Reminding Yourself To Remember

"Beloved, I now write to you in this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior,"
2 Peter 3:1, 2 (NKJV)

Most people today lead very busy lives and because of that it can be easy to lose track of and forget things.  There are many ways you can remind yourself about appointments, birthdays, anniversaries, and other important dates and events.  There are apps for smart phones that can remind you, reminders in your calendar, and other things you can do to remember what is really important.  What is true for our "natural" side of life is also true for our "spiritual" side of life, we need to be sure that we remember what is important and to do that we have to remind ourselves about those things.

The apostle Peter wrote two letters to believers and in chapter three of his second letter Peter mentions something very significant.  Peter said in both letters that he wanted to remind the people he wrote to about something that was very important.  Peter wanted to remind them to remember the things written in God's Word.  Peter said he wanted to stir up the minds of the believers to be sure that they would not forget what is really important, God's Word.  We too need to keep ourselves stirred up and remember what God's Word has to say about us and our lives.

In Hebrews 2:1 we are told to pay attention to what we have heard so that we don't just let it slip away from us.  It is easy to get so caught up in the busyness of life that we fail to keep our attention on what is really important and where our real source of strength and help comes from.  God has given us His Word to show us who He is and how He looks at us.  God's Word shows us what Jesus has provided for us and who we are in Christ.  We all need to be sure to have a regular time with God and His Word to keep ourselves reminded about all that God has done for us and revealed to us.

The Best Bible Teacher Of All

"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you."
John 14:26 (NKJV)

Most Christians have a favorite Bible teacher.  It may be their pastor, a home group leader, a teacher in a Bible school, or some minister they have heard somewhere in person or on television.  But no matter who it is, it seems we all have a teacher that we always enjoy listening to and we always seem to learn something great from them.  We read in Ephesians 4:11 that the teacher is one of the gifts that Jesus gave to the Church, so teachers must be important.  In churches and Bible schools there are many great teachers today but we must realize that the best Bible teacher of all is the Holy Spirit.

While we may enjoy the speaking style some person has or the way they relate their topic to an everyday life situation, if we are learning something about the Bible while listening to our favorite teacher we need to understand that it is really the greatest teacher of all, the Holy Spirit, who is revealing the truth to us.  If we look to the Holy Spirit, the best Bible teacher of all, and not just to the person we may be listening to, we will receive the truth we need when we need it.  If we just get focused on the person that is speaking and we don't realize that the person is only a channel and a vessel that the Holy Spirit works through we may miss something.

Jesus said that He would send the Holy Spirit to us and that the Holy Spirit would help us by teaching us all things.  This is so wonderful because the Holy Spirit lives in us and He knows exactly how to teach us and reveal God's Word to us to answer the questions that we have and to help us deal with the situations we face in life.  We must learn to listen to the Holy Spirit speaking to us through the Word of God and expect Him to speak to us through the man or woman of God we are hearing in our church, home group, or wherever.  The Holy Spirit is the best Bible teacher of all and He will teach us what we need to know when we need to know it, and He can use a variety of people to do it.

Our Greatest Source Of Problems

"Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap."
Galatians 6:7 (NKJV)

Everyone will have some problems sometime in their life.  Some people seem to have more problems than others and some people have problems that they never seem to be able to fix.  While there can be many reasons that there are problems in our life, one of the biggest reasons we have problems is often overlooked.  Many times the greatest source of the problems in our life is us; if we want to know who to blame for our troubles we often just need to look in the mirror!  There are times we are in difficult situations simply because we are reaping the results of the things we have sown.

When we have problems we want to point a finger at other people, our circumstances, or even the devil; we want to blame someone for what is happening but we don't realize that sometimes we just need to be honest and blame ourselves for our problems.  We make a poor choice that results in something bad happening, or we get involved with a person who is not so right with God and trouble develops.  It can be true that other people, our circumstances, and even the devil can be a source of trouble but sometimes we will just have to admit that we may be the greatest source of our own problems.

While we can be the greatest source of problems in our own life we can also do something about our problems.  We need to use wisdom and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit in every area of our life, everyday.  We must make it a habit to spend regular time with God in His Word and in prayer to know His plan and direction for our life and then follow it.  But even if we have caused our own problems, when we go to God He will be there to help us and guide out of the mess we have created and bring us back to the place He wants us to be.  There will always be problems and difficulties in life but by doing the right things we can chart a course that will avoid some of major problems that many people face in life. 

