Stand

I heard this statement, or something very close to it, from a lady on the radio, “If you set out to be liked, you will probably compromise, and not accomplish anything good!!”

Read this if you don’t stand up for something you will fall for anything!!

Today I am going to write about standing up for what you believe in.  Think of Daniel, he was a man who would not compromise.

Read what it says about him in Daniel 6:1-6, “So Darius the Mede took over the kingdom at the age of 62. It pleased Darius to appoint 120 satraps to rule throughout the whole kingdom with three administrators over them, one of whom was Daniel. These satraps were accountable to them so that the king would not be troubled. Now this Daniel was distinguishing himself among the supervisors and satraps because he had an extraordinary spirit in him. In fact, the king planned to appoint him over the entire kingdom. At this time the supervisors and satraps tried to find ground for a charge against Daniel regarding the kingdom. But they were unable to find fault or corruption, because he was trustworthy and no negligence or dishonesty could be found in him. Finally these men said, ‘We’re not going to find any basis for charges against this man Daniel, unless we find something against him regarding the law of his God.””

In Daniel’s case, King Darius issued a written decree that if anyone prayed to any other god or man for 30 days other than the King they would be thrown into the lions’ den.  When Daniel heard about the edict he went and opened his window in his upper room towards Jerusalem, which he did three times a day, and prayed to his God without compromising.  Then the King had Daniel thrown into the lions’ den but God was with him.

Read what happened in verses 20-25 in that same chapter, “At dawn the king got up and hurried to the lions’ den. As he reached the den, he cried out to Daniel with a voice of anguish. The king spoke out to Daniel saying: ‘Daniel, servant of the living God, was your God, whom you serve continually, able to rescue you from the lions?’ Daniel spoke to the king: ‘May the king live forever! My God sent His angel to shut the lions’ mouths so that they haven’t harmed me, because I was found innocent before Him. Nor have I committed any crime against you, O king.’ Then the king was overjoyed, and ordered Daniel taken up out of the den. So Daniel was lifted out of the pit. No injury of any kind was found on him because he had trusted in his God. At the king’s command, those men who had maliciously accused Daniel were brought and thrown into the lions’ den—they, their children, and their wives. They had not even reached the bottom of the pit before the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones.”

Because of the Lord, Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and Cyrus, the Persian.  

Now think about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, these guys wouldn’t bow and they wouldn’t burn and they wouldn’t compromise either.

Read what happened to them in Daniel 3:15-27, “‘Now if you are ready, at the moment you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp and pipes and all kinds of music you must fall down and worship the image that I have made. But if you do not worship, you will immediately be thrown into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire! Then what god will be able to deliver you out of my hands?’ Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego replied to the king saying, ‘O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to answer you concerning this matter. If it is so, our God whom we serve is able to save us from the furnace of blazing fire and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. Yet even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods, nor worship the golden image that you set up.’ Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with rage and the appearance of his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego. He ordered the furnace to be heated seven times hotter than it was normally heated and commanded some of the mighty men in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego and to cast them into the furnace of blazing fire. So these men, wearing their robes, tunics, hats and other clothes, were bound and thrown into the furnace of blazing fire. But because the king’s order was so urgent and the furnace so extremely hot, a raging flame killed those men who carried up Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, fell bound into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire. Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and leapt to his feet. He asked his ministers, ‘Didn’t we cast three men bound into the middle of the fire?’ They replied to the king, ‘Surely, O king.’ But he answered saying, ‘Look! I see four men walking about unbound and unharmed in the middle of the fire, and the fourth has the appearance like a son of the gods!’ Nebuchadnezzar then approached the door of the furnace of blazing fire and exclaimed, ‘Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, servants of the Most High God, come out and come here!’ So Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego came out from the middle of the fire. When the satraps, administrators, governors and royal ministers had gathered around, they saw that the fire had no effect on the bodies of these men. Not a hair of their head was singed, nor were their robes scorched, nor was there a smell of fire on them.”

These are true stories about men who would not compromise their stand with their God; these were men of faith.  I could tell you other true stories in God’s Word but if you want to read about other people pick up God’s Word and start reading through it, starting from the beginning.  You will read many true stories of how God delivered His people even when they were rebellious in many cases and He didn’t need an 8, 10, or 12 step program to do it.  What He used were humble, repentant persons who put their faith and trust in him.  

Not everyone escaped, some were tortured and thrown into prison and even killed, but they did not compromise.  Read what it says in Hebrews 11:38-40, “The world was not worthy of them! They wandered around in deserts and mountains, caves and holes in the ground. And all these, though commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised— because God had provided something better for us, so that only with us would they reach perfection.”

