Monday, November 27, 2006


The Love Walk


The phrase "walk in love" expresses our entire relationship with God and mankind (Matt. 22:37-40).

Paul says: "Therefore be followers of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma" (Eph. 5:1-2).

Those who love God are followers (imitators) of God as His dear (beloved, dearly loved) children. The phrase as beloved children denotes that we are following God because of His love for us. And because God loved us, we love Him (1 Jn. 4:19). Therefore we imitate Him as dear children.

Now take a moment and think about God. Think about His goodness and mercy toward mankind. Think about His kindness, love, and grace. Think about His love to give Jesus as a sacrifice for our sins. And think about Jesus' love for us to die on the cross. To imitate God is to be like God thus to love (Matt. 5:43f) - God is love (1 Jn. 4:16). Jesus left an example for us (1 Pet. 2:2) and Paul commands us to imitate him as he imitates Christ (1 Cor. 11:1) whereby we imitate God

And he (Jesus) answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. (Luk 10:27)

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Thursday, November 23, 2006


THANKSGIVING



In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. (1 Thess. 5:18 KJV)


We are instructed to give thanks to God "in" everything, not "for" everything. Not all things that happen to us are good nor are they from God.

But even in the midst of the trial, in the midst of the struggle with pain or sickness, we can always give thanks to God for who He is and for what He is doing for us.

The Message Bible says: "Thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live."

It pleases God when I praise and thank Him for the fulfillment of His promises in my life, even before I see the results. The more I express my faith in God's ability to work all my issues out, and give thanks "in" everything, the better the results I experience.

I have found that the more I magnify God in my life with thanksgiving and praise, the more He magnifies Himself in my life with influence and power.

I will praise the name of God with a song, And will magnify him with thanksgiving. (Psa 69:30)

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Wednesday, November 22, 2006



THINK!!!!!!!


For as a man thinketh within himself, so is he: Pro 23:7


Your words, your dreams, and your thoughts have power to create conditions in your life. What you speak about, you can bring about.


Watch your Thoughts, they become Words.
Watch your Words, they become Actions.
Watch your Actions, they become Habits.
Watch your Habits, they become Character.
Watch your Character, for it becomes your Destiny.

In the search for Me, I discovered Truth.
In the search for Truth, I discovered Love.
In the search for Love, I discovered God.
And in God, I have found Everything.


Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honorable, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. (Phi 4:8)

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Saturday, November 18, 2006


The Nature of Temptation

1. The lust of the flesh
2. The lust of the eye
3. The pride of life




"But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." James 1:14-15 (KJV)

"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For ALL that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever." 1 John 2:15-17 (KJV)

Let's first deal with the word "lust". It comes from the Greek word "epithumia" which means "a forbidden longing or desire" ... in other words "an uncontrollable desire".

Jesus our Example - Matthew 4:1-11

Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. (Mat 4:1)

Notice: that Jesus was tempted in these three areas of life...the lust of the flesh, lust of the eye and pride of life

Lust Of The Flesh... Satan said to Jesus, "make these stones bread". After 40 days of fasting Jesus undoubtedly was hungry and weak. While it is no sin to be hungry and desire food, it would have been sinful for Jesus to use the powers that God had given to Him for selfish desires of the flesh.

Pride Of Life ... Satan put Jesus on a high building with the suggestion to "jump off and before you kill yourself God will send the angels to save you". The idea behind this temptation was that Jesus could have instant credibility...but He had to tempt God to save Him from a foolish act. In other words Satan said Show-Off!

Lust Of The Eye ... Satan took Jesus to a high mountain to show him the kingdoms of the earth. "All this I will give to you if you serve me..." Jesus was shown the wealth, power and glamour of the world where He could be rich, famous and powerful. The temptation 'see what you could have.'

(Hebrews 4:15) For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

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Wednesday, November 15, 2006



The Sunday School Lesson


Mat 18:3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

ENOCH

A little girl went to Sunday School one morning and when she came home her mother asked her "what did you learn in Sunday school today" the little girl answered "Teacher told us about Enoch and how he walked with God." Her mother said, "Well what about Enoch?" And this is what the little girl said to her mother.

It seems that one day God came by Enoch's house and said to Enoch, would you like to walk with Me? And Enoch came out of his house and down to the gate, and went walking with God. Everyday God would come by and ask Enoch if he wanted to go for a walk with Him. Enoch got to the place that he enjoyed it so much that he would be waiting at the gate of his house every day. And God would come along and say, "Enoch let's take a walk." Each day Enoch and God would walk farther and farther for God said "I have much to tell you". Then one day God came by and Enoch and God walked and talked so long that finally Enoch said, "My, it's getting late in the afternoon. I'd better get back home!" And God said to him, "Enoch, you're closer to My home than you are to your home so you come home with Me." And so Enoch went home with God.

