Archive for the ‘Inspiration’ Category

Proverbs 6:1-5 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: August 6, 2012 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Proverbs, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
Tags: , , , , ,
0

Under Gods Command

Proverbs 6:1-5 My son, if you have put security for your neighbor, if you have struck hands in pledge for another, If you have been trapped by what you said, ensnared by the words of your mouth, then do this, my son, to free yourself, since you have fallen into your neighbor’s hands: Go and humble yourself; press your plea with your neighbor!  Allow no sleep to your eyes, no slumber to your eyelids.  Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler. 

These verses are not a plea against generosity, but against overextending one’s financial resources and acting in irresponsible ways that could lead to poverty.  It is important to maintain a balance between generosity and good stewardship.  God wants us to help our friends and the needy, but he does not promise to cover the costs of every unwise commitment we make.  We should also act responsibly so that our families do not suffer.

Spiritual Training 03 August 2012

Posted: August 3, 2012 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Judges, Personal Growth, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
Tags: , , , , ,
0

Under Gods Command
Samson
 
Judges 13:24-25 The woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson.  He grew and the LORD blessed him, and the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him while he was in Mahaneh Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.  

God’s Spirit began preparing him for his role as judge and leader against the Philistines.

Lets bring it home: Perhaps there are things that stir your heart.  These may indicate areas where God wants to use you.  God uses a variety of means to develop and prepare us: hereditary traits, environmental influences, and personal experiences.  As with Samson this preparation often begins long before adulthood.  Work at being sensitive to the Holy Spirit leading and the tasks God has prepared for you.
Your past may be more useful to you than you imagine. 

Proverbs 3:21 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: August 3, 2012 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Proverbs, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
Tags: , , , , ,
0

Under Gods Command
Proverbs 3:21  My son, preserve sound judgment and discernment, do not let them out of your sight. 
 
What is the difference between sound judgment and discernment? Discernment (or discretion) is the ability God gives to many people to think and make correct choices.  Sound judgment, however, he gives only to those who follow him.  Sound judgment includes discernment, but goes beyond it.  It also includes the knowledge that comes from instruction, training, and discipline, and the insight that results from knowing and applying God’s truths.

Proverbs 2:11 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: August 2, 2012 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Proverbs, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
Tags: , , , , ,
0

Under Gods Command

 Proverbs 2:11  Discretion will protect you and understanding will guard you. 

 Discretion is the ability to tell right from wrong.  It enables the believer to detect evil motives in men and women.  With practice it helps us evaluate courses of action and consequences.  For some it is a gift; for most it is developed by using God’s truth to make wise choices day by day.  Hebrews 5:14 emphasizes that we must train ourselves in order to have discretion.

Spiritual Training 02 August 2012

Posted: August 2, 2012 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
Tags: , , , , ,
0

Under Gods Command
Samson
 Judges 13:2-5 A certain man of Zorah, named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, had a wife who was sterile and remained childless.  The angel of the LORD appeared to her and said, “You are sterile and childless, but you are going to conceive and have a son.  Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean, be-cause you will conceive and give birth to a son.  No razor may used on his head, because the boy is to be a Nazirite, set apart to God from birth, and he will begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines.    

 
Samson was to be a Nazirite-a person who took a vow to be set apart for God’s service.  Samson’s parents made the vow for him.  His vow was sometime temporary, but in his case it was for life.  As a Nazirite, Samson could not cut his hair, touch a dead body, or drink anything containing alcohol.  Manoah’s wife was told that her son would begin the deliverance of Israel from Philistine oppression.  Samson never attempted to rally his countrymen in an organized attempt to overthrow the Philistines.  If he had, we know he would have been successful, for God had already approved the idea and was apparently just waiting to bless the effort.

Lets bring it home: Be faithful in following God even if you don’t see instant results, because you might be beginning an important job that others will finish.

Proverbs 1:10-19 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: August 1, 2012 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Proverbs, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
Tags: , , , , ,
0

Under Gods Command
 (Warning Against Enticement)
 
Sin is enticing because it offers a quick route to property and makes us feel like one of the crowd.  But when we go along with others and refuse to listen to the truth, our own appetites become our masters, and we’ll do anything to satisfy them.  Sin, even when attractive, is deadly.  We must learn to make choices, not on the basis of flashy appeal or short-range pleasure, but in view of the long-range effects.  Sometimes this means steering clear of people who want to entice us into activities that we know is wrong.  We can’t be friendly with sin and expect our lives to remain unaffected.

