Television Statement

Last night I was watching the news and when the news was switching to commercials this statement came on: "Mankind must remember that peace is not God's gift to his creatures; peace is our gift to each other." Elie Wiesel

That statement started me thinking about what our world is doing, they are removing God from the for front and placing us in the place of God. We need to be watchful of this, we need to be careful not to give into such talk, because soon God will be removed altogether and we will wonder what happened to Him. Just like we are becoming desensitized to Christ being removed from Christmas, He is the reason for the season, not Santa or any other reason, it is Jesus Christ, the one who came to earth to save us from ourselves, to give us peace, so that we could give it to other. We are God's mirrors, we are to be like Jesus, not be like the world. 

In John 14:27 it says: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." Jesus said Peace I leave you, peace I give you, so that is a gift from God. There is no question about that, but yet here on the 6 o'clock evening news this statement flashes before my eyes, saying that God didn't give it to us, it is what we give each other. The above statement contradicts the Bible, the word of God. We need to be watchful of this. 

2 Timothy 3:1-9 "But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive,disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.
6 They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over gullible women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, 7 always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth. 8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these teachers oppose the truth. They are men of depraved minds,who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected. 9 But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone.." 

1 Peter 5:8 says "Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."

Prayer

Have you ever prayed and prayed and thought that your prayer should be answered by now? Well, I have done that, but have you ever thought about how does my life affect my prayers? Here I am asking God for something and yet I am not living the way He calls me to live? He is our Father. If my child is being disrespectful to me and not listening or doing what I have told him to do, do I buy him the item he wants? No, that wouldn't be wise of me, because then he would continue to be that way towards me and he wouldn't listen to what I have to say, because it really doesn't matter. Do you think God is the same way?

In Proverbs 28:9 it says "If anyone turns a deaf ear to my instruction, even their prayers are detestable." So in other words, if I do not follow God's laws that He has established in the Bible, my prayer is detestable to Him. Wow, can it be anymore clear than that? The way we treat our relationship with God effects our prayer life. That isn't just in Proverbs, but also in 1 Peter 3:12 "For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their prayers; But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil." Or if you don't think 2 places is enough to express how important it is to follow what God is calling us to do? There are many more: Proverbs 15:29; Proverbs 15:8; Psalm 66:18. 

Our call in our lives is to follow the instructions that He has written for us, but if we are not doing it in our lives, in our relationships, in our marriage, in our daily work and living, than we need to repent, we need to ask forgiveness for that, because it is sin. God is very clear about sin and if we do the opposite of what God says, we are walking with the words, we have turned our back on God. In James 4:17 "If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them." Can you imagine how God feels, here He has told us how to walk and how to be, but yet we do our own things, I believe He is very clear on it being sin.

We have written instructions how to live, how to be married, what roles we play and so on, but are we doing them or doing our own thing? God is clear on how it should be, what area's in your life are you not following what God calls us to? Isn't it time for a change? I don't want my prayers to be detestable to God, do you? I want to be heard, what about you?

Feelings

Feelings: an emotional state or reaction. That is the Webster dictionary definition of feelings, it is an emotional state or reaction, that isn't based on anything other than our own selves. It can be based on pains from our past or even just our human reaction.

If you think of a small baby, they cry when they are hungry or a small child they react to being told no, they didn't learn that behavior, it is just part of them. The throw a temper tantrum, it isn't because they saw someone do it, it is just who they are, they are human. If a child is caught doing something wrong, they don't learn to lie, they do it out of reaction, out of feeling. Just the same as adults we base how we are on the very feeling of what we are feeling. It may not be a learn behavior, it is just how the human flesh reacts, does that make it bad, yes, because Jesus Christ died on the cross and He has given us a new way to react, not basing it on ourselves, which He says is selfishness, He says base how you are on "Me", but when we are not doing that, we are basing how we are on the human flesh that when we go through the waters of baptism, the old flesh is suppose to fall away and the new flesh, the Godly flesh is suppose to come alive in us. That means the way we use to react when we were not saved is no longer a part of us, but that takes work on our part, that takes saying it isn't about me, but about God. That takes us being willing to be laughed at, be mocked by others, because it is no longer about I, but Christ in me.

We are called to do this in our marriages, we are called to do this in our daily lives, when we no longer react out of our own selfish desires, our own selfish ways, we must be able to say it is not about "I", but Christ who lives in me. Can you imagine how things will change when we stop being reactionary, stop basing things on how "I" feel, but start basing on how Jesus feels. That movie a long time ago, based on a kid asking what would Jesus do (The Woodcarver)? That was a child, that is what we are suppose to be like, all you children come unto Me. Children know that there meals come from the adults, they may question us, but without us they know they will not survive, just like we need to be with Jesus, without Him we will not survive.

Isn't it time to stop basing a reaction on a state of emotion and start basing it on what God thinks? Isn't it time for a change? I don't know how to spell it out anymore clearly, but God has stated in the Bible, He has demonstrated it, the pastors are calling for it, it is written everywhere, but we are missing it, we are blind because all we care about is "how I feel". When does it start being about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? How does He feel? What causes Him pain? Didn't our sins cause Him death, when will our choices start demonstrating our love for Him?

Today ask yourself: "How would Jesus want my marriage to be? How would Jesus want me to feel? How would Jesus react to this? How does Jesus feel about what I am feeling right now? What would Jesus do?" And when you get those answers, start doing it, because that is the only way to start working on true change.

Guarding Our Words

Have you ever contemplated the words that you speak in a day? Now think about the words you speak when you are angry? Are they different?

The Bible talks about the words that we speak and how they need to be, here are some verses that talk about our words:

• Ephesians 4:29 "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen."
• Matthew 15:11 "What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”"
• Psalm 141:3 "Set a guard over my mouth, Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips."
• James 1:19-26 "My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.
  
  22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.26 Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless."
• James 3:3-9 "When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 4 Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. 5 Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness."

There are so many more verses that cover our words. If we are not careful about our words, we defile ourselves. We need to make sure our words are not producing questions in other people, our words can give others life or bring them death, in Proverbs 18:20-21 "From the fruit of their mouth a person’s stomach is filled; with the harvest of their lips they are satisfied. 21 The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit."

I personally believe that there is meaning behind every word we speak and the more words we speak, the more dangerous and convoluted those meanings can become. We need to guard our lips and watch our words. Are our words speaking life and truth into the lives that we are speaking to or are they bring pain and hurt. Have you ever thought about how you say things? Our words may be nice to say, but if said with an attitude what are we really saying? We are lying to those people and need to watch our actions, to make sure that our actions match our words. 

