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Saturday, October 27, 2012

CAN YOU TRUST YOUR CONSCIENCE ?

Read | 1 Timothy 1:18-19

"Let your conscience be your guide" is a well-known expression, but one that isn't necessarily good advice. That's because your moral compass is only as reliable as the principles with which you program it. If you store up proper biblical instruction and training, it will be dependable to safeguard you through life. But using false ideologies from popular culture to program your conscience will set you up for moral failure.
Our heavenly Father has given each person a conscience as a gift intended to be a tool of the Holy Spirit--our one true Guide. As such, it is designed to protect you from going astray. You can trust it only when the following seven statements are true of you:
  1. Jesus Christ is your Savior and Lord.
  2. The Bible is the basis for your conduct.
  3. You have a strong desire to obey God.
  4. You make decisions prayerfully.
  5. Your conscience sounds the alarm when you consider a wrong direction in thought or action.
  6. You feel guilty when you disobey.
  7. You feel compelled to repent of your disobedience.
A trustworthy conscience reacts immediately to disobedience. There is no making excuses and no waffling over whether or not something may have been wrong.
To develop a reliable conscience, read and apply Scripture so God's principles will override any prior bad programming. Then, under the Holy Spirit's guidance, it will sound protective alerts. Don't put faith in your conscience alone, but trust God to make it an effective tool for leading you.

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

PRODUCING FRUIT


One cannot be a Christian and have no fruit. Indeed, all Christians yield some measure of all the fruit of the Spirit. It is not that one receives the fruit of love and another the fruit of joy. All the fruit is to be manifest in all Christians.

The degree of the manifestation of the fruit of the Spirit may vary from Christian to Christian, and even episodically in the individual Christian’s life. The Holy Spirit produces the fruit. The fruit of the Spirit is part of the Spirit’s work of sanctification. Sanctification is not a monergistic work; it is synergistic: It involves and requires the cooperation of the believer. We are working out our salvation while at the same time God is working within us.

All of our labor in sanctification would yield no fruit if God were not working in us. Ultimately, it is His fruit in that He is the source of it and power for it. But the full measure of the fruit of the Spirit requires that we work. We are to work not casually or occasionally. Our labor is to be done in fear and trembling.

God is at work within you. Are you cooperating?
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Wednesday, October 17, 2012

HIGHLIGHTING PROVERBS

The preparations of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD. [Proverbs 16:1] Human responsibility to reason and act does not contradict God's sovereignty. In other words God can stop a tongue and turn a heart in order for His will to be done.

All the ways of man are pure in his own eyes; but the LORD weighs the spirits. [Proverbs 16:2] People are able to rationalize almost any kind of behavior as they strive to justify themselves. God’s knowledge is a warning against such self-deception. Note! Feathery hearts and soft spirits will always outweigh the worries of the world, but it is God who weighs the spirit.

Commit your works to the LORD, and your thoughts will be established. [Proverbs 16:3] When we entrust our plans and commit our lives to God, He settles our minds and our thoughts.

The LORD has made all for Himself, Yes even the wicked for the day of doom. [Proverbs 16:4] All of creation, even the wicked and their actions, stand under God’s sovereignty and serve His purposes. Bottom line God has made all things for a purpose, and our purpose is to see God in all things and to glorify Him.

Tuesday, October 02, 2012

GOD IS HOLY

Who will not fear you, O Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed. [Revelation 15:4]

God is absolutely pure and perfect. There is nothing in Him that is in any way deceitful or even hints of evil or wrongdoing. Everything He does is done in righteousness. He is the Holy One; morally perfect and fully virtuous, honorable and upright. Everything He does is faultless and just. His holiness defines His divinity and we can confidently trust that He will always do what is right and good.

“Real holiness has love for its essence, humility for its clothing, the good of others as its employment, and the honor of God as its end.” [Nathanael Emmons]