Daily Focus

Make sure your light is always shining no matter what your family is doing. “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.   “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:13-16 NKJV

Make sure you are taking into account eternity with every choice you make about fun and pleasure. We will all be held accountable. As a family, we want to cultivate an environment that continually produces good wholesome fun. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” 1 Corinthians 5:10 NKJV

Suffering comes in many forms. Moses’s choice to choose God over the Egyptians pleasures is the best example for our families. We need to make those tuff daily decisions that put God over what is fun and easy. “  By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin,” Hebrews 11:24-25 NKJV

If we put too much into having fun as a family then there the heartbeat of the family will be. Make sure to make the family heartbeat God. Then go and enjoy the recreation time you have together.  “ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  Matthew 6:21 NKJV

We must remember the tat evil company corrupts good habits. I would argue that if you keep company with anything evil, you are subject to corruption. No one wants to be corrupt, sinner and saved alike. Do not become spoiled by the things and people you subject your family to. “Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.” 1 Corinthians 15:33

Sin causes death. There is no away around it. The world thinks this type of death is the best way to go out. God does not. Protect yourself and your family from the “fun” that sin brings.   “ Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,    idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,   envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Galatians 5:19-21 NKJV

Teach your child what “fun” is. We need to take charge of their development and help them learn how to enjoy life without sin. Sin doesn’t add enjoyment; it destroys the beauty of everything. “And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.” Ephesians 6:4 NKJV

A dead alcoholic, who died from alcohol poisoning, was asked, “What do you want most?” He said, “A sip of whisky.” Living for sin has a way of making you feel alive while the soul agonizingly dies inside.   Live is in Christ. Walking dead belongs to those outsides of Christ. “But she who lives in pleasure is dead while she lives.” 1 Timothy 5:6 NKJV

Like a gambler in some back alley game, we can find ourselves desperately feeding our “fun.” Love God. Put God first. Then enjoy the blessings of freedom and pleasure He gives you. Don’t forget nothing but Heaven is worth your soul. “traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,”  2 Timothy 3:4 NKJV

Sophie Marceau, a French actress in the ‘60’s, said, “I need the seasons to live to the rhythm of rain and sun.”   We need to know we are free and feel free. You cannot feel free when you are constantly yoked to work. Go away with your family for a time of rest and play. “And He said to them, “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest awhile.” For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.” Mark 6:31 NKJV

              Don’t be unequally yoked with an unbeliever. If you are, you will go nowhere fast. If you are not careful, they can drag you down. Try your best in the work you do to maintain a controlling influence so you can make sure righteousness and God will always come first. If you can’t, get out. Make sure you keep this same mindset with your family. Remember, we are all trying to get to Heaven. “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?” 2 Corinthians 6:14 NKJV

                God is first. You know it. Your spouse should know it. Your children should know it. Now live it as a family. Put God first in the morning, in the evening. Put God first in work and chores. Put God first in your aspirations and goal-seeking. Seek first the kingdom of God, and God will take care of you. Work can distract us because the rewards are instantaneous and satisfy the flesh. Don’t bite that lure. “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” Matthew 6:33 NKJV

              We expect others to work to a certain level, productivity, and quality. We expect this at work and at home. As a family, each one needs to work to their level of expectations of others. You work and be as productive as you would want others to do to you. It is that simple. “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

              Some people get to the top and forget the journey. They set high upon that self-made throne and deal wrongly with those under them. We, as Christian bosses, are to deal with everyone fair and justly. Give your actions and deeds some thought about how they will affect those same people. God makes it clear that though you are the boss, He expects better of you.  “Masters, give your bondservants what is just and fair, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.” Colossians 4:1 NKJV

               Yeah, that’s right we sometimes hate work. We get to the office or workplace and simple loath the task in front of us. We trudge through the mile-high work request. We sluggishly and defiantly get things done, begging to go home to do it all again tomorrow. Wrong. You are a Christian. We do all in the name of the Lord and for Him. We owe those we work for honest, genuine, sincere, and wholehearted service.   You cannot tell me your job is worse than slaves. If at the very least, be thankful that God has blessed you with a job that takes care of your families needs. “Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men,   knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.   But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no par

              Our bellies drive us. Our fleshy needs and wants cause us to go to work. Depending on how strong we let those desires rumble inside of us depends on how hard we work to satisfy them. That is not the whole of why we work and provide for our bare needs. We work to take care of others. Image the joy that would come from working to help a brother or sisters in Christ in their time of need. Even better, what about working to give for the cause of Christ. That makes me whistle while I work. What about you? “Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need.” Ephesians 4:28 NKJV

