Priority: March 3, 2017

TODAY’S WORD FOR FRIDAY MARCH 3, 2017.

PRIORITY

DEFINITION:

The state of being earlier in time and occurrence; the right to precede others in order; rank or privilege.

SCRIPTURE:

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. Matthew 6:35.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

A priority is something that is considered to be more important than anything else. How many people do you know that set priorities in their lives? Most people today do not set any kind of priorities. They just seem to take life as it comes doing what they have to and no more.

We are living in a generation where people literally live just from one minute to another with absolutely no direction or any kind of priority of purpose. The saddest thing to see is that people are so focused on themselves that they do not have any concern for others, let alone God. They live totally for self and really show no care for anyone else.

To be a success in business you must have a business plan. This plan will outline the priorities that are necessary to establish and grow that business. Every individual needs a plan for their life. This includes planning the activities for each day in advance. We developed a habit many years ago, to always take a moment every night and write down what we want to accomplish the next day, and we still do this today.

The same is necessary if you want a happy family. You must have a plan, a schedule, a listing of daily priorities and then outline how you will spend your time and schedule your activities as a family. We learned this early in our married life mainly because we had 6 children, all having separate activities, and we needed to be considerate not only to our priorities but to theirs. Without a plan outlining priorities nothing would have been accomplished. By the way this must include Spiritual priorities not just day to day physical activities.

We encourage you today to set goals and priorities in your life. God leaves no doubt as to what our first priority is to be. He states it very clear in Matthew 22:37-38: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the FIRST and GREATEST commandment."

Thus, your first priority must be your relationship with God. Every day you need to set aside time to read and study the Bible and to pray. Along with this you need study tools to help you grow spiritually. If this is not already a priority in your life, you need to be concerned enough to make it a priority.

Your second priority is to your family. Parents have the responsibility of providing not only for their children's physical needs but also for their spiritual needs. This includes involving them in reading the Bible, praying and going to a church. This requires a commitment of your time, and unless you make it a priority, it will not happen. Countless things will come up and become excuses for not having time for spiritual things. Your family must be second to God in your list of priorities.

Many people today put their job or other activities before family. This is not acceptable. The family must come first after God. We must mention this again because it was and is today the single most important priority in our family daily schedule. We always had dinner together as a family. If Ken had job responsibilities, they would always be delayed so dinner time was the time together with the family. The same was expected from every member of the family. Dinner time together was a priority in our family and God blessed this commitment. For some family’s dinner time may not be the best time so another time must be found.

We learned through our parents that we needed to live by example because our children would watch and listen and follow in our footsteps. Children need positive role models in their lives, beginning with their parents. Parents have a responsibility to help their children do their school work and guide them in their school activities and other responsibilities. Those times of sitting with our children at the kitchen table, helping them with school work were wonderful times of bonding.

Priorities are dreams with a deadline and remember you cannot dream a dream too big for God. You need to set your priorities each day (as we said above, we did this the night before). Write down your priorities for the day. Try it and you will be amazed at how much you will accomplish. When you set your priorities ask yourself the question: "What must be the focus of my attention today?" Then ask, "Does it control me?" If it is not Christ centered, then change it. The key thought here is "control." The priorities you set will control your life.

The reason many people do not go very far in life is because they side step opportunity and shake hands with procrastination. Every day is a new opportunity to serve the Lord. Do you make that your priority or do you procrastinate?

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Joshua 1:6.

Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.

PRAYER:

Help me, Lord, to keep my priorities straight. Keep Your hand on me so that I will not stray from putting You first in my life. Guide me to be a godly example for my family and to make it my priority to be there for them.

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Promise: March 2, 2017

TODAY’S WORD FOR THURSDAY MARCH 2, 2017.

PROMISE

DEFINITION:

A declaration that something will or will not be done; a pledge; a vow; a covenant.

SCRIPTURE:

The Lord is faithful to all His promises. Psalm 145:13

And this is the promise that He has promised us -- eternal life. I John 2:25.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Is there anything more disappointing or disheartening than to be promised something by someone you trust and to have that promise broken?

In today’s world promises are made and broken so often that when someone says they will do something the response is “Promises, promises” spoken in a derisive tone as if to say, “I will believe that when I see it.” It is difficult to believe someone will do what they say.

There is someone we can trust and that is our God because He is faithful to keep all His promises. God has given us hundreds of promises in addition to the Ten Commandments, in His Word and none of them have been broken.

When Joshua was old and aware that his life was about over, he gave a farewell speech to the Children of Israel. He said in Joshua 23:14, “You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled and not one has failed.”

God made two very significant promises to Noah and to Abraham that affect us today. Throughout the Bible we can read the promises God has made and when God makes a promise it is never broken.

In Genesis 9:12-15, God said to Noah, “this is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, and for perpetual generations; I set My rainbow in the cloud and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth that the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.” When we see a rainbow after a storm it is God reminding us that He keeps His promises.

