Thought For Today - February 28 - Obedience !

 Thought For Today February 28
 Obedience!
By: Robert A. Searles

    How often do we stop to consider the importance of our unquestioned obedience to God? Obedience, is to do exactly what God tells us to do, immediately without question ,with the right heart attitude. If we want God to take our lives and make something out of them, and perform miracles in our lives, we must be willing to submit ourselves to the strict discipline of the Lord in obedience. At the wedding at  Cana,  when the people looked to Jesus for something special, his mother said unto the servants: "whatever he saith unto you, do it".

    If we are to serve God faithfully and enjoy the blessings of God in our lives, then whatever he says unto us to do we ought to do it.  How do we know what he would say for us to do? We can know by reading his word, and by the influence of the Holy Spirit upon our lives. The Holy Spirit will never influence us to do anything that will not bring honor and glory to the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy spirit will never tell us to do anything that has not already been given to us as a command in the written word of God. It is never God's will to go contrary to the written word of God.

    This is why many people, even Christians avoid the word of God and neglect to read it, because the word of God speaks to them and tells them things to do, and because of the rebellious nature within, they do not want to do what he tells them. So, by avoiding the word, they think that they do not have to obey.

Obedience is necessary for our happiness, wellbeing, and even long life.
 A true story is told of a little boy who was out in the field playing baseball with his father who was a missionary. His obedience to his father, immediately when his father spoke to him, without question, and with the right heart attitude saved his life. 

The story goes that while playing ball together in the field, without any warning, his father suddenly said to him, "drop down on your belly and crawl toward daddy." Without question, or without any hesitation whatsoever, the boy immediately dropped to his belly and started to crawl toward his father. After he had crawled ten or fifteen feet, his father said: "now stand up and run to daddy." Immediately the boy stood up and ran to his father. His father caught him in his arms, and when the boy looked back, he saw a big ten foot snake that was ready to strike, hanging from the tree that he had been just standing under.   If he had questioned his father or stopped to look around, the snake would probably have struck, and the boy would have lost his life.

    This is the kind of willing obedience that God expects from his children for their safety and well being.  God speaks to us through his written word, and through the influence of the Holy Spirit on our  conscience .  God speaks to us through Godly parents, pastors, teachers, and those he has put in authority over us.

    Though Jesus was king of the universe, he was perfectly obedient to the word and will of his heavenly father. "Though he were a son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered: and being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him." Hebrews 5: 8.

"And Samuel said, hath the Lord as great a delight in burnt offering and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better that sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. 1 Samuel 15:22.
Read Colossians 3: 18-25.

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Thought For Today - February 25 - Oil In Our Lamp !

 Thought For Today - February 27
 Oil in Our lamp!
By: Robert A. Searles


    When oil is mentioned in the bible it is symbolic of the Holy Spirit. The foolish virgins were not ready to go with the bridegroom when he came because there was no oil in their lamps, and their lamps were not burning when the time came for them to receive the blessing. They were not waiting and watching ,and they got left out.

    So it is with some of us, we have no oil ,or very little oil in our lamp, and our lamps are not burning for the Lord as they ought to be. So many times we miss the blessing and rewards that the Lord would have for us.

    Oil is symbolic of spirit. There is no room in us for the Holy Spirit if we are filled with ourselves, with sins not confessed ,  and the cares and entanglements of this life. If our wicks are dirty and untrimmed, our lamps cannot burn for the Lord. Then we stumble in the dark, and the door is shut, and we miss the blessing.  If we are abiding in him, and he in us, then we constantly keep our vessel clean through confession to God of our needs and sins, and ask for the cleansing of his blood. We keep our wicks trimmed and we are vessels fit for the masters use.

    God calls us to serve him with the talents and abilities which he has given us. He has made each of us differently, with different personalities and abilities.  If we have never been successful in life, perhaps it is because we are not doing the thing that God has called us to do. We may be in the wrong place. We may be working at the wrong job. We may not be listening to the call of God. God has made every person and every thing for a specific purpose. When we have found the purpose for which God has made us, then we shall have good success. We cannot know the will of God unless we are in constant fellowship with God, and our vessels clean and filled to overflowing with the Holy Spirit.

If we abide in him and the Holy Spirit abides in us, then we have the witness within ourselves, and we can supernaturally know and sense when we are walking in God's will and when we are not.
Happy is the person who is in the place where God wants him to be, doing the thing that God wants him to do. There is one place that we are sure that God wants us to be, and there is one thing that we are sure that God wants us to do, and if we are in that place doing that thing, then we can be sure that all else will follow according to the will of God. The one place that we are sure that God wants us to be is where Mary was sitting, at his feet in his fellowship. And the thing that we know that he wants us to be doing is absorbing his word into our hearts and minds. Then through his fellowship, and by his word, will he reveal to us the right job, the right place, the right people that we are to associate with etc. Then we shall be successful in all that we do.

    "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success." Joshua 1:8.

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Thought For Today - February 26 - Fixed On God !

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 Thought For Today - February 26
  Fixed on God!

