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Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
We may read something like this and wonder how we are ever going to see God – but it is not the be all and end all statement like some may think!
We have enough in our bibles to tell us how Christ has died so He can make us pure; so long as we continue to be caught up in our own obsessions and leave God out of things, we are walking away from Him.
But if we are willing to accept Christ as being a part of our lives at all times, then we are going to be called by Him.
When He calls us, He will change our hearts to be more like His so we can expect to see Him forever one day!
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Proverbs 22:11 One who loves a pure heart and who speaks with grace will have the king for a friend.
The more we mix (or live) in this world, the more corrupt our hearts and minds become – there is no natural way out of this situation!
But, no matter how rough and tough things get, we still have choices to make and we still have our hearts and the way we feel.
We may be sorely tempted to go off and do things which are terrible, but what are our hearts actually saying? The bible continues to tell us how God loves a pure heart…
It is what you want from your heart which will ultimately count – look to God and keep your heart purer.
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Colossians 3:21 Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.
One of the main reasons why we have to be genuine, compassionate, truthful and loving is for our children and their peers.
Children look up to parents as role models, as guides and even as controllers – when they don’t know which way to turn they need guidance and that is why we are here.
Children are not always going to listen to parents, but being the caring parent role model will go a whole lot further than being Mr Angry!
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Ephesians 6:4 And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.
Sometimes I love the title “Bible Basher” when given to me and yet other times I think it may be a bit harsh…
When we show people the truth about God and about Christ we should not be bashing the truth into them but giving it to them in the best possible light so they can make an informed decision to follow Christ by themselves.
We do have a duty to Christ, to God, but with the Holy Spirit we can make a loving and peaceful impact on people’s lives without violence; that is against God!
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Deuteronomy 6:7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.
I love the way the commandments are given to us a few times – just in case we don’t remember them for any reason the first time through!
But we are also reminded here we have a duty to teach others about those commandments, about loving God in spirit and in truth!
We may forget to tell people at the most opportune times God gives us, but we still can remind people about Him and our love for Him by following and obeying His commandments as best we can.
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Malachi 3:16 Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, And the Lord listened and heard them; So a book of remembrance was written before Him For those who fear the Lord And who meditate on His name.
It is very easy to get despondent about the world and all the things going wrong around us; but that is not what God calls us to do.
God wants us to see the good, the righteous and holy things in the world; He then wants us to talk to each other about these things – this way we can encourage each other toward
God and all He does rather than falling into despair about the world around us.
Live with hope! Live with God!
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Isaiah 50:10 "Who among you fears the Lord? Who obeys the voice of His Servant? Who walks in darkness And has no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord And rely upon his God.
I timely reminder for us all who believe in Christ. The longer we live in this world the more we have to walk in dark places and see all manner of things going wrong around us.
It is not our fault the rest of the world is going to pot; each person has to stand up for the things they do wrong and has to answer to God alone.
Trusting in God now and living a life with Him is what He wants for us; that way He can help us to do the right thing more often than giving in to the temptations of the world!
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Micah 7:8 Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will rise. Though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light.
When is the one time when your enemy will come out and confront you without fear? When you are down or caught in a trap – then they come forward and mock you.
People came forward and mocked Jesus as He went to the cross because they could see Him in a position where He was caught up.
But just as God promised to be there for the tribe of Israel, so too is Christ saying he will be there for us.
Turn to you enemy and tell them you have a powerful God who is protecting you and will guide you out of your affliction. Praise Him for what He is about to do!
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Psalm 112:4 Even in darkness light dawns for the upright, for those who are gracious and compassionate and righteous.
Many of us will face dark times, hard times and afflictions which will cause us to wonder where God and His light are.
But even in our darkest times we can still receive God’s light, guidance, power and strength; we just have to look and see where it is shining!
It is actually shining on you – but if your eyes are closed, you may well not see anything!
The Lord is merciful, bountiful, compassionate and righteous; trusting in Him and His ways should be easy…
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Ephesians 4:32 And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you.
Christ chose to do what He did because it would allow us to see how much He loves us. He chose to lay His life down for our sakes, because we are who we are.
But just because we are corrupt and allow all manner of things such as hate, greed and pride to control parts of our lives, does not mean they should be allowed to do so!
Christ wants us to rise above those feelings and desires to allow His light to shine through – allow His love to shine through for others to see through us.
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Ephesians 5:2 And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.
