Gems of Encouragement: October 27, 2012

GEMS OF ENCOURAGEMENT FOR SATURDAY OCTOBER 27, 2012.

PROVERB:

There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to Him:

• Haughty eyes,
• A lying tongue,
• Hands that shed innocent blood,
• A heart that devises wicked schemes,
• Feet that are quick to rush into evil,
• A false witness who pours out lies,
• And a man who stirs up dissension among brothers. 

Proverbs 6: 16-19.

PROMISE:

The Lord loves the righteous. Psalm 146:8b

The Lord watches over all who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy. Psalm 145:20.

PRAISE:

Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it; let the fields be jubilant and everything in them. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy; they will sing before the Lord, for He comes, He comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in His truth. Psalm 96: 11-13.

Acceptance: October 26, 2012

TODAYS WORD FOR FRIDAY OCTOBER 26, 2012

ACCEPTANCE

DEFINITION:

Receive as worthy of being accepted; receive with approval or favor.

SCRIPTURE:

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Romans 12:2.

“Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all men, for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior” I Timothy 2:1.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

When Jesus was here on this earth the Jewish people literally despised the Samaritans and did not accept them. They did all they could do in order not to meet or talk with a Samaritan. We read in John 4 that Jesus met a Samaritan woman at the well and began to talk with her. When Jesus asked for a drink she was surprised and wanted to know why He was talking to her as no Jewish man would ever talk to a Samaritan woman. Nevertheless, Jesus continued to talk with her and because Jesus accepted her she believed in Him and accepted His gift of “living water.”

She went back to her village and led many Samaritans to become believers in Jesus. The good news that we can learn from this, is that Jesus came to this earth for all of us. And He accepts all who come to Him in faith believing for forgiveness of their sins.

In Romans 15:7 we are told to accept one another just as Christ accepted you in order to bring praise to God. As Christians we are to accept and encourage other Christians. Also we must be willing to accept others, who do not know the Lord that we meet even if we do not condone what they do, so we can introduce them to Christ.

Jesus knew that the Samaritan woman was an immoral woman. He did not shun her for her race, social position or her sins. He accepted her as someone who needed His saving grace.

People today are hungry for acceptance. Children in school do every thing they can, including lowering their standards, to be accepted by their peers. Adults are much the same. They want to be included in “THE GROUP” just as children do. 

Paul tells us in Romans 14:1--- “Do not refuse to accept someone who is weak in faith. And do not argue with him about opinions.”

We, as Christians, need to make people feel important and needed. This way they will feel accepted and will more than likely be open to hear about Jesus. If we see a fellow Christian weak in their faith, we should not argue about things in their life we disagree with, but lovingly accept them and encourage them to help them grow in their faith.

Back when we attended school at Wheaton College in Illinois, I (Ken) remember being in an ethics class where we had a discussion about a small group of students who were not living up to the standards set by the college and they were not being accepted by many of our peers. As a class we began praying for this group and about a week later one of the students in the class told us that she had approached one of the people in the group.

The one thing I remember her saying was that they did not feel accepted at the school so why should they change their life style? This small group had all come from home situations where living a much looser life was acceptable. We believe that because of our prayers and the fact everyone made the effort to show them, acceptance rather than rejection, a positive impact was made on them because being accepted, soon the group came around and everyone could see their lives being changed. Fellow students approached them with love and not with criticism. Rejection and criticism only drives the unsaved farther away from God.

This is an example that should remind each of us to do all we can to make people we touch shoulders with feel accepted.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Psalms 118:24.

This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.

PRAYER:

Help me to find people today who need to feel accepted. May these people see Christ through my words and my deeds. Help my children to stand up for what they believe and not to be swayed by the crowd. Help me to do what is good and acceptable in Your sight so that I may know beyond any doubt the good and acceptable and perfect will of God for my life.

Role Models: October 25, 2012

TODAYS WORD FOR THURSDAY OCTOBER 25, 2012.

ROLE MODELS

DEFINITION:

A person whose behavior in a particular social setting is imitated by others.

