Archive for the ‘Under Gods Command’ Category

Proverbs 6:1-5 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: December 6, 2011 in Bible Study, Scripture Memory, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command

Proverbs 6:1-5 My son, if you have put up 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 your self; press your pleas with your neighbor!  Allow no sleep to your eyes, no slumber to your eyelids.  Free yourself, like a gazelle from that 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.

Spiritual Training 05 December 2011

Posted: December 5, 2011 in Bible Study, Encourgement, Spiritual Training, The book of John, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command

 John 12: 1-3 Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.  Here a dinner was given in Jesus honor.  Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him.  Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, and expensive perfume, she poured it on Jesus feet and wiped his feet with her hair.  Ant the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.   

John 12:4-6 But one of his disciples Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him objected, why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor?  It was worth a year’s wages.  He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money, he used to help himself to what was put into it.   

Judas often dipped into the disciples’ money bag for his own use.  Jesus knew what Judas was doing, but never did or said anything about it.  Similarly, when we choose the way of sin.  God may not immediately do anything to stop us, but this does not mean he approves of our actions.  What we deserve will come.

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.  

 

Proverbs 02:10 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: December 2, 2011 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Happiness, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Spiritual Training, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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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 December 2011

Posted: December 2, 2011 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Happiness, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command
Lazarus Becomes Sick and Dies

John 11:38-44 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. “Take away the stone,” he said. “But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.” Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone, Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I know that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out” The man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

Jesus friend Lazarus was dead. His brief sickness proved stronger than any available medicine. Jesus had been sent for, but in their eyes he had failed to arrive in time. Death didn’t wait. Following the wisdom of hot countries, the body was soon wrapped and buried. Four days later, Jesus arrived. Lazarus’s sisters, Mary and Martha, reacted in shock. Grief-stricken, they struggled to understand why Jesus had delayed in coming. We have no idea how Lazarus reacted to his own death; In fact, we don’t have a record of a single word he said. We do know that he listened to Jesus. Even when the curtain of death was between them. Lazarus responded to Jesus voice. He came hobbling out of his cave-tomb, still wrapped with strips of linen. Jesus raised him from the dead!

When all is said and done, only what God accomplished through us will really matter. We will take little credit. Jesus worked in and around Lazarus just as he does with us. We have Christ’s invitation to participate in his work, but we must not forget that he will do much more than we will know. Meanwhile, we delight in what Christ does with the little we have to offer him. Lazarus’s resurrection poses an important question: When you die, do you fully expect that your next conscious experience will be hearing the voice of Jesus call you by name.

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.

Proverbs 1:10-19 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: December 1, 2011 in Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command (Warning Against Enticement)

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.

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.

Spiritual Training 01 December 2011

Posted: December 1, 2011 in Personal Growth, Security, Spiritual Training, The book of John, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command
Lazarus Becomes Sick and Dies

John 11:33-37 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. “Where have you laid him?” he asked. “Come and see, Lord,” they replied. Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of thee blind man have kept this man from dying?”

John stresses that we have a God who cares. When Jesus saw the weeping and wailing, he too wept openly. Perhaps he empathized with their grief, or perhaps he was trouble at their unbelief. In either case, Jesus showed that he cares enough for us to weep with us in our sorrow. This portrait contrasts with the Greek concept of God that was popular in that day. A God with no emotions and no messy involvement with humans. Here we see many of Jesus emotions-compassion, indignation, sorrow, even frustration. He often expressed deep emotion and we must never be afraid to reveal our true feelings to him. He understands them for he experienced them. Be honest and don’t try to hide anything from your Savior. He cares.

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.

Proverbs 30:11-14 Wisdom for the Soulo

Posted: November 30, 2011 in Inspiration, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command

Proverbs 30:11-14 There are those who curse their fathers and do not bless their mothers, those who are pure in their own eyes and yet are not cleansed of their filth; those whose eyes are ever so haughty, whose glances are do disdainful; those whose teeth are swords and whose jaws are set with knives to devour the poor from the earth, the needy from among mankind.

This sequence of proverbs contains a fourfold description of arrogance. Notice that a life of pride and abuse of others often begins with a lack of appreciation for one’s parents. The command to honor one’s father and mother does create negative consequences when rejected.

Spiritual Training 30 Novermber 2011

Posted: November 30, 2011 in Bible Study, Spiritual Training, The book of John, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command
Lazarus Becomes Sick and Dies

John 11:21-27 “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” “Yes, Lord,” she told him, “I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.”

Jesus has power over life and death as well as power to forgive sins. This is because he is the Creator of life. He who is life can surely restore life. Whoever believes in Christ has a spiritual life that death cannot conquer or diminish in any way. When we realize his power and how wonderful his offer to us really is, how can we help but commit our lives to him! To those of us who believe, what wonderful assurance and certainty we have: “Because I live, you also will live” (John 14:19)

Martha is best known for being too busy to sit down and talk with Jesus (Luke 10:38-42). But here we see her as a woman of deep faith. Her statement of faith is exactly the response that Jesus wants from 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.

Proverbs 29:15 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: November 29, 2011 in trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command

Proverbs 29:15- The rod of correction imparts wisdom, but a child left to himself disgraces his mother.

Parents of young children often weary of disciplining them. They feel like all they do is nag, scold, and punish. When you’re tempted to give up and let your children do what they want, or when you wonder if you’ve ruined every chance for a loving relationship with them, remember-kind, firm correction helps them learn, and learning makes them wise. Consistent, loving discipline will ultimately teach them to discipline themselves

Spiritual Training 29 November 2011

Posted: November 29, 2011 in Acceptance, Battle of the Mind, Beliefs, Encourgement, Fear, Personal Growth, Spiritual Training, The book of John, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command
Lazarus Becomes Sick and Dies

Remember John 11:7-8 Then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.” “But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews tried to stone you, and yet you are going back there?”

John 11:16 Then Thomas said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.

Thomas is demonstrating love and courage. The disciples knew the dangers of going with Jesus to Jerusalem, and they tried to talk him out of it. Thomas merely expressed what all of them felt. When their objections failed they were willing to, even though it appeared they might have to die with Jesus. They may not have understood why Jesus would be killed, but they were loyal . There are unknown dangers in doing God’s work. It is wise to consider the high cost of being Jesus disciple.

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.

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