Grace for your spirit August 25, 2015

Grace for your spirit

And watch, if it goes up the way of its own territory to Beth-shemesh, then He has done us this great evil.  But if not, then we shall know that it was not He hand that struck us; it happened to us by chance.  I Samuel.  6:9

The Philistines had captured to the Ark of God and had taken quite a beating for it.  The were sending it back to Israel on a cart pulled by two cows.  They were wondering if God had struck them, or if it was just by chance.  That is the never ending question among idol worshipers and atheists.  As believers, we should never test God in any way.  It is God who rewards, it is God who disciplines, it is God who provides, and it is God who causes all things to work together for our good.  Trust Him.

Grace for your spirit August 24, 2015

Grace for your spirit

Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 

Hebrews 12:2

It should go without saying that when we are having trouble, we should look to Jesus for inspiration.  Note Jesus' plan to endure the pain and the shame.  For the joy set before Him He endured.  In other words, when we are in tough times, look ahead at the reward we will receive for faithfulness.  It carried Him, and it will also carry us.  Let's fix our eyes there.

Grace for your spirit August 21, 2015

Grace for your spirit

For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard.  Hebrews 4:2

Do you remember what happened to the children of Israel in the wilderness?  The heard the voice of God, they saw His mighty works, yet the adults who left Egypt died in the desert, failing to make it into the promised land.  Reason?  They did not mix the word they received with faith.  Here is the reminder and warning for all of us.  We can hear His word, know His mighty works, but without faith we cannot please Him.  Let's not find ourselves falling short of our  promised land in heaven.

Grace for your spirit August 20, 2015

Grace for your spirit

Apply your heart to discipline, and your ears to words of knowledge.  Proverbs 23:12

It sounds like disciplined hearts open the ears.  There is little we can do with one is undisciplined and our of control.  They cannot hear, they will not hear, and reject any knowledge and wisdom.  When we have decided in advance that we will not be challenged or changed, nothing positive can every happen to us.  Like the old farmer who hit the mule with a board. They told him the mule wouldn't do anything that way. The farmer replied, "I'm not trying to get him to do anything, I'm just trying to get his attention."  When will God get our attention?

Grace for your spirit August 19, 2015

Grace for your spirit

All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.  II Timothy 3:16-17

If the first part of this verse is false, then the second part is false as well. There can be no reproof, correction, training, or equipping, if the message is unsure.  If we maintain the the premise that the Bible is partly the Word of God, that is much more damaging that rejecting it completely.  If we are free to accept the part we like, and reject the part we don't, our discipline to learn and transform lies dormant.  God wants us to change, not change what we read.

Grace for your spirit August 18, 2015

Grace for your spirit

For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.  II Timothy 1:7

When we take an inventory of our emotions and motivations, we need to identify who is supplying us with them.  If we are running with "the wrong crowd", our spirits can change quickly.  Let's identify which of our emotions are from God and which are from the devil.  God does not give us a spirit of fear.  Instead, He fills us with power, love, and discipline.  If we find ourselves filled with fear, timidity, weakness, hate, and lack of self control, we are probably running with the wrong crowd. Let's open our spirits to The Light, and He will push the darkness away.

Grace for your spirit August 17, 2015

Grace for your spirit

But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord, I will put My law within them , and on their heart, I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.  Jeremiah 31:33

When the house of Israel left Egypt, He wrote the Law on tablets of stone for Moses on Mt. Sinai.  When Moses returned to the people and saw their idols, he shattered the tablets and they had to be replaced. The people shattered His law with their constant disobedience, and there would be a time for a permanent replacement.  Not on stone this time, but in the hearts of believers.  With Jesus, we can treasure Him in our hearts and never break our relationship with God.  That is the joy of this new covenant.