Who Have You Been Listening To Lately?

From all accounts Satan's sway over mankind began when he turned the minds of Adam and Eve against God.In order to pull it off ,he had to lie to them about God--and
they had to fall for it.In that defining moment,he lied to them about God's goodness,God's Word,and God's intentions (Gen.C-3:v1 Thur 6).Satan is still up to his old tricks.Jesus said that when the devil"Speaks a lie,he speaks from his own resources,for he is a liar" (John C-8:v44).It should not be surprising,then,that when
trouble interrupts our lives,the father of lies whisper in our ears and suddenly we
are questioning God's goodness.So when we are told to follow God's commands,we wonder if His Word is really true in the first place.When Jesus tells us things like,
"Do not lay up for ourselves treasures on earth" (Matt.C-6:v19),Satan tells us that
the good life is about piling up things here,causing us to doubt God's good intentions.Our problem is that we,like Adam and Eve,believe Satan's lies.And when we
do, our loyalty to God is compromised.Then our enemy slithers off to his next assignment,leaving us alone to face our regrets and the realization that his lies
have seduced us away from our truest and dearest Friend.Don't go to hell behind this
Halloween thing.

The Why Me Question

Psalms 131 is often read as an encouragement to understand that mystery is one of the
hallmarks of God's character.It challenge us to let our minds be at rest,since we are unable to understand all that God is doing in His universe.But then we see another side of David's calm spirit;As we are unable to understand all that God is
doing in us ,and it is impossible to try.David draws a comparison between a weaned
child that no longer frets for what it once demanded,and a soul that has learned the
same lesson.It is a call to learn humility,patient endurance,and contentment in all
our circumstances---whatever they are even when we do not understand God's reasons.
Divine logic is beyond the grasp of our minds.We ask,"Why this affliction? Why this
anguish?" The Father answers,"Hush,my child.You wouldn't understand if I explained it
to you.Just trust Me!" So as we turn from David's example to ask our self:can we ,in our circumstances,"hope in the Lord"?(v3).Can we wait in faith and patience without
fretting and without questioning God's wisdom? Can we trust Him while He works in us His good,acceptable,and perfect will? So,remember this:Deuteronomy C-29P:v29.

A Prayer For Resentment And Bitterness

Heavenly Father,We come to You now in the Name of our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus.
Father,help us to let go of all bitterness and resentment.You are the One Who binds
up and heals the broken-hearted.We receive Your anointing that breaks and destroys every yoke of bondage.We receive healing by faith according to Your Word,Isaiah
C-53:v5,"and with His stripes we are healed".Thank You for sending us Your Holy Spirit,We acknowledge the Holy Spirit as our wonderful Counselor! Thank You for helping us work out our salvation with fear and trembling,for it is You,Father,
Who works in us to will and to act according to Your good purpose. In the Name of Jesus, we choose to forgive those who have wronged us.We choose to live a life of forgiveness because You have forgiven us.We repent of all resentments,bitterness,
rage,anger,brawling,and slander,along with every form of malice.We desire to be kind and compassionate to others,forgiving them,just as in Christ You forgave us.With the
help of the Holy Spirit,we make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy,for we know that we will not enter into temptation or cause others to stumble.
Thank You,Heavenly Father,that You watch over Your Word to perform it and that whom the Son has set free is free indeed.We declare that we have overcome resentment and
bitterness by the Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Word of our testimony.
Amen!Amen!

You Can Triumph Over Your Own Bitterness

After Job experienced a series of great catastrophes,his wife told him to"curse God
and die" (Job 2:9).Indeed,the perversity of life,the unfairness we see and experience
,can make us want to throw up our hands in despair. Few persons had a better right
to feel that way than Jesus.When his disciples were with him on their last night together,oblivious to his agony,they got into a dispute about which of them should be considered the greatest (Luke C-22:v24 ).One disciple betrayed him.Another denied
him.Then he was arrested,unjustly accused,tried,flogged,and condemned to die. A person in his situation might easily feel great bitterness not only toward his "friends" and persecutors but also toward God.However ,in the direst and most trying of circumstances,Jesus remained the master over his own attitudes and actions.
While he was being crucified,he said,"Father,forgive them;for they do not know what
they are doing"( Luke C-23:v34).Jesus,absorbed the verbal abuse of the leaders and
of the soldiers,apparently without saying a word.He did not defend himself against
the derision of one of the criminals being crucified along with him.Instead he offered comfort to the other man being crucified.Finally,after experiencing all the
pain and abuse humankind could dish out,he entrusted his life,destiny,and the justness of his cause to God,saying,"Father,into your hands I commend my spirit"
( Luke C-23:v46).
Jesus' victory was complete.Nothing the world could do to him could make him bitter
toward God,make him less than he intended to be ,or make him lose confidence in the
power of God to achieve justice.Jesus did not grow rich off his amazing abilities,
command mighty armies,or control the purse of a big corporation.He did not prove his central place in the world by avoiding all pain and struggle.He did not achieve
victory in any of the common ways; but he did what none of the rest of us,out of our own strength,is able to do.He proved himself the complete master of his own ambitions
,desires,and passions.He did not let injustice or the bitterness it engenders defeat
him.So let the understanding of Jesus' victory change your ways of assessing your life.

Following In Christ Steps 1 Peter C-2:v21

As followers of Christ,we desire to imitate him in our ministry and in our life.Thus

our objective is not only to impart Bible knowledge but also to reflect Jesus

qualities,especially his love.Whether we have a lot of knowledge or just a little,an

abundance of teaching skills or just a few,the love we show will go a long way in

reaching the hearts of those to whom we preach. To be truly effective in our disciple

-making work,we must imitate Jesus by teaching with love. of course,to be good

teachers,we need knowledge of our subject and we need skill to impart that knowledge.

Jesus helped his disciples to acquire both,and Jesus,through his organization,helps

us to do so today. ( Isa.C-54:v13; L:uke C-12:v42)Still,we should aim to teach not

only with our minds but also with our hearts. When knowledge,skill,and love work

together,the results can be most satisfying.