The Calling Of God

 

For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

Romans 11:29

We all know someone who has fell away from God. There are famous people and there are ordinary people who for some earthly reason, walk away from God. And, we may be the one of them.

But God does not let us just walk away, He stands, ready and waiting for us because He has called us and He has plans for us, and although we may think our ministry is over, with God nothing is ever over. Those who God calls are His and He will not relinquish them.

If you are standing at a distance from God, come back to Him. He is waiting. His gifts and call for you are irrevocable. God has work for you to do.

God Holds Things Together

 

For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions, or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.

Colossians 1: 16-17

Man in his finite wisdom tosses around all sorts of theories about the creation of earth, mankind and the universe. Some scientist would have us believe that theories are truth. The truth is theories are theories and although man has searched and searched, there is not concrete proof of any one theory of creation.

What I see is that things seem to work pretty good together. I don’t think gravity just happened, neither do I think that we just happened. I think that God planned it all. I don’t know whether or not it was literally a seven day project. What I do know is what the Bible says: “all things have been created through Him.”

No matter how hard man tries to mess things up, in the end, God will hold things together.

Walk Away

 

No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape.

1 Corinthians 10:13

Temptation comes all dressed up and looking good.  It may come from our own family and friends.  It may be something as innocent looking as spending money to go out with friends, when we know we have a car payment due and rationalizing it can be late and will be OK.

Or, it may mean we do things which hurt those who love and care about us.  

In the end yielding to temptation can put a world of hurt on us and others.   

God promises us that there is no temptation so great that we cannot resist it.  The power to walk away is a super power God has endowed us with, and we can use it.   

God is faithful and will provide a way of escape. 

Happy Thanksgiving

Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth.

Serve the Lord with gladness;

Come before Him with joyful singing.

Know that the Lord Himself is God;

It is He who has made us and not we ourselves;

We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

Enter His gates with thanksgiving

And His courts with praise.

Give thanks to Him, bless His name.

For the Lord is good;

His lovingkindness is everlasting

And His faithfulness to all generations.

Psalm 100

 

Neighbors: We All Have Them And We Are Them

 

Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.

Romans 13:8

Some of the simplest commandments from Jesus prove to be the toughest. All of us are neighbors and all of us have neighbors and all of us can be downright unlovable at times. You know what I mean. This scripture urges us to look beyond petty and not so petty annoyances and to look to God’s unconditional love for us so that we can love our neighbors.

Now go say something nice to your neighbor who just blew leaves all over your yard.

God Holds Us Blameless

 

And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach— if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.

Colossians 1:21-23

This puts the kibosh on thinking we are not good enough to serve God.  No one is perfect and everyone has done wrong things.  Yet, in spite of this, God loves us and sent His Son, Jesus to reconcile us to Him.  God holds us blameless.  

We are freed from our pasts, and are party to the promises of God and are to continue steadfast in the hope of the gospel. 

A Honeycomb For The Soul

Pleasant words are a honeycomb,

Sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.

Proverbs 16:24

There is nothing better we can do for people when they are going through hard times than to offer kind words to them.  Kind words cost us nothing and comfort those who are suffering.

So, go a head and say something kind.   

 

Give And Get Blessed

 

In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord, Jesus, that He Himself said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

Acts 20:35

We are all born selfish. We come into this world wanting what we want and wanting it now. It is a giant spiritual step to give to others. And, it is a step which changes our hearts.

Some people make it to adulthood without ever taking the step of generosity. The good news is that it is never too late to be generous. The act of giving to others helps others and it gives us joy.

When we give, we get blessed.

Inconvenient, But Worth It

 

When He had come back to Capernaum several days afterward, it was heard that He was at home. And many were gathered together, so that there was no longer room, not even near the door; and He was speaking the word to them.

And they came bringing to Him a paralytic, carried by four men. Being unable to get to Him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Him, and when they had dug an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic was lying.

And, Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

… “I say to you, get up pick up your pallet and go home.”

And he got up and immediately picked up the pallet and went out in the sight of everyone, so that they were all amazed and were glorifying God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this.

Mark 2:1-5, 12-13

We all some times have things which hinder us from going to church.

Then we read this account of the lengths that people would go to in order to be in the presence of Jesus. For most of us the only inconvenience we experience when we get to church is having to park far from the building. Yet, these people had to find a way into the building and they went so far as to take the roof off and lower their friend down so that he could be touched by Jesus and healed. Jesus did not disappoint the paralytic, He healed him.

When we find it difficult to get to church, we can look forward to getting there because we know Jesus will make it worth our while.

Abound In Hope

 

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 15:13

Hope, joy and peace: seek God, find these.

A New Spirit

And I will give them one heart and put a new spirit within them. And I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and do them. They will be My people, and I shall be their God.

Ezekiel 11:19-20

This promise was given to the people of Israel, and it is still for us today.