And in Genesis 12: 2-3 God told Abraham, “I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; I will bless those that bless you; I will curse those that curse you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

God kept His promise to Abraham by making him a great nation [Israel] and making his name great.

But the greatest promise ever made was the promise made by God to send His only Son to this earth to pay the penalty for the sins of everyone who has or will live on this earth so that they might have eternal life. This promise of eternal life is for everyone who is willing to first ask God for forgiveness for their sins and then accept Jesus into their heart and enter into a personal relationship with Him.

In life today so many people make promises that are not kept. Parents promise certain things to children and then do not follow through. Everyday spouses make promises, families make promises, neighbors make promises, bosses make promises and for the most part they disregard the promises as if they were never made.

Many parents do not realize the positive impact that is made on a child’s mind when promises are made and kept. When promise are made and not kept there is a negative impact that can have long term repercussions on a child. When you keep promises you will be considered reliable and trustworthy and looked up to as a person of integrity.

God is faithful to keep His promises to us today just as He kept His promises to Noah and Abraham. It is reassuring that believers serve a God who keeps His Word. God expects us to keep our word. Each of us should take the time now and think about the promises we have made and not kept and do all we can now to honor those promises.

From this day on we need to commit to make promises that we are sure we can honor. Relationships are put in jeopardy when promises are not kept. Marriage vows are a promise to love, honor and to be faithful as long as both husband and wife shall live. Oh, how often that promise is broken. It is time to right the wrongs and keep the promises we make.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Joshua 1:6.

Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.

PRAYER:

Thank You that You are a faithful God who keeps all Your promises. Thank You for fulfilling Your promise to send Your only Son to die on the cross to pay the penalty for my sins so that I can know that all my sins are forgiven and that I have received Your promised gift of eternal life. Thank You for Your promise to never leave or forsake those who love You.

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Excuses: March 1, 2017

TODAY’S WORD FOR WEDNESDAY MARCH 1, 2017.

EXCUSES

DEFINITION:

Reasons given to explain why you cannot do something; alibis, justification, defense; seek to remove the blame for ones actions.

SCRIPTURE:

If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. John 15:22.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

How many times in life have you heard excuses? Children constantly have excuses when something they said or did is not acceptable. Spouses give excuses, many times for minor situations that end up major.

What about in the work place or even in church. Hardly a day can go by without someone close to you, possibly it is you, offering an excuse to justify something they should not have done or for something they should have done but did not.

But the excuses for not receiving Jesus as one’s Savior are inexcusable. How many excuses have you heard from one who does not know Jesus when they are invited to accept Him as their Savior?

Do you relate to any of these excuses if you do not know Jesus? How about, “I am a good person, I live an honest life, and I help the poor so how could a just God condemn me.  God loves everyone so why do I need to accept Jesus as my Savior and change my lifestyle?”

Others say, “I just do not understand the whole concept. Why should I have to pay a penalty for those two people in the Garden of Eden?” The apostle Paul when he was writing to the Church at Corinth wrote in I Corinthians 2:14, “But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.”

How many times have you heard the excuse, “I have friends who say they are Christians and they go to church on Sunday but on Monday they act no different than the rest of the world. They are hypocrites so why should I want to be like them.

Many people do not want to accept Christ because it will hurt their business. They have a love of money that dominates everything they do. The treasures on this earth far outweigh the treasures in eternity for these people.

One of the major excuses that we hear is that they want to enjoy life and not have to follow a lot of “do’s” and “don’ts”. There is plenty of time later for spiritual matters.

Do you know Jesus as your Savior or are you using excuses as to why you do not know Him? Do not kid yourself. The Bible is clear. When our life here on this earth is over and we must stand before God all of our excuses will not be accepted. We will have no more chances to change our mind and accept Jesus.

If you are saying no to God and rejecting Jesus, today is the day to reject your excuses and give your life, your devotion and your worship to God, your Heavenly Father and to Jesus, your Lord and Savior. Life on this earth is short. Life that comes from knowing Jesus will last for eternity.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Joshua 1:6.

Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.

PRAYER:

Help me to reject all the excuses for not following You and create in me the desire to be drawn close to You. Make my life shine a bright light in a dark world to those who need to know You as their Savior.

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Passion: February 28, 2017

TODAY’S WORD FOR TUESDAY FEBRUARY 28, 2017.

PASSION

DEFINITION:

An intense and compelling emotion; strong feeling about a person or thing; love; enthusiasm.

SCRIPTURE:

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. Deuteronomy 6:5

I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain and be found in Him. Philippians 3:8-9.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

The apostle Paul in the third chapter of Philippians writes about believers needing to live a life with a passion to know God. Passion is a motivating force in our life. It creates enthusiasm, excitement and desire for a person, a thing, or a belief.

The apostle Paul made it very clear what his passion in life was. In Philippians 3:8-9 he says that he considers everything a loss to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus. So great was his passion for the Lord that he willingly gave up all things to gain Christ and to know Him. So important was his relationship with Christ that he considered everything else “rubbish.”

