Draw a line in the sand!

I went to a youth conference a few days ago and heard a message that I wanted to pass along as we get ready to go into a new year. As followers of Jesus it's time if you aren't already to make a stand for our God! Thus the statement "draw a line in the sand". This means I will not cross what boundaries God has set for me and I have set for myself. If I may, let me give you a few pointers:

1. Line of conviction: As a follower of Christ, I have convictions and standards I will not cross....period! God has given us a guide book and expects us to follow it. Are we? Here is an example in the bible:

King Nebuchadnezzar commanded all to bow down to a statue to worship it. Everyone obeyed but three men:

Daniel 3:16-17

16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17 If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king.

They had a line of conviction, even in the face of death! Don't cross the line drawn in the sand!

2. Line of association: It is no great revelation that the people you hang out with is who you become! This may be the time to adjust your friend list! The list of men in the last verse stood strong together. The bible says:

Proverbs 27:17 

Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.

While we are to try and win the lost we are to be very careful whom we spend great amounts of time with so we are not drawn into the ways of the world!

3. Line of confidence: Do you have confidence in your God? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did! "Our God is able to deliver"!!!! Oh yes He is!!! Here is another verse to grab on to:

Romans 8:31

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

We got God on our side!

So with a new year upon us...draw a line of conviction, draw a line of association, draw a line of confidence, and don't cross them!

Have a blessed new year and may we stand for KING JESUS!

Tom

Eyes #5

Hope everyone had a great Christmas! I will get back to my regular routine soon and again sorry for scattered devo's! Let's look at the proverbs today to see what they got to say about the eyes!



Proverbs 12:15





15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes,

but a wise man listens to advice.



This is a common theme in the scriptures, that a fool is always right in his own eyes! I can attest to this myself. How many times have I found myself in sin in the past and tried to justify it will some kind of excuse. Not only trying to convince others I was right but also myself! Where instead I should have taken the advice of other followers of Jesus and most of all God's Word!!! LISTEN and READ Godly advice! It is the key to maturing in our walk with the Lord. Get pride out as we all seem to have a problem of seeing where we are wrong.



Proverbs 16:2





2 All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes,

but the Lord weighs the spirit.



Similar to the previous proverb. Don't miss here though to who is weighing our Spirit. Not self, not other people, but God Himself. You see when it all comes down to the end, we will stand before God, and He knows our hearts. Were we trying to follow Him or was it all about self? We can't fool God but we sure can fools ourselves if we are not careful. Don't fool yourself, God tells us what is pure in His Word, if you want to know you will seek it our, if not then you won't. Plain and simple.



Proverbs 17:24

The discerning sets his face toward wisdom, but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.



So what are your eyes on? The ways of the world or the wisdom God has shown us?



Proverbs 21:4





4 Haughty eyes and a proud heart,

the lamp of the wicked, are sin.



Pride will get ya every time! Are you humble or full of pride?



Proverbs 23:26



26 My son, give me your heart,

and let your eyes observe my ways.



This defines where our eyes should be...on God's ways!!!!! Give God your heart, it is His main desire!!!



Chew on these today, where are your eyes???



Tom

Eyes #4

Today let us look at what the Psalms has to say about our eyes. Great advice!



Psalm 25:15





15 My eyes are ever toward the Lord,

for he will pluck my feet out of the net.



Where are our eyes focused? On Jesus our Lord or on the world whom Satan is the prince? Here we are told when we keep our eyes on Jesus, He will keep us out of trouble!!! Oh how I wish I had focused on Jesus as a child, but am thankful I came to my senses and finally gave my life to Him in my 20's!!! He is my Guide and Protector!



Psalm 101:3





3 I will not set before my eyes

anything that is worthless.

I hate the work of those who fall away;

it shall not cling to me.



Oh my! Think about these words for a bit. First thing comes to my mind is TV!!! How much value does TV have? Then thing of people who are not following Jesus, don't let their ways cling to you. Let us be committed to following our Lord in all ways.





Psalm 119:18





18 Open my eyes, that I may behold

wondrous things out of your law.



Here we see a prayer we all need to voice often. God let us grasp your Word!! Then apply it daily to our lives. Let us see clearly.



Psalm 119:37





37 Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things;

and give me life in your ways.



