Ant or Slug?!

Last night, we continued our study in Proverbs by talking about laziness. In a brief survey, we discovered that the place teens struggle with being lazy the most is at home…cleaning, snoozing, etc.

Proverbs 6:6-11 says, "Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest. How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: so shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man."

Let’s follow the example of the ant at home. Establish good habits there, so that when we face the world, we’ll be up for the challenges it throws at us. By the way, this morning was a 1-snooze-button-morning for me instead of 2!!! …maybe tomorrow morning will be a zero-snooze!

Bible Famine

How many times have we sat in church when the preacher or teacher said, "Turn in your Bibles to...", and without thinking, we grab our Bible and turn there?

103.3FM WCRF has recently been raising money to send Bibles to Africa to meet the need of what's been called the 'Bible Famine'. The need is humongous. They've been sharing stories of thousands of believers who don't have their own copy of the Bible. They don't have the opportunity to study the Bible at home.

1 Samuel 3:1 says, "...And the word of the LORD was precious in those days..." During this time in history, people didn't have a copy of God's Word, and it became precious to them. This is the case in Africa - the lack of God's Word is making it very precious. In America, it has become common and been taken for granted.

GOD - MAY YOUR WORD BECOME VERY PRECIOUS TO US!

Arrogant!

After Hannah's prayer was answered by God, she said in 1 Samuel 2:3, "Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed."

How often are we arrogant in our words?! Quite often, I'm afraid. After Hannah was brought to the lowest point in her life and humbled in front of everyone, God answered her prayer. She then had the proper response by giving HIM all the credit for what was done.

There have been times when God answered my prayers, and I took credit for it. By keeping silent about what God did is the same thing as taking credit for it. It seems that in times like these, the blessings cease.

There are other times when I had the proper response and gave God the credit for what was accomplished, and it's an amazing thing...God blessed even more!

Remember what Hannah said - God weighs your actions...let's not be arrogant about what HE has done!

What's In A Name?

Yesterday was a wonderful day at our church. We celebrated 11 years of ministry, and last night several people gave testimony of what God has done. Something I praise God for is the salvation of three people this year...A.A., T.D., and my daughter!

Like He did for many of us, God wondrously saved their souls, and He keeps them safe in the palm of His hand, never to be lost again. However, there's still an adversary that will try to destroy their lives. Satan will try to disable them so they are not effective for God.

Once we've been saved, we go though a lifelong process of growing in Christ. Throughout this process, we'll face sins, habits, and things that aren't good for us. We'll wish and pray that God would remove them from our lives, yet we'll continue to struggle with them.

I believe we can learn from something Hannah did in 1 Samuel chapter 1. She desperately wanted God to hear and answer her prayer. She addressed God as 'the LORD of hosts'. Here's what verse 11 says, "And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life..."

You might think, "so what...what's in a name?" This name of God is translated from the name 'Jehovah Sabaoth'. Throughout the Bible, the word 'host' is used to describe huge and powerful objects (heavenly bodies, armies, angels, etc.). By calling upon God as the LORD over all these powerful things, we're acknowledging to God and to ourselves that He is able to take care of our problems. Next time you pray about your problem, address Him as 'the LORD of hosts', then pray in faith, believing that He will help you!

Replace, Don't Simply Remove

Don't you love the huge bouncy-ball displays at Toys-R-Us or Walmart? Many times I've removed a ball from the big cage to simply bounce it a few times then toss it back into the rack...I'm sure the employee's love me!

What happens when you remove a ball from the rack? That void gets filled with other balls, right? I'm sure the designers of this rack knew that they were demonstrating an important Biblical principle!! It's the principle of replacement...

In Luke 11, Jesus is telling about what happens when someone simply cleans themself up. Verses 24-26 say, "When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out. And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first."

When God convicts you about wrong things, if you simply cleanup those things, you'll eventually go back to them, and you'll be worse off then when you started. However, if you replace them with good, godly things, there will be no room in that void for the old things to come back.

Here's an example from Ephesians 5:18-21. Find the thing that should be removed, then find the things that it should be replaced with, "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God."

All - All

Sometimes, we think we're TOTALLY right about something, and it turns out that we've been TOTALLY wrong!! It's easy for us to deceive ourselves, hence we need someone greater watching out for us...directing us...in everything.

Proverbs 3:5-6 was our topic of discussion last evening, "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."

1 Peter 2:21 says that "...Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:" If Christ is our ultimate example, then we should look at how He dealt with circumstances in His life.

When Jesus was facing the most difficult task of His earthly life in Matthew 26:38-56, what did He do? In verses 39, 42 & 44 we find Him praying. This was no "now I lay me down to sleep" prayer, this was PRAYER. Even though Jesus is God, when He was in this world, trapped in a human body, He depended on a solid life of prayer.

