But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof. (Romans 13:14)
Are you struggling with temptation? Ask Jesus to be Lord of your life and get the source of temptation out of your reach. Jesus who overcame temptation is able to deliver us from temptation also.
Thursday, 14 November 2013
Tuesday, 12 November 2013
Tips for Taxis
3 He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life: but he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction.
4 The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.
5 A righteous man hateth lying: but a wicked man is loathsome, and cometh to shame.
6 Righteousness keepeth him that is upright in the way: but wickedness overthroweth the sinner.
7 There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing: there is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches.
8 The ransom of a man's life are his riches: but the poor heareth not rebuke.
9 The light of the righteous rejoiceth: but the lamp of the wicked shall be put out.
10 Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom.
11 Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished: but he that gathereth by labour shall increase.
12 Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life. (Proverbs 13:3-12)
I'm happily busy again, but I must take some time to learn from God. This chapter of Proverbs is especially good for Taxi Drivers, I'm training to be one at the moment. Hopefully because of the flexibility I will be able to work around my erratic missionary schedule. I'm not a foreign missionary, I'm a part-time missionary in my home country.
Poverty and shame shall be to him that refuseth instruction: but he that regardeth reproof shall be honoured. (Proverbs 13:18)
I will get taught today, and I ought to listen. If I get reproved I ought to as well. Do you want to be "successful"? The word of God suggests then that you do the same.
4 The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.
5 A righteous man hateth lying: but a wicked man is loathsome, and cometh to shame.
6 Righteousness keepeth him that is upright in the way: but wickedness overthroweth the sinner.
7 There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing: there is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches.
8 The ransom of a man's life are his riches: but the poor heareth not rebuke.
9 The light of the righteous rejoiceth: but the lamp of the wicked shall be put out.
10 Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom.
11 Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished: but he that gathereth by labour shall increase.
12 Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life. (Proverbs 13:3-12)
I'm happily busy again, but I must take some time to learn from God. This chapter of Proverbs is especially good for Taxi Drivers, I'm training to be one at the moment. Hopefully because of the flexibility I will be able to work around my erratic missionary schedule. I'm not a foreign missionary, I'm a part-time missionary in my home country.
Poverty and shame shall be to him that refuseth instruction: but he that regardeth reproof shall be honoured. (Proverbs 13:18)
I will get taught today, and I ought to listen. If I get reproved I ought to as well. Do you want to be "successful"? The word of God suggests then that you do the same.
Saturday, 9 November 2013
Prevailing Prayer
Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high. (Isaiah 58:4)
13 And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. 14 Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the Lord your God? (Joel 2:13-14)
7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: (Jonah 3:7)
There is a right way to fast. To come to God with a broken heart. Even when your heart does not feel broken, you can come before God and search your heart and confess your sin. Have you been selfish, proud or undisciplined? Confess it to God and ask to be forgiven and changed in Jesus' name. You can go without food in a special time of soul-searching, or go without other things. Perhaps you should continually go without some of the luxuries life offers and give the money to worthy causes instead. These all help you to receive God's instruction and discipline. God will give it because Jesus has made his unlimited credit available to you if you follow him.
The (wicked) king of (wicked) Nineveh knew to proclaim the kind of fast recommended by God in the book of Joel:
8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. 9 Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?
10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not. (Jonah 3:8-10)
God is not controllable, but he is reliable. If you do what he tells you to, he will not fail to do what he has promised, no matter how bad you have been.
I am starting to include regular soul-searching in my morning prayers, from my study of the sanctuary I think it's something you should consider doing too.
13 And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. 14 Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the Lord your God? (Joel 2:13-14)
7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: (Jonah 3:7)
There is a right way to fast. To come to God with a broken heart. Even when your heart does not feel broken, you can come before God and search your heart and confess your sin. Have you been selfish, proud or undisciplined? Confess it to God and ask to be forgiven and changed in Jesus' name. You can go without food in a special time of soul-searching, or go without other things. Perhaps you should continually go without some of the luxuries life offers and give the money to worthy causes instead. These all help you to receive God's instruction and discipline. God will give it because Jesus has made his unlimited credit available to you if you follow him.
The (wicked) king of (wicked) Nineveh knew to proclaim the kind of fast recommended by God in the book of Joel:
8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. 9 Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?
10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not. (Jonah 3:8-10)
God is not controllable, but he is reliable. If you do what he tells you to, he will not fail to do what he has promised, no matter how bad you have been.
I am starting to include regular soul-searching in my morning prayers, from my study of the sanctuary I think it's something you should consider doing too.
Thursday, 7 November 2013
Understand
O ye simple, understand wisdom: and, ye fools, be ye of an understanding heart. (Proverbs 8:3)
For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. (Proverbs 2:6)
Please excuse a brief digression into Proverbs. We learn things from other people, but often what they teach us is not quite right. God commands us to be men and women of understanding: to know the truth and how it fits together (or something like that).
