Heaven: November 20, 2015

TODAY’S WORD FOR FRIDAY NOVEMBER 20, 2015.

HEAVEN

DEFINITION:

The abode of God, the angels, and the spirits of the righteous after death; the place or state of existence of the blessed after the mortal life.

SCRIPTURE:

This is what the Lord says: “Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool. My hands have made both heaven and earth; they and everything in them are Mine.” Isaiah 66:1-2.

For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent Me, not to do My own will. John 6:38.

When the Lord Jesus had finished talking with them He was taken up into heaven and sat down in the place of honor at God’s right side. Mark 16:19.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

What do you think about when someone refers to the word, “Heaven.”? We become very excited because we want to see Jesus face to face and to sing praises unto God by the hour with the angels. Have you considered standing before God knowing that He is God? What an awesome feeling and experience that will be.

When we think of heaven we also remember that we will again see our parents, members of our family that have gone on before us and friends that we miss here on earth. And do you realize that there will be no more sickness, aching bones, persecution, sadness and no more earthly cares or concerns.

The verse from Isaiah above reminds us that God created heaven and earth and the entire universe which are His dwelling places. And one day we will be with Him.

The verse from John above reminds us that God sent down to this earth Jesus to do the will of God. It was this act of love that God did for us in order to give us eternal life with Him through the shed blood of Jesus, His Son, who in obedience to His Father’s will paid the penalty for our sins. Again, what an awesome God we have.

Finally, in the verse above from Mark we are reminded that Jesus ascended back into heaven when His work was done here on earth to prepare for us a home for eternity.

John 14:2 tells us that heaven is a place: “In My Father’s house are many mansions and I go to prepare a place for you.” Heaven is as real of a place as the place where you live now. It is called in Hebrews 11:10, a city whose maker and builder is God. In I Kings 8:23 we are told that heaven is above the earth. And in Matthew 5:16 we read that heaven is a place where God the father dwells.

What are we to do as believers, once we have accepted Jesus as our Savior and asked for forgiveness of our sins, to prepare for our eternity? Paul tells us in Colossians 3:2 to set our minds on things above (heaven) and not on things here on earth. Having faith in Jesus changes our focus and priorities away from temporal things here on earth to heavenly things that are everlasting.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Ecclesiastes 10:10.

If the ax is dull, and one does not sharpen the edge, then he must use more strength; but wisdom brings success. 

PRAYER:

Thank You Lord for the “blessed hope” we have as believers that we will spend an eternity with You in heaven. Help me to communicate to my family friends and neighbors that the things we have here on earth are totally worthless when compared to spending an eternity with You. Help me to keep my focus on heavenly things and not on the temporal things of this world.

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Godly Heart: November 19, 2015

TODAY'S WORD FOR THURSDAY NOVEMBER 19, 2015.

GODLY HEART

DEFINITION:

The center of our emotions, feelings, affection, and desires.

SCRIPTURE:

Trust in the Lord and do good. Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:3-4.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Most people that believe in the Lord understand that He promises to give us the desires of our hearts. The problem with most people is that when they do not get what they desire they begin to doubt God’s goodness and most particularly when faced with trouble and suffering. Have you ever heard someone say, “How could a loving God allow this to happen?” They forget that the attitude of their heart plays a vital role in bringing the fulfillment of this promise to fruition.

The Psalmist in Psalm 37 gives us several principles that we must apply to our lives if we are to have the necessary commitment to make our heart acceptable to God so we can receive these promises from God.

In verse 4 we are told to rejoice in the Lord at all times and have a continual desire to walk with Him in obedience. In other words, the Lord must have first place in your life daily, not Sundays or Mondays only, before you can claim this promise in this verse.

In verse 5 the writer, David, tells us to commit our ways to the Lord. We need to be willing daily to change any aspect of our ambition that is not His will. If we are walking with the Lord we will know clearly when we face such a decision. Remember, when you pray asking for something according to God’s will and He does not answer as you desire, it is for a reason that He only knows.

It is also written in verse 5 that we are to trust in Him. God is merciful, all knowing, kind, and generous. You can trust Him with all your hopes and dreams if you have a Godly heart, one that is totally in submission to Him.