Then, think about Jesus and what He suffered, but He never compromised.  He took a stand and never wavered from it and we need to follow His example. Read Hebrews 12:1-4, “Therefore, since we have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also get rid of every weight and entangling sin. Let us run with endurance the race set before us, focusing on Yeshua, the initiator and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross, disregarding its shame; and He has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you may not grow weary in your souls and lose heart. In struggling against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of bloodshed.”

I have given you something to think about and I hope you have a super day!!  May the good Lord bless you and yours!!

Compromise

There is something that seems so easy to do, and it is to compromise.  Sometimes we say that we won’t do something then we end up compromising and doing just what we said we wouldn’t do.  Sometimes we may say, “I will never say that again,” then we catch ourselves saying it.  It is like me in the days of my drinking and drugging when I wasn’t living a Christian life.  I don’t know how many times I said I will never take another drink after I had a bad night but before that day was even over I may have been drinking again.  We know the right thing to do but we are so easily persuaded to do the wrong thing instead of the right thing that we should do.  

Then there is something else we do, we judge others and many times we find out that we were wrong, so we say we will never do that again but before we know it we are judging people and situations all over again.  And, what about those who eat far too much or have too many sweets so they make New Year’s resolutions or vow that they will cut back on that habit and before they know it they are eating more food and sweets than before they made a resolution or commitment not to.  Then there are those that commit to exercising to look and feel better and to lose some weight, but it isn’t long and they have given up on that commitment also.  

I think the same thing happens with Bible reading, prayer and spending time with the Lord, many of us seem to start out well but then we find ourselves getting into other things that seem to rob us of the better things.  It seems we start falling in love with the world all over again.  There are Iphones and Ipads and so many other gadgets that get in our way and we fall prey to them all.  We start spending hours on TV and movies, watching things that we shouldn’t be watching and instead of renewing our minds on God’s Word and the things that will draw us closer to the Lord, we feed our minds on worldly things that draw us away from the Lord instead of to Him.

Check out what it says about this in 1 John 2:15-17, “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 everything in the world—the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, and the boasting of life—is not from the Father but from the world. The world is passing away along with its desire, but the one who does the will of God abides forever.”  

I know if we are not careful, we can be deceived; when people say they can watch anything and it doesn’t affect them, they are just kidding themselves, it is like this-you feed your mind with garbage and garbage will come out.

Read what God’s Word says in Romans 12:1-2, “I urge you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice—holy, acceptable to God—which is your spiritual service. Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

If we spend hours and hours on other things and neglect the Word of God and prayer, how will we ever survive when we fall on hard times or when we are called on to give an answer for why we believe?  If we clutter or minds with so many other things that have no spiritual emphasis, how will we ever expect to be overcomers?

God’s Word says this in 2 Timothy 2:14-15, “Remind them of these things and solemnly charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which is useless—to the ruin of those who are listening. Make every effort to present yourself before God as tried and true, as an unashamed worker cutting a straight path with the word of truth.”

It is very important to spend time reading and studying the Word and spending time with the Lord, how else will you keep from being deceived?  We live in uncertain times and there are many voices out there trying to get our attention.  Many of these voices we think we can trust because their message sounds very good and they are people that we should be able to trust, but be careful because it is not man’s wisdom we need, it is God’s wisdom we need that comes from His Word.  And, if we are not studying His Word and seeking Him in prayer and being led by His Spirit we can easily compromise, or we can easily be deceived, like I said.  

There is a lot more that I could say on this subject but I think I have said enough for now.  I have given you something to think about and I hope you will.  May the good Lord bless you and yours and may you have a super day!! PS Don’t forget to thank and praise the Lord, for He is worthy!!

The Fear of the Lord Results in Wisdom

I think I will talk about wisdom today.  I think most people want to have wisdom in their lives today.  There are different places in God’s Word that it talks about the way a person starts to get true wisdom and it begins with the fear of the Lord!!  Check out Psalms 111:10, “The fear of Adonai is the beginning of wisdom. All who follow His precepts have good understanding. His praise endures forever!”

Now check out Proverbs 9:10, “The fear of Adonai is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”

Some people say the fear of God means to respect Him and I believe that is part of what it means, but you can respect people but take this example if the President stood before you, you would probably respect him but when He was gone you may not do anything he says and you may or may not like him at all.

If you really fear God it is more than just respect, you will do your best to please Him by trying your best to keep His commandments.  Every time I think about this subject I think about the 5^th chapter of Acts and how Ananias and Saphira lied about what they got from selling their property and they fell down dead because they had lied to the Holy Spirit and fear came over the church and everyone that heard about it!!  There is a lot more in this story so you may want to read it for yourself.  We have to remember that God loves us but He chastises those He loves and if you are never chastised, or corrected, then you are not one of His.