Our actions, our words, our posture should represent the very nature of Jesus Christ. We need to be willing to look at ourselves, before looking at others (that goes for me too). Because Jesus talks about that in Matthew 7:5 "You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." Change starts with you, you have to take the first steps, by changing and allowing Jesus Christ to change you, that change will change those around you. Are you willing to change? That is what Jesus Christ wants, a willing heart. If you are unable to change, it isn't that Jesus is failing, it is that you are not allowing Him to change your heart, it is a heart issue. 

8 POPULAR MYTHS THAT COULD RUIN YOUR MARRIAGE (by Dave Willis)

MYTH #1: Never apologize because admitting fault shows weakness.

TRUTH: “Fools make fun of guilt, but the godly acknowledge it and seek reconciliation.” Proverbs 14:9

Someone once said, “Being in love means never having to say you’re sorry.” Whoever believes that is divorced! The truth is, when we’ve blown it, we need to own it. We need to take responsibility and humbly seek forgiveness. Swallow your pride. Pride destroys relationships. Humility heals relationships.

MYTH #2: Whoever shouts loudest wins the argument.

TRUTH: “A fool is quick-tempered, but a wise person stays calm when insulted.” Proverbs 12:16

TRUTH: “Spouting off before listening to the facts is both shameful and foolish.” Proverbs 18:13

TRUTH: “Fools have no interest in understanding; they only want to air their own opinions.” Proverbs 18:2

The tone of your words will shape the tone of your relationships. Don’t be a bully. Be a listener. Especially in marriage, remember than disagreements won’t have a “winner” and a “loser.” You’re on the same team so you’ll either win together or lose together. Work together with mutual respect and thoughtfulness to find a solution that works for you both.

MYTH #3: If you love someone, you should always support their decisions.

TRUTH: “Faithful are the wounds of a friend who corrects out of love and concern,
But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful because they serve a hidden agenda.” Proverbs 27:6

A true friend will tell you a difficult truth. Someone who has an agenda will tell you what you want to hear. I’ll never forget the story of my Aunt Jan decided to leave her husband after a year of marriage. She showed up on her mom’s doorstep with her suitcase and told her mom she was getting a divorce because she had married the wrong person and didn’t want to be with him anymore. Her mom lovingly told her to go home to her husband and that she wasn’t welcome in her home until she went home and worked on her marriage. Aunt Jan was shocked, but it was the wakeup call she needed. She went home to my Uncle John and they remained married and in love for fifty years until his death a couple years ago. Sometimes, real love requires us to speak difficult truth instead of just supporting someone’s bad choices.

MYTH #4: Always be a “straight shooter” and tell it like it is.

TRUTH: “Kind words are like honey—sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.” Proverbs 16:24

TRUTH: “A gentle answer deflects anger, but harsh words make tempers flare.” Proverbs 15:1

You might be a “straight shooter” but that still means you’re SHOOTING somebody! Don’t injure people with your words. Speak the truth WITH LOVE as we’re reminded to do in the Bible. Let kindness and compassion set the tone of your words. Don’t use the truth (or your version of it) as a weapon to manipulate others. Be gentle and respectful in your tone. It will make a big difference in your relationships.

MYTH #5: Keep doing what you’ve always done, because that’s being true to who you are.

TRUTH: “As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his foolishness.” Proverbs 26:11

I love the vivid description of this verse. There’s nothing more disgusting than watching a dog puke and then like up the vomit. This verse is saying we’re doing the same thing when we return to our old unhealthy ways of doing things. Just because you’ve always done things or said things a certain way that doesn’t mean it’s “who you are.” It might just be a habit you need to break. Have the courage to do some honest self-evaluation.

MYTH #6: Sometimes lying is necessary in a relationship.

TRUTH: “There are six things the Lord hates—no, seven things he detests: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that kill the innocent, a heart that plots evil, feet that race to do wrong, a false witness who pours out lies, a person who sows discord in a family.” Proverbs 6:16-19

Did you catch that in the list of things God literally hates, He lists lying TWICE! There’s no place for dishonesty in any form in relationships. Especially in a marriage, there must be total and complete transparency. Secrecy is the enemy of intimacy. Lies destroy trust and trust is the foundation of every healthy relationship. Unless you’re throwing a surprise birthday party, there is no place for secrets or lies in your relationship.

MYTH #7: My way is always the right way.

TRUTH: “Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall.” Proverbs 25:18

TRUTH: “Pride ends in humiliation, while humility brings honor.” Proverbs 29:23

I once heard a preacher say that the Frank Sinatra song “I did it My Way” is probably the theme song in hell. It was a joke but there is some important truth to it. Pride is the believe that “my way is always the right way.” It closes us off to listening and it’s toxic to relationships. God’s way always works out better than “my way.”

MYTH #8: If my feelings change or things get hard, it means I must have married the wrong person and I should get a divorce to pursue my own happiness.

TRUTH: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” Proverbs 3:5-6

Commit to following God’s plans instead of your own fickle feelings. If every couple quit when things got difficult or feelings changed, then 100% of couples would be divorced! The couples who make it aren’t the ones who never had a reason to give up. They’re the ones who decide that their commitment to each other is always going to be more important than their differences or flaws. Don’t give up on each other. A “perfect marriage” is just two imperfect people who refuse to give up on each other! In the end, persevering through the difficult times creates more love, peace and happiness than quitting and searching for happiness with someone else.

Busy With Joy (Dr. David Jeremiah

"I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives…it is the gift of God." Ecclesiastes 3:12-13

According to the BBC, the British government commissioned a study to determine the happiest and unhappiest professions. Some of the happiest people, it turned out, were members of the clergy, CEOs, farmers, secretaries, medical practitioners, hotel managers, and primary teachers. At the bottom of the list: barkeepers, telephone salespersons, industrial cleaners, and debt collectors.

From a biblical perspective, we know happiness doesn’t depend on what we do but on who we are. Perhaps the researchers have it backward. Happy people seek out professions that fulfill them. But happiness is based on serving the Lord wherever we are, whatever our calling. True happiness is based on the joy of Jesus.

The central message of the book of Ecclesiastes is that life is fleeting and futile without a spirit of gladness, which only comes from a relationship with God. If we fear God and keep His commands (Ecclesiastes 12:13), we’ll have a basis for rejoicing all the days of our lives. The Bible says, “It is good and fitting for one to eat and drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labor…because God keeps him busy with the joy of his heart” (Ecclesiastes 5:18-20).

