Devotionals from Dad

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I am sure you can all think of someone that promises to do something and then doesn't live up to their promise. Without naming any person in particular I am sure we can all agree that we have heard a campaign promise from a politician at least once, if not more, that they did not live up to. Politicians are notorious for making promises in order to secure your vote and then not keeping that promise. Whatever you do, don't make a promise to one of your children or grandchildren and not live up to it. They can forget absolutely everything, but a promise made by a parent. On more than once occasion I have promised my grandchildren that I would take them out for ice cream at Dairy Queen after church. This promise is usually made as a bargaining chip after I pick them on from their parents home on Friday. Most frequently the promise comes shortly after the chaos in the car gets to the point I can't bare it any longer and in a moment of weakness I shout out, “If you kids can keep quiet the rest of the way home I will take you out for ice cream after church on Sunday and before you go back home to your parents.” Generally the remainder of the ride home goes pretty good, but when I am putting the grandchildren to bed Friday night they will remind me, don't forget about ice cream after church on Sunday Papa. Then Saturday morning as soon as their eyes are open I will get another reminder, Papa don't forget ice cream after church on Sunday. Shortly after lunch Saturday I will get another reminder and yet another before bed on Saturday night. Then before the sun rises on Sunday morning a small hand will tap my shoulder while I am still in bed and from an innocent child's mouth will come the words, did you remember ice cream after church today Papa? I tell you this story just to illustrate to you the importance of keeping your promises. I am not sure how accurate of a count this is but according to a quick internet search the bible records 7,487 promises that God has made to man and God keeps all his promises.

Psalms 145:13 NIV Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises and faithful in all he does.

Here are just a few of the promises God has made to man. Fear not for I am with you; Isaiah 44:10. He will never leave you - nor forsake you; Deuteronomy 31:8. Take heart for I have overcome the world; John 16:33. Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest; Mark 11:28. Trust God for I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future; Jeremiah 29:11. This is just a few of God's promises. There simply isn't enough time for me to read them all to you. The Bible is full of promises from God. But sometimes we get discouraged because it feels like God doesn’t come through for us. Can we actually trust God to keep all the promises he makes in Scripture? 

Numbers 23:19 NIV God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? 

We can trust God to come through because God is faithful. It is contrary to his divine nature to lie or to make an empty promise. We can also trust that God's promises to us are in our best interest even when our lives seems to be spinning out of control and we can't seem to see any good in our current situation. We can see this from this promise in Romans.

Romans 8:28 NIV And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 

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As I have became older and a bit wiser, not to say I am a genius, but I have learned from my life experiences, I have realized that God must have purpose for my life. When I was younger I did so many terrible things. I drank alcohol and did drugs. I drove my car like a mad man. Many of the things I did as a teen I have seen others get into trouble with the law or even worse loose their life while doing. So the big question is why am I here? God must have some purpose for my life because I lived such a reckless life when I was younger. I am sure I exhausted my guardian angels! One of my favorite examples of a life being preserved for a special purpose comes from the book of Esther. If you have ever heard someone use the phrase, “For such a time as this,” they quoting a verse from the book of Esther.

Esther 4:14 NIV For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” 

The beautiful Queen Esther had been raised by her cousin Mordecai. He was like a father to her. When she came of age, she was among the many young women considered by the powerful King Xerxes to be his new queen after his former queen, Vashti, angered him. Mordecai ordered Esther not to reveal her nationality as a Jew to King Xerxes. Eventually, Esther was chosen as the new queen. But when the fate of all Jews in the land was threatened, Mordecai knew Esther might be able to help get the king to change his mind and reverse the edict to kill all Jews. His words to his adopted daughter, “for such a time as this,” spoke courage into her heart, reminding her of the purpose God had intended for her life, because of all the women King Xerxes could have chosen, he had chose Esther, a Jewish girl. God is orchestrating the events in our lives according to His good plan. In fact, even before we were born, He knew all the days of our lives.

Psalm 139:16 NIV Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. 

