Love: August 28, 2015

TODAY’S WORD FOR FRIDAY AUGUST 28, 2015.

LOVE

DEFINITION:

A tender passionate affection for another person; the affection of God for His creatures and the affection due from them to God; devotion.

SCRIPTURE:

See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. I John 3:1.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

We chose this word for today even though we have used it already several times. The reason we want to share it with you again is because we are receiving so many emails from people starving for love and frustrated because they are looking to the wrong places for love.

The Lord does not want anyone to be starved for love. In fact, He has made provisions for us to experience the joy and fulfillment of being loved by Him. Many people miss out on what our Lord offers because they are trying to fill the empty place in their lives with just things as money, sex, or prestige. Every one of these human relationships will disappoint, but God’s love will never fail.

When we read our emails many people seem to be searching for love. Some are involved in immoral situations, some have committed crimes, some do not love themselves, some are engaged in excessive spending, some experience loneliness, some are critical of other’s, some get angry at life, some become self-absorbed, some try to buy love and make personal sacrifices that are not honorable to receive love.

God has placed a hunger for love in every human heart, but He’s also provided a way for us to have that need met through Him. The problem is that instead of turning to the Lord for love, they remain stuck in a place of emotional deprivation because they try to satisfy their longings with substitutes that are not of God.

There is no substitute for the love that God offers us. The Bible says that God is love. It is His nature to love. He not only pours out His love into our hearts, but He also lets it flow through us to others so we can have genuinely loving relationships.

Next week we will continue some thoughts on love. We will discuss what true love is and what is the nature of love? Tune in again on Monday and we will continue sharing with you several thoughts on love.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Proverbs 27:1.

Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.

PRAYER:

Help our family to put into proper perspective our love relationship with You. Help us to love You more every day and share Your love with those we meet today.

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Credibility: August 27, 2015

TODAY’S WORD FOR THURSDAY AUGUST 27, 2015.

CREDIBILITY

DEFINITION:

Capable of being believed; being trustworthy and honorable.

SCRIPTURE:

Beloved, I beg of you as sojourners and pilgrims abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God. I Peter 2:11-12.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Credibility is not something you buy. It is something that you work for and earn. We may be able to borrow credibility for a while by associating ourselves with credible people, but sooner or later we will need to establish our own credibility.

Take a moment and look at the verse we have written above as recorded by the apostle Peter.

First, Peter refers to us as sojourners and pilgrims. As believers that is exactly who we are, living temporarily on this earth waiting for God to take us to His house for eternity. Our real home is with God in heaven but for our life-time on this earth we are foreigners living in a secular society.

Secondly, Peter begs us that while we are visiting this earth that we abstain from lusts that war against our soul. In other words we are living in an evil world and we are not to participate in the evils of this world. We are not part of this world, we are just passing through.

Thirdly, we are to have an honorable conduct as believers. We must live good lives so that non-believers may see our good deeds. In the Greek language the word “honorable” implies the purest, highest and noblest kind of goodness. In order to have an impact on this world for God, we must live lives that are credible and uphold God’s commandments and we must abstain from fleshly lusts.

When we live the way Peter suggests we will develop a Christ-like credibility which is important for all believers as we share our faith with an evil world.

We have seen so many people lose their credibility by making unwise choices and when this happens it is most difficult for that person to ever get back his or her credibility.

As parents we need to teach our children, from an early age, to be honest, truthful and trustworthy because these are the character traits that make one credible. You do not win in life if you lie to or mislead people. The truth will always come back to hurt the one who misleads another.

God wants us to be credible witnesses for Him by following in His steps. Peter tells us in I Peter 2:21-22, “To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in His steps. He committed no sin and no deceit was found in His mouth.”

The word “example” here means pattern. In order to have real credibility we must pattern our life after Jesus.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Proverbs 27:1.

Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.

PRAYER:

Help me and my family to look to You as our example for we know that You are without sin and that You want us to live by Your standards and not the standards of the world we live in. Help us to be willing to follow in Your footsteps.

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Covet: August 26, 2015

TODAY’S WORD FOR WEDNESDAY AUGUST 26, 2015.

COVET

DEFINITION:

Desire enviously; to wrongfully desire what belongs to another; long for; want or wish for.

SCRIPTURE:

You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor. Exodus 20:17.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

This verse that we have written above comes from the Ten Commandments and should be understood by all. God gave Moses the Ten Commandments to give us guidelines for living.

To covet means to desire or have a strong longing to have what someone else has. In Acts 20:33 the elders of the church at Ephesus were reminded not to covet another person’s silver, gold or clothes. Desiring something we do not have and want may seem like a minor thing. But when God commands us not to do something it is serious.

When we covet something we show we are discontent with what we have and the desire of that something leads to envy of others. But it does not end there. Envy will soon lead to jealousy of others and then jealousy leads to hate and hate motivates us to do sinful things.

