Deuteronomy 11:26-28; "Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; v.27 A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day; v. 28 And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known".
God told His people they have a choice, a blessing or a curse. If they will obey Him, they will receive a blessing but if they turn away from Him, they will receive a curse. By obeying His word they would have to remain separated from sin and evil of the neighboring nations, they would receive blessings. If they should rebel and go the ways of the ungodly God's curse would come down on them.
God's people had a tendency to disobey and this would make God angry, Moses would talk to the Lord on their behalf. God would tell Moses what to tell the people. For awhile they would obey God but then they would start disobeying Him. Does any of this sound familiar to you? I believe people of today are the same way.
Things will go really good for people and then something will happen and they will start going their own way. They are disobeying God. Have you stopped to think that if everything in our life would go just the way we wanted it to, we would stop relying and talking to God? The trials and tribulations we go through in our life helps us to become stronger in the Lord. We talk to the Lord because we need Him. We should also talk to Him because we love Him.
Romans 5:3; "And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience"; Our trials and tribulations can be financial, sorrow, illness, loneliness, or anything that is causing us pain. It is in the middle of these that God's grace enables us to seek Him more diligently, helping us overcome these tribulations. Instead of us thinking we can do better, that we don't need God, we need to seek God and praise Him for being there for us and for the tribulation we are going through. He will help us through our problems. We need to cast all of our cares upon Him. I Peter 5:7; "Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you". God's word tells us we can cast ALL our cares upon Him. Why should we disobey Him by not doing this and walking away from Him? We shouldn't. We should not be like the Israelites.
Remember, if we obey God, He will send blessings but if we disobey we will not receive the blessings that He may have for us.
I have enjoyed our visit and hope you have too. May you always know the love, joy, and peace of the Lord.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Thursday, March 24, 2011
No Other Gods
Exodus 20:3; "Thou shalt have no other gods before me".
What does this mean to you? It should mean exactly what it says, "no other gods before me". It means we shall not have anything that is more important than God nor should we worship anything but God. Our worship must be to God only.
We are not to seek guidance, help, praying to, or worshiping any other god. We are not to seek any of these things from spirits, or people that have died. We are to seek these things from God only.
When we seek guidance from anyone or anything but God, we can't be sure we have the best guidance. If we ask another person for advice that is different than wanting them to guide us. Seeking guidance from a spirit (such as demons or someone that has died) is completely against what God wants us to do. We must rely on God for guidance for He will never lead us in the wrong direction.
There is no spirit that will be able to help us in the way God can. God gives us the strength to do all things through Him. No other spirit can do this for us. God knows exactly what we need. He will care for us at all times. He will help us through every single trial and tribulation we go through. No spirit can do this for us.
When we pray to someone or something else besides God they don't hear us the way God does. God listens to every single word we say. He hears every single prayer we say. He wants us to have what we want but sometimes what we want is not the best for us. When this happens He may not let us have exactly what we want. He may give us something that is better or something He knows will help us more. Remember God knows best.
It says we are not to worship anything but God. People can and do worship other people. When Dave and I were first married we thought the only thing we needed was each other. We both loved the Lord and we went to church but we still thought we just needed each other. One night after dinner Dave came to me and said to me and quote; "We need to have a talk". We started talking about how we felt and he said that we needed each other but we needed God more and needed to make God first in our lives. I am so glad we had that talk, things just seemed to fall in place after that. That is not saying we haven't had our ups and downs because we have had plenty of them. Instead of having two in our marriage there was now three and there is strength in three, God being number one made things easier.
There are people who also worship money. All of us know we have to have money to survive but I am talking about worshiping money so much they forget about God. They allow money to rule them. People can have money and lots of it but they don't let it rule their lives or they don't worship it. There are some people that get money and the more money they get the more they want. I know a couple that I feel has everything a person could want, each other, a home, children, grandchildren, and an awfully lot of money. This couple seems to have problems after problems. Why is that? Could it be because they have taken God from the number one spot? Yes, they have had a personal relationship with God but money appears to have taken the number one spot. I would think once a person has had a relationship with the Lord and then let something else take first place they would feel like something was missing. I know I would.
If something is missing in your life, could it be that you have replaced God with something else? Remember God should always be FIRST in your life.
Thank you for dropping by. May you always know the love, joy, and peace of the Lord.
What does this mean to you? It should mean exactly what it says, "no other gods before me". It means we shall not have anything that is more important than God nor should we worship anything but God. Our worship must be to God only.