I just realised that my writing style is like the book of Proverbs: [idea]: [repetitiously enlarge on the same idea]. I have been over-using semicolons though: I just looked them up and normally they are supposed to be for contrasting ideas. I need to use colons more often: particularly when I'm repeating and enlarging. I often repeat and enlarge; but I frequently use semicolons in the proper way too.
This similarity to Proverbs may come from the fact that I read a chapter of Proverbs daily for a few years when I was in my last few years at school and was really developing my writing style.
God commands us to become men and women of understanding.
Do you want to know what's right in a situation and what is best? You need wisdom and understanding.
Wisdom is a gift from God; ask and you will receive (Jas 1:5).
Understanding comes from God's word: found in the Bible.
It's right there and you can receive it; go ahead.
For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. (Proverbs 2:6)
Please excuse a brief digression into Proverbs. We learn things from other people, but often what they teach us is not quite right. God commands us to be men and women of understanding: to know the truth and how it fits together (or something like that).
I just realised that my writing style is like the book of Proverbs: [idea]: [repetitiously enlarge on the same idea]. I have been over-using semicolons though: I just looked them up and normally they are supposed to be for contrasting ideas. I need to use colons more often: particularly when I'm repeating and enlarging. I often repeat and enlarge; but I frequently use semicolons in the proper way too.
This similarity to Proverbs may come from the fact that I read a chapter of Proverbs daily for a few years when I was in my last few years at school and was really developing my writing style.
God commands us to become men and women of understanding.
Do you want to know what's right in a situation and what is best? You need wisdom and understanding.
Wisdom is a gift from God; ask and you will receive (Jas 1:5).
Understanding comes from God's word: found in the Bible.
It's right there and you can receive it; go ahead.
Wednesday, 6 November 2013
Low Blow
Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high. (Isaiah 58:4)
1 And Paul, earnestly beholding the council, said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day. 2 And the high priest Ananias commanded them that stood by him to smite him on the mouth. (Acts 23:1-2)
14 And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. 15 Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will: (Philippians 1:14-15)
These passages are connected to the word "smite" in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. In one passage we see a man misusing his power from God to hurt God's servant. In the other we see men using the hurt of God's servant to spread his message. I can imagine Paul today, having his sermons parodied on YouTube, and even this bringing souls into the kingdom. Why isn't that kind of thing happening? I guess it's basically because we are not really doing anything worth mocking or persecuting.
In Isaiah 58:4 we find that God's people are fasting in order to punch someone unjustly. This could be literal, but when I read it I picture a professed believer fasting in order to score points in a debate. It is good to pray and fast together to resolve a debate. But not to use these sacred things as tools to manipulate the outcome of the debate.
There are many ways we can manipulate the church using good words and fair speeches (Rom 16:18). "Don't you want to help the starving children?" is not a good reason to sanction entertainment that is contrary to God's commandments, regardless of what it is raising funds for. "We can be a witness to them." is not a good reason to invite teachers of lies into God's church. These or similar lines of argument are used so often that they are almost a fact of life. But they always hurt, because they force those who will be faithful to God to appear devoid of feeling. If you relate to this then beware the danger that you do may actually become hardened in reality, and that is a perilous thing. You will need to be very generous to compensate for the false giving you need to abstain from.
If I do church God's way and it succeeds; then God gets the credit (glory). If I do church any other way and succeed; I get the credit and I betray God. I want to labour for God's cause in God's way.
Tuesday, 5 November 2013
Greater Damnation or Greater Charity
Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high. (Isaiah 58:4)
Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. (Matthew 6:16)
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. (Matthew 23:14)
Which devour widows' houses, and for a shew make long prayers: the same shall receive greater damnation. (Luke 20:47)
Did you know it is possible to be punished more in hell than others? The way some people understand hell, this would be impossible since everyone would be punished infinitely. But Jesus teaches that those who claim to represent God and be very holy but are not the real thing will be punished more (than those who make no such claims I suppose). Even today there are some circles where you can get praise of men for doing some right things such as fasting. Not many today… but some. In the past there were many people who would praise and reverence you for seeming religious.
There are some people today however who are praised for seeming good, and if the goodness of those people is fake then they will receive the greater damnation (condemnation/ punishment). I am thinking of believers and unbelievers alike who advocate fashionable causes that are promoted as highly ethical and derided as highly idealistic. I would like to be careful to promote things that do much good but are not too impractical. Children in Africa don't really need powdered cows milk, many of them are lactose intolerant anyway. What they need is mothers that do not die of AIDs. What African mothers do not so much need is more medicines for AIDs. They need the security and justice that would protect them from contracting the disease in the first place. You can look very good and be very bad, or look very bad and be very good. I would choose the latter over the former.
So what is a simple gospel truth for this topic?
Do good and you will be rewarded for ever in God's paradise.
