Lost: May 19, 2017

TODAY’S WORD FOR FRIDAY MAY 19, 2017.

LOST

DEFINITION:

To no longer possess; wasted; unable to find; gone astray; lacking eternal salvation; ruined physically or morally.

SCRIPTURE:

Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I lost. Luke 15:9.

The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. Luke 19:10.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

ne. One coin was equivalent to one day’s wages so it was important for this woman to find the lost coin.

The typical house in those days was one room with no windows. That is why Jesus said that she lit a lamp. This illustrated to those that listened to Jesus that the search for the coin was very thorough. The lamp would allow her to look in each and every corner of her house.

When the lost coin was found, the woman showed great joy.

The woman, in this parable, represents Jesus our Savior. The lost coin represents those who are lost because they are not saved. Jesus is expressing to those listening to Him that each one of us is of great value to Him. He grieves over everyone who is lost. So precious are we to Jesus that He diligently searches for all who are lost. The scriptures tell us that Jesus came into the world to seek and to save all the lost.

Have you ever had the experience of losing something of value and you search and search and cannot find the item? What a relief it is when you finally do find it. Your normal response is joy. This is like the joy that this woman had when she found her lost coin.

When the woman in this parable found her coin she went out and called out to her friends, “Rejoice with me for I have found the coin which I lost.”

People are of great value to God. Those that do not know Him are lost in their sins. God loved us so much that He did not want anyone to be lost so He gave His only Son Jesus to pay the ultimate price by dying on the cross for our redemption. When just one person, a sinner in God’s sight, finds Jesus, the angels shout for joy in heaven. (Luke 15:10)

Do you know people who are lost and have never accepted Jesus as their Savior? If so, do you show any concern for them? As believers we should want to make sure that every person we know gets an opportunity to know about Jesus and that He paid the penalty for their sins. When that person finds Jesus we will rejoice with them along with the angels in heaven.

When someone is spiritually lost in order for them to be found they must first admit that they are lost. Our mission as believers is to shout out to all the good news of the gospel and then pray that God would touch the heart of all who hear and listen.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Psalm 23:1.

The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.

PRAYER:

Help me to reach out to my family, neighbors and friends that do not know You to tell them that You have come to seek and to save those that are lost. Burden my heart for a world that is lost in sin and give me courage to communicate Your love to others.

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Lifestyle: May 18, 2017

TODAY’S WORD FOR THURSDAY MAY 18, 2017.

LIFESTYLE

DEFINITION:

A typical way of living reflecting attitudes and preferences of an individual.

SCRIPTURE:

My son hear the instruction of your father, and do not forsake the law of your mother. Proverbs 1:8.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Jesus indicated in the scriptures that there would be a permissive society just before He returns to this earth. He said in Luke 17:26, “As in the days of Noah, so shall it also be in the days of the coming of the Lord.” In the days of Noah the people were so wicked and evil that God sent a flood to destroy all the world except for Noah, his wife and their three sons and their wives. The world today has a lifestyle that basically is immoral and denies the existence of God much as it was in the days before the flood.

Today, many have fallen into a lifestyle in which they believe in intellectually as being all right in their own eyes even though they live their lives like the devil. When you ask them about God many respond that God is a just god and he will forgive them at some point and take them to heaven.

But the real truth is that being a Christian is serious business and refusing God’s offer for Salvation results in disaster. One needs to believe that he or she is a sinner, repent of their sins, asks Jesus to come into their heart and then follow Jesus and His teachings in order to be assured of eternal life with Jesus in heaven.

When choosing our lifestyle in life we are dramatically affected by what we were taught and what we learned beginning in our childhood days. As a young child, we begin to learn all of the positive and the negative values in our parent’s lifestyle. A child learns by watching and listening. What they witness in their parent’s lifestyle has the most influence on them. A parent’s influence has a major role in determining the kind of person a child becomes.

