1 Scripture Memorization
2 Run the Race
3 Serving the Lord - The Believers Privilege
4 Redeem the Time
5 He must increase, I must decrease
6 The seriousness of sin
7 The natural man and the blind man
8 The better, but very rare call not to marry
9 Now or Never - death ends opportunity
10 Saved to serve, not to sleep (laziness)
11 An inch of carelessness sets you back 1000 miles
12 Paul's progression of humility
13 To live is Christ, To die is gain
14 Cherish our beloved Lord
15 Suffering to help others in the future
16 Death and Despair
17 Precious Remedies against Satan's devices
18 Zeal is contagious
19 Examine yourselves, then correct yourselves
20 Our burning heart to speak of our Lord
21 A life with God out of the ordinary (Redeeming the time)
22 Don't wait for spiritual help from man
23 Looking upward toward our Father
24 Our feeble efforts please the Lord
25 The way to wisdom is to be slow to speak, and quick to listen

Subjects: Scripture Memorization Scripture: Luke 24:6 (6) He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee The disciples needed to remember what Jesus said. So much anxiety, fear, and perplexing can be saved when we simply remember what Jesus spoke to us; the promises we have in God’s word. One way to store those words in your heart is by memorizing scripture. Scripture memorization is very difficult. It takes a number of qualities for a person to be able to do it successfully: patience, discipline, zeal, and time commitment. Here are some things to remember which will aid your endeavor:  There are three keys to memorizing scripture: repetition, repetition, repetition.  Avoid getting discouraged at first. After a few weeks it becomes much easier and quicker to store one verse away in your head. Memorization is a very tedious undertaking at first, and it is easy to give up… be patient and stick through the initial labor and it will pay off.  Don’t set out to memorize the whole bible. It’s quite an achievement to memorize even a few chapters.  Don’t go too fast. Right now you can probably read a verse once, and recite it immediately. You will not be able to recite that same verse a week from now. It takes a hundred times more work than that to have a verse ‘permanently implanted’ in your head. Diligently work with a couple of verses a day (maybe even just one) and recite the previous weeks verses also. As time goes on, you will need to recite the previously memorized verses less and less for them to become ‘permanently implanted’.  Be disciplined. A person who decides to memorize one chapter (thirty verses) in a month is very likely to never finish if he takes a break for more than a day. The next break will turn into three days. The next will turn into a week. After that he will forget he was even memorizing scripture.  Choose passages that you can use from day to day to help you walk God’s path and glorify Him. It will be much more useful to memorize the book of Proverbs than the book of Leviticus.  When reciting verses, try as hard as possible not to look down at the written text if you forget what comes next. Even if it takes two minutes to remember what word comes next, that two minutes will have been well worth it. You can be sure that the next time around it will be closer to two seconds to get that same word out. Even a mouse in a cage finds the cheese faster after the second time around.  Find some friends to memorize with. If you can’t find any or the ones you do find give up early and you can’t convince them to keep going, then you’ll have to challenge yourself and press on by yourself.

Subjects: Discipline, Perseverance, Seriousness, Sin, Zeal Scripture: 1 Corinthians 9:24-25 (24) Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. (25) And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. Let’s say that today the Lord announced to you personally that He was going to return next week and on top of that He said that it would be similar to the days of Noah where He would only save a handful of people on the whole earth. In other words, only a few people (out of billions) would receive salvation. What would you do between now and next week? Would you plead God’s mercy? Repent? War against sin harder than you ever did before? Cry before God day and night with tears for deliverance, and urge your family and loved ones to do the same? We know that God is going to save a lot more than a handful of people… but it is an insult that we do not run the race as only one person were going to receive the prize. Instead Christians are lazy and seem to only want to do ‘just enough to get by with our salvation.’ Shouldn’t the love of God motivate you more than your own gain? Run the Christian race like there is only one winner in the whole earth. Run the race because it honors God. Resist Satan and hate sin because God is glorified. Cry to God with tears day and night like nobody else has ever cried. Fear God to the point where you would never want to offend Him even once. This is the careful, mature Christian life that every Christian should walk! This is not the ‘miraculous victorious Christian life’; instead this is really what the normal Christian life should be! Start taking God’s word seriously. Throw out the hindrances. No runner ever won a race with a backpack full of gold strapped to his back. Cast aside all worldly cares as rubbish and run the race like there’s only one winner, and you’ll be sweating until you’ve passed everybody and you’ve flown through that finish line. Remember that the Christian life is a race: it demands hard work, perseverance and discipline and doesn’t come without sweating. It’s interesting how strenuously people train for the Olympics… all for a perishable crown! Take note of some observations John Troup made about what it takes to even make an appearance in the Olympics:  The average Olympian trains four hours a day at least 310 days a year for six years before succeeding.  By 7:00 a.m. most athletes have done more than many people do all day  The four years before an Olympics, Greg Louganis probably practiced each of his dives 3,000 times.  Kim Zmeskal has probably done every flip in her gynmastics routine at least 20,000 times  Janet Evans has completed more than 240,000 laps  Swimmers train an average of 10 miles a day, at speeds of 5 mph in the pool  Marathon runners average 160 miles a week at 10 mph. If an Olympic athlete can train this hard for a tiny gold medal and 15 minutes of fame, why cannot the believer labor even a fraction as much for his Savior, and the salvation of the perishing world? Take Paul’s advice and get serious about running the Christian race. No more of this slow strolling or pressing a button on your motorized wheel chair. Run the race as if only one person was to win, and that person was you. “Saints are sinners who kept on going.” - Robert Louis Stevenson