There is nothing dreary and doubtful about [life]. It is meant to be continually joyful…. We are called to a settled happiness in the Lord whose joy is our strength. Amy Carmichael

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I thought it fitting to share this devotional with you, because we have choices to make moment by moment whether to allow the devil to rule us and steal our joy, by showing us exactly what he thinks or to see that the "Joy of the Lord is my strength." Nehemiah 8:10. When we make life about ourselves, we are allowing the devil to rule us, but as soon as we make it about Jesus Christ, He is our joy, our strength, our shield and so much more. He is the representation of who we need to be. Take a moment, are you experiencing negative thoughts, are they consuming you? That is not what God wants, He says in 2 Corinthians 10:5 " We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." 

When we live in the negative thoughts, we are not obeying Christ, we are walking in the flesh. When we start changing our perspective, we are allowing Jesus Christ to direct us. We need to be willing to give thanks to God for everything and that is even the hard stuff, because that is what makes us who He wants us to be. Changing our perspective will change who we are worried about. If you are looking only at yourself, you are not saying Lord use me, because it would not be about me, but Christ in me. That is why Jesus talks about selfishness, when we are only looking at I, we are not looking at Christ. Stop looking at yourself, take every thought captive and give it to God. Is it God or is it the devil causing you to see all your faults? 

God does not come to steal, but to heal. 

The devil comes to destroy you, so where are those thoughts coming from? 

A Story for you

I have a picture story for you. Are you ready? 

It is Christmas morning, there are a few presents around the tree. Not a lot, but what the family could afford. The mother is a single mother, she doesn't have a lot of money, but managed to save just enough to buy some presents for her kids. She had to cut back on everything, what she ate, what she did so that she could afford those things. She would take the time that she generally would have free time and she used that time to collect cans that people throw away, just looking for a little extra money. She did this for several months and with that little extra she earned she thought she would be able to give her kids some nice presents. It wasn't much, but it was more than she could have done before. It was a tough year on her, but she wanted to make it special.

The kids came down and saw the presents under the tree and the first thing they said was "Is that all???". The kids took the gifts they had and opened them, the mother sat there broken hearted, because she had tried to give them what they needed. The kids opened the gifts, they didn't thank her, they complained about the gifts she had gotten them. The presents were opened, the tree was empty underneath and the mother sat there looking at how everything was left. The gifts were just thrown around, no care of the hard work she had done to get those gifts, no care for the very gifts they were. They were not much, but they were more then those kids had. The mother was left feeling alone, hurt and she had nothing to show for all the work, not even a thank you or a card, she had nothing. 

You may read this story and think oh that poor mother, oh those spoiled kids. They didn't see the bigger picture. Today I want you to ponder, am I like those little kids? God has given us life, He has given us a new day and He has given us so much. In 1 Thessalonians 5:18 He says "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." Are you regularly giving God thanks for what He has given you? Or are you asking Him for more, not content in what you already have? 

Its a heart issue, the devil wants us to complain, be negative, find the negative in the very thing that God has given us every day. Isn't it amazing, if it is raining we complain, but without the rain we would not have water to drink. Or we complain because gas is so high priced, but if we are complaining about gas, we have a car to drive. Instead of looking at the negative in everything, change your prospective to see what God has given you. Thank Him for it, because without Him we would not be here. Isn't it time to stop feeding the Devil and start praising God? 

What does God want from me?

Have you ever thought about what Jesus Christ wants from you? I think that is a very good question to ask, because we are the representation of Jesus Christ. What does it mean to be a Christian? What sets us apart from the rest of the world?

It says in Romans 10:9 "If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." But than what? Is that all it means to be a Christ follower? I believe that is all that people think, hey I declared He is Lord, I believed in my heart and that is all it is, but what does Jesus say? In Matthew 22:37 "Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.'" And then in John 14:15 Jesus says to us "If you love me, keep my commands" If we love Him, like He calls us to do, we will keep His commands.

We must be willing to put God first, if you love Me, you will keep my commands. That is pretty straight forward, because when we love Jesus the most, it is no longer about I, but about Christ in me. We want to honor Him, we want to bring Him glory by our lives. We want to do the very thing He calls us to do, because He is the most important person to us, because He is number 1. I am sure you have heard many Christians say they love God, but in the very same breath the swear, they take the Lords name in vein, they want to fit in the crowd, they want to look good to others. But Jesus said to them, if you love Me, you will keep my commands. 1 John 2:15 "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them." Do not love the world, that is pretty clear, but we are in this world, do you love yourself more than you love God. Are you more concerned about yourself, how you feel, then how God feels? That is love of the world.

We are a self driven society, it is all about me. No longer is it about the things of God. It is about what I want, where I want to go, who I want to be with, what makes me feel good. But Jesus is very clear when he said in John 14:15 "If you love me, keep my commands." In Philippians 2:3-4 "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others."

Question for you, are you putting Jesus 1st in your life or are you more worried about yourself? What is driving you today, is it Jesus's love or something totally different? Do your life state you a Christ follower or just like the world? Hard questions, but being a Christian means standing out from everyone else, it means being different, it means not doing what they do, but doing what Jesus calls us to do. The message is clear, in our marriages, in our relationships, in our work place and so on, is it about God or about you?

A Beautiful Home Or Is It?

On the corner of a made up street in a made up town was a beautiful home. The owner was always meticulous making sure the bushes were cut, the gardens had the most beautiful fragrant flowers. The paint on the house was in perfect order, the windows well kept. The lawn is always cut to the perfect length and there are no clippings left anywhere. The house looked like those that you see in a magazine, it was incredible how beautiful it looked. It seemed the owner took great pride in how beautiful it was and made sure that the people that looked at the house would say it was beautiful. He was so concerned with it, it took up most of his free time, he was lost in the concern of what people thought of him, by how his house looked.

However one day a neighbor boy was selling candy. He went door to door ringing the door bells. He got to the mans home, the boy saw the beauty of the outside and careful reached for the doorbell. It rang, he stood there and waited for the door to open. He thought with such beauty on the outside, it must be spotless on the inside. He waited another moment the anticipation was building to see what the house looked like on the inside. He heard a lock turn and the man opened the door. The boy said "hello sir, I am selling candy bars for my school. Would you like to buy one?" The man looked down at the boy and said "Yes, but I must go get money." The boy had the opportunity to see inside.

The first thing he noticed was a terrible smell coming from inside and then he saw the stacks of newspaper cluttering every inch of the hallway, there was but a path to get through. He also noticed the walls were cracked and chipping, their were water stains on the walls. and just garbage piled all over. He couldn't believe the state of the home from the outside to the inside. After the man paid for the candy bar, he closed the door.

The boy walked away pondering about how many other homes were like that. They are well maintained on the outside, but inside they were in ruins.