The Company You Keep Is Important

"After they were permitted to go, the apostles returned to their own company and told all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. And when they heard it, lifted their voices together with one united mind to God and said, O Sovereign Lord, You are He Who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything that is in them,"
Acts 4:23, 24 (Amplified)

There is a story in Acts 4 that tells about the apostles getting into trouble with the religious leaders in Jerusalem for preaching the Gospel message.  The religious leaders told them not to preach in the Name of Jesus anymore and they even threatened the apostles before they let them go.  What is interesting is what happened next, the apostles went back to the group of believers that they were already a part of; the apostles had their own group of people that they could go to for help in their time of trouble.

Who do we turn to for support when we face a difficult situation?  Who is it that we can rely on for help and wise counsel when there is a problem in our life?  The answer to these questions will go a long way to determining what the outcome of our situation will be.  If we have built good relationships with the right kind of people then we too will have our own godly group of people to support us and help us in our time of trouble.  If we do not have good relationships with people who can help us, the people we do turn to may only be contributing to our downfall.

Everyone has relationships with people like their neighbors, co-workers, or even family members who may not always be as helpful and supportive as they could or should be.  But, it is who we choose to build relationships with that is important.  We need relationships with people who will build us up and not tear us down when problems come, people like the apostles own group who turned to God for the answer and did not just focus on the problem.  If we look around and see that we don't have these kinds of friends then it is time to build some new relationships; we need to seek out good, godly people and build relationships with them.  The apostles in the Book of Acts had these kinds of friends, what about us?

Stay In The Word And You Will Know The Word

"Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My Word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
John 8:31, 32 (NKJV)

Our society today is all about everything happening quickly.  There are fast food restaurants that even have drive through windows, we have microwave ovens that heat and reheat food in minutes, and there are shortcuts and tips and tricks for computers and computer programs.  So much of what we have in life is designed to get things done as fast as possible to minimize the amount of time we have to wait to move on to something else.  This is all well and good but when we carry this same mentality over to God, His Word, and spiritual things we can get into trouble.

We often want to run to God's Word in a hurry and find just the right verse we need to apply to our situation and find a quick solution to the problem at hand and then go off to the next task.  But, in John 8 we see a different mentality.  Jesus said that if we truly want to be disciple, to be a follower of Jesus, we have to stay in the Word and this will allow us to know the Word.  Jesus did not say to take a quick glance at the Word or just to give attention to God's Word once and a while; the idea Jesus gave was that we would spend a significant amount of time with His Word.

Jesus said in John 8 that we need to "abide" in His Word, Colossians 3:16 says that we need to let God's Word dwell in us richly, James 1:25 tells us to keep looking into the perfect law of liberty, God's Word, and to then be a doer of it.  Many people have not taken the time necessary to really know God's Word and as a result it is not a reality in their life and the Word produces no fruit in their life.  We need to spend time reading and studying God's Word on a regular and continual basis and then apply it to our life.  By doing this we will know the Word and experience its powerful working in our life.

Walking In Love - The Golden Rule

"Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets."
Matthew 7:12 (NKJV)

When I was growing up I remember hearing people talk about what they called "The Golden Rule".  The Golden Rule is something some people take from what Jesus said in Matthew 7:12 with the idea being that you should treat people the way that you want to be treated.  This is generally a very good concept and Matthew 7:12 also says that this "Golden Rule" is what the Law and the Prophets is all about.  Much of what is known as the 10 Commandments refers to our relationships with others and this is how treating people the right way relates to the Law and the Prophets.

In the New Testament we are told that love, walking in love, fulfills the Law (Romans 13:10) and that the Law is fulfilled in loving your neighbor as yourself (Galatians 5:14).  If we are walking in love then we will treat others exactly the way that we would wish to be treated.  Think about what it would be like if people, and especially Christians who have the love of God within them (Romans 5:5), would treat others the way they wanted to be treated.  Often we want other people to treat us like kings and queens while we treat those same people as servants.

If we looked at situations from the standpoint of what is best for the other person and we then acted accordingly it would be a shocking experience for many people.  If we did everything we possibly could to help someone, considering how much help we would want to have if we were the other person in the situation, we would not only be a great help to those around us but we would be making use of the love of God that is in us.  We need to look for opportunities to put the love of God in us into action and treat others the same way that we would like them to treat us.