Subjects: Baptism, Evangelism, Ministry, Preachers, Serving the Lord Scripture: John 4:2 (2) (Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,) Why did Jesus not baptize? There is a wonderful answer to this question that gives us great encouragement as the Lord’s servants: God chooses to give His children the privilege of taking part in other people coming to Christ. Could God do it Himself without our help? What would have happened if a few of the disciples turned Jesus down after He said ‘follow me’? Suppose Peter said ‘no Lord I want to keep fishing’. What would have happened? Jesus would have found another person to do the work, and Peter would have missed out on the greatest calling a man can have. God chooses to use men in His work. It is truly a privilege and blessing to have the honor of taking part in the Lord’s work. He can do it without us, but He chooses to use us. There was a very wealthy landowner who owned a mansion, and land as far as the eye can see. He had servants, and would be very well off for the rest of his days. One day as he was riding down the street in his carriage, he saw three orphan children on the street begging for food. They were skin and bones, and as if that wasn’t enough they didn’t even have any shoes on in the chilling cold weather. The landowner saw this and had compassion on these children. He befriended them, and offered to adopt them as his own. They jumped for joy as their lives were turned around in an instant. Some days passed and these wonderful children grew in love and devotion to their new father. He then told them; I want you to do something special today… each of you go out into the streets and find as many poor orphan children as you can and bring them here so they can live with us. The children were ecstatic. They jumped at the opportunity to do this so their other orphan friends could share in the joy they’ve found. All they had to do was to tell the good news to others. The day flew by and they labored diligently to grab as many as they could and when the day was done, dozens of children had a new home with a very generous father. Just as this man gave those children the great opportunity to share what they had with others, so the Lord has given us the calling and the great privilege to share the gospel, evangelize, baptize, to preach, to prophesy, and to take part in all His works that are done under the sun.

Subjects: Devotion, Redeeming the time Scripture: Colossians 4:5 (5) Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time. If you want to be like Jesus, redeem the time. Our Lord made the most of each day and didn't spend it idle. "And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things. And when the day was now far spent, his disciples came unto him, and said, This is a desert place, and now the time is far passed" - (Mar 6:34-35) When given the opportunity to speak to the lost sheep, you see how He spoke to them until the day was well spent? All the way until the end of the day He spoke to these people because He had compassion on them! "And every man went unto his own house. Jesus went unto the mount of Olives." - (Joh 7:53 - 8:1) And then here we see that when everybody else was finishing the day, He retired to spend time with His Father. Peter and the disciples had family to go home to, and wanted to catch up their rest from those long and tiresome days. The sun is going down and it's such a nice time to rest the eyes. Then you see Jesus hiking up the hill talking to His Father because this was the quiet alone time with God when no one would interrupt Him. We should be like this. Do you have this sort of attitude and wisdom? - The attitude that you need to make the most of the time, and the wisdom to know how to redeem it (whether in devotion to the Lord, or reaching out to people)? Ask the Lord for this attitude and wisdom.

Subjects: Humility, Service Scripture: Matthew 3:13-15 (13) Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. (14) But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? (15) And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him. Why did Jesus need to be baptized of John? Since Jesus did not sin, the point of this baptism was different than that of others coming to John. It wasn’t to repent, it was to fulfill all righteousness. Since Jesus was baptized, remember just how much of an honor it is to also be baptized. Here’s another important question: Why didn’t John join Jesus in His ministry? Couldn’t the two of them gone out and accomplished so much? After all, Jesus knew how great he was (Luke 7:28), and John knew that Jesus is the Son of God (John 1:34). The reason why is found here : Joh 3:30 “He must increase, but I must decrease.” If John would have went with Jesus, there would have been less focus on the Son of God, and many would have kept looking to John, who was already considered a great prophet. Instead, Jesus went out and chose twelve ‘nobodies’. REMEMBER THIS: Every servant of God, must have this mindset: “He must increase, but I must decrease.” Man loves to gain honor for himself. But God will not send a servant out who would bask in his own glory. He does not want a bunch of power-filled people going around getting popular. What He wants is people who exalt Him in the eyes of the world. The Christian is the light of the world and this must be your first goal when serving God. What is man’s chief end? Man’s chief end is to glorify God.

