The Rewards of Obedience!

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The Law of the Lord is perfect; it gives us new life. His teachings last forever, and they give wisdom to ordinary people. The Lord’s instruction is right; it makes our hearts glad. His commands shine brightly, and they give us light. Worshiping the Lord is sacred; he will always be worshiped. All his decisions are correct and fair. They are worth more than the finest gold and are sweeter than honey from a honeycomb.

By your teachings, Lord, I am warned; by obeying them, I am greatly rewarded.

Psalm 19:7-11

A little child learns that obeying his parents will help him avoid the painful hand of correction!  It is the first reason a toddler is obedient and doesn’t run into the street!  But as he grows he begins to see the blessing of not being hit by a car!  If the child is wise, he will eventually see that being obedient to his parents is the pathway to a happy and blessed life on this earth!

When you begin your Christian life, obedience may be an attempt to avoid the “painful hand” of God’s correction!  But as you grow as a follower of Jesus, you will come to see the great rewards that come from doing exactly what God says you should do!  

So as you read the Word of God and see the things that God says you should do, ask Him to show you the blessing and the reward of being obedient to that command!  When you look at the joys of being obedient instead of just the punishment for not obeying you will enter a new room of peace and contentment in your walk with Jesus!

“Lord Jesus, help me to see more today of the beauty and joy of being obedient to Your every Word.  May You, Jesus be praised forever.  Amen.”

Run for Cover!

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The other men tried to find something wrong with the way Daniel did his work for the king. But they could not accuse him of anything wrong, because he was honest and faithful and did everything he was supposed to do.  Finally, they said to one another, “We will never be able to bring any charge against Daniel, unless it has to do with his religion.”

They all went to the king and said: “Your Majesty, we hope you live forever! All of your officials, leaders, advisors, and governors agree that you should make a law forbidding anyone to pray to any god or human except you for the next 30 days. Everyone who disobeys this law must be thrown into a pit of lions.

Daniel 6:4-7

The men who tried to destroy Daniel did not lie to the king.  They simply encouraged the king to make a law that they knew Daniel would not obey!  Until now I have never noticed the “integrity” of those who had Daniel thrown into a pit of lions.  In their country, they knew that simply lying about Daniel would not suffice.  Truth must have been critically important in their society.  

But today, the father of lies has so moved on the whole world, that lying has no consequences even at the highest level of leaders!  When truth is abandoned, everyone becomes his or her own standard of right and wrong!

What then can the God fearing man or woman do?  The answer is simple:  RUN FOR COVER!  Run for the cover of God Almighty.  Let God be your armor and shield.  Hide under the shelter of His wings!  And most importantly, let God be your protector.  If you strike out at evil be sure it is at the command of the Holy Spirit and not out of fear!

“Lord Jesus, You are the Way the Truth and the Life, but we have given up on Truth as we spread and listen to lies.  Protect those who love and follow You and keep us safe as we wait for Your return.  May You, Jesus be praised forever.  Amen.”   

Mountain Top Temptation!

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Then I was told:  These words are true and can be trusted. The Lord God controls the spirits of his prophets, and he is the one who sent his angel to show his servants what must happen very soon.  Remember, I am coming soon! God will bless everyone who pays attention to the message of this book. My name is John, and I am the one who heard and saw these things. Then after I had heard and seen all this, I knelt down and began to worship at the feet of the angel who had shown it to me.  But the angel said, Don't do that! I am a servant, just like you. I am the same as a follower or a prophet or anyone else who obeys what is written in this book. God is the one you should worship.

Revelation 22:6-9

It is thrilling to read the words of the Book of Revelation.  Can you imagine what it would have been like for John to receive this Revelation from an Angel?  It was a “mountain top” experience unlike any other!  

But then, John while still in the presence of the Angel fell down and worshiped the messenger instead of the God who sent him.  From our perspective it seems impossible that the Apostle John would do such a thing.  But when you are at the pinnacle of your spiritual walk, you must be careful not to worship the one who led you to that experience. 

The missionary who brought you the Gospel message and the christians who sent him are not to be worshipped.  The evangelist who proclaimed a soul stirring message that touched the heart of just what you needed in your walk with Jesus, must not be the object of your worship!   

We can even be tempted to worship the Bible itself and make it more important than the One who inspired the message it contains! 

So, when your knees are ready to bend in worship, pause long enough to ensure that you are falling down to worship God and no one else!  It is the greatest temptation when you are on the mountain top!

“Lord Jesus, You are the only one who has ever walked this earth and is worthy of praise and worship.  Give me the strength to always worship You and the Father and no one else!  May You be praised forever.  Amen.”

No Charges!

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If you belong to Christ Jesus, you won't be punished. The Holy Spirit will give you life that comes from Christ Jesus and will set you free from sin and death. The Law of Moses cannot do this, because our selfish desires make the Law weak. But God set you free when he sent his own Son to be like us sinners and to be a sacrifice for our sin. God used Christ's body to condemn sin. He did this, so that we would do what the Law commands by obeying the Spirit instead of our own desires.

People who are ruled by their desires think only of themselves. Everyone who is ruled by the Holy Spirit thinks about spiritual things. If our minds are ruled by our desires, we will die. But if our minds are ruled by the Spirit, we will have life and peace. 

Romans 8:1-6

The director of the Federal Bureau of Investigations in the U.S. detailed a long list of potential and real criminal violations of law by one Presidential candidate and then declared that no charges will be recommended to the Attorney General of the United States!  The cry was heard across the land: “Why would someone, so obviously guilty, not be charged?”

The answer to that question is yet to be known, but it must have something to do with “who she knows!”

