Do you find yourself acting without thinking at times? I do. The results are not so desirable are they?
Check out this Scripture.
Don't act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do. ~ Ephesians 5:17, NLT
Do you think things would go a lot smoother if we practiced thinking and not acting until we understand what Jesus wants us to do?
How would our lives change?
How would other’s perception of us change?
gaj
Check this out in the Word of God.
(James 4:13-17 NIV) "Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." {14} Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. {15} Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." {16} As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. {17} Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins."
Opportunity to do good abounds today. We don’t have to look far. We can make a difference in our cities today.
Is it possible for us to plan too far ahead and miss doing good today?
gaj
Jesus did not come to mix the old and the new but to bring new life to all who will follow Him.
(Luke 5:37-38 NIV) "And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. {38} No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins."
(2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV) "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"
So are you a mixed drink or some mighty fine wine?
gaj
Faith is all about believing in what we can’t see. The devil constantly tries to get us to focus on what we can see because he knows what faith can do. Don’t fall for his tactics. Stay focused on Jesus. He will build your faith.
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. -- 2 Corinthians 4:18
How do you stay focused?
gaj
Thousands of years ago cities were fortified with walls. This was their defense against invaders. The inhabitants of the cities could go to sleep at night knowing that they were safe. If the walls were broken down, invaders could raid the city taking hostage and even killing the inhabitants.
God’s Word says (Proverbs 25:28 NIV) "Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control."
With no self control, a person leaves themselves open to attack. They are vulnerable to fall into the same traps and make the same bad choices that have gotten them in trouble in the past.
The enemy of our soul knows our weaknesses. He has watched us and knows what temptations we have given into in the past. He knows where the walls of our defense are weak and will hit us there time and time again. Anger, pride, lust, gluttony, jealousy, gossip, addictions, an uncontrolled tongue are just some of many weaknesses people have to deal with daily.
What is one to do? Without supernatural help, one is on their own. I have often times tried to overcome on my own only to fail and fall for the same tactics of the enemy of my soul. I have ended up frustrated and depressed.
I have found a better way. A way that helps me be strong in my weaknesses. It is relying on God’s help. God’s Word says (2 Timothy 1:7 NIV) "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline."
You may be living in fear today of falling again. You know your weakness. The devil knows your weakness. You need supernatural help. Rely on God and as you follow Christ, He gives you supernatural power to overcome temptation and be strong in weaknesses. He gives you supernatural love that helps you even love your enemies. And He gives you supernatural self-discipline that’s like a city whose walls are strong. You can sleep well at night knowing that you are protected from all invaders that the enemy of your soul may bring your way.
Control self by relying on God.
Amen!
gaj
Have you ever heard a promise from a person or a company that sounded too good to be true. With all of the broken promises it's easy to grow cynical in our day and we learn that if it sounds too good to be true that it probably is. God's Word is full of promises and you can stand on every one of them. Dwight L. Moody said that "God never made a promise that was too good to be true."
A promise of God that is close to my heart today came from the lips of Jesus who talked about what times would be like in our day and said (Matthew 24:12-13 NIV) "Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, {13} but he who stands firm to the end will be saved."
I stand on that promise today. Life is an endurance race and not a sprint. Jesus builds our faith and that gives us the stamina to stand firm and endure until the end. Jesus is the author and the perfecter of our faith! As He perfects our faith, our love for Him and for others becomes red hot!
What favorite God promise is close to your heart today?
gaj
John the apostle wrote a letter to church people and not to the unchurched. There were people in his day that were trying to lead church people astray. He is very plain about why he is writing the letter and who he is writing it to. Here are his words: (1 John 2:26 NIV) "I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray." (1 John 5:13 NIV) "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life."
Check out how he ends the letter. His very last sentence says (1 John 5:21 NIV) "Dear children, keep yourselves from idols."
Are there people in the church of our day that are leading people astray by getting their focus on idols instead of encouraging them to keep their focus fixed on JESUS?
What are the "idols" that we need to keep away from in our day?
Click on "comments" below and give your thoughts. Let's help each other stay focused on JESUS!
gaj
Check out this paragraph of Scripture:
(1 John 2:3-6 NIV) "We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. {4} The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. {5} But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: {6} Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did." (emphasis mine)
So Let's have a discussion. How did Jesus walk? Click on "comments" below and list what comes to your mind.
gaj
Living in the past will cost you something. Living in the past will keep you from fulfilling the future. God does not want us living in the past. He desires that we live in the present looking forward to the future. The best is yet to come!
This is what the Lord says, ... "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland." -- Isaiah 43:16,18-19
And always remember that God is the “I am” not the “I was”.
Just a thought….
gaj
This world is messed up! Trouble abounds. I’m so glad that my citizenship is not of this world. In the midst of trying to make a difference in this messed up world, I take heart in knowing that the One I follow has overcome and He will get me across the finish line. Awesome!
[Jesus said,] "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.
-- John 16:33
In the midst of trouble, what do you take heart in?
gaj
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