read God's word I can promise you your faith will be strengthend.
Chcek this video out...what a powerful song about faith. It has become a favorite of mine.
http://www.tangle.com/view_video?viewkey=caaac134f59280ad991f
Tom
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Stone Praise.
Check out this verse:
Luke 19:40
40 But He answered and said to them, “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.”
This is when Jesus was decending from the Mount of Olives on His way to Jerusalem. The disciples and the multitude began to rejoice and praise Jesus loudly. Then the Pharisees called out for Jesus to rebuke them. The verse above was Jesus reply! What an awesome verse. If people were not going to praise Jesus then His creation the stones would.
This brings me to this thought. Are you praising Jesus? With your mouth, with your actions, or with your life? One way or another Jesus will receive praise. I would hope He is receiving it from the one's who bear His image! I was thinking throughout a day how many times do I hear Jesus being praised or worshipped. To be honest it is very rare except on Sundays! So who is going to change this? You and me! If nobody else is going to praise or King lets make sure we are for He is worthy!
So are you gonna let the rocks do the praising or are you gonna do the praising for the One who dies for your sins?
Thank you, thank you, thank you Jesus....what a mighty, glorious King you are!
Tom
Luke 19:40
40 But He answered and said to them, “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.”
This is when Jesus was decending from the Mount of Olives on His way to Jerusalem. The disciples and the multitude began to rejoice and praise Jesus loudly. Then the Pharisees called out for Jesus to rebuke them. The verse above was Jesus reply! What an awesome verse. If people were not going to praise Jesus then His creation the stones would.
This brings me to this thought. Are you praising Jesus? With your mouth, with your actions, or with your life? One way or another Jesus will receive praise. I would hope He is receiving it from the one's who bear His image! I was thinking throughout a day how many times do I hear Jesus being praised or worshipped. To be honest it is very rare except on Sundays! So who is going to change this? You and me! If nobody else is going to praise or King lets make sure we are for He is worthy!
So are you gonna let the rocks do the praising or are you gonna do the praising for the One who dies for your sins?
Thank you, thank you, thank you Jesus....what a mighty, glorious King you are!
Tom
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Denial!
I went to our local High School FCA meetimg this morning and the devotion brought to mind some thinking about this verse:
Luke 22:61
61 And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said to him, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.”
This is another one of those times when we look at Peter and say "How could you do this?" The first thing that popped into my mind was I am glad I will never deny my Lord. But as I thought about that I found that in reality I deny Jesus nearly everyday. You see everyday we have the opportunity to serve Jesus and live our lives according to the written Word. If we choose to follow Jesus we must tell others about Jesus and live sinless lives as we deny our fleshly desires. As I thought about this I found I deny Jesus daily. I don't witness everytime I have the opportunity and I don't uphold to every teaching of Christ every second. So in reality I deny my Christ the honor and devotion He deserves. As I sit hear writting this it breaks my heart to say these things but they are true. In verse 62 of this same chapter it says this:
Luke 22:62
62 So Peter went out and wept bitterly.
If it doesn't bother you to fail our King then you had better check your relationship with Him.When I fail Jesus it don't get any worse than that. The guilt is overwhelming...I know how Peter felt...do you?
The good news is we have a forgiving God, who wants us to get up confess our sin and get back to serving and worshipping Him with all we have! Thank you Jesus for forgivness!
Think about this one today, I will be prayinf for you.
Tom
Luke 22:61
61 And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said to him, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.”
This is another one of those times when we look at Peter and say "How could you do this?" The first thing that popped into my mind was I am glad I will never deny my Lord. But as I thought about that I found that in reality I deny Jesus nearly everyday. You see everyday we have the opportunity to serve Jesus and live our lives according to the written Word. If we choose to follow Jesus we must tell others about Jesus and live sinless lives as we deny our fleshly desires. As I thought about this I found I deny Jesus daily. I don't witness everytime I have the opportunity and I don't uphold to every teaching of Christ every second. So in reality I deny my Christ the honor and devotion He deserves. As I sit hear writting this it breaks my heart to say these things but they are true. In verse 62 of this same chapter it says this:
Luke 22:62
62 So Peter went out and wept bitterly.
If it doesn't bother you to fail our King then you had better check your relationship with Him.When I fail Jesus it don't get any worse than that. The guilt is overwhelming...I know how Peter felt...do you?
The good news is we have a forgiving God, who wants us to get up confess our sin and get back to serving and worshipping Him with all we have! Thank you Jesus for forgivness!
Think about this one today, I will be prayinf for you.
Tom
Monday, March 22, 2010
Using everyday conversation.
Last night at church I did an interesting lesson with the youth. I wanted to share it with you this morning and maybe make you think about your conversations that you have everyday. So here is what we did.
I started out by asking them how many have been watching the NCAA basketball tournament. Of course many raise their hands. Next I told them we will be talking about this tournament for several weeks to come. We also talk about many other things in a day with many different peoeple. Now what I asked them to do next was to find a way to use the discussiion of the tournament and turn it in a way to talk about Jesus. You should have seen the look on their face! haha I also said you have to come up with a verse to use with your discussion. Afetr a little moaning and groaning I gave them this example:
I said in our brackets we make many choices. We pick the teams we think have the best shot at winning. Now if I was witnessing to somepne I could say to them as we were discussing the choices we both had made in our brackets " did you know God has chosen us to be His people?"? I then would get my Bible out and show the person I was speaking to this verse:
1 Peter 2:9-10
9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.
Now if I did not have my Bible with me I would need to have the verse memorized that I was going to use. I then would go on to explain the rest of this verse where God has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light and how we have obtained mercy from God through Jesus. Now depending on how this person reacted would depend on how the rest of the conversation would go.
Back to the youth. I was very suprised at how well each of them did. I had them work with a partner and some of them came up with some very unique ways of how to turn their conversation to Jesus and they used sccripture along with their conversation.
We all need to think on our conversations and how we can bring Jesus into our everyday talks. We waste alot of time on conversations that are of no value but how much time do we talk about the most important subject of all time...Jesus???