How do we expect to live by doing any less?

Jesus instructs Peter in verse 41 to "watch & pray". This instruction is repeated in Ephesians 6:18. ...why is watching so important? Because when God answers your prayers, you need to be alert enough to understand His answer!

Learn to trust Him with ALL your heart...in ALL things.

Patience...I Need it Now!

Once a month, the employees of the company where I work get together to learn about a character trait. This morning, we studied Patience. A good working definition of this trait is "accepting difficult situations without giving a deadline to remove it."

James 1:4 says, "But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing." I wonder why patience is referred to as "her" instead of "him"?!! If it's anything like my wife & I, she does much better with patience than I do!

What are some ways we can show patience in our daily life? 1) keep your cool...don't make hasty decisions. 2) exercise due process...cutting corners can be dangerous. 3) learn to pursue while you wait...active patience turns waiting into fruitful accomplishments. 4) learn to accept what cannot be changed. 5) try, try again...learn from your failures & achieve great things.The benefits of showing patience will be that you'll end up solving problems in a less stressful way.

"I've Got My Rights!"

While you and I were sleeping last night, another Christian was arrested & tortured. When we were getting dressed for the day, a brother in Christ died for his faith. Every day, I hear of another Christian somewhere around the world who lost their life for the sake of Christ....and here we sit in America with an attitude of "I've got my rights as a Christian". Some people call this "Christian Liberty". It's what Paul was referring to in 1 Corinthians 6:12 where he said, "All things are lawful unto me..." In other words, as a Christian, we are no longer bound by the duties of the Old Testament law...Christ fulfilled the law for us.I wonder, though, if we've taken this too far. Have we forgotten what Paul said a few verses later in 6:20, "For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." Have we forgotten Galatians 2:20, "I am crucified with Christ: neverthless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me:"If God bought us, and we are crucified with Christ, didn't He also take control of our 'rights'? What are some of these 'rights' that we try to claim as our own? How about: vocabulary, styles, schedules, etc. Let us not be found guilty of trying to control what really belongs to God.

Evil is too close

In my daily drive to work, I pass several fields of cows. They typically don't catch my attention, except for this morning. I was rounding a bend in the road, when all of the sudden, a cow was about 5 feet from my car...she was on the WRONG side of the fence!! I said to her, "Bessie, you're on the wrong side of the fence. A couple more steps in the wrong direction, and you'll become a premature hamburger!"

This reminded me of what I read in Judges 20:34 this morning. This chapter tells the story of how Israel was at civil war with itself. Here is what's said about the tribe of Benjamin "...and the battle was sore: but they knew not that evil was near them..." The chapter goes on to tell how the evil overtook them, and they lost the war.

In our youth group, we've been studying the topic of Purity...specifically, purity. Last night the guys learned about 3 tools that will help each of us in this battle. They're found in Ephesians 5:11-14, "11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. 12 For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. 13 But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light. 14 Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. "Can you find these 3 tools? One is in verse 11, one is in verse 12, and the last one's in verse 13.

My Daughter B

WOW, what a weekend...I had the opportunity to lead TWO people to the Lord!! First, was TD whom I mentioned in my earlier post today, and tonight after church, I got to lead my daughter B to the Lord!! Praise God - all of my immediate family members are now saved!

Youth Rally

Yesterday was an amazing day at the Youth Rally in Columbus! The biggest thing that happened for our group was that TD got saved! He realized that he had never personally put his faith in Jesus Christ to save him. He did as it says in Romans 10:9-10, "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."

Bro. Steve Roberson preached on the fact that we only have one life, one body, one mind, and that using them for anything except to fulfill Christ's purpose for us is vain, and will turn out to be unfulfilling. I liked what he told himself before he began his senior year of high school..."I only have one more year left, I'm going to make the most of it." Although none of us know how long we have left on earth, I wonder how many of us are making the most of the time we've been given? The challenge here was to wholly dedicate our lives to God for His use.

Brother John Bishop is an AMAZING man. It's very clear that God has allowed him to suffer for OUR benefit. If you heard his testimony, and were not moved, you either weren't listening or you have a cold heart! This man went through more in the past 10 years than most people will endure for a lifetime, yet he preached a message on Psalm 27:13, "I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living." This is perhaps one of the happiest and most thankful people I have ever met. He is an example to all of us how our eyes are supposed to be on the Lord and His promises, not on our circumstances.

Reconciliation

Sometimes certain people just bug you to no end!! Sometimes they are people who you once were very close to. Then, all of the sudden, they can do nothing right in your mind. That's NOT a good place to get to; however, there IS hope. It's called 'reconciliation'. This is defined as: 1) To reestablish a close relationship between. 2) To settle or resolve. 3) To bring oneself to accept.

