Stay alert! Watch out! In His Word- 6-25-18

Stay alert! Watch out! In His Word- 6-25-18

Sometimes we can see the problems of life coming at us but what about the times when things seem to be going smooth? Do you know that when things are going well it is easier to slip up and make the wrong choices than when things are going awry?

When we are in the midst of a storm we have more tendency to cry out for help but when we do the right thing, we complete the task, we think we are pretty confident in ourselves; then the enemy has us right where he wants us!  

Think about it. When you turn in a great project or proposal and get tons of pats on the back; you think you did it! Guess what? You did! Guess what again? God did it through you; for greater is He that is in you than who is in the world. So give God the glory when things are going right and thank God for keeping them going!  

The ideas, the colors, the designs… thank God for them and give Him the glory; then accept that He used you for doing it and say thanks!

photo by Bill Anderson 

In the same way, you who are younger must accept the authority of the elders. And all of you dress yourselves in humility as you relate to one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”       So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. 

 Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are. In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation. All power to him forever! Amen.

1 Peter 3:5-11

For if God is with us no thing can stand against us!

We need to remember that sometimes when we go and do a thing for God the enemy looks for the pride in our heart to pull on and make it all about us. 

We need to be sure we are ‘prayed up’ before entering into a mission or ministry; seek God for direction and guidance so that your heart may remain right in His presence the whole time. Then when you return and things get out of hand you can remember the wisdom from the Word of God.

For wisdom will enter your heart and knowledge will fill you with joy. Wise choices will watch over you. Understanding will keep you safe.  Wisdom will save you from evil people, from those whose words are twisted. Proverbs 2:10-12

Do not mock His words, remember that you need His Word to keep you strong and holy. Pray and read daily and then you will become the man or woman of God that He intends us to be!

The Lord mocks the mockers
    but is gracious to the humble. Proverbs 3:34

Dear Heaveny Father, help us to accept the thanks but remain humble unto you, IN Jesus name amen.

Suggested reading: Proverbs 3:1-22, 1 Peter 3:1-22 Psalm 121:1-8  and 1 Peter 1:1-22.

Do you get it? In His Word 6-18-18

Do you get it? In His Word 6-18-18

Sometimes we read the Bible through in a year and we get the eye knowledge that we actually did it. Good for us! We have accomplished more than many who went on before us. But did you get it?

Did you get the message?

So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers^[a] does not belong to God ¹¹ This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another. ¹² We must not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because Cain had been doing what was evil, and his brother had been doing what was righteous 1 John 3:10-12

What did you read? Did you get the message? From the beginning God has been telling us to love one another; Cain did not love his brother thus he killed him. So, is that why he killed him? Pretty much, he did not have love, and we know where love comes from because we know love.

⁶ We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.⁷ Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. ⁸ He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.1 John 4:6-8

The whole Bible is written so that we can know God, when  we think we have read the Word of God and still cannot share what we have learned… did we really get it?

Or did we just read through it like we used to do when we were assigned so many pages of a chapter in school?  I want to challenge you this year to really read the Word, really get the Word… then to write down what you got from it!

Did you learn something about God? Did you get an application that you can use in your life right now? Did you find forgiveness from your sins; or are you able to forgive someone else? The Bible words have been written by God inspired writers some of whom have touched God Himself on earth in the form of Jesus.

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.² The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.³ We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. ⁴ We write this to make our joy complete.

⁵ This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. ⁶ If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. ⁷ But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all  sin.

⁸ If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.1 John 1:1-10

If they have written to proclaim forgiveness of sins and salvation of our souls should we not write out what we have received that someday someone may read it and grow closer to God or even come to know Him through the thoughts we had when we read His Words in our Bibles?  I will let you know a secret; not only writers keep journals!  People who would never let someone else read their words when they were alive will write for years in notebooks never showing anyone; but when they are gone they change people’s lives! 

The proof is in the letters to the people in Bible time.

Those letters became our Word of God! 

