1 Timothy 6

1 Timothy 6:11 14

11 But you, Timothy, are a man of God; so run from all these evil things. Pursue righteousness and a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have confessed so well before many witnesses. 13 And I charge you before God, who gives life to all, and before Christ Jesus, who gave a good testimony before Pontius Pilate, 14 that you obey this command without wavering. Then no one can find fault with you from now until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again.

So I am reading this morning and I get to this very simple command. "Obey without wavering" it is so simple yet at times so difficult to do. I talked to my brother yesterday for 40 minutes and we are all good. What I was beginning to see even before I spoke with him was that I was judging him. Also I was letting the negative thoughts in my mind make the situation worse. It never was as bad as I judged it to be. One of these days I will understand that I cause the majority of my pain

My armor gets chinks in it, but it is not what I allow in through the chinks but what I allow out. That would be my words and attitudes. That is what I need to work on. I don't want anyone to find fault with me. So I am a work in progress and that is okay. There will be days I can stand and look in the mirror and not find any faults and then there will be days that I do.

Be Blessed

Peace

1 Timothy 2.1-4

I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. 2 Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. 3 This is good and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth

 

This gave me a lot of peace this morning.

Oswald Chambers

the late Dr. D. James Kennedy - " Lord, give us the leader that we need, not the one we deserve. "

had to chew on that one and I am m still chewing. Below is todays devotion. I just thought I would share it with you.

Oswald chambers

We know that all things work together for good to those who love God . . . —Romans 8:28

The circumstances of a saint's life are ordained of God. In the life of a saint there is no such thing as chance. God by His providence brings you into circumstances that you can't understand at all, but the Spirit of God understands. God brings you to places, among people, and into certain conditions to accomplish a definite purpose through the intercession of the Spirit in you. Never put yourself in front of your circumstances and say, "I'm going to be my own providence here; I will watch this closely, or protect myself from that." All your circumstances are in the hand of God, and therefore you don't ever have to think they are unnatural or unique. Your part in intercessory prayer is not to agonize over how to intercede, but to use the everyday circumstances and people God puts around you by His providence to bring them before His throne, and to allow the Spirit in you the opportunity to intercede for them. In this way God is going to touch the whole world with His saints.

Am I making the Holy Spirit's work difficult by being vague and unsure, or by trying to do His work for Him? I must do the human side of intercession— utilizing the circumstances in which I find myself and the people who surround me. I must keep my conscious life as a sacred place for the Holy Spirit. Then as I lift different ones to God through prayer, the Holy Spirit intercedes for them.

Your intercessions can never be mine, and my intercessions can never be yours, ". . . but the Spirit Himself makes intercession" in each of our lives (Romans 8:26). And without that intercession, the lives of others would be left in poverty and in ruin.

Vote and pray

Philippians 4:6 Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition ([b]definite requests), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God.7 And God's peace [shall be yours, that [c]tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and being content with its earthly lot of whatever sort that is, that peace] which transcends all understanding shall [d]garrison and mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

I must have opened my eyes at least five or six times last night thinking about this election. I would pray myself back to sleep. It was a very long night. I felt very anxious and of course this scripture kept coming to mind. Here is what I know, I cannot let this election influence the way I feel about the Lord. Everything goes through Him anyway so who am I? I was visiting with a friend yesterday and he made a very good point. This whole election process has been like one long trial.

What does scripture say about that?

James 1:2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Here is what I know for me. If my guy wins, then I believe our country will be better off. If he does not then what will I do? I will continue to worship the Lord as much now as I did before. Maybe even more. This whole thing is in His hands not mine.

There are two things I can do.

Vote

Pray

I have done both

Seasoned with Salt

1 Peter 4 NIV
11 If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. ………………….

My devotion this morning was out of 1 Peter 4. Verse 11 stops me right in my tracks. It made me think about how my conversations should always be seasoned with salt.  It also reminded me that as of late I have been failing in this area
Colossians 4:6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
This is a reminder of how I need to speak today. I wonder who the Lord will put in front of me today. Family, friend or new acquaintance at any rate I must be ready. Maybe this is the day my brother calls ….. I don't know. I will be prepared.
The question is ….. Are you prepared? If it gets really bad today, will you speak the very words of God?
Kevin

 

Colossians 3:13

"Forgiveness always seems so easy, when we need it, and so hard when we need to give it." anonymous

Why are you so angry all the time? That was the question my wife asked of me the other day. My response was "I am not angry that is just the way I talk!" My wife knows me very well…. Sometimes too well. I sent her a phone message the next day that said "I don't know what is going on but if you hear anything let me know ….. I need help. She comes home that evening and says "I think you have un forgiveness towards your brother. " You know you are hearing the Lord when someone tells you something and it just makes your insides turn. I truly though that I had forgiven him over the last instance. When he came to the DFW area and did not stop off to see me. This is what I know about forgiveness. Forgiveness does not come easy for most of us. Our natural instinct is to recoil in self-protection when we've been injured. We don't naturally overflow with mercy, grace and forgiveness when we've been wronged. I have always been quick to forgive but evidently not this time. It has poisoned me and I don't like it. So today I choose to forgive me brother. Tomorrow I will have to choose to forgive me brother. That does not mean that what he did was right it just means that I forgive him.. I am not going to write out a prayer, but the Lord knows my heart. Please forgive me.

 

I have sent my brother an email to start the process

Colossians 3:13

Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. (NIV)

Luke 6:37

Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. (NIV)

Matthew 6:14-16

For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. (NIV)

Mark 11:25

And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins. (NIV)