Contentment

“...be content with such things as ye have...” (Hebrews 13:5)

If you are not content with what you have then you will never be content with what you might want.

It was Haman who had riches and honor beyond our ability to measure, but he could not be content with Mordecai sitting at the king’s gate. Then there was king Ahab, who wanted Naboth’s vineyard but when it seemed beyond his reach he made himself sick.

Or who can forget that Adam and Eve with a whole new world to themselves were not satisfied because they wanted a little more indulgence, a little more knowledge.

There is no end in discontent.With all his wealth and knowledge, Solomon repeatedly said, “all is vanity and vexation of spirit.” Those that have achieved wealth and recognition find themselves no nearer the longed for contentment.It is for that reason that the Bible says, “Seek the things which are above” (Colossians 3:1). This is the source of contentment.

Jesus said, “He that cometh unto me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst” (John 6:35).

Paul wrote, “I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content” (Philippians 4:11). Contentment is a kind of self sufficiency—desiring no more than the bounty God has provided.

God’s grace was sufficient for him, for after all he was a stranger and a pilgrim on this earth, moving rapidly toward a more permanent abode.

To the Christian this is contentment.

Are you content?

Embracing The Truth.

Eph 1:13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,

After stating salvation from God’s perspective in verse 12, Paul here states it from man’s perspective. Obedience to Christ is your response to God’s elective purpose in your life. Those two truths—God’s initiative and man’s obedient response—coexist throughout God’s Holy Word.Paul rightly called the Gospel “the message of truth” because truth is its predominant characteristic. Salvation was conceived by the God of truth (Psalm 31:5) and purchased by the Son, Who is the Truth (John 14:6) and is applied by the Spirit of truth (John 16:13). To know it is to know the truth that sets men free (John 8:32). Christians are people of the truth (John 18:37), worshipping God in spirit and in truth (John 4:2) and obeying the Word of truth (John 17:17).Yet, as profound and powerful as God’s truth is, people have rejected, neglected, redefined and opposed it for centuries. Some, like Pilate, cynically deny that truth even exists or that it can be known by men (John 18:38). Others foolishly think that denying truth will somehow make it go away.Perhaps you have heard someone say, “Jesus may be true for you, but that doesn’t mean He has to be true for me.” That view assumes that belief somehow determines truth. But just the opposite is the case. Truth determines the validity of one’s belief. Believing a lie does not make it true. Conversely, failing to believe the truth does not make it a lie.The Gospel is true because Jesus is true, not simply because Christians believe in Him and obey Him. His resurrection proved the truth of His claims and constitutes the objective basis of your faith (Romans 1:4; 1 Peter 1:3).You will face today, armed with the message of truth and empowered by the Spirit of truth. Truth is your protection and strength (Ephesians 6:14).
Lost souls desperately need to hear that truth.

Represent it well, and proclaim it with boldness.

May the Lord help us...

Blessing God.

“Blessed be the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ...”(1 Peter 1:3)

What did Peter mean when he wrote those words in 1 Peter 1:3?

How did he do that and how can you do it?

In the common use, everyone understands the word “blessing.”

The rain is a blessing. A loving, caring, helpful daughter is a blessing to her aging parents. But how do you bless God?

When you are blessed you have received something. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead...” (1 Peter 1:3).

As a Christian, God gives to you a “living hope.” This, however, does not apply to your blessing Him. Gratitude consists of the disposition of returning to another something, if only an expression of thanks, for favor received. In contrast, though you would never be able to return fully your obligation to Him.Your blessing God appears in your thinking well of Him; speaking well of Him; recommending Him to others. Perhaps you can see it praying, “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer” (Psalm 19:14). Your “reasonable service” is explained in this verse, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service” (Romans 12:1). Hopefully, this helps you understand better what Peter meant when he would have you bless God.

BE STILL

“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” (Psalm 46:10

How often when we come to a crisis in our life do we immediately try to fix it? We so want to be in control of the situation that we act without giving the Lord time to lead us.

In North America we are taught that we need to be self sufficient, that we are in charge of our destiny. We have forgotten that without God we have nothing and are nothing. Everything comes from God, even the air we breathe.

Just as Joshua thought he had things in control after the Israelites had captured Jericho, he went out to capture Ai and was defeated. If he had asked God before he went, he would have found that there was sin among the people. God’s plans were different than Joshua’s too. Where Joshua took only a few of the men of war to defeat Ai, God saw need for all the men of war to take the city. We all need to take time to pray and ask for God’s guidance in our lives before we rush to fix the problem.The Psalms encourage us to be still and know that God is there for us and to wait for His guidance. There is a need for each of us to take time everyday to thank God for all our blessings and to ask for guidance and wait for direction. God wants to bestow His blessings on us. He sent His Son for the forgiveness of our sins.

Thanks.

