Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category


Under Gods Command
Jesus is the way to the Father

John 14:19-21 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.

Sometimes people wish they knew the future so they could prepare for it. God has chosen not to give us this knowledge. He alone knows what will happen, but he tells us all we need to know to prepare for the future. When we live by his standards, he will not leave us; he will come to us, he will be in us, and he will show himself to us. God knows what will happen and, because he will be with us through it all, we need not fear. We don’t have to know the future to have faith in God; we have to have faith in God to be secure about the future.


Under Gods Command

Proverbs 11:12 A man who lacks judgment derides his neighbor, but a man of understanding holds his tongue.

It is easy to sin with your mouth. And there are many ways to do it. Solomon warns here against saying negative things about your neighbor. Wise men do not despise others with their words. They will hold back the negative things that wicked fools are quick to say.

Speech is one of the most certain indicators of wisdom, or the lack thereof. For the words of a man’s mouth reveal the heart inside (Luke 6:45).

It has been said, “If you can’t say anything nice about your neighbor, then don’t say anything at all.” Perfect! That is exactly what the proverb teaches! And parents should enforce this with children toward siblings, classmates, and any others that come up in conversation.

When Jesus was reviled and threatened, He neither reviled nor threatened back, when He could have justifiably foretold their earthly and eternal damnation (1Peter 2:21-24) We are to follow the very steps of His example to be Christians ruling our tongues!

How kind is the word of God, when it names failures! Gideon is a man of faith! Samson is a hero in the cloud of witnesses! And Lot is a just and righteous man, whose righteous soul was vexed every day by the wicked men of Sodom. Here is kindness and mercy, even to those with major blots in their personal histories.


Under Gods Command
Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit

John 14:15-18 “If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever-the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

The Counselor-the Spirit of God himself would come after Jesus was gone to care for and guide the disciples. The Holy Spirit is the very presence of God within all believers, helping us live, as God wants and building Christ’s church on earth and us. By faith we can appropriate the Spirit’s power each day.

The Truths about the Holy Spirit.

• He will be with us forever (John 14:16)
• The world at large cannot accept him (John 14:17)
• He lives with us and in us (John 14:17)
• He teaches us (John 14:26)
• He reminds us of Jesus words (John 14:26 and John 15:26
• He convicts us of sin, shows us God’s righteousness, and announces God’s judgment on evil (John 16:8)
• He guides into truth and gives insight into future events (John 16:13)
• He brings glory to Christ (John 16:14)

The Holy Spirit has been active among people fro the beginning of time, but after Pentecost (Acts 2) he came to live in all believers. Many people are unaware of the Holy Spirit’s activities, but to those who hear Christ’s words and understand the Spirit’s power, the Spirit gives a whole new way to look at life.

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; (6) in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.


Under Gods Command
Jesus is the way to the Father

John 14:12-14 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

Jesus is not saying that his disciples would do more amazing miracles-after all, rising the dead is about as amazing as you can get. Rather, the disciples, working in the power of the Holy Spirit, would carry the gospel of God’s Kingdom out of Palestine and into the whole world.

When Jesus says we can ask for anything, we must remember that our asking must be in his name-that is, according to God’s character and will. God will not grant request contrary to his nature or his will, and we cannot use his name as a magic formula to fulfill our selfish desires. If we are sincerely following God and seeking to do his will, then our request will be in line with what he wants, and he will grant them.

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; (6) in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.


Under Gods Command
Proverbs 10:12 Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs.

Dissension is strife and where there is strife, there is hatred. Conflict cannot exist without hatred. And unless love prevails, the strife will get worse. Love does not fight – it covers offences and sins. It seeks peace and pursues it. It cannot tolerate strife; it tries to end it as soon as possible.
Strife, a word we do not use much today, means antagonism, enmity, discord, contention, or dispute. It is fighting and conflict. While it is godly to strive for truth against sin and error, here we have personal strife caused by the hatred of those who do not practice love. Notice the word practice.
Where there is envy, strife, enmity, conflict, or tension, all you need do is look a little deeper to find one or both parties guilty of hatred. Fighting and antagonism does not and cannot exist where each person is practicing Christian compassion, or love.
Compassion forgives sins and forgets sins, just as the Lord forgives and forgets them. Love hides and conceals sins under the same forgiving cover that Christ provides every saint. This is covering sin, and it is a rule of life for saints of the most High. But hatred, growing from anger and pride, loves to dig up evil, spread evil reports, and create strife and trouble.
What if a person says, “Oh, how I love Jesus,” but they stir up trouble, do not forgive personal offences, ignore repentance, and reveal sins to others? They are lying hypocrites, for the Bible says they are murdering descendants of Cain (1 John 3:10-15).
Let us take on the character of our Lord Jesus, who came into the world to save sinners. He has no use for the self-loving “righteous,” for He knows the blackness of their hearts. Let us choose to forgive and cover sins in love, so that we might easily and honestly pray, “Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.”
Our lesson here is the basis for true peace – love. Where there is strife, contention, and tension, there is hatred lurking behind the false handshakes and lying words of murderers. It is our wisdom to live this lesson ourselves, avoid those wicked persons, and train such evil out of our children. Let us be the greatest peacemakers in the world by practicing the wisdom of this proverb. May the Lord Jesus grant us the grace and wisdom for the task.