Don't Let An Offense Become A Barrier

"Then He said to the disciples, It is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do come."
Luke 17:1 (NKJV)

There is one thing you need to get settled right now, some time, in some place, in some way, someone will do something that will offend you.  The thing is not if an offense will come or not but it is just a matter of when and how it will come.  Jesus said it is impossible that no offenses would come so being offended is something we can be sure will happen to us sooner or later.  The important thing is what we do after we are offended.  One key to living a successful life is not found in avoiding problems, and even offenses, but what we do after we have a problem or get offended.

Like everyone else in the world I have had the experience of being offended.  I can recall times when a person did or said something that was uncalled for and even rude.  My initial reaction was to be upset and offended by it but I also realized that I can either move on in my life and get over the difficulty that just came my way or I could allow this offense to become a landmark in my life.  Unfortunately, that is how some people react. I have met people who were offended and that offense became a hindrance in their life that they focused on and never moved forward from and the offense became a barrier that they never seemed to cross over.

So, what can we do if we are offended?  The first thing I would say, and what I have done myself, is to realize that these kinds of things happen; offenses are not a rare occurrence so we should not be shocked and surprised when they come.  Secondly, we must choose to not hold any bitterness towards the person that was involved in the offense.  Holding a grudge, being bitter and unforgiving, will only hurt us and have no impact on the other person or the situation anyway.  We need to learn to let things go and move on in life so that the offenses we experience do not become a barrier in our life that prevents us from moving forward into what God wants us to do.

Following The Witness Of The Holy Spirit

"The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,"
Romans 8:16 (NKJV)

Being led by the Holy Spirit is a topic that every Christian needs to understand, this is one of the most important things the Holy Spirit will do for us.  Too often we allow what we know in our mind and what we feel and experience to be the guiding forces in our life but God has given us His Spirit to live inside of us and give us direction.  We can always start out by doing what we do know about God's will, this is what we find in the Bible, and we can then look to the witness of the Holy Spirit to go on to further specific steps in the will of God.

Many Christians know that we need to be led by the Holy Spirit, as it says in Romans 8:14, but they do not understand the witness of the Spirit that Paul was talking about in Romans 8:16.  When it says that the Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit it simply means that there is an agreement between the Holy Spirit and our spirit.  The words "bears witness with" here literally mean "to testify jointly".  It would be like two people testifying in a courtroom about something they saw, if both people tell the same thing then they are bearing witness with one another, this is the same thing as the witness of the Holy Spirit.

A very simple way to explain it is that when we have the witness of the Holy Spirit we will have peace in our spirit, in our heart; when there is no witness of the Spirit in our heart then there is no peace.  If we were to go into some store and steal something, then in our own spirit we would not have peace because the Holy Spirit would not agree with us stealing something.  If we learn to pay attention to and develop a sensitivity to the witness of the Holy Spirit, which is the main way the Holy Spirit will lead us, we will know what steps to take in the will of God and how to take them.  We need to learn to recognize the witness of the Spirit in our spirit.

Living In Perfect Peace

"You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You."
Isaiah 26:3 (NKJV)

Peace is something that pretty much everyone wants.  No one really desires to live in a constant state of being distressed and unhappy, but sometimes that is the way people live.  Some people think that getting everyone and everything else around them in order is what they need, but what they really need is personal peace.  Many people deal with depression, anxiety, fear, worry, and other similar issues and they have no peace, let alone perfect peace.  All these issues stem from the things we think about; what we think about determines whether or not we will live in peace.

Many people have problems in their thought life, they are often thinking about the wrong kinds of things and this leads to turmoil in their mind and in their life.  When we face a difficult situation we usually start thinking about what we need to do to solve the problem.  What we should do first is to think about what the Bible has to say and see what God's solution to the problem is.  While I am certainly not saying we can't use some good plans and ideas that come from the things we already know and understand, we cannot live a successful life just by figuring everything out on our own.

What can we do to live in peace?  Isaiah 26:3 tells us how to do this; we need to keep our mind focused on God.  We also see that it says in Isaiah that a person is kept in perfect peace because that person trusts in God.  Many times we are getting stressed and worried about some situation because we are not trusting God and focusing on His Word.  We must fill our mind with God's Word; when our thoughts line up with God's thoughts we will live in peace.  When our thoughts are not in agreement with what the Bible has to say we will not have peace.  Put God's Word in first place in your life and focus your thoughts on Him, that is how you can live in perfect peace.

