Thought For Today - May 20 -Worship In Spirit And In Truth !

Thought For Today - May 20
Worship in Spirit and in Truth!
By: Robert A. Searles

    God is an all powerful, supernatural, invisible God, or he is no God at all. God is an invisible spirit, and unless we worship God in spirit, we cannot worship God at all. No man has seen God at any time, although he was manifested in the flesh in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, God the son.  No man has seen God the father . We must approach unto God the father by the authority given to us by the Lord Jesus Christ.

 "As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God." and as sons of God, we must come boldly to the throne of grace and worship God the Father,  God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit in spirit and in truth by the thoughts of our mind, and the meditation of out heart, and the words that proceed from our mouth.  We must worship by  concentrating our mind on the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by letting God's word flow through our minds, and teach us with the help of the Holy Spirit, and allow the Holy Spirit to take the word of God as it flows through our mind and heart, and renew and regenerate within us the truth of God, the power of God, and the personality of the Lord Jesus Christ.

    If we are to have power with God, we must spend much time alone with God in an individual personal relationship with God and draw from his power. The night that Jesus was betrayed, he spent the whole night in the garden in prayer and meditation with God the father.  Before the Lord Jesus Christ could perform the greatest service to mankind that could ever be performed for the human race in obedience to the will of God, even though he was God in human flesh, yet he thought it necessary to spend hours in prayer and meditation, and close relationship with his heavenly father.

    In Matthews gospel, chapter 26: verse 36 , we read how Jesus came to the garden of Gethsemane. This was a quiet place where Jesus was probably accustomed to coming, where he could spend many hours alone with his father. He had probably been there many times before. 

 The hymn writer says: "There's a garden where Jesus is waiting, its the beautiful garden of prayer." Our frustrations, and fears, and sorrows and disappointments will all be put away or eased when we come to the garden and spend much time there and talk it over with the Lord.

    Unless an electrical appliance is plugged into a power source it is useless to serve us in any way, and unless we are plugged into our power source through prayer and meditation and fellowship, our service will be useless to man or God.

    "Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. And he went a little further and fell down on his face, and prayed, saying, O my father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me, nevertheless not as I will but as thou wilt. And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." Matthew 26: 36-41.

We need to be sure that the channels of  our communication are always clear and open  between ourselves and the Lord, lest we yield  to temptations that would destroy us if we yielded to them, for indeed our flesh is weak.

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Thought For Today - September 17 Thorns In The Flesh !

 Thought For Today September 17
 Thorns in the flesh!
By: Robert A, Searles

    When God delivered Israel into the land of their possessions, he made a covenant with them. He swore to them that he would never break his part of the covenant, and he expected them not to break theirs.  

 "And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars; but ye have not obeyed my voice; why have ye done this? Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you." Judges 2: 2. 3.

    We who call ourselves Christians, and the sanctified children of God, are not to be a part of, nor go along with the pagan ways of the world or the world's way of thinking and philosophy. Our fellowship and conformity with the world's philosophy will be as thorns in our flesh.

    All the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua and the elders that outlived Joshua, but after Joshua and the elders of Israel had died, another generation arose which knew not the things of the Lord.

"And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation, after them which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel. And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim: and they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the Lord to anger." Judges 2:10,11,12.

    Several generations have come and gone since the founding of America which have not known God, nor considered his works. This is the fault of previous generations of Christians who have not properly taught their children the proper knowledge, or respect for God and his works.

Too many of us Christians are forsaking the ways of God, and following the God of the society in which we live. We are setting poor examples for future generations, consequently, each new generation has lesser knowledge and respect for the God of our fathers. Wealth and material things have become our object of worship.

  "And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies." Judges 2:14.

    I believe that the anger of the Lord is hot against America today for neglecting him and his worship; for adultery; for abortions - the murder of new born babies, and all kinds of sexual promiscuity and perversion. Will he deliver us into the hands of spoilers or the terrorist?

    "Nevertheless the Lord raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them. And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they went a whoring after other gods, and bowed themselves unto them: they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying the commandments of the Lord; but they did not so." Judges 2: 16,17.  

God raises up preachers and evangelist and soul winners today in America to warn us; but for the most part we do not listen. We go a whoring after the things of the world. What a shame for us as Christians to do this sort of thing.

 If  we want to survive as a nation under God, and be blessed by God, and continue to be the "head and not the tail" among the nations of the world, then we who are the called of God, must rise up together, and "take our head out of the sand"  so to speak, and draw near unto God and support the  "judges" and leaders whom God has raised up to put the bible back in the schools, respect all human life from conception to old age and natural death, and pay honor to our flag; our national anthem ; and to  all our national heroes, May God's blessing be on America

Let's make America Great again!

Believe the Bible!

Live as the Bible Teaches!

Vote Bible!

Telehelp Publications Christian Literature Ministry


 

Thought For Today - May 18 - Made Rich In Christ !

Thought  For Today - May 18
Made Rich in Christ!
By: Robert A. Searles

    We, who are Christians, as the redeemed children of God, have a wonderful position in Christ's kingdom. We are sanctified in Christ, called to be saints. We are already the children of God. Our problem is that we do not always live up to the quality of our calling as the children of a king.