We are not to seek guidance, help, praying to, or worshiping any other god. We are not to seek any of these things from spirits, or people that have died. We are to seek these things from God only.
When we seek guidance from anyone or anything but God, we can't be sure we have the best guidance. If we ask another person for advice that is different than wanting them to guide us. Seeking guidance from a spirit (such as demons or someone that has died) is completely against what God wants us to do. We must rely on God for guidance for He will never lead us in the wrong direction.
There is no spirit that will be able to help us in the way God can. God gives us the strength to do all things through Him. No other spirit can do this for us. God knows exactly what we need. He will care for us at all times. He will help us through every single trial and tribulation we go through. No spirit can do this for us.
When we pray to someone or something else besides God they don't hear us the way God does. God listens to every single word we say. He hears every single prayer we say. He wants us to have what we want but sometimes what we want is not the best for us. When this happens He may not let us have exactly what we want. He may give us something that is better or something He knows will help us more. Remember God knows best.
It says we are not to worship anything but God. People can and do worship other people. When Dave and I were first married we thought the only thing we needed was each other. We both loved the Lord and we went to church but we still thought we just needed each other. One night after dinner Dave came to me and said to me and quote; "We need to have a talk". We started talking about how we felt and he said that we needed each other but we needed God more and needed to make God first in our lives. I am so glad we had that talk, things just seemed to fall in place after that. That is not saying we haven't had our ups and downs because we have had plenty of them. Instead of having two in our marriage there was now three and there is strength in three, God being number one made things easier.
There are people who also worship money. All of us know we have to have money to survive but I am talking about worshiping money so much they forget about God. They allow money to rule them. People can have money and lots of it but they don't let it rule their lives or they don't worship it. There are some people that get money and the more money they get the more they want. I know a couple that I feel has everything a person could want, each other, a home, children, grandchildren, and an awfully lot of money. This couple seems to have problems after problems. Why is that? Could it be because they have taken God from the number one spot? Yes, they have had a personal relationship with God but money appears to have taken the number one spot. I would think once a person has had a relationship with the Lord and then let something else take first place they would feel like something was missing. I know I would.
If something is missing in your life, could it be that you have replaced God with something else? Remember God should always be FIRST in your life.
Thank you for dropping by. May you always know the love, joy, and peace of the Lord.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
The Roaring Lion
I Peter 5:8; "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil,
as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour;"
Satan is always around just waiting to get his foot in the door. He doesn't have to start with something that is really big, something small will suffice to start wearing you down. He knows if he can place just a little anger, doubt, hurt, or anything that God doesn't want you to have, he can be well on his way in your life.
Tonight Dave was talking to me about insurance on the motorcycle and saying we could drop it for six months out of the year and it wouldn't be so expensive. Well, as he said we weren't on the same page in the same book. We weren't either. We pay for the motorcycle insurance for a year at a time and he was saying if we would pay for it at six month intervals then we could drop the amount of coverage in the months we didn't ride.
From there every little thing that came up I would just get angry about it. So now, the devil has gotten his foot in the door. Much easier to get Dave and me to argue. He knew if he could make Dave and me start to argue he would really have a hold on us. Anything could happen, maybe we would get so angry that we would stop talking to each other for awhile and then it could lead to bigger problems.
You see, the devil wants to tear families apart. He doesn't care who he hurts. When there is anger it doesn't just affect the ones that are angry with one another but it seems to start reaching out to others. It could affect our kids, then it could affect their kids, it could just go on and on. He would be devouring a lot of people just because Dave and I weren't 'on the same page in the same book'.
I finally went outside to talk to the Lord. I knew the Lord would talk to me and help me out in this. We need to always remember we can go to the Lord with any problem, great or small. He knows little things can and will at times run into bigger things. If we go immediately to the Lord we can stop the devil in his tracks. We are fully prepared to defeat the devil's schemes.
I Peter 5:7; "Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you". Our cares, concerns, and fears can be given to the Lord. It doesn't say just to cast our BIG cares, concerns, and fears it says 'casting all' so this is what we should do. He is willing to help us through whatever is hurting us, anger hurts us so we need to let Him help us.
James 4:7; "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you". When I went to the Lord I was submitting to God, giving Him my situation and I was resisting the devil. I was telling the devil I wanted nothing to do with him and was not going to let him cause trouble. So the 'roaring lion' had to leave. He knew the Lord was on my side.
