Thoughts

Proverbs 14:12 says this, “There is a way that seems right to a man,

But its end is the way of death.”

How many times have we thought we were right but found out that we were wrong?   This happens in many situations and circumstances.  Many choices we make may seem to be the right ones at the time but far too many times we are mistaken.

How many times have you judged someone only to find out you were wrong?

How many times have you heard someone say something and you took it the wrong way, finding out that what the person said wasn’t at all what you thought was said?  These things happen all the time.

Many things we make mistakes about probably won’t make a great deal of difference in the scheme of things, but there are things that will make an enormous difference now and also in eternity.  We still live in a country where we can freely speak what is on our minds so you can say most anything you want to say. 

Our way of thinking can really mess us up at times, especially when we listen to the wrong voices.  There are many voices speaking many things, some good and some bad, some true and some false.  It is our job to choose who we will listen to and the choices we will make.  We have a real problem with this because we were all born with a sin nature so our mind doesn’t always think rationally since we have a thing within us that we call the flesh, and it always wants its own way, kind of like a baby.  The flesh tends to be very spoiled and very selfish, and when it doesn’t get its own way it starts kicking and screaming, trying to dominate our choices and decisions, and if it doesn’t get its own way it makes us feel miserable.  In our sinful state we can’t seem to control it, so we give in to it just like many do with a young child.  The whole human race is subject to this and is in a great dilemma.  

There is good news though, because there is a way out of this, but sorry to say many people will not choose it.  With so many voices swirling around in their heads and their flesh fighting against them, wanting to do its own thing and not be subject to anyone, they make all the wrong choices, believing the lies they hear and being deceived by them.  The answer to this dilemma, and the only answer, is the one true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who has made a way of escape so that we can overcome the flesh and our sin nature and live by faith.  God has sent Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, to be our sacrifice, taking on Himself our sin and shame, being crucified on the cross, died and was buried and on the third day raised again from the tomb.  

This is truth and Jesus is the only way to God and the only way to get to heaven.  When He died on the cross, He said, “it is finished,” because He had accomplished everything He came here to do.  He defeated the evil one and the grave and the power of sin in a person’s life, praise the Lord!  At the time of His death, the veil in the Temple was rent from top to bottom and Jesus became the veil, and just like the priest in the Old Testament could only go into the Holy of Holies through the veil in the Temple to get into God’s presence, now to get into the presence of God you will have to go through Jesus.

Read what it says in Hebrews 10:19-23, “Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.”

So be very careful of how you think and who you are listening to, be sure to seek truth.  If you have never known the Lord or even believed that He existed or you are backslidden, humble yourself and ask Him to reveal Himself to you.  The Word says in James 4:6, “But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: ‘God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’”  I believe if you are serious, He will.  Then do as it says in Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”  Something to think about!  Have a super day and may the good Lord bless you and yours!!

Desert Places

It seems to me that the Lord has taken me to a desert place where satan and his helpers have been allowed to harass me for a while now.  Being in what seems like a desert place, is a hard place to be.  It can feel very frustrating, very lonely and be a very secluded place to be regardless of the cause.

I know that many people would say if you had more faith you wouldn’t be in the situation, and I think we all need more faith, but I don’t think that is always the issue, sometimes I think it is just God’s will for your life.  I know many preachers preach that believers should never be depressed or discouraged, and that would be true if we were not in this body of flesh that is decaying with age and sometimes far before the golden years, as some relate to growing older.  It would be nice to be a believer and never have any more problems, but that is not the case and it is not reality.  We live in a fallen world and as long as we live here we will feel the effects of it.

Sometimes we may even feel like we have been abandoned and even forsaken by those around us, and even by God himself.  Sometimes anxiousness, fear or doubt will seem to wrap its ugly arms around us and hold on so tight that it seems like it is sucking the very life out of us.  

There are a couple people in God’s Word that come to mind that experienced some of what I am talking about, one was Job and one was Elijah although there were others.  Job was taken completely by surprise and was devastated by what was happening to him and Elijah was running for his life because of fear, to the point of wanting to die.  In both cases God showed Himself to be their solution and He is our only solution and our only answer also.  Just like Job and Elijah, at these times we will have one thing to hold onto and that is our faith.

God’s Word says in Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”  We hope for many things in this life and wait in anticipation, at times, for them to materialize and even though we can’t see them at the time, we believe they will happen.  That is what faith is, believing God’s promises in His Word even though they haven’t happened yet.  Hebrews 11 is called the faith chapter by many because all the people spoken of demonstrated faith in their particular situations.  If you need to be encouraged today this would be a good chapter to read, it may even help to boost your faith.

If you are a believer and find yourself in this situation, you will need to stand firm and do your part to bring about a good resolve, and wait upon the Lord and not grow weary in well doing, but always keep the faith without giving in to the evil one and his wicked ways.  Try to keep this in mind, just like in Job and Elijah’s situations, what we are facing shall soon pass and we will be able to see the top of the mountain again.  Praise the Lord!!  Jesus was tried in the desert also and He came out victorious, defeating the enemy by never yielding to his testing or temptations, and with His help we can be victorious also, so let’s hang in there.  Something to think about!  Have a super day and may the good Lord bless you and yours!!

Why

I am sitting here thinking this morning about why I do these Tidbits five or six days a week unless I am on vacation, or something else comes up that I think should be done.  

Is it for brownie points with the Lord?  No, He doesn’t need me.  If I do or don’t do them, makes no difference to Him, there are many others doing blogs that are far better than mine, I know because I read some at times so mine is immaterial.