              Steadily work at everything. As a family working consistently and diligently is a good thing. You can spend time together doing work. Children learn a great deal about life, work, and how life is. I know we grow tired of work. Partly because we focus on getting that paycheck so much, we do not take good care of ourselves. We sacrifice good rest, nutrients, mental and spiritual well being just for a dollar. This is not what God is speaking of here. Get it all in balance and work together as a family. “not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;” Romans 12:11 NKJV

                Thank you, Jungle Book for teaching me all about the bare necessities of life.   That image is in my head of Baloo floating down the river with Mowgli on his stomach singing “Look for the bare necessities, The simple bare necessities. Forget about your worries and your strife. I mean the bare necessities, That's why a bear can rest at ease. With just the bare necessities of life.” (The Jungle Book (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) Walt Disney Records) Of course, old Baloo was all about the life of ease. I never took it that way. I just always liked the idea that the things you need most in life are always there. Make sure your home sees it the same way. “But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” 1 Timothy 5:8 NKJV

                 I have never liked thorns and briers.   They make things harder and work more painful. It was because Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden that those were created. I often wonder if God didn’t place those earthly things that make our work so hard and painful out there to remind us what sin does to our spiritual lives. Getting a good day’s work in, in the hot summer heat, makes us feel good.  I wonder if   on the day of judgment, after getting all this work for the Lord done on this earth, it will feel the same “Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall [a]bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it y

              There is work that is play, frivolous work, and work that is for sustenance. Families need to work. We all need to all carry our weight in the home in our respective roles. It is amazing to me to see how much work can be accomplished with two people instead of one. Not to mention the amount of work that gets done with even more people. Work together as a family in the home, on spiritual growth, and in the kingdom. You would be surprised at what a little work can do. “Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it.” Genesis 2:15 NKJV

               The world is a very dangerous place. We live in a lion's den. We walk among spiritual cannibals. We pass through a world full of sin and its power. That doesn’t mean we are subject to it. However, unlike the Gentiles under the old law, without hope, the world has hope. Christ is waiting for every soul to obey His gospel. We need to be calming souls with the truth. We need to be rescuing souls from utter destruction with the words of the gospel. Reach out and help the spiritually deaf, dumb, and blind before they find themselves in eternal darkness. We are the only ones that have a love of God and love for souls that they need. Sanctify the World. “I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.   Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.   As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.” John 17:15-18 NKJV

               Church, sin is a destroyer. Sure, it is not some massive army marching on our kingdom’s borders. It is not an all-powerful Emperor striking down nations that stand in his way. It is not a weapon of massive destruction aimed at enemies. It’s a paper cut on the soul that when left unattended, it festers and rots a human being from the inside out. It affects and infects those around that soul. It’s a plague. If we don’t take care of it in our families, it will bring us to our knees. Deal with sin as it should be dealt with. Flee sin for sin is a reproach to any people. “I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a revile

                Noble community living is living and having a family that generates a good testimony among the community. Noble living is not about making everyone happy. It is to be known for being good, kind, God-fearing, and righteous. It takes work. It takes carefully placed words and extreme self-control over emotions. It’s a difficult task that takes mindful work. The level of difficulty it takes to execute a command from God does not absolve us of keeping it. Do what it takes to have a good testimony among those whom you live. “Moreover he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.” 1 Timothy 3:7 NKJV

                 I have often heard the phrase, “I don’t owe … anything.” That is true to a degree. I mean if you have done your part and they are trying to drain the milk cow then you need to put a stop to it. However, we do owe all humanity somethings. We owe those around us rejoicing and weeping with those who are rejoicing and weeping, within the binds of righteousness. We owe them the light we are to be in this world. Your family needs to keep its debt paid. Pay what you owe those around you; their souls depend on it. “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.” Romans 12:15 NKJV

              “You are the company you keep” and “Birds of a feather flock together,” she would say as I talked about friends, school, teammates, and co-workers if my mother uttered those phrases once she said them a million times. I never forgot them. I have come to learn how true they are. I have watched great people go down that were led to their demise by “friends.” Why? The flesh drove their lives. Being driven by the flesh can happen to anyone. As God makes it clear in James beware lest you too be corrupted by sin. Protect your family. Do whatever it takes to keep the evil company in its place because the evil company corrupts good habits. If you don’t, it can destroy you. “Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.” 1 Corinthians 15:33 NKJV