Christians are people who, even though they are guilty of sin, are not charged with those sins and do not have to suffer the punishment for them!  The reason Christians are not punished for their sins is Jesus Christ!  If you know Jesus and are a Jesus Follower, then you will not be held accountable for your sins!  

You see, Christians are not better than other people, Christians are sinners who follow Jesus and are being changed into His likeness!  If you try by your own power to be perfect, you will never make it.  But if you follow Jesus Christ and let the Holy Spirit remake your heart so that even your heart looks like Jesus, then everyday you will become more like Him in every way!

“Lord Jesus, I know I can never be declared innocent because of the deeds that I have done, but I can be perfect before the Father because of what You did on the Cross.  May Your Name be praised forever.  Amen.”

Wisdom and Knowledge!

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With great understanding, Wisdom is calling out as she stands at the crossroads and on every hill. She stands by the city gate where everyone enters the city, and she shouts: “I am calling out

to each one of you! Good sense and sound judgment can be yours.

Listen, because what I say is worthwhile and right. I always speak the truth and refuse to tell a lie. Every word I speak is honest, not one is misleading or deceptive.”

“If you have understanding, you will see that my words are just what you need. Let instruction and knowledge mean more to you than silver or the finest gold. Wisdom is worth much more than precious jewels or anything else you desire.”

Proverbs 8:1-11

Sometimes we confuse intelligence with wisdom.  You can have lots of knowledge and perhaps know more than anyone on earth and still be foolish.  It is not how much you know that makes you wise.  It is rather whether or not you can discern truth from falsehood.  A wise man may not have much knowledge and a foolish man may know more than many others.  

When a foolish man pursues knowledge he makes himself no wiser!  My grandmother would tell me that some people with degrees in higher education are simply “educated fools!”

There is some wisdom that can be had by simply living in this world.  A child who burns his hand in the fire becomes wise enough not to do that again.  When you suffer the consequences of bad behavior you can become wise and not repeat the action that caused you pain.  

The greatest wisdom comes directly from God Himself.  And the way to get such wisdom is to ask God for it!  Often when you ask God for wisdom, He will give you more wisdom than you requested!  In truth, Knowledge and Education give you questions and God gives you the Wisdom you need to deal with your information and education!  

It is a good thing to pursue knowledge, if you add the wisdom that comes from God to it!  Then you will be a man or woman ready to do the Will of God in every situation!

“Lord Jesus, give me the wisdom to handle the things that I know in the world today!  Show me what it means to be wise in a foolish world!  And may You, Jesus be praised forever.  Amen.”

Heaven is My Home!

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From Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus. God chose me to be an apostle, and he appointed me to preach the good news that he promised long ago by what his prophets said in the holy Scriptures. This good news is about his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ! As a human, he was from the family of David. But the Holy Spirit proved that Jesus is the powerful Son of God, because he was raised from death. Jesus was kind to me and chose me to be an apostle, so that people of all nations would obey and have faith. You are some of those people chosen by Jesus Christ. This letter is to all of you in Rome. God loves you and has chosen you to be his very own people. I pray that God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ will be kind to you and will bless you with peace!

Romans 1:1-7

Jesus became what you are so that you can become what He is!  The Good News of Jesus Christ will be completed in your life when you stand before the throne of God and fall down to worship Him forever! 

Everything that happens on this earth is a stepping stone on the path to that goal!  When you close your eyes in death and open them to the glory of the throne room in Heaven you will understand everything!  Even though you could not be saved without the Cross, it is not the Cross that we worship!  We worship the One who hung on that Cross!  It is not the resurrection of Jesus that we adore.  We adore the One who was resurrected.   

Many Christians are like Abraham would have been had he stopped on the way to the Promised Land and decided he would go no further!  Wherever you are in your walk with Jesus on this earth, never forget that there is more, much more!  The goal is not a happy, fulfilled and peaceful life on this earth as a follower of Jesus.  The goal is being with Jesus forever in Heaven!   Until you are there with Him, you have not arrived!

“Lord Jesus, help me to be contented and at peace with You today, but not with the world around me.  As someone once wrote: ‘This world is not my home, I am just passing through.’  Lord, may that Day come soon, when I will stand before Your throne and be with You, face to face forever.  Amen.”

Pray Your Worries Away!

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Always be glad because of the Lord! I will say it again: Be glad.  Always be gentle with others. The Lord will soon be here.  Don't worry about anything, but pray about everything. With thankful hearts offer up your prayers and requests to God.  Then, because you belong to Christ Jesus, God will bless you with peace that no one can completely understand. And this peace will control the way you think and feel.  Finally, my friends, keep your minds on whatever is true, pure, right, holy, friendly, and proper. Don't ever stop thinking about what is truly worthwhile and worthy of praise.

Philippians 4:4-8

When you pray about everything, you will worry about nothing!  Prayer is not an attempt to “figure out” what you should do, it is rather the calm submission of your needs to Almighty God.  You cannot ask God for something that He cannot give you!  The only limits on God’s generosity come from His love for His children and His desire that “all things work together for good.”  

If you had a million dollars deposited in every bank in the world would you know for certain that the banks will not fail and you lose everything you have?  But if you have the love of God and His care and mercy promised by Jesus Christ Himself you can “know for certain” that His love and care will never fail!  

Recently I met a man who, when asked if he was a Christian answered, “I used to be!”  What he meant was that he had given up on trusting God and had returned to the world and it’s worries!  

When you pray and fully trust the Lord in everything, your heart will be at rest and the peace that goes beyond anyone’s understanding will fill every place in your heart that used to worry!  With the riches of this world come many cares and worries, but the riches of God’s Spirit bring total and complete peace!

“Lord Jesus, help me today to worry about nothing and to pray about everything, so that my heart may be at peace with You.  And may You, Jesus be praised forever.  Amen!”