If you just do things that will make people like you, why should God give you more reward?
Ask Jesus to make you a good person when nobody is watching. May he transform every one of us.
Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. (Matthew 6:16)
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. (Matthew 23:14)
Which devour widows' houses, and for a shew make long prayers: the same shall receive greater damnation. (Luke 20:47)
Did you know it is possible to be punished more in hell than others? The way some people understand hell, this would be impossible since everyone would be punished infinitely. But Jesus teaches that those who claim to represent God and be very holy but are not the real thing will be punished more (than those who make no such claims I suppose). Even today there are some circles where you can get praise of men for doing some right things such as fasting. Not many today… but some. In the past there were many people who would praise and reverence you for seeming religious.
There are some people today however who are praised for seeming good, and if the goodness of those people is fake then they will receive the greater damnation (condemnation/ punishment). I am thinking of believers and unbelievers alike who advocate fashionable causes that are promoted as highly ethical and derided as highly idealistic. I would like to be careful to promote things that do much good but are not too impractical. Children in Africa don't really need powdered cows milk, many of them are lactose intolerant anyway. What they need is mothers that do not die of AIDs. What African mothers do not so much need is more medicines for AIDs. They need the security and justice that would protect them from contracting the disease in the first place. You can look very good and be very bad, or look very bad and be very good. I would choose the latter over the former.
So what is a simple gospel truth for this topic?
Do good and you will be rewarded for ever in God's paradise.
If you just do things that will make people like you, why should God give you more reward?
Ask Jesus to make you a good person when nobody is watching. May he transform every one of us.
Saturday, 2 November 2013
Get Rich Fast
Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high. (Isaiah 58:4)
9 And she wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people: 10 And set two men, sons of Belial, before him, to bear witness against him, saying, Thou didst blaspheme God and the king. And then carry him out, and stone him, that he may die. 11 And the men of his city, even the elders and the nobles who were the inhabitants in his city, did as Jezebel had sent unto them, and as it was written in the letters which she had sent unto them. 12 They proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people. 13 And there came in two men, children of Belial, and sat before him: and the men of Belial witnessed against him, even against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth did blaspheme God and the king. Then they carried him forth out of the city, and stoned him with stones, that he died. (1 Kings 21:9-13)
The sacrifice of the wicked is abomination: how much more, when he bringeth it with a wicked mind? (Proverbs 21:27)
What a stark example of wrong fasting! This one is a shocker! Queen Jezebel helping Ahab out by using valid religious ceremonies to wickedly murder a man who refused to break God's law. What an abomination to God that whole fast must have been. Don't think it can't happen again; if Isaiah 58 is relevant today then it is probably happening now in God's church. Are leaders calling religious rituals like fasting in order to build themselves up and to bring others down? I'm not sure I've seen that. But I do know that my behaviour is influenced by other people in ways I'm not very comfortable with. I'm inclined to fast when others are doing it because I don't want them to think I'm impious (devoted to God). We need to take other people into account when we make decisions, because we should avoid causing another to stumble (1 Cor 8:13). But if my motivation for any kind of piety (devotion to God) is selfish that piety will not help me to perfect the christian character that I need to be a citizen of heaven.
Only Jesus can change our motivations, we must pray that he transform our motives and thoughts.
9 And she wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people: 10 And set two men, sons of Belial, before him, to bear witness against him, saying, Thou didst blaspheme God and the king. And then carry him out, and stone him, that he may die. 11 And the men of his city, even the elders and the nobles who were the inhabitants in his city, did as Jezebel had sent unto them, and as it was written in the letters which she had sent unto them. 12 They proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people. 13 And there came in two men, children of Belial, and sat before him: and the men of Belial witnessed against him, even against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth did blaspheme God and the king. Then they carried him forth out of the city, and stoned him with stones, that he died. (1 Kings 21:9-13)
The sacrifice of the wicked is abomination: how much more, when he bringeth it with a wicked mind? (Proverbs 21:27)
What a stark example of wrong fasting! This one is a shocker! Queen Jezebel helping Ahab out by using valid religious ceremonies to wickedly murder a man who refused to break God's law. What an abomination to God that whole fast must have been. Don't think it can't happen again; if Isaiah 58 is relevant today then it is probably happening now in God's church. Are leaders calling religious rituals like fasting in order to build themselves up and to bring others down? I'm not sure I've seen that. But I do know that my behaviour is influenced by other people in ways I'm not very comfortable with. I'm inclined to fast when others are doing it because I don't want them to think I'm impious (devoted to God). We need to take other people into account when we make decisions, because we should avoid causing another to stumble (1 Cor 8:13). But if my motivation for any kind of piety (devotion to God) is selfish that piety will not help me to perfect the christian character that I need to be a citizen of heaven.
Only Jesus can change our motivations, we must pray that he transform our motives and thoughts.
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