Pride

 I have heard it said that pride stinks and the only one that doesn’t smell it is the one who has it.  Pride is one of the seven sins that God hates Read Proverbs 6:16-19, “These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, an heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.”

Read what God’s Word says about this in 1 Peter 5:4-8, “And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.”

Pride is thinking far better of one’s self than you ought and looking down on others, comparing yourself to them thinking I am much more important than they are, when what you should be doing, if you are a believer, is comparing yourself to God!!  Now think of this, humbling yourself before others doesn’t mean that you become a doormat for everyone else to step on either, or to wipe their feet on.  

My definition of a humble person is one who knows who they are and one who has nothing to prove to anyone else.  One that is confident, but not puffed up.  A person that wants to give the Lord first place in their lives and a person that doesn’t need to boast or brag about themselves and lives a quiet life with confidence that is self-controlled.  It is also a person that has the fruits of the spirit evident in their lives.

Read Galatians 5:22-26, “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. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.”

Now read Galatians  6:1-5, “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. For each one shall bear his own load.”

A humble person fears God and loves Him with all their heart, soul, strength and mind and loves their neighbor also!!  So humble yourself before the Lord and He will lift you up in His time.  I hope someday I will be this kind of person; I know I am not there yet.  Enough said, may you have a super day and may the good Lord bless you with His perfect peace, love, joy, health and happiness!!  My prayer is that this has been a help and encouragement to you!!  PS don’t forget to thank and praise the Lord for He is so worthy.

Easter

Question: what do you think about when you think about Easter?  Some people think about Easter bunnies and Easter eggs and Easter egg hunts.  There are others that aren’t into the worldly traditions but they think about time off work, just to party and have a good time.  Then there are the faithful that think about the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten Son which is why the faithful set this day aside as a remembrance of what took place when the Lord laid down His life for the sins of the world and was crucified, died and was buried and rose again.

Did you ever think on this: if Jesus was willing, and He was, no one could have taken His life?  If He gave His life, died and was buried and that was the end, all of that sacrifice would have meant nothing and we would be without hope.  We would still be in our sins, the Holy Spirit would not have come and we would be living in a faithless world just waiting for death and eternity in Hell to be in torment night and day forever.  I know you don’t hear about hell very often but it is a real place and if we heard about it more often there would probably be far less people going there.

But praise be to God, Jesus was raised from the dead because God was not willing that any be lost but all would come to repentance.  He sent Jesus because He loved humanity so much He didn’t want to condemn us but to give us new life in Him.  Read John 3:16-17, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”

Then read 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

This is the real meaning of Easter, that God so loved the world that He sent His Son to be our sacrificial Lamb, without sin or iniquity, to suffer in our place taking on Himself our shame and our blame so that we could be reconciled to God the Father through Jesus His Son, praise be to God and our Savior!!  So if you feel like the Holy Spirit is convicting you of your sins, repent and, if you are sorry, tell Him and ask Him to forgive you and to come into your life and to be your Lord and Savior and let Him make a new person out of you.  It is only the Lord that can save us and change us, so come as you are with a humble and contrite heart.

Read Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”  

Then find a Bible believing church and start growing in your faith.  Something to think about and I hope this has been an encouragement to you as the reader.  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!!

           

Amazing

While I was starting this Tidbit I thought of a song that Pastor Piedmonte seemed to love, it may have been his favorite song.  I think it was called “It’s Amazing What Praising Can Do.”  It is a very energetic song that everyone that likes to praise the Lord would probably enjoy singing.  If you are a believer you know that God inhabits the praise of His people, yes, He loves it when we praise Him.

Today I want to let you have a glimpse into a man’s life that found a very good reason to praise the Lord.  This is a true story about a man who was born lame and could not walk.  At the time he probably had no hope of ever walking again.  Every day he went through the same routine, but one day something happened that he would have never expected; this man was healed and he was very excited and he let everyone know about it.  That day was like any other day, he sat at the gate begging, hoping to get some money.  But, as he sat begging, two men named Peter and John walked up to him and said look at us, and the man did what they said expecting to get some money, but one of the men, Peter, said silver and gold I do not have but what I do have I give to you in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth get up and walk.  Then grabbing him by the right hand, he raised him up and immediately the man’s legs and ankles were made strong, jumping up he stood and began walking and went with them into the temple walking and leaping and praising God!!  Can you imagine how excited this man was!!  You can read this story in Acts 3:1-10.     

