DON’T BE A GRUMBLER

DON’T BE A GRUMBLER                                   Tuesday - August 31, 2010

“These men are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.” – Jude 1:16

The London Telegram newspaper compiled a listing of the 20 ridiculous complaints made by holidaymakers (those on vacation). It is a listing of true complaints made to hotels throughout the world. Here are some of the most noteworthy complaints:
"The beach was too sandy."
"We found the sand was not like the sand in the brochure. Your brochure shows the sand as yellow but it was white."
"I was bitten by a mosquito - no-one said they could bite."
"We booked an excursion to a water park but no-one told us we had to bring our swimming suits and towels."
"No-one told us there would be fish in the sea. The children were startled."
"It took us nine hours to fly home from Jamaica to England it only took the Americans three hours to get home."
A guest at a Novotel in Australia complained his soup was too thick and strong. He was inadvertently slurping the gravy at the time.

Grumbling begets grumbling. When we complain we are only practicing for our next complaint. Today in prayer, confess any constant grumbling in your own life and seek to find peace in Jesus Christ. 

“Some people are always grumbling because roses have thorns; I am thankful that thorns have roses.” – Alphonse Karr

God’s Word: “Don't grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!” – James 5:9 

What's Your Attitude Towards Your Child?

What's Your Attitude Towards Your Child?

...When he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion [on him]... Luke 15:20

Chuck Colson writes, 'When I was at Buckingham Palace... Prince Philip asked me, "What can we do about crime here in England?" I replied, "Send more children to Sunday school." He thought I was joking. But I pointed out a study by sociologist Christy Davies, which found that in the first half of the 1800s British society was marked by high levels of crime and violence, which dropped dramatically in the late 1800s and early 1900s. What changed an entire nation's national character? Throughout that period attendance at Sunday schools rose steadily until by 1888, a full 75 per cent of children in England were enrolled. Since then attendance has fallen off... with a corresponding increase in crime and disorder. If we fill the Sunday schools we can change hearts and restore society.' Does that mean our children will never lose their way? No, it just means they'll realise the truth of what they were taught, recall the joys of being in 'Father's house', and return because they know they'll be welcomed back. You'll notice, no charge of parental neglect is laid at the doorstep of the prodigal's father. He was a great role model. He supported his children financially and emotionally. He guided them without forcing them to conform. He gave them room to fail - and a place to return. What does reflect on us as parents, however, is our attitude towards them. Your child may be 'a great way off', but they need to know you care, that you love and pray for them, and that you'll welcome them home.

Our Help

Our Help

Then she came and worshipped Him, saying, "Lord, help me!"
Matthew 15:25

Recommended Reading
Psalm 121

Earlier this year, a black bear in Vermont got into trouble. He was nosing around where he shouldn't and got his head stuck in an old-fashioned milk can. He lumbered around for hours bumping into trees and boulders before being spotted near the highway to Reading. It took quite a while for biologists, firefighters, and police to figure out how to help him. They used soap to lubricate his head, but that didn't work. Finally they managed to cut the can off his head.

It happens to all of us from time to time. But we have a God who is a very present help in trouble (Psalm 46:1). He is our help and our shield (Psalm 33:20). Our help comes from the One who made heaven and earth (Psalm 121:2). When we pray, we're coming to the throne of grace to obtain mercy and grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16). "Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God" (Psalm 146:5, emphasis added).

O God our help in ages past, our hope for years to come....
Isaac Watts

BEWARE OF CHARLATANS!

BEWARE OF CHARLATANS!                                   Monday - August 30, 2010

“For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.” – Jude 1:4

One night in 1973, José Luis de Jesús Miranda awoke and claims to have had a vision of two hulking men at his bedside that announced the arrival of the Lord, who, said Miranda, "came to me and integrated with me." 
In 1986, the Puerto Rican native founded the Growing in Grace International Ministry in Miami, Florida. In 2005, at Growing in Grace's world convention in Venezuela, Miranda declared himself Christ. He has now called himself the Antichrist and revealed a "666" tattooed on his forearm. Miranda’s explanation: that, as the second coming of Christ, he rejects the continued worship of Jesus of Nazareth.
Miranda preaches to followers in more than 35 nations, mostly in Latin America, and has nearly 300 radio programs and a 24-hour Spanish-language TV network. 
In interviews, comparing himself to Jesus Christ, Miranda has said: “I am greater than him . . . I teach better than him . . . I won’t die. Even if you tried to kill me! I will be president of the biggest government that this earth has experienced. I’m going to change the whole world.”

