Our Owners Manual

 

For the Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Hebrews 4:12

My Uncle Al was not a church going man, but he read the Bible.  He said, "It's really heavy."  

The Bible is heavy - the words of the prophets and Jesus call us to repentance - the Psalms sooth our hurting souls - and all through the Bible we are challenged to think about how we live our lives.  

The Bible tells us that we are only required to do two things:  Love God and love our neighbors.  All the rest is to instruct us how to do this and that is where it gets heavy.  

The Bible is our owners manual. Read and learn.

Rejoice In Hope

Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

Romans 12:12

Joyce Meyers says if your going to get patience, your going to have to go through some stuff.  

This is true, but we also have hope and prayer to get us through, and for this I am grateful.

Never give up hope. 

 

Find Another Way Around

When the days were approaching for His ascension, He was determined to go to Jerusalem; and He sent messengers on ahead of Him, and they went to enter a village of the Samaritans to make arrangements for Him.  But they did not receive Him, because He was traveling toward Jerusalem.

When His disciples, James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" 

But He turned and rebuked them, and said, "You do not know what kind of spirit you are of; for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them."

And, they went on to another village.

Luke 9:51-53 

Wow!

Look what Jesus said, "...the Son of Man did not come to destroy lives, but to save them."

May we take this lesson to heart and remember when people interfere with our plans that we need to hold our temper and find another way around. 

If it was good enough for Jesus, it is good enough for us. 

God Has Got Your Back.

Blessed be the Lord,

Because He has heard the voice of my supplication.

The Lord is my strength and my shield;

My heart trusts in Him and I am helped;

Therefore my heart exults,

And with my song I shall thank Him.

Psalm 28:6-7

In good times, in bad times and at all times God watches over us. When we cannot see the end, God is already there waiting for us.

And, we are thankful.

God Is At His Best

 

With my mouth I will give thanks abundantly to the Lord;

And in the midst of many I will praise Him.

For He stands at the right hand of the needy,

To save him from those who judge his soul.

Psalms 109:30-31.

We all know them: Needy people. They may be the victims of situations beyond their control or they may be victims of their own stupidity. They may be us. It is easy to beat up on ourselves and other people when things go wrong. God does the opposite. When everyone else is running away from us, God is running to us. 

When things are at their worst, God is at His best.

Snatch Them From The Fire

 

And have mercy on some, who are doubting; save others snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh.

Jude 1:22-23

When I was young and on fire for the Lord, I ran into a friend who proceeded to tell me about his new found faith. The more I listened the more I realized that he was being manipulated by a cult. He had shreds of Bible truths, but the bulk of what he spoke was far outside the truth of Christianity.

I felt panicky about what I should say. I said the first thing that popped into my head; I said, “Hey, why don’t you come to the church I go to on Sunday?”

At first he balked, but then he agreed to come. The next Sunday, he and his family came to church and he and his wife accepted Jesus as their Lord, Master and Savior. Over the next few weeks they discovered that they were not judged by their past mistakes, but were accepted and loved as part of the church family.

This is the mercy we are to have; mercy that extends the love of God and the truth of the Gospel to everyone.

Be brave; snatch someone out of the fire.

Look For God And He Will Find You

 

Seek the Lord while He may be found;

Call upon Him while He is near.

Let the wicked forsake his way

And the unrighteous man his thoughts;

And let him return to the Lord,

And He will have compassion on him,

And to our God,

For He will abundantly pardon.

Isaiah 55:6-7

God does not view humans as humans view humans. God desires that we come to Him, not because we are good, but because God is good. As long as we have a breath in our bodies we are candidates for God’s forgiveness.