When Christ asks us to be imitators of God, just like Children imitate other, it is an instruction for us to try to be more Christ-like without doubting and questioning everything.
Christ loved us without question. He did what He had to do on the cross because that is what was required. Yes, He did ask God if there could be any other way, but totally accepted
God’s decision just as an obedient child does.
God does not want us to be blind followers, but simply to trust Him and obey the final decisions.
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Genesis 8:21 The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.
When God looked down on Noah and what he was doing, it pleased Him. No longer was there so much corruption in the world – instead this one family was worshipping God as best they could, just like it was in the beginning.
God wants us to turn our backs on evil. God wants us to live together in peace and as community just as He was in community with Adam and Eve in the beginning.
Give God a chance to make your life different!
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Genesis 6:5 The LORD saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.
How do you react when something you have made, created or constructed is bashed down and destroyed?
This world is God’s creation. He made it all for us! And yet, mankind was now doing just about every wicked thing against it and against God.
Just as we feel like we are being let down when our creations are destroyed, so is God feeling let down when we work against His Will in our lives.
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Matthew 15:14 Leave them; they are blind guides. If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.
Jesus Himself warned of the blind leaders as well. Something we need to make sure we take very good notice of!
Many leaders seem to go crazy when they get into power and do not live up to the promises they made when getting into that position of power.
Jesus, on the other hand, stood up to all the promises He made and tried to show the people who was telling the truth at all times.
Don’t follow the blind leaders – follow Christ!
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Isaiah 56:10 Israel’s watchmen are blind, they all lack knowledge; they are all mute dogs, they cannot bark; they lie around and dream, they love to sleep.
If you were going to be the watch-person, would you not try and do your best to watch out for any danger coming?
It is a sad reflection on the Jews to see such words written down about their leaders – the Scribes and Pharisees!
Yet, this is how God was seeing them at the time because they had lost sight on where they were going and what they should be doing.
Just because we can spout bible verses does not mean we understand them or believe them – take in God’s Word and bury it in your heart!
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Isaiah 57:17 I was enraged by their sinful greed; I punished them, and hid my face in anger, yet they kept on in their wilful ways.
If a friend is not going to listen to us when we are trying to correct them, what do we do?
As mentioned yesterday, we pray for them, earnestly! We ask God to do what we cannot do…
And sometimes we have to walk away from them for a spell so they can think about what they are doing wrong.
Jesus did not walk away from anyone whom He knew would turn to Him, His correction was often enough to set the person right.
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Psalm 141:5 Let a righteous man strike me—that is a kindness; let him rebuke me—that is oil on my head. My head will not refuse it, for my prayer will still be against the deeds of evildoers.
If your friends beat you up (not physically but mentally or spiritually) then I would question two things: 1. Am I doing something wrong or 2. Are they doing something wrong?
Much of the time we may well find out we have strayed from God’s path and they are trying to remind us of where we should be going!
Having true friends who do point out when you go wrong is compared here with an excellent oil – how good it is to rub on our skins.
When our friends then get into trouble, we should also be the true friends who point out their errors and we should also be praying for them!
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Proverbs 27:6 Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.
When a friend tries to tell us we are doing something wrong, we should listen and make sure; friends are actually trying to help us most of the time!
But the enemy tries all manner of lies to get us away from God’s Word and from communing with Christ.
Just as the kisses from Jacob or Judas were used for evil, so are the kisses from the enemy.
Be very aware of your surroundings and make sure you are following where Christ is saying to go; make sure what is happening around you lines up with what God’s Word tells you!
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Numbers 17:8 The next day Moses entered the tent and saw that Aaron’s staff, which represented the tribe of Levi, had not only sprouted but had budded, blossomed and produced almonds.
What does it take for God to get our attention? Will it take a miracle, a birth or death, a disaster, or will it simply be His Word?
I know it can take a while before we see the truth and it does sometimes take an extraordinary event to change our minds, but believing in the truth should be natural to all of us!
Don’t be stubborn like we see people acting in the bible, allow God to open your heart and believe before He has to do something bigger – you may not like what happens in the end!
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Ezekiel 37:21 and say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land.
How many times does God have to gather the people of Israel together before the rest of the world realises they are the chosen people of God?
The more things happen in our world, the more we are distracted from the truth and the more we look for other things instead of following God’s Word and His will.
We do not know when will be the last time, but we do know there is a limit before Christ returns.