February 12th
“For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them.”
Luke 6:32
Hate is never justified! Even when we believe the person deserves to be hated. It’s easy to justify ourselves that somebody should be hated for what they did to us or to somebody we love. Or that the evil they produce justifies that hatred. But hate only leads deeper into sin, it will eventually corrupt our mind and pull us away from the Lord. It ultimately leads to vengeance which the Lord commands us not to do. For the Lord said; “Vengeance is mine saith the Lord, I will repay.” We cannot serve the Lord and have our heart filled with hate and vengeance. We are called to produce the fruit of the spirit in our lives, which can only be accomplished by the Spirit of God. In Galatians 5:22-23, (love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance) is what the spirit produces. Hate and vengeance is not listed. Lord help us to obey your commands in our lives every day.
February 11th
“God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom”
Daniel 1:17 in part
God gives us many gifts in our life. Health, the ability to create, the desire to explore and many others. Do we ever think of the skills we have and the knowledge and ability to learn as gifts from God. Look at the athletes, some at the top of their game. Currently the best there is, these also are gifts from God. These gifts make it possible for us to do all kinds of things, including becoming wealthy. Becoming the best in different areas of skills. Building skyscrapers, cars, going to the moon, cell phones , large screen televisions, medical equipment and learning. These are all skills and abilities that God has given to us. We have to develop these skills, but they are part of what God has created in us.
“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. 6But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. 7For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the LORD.
James 1:5-7
For many of these things we must ask God. And of all of these the most important is the ability to know and understand our Lord and Saviour. He is revealed to us as we study the “Word of God” and ask in faith. For God will not turn any away that seek Him. Seek the best gift of all, to know and serve the Lord Jesus Christ.
February 10th
“But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.”
Romans 5:15
Salvation is a gift, we can’t buy it, we can’t earn it, we don’t deserve it! It is a free gift. God gives it to those who don’t deserve it and are unworthy of it, when they ask for it. How about you? Are you an unworthy sinner who has asked God for this free gift? Millions have asked for it and have received this free gift. How about you?
February 9th
““Fair weather cometh out of the north: with God is terrible majesty.”
Job 37:22
And so do storms! Fair weather is preceded by a storm and so are testing’s. God allows testing’s into our lives and they are like storms. When we are tested and the testing is over blessings will surely follow. The greater the testing the greater the blessing.
February 8th
“They have not cried unto me with their heart, when they howled upon their beds.”
We may cry unto the Lord trying to make ourselves look good to others, but it better be sincerity of our heart. King Saul was more concerned about how he looked to others and less concerned about his heart before the Lord. King David was not concerned about what others thought of himself. To him he spilled his heart out to the Lord in sincerity and his sins were forgiven. If our heart is not truly repentant before the Lord, He will not hear our confession and forgive us. A contrite heart before the Lord is more valuable than Gold. The Lord knows our heart, we cannot hide anything from His all seeing eye. So why not lay before Him our sins and confess with humility, He loves a humble heart, but hates and will not hear a proud heart.
February 7th
“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.”
Psalm 23:6
God works in mysterious ways to preform His will in this world. Many times we shake our head in wonder as we look around us. But God uses circumstances which we do not like, to draw us closer to Himself. Usually we do not know that it is Him working in us, however it is. We need to thank Him for where He has brought us and where He is taking us. For He is a good God and only desires the best for us.
February 6th
“If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.”
I Corinthians 15:19
“For the believer there is hope beyond the grave, because Jesus Christ has opened the door to heaven for us by His death and resurrection.” -Billy Graham
Having shown that Christ was risen, the apostle answers those who said there would be no resurrection. There had been no justification, or salvation, if Christ had not risen. And must not faith in Christ be vain, and of no use, if he is still among the dead? The proof of the resurrection of the body is the resurrection of our Lord. Even those who died in the faith, had perished in their sins, if Christ had not risen. All who believe in Christ, have hope in him, as a Redeemer; hope for redemption and salvation by him; but if there is no resurrection, or future recompence, their hope in him can only be as to this life. But it is not so; they, of all men, enjoy solid comforts amidst all their difficulties and trials, even in the times of the sharpest persecution–Matthew Henry
Believers are the only ones to have hope! For Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour has purchased our redemption. We have a future in the eternal ages whereas those who reject Christ have only a hopeless future. What kind of future do you want? One of eternal hopelessness! Or one of eternal Hope?
February 5th
I saw a video on Facebook of a man trying to help a young deer trapped in a ditch . It could not get out and as the man tried to help it, it ran away from him in fear trying to escape his grasp. It could not and skinned its knees as it tried and was becoming even more exhausted as it fought off the attempts to save it. Wouldn’t it have nice if the deer understood what the man was saying to it. If it had, hopefully it would have allowed the needed help, but that wasn’t possible for the deer couldn’t understand the man.