God has a purpose for us that reaches beyond what we can ever imagine. If you had told me when I was teenager that one day I would be a single father raising 3 girls on my own I would have told you that you were crazy! If you had told me that I would stand in front of my church family nearly every Sunday morning and share a devotional inspired by the Holy Spirit and my life experiences, I would have told you not in a million years! But God had a plan for me and he preserved me! God knew what a difficult child I was going to be and He surrounded me with Godly people. I was blessed to grow up in a with a strong Christian father and mother. I also had Christian grandparents from both my mother and my father's family. In addition to that I grew up in a neighborhood that was filled with Christian people. I am so thankful today for my neighbors Jim and Sherry Lerette, Bill and Janee Leilightner and Bruce and Rita McCall. And although they may not have been my next door neighbors Gary and Suzanne Hatten have also been there for me in some of the most difficult times of my life. God surrounded me with so many prayer warriors and I am confident if it had not been for their intercessory prayers, I would not be here today! God is intimately involved in our daily lives to accomplish His purpose. If every day is in His book, then His purpose must be very detailed! I don’t know everything that He has planned for me. But, I do know that He works out every little detail according to His plan and for His glory. To God be the Glory for such a time as this!

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I am sure you can recall a time when you were asked to do something that you really didn't want to do and you reluctantly said, I will do it but only on my terms. When my children were growing up they were masters of doing things on their terms. I could always tell when they wanted something because when I came home from work they would be doing some task that I normally couldn't get them do to without a great deal of persuasion. One of my favorite memories was when the girls first got their driving permit. They wanted to go cruising around town, but they couldn't do so without a parent or grandparent. They knew I would likely be busy doing something and they also knew that Joyce was a bit of a push over and a lot easier to talk into going cruising with them. What they were unaware of was that Joyce more sly then they realized. The girls would call Joyce after school and ask her if she would go cruising with them and let them drive. Joyce would then lay out her terms. She would tell them that she would go cruising with them but they would have to clean the house, do the dishes, wash the laundry or some other household chore she needed done before she would go cruising with them. It was amazing how many things she could get them to do all just so they could drive around town for a couple hours. Isn't this how we treat God at times? 

Negotiating with God is something we are all tempted to do and most of us have at some point. Even people who claim to not believe in God find themselves doing this. God, if you get me out of this I will go to church! God, help me win the lottery, and I will triple tithe. Sound familiar? In Judges Chapter 11, the bible tells us about Jephthah. Jephthah’s mother had taken him to live in another nation where the people worshiped false gods. The Ammonites, declared war on the Israelites and the leaders of Gilead, where Jephthah was from, came to him and asked him to lead their army into war. The Bible says God was with him to accomplish this task. Jephthah prepared to attack the Ammonites, but before the battle, he made a vow to the Lord that if God would give him the victory, he would sacrifice the first thing that came out of his house to meet him. Jephthah won the battle and returned home to be greeted by his only child, his daughter. 

 Judges 11: 32-34 NIV Then Jephthah went over to fight the Ammonites, and the Lord gave them into his hands. He devastated twenty towns from Aroer to the vicinity of Minnith, as far as Abel Keramim. Thus Israel subdued Ammon. When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, who should come out to meet him but his daughter, dancing to the sound of timbrels! She was an only child. Except for her he had neither son nor daughter.

This is not a story about the death of an innocent child, but how catastrophic a skewed view of God can really be. What Jephthah ultimately wanted was God’s help. He knew that victory in the battle he was facing would require divine intervention. We all face challenges that we know are too big for us to handle on our own. Deep down we know that we need God’s help to do what’s in front of us, but it’s how we seek that help that’s the issue. Jephthah chose to barter. He thought God’s favor required him to make a deal. When we make God’s favor about what we can do for Him rather than what He has done for us, we put a price tag on His grace, which in the end, only cheapens it. God’s favor is not based on what we can offer Him. Whenever God’s saving power is at work in our lives, it’s never because we made a deal God couldn’t refuse. 

Ephesians 2: 8-9 NIV For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God not by works, so that no one can boast. 

Whatever you are going through, God wants to help you. Don’t be swayed by the notion that you have to do something in order for Him to care. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to

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My wife and I recently purchased a new washing machine. I don't do much laundry, so I barely knew how to operate the old one. The new washing machine has a specialized cycle for everything. You just pick the cycle you want and it begins it's programmed routine. First it fills to the appropriate level. Next it begins a washing stage, then a rest period, a rinse, and finally a spin cycle to remove the water. With every load of laundry we do the washing machine repeats the different cycles. If your not careful your worship can become routine, boring, and predictable. You go to church on Sunday. You hear a sermon that convicts your heart and you say to yourself, I need to change my life. Maybe you are struggling with jealousy and envy. So you pray to God to forgive you of your sin, then you leave the building and you notice one of your fellow church members is driving a brand new vehicle and you think to yourself, man I wish I had a new car or truck like that. Maybe you struggle with lustful thoughts. During the alter call the you pray to God to give you the strength to overcome these thoughts. Then on your way out the door you notice an attractive young man or woman. The first look is really not a problem, but before you realize your taking a second look and your eyes linger longer than they should. Before you know it your having lustful thoughts. In the book of Romans Paul says; “I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.”