"I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ; that in everything ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge; even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: so that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his son Jesus Christ our Lord." 1 Corinthians 1: 4-9.

    God never fails us; he always keeps his promises.


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Thought For Today - May 17 - Cry Unto the Lord !

Thought For Today - May 17
 Cry Unto the Lord!
By: Robert A Searles

    "Unto thee will I cry, O Lord my rock; be not silent to me: lest, if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit. Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle. Draw me not away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity, which speak peace to their neighbors, but mischief is in their hearts. Give them according to their deeds, and according to the wickedness of their endeavors: give them after the work of their hands; render to them their desert. Because they regard not the works of the Lord, nor the operation of his hands, he shall destroy them, and not build them up. Blessed be the Lord, because he hath heard the voice of my supplications. The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth, and with my song will I praise him. The Lord is their strength, and he is the saving strength of his anointed. Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance: feed them also, and lift them up for ever." Psalm 28

 Notice a small child, when he wants something, what does he do? He cries and throws a tantrum to his parents or to those who are in charge of him until he gets their attention and makes them become aware of his desires. Sometimes he gets what he cries for and sometimes he doesn't; but the point is, he makes them become aware of his desires. God wants his children to cry unto him with hope and enthusiasm for the things that we need and desire. We are to approach God as dear children. The bible tells us that except we come as little children, we cannot approach God.

    Sometimes small children cry and throw tantrums and nag their parents for things that are good and right for them, and sometimes they nag for things which are wrong and bad for them. It is up to the parent to decide what is best for the children, but the point of all this is that the small child has enough knowledge and faith and confidence in his parents to believe that his parents love him enough so that they will not ignore his crying and nagging.

    God honors our faith and confidence in him as a parent and he wants us to cry unto him and nag him, as it were, for the things that we need and desire, and as a wise God and father , he never ignores us but gives us those things which he knows are good and right for us.  If we want to be built up and prosper, we must regard the works of the Lord and realize that the universe is his. He made it, and he has a perfect right to control it.

    A parent gives a child protection when that child puts his faith and confidence in the tender mercies of his parents. Likewise, God shields us and protects us when we come running and crying to him as a child.  Jesus, in the garden, cried and cried to  God in such agony that he sweat drops of blood. 

Jesus told the story of the man who was asleep with his family, and his neighbor came pounding on his door and nagging him. He had to open the door because of his constant nagging. Jesus likened this to God answering us if we are consistent and constant in prayer.  God answers those who believe in him enough to keep pounding at his door and crying unto him like dear children.

    "And Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh: and Moses cried unto the Lord because of the frogs which he had brought against Pharaoh." Exodus 8: 12. 

 "And the people murmured against Moses, saying, what shall we drink? And he (Moses), cried unto the Lord; and the Lord shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them." Exodus 15: 24,25.

    "In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried to my God: and he did hear my voice out of his temple, and my cry did enter into his ears. Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations of heaven moved and shook, because he was wroth." 2 Samuel 22: 7,8. 

 "The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles." Psalm 34: 17.

    "And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;...." Exodus 3:7. 

 Egypt is a type of the world in which we live, surrounded by sin and corruption. As God heard the cry of the children of Israel while they were in Egypt and delivered them, so he will hear our cry from our surroundings and deliver us.

    "And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Matthew 27: 46. 

 Jesus thought it to be effective to cry aloud with a loud voice to God. In the coming kingdom of God there will be no more need for crying and nagging because our inheritance will be in our hands, and we will be in the presence of God.

"And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying." Isaiah 65: 19.  

"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." Revelation 21.4

    While we are still here on earth, waiting for the return of the Lord, and waiting for his kingdom to come, what a privilege we have to come crying to God as his dear children.

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Thought For Today - May 16 - Praise !

 Thought For Today - May 16
  Praise!
 By: Robert A. Searles

    God is well pleased with his children when they open their mouths in praise to him. What could be more fitting for the children of the heavenly father than to salute and greet one another with praises to God, along with a pleasant good morning? Of course, in order for this praise to be pleasing to God, it must truly come from our hearts, and not just from our lips. God is worthy of our praise.

  "Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God: him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name. He is thy praise, and he is thy God, that hath done for thee these great and terrible things, which thine eyes have seen." Deuteronomy 10: 20, 21


    God has done some great and wonderful things for us. He gave his son, he shed divine blood to pay our sin debt. He forgave our sins and reconciled us to himself when we were lost and without hope. He hears our prayers, he gives us our daily bread, and supplies all our needs according to his riches in heaven. When we praise him with our lips, originating in our heart from a true sense of gratitude, we are declaring to the listening ear, the greatness and glory and worthiness of God. 

 "Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?" Exodus 15:11.

    We ought always to be praising the Lord with our lips as well as with our lifestyle. What good is secret praise? Secret praise or unspoken words of gratitude are never heard, and how can they be enlightening or edifying to anyone else, that they might know how great we know our God to be?

"Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes; I, even I, will sing unto the Lord; I will sing praise to the Lord God of Israel." Judges 5: 3. 

 "I will praise the Lord according to his righteousness: and will sing praise to the name of the Lord most high." Psalm 7: 17. 

 "My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him." Psalm 22: 25.

    My praise in the great congregation means that we praise him publicly, among all people, let them know that you are praising God. When you greet someone with praises to the Lord, you are saying to that person that you acknowledge God to be the source of all your benefits. This is pleasing to the Lord.

"Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright. O Praise the Lord with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings. Sing unto him a new song; play skillfully with a loud noise. For the word of the Lord is right; and all his works are done in truth." Psalm33: 1-4.

God has said that whoso offereth praise gloryfieth me. 

    When we glorify God, we receive strength and power for our own lives. Praising God is being obedient to God. Obedience brings God's good favor and blessing. 

 "Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God." Psalm 50: 23.

Shall we covenant ,or agree with God, that - "I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together." Psalm 34: 1-3.


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Thought For Today - May 15 - Plead My Cause O Lord !

 
Thought For Today - May 15
Plead My Cause O Lord!
By: Robert A. Searles

    "Plead my cause, O Lord, with them that strive with me: fight against them that fight against me. Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for mine help. Draw out also the spear, and stop the way against them that persecute me: say unto my soul, I am thy salvation. Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul: let them be turned back and brought to confusion that devise my hurt. Let them be as chaff before the wind: and let the angel of the Lord chase them. Let their way be dark and slippery: and let the angel of the Lord persecute them. For without cause they have digged for my soul. Let destruction come upon him at unawares; and let his net that he hath hid catch himself :into that very destruction let him fall. and my soul shall be joyful in the Lord: it shall rejoice in his salvation." Psalm 35: 1-9.

    When we become Christians by being born again into God's family, we immediately enter a spiritual combat zone. We face enemies that we never had to face before, enemies whose commander in chief is Satan. We must constantly draw from God our father, strength and help to fight our enemies. Christ our captain will lead us to victory if we dedicate ourselves to him and thank him.

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Thought For Today - May 14 - Oh ! To Be Godly !

Thought For Today - May 14
 Oh! To Be Godly!
By: Robert A. Searles

    "But know that the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself: the Lord will hear when I call unto him." Psalm 4: 3.

    What does it mean to be godly? To be godly means to be somewhat like God, to take on some of the characteristics of God. In the beginning God made man in his image, to be like him, but because of sin, man fell, and has come short of the likeness of God. But through the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross, man has been redeemed and reconciled to God on an individual basis, providing that the individual will accept it as a free gift from God.

 "As many as received him, to them gave he power ( or authority) to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name" John 1: 12.  As a child of God, we are in the family of God and godly.

    When we are born again into the family of God and become godly, then the Lord sets us apart from every other creature. God puts upon us his shield of love and protection, and we find ourselves in the favor of God. God gives us special work and tasks to perform for his glory. He cleanses us on the inside, and makes us a fit house or vessel in which he can live and work.  Since we who are godly are set apart ,and in favor with God ,and under his shield of love and protection, and since we are his special workmen, assigned a special job for his glory, God will give us extra special attention when we call unto him in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.  

"The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation....", 2 Peter 2: 9.

    Knowing that by grace we are saved through faith ,and having put on godliness by God's grace, and knowing that we are God's special vessels for his honor, we ought to stand in awe and sin not. We ought to come before God with such reverence and respect that in his presence we would be speechless and spellbound to behold his glory, if it were not for the fact that he gives the privilege to come boldly before the throne of grace. When we stand before God, we ought to take off our shoes, as it were, because the place where we stand is holy ground. 

The family dinning room becomes holy ground when the family is gathered to enjoy God's bountiful blessing when we meet with God there, and the table becomes a sacred altar when we offer our gratitude and offer ourselves before God. Our bed becomes a holy place when we lie upon it and commune with God from our hearts in the long night hours.

    Because we have become the children of God, and made godly in him; and because we are set apart to receive his special favor; and because we are recipients of his great love and salvation; and because we are called out of the world to perform special tasks for him; we ought to be more than anxious to offer the sacrifice of righteousness, and die daily to ourselves, and abandon ourselves completely to God, and put our trust in him.  

"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God thou wilt not despise." Psalm 51: 17.

  "By him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name." "But to do well and to communicate forget not; for with such sacrifices God is well pleased." Heb 13: 15, 16.

    We should be continually praising God with our lips. Open wide your mouth and let the words flow out loud and clear from your heart: blessed be the name of the Lord; praise God from whom all blessing flow; glory to God in the highest. This is a sacrifice that God is pleased with-then, it follows with good works and service.

    "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service." Rom 12:1 

 If we have given our bodies over to God as a living sacrifice, then we should have no problem opening wide our mouths in praise of God and in following it up with good works.

    "And the scribe said unto him, well, master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God, and there is none other but he, and to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul and with all strength and to love his neighbor as himself is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices." Mark 12: 32, 33.

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