Tag Archives: attitude

SERVANTS: WHO THEY ARE AND WHAT THEY DO.032315  

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Silhouette of man surrendering with two hands raised in air near the beach at sunsetMatthew 25:35-36: 35 for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ Continue reading →

Old People’s Comfort. 031715

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Grandmother and grandchildrenOur friend, the prophet Isaiah, says, “Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable.  He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on [trust in] the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”  Isaiah 40:28-31. Continue reading →

ETERNAL LIFE? 030715

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Trust in the Lord With All Thine Heart road signIn John 5:24, Jesus says, 24 “I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe [trust] in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned, they have already passed from death into life.” This is the most basic expression of the Gospel.

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UNFAITHFUL SERVANT. 030615

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old man looking frighten or scaredMatthew 25: 14-30: This passage is usually called the “Parable of the Talents”, but I call it the “Parable of the Unfaithful Servant”, because that is what the story is all about.  Y’all know the story.  Three servants (really slaves).  Their master, referred to as ‘lord’ in the story, goes on a long trip.  Before he leaves he calls his slaves in and says, “Slave 1, I’m giving you 10 talents; Slave 2, 5; Slave 3, 1.  Y’all invest the money. See what you can make for me while I’m gone.”  A talent of gold was several lifetimes of wages for the average man in those days.  Estimates have it at $300,000.00 in today’s currency.  (One talent) Continue reading →

VINE and BRANCHES. JOHN 15.030115

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VINE BRANCHES FFRUIT. 030115John 15 1-3 “I am the Real Vine and my Father is the Farmer. He cuts off every branch of me that doesn’t bear grapes. And every branch that is grape-bearing he prunes back so it will bear even more. .  .  .  4 “Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can’t bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can’t bear fruit unless you are joined with Me.  Continue reading →

WHAT ABOUT WILLFUL SIN? 022815

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Domestic abuse shadow play; family and social issueI’m always talking about how God will take care of you if you’ll just trust Him.  But will He really?  Will He still take care of you even if you do something really bad; something you knew was wrong before you did it, and you did it anyway?  I mean like when you were doing it, you looked God in the eye and said, “I don’t care what you think;  I’m going to do this anyway”  Will God take care of you, even then, even after that? Continue reading →

PRAY WITHOUT CEASING. 012715

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One Bloom Many Buds“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18: NKJV

The kind of prayer I’m talking about; the kind of prayer I think this passage is talking about is substantially different from regular praying, where you ask for things and intercede for others.  It’s not an activity where you’re focusing your conscious mind on God, and talking to Him about specific issues, or events, or material things in your life.  It’s more like an attitude, an awareness of God’s presence; Continue reading →

David Trusted God.020615

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In “The Twenty-third Psalm”, David says, “The LORD is my shepherd;  I shall not want.  He makes me to lie down in green pastures;    He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over.  Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”

What is this passage really about?  It’s about what happens when you really trust God.  In Acts 13:22,  it says that David was a man after God’s own heart.  What did David do to touch God’s heart?  He trusted Him.  He fought lions and wolves, because he knew God was taking care of him.  Heck, he fought Goliath, calling him an uncircumcised Philistine, and whipped him, because David knew God was taking care of him.  He trusted that God would take care of him his whole life, even when he did really bad stupid things like go to bed with Bathsheba and then have her husband Uriah killed in battle.  In spite of David being a ‘regular’ person who sinned like the rest of us, God called him “A man after My Own Heart”, because he trusted Him.  The 23rd Psalm is David telling what happens when you trust God, when you really and truly, with all your heart, trust God.

The Pure in Heart and the Peacemakers: 010815

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Matt. 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons [and daughters] of God.

“Blessed are the pure in heart.”  Is there anybody out there who is really pure in heart?  I don’t know.  But I do know I have met very few.  And the few I’ve met have been little old people who have long ago given up thinking they’re somebody; given up any illusions of how great they are; surrendered their whole hearts to God; and God has poured a full dose of His purity into them.  Pure, unadulterated, whole, entire, love.  All about God, none about them.  That’s humble.

“Blessed are the peacemakers.”  Why them?  Why does God bless them?  Maybe it’s because in order to be a peacemaker, you have to know how to be humble.  You have to attribute the best motives to both sides, in order to find the middle ground of peace.  Maybe it’s because you can’t be the “ruler” and expect either side to genuinely agree to peace.  Maybe peace only comes from God (really), and if you’re going to “make peace”, you’re going to have to get your self and all of the self-ish stuff out of the way, because that’s the only way God can or will use you to “make peace”.  Did you ever think about the word “selfish”?  We always think it means an attitude of possession, usually of property, stuff, things.  But “self-ish” really is a lot more about me having my way.  Not just about stuff, but more about control.  My ball, my game, my goal posts, my way.  If you don’t do things my way, then I’m not going to play with you anymore.  I’m just going to pack my stuff and go home.  Not much humility in that, is there?

Like it has been said before, if you want to be like Jesus, you have to be humble.  Jesus was the same Person about Whom Paul said, in Philippians 2:5-8:  “Let this mind, [this attitude] be in you that was in Christ Jesus, .  .  .  who, being found as a man,  .  .  humbled himself and became a servant [a slave]  .  .  and was obedient unto death, even death on a cross.”  So if you want to be pure in heart, so pure that you see God; if you want to be a peacemaker, so that you’re called a son [or daughter] of God; then you have to Be Like Jesus; and part of what that means is to be humble.