Real Good (Observation or Advice)
Our Internal Barometer
By Raul Ries
“This being so, I myself always strive to have a con-science without offense toward God and men.” Acts 24:16
God gave us a conscience and this conscience reflects the basis of God’s law - what is right and what is wrong. The more we resist God and the pricking of our conscience, the less conscience we will have. I’m afraid there are many Christians with half a conscience.
The Internal Revenue Service received the following letter from a conscience - stricken taxpayer: “Dear Sir: My conscience bothered me. Here is $175, which I owe in back taxes.” There was a P.S. at the bottom that read: “If my conscience still bothers me, I’ll send in the rest.”
Thought for the Day:
Conscience is like a sundial. When the truth of God shines on it, it points the right way.
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Worry, Worry, Worry!
By Raul Ries
“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?” Matthew 6:25
Many people worry about their lives. They work hard to provide a home, food, and clothing for their family. Shelter, food, and clothing are legitimate needs; however, they are not the greatest need that we possess. A large percentage of the world spends their time seeking after these things while ignoring their need for God.
God knows that we need to eat, have clothing to wear, and a place to live. I have found over and over in my life that God provides the items I need at just the right time. The Lord wants us to trust in His care for us.
Thought for the Day:
Trusting God’s care and provisions is an antidote for worry.
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Money Makes The World Go Round?
By Raul Ries
“Will you set your eyes on that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away like an eagle toward heaven.” Proverbs 23:5
Money is a hot topic today. People either talk about how much money they have, how much money they need, or how much money they do not have. People believe that the world revolves around money and that material possessions will bring happiness. How far from the truth that is!
Riches come and go. You may be rich today and poor tomorrow. We can not base our life on money. If your happiness is proportionate to how much money you have, you will be the most miserable person of all.
Thought for the Day:
Not only does money not buy happiness, many times it brings added burdens to life.
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The Problem With Alcohol
By Raul Ries
“Do not look on the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it swirls around smoothly.” Proverbs 23:31
Alcoholic beverages get a lot of positive attention on weekend commercials, but those ads do not mention the devastating consequences of alcoholism: 1) Each year alcohol kills over 100,000 Americans and costs the U.S. up to $120 billion in economic damages. 2) Alcohol is implicated in 66% of homicides, 50% of rapes, and 70% of robberies. 3) Drunk driving is the leading cause of death among young people ages 16-24. 4) Out of 13 million alcoholics in the nation, more than 3 million are under the age of 18.
Drinking alcohol is not something unique to our society. Solomon talks about the problem of drinking in the above scripture. Today, as in biblical times, alcohol destroys lives.
Thought for the Day:
P.T. Barnum was a temperance advocate. Once when he was giving an address, a man in the gallery howled, “How does alcohol affect us, externally or internally?” “Eternally,” flashed back Barnum.
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By Bill Keller
In light of the current economic crisis, with so many people losing huge amounts of money, their homes, and other material possessions, this is a purely Holy Ghost inspired message about the temporal things of this world versus the eternal things of God. May the Lord bless this special word to your heart today!!!
Nobody would even try to argue that in the year 2009, the United States is a highly materialistic society. We have taken materialism to unprecedented levels over the last 50 years. The Bible has much to say about the "temporal things of this world." The temporal things of this world are the material things of this life that not only come and go, but will be meaningless when this brief journey is over. Nothing drives home the truth of God's Word about how fleeting the temporal things of this world are better than a natural disaster like Hurricane Katrina or the current economic crisis that has seen so many lose large amounts of money as well as homes and other possessions.
Sadly, many have taken for granted not only the most basic material needs of life, but so many people act like they must have every material thing this world produces. We get so focused on acquiring "things," on having the most current "thing," that we lose sight of the fact that these material "things" of this world come and go. They are here today and gone tomorrow. In our drive to have the temporal things of this world, we end up paying very little attention to the eternal things of God.
Every day here at Liveprayer we deal with people who have "lost everything." Each day I deal with people who have lost ALL of the material possessions they owned overnight through natural disasters like hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods, to tragic events like house fires, to being burglarized, to a divorce where a spouse take everything. It is at those moments in life that a person realizes what really is important, what really matters. It is at those moments in life a person realizes that the temporary things of this world can come and go, but the relationship we have with the Lord is the only thing we can always count on being there.
Let me ask you a question. Is there something in this world that you love more than the Lord? I have no doubt some people will pause as they think of the love they have for their spouse, for their parents, for their children. As much as we may love those special people God blesses us with during our brief journey through life, our love for Christ MUST always be first. This is a truth most people are able to understand and accept.
More to the point however, is there some THING in this world that you love more than the Lord? We say we love Christ, we say Christ is first in our life, but is He really? Let me be a bit more specific. Is Christ first in your life, ahead of your career? Is Christ first in your life, ahead of your hobbies and special interests? Is Christ first in your life, ahead of your
"things!" Be careful now, we know what the RIGHT answers to these questions are, but are they the TRUE answers?
Even though I know you don't want to, let's go a bit deeper. Does your work or career take priority over the Lord in your normal day-to-day life? Do you invest as much time each week into the Lord as you do your hobbies and special interests? Do you invest as much time each week into the Lord as you do the temporal things of this world that will one day be meaningless? One of the profound statements Jesus made was, "for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Since that is a great measuring stick of where our heart is, how much of your treasure goes to the Lord as opposed to the pleasures of this world?