It is pretty amazing. Imagine if something you wrote about that God showed you while you read His Word, your Bible, changed someone’s life in the future? It means that life will go on learning the Words from God. Now I am not saying to rewrite the Bible but I am saying write the scriptures, then write a little note about it, or a letter to God thanking Him for showing you the words. Then stop and think about it!

The Bible is not just here to give us a good yearly plan to read, it is here to enrich our lives with the Truth!

Why? So we can enrich the lives of others with the Truth!  You guessed it, then they can and their people can etc and soon the whole world will know… even the uttermost parts of the earth!

So tomorrow when you read your daily reading stop and think about it! Either write it down or don’t but be sure you think on it for a while and figure out why God put it there.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for giving us the Word of God so that we can ‘get it’ and receive the cleansing and salvation you have for us!  Help us to pass it on and to take ‘Selah moments’ every day! Help us to share what we learned in word or deed; in Jesus’name amen.

Suggested reading: 1 John 1:1-10, 1 John 2:1-28, 1 John 3:1-24 and 1 John 4:1-21.

TeresaWilson.com: That time of year again… In His Word 6-11-2018

TeresaWilson.com: That time of year again… In His Word 6-11-2018: That time of year again… In His Word 6-11-2018 IT seems that every year about this time things tend to get really busy in our ...

That time of year again… In His Word 6-11-2018

That time of year again… In His Word 6-11-2018

IT seems that every year about this time things tend to get really busy in our homes. There are end of the school year events, pic nics start up, sports, and just plain enjoying the home grown gardens can fill our days and nights!

The thing is, with all of this event planning and gathering together to do all these fun things that we sometimes forget that we are here to share His good news!

We shout for our kids games, we whoop it u for our new family members or enjoy the blessings that God has given us; but do we give Him thanks for it?

Is it wrong to be busy? Of course not but lets look in the Word to see what it says about being busy for the Lord and for ourselves.

Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths, and my age is as nothing before You; certainly every man at his best state is but vapor. Selah
 Surely every man walks about like a shadow;
Surely they busy themselves in vain; He heaps up riches, and does not know who will gather them.  “And now, Lord, what do I wait for?
My hope is in You. Psalm 39:5-7

 

We acknowledge that God is the one who makes our days and yet we do not always remember what the Psalmist wrote about the length of our days, that we are so small of a drop in the bucket. We are only a piece of the puzzle called the world. We are only a portion of the Family of God, we need to bring in the other people so they too can draw near to Him.

Sometimes we are so busy trying to get ahead financially, or working hard to get caught up that we forget to give God the glory and the thanks for what He has given us.

 And it is a good thing to receive wealth from God and the good health to enjoy it. To enjoy your work and accept your lot in life—this is indeed a gift from God.  God keeps such people so busy enjoying life that they take no time to brood over the past. Ecclesiastes 5:19-20

It is okay to work hard and get a good amount of money; we just need to remember where it really comes from.

It is a good thing to remember who gives us wealth, and health, and that it is good to enjoy it!  Rejoice when the days are here for us to enjoy fun events, but remember that it is God who gave us such days. He even encouraged the children of Isreal to gather together and have feasts and celebrations; to celebrate the good things He had done.

So does this mean it is wrong to just have fun? No, because we are to live a life pleasing to the Lord and share the Gospel of Christ with those around us. If we only did things like going to church, doing our prayer an Bible study time, but did not go having fun times with our friends and families how would we draw them to Christ?

I want you to know how much I have agonized for you and for the church at Laodicea, and for many other believers who have never met me personally. ² I want them to be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love. I want them to have complete confidence that they understand God’s mysterious plan, which is Christ himself.³ In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Colossians 2:1-3

And in understanding the truth, or true treasure of wisdom and knowledge we can then share with those who are on the outside looking in.

There is a song called ‘Shine’ that talks about people wondering ‘what we’ve got, and wishing they were not on the outside looking bored’… I love this song because it gives me the full picture of what Christians should do when we are out and about as groups; make those who do not yet know the truth and the love of Christ to wonder what it is that gives us such joy. Make them want to be part of our groups!

