Posts Tagged ‘religion’

Spiritual Training 09 April 2012

Posted: April 9, 2012 in Bible Study, Book of Matthew, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command
This goes out to all the people who place scriptural base statements on the Internet to include myself, others and Preachers / Teachers of Gods Word.

Some of us are experts at telling others what to do, but they missed the central point of God’s law’s themselves, Jesus made it clear, however, that obeying God’s law is more important than explaining it. It’s much easier to study God’s laws and tell others to obey them than to put them into practice. How are we doing at obeying God ourselves?

Matthew 5:19-20 Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the Kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the Kingdom of heaven.

The Pharisees were demanding and scrupulous in their attempts to follow their laws. So how could Jesus reasonably call us to a greater righteousness then theirs? The Pharisees weakness was that they were content to obey the laws outwardly without allowing God to change their hearts (or attitudes). They looked spiritual as some of us do on the Internet, but they were far from the Kingdom of God. God judges our hearts as well as our deeds, for it is in the heart that our real allegiance lies.

Jesus was saying that his listeners needed a different kind of righteousness altogether (love and obedience), not just a more intense version of the Pharisees’ righteousness (legal compliance). Our righteousness must

1. Come from what God does in us, not what we can do by ourselves
2. Be God-centered, not self-centered
3. Be based on reverence for God, not approval from people
4. Go beyond keeping the law to living by the principles behind the law.

We should be just as concerned about our attitudes that people don’t see as about our actions that are seen by all.

Proverbs 4:13-17 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: April 4, 2012 in Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command

Proverbs 4:13-17

Hold on to instruction; do not let it go; guard it well, for it is your life. Do not set foot on the path of the wicked, or walk in the way of evil men. Avoid it, do not travel on it, turn from it and go on your way. For they cannot sleep till they do evil; they are robbed of slumber till they make someone fall. They eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence.

Even friends can make you fall. It is difficult for people to accept the fact that friends and acquaintances might be luring them to do wrong. Young people who want to be accepted would never want to confront or criticize a friend for wrong plans or actions. Many other people can’t even see how their friend’s actions could lead to trouble. While we should be accepting of others, we need a healthy skepticism about human behavior. When you feel yourself being heavily influenced, proceed with caution. Don’t let your friends cause you to fall into sin.

Spiritual Training 03 April 2012

Posted: April 3, 2012 in Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command
(Love of Money)

1 Timothy 6:10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

You’ve heard it said that money is the root of all evil, right? Wrong! Turn with me to one of the most misquoted verses in the Bible. Paul was addressing Timothy, as he was preparing him for public ministry. I will read it to you from the Amplifying Bible, Tim. 6: 10 “For the love of money (and all it buys) placed before the love of God (in reality) is the root of all kinds of evil.”
Did you catch that? Let me reread it. A clear distinction must be made between THE LOVE of money and money itself. Let this truth sink deep into your spirit. God is not anti-money, or anti-wealth, He is anti-money WORSHIP. He has helped us to identify that moneylove (worship) is the root of all kinds of evil.

Spiritual Training 30 March 2012

Posted: March 30, 2012 in Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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This completes my mission on getting reacquainted with the Lord Jesus Christ. Sometime you just need to hear someones story a second and third time. You ever meet a friend, and after a while of knowing each other, he or she goes away for a few years. After a while you just remember the person and not his or her story any longer. That is what inspired me to study the book of John. Jesus is the one person, who’s story I don’t ever what to forget, and Joh makes it clear that Jesus is not just a man, he is the eternal Son of God. He is the light of the world because he offers this gift of eternal life to all people. How blind and foolish to call Jesus nothing more than an unusually good man or moral teacher. Yet we sometimes act as if this were true when we casually toss around his words and go about living our own way. If Jesus is the eternal Son of God, we should pay attention to his divine identity and life-giving message.

Today completes the book of John. Hope and pray that everyone grew Spiritually and was blessed by this Study.

Under Gods Command

John 21:25 Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.

John’s stated purpose for writing his Gospel was to show that Jesus was the Son of God. He clearly and systematically presented the evidence for Jesus’ claims. When evidence is presented in the courtroom, those who hear it must also make a choice-is Jesus the Son of God, or isn’t he? You are the jury. The evidence has been clearly presented. You must decide. Read John’s Gospel and believe!

Proverbs 30:07-09 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: March 30, 2012 in Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command

Proverbs 30:07-09 “Two things I ask of you, O Lord; do not refuse me before I die:  Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread.  Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘who is the Lord?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God. 

