Author: admin

God does not need our offerings nor is He dependent upon our worship. It is we who are desperate to worship our Creator. At times we can act as if any old worship is acceptable to God. In fact, considering our busy schedules, God ought to be pleased we took the time to stop by the church and attend a service at all!

Today, God’s people act as if God must adjust Himself to their tastes and schedules. We determine what our offering to God will be and assume He will be pleased with it. But the reality is that we do not worship or serve God on our terms, but on His. He determines what is acceptable. Furthermore, it is not merely our sacrifice that is the key, but our heart. We could submit one billions dollars worth of gold coins to God as a sacrifice, yet He would view it as rubbish, if our heart was wrong or our motives impure.

God has no price tag. He does not compromise His standards based on the size of the gift He receives. He detests sin in any form, at any time. If we are attempting to serve God or offer Him our sacrifices with a sinful heart, we are wasting our time. God will not look past our sin to our offering. Our sin will instead transform our gift into an abomination.

God can afford to reject our gift. We cannot afford for God to no longer listen to our prayers. How delighted is God with the offerings you have been giving to Him lately?

Great accomplishments seldom arise from meager planning. It is foolish to assume that we will accomplish much without solid preparation. Great accomplishments tend to result from solid planning. Rarely do haphazard, last minute efforts achieve the spectacular.

Many people believe in planning, they just never have the time to do it! Typically that is symptomatic of people who are either lazy or investing themselves in the wrong things. We generally do have time to do what is most important, if we will steer clear of the less crucial tasks. But planning also takes hard work. We must first be diligent to get today’s tasks completed so we have time to plan for tomorrow. If we are constantly bogged down in yesterday’s concerns, we will have no time to prepare for tomorrow.

Planning is also something that does not cry out to us as being urgent. So we feel we can put it off until later when we have more time. Such thinking leaves us embroiled in the urgent issues of today that clamor for our attention while neglecting the essential work of preparation that will determine our ultimate success.

Are you prepared for tomorrow? What thought have you given to it? How diligently are you planning for what is to come?

Everyone likes a good deal! Business people thrive on making lucrative sales. But what is the limit you are willing to go to get what you want?

Our words have a way of coming back to bite us. Words we used to entice and convince someone to enter an agreement can return to us when they are exposed as false or exaggerated. Promises made carelessly can haunt us in the future. Scripture is clear: We will reap what we sow. Our words are seeds that will take root, sprout up, and eventually bear fruit that we must feed on. For some people, their words make a bitter meal.

How blessed is the one whose words are seeds of grace and truth. Their conversations scatter seeds that produce a pleasant harvest in due season. Such people never have to worry about being caught by words they spoke previously. For, as Mark Twain once mused, people who tell the truth don’t have to remember what they said previously!

The temptation to resort to deceit can seem compelling at the time. But its end is always the same. A time will inevitably come when those very words condemn us. As difficult and costly as it may sometimes appear to speak the truth, it is a lifestyle that leads to peace and contentment.

There is a difference between listening and hearing. There is also a disparity between looking at something and truly seeing it. Too often we are satisfied with listening or looking without fully experiencing and benefiting from what is right in front of us.

Why do some people perceive opportunities and dangers better than others do? Why is it that certain individuals recognize trends as they begin while others are constantly trying to catch up after the fact? Why do some people identify warning signs in peoples’ behavior while others are oblivious until disaster strikes? Why are some people always prepared while others are constantly being caught by surprise? It is a matter of being able to perceive what is before us.

More importantly, why do some people regularly hear God’s voice while others continually experience heaven’s silence? Why do some people recognize God’s activity all around them while others never see a thing? It has to do with our spiritual senses.

Jesus once chastised His disciples because they had spiritual eyes but they were not seeing, and spiritual ears but they were not hearing anything (Mark 8:18). Is it time for a spiritual eye and ear checkup? Are you fully perceiving and experiencing all that God is doing around you?

People often have more wisdom than they know. Years of experience can teach much. Failures as well as successes provide abundant lessons for life. Just because some people do not mount a platform and deliver a lecture does not mean that they do not have much to teach us. The reality is that there is a bonanza of wisdom deposits hidden in the lives of people all around you. Our task is to discover them and to energetically mine them.

Just as treasure hunters develop a discerning eye for locations where there are valuable deposits of minerals or items of great value, hidden from view, so an astute person is always on the lookout for deposits of wisdom in people around them.

You are unlikely to learn from others if you are doing all the talking. Asking good questions rather than making pronouncements is the key to unlocking the wisdom deposits in others. Some people have no idea how much they know! Their modesty leads them to assume that everyone already knows what they know. Yet they are wrong. Not everyone understands how to succeed in business without compromising their integrity or harming their family. Not everyone perceives how to raise their kids in a secular world so they grow up to love God with all their heart as adults. Not everyone is cognizant of how to meet all the demands of the workplace and yet develop a growing and intimate relationship with both God and their spouse.

So, when you come across people who have apparently achieved such fetes, don’t wait for them to wax eloquent about their methodology. Start asking questions! (and taking notes!). Learn from such people, whether they see themselves as teachers or not!

