dW 07.20.07

1 Peter 1:3-9

 

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

 

1.       Trials should not diminish our faith but increase it.

2.       Trials should remind us that this is not our home and that we are destined for a better place.

3.       The way we respond to trails will either bring honor or dishonor to God.

4.       Joy through trials is unexplainable to those who are perishing and is inseparable to they that are saved.

dW 07.18.07

scripture

 

Proverbs 24:17

Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when he stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice.

 

quote

 

Hate is only power to love misused.

Missionary Tidings

 

Forgiveness is not an elective in the curriculum of life.  It is a required course, and the exams are always tough to pass.

Charles Swindoll

dW 07.16.07

thought

 

How often do you tire of this existence? How often do you desire living water which entirely satisfies thirst and living bread that entirely satisfies hunger? Oh what a pitiful existence we experience when it is our momentary present and not our eternal future that is our focus.

 

quote

 

Real happiness is not costly, but what fearful prices men pay for its imitations.

Jerry Fleischman

 

scripture

 

Matthew 6:19-20

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.

 

Isaiah 33:2

O LORD, be gracious to us; we long for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress.

dW 07.12.07

scripture
Genesis 12:1-4
1 The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you..."
4 So Abram left, as the LORD had told him...

thought
Verse 1 is pretty vague. Even in verses 2 and 3 that follow God never tells Abram what land this was. We see later on that Abram becomes Abraham, the father of many nations. What could God do with us if we'd just say, "Okay, I'll do it

quote
No one can sum up all God is able to accomplish through one solitary life, wholly yielded, adjusted, and obedient to Him. - D. L. Moody

dW 07.11.07 - thoughts from a friend

Here are my thoughts for today:

 

John 16:33 - "In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart!  I have overcome the world."

 

The Bible doesn't say IF we face trials or trouble in our lives, it says WHEN we face trials or trouble.  The Bible doesn't leave it at that though.  It gives us information about why we face trials, how we should respond to trials, and how God responds to us when we face trials.

 

We face trials as a testing of our faith so that we may persevere and become spiritually mature (James 1:2-4).  We face trials so that we might share in Christ's suffering so we may also share in His glory (1 Peter 4:12-13).  We face trials so that we can comfort others who face trials (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).

 

We should respond to trials in our lives with joy (James 1:2), calling upon the Lord (Psalm 50:15), and with the mindset that our troubles are but a fleeting moment in time compared to the glory we will one day receive (2 Corinthians 4:17). 

 

The Lord comforts us during trials (2 Corinthians 1:3-4) and delivers us from our troubles (Psalm 34:19; Psalm 50:15).

 

We WILL face trials - it's not a matter of IF but WHEN.  God tells us that HE will comfort us and deliver us whenever we face trials.  How silly we are!  We complain, wallow, cry, and believe that God doesn't understand.  Whenever we face trials we think that God is far away - we couldn't be more wrong!  It's during these moments - the ones where we are out of options, out of hope, and out of our minds - that God is nearest to us.  And that fact - the idea that God is never closer than when we are in the midst of trials - should comfort us and in a strange sort of way make us rejoice despite the trials we are facing.  We should actually be celebrating the trials we face! (Somehow I don't see myself ever getting to that point in my life).  Without the trials in our lives, we may never know God as well as we do because of the fact that we went through them.  And after that, we are better equipped to encourage someone else going through a trial.  Have you ever had someone who has never really faced tough times try to comfort you during a hard time in your life?  It kind of makes you a little bitter and the comfort they give seems shallow because they don't know what it's like.  I love the fact that the Bible is clear with us about the trials of life.  It tells us why we fact them, what we should do when we face them, and what we can count on God to do.  Amazing!

 

"The shortest distance between a problem and a solution is the distance between your knees and the floor.  The one who kneels to the Lord can stand up to anything."

-- Anonymous

 

"I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go.  My own wisdom, and that of all about me seemed insufficient for the day."   -- William Adams

dW 07.10.07

Scripture

Mark 4:21-23
He said to them, "Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don't you put it on its stand? For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Story
I was confronted last week by someone that I had offended someone else. I was told by this individual that speaking about such things might push people away from Jesus instead of to Jesus. I challenged him saying, “Am I supposed to please men or please God?” He responded that more people are won over by how we live and not by what we say. This irritated me because what we say is a sign of how we live and vice versa. I understand his thought but I do not agree that true Christians should remain silent. Then a verse came to mind 2 Corinthians 6:14, “What fellowship can light have with darkness?”

Thought
When light and dark collide there are tensions. If no tensions exist then you've got your dimmer switch engaged.

dW emails

The daily Word will not be sent to your inboxes for a few more weeks. I am offsite and the internet access to our work account does not like to show me who I send these to due to them being sent Blind Copy. I am still posting so don’t worry. Simply visit the website each afternoon and I should have already posted. You have some catching up to do. :P Emails will resume but until I am back in-house.

 

Grace and peace, Kyle

dW 07.05.07

scripture

 

Luke 10:22

Jesus, "All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him."

 

quote

 

Biblical evangelism is always, without exception, the law to the proud and grace to the humble. Never will you see Jesus present the gospel, the good news, the cross, the grace of our God to a proud, arrogant, self righteous person. No. With the law He breaks the hard heart and with grace He heals the broken heart. Why? Because He always did what pleased the Father. God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble!

 

Ray Comfort, Hells Best Kept Secrete

dW 07.03.07

scripture

 

Hebrews 13:4

Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.

 

thoughts

 

That which God holds dear the enemy surely seeks to destroy.

 

None of us are invincible. We've all heard that pride comes before a fall. We are never to think that "this or that" will not happen to us. We must guard ourselves at all times since "the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour". 1 Peter 5:8

Cell phone VS Bible

I wonder what would happen if we treated our Bible like we treat our cell phone?
What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?
What if we flipped through it several time a day?
What if we turned back to go get it if we  forgot it?
What if we used it to receive messages from the text?
What if we treated it like we couldn't live without it?
What if we gave it to kids as gifts?
What if we used it when we traveled?
What if we used it in case of emergency?

This is something to make you go *hmm* where is my Bible?
Oh, and one more thing. Unlike our cell phone, we don't have to worry about our Bible being disconnected because Jesus already paid the bill.
Makes you stop and think "where are my priorities"?
Oh, and no dropped calls!
----
Thanks Bob!