Archive for July 21st, 2010

Assembling Together

Wednesday, July 21st, 2010

24And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:

 25Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

In the 10th Chapter of Hebrews we find a reminder of the importance of assembling together with the Saints.

Anyone can walk in a church, sit down, sing a hymn or more, and walk out again.  It is a far different thing to assemble together with the Saints exhorting one another provoking one another unto love & unto good works.

I thought about this today when I considered the hose leaking.    Imagine seeing a  hose that is not  tightly connected to the hose bib and water is shooting everywhere.  It makes sense that you have to tighten the connection or there will be problems.

It’s the same way if you don’t stay tightly connected to your Christian friends.  They say the family that prays together stays together.  A family of believers works like that, too. 

If you don’t make a firm connection you are apt to be in a position where it seems like water is flying everywhere. 

Let me make a better picture of this for your mind’s eye.  Imagine the hose that is only loosely connected to the hose bib.  There are no problems at the connection until the pressure is turned on.  See that water spraying out in all directions?  Your mind will run in many directions when the pressures of life hit you if you don’t have a group of believers you are connected with that can hold you up in prayer & help you during the rough times. 

Assemble yourselves together! Provoke love & good works!  Encourage & exhort one another.  It’s that simple.  We need each other.  

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Hebrews 10:24-26

Wednesday, July 21st, 2010

24And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:

 25Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

 26For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,

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Luke 6:40 – End

Wednesday, July 21st, 2010

 40The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.

 41And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

 42Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother’s eye.

 43For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

 44For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.

 45A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.

 46And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

 47Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like:

 48He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.

 49But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.

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Have You Ever Felt Like Giving Up?

Wednesday, July 21st, 2010

That question makes me feel like saying the following things:

Who hasn’t felt like giving up before.  Are there people living on this earth who haven’t struggled when going through hard times?

Man, I’ve had times when I thought the tears wouldn’t quit flowing.  Times when I actually thought for at least a second that I was the only one going through pain. 

Isn’t that when people want to give up?  Don’t they feel like throwing in the towel when they feel beaten and as if there is no way out of the pain?

Maybe it feels good to write those feelings out to help grip the fact that many people feel like their back is against the wall.

God has  places in the Bible where He reminds us that we may feel beaten but we are not forsaken.  Look at 2 Corinthians Chapter 4:

1Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. 2Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. 3And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”[a]made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

 7But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. 12So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

 13It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.”[b]With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak, 14because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence. 15All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.

 16Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20corinthians%204&version=NIV

While we walk on this earth there will be times when earthly life sort of slaps us in the face. 

People are not always kind. Things don’t always turn out the way we planned. We get our bodies & feelings hurt.  Our physical bodies may suffer due to an illness or due to an accident of some kind. 

While we live on this earth we will have times of disappointment.  We will feel beaten, bruised, and way may even feel like saying,

“What’s the use in trying any more?”  We may even have times when we feel as though we’ve lost heart. 

I know I’ve had times when I wanted to give up.  My heart has ached for my own personal reasons or because of seeing loved ones go through some problems. 

The good news is still there for us in God’s Holy Word.  We are instructed that we should not lose heart.  The King James Version says we should not faint. 

FAINT  NOT!  DO NOT LOSE HEART!

It does not matter how it’s said because to me it is God telling His people that they should not give up hope.

Of course the words in 2 Corinthians 4 remind us that we should look for the eternal things.  If our hope is all wrapped up in the temporary things we have no lasting hope. 

Fix  your eyes on Jesus.  He is Your Redeemer.  He is the One that gives us eternal hope for things to come.

We have a bright future.  We’ve got a home in glory land that outshines the Sun.  Our Redeemer Lives.

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