Similar to a previous verse. Help us oh Lord to keep our eyes on YOU! Our eyes are so valuable in our walk with Jesus. He is true Life! The things of this world are not.



Psalm 123:1



123 To you I lift up my eyes,

O you who are enthroned in the heavens!



So again we ask the question to whom or what are you focusing your eyes on? For the follower of God their is only one choice....HIM who is on the throne is heaven! The maker of the heavens and earth.



I hope you are catching on to the importance God places on our eyes and what we are focused on! It is convicting for sure.



Tom

Eyes #3

Sorry about the scattered devotions! So much going on this time of year! Let us continue to look at what God says about what we allow into our eyes!



Today this looks at what God sees from us! What is going into His eyes is very important to us! While this is talking about Israel, it sounds very familiar to what is going on here in our nation today!



2 Chronicles 29:6

6 For our fathers have been unfaithful and have done what was evil in the sight of the Lord our God. They have forsaken him and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the Lord and turned their backs.



I have noticed something as I am sure you have too. My great grandparents generation was faithful to the Lord and His church. Rarely missing the gathering of God's people unless something unavoidable was going on. My grandparents generation was faith to the Lord and His church but occasionally would miss the gathering of God's people. My parents generation was not as faithful but was still fairly strong in the gathering but would miss if they felt like it. Now my generation is not faithful at all. The miss the gathering of God's people anytime there is something that they feel is better going on. Do you see the pattern here? What will the next generation do as it seems each generation turns away from God just a little bit more?



Of course this is just an example, if we look at the evil God sees just look at the news now and what you would have seen 30 years ago. Evil is getting more and more wicked!!!!



Folks God sees all! What is God seeing in your life? God centered living or evil? Take time to think about this today....what is God seeing in me?



Tom

Eyes #2

Thinking again about our eyes and what we allow into our eyes, let us look to the Book of Deuteronomy today and see what God has to say there and then relate it to us today:



Deuteronomy 4:19

19 And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the Lord your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven.



What do we allow into our eyes and then worship it? Hmmmm interesting question. Astrology has been a problem since the beginning of time as we see God warn about here. We are to worship the ONE who made the stars, moon, and planets not his creation! I see those who claim to be followers of Jesus posting their horoscopes and the such today....noooooooo! Stay away from those who claim to read the stars and can tell you your future. These are of the devil. It is not limited to just astrology though, we have celebrities we see with our eyes whom we worship...look at clips of Elvis, Michael Jackson, Athletes, and stars of today and look at their fans crying, and trying to touch them it is worship! Very sad! This worship is reserved for God only!



Deuteronomy 10:21

21 He is your praise. He is your God, who has done for you these great and terrifying things that your eyes have seen.



God is the ONE who is our praise and has proved Himself over and over in our sight! While talking to Israel here in this verse it applies to us too! It is not hard to see what God has done and He has told us what the future holds....heaven or hell, our choice.



Deuteronomy 12:8

8 “You shall not do according to all that we are doing here today, everyone doing whatever is right in his own eyes,



Wow does this ever describe us here the USA today. We do what we think is right not what God has said is right! It is no wonder the USA is sliding on a downward spiral and we will continue to do so unless we turn back to God and do what HIS WORD SAYS!!!!!



Deuteronomy 13:18

18 if you obey the voice of the Lord your God, keeping all his commandments that I am commanding you today, and doing what is right in the sight of the Lord your God.



It is a clear biblical teaching over and over in the bible that God will bless those with taking care of their needs if they obey Him and do what is right in HIS EYES not ours.



Pretty straight forward truth here this morning. Chew on it. Are you doing whats right in your eyes or God's eyes?



Tom

Eyes

Over the next several weeks I am going to look at a few parts of the body, eyes, ears, and the mouth to see how important they are in our walk with the Lord. It is very important as you will see of what we allow to go in our eyes and ears and then what we allow to come out of our mouths. Take time to think about each of these and apply it to your own walk with Jesus!



First let us start with the eyes. Somethings we see can control like T.V., Magazines, and some places we choose to go. Sometimes we see things that are beyond our control. I want us to focus on what we can control! Look at the value Jesus put on our eyes:



Matthew 6:22-23

22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!



