Friday, May 25, 2018

Fantastic Friday #629 - Honor

Honor

10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Romans 12:10

I heard a lot of news reports this week where people were discussing honoring the flag, honoring the anthem, and in general honoring those in authority. One of our biggest problems in society today, is we tend to think about how we can be honored over honoring someone else. Paul talked about being devoted to one another in love, but what is devotion? A good word is dedication and you can see that dedication takes some work, the problem is not everyone is dedicated to work. I believe if we can dedicate ourselves to others, honoring them will come easy. With honor comes respect and we can see how far that can go. I know I need to work on this aspect of my life every single day and through honor and devotion, those are two good ways to start.

Have a great weekend.

Matt

Friday, May 18, 2018

Fantastic Friday #628 - Disturb

Disturb

11 Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God. Psalm 42:11

A couple of weeks ago I talked about silence and the fact that there is really no complete silence. There are things that disturb us daily, and sometimes people are the most common disturbance we have, or is it. I know there are times when I am sitting, looking for the next task to accomplish, and the enemy disturbs me with something that will distract me. God is ever present and the only thing He is going to distract us from is our sin. He does this by getting the Holy Spirit to interrupt or disturb our thoughts of sinning. Maybe we should keep God on the forefront of our mind while we are looking for that next thing to do, so we do not have the enemy continually disturbing us. Don't have a downcast soul, do not get disturbed, as the scripture says put your hope in Him.

Have a great weekend.

Matt

Friday, May 11, 2018

Fantastic Friday #627 - Active

Active

12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Hebrews 4:12

Do you find yourself to be an active individual or a passive individual? I know some people that are passive-aggressive and that is not a good thing. They wait in hiding, or plain sight, and then pounce on people or situations without thinking how their words or actions impact that other person. I know when I find myself heading down this path of being a little passive-aggressive, I try to stop and think what God's word says. The thing about God's word is that it is active in every sense of the word. It moves people, it guides people and it gives direction for the wayward. Why then do we ignore it so much? I think that when I am more active with life, I tend to focus more on God's word than when I am passive. When we are active, the enemy is less likely to pounce on us with his passive-aggressive efforts. Be active this weekend not passive, and focus on the Word.

Have a great weekend.

Matt

Friday, May 4, 2018

Fantastic Friday #626 - Silence

Silence

16 Who will rise up for me against the wicked?
Who will take a stand for me against evildoers?
17 Unless the Lord had given me help,
I would soon have dwelt in the silence of death.
18 When I said, “My foot is slipping,”
your unfailing love, Lord, supported me. Psalm 94:16-18


When you have opportunities to get away from the craziness we sometimes face, do you find yourself sitting in silence? When you are sitting in silence, you can usually hear things that you normally do not pay attention to. I think we all know the enemy can sometimes be sneaky and silent, and can take advantage of your thoughts when you surrounded by the noise of the world. When we listen in silence, there is no true silence. There is always a sound, a breeze, drop of rain, a bird, something that is making you know that God is there. Have you ever noticed when you think you are sitting in silence, that you actually hear more than you do when you sit in loudness. Take a moment this weekend to try and sit in silence and then begin to identify all the things you hear, and push away from the enemy and what he wants you to hear.

Have a great weekend.

Matt