We are much like that house, we can be well maintained on the outside, we look like we have it all together, we look the part, we act it, but on the inside we are a mess. We worry about what others think of us more than what God thinks of us. God sees the heart, He knows what we are thinking and He knows that the outside is just a facade. We are in fact living a lie, we are not only lying to ourselves and others, we are trying to lie to God. But we are not hiding from God, we need to be more worried about what God thinks of our lives, then what others think of it. Is it time we start working on the heart issues? What does your heart care about more God or others?

Reactionary

We are a reactionary society. The way we treat other is how they treat us. It is so easy to say they treat me poorly, so I am going to treat them the same way, because they do not deserve to be treated better.

The problem with that mindset as a Christian is that God has given us a command, an instruction. In Matthew 7:12 Jesus says "“In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets." or in Luke 6:31 it says "Do to others as you would have them do to you." This is the Law, what does that mean to you? I think it is pretty clear, but right now you are probably thinking that the others do not deserve to be treated how you want to be treated, so you will treat them any way you want. It is said that is a Golden Rule, it isn't just a suggestion, it is a direction in the Bible.

I think it is clear today that people take the Bible not for what it says, but for what they want it to say, but we have clear direction of what to do, how to be and how to walk in the Bible, but we are to caught up in ourselves that we are missing the very truth the God (the Bible) has to offer. We are doing our own things, we are treating others not how God has instructed us to, we are treating them how they treat us. When we love God more than ourselves, it shouldn't matter how others treat us, it should matter how we treat them that is the truth of it all. God wrote it and I believe it, do you?

I challenge you today, do not treat others how they treat you, treat them how God calls you to treat them, He has written commands in the Bible, not for us to ignore, but for us to do. Do you want others to see the Love of Jesus in you? This is one step to doing that, can you imagine if we as Christians start to follow what God has instructed us to do? Our lives, our marriages, our families would be different, because it would not be about self, it would be about doing it God's way.

The True Love Story (Dr. David Jeremiah)

"Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all sins."
Proverbs 10:12

The 1970 dramatic film Love Story introduced one of the most oft-quoted lines about love in the modern era: “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” One of the stars of that film, Ryan O’Neal—who had the words spoken to him by his dying girlfriend—was in a romantic-comedy movie two years later with Barbra Streisand (What’s Up, Doc?). In that movie, when Streisand says those same words to O’Neal, he responds, “That’s the dumbest thing I ever heard.”

Most people would agree with the 1972 assessment from What’s Up Doc? of “love means never having to say you’re sorry.” But there’s a kernel of truth there. After all, “love covers all sins” (Proverbs 10:12 "Hatred stirs up conflict, but love covers over all wrongs."; see also 1 Peter 4:8 "Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins."). Theoretically, that means one doesn’t have to say “sorry” to be forgiven. But biblically, there is a problem; there is a price to pay for sin: death (Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."). And Jesus paid that price for us—unconditionally. Jesus introduced true unconditional love to the human experience, paying a horrific price for our sins. But that doesn’t mean we are exempt from saying “sorry” when we sin (1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.").

Let unconditional love be the basis for all your relationships. But if you sin, always say “sorry” to God and others.

Repentance is being sorry enough to quit your sin.
Albert Martin

Salvation

Have you ever thought about your salvation? I have, but can you imagine how it must look to God, we ask God into our lives, we confess our sins to Him and He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins, but then a week goes by and we continue to sin, we continue to dishonor God and we say it is just how we are, we are human. But to God Salvation is a life long pursuit of Him, not just a moment that we gave our lives to Him, because He wants us to put Him first moment by moment, not just one time and forget about Him. Can you imagine if we change our view point from a choice we make once, but a choice that we make moment by moment. Yes our salvation is guaranteed, but what are we doing in our daily walk to honor Jesus, He died on the cross for our sins, our we just taking it for-granted or are we showing Him we are following after Him.

I have heard it said that once we are saved, we don't have to do anything else, because God will do it all. But I say to those people, does a mountain climb itself? No, we have to work at a relationship with Jesus Christ, we have to do, it just doesn't happen. We need to put work into things, if we want to get anything out of them. Yes, we are guaranteed a place in heaven, but do you want to hear Jesus say to you "Well done my good and faithful servant" or do you just want to hear "you may enter"?

We are running a race, not just walking, not just sitting, we are here to do our best job we can do, not for ourselves, but for Jesus Christ. We are suppose to do the work it takes, not just wait for things to be done for us, we are suppose to work at our relationships, raise our children in the way that God has called us to, because that is what it means to be different from the world. We aren't just suppose to allow things just to pass us by and us to say oh well. We are suppose to do the work it takes to do it like God has demonstrated in the Bible, that is why He wrote it. It isn't just a suggestion, it is a guide to how we are suppose to live. If you want an answer, search for it in the Bible, the more we are in the word, the more the word is in us and Jesus is the word. It just doesn't happen, we have to do the work it takes.

Are we doing the work it takes? Are we just Sunday Christians, only doing it for 2 hours every Sunday or are we living the life that Jesus has laid out for us to live? It is a high call on our lives, that is what sets us apart from the world, it is a moment by moment choice to honor God, not a one time choice.

Wake Up!!!

2 Timothy 3:12-13 "In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived."

We are in a time where the deception is growing, where the evil is growing in our world. We need to be a people that stands strong against the devils lies. The devil wants to give us a false sense of security, that false sense of security focuses on ourselves, that we can do it  that we do not need God, that we are better than others, he will feed us lies about ourselves in order to control our very thoughts. The devil will also feed us with negativity, we are not worth it, we don't look right, we weigh to much, that salvation is meant for people that deserve it. See the devil will take anything that we give him, because he is a thief, he will steal our very joy, because he wants us to focus on ourselves, on our lacks or our good thing, instead of focusing on God.

God is a God who wants us to see not ourselves, but to view others ahead of ourselves. Do you see how the devil is winning? Who is the most important person to you?

I believe the battle is growing, that the forces of darkness our lulling us into a sense of comfort a sense of complacency, we no longer view sin as sin, we no longer realize just what Jesus went through to save us from our sins, it is easy to forget what He did for us. The devil wants us to think only of ourselves. We are controlled from the moment we get up, to the moment we go to bed, thinking only of me, but Jesus came to change our human desires and replace them with His desires, He desires that all men and women stop thinking of themselves and start thinking about what would He do.

The devil wants us to be blind, to not see how he is working, to stop looking and think that is the way it always has been, but I am here to say it isn't. Time to start calling the devil out. It is time to stand for God. Is He the center of your life?

Tough Days, by Chuck Swindoll

James 1:2-4 "Trials and Temptations
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."



