Thought For The Day

Religion is complicated, Christianity is simple. All you have to do is see what Jesus had to say to the Pharisees, Levites and priest. Religion is about ceremonies and pomp, and judging. Religion is about do's and don'ts, with condemnation attached. Christianity is about mercy, love, and having a Jesus heart. Being patient with others and giving of yourself. With Christianity we give of ourselves, Religion takes, Christianity gives. The good Samaritan story is a good example of how religious people act, and how those that know God respond to a need. Luke 10:30-34 A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing and wounded him, and departed leaving him half dead. Now by chance a certain priest came down that road.  And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by the other side. "But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where ...

  Isn't it irritating when we start to go somewhere and we are interrupted, by a phone call, or surprise visit, or a new problem? If  God directs our steps, and He does, we should learn to be patient, and ask God why the delay. It is possible God is protecting us from an accident or something unpleasant.  This happen to me once, when a passenger in my car was playing with a pocket knife, cut himself and I had to return home to get bandages.  Since we were a block away, we heard a loud crash, there had been a wreck right where we would have been. That knife cut was our protection, it was a delay. It's not what we want, but what God has planned. John 11:1-17 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of where Mary and her sister Martha.  It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. Therefore the sisters sent to Him, sa ying "Lord behold, he whom you love is sick. When Jesus...

  To be sanctified is to be set apart for sacred use and purposes in the kingdom of God. It is for the purpose to make one holy and productive. Beloved, this work in our life is sometimes painful, it causes us to see ourselves as we are, needing to be transformed.  To become more like Jesus. John 17:17  (Jesus prayer to the Father for His disciples) "Sanctify them by Your truth.  Your word is truth. Pray that God will give you a great hunger to know His word and study it. Beloved, it is the work of the Holy Spirit in your life that will do the changing, you cooperate with the promptings in your heart to allow the sanctifying work to be done in you. Let go and Let God! You cannot change yourself, so quit trying, you will get tired and quit. It's God's work in you that must take place. Philippians 1:6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ You must die to yourself and live for o...

  What does it mean to purify our soul? 1Peter 1:22 Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart. We are told in God's word that if we are of a pure heart we will see God. Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. Do you want to see God at work in your life?  Then keep a pure heart. A pure heart is not contaminated with negative, unforgiving, critical thoughts. How do we do that? By obeying God's word and keeping our faith strong. By remembering the sacrifice Jesus paid for you. Faith comes by hearing the word of God. Faith grows as we come through our testing's and trials. Faith is important, it needs to grow. We all have a measure of faith, how big or small that measure is it does not tell us, but we do know it must grow and become strong to come through our trials. Faith is just trusting God and His word, so that we can have pure hearts....

  Not all the believers who have been schooled in the this world system, are really wise.   Some just mimic what they heard from one they perceived to be wise.  Our wisdom should come from knowing God personally and being filled with His word.  Getting plenty of spiritual food so as to not be deceived by those who think they are wise. If you know God's word you will discern any deception that comes along. I love how Paul stated in 1 Corinthians about the wise. 1 Corinthians 1: 25-31 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For you see your calling brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame  the things which are mighty, and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no fl...

  People who love God will obey His word.    When you love God you want to please Him and show Him by obeying His word. John 14:21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him. Our hearts may be moved during worship times, but do we obey God's word? Loving God is linked to our obedience. 2 John 6 "This is love, that we walk according to His commandments.  This is the commandment, that you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it. We obey God's word because we know that He has our best interest at heart. He is our Abba Father. I had an experience years ago when I lived in Austin, Texas. I had lead my hairdresser to Jesus, and she said that she had cousins from out of town, would I come to her house and share Jesus with them.  I went and they also received the Lord. They wanted to be baptized, so I called my church, they said that they only ...

There are so many new bibles out there, but be sure they have the true gospel of Jesus Christ, not a watered down version. A   lot of Christians are being deceived by some of the newer teachers, who add to God's word. Galatians 1:6-7 I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to another gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. We are seeing this today also, some are returning to the feasts and rules and regulations in religion. We can celebrate the feasts as long as we understand that they are all about Jesus. Beloved, Jesus fulfilled the feasts. He is our Passover Lamb. He fulfilled the first fruits feast.  He rose from the dead. Mankind has always tried to add to God's work, but He called us by His grace, He did the work of sending Jesus to this earth. J esus is a perfect reflection of our Father God. We are to build our faith on God's word and not our experie...