Maybe you need to try this little project today...it is challenging but not as hard as you think. If you don't like basketball use something you enjoy talking about!
Have a great week friends and talk about Jesus!
Tom
I started out by asking them how many have been watching the NCAA basketball tournament. Of course many raise their hands. Next I told them we will be talking about this tournament for several weeks to come. We also talk about many other things in a day with many different peoeple. Now what I asked them to do next was to find a way to use the discussiion of the tournament and turn it in a way to talk about Jesus. You should have seen the look on their face! haha I also said you have to come up with a verse to use with your discussion. Afetr a little moaning and groaning I gave them this example:
I said in our brackets we make many choices. We pick the teams we think have the best shot at winning. Now if I was witnessing to somepne I could say to them as we were discussing the choices we both had made in our brackets " did you know God has chosen us to be His people?"? I then would get my Bible out and show the person I was speaking to this verse:
1 Peter 2:9-10
9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.
Now if I did not have my Bible with me I would need to have the verse memorized that I was going to use. I then would go on to explain the rest of this verse where God has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light and how we have obtained mercy from God through Jesus. Now depending on how this person reacted would depend on how the rest of the conversation would go.
Back to the youth. I was very suprised at how well each of them did. I had them work with a partner and some of them came up with some very unique ways of how to turn their conversation to Jesus and they used sccripture along with their conversation.
We all need to think on our conversations and how we can bring Jesus into our everyday talks. We waste alot of time on conversations that are of no value but how much time do we talk about the most important subject of all time...Jesus???
Maybe you need to try this little project today...it is challenging but not as hard as you think. If you don't like basketball use something you enjoy talking about!
Have a great week friends and talk about Jesus!
Tom
Friday, March 19, 2010
Could you forgive?
Forgivness is so very hard. Paul shows us an example here of what we are to be doing.
2 Timothy 4:16
16 At my first defense no one stood with me, but all forsook me. May it not be charged against them.
To give you a little back ground on this verse Paul had a preliminary hearing before Caesar during his second imprisonment and everyone abandon him. It is very interesting to me that Paul is using the same basic language as Jesus when He was on the cross:
Luke 23:34
34 Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”
And they divided His garments and cast lots.
Stephen also practiced this teaching of Jesus:
Acts 7:60
60 Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
As we see in these verses above all 3 three of these men were facing the hardest thing in life we all will face...DEATH. Not a natural death of old age but a death others for crimes they were not guilty of. All three set the example for us of forgiving their enemies and asking the Father not to charge their sin against them. In Paul's case to forgive those who turned their back on him. WOW! Stop and think about that.
Now the question for us...could we forgive if put in the same postiton? From what I see in these verses it isn't really a choice is it? It is what we are taught to do by our Lord!
Have a blessed weekend!
Tom
2 Timothy 4:16
16 At my first defense no one stood with me, but all forsook me. May it not be charged against them.
To give you a little back ground on this verse Paul had a preliminary hearing before Caesar during his second imprisonment and everyone abandon him. It is very interesting to me that Paul is using the same basic language as Jesus when He was on the cross:
Luke 23:34
34 Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”
And they divided His garments and cast lots.
Stephen also practiced this teaching of Jesus:
Acts 7:60
60 Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
As we see in these verses above all 3 three of these men were facing the hardest thing in life we all will face...DEATH. Not a natural death of old age but a death others for crimes they were not guilty of. All three set the example for us of forgiving their enemies and asking the Father not to charge their sin against them. In Paul's case to forgive those who turned their back on him. WOW! Stop and think about that.
Now the question for us...could we forgive if put in the same postiton? From what I see in these verses it isn't really a choice is it? It is what we are taught to do by our Lord!
Have a blessed weekend!
Tom
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Get away!
This devotion this morning will take some thinking on your part. We looked at these verses not long ago but I want you to think about something this morning in these verses. Here they are:
2 Timothy 3:1-5
1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!
I hope you carefully read these verses. As I read these verses it describes our time right now. I mean every description can be seen everyday we make it through. Since we talked about these not long ago I will not go over them again as most are self explanatory anyway. What I want ot focus on this morning is verse 5.
Back during the Presidential election, several news agencies stated that 84% of our country claim to be Christians. When I seen that I was shocked! If that was true our nation would not be in the shape it is in right now. Verse 5 says having a form of godliness but denying its power. I believe this verse explains the statistic mentioned earlier (84%). You see claiming to be a Christian and being a Christian is two different things. Georeg Barna recently reported that only 30% of our nation are Bible Believing Christians. To me that is a very Key statistic because if you don't believe the Bible from cover to cover than you are not a Christian because you are creating your own standards to live by not God's.
Now look back at the descriptions of the world today. Sounds like our neighbors, friends, many of our church memebers, and folks in the community. Now let say this...if someone is new in the faith it may take time to get rid of some these traits I understand that but if you have been a Christian for some time and many of these traits describe you, you had better look at your relationship with Christ for the Bible is clear we should develop the characteristics of Christ the opposite of these.
Look at the last verse again...focus on from such people turn away. Who are your friends? Do you have friends who live the life of the world? God says stay away from them. What does that mean? It means you must still try to bring them to Jesus but you should not be spending great amounts of time with them. Why? The reason is their life style will influence you in the wrong direction. Decisions to cut ties with folks is very hard but as the Bible teaches here it is needed.
So much to think about in this lesson today!
Tom
2 Timothy 3:1-5
1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!
I hope you carefully read these verses. As I read these verses it describes our time right now. I mean every description can be seen everyday we make it through. Since we talked about these not long ago I will not go over them again as most are self explanatory anyway. What I want ot focus on this morning is verse 5.
Back during the Presidential election, several news agencies stated that 84% of our country claim to be Christians. When I seen that I was shocked! If that was true our nation would not be in the shape it is in right now. Verse 5 says having a form of godliness but denying its power. I believe this verse explains the statistic mentioned earlier (84%). You see claiming to be a Christian and being a Christian is two different things. Georeg Barna recently reported that only 30% of our nation are Bible Believing Christians. To me that is a very Key statistic because if you don't believe the Bible from cover to cover than you are not a Christian because you are creating your own standards to live by not God's.
