If you love Me, keep My commandments. JOHN 14:15
When Eddie Taubensee of the Cleveland Indians was sidelined by an injury, he saw a divine plan behind it. “I’m not in the spotlight anymore, which is okay,” he said. “I can handle that. In one sense, I’m free to do anything I want. But I’m going to make myself a slave to everybody—to my teammates, to whoever I come in contact with—to win as many as possible for Christ.” When Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments,” He meant for us to make every occasion in life, good or bad, an opportunity for obedience. As we celebrate God’s Christmas gift to us, why not ask yourself, “What gift of obedience can I give to Him today?” Perhaps you need to bring your temper under Christ’s control. Perhaps you need to change your vocabulary. Maybe God is nudging you to forgive an offense or overlook an insult. Do you need to express your love more freely to your wife? Are you presenting yourself modestly in your wardrobe (1 Timothy 2:9)? As this year slips away, it’s a good time to leave behind some old habits. Confess your sins to God and determine to give Him not idle words but obedient deeds as the new year dawns. - Dr. David Jeremiah Morning and Evening
God is . . . a very present help in trouble. PSALM 46:1 God is . . . a very present help in trouble.”
God is not just present; He is very present! It’s like you telling a good friend that you are available to help them if they need you. “Oh, I hate to bother you,” they reply. “No,” you counter, “I am very much available for you. Just let me know when.” You are saying, “I am ever-available.” And that’s how God is for us. He is the most accessible help we could ever imagine. The word for trouble could be rendered as a “tight place.” God is ever-present to help us in the tight places we get into in life, when we are between a rock and a hard place. If someone is ever-present, it means they are easy to be found. We don’t have to go looking for them. In fact, we can’t. We’re stuck in a tight place! The reason God is always with us, even in our tight places, is because of what He told Moses in Exodus 33:14: “My presence will go with you.” So when we are stuck and can’t move, God is there because He is always with us. - Dr. David Jeremiah Morning and Evening
In the parables Jesus taught with, they were for three groups of people. The Disciples, the People there that day, and for Us. Us being every generation since they were written into the Word of God until eternity passes.
We aren't ever given a pass on sinning. We ought to be hit with guilt when we knowingly sin.
We shouldn't dismiss sin in our lives by way of excuses either.
In actuality these two devotionals appear in reverse order in his book on praying the Scriptures. But the topic God chose this morning demanded it.
Yesterday I was hit with a few things at once during the day, all the way from when I got up until I returned to bed last night. Sin is always wherever I am and wherever I go. Though forgiven I am, sinning should evoke a response in me when it's evident what happened. A Godly response. We are told to be alert in the Scriptures but more often than not we get hit broadside.
We also often make excuses to keep living how we want to in life.
We collect things that will still be here when we die or are called home because of the Rapture. Things that those left here must figure out how to deal with. A huge waste of their time, energy and effort. If they are looking to serve others they must stop to deal with our leftovers.
If we indeed believe that Jesus is Lord, that Jesus is all who the Bible says that He is, that indeed He is the King that's returning soon, what manor of man or woman of God ought we to be?
Are we seeking the things above rather than the things down here?
Are we setting our minds on songs, hymns and spiritual songs?
Are we truly workers in the fields that are diligently working at whatever it is we have been called to be doing?
Are we "studying up" for our final exam in regards to the Scriptures?
Are we interested in what interests our Savior?
Are we embracing things we ought to be keeping at a distance?
Are we making excuses for not living out our lives as Christians?
Work is inevitable, but doing that work must always be as unto the Lord.
When not working what occupies our time? Regardless of generations of teaching it, we don't deserve expensive this or that. We don't deserve to spend hours doing nothing for our Savior.
Look in the 4 Gospels. Where do you see that as an option?
We make excuses such as "that's just the way that I am". No, before coming to Christ that's what you WERE. If you are not coming to Christ to become more like Christ, what was your reason for coming? Because Jesus’s intent in saving people is to make them holy as He is Holy. His intent is to not leave them as He found them. We either embrace Jesus’s plan or ours in regards to life's choices.
We are supposed to be doers of the Word and not hearers only.
We aren't going to be feeling very good when we give an account of our lives and are explaining away our wasted time in worldly pursuits.
God loves us too much to leave us the way He found us.
I am in a vastly different experience than I have been. I am choosing to sideline my hobbies so that I might focus on what God's putting before me. He gave me a clean slate to start from again and the ability to see it as such.
If I really believe that Jesus is coming soon, should I be any other way?
We have friends who left everything behind in Ohio to go to California because God impressed upon their hearts that His return is soon.
There's parables of Bridesmaids being ready when the Groom is ready to come.
Are you among those prepared or among those who won't be ready?
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