“I have hidden your word in my
heart”
Psalm 119:11
The man who looks intently into the perfect law that
gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but
doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.
James 1:25
The Bible has instructions
that will help us live a better life. As
we become more familiar with the Bible, we can use it to make choices that will
make our life better.
The only thing that
counts is faith expressing itself through love.
Galatians 5:6
Don’t loose sight of the
only thing that counts. The main thing
is to keep the main thing, the main thing.
Pray in the spirit on all
occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. Ephesians 6:18
What is most important in
your life? Isn’t it important enough to
warrant prayer on all occasions? “Make
my life a prayer to you.” –Keith Green
Be clear-minded and self-controlled so that you can
pray. Above all, love each other deeply,
because love covers over a multitude of sins.
1 Peter 4:7-8
What occupies your mind and distracts you from
praying? Prayer must always become a greater and greater part of our lives.
Prayer changes us, preparing us to step beyond what we are inclined to do and
love others deeply. When we exercise the
emotions and actions of pure love, we find that people are easier to get along
with. It becomes easier for us to
forgive them. We don’t find fault and we
overlook certain discontinuities, practicing love in such a way as to build them
up instead of tearing them down.
Fathers, don't exasperate your children by coming
down hard on them. Take them by the hand and lead them in the way of the
Master. Ephesians 6:4
Children will exasperate their parents,
but we are to be mature and self-controlled, knowing there is a better
way. Kids watch and learn from how their
parents handle adversity. Be careful not
to drive your children away during the time when they most need your love.
Be imitators of God,
therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and
gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Ephesians 5:1-2
As a child realizes he is
deeply loved by his father, he will be motivated to imitate him and over time
will naturally become like him. "Live a life of love" simply
means we love God and we love people.
The decisions we make are motivated by love. When we love people,
we truly want what is best for them, not necessarily what they want the
most. Our example is Christ who loved us so much that he sacrificed all
to give us what we need the most, reconciliation with God.
Each one of you also must
love his wife as he
loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
Ephesians 5:33
Why are husbands commanded
to love their wives and wives commanded to respect their
husbands? God obviously knows what men
and women need most in a relationship.
Love and respect are not areas that one can increase through sheer
willpower. To personalize this verse for
a marriage, the focus should be on changing what we can control. The husband can do many things to make it easier
for his wife to respect him by becoming more respectable. Likewise, the wife can make it easier for her
husband to love her by taking steps to become more loveable.
Make it your ambition to
lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, so
that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not
be dependent on anybody. 1 Thessalonians
4:11-12
Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving
neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your
honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world. 1
Peter 2:12
People respond more to who
you are than what you say. To make a positive impact on others, your daily life
must be deserving of their respect.
Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is
right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything
is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Philippians 4:8
Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Romans 12:2
Our lives are influenced by what occupies our
mind. We can control what we think
about, thus shaping who we will become.
May the Lord make your
love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else. 1 Thessalonians 3:12
Is there someone in your
life who is hard to love? Or someone who
deserves more love than you can give?
Ask God to help you love them. “You
put this love in my heart” –Keith Green
And I pray that you, being rooted and established in
love, may have power to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love
of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be
filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:17-19
Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the
truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply,
from the heart. 1 Peter 1:22
You must have
love in your heart before you can give it to others. Try telling your self that God loves each
person you see, and you’ll be surprised how it can change your attitude towards
them.
In his heart a man plans his
course, but the Lord determines his steps.
Proverbs 16:9
Our heart will reflect what we put into
it, so we should do what it takes to make our heart more like Christ’s. We need to search our heart to
determine what is right, even if it doesn’t make logical sense in our mind,
then make the necessary plans to follow our heart. While we follow our plans, we trust the Lord
will cause us to take the right steps even if it means turning us in a
different direction.
God is working
in you to help you to want to do and be able to do what pleases him. Philippians 2:13
God realizes we need His help to do what is best for
His kingdom. Therefore, He is working in
our heart to give us the desire and ability to make the right choices. When we know in our heart what would please
God, we must not let our decision be affected be what we think we want, or what
we think we are able to accomplish because those are two areas that God will
change when we want to do what pleases Him.
But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch
out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it
and be its master. Genesis 4:7
Sin is always lurking nearby waiting
for an opportunity to seize control.
Once we choose to do wrong, we make ourselves vulnerable to an ambush
and then we must fight all the harder to subdue the sin and regain control.
The man without the Spirit does not accept the things
that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he
cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 1 Corinthians 2:14
At that time Jesus prayed this prayer: “O Father,
Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who
think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the
childlike.” Matthew 11:25, Luke 10:21
Those who think themselves elite and are not true
children of Christ miss the simple truth.
It is not study that does it, but child-like faith and obedience. The only way you can get to know Christ is to
stop trying to find out and by being born again.
But who are you, O man, to talk back to God?
"Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, 'Why did you make me like
this?' " Does
not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery
for noble purposes and some for common use?
Romans 9:20-21 (also Isaiah 29:16 and Isaiah 45:9)
Do you ever wonder how God can allow or cause bad
things to happen? Have you ever blamed
God? He created the universe and He made
you? How can we question someone who
knows everything that has and ever will happen?
Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long.
Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they
are ever with me.
I have more insight than all my teachers, for I
meditate on your statutes.
I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey
your precepts. Psalm 119:97-100
Want to be wiser than your peers, more knowledgeable
than your teachers, and more experienced than the aged? Then continually engage in meditation of
God’s Word and act upon what you learn.
But when they said, "Give us a king to lead
us," this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD. 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”…The LORD answered,
"Listen to them and give them a king." I Samuel 8
Did God really loose an election? Is our free will so important that God would
allow us to make choices that would ruin us?
I guess God knows that we need free will so we can choose to give him
our love.
"…I have seen these people," the LORD said
to Moses, "and they are a stiff-necked people. Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn
against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great
nation." But Moses sought the favor
of the LORD his God…Then the LORD relented and did not bring on his people the
disaster he had threatened. Exodus 32:7-14
Did Moses actually persuade God to change His
mind? Or was God testing Moses to see
that as a leader he would do the right thing?
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for
teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man
of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17
The #1 all time best selling book is not just a
history book with a collection of songs and letters. It is God’s gift to help us with every
situation in life. It shows us the
correct path, tells us when we wander, explains how to correct our course, and
trains us to keep going straight.
For the word of God is living and active. Sharper
than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit,
joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's
sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before
the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
Hebrews 4:12-13
Let us not love with words or tongue but with actions
and in truth. 1 John 3:18
I have learned the secret of being content in any and
every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in
want. Philippians 4:12