Only Trust Him.

Thought For Today - May 22
 Only Trust Him.
By:Robert A Searles                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." Proverbs 3: 5,6. 

 "Trust in the Lord, and do good: so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord, trust also in him and he shall bring it to pass." Psalm 37: 3-5. 

 "Kiss the son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little, blessed are all they that put their trust in him." Psalm 2:12.

    What does it mean to trust in the Lord? Trust, is the word frequently used in the old testament to mean the same as faith in the new testament For example: to trust is to have faith, and if we have faith, we trust. It means to take refuge, to lean on, to follow, to wait for.  To trust in the Lord is to put full confidence in the word of God for our salvation, and for our strength as Christians, and for our daily needs. We are told not to lean on our own understanding. In other words, we are not to try to rationalize or figure out God's amazing grace, or his power, or the working of miracles, or his work of redemption in our lives; but we are simply to trust in what his word tells us. God honors those who have confidence in his word.

How can we trust in something with which we are not familiar? How can we claim promises if we do not know what those promises are? This is why it is so important for us to spend so much time in God's word, and in our private meditation, so that we can know what God's word has to say , then we can put our trust in it.

    "Trust and do good" Psalm 37: 3-5, In other words, when God has spoken through his written word or through the Holy Spirit in our lives, again, we ought not to try to figure out what is going on in our heart or to rationalize away the working of the Holy Spirit. Instead, we ought to trust God and do good. God's word tells us the things that are good and right. We ought to obey God immediately when God speaks, with the right heart attitude, and trust God for the results.  As we read and study the word of God, and as God reveals himself to us and we see his glory unfolded before our eyes, we ought to delight ourselves in him. He ought to be our prime source of joy and happiness and gladness, and our chief desire and purpose in life ought to be to love, honor, and serve him.

If we delight ourselves in the Lord, then all the cravings and desires of our heart will be good and pure in his sight, because they will come from on high, and we shall be satisfied when he fills us with his Holy Spirit.

We ought to commit ourselves completely to the Lord. This means to surrender everything to the Lord. It is like jumping from a tall building with full assurance that someone will catch us, or we will land on something soft. We ought to let go in our lives, and let God have our family, our job, our finances, and all that is important to us.

"In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths." Proverb 3: 6.


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Are You Thirsty? Come and Drink. Are You Hungry? Come and Dine.

 
Thought For Today - May 21
Are You Thirsty? Come and Drink. Are You Hungry? Come and Dine.
By: Robert A. Searles

    "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and you labor for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness." Isaiah 55: 1,2. 

"Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thought: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." Isaiah 55: 6,7.

    Think about the wonderful grace of God and the gift of God's love; God offering himself to us as the source of life, and cleansing power, and satisfaction for our hungry souls. Those who know not God in the world are empty and hungry and thirsty, and lack satisfaction for their souls. Those who know not God are forever pursuing happiness and never finding  it. Those who know not God, toil and sweat and labor, and spend their years in endless searching for something that will make sense in their lives.

    God made humans in his likeness in such a way that the only thing that makes sense and brings joy and happiness and fulfillment to their lives is when they are right with him and in the right relationship and fellowship with him through the Lord Jesus Christ.  God says that if we are thirsty we can come without money and drink from the living waters. And if we are hungry we can come without money and eat the bread of life. God has spread a banquet before us. He has paid the price and he invites all who will to come and enjoy the feast at his expense, all by free grace - God's riches at Christ's expense. 

 "Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever." Psalm 23: 5,6.

    Whosoever will may come. Jesus said: "He that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out". "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled." Matthew 5:6.

 Jesus answered the woman of Samaria and said: "If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. The woman saith unto him, sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? Jesus answered and said unto her, whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." John 4: 10-14.

    The words of the hymn writer puts it this way: "There is a fountain filled with blood which flowed from Immanuel's veins. Sinners plunged beneath that flood loose all their guilty stains." Yes, they loose their spiritual hunger, they loose their thirst, they are filled from within, they are satisfied in Jesus. Seek ye the Lord while he may be found and he will satisfy your thirst and your hunger.

    "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price." Isaiah 55:1. 
 All who call upon the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved. Jesus said: "whosoever cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out.'

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, by faith call upon him and receive forgiveness of sins.

"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast." Ephesians 2: 8,9


 The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. Believe it, and receive Christ today and you will never be spiritually hungry and thirsty again.

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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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Thorns in the flesh!

 Thought For Today -  September 4, 2024

 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 y ou." 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 

 >Can't get out to church? ? Then, enjoy up to date Sunday morning services from several local bible believing churches right here:
 

Telehelp Publications Christian Literature Ministry

                              Psalm 26: 7 

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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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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.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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