Now look back at the descriptions of the world today. Sounds like our neighbors, friends, many of our church memebers, and folks in the community. Now let say this...if someone is new in the faith it may take time to get rid of some these traits I understand that but if you have been a Christian for some time and many of these traits describe you, you had better look at your relationship with Christ for the Bible is clear we should develop the characteristics of Christ the opposite of these.
Look at the last verse again...focus on from such people turn away. Who are your friends? Do you have friends who live the life of the world? God says stay away from them. What does that mean? It means you must still try to bring them to Jesus but you should not be spending great amounts of time with them. Why? The reason is their life style will influence you in the wrong direction. Decisions to cut ties with folks is very hard but as the Bible teaches here it is needed.
So much to think about in this lesson today!
Tom
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Examples for us!
We think living for Jesus is hard....would you give your life for your faith? The disciples did. This will make you do some thinking about your walk with the Lord!
Tom
DO YOU KNOW HOW THE APOSTLES DIED?
WOW~~NO ONE EVER Said it would be easy!!~~but~~WOW!!
NEVER EVER SEEN THIS ON ONE PAGE BEFORE!
1 Matthew
Suffered martyrdom in Ethiopia , killed by a sword wound.
2 Mark
Died in Alexandria , Egypt , after being dragged by horses through the streets until he was dead .
3 Luke
Was hanged in Greece as a result of his tremendous preaching to the lost.
4 John
Faced martyrdom when he was boiled in huge basin of boiling oil during a wave of persecution in Rome .
However, he was miraculously delivered from death. John was then sentenced to the mines on the prison island of Patmos .
He wrote his prophetic
Book of Revelation on Patmos . The apostle John was later freed and returned to serve as Bishop of Edessa in
modern Turkey . He died as an old man, the only apostle to die peacefully.
5 Peter
He was crucified upside down on an x-shaped cross.
According to church tradition it was because he told his tormentors that he
felt unworthy to die in the same way that Jesus Christ had died.
6 James
Just The leader of the church in Jerusalem, was thrown over a hundred feet down from the southeast pinnacle of the Temple when he refused to deny his faith in Christ. When they discovered that he survived the fall, his enemies beat James to death with a fuller's club.
* This was the same pinnacle where Satan had taken Jesus during the Temptation.
7 James the Great
Son of Zebedee, was a fisherman by trade when Jesus called him to a lifetime of ministry. As a strong leader
of the church, James was ultimately beheaded at Jerusalem .
The Roman officer who guarded James watched amazed as James defended his faith at his trial. Later, the officer walked beside James to the place of execution. Overcome by conviction, he declared his new faith to the judge and knelt beside James to accept beheading as a Christian
8 Bartholomew
Also known as Nathaniel Was a missionary to Asia .
He witnessed for our Lord in present day Turkey .
Bartholomew was martyred for his preaching in Armenia where he was flayed to death by a whip.
9 Andrew
Was crucified on an x-shaped cross in Patras , Greece .
After being whipped severely by seven soldiers they tied his body to
the cross with cords to prolong his agony. His followers reported that, when he was led toward the cross, Andrew saluted it in these
words: 'I have long desired and expected this happy hour.
The cross has been consecrated by the body of Christ hanging on it.' He continued to preach to his tormentors for two days until he expired.
10 Thomas
Was stabbed with a spear in India during one of his missionary trips to establish the church in the sub-continent
11 Jude
Was killed with arrows when he refused to deny his faith in Christ.
12 Matthias
The apostle chosen to replace the traitor Judas Iscariot, was stoned and then beheaded.
13 Paul
Was tortured and then beheaded by the evil Emperor Nero at Rome in A.D. 67. Paul endured a lengthy imprisonment, which allowed him to write his many epistles to the churches he had formed throughout the Roman Empire . These letters, which taught many of the foundational doctrines of Christianity, form a large portion of the New Testament.
Perhaps this is a reminder to us that our sufferings here are indeed minor comparedto the intense persecution and cold cruelty faced by the apostles disciples during their times for the sake of the Faith.
And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: But he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
Matthew 10:22
Tom
DO YOU KNOW HOW THE APOSTLES DIED?
WOW~~NO ONE EVER Said it would be easy!!~~but~~WOW!!
NEVER EVER SEEN THIS ON ONE PAGE BEFORE!
1 Matthew
Suffered martyrdom in Ethiopia , killed by a sword wound.
2 Mark
Died in Alexandria , Egypt , after being dragged by horses through the streets until he was dead .
3 Luke
Was hanged in Greece as a result of his tremendous preaching to the lost.
4 John
Faced martyrdom when he was boiled in huge basin of boiling oil during a wave of persecution in Rome .
However, he was miraculously delivered from death. John was then sentenced to the mines on the prison island of Patmos .
He wrote his prophetic
Book of Revelation on Patmos . The apostle John was later freed and returned to serve as Bishop of Edessa in
modern Turkey . He died as an old man, the only apostle to die peacefully.
5 Peter
He was crucified upside down on an x-shaped cross.
According to church tradition it was because he told his tormentors that he
felt unworthy to die in the same way that Jesus Christ had died.
6 James
Just The leader of the church in Jerusalem, was thrown over a hundred feet down from the southeast pinnacle of the Temple when he refused to deny his faith in Christ. When they discovered that he survived the fall, his enemies beat James to death with a fuller's club.
* This was the same pinnacle where Satan had taken Jesus during the Temptation.
7 James the Great
Son of Zebedee, was a fisherman by trade when Jesus called him to a lifetime of ministry. As a strong leader
of the church, James was ultimately beheaded at Jerusalem .
The Roman officer who guarded James watched amazed as James defended his faith at his trial. Later, the officer walked beside James to the place of execution. Overcome by conviction, he declared his new faith to the judge and knelt beside James to accept beheading as a Christian
8 Bartholomew
Also known as Nathaniel Was a missionary to Asia .
He witnessed for our Lord in present day Turkey .