We can only imagine what a different world we might have if everyone who claims to be a Christian had the same passion that Paul had in really knowing Christ.

 As Christians our passionate desire should be centered on knowing God through His Son Jesus Christ. What does this kind of ardent passion look like? We first must have an eagerness to know our Savior.

To know Jesus is to know Him as the Good Shepherd, the Bread of Life, and the True Vine. He is the good shepherd who cares for us, guides us and protects us (Psalm 23).

Jesus is the Bread of Life, the bread from heaven that satisfies our spiritual hunger and gives us eternal life (John 6:48-51).

Jesus is the True Vine. He is the one who nourishes us and makes us fruitful (John 15:1-5). He invites us to discover who He is in each of these aspects of His character.

If we have a true passion for the Lord we will demonstrate through our words and deeds a steadfast commitment to our Lord. This enduring dedication will have a strong influence on our finances, workplace activities, friendships, and of course our home and family.

A true passion will be making our top priority knowing Christ and loving Him. When He has first place in our lives, quiet times with Him will be regular and our days will be structured on receiving and obeying instructions from Him and doing His will.

Finally, any desire that interferes with or supersedes our longing to know the Savior better will be laid aside. Turning away from ungodliness and worldly pleasures will appear to be a small price to pay for the blessings one will receive while walking with God with a passion to know Him.

To have a passion for someone implies the giving of yourself completely to that person. Passion to know the Lord comes from loving the Lord your God with All your heart, and with ALL your soul, and with ALL your strength. Deuteronomy 6:5.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Joshua 1:6.

Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.

PRAYER:

Help me to have an enthusiastic desire and a firm commitment to know God with genuine passion. Help me to keep Him in first place in every area of my life. Help me to replace my desires with His.

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Discernment: February 27, 2017

TODAY’S WORD FOR MONDAY FEBRUARY 27, 2017.

DISCERNMENT

DEFINITION:

The process or ability to determine between truth and error, right and wrong; acuteness of judgment and understanding.

SCRIPTURE:

How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers. Psalm 1:1.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

There is a passage in the book of Matthew that we feel is relevant for today’s word, as is all the scripture. In Matthew 16, the Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and were testing Him. They asked Him to show them a sign from heaven that would prove He was the Messiah.

Jesus answered them with a weather illustration. He reminded them that they say that when the sky is red in the evening the weather will be fair. But when the sky is red in the morning it would be a storm day.

As primitive as their method of predicting the weather their ability to discern Spiritual matters was worse. Being Pharisees and Sadducees they knew the scripture concerning the promised Messiah and they were looking for His coming. But here they were talking to Jesus face to face and they did not discern that He was their Messiah.

They had the Messiah in their presence and refused to acknowledge Him. They were naïve and lacked sense in their ability to discern what was happening among them. They had no ability to determine between truth and error.

God’s Word provides God’s standard of discernment for every issue in life. In order to live a life pleasing to God we must be discerning. Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:21 to “test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil”. What agrees with God’s Word is good and right and what does not agree with His Word is evil and bad.

The discerning believer is not to walk, nor stand, nor sit with the wicked because these associations will ultimately drag a believer into the life of a sinner. Those we associate with have a profound effect on us. Believers must be discerning in their choice of associates.
There is great peer pressure on believers to become like the world and fit into the world’s society and accept their sinful ways and be “politically correct.” Certainly, we are all in the world but we are not part of this world, as we are told in John 17:16.

We are all exposed to false teachers and anti-God situations in our schools, jobs, and neighborhoods. We need to be careful and be discerning so that being exposed to those situations in real life does not lead to our embracing ungodly and evil philosophies and becoming part of the world.

All of us would avoid a lot of pitfalls and mature faster in our Christian faith if we did all we could to separate ourselves from the world and follow the divine pattern that the Psalmist gives us in Psalm 1:1.

Here are several further thoughts that will help you show discernment as you walk your daily walk.

Do not walk in the ways of the wicked.

Do not let the decisions you need to make each day be controlled by the “counsel of the ungodly.”

Do not ask advice of those who do not know Jesus. Look to those who are walking with God. This will take spiritual discernment on your part.

Do not become comfortable being with people who seem to always mock God, His Word, and His role in your life. Mockers are enemies of God and hate His wisdom. Counsel from such sources leads you away from God. It will be based on lies not on truth.

Get your knowledge and advice from God’s Word and those that know God and love Him. God and His Word, not the opinions of the world, is our best teacher. Make sure you use godly discernment every day in your decision making and do not walk, stand or sit in the counsel of the ungodly.

Discerning believers should only sit in the counsel of Christ honoring Bible believing churches.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Joshua 1:6.

Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.

PRAYER:

Give me the discernment in making decisions concerning the people, places and things in my life so that my choices will honor You. May God’s Word fill my memory, rule my heart and guide my life.

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