Lifestyles are learned by what a person sees and hears and decisions are then made by what interest’s one the most. Children need to develop positive work ethics at a young age. When they do they will usually continue to have good work ethics throughout their life. Good work ethics are needed in order to succeed.

The choosing of friends plays a vital role in shaping one’s life style. Parents need to guide their child in choosing friends. Again, one is affected by what they see and hear from their parents.

In Ezekiel 18:5-9, Ezekiel says that the word of the Lord came to him and gave him some thoughts on what God wants in a lifestyle. The MESSAGE translation puts it in words that we can all understand today. “Imagine a man with the lifestyle of living well, treating others fairly and keeping good relationships.” He goes on to explain what God does not want in a person’s lifestyle.

God wants us to be one, “Who doesn’t eat at pagan shrines, doesn’t worship idols, doesn’t seduce a neighbor’s spouse, doesn’t bully anyone, doesn’t pile up bad debts, doesn’t steal, doesn’t refuse giving food to the hungry, doesn’t refuse giving clothing to the ill-clad, doesn’t exploit the poor, doesn’t live by impulse and greed, and doesn’t treat one person better than another.”

When you read the next paragraph, you will see what is missing in the above verses and what God wants from us.

Then Ezekiel tells us what makes a good lifestyle. “Living by God’s statutes and faithfully honoring and obeying God’s laws. Those who live upright and well shall live a full and true life.” That is the lifestyle God wants from us. As believers, we are to have a lifestyle that is characterized by love, imitates Christ, demonstrates true faith, and is governed by truth which is God’s Word.

From early on as young parents we wanted to guide our children to lead a lifestyle that was pleasing to God. When they did something wrong we corrected them and endeavored to explain why it was wrong. We taught them to know right from wrong.

Before they could read we read to them from children’s Bible story books. We took them to Sunday school and church. We taught them to live by God’s standards. But what we realized to be the most important influence on them was our own lifestyle. They witnessed daily how we talked and what we did. We knew we had to live what we taught. Unless we walk our talk our words fall on deaf ears.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Psalm 23:1.

The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.

PRAYER:

Give me a lifestyle that honors and glorifies Your name daily. May my lifestyle set an example to all that I see and talk to this day. Give me guidance in teaching my children right from wrong so they can develop a lifestyle that honors You.

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Labor: May 17, 2017

TODAY’S WORD FOR WEDNESDAY MAY 17, 2017.

LABOR

DEFINITION:

Physical or mental work for the earning of a livelihood; hard work; a task, strenuous effort.

SCRIPTURE:

Six days you shall labor and do all your work. Exodus 20:9

Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life. John 6:27

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Many people sincerely believe that it is the labor of good works that will qualify them for eternal forgiveness. One who believes that good works alone is all one needs to have eternal life with our Lord is really attempting to buy forgiveness on credit. To put it clearly good works will not get one into heaven for eternity.

This is the philosophy of many religions. We all want to go to heaven. We all want everlasting life. Sin is the barrier that keeps us from heaven. It is sin that has separated us from God. Good works will not get us through that barrier.

God has sent His Son to this world and He died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins. We are all sinners and we all need to pay the debt for our sins, but doing good works no matter how hard one labors will not get one into heaven. We need to realize we are sinners and we need to ask God to forgive us of our sins and then ask Jesus into our hearts. Working or laboring hard will not achieve forgiveness of our sins.

God has pre-paid our sin-debt in full so He has no need for our feeble good works. No matter how hard and diligently we labor or how sincere our intentions are, our hard work is never enough to get us to heaven. That is why God sent Jesus to this earth and why Jesus died on the cross. It was to make a way for us to get to heaven.

So, what did Christ mean when He said in John 6:27, “Do not labor for the food which perishes but for the food which endures to everlasting life?” Many people in the crowd that Jesus was speaking to asked the same question. They wanted to know what work God required for them to have eternal life. Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe on the one He has sent” (John 6:28-29).