Wow! So we need to examine our own eyes and see if they are healthy or bad! What do we let into our eyes? So many that claim to be followers of Jesus willingly let immoral things into their eyes that goes straight to the brain. When allowed to sit in the brain it then can scar the heart and we then become numb to immoral things and accept them as ok. We see in the above verse that God calls it darkness and that it can be great darkness which equals great sin!



We will dig deeper in this tomorrow and the days to come. Have you thought about what you allow into your eyes? If not now is the time!



Tom

Money, money, money!!! #10

Well we have looked at what the love of money can do to us. The love of Jesus must be first in our lives not money and things! So as we bring this to a close what are some things we should use the money God gives to us for?



1. The first thing on the list is the tithe. It is a must for us to give a portion back to God of what He has give to us. This is how the church functions and meets the needs of its people.



Malachi 3:8-10

“Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the Lord of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.



2. Pay your bills and take care of your family.



God expects us to pay our debts. This is just plain honesty and integrity when we make agreements with folks we are to keep our word!



1 John 2:5

But whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him:



God has entrusted us with spouses and children. We are to meet their needs. Our money should go here but we do not want to get over our heads by meeting wants we can't afford or don't need!



1 Timothy 5:8

But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.



3. The third thing we are to do is help others in need.



Acts 20:35

In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”



It seems we do this at Christmas time but what about the rest of the year? It is to be a daily duty of the follower of Jesus. Have you ever stepped back and looked at the money you spent on needless things and then though about how many are in need? It can be an eye opener for sure!



I hope this look at money has been helpful, it sure has reminded me of some things I needed to see again! Let us be doing the will of God with our money, not the will of the world!



Tom

Money, money, money!!! #9

Perhaps these words from Jesus are some of the most valuable to us about the love of money:



Mark 10:23-27

23 Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 And the disciples were astonished at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, “Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

26 And they were greatly astonished, saying among themselves, “Who then can be saved?”

27 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.”



Two times in these verses Jesus uses the word "hard" in talking about entering the kingdom of God. I think we had better take notice don't you??? BUT I want us to see Jesus says it is not impossible but hard for the rich to enter the kingdom. So we can draw from this that riches can be a big temptation if not kept in check. So much so that Jesus very straight forward like points it out to us! It even shocked the disciples. Jesus was putting to rest the thought that great riches were a sign of the favor of God upon that person. Riches has nothing to do with that, where your relationship with Jesus is the deciding factor of us reaching the kingdom of God!



So let us think about these important words from Jesus this morning. Is your money keeping you from Jesus or is your money being used to bring you and others to Jesus?



Tom

Money, money, money!!! #8

It amazes me as we look at the love of money how much God has to say about it to warn us not to fall into it's trap! here are a few mentions in Psalms:



Psalm 37:16



16 A little that a righteous man has

Is better than the riches of many wicked.



Here God once again is reminding us that being right with Him is much more valuable than money. God meets the needs of those who follow Him, everything else above that is abundant blessings. Many who don't follow Him have their reward now in this life. Our promised reward comes when we get to heaven! Oh what a day that will be!



Psalm 73:12

12 Behold, these are the ungodly,

Who are always at ease;

They increase in riches.



Riches don't make you ungodly, your love of riches and contentment in them makes you ungodly. When we depend on our riches and put our faith in them instead of God makes us ungodly! When we are worried about more money instead of lost souls and helping the needy, this makes us ungodly. Let us not be found in this condition!



Ecclesiastes 5:10



10 He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver;

Nor he who loves abundance, with increase.

This also is vanity.



The ole wise man King Soloman tried everything to find satisfaction in life including riches, he found that money never satisfies! You can never have enough of it. Great riches are useless.



The only thing that satisfies in life is a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. God made us this way with a spiritual hole in our hearts that can only be filled by Him. Seek Jesus for He is the answer to life!



Tom

Money, money, money!!! #7

The wise teachings of Proverbs always has something to teach us and it is no different with money. So let's look at them today and see what they tell us about money.





Proverbs 8:10

10 Receive my instruction, and not silver,

And knowledge rather than choice gold;



God's Word in to be desired more than money. Is this true in your life?





