God's Word

Comment

Comment by Ruth McD on May 7, 2011 at 9:40am

A Mother's Day Story

A woman once fretted over the usefulness of her life. She feared she was wasting her potential being a devoted wife and mother. She wondered if the time and energy she invested in her husband and children would make a difference. At times she got discouraged because so much of what she did seemed to go unnoticed and unappreciated.

It was during these moment of questioning that she heard the still, small voice of her heavenly Father speak to her heart.

You are a wife and mother because that is what I have called you to be. Much of what you do is hidden from the public eye but I notice. Most of what you give is done without remuneration. But I am your reward.

And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ. Colossians 3:23-24

Comment by Ruth McD on May 5, 2011 at 9:06am

Romans 6:6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;

vs7 for he who has died is freed from sin.

The power and penalty of sin dies with Christ on the cross. Though our body willingly cooperates with our sinful nature, we must not regard the body as evil. It is the sin in us that is evil. And it is this power of sin at work in our body that is defeated. We will still feel like sinning, and sometimes we will sin. The difference is that before we were saved we were slaves to our sinful nature, but now we can choose to live for Christ (Galations 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.)

 

Comment by ALCEDES JONES on May 1, 2011 at 8:30pm

Great post my sister, we need to get our weak brothers and sisters to overcome the lies of satan LOVE YOU MUCH THROUGH THE LOVE OF CHRIST JESUS

Comment by Ruth McD on May 1, 2011 at 10:44am

2 Peter 3:11 Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness.

Realizing that the earth is going to be burned up, we should put our confidence in what is lasting and eternal and not be bound to earth and its treasures or pursuits. Do you spend more of your time piling up possessions, or striving to develop.

Comment by Ruth McD on April 28, 2011 at 9:38am

Psalms 18:30 What a God He is! How perfect in every way! All His promises prove true. He is a shield for everyone who hides behind Him.

Comment by ALCEDES JONES on April 27, 2011 at 9:36pm

Is God Sending You a Wake-up Call?
Understanding Why Bad Things Happen to Good People

From Jack Zavada

"Is God Sending You a Wake-up Call?" Photo: © Getty Images / Leukos
Sponsored Links

Bad things happen to good people, and most of the time we can't figure out why.

Once we understand that as believers, we have been saved from our sins through the death of Jesus Christ, we can rule out the possibility that God is punishing us. We are his redeemed children now and no longer subject to his punishment.

However, there's another possibility we rarely consider. Maybe God is sending us a wake-up call.
"Why did God allow this?"
When personal tragedy hits, we can be sure a good God doesn't cause it, but he does allow it to happen. We wonder, "Why did God allow this?"

That's exactly the question God wants us to ask.

After our salvation, God's second goal for our life is to conform us to the character of his son, Jesus Christ. We all stray off that path sometimes.

We can stray through complacency, through busyness, or simply because we believe we're already "good enough." After all, we're saved. We know we can't get to heaven by doing good works, so nothing more is required of us, we reason.

As a human rationalization, that seems to make sense, but it doesn't satisfy God. God has higher standards for us as Christians. He wants us to be like Jesus.
"But I wasn't sinning ..."
When something bad happens, our gut reaction is to protest the unfairness of it. We can't think of anything we did to deserve it, and doesn't the Bible say God protects believers?

Certainly our salvation is secure, but we see from Bible figures like Job and Paul that our health or finances may not be, and we learn from Stephen and the other martyrs that our life may not be safe either.

We need to dig deeper. Were we engaging in a reckless, unhealthy lifestyle, even if what we were doing wasn't technically sinful? Were we being unwise stewards with our money or talents? Have we been excusing wrong behavior because everybody else is doing it?

Had we let Jesus Christ become an afterthought, something we attended to on Sunday morning but pushed down on our priority list the rest of the week, behind our job, our recreation or even our family?

These are hard questions to ask because we thought we were doing fine. We thought we were obeying God to the best of our ability. Wouldn't a simple tap on the shoulder have been sufficient, instead of the pain we're going through?

Except we tend to shrug off taps on the shoulder. It's likely we received several and ignored them. Most of the time it takes something truly miserable to get our attention and wake us up.
"I'm awake! I'm awake!"

Nothing makes us ask questions like suffering. When we're finally humble enough for honest introspection, the answers come.

To get those answers, we pray. We read the Bible. We meditate on our wake-up call. We have long, thoughtful conversations with our godly friends. God rewards our sincerity by giving us wisdom and understanding.

Gradually we discover how we need to clean up our act. We realize where we were deficient or even dangerous and are shocked we didn't see it before. As bad as our wake-up call was, it still rescued us in time. With relief and thanksgiving, we sense that things could have turned out much worse if God had not allowed this event to bring us to a complete halt.

Then we ask God to help us put our life back together and learn the lesson he intended from the experience. Confessing our anger and hurt, we resolve to be more vigilant from now on so no more wake-up calls are needed.
Seeing Your Wake-Up Call Accurately
The Christian life isn't always pleasant, and anyone who has been at it for several decades can tell you that we learn the most about God and ourselves during our valley experiences, not on the mountaintops.

That's why it's important to recognize your wake-up call as a learning experience and not as punishment. That becomes clear when you remember that God is motivated by love and has tremendous concern for you.

Correction is needed when you get off course. A wake-up call forces you to rethink your priorities. It reminds you what really matters in life.

God loves you so much he takes a constant, personal interest in your life. He wants to keep you close to him, so close that you talk with him and depend on him all through your day, every day. And isn't that the kind of heavenly father you long for?

Jack Zavada, a career writer and guest contributor for About.com, is host to a Christian website for singles. Never married, Jack feels that the hard-won lessons he has learned may help other Christian singles make sense of their lives. His articles and ebooks offer great hope and encouragement. To contact him or for more information, visit Jack's Bio Page.

Comment by ALCEDES JONES on April 27, 2011 at 8:57pm

TRUE TRUE O SO TRUE TO ALL THAT YOU POSTED,O WHAT AN AWESOME HEAVENLY FATHER WE HAVE AND A GREAT BIG BROTHER WHO IS TELLING DADDY WHY WE DO THE THINGS THAT WE DO LOVE YOU MUCH MY SISTER RUTH.

Comment by Ruth McD on April 25, 2011 at 10:01am

Philippians 2:3 Don't be selfish; don't try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.

4 Don't look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in

  others, too.
5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
6 Though he was God,*
  he did not think of equality with God
  as something to cling to.
7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges*;
  he took the humble position of a slave*
  and was born as a human being.
  When he appeared in human form,*
8 He humbled himself in obedience to God
  and died a criminal's death on a cross.

Comment by Ruth McD on April 23, 2011 at 6:21pm

HAPPY EASTER!

Comment by Ruth McD on April 23, 2011 at 10:18am

Leviticus 3:24 "The Lord is my portion", says my soul, "Therefore I have hope in Him".

 

Hope in and wait for the Lord because often God uses waiting to refresh, renew, and teach us. Make good use of your waiting times by discovering what God may be trying to teach you in them!

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• …
• 97
• 98
• 99
• 100
• 101
• Next ›
• Page