Romans 7: 19-20 NIV For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. 

So we say to ourselves I want to do what is right. I want to be satisfied with what God has given me. I want to love my wife like I should. I want to love my neighbor as much as I love myself, but as I am leaving the church and before I even get to my car I find myself falling back into sin once again. 

 Romans 7: 24-25 NIV What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

To sin is to deliberately choose to give in to desire in a moment of temptation. The desire to gossip. The desire to be jealous of another persons property, to look with lustful desire at another person. I am fully aware that it’s sin, and yet I don’t have the power to resist it. I’ve received forgiveness for this very sin many times before, yet here I am again. I give in to my temptation, even though I knew it was wrong. Thank God for His grace, I think to myself. Full of regret, I confess my sin and ask for forgiveness once again. The most amazing part of God's grace, is that after you repent and ask for forgiveness, He will give you all the help and power you need, to not to commit that sin again! So how do you use the grace that is available to you? How can you actually break the chains that bind you, and stop falling in the same sin once and for all? You have to be humble, acknowledge your weakness and need, pray and ask for help before you fall. You know your weaknesses! Prepare yourself. Pray about it. Be vigilant, so that the temptations don’t take you by surprise. Avoid situations that you know are dangerous. When you acknowledge that you are weak and powerless, then God will be strong on your behalf. All of the incredible power God has, a power so huge that He created the heavens and the earth from nothing, is available to you! Ask God to pour it over you, to fill you with the Holy Spirit, so you can stand fast in that moment when sin is standing at the door and knocking! 

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Contagious or Infectious diseases are illnesses caused by harmful organisms that get into your body from the outside. The flu, measles, HIV, strep throat, COVID-19 and salmonella are all examples of infectious diseases. Cancer, diabetes, congestive heart failure and Alzheimer’s disease are all examples of noninfectious diseases. Infectious diseases can be viral, bacterial, parasitic or fungal infections. There’s also a rare group of infectious diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalitis. Now that is mouthful to say and even harder to comprehend. 

People can be contagious or infectious as well. Just like the common cold, people and their emotions can be contagious or infectious. You can catch someone's emotions just by being in the same room with them. A contagious, infectious person is someone who energizes others with their enthusiasm. It can also be someone that negatively affects the spirit of those around them as well. I am sure you know one of those “Negative Nelly” type of people. They seem to always be having a bad day! So what type of person are you? When you enter the room does it fill full of smiling faces or do you fill it full of frowns! The bible has a lot to say about being a contagious, infectious Christian with an uplifting faith. 

1 Thessalonians 5:11 NIV Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. 

It might seem like a contagious faith is impossible or is only reserved for the few. That’s just not true! Having contagious faith is not a superhuman experience or one that is left to pastors, teachers and famous Christian leaders. Contagious faith is meant for all of us! People with a contagious faith still struggle. They have doubts and feel regret when the words of their heart fly out of their mouths and weren’t properly filtered. We all have those moments when our emotions get the best of us and overload our filter. Moments when hurtful words come out of our mouths. People who have a contagious faith have a love for Jesus is not like their love for their favorite pie, their pet, or their nation. It’s a love that exceeds all other things in their life. Their love for Jesus is so deep, authentic, and desperate, without Jesus they are nothing. Their love for Jesus is not weaker in a difficult season of life or stronger during a time of success. And out of their love for Jesus flows their love for others and a reckless abandonment to do anything they are called to. 

Ephesians 4:29 NIV Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 

People with a contagious and infectious faith are genuinely excited about reading the bible, attending bible study, going to Sunday school and church. When was the last time you got as excited about attending church as you do about, going on a special vacation, or watching you favorite football team on TV, or even watching your children or grandchildren's at a school event? Christians who have a contagious, infectious faith are as quick to read their the bible as they are to answer a text message or check their social media account. Ouch that one really hit close to home! When you get a free moment what is the first thing on your mind? Do you spend more time reading your bible or catching up on social medial. For people with contagious faith, Jesus is not just an aspect of their life. He is their life! A person with a contagious and infectious faith is completely reliant on and in love with Jesus. Are you a contagious, infectious Christian?

