IF GOD'S NOT IN YOUR LIFE

Romans 1:25-27
Instead of believing what they
knew was the truth about God,
they deliberately chose to believe lies.
So they worshiped the things God made
but not the Creator himself,
who is to be praised forever. Amen.
That is why God abandoned them
to their shameful desires.
Even the women turned against
the natural way to have sex and
instead indulged in sex with each other.
And the men, instead of having
normal sexual relationships with women,
burned with lust for each other.
Men did shameful things with other men and,
as a result, suffered within themselves
the penalty they so richly deserved.



I read about a small weekly newspaper that was having a tough time filling one of their weekly columns. The senior editor had his compositor set up the Ten Commandments, and the newspaper ran them without making any editorial comments. Three days after that paper was released, the senior editor received a letter saying, “Please cancel my subscription. Your newspaper is getting too personal.” When the Word of God is no longer accepted as the very voice of God that corrects man, we come to believe that we can run our own affairs without God’s divine guidance. We say to God, “Mind your own business.” George Washington wrote, “It is impossible to rightly govern without God and the Bible.” Telling God to mind His own business is a really bad idea. Instead, acknowledge that He is in control of your life and accept that He can bless your life.

SLAVES OF SIN

John 8:34
I assure you that everyone
who sins is a slave of sin.



On June 22, 1772, Lord Mansfield, the chief justice of the King’s Bench, handed down the famous decision that effectively abolished slavery from the soil of the British Isles. The decision, however, did not impact slavery conducted in Britain’s colonies. It wasn’t until 1833 when William Wilberforce (who had been deeply influenced by John Newton, the composer of the famed hymn Amazing Grace) succeeded in getting Parliament to ban the slave trade and abolish slavery throughout the entire British Empire. It’s only through the amazing grace of God that we can be free because true slavery is not physical, but spiritual. When a wretch can be lost, but then found and freed from slavery of sin, it's truly supernatural. That freedom is yours is to be had, but you’ll have to accept the gift of Christ to gain it.

FINDING ACCEPTANCE

Ephesians 1:6
To the praise of
the glory of his grace,
wherein he hath made us
accepted in the beloved.



One of the greatest challenges facing a young person is acceptance. It’s the reason why people choose to be part of organizations, brotherhoods, fraternities, etc. People always long in our hearts to be a part of something because we were designed by God to desire being a part of something bigger. We were created to be a part of Him and His body of believers. The enemy tricked Adam and Eve and successfully separated man from God. That’s why the beloved Son came to earth to reconcile us with God. Romans 5:10 says, “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” Come to God, you’ll always find acceptance in Him.

CHANGE THE WORLD

Luke 22:26
Those who are the greatest
should take the lowest rank,
and the leader
should be like a servant.



Translator Doug Meland and his wife worked as missionaries to a village of Brazil’s Fulnio Indians. At the outset, the Fulnio received the Melands negatively and insultingly called Doug, “The White Man.” They had experienced other white men before that had burned down their homes and stolen their land. Nevertheless, the Melands stayed focused, learned the Fulnio language and began to help the villagers with medicines and new techniques. When the Fulnio began to see that the Melands had only good intentions, they began calling Doug, “The Respectable White Man.” The Melands even began adapting to the local customs of the people, and when that happened Doug became “The White Indian.” One day Doug was spotted washing the dirty, blood caked foot of an injured Fulnio boy and the villagers said, “Whoever heard of a white man washing an Indian’s foot?” From that day on, whenever Doug would go into a Fulnio home, he would be announced with, “Here comes the man God sent us.” Because the Melands chose to serve first, the people of a remote part of the world were changed. Servants really can change the world. If you serve with a true servants heart, you too can change the world.

REMAIN FOCUSED

Joshua 14:14
Hebron still belongs
to the descendants of Caleb
son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite
because he wholeheartedly
followed the LORD,
the God of Israel.