Subjects: Sin - Seriousness Of Scripture: Luke 13:2-5 (2) And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things? (3) I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. (4) Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? (5) I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Let's suppose that a man was forced to drink a cup of cyanide. Knowing his fate, he thinks that he will fool his murderers by switching the cup with one filled with water, but only containing one drop of cyanide so that when the men analyze it, they will see that it does indeed contain the deadly poison. This man thinks he's getting away with a life-saving scheme... and he will proceed to fake his death after drinking this watered down poison. Will this man live? This man's scheme was in vain. He is now dead. One drop of cyanide is just as deadly as one cup full! Sin is like this. Too many believers think that because they've grown up in the church, and they've never done any drugs, they've never harmed anyone... "of course I have sinned, but not as much as that guy over there, or all my other friends." This is foolish! Don't you know that one sin is just as worthy of Hell as one million sins? For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. (Jam 2:10) Let's say a man kills his neighbors dog. Another kills his neighbor. The last man assassinates the president of the country. Will the last man have the same punishment as the first? They all committed murder. So what will happen? The last man will have a much harsher punishment than the first. The seriousness of a crime is measured by whom it is committed against. The smallest sin committed against an infinite God is an infinite sin worthy of death. There's no room for boasting or pride. Even the greatest Christian must see himself as the worst sinner. Be done with that foolish pride, no matter how good you think you are, or how few sins you think you have committed. Put on humility. A newspaper editorial once asked. G.K. Chesterton "What's wrong with the world?" He wrote in reply, "I am."

Subjects: Atheism, Faith Scripture: 1 Corinthians 2:14 (14) But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. An old man who was born blind once talked with another fellow who was trying to describe to him what it was like to see. He described nature: rainbows and its colors, the beauty of the stars, the brightness of the sun, the majestic sight of the mountains. He claimed that all of this was possible because of light. In addition, he claimed that he was a doctor that could help this man to see if he would just have one surgery. The blind man laughed and scoffed at the other man. The doctor now angry and bitter urged him all the more to have this surgery. The blind man finally criticized him saying, “I don’t believe in light. You’re a liar. Light doesn’t exist. You can’t convince me, now get away from me doctor I don’t want to hear you anymore.” Like the atheist, this poor man will live and die blind because of his unbelief and stubbornness. Furthermore, the blind man will hear the doctor no more. Discouragement and anger are not the correct reactions to have when unbelievers scoff at Christianity and mock you. The immature believer can get very angry when the world doesn’t take his message seriously. Remember that this is the nature of the world. How can it accept the truth of God when by nature it loves lies and has the devil as its father? And the devil is sure to cover the eyes of his children with all of his power. These poor souls are doomed. The only way for this world to see light is for our Father (who is stronger than the devil) to give them sight and adopt these poor children.

Subjects: Loneliness, Marriage Scripture: 1 Corinthians 7:7 (7) For I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that. Paul was not married, yet this call is not for everybody. A Christian is not commanded one way or the other to marry. This means we have liberty. Very few have the grace to walk through life unmarried and those that do should use their extra resources (time, money, and affections) to devote to the Lord. It can be a very sorrowful and lonely life, and so it must be kept in very close communion to God and in service to the saints to avoid discouragement. This servant of the Lord should seek fellowship with other of God’s beloved children, and look forward with joy to the life to come. Paul himself was just like this and all of those unmarried children of the Lord have to do the same, or Satan will come in and break this poor person’s heart with evil thoughts such as “no one loves you”, or “you have nobody”. To those single people that cannot handle this, remember that God has given you freedom. You are at liberty to patiently pray for and seek a godly, spiritually mature spouse. “It is better to marry than to burn” (v9). Those that do marry must also anticipate hardships of a different kind (v28). Marriage is difficult and though it is very rewarding with regard to companionship, it also presents new drawbacks. It has been said, “the only thing harder than living alone is living with somebody else.” Marriage naturally results in arguments over time (however significant or insignificant). The married person has much less time than a single person. The person who is married will have to share their affections and service toward the Lord with that of his or her family (v32-35). There are not endless hours in a day. The married Christian must balance time and service accordingly.