Author: Unknown

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Saturday, November 11, 2006


What’s in a Name

The 12 Tribes of Isreal

1. Judah: object of praise
2. Isschar: there is reward
3. Zebulon: dwelling
4. Reuben: behold a son
5. Simeon: heard
6. Gad: good fortune
a. Levi: joined
7. Ephraim: doubly faithful
8. Manasseh: causing forgetfulness
9. Benjamin: son of the right hand
10. Dan: a judge
11. Asher: happy
12. Naphtali: wrestled for

When we read these name in the order of the above list then we fine:

In GOD the object of praise to them whom he has called. there is reward for them who diligently seek him. Behold a son is given and it was heard throughout the land, our good fortune that GOD had sent the son of his right had. God was doubly faithful in causing forgetfullness of our sins; in that while we were yet sinner he loved us. Now being joined with his dear son, he being a judge has judged us faithful whom he wrestled for from the hands of the enemy. For this cause we are happy as we look forward to dwelling with him forever in that place prepared for us.

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Thursday, November 09, 2006


WORSHIP

Keeping it Simple

If the purpose of our worship is to glorify, honor, praise, exalt, and please God. Our worship must show our adoration and loyalty to God. Jesus says in the book of John "God is Spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth." The word "must" makes it absolute. There is no other way we can worship God and be acceptable to Him. The word "must", according to Webster, expresses "an obligation, a requirement, a necessity, a certainty, and something that must be done". When "must" is used it means that it is not optional. Here the word "must" is expressing that in spirit and in truth is the only way to acceptably worship God.

Worshipping God in spirit to me means that it must be done from the heart. Worshipping God in truth to me means that it must be done with an honest and sincere attitude. Worship is a time when we pay deep, sincere, awesome respect, love, and fear to the one who created us. Worship should cause us to reflect on the majesty and graciousness of God, contrasted to our own unworthiness. It is not God who needs our worship, but it is we who need to worship Him. Worship helps us develop a God-like and Christ-like character. When we worship God we begin to value what God values and gradually take on the characteristics and qualities of God. When we worship God we develop such traits as forgiveness, tenderness, justice, righteousness, purity, kindness, and love.

There is a worship that involves the spirit, and worship that involves the mind, and a worship that involves the body. There is a worship that is giving praise upward, a worship that is receiving instructions from above, and a worship that carries out instruction in the world around us. It is directed to God. It is expressed by the lips in praise and by the life in service. It is personal between the individual believer and God.

Worship involves our entire relationship with God: our words, our attitudes, and our actions. Our words may be normal conversation, songs or prayers. In any style of speaking, we can declare God’s praises and express our faith reliance on him. We are to worship wherever we go, doing all things to God’s glory, praying always, giving thanks always, never ceasing to be a temple of the Holy Spirit.

NOTE: See comment section for a theological prospective for this article

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Tuesday, November 07, 2006

FEAR...


False
Evidence
Appearing
Real


F stands for FALSE. We cannot trust every person or spirit to be true. 1 John 4:1 says Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: Because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

E is for EVIDENCE. We must always check the facts. 1 TH 5:21 says Prove all things: hold fast that which is good.

A is for APPEARING. We must look beyond the natural with our spiritual eyes. John 7:24 says, Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.

R
is for REAL. We must be real as we seek for what is true. John 4:23 says But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the father in spirit and in truth: for the father seeketh such to worship him.

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Saturday, November 04, 2006

FAITH WORKS

You can't fulfill your destiny on a theory, it takes WORK. None of the secrets of success will work unless you do. You are made for action. Success simply takes good ideas and puts them to work. What the free enterprise system really means is that the more enterprising you are the more free you are.

Shakespeare once said: "Nothing can come of nothing." A belief is worthless unless converted into action. The Bible, a book of faith, talks about work over 500 times. Often, the simple answer to your problems is: go to work.

The only time a lazy person ever succeeds is when he tries to do nothing. Some say nothing is impossible, yet there are a lot of people doing nothing every day. Robert Half said it best: "Laziness is the secret ingredient that goes into failure, but it's only kept a secret from the person who fails."

"Striving for success without hard work is like trying to harvest where you haven't planted" (David Bly). What you believe doesn't amount to very much unless it causes you to wake up from your dream and start working. You cannot just dream yourself into what you could be.

Some do things while others sit around becoming experts on how things might be done. The world is divided into people who do things and people who talk about doing things. Belong to the first group, there is far less competition.

Jam 2:17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

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