Proverbs 1:10-19 (10):  My son, if sinners entice you, do not give in to them.  (11): If they say, “Come along with us; lets lie in wait for someone’s blood, let’s waylay some harmless soul;  (12): Lets swallow them alive, like the grave, and whole, like those who go down to the pit; (13): we will get all sorts of valuable things and fill our houses with plunder; (14): throw in your lot with us, and we will share a common purse  (15): my son, do not go along with them, do not set foot on their paths; (16): for their feet rush into sin, they are swift to shed blood.  (17): How useless to spread a net in full view of all the birds! (18): These men lie in wait for their own blood; they waylay only themselves!  (19) Such is the end of all who go after ill-gotten gain; it takes away the lives of those who get it. 

Spiritual Training 01 August 2012

Posted: August 1, 2012 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Judges, Personal Growth, Proverbs, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
Tags: , , , , ,
0

Under Gods Command
Samson
Judges 13:1 Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, so the LORD delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years.  

God was fed up with his people.  He was so disgusted with their disobedience that he decided to hand them over to the Philistines.  The idea was that the crack of a whip across their backs might help them see the error of their ways.  But it didn’t work.  Not only did they accept slavery as a way of life, their lack of repentance suggests that they actually grew content with it.  This suffering was not caused by God, but resulted from the fact that the people ignored God, their Judge and Ruler.  That they didn’t cry out to God is amazing, but not half as amazing as the fact that God decided to deliver them anyway.  In what could only be described as phenomenal act of grace, God decided to rise up a strong man to lead His unrepentant people out of bondage.  That man was Samson.

Lets bring it home: What will it take for us to follow God?  The warnings in God’s World are clear: if we continue to harden our hearts against God, we can expect the same fate as Israel.

Proverbs 31:4-7 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: July 31, 2012 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Proverbs, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
Tags: , , , , ,
0

Under Gods Command

Proverbs 31:4-7 It is not for Kings, O Lemuel-not for Kings to drink win, not for rulers to crave beer, lest they drink and forget what the law decrees, and deprive all the oppressed of their rights.  Give beer to those who are perishing, wine to those who are in anguish; let them drink and forget their poverty and remember their misery no more.

Drunkenness might be understandable among dying people in great pain, but it is inexcusable for national leaders.  Alcohol clouds the mind and can lead to injustice and poor decisions.  Leaders have better things to do than destroy themselves with alcohol.

We are told that every day in Washington there are many cocktail parties for our government officials.  Republicans and Democrats both have this in common-the party membership doesn’t make any difference.  It is tragic to have drinking men in high potions of government!

Spiritual Training 31 July 2012

Posted: July 31, 2012 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Judges, Personal Growth, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
Tags: , , , , ,
0

Under Gods Command
Read Judges 10:6 – 12-7
Jephthah

It’s hard not to admire people whose word can be depended on completely and whose actions are consistent with their words. For such people, talking is not avoiding action; it is the beginning of action.  People like this can make excellent negotiators.  They approach a conflict with the full intention of settling issues verbally, but they do not hesitate to use other means if verbal attempts fail.  Jephthah was this kind of person.

In most of his conflicts, Jephthah’s first move was to talk.  In the war with the Ammonites, his strategy was negotiation.  He clarified the issues so that everyone knew the cause of the conflict.  His opponent’s response determined his next action.

The fate of Jephthah’s daughter is difficult to understand.  We are not sure what Jephthah meant by his vow recorded in Judges 11:31 In any case, his vow was unnecessary, We do not know what actually happened to his daughter-whether she was burned as an offering or set apart as a virgin, thus denying Jephthah any hope of descendants since she was his only child.  What we do know is that Jephthah was a person of his word, even when it was a word spoken in haste, and even when keeping his word caused him great pain.

Lets bring it home: Ho do we approach conflicts?  There is a big difference between trying to settle a conflict through words and simply counterattacking someone verbally.  How dependable are the statements you make?  Do your children, friends, and fellow workers know you to be a person of your word?  The measure of your trustworthiness is your willingness to take responsibly, even if you must pay a painful price because of something you said.

Proverbs 26:07 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: July 26, 2012 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Proverbs, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
Tags: , , , , ,
0

Under Gods Command

Proverbs 26:7 – Like a lame man’s legs that hang limp is a proverb in the mouth of a fool. 

Some people are so dulled that they won’t sense the wisdom even if they memorize these proverbs.  A mindlessly quoted proverb proves as useless as a paralyzed body part.  Only those who want to be wise have the receptive attitude needed to make the most of these wise words.  If we want to learn from God, he will respond and pour out this heart to us.

Older Entries
Newer Entries