              We cannot sacrifice our family’s righteousness to mingle among our community. We are in the world but not of the world. We cannot become hermits and hide from it all. How do we stay different, be lights to them, and co-mingle with the people around us? Give the community what is theirs. Pay your taxes, your dues, your time, your work, and your debts to whom it is due. Keep your word and keep the requirements that come with what you sign up for. When righteousness is infringed on, and it is often, hold fast to the standard the Lord has called us to live. Stand your ground when they make it seem that you must conform or be removed. “They said to Him, “Caesar’s.” And He said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”   Matthew 22:21 NKJV

              God speaks of spiritual darkness that the world is immersed in. A darkness that makes them blind to God, deaf to His voice, close to His touch, and ignorant of His truth. The best visual you can get it to see someone deaf, dumb, and blind. This is the spiritual state of every lost soul you meet. You and your family must be light. We must be sensitive to this spiritual atrocity in the lives of others. We must be the flavor of their life. A light to guide them through the darkness. A city on a hill that is full of shelter and safety. Your works are to draw them in. Your whole family needs to keep this in mind when you step out into your community.   “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstan

The families that have obeyed the gospel and are faithfully living make up God’s family. We make up the body. We are brothers and sisters in Christ. That old phrase “ It takes a village to raise a kid” come true in raising our children in the family of God. We all work together to keep God’s intended plan for the family. We all work together to be the family God wants us to be in Christ. “but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.” 1 Timothy 3:15 NKJV

Elders and Deacons must have a family according to God's plan. Their leadership skill is seen and honed in that environment. If they don’t rule their home well how can they rule the church well. That doesn’t mean they have families for us to critic them about. They have families to follow God’s plan. In being the leader of their home following God’s plan, they learn how to best shepherd the family of God. “This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach; not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous;   one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence   (for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?);” 1 Timothy 3:1-5 NKJV “Likewise deacons must be reverent, not dou

     God did not expect ministers to give up their families. Some people in manmade religions believe He did. Minister families should be a great example of what a Godly family should look like. Sometimes the souls that ministers minister to forget they have souls they are responsible for. Let us honor that. Ministers exemplify God’s plan for the family. Church lets support our minister and their families in every way. “Do we have no right to take along a believing wife, as do also the other apostles, the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas?” 1 Corinthians 9:5 NKJV

There is a chain of command in the family. It has been this way since the Garden of Eden. Some choose to ignore it and the family shows. There are consequences to breaking this chain and doing it your way. Your children will bear the results. There is great blessing in keeping God’s chain of command of Christ, the man, the woman and then the child. This is His design for the blessing He gave us, the family. Are you keeping your family structured like this? “But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.” 1 Corinthians 11:3 NKJV “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.” Ephesians 6:1 NKJV

Your sin consequences can spill onto others. Your family is catching the brunt of its damage.  Just think about how many souls have been lost because one generation decides adultery is better than marriage. The spiritual carnage that is left is seen in grandchildren of the adulterers, not even knowing the truth. All because two people decided that sin was right and God was wrong. There are many more examples that can be made. Just keep this fact in mind when you are being tempted. Keep this in mind as you strive to keep God’s plan for the marriage. “And Achan answered Joshua and said, “Indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and this is what I have done:   When I saw among the spoils a beautiful Babylonian garment, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. And there they are, hidden in the earth in the midst of my tent, with the silver under it.” So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent;

As much as sin can carry with it a lasting effecting that tarnishes a family righteousness can grant an even greater blessing.   This blessing can affect the generation after us just like sin can. This blessing can carry deep in our lineage. Seeking and keeping righteousness is worth every moment of time and ever drop of sweat. Let this be your legacy. Sin is not worth the corruption it brings to your life nor the effect it has on your family. Bless them by striving for what is better, righteousness. “No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations.   I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. 8 Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you

The New Testament shows God’s desire to protect His plan for the family from our sins. God truly wants what is best for us. Sin is not the answer. God wants us to stay married and stay bound to one another. God wants the plan to stay the same, that is one man and one woman for life. We are the ones that want to pervert it. Sin has been sin and will always be sin. It is the same sins that brought the flood that plague the world today. There are a simple security system and an insurance policy that can guarantee that you can avoid the world and stay true to God’s plan for your family. It is to follow His word. “The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?” And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who [a]made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall

We have protection. If you want it. We buy insurance, guns, security alarms, and we pay taxes for first responders so that we can be protected from the harms this world has in store for us. Sin is the issue, and sin is the one plague that can destroy you with one choice. God setup statues and laws for the family to protect it from the evil desires that reside in us all. If you choose to follow them, we can be safe from the horrific disasters that sin wants to impart on the family. ‘For everyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. He has cursed his father or his mother. His blood shall be upon him. ‘The man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, he who commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress, shall surely be put to death. The man who lies with his father’s wife has uncovered his father’s nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them.   If a man lies with his daug

The family God setup continued to deteriorate as time went on. The same plague haunted those families that haunts ours.   If we let this plague of sin go unchecked and refuse to inoculate ourselves against it, then we too will become the rotted poor sad reflection of God’s real intent. Do not laugh at or take the  power of sin in your life and family lightly. “that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose. And the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown. Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually

There is one thing that interrupted God’s plan. It is the same thing that can destroy families today, sin. Sin reared its ugly head and caused great turmoil in the family. First, we see life become harder because of the sin of Adam and Eve. Then we see sin continue its work in Cain as he deals murderously with his brother Able. We need to keep in mind that sin cannot only destroy individuals it can destroy any blessing God gives us by causing us to reject God and His blessings. “Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.” Genesis 4:8 NKJV

God had a plan for man. He created all things in Genesis, chapter one. There we were, man and woman, in a perfect place with a simple work to do. He prepared a beautiful place for a man to be fruitful and multiply. It was not an accident that God created the earth and then placed its maintenance in the hands of a man and woman. Take time today to read Genesis chapter one and think about God’s plan for the family.   “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the eart

        If we do not take full   advantage of   the   opportunity,   God gives us   to grow and be transformed in Him fully, we   will die. We will walk away because of our   weak  faith. We will be   entangled   in sin again. We will find fault in God’s ways and in delusional thinking assume we have a better grasp of things. Then we will die spiritually. All because we were not humble enough to   say,   “I need more .”   All because we grew satisfied with where we were and the   lifestyle   that brought with it. Please do not fail to   improve   or continue to grow in Him. “Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of  resurrection  of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits.  For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted t

       We gather together as living stones on the first day of the week to offer up the reasonable and excitable sacrifice of worship to God. We remember Him. We praise Him. We give back from what He has given us. We teach and learn from His word. We offer up prayers to Him. We do this for Him. In the middle of all this, we teach, admonish, encourage, fellowship, and grow together. Why would you want to miss? “not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.” Hebrews 10:25 NKJV

       We need to understand we come together on the first day of the week to worship God. We gather to partake of the Lords Supper. We are here for that reason. Not for ourselves. Although I have not heard of the atrocities that we see in Corinth concerning the Lord Supper take place today, others are being committed that are just as bad. Don’t forget that. You want to have a strong faith, pure religion and are growing in Christ take remembering the Lord seriously. Take God and His word seriously. Your soul depends on it. “ Therefore when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper.   For in eating, each one takes his own supper ahead of others; and one is hungry and another is drunk.   What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in ? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I do not praise you. For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: tha

     Yes, grow up in Christ. The things of children seem wonderful to them. For them, they are. They do not get to enjoy nor see or even understand all the great wonders and blessings that surround them every day. They are too young still and can only grasp what is right in front of them. Not only are they naive to all the bountiful blessings they are naive to all the sin and evil as well.   As Christians, we are to take off this childlike tunnel vision and embrace all the riches that are in God. This can only be done by maturing in Him. If you are not growing in Him, you are missing out on so much. When we do grow in Him, we can easily avoid the snares of the devil and celebrate all the great things in Christ. “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food.   For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of right

     We need to be exhorted . I know I do. Oh, come on, don’t say you don’t. You know you're not perfect. You know you need it to . Why do we need it so much? We are still living in human bodies. Faith comes by hearing. When we grow weary or begin to meander amongst sinful things, we need to hear the word of God, the voice of the shepherd, so that we can come back.   There are people out there that are false. They proclaim a whole different message we need to be exhorted to avoid such things. We need to be exhorted to exercise our senses.   The exhortation is not bad . We make it bad by what attitude we use to respond to it. Children of God can exhort and be exhorted in Christ. “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Romans 10:17 NKJV “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” 1 John 4:1 NKJV “I charge you therefore before God a