Bartholomew was martyred for his preaching in Armenia where he was flayed to death by a whip.
9 Andrew
Was crucified on an x-shaped cross in Patras , Greece .
After being whipped severely by seven soldiers they tied his body to
the cross with cords to prolong his agony. His followers reported that, when he was led toward the cross, Andrew saluted it in these
words: 'I have long desired and expected this happy hour.
The cross has been consecrated by the body of Christ hanging on it.' He continued to preach to his tormentors for two days until he expired.
10 Thomas
Was stabbed with a spear in India during one of his missionary trips to establish the church in the sub-continent
11 Jude
Was killed with arrows when he refused to deny his faith in Christ.
12 Matthias
The apostle chosen to replace the traitor Judas Iscariot, was stoned and then beheaded.
13 Paul
Was tortured and then beheaded by the evil Emperor Nero at Rome in A.D. 67. Paul endured a lengthy imprisonment, which allowed him to write his many epistles to the churches he had formed throughout the Roman Empire . These letters, which taught many of the foundational doctrines of Christianity, form a large portion of the New Testament.
Perhaps this is a reminder to us that our sufferings here are indeed minor comparedto the intense persecution and cold cruelty faced by the apostles disciples during their times for the sake of the Faith.
And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: But he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
Matthew 10:22
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Are we rejoicing?
This is a very simple verse this morning but the question is are we doing it?
Philippians 4:4
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!
As I am sure you do I rejoice in the Lord often. But there is a litttle word in this verse that makes a big difference. That word is always! If I examine my life this morning I can't honestly say that I rejoice in the Lord always! For example I am at home sick this morning as I woke up with a fever and have all that head cogestion junk going on. It is very hard to rejoice in the Lord when you are sick. As I thought about this though, being sick in no excuse not to rejoice because as I look around I am blessed way more than I deserve. My cold is nothing compared to someone who is batteling cancer. The more I thought about this the more I began to rejoice in the Lord. For rejoicing in the Lord should have nothing to do with how I feel but it should be based on the love I know my Savior has for me. Jesus proved that by taking my place on the cross so I can have eternal life. Thank you Jesus!
As I am writing this devotion this morning I have found myself rejoicing in the Lord. No matter what is going on in our lives if we have a relationship with Jesus we should be rejoicing! The key is to keep our focus on Jesus and off of the world or ourselves!
So are you rejoicing this morning? You should be for God is good!
Tom
Philippians 4:4
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!
As I am sure you do I rejoice in the Lord often. But there is a litttle word in this verse that makes a big difference. That word is always! If I examine my life this morning I can't honestly say that I rejoice in the Lord always! For example I am at home sick this morning as I woke up with a fever and have all that head cogestion junk going on. It is very hard to rejoice in the Lord when you are sick. As I thought about this though, being sick in no excuse not to rejoice because as I look around I am blessed way more than I deserve. My cold is nothing compared to someone who is batteling cancer. The more I thought about this the more I began to rejoice in the Lord. For rejoicing in the Lord should have nothing to do with how I feel but it should be based on the love I know my Savior has for me. Jesus proved that by taking my place on the cross so I can have eternal life. Thank you Jesus!
As I am writing this devotion this morning I have found myself rejoicing in the Lord. No matter what is going on in our lives if we have a relationship with Jesus we should be rejoicing! The key is to keep our focus on Jesus and off of the world or ourselves!
So are you rejoicing this morning? You should be for God is good!
Tom
Monday, March 15, 2010
Want a crown?
Good Monday Morning to you. On Friday in the devotion we talked about fighting the good fight, finishing the race, and keeping the faith. Today I want you to see what lies ahead after you do these 3 things!
Read this verse:
2 Timothy 4:8
8 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.
That crown is out there for all of us! Can you imagine standing before the Lord and having Him place a crown on your head??? WOW! Let me remind you though at this point receiving this crown is not easy! It is hard work following after Christ and living a righteous life. As Paul stated in verse 7 in talking about the good fight! It is a fight no question about that. I think this verse shows how much God really loves us. The reason I say that is that no matter how faithful we are to Christ we are not worthy of a crown but God will give a crown to the righteous and we are only righteous through the shed blood of Christ! Once we receive this crown we will just lay it down at His feet for He alone is the only One worth to be King!
So do you want a crown? There is nothing stopping you! Surrender all to Jesus today!
Tom
Read this verse:
2 Timothy 4:8
8 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.
That crown is out there for all of us! Can you imagine standing before the Lord and having Him place a crown on your head??? WOW! Let me remind you though at this point receiving this crown is not easy! It is hard work following after Christ and living a righteous life. As Paul stated in verse 7 in talking about the good fight! It is a fight no question about that. I think this verse shows how much God really loves us. The reason I say that is that no matter how faithful we are to Christ we are not worthy of a crown but God will give a crown to the righteous and we are only righteous through the shed blood of Christ! Once we receive this crown we will just lay it down at His feet for He alone is the only One worth to be King!
So do you want a crown? There is nothing stopping you! Surrender all to Jesus today!
Tom
Friday, March 12, 2010
One of my Prayers.
I have read this verse and heard many preachers preach on this many time. Read it below:
2 Timothy 4:7
7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
Paul is telling Timothy here about the life Paul has lived. This is one of my own prayers. I pray when my life comes to an end I can say these same words. Paul is not boasting here he is just stating a fact to young Timothy and pleading with him to live his life in the same manner. So let us examine what is being said here. "Fought the good fight", is there such a thing as a good fight. There sure is! We are in a Spiritual battle and as followers of Christ we have to battle every step of the way. From scriptures we can see there is no doubt Paul batteld all who were not of the way. We need to ask ourselves are we fighting the good fight? Next Paul says "I have finished the race". We are in a race in life to do all we can for Jesus. I want to say Paul did all he could and more but that would not be accurate. I bet Paul missed some opportunities after all he was human. But Paul did an amazing job and I would say He has done more than most for the Kingdom of God and He did finish the race. When we finish our race will we be happy with what we have done for our Lord and Savior? Finally Paul says "I have kept the faith". If anyone can say this it would be Paul. When we look at his life and the trials and tribulations he endured for his faith it is truly amazing. Beaten, imprisioned, ship wrecked, snake bit, persecuted and on and on. But yet this man said He counts all his sufferings as joy in serving the Lord!!! Wow! Paul kept the faith! Are we keeping the faith? We probabaly will never face what Paul did but we still struggle to keep the faith day in and day out. We can do it in the strength of Christ my friends!
