Thoughts

Take every thought captive unto the Lord, for as a man thinks in his heart so is he.  What you allow to enter your mind, and meditate on, will eventually enter into your heart which is alright only if they are good thoughts, so we need to be very careful.

Read what it says in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;”

As Christians we have the power to overcome the enemy of our souls, who is a liar and the father of all lies.  But so many times we seem to use worldly, carnal methods to fight spiritual battles.  “It is not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord.”  Only through His Spirit will we win spiritual battles.  We will overcome by our testimony and by the blood of the lamb!!  We cannot depend on ourselves or our emotions or even many of the thoughts that come to our minds because our emotions fluctuate all the time, so we need to rely on the Word of God for our stability, comfort and strength.  Remember the Lord will never leave us or forsake us; His plan is to prosper us and not to harm us but to give us a hope and a future.

Read what it says in 1 Peter 5:6-11, “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: whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.”

We stress over so many things and carry burdens too heavy for us to handle, we fret and worry until we become so weary we just feel like giving up and that is just what the enemy of our souls wants us to do, but we need to stand strong in the Lord, in the power of His might and resist the evil one and he will have to flee from us.  We know from God’s Word that the enemy is as a roaring lion going about seeking whom he may devour, so we need to tell him to get behind us in Jesus’ name and he will have no choice but to obey.

If negative thoughts come to your mind, take them captive and start thinking good thoughts because if you don’t, the negative thoughts will start to wear you down and discourage you, so get in the fight using spiritual weapons and be an overcomer and not a statistic.  Study the Word, be prayed up and walk in the Spirit, not gratifying the desires of the flesh, being a repentant person and you can be an overcomer, praise the Lord!

Read Philippians 4:4-9, “Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.”

I have given you something to think about.  May the God of all comfort, comfort you in these trying times and may He bless you and yours and may you have a super day!!

Bow Down

This is something we may all have to face someday, something that we as Christians need to think about seriously, will we bow or will we stand?  Will we live for the Lord or will we forsake Him?  Things are just starting to get heated up as far as persecution goes.  Think about this, if we suffer for Him we will also reign with Him.  As things get worse and it costs us more and more of our liberties and even abuse will we be able to stand for what we believe in and still love people, even our enemies, or will we get bitter and angry and want to take revenge and deny the faith.

Read Luke 9:22-26 “Saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day. And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away? For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels.”

There are some things that believers should be willing to do, one we should be willing to take up our cross and deny ourselves and our selfish desires and be willing to use our time, money and our resources to glorify the Lord.  People are willing to pay a lot of money for valuable things that they want and Jesus is more valuable than anything else.  What are we willing to give up for Him? 

What about the idols that many of us have in our lives that we spend most of our time with?  Some of these things can be very expensive and we don’t even know that they are idols, or we don’t care.  We use all kinds of excuses for why we have them or need them.  Think about the things that you spend most of your time with!  Spending all the time that we do and the money we spend on these things is like bowing down to an idol, but of course we wouldn’t call them that, but what if they were taken away?  Think of this, what if your gadgets were taken away, would you know enough about the Word of God to sustain you?  What would your relationship with the Lord look like then, and what would you do then?

I just want to remind us all, me included because I have also been guilty of these things, that whatever we spend most of our time, our money and our devotion on can be an idol.  What do you think about during your day and what do you spend most of your energy on?  An idol can come in many forms, from people to vehicles and anything else we think about and spend most of our time with.  Think about where your true commitment lies.

This is so important because we live in a time where things are changing so fast and the name of Jesus is being hated more and more, along with any that profess His name.  This is a time to be diligent and sincere about our faith and be prayed up and walking in the Spirit and hiding the Word of God in our hearts and seeking His kingdom and not conforming to the world and it’s practices and it’s vises.  This is not a reprimand; it is a heads up, a reminder of the signs of the times we now live in.

I want to remind you of Daniel and his three friends that were taken captive to Babylon and how they would not bow down to the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had made even if it cost them their lives and it very well could have.  They stood against tremendous peer pressure but they were resigned never to bow down to any other god but the one who created them and the universe.  Think about this, how would we respond in a similar situation?  Are we completely sold out to the degree that we would not compromise our faith or deny the Lord or be ashamed of Him in any situation?  