I John 4:4; "Ye are of God, little children and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world". With the Holy Spirit that dwells within us we can overcome Satan and his evil tactics. In my case, it was anger caused by miscommunication with Dave. Praise the Lord we have Jesus to go to in any type of situation, let us not let the situation get bigger than it should.
The next time the roaring lion tries to get to you, remember Jesus is only a prayer away.
Thank you for dropping by. May you always know the love, joy, and peace of the Lord.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Tears
At one time or another all of us have had tears. We have them for many reasons, sadness, joy, illness, birth, death, accidents, and there are many more reasons.
John 11:33; "When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled". Jesus reveals His heart and feelings here. When Jesus saw Mary and her friends in tears He groaned in the spirit. He not only was concerned, He was inwardly affected and sincerely moved. It says He was troubled. He wanted to help them. Are we truly affect when someone is sad and hurting? Are we truly affected when someone is happy? We need to be.
John 11:35; "Jesus wept". It shows He had tears of love for Mary and those around Him. Jesus feels the same way about us. He knows when we are sad or happy. Jesus is a man of love and was not ashamed to show tears. This was tears of love. Do we have the love for others as Jesus did and does?
Acts 20:19; "Serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears, and temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews:" Paul had tears because of his caring for the lost. He continued in his work even though there was opposition. He was a very tender and compassionate man. He served his Lord with many tears, he was committed. If we could only serve the Lord with the heart Paul had. We need to have a true and faithful commitment to the Lord, always.
Acts 20:31; "Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears". Paul was faithful as he continued to warn people night and day. He was concerned about the souls of everyone, he spoke to them with affection and concern. He also warned the righteous, that they should not turn away. He warned them with tears. We need to have the affection and concern and warn the people of what can and will happen to their souls should they not accept the Lord.
II Corinthians 2:4; "For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears; not that ye should be grieved, but that ye might know the love which I have more abundantly unto you". Paul wrote to the people because of a loving and anguished heart. He assured them he didn't want to grieve the people. He wrote because of a sin that had or was occurring. There are times we have so much sorrow over something someone has done that it is easy to have tears. We should always have compassion for someone that is perhaps walking away from the Lord. We should always pray for them.
Hebrews 12:17; "For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears". This is talking about Esau who sold his birthright for meat (verse 16). When Esau desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected. So, he now saw the blessing he treated so lightly was worth having but he was rejected by God. Even though he had tears or remorse God, in His righteous judgment would not change His mind. There are times we have tears of remorse perhaps for a sin that we have committed. When we are deeply sorry it is very easy to cry over sin.
Luke 7:37-38; "And behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, v. 38 And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment". This woman had love and devotion for Jesus. She wet the feet of Jesus with her tears. Weeping could be an expression of sorrow, grief, or a grateful love toward Jesus. When she was weeping she was expressing what was in her heart, just as we might weep with sorrow, grief or a grateful heart. We need to have real love and devotion towards Jesus that shows our consciousness of the sinfulness of our past sins. We need to have the love for Him as He had for us when He gave His life on the cross for us.
Psalm 126:5-6; "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. v. 6 He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him". We need to show faithfulness, righteousness, regardless of what pain we may be going through as there will be a great harvest of God's blessings. We can be assured that what we sow will be richly blessed by God in the future.
Thank you for dropping by. May you always know the love, joy, and peace of the Lord.
John 11:33; "When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled". Jesus reveals His heart and feelings here. When Jesus saw Mary and her friends in tears He groaned in the spirit. He not only was concerned, He was inwardly affected and sincerely moved. It says He was troubled. He wanted to help them. Are we truly affect when someone is sad and hurting? Are we truly affected when someone is happy? We need to be.
John 11:35; "Jesus wept". It shows He had tears of love for Mary and those around Him. Jesus feels the same way about us. He knows when we are sad or happy. Jesus is a man of love and was not ashamed to show tears. This was tears of love. Do we have the love for others as Jesus did and does?
Acts 20:19; "Serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears, and temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews:" Paul had tears because of his caring for the lost. He continued in his work even though there was opposition. He was a very tender and compassionate man. He served his Lord with many tears, he was committed. If we could only serve the Lord with the heart Paul had. We need to have a true and faithful commitment to the Lord, always.
