Repentance: June 24, 2016

TODAY'S WORD FOR FRIDAY JUNE 24, 2016.

REPENTANCE

DEFINITION:

Deep sorrow; remorse; regret for a past sin, wrong doing or error.

SCRIPTURE:

He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy. Proverbs 28:13

Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent. Acts 17:30

God exalted Him to His own right hand as Prince and Savior that He might give repentance and forgiveness of sin to Israel. Acts 5:31

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

The dictionary defines repentance as deep sorrow or contrition for a past sin. It is true, repentance requires being sorry. However, true repentance requires more than just feeling sorry, it requires a complete turning away from sin and a determination not to return to or repeat our sinful act.

When we accepted Jesus as our Savior and became believers we needed to repent of our sins. God expects us to repent if we are to become one of His children.

True repentance requires change. Changing the direction of one's life from sin-centeredness and self-centeredness to God centeredness. If we are willing to renounce our sin filled way of life and turn to God, He will give us a new direction in life.

Take a moment now and evaluate your life. Is there something you need to repent of? How have you treated God? How about your spouse, children and family? What about at your workplace? Have you been honest and responsible? Have you honored God in all that you have done? Have you treated your neighbors and friends with respect?

We are all born sinners into this world and cannot have a right relationship with God and un-repented sin in our life at the same time. The only way we can have God in our life is to be willing to turn from sin and repent. Repentance opens the door to God's free gift of salvation given by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ.

True repentance is always coupled with faith. It is impossible to have saving faith and not to be repentant. Faith without repentance is the ultimate of hypocrisy and repentance without faith is futile. When you asked Jesus to come into your heart, by faith, you asked for forgiveness of your past sins. This was repentance.

Repentance is not merely sorrow for something done. It is not penance and it is not a reformation which is a change brought about by our own efforts for self-glorification. Repentance is an intellectual, emotional and spiritual change in one’s life. The prodigal son had first a change of mind, then a change of heart and then a change of will. That is when repentance came into his life.

We have many examples given us in the scriptures where repentance was preached. John the Baptist preached repentance. Jesus preached repentance. Peter and Paul preached repentance.

Repentance is so important to God that He commands "all men everywhere to repent"(Acts 17:30). Jesus said the lost were to repent. Paul said that the back sliders were to repent. In Revelation the local churches are told to repent. Jesus said in Luke 13:3: "But unless you repent you too will perish." There are severe consequences for those unwilling to repent.

The proof of repentance in your life is threefold: Turning from sin; turning to God and then seeking to do what the Lord leads you to do.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Deuteronomy 33:27.

The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms; He will thrust out the enemy from before you, and will say, destroy.

PRAYER:

Speak to my heart today that I may repent from my sinful ways. Help me to make the necessary changes in my life that will show others that I have truly repented of my sins so that they will see that Christ has made a difference in my life. Help me to repent of those things that are in my life that come between me and You, my God. Give me leadership with my family to guide them so that together we live a God honoring life in all that we do.

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Father: June 23, 2016

TODAY’S WORD FOR THURSDAY JUNE 23, 2016.

FATHER

DEFINITION:

A male parent; God

SCRIPTURE:

Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise. Ephesians 6:2.

So Judah gathered together to ask help from the Lord, God, their Father; and from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord. II Chronicles 20:4.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

It is highly evident that our society is in rapid decline morally and spiritually. We do not have to look much farther for the cause of this decline than to see the disintegration of the family unit. God ordained the family to be the basis of society. When the family breaks down, society breaks down. Many children are living either in one parent families or in dysfunctional families.

It was God’s plan that father’s should lead the family and provide for them. It is alarming how many fathers have abandoned their God given role to be the spiritual leader of their family and even more alarming is that so many have abandoned their families completely. This is not Biblical and in fact the scriptures give us a very clear direction for fathers as to how to live their lives. No human father is perfect but with the Holy Spirit, Scripture, and Godly mentors a man can become a successful dad and father. Following are several principles to help a father accomplish what God expects from a man who is or becoming a father.

Make sure you have made your decision to follow Jesus so that you can help your children to trust in Jesus as early in their life as possible. They will then grow with the understanding that God is to be the center of everything they do. It is the father’s leadership role to teach this to the children.

Make sure you set Biblical standards in your home such as honesty, purity, loyalty and integrity and then live by them in your daily walk and talk. These values will guide your children to make right decisions.