So I pray today that you will join me in asking God to help us, fight the fight, finish the race, and keep the faith for the glory of the Father.
Have a blessed weekend and keep your eyes on Jesus!
Tom
2 Timothy 4:7
7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
Paul is telling Timothy here about the life Paul has lived. This is one of my own prayers. I pray when my life comes to an end I can say these same words. Paul is not boasting here he is just stating a fact to young Timothy and pleading with him to live his life in the same manner. So let us examine what is being said here. "Fought the good fight", is there such a thing as a good fight. There sure is! We are in a Spiritual battle and as followers of Christ we have to battle every step of the way. From scriptures we can see there is no doubt Paul batteld all who were not of the way. We need to ask ourselves are we fighting the good fight? Next Paul says "I have finished the race". We are in a race in life to do all we can for Jesus. I want to say Paul did all he could and more but that would not be accurate. I bet Paul missed some opportunities after all he was human. But Paul did an amazing job and I would say He has done more than most for the Kingdom of God and He did finish the race. When we finish our race will we be happy with what we have done for our Lord and Savior? Finally Paul says "I have kept the faith". If anyone can say this it would be Paul. When we look at his life and the trials and tribulations he endured for his faith it is truly amazing. Beaten, imprisioned, ship wrecked, snake bit, persecuted and on and on. But yet this man said He counts all his sufferings as joy in serving the Lord!!! Wow! Paul kept the faith! Are we keeping the faith? We probabaly will never face what Paul did but we still struggle to keep the faith day in and day out. We can do it in the strength of Christ my friends!
So I pray today that you will join me in asking God to help us, fight the fight, finish the race, and keep the faith for the glory of the Father.
Have a blessed weekend and keep your eyes on Jesus!
Tom
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Preach!
It is all of our jobs to preach the Word! Look at these verses:
2 Timothy 4:2-4
2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.
Here Paul was telling young Timothy to preach the Word! We are to do the same. God wants us all to share the truth with others. In verse 2 Paul tells us to be ready at all times. Look at some of the words Paul uses to Timothy...convince-proof of the truth is in the Word. Show others what the Word says. This is why it is very important why must learn our Bibles. Rebuke-when others or ourselves are doing wrong we must be rebuked. BUT we must do this as the Bible tells us, rebuke gently and with love. If done in any other way it will not be absorbed by the one you are talking too. Exhort-means urge, advise, use caution...following God's Word is hard and we must exhort one another and keep each other accountable. Longsuffering-means to be very very patient even when the other is resisting you in doing right. In this area think of how we agonize God and He is still loving and patient with us...this is how we must be with others! Teach-we must instruct. So many don't have a clue what the Bible says, it is our job to teach them.
Verses 3-4 describe our Nation and World right now! People learn and believe what they want to be right not what the Word of God teaches. What or ears want to hear we now have teachers who will fill them with that wrong imformation. When told the truth they makes excuses and tell us we are judging them when in reality God's Word is judging them not us. Then they turn back to their lies and continue to live in their sin.
So let me ask this morning...are we preaching God's Word. Are we holding strong to the way God's Word tells us to preach as described in verse 2? My friends it is not easy but we are commanded to do so. It is not just the preachers job to share the Word...it is everyones who calls themselves a follower of Christ!
Have a blessed day and share Jesus!
2 Timothy 4:2-4
2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.
Here Paul was telling young Timothy to preach the Word! We are to do the same. God wants us all to share the truth with others. In verse 2 Paul tells us to be ready at all times. Look at some of the words Paul uses to Timothy...convince-proof of the truth is in the Word. Show others what the Word says. This is why it is very important why must learn our Bibles. Rebuke-when others or ourselves are doing wrong we must be rebuked. BUT we must do this as the Bible tells us, rebuke gently and with love. If done in any other way it will not be absorbed by the one you are talking too. Exhort-means urge, advise, use caution...following God's Word is hard and we must exhort one another and keep each other accountable. Longsuffering-means to be very very patient even when the other is resisting you in doing right. In this area think of how we agonize God and He is still loving and patient with us...this is how we must be with others! Teach-we must instruct. So many don't have a clue what the Bible says, it is our job to teach them.
Verses 3-4 describe our Nation and World right now! People learn and believe what they want to be right not what the Word of God teaches. What or ears want to hear we now have teachers who will fill them with that wrong imformation. When told the truth they makes excuses and tell us we are judging them when in reality God's Word is judging them not us. Then they turn back to their lies and continue to live in their sin.
So let me ask this morning...are we preaching God's Word. Are we holding strong to the way God's Word tells us to preach as described in verse 2? My friends it is not easy but we are commanded to do so. It is not just the preachers job to share the Word...it is everyones who calls themselves a follower of Christ!
Have a blessed day and share Jesus!
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
I AM!!!
These verses are so powerful!
John 8:57-58
57 Then the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?”
58 Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”
Here once again the Jews are trying to prove Jesus isn't who He says He is. Of course to the Jews Abraham was a leading figure in their faith and they were saying you claim to have seen Abraham? You have a demonl to say something like that!!! Read the previous verses to 57-58 to see that part. Then look how Jesus replies "before Abraham was, I AM! Wow! Those are some powerful words. Jesus has always been! Guess what happens next...the jews pick up some stones and are going to kill Him but He walks right through the middle of them and passes by. Jesus was protected by God.
What I want us to grasp this morning is who we are serving. The I AM. Jesus faced persecution everyday once He started his ministry. Jesus tells us plainly in His word that when we follow Him we will also face persecution. Let me tell you my friends it will all be worth it in the end! When we dwell with Jesus, The I AM, for ever and ever what we are going through now will be of little relevance.
