And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things. Phil 4:7-8
One of the common catch words - which is already on its way out - is the word “awesome.” If you were in conversation with an average teen, it would be “awesome” this and “awesome’ that.
The word “awesome” also describes the power and personality of our greatest enemy - Satan. A problem many experience regarding our enemy is that they quickly feel overwhelmed by his show of force and power. As intimidated soldiers, many believers just want to close their eyes and ears and block out any recognition of the enemy’s obvious activity. But that is not living within God’s full provision for His children.
Yes, the Bible does describe Satan as “the god of this world” II Cor 4:4. But notice that god is spelled with a little “g” not a capital “G” reserved only to represent Almighty God.
Satan is also known in Scripture as “the prince of the power of the air.” Eph 2:2
The real battle is being fought for the minds - then the souls - of individuals. Christian friend, what do you feed your heart and mind? Be alert. Judge what you take in. Remember your mind is the greatest computer ever invented, but it can only put out what you put in...
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Monday, November 30, 2009
Unused Power
“...but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” Acts 1:8
A.J. Gordon, former prominent pastor and founder/first president of Gordon College, frequently told the story of an American who with an Englishman was viewing Niagara Falls...
Taking the Englishman to the foot of the falls, the American said, “There is the greatest unused power in the world.” “No, no, my friend,” the Englishman replied. “The greatest unused power in the world is the Holy Spirit of the Living God.”
We have been given all the power we need to live, minister, and do the work God has called each of us to do. Our problem is not having enough power, but appropriating the power we have been given. God helps us to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit.
A.J. Gordon, former prominent pastor and founder/first president of Gordon College, frequently told the story of an American who with an Englishman was viewing Niagara Falls...
Taking the Englishman to the foot of the falls, the American said, “There is the greatest unused power in the world.” “No, no, my friend,” the Englishman replied. “The greatest unused power in the world is the Holy Spirit of the Living God.”
We have been given all the power we need to live, minister, and do the work God has called each of us to do. Our problem is not having enough power, but appropriating the power we have been given. God helps us to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Look What I Did!
“You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:5-7
There is a little fable that expresses a great truth:
A woodpecker was pecking away at the trunk of a dead tree. Suddenly, lightning struck the tree and splintered it. The woodpecker flew away unharmed. Looking back to where the dead tree had stood, the proud bird exclaimed, “Look what I did!”
That fable may remind us of the proud man who arrogates to himself all the glory for his accomplishments.
Daniel 4:30-32 reminds us, “The king reflected and said, ‘Is this not Babylon the great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?’ While the word was in the king's mouth, a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared: sovereignty has been removed from you, and you will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling place will be with the beasts of the field. You will be given grass to eat like cattle, and seven periods of time will pass over you, until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind, and bestows it on whomever He wishes.’”
There is a little fable that expresses a great truth:
A woodpecker was pecking away at the trunk of a dead tree. Suddenly, lightning struck the tree and splintered it. The woodpecker flew away unharmed. Looking back to where the dead tree had stood, the proud bird exclaimed, “Look what I did!”
That fable may remind us of the proud man who arrogates to himself all the glory for his accomplishments.
Daniel 4:30-32 reminds us, “The king reflected and said, ‘Is this not Babylon the great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?’ While the word was in the king's mouth, a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared: sovereignty has been removed from you, and you will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling place will be with the beasts of the field. You will be given grass to eat like cattle, and seven periods of time will pass over you, until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind, and bestows it on whomever He wishes.’”
Friday, November 27, 2009
Attitude = Altitude
“For as he thinks within himself, so he is...” Proverbs 23:7
Some more thoughts to ponder as you continue to digest what you ate yesterday....
“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.” - Melody Beattie
“Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that ever step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation.” - Brian Tracy
“Every time we remember to say ‘thank you,’ we experience nothing less than heaven on earth.” - Sarah Ban Breathnach
“Feeling grateful or appreciative of someone or something in your life actually attracts more of the things that you appreciate and value into your life.”
- Christiane Northrup
“Gratitude helps you to grow and expand; gratitude brings joy and laughter into your life and into the lives of all those around you.” - Eileen Caddy
“He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.” - Epictetus
Some more thoughts to ponder as you continue to digest what you ate yesterday....
“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.” - Melody Beattie
“Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that ever step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation.” - Brian Tracy
“Every time we remember to say ‘thank you,’ we experience nothing less than heaven on earth.” - Sarah Ban Breathnach
“Feeling grateful or appreciative of someone or something in your life actually attracts more of the things that you appreciate and value into your life.”
- Christiane Northrup
“Gratitude helps you to grow and expand; gratitude brings joy and laughter into your life and into the lives of all those around you.” - Eileen Caddy
“He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.” - Epictetus
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Give Thanks
“A Psalm for Thanksgiving. Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before Him with joyful singing. Know that the Lord Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving, And His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him; bless His name. For the Lord is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting, and His faithfulness to all generations.” Psalm 100:1-5
Some thoughts to ponder...