Please read Hebrews 12:5-9, “Have you forgotten the warning addressed to you as sons? “My son, do not take lightly the discipline of Adonai or lose heart when you are corrected by Him, because Adonai disciplines the one He loves and punishes every son He accepts.” It is for discipline that you endure. God is treating you as sons—for what son does a father not discipline? But if you are without discipline—something all have come to share—then you are illegitimate and not sons. Besides, we are used to having human fathers as instructors—and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live?”   

Before we were rescued by the Lord and brought from death to life, God’s Word says we were dead in our sin and trespasses; we had no fear of God whatsoever, we did our own thing.

Please read Romans 3:11-18, “There is no one who understands, no one who seeks after God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless.

There is no one who does good—no, not even one! Their throat is an open grave; with their tongues they keep deceiving. The poison of vipers is under their lips. Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood. Ruin and misery are in their paths, and the way of shalom they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

When we were born-again we were supposed to be changed please read 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if anyone is in Messiah, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

Then please read Luke 12:4-5, “I say to you, My friends, you should not be afraid of those who kill the body, since after this they have nothing more they can do. But I will show you whom you should fear. Fear the One who, after the killing, has authority to cast into Gehenna. Yes, I tell you, fear this One!”

Some people are very, very scared of God and that is not what I am talking about here; what we all need is a healthy fear, not one that thinks every time we do something that we shouldn’t, that He is going to hit us over the head with a hammer.  Yes, He does correct us but He does it out of love because He loves us and He is love.  What we need is a fear that will help us resist sin and temptation and honor the Lord and not try to take advantage of Him or His love!!  I have given you something to think about and I hope this has been a help and also an encouragement to you!!  May the good Lord bless you and yours and may you have a super, super day!!  

Wisdom

I have decided to read through the book of Proverbs and seek out some wisdom there.  There are many wise things that King Solomon had to say, so I thought I would check it out once again.  There are many things Solomon talks about and one of them is how the attitude of your heart matters and I thought about this, who knows the thoughts and intents of the heart outside of God?  So, it is better not to judge other people or for them to judge us.  This is very healthy for both parties.

Think about this, someone can say, or even do, things that we don’t agree with and many times we walk away perplexed, wondering why, or get angry and fly off the handle before we give the other person a chance to explain why the person did or said whatever it was.  Then, if it bothers us enough, we start to dwell on it and that’s when the judgements start flying; we think this or that and sometimes we start telling others about the situation and then we are not only judging but we are gossiping.  What might be the better solution is to ask the person that we are wondering about what was meant by the statement we heard or what was done that we didn’t understand, instead of just assuming that we know.

Then there is the other scenario I talked about and that is how we respond to what has been said or done.  Instead of flying off the handle, so to speak, and getting angry King Solomon said something very wise in chapter 15:1-4,

“A gentle answer turns away wrath,

but a harsh word stirs up anger.

The tongue of the wise treats knowledge correctly,

but the mouth of fools spouts folly.

The eyes of Adonai are everywhere,

observing the wicked and the good.

A healing tongue is a tree of life,

but a deceitful one crushes the spirit.”   

It seems like many of us can be very competitive people, even as believers, and we forget very easily the second commandment, “To love  your neighbor, as yourself,” and who is our neighbor?  Everyone is our neighbor, according to the story (The Good Samaritan.)  If you are not familiar with this story please read Luke 10:30-37, “Yeshua replied, “A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. He was attacked by robbers, who stripped him and beat him. Then they left, abandoning him as half dead. And by chance, a kohen was going down that road; but when he saw the man, he passed by on the opposite side. Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the opposite side. But a Samaritan who was traveling came upon him; and when he noticed the man, he felt compassion. He went up to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on olive oil and wine. Then setting him on his own animal, he brought him to a lodge for travelers and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him. And whatever else you spend, upon my return I will repay you myself.’ Which of these three seems to you a neighbor to the one attacked by robbers?” And he said, “The one who showed mercy to him.” Then Yeshua said to him, “Go, and you do the same.”

It is easy for me to type these but many times I have a hard time living them out to my shame and possibly you may have the same problem that is why it is so important to be reminded of these things. We need to be careful of our tempers!! I think I will conclude this Tidbit with this from the book of James 1:19-26, “Know this, my dear brothers and sisters: let every person be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger— for human anger doesn’t produce the righteousness of God. So put away all moral filth and excess of evil and receive with humility the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

                                           

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deluding yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror— for once he looks at himself and goes away, he immediately forgets what sort of person he was. But the one who looks intently into the perfect Torah, the Torah that gives freedom, and continues in it, not becoming a hearer who forgets but a doer who acts—he shall be blessed in what he does. If anyone thinks he is religious and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is futile.”