Teach your children about love, respect, and mutual encouragement. This will teach them how to treat others and how to develop good relationships with others.

In your vocation be a model in cooperation and doing your work at your work-place and at home “heartily, as to the Lord and not to men” Colossians 3:23. Your children then will be inclined to form a healthy work ethic.

Teach your children the right way to handle money: to earn it honestly, give the first 10% back to God, and to invest it intelligently. Teach your children to “be generous and willing to share what they have” I Timothy 6:18.

Unless children learn how to function properly under authority rebelliousness can easily develop. A father has a role to teach their children by example because our children notice when there is a disconnect between our words and our conduct. Setting a good example is essential.

The importance of the father’s role of setting a good example and being the spiritual leader of his family is seen in the family of Gideon. Gideon was a highly successful leader, under God, of the army of Israel. He led an army of 10,000 and defeated 135,000 Medianites with 300 soldiers. Gideon could lead a nation but he failed as a father and could not lead his own family.

His failure came as a result of an extramarital relationship, which is sin in God’s sight. In this relationship he had a son, named Abimelech (Judges 8:31). This caused real problems within his family. In Judges 9:5 we read that after the death of his father, Gideon, he (Abimelech) went to his father’s home and murdered his seventy half-brothers. Gideon’s story serves to illustrate that great leaders are not always great leaders in their daily life at home. Fathers need to put their trust daily in the hands of their Heavenly Father to lead them to be Godly leaders in their own homes.

In the second verse above from II Chronicles we read about the time that King Jehoshaphat of Judah faced a problem. Three neighboring tribes, the Moabites, Amonites and Meunites simultaneously waged war against the King with the sole purpose of dethroning him. King Jehoshaphat and the nation of Judah were facing disaster.

The King reacted just as fathers today must react. He went to his Heavenly Father asking Him for His leading, His guidance and His protection. Most leaders would have crumbled under this pressure. Unfortunately, many fathers today crumble under much less pressure because they do not turn to God to lead them.

The King proclaimed a time of prayer and a fast throughout his land. The people trusted God so completely that they praised God for the victory before the battle began. God heard the King’s prayer and the prayer of his people (his family) and answered their prayers. God caused confusion among the invading three armies and they ended up fighting each other and destroying themselves because God did intervene on behalf of the King and the people of Judah (his family). God hears the prayers of Godly fathers who pray for and with their families.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Deuteronomy 33:27.

The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms; He will thrust out the enemy from before you, and will say, destroy.

PRAYER:

Thank You that we know that whatever concern us concerns You as well. As fathers, and mothers, help us to look to You for guidance and enable us to be spiritual leaders in our home. Help us to plant healthy concepts daily into the minds and hearts of our children equipping them to be motivated to fulfill Your purpose in their lives.

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Confession: June 22, 2016

TODAY’S WORD FOR WEDNESDAY JUNE 22, 2016.

CONFESSION

DEFINITION:

Admission or disclosure of sin; a formal profession of religious belief.

SCRIPTURE:

For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. Romans 10:10.

Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold of eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. I Timothy 6:12.

Confess your faults (sins) one to another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. James 5:16.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

When we worked with the Billy Graham organization many years ago we witnessed at every church meeting where we showed a Billy Graham film and at every crusade meeting where Billy Graham preached, an invitation at the conclusion of his message for people to accept Jesus as their Savior. When one was ready to make that decision they were invited to come to the front of the stadium or building to confess their sins and make their decision to receive Jesus into their heart in front of witnesses. This is what Paul is saying to Timothy in I Timothy 6:12 (above). God wants us to tell the world about our confession of being a sinner and our new found faith in Him and we begin by making a formal decision in front of witnesses.

The Christian faith requires action on our part. Jesus has made it possible to have forgiveness of sins and He offers us the gift of eternal life. Paul says to take hold of eternal life. To become part of God’s kingdom, we cannot sit passively on the sideline expecting God to act. God has given us a choice.

The scripture is very clear that in order for us to have a relationship with Jesus there is two requirements. We must believe in our heart that Jesus is Lord and Savior and then confess to Him that we are a sinner and ask for forgiveness of our sins. God's response is immediate --- we are saved! (Romans 10:10).

Our response must be to confess before men our decision to follow Christ. In Matthew 10:32 it reads, “whosoever therefore shall confess Me before men, him will I confess also before My Father which is in heaven.” This is why we encourage you to get involved in a Christ honoring, Bible believing church that gives people the opportunity to accept Jesus as their Savior and to confess this before those in the church.

