TODAY'S QUOTE

 

TODAY'S PROMISE

"Commit your actions to the LORD,

and your plans will succeed."

(Proverbs 16:3 NLT)

 

My wife passed away about two years ago.

We have not been in a hurry to discard all

of her things.  I guess we are hanging on to

the memory of her.

A few days ago a great grandson came in 

with a box full of these little things on the

window sill.  My wife was fascinated by these

little things.  They wiggle, move, dance etc.

So the boy put them up there in the window.

That is what got me to thinking.

She throughly enjoyed the simple little things.

But when she passed away she did not take them

with her.

And she did not take a wardrobe full of clothes

she had.

And she did not that her car with her.

And she did not take the money she had

in the bank with her.

No wonder Jesus said;

"Don't store up treasures here on 

earth, where moths eat them and

rust destroys them, and where

thieves break in and steal.

Store your treasures in heaven, where

moths and rust cannot destroy, and

thieves do not break in and steal.

Wherever your treasure is, there

the desires of your heart will also be.

(Matthew 6:19-21 NLT)

After we have finished this life here on

earth, we are all going to spend eternity

somewhere.  Is it better to spend our time,

money and efforts on things that will only

last a few years here on earth, or where

we will be forever?

"We all come to the end of our lives

as naked and empty handed as the 

day we are born.  We can't take our

our riches with us."

(Ecclesiastes 5:15 NLT) 

 

TODAY'S QUOTE

“God doesn’t want us

doing more for him.

He wants us to do more

with Him.”

- author unknown -

 

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU ASK FOR.

 

"In the wilderness their desires ran wild,

testing God's patience in that dry wasteland.

So he gave them what they asked for, but he

sent a plague along with it."

(Psalms 106:14,15 NLT)

Some versions instead of "plague" say;

he sent "a wasting disease".

How many times have you got what you

wanted, only to find out you made a mistake.

And sometimes a serious mistake.

A few minutes ago I was reflecting on three

distinct things I wanted and prayed for over

my life.  I wanted them more than anything 

in life and prayed for them.  But, I can now

see that if God had allowed me to have them

it would have been a serious mistake.

They all would have given me "pleasure",

at least for a time.  But likely would have

destroyed me.

Before I want something I need to first

check and see if it is God's will for me.

"Yet you don't have what you want because

you don't ask God for it.  And even when 

you ask, you don't get it because your motives

are all wrong - you want only what will give

you pleasure."

(James 4:2,3 NLT)

TODAY'S PROMISE

"This is why we work hard and 

continue to struggle, for our hope

is in the living God, who is the 

Savior of all people and particularly

of all believers."

(1Timothy 4:10 NLT)

 

SLEEP A GIFT OF GOD

 It is no use for you to get up early and stay up late, 

working for a living. The Lord gives sleep to 

those he loves.

(Psalm 127:2 NCV)

I just want to thank God for sleep.  You young

folks want to go, go and go day and night.  But

at my age a night's sleep or a good nap in the 

day is a real pleasure.

You too probably know people who cannot

sleep well because of various body conditions.

And, if you are old enough you have some

aches and pains too and know what a joy it

is to have a good solid sleep.

PRAISE GOD FOR SLEEP

 

TODAY'S QUOTE

 

RESCUSED

We live in a world that is falling apart.

It is being destroyed by evil on every 

hand.  As we some times say; "The world

is going to hell in a hand basket."

The country I live in has turned it's back

on God.  It trying to eliminate God in 

every aspect.  The result is, this country

is self destructing.  Every decision our

so called "leaders" makes ends up working

out almost as a curse on the people of 

the country.  We are being destroyed from

within.  And if I understand Bible prophecy

correctly, this country will be destroyed;

as a country anyway.

Lot, the nephew of Abraham, was living

in a similar situation in Sodom.  The sins

of Sodom that are so repulsive to God had

finally crossed over the line.  It was going

to utterly destroy Sodom, which it did.

But God cares for his own, even when

they live in such evil times and places.

If you are a Bible student you know that

God sent some angles to deliver Lot.

Yes, Lot lost all of his material goods,

but Lot himself was saved out of it.

"Yes, Lot was a righteous man who was

tormented in his soul by the wickedness

he saw and heard day after day.  So you

see, the Lord knows how to rescue godly 

people from their trials, even while keeping

the wicked under punishment until the day

of final judgment."

(2 Peter 2:8,9 NLT)

You can see in the above that God will

deliver "godly" people from the destruction

and trials that come on the world.

If I hang on to God and stay in a relationship

with Him - He will rescue me and bring me

 through it for my welfare and his praise.

 

TODAY'S PROMISE

"Even when I walk

through the darkest valley,

I will not be afraid,

for you are close beside me.