Now we know why God became flesh and was born a baby. He became flesh and spoke our language and lived as we did. To help Himself? No, to save us! For we are doomed to eternal death without Him. We are as helpless as that young deer and have no hope of ourselves. How do we know this? For the Word of God tells us!
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
February4th
“Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.”
Psalm 119:165
We think frustration is a problem caused by others or by circumstances, but it is not! Frustration is an internal problem, a problem within our heart. There is a cure for all frustration, anxiety, and fear in our lives. Yieldedness to God is the cure for all these internal problems. It seems to simple, it’s not, for it is attained through the internalizing of the Word of God into our hearts and lives. It’s amazing how all these disappear when our heart is attuned to our Lord and Saviour as we draw closer to Him through His Word.
February 3rd
“Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry; for anger resteth in the bosom of fools.”
“He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.”
Eccs. 7:9 and Proverbs 16:32
Anger destroys reason. When anger takes over reason is gone. You do not think correctly and are acting on nothing but emotions. When the emotion is anger and you lose control of your senses you are capable of doing almost anything.
How do we control our anger, I believe we don’t. For of ourselves when anger is under our control it simmers beneath the surface and when it does resurface it is like a volcano. The only way to control anger is for the Holy Spirit to control it. Which means we must remain under the control of the Spirit, stay in the Word of God, take time to pray and draw near to our Saviour. For when we drift from Him we are no longer under the control of the Holy Spirit and our anger is dependent upon our own strength. Those of us prone to this sin know that it is uncontrollable by us. For James chapter one verse twenty tells us;
“For the wrath (or anger) of man worketh not the righteousness of God.”
Our anger produces unrighteousness, the exact opposite of what we are to produce in our lives, and Psalm 103 verse eight for
“The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.”
When anger takes control we are not merciful, we are the exact opposite and we definitely are not gracious, and the Lord is all of these things and desires His children be of the same characteristics as He is.
So let us give our anger to the Lord, allow the Holy Spirit to control us and when we find anger flaring up in our lives we know that we are walking under our flesh’s control and need to repent…and use I John 1:9 to guide us.
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Let us allow the Holy Spirit control, and be conformed into the image of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
February 2nd
“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.”
II Corinthians 10:4
As we walk through life we need the spiritual weapons which God has given us to withstand the assaults’ of our enemy, satan. Armies fight with carnal weapons, weapons which have no ability to pull down the strongholds in the spiritual arena. Our lives are to be lived by the guidance and strength and power of the Holy Spirit.
Paul speaks as if he is leading an attack on strong defenses of the powers of the evil one. He did not rely on worldly learning or eloquence in speaking or any efforts of the flesh. Instead his weapons were “mighty through God. Our work is a spiritual warfare with spiritual enemies’, and for spiritual purposes. Physical force is not the method of the Gospel, nor strong persuasions by us. It is the power of truth ad the meekness of wisdom. Men’s conscience is accountable to God only, and people must be persuaded to God and not by force or intimidation.
Thus the weapons of our warfare are very powerful; the truth of the Gospel is convicting. Great and powerful opposition is made against the gospel, by the powers of sin and satan in the hearts of men, but our warfare is not against flesh and blood! But observe the conquest the word of God gains. The preaching of the cross, by men of faith and prayer, has always been fatal to the evil one. For through our spiritual weapons men and women are saved and will spend eternity with Christ our Lord. For the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God is powerful to the taking down of spiritual strongholds.
February 1st
“And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.”
Acts 15:8,9
What does the Spirit do? If we yield to the complete control of the Holy Spirit we will see a difference in our lives as well as those around us. According to Acts 15:8,9, He will purify our hearts.
“And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.”
Acts 4:31
In Acts 4:31, the Holy Spirit will give us courage. They were all filled with the Spirit and spake the word of God with boldness. Before Pentecost, Peter was afraid of a little maidservant and denied Jesus. After yielding to the Spirit he did not fear anybody or anything.
“And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.”
Acts 2:42
The Holy Spirit will also produce sound doctrine and unbroken fellowship. “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and in fellowship, .” (Acts 2:42)
“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
Acts 1:8
The Holy Spirit also gives power. “Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come unto you.” (Acts 1:8) Following the crucifixion the disciples were so fearful, powerless, and weak that they hid behind bolted doors for fear of the Jews. After Pentecost they went everywhere preaching the Gospel with the power of the Holy Spirit declaring to those that they had feared that they should obey God rather than men.
“Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.”
Ephesians 3:20-21
The words, “Unto him that is able,” remind us that our Christian weakness is not because of any inability or lack of power on the part of God. It is on our part. For He is abundantly able to do. For, “God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.” We need to simply place our faith in Him and believe and trust and live under the control of the Holy Spirit.