Confession is also important in family life. All of us, parents and children, need to be willing to confess and apologize to family members when we do them wrong. Confession is hard and many people struggle to admit guilt or any wrong.

For us as parents we are so very thankful that we had the blessed experience of hearing each of our children make their confession of faith and ask the Lord to forgive them of their sins and to come into their heart. Although, we have not been with our grandchildren at the moment they made their decision to accept Christ we can't begin to tell you how thrilled we have been to get their telephone call saying: "Grandma and Grandpa, I asked Jesus into my heart today."

Nothing heals better then confession. Often situations would arise with our children when an argument developed between two or three of them. When we got involved in the process of helping to solve the argument, blaming one another was very common. After we sorted out the problem we encouraged the guilty one to confess and say "I am sorry." Confession is good for the heart and allows both parties to get on with life and heal the hurt that brings division. As Christians, when we need to confess a wrong doing it is important that we do not procrastinate. Get on with your confession and apology today.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Deuteronomy 33:27.

The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms; He will thrust out the enemy from before you, and will say, destroy.

PRAYER:

Lord, thank You for Your Holy Spirit who convicted my heart and worked in me to accept You as my Savior. Thank You that I can come to You freely to confess my sins and that in turn know that I am forgiven. Keep my faith strong and help me to boldly confess with my mouth what I believe so that others will know what You have done for me and will do for them.

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Worry Part Two: June 21, 2016

TODAY’S WORD FOR TUESDAY JUNE 21, 2016.

WORRY
Part Two

DEFINITION:

To make uneasy or anxious; trouble; torment with annoyances or cares.

SCRIPTURE:

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. Philippians 4:6

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. Psalm 23:1

Cast your burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved. Psalm 55:22.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Yesterday we shared with you some thoughts on worry. We will continue today with some final thoughts.

Recent studies report that over 73% of the visits made to doctor's offices today for illness turns out to be nothing more than anxiety caused by worrying about something. WORRY is one of the major EMOTIONAL DILEMMAS that most people struggle with today.

Take a moment now and think about all the "THINGS" that you have worried about just in the last two or three days. Many worry constantly about their health and the health of their loved ones. Others worry about their economic situation including their job, having enough funds to pay the bills, needing shelter or money to pay the rent. Many also worry about facing failure in their lives.

Broken family relationships are a major concern to many today. Every day when you talk to people the comments always lead to some sort of concern or WORRY. With the worldwide conflicts, the economy slowdown, and the lowering of standards to live by, parents and grandparents are concerned about what life will be like for their children and grandchildren years from now.

In contrast several years ago we visited several villages in the Amazon jungle of Brazil. These dear people literally have nothing. But these people were not showing a spirit of WORRY. The reason was simple to understand. They have so few "THINGS" in life and therefore really their only concern was living out that day with what they had. Joy comes from within, not from what we have.

We have been blessed to travel to many places in the world in past years and we have seen this same attitude of living day by day by FAITH in such areas as the slums of Nairobi East Africa. We were supporting at that time over 75 churches and we went to a conference held for these churches. Just to listen to them sing challenged us to keep on going. They exchanged worry in their lives for the excitement of worshipping God. They did not have an abundance of material things but they had an abundance of joy.

In these same churches when the offering was taken everyone gave as generously as they could. The offerings included vegetables, fruits and even chickens. You see God had blessed them with the necessities of life and they gave back to God a portion of what God had given to them. What a lesson for all of us to learn. We have seen this repeated as we visited such places as the Philippians, Honduras, Guatemala and even the inner cities here in America. What had made the difference in their lives from those who worry was their faith in the Lord.

We have been overwhelmed visiting so many of these areas of our world and talking to Christians who lived in poor circumstances yet practiced every day what Jesus told us in His "Sermon on the Mount." Every day they lived by FAITH and they showed great excitement talking about the soon return of Jesus to take them to an eternity with Him. They found real joy and happiness in their faith.

They may not have food for tomorrow but they know God will supply their every need --- and He does. They may not have new clothes or the money to buy a school uniform for their child but they know that God will supply their need in His perfect timing.

It is a lack of trust in God that drives one to WORRY. God wants us to trust Him for ALL our needs. We are more valuable to Him than the birds that fly and the flowers that grow. He provides for the birds and flowers so how much more will He provide for us. Why invest your time in worrying and fretting when you can, with one simple prayer give your worries to God. All you have to do is ask Him to help you live a life of FAITH and joy. Worry can't change anything but the prayers of the faithful will.