    "My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise." Psalm 57: 7.
To have our hearts fixed on God is to be anchored to him and his word. To have our hearts fixed on God, is to be pre-occupied with the Lord Jesus Christ, and the things of God, so that the evil things of this world can not influence us. To have our minds stayed upon him, and to be continually contemplating his righteousness and glory is the acceptable sacrifice to God
    When we have our minds fixed upon the Lord Jesus Christ, and are absorbing his glory, it will cause us to be energized with his omnipotent power, and we will be the reflectors of his glory, and we will be compelled by the bursting forth within us of the streams of living water, to sing and give praise.
A person cannot walk upon hot coals without his feet being burned, neither can he get very close to an open fire without his clothes being scorched: likewise, no one can stand in the presence of a Holy and just God, and contemplate his magnificence without absorbing and reflecting the Glory of God, after having been purged and cleansed of that part of his nature which cannot stand in the presence of a righteous God.
    When we are purged of the dross of sin by the blood of Christ and the consuming fire of God's glory, then we come forth a vessel, reflecting the glory of God. Our countenance will glow, our hearts will be purified, and we will be instruments of God's praise and glory. God will be exalted in us and through us.
Lets choose to fix our hearts on God continually.

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Thought For Today - February 25 -Acceptable Sacrifice !

Thought For Today - February 25
 Acceptable Sacrifice!
By: Robert A Searles

    "Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing." Psalm 107: 21,22." 

I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving. This also shall please the Lord better than an ox or bullock that hath horns and hoofs." Psalm 69:30,31.

    An ox or a bullock offered upon the altar as a sacrifice to God is something that can be seen and touched, and something that seems to be real in the earthly sphere of things, and it is probably quite costly to the owner or the person offering it; however, God has said that he values more highly than the ox or bullock that hath horns and hoofs, the praise and gratitude of the heart.

God said that love is the more perfect way. Good works, good deeds, good morals, sacrifices, all these things that man can offer up to God are abominations, and a stench in God's nostrils unless they are genuinely motivated by love and praise, and thanksgiving.

    Just to be talking about God, and to be doing things that pertain to God, and to be all wrapped up in some service for him in the name of God ,is not enough by itself. Martha was busy about many things, she was so wrapped up in doing things, that she had little time for the Lord himself. Jesus did not say that Martha was completely wrong in doing, but he did say that Mary had chosen the better part. What was the better part? The better part was to sit at his feet and worship him, and listen to his teaching, and love him and show her gratitude, praise, and thanksgiving ,by washing his feet with her hair.

The acceptable sacrifice to God is love and gratitude to God. Jesus said:" Thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and all thy mind and all thy soul." Our love of God will cause us to put everything else aside and make the Lord truly the Lord of our lives, and seek him first in all things, and trust him for all our needs.

    God will not fail us if we truly trust and believe his word. If we will be pre-occupied with God - God has promised that all our needs will be met and that our barns will burst forth with new wine.

Let us pray that God will help us individually and together to offer the right kind of sacrifices to him, which is the best of our time, the best of our life, the first fruits of all our increase, the first part of every new day, and live in such a way that we will be a testimony to all people that we rely wholly on God, and not our own efforts, nor our own wisdom.

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Thought For Today - February 24 - Walking With God !

