And Samuel said, Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king. 1 Samuel 15: 22-23 Obeying God is better than sacrifice. Obeying God comes from a true heart. Obeying God is better than the outward form of worship, service, or personal gift. Saul’s sin was placing his ideas over God’s. People will…
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Relating To Elders
Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, 1 Timothy 5:1 Do you find it hard to lead the elderly? One of the challenges that Timothy faced at Ephesus. Some honored the old and looked down on the younger. Paul gave Timothy and the church instructions about their relationship with each other. Paul told Timothy to make sure that no one despised his young age. Then, in contrast, Paul told Timothy to treat older men (and women) with respect. We have already seen that in God’s household, the leader should treat…
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Relating To Widows
Give proper recognition to those widows who are really in need. But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God. 1 Timothy 5:3-4 Read 1 Timothy 5:3-10. Pastors should be kind to older women as with mothers. In God’s household, we are all part of the same family. The word recognition means “care for.” Taking care of the widows is a vital concern in the old and new Testament. Look at Exodus 22:22; Deut.…
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Prayer Time
Our Father in heaven, Your name is honored as holy. Your kingdom come. Your Will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.] Let’s take some time and focus on prayer. Look up these verses and glean from them. Prayer! It’s a conversation with God. Do you struggle with praying? Is it intimidating to you to pray to God? Is there a right way to…
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Reflection Day
Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. Psalm 46:10 Today is Reflection Day! I love reflection day. It’s a time for me to go back and reflect on what God has spoken to me about. It gives me time to pray and seek God about what he wants to change in my life. It gives me time to make a game plan of putting action to what God is telling me and asking of me. Reflection Day gives me a slower pace to grasp what God is telling me. It gives me more time to…
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Lord’s Prayer – Part 2
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom comes, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, be deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen Matthew 6: 9-13 Your will be done: When we say “your” will be done, we are truly saying that we want God’s purpose, plans, and desires to be done in our life. We can know His will through His word and through the Holy Spirit leading us.…
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Conducting Ourselves for Jesus
Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ; so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together, for the faith of the gospel, Philippians 1:27 When we accept Christ as our savior, we become citizens of the Kingdom of God. We need to be good patriotic citizens of the Kingdom of God. As Paul stated that they, the Philippians, were accountable to him, we, too, need to be accountable to one another. This means that when we see each other living in sin, we need…
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How To Believe God
Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Romans 10:17 Do you want to live your life believing God? Faith pleases God. It invites incomparable divine intervention in our lives. How do we believe God? Or a better question would be, “How do we get it?” We can’t pretend our faith. We have to receive it from Him to offer it back. Our initial faith to believe Christ for salvation comes from the work and conviction of the Holy Spirit. In the following scripture, we will discover how to receive faith to practice more of our faith. Read Galatians 5:22-23. What is…
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Pleasure and Reward
Without faith, it is impossible to please God because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and rewards those who earnestly seek him. Hebrews 11:5 Read the above verse several times. We will digest this verse throughout this week. What is at stake as we make our faith a present active particle verb? Read Ephesians 1:19. What does God choose to exert in the lives of those who continually accept the challenge to believe Him? Read Hebrews 11:6. What are the two additional motivations for believing in God? Hebrews 11:6 uses the Greek word euaresteo. Strong’s definition of please is…
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To Pray Like Jesus
“Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit.” says the Lord Almighty. Zechariah 4:6 Do you struggle with prayer? When I say this, I mean, do you have a hard time praying? I sure do. I love the movie War Room. I want to be the little lady who prays like the prayer warrior lady. I am not there yet, but one day I will be. I struggle with praying. I am a simple prayer. I desire to be a prayer warrior. Does prayer come easy to you? If it does, that is exciting! Praying means living like Jesus. He spent time in…