Proverbs 11:4

4 Riches do not profit in the day of wrath,

But righteousness delivers from death.



Money will not do us any good when death and judgement comes....but righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ is the only answer!





Proverbs 11:28



28 He who trusts in his riches will fall,

But the righteous will flourish like foliage.



Trust in your money instead of the Lord and see where it gets you.





Proverbs 13:7



7 There is one who makes himself rich, yet has nothing;

And one who makes himself poor, yet has great riches.



Money may bring you temporary happiness in this life, but really in the end you have nothing. If you give everything to Jesus, than you are rich and it can never be taken away! Praise the Lord!





Proverbs 16:16



16 How much better to get wisdom than gold!

And to get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.



Wisdom and understanding of what God desires in a followers life are so much more valuable than money. When we learn this we have matured in our walk with the Lord.





Proverbs 22:1



22 A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches,

Loving favor rather than silver and gold.



How many folks have let money ruin their reputation? How many folks chose money over love for others? Too many to count!



Once again we see today, the love of money can be our down fall. Be wise and chose the love of our Lord you will never regret it! Reread these proverbs and think about them in your own life and let the Holy Spirit freely speak to you. If changes are needed, make them today!



Tom

Money, money, money!!! #6

As we have seen thus far God has much to say about the danger of loving money and placing the desire of it before Him. I want us to look at this warning from God's Word about money this morning:



2 Timothy 3:1-5

3 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!



WOW! Do you see what the love of money is mixed in with here? As I look at this list of sins, many of them go along with each other! Folks this list is very accurate of our very day. This is why many think we are living in the days of the return of Christ! Take the time to go through the list in the verses above and honestly evaluate yourself. If they describe you, repent and turn to following Jesus now!



God also tells us if folks like these we are to stay away from as they will lead us astray if we are not very careful. Yes we are to try lead them to Jesus but we are not to spend great amounts of time with them! Look at your friends and family....are they described above? Lead them to Jesus, if they won't come to Jesus then stay away from them!



Remember these are not Tom's words, but come from God himself!



Tom

Money, money, money!!! #5

As we continue to look at what the Word of God says about money, I want us to think today at our giving. Do you give just enough to appease yourself or do you give to honor God and trust Him to meet your needs?



Mark 12:41-44

The Widow’s Two Mites

41 Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury. And many who were rich put in much. 42 Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans. 43 So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; 44 for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood.”



The lesson here is many times we give out of our abundance. We give what we know won't be of any burden to us. We give knowing we can still go out everyday this week and buy our 5 dollar starbucks coffee even though there are people out there starving. We give knowing we can still get that lottery ticket justifying it by saying God if I win I will give some to the church. All our money is God's money, would he spend it the way we do?



This widow put in all she had! She had to trust that God would bring her some food soon! The rich through in some but it did not really cost them a thing, they knew they were gonna eat in abundance.



Think about this lesson today. What point is Jesus trying to get through to you and to me? Is our giving pleasing to God?



Tom

Money, money, money!!! #4

The money issue seems to have no boundaries. Greed and evil has even entered sacred grounds like the church. This is nothing new! Let me give you a few examples:



Mark 11:15-17

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

15 So they came to Jerusalem. Then Jesus went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. 16 And He would not allow anyone to carry wares through the temple. 17 Then He taught, saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ”



Jeremiah 7:11

11 Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of thieves in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it,” says the Lord.



Malachi 3:8-10

Do Not Rob God



8 “Will a man rob God?

Yet you have robbed Me!

But you say,

‘In what way have we robbed You?’

In tithes and offerings.

9 You are cursed with a curse,

For you have robbed Me,

Even this whole nation.

10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse,

That there may be food in My house,

And try Me now in this,”

Says the Lord of hosts,

“If I will not open for you the windows of heaven

And pour out for you such blessing

That there will not be room enough to receive it.



We really need to chew on these and ask our selves are we doing wrong with our money anywhere. Inside or outside the church. All the money God has bless us with is His that He lets us use. He expects us to use it wisely. A portion is to be given to the church. We are to help those in need. We are to use it to meet our needs. Then with the rest we need to honor God with it no matter how we spend it. A good habit would be to ask ourselves, would God be happy with this use of money?