 
 Thought For Today - February 24

Walking with God!  _  By: Robert A. Searles
    Fellow Christians, let us examine ourselves, are we walking each day with God? Is he our constant companion wherever we go, and whatever we do? Do we go anywhere, or do anything that we could not go or do in the companionship of God? Are we really walking with God, or is he just tagging along behind because we have put ourselves, and other things ahead of him? He has promised never to leave us, nor forsake us; but we are guilty of ignoring his presence with us ,because sometimes we want to indulge ourselves: we want to go places, and do things, and be involved in things that we know God will not be a part of because he is Holy and righteous.
    "Enoch walked with God for three hundred years and begat sons and daughters, and all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty five years; and Enoch walked with God and he was not for God took him." According to Genesis 5: 22,23,24.
    Three hundred years is a long time to walk with God, but God and Enoch must have had a glorious time together, because their relationship was so intimate that Enoch was the first person to be raptured. One day God and Enoch were so involved in each other's company, that suddenly Enoch was not, for God took him.
    God gives special favors and privileges and honors to those who will choose to walk with him, to deny self, and to forsake places, and things, and companions that are not pleasing to God.
"Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Noah was a just man and perfect in all his generations, and Noah walked with God." Gen 6: 8, 9.  Noah was given the honor of preserving life on planet earth during the flood.
    To walk with God, we must agree with God in all points. "Can two walk together except they be agreed?" He that would walk with God must believe and agree that he is, and that he is a rewarder of all those who diligently seek him. Without faith it is impossible to please God.  To walk with God, we must agree with God when he says: "there is none righteous, no, not one." Rom 3: 10. And,” All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Rom 3: 23. And,” The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is everlasting life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Rom 6: 23. To walk with God we must agree with God that these words apply to us, and declare with Paul, that we are chief among sinners, but the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3: 16.
To walk with God, we must agree with God that our standing with him does not come as a result of our good works, or our own righteousness, but: "By grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, not of works lest any man should boast." Ephesians 2: 8,9.
    God made people in his own image to walk with him. This is our calling as the ultimate creation of God. "Whosoever will may come." Jesus said. "All who come to me I will in no wise cast out. "He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good: and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God." Micah 6:8. "For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro through out the whole earth to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him." 2 Chron 16: 9. "He cutteth out rivers among the rocks; and his eye seeth every precious thing." Job 28:10. "The Lord is in his holy temple, the Lord's throne is in heaven; his eyes behold, his eyelids try the children of men." Psalm 11:4. "Behold. the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy, to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine." Psalm 33: 18. "The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers; but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil." 1 Peter 3: 12.
    Beware, we are under constant surveillance. We are constantly being watched. Shakespeare said: "All the world is a stage and men and women merely players." What he should have said is that men and women are like microbes under God's microscope, although God does not need a microscope to see all the hidden things of men's heart, his eyes are sufficient.
    We are being watched by the Lord ,,and all the host of heaven, to see what our choices will be in any given situation. the Lord's eyes are searching for the person who will choose to walk humbly with him and honor him.  God does not overlook anything that he finds to be precious in his sight. God is ready and pleased to reward righteousness and faithfulness when he finds it.
    My fellow Christian, if you have been saved by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, won't you come out of hiding, as it were, and make yourself known to the world as a Christian, hating sin as God hates sin, but loving the sinner as God loves sinners. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, and glorify God.  Fellow Christian, God gives you a free will to choose good or evil, life or death.   This old world in which we live is on its' last legs. Sin and corruption and wickedness prevail everywhere, and even our own beloved country is ripe for the judgment of God. We, who are called the children of God,  must choose to walk with God moment by moment, and day by day, and put on the uniform of the redeemed child of God. As a good soldier of Jesus Christ, we must not  become so entangled with the things of this life that we would be handicapped in the army of the Lord. If you have tasted and seen that the Lord is good and merciful, and that he has raised you up out of the miry pit, how can you not with gratitude, present yourselves a living sacrifice to God which is your reasonable service, that you might walk with him, and that he might cleanse you and fill you with his spirit, and completely take over your entire being, so that you might be an instrument in his hand ;so that he might work a good work in you and through you as he did with Enoch and Noah, and all the other saints down through the ages who chose to walk with God.
The bible teaches us that the Lord Jesus Christ is coming again, and when he comes, he will have with him crowns and rewards for those who were willing to choose to obey him, to hear his call, and go forth to battle for his glory. Fellow Christian, right now as you read this message, you are of necessity making a choice. What will it be?
 
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Thought For Today - February 23 - Keeping Clean !

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 Thought For Today February 23
 Keeping Clean!

    "Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving kindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin." Psalm 51: 1,2.  We would not want to eat from dirty dishes, would we? And we would not want to wear soiled clothing from day to day.  Neither does God desire for us  to do so, nor can he dwell in a habitation that is untidy ,and use vessels that are dirty and soiled. Therefore, as the habitation of God, we need to wash every new day in the word of God ,so that we might be acceptable unto God for his habitation and use.

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Thought For Today - February 22 - Wait For God !

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 Thought For Today - February  22
 Wait For God

    We must learn to wait for God in all things. Our time schedule is not necessarily God's time schedule. In fact, God exists outside of time, because he created it, and time, as we know it, means nothing to God. Eternity past, present, and future, is all combined in the now with God.
    Man exists in time and space. everything that man does or experiences is controlled by time and space. This is not so with God. God knows the beginning and the ending all at the same time. He sees our down sitting and our uprising all at the same time. He is the Alpha, and Omega, the beginning and ending.  Therefore, after all is said and done, no evil can befall a child of God, because all things work together for good to those who love God, according to Romans 8:28.
    Jesus taught us that we are to be anxious for nothing. God's time is not our time, and God's ways are not our ways; his thoughts are not our thoughts. Jesus said that we are not to be anxious, but to trust God and wait for him. "And which of you by being anxious can add to his stature one cubit? If ye then, be not able to do that which is least, why take ye thought for the rest?" Luke 12: 25,26. "But I would have you without carefulness ." 1 Cor 7:32. "Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made know unto God." Philippians 4:6. "Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you." 1 Peter 5:7. "Therefore, take no thought, saying what shall we eat? or what shall we drink? or where withal shall we be clothed? But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness ;and all these things shall be added unto you." Math 6: 31,33.
We must learn to always be seeking first the will of God; the glorifications of God; and the kingdom of God; and to trust God and wait for God.
"Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock." Math 7: 24.
Wait for God.  "My soul wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him." Psalm 62:5. "Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress: so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God, until that he have mercy upon us." Psalm 123: 2. "Say not thou, I will recompense evil; but wait on the Lord, and he shall save thee." Proverbs 20: 22.
Let us learn to wait for God.

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