Heritage: December 4, 2015

TODAY’S WORD FOR FRIDAY DECEMBER 4, 2015.

HERITAGE

DEFINITION:

Something inherited; to receive as a possession; legacy; anything handed down from an ancestor.

SCRIPTURE:

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord. Psalm 127:3.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

The Hebrew word for heritage is NACHAL. This Hebrew word has several definitions. One is to receive as a possession or to acquire as used in Proverbs 3:35: “The wise should inherit glory.” It is also used in Psalm 119:111, “Your testimonies I have taken as a heritage forever.”

God has given us His Word, the Bible, as our heritage to teach us about Himself and His gift of salvation through the shed blood of His Son and to teach us how to live for Him. Those who accept God’s gift of salvation will inherit glory in heaven.

Today we want to remind everyone the value of a Christ honoring heritage. God has blessed us with our two parents training us with a biblical perspective of life. We contrast as to how we were raised with how most families raise their families today.

Missing today are several very important items. First, parents do not teach their children biblical values, not even the Ten Commandments.  Over 50% of children today here in America have only one parent living in the home. How are children to respect their father or a mother who is never there for them?

Single parents have to often serve as both mother and father so it is tough, but it is still possible to bring children up with a solid Christian heritage if biblical principles are taught and lived by in the home. Dottie’s mother was widowed and had to raise her children alone.

Parents live today in a very self-centered world. Children are not a priority. God is not a priority. Biblical principles are not priorities. The only priority is “ME.” For parents the priority should be to leave our children with a solid Bible based God honoring heritage.

Because of the heritage that both of our families handed down to us, we realized from our teen age years that children around the world were hurting and we needed to be available to respond to any call God would give us to work with hurting and hungry children both physically and spiritually.

Only days after we were married we were off to South Korea to work with World Vision where we set up over 140 Christian orphanages for children who were literally living on the street because they were not wanted by the Koreans. You see most of these children were fathered by American GI’s. Oh, how much they needed a biblical heritage.

From that day on we have worked continually to help needy children. We thank for each opportunity He has given us to serve Him. And then God gave us six children and we were challenged by our heritage to raise them honoring God. And today we have 20 grandchildren, one great grandchild and now two grandchildren happily married to Christian spouses.

God has blessed us with four generations of children and adults who have been raised or are being raised to honor God and for this we thank Him.

God told Moses in Exodus 6:8, “I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you as a heritage.” The Psalmist wrote in Psalm 61:5, “You have given me the heritage of those who fear Your name.”  Today our family is benefitting from the heritage our parents gave us and we pray that our children and then their children will all be blessed by generations of a God fearing heritage. What kind of heritage are you leaving to those that you love and those that love you?

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Psalm 33:1.

Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise Him.

PRAYER:

Help me to build daily on my heritage by honoring You in all that I do. May I not take lightly the heritage that You have given me. Thank You for my children and guide me as I lead them by example through my walk and my talk.

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Grace: December 3, 2015

TODAY’S WORD FOR THURSDAY DECEMBER 3, 2015.

GRACE

DEFINITION:

Mercy; clemency and pardon; freely given unmerited favor; God’s free and unmerited favor to sinful humanity.

SCRIPTURE:

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. Ephesians 2:8-9.

Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning, great is Your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, therefore I hope in Him. The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul that seeks Him. Lamentations 3:22-25.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Most people have trouble giving a good definition of grace from a biblical perspective.  This is because they do not understand that true grace from a biblical perspective is the clemency and pardon that God offers us to save us from our sins. It is given freely to us even though it is unmerited; if we will admit that we are sinners. Simply stated, grace is God’s unmerited favor. God sent His Son to die on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins and we can be saved from our sinful nature by GOD’S GRACE!

There is no sin that God by His grace has not forgiven. In church we have often sung the song, “Grace, grace, God’s grace, grace that is greater than all our sins.” This says it all.

