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Archive for the ‘Motivation’ Category

Galations 2:20

30 Dec

Galatians 2:20 – 20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Followers of Christ are to be a new creation.

That means we don’t know what’s best.  How we feel about things should be first determined about how Christ and God feel about things.

How should we view homosexuality, bestiality, sexual immorality, marital unfaithfulness, drunkenness, gluttony, covetousness, and greed?

We need to look at them the way God views those things.  They’re wrong in God’s eyes.  That’s why it needs to matter to each of us that choose Jesus as Savior.  If God didn’t care, I wouldn’t care.  The reason I care is because the one who gave me life said, “Don’t murder, don’t steal, don’t give false testimony (lying), and respect your mother and father.  God does not tell us to respect everything around us.  God hates evil and who determines what is evil?  God does!

The devil and men which choose to serve themselves and not God, want to make the rules.  It’s easy to do.  It’s easy for everyone to want to believe everything they want to believe. 

There is a problem though, God is perfect.  Man is a sinful mess.

We that are truly in Christ are a new creation and need to die to our old sinful nature and to our selfish ambitions.

2 Corinthians 5:17 – 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!   NIV 1984

God cares about how you think.  Truth is God cares about everything.

 
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Hold Fast To The Teachings

29 Dec

2 Thessalonians 2:15 –15 So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.

There’s a lot of stuff in the world.

Millions of different philosophies exist.

Can God be two total different people at once?

Can God be love and then in another religion not even have the characteristic of love?

Can God promise one people that they will live in a land and be ruled by the Messiah one thousand years, be the same God as another religion says he tells them to kill all of those same people and drive them out into the Red Sea?

Can God say I am God and there is no other, I am God and there is none like Me, do not worship idols, be compared to a religion that thinks they are all Gods and everything is God?

Impossible!  God cannot be two opposite individuals at once.  Most humans aren’t even that messed up and yet they want to believe God is everything that every human can think up and all those roads lead to Him. 

Now it’s possible they can all be wrong, but it’s impossible that they can all be right.  So what are we supposed to believe?

You are incredibly made.  The universe is absolutely awesome and was created by the same God.  You don’t think there is a true way that God has communicated to us?  You bet He has.  The Bible has stood up to the tests and is only ridiculed by those who won’t serve any God.

Hold fast to the teachings.  It’s the Truth, the Word, the Living Word, and God’s Word to us all.  That’s A-L-L.  We choose to follow or we choose to reject. 

How do we please God?  By faith and obedience.  Obedience to…..what?  There has to be an absolute to be obedient to.  Obedience to His Word.

Paul knew the importance of having people understand what they missed.  He knew the Old Testament scriptures and how Jesus had fulfilled them.  The Holy Spirit worked through Him and the other Disciples, because God wanted His living Word passed on for the children of the future.

Many have obeyed, died, and sought God, so we would have it today.  Hold fast to the teachings. 

If you insist on making God whatever it is you want to make Him you might be about the 5 billionth person to do so.  God is more absolute than you and I will ever be.

 
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We Have All Heard The Saying, What Would Jesus Do?

28 Dec

WWJD?  Stands for What Would Jesus Do?  Not too many haven’t heard of this by now.

But I want to expound a little on this, because I think some people look at it and dismiss it easily for one reason.  They say to themselves, ”Wow, Jesus was perfect and the Son of God!  So whatever he did is unattainable by me and if I fall short of that, so be it.”

Fair enough.  Actually that is a true statement.  We can’t be perfect no matter how hard we try.  But we do need to do our best to be Jesus with skin on and try to do the best we can in following the Lord.

So I’m going to not ask you what would Jesus do?  I’m going to ask you to be honest with yourself and to ask yourself, “What does Jesus want me to do?”

Did He give me life to be anything I want to be?  Did He make me to do anything I want to do?

Why did He make man? 

It’s when we can answer this question, that we realize what we are supposed to be doing.  We are made to worship and have relationship with the Lord.

Now let’s get back to that question.  What does Jesus want me to do?  How about first and foremost seek Him and God.  That’s the first and most important thing we can do.

Matthew 6:33 – 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

When you get “you” out of the way, it’s amazing what He can do in your life.  We are all created by the incredible glorious God, who created the whole universe.  Same Individual that created the Milky Way, created you.  I think He knows what’s best for us than we do. 

So is this earth a proving ground?  Well in one respect out of many it sure reads that way.  You’re not just showing the Lord that you love Him while being here, but rather or not you trust Him, seek Him, worship Him, try to bring others to Him, or that possibly you have no time for Him at all?

Of course I’m not referring to salvation in that paragraph, but everything else beyond that.  You’re saved by the Sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.   To accept His death in the place of yours, we are to make Him Lord and Savior.

So what does Jesus want you to do?  Won’t you be happier when it’s time to stand before Him, if you at least attempt to do those things? 

Today is a new day.  Today is the day we all try to seek and serve Him more.