     If we  add to our faith the wrong things, like  elements of the world, then we will not have success. T hat would be the key to failure. We will become an awful child of God. We will become shortsighted, even to blindness. We will forget the most wonderful things that have ever happened to us, the forgiveness of sins in Christ. How horrific of a situation that would be to be in . Avoid it. Do what is right in God’s eyes and be handsomely rewarded for it. “For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.” 2 Peter 1:9 NKJV

     If we build up our faith with the things God asked us to add to our faith, then we will reap wonderful blessings. We will never stumble. We will never be barren n or unfruitful in the Lord. Sounds like the key to success to me. I hope it does for you as well. Don’t be afraid to grow and add to your faith the things of God. “For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble;” 2 Peter 1:8-10 NKJV

       Raw faith is the foundation of our new spiritual selves in Christ. We need to add beautiful things to our faith. These things that we add on to our faith like building blocks are God-given , God appreciated, and make us more like His Son. We need to add kindness, virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, and love.   What have you been aiding to your faith? “But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.” 2 Peter 1:5-7 NKJV

     We are to worship God in spirit and truth. Truth being His word. Our spirit is what makes us up. Our spirit is all that we have. Who cares what that sounds like or what our best may amount to, to the ears and eyes of the world. God asked for all of us. Lip service will not suffice. Man-made concepts will cause our worship to come up short in God’s eyes. Be mindful of this. Give Him all you have. Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying:   ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ” Matthew 15:7-9 NKJV

    We show our purity in  religion   through  our actions. Just like our works are proof of our Faith,  those  same works prove our pure religion. Take care of those that are alone in this world like orphans and widows.  Be free from the wanting lusts of this world.  It is an easy concept. We need to  execute  it.  “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.” James 1:27 NKJV

       We need to be careful that we do not sell our soul for worldly things. Although it seems impossible that anyone would conceive of doing such an atrocity, it happens every day. Sometimes even God’s children fall into the snare of pursuing instant gratification or earthly plunders. It's easy to become what those around you are. Watch your ways carefully and be mindful of your choices. Make sure every step and decision brings you closer to God and not further away. “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” Matthew 16:25-26 NKJV

We have passed on when the soul is has left the body. We often weep bitterly over this event. In Christ, it just means it is our time to go rest in Abrahams bosom until the day we get to go home to the place Christ has prepared for us. It is not an end; it is the beginning of the rest of our lives. It is a day to look forward to.   We do not die in Christ we live on for eternity in the best place ever given to man, Heaven. Use your body to reach this goal. It is temporary and will return to dust, back to the earth it came from. Then when your earthen vessel gives way your soul will go on  to a  better place. “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” James 2:26 NKJV “And so it was, as her soul was departing (for she died), that she called his name Ben-Oni; but his father called him Benjamin.” Genesis 35:18 NKJV “In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; Fo

We need to be concerned with the physical needs of others. Not the wants but the needs are what we need to pay attention to. We show our faith by doing such. We also reach the souls of others by paying attention to such things. Let us not forget it is because of Christ, we no longer focus on the flesh but the soul. The world, however, is only concerned about the flesh. Get their attention by meeting their needs and then save their soul by giving them the Word. “What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?” James 2:14-16 NKJV

Scars branded Paul as a bondservant of Christ. He earned these visible markings by his fidelity to Christ. Although our bodies may limit us, they can be the best showing of our faith. The way we live, act and use our earthen vessel are the scenes of Christianity that the world sees on daily baizes that teaches them about God before they hear His word. “From now on let no one trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.” Galatians 6:17 NKJV “Are they ministers of Christ?—I speak as a fool—I am more: in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in p

We have limitations to this body. They are limitations we all wish we could avoid. This body is not our eternal home. This body will want the fleshly gratification that this world offers. This body is limited by its mear design is subject to illness and death. We wish it weren’t, but it is. We can’t avoid. We can embrace the reality of it and make the best of it. “So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.” 2 Corinthians 5:6-8 NKJV   “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.   For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.” Romans 7:18-19 NKJV “Yet I considered it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worke

Paul avoided becoming a castaway by disciplining his body.   If we discipline ourselves, we can prevent the same result. We learn a lot from this simple verse. We discover we can discipline our fleshly selves. We learn we can bring it into the subject to our will. We learn that if we don’t, we will become disqualified to share the word as well as for Heaven. The words "bring" and "discipline" in this verse helps us grasp that this is a process that requires work. We can do it. We need to do it. It’s worth our eternal soul to do it. Will you discipline yourself to be the person of God, God wants you to be? “But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.” 1   Corinthians 9:27 NKJV