You've heard them. Those all-too-familiar cries of exasperation. Maybe a couple have crossed your mind today sometime between the too-early clang of the alarm and the too-late racket of the neighbors next door.

Going from bad to worse.
Jumping from the frying pan into the fire.
Between a rock and a hard place.
He said, "Cheer up, things could get worse." So I cheered up—and sure enough, things got worse!
My mother told me there would be days like these, but she never said they would run in packs.

Tough days. We all have them. Some are worse than others. Like the one the hard-hat employee reported when he tried to be helpful. Maybe you heard about it too; the account actually appeared on a company accident form. Bruised and bandaged, the workman related this experience:

When I got to the building I found that the hurricane had knocked off some bricks around the top. So I rigged up a beam with a pulley at the top of the building and hoisted up a couple barrels full of bricks. When I had fixed the damaged area, there were a lot of bricks left over. Then I went to the bottom and began releasing the line. Unfortunately, the barrel of bricks was much heavier than I was—and before I knew what was happening the barrel started coming down, jerking me up.

I decided to hang on since I was too far off the ground by then to jump, and halfway up I met the barrel of bricks coming down fast. I received a hard blow on my shoulder. I then continued to the top, banging my head against the beam and getting my fingers pinched and jammed in the pulley. When the barrel hit the ground hard, it burst its bottom, allowing the bricks to spill out.

I was now heavier than the barrel. So I started down again at high speed. Halfway down I met the barrel coming up fast and received severe injuries to my shins. When I hit the ground, I landed on the pile of spilled bricks, getting several painful cuts and deep bruises. At this point I must have lost my presence of mind, because I let go of my grip on the line. The barrel came down fast—giving me another blow on my head and putting me in the hospital.

I respectfully request sick leave.

Yeah! I would imagine! Some days you honestly wonder why you ever crawled out from under the covers that morning . . . and later, if you will ever make it back to bed that night. Most of us have little difficulty fielding a couple or three problems during the day, but when they start coming down like hail, with no relief, rhyme, or reason, we get jumpy. More often than not we also get grumpy. Invariably there are those who love us and really want to help. But try all they like, tough days are usually solo flights.

Think about your most recent tough day. How did you handle it? What could you have done differently, according to God's Word? We'll talk about that tomorrow.

Part Two

Galatians 6:9-18 "9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers."

Not Circumcision but the New Creation
"11 See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand! 12 Those who want to impress people by means of the flesh are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13 Not even those who are circumcised keep the law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your circumcision in the flesh. 14 May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15 Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation.16 Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule—to the Israel of God.
17 From now on, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus. 18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. Amen."

Tough days. We all have them. And most of us, if we're honest, must admit we don't handle them well. Others who love us try to help, but they tend to complicate matters.

Take the four guys who decided to go mountain climbing one weekend. In the middle of the climb, one fella slipped over a cliff, dropped about sixty feet, and landed with a thud on the ledge below. The other three, hoping to rescue him, yelled, "Joe, are you okay?"

"I'm alive . . . but I think I broke both my arms!"
"We'll toss a rope down to you and pull you up. Just lie still!" said the three.
"Fine," answered Joe.

A couple of minutes after dropping one end of the rope, they started tugging and grunting together, working feverishly to pull their wounded companion to safety. When they had him about three-fourths of the way up, they suddenly remembered he said he had broken both of his arms.

"Joe! If you broke both your arms, how in the world are you hanging on?"
Joe responded, "With my TEEEEEEEEEEEETH . . . "

No, other people can't help much on tough days. They may be good companions, but they sure can't stop the pain. Holding hands and singing during an earthquake is small comfort.

Some would advise, "Just get in there and keep busy—work harder." But that doesn't help much either. When the barn's on fire, slapping a coat of paint on the other side doesn't make much sense. If the tires are flat, driving faster is pretty dumb.

So—what's the answer? How can we handle tough days when the Enemy works overtime to persuade us that God doesn't care? I have found solid encouragement from four threads woven into the fabric of Galatians 6. See if you don't agree.

1. 1. Let us not lose heart (v. 9). On tough days, you gotta have heart. Don't quit, whatever you do. Persevere. Stand firm. Be strong, resilient, determined to see it through. Ask God to build a protective shield around your heart, stabilizing you.
2. Let us do good (v. 10). Our tendency will be anything but that. Instead of good, we will feel like doing evil. Fume. Swear. Scream. Fight. Pout. Get irritated. Burn up all kinds of emotional BTU's. Rather than parading through that shop-worn routine, stay quiet and consciously turn it all over to the Lord.
3. Let no one cause you trouble (v. 17). Superb advice! Refuse to allow anyone (or anything) to gain mastery over you. That throne within you belongs only to the Lord Jesus Christ. Stop leasing it out!
4. Let grace be with your spirit (v. 18). Allow the full impact of grace to flow through your thoughts, your attitudes, your responses, your words. Open the gates and let those good things stampede freely across your tough day. You sit on the fence and relax.

It works. It really does.