Subjects: Death, Time Scripture: 1 Corinthians 7:31 (31) And they that use this world, as not abusing it: for the fashion of this world passeth away. Time is ending quickly. Yesterday is gone and cannot be redeemed. The old idle times we’ve wasted in useless recreation will never be brought back to us. Likewise, tomorrow is not guaranteed. All you have is now. Richard Baxter had much to say on this subject in his book ‘Now or Never.’ Here are just a few short quotes: -"...you may hear, read, learn, and pray; but when this life is ended, it shall be so no more." -"Will He renew thy age and make thee young again, and call back the hours that thou prodigally wasted on thy lusts and idleness?" -"God's kingdom and its righteousness must first be sought, and our labour for the meat that perishes must be comparatively as none." -"If ever you will repent and believe, it must be now." -"It makes my heart even shake within me to think that what cries those damned souls would strive with God, and how they would roar out, 'O try us once again,' if they had but the least encouragement of hope! But it will not be, it must not be. They had their day, and would not know it: they cannot lose their time and have it." -“once the thread of life is cut, your opportunities are at an end." -"That which once was, will be no more. Yesterday will never come again. To-day is passing, and will not return. You may work while it is day; but when you have lost that day, it will not return for you to work in. While your candle burns, you may make use of its light, but when it is done, it is too late to use it." “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.” (Ecc 9:10)

Subjects: Boredom, Deliverance, Discipline, Salvation, Sluggishness Scripture: 1 Corinthians 10:7 (7) Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. After the Lord had delivered Israel from Egypt, they quickly got bored and turned away from Him to worship a golden calf. Many Christians do this today when they get bored of the Christian life because they figure deliverance is all that the Christian life consists of. Let’s say a man is newly born again. He has recently repented and struggled bitterly to successfully overcome his old habits that he used to be entangled in: drunkenness, lust and the like. He is immensely encouraged because of this triumph. But now he finds himself with no struggle: very little to pray about, and little reason to study scripture. Previously his toilsome fight with sin kept him working, praying, studying, and striving. But he has overcome… now what is left? This was exactly Israel’s attitude. “We have been delivered from Egypt! … But… now what?” So what happens? The boredom leads to stagnation and sluggishness, which slowly leads into a progression back to where they started! Israel was like a bicyclist that ran out of breath on the way up a hill and then started drifting backwards. Instead of fighting hard to press on up the hill, they found themselves taking the easy comfortable road back down the hill… and even looking forward to going back into Egypt. Boredom is the most understated trial of a believer’s life. If Satan can’t cause you to fall back, he’ll at least attempt to keep you from going forward. A Christian life where there is little struggle with sin (because much has been overcome), but also little growth in grace is not what the Lord meant for. The old man has to be put off, and then the new man must be put on. If you only put off the old man without putting on the new, what good will that do you? A car painter doesn’t scrape off all the old paint only to the let the car rust. He puts new paint on. You don’t take off your old dirty clothes only to run around naked. No… you put on your new clean clothes. When you were baptized, you did not sink down into the water, never to come up again… that would be tragic. No, you went down dirty and rose up out of the water again clean. God doesn’t deliver you from wickedness simply to put off wickedness. He saves to put on Christ (Rom 13:14). When you hit those points of boredom in your walk, slowly press on forward. Do your devotion and prayer even if you don’t feel like it. Don’t be like the bicyclist who took the easy road back because he was out of breath. Keep yourself from falling back. It would be foolish to start wasting your leisure time that you used to spend with God on meaningless activities like sports and television. It would be foolish to spend the money you used to give to missions on baseball cards. The main lesson here is: even when your flesh doesn’t ‘feel’ like doing your duty to the Lord, you do it anyway. Boredom is no reason to stop serving the Lord.

Subjects: Carelessness, Satan Scripture: 1 Corinthians 10:12 (12) Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. Here is a true story: “During the Battle of the Wilderness in the Civil War, Union general John Sedgwick was inspecting his troops. At one point he came to a parapet, over which he gazed out in the direction of the enemy. His officers suggested that this was unwise and perhaps he ought to duck while passing the parapet. ‘Nonsense,’ snapped the general. ‘They couldn't hit an elephant at this dist--.’ A moment later Sedgwick fell to the ground, fatally wounded.” ‘Take heed’ simply means to be careful. No matter how spiritual you are, or how much sin you’ve overcome, be careful to maintain exactly that, or you will not be so spiritual anymore. Let us never lower our guard against Satan. Christian life is not a smooth easy train ride where we can just go to sleep and wait until we get to our destination. It takes constant, careful watching (1 Pet 5:8). A careless Christian is soon a conquered Christian. He’s like a drunkard: he doesn’t know what’s going on around him and he doesn’t care. This is why our verse tells us to be sober. The Christian life is a careful life. “A moment of carelessness can make a thousand miles of difference” “Satan's business is not so much in scaring us to death as persuading us that there is no danger of a spiritual fall.” “Who shall dare to talk of strength when David can fall?” - JC Ryle