There is no reason for pride when we refuse to back down or withdraw from a quarrel. It is often our pride or anger that causes us to steadfastly argue our cause and to refuse to concede to our opponent. We may view this as a matter of principle. We may loathe the thought of the other person appearing to win the fight. We may feel righteously indignant and compelled to continue arguing our position.

But the fact is that arguments rarely bring about the righteousness of God. They certainly do not bring glory to God’s name. Rarely do they make people think more highly of Jesus. And, contrary to how we may feel, staying in an argument does not take as much courage and inner strength as walking away and refusing to continue the fight.

It often takes far more courage, and infinitely more humility to stop a quarrel than to begin or prolong one. Doing so also reflects the fact that you value people more than winning an argument. That peace between others is a priority over personal vindication. How sad that we often choose to live in the midst of animosity and anger when at any time we could decide to live in peace.

Our youth can be filled with dreams and hopes. That is as it should be. Some of those dreams will become a reality. Others will not. Some passions in our heart were placed there by God and will ultimately bear much fruit. Others are merely our own wishful thinking and depend solely upon us for their fulfillment. Some people spend their entire lives chasing their dreams. They wax eloquent to anyone who will listen about what they intend to do some day, if only they had the right break, or funding, or support, or endorsement. They spend their lives chasing after shadows.

While it is not a bad thing to have dreams, we must realize that God is not obligated to make our dreams come true! He is committed to fulfilling His purposes. When we align ourselves with God’s will, we can expect to see results! God is fully prepared to back up with heaven’s resources, anything He initiates. When the day is done and the dust has settled, it will be God’s purposes that were accomplished, just as He intended.

So what is it that is driving your life? Are you constantly asking God to bless your plans? Are you hounding others to support your goals and to buy in to your vision? Or is your life driven by a vision from heaven?

Lack of information is rarely our problem. We generally know what we should do. It is consistently doing it that is our ongoing challenge! Knowing God’s commands is one thing (and a good thing at that!). But how do you “keep” them? That comes from first clearly understanding what He meant when He issued the command. For example, “Thou shalt not murder” is fundamental. But Jesus said those who harbor anger in their hearts have committed murder. Those who have looked lustfully on someone other than their spouse is guilty of adultery. Have you taken time to carefully consider the full ramifications of what God has instructed and how those commands specifically apply to your life?

Second, we must be diligent to keep or apply those commands to our specific circumstances. We can’t be careless in this regard. Too often we assume that because we know a command or even believe in keeping the statute, that we are actually doing so. That can be a faulty assumption! Keeping God’s laws in our life results from living our lives intentionally. Do we daily choose to conform our lives to God’s word? Do we quickly adjust our habits when they stray from God’s guidelines? Do we regularly fill our heart and mind with God’s word so it permeates our thinking and values? Does it grieve us to know we have trespassed against a clear word from our Lord?

Are you living casually or on purpose? How carefully are you administering your soul?

There are those who will do anything to get ahead. They will manipulate, politicize, gossip, lie, deceive, and trample over others on their way to the top. To these, people are merely a means to an end. They are not the end. Such thoughtless souls leave a trail of embittered and disillusioned people in their wake. They might achieve a higher position in the company or accumulate additional wealth, but their colleagues and associates despise them.

How much better to be the kind of person who knows they have done the right things, regardless of whether it advanced their career or gave them a competitive advantage. Such people know that moving up the corporate ladder is not the most important thing in their life. Having a clear conscience is of far greater value than having deceived someone in order to make another sale.

Integrity can seem like a cumbersome character trait when functioning in a competitive, challenging world. It can often seem that adjusting the truth, or embellishing the facts, is justified in the short term in order to make long-term gains. But it is a deception. Those who make such a bargain are forfeiting what really matters in their life for that which is as fleeting as the wind. Only a fool would make such a deal.

Scripture offers solid advice for those who want to have friends: be friendly! Most people desire to have others in their life that care about them and bring them joy. Friends certainly add color and laughter to our life’s journey. A true friend is a marvelous blessing and ought to be highly valued.

How do we find such people? Too often we are so concerned with how others are treating us, we do not take time to evaluate what kind of friend we have been to others. Do I bring joy to people by my presence? Are people happy to see me come, or relieved to see me go? Do people feel encouraged or discouraged by my words to them? Do people have more or less confidence after they have been with me? Do I leave a trail of laughter behind me or frustration and conflict?

If you are a miserable person, be grateful you have any friends at all. Friendship is a two-way relationship. We give as well as take. Take time to evaluate what your friends receive by being associated with you. Do they become better people? Are they drawn closer to God? Do they laugh more?

Take time to also reflect on the caliber of your friends. Great friends often attract great friends. King David attracted his “mighty men” while he was a fugitive in the wilderness. Jonathan loved David even if it meant losing his throne to him. There was something about David that drew people to him. What kind of people if any, are being drawn to you? Are they positive or negative people? Are they thoughtful or selfish? Critical or forgiving? If “like attracts like,” what do your friends indicate about the way you are conducting yourself?