Tolerance: February 12, 2016

TODAY’S WORD FOR FRIDAY FEBRUARY 12, 2016.

TOLERANCE

DEFINITION:

Disposition to be patient and fair; forbearance; refraining from taking action. Tolerance is a virtue.

SCRIPTURE:

He is a compassionate and gracious God; slow to anger, abounding in love, and faithfulness. Psalm 86:15.

The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked. Nahum 1:3.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

This is the most misunderstood word in our culture today because it has neutralized what we believers believe. Our culture has elevated tolerance over truth. Tolerance is a virtue today for a man with no convictions.

One of our great concerns is that evangelical believers are falling into the trap that culture seems to be demanding and Satan is using against those of us who believe in Jesus as our Savior. A recent poll told us that 68% of evangelicals today say that there is no such thing as absolute truth. These people believe that everything is relative.

Believers need to understand what is written in Matthew 5:13. We are the salt of the earth and when we change our value system from what the scripture teaches, we are basically good for nothing just as when salt becomes tasteless. True tolerance requires a belief in absolute truth.

Let us explain the difference this way. 7X8 is always 56. This is absolute truth. But when one says that 72 degrees is a perfect temperature, this is not true for everyone so it is not absolute truth.

The scripture clearly sets rules for us to live by daily. When we break a rule then we are sinning and not honoring God. That is what is happening today in our culture. When we were raising our children sometimes they thought we were intolerant when we gave them a rule and they broke the rule and received a punishment. Having to accept the punishment made us intolerant but the fact was that a rule was set and a punishment was set if the rule was broken.

Some people feel God is an intolerant God because they feel they are good people and cannot believe what is written in Romans 3:23 could be true for them. It is written, “We have all sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Romans 6:23 says, “The penalty for our sins is death.”

There are people that feel this punishment is too harsh. In reality God is quite tolerant and longsuffering. He puts up with a lot from us. While God is compassionate and slow to anger, He will not let the wicked go unpunished.

The only way one can be saved from this death and spending an eternity in hell is by receiving God’s act of redemption, accepting Jesus as one’s Savior. Those that think God is intolerant think that God’s judgement is unfair. No matter what anyone may think the fact is that the Bible is truth and there is no other way, according to God’s Word.

The Israelites often complained about God when they suffered the consequences of their sin. Ezekiel told Israel as recorded in Ezekiel 18:25, “Yet you say that the way of the Lord is not just. Is it not your ways that are not just?” The truth is that God was very tolerant and patient with Israel, putting up with their disobedience and even their rejection of Him as God.

In the two verses we have put above we can see that God does tolerate our sin and disobedience because He is compassionate and slow to anger. God will give us plenty of time to repent of our sins and turn to Him. But He cannot tolerate our sins forever. Nahum tells us in the verse above that the Lord will not let the wicked, those that do not accept Jesus as their Savior, go unpunished.

Tolerance is developing a disposition to be patient and fair in every situation you face in life. Every day we need to communicate to our Lord through prayer asking Him for the tolerance needed to handle the issues and frustrations we will face.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Isaiah 1:18.

Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.

PRAYER:

Give me patience today and help me to be tolerant and slow to anger when people around me are against me. Give me wisdom in communicating to others the truth of Your Word. Thank You for being patient and compassionate to us and for forgiving us of our sins.

Special Price
Only $10.00
Click Here for More

ONE FINAL SUGGESTION.

If you have not received your FREE BOOKMARK from us, please click on either:

Get your FREE bookmark

or

Write Ken and Dottie a note

And we will send one to you.
It includes 10 golden rules for a happy family.

Purity: February 11, 2016

TODAY’S WORD FOR THURSDAY FEBRUARY 11, 2016.

PURITY

DEFINITION:

Freedom from anything that pollutes or contaminates, uncontaminated; without evil, guiltless; undefiled.

SCRIPTURE:

But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield and without hypocrisy. James 3:17.

He who has clean hands and a pure heart; he shall receive blessing from the Lord. Psalm 24:4-5.

I stir up your pure minds by way of a reminder that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken by the holy prophets. II Peter 3:1-2.

Holding the mystery (revealed truth) of our faith with a pure conscience. I Timothy 3:9.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Many people today are concerned as to how they look from the outside. People try everything to improve their looks including cosmetics, beauty treatments, exercise, gyms, spas, diets and when all else fails, plastic surgery. All of this just to improve their outward appearance.

What we should be more concerned about is our inward appearance. Although we look at the outward appearance, the Lord looks at what is on the inside. I Samuel 16:7 reminds us, “The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart.”

Believers need to spend more of their time and effort on making sure they are pure and uncontaminated on the inside. God wants us to be pure. It is not wrong to want to look at improving how we look on the outside, but our point is that we do not want to overlook what God wants us to do about the inside.