Is it for popularity?  No, because most of the people that read them don’t even know who types them.

Is it for encouragement for me?  No, because for the most part I don’t know if those that read them get anything good out of them or even like them!

Is it for financial gain?  No, I have never charged for them, so I receive nothing for doing them.  There are people that are in all kinds of ministries and many are being paid for what they do, which baffles me, wondering how so many people are making money on God, I guess they think His blessings aren’t coming in fast enough.  What ever happened to just giving or volunteering; because they have received and are blessed?  

I think about the many people that are in so many ministries, running around like chickens with their heads cut off as their private lives are falling apart; their kids are doing their own things and their marriages are in shambles and they wonder why.  If they put that dedication and commitment into their children and their marriage it would make a big difference.  I think God cares about your marriage and your kids.  You may think you are getting brownie points with God, but if you lose your marriage and kids to the world because of your indifference, how will you feel then?  Many believers have made that mistake and ended up regretting it.

The reason I do these Tidbits is because of this; if only one person gets blessed by at least one of them it is worth it all.  And the only way anyone will be blessed through them is if God chooses to use them.  It says this in Psalms 127:1, “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.”

We can build the finest buildings and have the best choirs and all the best equipment, but unless the Lord anoints, blesses and uses whatever we have or do, we are just wasting our time.  I believe this happens in every avenue of our lives.  We need to understand this; God doesn’t need us for anything, we need Him for everything.  He just chooses to use us if He wants to.  We need to prepare ourselves in case He decides to use us, but that is always His choice not ours.

So whether my Tidbits are successful or not, or any other ministry, it is all up to Him.  So, if you are helped or blessed by anything I type, give God thanks and praise.  When I started this tidbit this morning and also when I started this blog ministry, I had no idea how it would turn out but I hope it has helped and blessed and encouraged someone, preferably many.  Something to think about!  May the Lord bless you and yours and may you have a super day!!

A Believer’s Purpose

 What is our purpose, as believers, and why are we saved and set apart in the first place?

Is it just to warm a pew or just to get fat on the Word as we hear it

Is it just to make us feel good so we can go around smiling like the   

    (Cheshire Cat) in the book “Alice In Wonderland”

Is it just to get our foot in the door, so to speak, and to escape the

   wrath of God that the unbeliever will experience some day     

Or is it to fulfill God’s purpose for our lives

Jesus said this in Luke 4:16-21, “So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:

‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,

Because He has anointed Me

To preach the gospel to the poor;

He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,

To proclaim liberty to the captives

And recovery of sight to the blind,

To set at liberty those who are oppressed;

To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.’

Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, ‘Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.’”  

Jesus also said this in John 14:8-14, “Philip said to Him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.’

Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.

Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.’”

When you read these things you can see that we are saved for a greater purpose than to just satisfy ourselves; we our saved so that we will pour ourselves out into other people’s lives, like Jesus did.  That is why each one of us has been given gifts, so we can fulfill the great commission together.  The only way we can accomplish this is if we have love for one another and stop separating ourselves because of our differences in opinions.  If believers can’t love and accept each other without judging and condemning each other because of our differences in theology, how will we love the unbelievers and what about our enemies.

When the Lord comes back for the real church, I am afraid the hypocrites, which are the pretenders that think they are saved with their pious attitudes, will be left behind.  Either you love or you don’t, stop playing games and show your love by your actions.  Something to think about; God bless and have a great day!!

You Can’t Fly Like an Eagle

You can’t fly like an eagle and be burdened down with the cares of this world.  The Lord said to, “cast all your cares upon Him for He cares for you.”  

It is not easy to try to carry all the burdens of the world on your shoulders, worrying about so many things, many that you have no control over.  Worry steals your joy and replaces it with grief and sometimes results in depression or other illnesses.  Worry shows a lack of faith and trust in the Lord.  Many people are on all kinds of medicines, with all kinds of side effects, because of worry.  Worry is a cause of stress which can lead to heart attacks, strokes or other life threatening diseases.

Jesus taught about worry in Matthew 6:25-34, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

“So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

Here are seven reasons not to worry, that I found written in my Bible about these verses:

1.   The same God who created life in you can be trusted with the details of your life.  Matthew 6:25        

2.   Worrying about the future hampers your efforts for today.  Matthew 6:26

3.   Worrying is more harmful than helpful.  Matthew 6:27

4.   God does not ignore those that trust in Him.  Matthew 6:28-30

5.   Worry shows a lack of faith and understanding of God.  Matthew 6:31-32

6.   There are real challenges God wants us to pursue and worrying keeps us from them.  Matthew 6:33

7.   Living one day at a time keeps us from being consumed with worry. Matthew 6:34

There is nothing wrong with planning for tomorrow, in fact that is a good idea.  But remember, your plans will only happen if the Lord wills for them to happen and we should always acknowledge that fact.  There is a difference between worry and planning.  If you have already planned ahead and you trust the Lord to work out the details, you shouldn’t have to worry.

I realize that there are many things to get stressed out and worried about but it is sort of like the gerbil running on a wheel, using a lot of energy but going nowhere; better to take it to the Lord and wait on Him to take care of it, doing what we can to bring it about with His help.  Do what Isaiah says in 40:31,

“But those who wait on the Lord

Shall renew their strength;

They shall mount up with wings like eagles,

They shall run and not be weary,

They shall walk and not faint.”

The choice is ours!  We can choose to worry or we can put our burdens on the Lord and let Him take the burdens off our shoulders.  Then symbolically, we can rise up and fly like the eagle.  Something to think about!  God bless and have a great day!!