The Still Small Voice

 

Elijah was in a crisis in this passage.  God told him to go to the mountain and he would speak to him.  Elijah waited on the mountain and looked to find God in the wind, in an earthquake and in fire.  But it was in God’s gentle whisper where he found him. 

1 Kings 19:11-13 (TLB) 11 “Go out and stand before me on the mountain,” the Lord told him. And as Elijah stood there the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain; it was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind, there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 And after the earthquake, there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire, there was the sound of a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his scarf and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And a voice said, “Why are you here, Elijah?

12/25/2022

Updating how you think and Speak

As you allow Christ to cleanse you of selfish and dark ideals, he replaces them with his thoughts and light. You have a new understanding and treat others more kindly. Be aware of your words. Are they gracious and refined?  Update how you speak as you grow in Christ.

Luke 6:45 (NIV) 45 A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.

 

12/18/2022

What happens when Midian Dominates

The Midianites represent what happens when you abandon God. Seen and unseen forces attack you and you have no protection. As with these in Israel, you will endure great loss instead of all the beautiful and productive things a relationship with him brings. 

Judges 6:1-10 (MSG) 1-6 Yet again the People of Israel went back to doing evil in God’s sight. God put them under the domination of Midian for seven years. Midian overpowered Israel. Because of Midian, the People of Israel made for themselves hideouts in the mountains—caves and forts. When Israel planted its crops, Midian and Amalek, the easterners, would invade them, camp in their fields, and destroy their crops all the way down to Gaza. They left nothing for them to live on, neither sheep nor ox nor donkey. Bringing their cattle and tents, they came in and took over, like an invasion of locusts. And their camels—past counting! They marched in and devastated the country. The People of Israel, reduced to grinding poverty by Midian, cried out to God for help.7-10 One time when the People of Israel had cried out to God because of Midian, God sent them a prophet with this message: “God, the God of Israel, says, I delivered you from Egypt, I freed you from a life of slavery; I rescued you from Egypt’s brutality and then from every oppressor; I pushed them out of your way and gave you their land. “And I said to you, ‘I am God, your God. Don’t for a minute be afraid of the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living.’ But you didn’t listen to me.” 

 

12/11/2022

Being Comfortable in Your own Skin

Being comfortable in your own skin is both a gift from God and something you develop with him. Addiction runs in those who want to feel different and be something they are not. There is great relief when, with God, you relax and live as the person he made you to be.

Matthew 5:5 (MSG) 5 “You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are—no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought.

12/4/2022

Being Faithful

Doing your appointed work each day is the best way to live in your purpose as God intends. If you don’t approach it with respect and seriousness, it will be like getting caught sleeping on the job - you would be disrespecting Christ and his love and sacrifice for you. 

Luke 12:35-48 (TLB) 34 “My coming can be compared with that of a man who went on a trip to another country. He laid out his employees’ work for them to do while he was gone and told the gatekeeper to watch for his return. 35-37 “Keep a sharp lookout! For you do not know when I will come, at evening, at midnight, early dawn or late daybreak. Don’t let me find you sleeping. Watch for my return! This is my message to you and to everyone else.”

11/27/2022

Serving Jesus Personally

The Bible puts great stock in how you treat others. As you help, you serve Jesus personally.  Sometimes it isn’t always obvious, but the poor, lonely, homeless, prisoners, or physically and mentally ill aren’t all economically deprived. These conditions are spiritual as well. 

Matthew 25:31-46 (TLB) 31 “But when I, the Messiah, shall come in my glory, and all the angels with me, then I shall sit upon my throne of glory. 32 And all the nations shall be gathered before me. And I will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, 33 and place the sheep at my right hand, and the goats at my left. 34 “Then I, the King, shall say to those at my right, ‘Come, blessed of my Father, into the Kingdom prepared for you from the founding of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you fed me; I was thirsty and you gave me water; I was a stranger and you invited me into your homes; 36 naked and you clothed me; sick and in prison, and you visited me.’ 37 “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Sir, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you anything to drink? 38 Or a stranger, and help you? Or naked, and clothe you? 39 When did we ever see you sick or in prison, and visit you?’ 40 “And I, the King, will tell them, ‘When you did it to these my brothers, you were doing it to me!’ 41 Then I will turn to those on my left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. 42 For I was hungry and you wouldn’t feed me; thirsty, and you wouldn’t give me anything to drink; 43 a stranger, and you refused me hospitality; naked, and you wouldn’t clothe me; sick, and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’ 44 “Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’ 45 “And I will answer, ‘When you refused to help the least of these my brothers, you were refusing help to me.’ 46 “And they shall go away into eternal punishment; but the righteous into everlasting life.”

