Thanksgiving

I was very happy yesterday; there was something about it that I can’t explain but it was a good day with family and also a friend was over and my grandkids other grandma stopped by.  There was good food prepared by my million dollar wife and it was delicious.  Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful but we need to be thankful all year long if we are believers.

I would like you to read Paul’s final instructions in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-23, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil. Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Rejoice always and give thanks is a tall order when you are facing very difficult times and circumstances; Paul didn’t just say this, but he also demonstrated it in many extreme situations and circumstances.  Are we to be thankful for everything?  I don’t think so, not for the evil things that we experience that do not come from God, but we can have a thankful attitude knowing that God loves us and will work out everything for our good in the end.  Another thing, depending on how we handle the things that come our way we may learn from them and even benefit from them.

Paul was doing a good thing, setting a lady free from a spirit of divination and this is what happened, but that didn’t stop them from praising the Lord.  Read about it in Acts 16:20-25, “And they brought them to the magistrates, and said, ‘These men, being Jews, exceedingly trouble our city; and they teach customs which are not lawful for us, being Romans, to receive or observe.’ Then the multitude rose up together against them; and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods. And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely. Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.”

Because they were willing to suffer, they ended up experiencing miracles, but if all they did was feel sorry for themselves, it would have been a different outcome.  Being thankful and praising the Lord are very important.

Read something else Paul said about our attitude in Ephesians 5:18-21, “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God.”   

Then there are the ten lepers in Luke 17.  Ten were healed but only one thanked Him.  Read verses 17-18, “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?’”

So, even in your struggles, try to thank God and you will probably feel better.  Something to think about!  May you have a super day and may the good Lord bless you and yours.  And don’t forget to thank and praise the Lord!!

Wounded Soldiers (2)

This is a follow up to my last Tidbit on Wounded Soldiers.  Like I said in my last Tidbit, I am not writing this to put down the church but to help make people aware of this problem and to encourage people to seek out those that were in church but are not there anymore.  Listen to them and try to encourage them and not just come back with some pet answers you have heard.  Also, try not to do all the talking, and don’t forget a gentle answer is the way to turn away wrath, just let them know that someone misses them and cares about them.

I think the main ingredient missing in the world today is the lack of love, and I hate to say it, but it seems that way in some of the churches too.  Maybe many of us have forgotten where we came from and what it took to get us out of the situations we were in.  Remember Jesus forgave us when we were His enemies because He loved us, and we need to do the same.  Remember what the Bible says about the last days; it says the love of many will grow cold.  If this is true, which it is, how much more does the church need to show people love, inside and outside the church.  You might say, “I am feeding the poor and clothing the naked,” and doing good things, and that is good, but ask yourself why.  What is your real motive for doing these things?  Is it just to hear the ‘atta boy’ or to get the ‘pat on the back’ or the ‘look at me’ pharisaical attitude or maybe you are trying to get brownie points with God or some other selfish motive or maybe it is because of real love.  I hope that real love is the case because all the other things are a waste of time as far as you are concerned if your motives are not what they should be.  You may be helping others but you need to repent and ask for forgiveness if your motives are wrong, and ask the Lord to help you love what He loves and to hate what He hates.

I have been serving the Lord for many years and I know what it is to have the wrong motives and need to repent, I have been there!!  There have been times that I would rather fight someone in the church than love them and that was wrong, very wrong, so this isn’t just about you but it is also about me!!  I admit it isn’t easy to love some people, but probably at times it isn’t easy to love you or me either.  Thank the Lord my wife does and she knows me better than anyone else and I live with that miracle every day.  Love is an action word and needs to be demonstrated every day.  It is not just a word you say like so many people seem to think.  I know we hear a lot about it, but what does it really look like?  

What are the first two commandments Jesus talked about in Matthew 22:37-40, “Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

Read Matthew 7:12, “Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”

This is what is called the ‘Golden Rule.’  How many of us really live this way, or is it just good sounding words?

Jesus taught about loving even your enemies in Matthew 5:43-48, “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.”

Lastly read 1 John 3:11-18, “For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous.

Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death. Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

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?

My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.”  

I think I have said enough.  If you are reading this and you are getting angry, it may be the Holy Spirit’s conviction.  If it is, repent and ask the Lord to forgive you; then start serving and loving people with the right motive.  Something to think about!  Have a super day and may the good Lord bless you and yours and don’t forget to thank and praise the Lord!!

Forsaken

I was listening to a preacher last night who I think opened my eyes to some things that I really needed to focus on and start thinking about.  I am always thankful to hear truth being preached.  Some of what he said were affirmations of things I have said over the years.  This morning what I am going to talk about has some thing to do with what I was hearing last night.  This man’s talk did get me thinking more clearly about what is going on in many churches and in the world.  This word wasn’t mentioned last night but he no doubt helped influence my way of thinking.  I was thinking about the word forsaken this morning. This word has to do with one of the worst things that can happen to a believer!! Probably there are many believers that have either said this or thought this over the years and it has devastated them and if this did happen it would be the worst thing a believer could experience. I was thinking about what Jesus said when He hung, dying on the cross.  Read what He said in Matthew 27:46, “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?’”

This was the worst thing that Jesus could ever experience and it was the reason He was in such anguish in the Garden of Gethsemane.  He knew that He would be the sacrificial Lamb that would take the sins of the world on His shoulders and God the Father would have to turn His back on the sins.  With the beatings and humiliation and the lashes from the whipping and the mocking and all the intense suffering and the loss of blood and the intense fatigue He felt and His very life draining from His body, it is no wonder He said what He said!!  But the worst thing that happened was the spiritual separation He experienced from God!!  Praise the Lord He never sinned, but sin always separates us from God and it will cause any true born-again believer to feel miserable and can cause them to feel like God has forsaken them.  Anyone that claims to be a godly man or woman, and a true believer, but has no remorse when they sin, had better examine themselves to see if they are in the faith.  