In verse 7, we are told to rest in Him. Resting in the Lord means to fully trust Him to answer your prayers in His timing. When you rest in Him, He will also transform your aspirations so that your prayer requests will conform to His will. In other words your will can become more in line with His. Also we read that we are to have a Godly heart and we need to learn to wait on the Lord patiently. According to His example, He waited nearly three decades to begin His ministry on earth. Waiting for God’s leading and then following it is one of the key principles that we need to learn to keep our heart right with God.

Do your desires align with God’s purpose and plan for your life? He longs to give every believer abundant blessings and fullness of His joy. Allow your dreams to be conformed to His will and then follow His guidance faithfully and patiently. It will amaze you what God can do for you and through you.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Ecclesiastes 10:10.

If the ax is dull, and one does not sharpen the edge, then he must use more strength; but wisdom brings success. 

PRAYER:

Help me to align my life standards with Your purpose for me. Make me an example so that others that walk and talk with me will experience the joy of the Lord through me. Give me a godly heart ready to serve You as You desire.

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Idolatry: November 18, 2015

TODAY’S WORD FOR WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 18, 2015.

IDOLATRY

DEFINITION:

The religious worship of idols.

SCRIPTURE:

You turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God. I Thessalonians 1:9b

And this is eternal life that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. John 17:3

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Most people think of idols as a statue or figurine representing a god and idolatry as worshipping of an idol as god. But it goes much farther than that. The “things and people” in your life can become idols when they are more important to you than your relationship with Jesus, the living God. The majority of people in our world today have their personal idols, things and people that are more important to them then their relationship with God.

If you ask people if they believe in God most would tell you that they do. But if you ask the same person a follow up question, “What do you consider most important in your life?” Most would answer money, fame, power or pleasure and not God. To know and to follow God requires one to get rid of whatever gets in the way of worshipping Him.

We recently read about a youth pastor who asked a series of questions to some teenagers. He asked who they thought God was. One answered by saying that He is like a grandfather. He is there but I never really see Him. Another responded by saying He was an evil being who wants to punish me all the time.

Most people form their own gods in life. What consumes their time becomes their god. The more time we devote to what has become our god, the more it controls our thoughts and consumes our energy.

In the two verses we have put above, Paul and John remind us that when we have accepted Jesus as our Savior we have turned to God, the only true God, and away from the idols of life that have controlled us. Jesus Christ our Savior is the only true God because He is the one who created us, and the only one that provides us eternal life in heaven.

Idol worship has been prevalent down through the centuries. When the Israelites were in Egypt, the Egyptians had many gods and each god represented a different aspect of life. They worshipped many gods to get more blessings. Moses warned the Israelites to worship the only true God and not the god of Pharaoh, Akhenaten who pointed to the rising and setting sun as the great deity who gave life to earth. The sun was created by the only true God along with the moon, the stars and everything in this world. The sun has no power but to give light not life.

The first of the Ten Commandments that God gave Moses was: “You shall have no other gods before Me.”

When Paul came to Athens he saw the many objects of worship. The Athenians built beautiful temples to their gods. Paul was grieved by all the idolatry he saw. The Athenians had the concept that there must be a higher power but did not know who or what. Paul used this uncertainty of God to point them to the one and only true God of scripture. In Acts 17:24-25 Paul wrote: “God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands and He is not served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He Himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.”

Our Lord expects us, as believers in Him, to reach out to those who have chosen their own idols which they worship and through our words and deeds show them that there is only one God who is the God of creation and the God of salvation.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Ecclesiastes 10:10.

If the ax is dull, and one does not sharpen the edge, then he must use more strength; but wisdom brings success. 

PRAYER:

Keep me from allowing anything to become more important in my life than You. Keep me away from the things and people that could become idols and would hinder my relationship with You. May I be steadfast in my faith and give me the desire to serve You.

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Happy: November 17, 2015

TODAY’S WORD FOR TUESDAY NOVEMBER 17, 2015.

HAPPY

DEFINITION:

Contented; joyous; ecstatic; glad.

SCRIPTURE:

Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained, but happy is he who keeps the law. Proverbs 29:18.

Behold, how happy is the man whom God reproves. Job 5:17.

