Our Choices In Life

James 1:14-15

But each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.

Each and every one of us has within us our fallen human nature, that twists our thoughts off the straight path into the mire of the ditch.

Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

When we allow our thoughts to wander, to want what we want rather than wanting what God wants for us, that leads us into making faulty choices to do what is not right; and those unrighteous actions always end up destroying whatever good God has put into our lives, and we miss out on the good life we could have had, the blessings our Father wants to lavish on us.

In Doing What We Do

Matthew 6:1, 3-4, 6, 17-18

Be careful not to do your "acts of righteousness" before men to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven....   [So] when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.... When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.... [And] when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

So when I give to missionaries or share the material things I have with others, I'm not to brag about it; when I pray, I'm to do it in the privacy of my bedroom; and when I pray aloud in a group, I'm not to consider how eloquent my words can be, but simply share my heart with my Father; and when I fast, I'm to still shower, fix my hair and wear makeup as usual.

God's Plan of the Ages

Psalm 33:10-12

The Lord foils the plans of the nations; He thwarts the purposes of the peoples.

O Father, please do foil the plans and thwart the purposes of all these peoples who are leading their nations astray: Israel's neighbors who surround her and desire her obliteration; the United States, who are leading us toward the tyranny of socialism, communism, nazism, facism, whatever--they're all tyranny. Father, change their hearts to recognize You and acknowledge Your ways; and if they will not, then remove from their positions of power and authority and erase their influence, and raise up others who know You and Your ways to lead us all aright, back to Your righteousness and our Constitution.

But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of His heart through all generations.

Yes, Father, You will accomplish Your will in all You have made, to fulfill Your purposes according to Your plans, in Your time and in Your ways.

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people He chose for His inheritance.

O my Father, Continue to bless Your people Israel, and Your children who have been redeemed. Wake up Your people Father; grant us another Great Awakening, to see what is going on and to do what You lead each of us to do to set things aright, as Your hands and Your feet and Your voice.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

Talking About Our Hope

Hebrews 10:23

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess (-or-Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering)

This refers to our talking about the hope we have in Christ; when we see or hear someone without hope we're to speak out loud of our hope, not be silent and let the moment pass.

For he who promised is faithful.

We know that God has never failed to keep anything He's ever promised. If we find that something He said hasn't happened yet, we just need to remember that the story is still playing out, and isn't over yet. We know that everything that is written, everything God said He would do, he has either already done, is doing right now, or will do and finish in the future. All time is "now" in His view, as He sees from the beginning all the way to the end, and we're still in the middle somewhere, caught up in the drama of it all.

Godly Discipline

I Corinthians 9:27

I beat my body -- I will do my best to keep my physical health at the optimum.

and make it my slave -- not allowing myself to be lazy.

so that after I have preached to others, -- so that after I have taught others about God's goodness and provisions.

I myself -- me, the person I am.

will not be disqualified -- It is possible to be disqualified from any race by not following the rules.

for the prize. -- the reward, the trophy, the ribbon, given to the winner.

Paul was careful to be disciplined in his daily life. Whoever he was ministering to, he would be alert and aware of their sensibilities, so that he would curb his own liberties in order to gain a hearing.

I find that in my own daily life, I tend to pamper my body, aware of what would give me comfort; I like to be comfortable. This is easy to do because I live alone now, and no one else is around. I want to be more disciplined with myself though, I want to be "in training" for whatever God has planned for me to do, so that when He allows me to vagabond this Earth, spreading the seed of His Gospel, I will be fit and able to withstand whatever rigors I may encounter.

Even though God has qualified us for this "race" through Jesus Christ, we could end up forfeiting the prize, if we're not careful. I am looking toward the reward that I will have won through walking the path set before me, following in the footsteps of Jesus, who blazed the trail before me, being His hands and His feet, speaking His words in His Spirit of love and peace. Only in the power of His Spirit in me will I be able to do this, so I ask for His constant leading, and thank Him for His very presence in me and with me all the time.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Are Your Prayers Answered?

I Peter 4:7

Be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray.

I need to control my own thought processes and attitudes, as well as my actions so that I will be able to think clearly, to know God's righteous will for me; and then I will be able to be of one mind with God and ask Him to do for me what He wants to do for me, to give me what He wants to give me. Then I will be able to pray. And His answer to my prayer will bring the credit, the glory to Him.

My Attitude Toward My Enemies

Matthew 5:38-39, 43-48

You have heard that it was said, "Eye for eye and tooth for tooth" (Exodus 21,24; Leviticus 24:20; Deuteronomy 19:21). But I tell you, do not resist an evil person....

We do not fight against flesh and blood, but against the authorities and rulers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (see Ephesians 6:12). So we are not to consider our fight as with the people who are opposing us, but against the evil spiritual forces that are the power behind them, and enslaving them.

You have heard that it was said, "Love your neighbor" (Leviticus 19:8) and hate your enemy. But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

Instead of fighting against the people who are fighting against you, pray for them (not against them) that they may be released from the bondage of evil that has enslaved them.

That you may be sons [and daughters] of your Father in heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain [to nourish] the righteous and the unrighteous.

"Like father, like son" has been a truism throughout the ages. God blesses everyone every day in causing His sun to give life to this Earth and everyone living on it, and He sends the rain to nourish all the crops and animals to give us all the subsistence to be nourished and live well, regardless of if we even acknowledge His existence or put our full trust in Him. So if He really is our Father, then we will want to have His attitude toward people: He is not willing that any should perish, but that all would come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9), seeing how wrong they have been and turn around. I will pray against their evil schemes, but I will pray for the people who have no understanding of the Truth.

For if you love them which love you,what reward would you have? And if you greet only your friends, what are you doing more than others? Don't even the Publicans do that? You are to be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Perfect here refers to maturity rather than sinless perfection. We are to go the extra mile to help even when we're not expected to.

I will strive to think and act more and more like Jesus would. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!