So let me remind you this morning....live for the I AM today and you will never regret it for Jesus is coming soon....are you ready for the great I AM???
Pray my friends...we have so many who are not ready.
Tom
John 8:57-58
57 Then the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?”
58 Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”
Here once again the Jews are trying to prove Jesus isn't who He says He is. Of course to the Jews Abraham was a leading figure in their faith and they were saying you claim to have seen Abraham? You have a demonl to say something like that!!! Read the previous verses to 57-58 to see that part. Then look how Jesus replies "before Abraham was, I AM! Wow! Those are some powerful words. Jesus has always been! Guess what happens next...the jews pick up some stones and are going to kill Him but He walks right through the middle of them and passes by. Jesus was protected by God.
What I want us to grasp this morning is who we are serving. The I AM. Jesus faced persecution everyday once He started his ministry. Jesus tells us plainly in His word that when we follow Him we will also face persecution. Let me tell you my friends it will all be worth it in the end! When we dwell with Jesus, The I AM, for ever and ever what we are going through now will be of little relevance.
So let me remind you this morning....live for the I AM today and you will never regret it for Jesus is coming soon....are you ready for the great I AM???
Pray my friends...we have so many who are not ready.
Tom
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Who are you trying to please?
Here is our verse today:
Galatians 1:10
10 For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.
Paul was talking about the gospel previous to this verse. At this time people were changing the gospel to something other than the truth. The reason these folks were changing the gospel was to please man. So in this verse Paul was saying who am I trying to please God or man? It was very obvious in Paul's life he was going to try and please God no matter what man thought. Paul lived his life teaching the gospel according to the truth not to please man. Paul even tells us in this verse he is a slave(bondservant) of Christ.
So let us ask ourselves this morning...who am I trying to please? God or man. If we have to bend what the sriptures say in our day to day walk then we are trying to please man. If we stand by the Word of God no matter what others think we are trying to please God. My friends there are many out there who call themselves Christians who are perverting God's word pleasing man, they are not Christians. This is why God's word says narrow is the way and not many will enter!
So who are you trying to please God or man???
Praise the risen Savior today!
Tom
Galatians 1:10
10 For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.
Paul was talking about the gospel previous to this verse. At this time people were changing the gospel to something other than the truth. The reason these folks were changing the gospel was to please man. So in this verse Paul was saying who am I trying to please God or man? It was very obvious in Paul's life he was going to try and please God no matter what man thought. Paul lived his life teaching the gospel according to the truth not to please man. Paul even tells us in this verse he is a slave(bondservant) of Christ.
So let us ask ourselves this morning...who am I trying to please? God or man. If we have to bend what the sriptures say in our day to day walk then we are trying to please man. If we stand by the Word of God no matter what others think we are trying to please God. My friends there are many out there who call themselves Christians who are perverting God's word pleasing man, they are not Christians. This is why God's word says narrow is the way and not many will enter!
So who are you trying to please God or man???
Praise the risen Savior today!
Tom
Monday, March 8, 2010
Praise!
I am late today so it will be short but powerful.
Hebrews 10:12
12 But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God,
Who is this man? Jesus...King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The one who gave His life for you and for me. One day soon, the Father will say...it is time Jesus, go get my children. Are you a child of the King? Don't delay any longer!
Thank you Jesus for making the sacrifice for a sinner such as I....I am so unworthy!
Praise Jesus today!
Tom
Hebrews 10:12
12 But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God,
Who is this man? Jesus...King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The one who gave His life for you and for me. One day soon, the Father will say...it is time Jesus, go get my children. Are you a child of the King? Don't delay any longer!
Thank you Jesus for making the sacrifice for a sinner such as I....I am so unworthy!
Praise Jesus today!
Tom
Friday, March 5, 2010
Descrpition!
Check this verse out:
2 Timothy 3:1-5
1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!
Does this verse describe our world today or what? Paul gave young Timothy a very accurate description of what the last days would look like. It is very possible we are living in the last days right now. Let's look at some of the descriptions. Lovers of themselves...no doubt this is accurate. People are mostly concerned with themselves these days and will run over anyone who gets in their way. Jesus clearly taught just the opposite...put others first. Lovers of money...people kill, steal and destroy everyday because of money...no doubt this world is a lover of money. Boasters....watch sports...people are very arrogant. Proud...people put themselves on pedalstals and put others down...God warns against being proud. Blasphemers...people talk against God on a daily basis...not a wise move. Disobiedient to parents...I have never seen a time where kids are more disrespectful of parents than now. Unthankful...people think they are owed...how wrong they are. Unholy..no respect for God. Unloving...if you arn't family or close friend then people don't love you...not what Jesus taught! Unforgiving...God tells us to forgive others but we don't. Slanderers....people love to put others down. Without self-control...we are a reckles people and do what we want without thinking about others. Despisers of good...people laugh at doing God's word. Traitors...people will stab you in the back and not think twice about it. Headstrong...people think they are always right and will not take advice. Lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God....this is a description of out time. If it feels good do it and don't worry about what God says about it. Having a form of godliness but denying its power...many folks these days claim to be Christians but the pwer of God is no where in their life and the main reason is they are filled with the descriptions above and have never surrendered their llives to Jesus.
Paul closes this out by saying stay away from these folks. We had better head his warning and keep our distance!While these scriptures are sad there is also good news...Jesus is coming soon!!!!!
Have a great weekend!
Tom
2 Timothy 3:1-5
1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!