11/20/2022

Pull yourself up by the bootstraps

The only way to truly pull yourself up by your bootstraps is to ask God what to do each day. The self-determination is on you to ask, not to have the answers.  Listen for his voice and follow his instructions. God redeems and rescues as you listen and trust him.

Psalms 49:8-9 (MSG) 7-9 Really! There’s no such thing as self-rescue, pulling yourself up by your bootstraps. The cost of rescue is beyond our means, and even then it doesn’t guarantee, Life forever, or insurance against the Black Hole.

11/17/2022

Cultivating Common Sense

 

Common sense is a limited commodity unless you cultivate it and consulting with God is the best way. So many endeavors, even if only planning your day, are blessed by wise planning and common sense.  Keeping abreast of the facts requires you check in with God about them.

Proverbs 24:3-4 (TLB) 3-4 Any enterprise is built by wise planning, becomes strong through common sense, and profits wonderfully by keeping abreast of the facts.

11/13/2022

The Unjust Servant

The accountant in this parable thought he was too slick to get caught.  His employer considers him clever in some ways, but it is only a temporal way out of dishonor.  Honesty is one of the hardest virtues to accomplish, in the young and old and in small and large matters. 

Luke 16:1-13 (TLB)1Jesus now told this story to his disciples: “A rich man hired an accountant to handle his affairs, but soon a rumor went around that the accountant was thoroughly dishonest. 2 “So his employer called him in and said, ‘What’s this I hear about your stealing from me? Get your report in order, for you are to be dismissed.’ 3 “The accountant thought to himself, ‘Now what? I’m through here, and I haven’t the strength to go out and dig ditches, and I’m too proud to beg. 4 I know just the thing! And then I’ll have plenty of friends to take care of me when I leave!’ 5-6 “So he invited each one who owed money to his employer to come and discuss the situation. He asked the first one, ‘How much do you owe him?’ ‘My debt is 850 gallons of olive oil,’ the man replied. ‘Yes, here is the contract you signed,’ the accountant told him. ‘Tear it up and write another one for half that much!’ 7 “‘And how much do you owe him?’ he asked the next man. ‘A thousand bushels of wheat,’ was the reply. ‘Here,’ the accountant said, ‘take your note and replace it with one for only 800 bushels!’ 8 “The rich man had to admire the rascal for being so shrewd.[a] And it is true that the citizens of this world are more clever in dishonesty* than the godly* are. 9 But shall I tell you to act that way, to buy friendship through cheating? Will this ensure your entry into an everlasting home in heaven? 10 No! For unless you are honest in small matters, you won’t be in large ones. If you cheat even a little, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. 11 And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven? 12 And if you are not faithful with other people’s money, why should you be entrusted with money of your own? 13 “For neither you nor anyone else can serve two masters. You will hate one and show loyalty to the other, or else the other way around—you will be enthusiastic about one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

11/6/2022

The Real Problem is Internal

These verses describe what goes on within each person. Ask God what wickedness and dishonesty is entrenched in your heart and mind.  If you are really angry, the same thing you are angry with in another is active in you, below your awareness, but absolutely there.

Psalms 55:10-11 (TLB) 10 Though they patrol their walls night and day against invaders, their real problem is internal—wickedness and dishonesty are entrenched in the heart of the city. 11 There is murder and robbery there, and cheating in the markets and wherever you look.

10/30/2022

Who are God's People?

What distinguishes God’s people? Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and Bathsheba were not Hebrews (God’s original chosen people) but each respected God. They are all a part of the lineage of Jesus.  God’s people are not of a race or culture, but of their love, respect and faith in him.

Isaiah 56: 1-7 (TLB) Be just and fair to all, the Lord God says. Do what’s right and good, for I am coming soon to rescue you. 2 Blessed is the man who refuses to work during my Sabbath days of rest, but honors them; and blessed is the man who checks himself from doing wrong. 3 And my blessings are for Gentiles, too, when they accept the Lord; don’t let them think that I will make them second-class citizens. And this is for the eunuchs too. They can be as much mine as anyone. 4 For I say this to the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths holy, who choose the things that please me and obey my laws: 5 I will give them—in my house, within my walls—a name far greater than the honor they would receive from having sons and daughters. For the name that I will give them is an everlasting one; it will never disappear. 6 As for the Gentiles, the outsiders who join the people of the Lord and serve him and love his name, who are his servants and don’t desecrate the Sabbath, and have accepted his covenant and promises, 7 I will bring them also to my holy mountain of Jerusalem and make them full of joy within my House of Prayer. I will accept their sacrifices and offerings, for my Temple shall be called “A House of Prayer for All People”

10/23/2022

Generosity

Jesus knew he was here for a specific purpose and he honored his Father by living it. God’s way is one of giving and generosity and Jesus is our example of it. Your purpose is special to you but if you are stingy or think only of yourself, it isn’t God’s purpose for you.