If you want to find out about the true nature of reconciliation, study the words 'reconcile' and 'reconciliation' throughout the Bible. From these verses, figure out what made reconciliation possible and apply it to your situation. Here are some references to get you started: Matthew 5:24, Romans 5:10, 2 Corinthians 5:18-20, Ephesians 2:16, Colossians 1:20-21, Hebrews 2:17

Smashing Spaghetti!!

Last night, everyone tried to remove a wad of cash from a mousetrap with a piece of hard spaghetti. It was fun to see the noodles getting smashed one after another as the hope of winning the cash enticed each person to try. Some were very carefully trying to not set-off the trap...deeply concentrated on winning the cash, when WHAM, the trap destroyed their noodle!

Proverbs 1:10 says, "My son, if sinners ENTICE thee, CONSENT thou not." James 1:14-16 tells us, "But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his OWN , and ENTICED. Then when hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren."

My challenge to you is this: figure out what particular will draw YOU away. Then ask God to help you to guard against it. Set boundaries in your path so that you don't have easy access to those things that keep tearing you down. Remember, "I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST, WHICH STRENGTHENETH ME!"

What did I do to myself?

Last night, I was reading the story of Jonah to my daughters. In the middle of this classic story of the runaway prophet is a profound statement that Jonah made. In 2:8, he said, "They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy."

Jonah had the choice to obey God the first time, and God would have shown mercy upon him. However, when he chose to disobey, he basically chose to forfeit that mercy. It's like when someone gets arrested, and the officer reads their rights which begins something like this, "you have the right to remain silent..." In other words, "because of the choice you made, you've given up your right to mercy!"

Rememer, YOU MAKE THE CHOICE; THEN THE CHOICE MAKES YOU!

Wondrously

It's amazing how God will show Himself REAL to us. He'll allow something to happen in our lives, and if we recognize it, we'll say, "that could only be God!" In Judges chapter 13, the angel of the Lord was telling Manoah and his wife that they were going to have a son (Samson).

Toward the end of this chapter, Manoah offers a burnt offering unto God, and the angel did something totally cool...really amazing...the Bible calls it in verse 19 "wondrouosly". Verse 20 says, "For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on it, and fell on their faces to the ground."

...WOW, what a spectacular (& fearful) sight that would have been! The following verse lets us know that any doubt Manoah had about God's working was gone. Where can you see God's hand working WONDROUSLY in your life?

Pathway of Purity

Yesterday, we began our Pathway of Purity classes. Notice that we call it 'pathway OF purity'...not 'pathway TO purity'. This is a continual path that we need to follow throughout our lives. It's not a destination that once you reach, you can move on - it's a lifelong persuit.

Titus 2:12-14 says, "Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works."

I pray that everyone involved in this study will keep an open heart & mind to what God will show you. Look for those specific 'tools' to help you conquer the lusts that keep tearing you apart. Sincerely ask God for His help in this process.

What's in your other hand?

In Judges chapter 10, the people of Israel have been in to their enemies for 18 years, and they're getting sick and tired of it. 18 years prior, they decided to start following other gods. Naturally, the one true God was really angry about this, and allowed them to be put into . He wanted them to realize that without HIM, they were nothing. (He still wants His people to realize this today.)Anyhow, after 18 years in , they cried unto the Lord saying in 10:10, "We have sinned against thee...". In verses 11-14, God replies by basically saying, 'Hey, you want to go follow these other gods? Then ask them to help you...see where that gets you.' And He concludes by saying that He won't deliver them.Then in verses 15-16, we see he PROPER response that children of God should have when asking to come back to Him. They didn't simply say, 'take me back'. They forsook the thing that displesaed God. This is a picture of someone who is REALLY sorry for what they've done, and who REALLY wants God back in their life.It's like a little kid who stole some candy. You ask him to let you see what's in his hand. He shows you the one hand, but the candy is in the other hand hidden behind his back! You say, now let's see what's in your other hand... Hey you, reading this blog...WHAT'S IN YOUR OTHER HAND???

Fear God

Wednesday evening, we began looking at the book of Proverbs. This book was written by the wisest guy who made some pretty dumb choices! I mean, honestly, what’s the deal with ONE guy marrying 700 women and keeping 300 more as concubines?!! Not very smart...how many of their names do you think he actually remembered?!!Anyhow, in spite of some poor choices, God still used him in a huge way to write instructions for life that are as good now as they were then. We started our study with Proverbs 1:7, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge:”. If you want the book of Proverbs to have a huge impact on your life, start from the beginning. According to this verse, the beginning is to ‘fear the LORD’When we fear electricity, we have great respect for it…we don’t abandon it. When we fear God, we have GREAT respect for Him…we don’t turn away from Him.