Some excellent thoughts from Charles Stanley. Wanted to pass these along. Be blessed and be a blessing.
How is it that two people can sit in the same pew, hear the same sermon about the same portion of Scripture, and walk away with two different reactions? One is joyful and the other unaffected. I think the reason is that some people do not know how to listen to the Word of God.
Nehemiah 8 is an amazing scene of God’s people coming together to hear His Word. Remember that they didn’t have individual copies of Scripture to read. For generations, the events of Genesis though Deuteronomy were passed down from parent to child. Moreover, the people had been in captivity for many years. This was the first time most of them heard the Word read. Imagine their excitement as they listened attentively for the Lord to speak to them.
The Israelites were hungry for God’s Word. Are you? Do you listen eagerly and with an expectant mind and heart? The length of a person’s attention span is directly related to the intensity of his hunger for something. If you crave to know more of God, then your mind is going to be fastened on what He’s saying through your pastor or your personal reading. And the reality is that nothing in the world matters as much as what the Lord has to say.
So many things clamor for our focus but few truly deserve it. The Lord is worthy of nothing less than our undivided attention. He has something to say to every person. So whoever listens to God’s Word with an open heart and alert mind will receive from Him.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Abide in Me
John 15:4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.
I preached on this passage a few weeks ago. I've had many conversations on this idea of abiding in Christ. Truly it is a key to spiritual growth in the life of a Christian. Especially since Jesus tells us straight up, "Apart from me you can do nothing."
Imagine if you planted a tree in your front yard, but after awhile, you decided it would look better in the backyard. Then after a few months, you realized it would better in the front yard. So, you dig it up and plant it again in the front yard. Not only will that tree fail to flourish, it will struggle to survive.
Yet many people are like that with God. They decide to go to church, read their Bible, and pray regularly. They do this for a month, and then they uproot themselves and disappear for a few months. Then they come back again. Then they uproot themselves and go back to the old life again. Eventually they come back and are at it again. But they never truly mature and grow spiritually that way.
Jesus calls us to abide in Him. That is the secret to spiritual growth: to abide. Abiding means staying in a given place. For believers, it means to maintain unbroken fellowship with god. It means regularity. It means consistency. And it results in producing lasting fruit in the believer's life.
Another way of abiding is walking with God daily. As 1 John 2:6 says, "He who says he abides in Him ought to himself walk just as He walked." Walking speaks of consistent motion. That means making time for the Word of God and for prayer with consistency. If you are too busy, then get up earlier. God to bed earlier. You will find time for what is important to you.
The true mark of conversion is the test of time and results in your life. So ask yourself right now and be honest...are you producing spiritual fruit?
I preached on this passage a few weeks ago. I've had many conversations on this idea of abiding in Christ. Truly it is a key to spiritual growth in the life of a Christian. Especially since Jesus tells us straight up, "Apart from me you can do nothing."
Imagine if you planted a tree in your front yard, but after awhile, you decided it would look better in the backyard. Then after a few months, you realized it would better in the front yard. So, you dig it up and plant it again in the front yard. Not only will that tree fail to flourish, it will struggle to survive.
Yet many people are like that with God. They decide to go to church, read their Bible, and pray regularly. They do this for a month, and then they uproot themselves and disappear for a few months. Then they come back again. Then they uproot themselves and go back to the old life again. Eventually they come back and are at it again. But they never truly mature and grow spiritually that way.
Jesus calls us to abide in Him. That is the secret to spiritual growth: to abide. Abiding means staying in a given place. For believers, it means to maintain unbroken fellowship with god. It means regularity. It means consistency. And it results in producing lasting fruit in the believer's life.
Another way of abiding is walking with God daily. As 1 John 2:6 says, "He who says he abides in Him ought to himself walk just as He walked." Walking speaks of consistent motion. That means making time for the Word of God and for prayer with consistency. If you are too busy, then get up earlier. God to bed earlier. You will find time for what is important to you.
The true mark of conversion is the test of time and results in your life. So ask yourself right now and be honest...are you producing spiritual fruit?
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Key verses from the N.T.
Here's the scriptures from the New Testament as a follow up to my last blog. Remember that each verse acts like a North Star helping you keep on course toward the main idea and purpose of each biblical book. Hope this helps you in your study and understanding of the Word!
Matthew
5:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
Mark
10:45 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Luke
19:9-10 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”
John
20:30-31 Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Acts
1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Romans
5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ
1 Corinthians
1:10 I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.
