Grumbling: December 18, 2015

TODAY’S WORD FOR FRIDAY DECEMBER 18, 2015.

GRUMBLING

DEFINITION:

A discontented mutter; a growl; complaining.

SCRIPTURE:

Do all things without complaining or disputing. Philippians 2:14

These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to get advantage. Jude 16

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

We all grumble at times and grumbling is nothing new. Moses heard grumbling and griping among the Children of Israel just three days after he led them from slavery into freedom. We read in Exodus 15:24 about the people complaining against Moses saying, “What shall we drink?” As a result of their grumbling they forgot the joy of their new God given freedom from slavery and they lost their trust in God to provide for them.

Centuries later, Samuel felt the weight of grumbling people as he sought to represent God to his generation. The elders came to Samuel, ( I Samuel 8:4-9) telling him that he was old and his sons did not walk in his ways honoring God so they wanted a king appointed so they could be like all the other nations. Their grumbling led them to reject God’s plan for them. God gave them their way and the result was the eventual destruction of Israel.

In the above verse in Jude, written by Jude the brother of James who both were brothers of Jesus. Jude describes the apostate members of the body of believers in the early church. He tells us that they were grumblers and complainers and had the ability to express themselves in “great swelling words” to impress and deceive people.

Jude also said that “These are the men who divide you.” There can be no doubt that grumbling is divisive and harmful. This is why Paul admonished us to “Do all things without complaining and disputing.” They were not only grumblers but desired to follow their own evil ways. Believers that grumble are not a positive testimony for the Lord.

We need to avoid grumbling and complaining because we belong to God and we are serving Christ. Instead of grumbling we are to rejoice and thank God for all that He has done for us. When you feel like grumbling, take a moment and count your blessings and see what God has done for you and what He has brought you through down through the years. It will change your attitude to joy and your frown to a smile.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in I Thessalonians 5:18:

Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

PRAYER:

Help me to be willing to serve others with an attitude that honors Your name. When I face the evils of life or events that just do not go my way help me not to grumble but may I have a humble and loving spirit that shines out loud and clear to those that do not know You as Savior.

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Injustice: December 17, 2015

TODAY’S WORD FOR THURSDAY DECEMBER 17, 2015.

INJUSTICE

DEFINITION:

The quality of being unjust or unfair; the violation of rights of others; wrong.

SCRIPTURE:

Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong? Habakkuk 1:3.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Unfortunately, there is injustice in this sinful world and the fact is that life in its self is unfair so many times. All around us we see injustice.

When we were raising our six children, we gave them personal and house rules that we expected them to honor. We also gave them weekly responsibilities. When there was a difference of opinion or a squabble concerning one of the children not doing their job or complaining on one of their siblings actions, we would give, what we always hoped, a fair discipline. The reaction most of the time was, “IT IS JUST NOT FAIR.”

Our family often discussed, around the evening dinner table, the actions of children at their school and adults that all of us ran into that day. Children and adults were getting away with things that were wrong at school and at the workplace. Every day we still see people who are living corrupt lives and are breaking God’s commandments.

Sometimes we might think that these individuals are getting away with their evil deeds and even prospering in them. Nothing bad ever seems to happen to them.

Habakkuk, who was a prophet of God, had the same question that we have daily. He took his question directly to God asking, “Why do You make me look at injustice?” and “Why do You tolerate wrong?”

Habakkuk lived in Judah during the reign of King Jehoiakim who was an evil man who did evil things in the eyes of the Lord. The people of Judah, although they were God’s chosen people, had turned away from God to worship idols. Habakkuk describes them as corrupt, violent and so lawless that injustice prevailed. Habakkuk could not understand why God did not punish them.

But God did answer him and told him that punishment was on the way but it would come in God’s perfect timing. In Habakkuk 2:36, it reads, “Though it linger, wait for it, it will surely come and I will not delay.” God did keep His word and this prophecy that God gave Habakkuk was fulfilled when Babylon invaded Judah three times, completely destroying Judah and carrying the people off to exile in Babylon.

