Stubbornness
Obstinacy is the result of the will forcing itself into the place of the intellect.
Arthur Schopenhauer 1788-1860, German Philosopher
Jer 5:23-29
'But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart; They have turned aside and departed. 'They do not say in their heart, "Let us now fear the LORD our God, Who gives rain in its season, Both the autumn rain and the spring rain, Who keeps for us The appointed weeks of the harvest." 'Your iniquities have turned these away, And your sins have withheld good from you.
What is it to take advantage of the Lord’s goodness, or to take for granted the blessings He delights to give those who love and serve Him. Well, for one thing it is to take the attitude that we deserve those things. God says in Genesis, that all of this we see around us is for our benefit and we are to rule over it fairly and justly. All of this was created just for our benefit and is linked closely to us.
How closely is creation linked to us? Let us look at Genesis 2:5, there it says this; “Now no shrub of the field was yet in the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the LORD God had not sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground.” When I look at this, I see that all that God was waiting to create all of those the plants and shrubs, He wanted us to be there first, He, God, wanted us to watch them grow, to see His love and care for us.
When I see the sin in the world today I wonder, I have to ask myself the question; “Is God pleased with us, and how would He show us His displeasure. In the Old Testament I see that God looked upon the rebellion of man, man’s iniquity and sins and those things turned away the good that God wanted to bless them with.
We are, in the United States, a spoiled and proud people. We have many comforts and an abundance of good things. In fact, we have more that practically any country in the world, although China is catching up quickly. Our comforts are many, but it doesn’t take anything but a strong wind to bring us to our knees. Isn’t it time for the church to wake up, before we lose those things due to our loss of relationship with the God who created us?
We the church must leave those comforts and reach out to change our world for Christ. Time is running out quickly, those things that we take for granted are going to be completely gone before long. The fact is that these things that provide our comfort will disappear, and we will be sustained only by our God, we will dwell with Him and He will be our only need. In light of that fact, are we preparing ourselves, and the world for that event? And if not, then why should we expect God’s Blessings…God Bless?
Pastor William
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
It Begins With Us
Self-control
Govern thyself then you will be able to govern the world.
Source Unknown
2 Tim 3:1-5
But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these. NASU
Robert Browning, a British Poet, had this to say of Self-control; “When the fight begins within himself, a man's worth something.” What exactly is he saying? Well, first I think that he is saying that in all of us there is a battle raging. It is a battle that we are born with and one that each of us must fight, lest in the end who we are, and what we are, is wasted.
Paul says to us in Col 3:1-2, “Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.” This is the battle isn’t it to be focused on things that are above us, and to “keep seeking” the higher things, not the base things of the world that, face it, we are easily drawn into.
Isn’t it pitiful the way that we judge others and their shortcomings, yet knowing within that we still have a way to go? Isn’t this much of what Paul is speaking of when he warns of what we can be without Christ, brutal, treacherous, reckless, and without self-control. Paul tells us how to avoid this trap in 2 Corinthians 5:14-15, “For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.”
The answer comes from living for Christ, we are to be about His business, and not ours, and it could come no plainer than this; Matt 16:24-25 “Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” Simply put, life really isn’t all about us, it’s all about Jesus, and it’s all about others. For us to enjoy the freedom we have in Christ, we must first learn to maintain control of ourselves…God Bless.
Pastor William
Govern thyself then you will be able to govern the world.
Source Unknown
2 Tim 3:1-5
But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these. NASU
Robert Browning, a British Poet, had this to say of Self-control; “When the fight begins within himself, a man's worth something.” What exactly is he saying? Well, first I think that he is saying that in all of us there is a battle raging. It is a battle that we are born with and one that each of us must fight, lest in the end who we are, and what we are, is wasted.
Paul says to us in Col 3:1-2, “Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.” This is the battle isn’t it to be focused on things that are above us, and to “keep seeking” the higher things, not the base things of the world that, face it, we are easily drawn into.
Isn’t it pitiful the way that we judge others and their shortcomings, yet knowing within that we still have a way to go? Isn’t this much of what Paul is speaking of when he warns of what we can be without Christ, brutal, treacherous, reckless, and without self-control. Paul tells us how to avoid this trap in 2 Corinthians 5:14-15, “For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.”
The answer comes from living for Christ, we are to be about His business, and not ours, and it could come no plainer than this; Matt 16:24-25 “Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” Simply put, life really isn’t all about us, it’s all about Jesus, and it’s all about others. For us to enjoy the freedom we have in Christ, we must first learn to maintain control of ourselves…God Bless.
Pastor William
Monday, June 2, 2008
Calculating Calamity
Calamity
Calamity is virtue's opportunity.
Seneca 4 B.C. – 65 A.D., Spanish-born Roman Statesman, philosopher
John 16:33
"These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world." NASU
Calamity, troubles, and tribulations, is there really any use of these things in this world in which we dwell? Samuel Richardson said that calamity was the test of integrity. Jesus also warned us that we would surely have tribulation in this world, He did not promise us an easy time. So then, calamity and trials, headaches and troubles are a part of what makes us who we are, and more important makes us into who we eventually will be.
Let’s get the thoughts of someone who surely ran into many troublesome opportunities. Paul ran into many distresses and says to us in Rom 5:3-5, “And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Now we get three of the many ingredients that are added to our lives due too calamity. Perseverance, proven character, and hope, and notice how they are all interrelated. Perseverance makes proven character, and proven character brings hope, and what is the valuable product of hope? We can avoid disappointment for we will have faith to cling to the precious Holy Spirit whom Christ has left to lead us through difficult times in this world.
Tribulation operates like a gristmill. The weight of calamity and tribulation is poured into the pockets of our life’s wheel, and we grind up the hard things that are poured into us, and as we process those hard grains, a product is produced that is soft and pliable and valuable to ourselves, and those around us. What we have to do is to look beyond the hard things to the eventual product, just as we watched our Wonderful Savior do…God Bless.
Pastor William
Calamity is virtue's opportunity.
Seneca 4 B.C. – 65 A.D., Spanish-born Roman Statesman, philosopher
John 16:33
"These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world." NASU
Calamity, troubles, and tribulations, is there really any use of these things in this world in which we dwell? Samuel Richardson said that calamity was the test of integrity. Jesus also warned us that we would surely have tribulation in this world, He did not promise us an easy time. So then, calamity and trials, headaches and troubles are a part of what makes us who we are, and more important makes us into who we eventually will be.
Let’s get the thoughts of someone who surely ran into many troublesome opportunities. Paul ran into many distresses and says to us in Rom 5:3-5, “And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Now we get three of the many ingredients that are added to our lives due too calamity. Perseverance, proven character, and hope, and notice how they are all interrelated. Perseverance makes proven character, and proven character brings hope, and what is the valuable product of hope? We can avoid disappointment for we will have faith to cling to the precious Holy Spirit whom Christ has left to lead us through difficult times in this world.
Tribulation operates like a gristmill. The weight of calamity and tribulation is poured into the pockets of our life’s wheel, and we grind up the hard things that are poured into us, and as we process those hard grains, a product is produced that is soft and pliable and valuable to ourselves, and those around us. What we have to do is to look beyond the hard things to the eventual product, just as we watched our Wonderful Savior do…God Bless.
Pastor William
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Pastor William
- Pastor William F Burroughs
- Gainesville, Fl, United States
- Pray for God to move greatly in "Journey of The Word Church".