Christians Are Led By The Holy Spirit

"For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God."
Romans 8:14 (NKJV)

One thing that should be a distinguishing mark in the life of a Christian is being led by the Spirit of God.  As New Testament, New Covenant believers we have the Holy Spirit living in us.  One of the things that the Holy Spirit will do for us is that He will lead us and guide us in life.  What does it mean to be led by the Holy Spirit?  Saying we are led by the Holy Spirit simply means that we follow the direction that the Holy Spirit gives us.  As children of God we have the Holy Spirit inside of us but it is our choice whether or not we will follow His direction or if we will follow something else.

There are a lot of things that people use for guidance in life.  Some people live by their emotions, when they are feeling good then everything is great and they are ready to conquer the world.  But, when they are sad and feeling discouraged then they just want to hide away and quit.  Some people are led by their circumstances, they think that good circumstances mean they are doing the right things and bad circumstances and situations in life mean that they are doing something wrong.  Some Christians are led by other people and the advice that they get from their trusted friends.  Other people are led by experiences, their own and others, or they are led by logical reasoning and their thinking.

The Holy Spirit is always there to lead us and guide us, no matter how we feel, no matter what circumstances we face, and no matter what other people say or do.  So often we are dominated by all of the things going on around us that we are not looking for the guidance that God will give us by the Holy Spirit.  We need to learn to listen to the Holy Spirit and become acquainted with Him and how He will lead us.  Make the choice today that you will follow the leading of the Holy Spirit in every area of your life and allow Him to give you the direction that you need.

Our Words: Building Blocks Or A Wrecking Ball

"Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they who indulge in it shall eat the fruit of it [for death or life]."
Proverbs 18:21 (Amplified)

Did you ever go by a construction site and watch as workmen built a building?  First a foundation is laid, then the floor, the walls, and the roof are all put in place; it can take some time to do it right but with diligent work it will happen.  Sometimes it is just laying one brick after another in a lengthy process that ultimately results in a fine structure.  Just like a building is built brick by brick we can build up the lives of others with our words; our words can be building blocks of life, strength, health, and encouragement.

Have you ever seen a building being torn down?  A building that took a long time to be built can be destroyed in a very short time with a wrecking ball.  The building may have had a good design and dedicated workers who took the time to carefully put together each part, but once the wrecking ball starts to swing it all comes crashing down.  When we use our words in the wrong way, when we speak negative, critical words, then we are using our words like a wrecking ball and we can tear other people down with the words we speak.

Sometimes the only words people have heard were the negative kind about how they are no good and they will never amount to anything, those are the kinds of words that are like the wrecking ball.  We need to choose our words carefully and build things into other people.  We can share words of hope and strength saying that no matter what is happening that we serve a God who will help us; we can use our words to encourage others and tell them that they can achieve great things.  We have the choice about the kind of words we will speak, let's choose the right words that will build people up and not the kind of words that will tear them down.

The Value Of Stillness And Quiet

"Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."
Psalm 46:10 (NKJV)

One thing that we do not have a great abundance of in this world is stillness and quiet.  Sometimes there is so much happening in our lives that we don't take the time to just be still, get quiet, and listen to what God has to say.  There are times when our mind and our body are so active that we have a difficult time listening to what God is saying to us in our hearts.  If we want to be successful in life and effective with what we do for God we must find time to close out all of the things going on around us, be still, and spend time with God.

We live in a world of mass communication and often we have so many sources of input and so many different voices speaking to us that we have trouble knowing what we should really listen to.  Sometimes it seems as though we have forgotten to use the "off switch" for all of the things going on in our life and we have gotten to the point where we just accept all of this constant activity as normal.  If we are always busy with phone calls, emails, Facebook posts, tweets, appointments, activities with friends and family, projects, and so on we will become more outward focused and less inward sensitive.

God will speak to us, but with all of the other things we have going on His voice might be hard to distinguish.  God is not going to shout to make Himself heard above all of our activities and noise but when we take the time to stop, to be still, and get quiet to spend some time with Him we will find that He is ready and waiting.  If you have been feeling stressed, overloaded with work and the concerns of life, or if you just need to get some clarification from God about how He wants you to do some things then it is time be still, get quiet, and spend some time with God.  Be still and give God the opportunity to speak to you today.