There is only one Lord Jesus Christ. Everyone else is an imposter leading people astray. Today in prayer, thank the Lord that as we study the Bible, we get to know better the only true God, Jesus Christ.  

“By entertaining of strange persons, men sometimes entertain angels unawares: but by entertaining strange doctrines, many have entertained devils unawares.” – John Flavel

God’s Word: “They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.” – Titus 1:16

Make Giving a Lifestyle

Make Giving a Lifestyle

...God loves a person who gives cheerfully. 2 Corinthians 9:7

A child who had just learned to tie his shoelaces was crying, so his mum asked, 'Is it that hard?' 'No,' he sobbed, 'but now I'll have to do it for the rest of my life!' Is that how you feel about giving? You want to learn, but you're not sure that you want to make it a lifestyle? Some swallows were teaching their young to fly from a branch overhanging a lake. One by one the mother bird pushed each of her chicks to the end, until somewhere between the branch and the water they discovered they could fly. Their mother understood what they didn't: until you learn to fly you're not really living! Understand this: giving is an action built into us by God; it's the air into which we were born. But until you realise that, you'll cling to everything you have! The Bible says, '...Whoever sows generously will also reap generously' (2 Corinthians 9:6 NIV). Everything in life begins with a seed. Your seed is anything that can multiply: your love, your time or your money. Your harvest is what comes back to you in benefits such as joy, good relationships, and - yes - finances. If what you have is not enough to be a harvest, sow it as a seed, believing God will multiply it back to you in the areas you need it most. Go ahead, you'll love the results! Giving is like flying. When you learn to let go of what you're clinging to and launch out, you will realise, 'This is how I was born to live!'

Commanded Blessings

"If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all His commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God"
(Deuteronomy 28:1-2, NIV)

There is a blessing that God has for every one of His children that will cause you to rise out of lack into abundance! It will take you from barely getting by to living in overflow. It brings supernatural increase! We were never created to drag through life constantly struggling. If we're going to receive His blessings, we have to come into agreement with His Word in our minds, hearts and actions.

This commanded blessing is found in Deuteronomy 28. It tells us that if we will live a life that honors God and obey His Word, then all these blessings will chase us down and overtake us. It says that you will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country. God will open up to you His good treasury and cause you to lend and not borrow. He will make you plenteous in goods and give you a surplus of increase.

Today, let this truth sink down into your spirit: the Creator of the universe has commanded blessing upon you. Receive it today and choose to walk in complete obedience to Him!

Father God, thank You for Your commanded blessing. I receive Your truth today which sets me free. Help me, by Your Spirit, to follow Your commands so that I may live a life that is pleasing to You. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

You Have the Power, So Use It!

You Have the Power, So Use It!

...you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you... Acts 1:8

When Ray and Dorothy Buker went to Burma in 1926, there were other missionaries there. These missionaries had established their own banking system and afternoon tea routine, complete with trained butlers, none of which fitted Buker's concept of preaching the gospel. A former Olympian, accustomed to hardship, he wanted to go where others wouldn't, and that brought him north into China. When his wife suffered a nervous breakdown and help wasn't available, Buker prayed, read to her, and nursed her back to health. During World War II he fled for his life from the Japanese army, and when he died at 92 he left a legacy of souls won to Christ. Where did Buker get his grit and tenacity? Jesus said, 'When the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you will receive power to preach with great effect.' During the early days of computers, when the power went out, if you hadn't saved your work you lost it. Now an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) stops that from happening. God never intended us to operate using the world's system, because His Spirit gives us the power to do five things. First, we are given the power to choose, by keeping us 'established... [strong in... purpose]... having control over [our]... will and desire...' (1 Corinthians 7:37 AMP) Second, we have the power to endure. Handling trials with grace proves that 'our... power is from God, not from ourselves' (2 Corinthians 4:7 NLT) Third we are given the power to overcome: 'We are weak... but... we... live... by the power of God' (2 Corinthians 13:4 RSV) Fourth, we are given the power to minister: 'According to the... working of his power' (Ephesians 3:7 RSV) Finally, we have the power to witness: 'For the kingdom of God depends not on talk but on power' (1 Corinthians 4:20 RSV). You have the power, so use it!