SCRIPTURE:

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. I John 4:7.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

We often hear people refer to another person as a role model. The dictionary defines a role model as one that another person imitates. It might be wise for you to consider all those who are role models to you. When you look at the list then ask yourself the question: “Do you really know each one?” Many on your list could include movie, television, sports or even Christian personalities. But do you really know them or do you call them a potential role model because you have seen only the good from the distance.

When I (Ken) was a teenager I can remember knowing a then well known Christian leader and nationally known youth evangelist and I considered this man the best of the best. I suppose at that time I considered him a role model. But about three years later I heard of the problems this man had in life. His wife had divorced him, he had an alcohol problem and he forsook his belief in the virgin birth of Jesus.

We have talked about this sad situation many times. It served as a very real warning for us to be sure we really knew those we considered to be role models and to teach our children the same.

Today’s society feels it most important to have role models. The famous know they are role models but do not seem to care if they are good role models or bad ones. They just desire the limelight and notoriety. Teenagers especially are influenced by role models and do not use discretion in choosing their role models. Parents must be aware of who their children are looking to as role models. Just because someone is a big “star” and famous does not make them worthy of being a role model.

Only God and Jesus are worthy to be role models. Jesus is the perfect role model because He lived in our sinful world, was tempted as we are, yet He never sinned. Following Jesus as our role model will lead us to live a God honoring life. We can be sure Jesus is a trust worthy role model and will not fail us because first of all, He loves us, and gave His life for us. Then He lived His life as the perfect example of how to live our life.

He serves as an example to us to love one another. When you love it is impossible to hate at the same time. The righteousness of God and Jesus should be the focus of our choosing our role model. Can you think of any living person better to imitate in life? God has given us His Son to pay the penalty for our sins. God has given us His Holy Spirit to lead us through life each day. God has given us time, talent and treasure to use for Him. God has given us His Word as a guide for living. God only wants what is best for us. What more can we want or hope for in a role model.

As believers in Christ we can still look to people as role models so we can learn from their knowledge of God’s Word and how they live their Christian lives. We need to do this with caution and wisdom. We can learn from the positives we see in their lives but we should always be alert to the possibility of failure in their lives. We must remember that they are human just like us and vulnerable to the devil’s temptations.

God and His Son alone are trust worthy. God never changes. When someone fails us we cannot blame God. God is faithful and He will never fail us. 

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Romans 6:23.

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

PRAYER:

Thank You almighty God for the model that You have given me to live a life of happiness, joy, peace and gratitude. Help me to lead my family away from the false hope given to us from those we may consider as role models in life. Help my family to look to You for all we need in life.

Loyalty: October 24, 2012

TODAYS WORD FOR WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 24, 2012.

LOYALTY

DEFINITION:

The quality of being steadfast, faithful, and constant in devotion.

SCRIPTURE:

"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one or love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." Matthew 6:24

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Loyalty is an important character trait. Loyalty and faithfulness typifies the Christian. As believers we all know that our loyalty to God, our creator, our Savior and our Lord must be our first priority in our life. After being confident that we have complete loyalty to God we need to make sure that we are loyal to our spouses, our children, our parents and even our friends. Satan is constantly at work to weaken our faith and divide our loyalty.

Loyalty is a trait we admire in others and look for in a true friend. We all like to think of ourselves as loyal. Unfortunately, the reality is, we do not see much true loyalty in our world today. It is easy to be loyal if it doesn't demand anything of us. It is when loyalty costs us something that our resolve to be loyal crumbles.

Loyalty is difficult to maintain because it often puts us in a position of having to choose sides for whom or what we want to be loyal to. We must carefully evaluate whom or what we give our loyalty to.

Theodore Roosevelt, the former President of the United States, said in 1919:  "There can be no divided allegiance here. We have room for one God, one flag, one language, and for one sole loyalty, and that is to the American people. That is not so true today. Loyalties have become very fickle and divided.

As children in school we were taught to be loyal to our country and our flag. Our parents taught us to be loyal to them and to our siblings. Most importantly, our parents taught us to be loyal and devoted to our Lord.

In the Old Testament Solomon was known for his God-given wisdom and devotion to God. In spite of his wisdom and his love for God he failed to remain completely loyal to God. In I Kings 11:4 we read that Solomon's loyalty became divided. He allowed pressure from his pagan wives to compromise his devotion to God, "As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God."

