PATIENCE
It will be a fatal error to mistake God's patience as tolerance of sin. When we become impatient with God, we should remember how patient we want Him to be with us.

PEACE
The peace that passes all understanding defies the circumstances. That this is possible is what makes it beyond our understanding. Why is it necessary for so many to be at death's door before they can claim to have made peace with God? shouldn't all Christians have done that when they were born-again? If a big problem can take our mind off a small one, why do we not trust God to take our mind off both? Does not Scripture say He will give perfect peace to those whose mind is stayed on Him? I have learned this lesson: If I can keep two facts in mind, I can have the peace of God that passes all understand. One is that I am a child of God and that He loves me. The other is that He knows everything that is happening to me and has promised to salvage something positive out of it if I am obedient to His guidance. How many Christians substitute worldly entertainment for time with God to take their mind off their troubles? God says that He will keep those in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Him.

PRAYER
This is the prayer I was lead to offer one morning: Lord, this time of meditation has been another lesson learned. It has been another cleansing received. It has been another stronghold torn down. It has been another step taken in the renewing of my mind. Thank you, Lord! How great Thou art, Oh, God! The answer to our prayer may be a lesson in how we should pray. Prayer should become a reflex action, not a last resort when our human resources have been exhausted. If we pray first, God may answer through His human instruments. Prayer has an aspect that may be overlooked. It is to tell God what He already knows as an acknowledgment that we also know it and have come into agreement with Him about it. When we confess our sins, we are not revealing anything to Him He does not already know. It is by our telling God about them that we are admitting them. Since we can say to Him as our judge, "Father, I have sinned, I am guilty as charged, and I ask Your forgiveness," I can be cleansed of all unrighteousness by the shed blood of Jesus. Thanking God for what He has already given us -- and what He is continuing to do for us -- is just as important as asking Him for something more. He often blesses us in ways we do not recognize, because we have not asked for them. That we have not asked for something is no excuse for not thanking Him anyhow. If we find ourselves in continuous prayer for something, it might be well to pause and ask God if there is anything hindering His answer. Pride is a good possibility. The world has a compulsion to find a natural explanation for supernatural acts of God in preference to believing it is the result of prayer. If they believe God did it, they would be obligated to do something in response. Prayer is more than asking God for something. It is the admission that apart from Him we can do nothing. It is never too late to pray, and it is always too soon to quit. It is never too soon to thank Him, and it always too soon to stop. Prayer, praise, and thanksgiving creates the environment that is conducive to the move of the Holy Spirit. It also may be the environment that drives away any hindering evil spirits. Our crying out to God is not to get His attention. It is to acknowledge that we are totally dependent on Him. Prayer can bring spiritual revival, and revival can bring moral change. But the worldly trend to greater and greater moral decay is what Scripture predicts. It is not a conditional prediction and prayer will not change God's plan. Wishful prayers based on wishful thinking will never be answered if they are contrary to God's Word. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be when Christ returns. We should be praying for Christ's return, not "the good old days," and be preparing for it. If God knows all about my circumstances and is my loving Father, crying out to Him is not needed to get His attention. It may be needed before I realize that I am totally dependent on Him for all my needs. God may find it necessary to delay our prayer requests to allow us time to reconsider how we worded it. "Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven," is the way Jesus taught the church to pray. If we acknowledge this, we also must acknowledge that unless we are submitted to God's will, we cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

PRECONCEPTIONS
To be able to be transformed by the renewing of our mind, we should be able to find at least two biblical references to support every belief, or discard it. To hold to a belief for any other reason is one aspect of being enslaved. That is why it is important to read the Scriptures daily. It will show us the things in our doctrinal closet that need to be discarded. Scripture says, "Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind." This is a command and is therefore something we must do! This requires us to examine our traditional beliefs, our preconceptions, our prejudices, and bring every thought, idea, and mind-set to the Holy Spirit for judgment. This requires us to allow Him to delete from our theology anything that is contrary to whatever the Holy Spirit wants to do in and through us. The computer literate might think of their preconceptions as a write-protected file. If our preconceptions can make us deaf and blind to the new things of God, they also can make us deaf and blind -- but still subject -- to the wiles of the devil.