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When I grew up I was taught that men didn't cry. Men and especially fathers and husbands were the rock of the household. We were to be there for our children and wife in their time of need. We were to be the anchor in the storms of life. If we had any fear or anxiety of our own it was not to be shown. I believed that real men just stuffed their emotions down and put a big cork in the bottle. Don't take this wrong my father never explicitly told me this, it is just what I came to believe from watching the men that surrounded me. They always seemed to have it all together and there were no storms in life that they couldn't withstand. So I have became very good and stuffing my emotions down and keeping them all inside. No one really needs to know what is going on inside my head. Besides if I told my wife and mother of all the things I worried about then they would be upset as well, and in my point of view men were to be the problem solvers, not the problem makers. Well recently my emotions got the best of me. I work as a civilian vehicle inspector for the patrol. I have applied for the position of commercial vehicle officer. If I am selected for this position I would become a commissioned officer of the state. One step of the process is a polygraph, a lie detector test. I had never been through this process so I had no idea what to expect. The person administering the test began by showing me a sequence of numbers. In the middle of the sequence was a missing number. I was asked to write the missing number in. Then he hooked my up to the machine and told me he was going to ask me if I had written each of the numbers and I was to respond with “No” to each of questions including the one I had actually written. Once the questions were asked and answered I was shown the results of the polygraph. When I was asked about the number I had written down and I replied with a lie there was and obvious spike in the reading. It was obvious that I couldn't even hide a simple lie. I was told the point to the test was not to convict me of anything, but rather to see if I was a man of integrity. I was given an opportunity to answer every question asked on paper before the machine was hooked up again. Then when I was asked again the test administer would say, now other than the things we have discussed have you ever... Over the next 3 ½ hours I laid my life bear. I spoke about things I have never told anyone ever in my life, because in my mind I was certain if I didn't, I would be caught in my lie. 1 Timothy 1:15 NIV Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. When I left the room I felt like I was the scum of the earth, the worst sinner ever. My stomach was so upset I couldn't even eat my lunch. I am confident that everyone at work knows of my faith in God. I don't hide it, but now there was someone that knew all my dirty laundry and I do mean all of it! The devil immediately began telling me that I was nothing but a loser and now that the patrol knew the real me there is no way they are going to want you! I felt the weight of my past sins like I have never felt before in my life and it made me sick, literally! So today I am doing something I rarely do!!! I am asking for your help. I am admitting that I can't do this alone. I am asking that you pray that those who are going over the results of my polygraph test, that they see that I am not that man I once was. That because of the grace of God I may not be perfect, but I am forgiven! James 5:16 NIV Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. I know that God will provide for all my needs but right now the devil is in my head telling me that I am big loser and that I will never again be seen as a good person, let alone a Godly person!

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I think we have all been around that person that can't seem to put together a sentence without using some vulgar swear words. Theses word are referred to as 4 letter words. No disrespect to these people, but I think my vocabulary is a little more refined. When I hear someone who curses like a drunken sailor all I can think is that they must not be very well educated, because I could have found other vocabulary that would have got my point across just as effectively or maybe even more effectively. The use of obscene language, or swearing, is often seen as a sign that the speaker lacks vocabulary, cannot express themselves in a less offensive way, or even lacks intelligence. Psychologically, people have a tendency to swear when they are out of logical arguments to support their opinion, so they revert to swearing or cursing in an attempt to beef up or add emphasis to their conversation. Many times people swear because it allows them to express emotions, to vent or to release, but using 4 letter words, cussing and swearing often becomes habit and is even used in casual conversation.

“PR-Reply.com” surveyed over 1,500 residents of 30 major U.S. cities. They asked them how often they swear, the situations they swear in the most, and even the age they uttered their first swear word. Here is what they found. The average respondent swears 21 times per day. The U.S. city that swears the most frequently is Columbus, Ohio, at 36 times per day. The average age Americans start using swear words is 11. Places Americans are most likely to swear in include work, in front of strangers, and at the dinner table. Over half of Americans use swear word substitutions. Favorites include “fudge,” “shoot” and “frick.” While the bible has no specific prohibition against swearing, I can tell you from my own personal experience that my mother considered it a sin that was punishable by the washing out of my mouth with soap!

You may be wondering where I am going with this topic. Did you know that the bible uses 4 letter words also. I know what you thinking, Whoa!!!! Jeff I think your cheese has done slid off you cracker. You're crazier than a pet coon!!! Here are some of the most common 4 letter words used in the bible: “Love”, “Obey” and “Holy.” What does the Bible say about love and obey? John 14:15 says If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 1 Peter 1:14 - As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, Acts 5:29 - But Peter and the apostles answered, we must obey God rather than men. 1 John 5:3 - For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.

