Monday, January 31, 2011
Friday, January 28, 2011
Think About It
Ephesians 4:29-32 (New Living Translation)
29 Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.
30 And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.
31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior.
32 Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.
29 Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.
30 And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.
31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior.
32 Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.
Keeping my eyes on him
Isaiah 55:8-13 (New Living Translation)
8 “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord.
“And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
9 For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so my ways are higher than your ways
and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.
“And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
9 For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so my ways are higher than your ways
and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.
10 “The rain and snow come down from the heavens
and stay on the ground to water the earth.
They cause the grain to grow,
producing seed for the farmer
and bread for the hungry.
11 It is the same with my word.
I send it out, and it always produces fruit.
It will accomplish all I want it to,
and it will prosper everywhere I send it.
12 You will live in joy and peace.
The mountains and hills will burst into song,
and the trees of the field will clap their hands!
13 Where once there were thorns, cypress trees will grow.
Where nettles grew, myrtles will sprout up.
These events will bring great honor to the Lord’s name;
they will be an everlasting sign of his power and love.”
and stay on the ground to water the earth.
They cause the grain to grow,
producing seed for the farmer
and bread for the hungry.
11 It is the same with my word.
I send it out, and it always produces fruit.
It will accomplish all I want it to,
and it will prosper everywhere I send it.
12 You will live in joy and peace.
The mountains and hills will burst into song,
and the trees of the field will clap their hands!
13 Where once there were thorns, cypress trees will grow.
Where nettles grew, myrtles will sprout up.
These events will bring great honor to the Lord’s name;
they will be an everlasting sign of his power and love.”
Philippians 3:17-21 (NLT)
17 Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine, and learn from those who follow our example. 18 For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth. 20 But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. 21 He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Patience, Love and Kindness
In our own frustrations, impatience and anger with others take a moment to think about how patient God is with us. Really think about how patient God is with us! Could we ever be so loving, kind and patient? I challenge us all before we open our mouths or take any action FIRST pause and think about how our Holy Father would want us to respond. He is always there for us and he's made it so easy for each generation because he NEVER changes. The instructions remain the same. His word was and is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. There are so many things in our life that need to be "updated" or "revised" or "new and improved". I am so thankful that I serve a God that will always be "the latest and greatest". Even though his word never changes - he can constantly change you and refresh you. Each day his word can have new meaning for you!
Want to be amazed?.....Dig deeper into God's word
Psalm 51:11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
Isaiah 11:2 (King James Version)
2And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;
Isaiah 59:19 So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.
Ezekiel 36:27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
Matthew 12:32 (New Living Translation)
32 Anyone who speaks against the Son of Man can be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, either in this world or in the world to come.
John 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
John 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
Acts 4:31 (New Living Translation)
31 After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness.
Acts 5:32 (New Living Translation)
32 We are witnesses of these things and so is the Holy Spirit, who is given by God to those who obey him.”
Acts 8:17 (New Living Translation)
17 Then Peter and John laid their hands upon these believers, and they received the Holy Spirit.
Acts 11:16 (New Living Translation)
16 Then I thought of the Lord’s words when he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’
TAKE TIME TODAY TO READ GOD'S WORD - DON'T JUST WAIT FOR THE PASTOR TO DO IT FOR YOU ON SUNDAY!
Isaiah 11:2 (King James Version)
2And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;
Isaiah 59:19 So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.
Ezekiel 36:27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
Matthew 12:32 (New Living Translation)
32 Anyone who speaks against the Son of Man can be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, either in this world or in the world to come.
John 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
John 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
Acts 4:31 (New Living Translation)
31 After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness.
Acts 5:32 (New Living Translation)
32 We are witnesses of these things and so is the Holy Spirit, who is given by God to those who obey him.”
Acts 8:17 (New Living Translation)
17 Then Peter and John laid their hands upon these believers, and they received the Holy Spirit.
Acts 11:16 (New Living Translation)
16 Then I thought of the Lord’s words when he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’
TAKE TIME TODAY TO READ GOD'S WORD - DON'T JUST WAIT FOR THE PASTOR TO DO IT FOR YOU ON SUNDAY!
Friday, January 21, 2011
Our Responsibilites To Our Children
Love your children -
Titus 2:4 (NLT) These older women must train the younger women to love their husbands and their children,
Psalm 127:3 (NLT) Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him.
Train them up to know God and his word and will -
Ephesians 6:4 (NLT) Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord.
Deuteronomy 6: 6-9 (NLT) And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. 7 Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. 8 Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. 9 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Proverbs 22:6 (NLT) Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.
2 Timothy 3:15 (NLT) You have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus.
(read also Genesis 18:19, Deuteronomy 4:9-10, 1 Samuel 3:13, 2 Timothy 1:5)
Your children are learning to be future parents from you. Discipline and reward your children according to God's word. Teach them respect, obedience and to listen to your instruction.
Proverbs 6:20-23 (NLT)
20 My son, obey your father’s commands,
and don’t neglect your mother’s instruction.
21 Keep their words always in your heart.
Tie them around your neck.
22 When you walk, their counsel will lead you.
When you sleep, they will protect you.
