Fellowship: June 2, 2017

TODAY’S WORD FOR FRIDAY JUNE 2, 2017.

FELLOWSHIP

DEFINITION:

Sharing together; companionship; association of persons having similar interests; friendship.

SCRIPTURE:

God, who has called you into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ, is faithful. I Corinthians 1:9

Finally, all of you be in one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, and be courteous. I Peter 3:8.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

God's purpose in creating Adam was so He could have fellowship with him. God saw that it was not good for Adam to be alone (Genesis 2:18) so He created Eve to be his helpmate so that they would have each other to fellowship with as well as have fellowship with God. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, their sin separated them from fellowship with God.

There are just too many "pressures" we face in today's world to live without friends, communication and fellowship. Fellowship is the sharing together of our time, our talents and our treasures with others. It also includes the sharing together of our thoughts, our concerns and our joys.

In the age of the computer, the cell phone, I Pads, and the internet, many people live as “loners.” It is just them and their electronic devises. People do not seem to know what it is to have true fellowship. Fellowship has become texting, twittering and writing comments and putting pictures on face book. In restaurants, we watch people, seemingly unable to get through a meal without using their cell phone, let alone say a word to anyone they are eating with. The technology of these “gadgets” makes it possible to be in contact with others, but it is a poor substitute for real fellowship.

We especially need fellowship with our family. This includes daily communication with our spouse, our children and our parents. For many today, time for fellowship is difficult to schedule in our homes. We use the word schedule but fellowship should be desired and come naturally to a healthy and functional family.

As believers, the scripture tells us that we should fellowship with other believers. This is why we need churches, Sunday schools, Bible classes and small group studies. These all provide places and programs to not only grow in our faith but to give opportunity to have fellowship with other believers.

Christian fellowship combines social and spiritual interaction. Fellowship among Christians is unique because it is made possible only through a true relationship with Jesus Christ. Believers by their faith in Jesus have a common bond. We are all His children.

But most important we need to have personal daily fellowship with God. As Paul tells us in I Corinthians 1:9, God has called us into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Sin broke the fellowship Adam and Eve had with God. Our sins keep us from fellowship with God. To have fellowship with God takes a commitment that includes reading His Word daily and communicating to Him through prayer daily.

God's Word makes us aware of our sins so we can repent and confess our sin to the Lord in prayer. The 133rd Psalm is only three verses long but David wrote clearly in this Psalm for us that fellowship should be our purpose in life. He says, “How good and pleasant it is for believers to dwell together in unity.”

Peter writes in I Peter (above) that as believers we are to be all of one mind. This involves an agreement in doctrine --- what we believe --- but also in our practical aims in life. This is the opposite of the way the world thinks. We are not to render evil for evil but have compassion for one another, love one another and be courteous.

In Galatians 2:9 we read the account of when James and John, who were pillars in the church of Galatia, heard that Paul and Barnabas were leaving to minister to the Gentiles (known as the heathen) they gave them the right hand of fellowship. In other words, they gave them their blessing and assurance of their prayers and support. As believers, we need to extend our hand of fellowship to those who are ministering for the Lord by praying for them and giving them support.

Fellowship is important for believers and their families. It holds a family together. Make sure you also are having fellowship daily with your Lord and Savior. That is the source for our strength and our direction to live a Christ honoring life.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Proverbs 23:18.

For surely there is a hereafter, and your hope will not be cut off.

PRAYER:

Thank You, heavenly Father, for making it possible for me to have fellowship with You because of the gift of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Help each one in my family to make it the priority to have fellowship with You every day, and to have fellowship with each other.

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Revival: June 1, 2017

TODAY’S WORD FOR THURSDAY JUNE 1, 2017.

REVIVAL

DEFINITION:

Restoration to life, consciousness, vigor or strength; reawakening of interest in and care for religion; a meeting to promote religious awakening.

SCRIPTURE:

Will you not revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You? Psalm 85:6

If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. II Chronicles 7:14

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Many professing Christians today have never experienced a revival and probably never even heard of one let alone really know what a revival is. The Psalmist, in Psalm 85:6 recognized that Israel needed a revival. Unfortunately, many Christians need a revival and do not know it. They have become complacent and no longer know what it is to rejoice in the Lord.