Acts 20:31; "Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears". Paul was faithful as he continued to warn people night and day. He was concerned about the souls of everyone, he spoke to them with affection and concern. He also warned the righteous, that they should not turn away. He warned them with tears. We need to have the affection and concern and warn the people of what can and will happen to their souls should they not accept the Lord.
II Corinthians 2:4; "For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears; not that ye should be grieved, but that ye might know the love which I have more abundantly unto you". Paul wrote to the people because of a loving and anguished heart. He assured them he didn't want to grieve the people. He wrote because of a sin that had or was occurring. There are times we have so much sorrow over something someone has done that it is easy to have tears. We should always have compassion for someone that is perhaps walking away from the Lord. We should always pray for them.
Hebrews 12:17; "For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears". This is talking about Esau who sold his birthright for meat (verse 16). When Esau desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected. So, he now saw the blessing he treated so lightly was worth having but he was rejected by God. Even though he had tears or remorse God, in His righteous judgment would not change His mind. There are times we have tears of remorse perhaps for a sin that we have committed. When we are deeply sorry it is very easy to cry over sin.
Luke 7:37-38; "And behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, v. 38 And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment". This woman had love and devotion for Jesus. She wet the feet of Jesus with her tears. Weeping could be an expression of sorrow, grief, or a grateful love toward Jesus. When she was weeping she was expressing what was in her heart, just as we might weep with sorrow, grief or a grateful heart. We need to have real love and devotion towards Jesus that shows our consciousness of the sinfulness of our past sins. We need to have the love for Him as He had for us when He gave His life on the cross for us.
Psalm 126:5-6; "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. v. 6 He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him". We need to show faithfulness, righteousness, regardless of what pain we may be going through as there will be a great harvest of God's blessings. We can be assured that what we sow will be richly blessed by God in the future.
Thank you for dropping by. May you always know the love, joy, and peace of the Lord.
Monday, March 21, 2011
The Wind And God
When it is warm and sometimes when it is cold outside it is always nice to sit outside and enjoy hearing the birds and sometimes seeing the deer, just looking at what God created and gave to us to enjoy. Friday evening I was sitting outside enjoying nature, seeing the birds, and there was even a deer out in the pasture.
While sitting there I was talking to the Lord and there was a breeze that went across my face. If I hadn't felt at peace before that breeze, I sure did then. I remember thinking the breeze was like God. I couldn't see the breeze but I felt it and knew it was there. I don't see God but I can feel His presence and know that He is with me. After awhile I came in the house and wrote down some thoughts about the wind and God.
I hope you enjoyed what I wrote about the wind and God. In no way am I saying the wind is God or God is the wind. It is just that you can't actually see either of them but they are both very real.
Thanks for stopping by. I have enjoyed our visit. May you always know the love, joy, and peace of the Lord.
While sitting there I was talking to the Lord and there was a breeze that went across my face. If I hadn't felt at peace before that breeze, I sure did then. I remember thinking the breeze was like God. I couldn't see the breeze but I felt it and knew it was there. I don't see God but I can feel His presence and know that He is with me. After awhile I came in the house and wrote down some thoughts about the wind and God.
The Wind And God
Can you see the wind?
Can you see God?
God is like the wind.
You don't see the wind but it is here.
You don't see God but He is here.
You can see the effects of the wind.
You can see the effects of God.
The grass leans over with the wind.
God is the one that made the grass.
The wind is everywhere.
There isn't anyplace the wind isn't.
God is everywhere.
There isn't anyplace God isn't.
Just because you don't see the wind
doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
Just because you don't see God doesn't
mean He doesn't exist.
You don't see the wind but you can feel it.
You don't see God but you can feel Him.
You don't have to see the wind to know
it is near.
You don't have to see God to know
He is near.
When you feel the wind, you can think of God
as showing you the presence of Himself.
When the wind blows across your face,
God is whispering to you that He is near.
Let Him know you feel His presence,
talk to Him.
God wants you to know you don't have to
see Him to know He is near.
You know the wind is real so,
know God is real.
God made the wind so you could feel it.
So, the next time you feel the wind blow across
your face, remember, God is letting you know He is near.
Written by Deane Couch I hope you enjoyed what I wrote about the wind and God. In no way am I saying the wind is God or God is the wind. It is just that you can't actually see either of them but they are both very real.
Thanks for stopping by. I have enjoyed our visit. May you always know the love, joy, and peace of the Lord.
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