TODAY'S PROMISE

"The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is upon me,

for the LORD has anointed me to bring good

news to the poor.  He has sent me to comfort the

brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives

will be released and prisoners will be freed.  He

has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time

of the LORD'S favor has come, and with it, the 

day of God's anger against their enemies."

(Isaiah 61:1,2 NLT). 

TODAY'S PROMISE

"Listen to me, dear brothers and sisters.

Hasn't God chosen the poor in this world to

be rich in faith?  Aren't they the ones who will

inherit the kingdom he promised to those who

love him?"   

(James 2:5 NLT)

TODAY'S PROMISE

Image courtesy of: www.Pixabay.com.  

"Listen to me, dear brothers and sisters.

Hasn't God chosen the poor in this world

to be rich in faith?  Aren't they the ones who

will inherit the Kingdom he promised to those

who love him?    

(James 2:5 NLT)

WHAT IS YOUR VALUE?

It started of by my making the mistake of trying

to think.  You know, thinking is hard work and it

hurts to think.  That is why so few of us bother to

think.

But while thinking the thought went through my 

mind how I am not compassionate like God is.  I

want to be a help and kind to people etc.  But also

I tend to not want to be bothered.  [You are not that

way, I'll admit.]

Then when thinking of my lack of compassion, I

could just see some poor homeless person or a 

begger in their need.  You know, a cast off from

society or a parasite just getting in the way.

But, which is the most valuable or important?

A poor homeless person or perhaps a bagger?

Images courtesy of: www.Pixabay.com.   

Or an invalid totally incapable of taking care of 

him or her self.

Or perhaps a highly decorated person in an important

position?

Or, maybe even a successful business person

or investor?

Well, none.

We as people only see the outside of a person and that is

what helps us form our opinions.

But God looks at it differently.  Consider when God was

speaking to Samuel he said;

 "Do not look at his appearance or his stature,

because I have rejected him.  Man does not

see what the Lord sees, for man sees what is

visible, but the Lord sees the heart." 

(1Samuel 16:7 CSB)   

The truth of the matter is that in God's sight

that poor cast off person is just as valuable as

some one who is rich or perhaps famous.

Even the disciples of Jesus Christ fell into the

trap we do.  They began to argue among themselves

as to which one was the greatest.

He attempted to correct their thinking by pointing

out that the most important person in the Kingdom

of God was the one who was the youngest, like a

child, or the humble person, a servant.  And that

he himself [Jesus Christ] came as a servant to us.

"But God proves His own love for us in that

while we were still sinners Christ died for us!

(Romans 5:8 CSB)

Yes, we nothings are just as important to God

as a rich person or a celebrity.   Just as important

to God as a president or a king.

It is your heart that God treasures.  Not your

body, money or prestige.  Give him your whole

heart, strength and mind.  Then in truth you will

be away ahead of the rest of the world, even if

you are a nothing to everybody else.

TODAY'S PROMISE

"Poor is he who works with a negligent hand,

But the hand of the diligent makes rich.

He who gathers in summer is a son who acts wisely,

But he who sleeps in harvest is a son who acts

shamefully."

(Proverbs 10:4,5 NASB)

TODAY'S PROMISE

"But I am poor and needy;

Yet the Lord thinks upon me.

You are my help and my

deliverer;

Do not delay, O my God."

(Psalms 40:17 NKJV)

PATH TO POVERTY

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"Being lazy will make you poor,

but hard work will make you rich."

(Proverbs 10:4 GNT)

"Work and you will earn a living;

if you sit around talking you will

be poor"

(Proverbs 14:23 GNT)



THE MISSING INGREDIENT ?????????

I have been a Christian for a long time.
And, I am more convinced than ever that
the Bible is truly the word of God.  I have
seen it proven true over and over.  Let the
skeptics scoff.  The day is coming when they
too will have to admit the truth of it.  Of
course, it may well be too late for them.

Images courtesy of: www.Pixabay.com

How ever, most of the time I do not feel

like a saint. I am far from what I want to 

be.

Years ago I began to notice something.

The "Church" of the Bible, and the "Church"

of today plain and simply are different.  We

use the same words, but have attached different

meanings, or actions.  And the results are 

different.

As Christians we profess to follow the teachings

of Christ.  But do we???

For example.

I find lots of teaching, books, blogs, seminars,

articles etc. about how to succeed, prosper, be 

victorious, be a winner and get your prayers

answered - and much more.

BUT, BUT, BUT,

there is one subject that Christ taught in a very

simple straight forward manner that I have seen

NOTHING being taught on.

"Do not be afraid, little flock,

for your Father is pleased to

give you the Kingdom.  SELL

all your belongings 

and GIVE

the money to the poor.  Provide for

yourselves purses that don't wear out,

and save your riches in heaven,..."

(Luke 12:32,33 GNT)

And in another place when talking to a 

crowd of people Jesus said,

"In the same way,' concluded Jesus,

'none of you can be my disciple unless

you GIVE give up everything you 

have." (Luke 14:33 GNT)

Another time Jesus was talking to a Jewish

leader.  The man had followed all the do's

and don'ts, but knew something was missing.

"When Jesus heard this he said to him,

'There is still one more thing you need

to do.  SELL all you have and GIVE

the money to the poor,

and you will have riches in heaven; then come

and follow me."

(Luke 18:22 GNT)

As for me, I have another truck load ready

to go to the sale.