“A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all other virtues.” - Cicero
“In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.” - Albert Schweitzer
“If you can’t be content with what you have received, be thankful for what you have escaped.” - Author Unknown
“At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.” - Albert Schweitzer
“Blessed are those that can give without remembering and receive without forgetting” - Author Unknown
“Difficulties are opportunities to better things; they are stepping stones to greater experience. Perhaps someday you will be thankful for some temporary failure in a particular direction. When one door closes, another always opens.” - Author Unknown
“Gratitude is something of which none of us can give too much. For on the smiles, the thanks we give, our little gestures of appreciation, our neighbors build their philosophy of life.” - A.J. Cronin
Happy Thanksgiving!
Some thoughts to ponder...
“A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all other virtues.” - Cicero
“In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.” - Albert Schweitzer
“If you can’t be content with what you have received, be thankful for what you have escaped.” - Author Unknown
“At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.” - Albert Schweitzer
“Blessed are those that can give without remembering and receive without forgetting” - Author Unknown
“Difficulties are opportunities to better things; they are stepping stones to greater experience. Perhaps someday you will be thankful for some temporary failure in a particular direction. When one door closes, another always opens.” - Author Unknown
“Gratitude is something of which none of us can give too much. For on the smiles, the thanks we give, our little gestures of appreciation, our neighbors build their philosophy of life.” - A.J. Cronin
Happy Thanksgiving!
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
You are Already Dead
“You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, these entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also. Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.” 2 Tim. 2:1-4
During the height of a bloody battle behind enemy lines during the D-Day invasion of German-help France, an older American paratrooper counseled a young private who was petrified with fear as he witnessed the carnage of dead and mangled Germans and fellow Americans strewn all around him. The young man paralyzed by fear, as he envisaged an almost certain, similar fate for himself in the days ahead.
The older soldier’s counsel was chilling but poignant: “Accept the fact that you are already dead. The sooner you accept that, the sooner you’ll be able to function as a soldier is supposed to function... All war depends upon it.”
Oh, what a biblical truism in the life and spiritual war in which we find ourselves as followers of our Lord Jesus Christ! Truth in the natural often portrays truth in the spiritual. The Apostle Paul used similar words....
“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me.” Galatians 2:20
“For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Colossians 3:3
“And if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.” Romans 8:10
Remember, we are in a spiritual war. Ephesians 6:12 says, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
A Christian cannot be an effective soldier in this fight and live for our Lord until he has died to self.
During the height of a bloody battle behind enemy lines during the D-Day invasion of German-help France, an older American paratrooper counseled a young private who was petrified with fear as he witnessed the carnage of dead and mangled Germans and fellow Americans strewn all around him. The young man paralyzed by fear, as he envisaged an almost certain, similar fate for himself in the days ahead.
The older soldier’s counsel was chilling but poignant: “Accept the fact that you are already dead. The sooner you accept that, the sooner you’ll be able to function as a soldier is supposed to function... All war depends upon it.”
Oh, what a biblical truism in the life and spiritual war in which we find ourselves as followers of our Lord Jesus Christ! Truth in the natural often portrays truth in the spiritual. The Apostle Paul used similar words....
“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me.” Galatians 2:20
“For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Colossians 3:3
“And if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.” Romans 8:10
Remember, we are in a spiritual war. Ephesians 6:12 says, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
A Christian cannot be an effective soldier in this fight and live for our Lord until he has died to self.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Send it on Ahead
“Honor the Lord from your wealth, and from the first of all your produce; so your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine.” Proverbs 3:9-10
When candy manufacturer John S. Huyler started out in business, he pledged 10% of his earnings to God. He opened a special bank account that he initialed “M.P.” which stood for “My Partner.” As he kept his promise to God, his industry grew at a phenomenal rate, and each week the Lord’s treasury received increasingly larger sums. His many gifts and contributions were always accompanied with the request that the recipient offer praise to God alone, for Huyler said, “After all, the money isn’t mine; it’s the Lord’s!”
Dear friend, do you want God as your partner? Then put Him first in your finances. Tithe to your church and donate generously to His Kingdom. Remember that giving to the Lord can be sweet business! You can’t take money with you when you die, but you can send it on ahead.
When candy manufacturer John S. Huyler started out in business, he pledged 10% of his earnings to God. He opened a special bank account that he initialed “M.P.” which stood for “My Partner.” As he kept his promise to God, his industry grew at a phenomenal rate, and each week the Lord’s treasury received increasingly larger sums. His many gifts and contributions were always accompanied with the request that the recipient offer praise to God alone, for Huyler said, “After all, the money isn’t mine; it’s the Lord’s!”
Dear friend, do you want God as your partner? Then put Him first in your finances. Tithe to your church and donate generously to His Kingdom. Remember that giving to the Lord can be sweet business! You can’t take money with you when you die, but you can send it on ahead.
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