2 Corinthians
5:20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.
Galatians
5:1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
Ephesians
4:4-6 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
Philippians
4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
Colossians
2:9-10 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.
1 Thessalonians
4:14 We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.
2 Thessalonians
3:5 May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.
1 Timothy
4:12 Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.
2 Timothy
2:15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
Titus
1:5 The reason I left you in Crete was that you might straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you.
Philemon
1:15-16 Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back for good— 16no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a man and as a brother in the Lord.
Hebrews
1:3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
James
2:18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.
1 Peter
1:7 These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
2 Peter
1:3 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
1 John
5:13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
2 John
1:6 And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.
3 John
1:5 Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers, even though they are strangers to you.
Jude
1:3 Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.
Revelation
1:3 Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.
Matthew
5:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
Mark
10:45 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Luke
19:9-10 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”
John
20:30-31 Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Acts
1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Romans
5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ
1 Corinthians
1:10 I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.
2 Corinthians
5:20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.
Galatians
5:1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
Ephesians
4:4-6 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
Philippians
4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
Colossians
2:9-10 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.
1 Thessalonians
4:14 We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.
2 Thessalonians
3:5 May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.
1 Timothy
4:12 Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.
2 Timothy
2:15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
Titus
1:5 The reason I left you in Crete was that you might straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you.
Philemon
1:15-16 Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back for good— 16no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a man and as a brother in the Lord.
Hebrews
1:3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
James
2:18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.
1 Peter
1:7 These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
2 Peter
1:3 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
1 John
5:13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
2 John
1:6 And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.
3 John
1:5 Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers, even though they are strangers to you.
Jude
1:3 Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.
Revelation
1:3 Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Key Verses from the O.T.
If you could boil down each book of the Bible to the key verse(s) that summarized that book or identified its main purpose, what verses would you end up with? I thought I could do a simple search on the Internet and get several websites that had a list like this. But I couldn’t find one site that did. (How is it that you can find several sites dedicated to bellybutton lint, but you can’t find a site with a list of the key verse(s) in each book of the Bible?)
A list like this could be invaluable for Bible study. Each verse acts like a North Star helping you keep on course toward the main idea and purpose of each biblical book.
So I searched the world over and found this list from a guy names Brian Mavis who writes a blog and writes for Christian Standard. Thanks to Brian for putting this list of key verses together and posting it. Here is the list of the key verses from each Old Testament book. (New Testament Key verses coming soon!)
Old Testament
Genesis
1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
12:2-3 “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
Exodus
3:7-10 The LORD said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”
Leviticus
19:2 “Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.”
Numbers
14:22-23 not one of the men who saw my glory and the miraculous signs I performed in Egypt and in the desert but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times- 23 not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their forefathers. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it.
Deuteronomy
7:9 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 commands.
Joshua
1:11 “Go through the camp and tell the people, ‘Get your supplies ready. Three days from now you will cross the Jordan here to go in and take possession of the land the LORD your God is giving you for your own.’ ”
Judges
17:6 In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.
Ruth
1:16 But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.”
1 Samuel
8:7-9 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. 9 Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do.”
2 Samuel
5:12 And David knew that the LORD had established him as king over Israel and had exalted his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel.
1 Kings
9:4-5 “As for you, if you walk before me in integrity of heart and uprightness, as David your father did, and do all I command and observe my decrees and laws, 5 I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father when I said, ‘You shall never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.’
2 Kings
17:13-14 The LORD warned Israel and Judah through all his prophets and seers: “Turn from your evil ways. Observe my commands and decrees, in accordance with the entire Law that I commanded your fathers to obey and that I delivered to you through my servants the prophets.” 14 But they would not listen and were as stiff-necked as their fathers, who did not trust in the LORD their God.
1 Chronicles
14:2 And David knew that the LORD had established him as king over Israel and that his kingdom had been highly exalted for the sake of his people Israel.
2 Chronicles
7:14 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 will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
Ezra
6:21-22 So the Israelites who had returned from the exile ate it, together with all who had separated themselves from the unclean practices of their Gentile neighbors in order to seek the LORD, the God of Israel. 22 For seven days they celebrated with joy the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because the LORD had filled them with joy by changing the attitude of the king of Assyria, so that he assisted them in the work on the house of God, the God of Israel.
Nehemiah
6:15-16 So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days. 16 When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God.
Esther
4:14 For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?”
Job
2:3 Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.”
