During my working years, life was hectic. I couldn't find time to read the Bible and it bothered me. Somehow, I had to make time. I started getting up twenty minutes earlier and read the Word in the parking lot before going to work.
Reading the Bible may be one of the most neglected areas in the Christian's life. You cannot be physically well without eating physical food, and you cannot be spiritually well without eating spiritual food.
1 Peter 2:2 As new born babes desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.
The aim of the Word is so you will spiritually "grow".
2 Peter 3:18 But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and forever. Amen.
Spiritual maturity as a Christian will increase in direct proportion to the amount of study you invest in the Word.
As you grow in the faith, the Word of God becomes a delight. You just can't get enough.
I love America, but the America we once knew is gone.
2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
We have forgotten the gracious hand of God which preserved us in peace, multiplied, enriched, and strengthened us. We have imagined that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own.
We have become too proud to pray to the God that made us. It behooves us to humble ourselves before God, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.
There is hope for America. It begins with the humble prayers of God's people who are called Christians.
Salvation is simple. "Look unto me" -- not turn over a new leaf, keep the Ten Commandments or promise to do better.
Isaiah 45:22 Look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God and there is none else.
There is only one Savior and His name is Jesus Christ. This scripture doesn't say look to a church, a good life, to baptism or religion.
All people are sinners (Romans 3:23), so all need to be saved. Christ died for all people (Hebrews 2:9) because He loves all people (John 3:16). His sacrifice on the cross is sufficient to save all who believe.
Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth The Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Saved from what? Hell. It is an actual place where those who are not saved will be for eternity. According to the Bible, it is a place of everlasting fire and torment. Those who accept Jesus are saved to eternal life in heaven.
Some people think once they become a Christian they will not sin anymore. But Christians do sin because they are not perfect. This does not mean they must be saved all over again. Jesus didn't say, "Ye must be born again and again and again."
Sin in the life of the believer breaks fellowship but does not destroy sonship. Because of our sin nature received from Adam, the evil environment of the world, and the temptation of Satan, even heaven-bound Christians end up sinning. However, born again Christians don't want to sin as they did before.
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
We often struggle with sin. We excuse ourselves, rationalize our sinfulness, and defend ourselves. To restore fellowship with God, we must confess specific sins.
Whether omission, commission, body or mind sins; God will show mercy to those who confess their sins.
Every event of life for the child of God is either planned or permitted by God. Good and bad; sweet and bitter; easy and hard; happy and sad; health and sickness; calm and storm; comfort and suffering: life and death all work together for our good.
Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
The "good" promised by God is not always prosperity or happiness. It is spiritual rather than material. It is eternal rather than temporal. God has some long-range plans for us, and He does not choose to alter them for our pleasure and comfort.
The promise of Romans 8:28 is reserved "to them that love God". Only those who are saved truly love God.
Knowing that God is the all-wise, all-loving, all-powerful God of heaven and earth, we can humbly accept all that He sends into our lives.
God is too kind to do anything cruel, too powerful to let anything get out of control, and too wise to ever make a mistake. The real test is how much do we love God when the going gets tough.
The Gospel is "good news". It is the answer to man"s deepest need. God does welcome sinners. Jesus paid it all. You don't have to spend eternity in hell. You can go to heaven for free. That is "good news".
Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
The gospel of Christ has the power to save any soul. People are in sin and need salvation.
There is one requirement -- you must believe it. Believing is simply trusting in Jesus Christ, God's Son, as your personal Savior and Lord.
The death, burial and resurrection of Christ will benefit only those who trust in Christ.
Just as I am without one plea
But that Thy blood was shed for me
And that thou bidst me come to Thee
Oh Lamb of God I come; I come
Many people know ABOUT God, but they don't KNOW God. Those who are rightly related to God know without a doubt, hesitation, or apprehension that their needs will be supplied.
Philippians 4:19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
The God of History is our provider. When His people needed a leader, He raised up Moses. When they needed water in the desert, He provided it from a rock. When they needed food for their wilderness wonderings, God gave them manna -- 1 million pints or 9 thousand pounds delivered for 40 years. Their clothes and shoes did not wear out.
When man needed a Savior to save him from his sins, God gave His only Begotten Son to die on Calvary's cross. He will not refuse to meet the needs of His children. God knows what we need when we do not.
The person who doesn't have Christ, no matter what else he may have, has nothing. But the person who has Christ has everything.
There is always an "exit" sign in every temptation, and God will point you to it. Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world (1 John 4:4). Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us (Romans 8:37)
1 Corinthians 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape that ye may be able to bear it.
Temptation itself is not sin, but yielding to it is. In and of ourselves we can never conquer temptation. One moment we are strong, the next moment we are weak.
HOW TO DEAL WITH TEMPTATION:
1. Rely on a real relationship with Jesus Christ
2. Recall the Word of God
3. Remove yourself from the environments of sin when possible.
4. Replace sinful influences with godly friendships and habits
5. Refuse temptations when they come
6. Repent of your sin and forsake your sin
Matthew 26:41 Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
