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
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
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
Friday, February 26, 2010
How do you give?
This scripture below always makes me think:
Luke 21:1-4
1 And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, 2 and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. 3 So He said, “Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; 4 for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.”
Just picture this scene in your mind. Jesus watched all the rich folks putting their money into the treasury of the temple. I would imagine it was a big show as they made sure everyone knew that thier portion they were putting in was a great amount. In reality though it wasn't all that much because they were rich and it was for show not for worship. Then out of the corner of His eye Jesus sees this poor widow woman approach the treasury. No big show except maybe the tears running down her checks as she may have been wondering where her next meal may come from. But she knew as she worshipped with her offering that God would provide as He always had! Wow what a picture!
Jesus gives her praise in this scripture. She was showing true faith. So here is the question for us this morning. How is our giving? Do we give out of our abundance or do we give out of faith which will cause us to worship???
Have a blessed weekend!
Tom
Luke 21:1-4
1 And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, 2 and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. 3 So He said, “Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; 4 for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.”
Just picture this scene in your mind. Jesus watched all the rich folks putting their money into the treasury of the temple. I would imagine it was a big show as they made sure everyone knew that thier portion they were putting in was a great amount. In reality though it wasn't all that much because they were rich and it was for show not for worship. Then out of the corner of His eye Jesus sees this poor widow woman approach the treasury. No big show except maybe the tears running down her checks as she may have been wondering where her next meal may come from. But she knew as she worshipped with her offering that God would provide as He always had! Wow what a picture!
Jesus gives her praise in this scripture. She was showing true faith. So here is the question for us this morning. How is our giving? Do we give out of our abundance or do we give out of faith which will cause us to worship???
Have a blessed weekend!
Tom
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Guard your thoughts!
Have you ever heard anyone say, "I can't help what I think." ? I have and probably thought the same thing at some point in my life. Well guess what? We can controll what we think. Read the verse below:
Proverbs 4:23
23 Carefully guard your thoughts because they are the source of true life.
God would not warn us to do something that we can not do. Here God is telling us to guard out thoughts. Now we can not do anything about the initial thoughts that pop in our head. Satan is good at bring thoughts into our head that are not godly. But here is the key. We can control what we continue to think think about. Here is an example. A beautiful woman walks by and you notice her. Now you have a choice to control your thoughts or to continue on to sin. If you are going to contol your thoughts you praise the Lord for the beauty of His creation and move on. If your are going to give into sin you continue to stare and start to undress her with your eyes. Now when you give the devil an inch he will take a mile. Next you will start to have thoughts of how she might be in bed...I think you get the point. God is so good to us. He has given us His word and instucted us in every way of the traps that are out there for us. Oh how God loves us and wants us to live Godly lives.
Notice in the latter part of verse 23 it says our thoughts are the source of true life. Now think on this. The Bible also tells us to develope the mind of Christ. So if we put these two things together....true life comes when our thoughts are lined up with the mind of Christ. That should give you something to chew on for the rest of the day!!!
So are you guarding your thoughts or are you allowing Satan to control them?
God bless you my friends!
Tom
Proverbs 4:23
23 Carefully guard your thoughts because they are the source of true life.
God would not warn us to do something that we can not do. Here God is telling us to guard out thoughts. Now we can not do anything about the initial thoughts that pop in our head. Satan is good at bring thoughts into our head that are not godly. But here is the key. We can control what we continue to think think about. Here is an example. A beautiful woman walks by and you notice her. Now you have a choice to control your thoughts or to continue on to sin. If you are going to contol your thoughts you praise the Lord for the beauty of His creation and move on. If your are going to give into sin you continue to stare and start to undress her with your eyes. Now when you give the devil an inch he will take a mile. Next you will start to have thoughts of how she might be in bed...I think you get the point. God is so good to us. He has given us His word and instucted us in every way of the traps that are out there for us. Oh how God loves us and wants us to live Godly lives.
Notice in the latter part of verse 23 it says our thoughts are the source of true life. Now think on this. The Bible also tells us to develope the mind of Christ. So if we put these two things together....true life comes when our thoughts are lined up with the mind of Christ. That should give you something to chew on for the rest of the day!!!
So are you guarding your thoughts or are you allowing Satan to control them?
God bless you my friends!
Tom
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Youth and God's word.
I want to give you a shocking statistic. Barna reports that 83% of teenagers in our country believe moral truth depends on circumstances. Do you know what that means? It means that they don't believe that the Bible is the complete truth! Only 6% believe that moral truth is absolute!