God is sovereign and let us assure you that when one sins against God, He will punish the sinner for his evil doings when and how He chooses. God is merciful and wants everyone, even the vilest of sinners to come to repentance and accept His gift of salvation by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. God will delay His judgement to give sinful man every opportunity to turn to Him.

So when you see a person doing evil and prospering, be certain his time will come in God’s perfect timing. Until then there will be injustice and life will continue to be unfair.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in I Thessalonians 5:18:

Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

PRAYER:

I thank You that You are in control and that even when I cannot understand the injustices I see in the world around me, that You are at work to accomplish Your purpose to bring a sinful world to repentance. Thank You for Your faithful promises especially Your promise of spending an eternity with You.

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Hope: December 16, 2015

TODAY’S WORD FOR WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 16, 2015.

HOPE

DEFINITION:

Expect or look forward to with desire and confidence of fulfillment.

SCRIPTURE:

For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? Romans 8:24.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Over the past few years we have seen many disastrous calamities including earthquakes, flooding and fires. Have you often wondered what people are feeling and how do they react when devastating situations hit. In many cases they soon realize that they have lost much of their personal belongings and a spirit of despair and hopelessness sets in.

What hope can these hurting people have? A person who deals with life in the strength of their own capabilities most likely has no hope. But for Christians, who have their faith in their Lord Jesus, hope is found in Jesus and that will be more than enough to get them through the crises. Those who have not been saved through faith in Christ Jesus are relying on themselves. The hope they have contains no certainty.

The hope that the apostle Paul speaks of in the verse we have put above is the hope every believer has in that their ultimate destiny is to spend eternity with God. Paul reminds us that hope is not based on what we can see and we do not hope for what we already have. The hope that Paul talks about is not yet realized but it is certain for those who are saved.

God does not make promises that He does not keep. God guaranteed our salvation by the shed blood of His Son, Jesus Christ, on the cross. We have not fully received all the benefits and blessings of salvation that will one day be ours when Christ’s new kingdom is established.

When people face that time in life when they get concerned about issues that mean survival, who do they rely on? Those of us who have our complete faith and trust in the Lord let us not forget that our Lord is faithful and that we have the wonderful hope of spending an eternity with our Lord.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in I Thessalonians 5:18:

Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

PRAYER:

I praise You for being my only hope for today and tomorrow. May I constantly live a life that will be an example to my family, friends, associates and neighbors that my hope is completely in You.

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Grow: December 15, 2015

TODAY’S WORD FOR TUESDAY DECEMBER 15, 2015.

GROW

DEFINITION:

Mature; develop; progress; increase.

SCRIPTURE:

Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. II Peter 3:18.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

New believers in Jesus Christ come from all sorts of backgrounds. Some may have gone to church when they were young and others have never been in a church. These new believers are as newborn babies, according to the scriptures, and just as a baby needs to be fed to thrive and grow, a new believer needs to be introduced to God’s Word and fed spiritually in order to grow and mature in their new found faith.

In Ezekiel 47, Ezekiel shares with us that he had a vision of a river flowing out from out of the temple. The temple symbolized God and the river the gospel of Jesus Christ. In this vision Ezekiel sees stages of one’s spiritual growth depicted, of those who have accepted Christ into their life.

When one first finds Jesus this vision likens the new believer as walking ankle deep in the water and experiencing only a shallow sense of God’s grace and power in one’s life.

As a new believer spends time reading and meditating in God’s Word he soon learns how to live a Spirit-filled life which is a life of obedience, trust, surrender and peace.

But the vision is explained more by Ezekiel in verse 4 when he says many new believers are satisfied with just wading ankle deep and are not motivated to take the next step by wading into knee deep water which is hungering and thirsting for more of God in their lives.

We are living in a society today among so many Christians who never have advanced from being babes in Christ. Nothing seems to motivate them to grow in the Lord. Our churches and pastors are not motivated to preach sermons that motivate spiritual growth among their people. The family structure has collapsed and very few parents teach and train their children how to grow in their love for God. The result is that new believers are living a life style according to the will of the flesh, because they do not know any better and are not taught to live according to the will of God.