 How wise and prudent are you? Do you fear wealth as much as poverty? Do you know that financial success is a vain lie? Here are two of the most important prayer requests you can ever pray! Agur gave inspired instruction to his two students about the danger and deception of money and riches, and your future success and tranquility depends on it.

Agur had a great desire for two petitions (30-7). He knew the dangerous consequences of not obtaining them (30-9). He understood the deceitful and damning nature of both financial success and poverty, so he begged God to deliver him from the arrogance of being rich and from the temptations of being poor. He begged for a moderate income.

Agur prayed for two things: (1) to be saved from vanity and lies, and (2) to obtain only moderate success in life, avoiding both poverty and riches. What vanity and lies are under view? The vanity and lies of riches and success! How so? Let the connection, context, and Bible drive the interpretation (1 Cor 2:13)), since there is no hint at lies of false religion, evolution, false gods, a cheating spouse, hypocrites, perjurers, or other such lies.

Think honestly and wisely about money! It does not satisfy, even when you get lots of it; this is vanity)! It disappears quickly! It corrupts morals! You cannot take it with you. It chokes out and destroys fruitfulness. What vanity! Are you wise enough to believe these warnings and pray against wealth?

A wise man prays for a moderate income and estate, so he can avoid the temptations to sin on either end of the financial spectrum (30-9). He prays for contentment, and he learns contentment, knowing it is the true measure of success. A wise man maximizes life by walking with God, regardless of assets or enemies.

Reader! This advice is only in the Bible! The fools around you adore riches! They have sacrificed their lives to vanity and lies! Add these two prudent requests to your prayers!

Proverbs 29:01 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: March 29, 2012 in Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command

Proverbs 29:1- A man who remains stiff-necked after many rebukes, will suddenly be destroyed-with remedy.

Warnings rarely come with countdowns. We can’t tell when we’ve had our last chance to change. When we, like the person in this proverb, refuse to consider valid criticism, we leave
our selves open to sudden disaster. The moment we realize that a change is necessary is the best moment to take action. What significant adjustments have been on hold in your life for too long?

Spiritual Training 29 March 2012

Posted: March 29, 2012 in Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, The book of John, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command
Jesus Challenges Peter

John 21:20-23 Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, “Lord, who is going to betray you?”) When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him!” Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.” Because of this, the rumor spread among the brothers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?”

Peter asked Jesus how John would die. Jesus replied that Peter should not concern himself with that. We tend to compare our lives to others, whether to rationalize our own level of devotion to Christ or to question God’s justice. Jesus responds to us as he did to Peter: “What is that to you? You must follow me.”

Spiritual Training 28 March 2012

Posted: March 27, 2012 in Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, The book of John, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command
Jesus Challenges Peter

John 21:18-19 I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”

This was a prediction of Peter’s death by crucifixion. Tradition indicates that Peter was crucified for his faith-upside down because he did not feel worthy of dying as his Lord did. Despite what Peter’s future held, Jesus told him to follow him. We may be uncertain and fearful about our future. But if we know God is in control, we can confidently follow Christ.

Proverbs 27:17 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: March 26, 2012 in Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command

Proverbs 27:17 – As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.

Mental sharpness comes from being around good people. And a meeting of minds can help people see their ideas with new clarity, refine them, and shape them into brilliant insights. This requires discussion partners who can challenge one another and stimulate thought-people who focus on the idea without involving their egos in the discussion; people who know how to attack the thought and not the thinker. Two friends who bring their ideas together can help each other become sharper.

Spiritual Training 27 March 2012

Posted: March 26, 2012 in Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, The book of John, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command
Jesus Challenges Peter

Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved him. The first time Jesus said, “Do you truly love (Greek agape; volitional, self-sacrificial love) me more than these?” The second time, Jesus focused on Peter alone and still used the word translated into Greek, agape. The third time, Jesus used the word translated into Greek, phileo (signifying affection, affinity, or brotherly love) and asked, in effect, “Are you even my friend?” Each time Peter responded with the word translated into Greek as phileo. Jesus doesn’t settle for quick superficial answers. He has a way of getting to the heart of the matter. Peter had to face his true feelings and motives when Jesus confronted him. How would you respond if Jesus asked you, “Do you truly love me? Do you really love me? Are you even my friend?”

John 21:15-17 When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “You know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you. Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” “Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.”

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