Choose Your Friends Wisely

 

Choose Your Friends Wisely

Numbers 16:26

“And He spoke unto the congregation, saying, depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest ye be consumed in all their sins.” Numbers 16:26

This scripture was spoken at the time when Moses had led the Israelites from the land of Egypt and korah began to challenge moses's authority. Cora complained that Moses had brought them into the wilderness to die. He had taken them from slavery and is now ruling over them. Moses and his anger had returned the challenge by telling them to return the next day with their incense and allow God to choose who will be their leader. When the Lord appeared, he too was angry and told Moses to tell the congregation to get away from them. Then the land swallowed Korah and his family up while those who held their sensors, 250 of them of them burned to death. Today, God is still telling us to stay away from the tents of wicked men lest we be consumed in all their sins in 1 Corinthians 15:33 it says, “Be not deceived, evil company corrupts good morals.” When we talk of having accountable partners we don't look for someone who imbibes in strong drink and drugs. We don't look for someone who curses or uses God's name in vain. We look for someone older, wiser and has the likeness of Christ in them. In the same manner, if we fall into the category of people who drink, do drugs, curse, etc. We cannot be considered someone who others might want to confide in. Jesus is our greatest example of what we look for in a friend and what friends might look for in us. So, what does that look like? Jesus was loving, compassionate, a help in times of trouble. He was faithful to all and a servant to everyone. He loves us despite our faults, condemns no one and draws us near to Him in all ways. If you don't have friends that bear these qualities, then you might want to rethink your relationship with them, lest you become like them. God may not punish wicked men like He did in the day of Moses, but He does say no sin goes unpunished. Always stay closer to God than you do your friends.

Please read the scriptures listed, study them, apply them to your life and grow in the saving relationship with Jesus Christ our Savior.

For more posts like this, go to: https://sherrysouthard.blogspot.com.

Give Thanks to the Lord

 

Give Thanks to the Lord

I Thessalonians 5:18 – “In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”

I know it is not Thanksgiving, but it is good to be thankful every day of the year.

No matter what our circumstance. It is good to find things that we are thankful for.

I am thankful that God created you and I.

I am thankful that the Holy Spirit dwells within all His children.

I am thankful for the mind of Christ who walks with us and talks with us in all that we do, morning till night.

I am thankful He watches over us and protects us through the night.

I am thankful for the children and grandchildren that God has loaned to me while I am still on earth.

I am thankful for my siblings.

I am thankful for my friends who hug me and hold me close to their heart. I am thankful for those who God places in front of me to help me or for me to help them. God is my strength, and my friends are my support.

I am thankful for my earthly possessions that God has provided for me and continues to see to my needs every day.

I am thankful for prayer opportunities.

What are you thankful for?

For more posts like this, go to: https://sherrysouthard.blogspot.com.

When God Moves, We Move

 

When God Moves, We Move

It was when the Israelites sinned that God made them dwell in the wilderness for forty years. God led the Israelites by a cloud that hovered over the tabernacle. When the cloud moved, they tore the tabernacle and their tents down. When the cloud rested, they set everything back up again. Sometimes they moved daily, sometimes they settled for a month. Other times they broke up camp and set up the same day. They never knew when God was going to move them or allow them to rest. They had to wait upon the Lord and be ready in a moment’s notice. Those who trusted in the Lord was comforted in the fact that God was always with them and would never forsake them. Those who did not trust in the Lord, rebelled and died in their sins.

Sometimes we humans get restless and try to speed up God’s timing or we jump the gun and do things our own way. Abraham and Sarah jumped the gun when they got tired of waiting on the Lord to bless them with a child. After all, God promised them a nation of children. Genesis 16. Their impatience led to discord in their lives.

When we trust in God’s direction and wait patiently for the answers to our prayers, God’s blessings overflow. When we make our own plans, they may seem to work for a time but in the end leads to confusion, discord and sometimes lack of trust in God. We forget our choices is what made us end up there in the first place.

“He who waits on the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31 RSV.

Please read the scriptures listed, study them, apply them to your life and grow in the saving relationship with Jesus Christ our Savior.

For more posts like this, go to: https://sherrysouthard.blogspot.com.

Love the Lord Your God

 

Love the Lord Your God

Matthew 22:37 “And Jesus said unto him, Love the Lord with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.”

Do we love the Lord with all our hearts? Do we love God with such a passion that we can’t help but share Him with everyone around us?

Do we Love the Lord with all our soul? Are we willingly saying to God, “I am yours, lead me in the path that you would have me go?

