I am a Christian, a retired teacher, a mother and a grandmother. I love to read and I love the Lord Jesus Christ! Unless otherwise specified ,all visual illustrations are from the YOU VERSION APP of the Bible.
This has been a week with a big answered prayer! We have been praying for two plus years for our grandson Isaac to get a job. When he had an interview almost three weeks ago, I asked God to go with him and give him favor and to open the door that He wanted open, the one that would be best for Isaac.
This week, Isaac got a job offer, a really good one, doing something he will enjoy and with the opportunity to continue and get a higher degree if he would like. The job starts in less than three weeks, so now is the hectic time of getting ready to move, but what a joyous time it is! I know Isaac’s self-confidence had suffered after numerous attempts at employment and I am thrilled that God opened the door to a job that fits him well.
Never, never stop praying. God is working every day on our behalf and we never know the wonderful blessings that await us in answer to our prayers.
Let’s take some time together to really look at this verse. When you demolish something, you destroy it completely. Have you ever seen a building that was recently demolished? It’s a pile of rubble waiting for the dump trucks to load it and carry it away. That’s what arguments against knowing God are, just a pile of rubble. But they can’t just be knocked down. They also have to be carted away to make room for the truth. Filling your mind with God’s truth replaces that pile of rubble with a whole new building, and the maker is God.
How do you demolish the arguments of others against God? One seed at a time planted at the right time and with the right attitude is the method that God teaches us to use. You will never convince a non-believer to come to the Lord by attacking all of the falsehoods that they have lived with most of their lives. Just one small step at a time. Plant a seed and then leave them to ponder it. When the time is right, water and then plant another seed. You will be demolishing their arguments at the same time that you are replacing their rubble with the foundation of a new building.
How do we take our thoughts captive? And why do we want to? One of the ways that Satan tries to turn us from the truth of God and who He created us to be is with lies. We kick those lies out of our minds by answering them with God’s truth. Satan says we will never amount to much but God says we are His precious child. We also have to be careful what we let into our minds to begin with. Today’s world is filled with images and words that our God-centered minds were never meant to entertain. Remember that Satan controls the air waves (including television, radio, social media, etc.) and be careful what you open the door of your mind to. It’s easier to keep the bad thoughts out if you never let them in to begin with. And once that house is swept clean, replace it with thoughts about Jesus and His Word. That’s how your thoughts become obedient to Him and not to your own runaway-and-escape mindset.
Do you have other suggestions about demolishing arguments and taking thoughts captive? Please share in the comments. And have a blessed, God-filled day!
One of the greatest enemies of contentment is comparison. We live in a house, but looking around at the houses of others and wishing our house was bigger, better maintained, nicer, etc. makes for discontentment. It’s always wrong to compare what we have with what others have. God calls it “coveting” and it’s a sin. Whatever I have is a gift from God, and it is enough.
I cannot truthfully say that I am “untouched by trouble” but I can say that I can rest contented at the end of each day. I know that God is in charge of my life, so that leads me to believe that nothing touches me unless it goes through His filter first. He doesn’t CAUSE things to happen in our lives but He does allow them so that we can grow to be more like Jesus. Thus, my health issues are my opportunity to see more health workers and testify about the goodness and grace of God.
As the joke goes, hearses are never followed by a U-Haul truck. What we have is God’s gift to us…food, clothing, children, grandchildren, all things we have. So instead of wishing for more or better things, we need to be grateful for what we have and realize that we have more than many. It always amazes me to see the children in a third world nation playing in muddy streets with an old ball that is barely inflated. But you know what? They are happy…smiling, laughing and enjoying what they have. That mental image reminds me that I can be happy with little because I have the greatest gift of all, eternal life through the Son of God.
Do you know other enemies of contentment? Share them in the comments. And thank you for reading. God bless you.
Most people sin, then proceed to make excuses that may go something like this:
I didn’t realize what I was doing.
I didn’t think.
I didn’t know it was wrong.
I was tired and that was the fastest way to get it done.
It didn’t hurt anyone, so I don’t understand the big deal.
Ananias and Sapphira talked ahead of time about what they would do with the money from the property they sold. They planned to hold part of it back. Now, is that a sin to keep part of YOUR money for yourself? Of course not! The sin was what they led the apostles to believe, knowing that it was a lie.
When you say you are giving all and only give part, that is a lie. It was an intentional plan to lie, so an intentional sin. Whether they lied to get praise from the community of believers or just from pride, the lie was the same and had the same consequences. After all, they lied to God.