Listen, PLEASE do not misunderstand what my message to you today is. I am NOT saying that your career is not important. After all, it was God who gave you the gifts and talents you have to be successful in your career, it was God who opened the doors for you to be where you are at, and it is God who gives you favor and blessings each day in your career. I am also NOT saying that your hobbies and special interests are not important. Again, it was God who gave you the desires and passions for the things you enjoy in this life. Nor am I saying you should not use some of the resources God has entrusted to you to enjoy the abundance of this life.
What I AM saying is that we have to take inventory of our life from time to time and ensure that we are keeping Christ first at all times, in all things. We can fall into patterns at times and slowly ease the Lord out of our day-to-day life. Not consciously, but often without even realizing it put other things in our life ahead of Him. This is a subtle trap of the enemy since once the Lord is no longer first in your life, you are wide open to be attacked. This becomes an open door for satan to enter your life and harm you.
I love you and care about you so much. It is out of that love that I am sending you this warning today. Simply take a moment and ask yourself the tough questions in regard to where Christ fits in your life. Is He first in ALL areas of your life? Don't play games with yourself, since this is for YOUR benefit, not the Lord's. This is to protect YOU from giving the enemy any room to operate in your life. It is critical to never lose sight of what is truly important to us. The things of this world that will one day pass away, or our relationship with the Lord which will last for all eternity?
I will be praying for you today. Praying that you will never forget that Christ MUST be first in your life at all times, in all things. We can never allow any person, our career, our hobbies or interests, or the "things of this world to become more important than Jesus. He has got to be our first priority and our first love at all times. The Lord gives us special people to share this life with, He gives us gifts and talents to use in our careers, He gives us passions and desires for the things we enjoy in this life, and it is the Lord who blesses us with the material goods we have during our life.
We must never fall into the trap of loving the things of this world more than we love Jesus. When this life is over, the things of this world will pass away and it is only our relationship with Jesus Christ that will last for all eternity. Don't get so focused on the "temporal things of this world" that you miss the eternal things of God!
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By Bill Keller
The foundation of our life! Ioften refer in these Devotionals and in manyresponses to the prayer requests we receive, that your daily walk with Christ is the most important thing in your life. You cannot minimize how important that daily time in prayer and the Word is to your life. In that time of fellowship with Christ, He speaks to you, you share the struggles
and joys of your current situations, you gain strength, and you stay focused on what this life is all about.
When a person "backslides" or gets caught up in things that go against what God wants, having that daily time with the Lord usually stops. Why? Because in your rebellion you know you are not doing what the Lord wants. When Adam sinned, He hid from the God he used to fellowship with. When we disobey our parents, we try to avoid them. When we do something wrong at work, we try to cover it up. When we violate the trust between our spouse, we try to avoid them. Why? Because we know we are rebelling, we have allowed sin to control us, and are ashamed and guilty.
As difficult as it may be, when you sin, that is the time to run TO the Lord. We have that special promise in 1 John 1:9 that assures us if we confess our sins, He will forgive us. The problem is, we don't want to stop sinning. We enjoy it. As destructive as sin is, we love it. We play games with ourselves that we will never do it again but let a little time pass, and we aren't looking at solving the problem, but doing it some more. Again, deep down we know that it will hurt us, hurt others, possibly even destroy us and many others, but it doesn't matter.
Let me say something very clear. SIN IS SELFISH!
The reason it is selfish is that you don't sin in a vacuum. Your sin not only affects you and God, but it affects others. Adultery is one of the most selfish acts you can partake in. For that little pleasure, you destroy so much. There is always a cost to sin and it is always very expensive.
One of the most important things we can do for our health is preventative. Exercise, good nutrition, and regular check-ups, all of these things help us to stay healthy and avoid getting sick. However, when we do get sick, do we run from the doctor? Likewise, our daily time with the Lord is our preventative spiritual medicine; however, when we get "sick" we need to run TO the "doctor."
Your personal relationship with the Lord each day will not guarantee you don 't make a bad decision or sin, since we all sin and fall short of God's glory. The random sins that we commit are not really what I am talking about. I am focusing more on the habitual sins. Those are the sins and that is the behavior we can overcome through a real, daily walk with Christ, since we will be under such conviction, we will be motivated to overcome our sin.
I love and I care about you a great deal. Don't ever underestimate that everything you are and everything you do flows from your walk with Christ. As I have said on numerous occasions, that relationship with Him is the only thing you will take from this life into eternity. It is a very special relationship. Like all friendships, it must be nurtured. There is no substitute for time. A friendship grows day by day, as does our walk with Christ.
Not only should it be your top priority every day, but eventually, as your love for Him grows, something you look forward to. We often take for granted that the One who walked this earth 2,000 years ago, the One who gave us the example of how to live life, the One who went to a cross and died a horrible death for OUR sins, wants to be our friend.
I remember growing up becoming friends with Joe Valenzuela. He was my best friend. I was so glad he wanted to be my friend, and I worked hard to be a good friend to him. We did everything together. We played together, hung out, and shared so many great times together. Thirty five years later, we are still close. That is the type of friendship I am talking about, and Jesus Christ, the Lord of Lords and King of Kings wants to be your friend and share that type of intimate relationship!
I will be praying for you today. Make your personal, intimate, daily relationship with Christ the very foundation of your life. It will sustain you during the difficult times. It will give you joy in the good times. It will give you strength when you are under attack. It will keep you from falling into many of the traps the enemy has set for you. Jesus loves you, and your relationship with Him must be the very foundation of your life.