PRIDE
God could well want to use us more than He does. But if He knows it would lead to spiritual pride, He must withhold His blessing. Even Saint Paul, after his trip to Heaven, had to be given a thorn in the flesh. It is only by humbling ourselves that we can be used by God. A proud heart is not an enemy; It is the enemy! Talents that have not been yielded to God become liabilities when they lead to pride. If we resent being told we are proud, we confirm the fact that we are. What is so insidious about pride is that it will not allow us to admit to it. The only limitation that we place on what God wants to give us, is by how much we can handle without getting puffed up.

PRIORITIES
Doing what God directs may be on our list of good intentions, but unless it becomes number one on our "must" list, it will never get done.

PROPHESY
What makes the study of Bible prophesy unappealing -- even to the church -- is that it reveals the futility of man's efforts to manage himself apart from God.

THE RAPTURE
If we are not prepared for the rapture, then we will have to get ready for either martyrdom, or the lake of fire.

REVIVAL
The reason revival is needed in the modern churches is because God's work has come to a standstill. They then have fallen asleep. But they are dreaming. They are dreaming they are awake. Some are praying for revival in the church -- and it is vitally needed -- but are not seeking it in themselves. They are praying for the church to get moving while they, themselves, are standing still.

REWARDS
When our estate is settled, it will show how wisely we have invested our financial resources, and our heirs will be our judges. It also will be the time when we discover how wisely we have invested our time, money, and talents in obedience to God, and Jesus Christ will be our judge. From whom will we get the greater reward? The Holy Spirit will convict us of sin, but if we repent, God will forgive us. Also, He will never rub it in. He will chastise, but forgive; He loves us, but He will punish us; God will save us, but He will not reward works we do for our own glory. Scripture says, "What we sow we shall also reap." This is true of both sinning and being obedient to God. This points to God's law of perfect equity. Life is not fair in that all things necessarily balance out during our lifetime. However, in the context of eternity, they will. God's punishment will exactly match the sins, and God's rewards will exactly match our service of obedience. Surely, the more we endured to carry out His commission will be recognized in our reward. However, those things we suffer because of sin will be the just punishment for our disobedience. We may be forgiven, but the consequences may be irreversible. Remember, David was not allowed to build the temple, and Moses was not allowed to enter the promised land. Everything we do for God in obedience to His purpose will -- long-term -- be doing something for ourselves, since God will reward us accordingly. It is enlightened self-interest. Still, that shouldn't be our motive. We should do it to express our love and appreciation for all that He already has done for us. There must be a difference between the rewards awaiting those Christians who are on spiritual welfare and those who have made Jesus Lord, and daily are walking in obedience to Him. To content ourselves with a salvation that does not include the rewards for the gold, silver, and precious stones works we do in obedience to God, is to spend eternity reflecting on what might have been. And we will not be able to say that God did not warn us. Truly, we are to serve God because we love Him, and not just for His promised rewards. Still, the rewards will enable us to be of greater service to Him and thus prove our love for Him forever. There should be no dichotomy between works and grace. By God's grace the opportunity was provided for us to respond in obedience to do what He directs us to do. And we will be rewarded for our works of compliance. If we say we will be satisfied just to make it to Heaven and therefore are not concerned about what our rewards will be, then why are we working so hard to gain temporary rewards on earth? If we are one of those who think they have "arrived" spiritually, it may be true if that is as far as we want to go. But why build a roof on a bungalow when we could be on an elevator headed for a penthouse in Heaven? Acting on what we hear from God is like investing our money. The greatest return comes with accepting the greatest risk. We are not rewarded for the result, since it is God who grants the increase. But we are rewarded for both planting and watering. There are things we can know from our experience. There are things we can understand by observation. And there are things we can visualize in our imagination. But what God has in store for us as His children is far beyond experience, observation, and imagination. Still, if we are receptive, God does give us glimpses by which we can look ahead with great anticipation. If we do not continue to express thanks to God for what He has already done for us, He may find it necessary to take something away to recalibrate our appreciation. Complaining also may make it necessary. Praising and thanking God for what we already have will open the door for receiving more. We may not even need to ask for more, since He is fully aware of our every need. If we do less for God than He has every right to expect, we shouldn't be surprised if we receive less from Him than we expect. When we say we are doing all we can for God -- for now at least -- in effect, we are saying we do not want anything more from Him -- for now at least. When we need more, we will consider doing more. Time given to God has both temporal and eternal rewards. To spend time on the things of this world at the expense of time spent with God is the worst investment we will ever make. And the time will come when it will be our greatest regret.