Salvation is given to us by grace, because God loves us, and not by any works that we may do. There is absolutely nothing we can do to earn our salvation. It is God’s gift to us.

There is a wonderful example of God’s grace given us in John 5:1-18. This is an account of a sick man at the pool of Bethesda near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem. Hundreds of sick people, blind, crippled, and paralyzed sat and lay by this pool because they thought that when the water stirred, the first sick person that got in the pool would be healed.

The man had been an invalid and was by this pool for 38 years. When Jesus saw this man by the pool, and He knew how long he had been lying by the pool, He said to him, “Do you want to get well?” The man responded saying that when the water is stirred I do not have anyone to put me in the pool and by the time I get in, somebody else is already in the pool.

Jesus responded and said, “Get up, take your bedroll and start walking.” The man was healed on the spot. He picked up his bedroll and walked away.

Usually Jesus healed people in response to faith. In this case the man did not know who Jesus was nor did he ask Jesus for help. His healing was unmerited but because of Jesus mercy on him he was healed by grace. Later Jesus saw him walking in the temple and said to him.” See, you are well again. Stop sinning.” The man only saw his physical need but God saw his need to be spiritually healed. God not only healed him physically but gave him, by grace, eternal life.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Psalm 33:1.

Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise Him.

PRAYER:

Thank You that You have saved me by Your grace. Help me to learn by the experiences that we read in Your Word as to how to share our faith with those who do not know You as Lord and Savior and have never received God’s grace.

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Inadequacy: December 2, 2015

TODAY’S WORD FOR WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 2, 2015.

INADEQUACY

DEFINITION:

Below par; wanting; deficiency; lacking.

SCRIPTURE:

For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things? II Corinthians 2:15.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Most of us feel that when we have feelings of inadequacy they are enemies that we need to subdue rather than to live with them. But in some cases these feelings of inadequacy can prepare us for great accomplishments.

The Apostle Paul, when he began to preach, had great feelings of inadequacy. God allowed Paul to feel inadequate until he acknowledged that he was not sufficient in himself to minister despite his great learning and varied gifts. When realizing his need to totally rely on God, he was then able to preach beyond his own personal limits and God then blessed him abundantly.

Consider what God was able to accomplish through Paul when Paul allowed God to have all that he was. Paul spread the gospel throughout the Roman world. His letters, preserved for us today in the New Testament, continue to impact lives for Christ. We never know what God can do with us until we allow Him to have all that we are.

Many times we let opportunities pass by because we so easily surrender to our inadequacies. We use our limitations as an excuse for not taking on difficult assignments when faced with God’s call to serve. Our excuses are unacceptable because the Holy Spirit will empower us for any task the Lord assigns to us. It is God who makes us competent and fit for His work. Our adequacy is always from God.

And when we let opportunities go by we miss out on the joy, peace and contentment derived from stepping out in faith to answer the call of our Lord that we thought was impossible. And even more important, our hesitation may deprive other people of the benefits of our service.

God will equip you with all you need to serve Him. Never feel that you do not have much to offer. Never under estimate the impact that any person, even you, can have on their world when one has learned to depend on the adequacy of God.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Psalm 33:1.

Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise Him.

PRAYER:

Help me to live beyond my feelings of inadequacy by learning to turn my weaknesses over to You. Enable me to fulfill Your direction for my life, not by my might but by Yours.

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Helper: December 1, 2015

TODAY’S WORD FOR TUESDAY DECEMBER 1, 2015

HELPER

DEFINITION:

One who gives assistance or support; a co-worker who gives aid.

SCRIPTURE:

I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever, that is the Holy Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him, nor know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. John 14:16-17.