There are many pressures in this world that can cause us to compromise our loyalty to God. In Matthew 6:24 Jesus warned of this danger and compared it to trying to serve two masters. "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one or love the other." Loyalty to the Lord our God requires making a choice. If we choose our Lord, He wants our loyalty without compromise.

Loyalty to the Lord may not be easy. Anyone who has lived under repressive governments such as communism knows that devotion to God comes at a heavy cost. Many have paid with their lives because of their faith and loyalty to their Lord.

In America today we are often mocked for our faith. Even though we may be mocked, we must stay strong and loyal to our faith and God will honor us for it.

Dan Crawford was a person that loved to go into new areas of our world and explore. He tells of a native guide that was leading him along a long and new trail. Being uncertain of his direction, he asked the guide just where they were going. "You want to know the way? I am the way!" smiled the native guide, pointing to his head where the knowledge was stored.

Dan Crawford, being a Christian who believed in Jesus, later was able to share with his guide about the One who is the true and living way. To be loyal and faithful to God we must follow Jesus who is the one and only true way to God, the Father.  (John 14:6) If we do not have loyalty to our Lord, how can we expect to find our way through this life?

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Romans 6:23.

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

PRAYER:

Dear Lord, give me strength to stay loyal and faithful to You no matter what others might say or do to mock and ridicule me for my faith. Thank You for the gift of Your Son, Jesus Christ, who is the way, the truth, and the life.

Sovereignty: October 23, 2012

TODAYS WORD FOR TUESDAY OCTOBER 23, 2012

SOVEREIGNTY

DEFINITION:

Supreme in power or authority; being above all others in importance, excellence and power.

SCRIPTURE:

 “The Lord has established His throne in the heavens and His sovereignty ruled over all” Psalm 103:19 (NAS).

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

The Sovereignty of God is a theological term meaning that our God has absolute authority and right of dominion over all His creation, because He is the self-existent creator. He has the sovereign right to do whatever He pleases. Sometimes we may feel He is not acting as we think He should, particularly when we look at the evil and corruption in this world we live in and wonder why God allows bad things to happen.

This was the question Job asked when God allowed him to endure terrible suffering that is recorded in the book of Job in the Old Testament. Job had been faithful to God and led an upright life. Job could not understand why God allowed him to suffer. God spoke to Job out of a storm but did not answer Job’s question. Instead God asked Job who he thought he was to question God’s wisdom and authority. Confronted by God in all His Holiness and majestic sovereignty Job could only bow in humble reverence and submission before his almighty God.

God is sovereign in absolute control of all things and of all people. It is not our right to question why God does what He does or what He allows. The powers of darkness, sin, Satan, demons, and the wickedness of mankind cannot alter the purpose of our sovereign God.

Habakkuk, a prophet of God, questioned God’s inactivity concerning the evil that prevailed in Judah in his day. He cried out to God with all his concerns. He said there is violence and evil deeds everywhere. People love to argue and fight. The wicked far out number the righteous. Justice has become perverted and there is no justice in the courts. He could have been describing the day and age we are living in today. Habakkuk felt God was not seeing or hearing what was going on.

In Habakkuk 1:5-6 God answered and assured Habakkuk that He was already doing something about it. God said: “I will work a work in your days which you would not believe, though it were told you.” Judah’s day of reckoning was coming. God was raising up the Babylonians who God would use to punish Judah. God is in absolute control of all things and of all people and not obligated to reveal the what or the why of His works. God is at work in our lives even though we cannot see it.

Even these prophets of old found it hard to understand the sovereignty of God and the same is true of us today. It is so reassuring to know that God has unlimited authority over all things and that He always creates and molds everything perfectly -- even our lives when we put our trust in Him.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Romans 6:23.

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

PRAYER:

Thank You that I serve a sovereign God. I stand in awe at Your marvelous works and come to You as my God who is all knowing, all powerful and sovereign. May others see by my actions that I honor You as the sovereign Lord of my life.

Freedom: October 22, 2012

TODAYS WORD FOR MONDAY OCTOBER 22, 2012.

FREEDOM

DEFINITION:

The state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under restraint; Liberation from slavery or the power of another; exemption.