 

Mark 4:24-25 (MSG) 24-25 “Listen carefully to what I am saying—and be wary of the shrewd advice that tells you how to get ahead in the world on your own. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity. Stinginess impoverishes.”

 

10/16/2022

Taking Care of Family

 

Caring for your family is stressed in the Bible. It may mean you look after them, give money, or your time.  Or it may mean tough love - you pray, be kind and love them from a distance. God gives you family and them you. Ask God what you are to do and in faith, do it. 

1 Timothy 5:8 (TLB) 8 But anyone who won’t care for his own relatives when they need help, especially those living in his own family, has no right to say he is a Christian. Such a person is worse than the heathen.

10/9/2022

Everlasting to Everlasting

Many “don’t believe” in the Bible but benefit from what is in it every day as have hundreds of generations before them. What is in the Word of God contains the most relevant values for life now just as when it was supernaturally inspired by God and written. 

Psalms 103:17-18 (TLB)  17-18 But the loving-kindness of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting to those who reverence him; his salvation is to children’s children of those who are faithful to his covenant and remember to obey him!

10/2/2022

Man Made Traditions or God Made Traditions

There are as many interpretations of God’s word as there are people and churches. Time spent in the Word, prayer, and daily relationship with God helps differentiate what is man made and what is God’s way. There is no substitute for the time you spend with God. 

Mark 7:12-13 (TLB) 12-13 And so you break the law of God in order to protect your man-made tradition. And this is only one example. There are many, many others.

9/25/2022 

Hearing and Putting into Practice

Being learned about the Bible is wonderful but it is incomplete. The Pharisees were highly learned and they had much incorrect understanding and hypocrisy. You build your life in strength and stability by learning the ways of Jesus and putting them into practice each day.

Matthew 7:26 (NIV) 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.

9/18/2022

Prevented from understanding God

 

God’s truth may not make sense at times but there is much going on behind the scenes that you ignore or are not aware of. Always consider if you may be under the influence of the enemy, especially when you doubt God. That is how original sin began.   

John 8:43-45 (TLB) 43 Why can’t you understand what I am saying? It is because you are prevented from doing so! 44 For you are the children of your father the devil and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning and a hater of truth—there is not an iota of truth in him. When he lies, it is perfectly normal; for he is the father of liars. 45 And so when I tell the truth, you just naturally don’t believe it!  

9/11/2022

A Clean Heart

The Bible and world is replete with those who want Godly lives but unconsciously flirt with evil. That is what happens in this world.  You may actually seek evil and not even know it as earth is the devil’s playground. Staying close to God is the only real way to avoid it.

Proverbs 11:27 (GNT) 27 If your goals are good, you will be respected, but if you are looking for trouble, that is what you will get. 

 

9/4/2022

God wants your Thanks and Trust

The Old Testament is full of laws as well as sacrifices of animals and blood. The blood of Christ replaced these ceremonial and literal sacrifices. Even so - now, as then - God wants your trust and gratitude, not outward ceremonial or religious sacrifices.

Psalms 50:13-15 (TLB)  13 No, I don’t need your sacrifices of flesh and blood. 14-15 What I want from you is your true thanks; I want your promises fulfilled. I want you to trust me in your times of trouble, so I can rescue you and you can give me glory. 

8/28/2022

The Poor don't get Poorer

These verses are usually misunderstood as “the poor get poorer” but they apply to your purpose and abilities. If you don’t use what God gives you, he gives it to those who have already shown their willingness to develop and find success with his gifts.  

Matthew 13:10-12 (TLB) 12-13 “For to him who has will more be given,” he told them, “and he will have great plenty; but from him who has not, even the little he has will be taken away. That is why I use these illustrations, so people will hear and see but not understand.

8/21/2022

Book of Psalms

 

There are 150 chapters in the Psalms, poetry and pathos the Jewish people read and sang to God and each other. Many are expressions of frustration followed by affirmation of the power of God in transcending each and every one of those frustrations.

Psalms 34:18-19 (TLB) 18 The Lord is close to those whose hearts are breaking; he rescues those who are humbly sorry for their sins. 19 The good man does not escape all troubles—he has them too. But the Lord helps him in each and every one.

8/13/2022

Eat, Drink and be Merry

A rich man ponders how to store his overflowing crop yields. He decides to build bigger barns and then: ”Eat, drink and be merry.”  God calls him a fool for looking only to earthly wealth to be rich when he needs to look to the eternal riches - relationship with God. 

 

Luke 12:16-21 (NLT) 16 Then he told them a story: “A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. 17 He said to himself, ‘What should I do? I don’t have room for all my crops.’ 18 Then he said, ‘I know! I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll have room enough to store all my wheat and other goods. 19 And I’ll sit back and say to myself, “My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!”’20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?’21 “Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.”

8/7/2022