Faith's Formula

Reading from the Book of Proverbs 3:3-8...


 ³ Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
   bind them around your neck,
   write them on the tablet of your heart.
⁴ Then you will win favor and a good name
   in the sight of God and man.

By faith, Christians "overcome the world, the flesh and the devil".  It is by faith that they "quench all the fiery darts of the wicked".  It is by faith that they "put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and put off the old man with his deeds".  This is the victory that overcometh the world.

⁵ Trust in the LORD with all your heart
   and lean not on your own understanding;
⁶ in all your ways submit to him,
   and he will make your paths straight.

It is by faith that the flesh is kept under and carnal desires subdued, and by faith that we recieve the Spirit of Christ to work in us and to will and to do according to His good pleasure.

⁷ Do not be wise in your own eyes;
   fear the LORD and shun evil.
⁸ This will bring health to your body
   and nourishment to your bones.

Have faith in God and not in our own thinking and reasoning.  People who must reason out everything have a very hard time with faith because reasoning is not faith, and without faith it is impossible to please God.  We need to be aware that trying to reason everything out by ourselves is a problem.  It is a serious matter that we should deal with, just as Jesus dealt with it in the hearts of those who followed Him.  By dealing with it, we will achieve "Faith's Formula".

Five Foolish Virgins

Reading from the Book of Matthew 25:1-10



 ¹Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
 ²And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.
 ³They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:
 ⁴But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
 ⁵While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
 ⁶And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.
 ⁷Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.
 ⁸And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.
 ⁹But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.
 ¹⁰And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.

All ten of the virgins had the same opportunity, but only half of them were prepared to take it.  In a society where people needed oil to provide light, five virgins were wise and had extra oil on hand.  The other five were foolish and lost out because they did not keep their lamps filled with oil.  When the bridegroom came, the five virgins without the oil missed their opportunity to go with him because they were lazy when they should have been working and were out trying to buy more oil for their lamps at the wrong time.

God is an "equal-opportunity employer".  It does not matter to Him what kind of background we come from, what kind of parents or family life we have, what color or gender we are, what kind of education we recieved, or what our physical handicaps may be.  None of those things make any difference to Him.  In Him we all have equal opportunity.  Anyone who follows His guidelines and do what He tells them to do can be blessed and used by Him.

God puts potential in all of us and if we are willing to develop it, we will see wonderful things take place in our lives.  No, we do not all have the same talents, gifts and abilities.  We cannot all do the same things, but we can all be what God has called us to be and do His will.

Do your part and don't be left out as the five foolish virgins were; for when He comes and the door will be shut.

The Way Of Holiness

Reading from the Book of Isaiah 35
 

 
 ¹The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.
 ²It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the LORD, and the excellency of our God.
 ³Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.
 ⁴Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.
 ⁵Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
 ⁶Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.
 ⁷And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.
 ⁸And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.
 ⁹No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there:
 ¹⁰And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

A Lifetime Learner

Reading from the Book of II Peter 1:3-7


³According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
 ⁴Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

God's power provides everything we need to enjoy great and godly lives, but what He provides comes to us through the full, personal knowledge of Him.  We cannot know God through someone else.  We can know about Him through others, but to know Him for ourselves we must study His Word ourselves and spend time with Him individually.

You can be as close to God as you want to be.  Going to church does not necessarily make us close to God.  Going to church is a good and right thing to do, but we need more than an hour on Sunday morning with God if we are going to learn enough to fulfill our destiny and truly enjoy life.

⁵And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
 ⁶And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
 ⁷And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.

 Do you want your Christian life to be effective and bear fruit?  Then be diligent concerning God's promises, excercise your faith to develop virtue, grow in knowledge, increase in self control, be steadfast, practice godliness, and show Christian love to others.

Refuse to have a secondhand relationship with God. Get to know Him for yourself.  Be a lifetime learner.

Be Out Of This World

Reading from the book of 2 Timothy 3:1-5



 ¹ But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. ² People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy.

We live in an unthankful and ungrateful generation.  It seems the more people have, the less they appreciate.  As believers, we are in the world, but we must strive not to be like it.  The more others around us complain, the more we should express gratitude to God.  Look around at our own conditions.  Do we have a roof, heat, food?  Be thankful for the provisions and blessings He sets before us.

 ³ Without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, ⁴ treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— ⁵ having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.

In times such as these, you must stand strong in the truth of God's Word and have nothing to do with people who seem to be religious but do not exhibit true godliness or spiritual power.  Do not get into conversations that head toward strife.  Avoid controversies over things that really do not even matter and refuse to be involved in gossip and tale bearing, which are ungodly and unnecessary.  Do not spread rumors or tell other people's secrets.  These things cause an angry undercurrent and they hinder or eliminate God's power and blessing.  Many homes cannot prosper and be blessed because everyone is in strife.  Mom and Dad bicker and argue, the siblings argue and resent one another and nobody is happy but the devil.

Strife is very dangerous and that as servants of the Lord we must not be a part of it.  It is good and pleasant when brethern dwell together in unity.  Unity releases the annointing and it is also where God commands the blessing to be released. 
See Psalm 133.