The consequence was immediate and severe and a warning to all of us not to plan to sin against the Lord and then expect all to be well.
Sapphira had no idea what was delaying Ananias’ return home, so she went to find out. Instead of choosing to be honest, she continues with the lie and she also dies right there where she stands lying. Intentional sin was followed by immediate and heavy consequences.
When I look around the world today at all of the sin and read the story of Ananias and Sapphira, I am struck by the intolerance of God for sin and know that one day the judgment will come. When we choose to sin, we are not just sinning against other people, but against God Himself.
When David committed adultery with Bathsheba, his consequences were also severe. He committed an intentional sin due to his lust. He didn’t control his desires and that led to one of his leading soldiers being killed by his command and the baby that Bathsheba was carrying died. Sin has a rolling stone effect like that. David repented, as evidenced by the scriptures in Psalm 51 and also his conversation with Nathan. The consequences affected not only David but the nation of Israel. Intentional sin leads to dire consequences, sometimes even if we have sincerely repented.
We can make all of the excuses possible about why we are choosing to sin, but our excuses won’t stand up before a holy God. Ananias and Sapphira were given the opportunity to repent and confess when Peter questioned them about their gift. They chose to stick to their lie instead. When the Holy Spirit tells us we are doing something we should not be doing, and we choose to keep on doing it, I think that we are intentionally sinning and we need to repent posthaste. God does not always “strive with men.” Sometimes He steps back and lets us go through the consequences for our intentional sins. No excuses allowed…just repentance and genuine sorrow and change.
Throughout the pages of Scripture, there’s a word that gets repeated: “hear,” or a related word, “listen.” In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word “Shema” translates into English as “hear” or “listen” and is often used to emphasize the act of listening, understanding, and obeying.
Today’s culture places value on doing many things at once; we often try to listen while focusing on other tasks, which divides our focus. The sound of someone’s voice might come into our ears, but if we’re also scrolling social media, doing schoolwork, or making a meal, we might not fully understand their words.
But in the biblical context, “hearing” does not simply include sound reception; it also involves active obedience and an effort to understand.
In Mark 4:9, Jesus invites us to listen—to hear and obey, encouraging us to pay careful attention to His words: “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Jesus isn’t just asking us to audibly hear His words and carry on with our personal agenda; He’s urging us to actively listen and obey, to live by His truth. Listening and obeying are what build our faith in Jesus Christ. Hearing the Word of God should lead to a transformed life marked by fruitfulness.
As you reflect on the idea of listening in Scripture, consider your heart and spiritual receptivity. Are you attentive to God’s Word, allowing it to transform your life, or is your hearing divided, causing you to resist His call?
My Thoughts
I particularly like the last line that refers to “divided hearing.” We are so used to multi-tasking that we habitually try to do it all the time, even when we should be actively listening. Sometimes (a lot of the time, actually), my husband will be talking to me and I will be reading a book or writing a note. I hear what he says, at least the words, but my mind doesn’t comprehend enough to respond. He ends up having to repeat himself once I actively turn to him and focus on what he is saying. That is what God wants us to do all the time when He is speaking to us. He wants us to focus so that we can listen to Him completely and then obey what He is telling us that we should be doing. Our double-minded halfway listening doesn’t work with people right in front of us and it doesn’t work with God either, especially if we are trying to be more like Him.
Something in my devotional this morning inspired this post so this is not my original thought, just my pondering on what I read.
When the Israelites crossed the Red Sea (remember the miracle of going over on dry land) they ended up in the wilderness for forty years. No, the journey should not have taken that long, but they sinned repeatedly against the Lord who had safely escorted them out of Egypt and across the Red Sea. What are some of their sins? They whined and complained that God’s provision wasn’t good enough; they wanted meat instead of manna. They worshiped a golden calf while Moses was on the mountain getting the Ten Commandments. Some of them tried to overthrow Moses, Aaron and Miriam and ended up being swallowed up by the earth for their rebellion. Ultimately, when the spies were sent out and returned with the news that the land was full of giants, they didn’t want to go in and take the land that God had promised because of their fear. Only two of the spies, Caleb and Joshua, said that God would help them win the victory regardless of the size of their foes. As a result, that entire generation had to wander in the wilderness until they had all died off, with the exception of the faith-filled Caleb and Joshua.
Now, fast-forward to the New Testament. Jesus has been baptized by John the Baptist and is ready to begin His ministry on earth. But first, He spends forty days in the wilderness being tempted by Satan. (Note, 40 years, 40 days. God definitely sends a message with the use of numbers but I am not tackling that right now.)