When we come to Jesus, God creates in us a new spirit. He softens the hardness of our hearts, and leads us in His ways. We become God’s people and He becomes our God.

 

The Greatest

 

… A lawyer asked Jesus a question, testing Him, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”

And, He said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is the greatest and foremost commandment. And the second is like it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Matthew 22:35-39

Jesus did not recite a hundred laws or even ten laws. Jesus gave two commandments. The first, was regarding man’s relationship with God. God loves us, therefore we love God.

The second was regarding man’s relationship with man. We are to love one another like we love ourselves. That is, we are to treat others in a manner that reflects love and respect.

When we love God, the love is bound to spill over onto those who surround us. Let us let this love show in our lives.

Be Patient With Everyone

 

We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone.

See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people.

1 Thessalonians 5:14-15

The Apostle Paul instructs us that we are not just to go along to get along when we see Christians behaving badly, but that we should in kindness correct those who need correcting and help those who are struggling in the faith. And, that we should expect the same from other Christians.

We are not being a friend to other Christians, if we do not help them when they need help, be it correction or encouragement.

Say something and help a brother or sister in the Lord.

Walk In Love

 

Therefore, be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, in an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.

Ephesians 5:1-2.

What does it mean to walk in love? Does it mean we have to let other people walk all over us? No. It means that whatever we do, we do it in a spirit of love. It does not mean we will be popular or that we have to be nice to those who really don’t need being nice to.

As Christians, we must speak out against wrong, but we are to do it in a manner that addresses the problem as a problem, and offers the perpetrator an opportunity to correct the error of his ways. This is what God did for us. He called us from our lives of sin, to a new life forgiven by Jesus. 

We love because God first loved us.

You Are Precious To God

 

Jesus said, "What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders rejoicing.”

Luke 15:4-5

All of us are precious to God. He seeks us, He woos us, and when he finds us He rejoices. It does not matter to God if we are rich or poor. The ground at the foot of the cross is level, and Jesus finds joy in knowing every one of us.

You are loved by God.

Run Away

 

Do not be deceived: Bad company corrupts good morals.

1 Corinthians 15:33

This Bible verse seems almost too simple to be taken as serious advice from the Apostle Paul. Yet, when we consider how often we are tempted and enticed to do things which we know are wrong, it is clear that this is true.

It is not the big things which drag Christians away from the faith, but a mass of small sins which lead the way and make it easier and easier to stray from the Word of God. Once we stray, there is an army of people who will remind us that we are “not very Christian” or that we “had fun” engaging in sinful behavior.

Then we have to fight our way back to a place where we believe we are saved. God is ready, willing and able to forgive us, it is the scars of sin that make it difficult for us to turn our lives around, and back to Christ.

Take the easy way out. Run away from those who would corrupt you.

Your Ten Stringed Instruments

It is good to give thanks to the Lord

And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High;

To declare Your loving-kindness in the morning

And Your faithfulness by night,

With the ten-stringed lute and with the harp,

With resounding music upon the lyre.

For You, O Lord, have made me glad by what You have done,

I will sing for joy for the works of Your hands.

Psalms 92:1-4

Many years ago, I attended a church where the worship leader encouraged us to get out our ten-stringed instruments – our hands – and give the Lord a round of applause for all He does for us.

It sounded corny, but the act of applauding God brought a spirit of joy into the worship service.

Give God a round of applause and raise your hands to heaven and thank Him for all He has done in your life.  When we thank God, we release His power into our lives, and He blesses us with joy. 

 

 

Always A Critic

 

Some of the people therefore, when they heard these words, were saying, “This certainly is the Prophet.”

Others were saying, “This is the Christ.” Still others were saying, “Surely the Christ is not going to come from Galilee, is He?”

John 7:40-42

There will always be critics who will line up to question our Christian faith and commitment. Sometimes they will point out character flaws or mistakes or dredge up our past, to try to dilute our Christianity.

Jesus faced this same kind of criticism but none of it mattered because He was who He was – the Son of God.

So, hold your head up high and ignore the critics. You are redeemed by Christ and you are a child of God.

We Are Blessed

 

How blessed is everyone who fears the Lord,

Who walks in His ways.

Psalm 128:1

When I have a terrible day and everything goes wrong, I raise my hand to heaven and say, “I am blessed.”

When someone asks me how I am, I say, “I am blessed.”

Just saying I am blessed, lifts my spirits so that I can see beyond what is happening at the moment, and that God has blessed me in many ways. The greatest blessing is that Jesus is my Lord, Master and Savior.

The Wise Seek Knowledge

 

The mind of the prudent acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.

Proverbs 18:15

Every now and then we find ourselves in a situation which we no nothing about and have not idea what we should do.  When this happens I say, "I am in a foreign country. I don't know the language or the customs. And, I have no clue what to do."  

But, you know what?  God sends people into my life that can help guide me through and who don't judge, but just care for me in my time of need.   

