Philippians 4: 8
Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.
When we ask Jesus to come into our lives as our Savior, He will do more than just rescue us from eternal damnation. He will be present with us each day; revealing the love of God, bringing us joy, hope, peace, and new vision and understanding. By His Spirit we will discover what is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely and good character in others. If there is anything of excellence and worthy of praise, He will reveal it and it will draw us into praise.
Mundane days become days of worship. Chores and daily tasks become ways to worship and show God honor. As we discover the good things that God surrounds us with, He will add to our ability to see more and more of the excellence He blesses us with. .
During these Covid-19 isolation days I have been doing a lot of walking. I decided that I would start picking up trash as I walk to make my walks purposeful and to honor God by showing my appreciation for His creation. I have discovered that as I walk the same path day after day, there is always trash to pick up. What surprises me is that even though I am retracing my steps, I continue to find trash which has been there for days, weeks, and probably months that I had not seen before. Perhaps the sun will reflect off a can or bottle that catches my eye or a breeze will cause a piece of paper or plastic to move revealing trash I had never noticed before.
I know that God is teaching me that if I am seeking to honor Him, He will help me to discover and reward my efforts. It sounds crazy and I am not going to try to explain the joy and sense of enjoyment I get when I find the trash that was missed before but found today. I also know He will help me to see the goodness in people and the world around me in a new way...seeing goodness and excellence which I never noticed before. I feel a nearness to God and a pleasing presence that I cannot explain. It just encourages me to Dwell On These Things!
Discover and Proclaim the Truth of The Bible which is: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life." (John 3:16 NRSV). Jesus came to humanity to proclaim and give evidence to that love and He has commanded us to do the same. We, who believe, must not merely be followers, but we must be proclaimers of the Gospel Message and we can only do that by being filled with the love of God.
Friday, April 24, 2020
Tuesday, March 31, 2020
"My Peace I Give To You"
John 14:27 New International Version (NIV)
Jesus said,
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."
At this time when the world is facing the Covid-19 Pandemic, peacefulness has been lost to stress, fear, uncertainty, and far too often hopelessness. Universally we are learning that governments of the world cannot deliver the solutions and confidence to overcome the stress and fear. This pandemic does not respect national boundaries or racial distinctions. As we see on the news reports, all the peoples of the world are battling the same enemy and facing the same challenges and losses. Death and illness is indiscriminate.
Jesus knew that we would have these kinds of challenges and attacks in our lives, so when He rose from death and took His place in heaven, He gave His Spirit to those who believe in Him. He promised that He would "never leave us nor fore sake us". By His Spirit, He walks beside us as we travel though the challenges and trials of life. His motivation is His Love for us all. Like this pandemic, His love crosses all national boundaries and all races. Jesus came to the world for the whole world.
If you call on Jesus and believe that He loves you and wants to have a relationship with you...forgiven of your sins and seeking His righteousness, He will live within you by His Spirit.
John 3:16 New International Version (NIV)
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Friday, October 25, 2019
The Book of Isaiah
We have been struggling with our study of the Book of Isaiah. We are about 1/3 of the way through it and it has been a very laborious journey. We finished chapter 23 and we had to pause and ask why these chapters are in the Bible. Is God showing us how he could predict the future through His Prophet Isaiah. It's easy to start to look at the historic evidence and stop there, but that same evidence can be found in other Books of the Bible. This week, we asked how this can serve us today and we concluded, that through His Prophet we get to look through the eyes of God Himself and see the world as he sees it.
God, through Isaiah, pointed to all the nations surrounding Judah and warned the Jews of the judgment that was coming to all those nations. He was warning the Jews not to adopt the ways of the world and turn their backs to God as the Northern tribes in Israel had done. That same warning applies to us today. God judges nations and therefore it is vitally important who the leaders of the nations are. God tells us to submit to our government, so if we elect non-believers, people who do not acknowledge Jesus as Savior, Son of God, and Redeemer, then we are agreeing to follow leaders who will lead us away from God.
The Church must embrace the teachings of the Bible which will help us to see the temptations of the world for what they are, and to hear the warnings that God shares through His Spirit. One other thing that has become evident through our study of Isaiah is that God is bigger that we can fathom and we fail to recognize His magnificence, His providence, and His love for us. He will judge the world and He wants us to be judged in the righteousness of Christ.
God, through Isaiah, pointed to all the nations surrounding Judah and warned the Jews of the judgment that was coming to all those nations. He was warning the Jews not to adopt the ways of the world and turn their backs to God as the Northern tribes in Israel had done. That same warning applies to us today. God judges nations and therefore it is vitally important who the leaders of the nations are. God tells us to submit to our government, so if we elect non-believers, people who do not acknowledge Jesus as Savior, Son of God, and Redeemer, then we are agreeing to follow leaders who will lead us away from God.
The Church must embrace the teachings of the Bible which will help us to see the temptations of the world for what they are, and to hear the warnings that God shares through His Spirit. One other thing that has become evident through our study of Isaiah is that God is bigger that we can fathom and we fail to recognize His magnificence, His providence, and His love for us. He will judge the world and He wants us to be judged in the righteousness of Christ.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)