When you wake up, they will advise you.
23 For their command is a lamp
and their instruction a light;
their corrective discipline
is the way to life.
Ephesians 6:1-3 (NLT)
1 Children, obey your parents because you belong to the Lord, for this is the right thing to do.2 “Honor your father and mother.” This is the first commandment with a promise: 3 If you honor your father and mother, “things will go well for you, and you will have a long life on the earth.”
Also teach them God's word about the responsibilities/role of a mother and the responsibilities/role of a father.
Your children are also learning how to be a future spouse from you. Teach them how to have a godly marriage, to build a home the way God intended. (The wife's responsibilities to her husband and the husband's responsibility to his wife)
Ephesians 5 (NLT)
21 And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. 22 For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23 For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church. 24 As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands in everything.
25 For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her 26 to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word.[b] 27 He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault. 28 In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies. For a man who loves his wife actually shows love for himself. 29 No one hates his own body but feeds and cares for it, just as Christ cares for the church. 30 And we are members of his body.
31 As the Scriptures say, “A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.”[c] 32 This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one. 33 So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
(there are many other verses in the bible that teach us about marriage)
~If you feel you have no calling on your life, that you do not know God's will or purpose for you life - Know this: If you are a parent God has trusted you with an awesome responsibility. If you have a child God has called you - to preach, to teach, to love, to pray without ceasing and the list goes on and on! Do not neglect your responsibilities - do not leave your children to chance - Be the parent that God has called you to be!~
Titus 2:4 (NLT) These older women must train the younger women to love their husbands and their children,
Psalm 127:3 (NLT) Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him.
Train them up to know God and his word and will -
Ephesians 6:4 (NLT) Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord.
Deuteronomy 6: 6-9 (NLT) And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. 7 Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. 8 Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. 9 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Proverbs 22:6 (NLT) Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.
2 Timothy 3:15 (NLT) You have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus.
(read also Genesis 18:19, Deuteronomy 4:9-10, 1 Samuel 3:13, 2 Timothy 1:5)
Your children are learning to be future parents from you. Discipline and reward your children according to God's word. Teach them respect, obedience and to listen to your instruction.
Proverbs 6:20-23 (NLT)
20 My son, obey your father’s commands,
and don’t neglect your mother’s instruction.
21 Keep their words always in your heart.
Tie them around your neck.
22 When you walk, their counsel will lead you.
When you sleep, they will protect you.
When you wake up, they will advise you.
23 For their command is a lamp
and their instruction a light;
their corrective discipline
is the way to life.
Ephesians 6:1-3 (NLT)
1 Children, obey your parents because you belong to the Lord, for this is the right thing to do.2 “Honor your father and mother.” This is the first commandment with a promise: 3 If you honor your father and mother, “things will go well for you, and you will have a long life on the earth.”
Also teach them God's word about the responsibilities/role of a mother and the responsibilities/role of a father.
Your children are also learning how to be a future spouse from you. Teach them how to have a godly marriage, to build a home the way God intended. (The wife's responsibilities to her husband and the husband's responsibility to his wife)
Ephesians 5 (NLT)
21 And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. 22 For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23 For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church. 24 As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands in everything.
25 For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her 26 to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word.[b] 27 He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault. 28 In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies. For a man who loves his wife actually shows love for himself. 29 No one hates his own body but feeds and cares for it, just as Christ cares for the church. 30 And we are members of his body.
31 As the Scriptures say, “A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.”[c] 32 This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one. 33 So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
(there are many other verses in the bible that teach us about marriage)
~If you feel you have no calling on your life, that you do not know God's will or purpose for you life - Know this: If you are a parent God has trusted you with an awesome responsibility. If you have a child God has called you - to preach, to teach, to love, to pray without ceasing and the list goes on and on! Do not neglect your responsibilities - do not leave your children to chance - Be the parent that God has called you to be!~
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Truly from the heart the mouth speaks
Truly from the heart the mouth speaks
What comes from our mouth are the overflow from the heart ~
Isn't it amazing how many times in the Bible you find the word tongue and word/words? There are so many verses about the words we speak and God's Word that it is obviously very important. There are so many phrases and words that we have become immune to what it truly means that we don't even think about it, words we say out of habit.
What really got me to thinking about this subject is the word "luck". As far as I can tell, the word luck is not mentioned in the Bible. Please do not misunderstand me, I'm not saying it's a "bad" word. I'm sure most of us use the word from time to time without evening thinking about it all (good luck, bad luck, it's my lucky day, "I'm not very lucky", etc.)
I'm writing this, not about the word "luck" but ALL of our words. Words can hurt or heal. They can condemn or uplift. They can be right or wrong. Which words will you choose to use today? I'm writing this because I myself want to strive to make a more conscious effort to pay attention to the words I think and say.
Do your own study on this subject but here are some verses to get you started :-)
Ephesians 5:4 (New Living Translation)
4 Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes—these are not for you. Instead, let there be thankfulness to God.
Colossians 3:17 (New Living Translation)
17 And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.
James 1:19 (New Living Translation)
Listening and Doing
19 Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.
