Motive: October 28, 2016

TODAY’S WORD FOR FRIDAY OCTOBER 28, 2016.

MOTIVE

DEFINITION:

Intention; a determining impulse; the goal or object of a person’s action.

SCRIPTURE:

Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me. Psalm 139:23-24.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Have you ever thought that you could be too helpful to someone? Have you really thought about your true motive when you reach out to help a person in need? Our helpfulness can actually make life more difficult for the person we are trying to help, especially if our motive is wrong.  Your response probably is that that is impossible. Let us explain what we think.

If you are bothersome to someone that you are helping by being too available to the point of being intrusive you could be hurting instead of helping your relationship with that person. Possibly you are smothering, manipulative or controlling when you try to help that person. What we do to help others should never stem from a desire to make ourselves look good or even feel good.

If the help we are giving is driven by our own overly zealous motive, we may be just trying to help ourselves. This is why we need to take a real good look at our motive as to why we are helping someone. If our motive is to get something in return, we can be assured it is not right in God’s sight.

In Proverbs 21:2 it reads, “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the heart.” We encourage you to look carefully at your reasons for helping someone before you act. Does your desire to help come from a pure heart? We must ask ourselves if our real motive for doing something is pleasing to God.

We should always pray first, for God’s direction. In prayer we can ask God to show us any way we are hurting or hindering others. The scripture we have written above would be a good prayer for you to pray. God will answer your prayer.

If you have a concern that you may be over stepping your bounds with someone, we suggest you ask God to help you to instead show love that “suffers long and is kind --- and is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil,” as it is written in I Corinthians 13:4-5.

Our efforts to help others, especially those that we love the most will always give us at least a small portion of anxiety that our motives may be understood. Keep asking the Lord to help you to show love with pure motives and for the good of others and not yourself.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in I Peter 5:7.

Casting all your care upon Him for He cares for you.

PRAYER:

Help me, Lord to act and think today with proper motives. It is my prayer that You will reveal the sins in my life, that would affect my motives, so that I can help others with pure motives and with the love in my heart that only You can give.

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Responsibility: October 27, 2016

TODAY’S WORD FOR THURSDAY OCTOBER 27, 2016.

RESPONSIBILITY

DEFINITION:

A duty; a charge; a person or thing for which one is accountable.

SCRIPTURE:

Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6.

Bring them up (children) in the training and admonition of the Lord. Ephesians 6:4.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

In recent weeks we have received emails from mothers who are deeply concerned about their children. They do not know where to turn. As we have evaluated the questions that we are being asked we felt we needed to do a devotional on responsibility, dealing especially with the responsibility mandated by God that parents have in the raising of their children.

When these mothers respond to our emails, most admit that they often have not trained their children in the ways of the Lord. Most importantly they have neglected reading the Bible and praying with their child or children. This responsibility is not solely a mother’s but the father’s as well, but due to the high divorce rate and walk away fathers there are many single moms raising their children alone.

Statistics tell us that once a child becomes a teenager, age 13, that over 80% of these teenagers never develop a personal relationship with God. This is where we become very concerned because when a child attains the age of accountability in God’s sight and has never developed a relationship with God through His Son Jesus, the results are disastrous.

A WARNING!

When a mother (or father) is a believer in Jesus and they do not train their child in the things of the Lord when they are young, they will have to face God and answer WHY? Every parent is accountable to God for what they teach their children. It is not the schools, the government or even the Church’s responsibility.

We are very concerned for the children in broken families that have been neglected and left to their own devices, with no guidance, because if they do not find Jesus as their Lord and Savior when they are young they will choose the wrong path and will face an eternity in hell.

There is an answer for every mother, or single parent, that is in this position. We will use the Bible as our guide for this devotional because God’s Word has an answer for every concern you might have and every situation you may be facing.

