Posts Tagged ‘politics’

Proverbs 27:18 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: August 27, 2012 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Proverbs, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command

Proverbs 27:18 He who tends a fig tree will eat its fruit, and he who looks after his master will be honored. 

With all the problems and concerns a leader has, it can be easy to overlook the very people who most deserve attention-faithful employees or volunteers (those who tend the fig trees).  The people who stand behind you, who work hard and help you get the job done, deserve to share in your success.  Be sure that in all your worrying, planning, and organizing, you don’t forget the people who are helping you the most.

Spiritual Training 23 August 2012

Posted: August 23, 2012 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command

Samson: His story is told in Judges 13-16

 Samson: It is sad to be remembered for what one might have been.  Samson had tremendous potential.  Because Samson wasted his strength on practical jokes and getting out of scrapes, and because he eventually gave it up altogether to satisfy the woman he loved, we tend to see him s a failure.  We remember him as the judge in Israel who spent his last days grinding grain in an enemy prison, and we say, “What wasted potential!”

Yes, Samson wasted his life.  He could have strengthened his nation.  He could have returned his people to the worship of God.  He could have wiped out the Philistines.  But even though he did none of those things.  Samson still accomplished the purpose announced by the angel who visited his parents before his birth.  In his final act, Samson began to rescue Israel from the Philistines.

Interestingly, the New Testament does not mention Samson’s failures or his heroic feats of strength.  In Hebrews 11:33, he is simply listed with others “who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised,” and in other ways were given superhuman aid.  In the end, Samson recognized his dependence on God.  When he died, God turned his failures and defeats into victory. 

 Samson’s story teaches us that it is never too late to start over.  However badly we may have failed in the past, today is not too late for us to put our complete trust in God.  

Proverbs 21:03 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: August 21, 2012 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Proverbs, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command

Proverbs 21:03 – To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.”

Sacrifices and offerings are not bribes to make God over-look our character faults. We can’t exchange good behavior in one area for bad behavior in another. If our personal and business dealings are not characterized by justice, no amount of generosity when the offering plate is passed will make up for it.

Spiritual Training 20 August 2012

Posted: August 20, 2012 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Judges, Personal Growth, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command
Samson and Delilah

Judges 16:21 Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding in the prison.

Samson, the mighty warrior, became a slave. Rather than kill him, the Philistines preferred to humiliate him by gouging out his eyes and making him grind rain. Samson now had plenty of time to wonder if Delilah’s charms were worth spending the rest of his life in humiliation.
Although God did not completely abandon Samson (16:28-30), he allowed Samson’s decision to stand, and the consequences of his decision followed naturally.

Lets Bring it Home: We may choose to be close to God or to go our own way, but there are consequences resulting from our choice. Samson didn’t choose to be captured, but he chose to be with Delilah, and he could not escape the consequences of his decision.

Proverbs 15:22 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: August 15, 2012 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Proverbs, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command

Proverbs 15:22 Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed. 

People with tunnel vision, those who are locked into one way of thinking, are likely to miss the right road because they have closed their minds to any new options. We need the help of those who can enlarge our vision and broaden our perspective.  Seek out the advice of those who know you and have a wealth of experience.  Build a network of advisers.  Then be open to new ideas and be willing to weigh their suggestions carefully.  Your plans will be stronger and more likely to succeed.

Spiritual Training 14 August 2012

Posted: August 14, 2012 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Judges, Personal Growth, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command
Samson and Deliah 

Judges 16:01 One day Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute.  He went to spend the night with her.    

It appears that Samson totally forgot the mission that God called him to do.  Samson was supposed to be plotting the demise of the Philistines.  First we find him planning a wedding.  Imagine getting measured for a tux when you’re supposed to be planning an attack against your bride’s family! AFter that did not work out, he is distracted again with a prostitute.  Samson was so distracted by his constant pursuit of sexual gratification that he never became the Moses like deliverer that God intended for him to be. 

Lets Bring it Home: What about us? Are we also distracted by your interest in sex?  Would you be forced to admit that you spend a good bit of time trying to satisfy your desires in ways that you’d never want anyone to know about?

Do you read trashy novels?

Do you spend time in Internet chat rooms flirting with total strangers?

Do you download pornographic pictures onto a top-secret dis?

Do you watch adult movies when you’re home alone?

Do you visit strip clubs and adult bookstores when you’re out of town?

Do you masturbate regularly?

Do you call 900 (phone sex) numbers?

Do you concoct lies and excuses to cover up these activities?

Do you have a secret intimate relationship with someone?

Do you find ways to excuse behavior that you know in your heart is inexcusable?

If your answer is “Yes” to any of these questions, then my friend, you have strayed far from where God wants you to be.  It doesn’t matter if you still give some of your time and energy to God service.  Any amount of time invested in the pursuits listed above is an indication that you have lost sight of God’s plan for your life.  Lust is controlling you, and if you don’t take action to correct he problem, it will ruin your life.

 

Spiritual Training 09 August 2012

Posted: August 9, 2012 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Judges, Personal Growth, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command
Samson

Judges 15:1-3 Later on, at the time of wheat harvest, Samson took a young goat and went to visit his wife.  He said, “I’m going to my wife’s room. “But her father would not let him go in.  “I was so sure you thoroughly hated her,” he said, “that I gave her to your friend.  Isn’t her younger sister more attractive? Take her instead.”Samson said to them, “This time I have a right to get even with the Philistines; I will really harm them.

Judges 15:8-11: He attacked them viciously and slaughtered many of them.  Then he went down and stayed in a cave in the rock of Etam.  The Philistines went up and camped in Judah, spreading out near Lehi.  The men of Judah asked, “Why have you come to fight us?” “We have come to take Samson prisoner, “they answered, “to do to him as he did to us.”  Then three thousand men from Judah went down to the cave in the rook of Etam and said to Samson, “Don’t you realize that the Philistines are rulers over us?  What have you done to us?” He answered, “I merely did to them what they did to me.”

Samson’s reply in 15:11 tells the story of this chapter;  “I merely did to them what they did to me.” Revenge is an uncontrollable monster.

Lets bring it Home:  Each act of retaliation brings another.  It is a boomerang that cannot be thrown without cost to the thrower.  The revenge cycle can be halted only by forgiveness.

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
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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 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
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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.

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
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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.

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