But Lord, What About Them?

... And when He had spoken this, He said to him, Follow Me.
Peter, seeing him, said to Jesus, "But Lord, what about this man?"
John 21:19, 20 (NKJV)

One of the greatest problems people have in life is distractions. It is so easy for us to lose our focus and get looking around to see what else is happening and not pay attention to what we ought to be doing.  This is especially true when it comes to our checking to see what other people are doing.  Once we start comparing ourselves and what we are doing with what other people are doing we are distracted; we can either be doing what we should do or we can be distracted.  If we let ourselves get sidetracked and distracted we will never really do the things that God wants us to do.

We can see this problem in the life of Peter when Jesus gave Peter some direction about what to do.  Peter did not stop and say "Oh, thank you Lord! Now I know what to do and focus on in my life and I can pursue that."  No, what Peter did is similar to what a lot of us do; right away Peter saw someone else and asked Jesus, "What about them?"  God has a plan and a purpose for each person's life and that plan is for that person and not subject to our approval.  God knows better than we do what people ought to spend their time doing.  If we are spending our time looking around and making judgments about whether or not someone else is doing the right thing then we are probably not doing our thing.

It is important for each one of us to put our attention on to the work that God has called us to do and not be distracted by looking around to see what others are doing.  The next time you catch yourself looking around at other people and wondering if they are doing what they are supposed to do put your focus back on the things that God has called you to do.  Comparing our lives with the lives of others and making judgments about whether or not what someone else is doing is right will only lead us into distraction and despair; doing the things that God has called us to do will lead to a successful, satisfied life.

God Gives You A Future And A Hope

"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope."
Jeremiah 29:11 (NKJV)

No one has a perfect past, everyone can look back in their life and see some mistake or missed opportunity that they would change if they could.  It is good to know that it is not so important where you start in life but it is important what you do after you start.  Some people may have been born into a better situation than others, but whether or not someone succeeds in life is more about what they do with their life than the condition they were born into.  No matter where you are today, or where you have come from, you can go forward to something better!

There are some people who feel as though their life has no purpose, that there is no hope.  But with God there is always hope!  In Jeremiah God tells us that He is thinking good thoughts about us, not evil thoughts.  God is not thinking about all of the mistakes and problems we have had in the past but God is thinking about the possibilities we have for a bright future.  If we would just get connected with God and the plan He has for our life we would do great things for God.  God has bigger and better plans for us than we have thought for ourselves.

What we all need to do from this day forward is forget about the past and start looking ahead.  Maybe you are in a bad situation; maybe you do have some difficulties.  Jesus told us that in this world we would have problems but that He has overcome the world!  Get connected with God through His Word and talk to God in prayer.  Let Him guide you and direct you from where you are today to where you need to be tomorrow.  Allow God to help you right the wrongs and trust Him to show you the bright future and hope that He has for you!

Knowledge AND Understanding

"that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,"
Ephesians 1:16, 17 (NKJV)

Ephesians 1 shows us a prayer that Paul prayed for the people in the church at Ephesus.  Ephesus was a city that Paul had been to on several occasions and Paul had even taught in a school there for two years.  Still, Paul was praying for the believers there to get something.  These people already had some knowledge about the things of God, so Paul was not just praying that these Christians would gain more knowledge, Paul was praying that they would gain an understanding of what they had already learned.  It is one thing to know something but it is something else to understand it.

I may know about electricity and how to turn on a light but that does not mean I understand electricity and I am qualified to be an electrician.  We may have knowledge of some facts but what do those facts mean?  Many people know facts about God and the Bible but they do not have any understanding.  I have had several conversations with people who clearly knew something about the Bible but they did not really understand it.  If we only know facts without having any understanding we can easily be led astray by wrong teaching and have trouble living the kind of life God has planned for us.

How do we get an understanding about what the Bible says and go beyond just the facts to get the meaning of those facts and then put them into practice in our life?  We first need to read and study the Bible for ourselves; to have a greater understanding of the Bible we need to take time to learn what it says.  But, the biggest key to getting an understanding of the Bible is to look to the Holy Spirit for help.  Jesus said that the Holy Spirit is our Helper who would teach us all things (John 14:26) and that He will guide us into the truth (John 16:13).  We all need to spend time reading and studying the Bible and then trust the Holy Spirit to help us gain a greater understanding of God's Word so that we can take advantage of it and put it into use in our life.