Subjects: Humility Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:9 (9) For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. If anyone besides Jesus could have a right to boast in his own righteousness it would be Paul. But even he knew how foolish that would be. “I am the least of the apostles.” - 1 Corinthians 15:9 “I am the very least of all the saints.” - Ephesians 3:8 “I am the foremost of sinners.” - 1 Timothy 1:15 It is likely that 1 Corinthians was written in 59 A.D., Ephesians in 63 A.D., and 1 Timothy in 64 A.D. It took time for Paul to mature in the area of humility. But he went from seeing himself as the worst of the apostles, to the least of all saints, and finally all the way to the worst of all sinners. That’s humility, and maturity. See how fast Paul matured! In 5 years a true disciple of Christ will progress more than the average church-goer will progress in their whole life. Humility is a million times more acceptable in the eyes of God than many works such as fasting and tithing. Before you start doing all these works of service, make sure that you first consider yourself an unprofitable servant. Then when the time comes you will be able to say with John the Baptist, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” “The Lord can do great things with people who don't care who gets the credit.” - Clarence W Jones

Subjects: Death Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:55 (55) O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? "What was the most horrible event that every happened in the history of the world? That was the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus. What was the most excellent event that ever happened in the history of the world? That was the resurrection of our Lord Jesus." - Zac Poonen See how our God is able to turn the worst into the best! As David sliced off the head of Goliath with his own sword, our Lord Jesus defeated death with death! Now all of the lovers of our Father in Heaven and His Son Jesus no longer fear death but on the contrary, we rejoice and eagerly await the future. Here are a few reasons that death has not only no sting, but on the contrary it has been turned into something to look forward to:  Death brings us into the immediate presence of Christ “For I am in a strait between two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better” (Php 1:23) “We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.” (2Co 5:8)  Death reconciles us with all of God’s faithful children in times past, including our own saved loved ones “And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.” (Mat 8:11) “Indeed, with the dear angels and the holy patriarchs, prophets, and apostles, we shall form one household, shall have all joy in God and in our joy thank and praise Him throughout eternity” - Martin Luther  Death ends the worst of all evils; sinning “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.” - (Rom 7:24-25)  Death delivers us from the troubles of this life “For what hath man of all his labor, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath labored under the sun? For all his days are sorrows, and his travail grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also vanity.” - (Ecc 2:22-23) If you still have a hard time believing anyone can have this kind of attitude toward death, you should dwell on the last words that some of God’s servants said right before they died: "Our God is the God from whom cometh salvation: God is the Lord by whom we escape death." -Martin Luther "Live in Christ, live in Christ, and the flesh need not fear death." -John Knox "Thou, Lord, bruisest me; but I am abundantly satisfied, since it is from Thy hand." -John Calvin "The best of all is, God is with us. Farewell! Farewell!" -John Wesley "I shall be satisfied with Thy likeness--satisfied, satisfied!" -Charles Wesley “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” -Stephen “For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.” “I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.” “And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.” -Paul “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit” -Jesus Will your last words be filled with such confidence? Do not fear death; rejoice in your eternal life. “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” (Php 1:21)

Subjects: Carelessness, Christ, Christianity, Love, Salvation Scripture: 1 Corinthians 16:22 (22) If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha. The modern teaching is that there are a million roads to Heaven, and that somehow Christ can be looked over and sort of disregarded as long as a person has a good heart. Many preachers, Christians even (or so they claim to be), teach this nonsense. This teaching comes straight from Satan and it is very deceiving because it sounds nice and accepting of all religions and beliefs. The truth is, any man who doesn't love Jesus has no business spending eternity with Him. A homeless man is walking down the street and a car is about to hit him head on, but another man jumps and pushes him out of the way, thereby taking the blow from the car in the mans place. Hes now in the hospital overcoming wounds that almost killed him. Lets suppose that the homeless man does not go to see him in the hospital and never once says thanks. He simply forgets about it and goes on with his business. What would you think of this man? Now imagine you met this man and he seemed to be the most kind-hearted soul you've ever met. Should that change your thinking? It doesnt matter how nice that homeless man is; he acted so carelessly toward the poor injured man who almost lost his life for his this homeless fellow he didn't even know that youd say he was heartless! You'd know that homeless man has got a heart of frozen stone. The same is true with a person who knows and believes the gospel, but does not love Jesus. Any man who would be careless with our Lord Jesus is even worse than that homeless man. It doesnt matter how good of a person you, or anybody thinks he is. It would take a devil not to love our Lord Jesus. It takes a fool to be careless with Him. You know, out of the multitude of people Ive met, very few really have a problem with Christ. Theyre simply too careless to seek Him out. What a sad story for them. Never take the Lord for granted love Him with all of your heart, all of your mind, all of your soul.

