To Sacrifice or Obey

I would like to ask you all a question. Now I want you to think about it before you answer. It may take you a few minutes but I want you to answer as truthful as possible. Would you rather someone sacrifice something for you or would you rather them obey?

As children growing up it was sometimes very hard to obey our parents. Our parents asked us to obey for good reasons not just to hear themselves talk. There were times we were told not to do something because if we did this we might get hurt or we might find ourselves lost in an area that we weren't familiar with. Of course there were times we were told we needed to do our schoolwork. This is an area that most kids (not all) don't want to pay attention to as it is more fun to play or watch television but here again the parents weren't talking just to hear themselves talk.

As a child when you disobeyed did you ever give your Mom or Dad a small gift to show that you were sorry? I know when I was real small if nothing else I would trace my hand and write in it "I love you, Momma". I know it made my Mom feel somewhat better but she almost always would tell me that I needed to learn to obey that it would be enough for her.

It doesn't matter who we are there are always rules to live by; most all rules are to benefit us and to help us in our life. These rules are cause for us to obey and they start out for us when we are children and it continues all through our lifetime. Have you ever thought the earlier we learn to obey the easier it is for us as we get older?

While reading my Bible I have learned many things. It has told me how I should live; it has told me how God feels about me, and also how Satan feels about me, it tells everyone that reads his/her Bible the same things.

It tells us just how much God loves each and every one of us. John 3:16 says "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Do you think God would have given His only Son if He didn't love us?

It also tells us just how much Satan despises us. All he wants of us is to do what he wants and the things he wants us to do will destroy us, we will go to hell if we follow him.

God loves us so much that He allows us to make a choice of whom to follow. Following God will take us to our marvelous home in heaven. Following Satan will take us to a burning hell.

Now to get back to the question I have asked you. I Samuel 15:22 says; "And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams." From this verse it is obvious God prefers our obedience as long as it is from the heart. It means more to him than any outward form of worship or personal sacrifice. Our praise, prayer, worship, and service to Him are worthless in His sight if not accompanied by absolute obedience to Him and His righteous principals. This is not saying He doesn't want us to praise, worship, give our personal sacrifice, and pray to Him because He still wants this but with it comes our obedience to Him.

How did you answer the question asked in the beginning?

May you always know the love, joy, and peace of the Lord!

Two Wolves

Praise the Lord, it is morning again; another day the Lord has made for us. Good morning, Lord. Thank you for another day and may I live this day in a manner that is pleasing to you and brings only glory, honor, and praise to you and your name.

OR
 

Oh no, is it time to get up? This isn't going to be a good day, I am so tired. I have so many things to do, I have to go to the store and the people I see at the store are always grouchy, nothing pleases them. I am not going to put myself out to be friendly to anyone that isn't nice and polite.

Below is a really short story about two wolves.

Two Wolves

An old Grandfather said to his grandson, who came to him with anger at a friend who had done him an injustice, "Let me tell you a story: I have felt a great hate for those that have taken so much, with no sorrow for what they do. But hate wears you down, and does not hurt your enemy. It is like taking poison and wishing your enemy would die. I have struggled with these feelings many times".

He continued, "It is as if there are two wolves inside me; one is good and does no harm. He lives in harmony with all around him and does not take offense when no offense was intended. He will only fight when it is right to do so, and in the right way.

"But the other wolf, ah! He is full of anger. The littlest thing will send him into a fit of temper. He fights everyone, all the time, for no reason. He cannot think because his anger and hate are so great. It is helpless anger, for his anger will change nothing. Sometimes it is hard to live with these two wolves inside me, for both of them try to dominate my spirit".

The boy looked intently into his Grandfather's eyes and asked, "Which one wins, Grandfather"?

The Grandfather smiled and quietly said, "The one I feed".

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Which way do you wake up in the morning? Which one will you feed today? When we wake up with praises to the Lord our day will be a better day. But if we wake up being grouchy and forget who gave us this day, our day will get no better. We need to be thankful for another day that the Lord has given to us.

Someone we see at the store or anywhere out there may just need to see a friendly face and hear a friendly word, we don't know what they are going through. Perhaps they have just lost their job, maybe they have a very sick loved one, or perhaps they have just lost someone they love.

When we greet the Lord the first thing in the morning it just seems to help our day to be a joyful one but waking up grouchy just causes us to carry on the day with negative thoughts and it certainly doesn't help us.

Psalm 63:5 "My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my lips shall praise thee with joyful lips":

Proverbs 15:1 "A SOFT answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger".
 

May you always know the love, joy, and peace of the Lord!

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"Two Wolves" was an article found in Godvine. Godvine is about providing Christian, family friendly entertainment and inspiration to people all over the world.

Peace

Everyone in the world wants peace. There are different types of peace and each one is meaningful. I think the one that probably comes to mind first is 'world peace'. World peace would be an awesome thing. It seems though that each nation wants to be the ruler so this will never happen.


Then there is what we call 'family peace'. This is something each family should have but in some families it never seems to work out. There are different causes for not having it. Children can feel the parents love the other child more than they do them. The parents don't seem to agree on the way to discipline the children and the list could go on.

Then there is 'peace within a town/city'. The city government wants to annex more land and some of the town's people don't want this so the dispute starts. Of course there are many reasons behind each person wanting and not wanting this to be done.

No matter what type of peace people want it is something that needs to be worked on. It can't be one-sided, there has to be talks and each side has to give and take. Each side needs to explain things. So many times this doesn't happen or they aren't willing to give so this causes fighting. There will be no peace as long as there is fighting.

We also have the 'peace within ourselves'. Sometimes this can be harder to find than any of the other peace that is wanted. That is if you don't look for it in the right places.

There is only one true place to go and that is to the Lord Jesus Christ. John 14:27; "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." Here Jesus is giving to us a real blessing. The gifts we receive from the world are for the body and time but the gifts from Jesus enrich the soul for eternity. Jesus didn't want our hearts to be troubled so He left His peace with us. This peace is left for true believers.

This doesn't mean we will never have tribulations but we are able to call on the Lord and He will give us peace.

Philippians 4:7; "And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus". When we call on Him with a heart that sincerely loves Him and abides in His Word then we can expect the peace of God to flood our troubled souls. This peace is mediated to us by the Holy Spirit which means you must have a definite conviction that Jesus is near and that God's love will be active in your life.

When we have troubles and give them to the Lord in prayer, you might say this peace will stand guard at the door of our hearts and mind. This helps prevent the heartaches, cares of life, and disappointment from taking over our lives and the hope we have in Jesus. If the fear and worry returns we need to go to the Lord in prayer again letting Him know and give thanksgiving to Him thus putting us under the peace of God that guards our hearts once again. We will feel safe once again and we can rejoice in the Lord with thanksgiving and happiness.

May you always know the love, joy, and peace of the Lord!