”Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.“
Psalms 139:23-24
Another couple verses to think hard on. Asking God to search us can be difficult knowing we have issues we need to deal with. But God is the one who can heal anything we struggle with so He is exactly where we need to go. Seek God and be healed by the precious blood of Jesus and then have the promise of eternal life!
Tom!
”for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’“
Matthew 25:35-36
Think on these verses very hard today. Jesus tells us here when we minister to others it is like we are ministering to Him. He made it a priority to minister to people for the purpose of showing love and sharing that salvation was at hand through Him.
What are we doing to minister to people? Jesus expects us to do so as followers of Him!
Tom
”Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.“
Psalms 19:14
As we follow our Lord Jesus and continue to change through the power of the Holy Spirit to conform I to being Christlike our thoughts and what we say should reflect our change! Lord help us to be like you in every area of our lives including our thoughts and what comes out of our mouths!
Tom
"Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest." (Matthew 9:38)
We all need to pray this as many souls are lost and need to hear the good news of Jesus Christ. We also need to remember if we are followers of Jesus we are one of the laborers and do our job of sharing the gospel. It is not an option for those who love God and love people for eternity is on the the line!
Tom
”But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.“
Galatians 5:22-25
Listed are the fruits we are to develop and live by as followers of Jesus. As told we are to kill our fleshly desires and passions and follow the Spirits leading which leads us to be like Jesus. As we follow the Lord may we grow more each day to be like God desires us to be!!
Tom
”Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.“
I John 2:15-17
These verses explain themselves. Now we have to ask ourselves…do we have the love of God in us or are we in love with the world? It is an important answer that we need to answer honestly for it determines if we are right with God or not.
Chew on this today and let God move you where He wants you!
Tom
”For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.“
I Timothy 2:3-4
It always catches my eye when I see a verse that shows the love of God towards us in saying He desires ALL men to be saved. To know the truth….which is Jesus himself. Once we have found this truth and follow Jesus as Lord and Savior it is then a part of our jobs to show people the desire of God…that they be saved too!
Are we showing people the desire of God?
Tom
”For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.“
John 6:38
Many of you may remember the old gator aid commercials where it said be like Mike referring to Michael Jordan. In our lives as followers of Jesus we are to be like Jesus as closely as we can. In the verse above we see Jesus came to do the will of the Father. We too in our lives are to do the will of the Father. Now this is where the rubber meets the road…are we willing to give everything for God like Jesus did? That’s what we are called to do and let us be willing to do whatever God calls us too no matter the cost!
Tom
”Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.“
Psalms 119:11
Here the psalmist found it very helpful to memorize God’s Word so that when sin came he could fight it off with the Word. How much of God’s Word do we have memorized? Jesus fought the devil with the Word when in the Wilderness being tempted so how much more should we???
Get in the Word, know it, and memorize all you can!
Tom
”By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?“
I John 3:16-17
These are some verses to chew on today. First, do you know God’s love? He proved His love by giving His life for our sins. Second, does God’s love dwell in us? If it does then our hearts are always open to helping those in need.
Tom
”to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.“
Ephesians 3:19
Even though our minds can’t fully comprehend how much God loves us, He wants us to grasp it as much as we can!!!! When we get to an understanding of that love then we get to where God wants us to be….spreading that love with others for we will not be able to contain it within ourselves!!!
Do you really understand how much God loves you! Look at John 3:16!
Tom
”having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.“
Colossians 2:14
We have a sin debt that we can not pay. It is huge!!! But we also have ONE who was willing to pay our debt for us. Jesus took our sin and paid for it by His blood. We have a choice to receive Him as Savior or reject Him. When we do it is the same as allowing Him to pay our debt or denying Him to do so. I am thankful for Jesus paying my debt, how about you?
Tom
”The Lord your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”“
Zephaniah 3:17
God rejoices over His people! He is with us. He saves us through the shed blood of Jesus. His love quiets us with a great peace. He even sings in His rejoicing over us! Oh what a great picture this is for us to have in our minds as God’s children!!! Chew on God rejoicing over you today!
Tom
”“You are My witnesses,” says the Lord, “And My servant whom I have chosen, That you may know and believe Me, And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, Nor shall there be after Me. I, even I, am the Lord, And besides Me there is no savior.“
Isaiah 43:10-11
The Bible is clear there is only One Savior! God has chosen His followers to be witnesses of this Savior. Are we being obedient in proclaiming Him to all we have the opportunity to do so? Why or why not? Remember we will stand before Him one day and give an account of what we have or have not done for Him. May we do that rejoicing not ashamed!
Tom
”I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.“
II Timothy 4:7
One day this earthly life will come to an end. Will we like Paul be able to say the same thing as written in this verse? This is to be our life as followers of Jesus. Keep fighting, finish the race, and keep the faith. It will be worth every second when we finally see Jesus face to face!
Tom
”A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”“
Matthew 12:35-37
According to God’s word what is in your heart will come out of your mouth and is proof of where you stand with Him. Will your words justify you as a child of His or will the condem you as a child of the world? Chew on that today?
Tom
”above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—“
Ephesians 6:16-18
As you start out the day once again put on your battle uniform! We are in a battle everyday with the devil as he walks your perimeter to find a weak point to get in and try to destroy you! Be ready to fight with your sword…the word of God and thus bring honor and glory to our Lord!
Tom
Something to chew on here:
JUDGE ME NOT?...
Some excellent scriptures for those who love to twist Matthew 7:1 and who wrongly claim that Christians are never to judge......
WE ARE REQUIRED TO:
Judge with a righteous judgement: [John 7:24]
Judge all things: [John 7:24]
Judge sin within the church: [1 Corinthians
2:15-16]
Judge matters between the brethren:
[1 Corinthians 6:5]
Judge preaching: [1 Corinthians 14:29]
Judge, false spirits and those who preach and teach counterfeit gospels and false doctrines:
[2 Corinthians 11:1-4]
Judge the works and workers of darkness:
[Ephesians 5:11]
Judge false prophets and false apostles: [2
Peter 2 - 1 John 4:1 - Revelation 2:2]
Judge false Christians among us: [1 John
2:18-2o
Tom
”I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”“
Deuteronomy 30:19-20
As Moses here addressed the new generation who was about to go into the promise land he wanted to remind them not to wander off to the blessings God was giving them but to remain faithful to the ONE who is life itself…..God!
We must also be careful not to worship or make an idol out of the blessings God has given us and keep our focus on the life God has called us too….HIMSELF!
Tom