Of the 12 spies sent by Moses, it was only Caleb and Joshua that believed the Promised Land could be taken by the Israelites. The remaining ten were pessimistic and fearful because of the “giants” already living on the Promised Land. For being optimistic and faithful, Moses promised Caleb a mountain as an inheritance. When Caleb was eighty five years old, he told Joshua, "Now, as you can see, the Lord has kept me alive and well as he promised for all these forty-five years since Moses made this promise – even while Israel wandered in the wilderness. Today I am eighty-five years old. I am as strong now as I was when Moses sent me on that journey, and I can still travel and fight as well as I could then. So I'm asking you to give me the hill country that the Lord promised me.” (Joshua 14:10-12) Caleb's eyes were always focused on his prize, the promise of God. What's God’s promise to you? Have you set your eyes on your prize? It may take some faith, and others may not see what you see (in face, some may never see it), but God's promise and prize are completely worth your remaining focused.

EVERYTHING ELSE IS GARBAGE

Philippians 3:8
Yes, everything else is
worthless when compared with
the priceless gain of knowing
Christ Jesus my Lord.
I have discarded everything else,
counting it all as garbage,
so that I may have Christ.



What’s important to you? What keeps you going everyday? Is it money, power, maybe popularity? You'll have to settle the issue of "what’s really important" and believe me when I tell you that it’s not something you should decide upon haphazardly. You’ve got to give it some this some serious thought. Moses, who led a nation out of bondage and already had everything as a prince, chose the value system that's clearly described in Hebrews 11:26: “He thought it was better to suffer for the sake of the Messiah than to own the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to the great reward that God would give him.” Moses established his value system to be something that would be priceless and would last forever. You can make that same decision for yourself and guarantee your own great reward for your entire life and beyond. Choose wisely. It might cost you.

YOU GOTTA BE YOU

Hebrews 11:24
It was by faith that Moses,
when he grew up,
refused to be treated
as the son of Pharaoh's daughter.



You shouldn't try to be something or someone that you’re not because God created your life for a specific purpose and He's got a plan specifically designed for you. Despite being a prince of Egypt, Moses still knew who he was and He even "refused" to be called "Prince." Moses cut himself off from the promise of being the next Pharaoh because he refused to live a lie and he wanted to live out what God had purposed for his life. The world can offer you fame and fortune, but you'll likely never be satisfied with what the worldly glory. You’ve got to be yourself to find fulfillment. Remember that you belong to God and His purposes. Outside of His glory, your endeavors can't truly find fulfillment.

SIMPLE RULES

Psalm 116:6
The Lord protects
those of childlike faith.



Children are very trusting and in their innocence, they don't worry much about the ramifications of life. When they find themselves in need, the first people they run to are their parents. This is the type of behavior that our Father in heaven wants from us – to totally rely on Him and to run to Him with our needs. Matthew 18:4 says, “Therefore, anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.” There's really a lot to learn from kids. Author Robert Fulghum once said that, "Most of what I really need to know about how to live and what to do, and how to be, I learned in kindergarten. Like: Share everything. Play fair. Don't hit people. Put things back where you found them. Clean up your own mess. Don't take things that aren't yours. Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody. When you go out into the world, watch for traffic, hold hands, and stick together." These are such simple rules for living, right? Do the right thing and be childlike in your faith in Christ.

A BEAUTIFULLY LIMITED MIND

Proverbs 16:25
There is a path
before each person
that seems right,
but it ends in death.



Have you ever tried to do the right thing the wrong way? How would you even know if your choice were the right one? The best of intentions are usually at the heart of our decisions, but even with the best of intentions the results could end up being wrong. In 1912, one of the builders of the Titanic publicly said, “God Himself could not sink this ship.” Naively, the public believed that the ship was actually unsinkable and upon the Titanic's very first journey the captain had to give the order to abandon ship. 1,515 men, women, and children perished that day on a ship deemed unsinkable by man. Ultimately, we just can’t boast about the things we do and we’ve really got to acknowledge that man's minds are limited. Do you want to try to do the right thing the right way? A really good start would be to ask our all-knowing God what to do and then to read the Word for guidance.