Do we love the Lord with all our mind? Are our thoughts near to God. Always on our mind?

Blessed be the Lord! He is our protector, our straight and narrow path, our refuge in times of trouble. He is our Father in Heaven!

Thanks, and glory to God for loving us as He does. Praise Him always.

Please read the scriptures listed, study them, apply them to your life and grow in the saving relationship with Jesus Christ our Savior.

For more posts like this, go to: https://sherrysouthard.blogspot.com.

How Lost are we Without Christ?

 

How Lost are We Without Christ?

Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord shall enter the Kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of the Father in heaven.”

“Two men will be working in the field – one will be taken; one will be left behind.” Matthew 24:40. Which one will you be?  Here is a litmus test:

1.  1.   Do you put your job, family, friends or superstitions before God?

a.     Or do you wake up with God on your mind and think of Him all day long, praising and loving Him?

2. 2.    Do you speak angry, filthy words? Do you tell lies or gossip?

a.     Or do you speak with kindness, compassion and truthfulness?

3.   3.  Do you follow your plans carefully laid out for yourself, then watch them fall apart at the last minute?

a.     Or do you follow the path God directs you on, receive blessing after blessing? Do you have that kind of faith and trust in God?

Where will you be when Christ comes on His white horse to collect all His followers? If your answer was (a) to all the above, then most assuredly by the grace of God you will be the one taken into Christ’s arms. Unless we have a relationship with Christ and we follow His example in caring for others then I’m afraid those who don’t will be left behind.

John 14:6 “No man come unto the Father except through Christ.”

Please read the scriptures listed, study them, apply them to your life and grow in the saving relationship with Jesus Christ our Savior.

For more posts like this, go to: https://sherrysouthard.blogspot.com.

The Burdens We Bear

 

The Burdens We Bear

Joanna Weaver wrote a book called "Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World.” In her book she tells a story of a man who is talking to God. While talking, God gives him an assignment asking him to carry three stones to the top of the mountain. The man is very willing and starts up the hill rejoicing. Along the way he comes to a village and a man stops him and asks him to carry a rock to the top for him. The first man agrees and continues up the hill. Now he has three stones and a rock making the load heavier but bearable. He soon comes to another village where a friend asks him to take a bag of pebbles with him. Still, the load seems heavier but not uncomfortable. As he journey’s he makes stop after stop, filling his wagon. Soon the load becomes unbearable, and he begins to blame God for giving him a burden too heavy to carry. He cries out to God, saying he cannot carry the burden any longer. God then appears and looks over the wagon. He tosses out rock after rock and pebble after pebble. God tells him to “Let others shoulder their own belongings because when you are weighted down with all these cares, you cannot do what I have asked.”

I have, for lack of space, shortened this story but wanted to share it with you because at this time of the year it is extremely easy to be bogged down with too much to do. I have found in my own life that I have placed what is least important ahead of what is most important. Serving the Lord is most important. We must focus on what God asks us to do and let the cares of the world, not be our cares. Let God handle the cares of the world.

Please read the scriptures listed, study them, apply them to your life and grow in the saving relationship with Jesus Christ our Savior.

For more posts like this, go to: https://sherrysouthard.blogspot.com.

The Air We Breathe

 

The Air We Breathe

“This is the air I breathe, this is the air I breathe, Your Holy presence living in me.” (the first verse of Breathe by Marie Bennet)

In Genesis 2:7 it reads, “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.”

There are so many things in our life that we barely notice. The air that we breathe comes directly from God. Without it we would be dead, lifeless beings. We need to give God thanks that we are alive. God’s breath dwells within us. He is a living, vital part of our life. The words we speak, the sounds we make (whistling, snoring, etc.) come from God. How do we show appreciation to God for such a thing as air? If we lack air and need oxygen, we can become desperate for air. Like the song goes on to say, “ And I..I’m desperate for You.. and I…I’m lost without You.” Each and every one of us are here because of God and like it or not, His breath lives within us. God tells us in so many ways how to use our air. Not expending our air with angry words or cuss words but to speak with kindness and with songs of praise to God. We must become desperate for God as we are for the air we breathe. We are indeed lost without God. May the breath you breathe shine forth with a Christ-like, Godly Spirit. “In His hand is the life of every creature the breath of all mankind.” Job 12:10

Please read the scriptures listed, study them, apply them to your life and grow in the saving relationship with Jesus Christ our Savior.

For more posts like this, go to: https://sherrysouthard.blogspot.com.