Covetousness leads to disaster. In II Samuel we read about King Ahab who coveted the vineyard that belonged to Naboth. Ahab’s wicked wife Jezebel plotted the murder of Naboth so Ahab could have what he coveted. The judgment that God pronounced on Ahab is given in I Kings 21:21, “I am going to bring disaster on you. I will consume your descendants.” Yes, covetousness leads to sin and sin leads to disaster.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Proverbs 27:1.

Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.

PRAYER:

Help me today to obey each and every one of the commandments that You gave to Moses and the children of Israel. Keep my eyes on You so that I may not covet the things of this world that others have but I do not have. Make my desire to be to honor You in all that I do.

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Correction: August 25, 2015

TODAY’S WORD FOR TUESDAY AUGUST 25, 2015.

CORRECTION

DEFINITION:

To set right with remedies, revisions, or reforms; bringing into conformity with a standard; punishment; discipline.

SCRIPTURE:

A fool despises his father’s instruction, but he who receives correction is prudent. Proverbs 15: 5.

Do not hold correction from a child. Proverbs 23:13.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Having had 6 children we can look back and evaluate the experiences we had correcting our children. One thing we learned was that when we set standards and boundaries we needed to spell out specific penalties that would be enforced if these standards or boundaries were broken. The penalty had to be reasonable and appropriate for the age of the child and to be effective must be enforced.

We are all born into an evil world and doing things right is sometimes difficult. Many friends and associates that surround believers in Jesus in the work place and schools are not believers in Jesus. Thus they have different standards that they live by. This is why we all need correction from time to time. We can get so accustomed to some of the evils of this world that a corrective warning is needed.

We think about David who felt indebted to those who corrected him. He realized how much he owed them in Psalm 141:5 when he said, “Let the righteous strike me; it shall be a kindness. Let them rebuke me; it shall be as excellent oil; let my head not refuse it.”

David tells us that correction is an act of loyalty. Loyal friends do correct one another, even when it is painful and disruptive to a relationship. It is one of the ways we show love and help one another grow stronger in the Lord. Solomon wrote in Proverbs 27:6, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend.” Yes, a true friend will give advice as to what a person needs to hear, not what they want to hear, even though the advice might be painful.

It takes grace for a true friend to give advice but even more grace to receive it. In II Samuel 12:13 David received correction from Nathan concerning his sin of adultery with Bathsheba. David immediately confessed his sin and repented. How do you respond to correction? Most of us resent interference and do not want to be found out concerning things we are really ashamed of and do not want to be known.

There is a difference between correction and criticism. Criticism is motivated by jealousy and a desire to hurt. Correction is motivated by love and a desire to help. Correction is very beneficial if you are willing to receive it.

In Proverbs 15:5 it reads, “He who receives correction is prudent and wise.” We should never refuse correction even if it is painful. We learn by being corrected. Correction brings wisdom.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Proverbs 27:1.

Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.

PRAYER:

Help each member of my family beginning with myself to understand that correction from a loyal friend can help us change for the better and will bring us closer to living a Christ like life. Help us to grow in the wisdom that comes from Your correction.

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Cornerstone: August 24, 2015

TODAY’S WORD FOR MONDAY AUGUST 24, 2015.

CORNERSTONE

DEFINITION:

A stone representing the starting place in the construction of a monumental building. The stone placed at the corner of a building with the date of dedication or construction engraved on it; something that is essential or basic; in the Bible it is a metaphor for Christ.

SCRIPTURE:

Having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone. Ephesians 2:20.

As you come to Him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves, like living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house to be a Holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. I Peter 2:4-5.

For in scripture it says: See I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, the one who trusts in Him will never be put to shame. I Peter 2:6.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

In the construction of large buildings a cornerstone is laid at the base of the building on one of the corners.   It is the starting place of a building. The cornerstone sets the foundation and the building is then squared and aligned to it. On this cornerstone is written such things as the date the building was dedicated or opened. It usually will have a dedication written on the cornerstone.

The apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 2:20, above, about the cornerstone and foundation of the church that was built by the Lord. This is not a building but the whole body of Christ’s followers, past, present and future. Jesus Christ is the cornerstone and it is built on the foundation of His Word and teachings which were made known to us by the apostles in the New Testament and the prophets in the Old Testament.

When Paul said, “Foundation of the apostles,” he was referring to the divine revelation that they taught, the Word of God given to the church (the believers in Jesus) before the writing of the New Testament.

In I Peter 2:6-8 Peter writes that this same cornerstone, Jesus that God built His church upon is the same cornerstone that will be the stumbling stone that brings down the unbeliever in the Day of Judgment. To those who reject Christ, He is a stumbling stone but for those who believe in Christ, He is their cornerstone.

Peter reminds us, even as Paul did, that Christ’s position as chief cornerstone of the spiritual house, the church, was foreordained by God. As believers this stone is precious and trustworthy and our desire should be to align our life to the cornerstone, Christ Jesus.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Proverbs 27:1.

Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.

PRAYER:

Thank You Jesus that You are God’s chosen cornerstone for Your church and that You have given me a solid foundation to build my faith on. May I daily align my standards and my goals on what Your trustworthy Word teaches me.

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