The Bible gives us certain commandments that every mother and father can establish in their home today with their children no matter their age. A mother or father first of all must make a commitment to God’s commandment to know God, to love God and to obey God so he or she can train his or her child or children beginning now, and be disciplined enough not to quit training their child.

In Deuteronomy 6:6-7 we read of God’s commandment to, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”

We have listed two verses from the Bible (above). To begin with we suggest you read these three verses several times. These scriptures will give you three challenges that you and every parent has the responsibility to act on if you want God’s blessing on your home and on your family.

If you, as a parent, have never read the Bible with your children and have neglected to teach them to know and love God and Jesus then now is the time to begin.

You need to sit down with your child and explain what you are planning to do and why. Your child will most likely rebel, but as their parent you need to be firm and let them know that you love them and that is why you are going to begin this program in your home. Let them know that their future on this earth and for eternity is at stake.

Start reading the Bible daily with them and take time to pray with each child after you read the Bible and also before they go to bed. Explain that by reading the Bible you can get to know God and hear what He has to say to you. Then explain that prayer is your way to communicate with God. Develop a habit, after you read the Bible and pray, to ask them if they have any questions and then listen not just with your ears but with your heart. Children want parents to listen to their concerns and they want guidance and direction from their parents.

You need to continually emphasize to your whole family, in love, the importance of reading the Bible and praying daily because knowing God and accepting His Son Jesus into their hearts is the only way they can spend an eternity in heaven. The family that prays together stays together.

Children need to know that there are two roads in life. There is a wide road that many will follow but it leads to eternal damnation. They need to know that you are leading them down a narrow road that leads to spending an eternity with God in heaven.

It is the parent’s responsibility to guide them on the right road, but the child’s responsibility to obey their parents and God and choose the right road.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in I Peter 5:7.

Casting all your care upon Him for He cares for you.

PRAYER:

Keep me faithful in reading the Bible with my children. Help me to make my children a priority so that they will know that I love them and care for them. Give me and every hurting mother, and father, the courage and strength to teach our children the things of our Lord.

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Sin: October 26, 2017

TODAY’S WORD FOR WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 26, 2016.

SIN

DEFINITION:

Falling short of God’s perfect standard; to commit an offense against God; a transgression of the law of God; a serious fault.

SCRIPTURE:

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Many people today have a very nonchalant attitude about sin. In fact, very few non-believers have an understanding of what sin is. They have no concern or understanding that they are a sinner. This is because so many are living in what we call the “ME” generation. This is the philosophy of do what makes you happy and it’s okay as long as it doesn’t hurt someone else.

To these people there is no right or wrong. Whatever they feel is right is right and whatever they feel like doing is right. Therefore in their minds there is no wrong so how can one be a sinner. Their rationale is that they are only doing what everyone else is doing. When this is their philosophy there are also no eternal consequences to sin in their minds.

When we became parents it was quickly apparent our children did not have to be taught to do wrong. In addition they had a natural inclination to use the same rationale the world uses today. They would often say, “I was only doing what everyone else was doing.” Every parent has heard those words of excuse and justification from their children.

What God calls sin is not understood by these people and whether they live in sin or not is irrelevant to them. These same people live for today only and have no thought about their future.

Unfortunately, for these people they do not understand that God sets the standards of right and wrong and not them. He has given His standards in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20). To do wrong and break even just one of these commandments is sin against God. Everyone is a sinner and everyone must pay a penalty for their sin. The scripture is clear on this and the problem is that the people that are not concerned about sin do not believe the Bible is true.

We have no doubt that when the first man and woman sinned against God in the Garden of Eden, their relationship and fellowship with God was broken. Thus began the suffering of man and woman and all mankind. From that point on, all of us will reap the wages of sin. We are all sinners with no exceptions.

The only hope for us as sinners in order to escape the wages of sin, which is death and eternal separation from God, is for each of us to accept by faith the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal Savior.

We often get asked in an email the question, “What is sin?” Sin is going our own way, doing our own will and ignoring what God has commanded us to do.

