Don't Blame The darkness

                                                        When The Door Slams

 "You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.                                                             Matthew 5:14-16  

        There is no mistaking the effect of light upon a darkened place. Light boldly and unabashedly announces its presence and vigorously dispels darkness. God's desire is to fill you with His light. He wants you to shine as a brilliant testimony of His presence and power in your life, so that the darkness in the lives of those around you will be displaced by the light of God's glory.

        If, however, you notice that the world around you becoming darker and darker, don't blame the darkness! It is simply doing what darkness does. The remedy for darkness is light. If the world is becoming darker, the problem is not with the darkness. The problem is with the light. Jesus said His disciples should be the "light of the world" (Matt. 5:14). What and awesome responsibility, to be the ones through whom God would shine His divine light and dispel the darkness from around others! In announcing His own coming, Jesus said, "The people who live in darkness have seen a great light, and for those living in the shadow land of death, light has dawned" (Matt. 4:16). 

        Think about this: There was no ignoring Jesus' arrival upon earth! Darkness was dispelled! Everywhere Jesus went, God's truth was boldly proclaimed, people were healed, hypocrisy was exposed, and sinners found forgiveness. The world was never the same once the Father introduced His light through His Son. Can that be said of you as well? Do your coworkers recognize the light that is within you? Does the presence of Christ radiate from your home into your community? When God's light is allowed to shine unhindered through your life, the darkness around you will be dispelled.   

May I not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will fear the One who, after killing, has authority to cast into hell. (Luke 12:4-5) 

May I fear only the Lord my God and serve Him and take my oaths in His name. (Deuteronomy 6:13) 

May I be very careful to love the Lord my God, to walk in all his ways, to obey His commands, to hold fast to Him, and to serve Him with all my heart and all my soul. (Joshua 22:5)

Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin. Acknowledge these to the Lord and thank Him for His forgiveness.   

                                                                            Never Rest Ministries             

      

Minding Your Own Business

                                                     When The Door Slams

My brothers, if any among you strays from the truth, and someone turns him back, let him know that whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his life from death and cover a multitude of sins.                                                                                             James 5:19-20

            

        One of the Christian's greatest deterrents from sin is life of another Christian. Some Christians maintain that it is none of their business if another chooses to sin. They are convinced that it is none of their business if another chooses to sin. They convinced themselves they would be judgmental if they respond to someone in personal and spiritual bondage. The world persuades them not to get involved, but this prevents them from being an effective intercessor.

        As Christians we are aware that sin brings death (Rom. 6:23). Sin has addictive behavior, sin is addiction, sin kill relationships, dismantles marriages, choke out joy, and destroys peace of mind. When we see someone wander from the truth into error, how should we respond? When Jesus saw sin it broke His heart. He wept over entire cities as He saw them rejecting the truth (Matt. 23:37-39). 

        Lord Jesus prayed fervently for His disciples to be strong when they were tempted (John 17). Jesus warned those who were heading toward spiritual failure (Matt. 26:20-25, 24). Jesus was even willing to die to save people from their sins because He knew the devastation that sin causes. Jesus never stood idle as those around Him were led astray by their sin. Jesus always took an active role in turning them back to God.      

        Think about this: "Minding your own business" will save you some discomfort, but it will not help a brother or sister who needs to return to the Lord. If you are truly aware of the grave consequences for those who continue to live in sin addiction, you will be moved to weep even as Jesus wept. Pray fervently for your family and friends. Pray that Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God to have mercy though the power of the Holy Spirit to safeguard your motives and prepare you to minister to him. Be alert, ask God how to confront your family member or friend. If you do so, be loving and gentle lest you, too, be tempted (Gal. 6:1). 

Lord Jesus, I look to You for my daily bread, to forgive me my debts as I also have forgiven my debtors, and lead me not into temptation, but to deliver me from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. (Matthew 6:11-13) 

Being built up in the most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, may I keep myself in the love of God as I wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. (Jude 20-21 

Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin. Acknowledge these to the Lord and thank Him for His forgiveness.  

                                                                        Never Rest Ministries                   

When You Begin Struggling To Obey God

                                                     When The Door Slams

"He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him."                                                                                                                                                                             John 14:21  

        Obedience to God's commands comes from your heart. When you begin struggling to obey God, that is a clear indication that your heart has shifted away from God. Some claim: "I love God, but I'm having difficulty obeying God in certain areas of my life." That is a spiritual impossibility. If I were to ask you, "Do you love God?" You might easily respond. "Yes!" However, if I were to ask you, "Are you obeying God?" Would you answer yes as quickly? 

        Yet I would be asking you the same question! Genuine love for God leads to wholehearted obedience. If you told your spouse that you loved him, but at certain times you struggled with faithfulness. Your relationship would be so weak or in jeopardy at best. Yet we assume that God is satisfied with occasional love or partial obedience. He is not. 

        Obedience without love is legalism. Obedience for its own sake can be nothing more then perfectionism, which leads to pride. Many conscientious Christians seek to cultivate discipline in their lives to be more obedient to Christ. As helpful as spiritual disciplines can be, they never can replace your love for God. Love is the discipline. God looks beyond your godly habits, beyond your moral lifestyle, and beyond your church involvement and focuses His penetrating gaze upon your heart. 

        Think about this: Has your worship become empty and routine? Have you lost your motivation to read God's Word? Are you experiencing spiritual laziness? Is your prayer life reduced to a religion? These are symptoms of a heart that has shifted away from God. Return to your first love. Lover for God is the greatest motivation for a relationship with God and for serving Him. 

God will keep me strong to the end, so that I will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, through whom I was called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.                   (1 Corinthians 1:8-9)

Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has entered the heart of man the things that God has prepared for those who love Him (1 Corinthians 2:9).

Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin. Acknowledge these to the Lord and thank Him for His forgiveness.

                                                                        Never Rest Ministries                             

If You Honor God, He Will Honor You

                                                        When The Door Slams

"For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled,                                                                                    and the one who humbles himself will be exalted."                                                                                                                                                    Luke 14:11

        There are two ways to attain high esteem. One is the world's method: take every opportunity to promote yourself before others; seize occasions for recognition and manipulate your way into the center of attention. The other way is God's way: humble yourself. Rather than striving for recognition and influential positions, seek to put others first. Cultivate humility, for it does not come naturally. One of the many paradoxes of the Christian life is that when God sees your genuine humility, He exalts you. 

        Proverbs 16:18 warns that if we put our efforts into promoting ourselves, we will be brought down. Jesus told of a man who tried to enhance his own image (Luke 14:7-11). While attending a banquet, he immediately claimed the seat of honor. When the host saw this, he humiliated this man by asking him to move to the least honorable place to make room for a more distinguished guest. Jesus said the wise thing to do is to seek the lowest position and allow others to exalt you if they feel you are worthy. 

        Think about this: There is an enormous difference between the way the world honors you and the way God does. Proverbs 25:27 indicates that glory is not appropriate if you seek it yourself. When the world exalts you, you are the one who receives the credit. When God exalts you, others will praise Him for what He has done in your life. If you honor God, He will honor you (1 Sam. 2:30). Strive to humble yourself and bring glory to God. Allow God to be the One to honor you in the way that pleases Him!   

No one can lay a foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 3:11).

It is by by faith that I stand firm (2 Corinthians 1:24). 

Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but through faith in Christ Jesus, I have believed in Christ Jesus, that I may be justified through faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by works of the law, no flesh will be justified (Galatians 2:16).  

Pause to reflect upon these biblical affirmations.

Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin. Acknowledge these to the Lord and thank Him for His forgiveness.  

                                                                        Never Rest Ministries