Job 12:11 (New Living Translation)
11 The ear tests the words it hears
just as the mouth distinguishes between foods.
Ezekiel 13:2
“Son of man, prophesy against the false prophets of Israel who are inventing their own prophecies. Say to them, ‘Listen to the word of the Lord.
James 3:1-12 (New Living Translation)
James 3
Controlling the Tongue
1 Dear brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2 Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way.
3 We can make a large horse go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth. 4 And a small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot chooses to go, even though the winds are strong. 5 In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches.
But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. 6 And the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself.
7 People can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and fish, 8 but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison. 9 Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God. 10 And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right! 11 Does a spring of water bubble out with both fresh water and bitter water? 12 Does a fig tree produce olives, or a grapevine produce figs? No, and you can’t draw fresh water from a salty spring.
**When I'm thinking about something inparticular and I go to the Bible for answers I just have to say to myself "Wow"! Isn't it amazing how the light bulb just goes off inside our heads :-) How God's word is new everyday - How he speaks to us personally!
Isn't it amazing how many times in the Bible you find the word tongue and word/words? There are so many verses about the words we speak and God's Word that it is obviously very important. There are so many phrases and words that we have become immune to what it truly means that we don't even think about it, words we say out of habit.
What really got me to thinking about this subject is the word "luck". As far as I can tell, the word luck is not mentioned in the Bible. Please do not misunderstand me, I'm not saying it's a "bad" word. I'm sure most of us use the word from time to time without evening thinking about it all (good luck, bad luck, it's my lucky day, "I'm not very lucky", etc.)
I'm writing this, not about the word "luck" but ALL of our words. Words can hurt or heal. They can condemn or uplift. They can be right or wrong. Which words will you choose to use today? I'm writing this because I myself want to strive to make a more conscious effort to pay attention to the words I think and say.
Do your own study on this subject but here are some verses to get you started :-)
Ephesians 5:4 (New Living Translation)
4 Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes—these are not for you. Instead, let there be thankfulness to God.
Colossians 3:17 (New Living Translation)
17 And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.
James 1:19 (New Living Translation)
Listening and Doing
19 Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.
Job 12:11 (New Living Translation)
11 The ear tests the words it hears
just as the mouth distinguishes between foods.
Ezekiel 13:2
“Son of man, prophesy against the false prophets of Israel who are inventing their own prophecies. Say to them, ‘Listen to the word of the Lord.
James 3:1-12 (New Living Translation)
James 3
Controlling the Tongue
1 Dear brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2 Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way.
3 We can make a large horse go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth. 4 And a small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot chooses to go, even though the winds are strong. 5 In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches.
But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. 6 And the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself.
7 People can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and fish, 8 but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison. 9 Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God. 10 And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right! 11 Does a spring of water bubble out with both fresh water and bitter water? 12 Does a fig tree produce olives, or a grapevine produce figs? No, and you can’t draw fresh water from a salty spring.
**When I'm thinking about something inparticular and I go to the Bible for answers I just have to say to myself "Wow"! Isn't it amazing how the light bulb just goes off inside our heads :-) How God's word is new everyday - How he speaks to us personally!
Words are important
Words are important -
Job 15:3 The wise don’t engage in empty chatter. What good are such words?
No one is perfect, but are your words more pleasing than not? Are your conversations filled with profanity? Do people know you to be a Christian then see or hear your conversations and are able to say "wow - they talk like that?" Should the words of our mouth not be held to a higher standard?
Job 15:5 Your sins are telling your mouth what to say. Your words are based on clever deception
Job 34:37 For you have added rebellion to your sin; you show no respect,and you speak many angry words against God.
Psalm 19:14 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you,O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
Psalm 59:7 Listen to the filth that comes from their mouths;their words cut like swords.“After all, who can hear us?” they sneer.
Proverbs 2:12 Wisdom will save you from evil people,from those whose words are twisted.
Proverbs 4:20 My child, pay attention to what I say. Listen carefully to my words.
Proverbs 10:13 Wise words come from the lips of people with understanding, but those lacking sense will be beaten with a rod.
Proverbs 10:21 The words of the godly encourage many, but fools are destroyed by their lack of common sense
No one is perfect, but are your words more pleasing than not? Are your conversations filled with profanity? Do people know you to be a Christian then see or hear your conversations and are able to say "wow - they talk like that?" Should the words of our mouth not be held to a higher standard?
Job 15:5 Your sins are telling your mouth what to say. Your words are based on clever deception
Job 34:37 For you have added rebellion to your sin; you show no respect,and you speak many angry words against God.
Psalm 19:14 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you,O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
Psalm 59:7 Listen to the filth that comes from their mouths;their words cut like swords.“After all, who can hear us?” they sneer.
Proverbs 2:12 Wisdom will save you from evil people,from those whose words are twisted.
Proverbs 4:20 My child, pay attention to what I say. Listen carefully to my words.
Proverbs 10:13 Wise words come from the lips of people with understanding, but those lacking sense will be beaten with a rod.
Proverbs 10:21 The words of the godly encourage many, but fools are destroyed by their lack of common sense
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