There is a penalty that each one of us must pay for our sins; however, God in His mercy has provided a way for our sins to be forgiven if we will only ask Him to forgive us for our sins. Then by accepting Jesus as our Savior, because He is the One that paid the penalty for our sins when He died on the cross, we will have our sins forgiven and will spend an eternity with Him in heaven.

Sin is breaking God’s law. In I John 3:4 we read that whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.

Sin is unbelief in God, therefore calling Him a liar. In I John 5:10 we read that, “He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe in God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given concerning His Son.”

Sin is also falling short of God’s glory. In Romans 3:23 we read that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

Sin causes human beings to fail in their most basic relationships. Sin is the reason we behave in ways that are destructive to ourselves and others. Sin is the ultimate addiction one can face in life. No matter how much we may want to be free of it, the destructive habit of sin is impossible for us to break in our own power because we were all born in sin as a result of the sin of Adam and Eve.

We will always be vulnerable to the temptation to sin. Satan knows this and knows our weaknesses. He looks for every opportunity to make us sin just as he did to Adam and Eve.

We have to pay a penalty for our sin or spend an eternity in hell. But God has provided His Son who died on the cross to pay our penalty for our sin. All we need to do is ask God for forgiveness, then ask Jesus into our heart and we will be cleansed of our sins by the shed blood of Jesus and receive His gift of eternal life. It is up to you. Jesus is waiting for you.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in I Peter 5:7.

Casting all your care upon Him for He cares for you.

PRAYER:

Forgive me of my sins and help me to study Thy Word so that I may honor and glorify Your name in all that I do.

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Attitude: October 25, 2016

TODAY’S WORD FOR TUESDAY OCTOBER 25, 2016.

ATTITUDE

DEFINITION:

A feeling or opinion toward a person or a thing; mind-set; disposition.

SCRIPTURE:

And Joshua said, Lord why have You brought these people over the Jordan at all, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? Joshua 7:7

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

As we walk the Christian life, many times we face situations that seem like “mountains” to us. We can feel so overwhelmed with the enormity of the problem that we have a defeatist attitude before we begin.

The experience that the children of Israel had trying to conquer Jericho gives us an understanding of God’s perspective about dealing with what seems to be the unconquerable situations in our lives. The city of Jericho was fortified by a double ring of walls that were in some places twenty feet thick and twenty-five feet high. They were impenetrable and an insurmountable obstacle to conquer.

Even as believers we often have to deal with insurmountable problems or situations. It may be a broken family relationship. It may be a habit that we want to get rid of that has haunted us for a long time. It may be something that threatens our spiritual life. It may be a financial crisis. It is often that God must allow us to feel defeated and unable to rely on our own ability and strength to bring us to Him, humbly asking for His help and guidance.

God will provide a way to those who are willing to trust and obey Him. Obedience requires submitting our will to God’s will. God commanded the children of Israel to walk around the city one time for six straight days and on the seventh day seven times with the Ark leading the way. On the seventh day they were to blow a long blast on their trumpets and then shout. We can imagine that some of the people thought that Joshua must be out of his mind with these strange instructions.

It would seem that God was putting the Israelites attitude to the test. Did they have an attitude of faith and obedience to follow God’s instructions completely, strange as they seemed? Indeed they did have an attitude of faith and because of their obedience to God’s command the wall fell down and they took the city.

When we follow, in our lives, the strategy outlined for the Israelites, walking around our situation in the presence of God (the Ark represented God to the people) asking Him in faith believing for wisdom and direction, the walls of our problem will collapse. An attitude of faith and confidence in the Lord will bring us victory. God can change our attitude of fear and worry to an attitude of joy and victory no matter what the battle might entail, if we begin with an attitude of faith.

Perhaps God had the Children of Israel march for seven days because they needed to improve their faith and it took the people that long to get the right attitude about Jericho. The more they walked, the more they realized that it would have to be God to conquer their goal. He alone would make them victorious.