Your rod and your staff

protect and comfort me."

(Psalms 23:4 NLT)

 

FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS

 

FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS.

What instructions?

The ones Jesus gave me.

Not those to Noah or Joseph.

Let me review what Jesus said

then we will get back to the picture.

"That is why I tell you not to 

worry about everyday life - whether

you have enough food and drink, or

enough clothes to wear.  Isn't life

more than clothing"?  Look at the

birds.  They don't plant or harvest or

store food in barns, for your heavenly

Father feeds them.  And aren't

you far more valuable to him than

they are?  Can all your worries add

a single moment to your life?

(verses 25 - 27 then verse 34

Matthew 6 NLT)

"So don't worry about tomorrow,

for tomorrow will bring its own

worries.  Today's trouble is enough

for today." 

Many years ago I tried to emulate Noah

and/or Joseph.  I was looking forward to 

the potential problems of today.  So, I

built a bomb shelter in case of nuclear

attack.  I bought a truck load of survival

food.  I put tools and anything I could 

think of needing in it.

The little tools above are some of the small

tools that were in the shelter.  Just like the

shelter, food and other supplies -

TOTALLY USELESS - NOW.

If I had followed Jesus instructions to me

instead of choosing my own instructions

I would be money (lots of money)  ahead.

And all that time and effort I spent on 

preparing for trouble could have been spent

on something useful.

But no, it was wasted.

TODAY'S QUOTE

“It is not needful always to be in church 

to be with God.  We can make a chapel 

of our heart, to which we can from time 

to time withdraw to have gentle, humble, 

loving communion with him.  Everyone is 

able to have these familiar conversations 

with God, some more, some less - he 

knows our capabilities.”

- Brother Lawrence -

 

 

MISSING THE POINT

"But the Lord said to her, 'My dear

Martha, you are worried and upset

over all these details!  There is only

on thing worth being concerned

about.  Mary has discovered it, and

it will not be taken away from her."

(Luke 10:41 NLT)

Martha wanted to serve Jesus.

Mary wanted to be with Jesus.

Martha was like us.  She missed the point.

We get frantic trying to do a lot of "stuff"

for Jesus.  But Jesus just wants us to be with

him.

You know the 1st command as well as I.

"You must love the LORD your God

with all your heart, all your soul, and

all your mind."

(Matthew 22:37 NLT)

Love wants to serve the other.

But first and most important

Love wants to be with the other.

How much time am I spending loving Jesus?

TODAY'S PROMISE

“The LORD is good to this who

depend on him, to those who

search for him.  So it is good to

wait quietly for salvation from

the LORD.”

(Lamentations 3:25,26 NLT)

 

GOD'S FRIEND

 

"Enoch lived 365 years, walking 

in close fellowship with God.  Then

one day he disappeared, because

God took him."

(Genesis 5:23,24 NLT)

Are we missing the main point?

We want to do things for God.  We

want to serve him and be counted

worthy as as child of his.

But notice, there was no special

ministry on the part of Enoch.  He

just fellowshipped with God.  True,

Jude tells us of a prophecy that Enoch

made.  But anyone living close to God

is going to learn something about what

God has going on.

Consider Abraham.  Several different

places in the Scriptures Abraham is 

called "the friend of God."  What was

Abraham's area of service?  He was

simply a "farmer" of his day who 

trusted God and lived for and with

God.

David.  True he became king.  But

why did God make David King. 

Because David was "a man after God's

own heart".  What made him a man after

God's own heart.  He was just a shepherd

boy tending sheep.  But it appears that

when he wasn't chasing sheep, he was

playing on his harp and singing praise

to God.

I have often envied the multitude of 

good things the church at Ephesus did.

[See Revelation  3:2-4]. But God had 

a complaint against them.

THEY DID NOT LOVE HIM LIKE

THEY USED TO.

I don't need to tell you that the first

commandment is:

"And you must love the LORD 

your God with all your heart,

all your soul, all your mind, and

all your strength."

(Mark 12:30 NLT)

Of course if we love God we will

obey him.  But;

HOW MUCH OF OUR DAY IS SPENT

LOVING GOD?

The scariest Scripture I know is in

Matthew as a part of the Sermon on

the Mount.

"On judgment day many will say 

to me, 'Lord! Lord!  We prophesied

in your name and cast out demons in

your name and performed many

miracles in your name.' But I will

reply, 'I never knew you.  Get away

from me, you who break God's laws.'

(Matthew 7:22,23 NLT)

The name of Jesus is powerful.  It can

do anything.  But they in truth did not

know Christ.  They were using his name

like someone stealing your pass word

and using your computer.

Am I actually spending time with Jesus

everyday getting to know him.  Or,

just trying to work for him.