"Pointing Fingers"

I never cease to be amazed at some people's knowledge of the Bible. It seems like some folks, no matter how ignorant they are about God's Word, always know certain verses of Scripture--and often they know these verses for all the wrong reasons. They know, for example, that the Bible teaches that "God is love" (1 Jn. 4:8), but usually because they want to "love" someone in an immoral way (like a live-in girlfriend, or a gay or lesbian "lover"). They also know about the verse that teaches: "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth," but again, it's usually for selfish reasons--they want to take revenge (with God's approval) on someone who's mistreated them.
And of course the one Bible verse that everyone knows is: "Judge not that you be not judged" (Matt. 7:1). Worldly folks want to quote this verse every time you try to point out some error in their lives that needs correcting.
Now, I have to admit that after all these years of preaching, I'm no longer surprised or even disappointed when a worldly person tries to throw this text up at me as I try to help him see the error of his way. But I do get disturbed when my own brothers or sisters in Christ try to use this text to get me "off their case" for the same reason.
Jesus does warn us about judging others (Matt. 7:1); but if you read further in this context, you will see that Jesus more specifically is condemning one who is hypercritical and hypocritical in his faultfinding (7:2-5). When we go looking for a "speck" (or minor fault) in a brother's "eye" (life), we are being hypercriticaland that's wrong. And worse: when we do this while having a "log" (or major fault) in our own eyethat's hypocritical.

And this is the kind of judging that Jesus so strongly condemns.

In Him.

A Command To The Parents!

Question #1
Being a Christian parent what was your reaction when you held your child in your arms for the first time?
Questions #2
Do you think that the bible is the perfect guide to train your child?
Question #3
What is your philosophy in being a parent and guiding your children?
The work of every parent is to teach their children how to live; our entrance verse to this lesson is
(Listen)Ephesians 6:1-4 “Children obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honour your father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise: that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth. And you fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord”
The best way to train your children as a parent always has to be based and begin with the word of the Lord, parents and children have to live according to God’s calling. No parent can correctly train a child outside of the word and commandments that God has left us. God calls his children to an obedience, God calls the parents to provide a just guide to their children according to His word. Both parents and children have to realize that this is not easy. There are Christian parents that have lost the significance of raising children according to the discipline and admonition of the Lord. Not to bug them and letting them do what they want can bring grave consequences that can leave a mark in children for all their lives and likewise leave a mark in every Christian parent in front of God. That is why the word of God tells us in Proverbs 22:6 “train up your child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it”. But what happens is that some parents read this passage and think that all that is necessary to train children according to God is to just bring them to church, while not setting a proper example in their everyday life and not acting like true Christians at home. This is the reason why many of our children are losing their interest in God’s will. If we want a strong church in the future it is up to the parents to instruct their children in the discipline and admonition of the Lord. When a parent does not bother to get involved in the life of their child, it is most likely because of two reasons
1) The child has a strong character.
2) Or the parent does not have any character, we can say then that this parent is very short sighted spiritually speaking.
To raise up our children in the admonition of the Lord covers everything, not just to give them their every day needs in their lives. That is why many children say that they have the best parents in the world, only because their parents let them do whatever they want.
The existence to be a parent is much shorter than one realizes. When a child is born one has the tendency to think that to that child there is an eternity awaiting him/her and we see him/her start walking, talking and growing but when we finally open our eyes and realize that that child is in the world, we react to teach him God’s will but it is too late.
The Word of God tells us in Deuteronomy “when your son asks you in time to come, saying “what is the meaning of the testimonies, the statutes and the judgements which the Lord our God has commanded you?”” Like Christian parents how will respond to such a question. Will we have the right response? Many of us know how to guide our children according to God’s word in our minds but in practice we are a disaster spiritually speaking. Someone once said “I am more than enough to guide my children and I don’t need anyone’s advice to rear my children”. Now go look at the families with the parents that talk in this way, you will find children without any interest in God’s will. You will find parents asking themselves in what they have failed. Many times it is the parents that are responsible for the failure of our children, we as Christians are obligated to train our children according to the commandments and statutes of God.
Conclusion
Someone asked a Christian couple what the greatest gift God gave them was, they responded our kids. I think that every parents thinks in the same way, but the question is, How have we brought them up? Would God be happy with us? We as parents know our children and we know perfectly well in what we have failed. Let us not forget our children reveal even the walk of the parents. If the parent is indifferent in the things of God then it is obvious that the children will be indifferent with the things of God, this will result in a Church that is spiritually dead. The word of God exhorts each and every one of us to bring up our children in discipline and admonishment in the Lord (Eph 6:4). A final question, what is your philosophy in being a parent and raising your children?
Are you raising them for God or for the world?
You alone know the answer,
may God bless us today and always.

A Confession

“Lord, make me to know my end, And what is the measure of my days, That I may know how frail I am.”(Psalm 39:4)
Reading this every day provides a reminder to give thanks to the Father that He is in charge and not this frail, earthly human, who sometimes tries to carry too much on his/her shoulders and falters along the way.
The idea from this scripture seems to denote that we know not how long we will live on this earth, which is to God “...as handbreadths…” and our age is “…as nothing before…” God (Psalm 39:5).
There is no time to waste in doing service toward God within His kingdom, because we do not know how much time is allotted us to be of service to Him. We must prepare to reap salvation and to bear good fruit along the short span of life that we have been afforded (which is as a vapor in the wind). We must confess Christ daily as our Savior and our strength, through our trials. Incidentally, Psalm 39:4 is taped on my refrigerator door at eye level, and in large print so I can't help but be reminded to read it daily. There are others there also. One is, “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth” (Colossians 3:2).
I try to remember that even though I may be frail, physically, I can be filled with the Holy Spirit so that “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:13).

May the Lord help us...