You will struggle to be a Christian if you are unwilling to be a voluntary slave to God and others.  "Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Him, saying, “Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask.” And He said to them, “What do you want Me to do for you?” They said to Him, “Grant us that we may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your glory.” But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” They said to Him, “We are able.”So Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink the cup that I drink, and with the baptism I am baptized with you will be baptized; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared.” And when the ten heard it, they began to be greatly displeased with James and John. But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, “You know that those who are considere

       We sometimes treat sin as an outward event that cannot hurt our inner man. This is not true. It can kill the inner man. Not to mention some sins are direct sins against our own body. Sexual immorality is a prime example of sin against our own body. Sometimes we need to contemplate sin and its gravity to our lives, spiritual and carnal. Perhaps in this time of needed observation, we can grow to grasp the importance of steering clear of the death trap called sin. “Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.” 1 Corinthians 6:18 NKJV

      Our flesh can be our spiritual weakness. Our flesh is the chink in our armor. It inhabits this characteristic because it wants to sin. The flesh is carnal. Left unmastered and ruled over it will be consumed with meeting those carnal things. To live this way is to pervert the blessing God has given us. Any sin we commit does this. We can see that the world is filled with this perversion in the past as well as in the present. I will be as bold to say we will see it in the future. However, as Christians, this is not our task in life. We are to master the carnal part of ourselves and beat it into subjection for the service of God and the hope of eternal life.  Rule over yourself well. Your soul depends on it. “Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves,  who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.” Romans 1:

      Our bodies are more than just a machine that can do incredible things. Our body holds something in it that is beyond our understanding. In Christ, our bodies become a temple of the Holy Spirit. Not only is our flesh and bones a masterpiece of God but it also the place where His Spirit resides. We need to take care of our bodies, and we must also treat them as a temple. We should care for, interact with, and use our bodies in a way that respects this beautiful blessing from God.   “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?” 1 Corinthians 6:19 NKJV

     We live in a world that places plenty of emphases on the body. Every day there is a new concept of weight loss and getting fit. Americans spend more than $60 billion annually to try to lose pounds. Everyone is concerned about how their out-side physic looks and operates while ignoring the inner man. All that does is create rotting people that look nice. The body is a blessing from God and taking care of it is crucial. However, the soul, on the other hand, is of much greater importance. Yes, we need to take care of our bodies. We need to give twice as much attention to our souls as we do out physical bodies that are going to turn to dust. “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Matthew 10:28 NKJV

       The bodies that God has given us are limited. I know I wish I could do more for Christ every day. The need for sleep, nourishment, and rest keeps me from doing more. Some may see those things as weaknesses. It is proven that we can do too much concerning our bodies. Doing too much means working too hard and not taking care of ourselves. All this does is weaken us even further. It causes us to do fewer things well. Our bodies are important. It needs rest and recuperation. Giving it that rest makes us able to operate at our maximum capacity with absolute efficiency.  Jesus even took time to take care of himself. Make sure you are taking time for Godly R & R. “And He said to them, “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.” Mark 6:31 NKJV

     That beautiful, magnificent, intricate flesh and blood machine that we call our body God designed, perfected and built. Some may argue with that position. Let them. There is not a single earthly explanation that can explain how our bodies and souls could become what they are any other way. When you look in the mirror today, you are looking at a masterpiece of God’s. Make sure you never forget that. Be careful to treat it like the masterpiece it is. “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” Genesis 1:26-27 NKJV 

Do not be like King Ahab and Jezebel. Ahab was so selfish allowed Naboth to be murdered so he could have his vineyard. Many of us would not go this far. We can be guilty of coveting something so much we grow to be green with envy. We can be guilty of creating an enemy out of a person because we want what they have. We can be guilty of seeking to ruin someone in some way to get what they have. Do not let King Ahab be your example of loving your brother. Let Christ be our example for loving your brother as yourself.  “And it came to pass after these things that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard which was in Jezreel, next to the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. So Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, “Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a vegetable garden, because it is near, next to my house; and for it I will give you a vineyard better than it. Or, if it seems good to you, I will give you its worth in money.” But Naboth said to Ahab, “The Lord forbid that I should give th