Contrast: December 5, 2014

TODAY'S WORD FOR FRIDAY DECEMBER 5, 2014.

CONTRAST

DEFINITION:

To compare; to show unlikeness or differences.

SCRIPTURE:

Behold I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.
Psalm 51:5.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Today we want to discuss the contrast between one who is a believer in Jesus and one who is known as an unbeliever. All of us were born in sin and at birth were unbelievers but because God sent His Son into this world it gave all people an opportunity to become a believer simply by trusting in His Son Jesus. In I Peter 1:23 we are told that “Through Him we are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

The scriptures give us the following contrasts between believers and nonbelievers:

• Believers are redeemed by our Lord and nonbelievers live under the curse of Satan.

• Believers are “made nigh” as is said in Ephesians 2:13. You who were formerly afar off have been brought near by the blood of Jesus Christ. The unbeliever is continually far off from God.

• The believer is known as a child of God and the unbeliever is a child of Satan.

• The believer has God’s favor in their daily walk with Him and the unbeliever constantly is under God’s wrath.

• As believers we wait for the soon coming of Christ and His glory. An unbeliever waits for death and judgment.

•  And finally the believer is sure of spending an eternity in heaven and the unbeliever is certain to spend an eternity in the fires of hell.

In Texas they tell the story about a man who used to hitch his horse every morning in front of the town’s local saloon. One day the saloonkeeper missed seeing this man and went outside and saw his horse hitched up down the street in front of the Methodist church.

The saloonkeeper waited for the man to come back to his horse and asked him why his horse was hitched in front of the church rather than his saloon. The man answered clearly “Last night I was converted from a nonbeliever to a believer in Jesus in the revival meeting so now I have changed hitching posts.

That is what happens when you become a believer in Jesus --- you change hitching posts.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Colossians 3:17:

Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

PRAYER:

Help me to make sure that I am hitched to the right hitching post today so You can use me to further Your will. May my life shine out as a believer so that nonbelievers may see a contrast in the way that I live my life.

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Sin: December 4, 2014

TODAY'S WORD FOR THURSDAY DECEMBER 4, 2014.

SIN

DEFINITION:

Transgression of divine law; willful violation of some religious or moral principle; an act of violating God’s will.

SCRIPTURE:

Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. I John 3:4.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

We are living in a day and age when people do not know what is sin. The basic problem facing our world today is just not social inequity, or lack of education, or even physical hunger. The highly educated and well-fed people have greed, hates, passions and lusts. Sin is not eliminated by education or more government subsidies, or more laws.

The root of sin is in each of our hearts and is extremely deep. Sin is the cause of the world’s problems. Only the fire of the Lord can burn this out and that is why He came to this earth.

If people know what sin is they ignore it and live according to their own desires regardless. Their consciences have become immune to sin. Society today whitewashes sin and makes it acceptable. Those who do not think it is acceptable are told they must be more tolerant. Sin is a problem for all people but unfortunately most people do not understand or seemingly do not even care what the consequences of sin are to a person.

To sin is to err, miss the mark or an offence or transgression. In the verse we have put above we see that sin is the transgression of the law. In simple terms we know that the law is summarized for us in the Ten Commandments. In Romans 14:23 it reads, “Whatever is not of faith is sin.”

We all know that sin in this world began with the first man and woman in the Garden of Eden at the instigation of Satan. According to I John 3:8 we read: “The one that practices sin is of the devil and the devil has sinned from the beginning.”

God is Holy and without sin. Sin is an offense to God. It separates us from God (Isaiah 59:2). God does not tolerate sin nor does He ignore it.

We are all sinners according to God’s Word and the result is that we have to pay a penalty for our sin. That penalty (James 1:15) is death. God cannot accept sin, He cannot look at sin and God will bring every sin into account. God wants us to dwell with Him in eternity but we cannot enter into His Holy presence unless our sins have been removed.