 Mark 12: 30-31 NIV Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.

If we Love God, we will trust Him and obey Him! But we know that by ourselves and in our own will, we can't love, trust and obey Him. Luther wrote, “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me Holy.”

 1 Peter 1: 15-16 NIV But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy. 

When we know, believe and receive all that God has so graciously given us, all without any merit of our own, or worthiness in us, how could we ever desire to do anything less than “Love God and Obey the most Holy God? So there you have it the bible does us 4 letter words!

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Intimacy is the experience of really knowing and being known by another person. An intimate friend is someone we feel very close to; they know us at a deep level. Because of my job I know a lot of people. I easily recognize those who don't really know me though because they call me by my last name “Ellis” because that is the name on my uniform. Intimacy also has nothing to do with how physically close you are to someone. When my work requires me to travel for training and there is many miles between my wife and I, we can still be intimately connected to each other. The opposite is true as well. You can be sitting right next to someone and still feel very distant from them. Joyce and I use google docs to save important information so that we can both access it. For example Joyce has a document saved that is a list of all the medications she takes. It also has a list of all her doctors and their phone numbers. If I was to give you this list and add to that list other personal information such as the fact that Joyce is 5 foot 6 inches tall, weighs 135 pounds has gray hair and blue eyes and snores when she sleeps you would have some very personal information about Joyce, but would you know Joyce intimately? No not yet, you may have some very private and personal information but you wouldn't know here intimately? Joyce and I have been married for 26 plus years and I can tell you that she cares deeply about everyone she knows. I can tell you that when she makes a mistake at her work she takes it personally and it sometimes brings her to tears, because she wants her work to be perfect. I can tell you that Joyce loves to sing and has a beautiful voice and that we hold hands during church and sit so close to each other that nothing can come between us. And I thank God that Joyce is a very forgiving person, and God knows I need a lot of grace and forgiveness. God wants us to have an intimate relationship with him and He has known you since before you were even born.

Jeremiah 1:5 NIV Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.

The bible shows us that God is intimate with those who trust him. The more we trust God, the more intimately we come to know him. One common mistake is thinking that nearness to God can be achieved through knowledge accumulation. Of course, to intimately know God, we must have knowledge about God. Jesus said, “you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. But having a vast knowledge of God does not create and intimate relationship. Never in the history of the Christian church has so much knowledge been available to so many people as it is today. The American church enjoys perhaps the greatest amount of this abundance. We have available to us many Bible translations, good books, insightful articles, recorded sermons, interviews, movies, documentaries, music, and more. But knowledge of God is not the same as having an intimate relationship with him. That’s why Jesus pointed out to the religious leaders of his day they knew the scriptures but they didn't know Him.

 John 5: 39-40 NIV You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life. 

To know God intimately means that you have developed a relationship with God that is personal and is consistent. Intimacy with God is the place where we live in consistent fellowship with Him throughout our day, and we can honestly say that our love for Him far outweighs our desire for the things in the world. James 4:8 says Come near to God and He will come near to you.....