Basically what this means that our young folks don't believe the Bible teaches correctly of how our morals should be. You know why? Media!!! They devil has used the media to get into our kids minds and train them to think sex is ok outside marriage, murder is ok, abortion is a woman's choice, God is not the only way, and the list goes on and on! My friends as parents and teachers of the word we are failing our kids! We must teach them God's word is the final sorce and only way! Period! I bet some of you are thinking well I bet churched kids are different. Look at this statistic....only 9% of born again teens believe in moral absolutes! This should make us want to cry! How sad and we are failing miserably.
Hebrews 4:12-13
12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
My friends it is not just our teens who are questioning the word of God. We have churches full of people who question the turht of God's word. The proof is in how people are living their lives. If we truly believe God's word we live differently than the rest of the world. Look at the average member of the church....are they any different than your neighbor who doen't believe???
Think on what is being said here my brothers and sisters! We need revival in a mighty way and a return to the correct belief about God's word as being the ultimate truth. In all ages....0-100!
Pray, pray, pray!
Tom
Basically what this means that our young folks don't believe the Bible teaches correctly of how our morals should be. You know why? Media!!! They devil has used the media to get into our kids minds and train them to think sex is ok outside marriage, murder is ok, abortion is a woman's choice, God is not the only way, and the list goes on and on! My friends as parents and teachers of the word we are failing our kids! We must teach them God's word is the final sorce and only way! Period! I bet some of you are thinking well I bet churched kids are different. Look at this statistic....only 9% of born again teens believe in moral absolutes! This should make us want to cry! How sad and we are failing miserably.
Hebrews 4:12-13
12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
My friends it is not just our teens who are questioning the word of God. We have churches full of people who question the turht of God's word. The proof is in how people are living their lives. If we truly believe God's word we live differently than the rest of the world. Look at the average member of the church....are they any different than your neighbor who doen't believe???
Think on what is being said here my brothers and sisters! We need revival in a mighty way and a return to the correct belief about God's word as being the ultimate truth. In all ages....0-100!
Pray, pray, pray!
Tom
Monday, February 22, 2010
Temptation lurks!
In our Sunday school study we looked this verse and discussed it some and it has made me do some thinking about how important prayer is in our lives. Here is the verse:
Mark 14:37-38 (New King James Version)
37 Then He came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “Simon, are you sleeping? Could you not watch one hour? 38 Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
For a little refresher...Jesus had asked the disciples to join Him in praying. Jesus went off by himself and asked God to remove the cup from Him but that He did not His will done but the Fathers. The cup is referring to dying on the cross for our sins. It was Jesus deepest time of need and He wanted His friends to be in prayer also. Jesus came back three times and found them sleeping!!! Wow some friends huh?
Now what I want us to pick up on today is Jesus telling Peter to "watch and pray lest He enter into temptation". Now think on this. I believe Jesus is warning Peter of things to come in his life. For in a short time Peter who told Jesus He would never deny Him will do exactly that not only once but three times. Did you ctach that? How many times did Jesus come back to see them sleeping? Three! How many times did Peter deny Jesus? Three! You see as Jesus says in the latter part of verse 38 our Spirits are willing, but the flesh is weak! The Spirit God has sent is willing to do the right thing...always! The problem is our flesh is weak! This is why we must be in prayer as the Bible says without ceasing. Temptation is lurking waiting to pounce on us at every corner!
Scripture is so awesome and alive! So much to learn! So let me ask you are you sleeping or are you praying...taking temptation on head to head for the Spirit is willing...the question is are we???
Pray my friends....pray!
Mark 14:37-38 (New King James Version)
37 Then He came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “Simon, are you sleeping? Could you not watch one hour? 38 Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
For a little refresher...Jesus had asked the disciples to join Him in praying. Jesus went off by himself and asked God to remove the cup from Him but that He did not His will done but the Fathers. The cup is referring to dying on the cross for our sins. It was Jesus deepest time of need and He wanted His friends to be in prayer also. Jesus came back three times and found them sleeping!!! Wow some friends huh?
Now what I want us to pick up on today is Jesus telling Peter to "watch and pray lest He enter into temptation". Now think on this. I believe Jesus is warning Peter of things to come in his life. For in a short time Peter who told Jesus He would never deny Him will do exactly that not only once but three times. Did you ctach that? How many times did Jesus come back to see them sleeping? Three! How many times did Peter deny Jesus? Three! You see as Jesus says in the latter part of verse 38 our Spirits are willing, but the flesh is weak! The Spirit God has sent is willing to do the right thing...always! The problem is our flesh is weak! This is why we must be in prayer as the Bible says without ceasing. Temptation is lurking waiting to pounce on us at every corner!
Scripture is so awesome and alive! So much to learn! So let me ask you are you sleeping or are you praying...taking temptation on head to head for the Spirit is willing...the question is are we???
Pray my friends....pray!
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