My prayer is that none of us would have to face these things but they are a possibility so I hope none of us will take this lightly.  I have given you something to think about, please do, and if you have anything that is an idol in your life take the positive steps needed and return to your first love.  Have a super day and may the good Lord bless you and yours!!  And have a real special Thanksgiving Day and don’t forget to count your blessings and give the Lord all your thanks and praise!!

Why

We have so many questions as believers.  We question people and we often question God, saying how come you don’t do things this way or why don’t you do things that way or why did you allow this or that to take place.  We are always seeking answers to the questions we wonder about and some of them will probably never be answered here in this life.  There are many world views but mine comes from the Christian perspective and in order to answer some of our godly why questions I think we need spiritual wisdom and understanding and also be walking close to the Lord.

God is the Creator and author of all things and He knows the answer to all of our questions.  Usually we want the answers to our questions to come out the way we want them to, but there is usually a prerequisite to the answers we are looking for.  We need to be in God’s Word and hiding it in our hearts.  What we need is wisdom and understanding and that is found in the Word of God.    

Read Proverbs 2:1-11, “My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; so that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; if thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly. He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints. Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path. When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul; discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee:”

Like I said many of the questions we ask are found in God’s Holy Word, and that is where true wisdom is found, but if we are not reading it on a steady basis and hiding it in our hearts, we will always be seeking answers and not finding the answers.  The Psalmist said this in Psalms 119:9-16, “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. Blessed art thou, O Lord: teach me thy statutes. With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth. I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches. I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways. I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.”

God’s Word should be a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path; it will never lead us into temptation but will help deliver us from evil, if we hide it in our hearts.  Just knowing that God’s Word is a deterrent to do evil should be enough to read it and to want to hide it in our hearts to help keep us from wanting to sin and to help us to make the right choices in life and to ask the right questions.  The next time you ask the why question think about your motives and your intent for the question in the first place.  Have you been faithful and loyal to God or have you just gone your own way, doing your own thing?  Is there unconfessed sin in your life or are there any idols in your life that you need to get rid of and repent of?

Read Psalms 119:1-8 “Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart. They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways. Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently. O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes! Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments. I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments. I will keep thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly.”

If we seek wisdom we can ask God and we can receive it if we ask in faith, unwavering!!        

If we knew the Word we would not even have to ask many of the questions that we ask because we would already know the answer.  Read 2 Timothy 2:15, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

If we ignore God’s Word we will be truly ashamed when we stand before the Lord someday!!  Studying God’s Word is so important, without studying it we can be easily drawn away and ignore God, to our own peril.  I have given you something to think about.  Have a super day and may the good Lord bless you and yours!!

Freedom

Exodus speaks of slavery and also of freedom.  The Israelites were enslaved by the Egyptians so God sent Moses and his brother Aaron to Egypt to tell the Pharaoh there to let His people go and after many plagues Pharaoh finally did let them go.  The Egyptians became fearful of the Israelites because they were growing in number, so the Pharaoh made them slaves and told his men to make them work harder and faster, hoping that that would take care of the problem.  But, despite all the extra work they were told to perform, they grew stronger and stronger and multiplied more and more.  Instead of this solving the problem, it caused a much bigger problem because God came on the scene to defend His people and to set His captives free.  When God comes on the scene you never know what He might do to bring about what He wants to accomplish in His people’s lives.

This brings to mind two verses in the Word of God, but I will add a few more.  Read this in Proverbs 3:1-7, “My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments: for length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee. Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: so shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil.”

God’s ways and His will for us are always the best, so trust Him with your problems and decisions and always confide in Him, He always knows what is best.  Back to Exodus, God not only set His people free but they did not go away empty handed, the Egyptians wanted these people out of Egypt and they lent them jewels.  Read what it says in Exodus 12:36, “And the Lord gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians.”

