An integral part of your life

 An integral part of your life

In the book of Deuteronomy we read

“Hear O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.

You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk to them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up

You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” Deuteronomy 6:4-9.

Here is a commandment from God to worship Him. Not only that we are to make it an integral part of our daily lives. We are to teach our faith to our children and talk about them in our every day life.

Jesus quotes this command when asked,

"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 

Jesus replied: " ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 

This is the first and greatest commandment. 

And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.'  

All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments. Matthew 22:36-40.

So the question become is God an integral part of your daily life?

Please think about it.

How do you praise God?

  How do you praise God?

The psalmist writes,

"Praise the LORD. 

How good it is to sing praises to our God, 

how pleasant and fitting to praise him!" 

                                                                Psalm 147:1

How often do you take time to praise God?

In Psalm 150 we read,

Praise the LORD. 

Praise God in his sanctuary; 

praise him in his mighty heavens. 

Praise him for his acts of power; 

praise him for his surpassing greatness. 

Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, 

praise him with the harp and lyre, 

praise him with tambourine and dancing,

 praise him with the strings and flute, 

praise him with the clash of cymbals,

 praise him with resounding cymbals. 

Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. 

Praise the LORD. 

                                  Psalm 150.

There are many ways to praise God Psalm 150 tells us that. Depending on our circumstances we can also praise God without speaking.

So if you consider yourself a Christian a true follower of Christ how do you praise the Lord?

Your treasure and you

  Your treasure and you

In Matthews Gospel we read,

"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." Matthew 16:19-21.

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”. Where is your treasure?

In Luke’s gospel we read,

"A certain ruler asked him, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 

"Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good—except God alone.  

You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honour your father and mother.''" 

"All these I have kept since I was a boy," he said. 

When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."Luke18:18-22  

           So where is your treasure? 

Are you willing to give it all up to follow Christ?

Now while God may never tell you to give up all you have. I think it’s important that we be willing to give it all up.

Here in North America where I live. We live in a very materialistic society. As a result losing all our material possessions can be devastating. 

Are you willing to give up all you have to serve Christ?

Please think about it.

Drawing near to God

  Drawing near to God

In the book of Hebrews we read,

“...let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.  

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:22,23

Drawing near to God. To me this means coming daily to God in prayer. Studying and meditating on the scriptures.

It means making prayer and studying the scriptures a daily habit.  It means searching the word of God to see what I can learn from it about God and what He wants for my life.

Do you do this?

Please think about it.

Knowing Gods voice

  Knowing Gods voice

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."  Hebrews 11:1.

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.  

By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.  

For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God” Hebrews 11:8-10.

I can only imagine what it must have been for Abraham to take that step of faith. Martin Luther King jr. the American civil rights leader said,

Faith is taking the first step 

even when you don't see the whole staircase.

                                                              Martin Luther King, Jr.

And Abraham was taking an enormous step of faith. 

I think its obvious that Abraham knew the voice of God when he took that first step. And I think we need to know the voice of God so that we can be sure we are we are doing Gods will.

In order to do that we need to study the scriptures carefully so that when we hear Gods word we know it is Him and noone else.

Do you study the scriptures daily? If God was to speak to you today would you know for certain it was God speaking to you?

Please think about it.

Grace, Love, and Faith

  Grace, Love, and Faith

The apostle Paul writing to Titus wrote,

"But when the kindness and love of God our Saviour appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit" Titus 3:4,5.

We Christians believe that we can’t work our way to heaven.

C. S. Lewis put it this way,

“The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us.”  C.S. Lewis.

The apostle Paul writing to the Corinthians wrote,

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—  not by works, so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8,9 

The Christian walk is also a walk of faith.

Jesus speaking of himself said,

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." John 3:16,17.

Our God is a God of love who simply asks us to have faith in him. The writer of Hebrews stating

“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Hebrews 11:6

The writer defining faith as,

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”  Hebrews 11:1.

When I look at this. When I look at what faith is. I think for many people it is a very hard thing to do. Which is why I believe God asks us to have faith in him

Do you have faith in God?