Under Gods Command
Jesus is the way to the Father

John 14:05-06 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

How can we know the way to God? Only through Jesus. Jesus is the way because he is both God and man. By uniting our lives with his, we are united with God. Trust Jesus to take you to the Father, and all the benefits of being God’s child will be yours.

As the way, Jesus is our path to the Father. As the truth, he is the reality of all God’s promises. As the life, he joins his divine life to ours, both now and eternally. Jesus is, in truth, the only living way to the Father.

Jesus says he is the only way to God the Father. Some people may argue that this way is too narrow. In reality, it is wide enough for the whole world, if the world chooses to accept it. Instead of worrying about how limited it sounds to have only one way, we should be saying, “Thank you, God, for providing a sure way to get to you!”

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; (6) in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.


Under Gods Command

Proverbs 9:7-9 Whoever corrects a mocker invites insult; whoever rebukes a wicked man incurs abuse. Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man and he will love you. Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning.

Are you a mocker or a wise person? You can tell by the way you respond to criticism. Instead of tossing back a quick put down or clever comeback when rebuked. Listen to what is being said. Learn from your critics; this is the path to wisdom. Wisdom begins with knowing God. He gives insight into living because he created life. To know God is not just to know the facts about him, but to stand in awe of him and have a relationship with him. Do you really want to be wise? Get to know God better and better.


Under Gods Command
Jesus is the way to the Father

John 14:1-3 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”

Jesus words show that the way to eternal life, though unseen, is secure-as secure as your trust in Jesus. He has already prepared the way to eternal life. The only issue that may still be unsettled is your willingness to believe. There are verses in Scripture that describe eternal life, but these few verses are rich with promises. Here Jesus says, “I am going there to prepare a place for you,” and ‘I will come back.” We can look forward to eternal life because Jesus has promised it to all who believe in him. Although the details of eternity are unknown, we need not fear because Jesus is preparing for us and will spend eternity with us.

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; (6) in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight


Under Gods Command

Regard lust as a warning sign of danger ahead. When you notice that you are attracted to a person of the opposite sex or preoccupied with thoughts of him or her, your desires may lead you to sin. Ask God to help you change your desires before you are drawn into sin.

Proverbs 06:25-35
(25) Do not lust in your heart after her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes,
(26) for the prostitute reduces you to a loaf of bread, and the adulteress preys upon your very life.
(27) Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned?
(28) Can a man walk on hot coals without his feet being scorched?
(29) So is he who sleeps with another man’s wife; no one who touches her will go unpunished.
(30) Men do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy his hunger when he is starving.
(31) Yet if he is caught, he must pay sevenfold, though it costs him all the wealth of his house.
(32) But a man who commits adultery lacks judgment, whoever does so destroys himself.
(33) Blows and disgrace are his lot, and his shame will never be wiped away;
(34) for jealousy arouses a husband’s fury, and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.
(35) He will not accept any compensation; he will refuse the bribe, however great it is.

Some people argue that it is all right to break God’s law against sexual sin if nobody gets hurt. In truth, somebody always gets hurt. Spouses are devastated. Children are scared. The partners themselves, even if they escape disease and unwanted pregnancy, lose their ability to fulfill commitments, to feel sexual desire, to trust, and to be entirely open with another person. God’s laws are not arbitrary. They do not forbid good, clean fun; rather, they warn us against destroying ourselves through unwise actions or running ahead of God’s timetable.


Under Gods Command

Proverbs 5:21-23 – For a man’s ways are in full view of the LORD, and he examines all his paths. The evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him; the cords of his sin hold him fast. He will die for lack of discipline, led astray by his own great folly.

At times it seems that God has let evil run rampant in the world, and we wonder if he even notices it. But God sees everything clearly-both the evil actions and the evil intentions lying behind them (15:11). He is not an indifferent observer. He cares and is active in our world. Right now, his work may be unseen and unfelt, but don’t give up. One day he will wipe out evil and punish the evildoers, just as he will establish the good and reward those who do his will.