There were ten different plagues, but the last plague was the central theme of the Word of God, it stood for the redemption, restoration and forgiveness that Jesus Christ would accomplish on the cross when He died, was buried and resurrected again, praise the Lord!!  This was very costly but Jesus was willing to pay the price!!  This was the last plague, read Exodus 12:3-13, “Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: and if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: and ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof. And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire. And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the Lord's passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.”

For God’s people to survive this plague they would have to kill an innocent lamb without any kind of defect and put the lamb’s blood on the two side posts and the upper door posts of their houses and when the death angel passed over they would be spared, when he saw the blood.

Read what it says about Jesus in John 1:29-34, “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me. And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water. And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.”

Just like the plan that God had to set His people free in Egypt, He had a plan from the foundation of the world, and that was that the innocent would die for the guilty.  The Word says that we all stand guilty before God and we need a redeemer because no amount of works or anything else we could do would render us innocent before our creator, and the only way we could get to God is through His Son.  The Bible says without the shedding of blood there is no remittance, or forgiveness, of sins.  So God made a way through the blood of His beloved Son Jesus who was a perfect man.  Read John 3:17-18, “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

This is such good news, and you can do nothing to receive it except believe in Jesus and repent of your sins, which means to be sorry for your sins and turn away from them, and ask the Lord to come into your life and to be your Lord and Savior.  If you are truly sincere, and only you and the Lord can know the answer to that, then let the Lord fill you with His peace, love and joy and find a Bible teaching church and start growing in your faith and share with others what the Lord is doing in your life.  May the good Lord bless you and yours and may you have a super day!!  

Sacrifice

I talked about this in other blogs but I never know who may read these so I want to return to this again.  Let me take you back in the Old Testament to Abraham’s day.  Abraham and his wife, Sara, had a child when they were very old that they loved and they called him Isaac.  Isaac’s name meant laughter and I am sure he brought much joy to his parents.   Abraham was a man that honored God so to test his obedience, God told him to take his son and sacrifice him which he was willing to do, and was ready to slay him with his knife, but God stopped him at the last moment and provided a ram for the sacrifice.

There were idols that many of the people worshiped in that day and some of them would sacrifice their children in the fire to them.  That was an abomination to God and it never had come to His mind to actually sacrifice anyone’s child to Him, what happened to Abraham was just a test, it was something God never intended to take place.  Abraham was willing to sacrifice his only child for God but God took care of the sacrifice; I wonder what you would be willing to sacrifice for your God?  Would you be willing to get rid of your TV or your I Pad or your I Phone or anything else that you are putting before God?  What about your bad habits and sins, maybe some relationship you shouldn’t be in?  What about the music you listen to that pulls you away from godly thinking and what about the things you are involved in that you know you shouldn’t be?  And what about some of your friends that keep trying to pull you in another direction!! It seems that it is so easy today to conform to the world and its practices and vices, instead of being transformed by godly values and practices.

Paul spoke to the Romans about this problem in the book of Romans chapter 12 verses 1-2 please read, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

God instituted sacrifices in the Old Testament but obedience was far more important to Him. Read what Samuel said to King Saul in 1 Samuel 15:22-23, “And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king.”

Being obedient to God’s Word is very important.  If you are caught up in the world and consumed by its practices, teachings and values you are being disobedient to God.  Read what it says in 2 Corinthians 6:14-18, “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.”

Now read what it says in 2 Corinthians 7:1, “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”

What we need to do is turn away from sin and turn towards God and do the things that would please Him.  It is far better to turn to God and repent, which means to turn away from our sins and be forgiven, to confess our sins and make Him the Lord of our lives and experience His genuine peace, love and joy in our life and be forgiven of our sins and set free, then to live without any hope!! Jesus came that we might have life and that we might have it more abundantly.  He didn’t come to make bad people good, He came to make dead people live.  The Word of God says that we were all dead in our trespasses and sins, so instead of sacrificing ourselves to Satan and his will and never being set free, let’s be living sacrifices unto God and do the things that please Him which includes not conforming to the world and the things that are detestable that people do that are not believers in the world.  Something to think about and may you have a super day.  May the good Lord bless you and yours!!