The entire Scriptural reference is in Matthew 4, Mark 1 and Luke 4.
Remember that when Adam and Eve were tempted by food in the Garden of Eden, they succumbed to temptation and were cast out of the Garden. Jesus, however, turned away from the temptation, even though He was hungry after being in the wilderness without eating for forty days. Nevertheless, His food was from the Father and He knew not to accept the temptation of turning stones into bread and satisfying the needs of His flesh.
In this temptation, Jesus could forego suffering and dying on the cross and become a ruler in the world. Knowing Satan’s lies for what they were, Jesus turned down the temptation and answered with scripture from the Old Testament, just as He had done with the bread temptation. Jesus answers Satan with His Father’s Word.
The final temptation was on the top of the temple. Satan tells Jesus to throw Himself down and that if He is the Son of God, angels will save Him. Jesus rejects the temptation, knowing that God’s will is not to do such a foolish and prideful thing. Jesus was sent to earth to save people from their sins on the cross, not demonstrate His power over the laws of physics.
Note that in the gospel of Matthew, the second and third temptations are in a different order, but the temptations and the lessons we learn from them are the same.
Application: Some of us (me!) have been undergoing a wilderness experience. For myself, I feel sometimes as though God has left me in a wilderness of medical tests and doctors who have no answers. But God is showing me that He is right there. He never moved or changed. My faith did a deep dive for a while, but God kept right on loving and guiding me.
Just as Moses needed reassurance of God’s presence, I do too. God said this to Moses and left it for me to discover and hold onto.
Wilderness experience? Not pleasant but a necessary part of the Christian walk if we are going to grow and lean in more in dependence on God and not our own self or resources. God is bringing me through the wilderness. I am not staying here because I am choosing to answer Satan’s temptations to turn away from God with God’s Word. Jesus is a good teacher…the best!
I must confess that I have been weary of daily fighting the battle with my body and its ever-declining health. The breathing is ragged at times and I just get so tired. But the spirit within me encourages me to look up and not in, to desire the things of God and not the wholeness of body that I sometimes think will bring me peace. There is no peace without God, is there?
This was a hard week for me. Breathing treatments several times a time (some days more than others), up early every day to start my medicine regimen so I get all the meds in on time before the next ones are due. And Tuesday I fell. Hard. A face plant that skinned my nose and bumped my head and we won’t even try to describe the black and blue that were once my knees. But in all this pain and frustration, there was a rejoicing that I didn’t break anything. Yes, I am sore, but I am not broken.
That is how I think of my body these days. I am sore, from being buffeted by all the years I have lived in an imperfect body. But I am not broken. God has held me together all of these years and He will continue to do so until He calls me home.
I read a news story this week that broke my heart about a grandmother in Canada who was euthanized under their new MAiD laws. The saddest part is that she had firmly told her granddaughter who had a durable power of attorney that she wanted to go home to the Lord when He called her home, not before. Physicians and nurses had tried to talk her into ending her life before, trying to persuade her granddaughter that it was best since her “quality of life” was poor. While her granddaughter was away on a ten-day vacation with her husband, the powers that be in Canada saw their chance, had her sign papers and euthanized her. I was appalled at their sheer audacity to end a life that wanted to keep on living until God called her home. They had decided to “play God.” This is the skewed moral compass of our society. Those without God in their lives murder the unborn (and in some cases the young born), the elderly and anyone who gets in their way of having what they want. I tell you this story not to make you angry but to open your eyes to how precious life is, so precious that we should appreciate every moment of life that we have on earth, even if it means spending those minutes in a less than perfect, falling-apart body.
All that to say that my health is not good but God is good. He says “Come” and I go before Him, ask Him to keep me during each day that He gives me and then try to do my best to represent Him and His gift of life to others. Life is indeed a gift, so I hope that you don’t squander it whining and complaining. Love the life God gave you and live it in gratitude for all you have, all you are and all you have yet to be.
Reading my Bible daily is more than a habit; it’s part of helping myself make it through each day as I become more like Him. More importantly, it connects me to the Father who created me and who knows me best.
What does Bible reading do for you? Please tell me in the comments.
“Why is the cross the symbol of our faith? To find the answer, look no farther than the cross itself. Its design couldn’t be simpler: One beam horizontal—the other vertical. One reaches out—like God’s love. The other reaches up—as does God’s holiness. One represents the width of His love; the other reflects the height of His holiness. The cross is the intersection. The cross is where God forgave His children without lowering His standards.”