Two Mirrors by Smokie Norful

Two Mirrors by Smokie Norful, from his new book Take the Lid Off

When people walk down the street, most of them instinctively look at their reflections in the windows. It’s a knee-jerk reaction. I believe there are two mirrors in each of our lives. One reflects the world’s values; the other reflects God’s truth about us. Far too often, we’re gazing into the wrong mirror. We’ve drawn conclusions — about ourselves, about God, and about our purpose in life — based on faulty, distorted information. The world’s mirror is similar to a carnival mirror, reflecting distortions and untruths to whomever stands before it. We can appear tall and skinny (We like that one!), or we can appear short and fat. Another one can reflect our images in ripples, like a potato chip. Though we laugh at each other and ourselves in these carnival moments, having a distorted self-image is serious business — it ruins our motivation, steals our joy, and warps our relationships. The mirrors we see each day scream that success, pleasure, approval, physical appearance, intelligence, and our “cool factor” or “swag” determine who we are and how high we can go. These metaphorical measuring sticks can’t possibly result in strength, stability, hope, or security. Instead, they produce either shame or pride. When we think we’re doing better than the person next to us, we feel superior. We’ve arrived! But when we realize the other person is smarter, richer, better looking, and has more friends, we feel like a failure. Some of us habitually stay in one condition or the other, but most of us vacillate from pride to shame, then back again, several times a day. Advertisers have gone to great lengths to create powerful verbal and visual concoctions of dissatisfaction and hope. Dissatisfaction with who we are and what we have comes first. Then, we hope the product or service will make us happy, successful, and popular. For instance, women long to look like the models in magazines, but we all know these models have been airbrushed and digitally altered to make them artificially gorgeous. Nobody actually looks like that! I’ve even had graphic designers Photoshop my pictures for album covers and promotional pieces to make me look taller, thinner, or younger. One of the pictures was altered so much, I looked like a teenage boy! I told the designers to go with the real, middle-aged me. A study of models revealed that the most envied women on the planet often suffer from depression, anorexia, bulimia, loneliness, and other problems of a devastated self-conception. We constantly compare ourselves to others. As a result, we spend too much time, money, and energy trying to manage our image. We wear “masks” to impress people because we’re terrified others will see the real person underneath. We don’t want anyone to know how fearful and insecure we are. Eventually, we may not even recognize our true selves. We are constantly seeking our authenticity, but our flawed sight blinds us. Even the heights of beauty, fame, and wealth can’t fill the void of an empty heart. We all know people who appear to be beating the system. They might be music moguls, business tycoons, head-turning beauties, or brilliant scholars. Everyone looks at them and marvels. Even these people, though, realize they aren’t what they project to the outside world. In a famous Vanity Fair article, Madonna confessed that every new song she released made her feel alive, but in between, she felt lost and alone. She told the reporter, “My drive in life is from this horrible fear of being mediocre. And that’s always pushing me, pushing me. Because even though I’ve become Somebody, I still have to prove that Somebody. My struggle has never ended and it probably never will.”(1) Chris Evert, the professional tennis star, admitted that she struggled with her sense of inadequacy and used victories on the court as a salve. She said: I had no idea who I was, or what I could be away from tennis. I was depressed and afraid because so much of my life had been defined by my being a tennis champion. I was completely lost. Winning made me feel like I was somebody. It made me feel pretty. It was like being hooked on a drug. I needed the wins, the applause, in order to have an identity.(2) If we live to impress the people around us, it would be easy to conclude that God would be our harshest critic. If we need to wear a mask around anyone, we might think we need to hide ourselves from God! That’s what Adam and Eve did when they sinned in the Garden and wore fig leaves to hide their nakedness. The paradox of the Christian faith is that God knows every detail about us, even our deepest thoughts, and He loves us still. We can’t hide from Him — a paradoxical fact that can be deeply comforting yet terribly threatening. King David knew both sides of the omniscience of God: He knows everything about us. David wrote: O Lord, You have searched me and You know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; You perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; You are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue You know it completely, O Lord. — Psalm 139:1-4 NIV, 1984 Does God know our hidden feelings? Yes. Does He know our selfish thoughts? Certainly. Does He know our deepest and most sinister desires? Of course. God knows it all. Nothing is hidden from His sight. But He is quick to forgive and abounds in love for us. He doesn’t wink at our sin. He forgives it. He doesn’t make excuses for our selfishness. He sent Jesus to pay the price for it. In an article in Christianity Today, Mark Galli explained, “The very thing that makes us feel trapped — God’s omniscience — is the very thing that reveals the depth of God’s grace. If we can muster the courage to allow God’s omniscience to judge us, we will see that before and after the righteous judgment, there has been the omniscience of grace.”(3) Because of grace, we can be fully, totally, and completely honest with God about every sin in our lives. The Cross is the promise that God won’t condemn us. If we had to earn God’s approval, we’d be in deep trouble because we can’t meet His standard of holiness. But Jesus did, and Jesus does. When we receive the forgiveness offered in the sacrifice of Christ’s death on the Cross, God puts all our sin on Jesus and puts all of His righteousness on us. It’s the greatest exchange of grace in the history of the universe! 1. “All About Madonna,” Vanity Fair, April 1991. 2. Good Housekeeping, October 1990, 87–88. 3. Mark Galli, “A Terrifying Grace,” Christianity Today, May 24, 2013, 193 Excerpted with permission from Take the Lid Off by Smokie Norful, copyright W. Ray Norful Jr.

Change Requires Making Choices by Pastor Rick Warren

You’re not going to change the defects in your life until you CHOOSE to change. You’re not waiting on God; God is waiting on you.

“Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God — truly righteous and holy.” (Ephesians 4:21-24 NLT)

It’s not enough to want to change. It’s not enough to desire to change. It’s not even enough to say, “I have a dream of changing.” Dreams are worthless unless you wake up and actually act on them. You’re not going to change the defects in your life until you choose to change.

How are you going to be different in six months? Are you going to be emotionally stronger? Are you going to be mentally sharper? Are you going to be physically healthier? Are you going to be spiritually deeper?

It isn’t going to happen automatically. You aren’t just going to get healthier by accident in any category of your life. A lot of times we think we’re waiting on God to change us. You’re not waiting on God. God is waiting on you.

There is no growth in your life without change. And there is no change without loss. You’ve got to let go of some old stuff. And there is no loss without pain.

Some of you are stuck right now because you haven’t learned how to let go. That’s a choice. Ephesians 4:22 says, “Throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception” (NLT).

You might say that your defects are biological or sociological. Some of them are from your circumstances or your chromosomes. But it doesn’t really matter where they come from. You need to deal with it. Genetics explains your inclinations, but it doesn’t excuse your sin.

Here’s the good news: Once you become a believer, you have a new power in you that is greater than those old tendencies. That power is the Holy Spirit.

Philippians 2:12-13 says, “Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose”(NIV).

Does that mean you are supposed to be afraid of God? Of course not! Be afraid that you’ll miss God’s best and waste your life. Be afraid that you will go your entire life and never know God’s purpose.

The secret to changing your life is not willpower. It’s God giving you the will and the power through the Holy Spirit to do what needs to be done.

Talk About It

What do you think it means to “work out” your salvation?
How have you experienced the Holy Spirit’s power in your life?

PUBLISHER

Daily HopeView Website

Choose Life By Dr David Jeremiah

"There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death."
Proverbs 14:12

On June 28, 1914, Austria’s Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, were being driven on the streets of Sarajevo. Unknown to them, an assassin was lying in wait. The assassin’s plan went awry, but his cohort happened to be loitering elsewhere. Suddenly, the cohort realized the Archduke’s limousine was coming down the street, the Archduke’s driver having taken a wrong turn in the crowded city. Two shots later and the Archduke and Duchess were dead. Four years later, more than sixteen million people were dead from the World War ignited by the assassin. All because of a wrong turn.

That story is true, but it’s an over-dramatization of this fact: Wrong turns can lead to tragic consequences—even death. The Bible says as much about the wrong turns called sin. Think of the deaths that resulted from King David’s sin of adultery: Uriah the Hittite, David and Bathsheba’s son, Amnon, Absalom, and the death of honor. And from those deaths, sorrow was multiplied to all who were affected. Sin gives birth to spiritual and physical death, and death to sorrow.