WORRY IS THE INTEREST YOU PAY ON BORROWED TROUBLE.

WORRY LOOKS AROUND!

SORRY LOOKS BACK!

FAITH LOOKS UP!

Corrie Ten Boom said, “Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.”

How many "THINGS" in the past have you worried about that never came to pass? WORRY doesn't change things but PRAYER does. Trust God for your protection and provisions and He will supply your every need.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Deuteronomy 33:27.

The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms; He will thrust out the enemy from before you, and will say, destroy.

PRAYER:

Help our family to put our complete trust in You. Help us realize that the lack of trust in You drives us to worry. May our lives be an example to others who are facing situations that are overwhelming them with worry. Keep us alert to help those people in their time of need.

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Worry Part One: June 20, 2016

TODAY’S WORD FOR MONDAY JUNE 20, 2016.

WORRY
Part One

DEFINITION:

To feel uneasy or anxious; torment oneself with disturbing thoughts.

SCRIPTURE:

Therefore I say to you, DO NOT WORRY ABOUT YOUR LIFE, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Matthew 6:25-26

BUT SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS AND ALL THESE THINGS SHALL BE ADDED ONTO YOU. Therefore DO NOT WORRY ABOUT TOMORROW, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Matthew 6:33-34.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

The above scripture is from the New Testament and is a portion of what is commonly known as "THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT" (Matthew 5, 6 and 7). After Jesus had chosen His disciples He went about Galilee teaching in the synagogues, preaching the Gospel to the masses and healing the sick and the lame. The fame of Jesus quickly spread --- first throughout Syria --- where they brought to Jesus their sick and afflicted and He healed them. Then great multitudes of people came from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and even beyond the Jordan River to see and listen to Jesus.

Then Jesus seeing the large crowds and hearing the many questions went up to a mountain and sat down with His disciples and began teaching His disciples and the multitudes that followed Him. Jesus came to show us how to live as faithful followers. In this "sermon" one of the topics is WORRY.

How often we say or hear others say, “do not worry.” This is just what Jesus says to us in Matthew 7:25. Jesus said, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry.” Yet for the most part we all worry. From a practical point of view you may ask what does this mean. Life is difficult. How can we help but worry over issues that affect us personally? Jesus was very specific in these verses in declaring that we are not to WORRY about "THINGS" in our life! The "things" He refers to here is the issue of having food, drink and clothes and what may happen tomorrow.

To emphasize His point Jesus then illustrates what He means by saying that if God protects and provides for the birds of the air and makes the grass and the flowers (lilies of the field) to grow, then how much more will He love, protect and provide for us in all of the circumstances we face in life? And the key to this is that WE MUST ACCEPT THIS BY FAITH AND NOT WORRY! The way to bring peace to our anxious mind is to focus on God’s promises.

Each of us must make choices every day of our lives as to how we are to live. We can choose to live by faith trusting in God's provision, or we can worry. You cannot live by FAITH and WORRY at the same time. Jesus shared the secret to living by FAITH --- when He said that we are to be seeking FIRST the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness. There it is! To live by FAITH we must first --- EVERY DAY --- seek God and ask Him for His protection and provisions.

When one makes the choice to follow Christ and be part of God's Kingdom and all of God’s promises are available to you then God will provide all of your needs according to His riches in Glory through Christ Jesus. BUT --- You must make the "BY FAITH" choice daily. Will you live by FAITH or will you choose to live your life governed by WORRY? When you make the choice to live by FAITH you will have no need to WORRY. When we worry it shows we really don’t trust in God’s sovereignty and power and truly believe He is in control.

This is a very difficult lesson for most people to learn today. This is because so many people today live in a "ME" culture that wants instant gratification, and cannot grasp the concept of living by FAITH. The choice is ours and Jesus’ desire is that we learn how to live by FAITH. When we live without a relationship with God and rely on "ME, MYSELF and I" we will live in a state of constant WORRY!

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Deuteronomy 33:27.

The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms; He will thrust out the enemy from before you, and will say, destroy.

PRAYER:

Help our family to understand the negative influence of worry in our lives. Help us to seek You first in all we do and allow You to work in our lives. Keep our faith strong so our trust in You to provide our needs never wavers.

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