Category Archives: SURRENDER

I’M SOOOO SORRY.042015

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man lawn mowing1 Samuel 15:22-23: Samuel said, “Does the Lord delight as much in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the Lord? Surely, to obey is better than sacrifice, to pay attention is better than the fat of rams.  Indeed, rebellion is like witchcraft, and stubborn arrogance is idolatry. Because you have rejected this message from the Lord, he has rejected you from being king.”

This passage comes from the story of King Saul and the prophet Samuel, when God told Saul to take his army and kill all the Amalekites; man, woman and child; and destroy all the plunder, all the stuff they captured in the battle.  Turns out, Saul did not obey. He brought back the best of the sheep and cattle supposedly to sacrifice to the Lord; and he even failed to execute Agag, the king of the Amalekites.  God was very angry, so He sent Samuel to tell Saul what was going to happen. Continue reading →

WHO IS YOUR MASTER? 041815

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Business conceptMatthew 6:24 “Jesus: No one can serve two masters. If you try, you will wind up loving the first master and hating the second, or vice versa. People try to serve both God and money—but you can’t. You must choose one or the other.” (VOICE)  The old versions, like KJV, say “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” (Mammon = riches)

If you can’t serve both, then you must choose.  Or as I often say, “You get to choose.”  Do you want to serve money and stuff, or do you want to serve the Creator and Ruler of the Universe? Continue reading →

Don’t Make Me Leave You. 041715

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Young smiling woman with her teen daughterRuth 1:16-17: But Ruth said [to Naomi], “Don’t force me to leave you; don’t make me go home. Where you go, I go; and where you live, I’ll live. Your people are my people, your God is my god; where you die, I’ll die, and that’s where I’ll be buried, so help me God—not even death itself is going to come between us!” The Message

You probably heard this story, about Ruth and Naomi.  Naomi was from Israel, but because there was a famine, she and her husband and two sons moved to Moab, where the two sons married, one of them to Ruth, a girl from Moab.  Continue reading →

WHERE IS YOUR TREASURE? 041615

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Coin. Coin pyramid.“Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there your heart will be too.”  Matt 6:19-21

Le Christ du Corcovado et la Baie de RioSo I’ve got a few questions for you: 1] Where is your heart? 2] What do you treasure?  I mean, what do you really care about?  What do you focus your attention on? When you’re not really thinking about anything in particular, what does your mind keep coming back to?  If you had three wishes, what would you wish for?  Here’s another way to say it: What do you really love, with all your heart?

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THIS BOOK OF THE LAW.041415

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geneses oneIn Joshua 1:8, The LORD says to Joshua, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. ”

It’s a lot like Psalm 1:1-3, where David says, ” Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.  And he shall be like a tree planted by the river, his leaf will not wither, and whatever he does will prosper.” Continue reading →

RESISTING EVIL. 041315

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PICS 092114 094Matthew 5:38 [Jesus said] “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I tell you not to resist an evil person.”

Jesus says we’re not supposed to resist the evil person.  We’re supposed to give up, give in, let them have their way.  How can we possibly do that?  The only way we can even consider doing it is if we have truly surrendered to God and we have His Spirit in our hearts.  Then we can say, “Lord, I don’t like this, but I’m going to do what You say.  I’m going to be obedient.”  Why?  Because God really CAN do something about it.  He turns the world upside down every day, just to bring honor and glory to Him.  He can supernaturally intervene and change peoples’ lives, just because we surrender and obey.

It reminds me of Bobby Ray, a friend of mine in prison.  Bobby Ray leads a little Bible study out in the Rec Yard.  One day, he’s getting ready to have the Bible study, and this guy walks up to him and says, “You make me mad.  I’m going to whip your ‘rear’.”  Now Bobby Ray is a big guy, about 50 years old, maybe 6’2”, weigh about 250, not an ounce of fat on him. He says to himself, “I don’t have to take this kinda stuff off this guy.” Continue reading →

Works of Righteousness. 041215

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Ephesians 2.8In Ephesians 2:8-9: Paul says,“For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

And in his letter to Titus, in chapter 3, verse 5, Paul says again,  “ .  .  not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,”   Did you get that?  It is not by any works, not by any deeds we have done, or by any special actions we have taken, that God saves us.  Particularly not by “works of righteousness”, meaning good things we’ve done to make God like us. 

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THE PRESENT.041115

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Young woman happy smile hold gift box in hands,standing over grey backgroundIn 1 Thessalonians 5;16-18, Paul says, “Rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing, in all things give  thanks, for this is the Will of God in Christ Jesus for you!”

In Romans 8:28, Paul says, “All things work together for good to those who love the Lord, to those who are ‘the called’ according to His purpose.”

Someone said (I don’t know who), “Yesterday is history, tomorrow is mystery, today is all we have, it is God’s gift to us, that is the reason we call it THE PRESENT!

Peace and Grace from God to you! Tex

 

God Is Your Life. 040915

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Male hands with babyDeuteronomy 30:19-20:  “ . . . I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;  that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days.”  This passage is part of the renewal of the covenant that the Lord made with the people of Israel at Mount Horeb.  This comes at the end of Moses life, part of his Departing Address to the people, just before the Song of Moses that is recorded in Deut. 32. Continue reading →

Seek God With All Your Heart. 040815

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MeditationDeuteronomy 4:29-31:  If [even after worshipping idols] you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him, if you seek Him with all your heart and soul. When you are in distress, and all these things come upon you .  .  . when you turn to the Lord your God and obey His voice (for the Lord your God is a merciful God), He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them.

What does it mean, ‘With All Your Heart”?  Yes, I know, it means that you’re really serious; that you really want to have a relationship with God; that you want the benefits of having a close relationship with Him, because what you’ve been doing definitely isn’t working.

Sounds like, from the next sentence, that if you’re tired of going on without God, and you’ve done a whole lot of really stupid stuff, (like worshipping something besides God), and all these [bad] things come upon you .  .  . when you turn to the Lord your God and obey His voice.  .  .  God won’t forsake you or destroy you or forget the covenant He made with your fathers, because He is a merciful God. Continue reading →