Then we are walking like Christ walked. Think for a moment of the throngs of people who met Jesus in groups and crowds seeking to know who this Man Jesus was!  If only we could have so much fun on group outings that we pull them in the same way that He did; love them to the truth with joy unspeakable!

We should gather together with a purpose, and invite the world to see that our true purpose is to rejoice in God our Savior and Lord and that having fun with one another is just one way to do that!

Be active this summer, gather together and rejoice in Him wherever you go and what ever you do remember that He is with you in all that you do! Act like Jesus, spread the Good News with all who will hear!

Dear heavenly father, help us to celebrate our events with the remembrance that You are there with us! Help us to be in the world but not of the world in our celebrations and to leave those who are not part of our groups wishing they were part of the fun: that they will be eager to hear of Your Salvation and Love! In Jesus name, amen.  

Suggested reading  Colossians 1:1-29, Colossians 2:1-23, Colossians 3:1-25 and Psalm 39:1-13.

TeresaWilson.com: Who was He? in His Word 6-4-18

TeresaWilson.com: Who was He? in His Word 6-4-18: Who was He? In His Word   6-4-18 While reading today in the Word of God I realized something, I mean, I had read it before but it stoo...

Who was He? in His Word 6-4-18

Who was He? In His Word  6-4-18

While reading today in the Word of God I realized something, I mean, I had read it before but it stood out to me today; they excommunicated a min who was miraculously healed from blindness.

My first thought was “What where they thinking? If someone was miraculously healed it had to be of God!”

Although after re-reading a few times I realized that the people who did not believe were actually blinded to the truth. I found that ironic!

The blind saw and the sight was taken from the leaders who could only see I the physical.

 Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.  I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.  As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” John 9:1-5

Jesus knew of course that they would not believe. And he knew they would be asking about it; He probably purposefully did not give the now seeing man his name.

 When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. And He said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing. Therefore the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was blind said, “Is not this he who sat and begged?”

Some said, “This is he.” Others said,   “He is like him.”

He said, “I am he.”

Therefore they said to him, “How were your eyes opened?”                             He answered and said, “A Man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed, and I received sight.”  Then they said to him, “Where is He?”

He said, “I do not know.”

They brought him who formerly was blind to the Pharisees. Now it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. Then the Pharisees also asked him again how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.”

Therefore some of the Pharisees said, “This Man is not from God, because He does not  keep the Sabbath.”

Others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them.

 They said to the blind man again, “What do you say about Him because He opened your eyes?”

He said, “He is a prophet.” John 9:6-17

Who was this man who could do that which God could do and heal? Do you not just want to go back I time and tell them “Hello? Do you know your own scriptures?”

If we are honest with ourselves today we could ask ourselves the same questions; who is the one who heals us when we are sick? Is it a doctor? Or is it really God?

Was it not God who gave the doctors knowledge to know how to do things?

Is not God capable of doing things like this as well today? Yes He is!

I have been healed without knowledge of how or why before, aside from the faith of a few close friends there is no reason to my knowledge of why God chose to heal my torn rotator cuff. Still it baffled the surgeon who could not find the tear that was clearly there before we prayed!

Sometimes Doctors will be sure that someone got the wrong information before they will accept that it was an act of God. My doctor just wasn’t sure. He just could not find it, and the nurse came to see me after and allowed me to testify of it. Is this something I should share? Yes for sure! God heals us today! Also some may ask why I had surgery if it was healed. There were other issues from a former pedestrian vs car accident that came out during their search for the tear; they found a broken bone fragment floating around. They removed it and fixed another bone issue while there! I would have suffered with pain from those two things for much longer than the healing of the tear if they had found one!

My God is able today to heal us! Sometimes it takes time, mud or water but sometimes it is in an instant when we touch the hem of His garment.

Who was he? Who was this Man called Jesus? The same God He is today!  He can an d will heal today if we but have the faith to trust Him to do so!

All they did was ask!

Dear heavenly Father, have mercy on us today and forgive us our doubts and heal us. Open our hearts, minds, and our eyes to see. In Jesus name, amen.

Suggested reading: John 9:1-41, Psalm 119:1-176. Mark 6:1-56