We all see people every day with bad attitudes. Their bad attitude comes from within but they will blame others. Maybe it is a bad home situation where nothing seems to go right. For others it might be a work place frustration. We even see people in churches, including pastors, with bad attitudes. Bad attitudes lead to bad responses, bad actions, and sad consequences.

This illustration from the story of Joshua and Jericho is one that each of us must remember. The next time you have an attitude problem, stop fast and ask God to help you conquer it. Then walk around the attitude problem, evaluating every angle of the situation, while you continue to talk to God. He will lead you and in His proper time will change your attitude. We all need to work on our attitudes daily, beginning with our attitude about the little minor situations that bother us. Put God first and watch what He will do for you. It is God that brings us the victory.

Recently we saw a truck on the road ahead of us with the words, “Attitude is contagious” on it. How true that is. The walls of Jericho would not have come down if Joshua’s attitude of faith and confidence had not spread throughout the tribes of Israel. As Christian parents we must be aware that our attitudes have great effect on our children. Children pick up on our attitudes. We must ask ourselves what kind of attitudes we are transmitting to our children. Whether good or bad they are contagious.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in I Peter 5:7.

Casting all your care upon Him for He cares for you.

PRAYER:

Give me an attitude of faith today that will bring honor and glory to You. Help me to be an example to my family so that as they watch me and my actions that they will see a constant consistent attitude that glorifies Your name.

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Eternal Life: October 24, 2016

TODAY’S WORD FOR MONDAY OCTOBER 24, 2016.

ETERNAL LIFE

DEFINITION:

Existing throughout all time.

SCRIPTURE:

I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
John 10:10.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Every day when we wake up, we wake up happy, rejoicing, and looking forward to another day to serve the Lord. The reason for this does not depend on the circumstances that we are in or on how we are feeling physically or emotionally. The reason is not what we are feeling but what we know. Because we have accepted Jesus as our Savior and we have put our total trust in Him, we know that we have eternal life and our life here on this earth is only temporary.

One of the most transforming truths found in the Bible is the truth that Jesus spoke about in the verse we have put above. Jesus came into this world to give us life. The life that Jesus gives us is eternal and it begins when we accept Jesus as our Savior.  The life He has given us for eternity is abundantly richer and more fulfilling and it is available to us right now as believers. This is not just good news; it is great news! Jesus wants us to know that not only are our sins forgiven by His shed blood, not only are we as Christians on our way to heaven, but we can experience joy, fulfillment, peace, and satisfaction right here on this earth until He takes us home to be with Him.

We do not have to struggle through this life making the best of bad situations, falling and failing, doubting and despairing, discouraged and defeated, barely hanging onto life until it is over. The good news is that we do not have to go through these struggles and wait until eternity to find abundant life. We can have now what Jesus had and we can possess what He is.

Think of it! Who was this man Jesus that shed His blood so that we could have eternal life? He was the perfect human being. He was God’s ideal for humanity, because He is the very Son of God. For thirty-three years He lived among us in the very same circumstances and under the same pressures that we face every day. Yet He lived a perfect and sinless life. The abundant life that Jesus offers us and wants us to live does not mean that our life will be filled with an abundance of things. Jesus offers every believer a rich and satisfying life. Out of His riches He fills the life of every believer with joy, peace, comfort and assurance.

Each of us can enjoy that kind of abundant life now. It begins when we ask Jesus to forgive us of our sins and accept Jesus into our heart. We then receive God’s precious gift of spending an eternity with Him in heaven. Yes, not only is the abundant life we receive richer and more satisfying, it begins immediately and is eternal.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in I Peter 5:7.

Casting all your care upon Him for He cares for you.

PRAYER:

How thrilled I am everyday knowing that I have eternal life because of what You have done for me. Help me this day to be Your servant in all that I do. Help me to become more Christ-like and may my life be an example of what it means to have life and have it more abundantly.

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