In Deuteronomy 10:12-13 we read what God requires of us is “to fear the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and to keep the Lord’s commandments.”

We are Christ’s representatives wherever we go. For example, it is necessary to work in order to provide for ourselves and family. Whatever our job is or wherever our place of work is, believers must work as if Jesus is their supervisor. It is essential that the believer has honest work ethics that honor the Lord and demonstrates that his faith in God is genuine. A good work ethic means to work just as hard and industriously when the boss is watching as when the boss is not. Your work place is your place of ministry and the one we want to please is not just the boss but our Lord and Savior.

Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 15:58, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” If you are not getting up every day with your primary purpose of laboring for the Lord, then take a good look at your relationship with your Lord.

The author of Hebrews reminds us in Hebrews 6:10 that “God is not unjust to forget your work and the love you have shown Him as you have helped His people and continue to help them.” God not only sees but He remembers everything we do. Remember Paul’s words encouraging us to “always give ourselves fully to the work of the Lord because we know that our labor in the Lord is not in vain” I Corinthians 15:58.

The first verse that we have listed above gives us a commandment by God to labor six days and then rest on the seventh. We all must labor to provide for ourselves. It seems we are never without work to be done. While God is aware of the work we do He is also aware that we need rest. That is why God set aside the seventh day to be a day of rest and worship. We need both physical and spiritual refreshing. Our seventh day should be dedicated to worshipping and praising God for all His blessings to us.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Psalm 23:1.

The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.

PRAYER:

It is my prayer today that my labor will be a labor of love for You. Whether, I am in my work place, my neighborhood or at home may all that I do and say honor Your name. May others see Christ not only in me but working through me.

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Condemned: May 16, 2017

TODAY’S WORD FOR TUESDAY MAY 16 2017.

CONDEMNED

DEFINITION:

Sentenced to punishment; declared guilty; to express an unfavorable or adverse judgment on.

SCRIPTURE:

They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved; all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness. II Thessalonians 2:10 b and 12.

Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. John 3:18.

How will you escape being condemned to hell? Matthew 23:33.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

The message of the Bible is that we are all sinners as a result of Adam and Eve’s fall in the Garden of Eden and, as sinners, we are condemned to spend eternity in hell.

The good news is that there is a solution available to us. But we need to remind you that this is the only solution. There is only one way to heaven.

God, because of His love for us, sent His son, Jesus, into the world to die for our sins. He was crucified on the cross carrying all of our sins and then three days later rose from the grave and then soon departed to heaven to prepare a place, for all who accepted Jesus as their Savior, to spend eternity.

People who have not accepted Jesus as their Savior do not want to hear about condemnation, or about hell. It takes them way out of their “comfort” zone.

Preachers today shy away from preaching about hell because church attendees would rather hear a message that makes them feel good rather than face the fact that they are sinners in need of a Savior and headed to hell.

This is nothing new. Jeremiah was a prophet chosen by God to bring a message of condemnation to Jerusalem because they had rejected God and had turned to worshipping false gods and doing all kinds of evil. They did not want to hear it. At that time Jerusalem had already been besieged by King Nebuchadnezzar who ransacked the temple and carried off to Babylon all the valuable temple articles. In addition, he took all but the poorest people as captives to live in exile in Babylon.

Now Jeremiah was warning them that greater disaster was coming unless they repented and came back to God. The people chose to listen to the more encouraging message of the false prophet Hananiah. Hananiah told them that within two years Nebuchadnezzar’s power over them would be broken and the temple articles would be brought back to Jerusalem.

Choosing not to listen to a message we do not want to hear will not change the truth. The encouraging message of the false prophet proved to be a lie. Jerusalem did not repent and Jeremiah’s message of condemnation was fulfilled when Nebuchadnezzar again besieged and completely destroyed Jerusalem. The temple, the palaces and even the walls of the city were torn down.

