Acknowledge Him

Prov 3:6

In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

KJV

 
 

We live in a world that almost universally fails to acknowledge God for who He is. Almost the only thing that God gets credit for are natural disasters. They're called "acts of God." Just think of all the wonderfully good things that God does and they're called freaks of nature or the result of a long evolutionary process. As we live in this world that has failed to acknowledge God, we should be pointing people to God by our lives. We should be thanking God for all He's done in our lives. We should not be taking credit to ourselves for our accomplishments. It's only God who has allowed us to do these things. Let's give Him the honor.

 
 

The last phrase of the verse is the best part. If acknowledge God, He will direct our paths. What a blessed way to lives! Who better would there be to have in charge of our lives? God, who cares enough about us to save us from our sins, God, who created us and understands us in the greatest possible detail, God, who is the almighty Master of the universe wants to direct our lives if we will only let Him. Wow, I'm so amazed that He cares enough about me to direct my paths. I desire the humility and the obedience to have God direct my life.

Choices, Little, Daily Ones

http://www.charityministries.org/audio/4064.mp3

Find the Knowledge of God

Proverbs 2:5

 
 

Man has been pursuing knowledge throughout history. Yet, he never seems satisfied. His search is never complete until he finds the knowledge of God. Yet, most people do not realize that they need the knowledge of God. They deny that God even exists. They try to find knowledge through studying nature, but when nature points them to God, they ignore it. Many times, they start with a false assumption: that there is no higher power. This leads them to many false conclusions: man is not responsible for his own actions. Life began all by itself. We are not responsible to obey anyone. No wonder there are so many problems in our world!

 
 

The only way to find the knowledge of God is to learn from God. He is eager to teach us. He wants the best for us. He desires to save us and bring us closer to Himself. Lord, help me to be willing to learn from You. Help me to spread this knowledge I've learned. Help me to be a beacon for You here on this earth.

Come

Rev 22:17

And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

 
 

Jesus wants us to come to Him and be saved! He wants us to come to heaven. He desires our salvation. He wants the best for us. Why do we hold back? Why do we shrink from obeying Him? What keeps us from experiencing the blessing He wants to give us? Sadly, it's our evil nature. Satan tells us that God's way is hard. He tells us we can enjoy life by doing whatever we want, but it's a lie. Being enslaved to ourselves and our lusts is not fun. It is bondage. We can only experience true freedom by following God's way. Then, at the end of life, we can experience eternal bliss in heaven. "Let him that heareth say, Come."

"I Am Alpha and Omega"

One of the last words of Jesus that we have recorded: "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last." This was spoken from heaven to John many years after Jesus had left this earth. This phrase inspired me as it reminded me that Jesus if everything for us. He is all-encompassing. He is everywhere present. He understands us completely. He can take care of all our problems. He knows our secret fears and insecurities. He is the One who controls history and sees the future. What an awesome God! Best of all, He's on our side. As true Christians, we can claim this incredible power to conquer sin and anything else that comes our way. With Jesus on our side, we have no excuse for fear. We need only trust Him and He will carry us through.

Sallvation Is of the Lord

http://www.charityministries.org/audio/4068.mp3

The Time Is at Hand

As we near the end of the book of Revelation we are amazed by all the things that have been foretold in the future. There is much judgment portrayed. We see Christ's second coming and the reward of all the faithful Christians. Then the angel tells John something very interesting. He tells John not to seal the book because the time is at hand. These things will begin to happen soon. If that was true almost 2,000 years ago in John's day. How much more should we be looking for the return of Christ now. We have already seen the fulfillment of some of the prophecies in Revelation, but there is more to come. There will be difficult times, but we need to stand firm. We have God's promise that he will help us. We know that the return of Christ will come very soon and we must be living faithfully for Him every day of our lives.

Offended by Jesus Christ

http://www.charityministries.org/audio/4071.mp3

Blessed Is He That Keepeth the Sayings of the Prophecy of This Book

As we come to the end of the book of Revelation, the final reuniting of the Church with Jesus is described and Jesus says, "Blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book." What does that really mean? How can we obey a prophecy? A prophecy foretells the future. The key is to believe the prophecy. If we believe that we will be rewarded according to what we've done in life, we will obey all the Bible to the best of our abilities. We will also want to spread the Gospel so that as many people as possible can reach heaven and not receive the judgment of God.

 
 

Lord, help me to keep the sayings of the prophecies in the Bible. Help me to remember that we will be eternally rewarded for what we have done here on earth. Help me to remember how important it is to obey You now. Help me to be a faithful witness to those around me so that they, too, can reach heaven someday.

God Shall Wipe Away All Tears

Rev 21:4

"And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away."

KJV

 
 

What a wonderful promise! We live here on earth where pain and tears are a part of life. Job said, "Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble." How true that is. Life here on earth is not perfect. We experience trials and temptations. But, if we're Christians, difficulties here should just make us anticipate heaven even more. Jesus has made all the provisions for us to be saved and to enter heaven. All we need to do is accept His provision and surrender our lives to Him. Then, when we get to heaven, we can experience eternity with no sadness!