HEIRS TO THE THRONE

James 5:5
You have spent your years
on earth in luxury,
satisfying your every whim.
Now your hearts
are nice and fat,
ready for the slaughter.



Luxury sometimes has a negative vibe to it because it gets identified with a lust for material things. It’s rumored that in 1887, the King of Siam spent $500,000 to build a bath at the Golden Temple of the Menam River for his ten-year-old son to take a single ritual bath. The structure was used that one time for the Prince of Siam and was never used again. The Temple of the Bath is surrounded by four smaller Pagodas, all encrusted with heavy plates of gold and gems. In the center is a fabulous marble and gold swimming pool where the solemn bath was taken. This is indeed luxurious living, but isn’t that how a king is supposed to live? The Bible teaches us in John 1:12 that we are children of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords if we receive Jesus. Upon receiving Christ, we become heirs to the luxuries of our Father, but in the meantime as you’re here on earth, be sure to share your blessings with your Christian siblings.

TAKING IT PERSONALLY

Psalm 28:7
The Lord is my strength,
my shield from every danger.
I trust in him with all my heart.
He helps me, and my heart
is filled with joy.
I burst out in
songs of thanksgiving.



In 1860, a huge crowd gathered to watch the famous tightrope walker, Blondin, walk across Niagara Falls. He had performed this stunt (a 1,000 foot walk, 160 feet above the raging falls) numerous times before. On a lark, he asked the crowd if they believed that he was capable of carrying a person on his back while walking the rope across the falls and the crowd roared their encouragement. Blondin then approached one of the roaring spectators and asked him to get on his back, but the man refused! You see, nothing’s real until things get personal and risks becomes mortally real. David, who was called "a man after God's own heart," could have given up on God’s promise that he’d become king because for nearly 20 years he was on the run from authorities. Well, that’s pretty personal now, isn’t it? David just kept on believing that God would be with him through his trials and that he would emerge victorious. David eventually emerge victorious and, amazingly, it's pretty personal when your victory becomes realized, too.

DESPITE WHO YOU ARE

John 15:16
You didn't choose me.
I chose you.



My wife once held a Sunday school children’s activity where kids would receive pieces of candy as a treat. The way the activity worked was that as the lesson was being taught, she had the kids pass a bag of candy around. Each child picked out one piece of candy without looking in the bag. One got a strawberry flavored candy, another picked out a piece of chocolate, while another selected a lollipop, and so on and so forth. There were some, however, that picked out sour balls and upon tasting the candy they'd quickly spit it out. At the core of the lesson, she asked the children, “If you were a piece of candy, do you think Jesus would think that you tasted sweet?” “Of course!” they all said. One child said, “We’d be too sweet to taste for Jesus!” Well, this is actually true. You see, it doesn’t matter if your life is sour, messed up, dirty or unwanted because Jesus loves you so much and he’s chosen you despite who you are because He wants your life to be renewed and lasting.

NO PAIN, TEARS, OR PROBLEMS

Hebrews 11:16
But they were looking for
a better place,
a heavenly homeland.
That is why God is not ashamed
to be called their God,
for he has prepared
a heavenly city for them.



Many people have excitedly emigrated to the United States to pursue their “American Dream,” and sometimes their excitement fades after just a few months when they have to deal with following thought: “This place is not what I expected.” God, however, promised us a place where there’ll be no pain, tears, or problems. The best thing about the Promised Land is that we'll be with Jesus our Savior forever. Jesus promised us in John 14:1-4, "Don't be troubled. You trust God, now trust in me. There are many rooms in my Father's home, and I am going to prepare a place for you. If this were not so, I would tell you plainly. When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. And you know where I am going and how to get there." Now while we're happily waiting for the day of Jesus' return, be content with what you have because our Promised Land is going to be just heavenly.