The good news is that God did provide for us His Son who died on the cross for our sins. All we have to do is to repent of our sins and accept Jesus as our Savior, the one who paid the penalty for our sins and the result for us is eternal life in heaven with our Father and His Son Jesus Christ. When we repent and accept Jesus as our Savior, God has promised to forgive us and blot out our sins for eternity.

What an awesome God. Have you responded to His great offer of paying the penalty for your sins?

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Colossians 3:17:

Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

PRAYER:

How grateful I am for what You have done for me. Thank You, dear Father, for sending Your Son to this earth to die on the cross to pay the penalty for my sins. Thank You for raising Him from the dead so that He can be with You preparing a place for me to spend eternity with You.

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Clever: December 3, 2014

TODAY'S WORD FOR WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 3, 2014.

CLEVER

DEFINITION:

Mentally bright; having sharp or quick intelligence; able; superficial; cunning; the ability to find a way to accomplish a purpose.

SCRIPTURE:

The serpent was clever; craftier than any wild animal God had made. Genesis 3:1.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

We want to look at the word clever today from a deceitful perspective. A person can be known as clever when he or she has the positive capabilities to accomplish the unusual. Satan is known as having a most clever way to deceive. Satan is clever as to how he presents himself. In I Corinthians 11:14 we read that “Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.”

We are all aware of what happened in the Garden of Eden between the serpent and Eve. The scripture tells us that the serpent spoke to Eve asking if God really told her not to eat from any tree in the garden.

Satan is the great deceiver and father of lies. He cleverly deceived Eve into thinking that she was mistaken in her understanding of what God said. He basically was asking her, how could it be true that a good God would withhold something good from you?

Eve responded by saying yes, if she ate of the Tree of Life and the knowledge of good and evil she would die. The serpent began his clever work of deceiving her by telling her that she would not die as God had said. The serpent went on to tell the woman that God really knows that when you eat of that tree you will be just like God.

Satan persuaded Eve to doubt God and His goodness. Satan’s lie was that God was withholding something good by forbidding her to eat the fruit of one tree.

Have there been times in your life when a still small voice within you tries to be clever with you tricking you into second guessing God. Possibly something comes your way that you are considering but really know that it is something you should not do. Then the serpent (Satan) begins his cunning way of tempting you to do what you really know is wrong. He puts a positive spin on it and makes it appear you are missing out on something.

This is what Eve did in the Garden of Eden and we all know what happened after she succumbed to the serpent’s advice. The woman was tricked by the clever actions (words) of the serpent and took of the tree. She then involved her husband Adam and both fell out of favor with God. The penalty affected all future generations. Satan tempted Eve directly but he used Eve to tempt Adam. Satan does use others to do his work.

We urge you to watch out because the serpent (the Devil) is alive and well today. He is looking for every opportunity to lead you to sin. He knows just where you are vulnerable and he will pounce on you. In 1 Peter 5:8 Satan is described as a hungry lion seeking someone to devour. Make sure it is not you.

When you take the time daily to read the Bible, study the Bible and communicate to God in prayer, Satan will find it very difficult to get through to you. Ask God daily for His protection for you through His Holy Spirit. With God on your side you can outsmart and defeat all the clever ways of the serpent. You will see that he is not the angel of light but of darkness.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Colossians 3:17:

Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

PRAYER:

Give me wisdom today to face every circumstance that comes my way to be led by You. May my responses honor Your name and may others see Christ through me as I walk and talk today.

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Doubt: December 2, 2014

TODAY'S WORD FOR TUESDAY DECEMBER 2, 2014.

DOUBT

DEFINITION:

To lack confidence in; to be uncertain about, questionable or unlikely; distrust; fear.

SCRIPTURE:

The Lord God is compassionate and gracious; slow to anger and abounding in loving kindness and truth. Exodus 34:6

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

How much do you trust God? Do you ever have doubts? Think about these things before you answer. Do you really trust the Lord when everything seems to be out of control? What about when God seems to be leading you in a direction that seems illogical and risky? When you have painful circumstances and they do not seem to get better? Have you ever wondered if the Lord really cares?