Let the righteous be glad; let them exalt before God; Yes, let them rejoice with gladness. Psalm 68:3.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Many people today are unhappy and that unhappiness seems to come from feeling discontent. The “ME’ generation philosophy has been accepted by many people today thinking that it will give them satisfaction and make them happy. In other words one believes that if they can do what they want, when they want, with no boundaries, they will be happy.

But it does not work that way. Happiness only comes from God. Any happiness that a non-believer in Jesus has is only temporary and will not last. More important, when a crisis comes along that person can only rely on self and that becomes disastrous.

God wants us to be happy and happiness only comes from God. Discontent comes from Satan. A believer in Jesus needs to be alert to show others that their faith provides one to overcome all situations in one’s life.

The three verses that we have written above reminds us that “Happy is he whose God is the Lord.” The people living in the “ME” generation feels that their God is “ME.” The scripture tells us in Proverbs 29:18 (above) that “Those who love and honor God find happiness by keeping God’s law.” How can one keep God’s law and live with a “ME” philosophy. It just will not work and will always lead to unhappiness.

It is very simple to understand that we all need a support system in life and those who put their trust in the Lord will have the Lord with them in the good times and in the bad times.

Happiness is only temporary when it is based on circumstances, but happiness based on hope and confidence in the Lord is lasting. We can live a happy life when we put our complete trust in God.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Ecclesiastes 10:10.

If the ax is dull, and one does not sharpen the edge, then he must use more strength; but wisdom brings success. 

PRAYER:

Thank You Lord that You alone can provide all I need for true happiness. Help me to be content with what You have given me. I praise You and thank You for Your many blessings.

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Goal: November 16, 2015

TODAY’S WORD FOR MONDAY NOVEMBER 16, 2015.

GOAL

DEFINITION:

The result or achievement toward which effort is directed; aim; end.

SCRIPTURE:

I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:14.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Every person in their lifetime sets goals. Some are set consciously and some unconsciously. It begins when one is a child for example. A child, unconsciously, sets a goal to quit crawling and to start to walk. When the child starts to attend school he or she will be challenged to set goals in classes, in sports and in activities leading to setting a goal for what he or she wants to accomplish.

As we get older we set goals such as in advance schooling, our job, leaving home and living on our own and then finding a spouse and raising a family. The point we are making is that from very early childhood until we pass on to our eternal home we have opportunities to set goals.

In determining our goals we should always seek God’s will first. Our goals must align with God’s teaching in His Word if we expect God to bless us and to help us to be successful in attaining them. Through the reading of God’ Word and by communicating with God in prayer, we allow God to counsel us and guide us in setting the right goals for our lives.

The most important goals we make in life are our spiritual goals. After we accept Jesus as our Savior we need to make as our goals, daily reading of God’s Word, meditating on God’s Word and communicating to God through prayer.

The Apostle Paul, in the verse we have put above from Philippians tells us that he presses on toward that goal but it is not instantly attained. It is a process in that every day he pushes himself to the commitment he made in his life to know Christ Jesus and to be more like Jesus.  Part of this commitment was to communicate with God, asking Him for direction and wisdom to keep him obedient to God’s leading in his life. Paul’s goal was Christlikeness.

Paul went on to tell us in this verse that his ultimate goal was the prize of the upward call of Jesus. He looked forward to the day that he would be called to heaven to be with his Lord and be completely transformed to Christlikeness.  Paul has given us a clear directive, as believers in Jesus, and it is now our responsibility to act and set Paul’s goal as ours.

Are there things happening in your life that hinder you in the goal to become more Christ like? Are you setting spiritual goals in your life? What are your goals for telling others (witnessing) about your relationship with Jesus? If we are not reaching out to others we are failing God as to what He expects from us. God wants us to set goals and then act on them. When you include God in setting your spiritual goals, watch out and be ready for God to do mighty things in your life.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Ecclesiastes 10:10.

If the ax is dull, and one does not sharpen the edge, then he must use more strength; but wisdom brings success. 

PRAYER:

Help me to set goals in my life that will make me fruitful and ready to be used by You. Help my family to join me as together we make an impact on people, on Your behalf, as we press toward the prize of spending an eternity with You.

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