Pray about every choice, every change in plans. Go slow. Be careful. Reverse any wrong turns. Choose God’s way, not man’s; take the road that leads to life.

"Sin pays—but it pays in remorse, regret, and failure."

 Billy Graham

Our Flesh

Our flesh wages war against our spirit, the spirit of God. It is our human nature and it wants to be in control, it wants to do the things that God has instructed us not to do. It  is our feelings, our negative thoughts and more. In Galatians 5:19-21 it is written "Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God."

When we walk according to the flesh, we allow the things of the devil to control us. Romans 8:5 "Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires." We have become blinded by our feelings; we base everything on how we feel, instead of basing it on the word of God. We base what we are doing on our feelings and that causes us to not to want to do anything or to do the wrong things. Our flesh is very powerful and when we are not in the word daily, searching for His truths, we are not walking in the Spirit. In Hebrews 11:6 it says "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." We must earnestly seek Him, not just when we feel like it, but do it because it honors God. That is the bottom line, when we base things on feelings, we are basing it on the flesh, not on God! In 1 Corinthians 15:58 "Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." Be stead fast in the Word of God, immovable, stand firm, do not waver.

It says in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 "9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." In our weakness He is strongest. Our flesh says I can do it myself, I don't need any help, but that is the lie of the flesh. We need to be willing to fall to our knees in complete surrender and admit that we can't do it anymore, because when we are weak, He is strong.

Romans 8:8 says "Those who are in the flesh cannot please God." If we are trying to please God, but are walking in anger, rage or any of the other things, we are not pleasing God. We are called to honor God. Our flesh will say it is not worth it, I want to fit in and I want to do what the world does, but God says No, we can't be like the world. In 1 John 2:15-17 "15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever."

As I am sitting here praying about what I have written here today, I get a strong sense to add one more thing. Our feelings lie to us, our flesh lies to us. We are to stand firm in the word of God, we are to put our minds on things above and not on things of this world. We need to be willing to surrender our feelings to our Father and allow Him to guide us through all of it. We need to be committed not to self, but to God. We need to be willing to do what Jesus did, He said Not my will, but Yours be done and follow through. God has you where you are today, He is teaching you and making you, trust Him and not your feelings. Our feelings are anger, hatred, guilt, jealousy, rage and so much more, but God says we are not to walk in those things, but to walk in Love as Jesus walked in love. What is He calling you to let go today and let God take care of? Not doing it, is disobedience to God. 

Some other verses that talk about our hearts, talk about our flesh. We need to be aware of what we need to watch for. If we do not know, we don't know our weaknesses and can't surrender them to God, because 1 John 4:4 "Greater than He is in me than he that is in the world" He lives in you, allow Him to guide you, not your feelings, not the things of the world, but God. 

Matthew 15:16-20 "“Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them. 17 “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? 18 But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20 These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”"

Romans 8:6 "For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace."

Galatians 5:16 "But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh."

1 Corinthians 10:13 "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it."

Motivational and Inspirational Videos

We all need to be motivated, to have some inspiration in our life and it comes through reading the word, listening to music and many other different ways. This morning my wife sent me a link to one on YouTube and I found many more and it has encouraged me to continue to move forward. I want to encourage you as well, no matter what you are facing, no matter what obstacles that may be in your way, God is faithful, He will have victory. The first video is about Prayer. It is called Pray Like You Mean It, it is incredible. How many of us pray, but don't believe that God will answer? He answers prayer, remember the parable that Jesus told about the Persistent widow? Luke 18:1-8  She kept asking and in it, she received. We need to keep asking and believe that God will answer. Stop thinking that prayer doesn't work and start praying and don't stop, just because God has His own timing, it may not be ours, but God timing is perfect, ours is rushed and we miss the lesson that He is teaching us along the way. He wants us to learn and in learning we grow and change.

We believe the lies of our human flesh, we give into the world more times than we give into God. They will call it a heart issue and that heart issue is that we limit what we can do, because we may be afraid of failure, so we don't try. That is not called faith, God calls us to walk by faith and not by sight, the world says we should see what we are doing and then only do what we feel we can do and in that we are not following God. God wants us to walk by faith. How are you walking today?

It is easy to hear the world say we can't do it, we can hear the devil echoing in our ears we are failures, we are not good enough or God doesn't love us, or God will never forgive us of our past, but He says He will and He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins. The devil is always reminding us of our failures, but God is in it all reminding us how He will use them to make us more like Him. It is a battle a war of our flesh verses that of the Living God. We need to battle our flesh, stand tall and to fight for what is right. Is it time for you to fight? No longer giving into the world, time to fight.

It is easy to become discouraged, to think that we do not measure up, that we are not worth it, but our confidence is not in ourselves, but the our One True God, who has gone before us. He has made a way where we thought there was no other way. Jesus is the only way, when we base our lives on other people, what we wear, how we act, we will never be what God wants us to be, but when we base it on Jesus Christ, we will love like He calls us to, we will act like He calls us to and we will strive to be more and more like Him. Our confidence must be in Him and not me. Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."

Ephesians 6:12 "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age,[a] against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places."

I came across one more, I wanted to share too, it is longer, but who are you Committed too? This is so good. This is God's truth right from the word of God. Are we committed to the truth, because John 8:32 "Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.""

The Number One Problem in Marriage By Dennis Rainey

Open communication is essential to the life of a marriage relationship.
By Dennis Rainey

“Tap-tap . . . tap-tap-tap . . . tap-tap-tap-tap . . . tap-tap-tap . . .”

Captain Red McDaniel rapped carefully on the walls of his cell in the Hanoi Hilton, practicing the special camp code prisoners used to communicate with each other. He knew he had to be very careful.

His Communist captors wanted to keep all of their American “guests” isolated and vulnerable. Prisoners caught trying to communicate would be tortured, and McDaniel had already been through that.

As the interminable days went by, McDaniel came to fear isolation far more than the threats of torture by his Vietcong captors. The highlight of each day was being taken to the washroom, where he managed to whisper briefly with two other Americans brought in at the same time. They told him about the camp code, an acrostic system that involved using a certain number of taps (or other signals) to spell out letters of the alphabet. McDaniel recognized the code as his lifeline, his only link with sanity.

If a new prisoner couldn’t learn the code and communicate with fellow Americans within 30 days of his arrival, he would gradually start to draw inward and deteriorate. The prisoner would slowly lose the will to live. He would stop eating, and as his stomach became bloated, he would actually start to feel “fat.” Little by little, the prisoner would die alone as the strange predator, isolation, sucked his very life out of him.