Does this verse describe our world today or what? Paul gave young Timothy a very accurate description of what the last days would look like. It is very possible we are living in the last days right now. Let's look at some of the descriptions. Lovers of themselves...no doubt this is accurate. People are mostly concerned with themselves these days and will run over anyone who gets in their way. Jesus clearly taught just the opposite...put others first. Lovers of money...people kill, steal and destroy everyday because of money...no doubt this world is a lover of money. Boasters....watch sports...people are very arrogant. Proud...people put themselves on pedalstals and put others down...God warns against being proud. Blasphemers...people talk against God on a daily basis...not a wise move. Disobiedient to parents...I have never seen a time where kids are more disrespectful of parents than now. Unthankful...people think they are owed...how wrong they are. Unholy..no respect for God. Unloving...if you arn't family or close friend then people don't love you...not what Jesus taught! Unforgiving...God tells us to forgive others but we don't. Slanderers....people love to put others down. Without self-control...we are a reckles people and do what we want without thinking about others. Despisers of good...people laugh at doing God's word. Traitors...people will stab you in the back and not think twice about it. Headstrong...people think they are always right and will not take advice. Lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God....this is a description of out time. If it feels good do it and don't worry about what God says about it. Having a form of godliness but denying its power...many folks these days claim to be Christians but the pwer of God is no where in their life and the main reason is they are filled with the descriptions above and have never surrendered their llives to Jesus.
Paul closes this out by saying stay away from these folks. We had better head his warning and keep our distance!While these scriptures are sad there is also good news...Jesus is coming soon!!!!!
Have a great weekend!
Tom
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Be on guard!
This verse is the next to last verse in First Timothy. Paul is stressing a point very strongly to the young Timothy. A point we should also grasp very stongly. Here is the verse:
1 Timothy 6:20
20 O Timothy! Guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge—
The first thing we must look at in this verse is what what committed to Timothy's trust? The faith! The gospel of Jesus Christ and the teachings of the Bible. We also must guard our faith. It is my belief as a whole, Christians are not doing a very good job of guarding our faith. We are afraid to stand for what we believe in and as we have seen Christianity is slowly but surely being eroded away here in America. Paul was begging or pleading with Timothy to be on guard here. It is very important to guard what God has entrusted us with to share with others!
Paul goes on to tell us what the problem will be. CONTRADICTIONS! The pagans in this word believe they are so smart and have aquired more knowledge than God. That is why the world is living as they please and are sinning at an alarming rate and then saying it is ok. Even though God's Word plainly tells them that what they are doing is sin! Unfortunetly it has even infiltrated the church in that many churches are teaching contradictions to God's Word and people are accepting it as truth! Oh my brothers and sisters we must stand on the truth of God's word and guard the faith in which our dear Lord and Savior Jesus died.
So are you on guard for our faith this morning? Are you willing to stand up and defend it may be a better question. It really isn't an option my friends....God expects us too!
Pray for the church this morning...that we will be bold and strong in our faith. That we will stand on the truth and not be moved!
Tom
1 Timothy 6:20
20 O Timothy! Guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge—
The first thing we must look at in this verse is what what committed to Timothy's trust? The faith! The gospel of Jesus Christ and the teachings of the Bible. We also must guard our faith. It is my belief as a whole, Christians are not doing a very good job of guarding our faith. We are afraid to stand for what we believe in and as we have seen Christianity is slowly but surely being eroded away here in America. Paul was begging or pleading with Timothy to be on guard here. It is very important to guard what God has entrusted us with to share with others!
Paul goes on to tell us what the problem will be. CONTRADICTIONS! The pagans in this word believe they are so smart and have aquired more knowledge than God. That is why the world is living as they please and are sinning at an alarming rate and then saying it is ok. Even though God's Word plainly tells them that what they are doing is sin! Unfortunetly it has even infiltrated the church in that many churches are teaching contradictions to God's Word and people are accepting it as truth! Oh my brothers and sisters we must stand on the truth of God's word and guard the faith in which our dear Lord and Savior Jesus died.
So are you on guard for our faith this morning? Are you willing to stand up and defend it may be a better question. It really isn't an option my friends....God expects us too!
Pray for the church this morning...that we will be bold and strong in our faith. That we will stand on the truth and not be moved!
Tom
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Foolish talk.
How much foolish talks place in our lives each day? If I evaluate my own life I must say....way to much. Check this verse out:
2 Timothy 2:23-25
23 But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. 24 And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, 25 in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth,
God's word is to the point on our foolish talk isn't it. I have a good example of this. Take sports for our example. Now I will tell you I am a BIG sports fan. Now think on this....how much time each day is spent on arguing about how great your team is and in return the fellow you are talking to arguing about why his team is best. Now how many times have you or your buddy went away very aggrivated because of the discussion? Over foolishness!!! What difference does it make in eternity of who's team is the best? Absolutely none!
Now look at what verse 24 says....we must not quarrel or argue but be gentle. It tells us we also must be able to teach. Teach what? What the Word of God says. God's word is very important...are you able to explain it to others? You should be able to. If you can't the main reason is you are not reading and studying it enough. It also tells us to be patient. If we try to shove the Word down peoples throats they will not listen...so be patient. Verse 25 tells us to correct our opposition in humility. Not harshly but in love. Many times folks will want to accuse you of judging them when you correct them but it is clear we are to show them the truth in God's Word! Just remember humility and love are key! Why do we correct them? verse 25 shows us the reason...that they may know the truth and repent before God!
So how is your talk....foolish or godly?
Be sure to read God's word today!
Tom
2 Timothy 2:23-25
23 But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. 24 And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, 25 in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth,
God's word is to the point on our foolish talk isn't it. I have a good example of this. Take sports for our example. Now I will tell you I am a BIG sports fan. Now think on this....how much time each day is spent on arguing about how great your team is and in return the fellow you are talking to arguing about why his team is best. Now how many times have you or your buddy went away very aggrivated because of the discussion? Over foolishness!!! What difference does it make in eternity of who's team is the best? Absolutely none!
Now look at what verse 24 says....we must not quarrel or argue but be gentle. It tells us we also must be able to teach. Teach what? What the Word of God says. God's word is very important...are you able to explain it to others? You should be able to. If you can't the main reason is you are not reading and studying it enough. It also tells us to be patient. If we try to shove the Word down peoples throats they will not listen...so be patient. Verse 25 tells us to correct our opposition in humility. Not harshly but in love. Many times folks will want to accuse you of judging them when you correct them but it is clear we are to show them the truth in God's Word! Just remember humility and love are key! Why do we correct them? verse 25 shows us the reason...that they may know the truth and repent before God!