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What is the difference between truth and facts? Society today has a difficult time telling the difference between the truth and facts. Facts are like a recipe and truth is the meal. Facts deal with knowledge and your knowledge may double, but truth never changes. If it is new it is not true. The truth has been the same since the beginning of time and has never changed. We must be able to tell the difference between truth and facts. We acquire facts, we learn truth! We live in a strange world today. Society says we must make room for everyone's beliefs. We must be tolerant of others beliefs. Society today will tell you we must believe in pluralism. What is pluralism you ask? Religious pluralism is the state of being where every individual in a religiously diverse society has the rights, freedoms, and safety to worship, or not, according to their conscience. But do they really mean what they say! For example, in a public gathering when it is time to pray. A Jewish Rabbi will be asked to pray and all will be fine. A Muslim will be asked to pray and he will pray and everything will be okay. But when a Christian prays and in his prayer he says in the name of Jesus, and they will respond, with a gasp and say, just a moment, you can't say that! Society will say you can't pray in Jesus name, we don't all believe in Jesus. But isn't the freedom to pray according to your own conscience the definition of pluralism? In reality the world doesn't really want true pluralism they want syncretism, which is just a big word that means mush everything up.  It is the fusion of many religious beliefs and practices. What ever you do don't have any sharp edges, don't offend anyone with your beliefs. We have a generation today that doesn't know the difference between the truth and facts.
Proverbs 23:23 NIV Buy the truth and do not sell it — wisdom, instruction and insight as well.
Society today has exchanged fact for values. Everybody has values, even the mafia has values. It is not values we need it is virtue. Values come from individuals who just decide what they want to believe in. For example go to a pro choice rally and they will talk about a woman's right to kill her baby and everyone will applaud because that is their value! I am her to tell you that this may be their value, but it is not a virtue! We have come from virtues to values, we have come from truth to facts. The world today has substituted facts for truth. Not that facts are wrong, facts are a stubborn things! But there is a difference between acquiring facts and learning the truth. The world today is drowning in facts. If you were to measure man's accumulated knowledge from the beginning of time up to 1845 and let that be equivalent to 1 inch. Then go from 1845 to 1945 and man's accumulated knowledge would be equal to about 3 inches. They from 1945 to 1975 our accumulated knowledge would be has tall as the Washington monument. But from 1975 to current day our knowledge has increased so much that the measurement would reach outside of earth's atmosphere. We are learning more facts. That is what the bible prophesied about the last days.
Daniel 12:4 NLT But you, Daniel, keep this prophecy a secret; seal up the book until the time of the end, when many will rush here and there, and knowledge will increase.”
Daniel says knowledge will increase and that is the truth. The bible is called the word of truth. The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of truth. Jesus Christ said he is the way, the truth and the life. Truth is absolute. In mathematics truth is absolute, 2 plus 2 always equals 4. In medicine truth is absolute. In mechanics truth is absolute and in faith truth is also absolute! There is only one way to heaven!!!
Acts 4:12 NIV Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” 

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Everybody has a job in the church if you are a believer, regardless of who you are, a Pastor, a Sunday school teacher, a door greeter, church secretary, even a student. Every member of a bible believing church has a job and thus a job description. We all do. And they are nothing new. They have been with us since the beginning of time. Adam and Eve had a job description, God told Adam to cultivate the garden. Genesis chapter 2 verse 15 says, God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. Noah had the job of building a boat. Moses’s job was to lead God’s people, the Israelites, out of the bondage of the Pharaoh of Egypt. You may think that these were God’s favorites, and you have nothing in common with these famous bible characters, but no matter who you are, you have a job. But sometimes we get so immersed in the routine activities of our church that forget we have a job to do in the church. We lose sight of the big picture. We get wrapped up in all the details. The Sanhedrin were the perfect example of this. Jewish history says there were 613 laws that needed to be obeyed but Jesus reduced them to just two.

Matthew 22: 36-40 NIV Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law? Jesus replied: “Love your God with all your heat and with all your soul and with all you mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. and the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the law and the prophet’s hang on these two commandments.”

Our main job, our main business in the church is not to do what lies dimly in the distance, it is to do what is clearly at hand! Our job is to glorify God, this must be our purpose in life, whatever we do, do all to the glory of God. When we meet at our bible studies and we have deep discussion about the rapture of the church whether it be pre-tribulation, mid tribulation or post-tribulation, discussions that border on the edge of being arguments, are we bringing glory to God? When we have discussions about things that our puny little human minds will never be able to comprehend like the trinity, how God can be 1 person and 3 persons at the same time, does this bring glory to God? I am not saying that having a deep knowledge of the bible is not important, no not at all! What I am saying is that discussing things that lie dimly in the distance is not nearly as important and dealing with things that are clearly at hand.

1 Corinthians 13:12 NIV For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

How do we accomplish this? What is our main job as Christians? In my humble opinion our main job description as a Christian is to place the benefit of others ahead of ourselves, so that by our action’s others may see Christ love in us, so that the lost may be saved! Live in such a way that those who don’t know Jesus Christ as their personal savior, will come to know Jesus, because they know you! What does this look like? How do I accomplish my job as a Christian? You don’t have to have any special education or talents. All you must do is be available and willing. Volunteer to bring food to a funeral dinner. If you can’t cook, set up tables for the funeral dinner. Give someone a ride to church that has no transportation. You know, your job as a Christian isn’t limited to only to church functions. Volunteer to work at the local food pantry. Mow your neighbor’s yard. Take the neighbor kids fishing. The most important thing to remember is to love everyone, no exceptions. No matter how they dress, what color their skin is or how much money they make. Remember for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son so that who so ever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life!

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