At first glance, the horrors of the Hanoi Hilton seem unrelated to a marriage relationship. But in a very real way, communication is essential to the life of a marriage, just as it was essential to the lives of the prisoners. If you don’t communicate, your marriage will die.

Good, open communication is the top need in marriage. Nothing is as easy as talking; nothing is as difficult as communicating. Using words correctly and skillfully is an important part of communication, but even more important is that both husband and wife have a willingness to communicate in ways that result in deeper honesty and openness.

The great cover-up

Communicating effectively begins with discovering transparency. Transparency in marriage is described in Genesis before the fall: “The man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed” (Genesis 2:25).

Adam and Eve were without disguise or covering, without any mask. They were uncovered physically, and they did not cover up emotionally. Before the fall, Adam and Eve were a picture of true transparency—being real, open to each other, and unafraid of rejection.

But after the fall, we read, “They knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings” (Genesis 3:7). Those famous fig leaf aprons were only part of their cover-up. Sin introduced a lot more than modesty. It also brought deceit, lying, trickery, half-truths, manipulation, misrepresentation, distortion, hatred, jealousy, control, and many other vices, all causing us to wear masks.

Many people spend tremendous time and energy building facades to hide their insecurities. They are afraid that if someone finds out who they really are, they will be rejected. For many men in particular, deep and honest communication can be very threatening. Too many wives and husbands are afraid to be honest with each other.

The Scriptures, however, emphasize being open and vulnerable. Paul modeled transparency when he wrote to the Corinthians, many of whom were not exactly his admirers: “For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote you with many tears; not that you should be made sorrowful, but that you might know the love which I have especially for you” (2 Corinthians 2:4). Paul was not afraid to weep or say, “I love you.” Jesus wept over the death of Lazarus (John 11:35) and lamented that a hard-hearted Jerusalem rejected Him (Luke 13:34).

At the same time, Scripture warns about being too open and honest. Solomon wrote, “When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable, but he who restrains his lips is wise” (Proverbs 10:19). The familiar saying about words is not true: “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me.” Words can hurt. They cut, rip, and wound. As Solomon also said, “There is one who speaks rashly like the thrusts of a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing” (Proverbs 12:18). If you’re a spouse who uses words rashly, then you would do well to “hold your tongue.”

Many couples would improve their relationships if both partners would use words that are gentle and full of encouragement and praise. In marriage, partners need to affirm each other often.

Learning to be more open

The Bible encourages deeper communication but cautions against using it recklessly. How can you tell the difference between what is appropriate and inappropriate?

Deep communication takes most of us a long time to achieve. You or your spouse may have come from a family where open communication was discouraged or even punished. It may take years to reach a deep, satisfying level of transparency, but every couple needs to be headed in the right direction.

Just as you do when you learn and sharpen most skills, with communication you start at easier levels and work your way toward proficiency.

The fifth, or lowest, level of communication is cliché conversation, where you share nothing of substance with the other person: “Hello, how are you doing? Hot, isn’t it? Have a nice day.”

Moving up the scale a notch, level-four conversation involves reporting the facts. You share what you know but little more than that. You expose nothing of yourself and are content to report what so-and-so said or what so-and-so did.

At level three, you share your opinions—your ideas and judgments about things. You finally start to come out of your shell and reveal a little bit of who you are. You watch the other person carefully, and when you sense even the slightest question or rejection, you retreat.

Emotional sharing—what you feel—starts at level two. Here you must be careful to avoid hurting your spouse. But many marriages are in such need of sharing feelings that the risk must be taken. If you can’t share feelings with your spouse, your marriage is on superficial ground. You won’t grow, and neither will your partner.

The top level of communication is transparency—being completely open with the other person. Transparency means sharing the real you, from the heart. Level-one communication requires a deep degree of trust, commitment, and friendship.

You reserve the transparency level for your spouse and perhaps a few others who are very close to you. Becoming transparent with many people can be dangerous. For example, sharing too much of who you are with someone of the opposite sex can lead to an affair.

When spouses reach the transparency level, they operate with oneness. One can kindly say to the other, “I think you’re angry. Is there something bothering you?”

And the other can answer, “I think you're right. Maybe what is making me so mad is what my boss said to me in that meeting yesterday.”

Reaching this level of meaningful communication is not easy, but the rewards far outweigh the cost. We all long deeply to be heard and understood. The most natural place for this to occur is within the safe harbor of a healthy marriage. That “safe” harbor can be created and maintained only by a couple committed to each other. At its root, love is a commitment. In marriage, it’s a covenant. 1 John 4:18 embodies the commitment that brings freedom: “Perfect love casts out fear.”

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God's Way

The Bible is full of stories about how the people did it their own way and what happened as a result. We constantly want to do things "My way", but God has a clear direction. We can see this play out in Genesis at the beginning.

• God created man and woman, He gave them one instruction, do not eat from the tree of good and evil (Genesis 2:17). They did what they wanted and ate from the tree and as a result of the actions they had to pay for that. 
• The people lacked faith in God when Moses went to receive the 10 commandments and when he left, they started to doubt and raised started worshiping idols. Exodus 32:2-10
• God instructed the people of Israel to send spies into the land Canaan, it was the promise land. But the people did not trust God and as a result, they ended up wandering the desert for 40 more years. Numbers 13-14

The list goes on and I can illustrate more of how the Israelite's turned their back on God time and time again, but God is so faithful and just. He did not turn His back on them. He was there with them through it all, He continued to pour out His love on them regardless of it, but look at what the Israelite's had to endure for their disregard for the way God said to do things? God was very clear to them, just as He is very clear to us.

If you are a parent, you might have heard these words, "I do what I want to do and no one can tell me different!!" or maybe you have said them yourself. God is clear about those very words in the Bible, He has said we should do what He calls us to do. He has a clear direction of what we are to do, He has a clear direction of what we are not to do, He is clear about every aspect of life, but we have to be in the word of God to see this. 

We must read the word of God not just to learn from what others have done, but also to allow God to speak to us through the word. If we have the idea that it is just a waste of time, that is just like the Israelite's in Exodus, they didn't want to wait on God, they did what they wanted to do. Or in Numbers, they said it was too difficult to take the promised land, they did not trust God, they ended up wandering in the desert for 40 more years. The illustrations of God are in the Bible, throughout the Bible, but it takes us reading it. We do not just learn, but we bring glory to God in doing so, because we want to learn from His Word, we want to learn what He says. The Bible is God's truths poured out onto us through His word, but we must read it to know it. 

The excuse of I never knew is gone, because the truth of the Bible is right there for you. Are you in His word asking Him to speak to you? Instead of just reading it as something you feel you might have to do, read it to bring God glory.