 
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God Already Loves Us

27 Dec

There are some neat scriptures that I think we tend to look over without noticing this.

 1 John 2:15 – 15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.

Notice the last part of the scripture.  It doesn’t say the Father won’t love him, it states that if anyone loves the world, their love for the Father is not there.  God already loves us.  When we read through the scriptures, it’s about what are we doing when it comes to loving God.

 1 Corinthians 2:9 – 9 However, as it is written:

 “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard,
 and what no human mind has conceived”—
 the things God has prepared for those who love him—

Deuteronomy 7:9 – 9 Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments.

Romans 8:28 – 28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

James 1:12 – 12 Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

James 2:5 – 5 Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?

Not for those who God loved, but for those who love God.  The ball is in our court.  It’s in our court when it comes time to asking for forgiveness.  The ball is in our court when it comes to repenting and turning away from our own sinful ways.  It’s in our court in choosing to love God.

 
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We Need To Love God

21 Dec

The title is one you look at and say, “Well, duh Pat, tells us something we already don’t know.”

I think we look over those words for that exact reason.

It’s one which is so obvious, we move on because it just goes without saying that we just do.  But, do we?  The Bible is full of how to’s and warnings of what we need to be doing when it comes to loving God.

Deuteronomy 6:5 – 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

Matthew 22:37 – 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

Old and New Testaments, nothing has changed.  It’s still the most important commandment. 

No clichés here ladies and gentlemen, we are to do this more than any other thing in our lives.  You see that’s why God makes it clear you can’t put anything else before Him.  Your mother, your father, money, things, spouse, yourself, nothing is supposed to come before Him.

Matthew 10:37-38 – 37 “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

There’s a lot of them we mentioned right there in those two verses.

Matthew 6:24 – 24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

You can pretty much add material substance to that one too.

If we are not reading God’s Word at all the message is we don’t have time for your Word in our busy lives Lord.  Is that an act of Loving God with every fiber of your being?

If we’re watching sports and not attending worship, are we loving God with all our hearts?

What have you stopped doing or started doing in your life because God and Jesus matter more than you do?  These are the things that speak “I love you Lord”.  Words without action are a lot of failed good intentions.  Grace isn’t meant to be for everyone to accept the get out of jail free card and live however they want to the close of the show.  Grace was for man to repent, reconcile, and get closer to God.

We need to first and foremost love God.  Fill your days and nights with Him in your music, in your television, in your reading and in your conversations.  Make Him your obsession.  He won’t be offended, He’ll be absolutely thrilled.

 
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Pretend You’re Looking Through A Viewmaster

20 Dec

Pretend You’re Looking Through A View-Master

Do you know what a View-Master is?

When I was a little kid it was a neat toy.  You stuck the disks in the binocular looking toy and you could look at the pictures.  Then you could buy and rotate out the disks.  It was a great marketing idea back in its day.

So let’s pretend to take the View-Master and insert a disk in it.  You click the lever down and it goes back up and you see a picture of the earth.  You click again and it’s a pretty view of a seascape.  Continuing on you see a plush rainforest all green.  Very scenic and pretty place is the earth.

Let’s change the disk out now and take a look.  The new disk has a picture of a person lying on the ground after a car wreck.  You hit the lever and it’s of a soldier who’s died on the battle field because of a land mine.  The photo after that is of scientist trying to create a biochemical hazard that has no other purpose but to kill people with disease.  You keep clicking it seeing pictures of the Holocaust and people starved to death.  Others reveal slave camps where detestable things happen. 

Most of would want to take out the second disk and burn it, because that doesn’t bring the vision of what we want to see.  We want to see the heaven were trying to make on this earth.  Burn it all you want, but the reality is that man is a fallen, sinful, selfish, being.

Romans 3:12 –  12 All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”

You see right now man’s biggest goal is to try and make everyone else respect each other.  Try to make this world come together and all get along to create a big happy place, create a one world government.  The problem is the ones at the top who are trying to make others do this; don’t even want to live under the same guidelines.  Why?  Because they are selfish people.

There isn’t a heaven on earth.  Even in all our riches there is stress like you can’t believe.  In many cases you have one person stabbing the back of another to get where they need to go.  Others swindling others to get ahead or stealing what they can.  This is what is going on is civilized countries.  In uncivilized it’s atrocious. 

What does God say about the subject?

1 John 2:15 – 15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.

Romans 12:2 – 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Our citizenship is in Heaven.  We are not supposed to be putting it all on the line to make our lives for this world the best in history.  The world hated Jesus and if you’re living for Him first it will probably hate you also.

John 15:18 – 18 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.

Take the View-Master again.  Plop in a disk of Heaven.  What does it look like? 

1 Corinthians 2:9 – 9 However, as it is written:

   “What no eye has seen,
   what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”—
   the things God has prepared for those who love him—

We can’t even fathom in our humans minds of how great Heaven is?  We are however, warned constantly throughout the New Testament especially, that we are to seek it and not ourselves or the world.

