Merry Christmas

Stronghold and Protector

Nahum 1:1-8

God loves you. If you ever doubted before, this passage proves that. Verse 2 states, “The Lord avenges.” He is slow to anger and great in power. He sends storms, dries waters, melts hill, shakes mountains and heaves the earth. What will He not do for us? “The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble.” When God, whose power is so eminently proclaimed above, claims to be our stronghold and protector, what are we afraid of? He sent His son to die for us (in case you forgot) and He promises to continually do more. Merry Christmas; God loves you.

Ideal Relationship

Leviticus 26:3-12

“I will walk among you and be your God, any you shall be My people.” This is the relationship God wants with us. It makes sense seeing as He IS God and we are His creations. It’s like little kids playing house: the boy is always daddy and the girl is mommy. But sometimes we want to change to order. How do we do that? We play God when we take definite control of our lives. Proverbs 16:3 sys to submit our plans to God. Verse 3 in today’s text says, “If you walk in My statutes and My commandments and perform them, then I will…” When we submit to God, there are blessings. But when we take everything into our hands, we don’t allow God to be God. In all He does, God wants to be glorified as God.

What's The Difference

Ephesians 4:17-24

People should be able to distinguish us from unbelievers. Verse 17 says not to walk as the rest of the gentiles walk. We know the truth and the truth has set us free from sin. Why do we go back? God’s Word says that greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world. Is that proven through our lives? We have the ability to resist sin. We are a new creation. Why do we still sin? Sin, by its very nature separates us from God (not God from us) and we become vulnerable to attacks from the devil. Don’t make it a new year’s resolution to resist sin. God’s grace is sufficient for us and so we can live righteously.

Righteousness and Wickedness

Proverbs 11:1-12

This passage shows the signs and symptoms of a righteous person. A righteous person does right by his peers. He/she is truthful, honest, and humble. As a result he/she is delivered, rescued, prosperous and well loved. We are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. We should live out these characteristics more than anyone else. “The righteousness of the blameless will direct his way aright, but the wicked will fall by his own wickedness…. The righteous is delivered from trouble.” Just as God did not leave us to be righteous on our own, He provides a way for us to live a righteous life. He sent us His Spirit to guide us in all righteousness.

Faithful With the Little Things

Luke 16:10-15

Who do you trust? Why do you trust them? Perhaps you told them a little secret and they kept it. Or maybe you loaned them a little bit of money and they paid it back. The thing is you trust them because they were faithful with the little things. God wants to trust you with so much, but first He will give you a little. When you look at the parable of the talents, that who were faithful were given more. If you ask any successful pastor, (s)he’ll tell you that they worked just as hard for a ten person congregation as they would have with a ten thousand person church. Perhaps you have an ability to talk to people. Maybe people just open up to you. Maybe you have an ability to work with kids. Use your gifts and be faithful because then God will multiply it. “He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much.”

God's Promises

Exodus 34:1-10

God is a good God. We see so much evidence in the bible of times God makes promises to His people and kept them. “Behold, I make a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation; and all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the LORD. For it is an awesome thing that I will do with you.” We know God keeps His promises; He kept them to the people of Israel and if we earnestly seek Him, He will perform mighty acts in and through us. After all, He is the God who sent Jesus after many centuries of prophecy. If He kept that promise to mankind, He will continue to prosper us and heal us because we are His children. Just ask.

Getting God's Goodness

Zechariah 8:14-17

Do you believe God wants to bless you or punish you? Sometimes we do things that are wrong and we figure God wants to punish us. It’s easy to make that mistake…God punished the children of Israel for sinning all the time, right? No. God punished the people of Israel for unrepentance. Every time the people cried out to God in repentance, God rolled back their sentences. If we look at the time of Zechariah’s prophecies, we see that he was prophesying to a people that had just repented from their sins and were restored to their land. God’s Word today is now that His people have repented, He is determined to do them good. What is it you feel will make God want to punish you? Repent today because God will forgive, and you will feel His goodness beginning to work in your life.

Good Money

Leviticus 19:35-37

When I ask my friends what they want to do, a lot of them are going to business. I can see why so many people like the business field: It offers good money to those willing to get it. The thing is it doesn’t matter what field you go into: God’s Word still applies: Make honest money. It is important to talk about it now because teenagers make decision about their character now, not in the future. God commands us to be honest. You hear stories of con artists and CEOs committing fraud and it might look enticing, but stand firm. Verse 37 says, “Therefore you shall observe all My statues and all My judgments and perform them: I am the Lord.” God’s Word is first and He says to be honest in dealing with money.

On Issues Of Character

Psalm 119:25-32

“Remove from me the way of lying and grant me Your law graciously.” The way of lying is a character that lies. The psalmist asks God to remove the way of lying from him. He wants his character to be truthful and trustworthy and you know what? God will answer that prayer. His grace abounds in us for every good work (2 Corinthians 9:8). God works in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13). We can ask Him to work in us so our character proves we are Christians. You see, the beauty of having character is people know they can trust you. When people know you stand for things, they respect you. The nature of human beings is sinful and depraved, but in Christ is a new creation. What will our character say about us?

Love in Words

1 Peter 2:18-25

Yesterday, I was listening to a sermon that talked about a defense attitude. The preacher said that the sign of a Christian is one whose first instinct is not to defend him/herself at the expense of another/ Today’s passage enforces that. If when we are persecuted, we fight back, we are no different from the world. We are not following the example of Jesus who was abused and remained quiet. He was slandered and He never said a word against anyone. The sign of a Christian is one whose first instinct is to love, especially with words. Imagine the testimony we live if we face adverse situations and bless those who curse us? In the words of Pastor Jeremy Pearson, it doesn’t make sense. God doesn’t make sense, but you know He’s right.

Faithful God

Genesis 40:12-23

How would you feel? Imagine you were sold by your brothers, falsely accused and thrown to jail. Then when you had a chance to get released, your friend forgot you. What would that do to your faith? People will disappoint you. Perhaps somebody you trusted already let you down. They are only human. But guess who will never let you down…Jesus. He promised never to forsake us. If you read the story of Joseph, you’ll find out that God set up the scenario that not only did Joseph get released…He got promoted. He became the second most powerful man in the country and he saved a kingdom from famine. Only God ca do that. That’s why we rely on him. He promised to work ALL things together for the good of those who love Him. He promised never to leave or forsake us. And He said His promises will not return to Him void. That’s a God we can trust. He is the most powerful force in the world and if He says He will do something, what can stop Him?

Living Faith

James 2:14-20

It’s easy to say, “I have faith.” it’s just three words and they mean nothing without works. When we became saved, we had to confess; we had to act on our belief in Christ. The same applies throughout our Christian life. Our faith is shown by what we do. When we say we have faith and run scared at every trial, what do we get by that? Hebrews 11:1 tells us that faith, not words, please God. The dictionary may classify faith as a noun, but for the Christian it’s a verb. Faith is an action that should be seen repetitively. When we pray, we pray in faith and then live with an expectation that we have what we asked. When we are faced with decisions, our choice should represent that we believe God. We shouldn’t have to tell people we have faith. They should see it in us.