So how is your talk....foolish or godly?
Be sure to read God's word today!
Tom
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Dad teach!
This devotion is for us dads. I want you to think very seriously about what this verse is telling us:
Ephesians 6:4
4 And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.
First this verse tells us not to provoke our children to wrath. What I pull from that is don't constantly nag them. They are children and will make mistakes. We do have to discipline them when they do wrong but we also must encourage them and love them. I have seen so mant dads push their kids away by putting them down and just being on their back all the time. God is very clear in warning us of this in this passage. Second God tells us to train them in the Lord. Seriously take time and ask, are you spiritually training your kids, dad? We spend countless hours training our kids how to hunt, fish, play sports, and on and on. BUT how much time are we spending training our kids in the Word of God? Sad really when you compare hours spent on worldly things and hours spent on Godly things. The Bible says what good is it to gain the whole world but lose our souls. Dads we need to think on that verse very hard as we are suppose to be the Spiritual leaders of out houses!
Thirdly the verse says admonition which means
ad·mo·ni·tion
–noun
1.an act of admonishing.
2.counsel, advice, or caution.
3.a gentle reproof.
4.a warning or reproof given by an eccleslastical authority.
I am going to go with the third definition today. When are children make a mistake, gently reproof them. Show then where their mistake is and if you can show them by God's word please do. It helps them see God's word as the ultimate authority.
So dads how are you doing? It is our job to raise our children in a Godly way, let us make sure we are pleasing the Lord!
I am praying for you dad!
Tom
Ephesians 6:4
4 And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.
First this verse tells us not to provoke our children to wrath. What I pull from that is don't constantly nag them. They are children and will make mistakes. We do have to discipline them when they do wrong but we also must encourage them and love them. I have seen so mant dads push their kids away by putting them down and just being on their back all the time. God is very clear in warning us of this in this passage. Second God tells us to train them in the Lord. Seriously take time and ask, are you spiritually training your kids, dad? We spend countless hours training our kids how to hunt, fish, play sports, and on and on. BUT how much time are we spending training our kids in the Word of God? Sad really when you compare hours spent on worldly things and hours spent on Godly things. The Bible says what good is it to gain the whole world but lose our souls. Dads we need to think on that verse very hard as we are suppose to be the Spiritual leaders of out houses!
Thirdly the verse says admonition which means
ad·mo·ni·tion
–noun
1.an act of admonishing.
2.counsel, advice, or caution.
3.a gentle reproof.
4.a warning or reproof given by an eccleslastical authority.
I am going to go with the third definition today. When are children make a mistake, gently reproof them. Show then where their mistake is and if you can show them by God's word please do. It helps them see God's word as the ultimate authority.
So dads how are you doing? It is our job to raise our children in a Godly way, let us make sure we are pleasing the Lord!
I am praying for you dad!
Tom
Monday, March 1, 2010
Are you qualified?
Good monday morning to you. I hope you had a great weekend. It was an awesome day to worship the King yesterday as the youth at our church lead the sevices. They did such a good job and it is so refreshing to see the Lord glorified through our young people!
Today I want us to think about our own personal walk with God. Ask yourself....How am I doing in my relationship with God and be honest. Your walk affects others...did you know that. People are watching you if you call yourself a Christian. This is why we must always be working on our relationship with Jesus and making sure it is in tip top condition. Look at this verse:
1 Corinthians 9:27
27 But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.
Paul is telling us here that we must discipline our bodies and bring it under control. Under the control of who? God! To be a follower of Jesus is hard work and don't let anybody tell you different!!! I can promise you that if anyone calims following Jesus is easy they aren't following Jesus for Jesus himself told us it would not be easy! There are two reasons Paul told us to be disciplined...the first is for our own walk with God. The second is for others. You might be thinking others???? What do they have to do with my walk with God? Paul answers that question in the latter part of the verse above. For when we preach to others we do not become disqulaified. To explain this, what Paul is saying is this....if we are not following God in which the Word of God tells us, when we tell others about Jesus they will not listen.We become disqualified. Also remember this, we preach in two ways. One being the telling of the gospel by mouth. The second is the way we live our lives. It is fairly easy to talk about the things of God but living the Word of God is much harder and that is where the outside world is watching us everyday!
If the Apostle Paul found it important to discipline himself, so that he would not become disqualified when preaching to others, we should find it important too! So how about it....are you qualified? In reality we all should be qualified if we call ourselves children of God, so keep up the training and show the world your Jesus both in word and conduct!
Have a great day and pray for each other....Tom
Today I want us to think about our own personal walk with God. Ask yourself....How am I doing in my relationship with God and be honest. Your walk affects others...did you know that. People are watching you if you call yourself a Christian. This is why we must always be working on our relationship with Jesus and making sure it is in tip top condition. Look at this verse:
1 Corinthians 9:27
27 But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.
Paul is telling us here that we must discipline our bodies and bring it under control. Under the control of who? God! To be a follower of Jesus is hard work and don't let anybody tell you different!!! I can promise you that if anyone calims following Jesus is easy they aren't following Jesus for Jesus himself told us it would not be easy! There are two reasons Paul told us to be disciplined...the first is for our own walk with God. The second is for others. You might be thinking others???? What do they have to do with my walk with God? Paul answers that question in the latter part of the verse above. For when we preach to others we do not become disqulaified. To explain this, what Paul is saying is this....if we are not following God in which the Word of God tells us, when we tell others about Jesus they will not listen.We become disqualified. Also remember this, we preach in two ways. One being the telling of the gospel by mouth. The second is the way we live our lives. It is fairly easy to talk about the things of God but living the Word of God is much harder and that is where the outside world is watching us everyday!
If the Apostle Paul found it important to discipline himself, so that he would not become disqualified when preaching to others, we should find it important too! So how about it....are you qualified? In reality we all should be qualified if we call ourselves children of God, so keep up the training and show the world your Jesus both in word and conduct!
Have a great day and pray for each other....Tom
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