TRUE GIVING

"Jesus looked around and saw rich people

dropping their gifts in the Temple treasury,

and he also saw a very poor widow dropping

in two little copper coins.  He said, 'I tell you

that this poor widow put in more than all the 

others.  For the others offered their gifts from

what they had to spare of their riches; but she,

poor as she is, gave all she had to live on.'"

(Luke 21:1-4 TEV)

************************

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Updated King James Version.

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TODAY'S PROMISE

"Jesus looked straight at him with love and said,

'You need only one thing.  Go and sell all you have

and give the money to the poor, and you will have

riches in heaven; then come and follow me.'  When

the man heard this, gloom spread over his face, and 

he went away sad, because he was very rich.

   Jesus looked around at his disciples and said to them,

'How hard it will be for rich people to enter the kingdom

of God!'

   The disciples were shocked at these words, but

Jesus went on to say, 'My children, how hard it is

to enter the Kingdom of God!  It is much harder

for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God than

for a camel to go through the eye of a needle.'

At this the disciples were completely amazed and asked

one another, 'Who, then, can be saved?'

Jesus looked straight at them and answered, 'This

is impossible for humans beings but not for God;

everything is possible for God."

(Mark 10:21 - 27 GNT)

******************

"The promises of the Lord can be trusted;

they are as genuine as silver refined

seven times in the furnace."

(Psalms 12:6 GNT)

1. Meditate on God's Promises.

2. Plead the Promises at the throne of Grace.

3. Act in Faith that God Will Perform His Promises.

(William Gurnall) ]

TODAY'S PROMISE

"LORD, you are my God;
I will honor you and praise your name.
You have done amazing things;
you have faithfully carried out the plans
you made long ago."

 and
 "The poor and the helpless have fled to you
and have been safe in times of trouble."
(Isaiah 25:1 & 4 TEV)

******************

"The promises of the Lord can be trusted;

they are as genuine as silver refined

seven times in the furnace."

(Psalms 12:6 GNT)

1. Meditate on God's Promises.

2. Plead the Promises at the throne of Grace.

3. Act in Faith that God Will Perform His Promises.

(William Gurnall)

LOVING MONEY

"If you love money, you will never be satisfied;
if you long to be rich, you will never get all you want,
It is useless.
The richer you are, the more mouths you have to feed.
All you gain is the knowledge that you are rich.
Workers may or may not have enough to eat,
but at least they can get a good night's sleep.
The rich, however, have so much that they 
stay awake worrying."
(Ecclesiastes 5:11, 12 TEV)

************************

Would you like a free download of

THE HOLY BIBLE

Go to the link below for a free

download of the

Updated King James Version.

www.oocities.org/updatedkjv

TODAY'S PROMISE

"Listen, my dear friends!

God chose the poor people of this world

to be rich in faith and to possess the kingdom

which he promised to those who love him."

(James 2:5 GNT)

******************

"The promises of the Lord can be trusted;

they are as genuine as silver refined

seven times in the furnace."

(Psalms 12:6 GNT)

1. Meditate on God's Promises.

2. Plead the Promises at the throne of Grace.

3. Act in Faith that God Will Perform His Promises.

(William Gurnall)

ARE YOU POOR?

Photo courtesy of ldbroome.blogspot.com

 Are you poor?

I know.  I know.  Even those of us who have more than enough consider ourselves poor 

because we have less than someone else.

I have read the Bible over many times.  One thing stands out all through the Bible.

God has a special concern for the poor.

Perhaps that is why he allowed so many of them.

If we will allow our "need" to cause us to look to God. 

Then we can be a way ahead of the rich in this life and especially life to come.

Consider two scripture portions.

"And now, you rich people, listen to me!  

Weep and wail over the miseries that are coming upon you!

Your riches have rotted away, and your clothes have been eaten by moths.

Your gold and silver are covered with rust,

and this rust will be a witness against you and will eat up your flesh like fire.

You have piled up riches in these last days."

-James 5:1-3 (GNB)

But there is more.

"Listen, my dear friends!

God chose the poor people of this world to be rich in faith

and to possess the kingdom

which he promised to those who love him."

-James 2:5 (GNB) 

Keep your riches.

Give me Jesus.

CRYSTAL BRIDGES MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART

My wife had me take her to see the brand new CRYSTAL BRIDGES MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART.

Truly it is a magnificent facility. We enjoyed the experience. There were even some pretty pictures there. And there were some pictures, art or what ever, that were only cluttering up the walls. In truth maybe not. They may have been covering up holes in the walls of the new buildings.

When we got home I begin to wonder, what the CRYSTAL BRIDES MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART cost?

A trip to the Internet gave some insights. As expected it was not possible for this old guy to get exact numbers. But what I found was something like this;

Expected yearly expense to be met, 16-20 million dollars per year. [Just to maintain it]

Approximate assets, about 800 million dollars. I think that included the art on display. Now that is a bunch of money to bring a little culture to this area. A walk through to see some pretty pictures.

I am familiar with this area. I live uncomfortably close to it. I also know that we have homeless people and families. There are hungry people here. The Salvation Army shelters are full and church food pantries are running low.

It makes me wonder about misplaced values.

Forgive me. On second thought I remember several of the churches we passed on the way to see CRYSTAL BRIDGES MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART. Perhaps this is simply a demonstration of American churchianity on a grander scale than theirs.

I no doubt am too much in the flesh. I would rather see a hungry stomach filled and a poor widow sheltered from the weather than someones mind enlightened to cultural things.

There possibly is as spiritual side to it. After all, poor hungry people need to see pretty pictures too.