A "revival" as we refer to it here is a time when a single person or a group of people (believers in Jesus) decide that they need to restore their faith in the Lord and get back to living by the fundamentals that God expects from us. It demands setting aside a time to pray and study God’s Word looking and listening for what God wants to say to you. It then demands action that will respond to what God says and to glorify Him in all you do from that moment on.

There are at least 12 revivals referred to in the Old Testament and there are four factors preceding each revival that is in common and vital to these Old Testament revivals and are also relevant for us today.

1.    A moral and Spiritual decline among the people of God.
2.    Always resulting in some kind of a righteous judgment from God.
3.    The raising up of an immensely burdened leader or leaders.
4.    A common location for a beginning with a common burden.

The Old Testament tells us of revivals under Moses, Samuel, David, Asa, Jehoshaphat, Jehoida, Hezekiah, Joash, Zerubbabel, Ezra and Joel. All of these prophets led these revivals by calling the people together and having them pray, fast and confess their sins. In each case God used a leader who was faithful to Him.

God used Moses to bring revival to the Israelites when they rebelled against God. It would seem that after all the miracles the Israelites had witnessed God do to bring them out of Egypt that they would be forever faithful to God. Yet just within months, while Moses was receiving the Ten Commandments on Mt. Sinai, the Israelites turned away from God and made a golden calf to worship. Moses had to call his people to a revival of their relationship with God.

God used Moses to point out to the Israelites that they had rebelled against God and that God's judgment had come upon them for one reason -- they had sinned against God. Then Moses reminded the Israelites of God's mercy and the many promises God had fulfilled in the past. Their restoration depended on their willingness to repent, follow the Lord and obey His commandments.

In II Chronicles 7:14, four conditions are given that are necessary for revival. First, humble yourself and admit your sin. Secondly, pray and ask for forgiveness. Thirdly, seek God. And fourthly, turn from your wicked ways.

America was founded as a nation under God but today as a people we have rebelled and sinned against God. We have witnessed a moral and spiritual decline not only among the general population but also among the believers in Jesus.

We need a revival to begin with individuals and then to our families and finally to our churches. God desires that believers be leaders in their families and to call family members to repentance and bring revival in their own families.

YES, REVIVAL is needed today. It begins with individuals. God is just waiting for us to HUMBLE ourselves; PRAY; SEEK HIM; turn from our WICKED WAYS, and then we will hear from heaven and, God will forgive our sins and heal our homes and our land.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Proverbs 23:18.

For surely there is a hereafter, and your hope will not be cut off.

PRAYER:

Keep me always faithful in maintaining a right relationship with You. When I am weak revive me spiritually. Give me the leadership to help my family see their need for revival.  It is my prayer that You will work Your miracles in my life so that Your name will be honored and glorified.

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Training: May 31, 2017

TODAY’S WORD FOR WEDNESDAY MAY 31, 2017.

TRAINING

DEFINITION:

To teach so as to make qualified; the education, instruction, or discipline of the one being trained; preparation to make fit or qualified.

SCRIPTURE:

When I call to remembrance the genuine training and faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, I am persuaded that is in you also. II Timothy 1:5.

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

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

The verses above are reminders to us of the importance of the training we receive from our parents. It is also a reminder to parents today of their responsibility to train their children in the way that they should go. This means to use the scriptures as your guide in the training of your children. To start with, the Ten Commandments given in the Old Testament and the two great commandments that Jesus gave us in the New Testament are vital to proper training.

The commandment that Jesus gave us in Matthew 22:37 is that we “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” Jesus said that this was the first and greatest commandment.

In the training of children, a parent’s first priority and greatest responsibility is to teach their children to love the Lord their God. Training children to love and honor God is a vital ingredient in making a happy family. God has given us the Bible as His training manual. Parents have the responsibility of reading themselves and reading it together with their children.

Most adults would benefit from frequent refresher sessions in some of the basic Biblical principles needed to keep a marriage together and in raising a family that is bonded to one another. You cannot keep doing and acting the same way you did before your marriage and before you had children. You have God given responsibilities to both your spouse and to your children.

The world would be very confused and chaotic without training. One needs training in almost everything they do. We train people in new jobs, we train people to drive cars, we train people how to uphold the law, we train armed forces personnel, we train bus drivers, and we train our pastors and teachers. Without training children, can become very confused and are easily enticed into harmful lifestyles.

Training children can become very difficult at times. Do not be discouraged and do not give up. Instead, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

It takes Godly wisdom to raise children and that requires prayer and lots of it, along with spending time in God’s Word. God is faithful. He will lead you to train your children in the right way.