God puts people in our path who will help us. We just need to be humble enough to accept help and be grateful. 

Do What Needs To Be Done

 

Jesus said, “And who of you by being worried can add a single day to his life?”

“So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

Matthew 6:27, 34

Anxiety is paralyzing. It destroys our ability to do the things we need to do. It creates a barrier between us and those we care about, and us and God, who cares for us.

Worry does not solve anything, and can make things much worse because when we are worrying we are not working on anything positive.

The cure for worry is activity – prayer, thanksgiving and doing what needs to be done.

God Has Big Plans For Us

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and those whom He predestined, He also called and those whom He called, He also justified, and those whom He justified, He also glorified.

Romans 8:28-30

Wow! Knowing this is God’s plan and promise for us, how can we doubt that God is on our side? He not only promises to take care of us, He explains His plan for us.

We are not mere blips on God’s creation radar. We, being each and every one of us, are major players in God’s plan. God knew us from the beginning and He wants all of us to come to know Him as He knows us.

God has big plans for us.

Not To Please Ourselves

We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.

Romans 15:1-2

Every now and then we see someone who has taken on a job that is too big for them to do.  It may be putting a new roof on their house, with a pile of shingles sitting in the front yard for weeks on end.  Sometimes it is poor financial decisions that leave people broke.  Still others need help because of an addiction.

We as Christians have an obligation to offer help.  The roof might not be too hard - if we can find people willing to do the job out of the goodness of their hearts.  Other things like financial or addiction problems or other problems that require more help than we are capable of giving, mean we can direct people to those agencies equipped to help solve those problems, and at the same time, we can extend our support through prayer and kindness.

God does not expect us to sit on the sidelines, He expects us to take action.  So, do something. 

 

 

God Is On Our Side

 

Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Everyday life can grind us down if we only look at things that are happening at the moment.  Everybody has problems and sometimes suffer because of things beyond their control.  

But we are encouraged to look beyond the moment and to God for renewal of our spirit.  When we look to God we see that what is happening right now, is not reflective of our relationship with God and our salvation.

God's plans for us are eternal and He renews us every day.  God is on our side. 

Love Mankind

 

This commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.

1 John 4:21

Being a Christian is all about loving mankind. We are to love those who are the least lovable and extend a hand of fellowship to them.

How else will they come to know Jesus if we do not show them the way by first loving them and second, by sharing the Gospel?

Serving Others

For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in…

Mathew 25:35

My Mother's family was very poor.  She often talked about having nothing to eat but corn meal mush - porridge for breakfast and fried for supper.  But, she said they never went hungry.

One year at Thanksgiving time, the local doctor came to visit and gave them a bushel of apples and a turkey.  It was such a great treat for the family.  My Uncle Bill said they he thought he had died and gone to heaven to have such food.  

For many of us, food is not a problem, but we need to remember for many people around the world and maybe even the people next door, that food is scarce.  Jesus reminds us one way to serve him is to care for others and providing food to others is a way to do this.  

So, when we go to the store, we can buy a few extra things and donate them to the local food pantry or even just leave them on the door step of someone who we think is in need.   

By serving others, we serve God. 

 

In All Things

Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

Philippians 4:11-13

The Apostles faced many difficulties.  They knew what it was like to be rejected, to be hungry and to be ill.  In all these things they trusted God and found strength to keep going.

We too sometimes face difficult times and we can take comfort knowing that in all things God is with us and will see us through.

Our strength is not in ourselves, but in God's love and care for us.

Be brave, keep going.   

 

Try A Little Kindness

 

To the contrary, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Romans 12:20-21

This is a tall order and completely contrary to our human nature.  But it goes to heart of the Gospel.

We are servants of God and it is our assignment to do our best to represent the love of God in the world.  This means that sometimes we have to go out of our way to be kind to people who we think do not deserve kindness.  

It is, after all, more important to do the right thing than to be right.

Be kind. 

A Touchy Subject

My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

 

James 5:19-20

Talking to someone about their sin is a touchy subject.  They may get mad or they may say that we are not so hot ourselves.  The problem is the Bible does not say we are to be perfect, the Bible says we are to love one another.  We do not demonstrate the love of God by watching someone destroy their life. 

We are not to jump on people with accusations.  We are to help turn them around.  We act in love by offering the salvation message of Jesus.  Then we let God do the rest.

 

Be A Cheerleader

 

Do not judge so that you will not be judged. “For the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye?”

“You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”

Matthew 7:1-5

Jesus was serious when it came to teaching good human relations. He wanted us to know that we cannot win people to the Gospel, if we beat them up by pointing out all their character flaws. And, that the truth is that we all have plenty of flaws which need fixing because people are not perfect.

Jesus wants us to love others unconditionally. And, generously share the Gospel message with everyone.

It is when people receive Jesus as their Lord, Master and Savior that the life transforming work of God begins. And, our part in it is to be there as their cheerleaders.