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Saturday, May 14, 2011

Every action you take is a seed you sow, and every seed you sow is a harvest you'll reap.

Have you ever had a thought like this: "Nobody would ever notice"? Or this: "It's just a little thing"? But to God, every action -- big or small -- is important, because every action you take is a seed you sow.

For example, say that you tell your boss you worked eight hours when really you only worked six. But on the other hand, it's only two hours, and "nobody will ever notice." However, you're sowing seeds of dishonesty in your life that will reap a harvest of the very same thing.

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. (Galatians 6:7-8) Don't think that you can lie to someone (i.e. sow a seed of dishonesty), but yet expect to reap a harvest of truth in your life.

Proverbs 22:8 warns that He who sows wickedness reaps trouble.

Therefore, be very careful about how you act in every area of life, because every action you take is a seed you sow, and every seed you sow is a harvest you'll reap.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

You are more sinful than you can believe, but you are more loved than you can imagine.

Outside of conservative Christian circles, it's not very common for people to believe that they are inherently bad. Instead, people's logic often goes like this: Sure, I occasionally do bad things, but at heart I'm a good person.

Although it may be tempting to give yourself credit as being a good (or, in Biblical lingo, righteous) person at heart, such a view of human nature is at odds with what God reveals in his word. God makes it very clear that every one of us is "bad." We don't just do bad things; we are bad.

The Apostle Paul exclaims that because of our sin every one of us falls short of God's radiant splendor and glory Romans 3:23. None of us are good—that is, righteous (Romans 3:10).

Our unrighteousness is not due to the fact that we break God's commands. Instead, we are unrighteous because we are "in Adam," to borrow the language of Paul in Romans 5. Even people who did not sin by breaking a command still died because they were by nature sinners (Romans 5:14).

The bad news is that you're sinful by nature. Even if you lived your whole life without breaking a single command of God you'd still reap death. The bad news is probably worse than you may care to admit.

Fortunately, that makes the good news better than you had imagined. Despite your sinful nature, God offers the life of his very son for you (Romans 5:8-10). God doesn't owe you anything, but he gives you everything. That's love.

Your sin is placed on Christ, and Christ's righteousness is placed on you. You gain what he deserved—life—and he gains what you deserved—death. How great is the love God lavishes on us! (1 John 3:1)

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

I don't know what tomorrow holds, but I know who holds tomorrow.

We should not worry about the future, because our times are in His hands (Psalm 31:15). In other words, God will give you what you need when you need it.

Therefore, it is no surprise that Jesus repeatedly tells us not to worry:"Do not worry about tomorrow" (Matthew 6:34).

Again, Jesus emphasized that God loves and cares for us, and we therefore should not worry about our life: "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?"(Matthew 6:25-27).

Although you don't know what God has in store for you, be assured that He has a good plan for your life (see Romans 8:28). Because He has such a good plan for you, there is no need to worry about life. Although you don't know what tomorrow holds, you have the opportunity to know the one who holds tomorrow!

Sunday, February 27, 2011

He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.


Jesus said, in Matthew 6:19-21, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Everything you have here on Earth will decay and rust away -- you'll lose it all. However, what you store up in heaven you cannot lose.

The author of Ecclesiastes, who was probably King Solomon, recalled, in Ecclesiastes 2:1-11, how he had done great things and accumulated much wealth. Yet, he realized that accumulation here on Earth is useless: I undertook great projects ... I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. ... I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. ... Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun (Ecclesiastes 2:4,9-11). Even though he had everything he wanted, it was all pointless, because it didn't satisfy and couldn't last.

Take some advice from these passages. Trade the things you can't keep (your life, your money, your possessions) for the things you can't lose (eternal life, righteousness, a relationship with God).

You need both blessings and difficulties, because one without the other is neither.

God knows the importance of balance; that is, the importance of having both blessings and difficulties. There are several scriptures that speak about this balance. For example in 1 Peter 4:13, we are told: Rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. Notice how we participate both in suffering and in joy.

Similarly, in 2 Corinthians 1:7, Paul wrote this to the church in Corinth:And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort. They experienced both suffering and comfort.

Don't become too comfortable with what you have, because when you forget that the things you have are a blessing from God and when you start to assume that they are guaranteed possessions, it is quite possible that God will take them away from you in order to teach you that you need both blessings and difficulties, because one without the other is neither.


Saturday, January 17, 2009

Seek no honor for yourself


Let all things be done for the glory of the Lord and nothing for personal vanity. Let us seek no honor for ourself but seek to bring honor unto God.Brethren, our God, the Precious Heavenly Father, revealed to the world by Jesus Christ is worthy of all praise and honor both now and forever.Oh Lord, my God, I will praise Thee in the morning and at the evening tide I will praise Thee. I will praise Thee all day long and all through the night I will praise Thee.Come! Let us bestow honor and praise to our God both in word and deed, let us glorify our God.God is merciful and kind and His Love is the true Light that lights up our lives and makes all things bright.Hallelujah! Glory unto God in the highest. Amen.

Friday, November 21, 2008

how awesome he is!




Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised; For His Love shines like the sun in the morning; after the darkness of the night of bitterness has enveloped the whole world. Great is His Love and He is worthy of our Praise. Like a tree planted by the waters; So is the man whose heart is filled with His Love; Transforming that man from darkness to light; Making merry his sad face. Like a meadowlark singing outside your window; So are the words of blessing revealed from the Father above. Come, Let us rejoice and sing; Let us make a joyful noise unto the Lord; For it is He who has made us. He has marvelously shaped us by His own hands as it were; A work of beauty, a wonder to behold is a small child whom God has made. Life is a miracle, the intervention of the Creator with creation; Only He can make the bird that soars through the heavens. Which of you by taking thought and reasoning within yourselves; Canst make anything that hath the breath of life in it? Life all life comes from God above. Look upon your Maker by whose right hand you are hewn. Give Praise unto Him and rejoice; For it is He who has commanded and all things that were made were made. Give Praise unto Him in the Highest, Rejoice and be glad; For God who hath made us, Reigneth.