King David comes to mind, he was a godly man we can read about in the Old Testament.  Read what he said about the way he felt when he committed sin and didn’t confess and repent of it for almost a year, in Psalms 32:1-4:

“Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,

Whose sin is covered.

Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity,

And in whose spirit there is no deceit.

When I kept silent, my bones grew old

Through my groaning all the day long.

For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me;

My vitality was turned into the drought of summer. Selah”

This is a sequel to Psalms 51 if you would like to read it.  

King David was miserable because of his sins.  When we sin and refuse to repent and confess, we will also be miserable and we may feel that God has forsaken us but, if the truth be known, sin separates us from God and it is we that have forsaken Him!!

What did David say after he repented?  Read Psalms 32:5-11:

“I acknowledged my sin to You,

And my iniquity I have not hidden.

I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,’

And You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah

For this cause everyone who is godly shall pray to You

In a time when You may be found;

Surely in a flood of great waters

They shall not come near him.

You are my hiding place;

You shall preserve me from trouble;

You shall surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;

I will guide you with My eye.

Do not be like the horse or like the mule,

Which have no understanding,

Which must be harnessed with bit and bridle,

Else they will not come near you.

Many sorrows shall be to the wicked;

But he who trusts in the Lord, mercy shall surround him.

Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous;

And shout for joy, all you upright in heart!”

God seeks the humble and contrite heart, this He will not despise.  Now think about Judas Iscariot and Peter in the New Testament.  Judas betrayed the Lord and instead of truly repenting, went out and hung himself, but Peter, even though he denied the Lord three times, wept bitterly and repented and found forgiveness and restoration.  Did you notice when Peter sinned against the Lord it broke his heart and the shame he felt was overwhelming.  Read what it says about this in Mark 14:72, “A second time the rooster crowed. Then Peter called to mind the word that Jesus had said to him, ‘Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times.’ And when he thought about it, he wept.”

Now read what the angel said to Mary Magdalene, and Mary, the mother of James and Salome, in Mark 16:6-7, “But he said to them, ‘Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him. But go, tell His disciples—and Peter—that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you.’”

Did you notice the angel made a special mention of Peter?  Repentance brings forgiveness and restoration and this shows that Jesus had not forsaken Peter.  If you hide sin in your heart and will not confess it, God will not hear your prayers and you will be miserable and devastated.  But there is hope, read what 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

So no matter what someone may tell you, you will not prosper and be blessed and have God’s peace, love and joy unless you repent and turn from your sins!!  Something to think about and if you are guilty and have not done anything about it, act on it!  Have a great day and may the good Lord bless you and yours!!      

        

                           

Resisting Temptation

How do we resist temptation? First thing I would say is that no one can resist temptation without being born-again because all are born with a sin nature, excluding Jesus of course, but even He had to resist temptation and testing.  How did He resist temptation?  He resisted by speaking the Word.

Hebrews 4:15 says, “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.”

How can believers resist sin?  First we can look for the way out.  Read what it says in 1 Corinthians 10:13, “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”  God always gives a believer a way out so that we can resist any temptation.

Studying and memorizing scripture is very important.  Read what 2 Timothy 2:15, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

When Jesus was tempted He came back with the Word, read what Jesus said in Matthew 4:1-11, “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, ‘If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.’

But He answered and said, ‘It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’

Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, ‘If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.’

Jesus said to him, ‘It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’

Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, ‘All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.’

Then Jesus said to him, ‘Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’

Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.”

The devil knew the Word too, but he disobeyed the Word and disobeyed God also, but Jesus obeyed both, the Word and God, His Father!!  If Jesus would have given into Satan, then we would still be lost in our sin, but praise be to God, Jesus resisted the temptation and fulfilled God’s plan for His life, praise You Jesus!!

Remember Joseph, what he did when he was tempted by Potiphar’s wife in Genesis 39, read verses 7-12, “And it came to pass after these things that his master’s wife cast longing eyes on Joseph, and she said, ‘Lie with me.’

But he refused and said to his master’s wife, ‘Look, my master does not know what is with me in the house, and he has committed all that he has to my hand. There is no one greater in this house than I, nor has he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?’

So it was, as she spoke to Joseph day by day, that he did not heed her, to lie with her or to be with her.

But it happened about this time, when Joseph went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the house was inside, that she caught him by his garment, saying, ‘Lie with me.’ But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside.”

In this case Joseph fled, he ran from the temptation.  Sometimes that is what it will take to resist temptation.  You will have to flee and not stand around thinking about it or talking about it, but just running is the answer, getting away as fast as you can.  Sexual sin is hard to resist no matter how much you try; Joseph did the best thing he could have done, he ran.  Never forget to pray and ask the Lord to help you to resist temptation.

What does it say in the prayer that Jesus taught His disciples?  Read it in Luke 11:2-4, “So He said to them, “When you pray, say:

Our Father in heaven,

Hallowed be Your name.

Your kingdom come.

Your will be done

On earth as it is in heaven.

Give us day by day our daily bread.

And forgive us our sins,

For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.

And do not lead us into temptation,

But deliver us from the evil one.”

Now read verse 4 again, “And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”

How can we get the devil to leave us alone?  It says this in James 4:7, “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”

Enough said, I hope this has been a help.  May God bless you and yours and may you have a nice day, and don’t forget to thank and praise the Lord!!