Now I want you to read a story about ten lepers in Luke 17:11-19, “Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. And they lifted up their voices and said, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!’ So when He saw them, He said to them, ‘Go, show yourselves to the priests.’ And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. So Jesus answered and said, ‘Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?’ And He said to him, ‘Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.’”

Can you imagine, only one came back glorifying God and to give Him thanks and this man was a Samaritan.  The reason this is so strange is that Jews and Samaritans hated one another in Jesus’ day when He walked the earth.  And where were the nine Jews, only this foreigner came back to give God praise?  In those days this form of Leprosy was a death sentence; maybe they were so excited they went to share this miracle with their family and friends. (Just a side note, if this was the kind of leprosy I believe it was that these men had, they must have been very contagious and if they were fifty feet down wind of a person they had to cover their heads and holler, unclean, unclean).  They would have been banished from all their friends and family so that they wouldn’t spread the disease. It was a horrible disease and to be healed of it must have been almost unbelievable and amazing.  

But I think the best praise the Lord receives, is a sacrifice of praise.  When everything seems to be going badly and you are ready to throw in the towel, so to speak, when you seem to have lost all hope and you just start praising the Lord even when the tears are falling, when you can hardly find the strength to keep moving forward but even in all this praise and adoration comes from your heart and you glorify the God that created you just because He is worthy!!  That is what I call a sacrifice of praise to an amazing God, the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

This is what Job did when he had lost most of what he had, even his children.  Please read Job 1:20-22, “Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped. And he said: ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.’ In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong.”

Job was crushed and perplexed, not knowing what was happening to him but he knew that God was faithful and that He was worthy!!  What an amazing God we serve!!  Praise the Lord!!  Something to think about and may the good Lord bless you and yours and may you have a super day!!

Persecution

Persecution is a word that strikes fear in the heart depending on where you are in the Lord.  Now think of this Paul made it very clear that if you want to live a godly life you will be persecuted, check it out in 2 Timothy 3:12.  If you have lived a Christian life for a time and haven’t experienced persecution you probably aren’t letting anyone know about it.  When you become a true believer, many of your so called friends and even your family, in some cases, will stand against you.  Check this out in Matthew 10:34-39, “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’ He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.” 

This doesn’t mean that your friends or family will never accept your Lord and Savior, it has happened many times but on the other hand some may never be won over.  We still need to be faithful in prayer and our witness and I don’t mean in just words but also in our actions because they are watching. 

You may hear from some people that if you become a follower of Jesus everything will be great and you will have no worries or cares but in all reality many will hate you for your stand for Jesus.  Read what Jesus said about this to His disciples in John 15:18-25, “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates Me hates My Father also. If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have seen and also hated both Me and My Father. But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, ‘They hated Me without a cause.’”

What did Jesus say about how we should treat our enemies?  Read about it in Matthew 5:39-48, “But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away. You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”

None of us want to be persecuted but look what the Word of God says it accomplishes in us in Romans 5:2-5, “And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

I think some of the fastest growing churches are growing because of persecution.  In fact that was one of the ways the church has existed down through the ages. The church has persevered because of the qualities that persecution develops in a believer’s life.

Enough said, but there is so much more that could be said about this subject.  I have given you something to think about and I hope this will encourage you and help you.  May the good Lord bless you and yours and may you have a super day!!

Overcomers

Jesus said this, “be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world,” in John 16:33.  If Jesus overcame the world, is it possible for us to overcome it also if we are true believers?  Everyone who believes that Jesus is the son of God can overcome the world.  Read what God’s Word says in John 17:13-19 when Jesus was praying for His disciples, “But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.”

I believe the Word of God tells us that we can overcome the world if we will keep our minds fixed on Jesus and His kingdom like He did, and not on the things of this world.  The Word says to seek His kingdom first and His righteousness, and if we do this then we can, with His help, overcome the world.  

The evil one tempts us with these things just like He tried to get Jesus to sin in the wilderness, read 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 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.”  Every day we are tempted to get our eyes and minds on the worldly things and all of its pleasures so that we will be enticed to indulge in the things that the world has to offer that are contrary to the word of God.

Read what 1 John 5:1-12, “Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

This is He who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one.

If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God which He has testified of His Son. He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son. And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

So, if we seek God and His kingdom first and keep ourselves from being polluted in the world, and if we resist the evil one’s advances, we, with the good Lord’s help, will be able to overcome the world, praise the Lord!!  I have given you something to think about and I pray that it will be an encouragement and help to you!!  May the good Lord bless you and yours and may you have a super day!!