I heard this said on the radio the other day (When you drop a little bit of courtesy on someone you will save a lot of friction) or something very close to it so I thought this might help someone.

I have given you something to think about and I hope it has been an encouragement and a blessing to you. May you have a super day and may the good Lord bless you and yours!! PS –Don’t forget to thank and praise the Lord for He is worthy!!     

Remember

The Word of God says this in Proverbs 3:1-10, “My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my mitzvot. For length of days and years of life, and shalom they will add to you. Let kindness and truth never leave you—bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will gain favor and a good name in the eyes of God and man. Trust in Adonai with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear Adonai and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your body and refreshment to your bones. Honor Adonai with your wealth and with the first of your entire harvest. Then your barns will be filled with plenty, your vats will overflow with new wine.”

One of the big problems in life is that many of us don’t take these words deep in our hearts where they will truly change our lives.  Of course many do not want to acknowledge that God even exists.  

Please read Proverbs 1:1-9, “The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel: to acquire wisdom and discipline, to understand the words of insight, to receive instruction in wise behavior, righteousness, justice and fairness, to give discernment to the naïve, knowledge and discretion to the youth (let the wise listen and increase learning and the discerning obtain wise counsel) to understand a proverb and a puzzle, the sayings of the wise and their riddles. The fear of Adonai is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline. Hear, my son, your father’s instruction and forsake not your mother’s teaching. For they are a garland of grace for your head and a chain to adorn your neck.”

Even as believers, many of us have a problem with these words.  We may be able to quote some of these verses but when it comes to putting these words into practice we have a hard time.  I wonder how many really study the Proverbs or even read them at all, or if you do, how many meditate on them.  I know I am guilty; oh, I have read them, but I have not made them a priority like some of the other books I have read.  Solomon was the wisest king that ever lived, I think he knew what He was talking about.

I wonder how many believers ignore the Old Testament all together, thinking that it was just written for the Jews; that is a big problem and should not be thought of that way.

Please read Proverbs 1:10, “My son, if sinners entice you, do not give in.”

Now please read Proverbs 2:1-15, “My son, if you accept my words and treasure my mitzvot within you, making your ear attentive to wisdom, inclining your heart to discernment, yes, if you call out for insight, lifting up your voice for discernment, if you seek her as silver and search for her as for hidden treasures, then you will know the fear of Adonai and discover the knowledge of God. For Adonai gives wisdom. Out of His mouth comes knowledge and understanding. He stores up sound wisdom for the upright. He is a shield to those who walk in integrity. He guards the paths of justice, and protects the way of His kedoshim. Then you will discern what is right and just and fair—every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. Discretion will watch over you—discernment will guard you—to deliver you from the way of evil, from those speaking perverse things, who leave the straight paths to walk in ways of darkness, who rejoice in doing wrong and delight in the perversity of evil, whose paths are crooked and are devious in their ways.”

There is so much wisdom in these verses and there is none of us that couldn’t use more wisdom.  I think this is something else that many believers struggle with and that is the Lord’s discipline.  They think that because we live in the day of grace that God loves us so much that when we accept the Lord as our Savior, and we sin, that we have already been forgiven of our past sins, present sins and future sins, all have been covered like they never happened; this is not the truth. Yes, 1 John 1:9 says this, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”  I believe if we are sorry for our sins and ask the Lord to forgive us He does but there are always consequences for sin.

Please read Proverbs 3:11-12, “My son, never despise Adonai’s discipline or dread His correction. For Adonai loves those He reproves, even as a father, the son in whom he delights.”

Then go to Hebrews 12:4- 8, “In struggling against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of bloodshed. Have you forgotten the warning addressed to you as sons? “My son, do not take lightly the discipline of Adonai or lose heart when you are corrected by Him, because Adonai disciplines the one He loves and punishes every son He accepts.” It is for discipline that you endure. God is treating you as sons—for what son does a father not discipline? But if you are without discipline—something all have come to share—then you are illegitimate and not sons.”      

I realize that this book was written to the Jewish people also but read the book of Revelations chapters 2 and 3 to see what Jesus said to the churches.  And like the Word says, lean not on your own understanding but in all your ways acknowledge Him and so on.  Seek wisdom and cling to it, please read the book of Proverbs and the rest of the Word of God and it will become a lamp unto your feet and a light unto your path; then you will want to hide it in your heart that you might not sin against the Lord!!  We all need to read and study the Word of God and ask the Lord to help us to remember what we read or hear that is truth and teach us through His precious Holy Spirit and bring the things back to us when we need them through His precious Holy Spirit also!!  I have given you something to think about and may the good Lord bless you and yours!!  May you have a super day!!