Favor: September 25, 2015

TODAY’S WORD FOR FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 25, 2015.

FAVOR

DEFINITION:

To regard with approval; goodwill; esteem; backing; kindness.

SCRIPTURE:

God looked for favor on Abel and his offering. Genesis 4: 4b

But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. Genesis 6:8.

Moses said to the Lord -- You have said, “I know you by name and you have found favor with me.”
Exodus 33:12.

And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man. Luke 2:52.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

What does it mean to have favor with God? It is to do what pleases Him. There are four men that the Bible specifically cites as having favor with God. They are Abel, Noah, Moses and Jesus. What is significant about these four is their obedience to God. Obedience to God is what allows us to have favor with God.

Abel, Noah and Moses were not perfect but they were obedient to God and yielded and committed to His will.

Jesus alone is perfect and without sin. He comes into this world giving up His heavenly glory to come as a man specifically to do the will of God, His Father, which was to suffer and die on the cross to save us from our sins.

Certainly these four are not the only ones who found favor with God. In the Bible we read of many who would have been regarded by God with favor because they kept and obeyed God’s commandments.

Finding favor with God is not limited to those in the Bible. We learn from Leviticus 26: 3, 9 that God said, “If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey My commandments -- I will look on you with favor.”

Noah was not perfect but he pleased God because he loved God and was obedient to God. The scripture tells us that Noah walked with God, listened to Him, and obeyed Him daily. God will respond positively to us when we walk closely with Him by reading His Word daily, communicate with Him in prayer and listen carefully to His Holy Spirit.

Moses, despite initial protests, chose to obey God and accept the divine call from Him and live the way God wanted him to live. The Lord will always favor followers who favor His ways over theirs. As Moses did, God expects us to think about our lives in terms of pleasing Him.

The Apostle Paul after his conversion lived with the single-minded focus of serving Jesus. He sought always to please the Lord by means of inward and outward obedience. The Lord favors those whose hearts are bent toward Him, as Paul’s was, to serve Him no matter what the cost. Paul willingly gave up all he had to serve the Lord and preach the gospel.

It was not only men in the Bible who found favor with God. Women also found favor with God. Mary, the mother of Jesus, was one who responded with trust and did not doubt when the angels announced that she would give birth to the Messiah. God blesses those who choose to believe even when the circumstances make it difficult to believe.

We will find favor with God through believing minds, responsive hearts, and an obedient spirit.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Hebrews 11:6.

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.

PRAYER:

Help us to be obedient to Your commandments so that we may receive Your favor in all that we do. May Your Holy Spirit guide us daily to do what Your will is for us and not our own. Thank You for the Salvation You gave us and the many daily blessings that You favor us with when we put our complete trust in You.

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Family: September 24, 2015

TODAY’S WORD FOR THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 24, 2015.

FAMILY

DEFINITION:

A household; descendants of a common ancestor; lineage.

SCRIPTURE:

And God said to Abraham, “And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Acts 3:25.

To Timothy, a beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
II Timothy 2:2.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Nothing has been more important to us over the years, except our relationship with God and our Lord, than our family. God has blessed us with a large family. Because we have six children and their spouses along with 20 grand-children (two are married) and one great grandchild, we have had many experiences, good and bad, that have been a good learning process for us and we believe God has allowed many things to happen so we can share the lessons we learned with wonderful friends like you.

We receive more emails from people who read our devotionals asking us about how to deal with a family situation than any other question. Many more are asking us to pray for their family situation. This is a society problem because statistics show us that over 50% of marriages do not last and in many communities over 70% of the children have only one parent living with them. The victims of a broken marriage and a broken home always are the children.

We both come from families where our parents raised us according to Biblical principles. We made a commitment even before we were married to make God the head of our home and raise our children with the same Biblical principles that governed our lives. It blesses us to see all six of our children, to this day, putting Christ first in their lives and secondly, all six children have families and are raising their own children according to the Biblical principles they learned as children. While we no longer have the responsibility of raising our children, we have the responsibility of praying for them every day.