RICHES
The deceitfulness of riches lies in the belief that money will buy whatever we need. It will buy everything we want but the only thing that buys what we really need, is the blood of Jesus. Scripture say we have been bought with a price -- Calvary.

RIGHTEOUSNESS
To be cleansed of unrighteousness is to be delivered from self-righteousness. We have no rights except those granted to us by God that are to be exercised in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

SALVATION
There is a window of opportunity for becoming a Christian. This window will slam shut with the final rapture of the church. Many teach that this could occur at any moment. To delay for one instant in making Christ Lord is to risk missing the greatest offer ever made to the human race since its creation. It will never be made again. It is a one-time offer. It is Scriptural to emphasize that it is by grace we are saved, and not by works of the flesh. It is also Scriptural to emphasize that if we do not obey God we will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Is not then obedience to God a prerequisite for entering God's Kingdom? If our works are the demonstration of our obedience, then are not these works a basis of our salvation? Salvation is totally dependant on the finished work of the cross. If Jesus did not do enough, there is nothing we can do to make up the deficit. If Jesus did enough -- and He did -- there is absolutely nothing we need to do in addition. However, to be saved we must individually appropriate Jesus' sacrifice to make it effective for us. Salvation is making Jesus Christ our Lord. But it is only lip-service if we then do not do what He tells us. Thus, works are not the means by which we are saved, but the evidence that we have met the condition.

SANCTIFICATION
Simply stated, sanctification is the process by which we are transformed from being confident in ourselves, to being confident in God, and acting accordingly. Initially, we come to God as a clay vessel that must be ground to dust. Then the Potter will fashion a new vessel fit for His use. However, it is the living water of the Word that will keep us moist enough for molding into His perfect image. If there is no chastisement by our Heavenly Father, there is no sanctification. No pain, no gain.

SATAN
We will never understand others -- or the wiles of the devil -- until we our hones about ourselves. One way to knowing something is God's idea is that it is so much better than our own. Whose ideas we follow will decide how many suggestions that God makes in the future. He is in a suggestion contest with the devil. Our brain is the suggestion box. We get to pick the winner. The devil encourages those who are lost by telling them they are making good time. If we are sons of God, we are joint heirs with Jesus' inheritance. If we are not sons of God, we are sons of Satan by default, and will share in his inheritance -- the lake of fire. Scripture says that those who endure temptation will be blessed. This includes being bombarded by Satan's negative thoughts. To endure means to resist by firing Scripture back at the enemy, until he withdraws from the field of battle. He will be back, but we engage him by wielding the sword of the Spirit -- the Word of God. There are times that what God tells us to do is admittedly difficult, but it is the devil who causes us to regard it as impossible. When the devil uses arguments, listen for God's knock-offs. Saying, "Yes" to God is what makes it possible to say, "No" to the world, the flesh, and the devil. Satan's thought's are negative, deceptive, illogical, irrational, not supported by the evidence, and are consistent with his purpose -- which is to kill, to steal, and to destroy.
 

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