SERVICE ABOVE SELF

Matthew 20:26
It’s not going to be
that way with you.
Whoever wants to be great
must become a servant.



If you’ve ever been to a third world country, you might've noticed that the return policy for purchased items is very different when compared to developed countries. Generally speaking, you’re going to be scrutinized before you get your money back. That’s pretty different from the “no questions asked” policy that's typical in developed nations. General Norman Schwarzkopf once said, “When I began as a plebe, ‘Duty, Honor, Country’ was just a motto. In the Army, with its emphasis on rank and medals and efficiency reports, is the easiest institution in the world in which to get consumed with ambition. Some officers spend all their time currying favor and worrying about the next promotion — a miserable way to live. But West Point saved me from that by instilling the ideal of service above self to do my duty for my country even if it brought no gain at all. It gave me far more than a military career — it gave me a calling.” A billionaire was recently asked, “How did you become billionaire?” His reply? "Easy. I made my employees millionaires." If you serve first, you’ll finish first without worrying about the competition.

LIAR LIAR

Proverbs 12:19
Truth stands the test of time;
lies are soon exposed.



An African tribe discovered an effective test for finding criminals among their own. After a crime would be committed, all villagers would be questioned by the village witch doctor. If nobody confessed, key suspects would be gathered and made to watch a spear-tip heated until white-hot. These suspects would then be made to stick out their tongues to be touched by the glowing spear-tip. The witch doctors believed that only the lying tongue would be burned. Well, here's what would usually happen: the guilty person would run off into the jungle as the molten metal approached their open mouth. If no one ran away, the test still worked because as the hot spear approached, it would touch innocent tongues without effect while the guilty would scream in pain. Superstition? Not at all. Science has shown that normal tongues have enough moisture to prevent quick burns, but people under intense strains (such as guilt or apprehension) would generally have dry mouths. Since villagers trusted the test, the innocent would be relaxed, having moist mouths. A guilty mouth, however, would be dry as the spear approached, physically betraying the lying culprit. I guess Proverbs 12:19 was right, "lies are soon exposed."

JUST DO IT

Genesis 22:2
And he said,
Take now thy son,
thine only son Isaac,
whom thou lovest,
and get thee into
the land of Moriah;
and offer him there
for a burnt offering
upon one of the mountains
which I will tell thee of.



This is truly one of the most absurd commands that can be read from the Bible. God promised Abraham the greatest blessings and that he would be the father of many nations, but He wanted the only child given to Abraham offered as a sacrifice? Well, doesn’t that sound just outright ridiculous? Sir Leonard Wood visited France and when the French King learned that he was in the country he sent an invitation to Sir Leonard Wood to have dinner with him the next day. Sir Leonard went to the palace and the King greeted him in the hall saying, “Sir Leonard, I did not expect to see you because you did not answer my invitation.” Wood then expressed one of the choicest sentences of his life saying, “A king’s invitation is never to be answered, but to be obeyed.” Abraham showed the ultimate obedience to an extremely absurd command and God honored that obedience with the ultimate blessing to Abraham’s family. All you have to do is obey, even if it seems absurd.

CAN'T SELL IT OR BUY IT

John 14:1-3
Don’t be troubled.
You trust God,
now trust in me.
There are many rooms
in my Father's home,
and I am going to
prepare a place for you.
If this were not so,
I would tell you plainly.
When everything is ready,
I will come and get you,
so that you will always
be with me where I am.



While visiting Prussia, the French philosopher Voltaire ridiculed God by saying, “I’d sell my seat in heaven for a Prussian thaler (dollar).” A Christian responded quickly to the philosopher saying, “My dear sir, you are in Prussia where we have a law which says one who wishes to sell anything must prove ownership. Will you prove you have a seat in Heaven?” There are people that just have the sheer audacity to brag about what they have, what they can get and what they don't want. Not a single person, however, can buy their way into heaven because it’s not for sale - it’s free. All you've got to do is put your faith in Jesus, do His will and your seat in Heaven will be secure. Just don't try selling it for a Prussian thaler.