As we look back on our years with our parents and then with our family we feel one of the best decisions we made was to always have dinner together with all the family -- all six children and both of us. The pluses were many. Since we did not allow the T.V. or radio on during dinner and there were no cell phones or electronic games to play, dinner was a time of fellowship and meaningful conversation while enjoying our meal.

At every evening meal we asked each child to tell us about their day. We asked if they had any prayer requests for themselves or their friends. We all learned by memory every week a new scripture verse and after dinner we read a portion of the Bible and went around the table with each one praying.

This was a bonding time for all of us and we could, as parents, learn of potential problems coming and were then able to face them as situations and not as problems.

By the way our first book is titled NO PROBLEMS ONLY SITUATIONS and we share our years together as a family. You can go to our website and order a copy if you would like.

Being together for every meal was tough many times. Schedules had to be changed but the end result was excellent. A family, we believe, that eats together at dinner and talks and reads God’s Word and prays together will stay together.

Families today are basically dysfunctional because they do not communicate and spend quality time together. Parents become too busy with their own schedules and things that are of no lasting value. This is not acceptable, in our minds, if you want to raise a God-fearing child.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Hebrews 11:6.

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.

PRAYER:

As parents, help us to make the necessary sacrifices in our schedules to spend time to lead our children into a God-fearing life. Help us to discipline ourselves to spend time with You and to prepare ourselves spiritually to be Christ-like and God honoring parents and grandparents.

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Expectation: September 23, 2015

TODAY’S WORD FOR WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 23, 2015.

EXPECTATION

DEFINITION:

Anticipation of an occurrence or the coming of something; hope for.

SCRIPTURE:

My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him. Psalm 62:5

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

When you got up this morning, what kind of day were you expecting? What were you expecting from your family? Did you think about what you might be expecting spiritually?

When you have people around you like spouses, children, extended family, friends and associates every day brings new expectations. Some are good things and others are bad.

None of us are perfect and it is impossible for anyone to live up to our expectations. God alone is perfect and He is the one we should put our hope and expectations in.

Jesus said, “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer” Matthew 21:22. We pray with the expectation that God will hear our prayer and answer it. At times we pray and pray and wonder if God will ever respond. Sometimes we wonder if God even hears us but God’s Word assures us that He does. “And this is the confidence that we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will He hears us” I John 5:14.

Waiting on the Lord for His answers to concerns that you may be having is very difficult at times. Part of the waiting process is the Lord working on your patience. The Lord also makes us wait so He can prepare our heart for something big or better than what we are expecting to do.

We have learned that God’s timing is not our timing. We need to wait for God’s perfect timing. Many times when we have waited God has blessed us by doing something better than we asked.

When we look to God to supply our wants, whether it is temporal or spiritual, and our expectation will not be in vain. God has given us a bank account in heaven and we draw our riches from that account which has been filled with the endless riches of God’s kindness. Our bank account with God, as a believer and one of His children, can never be overdrawn.

Our Lord never fails to be faithful to His promises and when we bring our requests to His throne of grace, He never sends them back unanswered. He sometimes answers “Yes” and sometimes it will be “NO”. But sometimes it will be “WAIT” and for many that is so difficult. Are you waiting silently for God to answer and God alone to answer or are you rushing ahead of God?

Our greatest expectation in life should be the expectation as believers in Jesus in spending an eternity in heaven with Him. When that day comes do you expect as you approach the heavenly gate for the doors to open and to hear the heavenly welcome invitation to come in? If you have accepted Jesus as your Savior you can be sure of it.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Hebrews 11:6.

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.

PRAYER:

Thank You for the greatest expectation that You could ever give us and that is the wonderful and marvelous expectation of spending eternity with You. Help me to honor You this day and help me to listen to Your voice as I read Your Word and pray. Thank You for hearing my prayers and answering them in Your perfect timing.

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Ethics: September 22, 2015

TODAY’S WORD FOR TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 22, 2015.

ETHICS

DEFINITION:

Rules of moral conduct; the body of moral principles or values held by or governing a culture group or individual; moral principles.

