How do we spend our time?

Man is like a breath; his days are like a fleeting shadow. – Psalm 144:4

Time is so precious — time with our families, our children, our parents, our friends, as well as our brothers and sisters in Christ. How do you invest your time? Where do you invest it? You know, it's really more valuable than the money we invest. Once it's gone, it can't be reclaimed. So as you begin each day, ask God that you will be able to "know the time," to see it for what it is and to use it for its greatest good. Time passes quickly, and like the shadows of early evening, it's not long before it is absorbed into the gathering darkness of night.

Excuses of the Deceived

If  I live right it matters not what I believe –

John 3:14-22

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

   “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

    John the Baptist Exalts Christ into
    After these things Jesus and His disciples came the land of Judea, and there He remained with them and baptized.

Thought 

. If you want to get warm you just stand near the fire: if you want to be wet you must get into the water.  If you want joy, power, peace, eternal life, you must get close to, or even into, the thing that has them.  They are not a sort of prize which God could, if He chose, just hand out to anyone. - C. S. Lewis

[Message No: 7357]

God’s Rich Supply

And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. — Philippians 4:19

Paul gives the Philippians this promise only after he has emphasized to them that he had found the Lord's grace sufficient in good times and tough times, in times of plenty and in times of lack. The key to this promise is not just God's provision, but also our trust upon him to satisfy what we most need in Christ Jesus. When our hearts yearn to be full of him, to be pleasing to him, to be blessed by his presence, to be given the assurance of life beyond death, surely we can rely on his supplying everything we truly need!

Duties to our Parents 

Deuteronomy 3:20
until the Lord has given rest to your brethren as to you, and they also possess the land which the Lord your God is giving them beyond the Jordan. Then each of you may return to his possession which I have given you.’

Leviticus 19:3
“Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and keep My Sabbaths: I am the Lord your God.

Deuteronomy 5:16
“Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may be well with you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

Proverbs 6:20
My son, keep your father's command,
 And do not forsake the law of your mother.

Today 

Hebrews 3:12-13
Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

[Message No: 7356]

Declare

“Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; He is my God, and I trust him. “ - Psalm 91:1-2

How is your relationship with God? Do you come to Him casually and occasionally or do you keep Him close beside you? Is your life pointed to God at all times?

We can find rest in His shadow. He alone is our ultimate refuge and place of safety. He is our God and we can always trust Him

You Taught Us How to Love

“We have spoken freely to you, …our heart is wide open. You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted in your own affections. In return (I speak as to children) widen your hearts also. - 2 Corinthians 6:11

Commands

. Make straight paths

Hebrews 12:13
Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.

. Mark the unruly

2 Thessalonians 3:14
And if anyone does not obey our word in this epistle, note that person and do not keep company with him, that he may be ashamed

Thoughts 

. Don’t let your happiness depend on something you may lose. - C. S. Lewis

. George Washington Carver famously addressed Congress in 1921, extolling the virtues of peanuts.  When asked by one congressman how he learned what he knew, Carver replied, “From an old book…the Bible.”  The congressman asked, “Does the Bible tell about peanuts?”  Carver replied, “No Sir, but it tells about the God who made the peanut.  I asked Him to show me what to do with the peanut, and He did.” - George Washington Carver

. If you want to pray better, you must pray more. - Mother Teresa

[Message No: 7355]

Jesus Found In Places - 2

7. He was upon the Cross
John 12:31
Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.
1 Peter 2:24
Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

8. He is on the right hand of the Father
Hebrews 1:3
Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

Hebrews 8:1
Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens;

Hebrews 10:12
But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;

Praying in a Crisis

 Psalm 86:1-13
When life is moving along smoothly, it’s easy to say, “God answers prayer.” But a crisis can bring doubt, especially if the Lord is not responding as quickly as we might like. That’s when we may be tempted to bargain with God as if He could be manipulated into acting on our behalf. However, the goal of prayer is not to get God to do what we want but to bring our concerns to Him, trusting that He will answer in His own way and time.

Knowing who God is enables us to trust Him through the crises of life. Because He is faithful, we know that He will keep His promises. His holiness causes us to examine our life and repent of any sins that are hindering our prayers. And His mercy, grace, and love give us the comfort we need to endure hardship.