Psalm
150:6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD.
Proverbs
1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.
Ecclesiastes
12:13 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.
Song of Solomon
6:3 I am my lover’s and my lover is mine; he browses among the lilies.
Isaiah
53:5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
Jeremiah
2:19 Your wickedness will punish you; your backsliding will rebuke you. Consider then and realize how evil and bitter it is for you when you forsake the LORD your God and have no awe of me,” declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty.
Lamentations
2:11 My eyes fail from weeping, I am in torment within, my heart is poured out on the ground because my people are destroyed, because children and infants faint in the streets of the city.
Ezekiel
36:24-26 “For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”
Daniel
2:22 He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him.
Hosea
3:1 The LORD said to me, “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.”
Joel
2:12-13 “Even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” 13 Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.
Amos
5:24 But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!
Obadiah
1:15 “The day of the LORD is near for all nations. As you have done, it will be done to you; your deeds will return upon your own head.
Jonah
4:11 But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?”
Micah
6:8 He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
Nahum
1:7-9 The LORD is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him, 8 but with an overwhelming flood he will make an end of Nineveh; he will pursue his foes into darkness. 9 Whatever they plot against the LORD he will bring to an end; trouble will not come a second time.
Habakkuk
3:2 LORD, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O LORD. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.
Zephaniah
2:3 Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the LORD’s anger.
Haggai
1:4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?”
Zechariah
9:9-10 Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 10 I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the war-horses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.
Malachi
4:1-2 “Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire,” says the LORD Almighty. “Not a root or a branch will be left to them. 2 But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall.”
A list like this could be invaluable for Bible study. Each verse acts like a North Star helping you keep on course toward the main idea and purpose of each biblical book.
So I searched the world over and found this list from a guy names Brian Mavis who writes a blog and writes for Christian Standard. Thanks to Brian for putting this list of key verses together and posting it. Here is the list of the key verses from each Old Testament book. (New Testament Key verses coming soon!)
Old Testament
Genesis
1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
12:2-3 “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
Exodus
3:7-10 The LORD said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”
Leviticus
19:2 “Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.”
Numbers
14:22-23 not one of the men who saw my glory and the miraculous signs I performed in Egypt and in the desert but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times- 23 not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their forefathers. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it.
Deuteronomy
7:9 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 commands.
Joshua
1:11 “Go through the camp and tell the people, ‘Get your supplies ready. Three days from now you will cross the Jordan here to go in and take possession of the land the LORD your God is giving you for your own.’ ”
Judges
17:6 In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.
Ruth
1:16 But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.”
1 Samuel
8:7-9 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. 9 Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do.”
2 Samuel
5:12 And David knew that the LORD had established him as king over Israel and had exalted his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel.
1 Kings
9:4-5 “As for you, if you walk before me in integrity of heart and uprightness, as David your father did, and do all I command and observe my decrees and laws, 5 I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father when I said, ‘You shall never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.’
2 Kings
17:13-14 The LORD warned Israel and Judah through all his prophets and seers: “Turn from your evil ways. Observe my commands and decrees, in accordance with the entire Law that I commanded your fathers to obey and that I delivered to you through my servants the prophets.” 14 But they would not listen and were as stiff-necked as their fathers, who did not trust in the LORD their God.
1 Chronicles
14:2 And David knew that the LORD had established him as king over Israel and that his kingdom had been highly exalted for the sake of his people Israel.
2 Chronicles
7:14 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 will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
Ezra
6:21-22 So the Israelites who had returned from the exile ate it, together with all who had separated themselves from the unclean practices of their Gentile neighbors in order to seek the LORD, the God of Israel. 22 For seven days they celebrated with joy the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because the LORD had filled them with joy by changing the attitude of the king of Assyria, so that he assisted them in the work on the house of God, the God of Israel.
Nehemiah
6:15-16 So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days. 16 When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God.
Esther
4:14 For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?”
Job
2:3 Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.”
Psalm
150:6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD.
Proverbs
1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.
Ecclesiastes
12:13 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.
Song of Solomon
6:3 I am my lover’s and my lover is mine; he browses among the lilies.
Isaiah
53:5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
Jeremiah
2:19 Your wickedness will punish you; your backsliding will rebuke you. Consider then and realize how evil and bitter it is for you when you forsake the LORD your God and have no awe of me,” declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty.