The apostle Paul tells us in I Corinthians about many of the people in the church at Corinth who had become divided into factions and cliques and were continually at each other’s throats, dragging one another into courts of law, gossiping against each other and undermining each other. What a mess it was. Does it sound like what many are facing today in our society?

The source of these divisions is pride, the fleshly desire for preeminence, and to be idolized and praised. Paul reminds us that as long as the desire to live for worldly pleasures is alive and well in our lives, we will remain spiritual infants and will never grow up into what God wants us to be.

God is not at all impressed with what we do in the flesh, only what we do in the Spirit will last. Until we learn to walk into the water up to our waist, division and conflict will reign in our lives. It is just that simple. We cannot have one foot in the world and one foot in God’s kingdom. We will not grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in I Thessalonians 5:18:

Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

PRAYER:

Help me to step out by faith into the deep waters of Your Word and submerge myself so that there is more of You and less of me. Help me to grow spiritually and may I lead my family into a closer relationship with You.

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Influence: December 14, 2015

TODAY’S WORD FOR MONDAY DECEMBER 14, 2015.

INFLUENCE

DEFINITION:

Power to control or affect others by authority or indirect means; persuasive; example; a person or thing that exerts power.

SCRIPTURE:

I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. Romans 1:8.

As Solomon grew older, his wives turned his heart after other gods. I Kings 11:4.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Think of all of the influences that affect your life today. The peer pressure, which is usually negative, on young people as well as on adults is enormous. The world is basically evil because of the influence of Satan.

There are the influences of television commercials, television itself, movies, newspapers, magazines, talk radio, television news and the internet. As believers we have the difficult decision to make every day of what is negative and what is positive in what we see, read and hear.

The line between what is right or wrong has become blurred. We are told and children are taught in school that they must tolerate things we know to be wrong. If we are not tolerant we are said to be prejudiced and we are labeled a bigot.

If you succumb to the negative influences in your life, you are not a leader but a follower. If you are a follower you will accept almost every influence in your life as acceptable. You basically respond as the old saying says, “If someone tells you to jump you say how far?”

In the Old Testament we have the recorded history of Israel from its beginning, when God promised Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation, right through to its destruction. The decline of Israel was caused by the evil influences of those who did not love God and the Israelites never learned from their mistakes.

God planned that Israel would be a nation led by God through the guidance and God-given authority of the priests, the judges and the prophets. The decline of Israel began with the death of the high-priest Eli. His two sons were the new priests and they turned evil, choosing not to follow Eli’s Godly example. The result was that Israel became susceptible to the influences of the pagan nations around them.

The Israelites soon rejected God’s leadership and wanted a king to lead them. They went to Samuel and asked him to appoint a king to lead them just as the other nations around them had. Samuel warned them that by doing this they were rejecting God and the day would come when they would cry out for relief from the rule of a king.

Saul was appointed and was a good and successful king in the beginning but soon he disobeyed God. After Saul came David who was Israel’s most Godly king. Then came Solomon who started out well and then made the terrible mistake of marrying women from foreign nations who worshipped idols and false gods.

Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines and allowed their pagan influences to corrupt him and it accelerated the decline of Israel. After Solomon died, Israel was divided into two kingdoms, Israel and Judah. Both kingdoms turned to worshipping false gods succumbing to the influence of ungodly nations. God brought judgement on them and they eventually were conquered and were taken as exiles to foreign nations.

But in contrast we must share with you that God provides many positive influences on our lives today. God is very much alive and is at work in this evil world. We are to recognize these positive influences that come from God and build on them.

The apostle Paul was a positive influence on those who became believers in the first century. Paul encouraged them to be strong in their commitment to Christ so that they would be a positive influence in a corrupt world. Paul said in I Corinthians to “Imitate me, just as I imitate Christ.” When we imitate Christ in our lives we will have a positive influence on each person that our lives touch.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in I Thessalonians 5:18:

Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

PRAYER:

Help me to be an influence for good in someone’s life today. May others see You through me and help me to glorify Your name and be a shining light to a world that is evil and living in darkness.

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