God’s word is truth. Paul tells us in Thessalonians that all will be condemned who do not believe the truth. The question Jesus asked in Matthew, “How will you escape being condemned to hell?” is answered by Jesus in John 3:18. “Whoever believes in Him is not condemned but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”

What about you? Have you believed the truth and been saved? If you were to stand before Jesus today, would you stand condemned or would you stand forgiven and not condemned?

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Psalm 23:1.

The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.

PRAYER:

Thank You for the assurance that I have of eternal life because I have asked You for forgiveness for my sins and have accepted You as my personal Savior. May my words and deeds today be a testimony to those I meet that they may see their need for You and that they do not have to be condemned to an eternity in hell.

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Children: May 15, 2017

TODAY’S WORD FOR MONDAY MAY 15, 2017.

CHILDREN

DEFINITION:

A young person between infancy and youth; offspring or descendant.

SCRIPTURE:

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us that we should be called the children of God. And this is what we are beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. I John 3:1-2.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

By God’s design we do not enter this world fully grown and self-sufficient. Therefore, we all know what it is like to be a child. Every child has the need to feel like they belong to someone and that someone loves and cares for them. Because God desires a relationship with us, He created this need within us.

As a believer in Jesus Christ, you are part of a family. John 1:12 tells us that to all who receive Him and believe in His name, He gave the right to become children of God. It was because of His great love for us (John 3:1-2) that God our Father made it possible for each of us to be a child of God by sacrificing His Son to die on the cross in order to pay the penalty for our sins.

Throughout the Bible God speaks to us as a loving and caring parent and in that role, He gives us His instructions in the parent-child relationship. In Ephesians chapter six as well as in Colossians the third chapter we are told that children are to obey and honor their parents.

In Proverbs 22:6 we are told as parents that we are to train our children in the way they should go and when they grow up they will not turn away from God.

In Psalm 127: 3 we are told that children are our heritage. When John the Baptist was a boy we read about him being a joy and delight to his parents. (Luke 1:14-15).

These same attributes of a proper parent child relationship can be related to us as believers in our relationship to God as children of God. We are to obey our Father. We are to honor our Father. We are to read the Bible so that God through His Word can train us so that as we grow as Christians we will mature in our Christian faith. God, our Father considers us as His heritage and wants us to be a joy and a delight to Him.

Child rearing today is a tremendous responsibility for parents. Children are being besieged by so many outside evil forces that their parents never faced as children. Self will is the root of most sin and misery and if checked at an early age it promotes future happiness. Children, who are allowed to do as they please, will most likely follow a path in life that leads to their destruction.

As every parent knows, children do not come with instruction manuals, and no two children are alike. In raising children today, many parents struggle with discipline. Some are afraid to discipline their children at all and others are all too harsh to the point of being cruel and abusive.

Proverbs 23:13 tells us “Do not withhold discipline from a child, if you punish him with a rod he will not die.” Just as God disciplines us, we are to discipline our children.

In this day and age parents here in America are fearful that if they “spank or hit” their child, they would be accused of child abuse, so because of this fear they are fearful of using any discipline.  This should not be. Children need just and fair discipline to help them become responsible adults.

As children of God we face many forces of evil in our lives, but the good news is that as children of God, He will be always there for us. Jesus loves His children.

In Matthew 19:14, while He was on this earth, we are told that parents brought their children to Jesus to be blessed by Him. The disciples tried to shield Jesus from the children thinking they were taking Jesus time needlessly. They were very wrong in their thinking. Jesus loves children. Jesus responded by saying: “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” Yes, Jesus loves the little children and as a child of God, we can be assured that He loves us, and He wants us to come to Him and to bring our children to Him. Jesus is still calling today for all who are willing to come to Him as little children and to receive His blessing of eternal life.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Psalm 23:1.

The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.

PRAYER:

We are so grateful that You have provided the way for us to be a child of God. Thank You for my children. Help me to be a Godly parent. Help me to teach my children to obey and honor You in all they do.

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