Lamentations
2:11 My eyes fail from weeping, I am in torment within, my heart is poured out on the ground because my people are destroyed, because children and infants faint in the streets of the city.
Ezekiel
36:24-26 “For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”
Daniel
2:22 He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him.
Hosea
3:1 The LORD said to me, “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.”
Joel
2:12-13 “Even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” 13 Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.
Amos
5:24 But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!
Obadiah
1:15 “The day of the LORD is near for all nations. As you have done, it will be done to you; your deeds will return upon your own head.
Jonah
4:11 But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?”
Micah
6:8 He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
Nahum
1:7-9 The LORD is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him, 8 but with an overwhelming flood he will make an end of Nineveh; he will pursue his foes into darkness. 9 Whatever they plot against the LORD he will bring to an end; trouble will not come a second time.
Habakkuk
3:2 LORD, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O LORD. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.
Zephaniah
2:3 Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the LORD’s anger.
Haggai
1:4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?”
Zechariah
9:9-10 Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 10 I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the war-horses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.
Malachi
4:1-2 “Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire,” says the LORD Almighty. “Not a root or a branch will be left to them. 2 But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall.”
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Holding You Back
Okay, so the blog is taking the back seat these days. I have good reason. Our sanctuary upgrade is long and hard, but we are making progress and will be back in by Palm Sunday. I'm excited. Here's a shot from last night's work night.
Great stuff. We are basically working every night till it's done and Saturday's all day (9-5 or longer). Monday I got to work at 8AM. Went home to change clothes at 5:10PM, had a meeting here with some people at 5:30PM, and started the work night at 6:30PM. I left at 10:05PM. Yesterday was about the same type of deal. We are all tired and ready to get this done, but at the same time there's a lot of joy and excitement every night as we work together on this. I hope that every man in the church will at some point put a little sweat equity into the God's church. Good stuff.
I was talking to a friend yesterday, and we were talking about people's resistance to change. We were sharing stories of people defending hymnals, carpet colors, wall paint, chair arrangements, you name it, people can make a "big deal" out of it. We laughed a lot. But what hit me later is how sad it really is. How much time and energy do we waste on petty things when we ought to be positive and supporting of our churches and their leaders? I find that complainers are usually sitting on the bench doing nothing. They have too much time on their hands in most cases. Servants just seem happier than sitters. (I think it's because they know they are doing something for their Lord!) Jesus put it this way, "The greatest among you will be your servant." Matthew 23:11
Do you ever feel so bound by decorum and tradition that you resist immersing yourself in God's Kingdom and His plans for this age? Have you seen churches lose their relevancy and stagnate by making caution a primary motivator--and being habitually slow to act and move forward? I pray that churches everywhere will continue to be pioneers for Jesus and not settlers. Pioneers have that spirit of moving forward and pressing on. They will not stop progressing no matter what stands in their way. Settlers just want to stay put and play it safe, a scary place for any Christian to be.
Live it forward!
Great stuff. We are basically working every night till it's done and Saturday's all day (9-5 or longer). Monday I got to work at 8AM. Went home to change clothes at 5:10PM, had a meeting here with some people at 5:30PM, and started the work night at 6:30PM. I left at 10:05PM. Yesterday was about the same type of deal. We are all tired and ready to get this done, but at the same time there's a lot of joy and excitement every night as we work together on this. I hope that every man in the church will at some point put a little sweat equity into the God's church. Good stuff.
I was talking to a friend yesterday, and we were talking about people's resistance to change. We were sharing stories of people defending hymnals, carpet colors, wall paint, chair arrangements, you name it, people can make a "big deal" out of it. We laughed a lot. But what hit me later is how sad it really is. How much time and energy do we waste on petty things when we ought to be positive and supporting of our churches and their leaders? I find that complainers are usually sitting on the bench doing nothing. They have too much time on their hands in most cases. Servants just seem happier than sitters. (I think it's because they know they are doing something for their Lord!) Jesus put it this way, "The greatest among you will be your servant." Matthew 23:11
Do you ever feel so bound by decorum and tradition that you resist immersing yourself in God's Kingdom and His plans for this age? Have you seen churches lose their relevancy and stagnate by making caution a primary motivator--and being habitually slow to act and move forward? I pray that churches everywhere will continue to be pioneers for Jesus and not settlers. Pioneers have that spirit of moving forward and pressing on. They will not stop progressing no matter what stands in their way. Settlers just want to stay put and play it safe, a scary place for any Christian to be.
Live it forward!
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