It is biblical to say use God's money wisely and God will meet your needs, use God's money foolishly and for evil and you will reap the consequences.



Tom

Money, money, money!!! #3

Yesterday we looked at a couple of examples from the bible of what the love of money will do to people. We seen Delilah and Judas were over come by their greed for money and did some evil things. Like I said earlier money in itself is neutral, neither good nor evil, but the love of money causes all kinds of evil. Look at this verse:



Ecclesiastes 10:19



19 A feast is made for laughter,

And wine makes merry;

But money answers everything.



This is the mindset so many get in, partying and money is life! NOOOOOOO! Money is not the answer, Jesus Christ is the answer. Sadly money can get almost anything done if you have enough of it, but money can't buy salvation or peace. Jesus Christ is the only way for that! Look at this warning from Jesus:



Matthew 6:24

24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.



Mammon is money. Jesus is clear here that we can't serve both God and money! So let us look at our lives and honestly answer the question, am I serving God or money? What do you love more God or money and the things it can get you? Hmmmm really give this some thought and heed the warning from Jesus. If we look at the society we live in I believe we can see clearly the answer for most! MONEY!



Tom

Money, money, money!!! #2

As we think about money and how we can turn it into an idol if we are not extremely careful, I want to look at tow examples of what money can do to people from the bible.



The first example is from the old testament. A lady named Delilah. She had a man named Sampson in her grasps. Sampson was a judge for God. He did some might things for the Lord. He was in love with Delilah. Sampson had great strength from God and was told never to cut his hair as a vow to God as that is where his strength came from. One of the enemies of Israel, the Philistines, wanted to know where this strength came from so they could defeat Sampson. So what could they do to get Delilah to help them???? Money, Money, Money! After Sampson had tricked her a couple of times, he finally told her the secret to his strength! Dumb move Sampson! Then look what happened:



Judges 16:18-21

18 When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, “Come up once more, for he has told me all his heart.” So the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hand. 19 Then she lulled him to sleep on her knees, and called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him,[a] and his strength left him. 20 And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” So he awoke from his sleep, and said, “I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!” But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him.

21 Then the Philistines took him and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza. They bound him with bronze fetters, and he became a grinder in the prison.



Money can cause people to do evil things!



Our other example we find in the new testament, a familiar story to most. A named Judas who walked with our Lord Jesus. He had been taught by Jesus and knew first had who Jesus was....The Savior of the world. Greed got the best of Judas and he went to see what he could get for Jesus, if he betrayed Him to the high priests:



Matthew 26:14-16

14 Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15 and said, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?” And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver. 16 So from that time he sought opportunity to betray Him.



For thirty pieces of silver, the price of a slave, Judas betrayed Jesus. Judas would later regret what he had done and take his own life but the damage had already been done!



Think about your own life now. Has money caused you to do anything wrong or evil? Look at the world we live in and what the love of money causes folks to do on a daily basis. It is sad to think how many love money and things more than they love God! This can change in our own lives but only if we want it too!



Remember this verse:



Matthew 6:33

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.



Seek God not money, and blessings will flow!



Tom

Money, money, money!!! #1

Well here comes Christmas! I heard that on black Friday over 1 billion dollars was spent and that did not include internet sales! Wow! Money is important for us to survive. Do we spend our money in ways that are pleasing to God? It is important for us to examine this aspect of our lives. I believe if we are honest with our selves we do things with our money that is not pleasing to God and amounts to greed!!!

Look at this verse about money closely:


1 Timothy 6:10
 Money is the root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

Can money be evil? No it is a thing, it is neutral. It is neither evil or good. You see I did not post the verse correctly, here is what the verse actually says:

 1 Timothy 6:10
 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

The love of money is what is evil because it becomes a idol in our lives that replaces God! Just stop and think about what the love of money has done in this world of ours. Murders, stealing, greed we see all the time over the love of money. Money in many instances is used in ways that does not honor God and help those who are in need. What are we doing brothers and sisters????

So as we dive into looking at money over the next several days and what God has to say about it let us not look at what others are doing but let each of us examine our own hearts and ask ourselves so I have a love of money or a deep love of God!

I have heard it said before, if we look at our check books we can often answer the question of where our hearts are....God or money(self)!

Tom