Bible Bad Boys: Saul of Tarsus--Redemption Personified

Bible Bad Boys: Saul of Tarsus--Redemption Personified

Now Saul was consenting to [Stephen's] death.
Acts 8:1a

Recommended Reading
Acts 9:1-19

When we read the stories of bad men gone good--like the English slave trader, John Newton, or the New York street gang leader, Nicky Cruz, who both became champions for Christ--we are amazed. But we are amazed because we think bad men just decided to be good, that it was their idea, accomplished in their own strength. Nothing could be further from the truth--and one of the "baddest" boys in the Bible, Saul of Tarsus, proves the point.

Before he became the apostle Paul, Saul of Tarsus had a warped sense of morality. He was an Old Testament scholar who thought that killing innocent people (followers of Jesus) was pleasing to God. Saul's life was changed over a three-day period following a radical confrontation with the same Jesus he was persecuting. Blind during that period, he spent 72 hours considering the fact that the Jesus he hated had just called him into His service (Acts 9:18-20). Saul was supernaturally redeemed, and it wasn't his idea.

You may not have led a life of crime before being saved, but the idea for your redemption came from the same source as John Newton's, Nicky Cruz's, and Saul's: It came from Jesus.

No creature that deserved redemption would need to be redeemed. They that are whole need not a physician.
C. S. Lewis

Work on Your Attitude!

Work on Your Attitude!

...the Lord's unfailing love surrounds the man who trusts in him. Psalm 32:10

The most important choice you make each day is your choice of an attitude. So choose, first, an attitude of thanksgiving. 'In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God... for you' (1 Thessalonians 5:18 NKJV). Paul was in prison when he wrote those words, so his attitude wasn't based on his surroundings; it was a choice he made. Second, choose an attitude of trust. '...the Lord's unfailing love surrounds the man who trusts in him.' Where does such trust come from? Feeding daily on God's Word! Nehemiah's wall-builders were surrounded by enemies, yet they were able to 'celebrate... because they understood the words which had been made known to them' (Nehemiah 8:12 NAS). God's Word gives you confidence! Satan doesn't fear your sin; he knows God can forgive it. He doesn't fear your depression; he knows God can drive it away. He doesn't fear your lack; he knows God can provide. He fears your discovery of God's Word, because your ignorance of it is the most effective weapon he can use against you. Finally, choose an attitude of love. 'These things I have spoken to you... that your joy may be full. This is My commandment, that you love one another...' (John 15:11-12 NKJV). Love says, 'I accept you as you are, care when you hurt, desire only what's best for you, and erase all offences.' It refuses to look for ways to run, and opts for working things through. It's resilient. While the world around gives the opposite advice, love stands firm.

When Less Is More

When Less Is More

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:13

Recommended Reading
Romans 5:3-5
"Less" plays a significant role in our lives. On the one hand, it's good to be fearless, ceaseless, ageless, cordless, errorless, guiltless, painless, and odorless. On the other hand, we don't want to be jobless, friendless, homeless, penniless, fruitless, shiftless, spineless, aimless, careless, feckless, or lifeless--especially lifeless! But of all the things we don't want to have less of, none is as important as hope. We definitely need to have less hopelessness.

In Romans 5:3-5 the apostle Paul had a way of explaining why hope is an ultimate value to grasp in life. And how it derives from an unlikely source: tribulations. "Tribulation," he wrote, "produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us." When we lose hope in the face of tribulation, it means we have lost sight of God's love that was poured out in our heart. And to lose touch with God's love--to be loveless--is to lose touch with the greatest thing of all (1 Corinthians 13:13).

Hope, then, is a measure of our realization of God's love. Grasp His love today, and you will grasp hope as well!

Christianity knows nothing of hopeless cases.
Alexander Maclaren