 
 

Lord, help me to keep my eyes on heaven. Help me to be looking for Your second coming every day. Help me to live for You so that I can go to heaven with You when you return.

Standing Before God

We are nearing the end of the book of Revelation and we see prophecies about the very end of time. In chapter 20, we have a description of the great white throne judgment. Everyone who ever lived must come before God and receive a verdict on how they conducted their lives. For Christians, this will be the greatest day they have ever experienced. They can have confidence that they have obeyed God in life. They know that through the saving blood of Jesus, they will be found blameless before God. However, for those who have ignored God all their lives, it will be another story. This will be the day of their doom. God will open the books and recount to them all the evil they have done. He will sentence them to eternal judgment unlike any other they have known. There will be no appeals to this Judge. His word is final.

 
 

Where will you be? Where will I be on this day? Lord, help me to live my life today and always with the consciousness of a coming judgment day. Help me not to be distracted by things here on earth. Help me to remember the importance of living for You. Help me to keep heaven in view and remember that it will be worth it all.

God's Righteous Judgment

Revelation 18 describes the awful destruction of the end-time city of Babylon. This city seems to be the capital of all wickedness in the world, and God did not tolerate it. He utterly destroyed it. Then, chapter 19 begins with these words:

19:1 And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God:

2 For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.

3 And again they said, Alleluia.

KJV

What a wonderful God we serve. He is worthy of our praise and adoration. He deserves all the glory because He judges righteously. He will put an end to all sin and evil in the world, and His people will always emerge victoriously in the end. Let's be sure we're always on His side.

The Doctrine of Discipleship

http://www.charityministries.org/audio/4078.mp3

Behold, I Come as a Thief

In Revelation 16, John is recording the great vial judgments that are poured out in the earth. In the middle of this, Jesus says, "Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame." He is warning us that we must always be ready for His return. There may be many things going on around us. We may become distracted and fail to watch for His return, but Jesus reminds us that His second coming will be as a thief. No one knows when it will be. So, we need to live in a constant state of readiness and alertness. We also should be sharing the Gospel with those around us so that they, too, can be saved before it is forever too late.

 
 

Lord, help me to always be ready for Your return. Help me to live in such a way that I need not be ashamed at the judgment day. Help me, also, to reach out to others who are lost before Your imminent return.

Thou Art Righteous

As we read through the book or Revelation, there is one judgment after another. The earth is being destroyed and the people are being punished in unimaginable ways. But, as these judgments are being poured out on the earth, this is what John writes:

Rev 16:5-7

 
 

5 And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.

 
 

6 For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.

 
 

7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.

KJV

 
 

God is righteous in His judgments. He will give to everyone what they deserve. If we serve Him now, we will be blessed. If we reject Him now, we will be judged. I know which side I'm on. Do you?

 
 

Lord, give me to courage and strength to stand up for what's right. Help me to live for You while I'm here on earth because it will be worth it all in the end.

Thou Art Worthy

After looking at the words that Jesus had for the seven churches, we move into Revelation chapter four where John begins to describe what he saw in heaven. I was especially impressed with verse 11. The twenty-four elders bow down and cast their crowns before God's throne and say, "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created." What a wonderful God we serve! We should be worshipping continually. He deserves it.

 
 

Another thing that impressed me was the reminder that everything and everyone in the world was created for God's pleasure. We were created to bring glory to God: nothing more, nothing less. We need to live that way. We were not created to have fun here on earth. Yes, God wants us to enjoy life, but we dare not live for our pleasure. We were created for God's pleasure. We were not created to build up a big bank account or live in a big house. God gave us everything that we have. We are so indebted to Him that we should be giving back whatever we can.

 
 

Lord, help me to remember why I am here on earth. Help me to remember to live for the good of others and for Your glory, not for my own pleasure. Help me to reach out and share the Gospel with others as best I can. Help me to be willing to give time to Your service. May my life glorify You and point others to heaven.

The Church of Laodicea

As I read Jesus address to the church at Laodicea, I was deeply challenged. It seemed to be a picture of the church today in many ways. These people were very wealthy and they didn't think that they needed anything. They were self-sufficient and they thought that the could do everything on their own, but Jesus had nothing but scathing rebukes for them. He told them that, in His sight, they were poor, miserable, blind and naked. Their spiritual life was lukewarm. It was nothing more than an outward show. I believe that this is the condition of much of Christianity to day. So, how can I take the high road and not fall into this trap of self-sufficiency? How can learn to rely on God and not myself?

 
 

Lord, help me not to let all the blessings that You've given me, hinder my relationship with You. Help me to remember that everything I have comes from You. Help me not to take credit to myself for anything that I have done. Help me to give You all the glory. Help me to use these blessings to enrich Your kingdom. Help me to learn to lay up treasures in heaven and not here on earth. Lord, increase my faith!