Have faith.  It will be greater than any worldly day of your life.  Seek the Lord first, not this world.

 
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Love Is The Best Way To Spread The Word

16 Dec

Love is always the best way to approach those around you who are Christians or sharing with that you want to believe.  Love is not caving in on compromise or okaying ungodly behavior.  It’s a soft touch, because you care. 

Many people can be bold and outspoken.   When the love is absent, it becomes self righteous.  When love is present speaking with boldness helps God’s Word reach others.

Share the word in love and share it nonstop.

 
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Poor In The Eyes Of The World?

15 Dec

James 2:5 – 5 Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?

Poor in the eyes of the world? 

What comes to my mind when seeing these words?

Humility for one.  If the world is looking at someone like they are poor in the world I don’t sense a lot of worldly pride going on with these individuals.  The world is full of pride.  Satan was full of pride.

What’s the next thing I see when looking at poor in the eyes of the world in the above scripture?  I see people looking at those sacrificing for the Lord and thinking to themselves I have a taste for the finer things in life to settle for less while I’m here.  I am a hard worker and should be rewarded for being so while here on this earth.

Missionaries don’t bring in a lot of pay.  Neither do most pastors.  They should never get rich while they’re here and I think the ones who have will have a little chat with the Lord from what I read. 

Do I think we all should be pastors?  No.

Do I think we should all be missionaries?  Absolutely.  It starts with the home, your immediate family, and the ones you are close to.

I believe if you are capable of making a lot of money, you have two choices.  You can spend it on yourself, or you can commit most of it after your needs (not wants) to the Kingdom of God and be “rich in faith”, like the scripture says.  It does take a lot of faith to store away for what you cannot yet see.

Why do I bring up wealth?  Because money and positions of power are really considered the areas of being rich in the world.

The scripture definitely falls under the “choose God not the world” category.  We can’t serve two masters.

 
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Want The Lord Near To Our Land? We Need To Pray And Seek Him.

14 Dec

Deuteronomy 4:7 – 7 What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to him?

The verse is from Moses to the Israelites, but has history proven the verse to be correct?

Our nation is a shell of what it was not all that long ago. 

We’re kicking God out of our schools.  That must mean He was in there at one time.  He was, and the Bible was even part of the reading before Satan got a foothold in the system.  America was its most prosperous when it acknowledged Israel and offered support.  The Churches were full and there was still a conscience in the masses concerning a morality based on God’s Word. 

In the Church, take a look around in America.  After the youth take off for college the age group of 19 to 35 even up to 40 anymore is pretty scarce.  The world is teaching me, me, me.  God’s Word is teaching Him, Him, Him.  If I we love and obey Him, He in return takes care of us.

When a country gets away from God, it loses its blessing, its strength.  England was mighty not all that long ago.  During that time it sought God.  Don’t mistake seeking God and man being a swell guy as being the same thing.  Man has always been a mess since the fall in the Garden of Eden.  What God wants is for the leadership and the people to seek Him as a nation.  As individuals He wants this from all of us.

We are not a humble people as a whole in this country anymore.  God wants humble people to repent and pray to Him.  He wants us to pray to heal our land and He would.

2 Chronicles 7:14 – 14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

If one is paying attention to the powers leading this country, they are doing everything in their power to remove God from anywhere near its leadership.

The Lord sees all and is in charge.  A day is coming when He will call His Church up to Heaven.  Then those who have been fighting for God to be removed from all leadership will have it their way for awhile.

At that time we’ll see how well the atheists do in trying to keep morality when there will be no one here to even support what morality even means.  We’ll see how those who are fighting Christianity tooth and nail today handle themselves when Islam starts giving them ultimatums. 

In the meantime we need to pray unceasingly, seek God, die to ourselves, spread the Good News, and keep looking for Jesus.  There is a Crown of Righteousness for those who are.

2 Timothy 4:8 –  8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

 
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Don’t Reject Him As King

13 Dec

1 Samuel 8:4-8 – 4 So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. 5 They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.”

 6 But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD. 7 And the LORD told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. 8 As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you.

The people didn’t want God back at the end of the era concerning Judges.  They wanted a man.  They wanted to be like everyone else around them.

What did God say to Samuel?  They’re not rejecting you, they’re rejecting Me.  They have been doing it since I took them out of Egypt. 

God wants to be your King!  He didn’t make you to be your own king or chase after some other king.

So I asked you this?  When you vote for people and they don’t serve God or make them a part of their politics, how does that bode concerning the above scriptures?

We in a democracy have a chance to examine those running for office.  Should we ever vote for anyone who does not proclaim or reveal they are a person of Jesus Christ?  No, as Christians we shouldn’t.  A big part of why we are in such a mess in because of this very reason.

Is He number one in your life?  Then make Him number one in your decisions.

 
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