There is no inherent purity in any of us because we are all sinners. II Timothy 2:19 reminds us, “Everyone who names the name of the Lord must turn from wickedness.”  To be pure we must go to the only source of purity and that is God. We are to seek His wisdom.

James tells us that God’s wisdom is first pure and then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield and without hypocrisy. Purity requires a change in our sinful hearts. When our hearts are pure it will be evident because we will strive in all we do to be honest and upright, peaceable and kind, following Jesus’ example.

And if our hearts are pure our hands will be clean and uncontaminated by evil deeds. The verse from Psalms above confirms this thought.

A pure heart will lead us to pure thoughts and a pure mind leads to obedience. Peter wrote in his letter to believers (I PETER 3:1-2) that to keep our heart and minds pure we must remember the words of the scripture as written by the holy prophets. Knowing God’s Word and obeying it will keep us pure because it makes us aware of our sins.

We need to constantly remind ourselves the need of purity in our lives in the way we walk, talk and act. We need to be always on our guard because the devil will do his very best to set unassuming traps for us to fall into to cause us to sin and contaminate the purity that God wants and puts into our heart, mind and conscience.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Isaiah 1:18.

Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.

PRAYER:

Help me to live a pure life today, honoring You with my thoughts, my deeds and my actions.

Special Price
Only $10.00
Click Here for More

ONE FINAL SUGGESTION.

If you have not received your FREE BOOKMARK from us, please click on either:

Get your FREE bookmark

or

Write Ken and Dottie a note

And we will send one to you.
It includes 10 golden rules for a happy family.

Misunderstood: February 10, 2016

TODAY’S WORD FOR WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 10, 2016.

MISUNDERSTOOD

DEFINITION:

To understand or interpret incorrectly; attach a wrong meaning to; unappreciated; misjudged.

SCRIPTURE:

And being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously. I Peter 2:23.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

It hurts to be misunderstood. When our motives are right and our actions are above reproach, we want to be accepted and appreciated and it hurts when our purpose is misunderstood and we are rejected.

Jesus understands our anguish and pain when we are misunderstood because He knows our heart. Christians, especially those who have a good relationship with the Lord, are mocked and made fun of for their faith in Jesus and their Christian values. But Jesus understands because no one has been more misunderstood and mocked more than Jesus.

Judas was one of Jesus’ disciples but he had no understanding of the mission and purpose of Jesus being on this earth. Judas though that Jesus would overthrow the Romans and set up a new government.

Even the religious leaders of that time misunderstood who Jesus was. They knew the scriptures and of all people they should have been the ones to understand that Jesus was their Messiah. But instead they saw Jesus as a threat to their positions and power because of His popularity. The Scribes and Pharisees could not accept that Jesus was the Son of God. They actually thought He was from Satan (Matthew 12:24).

The people who lived in Nazareth, the home town of Jesus, misunderstood who Jesus was also. Matthew 13:55-58 tells us that they saw Him only as the carpenter’s son and they took offense at Him. Even those who knew Him best misunderstood who He was.

King Herod also misunderstood Jesus. When he heard the reports about Jesus and His miraculous works, Herod thought Jesus was John the Baptist risen from the dead. In the verse we have put above from I Peter we read that Jesus was reviled, abused and maligned, with abusive and vile language. His response was to never retaliate with vicious words or threats. Instead He entrusted Himself to God, His Father. Jesus came into the world knowing He would suffer. He was able to endure suffering with patience and assurance because he was confident God was in control.

To be misunderstood usually brings frustration and bitterness. The usual response is to withdraw, sulk, or immerse ourselves in self-pity. This is not the way the Lord would have us respond. Instead, we are to face suffering as Jesus did with patience and endurance having confidence that God is in control of our future.

When we have suffered because of a misunderstanding we can be sure that God understands our pain. Romans 8:28 tells us that all things work for good to them that love the Lord. The enemy, Satan, uses being misunderstood for his purposes but God can and will use the circumstances of misunderstanding for good in a believer’s life.

When we turn our misunderstandings over to God, then by God’s grace, He will turn the situation around and bring us into a new and stronger relationship with Him.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Isaiah 1:18.

Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.

PRAYER:

Help me, dear Father, to allow You to use the hurtful misunderstandings in my life for good. Give me a spirit of forgiveness and a sensitive heart toward those who wrong me.

Special Price
Only $10.00
Click Here for More

ONE FINAL SUGGESTION.

If you have not received your FREE BOOKMARK from us, please click on either:

Get your FREE bookmark

or

Write Ken and Dottie a note

And we will send one to you.
It includes 10 golden rules for a happy family.

Judging: February 9, 2016

TODAY’S WORD FOR TUESDAY FEBRUARY 9, 2016.

JUDGING

DEFINITION:

To infer, think or hold as an opinion; to make a mental assessment using discernment.