These things I have spoken to you while still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. John 14:25.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

As the time drew near for Jesus death and resurrection, the disciples could not understand why all this was happening and could not comprehend what Jesus meant as He spoke to them of His coming death and resurrection. Jesus knew that after He was gone the disciples would need help and guidance. He promised the disciples that God would send them another Helper, the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit has a significant role to play in the life of every believer. Jesus assured the disciples and us today that the Holy Spirit would teach them all things and would help them remember all that Jesus had said to them. In John 16:13, Jesus told the disciples that the Holy Spirit would help them by guiding them into all truth. Through the work of the Holy Spirit the disciples would come to a clear and accurate understanding of Jesus and all that He had taught them. The Holy Spirit is still at work teaching us to know the truth about Jesus and leading us to discern the difference between right and wrong.

When we do wrong the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin. Jesus said in John 16:8, “When He comes; He will convict the world concerning sin.”

Paul also reminds us of other helps we receive from the Holy Spirit. If we have doubts about our salvation, the Holy Spirit gives us assurance that we are a child of God and will spend eternity with Him. In Romans 8:16, Paul tells us that the Spirit testifies with our spirit that we are the children of God.

In times of trouble the Holy Spirit prays for us. The Spirit also helps us in our weaknesses. He intercedes for us with groaning too deep for words (Romans 8:26). There is nothing we can do to make ourselves holy and worthy of salvation. It is only by the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit that we can become like Christ.

We may not always be aware of the Holy Spirit but He is always within us to be our helper. The Holy Spirit helps us by:

•    Teaching us all things
•    Guiding us into all truth
•    Convicting us from sin
•    Interceding for us
•    Sanctifying us.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Psalm 33:1.

Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise Him.

PRAYER:

Thank You, dear Lord, for sending Your Holy Spirit to be my helper. Help me to learn daily from the truths that the Holy Spirit teaches me as I read God’s Word.

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Gossip: November 30, 2015

TODAY’S WORD FOR MONDAY NOVEMBER 30, 2015.

GOSSIP

DEFINITION:

A rumor; revealing personal or sensational facts about others; trifling talk about other people; an idle talker; discussing other people’s affairs.

SCRIPTURE:

A man who bears false witness against his neighbor is like a club, a sword, and an arrow. Proverbs 25:18

A perverse man stirs up dissension and a gossip separates close friends. Proverbs 16:28.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Gossip defined is the act of someone sharing with a person information about a third person that is most often just rumor information that is not true or at least stretching the truth. Gossip is not complimentary to the third party and is most often very hurtful.

Our sinful nature causes us to relish juicy tidbits of gossip and what we hear we usually share with another person and soon it becomes embellished, no way near what was said originally. The workplace is the most prevalent place for gossip. A recent poll tells us that the average employee gossips 65 hours a year -- over one hour each week.

Gossip is not only a problem for adults but also among children, especially teenagers.  Gossip spreads very fast on a school campus and can do destructive and hurtful damage to those who are the subjects of the gossip. Many teens have low self-esteem so they grab on to any tidbit of gossip to make themselves feel they are better than others. They find rumors and hearsay tantalizing. They love to spread the rumors they hear because it makes them feel like insiders.

There is no place for gossip in the life of a believer in Jesus Christ. God speaks out strongly against it. In Exodus 20:16, one of the Ten Commandments that God gave to Moses reads: “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” False witnessing is lying and God commands us not to lie. In Exodus 23:1 God says, “Do not spread false reports.” Notice that in these two verses God speaks in the form of a command not a mere suggestion.

Proverbs 25:18 (above) lets us know that spreading false witness can become vicious and is like using a club, a sword or a sharp arrow on a person.

Most people would never hurt someone by using a weapon but they will spread hurtful gossip without hesitation and God tells us that this is as bad as using a weapon. In the second verse we have put above, we are warned that gossip stirs up dissension and separates close friends.

If you choose to love others and be concerned about others you will live in a gossip free zone. You can never justify gossip. It is better to pray for someone and if you are praying you will find it difficult to gossip about them.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Psalm 33:1.

Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise Him.

PRAYER:

Forgive me for the times I have spoken carelessly about others to make myself look better. Help me to think before I speak and to show a Christ-like love to all by speaking kindly about them. Teach me to be loving in my words and to shun gossip.

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