In Proverbs 22:6 it tells us clearly that we are to train our children in the way that he or she should go and then when he or she grows up they will not depart from it. Remember that today’s children are tomorrow’s leaders and they will be able to lead only as parents have trained them. That is why today we have so many poor leaders. They came from a generation of parents that neglected training and this present generation may be worse.

One night we were tucking our two older children into bed after our family time of reading the Bible together. The oldest said, “I want to ask Jesus into my heart.” After he prayed to Jesus asking Jesus to come into his heart a little voice from the bottom bunk piped up saying, “I want to do that too.” He was only four but he completely understood why he needed to have “Jesus in his heart.” We were thankful that God had used the training in God’s Word that we had been giving them to work in their hearts to love God and to want “Jesus in their hearts.”

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Proverbs 23:18.

For surely there is a hereafter, and your hope will not be cut off.

PRAYER:

Thank You, Lord, for my children and grand-children. Give me wisdom in my words and actions in front of them that they will learn to live and act as God would have them do. Guide them as they learn Your Word so that they will have a clear understanding of God’s plan of salvation and of His love for them.

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Pleasure: May 30, 2107

TODAY’S WORD FOR TUESDAY MAY 30, 2017

PLEASURE

DEFINITION:

A feeling of enjoyment or delight; a satisfaction derived from something that is to one’s liking; a cause or source of gratification; one's will or desire.

SCRIPTURE:

Therefore, we also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power. II Thessalonians 1:11.

There will be terrible times in the last days, people will be lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. II Timothy 3:1-4.

Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Luke 12:32.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

We are spending ever-increasing amounts of money each year on pleasure. Statistics tell us that Americans give $35 billion each year to churches and church related missions. But they also spend $150 billion on pleasure. That is over 4 times more spent on worldly pleasure than income given to churches and ministries.

There is nothing evil or wrong with wholesome relaxation and recreation, but there is something wrong when the pursuit of pleasure becomes a major obsession to a person or a family. It is so easy to get caught up in a whirlwind of pleasurable activity that lasts a short time and forget that heaven will be a place for "pleasures forevermore" of lasting satisfaction.

Personally, we enjoy the times we set aside for wholesome pleasure. Sometimes we are with family and other times we are alone just with the two of us. These are always important times in our lives because it gives us time to relax, regroup, and get to know family and each other better. This valuable time well spent but we must also keep our priorities right. There is a time for work and a time for pleasure.

There is pleasure to be found in meeting new people, seeing new sites and going to new places. There is pleasure in doing what is to one’s liking. Some people find pleasure in playing golf. For others playing golf is frustrating. Whatever we find pleasure in it must not interfere with our relationship with God. We must not become lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. (II Timothy 3:4)

Henry David Thoreau once said: "The pleasures of the intellect are permanent; the pleasures of the heart are transitory." He spoke of the mental and emotional pleasures but he left out the spiritual. He never considered eternity where our pleasures will be forever with the Lord.

We are reminded of the account recorded in the book of Nehemiah of the building of the wall around the city of Jerusalem. Nehemiah was a common man but he led a comfortable and secure life. He was the cupbearer to the king of Persia. He was in the position where he had opportunity to take advantage of all the pleasures of the world, but that was not his desire. He was a man of God who wanted to be used by God. When he heard from others who had been to Jerusalem, that the wall and gates of the city had been broken, it distressed and saddened him.

Nehemiah was a man of action and vision and when he saw a need he took the responsibility to do something about it. The first thing he did was to go to the Lord in prayer. Then he went to the king and asked for permission to go to Jerusalem so that he could rebuild the walls. With the king's approval and help he went to Jerusalem. He organized the people and assigned them specific sections of the wall and completed the project in just 52 days.

Nehemiah is known as a man of prayer. Eleven times in the book of Nehemiah, we find Nehemiah praying for direction and guidance. His pleasure was doing the will of God. Nehemiah was a man that was willing to sacrifice and give up his easy life style and forego the pleasures of life to do the pleasures of the Lord.

Nehemiah was also a man that lived his life according to the "Law of Moses.” In Nehemiah 8:8, he informs us that he read and explained the book of the Law of God to the people. Nehemiah did God's work and did it God's way. He was a master builder that clearly followed the plan of "THE MASTER BUILDER."