SCRIPTURE:

Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge you will be judged and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. Matthew 7:1-2.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

God has created us with the ability to think so that we can make wise choices. This requires the ability to judge. When Jesus said, do not judge in Matthew 7:1, He was not saying we should not be discerning. This is righteous judgement which as believers we must exercise to separate good from evil. What Jesus was saying was that we must not judge in a self-righteous way, which is finding fault in others to make ourselves look good.

Jesus in Matthew 7:1-5 pulls no punches concerning one who judges in this way. In verse one He clearly tells us not to judge.  In verse two He tells us that the one who judges (criticizes) will be judged. In verse three He mentions that the one who judges should examine his own heart first before he says a thing. So often the things we fault some else with are no worse than the faults in our lives.

In verses four and five Jesus tells us that the one who judges is deceived about himself when he judges others. The one who criticizes magnifies the faults of others while excusing his or her faults. These verses make it very clear how our Lord feels about us as believer’s when we judge others.

The word judge means to most people to criticize, condemn or censor. It is really fault-finding and most often picky. From a Biblical perspective, as Jesus said in these verses from Matthew, when a person slips and has a problem, we as believers should show compassion not condemnation. It is a time to reach out with guidance and not the time to hand out criticism. It is a time to speak kindly and encourage, not negatively or harmfully.

Most people judge others because it boosts one’s self-image. It is part of our sinful nature to want to tear others down to build ourselves up. For some it is a time to justify their wrong decisions at the expense of someone else. It sometimes is an outlet for one to hurt or show revenge to someone who possibly failed them. Jesus would have us judge ourselves first and then show forgiveness to others. If we did this we would be very discerning before judging.

God is our final judge and we as believers will be judged by the quality of fruit we produce. The fruit cannot be judged by earthly values but by heavenly values. Galatians 5:22 lists the fruits of the Spirit which are love, peace, joy, longsuffering, kindness, goodness and faithfulness.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Isaiah 1:18.

Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.

PRAYER:

Help me this day to be slow to judge others and quick to judge myself. Help me to produce the fruits of the Spirit that will draw people to You and not away from You. Help my family to show others Your love and compassion for them.

Special Price
Only $10.00
Click Here for More

ONE FINAL SUGGESTION.

If you have not received your FREE BOOKMARK from us, please click on either:

Get your FREE bookmark

or

Write Ken and Dottie a note

And we will send one to you.
It includes 10 golden rules for a happy family.

Tongue: February 8, 2016

TODAY’S WORD FOR MONDAY FEBRUARY 8, 2016.

TONGUE

DEFINITION:

A moveable organ in the mouth enabling speech; speech or talk; a language or dialect.

SCRIPTURE:

No man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil full of deadly poison, with it we bless God and Father and with it we curse men. James 3:8-9.

A wholesome tongue is a tree of life. Proverbs 15:4

Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Psalm 34:13.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

We both can remember as children that when we said something “bad” our parents would remark strongly to us that if we ever repeated that comment or word that they would wash out our mouth with soap.

If you have ever had your mouth washed out with soap, as we both had, you will think twice about using your tongue that way again. The point our parents were making to us was that we needed to be careful about what words we chose and how we spoke to others. We needed to think before we spoke and to be sensitive to the feelings of those we were communicating too.

The tongue is a very small part of the body but it is mighty and a most important part. Without our tongue we could not taste or talk. In the above verse James warns of the power of the tongue. No man can tame the tongue and it is unruly, evil and full of deadly poison.

The tongue has the ability to do great and long term damage. Once a word comes out of the mouth it cannot be taken back. In James 3:6 we are told that the damage the tongue can do is compared to a raging fire. Like a fire you cannot control the damage a word can do and you cannot reverse the damage. In a matter of minutes a few words spoken in anger or with the intent to be hurtful can destroy a life-long relationship. Satan uses our tongues to put people against one another and to stir up hatred and fighting.

Our society has changed so much even over the last ten years. Words we hear today being commonly used were rarely used in public. Why is this happening? Just think about the changes in our culture here in America alone. Students now are forbidden to pray in their schools, the Ten Commandments cannot be posted in our schools or public buildings and pornography is accepted as free speech. We have taken God out of our society and now we are reaping the results.

James tells us that what comes out of our mouth shows what motivates us. Our words give the true picture of who we really are and who is in control. What we as believers need to understand is that without the help of God it is impossible to control our tongue. We must submit our tongue to His control.

When we allow God to control our life and the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with God’s love then our tongue will be used for God’s glory. James 3:8-9 tells us that with the tongue we praise and bless God.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Isaiah 1:18.

Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.

PRAYER:

Help me today to control my tongue and make my words honor You in all that I do.

Special Price
Only $10.00
Click Here for More

ONE FINAL SUGGESTION.

If you have not received your FREE BOOKMARK from us, please click on either:

Get your FREE bookmark

or

Write Ken and Dottie a note

And we will send one to you.
It includes 10 golden rules for a happy family.