Please think about it.

God of Salvation

 God of Salvation

In the book of Proverbs we read,

"Say among the nations, "The LORD reigns." The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity." Proverbs 96:10.

As Christians we believe God reigns and that he will one day judge all people. In the book of Ecclesiastes we read,

"Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole  duty of man. 

For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil." Ecclesiastes12:13,14.

The good news is in Romans we read,

"You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly." Romans 5:6.

The apostle John writing,

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  

If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives." 1John 1:9-10

In his gospel John tells us,

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." John 3:16,17.

Do you believe in God and the salvation that come through belief in Christ Jesus?

Please thin about it.

Let us love

 Let us love

The apostle Paul writes,

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.  

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.  

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.  

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 1 John4: 7-10.

God loved us so much He sent his one and only son to take away all our sins. In the Gospel of John we read Jesus speaking of himself saying,

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." John 3:16,17 .

C. S. Lewis wrote,

"The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us."  C.S. Lewis.

The apostle Paul writing to the Romans wrote,

"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.  Romans 3:23,24.

Sin is falling short of Gods ideals for our life. And we all sin. Thus we need to confess our sins to God. 

The apostle John writes,

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  

If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives." 1John 1:9-10.

Especially if you claim to be a Christian. A true follower of Christ Jesus we need to confess our sins directly to God.

Are you doing this?

Please think about it.

The fool

 The fool

"The fool says in his heart, 

"There is no God." 

                                Psalm 14:1.

The way I see things is when a government or society turn its back on God or fails the recognise there is a God, society spirals down to the abys. We only have to look at Nazi Germany under Hitler. Tens of millions of innocent men women and children dead simply because they were considered less than human.

Abba Hillel Silver wrote,

"Faith in God is the strongest bulwark of a free society.  Human freedom began when men became conscious that over and above society and nature there is a God who created them...who fashioned them in His likeness, and that they are, therefore, possessed of intrinsic and independent significance and are endowed, as individuals, with original and irrevocable rights and authority." Abba Hillel Silver

Blaise Pascal wrote,

“Belief is a wise wager. Granted that faith cannot be proved, what harm will come to you if you gamble on its truth and it proves false? If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager, then, without hesitation, that He exists. Blaise Pascal.

In the book of Ecclesiastes we read a warning that we all should take to heart. He writes, 

"Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole  duty  of man. 

For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil." Ecclesiastes 12:13,14. 

Where do you stand? Do you truly believe in God?

Please think about it.

The Psalmist says,

 The Psalmist says,

The Psalmist writes,

“Praise the LORD. 

Praise God in his sanctuary; 

praise him in his mighty heavens. 

Praise him for his acts of power; 

praise him for his surpassing greatness. 

Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,

 praise him with the harp and lyre, 

praise him with tambourine and dancing, 

praise him with the strings and flute, 

praise him with the clash of cymbals,

 praise him with resounding cymbals. 

Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. 

Praise the LORD.” 

                                        Psalm 150.

Psalm 150 tells us how we can praise God. Why not take a few minutes right now to praise God? Remember there is no good or bad time to praise God. All God asks is that we praise Him.

Please think about it.

Walking in Gods council

 Walking in Gods council

“Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. 

But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. 

He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.” Psalm1:1-3.

Take a few minutes to examine your life. Does the scripture quoted above resemble your life?

Do you delight in the law of the LORD?

Do you meditate on Gods law day and night?

Please think about it.

Instructions for Christian living

  Instructions for Christian living

In the book of 1Thesalonians we read

“Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, 

but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else. 

Be joyful always;  

pray continually;  

give thanks in all circumstances, 

for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 

Do not put out the Spirit’s fire;  

do not treat prophecies with contempt.  

Test everything. Hold on to the good.  

Avoid every kind of evil.” 

                                                      1Thesalonians 5:15-22.

Here are simple instructions for living the Christian life. They are at times things we forget to do. Do you follow these instructions?

Please think about it.