GONE AND FORGOTTEN

Ephesians 4:32
Instead, be kind to each other,
tenderhearted, forgiving one another,
just as God through Christ
has forgiven you.



There’s a grand sense of freedom once you’ve been forgiven for something that's been bothering you. Receiving forgiveness means that you've got a new beginning and a new hope. It means that the things of the past are swept away and all things become like new (2 Corinthians 5:17). I once read about a cemetery grave with an inscription on its headstone of the word, "Forgiven." There was no name, no date of birth or year of death. Just the single word, "Forgiven." That said, forgiveness from God is quite possibly the greatest thing that could ever happen to a person's life. Everything from your past would be gone and forgotten. You could start over fresh, clean and with a new life. You could utter the words, "I'm forgiven," without any hesitation or fear. You would feel the freedom of knowing that all of your sins have been washed away.

CORNERED IN

Exodus 14:11
Then they turned against Moses
and complained, "Why did you bring us
out here to die in the wilderness?
Weren't there enough graves for us
in Egypt? Why did you make us leave?”



As the Israelites were being led out of Egypt by Moses, they found themselves at a dead end and cornered in by the Red Sea to their front, mountains and wilderness to their left and to their right, and the ferocious soldiers of Egypt quickly closing in for the kill at their rear. They had reached a very real "dead end." Years ago, an S4 submarine was accidentally rammed by another ship and quickly sank. The entire crew was trapped in what looked to be their tomb. A rescue diver placed his helmeted ear to the side of the sunken vessel and heard someone tapping out a question in Morse code. The question came very slowly: “Is... there... any... hope?” If you read Exodus 14:2, you’ll see that it was God who led the Israelites to what appeared to be a supposed “dead end.” God’s words to Moses were, "Tell the people to march. Camp there along the shore, opposite Baal-zephon.” Baal-zephon means God’s hidden treasure. So what happened to the Israelites? In God's perfect time, they walked across a parted Red Sea on dry ground to safety. Just when they thought they were cornered in at a dead end, they were granted Baal-zephon. How do you react when you've been obedient to the Lord, but reach a dead end? Do you live like you've been cornered in or do you live like you're about to be blessed with Baal-zephon?

IT STARTS WITH TEMPTATION

1 Corinthians 10:13
But remember that the temptations
that come into your life
are no different from
what others experience.
And God is faithful.
He will keep the temptation
from becoming so strong
that you can't stand up against it.
When you are tempted,
he will show you a way out
so that you will not give in to it.



It's likely that many of the mistakes you’ll make in life will begin with temptation. Lies are usually at the source of temptation, so if you know the truth you probably won’t falter to the false temptations. It's pretty clear in James 1:13 when we learn, “Remember, no one who wants to do wrong should ever say, ‘God is tempting me.’ God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else either”. James 1:14 exposes the reason why we give in as we learn that, “Temptation comes from the lure of our own evil desires.” I recently learned that living along the banks of the Amazon River is a species of large and colorful spiders. When one of these creatures spreads itself out, it looks exactly like the blossom of a brilliant flower tempting bees and other insects to come upon it. The spider secretes a poison that drugs the tempted visitors and prepares them to be the spider’s next meal. If you don’t learn to identify sinful things that are tempting to you, you might find yourself just like an unsuspecting little bumble bee.

HARVEST TIME

2 Corinthians 9:10
For God is the one who gives seed
to the farmer and then bread to eat.
In the same way, he will give you
many opportunities to do good,
and he will produce a great harvest
of generosity in you.



One of our church members takes every opportunity to share the Word of God and the good news of Jesus with her co-workers by giving them Godly advice when they seek advice. She also manages to squeeze in a little prayer time for her co-workers during her lunch breaks. With these little actions she was able to plant the seedling of God’s Word in her colleague's hearts. For now, she is still sowing the seeds of Love, but later on her harvest time will come. Jesus taught us in Matthew 9:37-38 that, “The harvest is so great, but the workers are so few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send out more workers for his fields." If you want to reap a great harvest in your life, take the time to wisely share the Word of God with those around you. But always remember that to be a harvester for God, you’ve got to be working in His vineyard.

WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?

Luke 11:34
Your eye is a lamp for your body.
A pure eye lets sunshine into your soul.
But an evil eye shuts out the light
and plunges you into darkness.



Proverbs 20:12 teaches us that we have, "Ears to hear and eyes to see – both are gifts from the Lord." I once brought an elderly woman to an eye care center and it dawned on me that our eyes are some of the most incredible gifts from God to mankind. They were made to see the beauty of God’s creation and who He is. Now think about how often you use your eyes to see evil and to allow yourself to be enticed into that evil. How would you feel if you gave someone a gift that was later being used for something bad or, worse yet, for something evil? There’s a mythological tale about Zulcucus, the lawgiver of the Locrians, who had rendered a law that would punish adulterers by blinding the offender’s eyes. The first violator of the law, however, was Zulcucus' very own son. The loving and upright Zulcucus caused one of his son’s eyes to be put out, and then one of his own eyes, as well. Take care of your eyes and use them firstly for reading the Word. Use them to see the beauty of God and His creations. Use God's incredible gifts in a way that would make Him proud.

PARTNERSHIPS

Mark 6:7
And he called his twelve disciples
together and sent them out two by two,
with authority to cast out evil spirits.



God knows that the best way to go through life is with a partner. Spouses, good friends, or maybe even business partners make life's burdens easier to bear. Ecclesiastes 4:9 teaches us that, “Two people can accomplish more than twice as much as one; they get a better return for their labor.” Interestingly, even poor-sighted rhinos are blessed with partners. You see, a rhino’s back is typically infested with ticks, so a bird would ride on a rhino’s back while it also fed upon the ticks. In exchange for free housing and meals, the tickbird would alert the rhino if danger approached from a distance. The Bible teaches us about the best partner we can have in Hebrews 13:5, “Stay away from the love of money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, ‘I will never fail you. I will never forsake you.’” Make God your partner, He’s already got the vision for your life and He knows what’s coming your way.

SHINE ON

Matthew 5:16
In the same way,
let your good deeds
shine out for all to see,
so that everyone will
praise your heavenly Father.



There's a story that was told to me about about a sick passenger traveling to India by ship. From his cabin down below, the sickly man heard someone yell out, “Man overboard!” Because he was sick and weak, he wasn’t able to go on deck to help, but he took his cabin light and held it near the window so that it might shine on the open water. A little while after, he heard relieved men yelling, “It’s all right. He’s safe.” The next day the sickly passenger was told that it was his timely little lamp that provided the only light on the water that helped the fallen man to see the safety rope that was thrown to him. Always take the opportunity to let your little light shine on because a little thing can be a big thing whenever God gets involved.

DIVORCE

1 John 5:18
We know that those who have
become part of God's family
do not make a practice of sinning,
for God's Son holds them securely,
and the evil one cannot
get his hands on them.



Have you ever heard of any newlyweds that take the time to plan for a future divorce while on their honeymoon? Me neither. Typical newlyweds talk about the future, how many kids to have and when (or sometime if) they want to have a baby. Honeymoons are about celebrating the promise of the future. They are about making plans to build a strong, loving, caring and beautiful family. They're rarely ever about planning to have a broken family. So for that matter, where did divorce come from? In the book of Matthew, the Pharisees asked Jesus about divorce and why God allowed for it. Jesus responded in Matthew 19:8 by saying that, "Moses permitted divorce as a concession to your hard-hearted wickedness, but it was not what God had originally intended.” Divorce is not part of God’s plan. It’s a result of the free will of man. The solution to avoid divorce is to make your family a family of God. Be a part of the family of God and your family will be secure in His hands.