SCRIPTURE:

"It is to freedom that you have been called, my brothers. Only be careful that freedom does not become a mere opportunity for your lower nature (the flesh). You should be free to serve one another in love." Galatians 5:13. (Phillips translation)

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

When God created us He gave us a free will to choose whether or not to serve Him. With that free will comes the freedom to sin. Sin, however, is not free. It comes with a price tag -- death and eternal separation from God.

God sent His Son, Jesus, to pay the penalty for our sin. Those who accept God's free gift of salvation are set free from the penalty of sin. Salvation covers the penalty for all of our sins, but does not take away our freedom to sin. However, just because all of our sins have been forgiven, it does not give us a license to sin. There are consequences to our sinning and God will hold us accountable. In Galatians 5:13 (verse above) Paul warns us, "to be careful that freedom does not become a mere opportunity for your lower nature (the flesh)."

Recently, we listened to a testimony on television of a man who had just been released from prison. He talked about his years in prison and the loss of freedom that he experienced. He spent most of each day locked up in a small cell and could not go anywhere or talk to anyone. He lost his freedom to do what he wanted to do and could always do before he committed his crime. This man went on to say how different it was now that he was out of prison. For the first time in his life he has put real value on having freedom.

It is not just prison walls that can imprison us and bring loss of freedom. Often circumstances in life cause people to lose certain freedoms. Evil rulers and governments often take away freedom. Crippling diseases and physical handicaps bring the loss of freedom to do so many things. Inescapable poverty imprisons in its own way. Such circumstances affect a person’s freedom to do what he or she would like to do. The loss of freedom brings despair.

America was founded by those who had lost their freedom to worship God. Today most Americans have no idea what it means to live without freedom to do what we want when we want. As believers we need to take a new look at what it means to have freedom in Christ. We should be thankful for it and not take it for granted.

Reading God's Word, the Bible, each day is a privilege that many people around the world do not have. At the time of the Second World War when the Americans arrived in the Philippines, many political prisoners were freed from prison. Among the "crimes" that these people had committed was that of reading the Bible. They had no freedom.

Soon after his release from prison a man came to a missionary in the Philippians and asked if it were true that he could now read his Bible? The missionary pointed to a nearby American flag and said: "So long as you see that flag flying overhead you can read your Bible on the roof of your house and no one will bother you." That is a great definition of freedom for us.

In 1942 Franklin D. Roosevelt, then President of the United States of America said:
"We look forward to a world founded on four essential human freedoms. The first is freedom for every person to worship God in his own way. The second is freedom of speech and expression. The third is freedom from want and finally the freedom from fear."

The Bible has a lot to share with us about the freedom of choice God has given to us who love and serve Him. God teaches us in the Bible not to abuse the freedom He has given us. In Genesis (13:10-13), Abraham responded to the leading of God and gave Lot the freedom of choice as to the land that would be his. Lot chose the fertile land of the plains of Jordan and left the desert area of Canaan to Abraham. But as the scriptures tell us, the land that Lot chose caused nothing but problems for Lot while God blessed the land left to Abraham. The reason was very clear. Lot with his freedom chose not to honor and serve God with all his heart, mind and soul. Abraham with his freedom of choice chose to serve God.

We are promised freedom from our sins in Romans 6:14. We are no longer slaves to sin. The greatest freedom is that given by God when He lifts our burden of sin. In John 8:32-36 we are told that if we continue in God's Word (read the Bible); and we are faithful in seeking to live according to God's teaching, "We shall know the truth and the truth shall make us free."(verse 36) Jesus is the truth and knowing Him as our Savior sets us free from the penalty of death for our sin. That is the freedom God has made available to all who believe in Him.

Finally, in I Peter 2:16-17 we are admonished as believers to "Live as free men; not however, as though your freedom were there to provide a screen for wrongdoing; but live as servants of God, honoring all men, love your brothers and fear God."

We encourage you to let Christ control your life for then you have true freedom that will last for a lifetime.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Romans 6:23.

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

PRAYER:

Thank You for the freedom I have in Jesus from the slavery of sin. Thank You for Your Word that teaches me that freedom from the penalty of sin does not give me license to sin. Thank You for the truth of Your Word that the Son has set me free.