Subjects: Suffering Scripture: 2 Corinthians 1:4 (4) Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. Its amazing to know that sometimes the whole reason for much of our suffering is simply so that we can help others later on down the road. The people best counselors for helping those who are suffering are the ones that have been there themselves. There is something very significant about the people who have suffered the most in life. Those quiet spirits who have endured through much tribulation with meekness, they have learned to persevere by putting their trust in God. If I was in a position of hurt, I would turn to a person like that far quicker than I would any psychiatrist, therapist, scholastic theologian, or man with a degree from bible college. The following illustration is from an unknown source: "A story is told of a music teacher with a talented vocal student. The student sang beautifully - her tone was exceptional, her pitch perfect, and her technique superb. But her singing lacked a passion that could move her listeners. Sadly, her teacher told her, I have taught you everything I can, but one thing I cannot give you - a broken heart. Just like that young singer, a person can know all the right answers but it does no good unless that person has a heart that can truly weep with those who weep. God can do that with us so we can be a blessing to others, and we can only do that when weve gone through much tribulation ourselves.

Subjects: Death, Despair Scripture: 2 Corinthians 1:8-9 (8) For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life: (9) But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead Every once in awhile a person will run into such tribulation and affliction that he or she will despair of life. These hardest times are best dealt with by doing exactly as Paul did - not thinking about what you don’t have, but what you do have. If everything is going wrong in this life, don’t think about this life - think about the future life… eternity, the resurrection, Heaven, the vastness of forever compared to the speck of time in this life. Paul despaired of life and remembered God who delivers from death. Even in life we are dying here. Sometimes when a Christian passes away someone will say “they’ve left the land of the living.” That’s wrong. They’ve got it backwards. This is the land of the dying. A Christian leaves the land of the dying to enter the land of the living. So when those moments of despair arise where you are “despaired even of life,” put your trust in the Lord and remember the future promises.

Subjects: Satans Devices Scripture: 2 Corinthians 2:11 (11) Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices. A good book to read on the subject of Satan’s tactics is Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices by the puritan Thomas Brooks. In it he lists the ways that Satan lures people into sin, and the methods to overcome them. The following list describes Satan's methods that believers should be aware of (the list is taken from http://www.gracegems.org/Brooks/precious_remedies_against_satan.htm) 1. By presenting the bait and hiding the hook 2. By painting sin with virtue's colors 3. By the extenuating and lessening of sin 4. By showing to the soul the best men's sins and by hiding from the soul their virtues, their sorrows, and their repentance 5. By presenting God to the soul as One made up all of mercy 6. By persuading the soul that repentance is easy and that therefore the soul need not scruple about sinning 7. By making the soul bold to venture upon the occasions of sin 8. By representing to the soul the outward mercies enjoyed by men walking in sin, and their freedom from outward miseries 9. By presenting to the soul the crosses, losses, sorrows and sufferings that daily attend those who walk in the ways of holiness 10. By causing saints to compare themselves and their ways with those reputed to be worse than themselves 11. By polluting the souls and judgments of men with dangerous errors that lead to looseness and wickedness 12. By leading men to choose wicked company

Subjects: Zeal Scripture: 2 Corinthians 9:2 (2) For I know the forwardness of your mind, for which I boast of you to them of Macedonia, that Achaia was ready a year ago; and your zeal hath provoked very many. If you want to stir up zeal in others, be zealous yourself. People say “laughter is contagious”, well so is zeal. Charles Wesley said, “light on fire for God and people will come for miles to watch you burn.” Zeal is like fire: it shines brightly, burns hot, spreads quickly, and is hard to stop when enough is kindled. One zealous person for God can stir up a multitude. “Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!” (James 3:5). So if you want the world to burn hot for God and His Son Jesus, you have to light yourself on fire first (as the Corinthians did) to stir up others.

