1)
Ashamed of Jesus? (Romans 10:11)
Thought - You can count on Jesus!
Peter was ashamed of Jesus and yet he was a
true believer. How could this be? This particular Scripture is an Old Testament
quote from Isaiah 28:16 which reads "...he that believeth shall not make
haste." To "make haste"
means "to run away" (as in shame to hide). Many folks misunderstand Romans 10:11. It
simply means that if we trust upon Jesus Christ for salvation, He will not let
us down (i.e., we will not be ashamed of our faith, because Jesus will NOT fail
us). Jesus NEVER fails!
2) Don't
live with anxiety (Philippians 4:6-7)
Thought
- Don't worry, take everything to the Lord in prayer!
"Be careful for nothing; but in everything
by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known
unto God. And the peace of God, which
passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ
Jesus." What a beautiful
promise! The Greek word for
"Careful" means "anxious" (stress, anxiety). We are to be stressed out over NOTHING! We must take our burdens to the Lord, cast
them upon Him in prayer (1st Peter 5:7), and then forget about them (because
they are God's problems now). Do you
best and pray about the rest? Is this
what the Bible teaches? No, we are to
pray about EVERYTHING as we just read in Philippians 4:6. "Casting ALL your care upon him; for he
careth for you." (1st Peter 5:7)
3) In
everything give thanks (1st Thessalonians 5:18)
Thought - God commands us to be thankful
"IN" all things, not necessarily "FOR" all things.
"In everything give thanks: for this is
the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." As believers, we must learn to be thankful at
all times. Though dark days may
overshadow our life, being thankful to God is a key ingredient to our
happiness. Notice in Romans 1:21 that
being unthankful to God is one of the first steps downward in a person's
life. We don't have to be thankful for
the trials (problems) in our life; however, the mature believer rejoices in
those trials (as Paul and Silas did - Acts 16:25), because he or she
understands that they will eventually make us more mature in the Lord (James
1:2-4). "IN" all things gives
thanks!
4) God
controls the king's heart (Proverb 21:1)
Thought - God ultimately controls the
governments of this world!
"The king's heart is in the hand of the
LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will."
(Proverb 21:1). God is still on His
throne and He is in full control of the universe! God causes the rulers of earth to do His
will. A wonderful example of this is
found in Luke 2:1, "And it came to pass in those days, that there went out
a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed." It's hilarious to me that Caesar wanted to
tax the "whole world" (every politician’s dream). Joseph and Mary lived in Nazareth. However, Micah 5:2 prophesied that Christ
was to be born in Bethlehem. How was
this to happen? God caused Caesar to
send forth a decree. Caesar had no idea
whatsoever that God was working through him to accomplish His divine will. So be comforted, God's in full control. God permits and allows, but more than
anything - He rules!
5) Our
mouth gets us into trouble (Proverb 13:3)
Thought - Learn to keep your mouth shut!
It appears that many people learn this truth
the hard way, and some never do.
"He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life: but he that openeth
wide his lips shall have destruction." (Proverb 13:3). Many people have lost their jobs, ended up
in jail, some even murdered simple because of their foolish mouth. James gives us strict warning concerning the
deadliness of the tongue (James 3:3-10).
Proverb 17:28 tells us that even a fool can be considered wise if he or
she will just keep quiet! A fool is known
by his MANY WORDS - "A fool uttereth all his mind: but a wise man keepeth
it in till afterwards" (Proverb 29:11).
You know, God gave us one mouth and two ears for a good reason - To
teach us that we should listen twice as much as we talk.
6)
Speaking with graceful words (Colossians 4:6)
Thought - When you do open your mouth, be very
careful how you talk to people!
"Let your speech be alway with grace,
seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man."
(Colossians 4:6). The key to
understanding verse 6 is to look back at verse 5 - "Walk in wisdom toward
them that are without, redeeming the time.
God is concerned about soul-winning (getting people saved). We are not going to be very successful at
winning someone over to the Lord Jesus Christ if we have a perverted, foolish
or unkind mouth. "The Greek word
for "grace" means "pleasant, that which affords joy, delight,
charm." In other words, do people
enjoy talking to you? Do they walk away
feeling encouraged?
Or do you try to force your beliefs upon them. Do you know what salt does? It makes people thirsty!
But not too much! Question - would you like to eat a 100% salt
sandwich? Of course not! Paul is saying that our words should be such
that we lightly "SEASON" our conversation with the truths of God's
Word. By sparingly and wisely inserting
the Word of God at the appropriate times into our conversations, we can win
people to Christ. But remember, too much
seasoning tastes horrible and will ruin the meal (drive people away). Season your conversations with truth, but not
so much truth that people don't enjoy talking to you anymore because your rude,
overbearing or disrespectful. If someone
doesn't want to hear what I have to say, then I can only pray for them.