We all have times of doubt in our lives. We have times when our expectations of what we think God is doing for us and those expectations are dashed by the reality of the situation we face. Satan always knows when and where we are most vulnerable and he seizes every opportunity to plant his seed of doubt in our minds.

Most of us want to trust God more but we do not really know how so we start doubting. We forget that God is all powerful and with Him all things are possible (Matthew 19:26). We look at things from our own limited perspective. Fortunately, God’s power is not limited by our weak concept of what is possible.

In Psalm 9:10 David reveals to us that the key lies in knowing the Lord personally. When we have a distant relationship we lack the faith to understand the extent of God’s power and to put our complete trust in Him.

When you are tempted to doubt God, remember these three points:

God is totally sovereign. He has everything in control even when we cannot perceive it (Psalm 103:19).

God is infinitely wise. “For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom. God knows everything (1 Corinthians 1:25). He knows every side of the situation we are facing and every event that we have faced, are facing now and will face in the future.

God loves perfectly. In Exodus 34:6, the verse we have put above, we are told that without exception, God’s love is merciful, patient and kind. He forgives us over and over again. God’s love is perfect in truth. His love for us never changes even when we doubt and do not believe. He always chooses what is best for us, even when we do not understand and His way is not easy.

We grow in faith, not by trying harder to believe (many people do this) but rather by pursuing the Lord. This involves doing all we can to get to know Him better. We do this by spending time in His Word and talking to Him in prayer. He will remove our doubts and our trust in Him will grow and we will learn that He never will forsake those who seek Him.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Colossians 3:17:

Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

PRAYER:

Help me to know and trust You in a new way. May I spend more time in Your Word and in talking with You. Help my life to radiate Your love to all I see and talk to today. When Satan puts doubt in my mind help me to remember that You are totally sovereign, infinitely wise and love me perfectly.

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Passion: December 1, 2014

TODAY'S WORD FOR MONDAY DECEMBER 1, 2014.

PASSION

DEFINITION:

An intense and compelling emotion; strong feeling about a person or thing; love; enthusiasm.

SCRIPTURE:

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. Deuteronomy 6:5

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

The apostle Paul in the third chapter of Philippians writes about believers needing to live a life with a passion to know God. Passion is a motivating force in our life. It creates enthusiasm, excitement and desire for a person, a thing, or a belief.

The apostle Paul made it very clear what his passion in life was. In Philippians 3:8-9 he says that he considers everything a loss to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus. So great was his passion for the Lord that he willingly gave up all things to gain Christ and to know Him. So important was his relationship with Christ that he considered everything else “rubbish.”

We can only imagine what a different world we might have if everyone who claims to be a Christian had the same passion that Paul had in really knowing Christ.

 As Christians our passionate desire should be centered on knowing God through His Son Jesus Christ. What does this kind of ardent passion look like? We first must have an eagerness to know our Savior.

Jesus described Himself as the Good Shepherd, the Bread of Life, and the True Vine. He is the good shepherd who cares for us, guides us and protects us (Psalm 23).

Jesus is the Bread of Life, the bread from heaven that satisfies our spiritual hunger and gives us eternal life (John 6:48-51).

Jesus is the True Vine. He is the one who nourishes us and makes us fruitful (John 15:1-5). He invites us to discover who He is in each of these aspects of His character.

If we have a true passion for the Lord we will demonstrate through our words and deeds a steadfast commitment to our Lord. This enduring dedication will have a strong influence on our finances, workplace activities, friendships, and of course our home and family.

A true passion will be making our top priority knowing Christ and loving Him. When He has first place in our lives, quiet times with Him will be regular and our days will be structured on receiving and obeying instructions from Him.

Finally, any desire that interferes with or supersedes our longing to know the Savior better will be laid aside. Turning away from ungodliness and worldly pleasures will appear to be a small price to pay for the blessings one will receive while walking with God with a passion to know Him.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Colossians 3:17:

Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

PRAYER:

Help me to have an enthusiastic desire and a firm commitment to know God with genuine passion. Help me to keep Him in first place in every area of my life. Help me to replace my desires with His.

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