Subjects: Self Examination Scripture: 2 Corinthians 13:5 (5) Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? If a person endeavors to improve in any area of life, self-examination must be done. No chess player will become great unless they examine their own play and see their flaws. The greatest ones painstakingly study every single mistake they’ve made. Along the same lines, the baseball player looks at the mechanics of his swing, the figure skater looks at the problems in her triple-spin, the student studies hardest in the areas of his or her greatest weaknesses. The Christian must do the same. There are some important things to note when examining one’s self:  The Christian life is a life of balance. Be neither too easy nor too hard.  If you find nothing wrong with yourself, there’s something wrong with you.  Self-examination must result in action. No man looks in the mirror, sees food in his beard and leaves it there.  “The best time to do it is at the end of the day. I have a hard time remembering what I did on June 7, 1978-or even last week! But, with a little thought, I can think over the last sixteen hours-repent of my wrongs and give thanks for what I did right.” - Michael Phillips Nothing gives more bang for your buck than self-examination. It can greatly help you to improve as a Christian in every area of life, and it doesn’t cost a dime. Even the old philosophers knew the value of the exercise. “Zeng Shen was young enough to be Confucius's grandson, yet he won high praise from the old sage. One of the sayings for which Zeng Shen is famous goes something like this. "Every day I ask myself three questions. The first is, 'Have I sinned in my thoughts and actions toward others?' The second is, 'Have I broken faith in any of my friendships?' The third is, 'Have I tried to teach anything to others I have not fully learned and understood myself?' If Zeng Shen asked himself these three questions every day, resolving to make no mistakes, then, young as he was, we can well understand why Confucius praised him. Not only is each of the three questions extremely important in itself, but the practice of examining one's own behavior every day is a habit that every leader should cultivate.” - Konosuke Matsushita Now the unsaved person does this merely for self-improvement. The Christian has much higher stakes in mind. The Christian practices self-examination in order to be sure he or she is really in the faith. “Where there is no fruit, there is no Christian.” Other reasons are to lay up treasure in Heaven, form into the image of Christ, and above all to honor God. Although the modern believer rarely thinks about it and it is hardly talked about today, the faithful Christians of old made self-examination top priority and knew the value of spending time in strict analysis, confession and repentance. In the 1700’s, Jonathan Edwards put together a list of 70 strict rules he would try to live by. The list is known today as “The resolutions of Jonathan Edwards.” A great number of them were essentially reminders of self-examination. Here are just a few examples: 24. Resolved, whenever I do any conspicuously evil action, to trace it back, till I come to the original cause; and then, both carefully endeavor to do so no more, and to fight and pray with all my might against the original of it. 25. Resolved, to examine carefully, and constantly, what that one thing in me is, which causes me in the least to doubt of the love of God; and to direct all my forces against it. 27. Resolved, never willfully to omit any thing, except the omission be for the glory of God; and frequently to examine my omissions. 30. Resolved, to strive to my utmost every week to be brought higher in religion, and to a higher exercise of grace, than I was the week before. 37. Resolved, to inquire every night, as I am going to bed, wherein I have been negligent,- what sin I have committed,-and wherein I have denied myself;-also at the end of every week, month and year. 47. Resolved, to endeavor, to my utmost, to deny whatever is not most agreeable to a good, and universally sweet and benevolent, quiet, peaceable, contented and easy, compassionate and generous, humble and meek, submissive and obliging, diligent and industrious, charitable and even, patient, moderate, forgiving and sincere temper; and to do at all times, what such a temper would lead me to; and to examine strictly, at the end of every week, whether I have done so. 60. Resolved, whenever my feelings begin to appear in the least out of order, when I am conscious of the least uneasiness within, or the least irregularity without, I will then subject myself to the strictest examination.

Subjects: Conversation, Evangelism, Speech Scripture: John 4:43-44 (43) Now after two days he departed thence, and went into Galilee. (44) For Jesus himself testified, that a prophet hath no honour in his own country. I suppose every child of God wants to honor their Father in Heaven by telling people the good news, and speaking of how great He is. As a believer I have a burning in my heart to talk of what God has showed me so that I can say with Paul “woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel!” Unfortunately it is dreadfully discouraging at times. Almost nobody seems to want to listen since they’ve heard it before, and many times this longing bottled up inside of me just wants to burst outward with a shout, “For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard” (Act 4:20). Here’s a piece of advice that our Lord gives us by His actions: go where the people will listen. If the people you know won’t hear you, go to someone you don’t know. If you’ve worn out your words on friends and family, why not exhort people? Are you too shy for this? Then write. If you cannot write, then be creative in some other way. Share what you’ve found with whoever will listen. You can even find some good friends to talk to who feel the same way so you can both share with each other what God has done for you, and exchange your wisdom. God’s word is not constricted. Tell it however you get a chance to tell it. God takes special notice of every person who talks good things about Him in their conversation and He will write that persons name in a book of remembrance. Desire not only to have your name written in the book of life, but also in the book of remembrance! Speak wonderful things of your Lord to others often. “Then they that feared the LORD spoke often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name.” (Mal 3:16)

Subjects: Conversation, Diligence, Prayer, Redeeming the Time, Running the Race Scripture: John 7:53 (53) And every man went unto his own house. (8:1) Jesus went unto the mount of Olives. While everyone else went to go home, Jesus went to the mountain to spend time alone with God. The most mature Christian will possess a life out of the ordinary. Everybody else is retired to bed, but the mature Christian is up praying. After church on Sunday, everyone else goes home to watch TV, but the mature Christian goes home to spend more time in God’s word. Friends get together and talk about the weather and movies, but the mature Christian attempts to salt the conversation with talk of God and things eternal. The mature Christian life is a radical, abnormal Christian life from the normal one you see today. Be like Jesus - when every man goes to do the normal activities, and live the normal life you go do better and redeem the time.