7)
Heathen unsaved people do pray (Matthew 6:7)
Thought - Don't pray like the heathen pray!
"But when ye pray, use not vain
repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for
their much speaking" (Matthew 6:7).
This to me is a remarkable Scripture!
It's hard to imagine heathens praying.
The "heathens" are those people who know not the Lord Jesus
Christ as personal Saviour. If you are
not born-again, you are a "heathen."
How do the heathen pray? - they use vain repetitions and much
speaking!
They think (Proverb 14:12; 16:25) that they
will be heard, but they will not. Look
at verse 8 - "Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth
what things ye have need of, before ye ask him." The word "knoweth" means "to
stare upon." In other words, God
knows our needs 24/7. God never sleeps. Nothing ever "occurs" to God. God is never surprised - He knows all. God does NOT want us to pray like the
heathen! We are to simply ask God for
our needs and cast our burdens upon Him.
What God DOES want is for us to spend much time in heart-to-heart
fellowship with Him (i.e., a genuine, loving and intimate relationship with the
Holy Spirit Who lives within our mortal bodies).
Of course, Jesus and the Father dwell within
every believer in the person of the Holy Spirit (John 14:23).` If you ever watch someone pray at a White
House prayer, they always read the prayer off a sheet. This is how the heathen pray. The Catholics have many prayer books to
recite out of - This is heathen!
8) The
world is becoming a cold place to live (Matthew 24:12)
Thought - Don't take offenses personally, Jesus
said people would become cold!
"And because iniquity shall abound, the
love of many shall wax cold." (Matthew 24:12). We are living in a wicked day where injustice
"abounds" (it's everywhere) - a day when men and women are lovers of
pleasures, more than lovers of God (2nd Timothy 3:4). "Iniquity" means "the
condition of without law." In other
words, there is injustice everywhere.
Nothing is more unjust than what Enron did to its employees - cheated
them out of their pensions and life savings.
What's worse, the government let them get away with it - every executive
involved should have went to prison, but they didn't. Perhaps it's because Enron Execs donated so
much money to the political coffers of many Washington politicians. Sure, it was! You see - Injustice!
Ridiculous lawsuits are occurring like a flood
of rain and white-collar crime is running rampant. Kangaroo courts are the norm and judges can't
be trusted. Much of what we call
"justice" nowadays is no justice at all. If the scales of justice aren't balanced,
there is no justice! (e.g., many states made a killing sharing the filthy lucre
made by the cigarette companies, but what did the VICTIMS get - cancer and
death!). There is a growing spirit of
apathy and indifference in America because of the abundance of corporate
corruption and injustice.
As believers, we must be understanding as to
why so many people are cold-hearted nowadays - because of injustice, crime and
corruption! It's NOT the sin that's
upsetting people, it's the fact that so many criminals are getting away with it
- LEGALLY! So let that impatient car passes
you on the roadway - don't honk your horn at others in anger - be patient with
employees in the store - relax!
We're living in PERILOUS TIMES (2nd Timothy
3:1-7) and must be wiser than the rude, insulting, hot-headed, frustrated,
angry and foolish people that so often cross our daily path. They're not angry at you directly, they're
just angry - period! With all the
horrible things going on in the world today, I don't expect people to be
happy. Whether it be taxes, war,
scandals, lawsuits, crime or personal problems - Sin (iniquity) is the culprit!
9)
Labour not to be rich (Proverb 23:4)
Thought - Work to live, don't live to work!
I've seen many people error from the faith
because of a love for money. "For
the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they
have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. (1st
Timothy 6:10). I knew one young
Christian man who got caught up in selling life-insurance for a pyramid type
company. I recall he dropped out of
church. I've often noticed that
money-hungry people try to recruit door-to-door soul-winners in hopes of
becoming rich. We have a command in
Proverb 23:4 not to work to get rich.
"Getting rich" is a sinful goal.
Our goal should be to please God! If we work hard and riches do come, then we
are commanded not to set our heart upon them (Psalm 64:10). I eventually let go of the money, realizing
that life is too short to live for money.
I've not worked overtime in many years and I am much happier, despite
the many bills.
I have God - "Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." Wow! That settles it doesn't it! God says, "You have Me, that's all you need!" Thankfully, I have Jesus in my heart and He is all that I need.
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