Later in Nehemiah 8:9-10 it is written that Nehemiah was governor and Ezra was the priest and scribe of that day. After the people had the scriptures read to them and explained by Ezra they were told to go eat, give portions to those that had nothing prepared and then have pleasure by rejoicing in the Lord. They had reason to celebrate. They had not only completed the hard work of rebuilding the wall, but they now understood the words from the “Law of Moses” that were declared unto them.

We will find that when we communicate with God by reading His Word and praying then we will experience the pleasure in rejoicing in what the Lord is doing through our lives.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Proverbs 23:18.

For surely there is a hereafter, and your hope will not be cut off.

PRAYER:

Thank You Lord for all that You have given me that enables me to enjoy the pleasures of this life, but help me to realize that lasting and true pleasure is found in serving You as my Lord.

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Pain: May 29, 2017

TODAY’S WORD FOR MONDAY MAY 29, 2017.

PAIN

DEFINITION:

Physical, mental or emotional suffering. Suffering of body or mind; to cause suffering to.

SCRIPTURE:

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil, my cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Psalm 23:5-6.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

As we are growing older we have aches and pains we never had to deal with before. We learn to live with these aches and pains, understanding they are just part of getting older. We give thanks to God daily that we have not experienced the extreme pain that some of our friends have experienced.

We are well aware that pain profoundly affects us. Doctors tell us that it causes depression and anxiety. On the positive side pain can make you more sensitive to the pain that others are going through. Pain can help you grow in the Lord because it forces you to lean on the Lord for His comfort and healing.

Often in life when a person goes through a time of suffering and pain he or she might refer to it as going through a deep valley in their life.  When everything is going well in a person's life they might refer to it as though being on a mountain top of blessing.

In the Bible, valleys symbolize periods of hardship and suffering. In Psalm 23:4, the Psalmist evokes a particular threatening and painful image by referring to "the valley of the shadow of death." Physical and spiritual valleys are inevitable in our lives. Even those believers with great faith in the Lord will experience them.

In times of great pain many feel like they would just as soon die rather than endure more pain. Job experienced such a feeling. Even though Job had strong faith in God, his great pain and suffering brought him to such a depth of despair that he said, "Why did I not perish at birth, and die as I came out of the womb." Job 3:11

People rarely think of suffering or pain as profitable. But we need to learn that God can use the hardship and pain of a valley experience to mature us spiritually. We make discoveries about ourselves when we face pain and trials that point out clearly who we truly are. When our life is interrupted, and altered by pain, it often tests our faith. Pain can make us wonder if the Lord cares or has forgotten us. The Psalmist assures us that the Lord never forgets us. He tells us that God’s mercy and goodness will be with us “all the days of our lives.”

Valley experiences, like pain, reveal our priorities. God's purpose for us during our pain is to take away from us everything we depend on, our spiritual crutches included, until nothing in our lives competes with Jesus' reign in our lives. When we are down and out the only way for us to look is up.

Sadly, many people look instead to alcohol and drugs. Dependence on drugs and alcohol will always prove to be a dangerous and unsatisfying substitute for a dependence on God. In Psalm 23 David expresses the satisfying comfort that he finds through his dependence on the Lord.

David reminds us that God provides for our needs. He “prepare(s) a table before us in the presence of our enemies (trials), His rod and staff comfort us (in our pain) and He "anoint(s) our head with oil. (He blesses us).

A good shepherd, in Jesus day, rubbed oil onto the scrapes on his sheep while in the fields. In doing this the healing began immediately. Jesus is our good Shepherd. When we call on Jesus, He is there immediately. We experience healing from our pain and a renewed intimacy and a sense of peace that only the Lord can give us. This peace will sustain us through the present trial and far beyond.

Many people are facing pain in their lives today from various causes. It may be physical pain; it may be the pain of a dysfunctional marriage or family. It may be the pain of a lost job, home or some other material item. It may be the loss of a close relationship with God because of the "things" of life taking priority in one's life.

Whatever pain we are suffering we can be assured Jesus understands because of what Jesus Himself suffered in His life here on earth and in His death on the cross. He is waiting for you to come to Him so He can show His goodness and His mercy to you.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Proverbs 23:18.

For surely there is a hereafter, and your hope will not be cut off.

PRAYER:

Thank You for the words of the Psalmist that have served as a reminder in my life to reach out to You when I go through the deep dark valleys of life. Thank You for being my Shepherd and watching over me with such great and loving care.

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