Subjects: Dependency, Redeeming The Time Scripture: John 16:32 (32) Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. You cannot depend on other people for your spiritual well-being. Do not depend on them for love, joy, peace, fellowship. Hope for it from them, but depend on God. A young Christian longs for a friend or a wife to help him along and encourage him in his Christian walk. He waits and waits, and years later he soon finds out the truth. He’s wasted all of this time! If he would have sought God Himself and not waited around, God would have been with him and he would be mature. But alas! Now the years are wasted. Will God give back yesterday? “In that day kingdoms will seem a small price to pay for a little time back.” You must seek God today, and not wait around for others to help you. When God provides their assistance, cherish it gratefully. Until then, press on into Christ yourself not waiting around for anything or anybody. No Olympic runner who ever stopped and waited for a friend to come give him some water ever won a gold medal.

Subjects: Love, Prayer Scripture: John 17:1 (1) These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven... Jesus looked to Heaven because He saw His Father up there. You can see something about Jesus’ heart here. His whole being was aimed toward His Father. In prayer He reached up with His eyes, His words, and His heart. He reached up with His body, His spirit, and His soul. This is how much of our time in prayer should be - our whole being looking to draw near to our Father in Heaven. There is a time of requests in prayer, but even more important is the time of devotion. Here you see our Lord in prayer pouring His heart out to our Father in Heaven before enduring the cross. I would encourage you to look at the life of David Brainerd. A missionary to the Native Americans in the 1700’s, he endured an incredibly painstaking life for their sake. He kept a journal, which is available today to read. Here are a few quotes from this diary: "Oh! one hour with God infinitely exceeds all the pleasures and delights of this lower world." "My soul longed for communion with Christ, and for the mortification of indwelling corruption” "Oh!, the closest walk with God is the sweetest heaven that can be enjoyed on earth!" "God was with me all the day; and I was more above the world than ever in my life. " "O my sweet Saviour! whom have I in Heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee." If you read his diary you’ll find it filled with quotes like this. His prayer consisted of longing for his Father in Heaven, his Lord and Savior Christ, and his beloved Indians for whom he worked to see saved. So much heart went into his prayer that he once recorded having found his back “wet with sweat” because of the tears and fervor going into it. We should long to have time with God like this. Your back doesn’t have to be wet with sweat, and you do not have to have tears, but your heart, and whole being must be longing for and drawing near to your God as David Brainerd did in his prayer, and even more importantly as our Lord did in His prayer. This kind of heart filled prayer is a manifestation of your deep love and longing for your Lord.

Subjects: Giving Scripture: Philippians 4:18 (18) But I have all, and abound: I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God. Paul praised the gift the Philippians had sent to him. Here's a question: do you think these Philippians could have given just a little bit more? Surely somebody had an extra coin lying around. Maybe some more food could have been set aside. Could they have given with a little more joy? Maybe not every person was excited to give as everybody else. I'm sure this was the case. But you know what? God still was pleased with it, and saw it as an "odour of a sweet smell, a pleasing, acceptable sacrifice." Our Lord is not some tyrant demanding people to be ascetics and go hungry and give until they're in the poor house. No! He's pleased when people give from their heart, whether it's a little, or much. Remember that next time you put your offering into the bucket, or give some change to the homeless man on the street and be thankful that our Lord is generous and rewarding for our efforts, all of which are not even worthy of Him.

Subjects: Speech, Wisdom Scripture: James 1:19 (19) Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath The quick way to wisdom is to listen much and speak little. The quiet ones that listen much and say little are wiser than the loud ones who speak many words to share what they believe to be a "vast storehouse" of knowledge. If a miner discovered a large open field in the wilderness and on the surface were many rocks with a few large diamonds mixed in, it's likely he'll never find the diamonds. But if the only things on the surface of that field are those diamonds, that man is going to be rich. Those priceless gems are sitting on a flat surface and they will easily grab his attention. In the same way, you don't want to overload your brothers and sisters with all this useless knowledge that you have. You think you have much to say but because you say everything, you say nothing. Be one of those people who speaks little, thinks much, and shares only jewels of wisdom with people. Not every little pebble of knowledge that you have.