SCRIPTURE:

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Hebrews 8:10

You will be accepted if you do what is (ethical) right. But if you refuse to do what is (ethical) right, then watch out. Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you, but you must subdue it and be near its Master. Genesis 4:7.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

What is your guide for establishing ethics that you can live by? For some it is watching and listening to their parents. For some it is based on what their peers live by. For others it is just to do what I feel is right. That basically is what we call now the “ME” generation. This ethical standard has been prevalent for many years, possibly in cycles but always the way some people lived. In Judges 17:6 we read that long after the death of Joshua, all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.

Have we forgotten that God gave Moses, to give to the Children of Israel and us today, The Ten Commandments (found in Exodus chapter 20)? He gave these for a reason. And that reason is that because of our sinful nature man has the ability to devise all sorts of evil. Laws and regulations, in God’s sight, are necessary to keep man’s evilness in check.

God created us and He wants what is best for us so He gave us the Ten Commandments as a guide to living an ethical, God fearing life style. These commandments are like a measuring stick to help us be what God wants us to be.

God took Moses up to the mountain top and gave him the most complete and important code of ethics that has ever been known to man. They literally cover every detail one needs to live a Christ centered life even today.

Jesus added to these ten when He was on this earth by giving us two more commandments. They are found in Matthew 22: 37-38. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all Your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself?

God expects us to live by these standards of ethics and not by what we think is right or what someone else suggests. In Proverbs 14:12 we are told that there is a consequence for doing things our way. It reads, “There is a way that seems right to a man but in the end it leads to death.”

May we make one more suggestion? We feel it is so vital to keep the Ten Commandments and the two in the New Testament that Jesus gave us that we urge you to get a copy and place it in a place where you can see and read it every day. When you subscribed to our devotionals we sent you a copy of our Book Mark with these on it if you had a U.S postal address. We cannot send out more unless you help us with the printing and postage. They are available for one dollar each and two dollars outside of the United States.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Hebrews 11:6.

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.

PRAYER:

Help me each day to live a life based on the commandments that You have given us as a guide for living in today’s world. Help my family, friends, and neighbors to study your commandments and make them a vital part of their lives.

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Eternity: September 21, 2015

TODAY’S WORD FOR MONDAY SEPTEMBER 21, 2015.

ETERNITY

DEFINITION:

Infinite time; duration without a beginning or an ending; endless period of time; forever.

SCRIPTURE:

That whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:15.

For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Have you ever tried to imagine what eternity is like? It is very difficult for our finite minds to grasp the concept of life going on and on with absolutely no end. This is because here on earth life has a beginning and an ending.

When our life ends here on earth it is the beginning of eternity. It will either be an eternity of death or an eternity of life.

In the two verses we have listed above both John and the writer of Romans tell us that eternal life is a gift that God offers to every one of us. This gift of life is obtained when one believes in Jesus as their Savior and Lord.

It is a fact that all of us will spend an eternity either with God in heaven or with Satan in Hell. There is no other choice or option. May we remind you that in order for you to spend an eternity with Jesus in heaven, you must ask Him for forgiveness of your sins and accept Him as your Savior.

The option, which many people have taken down through the years and are taking now, is to ignore the issue, but ignoring the issue does not make the issue go away. Hell is automatic if you do not believe in Jesus so each one of us have to make a choice.

Our first choice is to accept Jesus as our Savior and spend an eternity in heaven with Him. The second choice is to do nothing or reject the first choice and go on living life as you do now and spend an eternity in hell. So we ask you, “Where will you choose to spend eternity?”

Many people just do not want to believe that their unforgiven sins will bring condemnation to them. They do not believe there is a heaven or a hell. But the fact is and the scriptures make it clear that heaven is a real place and so is hell. Hell is spoken of over 162 times in the New Testament alone. Jesus preached on hell more than any other subject. Heaven is found 276 times in the New Testament.

People are searching for real peace and hope in their lives. The only real peace and joy that a person can experience in life is to know with a certainty where you will spend eternity. Have you made that choice?

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Hebrews 11:6.

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.

PRAYER:

Thank You, Lord, that I can be certain where I will spend eternity. It is my prayer today for those who do not have that certainty and that I will be led by You to those today that need to have that certainty in their lives.

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