[Message No: 7354]

Jesus Found In Places - 1

1.He sat on the wall
John 4:6
Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.

2. He was placed on the pinnacle
Matthew 4:5
Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,

3. He walked on the Sea
John 6:19
So when they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they see Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship: and they were afraid.

4. He wrote on the ground
John 8:6
This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.

5. He sat on an ass colt
John 12:15
Fear not, daughter of Sion: behold, thy King cometh, sitting on an ass's colt.

6. He was on the earth
John 17:4
I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.

Thoughts 

. Each of us has a capacity for God and an ability to relate to him in a personal way.  When we do, he brings to us pardon for the past, peace for the present, and a promise for the future. - Ralph S. Bell
. Words are but the body, the garment, the outside of prayer; sighs are nearer the heart work. - Samuel Rutherford

[Message No: 7353]

How can we live for God?

In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. — Romans 6:11-12

If we have been cleansed from perversity, if we have died with Christ in baptism and have been cleansed thoroughly and completely by the Holy Spirit, then let's live for God! Let's resist sin, and our inclination to sin, with all our might, knowing that as we do, the Holy Spirit will empower us to a much greater righteousness than we could ever live on our own.

 Let's begin each day with a conscious decision to be dead to our sinful past and alive to the goal of the holy character of God!

Is God’s will my will?

1 Thessalonians 4:3
For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality;

The witness of the Spirit

Romans 8:16
The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,

Is your Hope in God Faint and Dyeing?

Isaiah 26:3
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace,
whose mind is stayed on thee:
because he trusteth in thee.

Questions in Job 

37:15
Do you know when God dispatches them,
 And causes the light of His cloud to shine?

37:16
Do you know how the clouds are balanced,
 Those wondrous works of Him who is perfect in knowledge?

37:17
Why are your garments hot,
 When He quiets the earth by the south wind?

[Message No: 7352]

Flawless word.

As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in him. — Psalm 18:30

God is a shield whose Word can be trusted. His way is not only true, but it is also life-giving. But, we must take refuge in him if his flawless word and his perfect way are going to be blessings and his presence is going to bless us as our shield. Our allegiance, reliance, and dependence must be voluntarily placed in him and lives must be committed to living by flawless word.

Personality

John 17:22
I have given them the glory that you gave me,  that they may be one as we are one —

Thoughts

. All people become closer, more or less, to one of two opposite limits: one is life only for oneself, and the other is life only for God. - Leo Tolstoy

. The most tender plants can push their way through the hardest rocks, and it is the same with kindness.  Nothing can stop a truly kind and sincere person. –
Henry David Thoreau

God is Honoured and Blessed

God exalted him [Jesus] to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every other name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. — Philippians 2:9-11
When Jesus is exalted, when his name is praised and his glory confessed, God is honored and blessed. Praise be the glorious name of Jesus of Nazareth, our great Messiah the Christ, Savior, Son of God, and conquering King!

John 14:27
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.  I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled  and do not be afraid.

Prophet – Jacob

Genesis 28:3-4
May God Almighty  bless  you and make you fruitful  and increase your numbers  until you become a community of peoples.   May he give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham,  so that you may take possession of the land  where you now reside as a foreigner,  the land God gave to Abraham.”

[Message No: 7351]

Why are we not waiting?

Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. – Psalm 27:14

If there is anything we don't like to do, it's wait. Maybe that is why God is so interested in us learning to do it!

There is something purifying about remaining strong in tough times and remaining faithful when ill winds blow. So God gives us times of waiting to see if our search is really for him or merely for something new or easy.

Prophet – Jacob

Genesis 48:15-16
And he blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day,   The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.

Genesis 48:19-22
And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.   And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh.   And Israel said unto Joseph, Behold, I die: but God shall be with you, and bring you again unto the land of your fathers. 
Moreover I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.

Genesis 49:3
Reuben, thou art my firstborn,
my might, and the beginning of my strength,
the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power:

Genesis 49:27
Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf:
in the morning he shall devour the prey,
and at night he shall divide the spoil.

Exodus 32:13
Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever.

[Message No: 7350]