TEMPTATION- when you're weak, back down!

let your flesh know who's in charge. look for ways to say 'no' to yourself everyday. if you do, you'll be able to do it when it really counts.

Jenny knows her weakness is anger and she tries to control it but sometimes it's just overwhelming she has to excuse herself and take a walk to calm down. Afterall, it is better than getting into trouble.

As Christians, Tom and Dan shared the same sexual values.Both believed it was important to wait until marriage to have sex.however their attitude to sex differed.

tom would often say "no problem! that can't happen to me.i can wait"

"well, it's a problem for me" Dan would say. " i know it could happen to me"

Convinced of his ability to resist, Tom played with the danger of becoming sexually involved with a series of steady girlfriends but Dan , realising his own weakness, just went out with a group of friends and never got too serious with any girl.

Tom and Dan usually met once a week to pray and read the Bible. One day, as tom read aloud, Dan heard Tom's voice crack. Looking up, he saw Tom wiping tears away from his eyes.

After a while, tom spoke :"I've really Blown it!, i suppose i was only fooling myself by thinking i was too strong to be so weak."

the things is temptation will always come but as 1Corinthians 10: 13 says"...But you can trust God who will not let you get tempted more than you can stand". The point of temptation is not for you to fall but for you to develop a stronger character as a result of saying 'NO' and controlling yourself!

in 1Corinthians 6:12 Paul says: "Everything is permissible for me"—but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me"—but I will not be mastered by anything"

Master yourself! one lustful stare can land you in sexual sin. Attraction to the opposite sex has always existed and will always exist but what you do with that attraction counts.. when the pressure is too much, look away before evil thoughts start brewing in your mind!

Don't put yourself in compromising situations. Pride is the ultimate destroyer. Don't think you're too strong to be weak..you'd be surprised how quickly you can fall.

Master yourself and overcome that temptation!

The Lord is good all the time!

GOSSIP- trend or treachery, fashion or vice?

There's always that itch to talk about what Sally did today or what's going on in Ian's home; but did you ever stop to think that maybe if you talk to that person rather than about them, you just might be able to help.... you know, the perfect solution to the problem?

There is a saying "the deepest wounds in life come not from swords but words". If you don't believe it, look at the wounded walking; they're all around you!

Are you yourself still struggling with the hurtful words of an insensitive parent, a school teacher, a friend or a boss?

Proverbs 18:21 'The tongue has the power of life and death'....what you say can make a life changing difference.Your words can heal or they can be that knife that digs deep into the heart, cutting open a fresh wound.

Words when spoken are like feathers dispersed in the wind, they cannot be retrieved. You CAN'T take them back! your thoughts do not necessarily have to be uttered all the time. if you have to speak, speak only the positive- don't destroy a great friendship because that's exactly what GOSSIP would do!

Remember: Proverbs 12:18 "Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing".

Are you a gossip? Mend your ways!

The Lord is good all the time!

JUST FOR TODAY

I was listening to a song by India Arie the other day and the words ministered to me.

the song goes: 'just for today, i will not worry

what tomorrow will bring'.

In Matthew 6:25-34, it says "do not worry about your life......Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?....do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow wil worry about itself".

As christians we live a life of faith. we move through life blind-folded and when we come to the edge of a cliff, it's either God gives us the wings to fly or there's something down there for us to land on- Now that's faith!

you know what; you don't know tomorrow but God does!

He not only knows tomorrow but he knows the day after and the weeks and months following that too.

so when you find yourself wondering praise Him. praise is an expression of your faith!

further into India Arie's song, it says:

'.....i just do my best,

put one foot in front of theother

keep on miving forward

let God do the rest.'

we all have a purpose beut one thing is for certain- if you don't move, you won't know what that purpise is and definitely won't get it fulfilled. you've got to put God in control, listen to that small still voice and you'll be led day by day, a step at a time.

life is a mystery, embrace it, enjoy it and take your directions from God!.

The Lord is good all the time!

PROTECT YOUR FOUNDATION

Acts 20:31 " Be on your guard"

When the foundation crumbles even the most expensive house will fall. Thank God for our spiritual foundations.

Today there’s a lot of flaky stuff being pedaled in the name of truth. But when you examine it closely it’s a teaspoon of truth in an ocean of error. Anytime you take the scripture out of context, you end up with a pretext (a reason for doing as you please!). So, What are you supposed to do?” Do what the Bereans did. “They received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true” (Acts 17:11). the teachings the Bereans put under the searchlight of Scripture were Paul’s!

No leader, regardless of the size of their following is beyond such scrutiny. Indeed, godly leaders welcome it. Anytime someone claims special revelation from God that does not line up with Scripture – run in the opposite direction. This may sounds a little harsh. So is surgery but it ‘ll save your life.

Does God have more to say to us? Absolutely. When you take your last breath you still won’t know it all. And does God have better strategies for reaching others with His Word? Yes. And we must embrace them if we’re to reap the final harvest before the Lord of the harvest returns, but never at the cost of God’s eternal, unchanging Word. And that’s the message Paul
was proclaiming: “From your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard!
…Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up” (Acts 20:30-32).

The Lord is good all the time!

GO IN PEACE!

Luke 7:50 Jesus said to the woman, “because you believe, you are saved from your sins. Go in peace”. Life without Christ is full of crisis. We must have heard this many times but it is TRUE!

In luke 7, the woman with the alabaster jar came to cry at Jesus feet, she wiped his feet with her hair and rubbed it with perfume. She must have been going through a lot. The chaos in her life must have been overwhelming and getting out of hand and then she met Jesus. He forgave her sins and told her to go in peace.

It must have been a relief for all her burdens to be dropped at his feet and for her to gain peace.Sometimes we see people worrying, crying about their situation, becoming frightened and starting to panic…but because you know Christ you will be CALM.

You have peace; you know that he is control and that everything will be alright. You have exchanged your worries, crisis and chaos for peace and God is in charge now. This can only be true when you are born again.

If you haven’t given your life to Christ, what are you waiting for?Give your life to Christ today and experience inner peace. it is about time you made that exchange.

Pray this prayer:

dear Lord Jesus I come to you today as a sinner.

I know I have sinned and I ask fo your forgiveness.

I don’t want to live this chaotic life anymore; I want to experience your peace.

Take full control of y life, I want to be saved.

Thank you that I am now born again. Amen

If you are already born again, Praise and thank God that you are able to receive this peace!

The Lord is good all the time!

SOME ENCOURAGEMENT

Judges 7:10-11 God told Gideon, “If you are afraid…go down to the
camp…and listen to what they are saying…you will be
encouraged”.
God sent Gideon down to the enemy camp to hear what they were saying – to encourage him! When he arrived a soldier was telling a friend about his dream, “A round loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp. It struck the tent with such force that the tent…collapsed.
His friend responded, ‘this can be nothing other than the sword of Gideon…God has given…the whole camp into his hands.’ When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped God” (Jdg 7:13-15).
When you need encouragement – listen to what your critics are saying! It’s a class for your enrichment. You’re making a difference and doing what God has sent you to, otherwise they wouldn’t even notice you. Let their attack strengthen your faith and sharpen your
focus but don’t be afraid. You must be doing something right to warrant this much attention! You can never be defeated.


QUOTES
Promote yourself, but do not demote another. -Israel Salanter

Sow good services; sweet remembrances will grow them. -Madame de Stael

One must be poor to know the luxury of giving. -George Eliot

True friendship is like sound health; the value of it is seldom known until it be lost. - Charles Caleb Colton

Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.- Anais Nin


The Lord is good all the time!