Don't make provisions for any lust of the flesh

Today we are going to talk about not setting ourselves up for sin. Lets get right to our Bible verse which is Romans 13:14.

 ¹⁴But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.

Our sinful nature is like a dying campfire. Add a little wood and fan the embers and our fleshly desires can easily be ignited. With this in mind we should ask ourselves this question. Are we allowing anything in our lives that can set us up for sin? If we find something with that potential then we need to deal radically with it. We need to do whatever we can to remove it.

Not allowing provision for the flesh can apply to various sins. But for this devotion lets talk about sexual sin. Lets say a man is having trouble with viewing pornography online. As long as he has access to his internet service he is making a provision for the flesh. He needs to deal radically with his sin and do one of two things. Either cancel his internet service or have a household member password protect the internet so he is unable to access it.

Lets consider an example of a couple that is engaged to get married next summer. Here are some ways they could avoid making a provision for sexual sin. They could avoid alone time by planning group activities. They could avoid drinking alcohol which could lower their resistance to sin. They could make a plan to never stay overnight at each others house even if their intention is to stay in separate rooms. These are a couple of examples of how they could avoid making a provision for the flesh.

Remember this verse applies to various lusts of the flesh and not just sexual sin. So take a moment and ask God to reveal to you if you are making a provision for the flesh. If He reveals something to you then deal radically with it and eliminate it.

God bless

Scripture quotations taken from the "NASB" (www.lockman.org)
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God disciplines us for our own good

All of God's children experience discipline from His hand. It is sorrowful and while we are going through it we don't enjoy it. But, nevertheless it is good for us. The Bible verses we'll start with are in Hebrews 12:4-11.

 ⁴ You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin; ⁵ and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons,

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
Nor faint when you are reproved by Him;
⁶ For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines,
And He scourges every son whom He receives.”

⁷ It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? ⁸ But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. ⁹ Furthermore, we hadearthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject tothe Father of spirits, and live? ¹⁰ For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. ¹¹ All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

Verse 4 speaks about not resisting wholeheartedly in our battle against sin. And until we reach that diligent level of resisting sin we will experience times of God's loving discipline.

Verses 5 mentions two things we should not do while experiencing His discipline. We should not take it lightly. And we should not faint when it comes our way.

God is serious about sin. If God is dealing with an area of our life then we need to take it seriously too. We must deal radically with it and remove it. Also we are not to faint under His discipline. What is shared in verse 6 can keep us from fainting. Why? One reason is because we know that we are being disciplined because He loves us. He is at work in us for our own good.  It may also be helpful to remember that every son, without exception, experiences it. Additionally, it can reassure us that we are His children, since He disciplines those whom He receives. In contrast verse 8 states that if we don't experience God's discipline we are not His children.

Verse 7 tells us that discipline produces endurance and it can get us back on the right path. David spoke about how he was afflicted by God when he drifted from God's ways. Here is what David said in Psalm 119:67,71,75

⁶⁷Before I was afflicted I went astray,
         But now I keep Your word. 

⁷¹It is good for me that I was afflicted,
         That I may learn Your statutes. 

⁷⁵I know, O LORD, that Your judgments are righteous,
         And that in faithfulness You have afflicted me.

Notice in verse 67 that David was going astray. But the affliction brought him to a place of obedience. In verse 71 he recognized that his affliction was good for him. He realized that the affliction he experienced enabled him to learn God's statues. And in verse 75 David sees God's love in the affliction. He recognized that the affliction was an expression of God's faithfulness to him.

Now getting back to our original passage lets conclude with verse 11. If we allow God's loving discipline to train us to obey we will enjoy the "... peaceful fruit of righteousness."


Scripture quotations taken from the "NASB" (www.lockman.org)

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Unanswered prayer from rejecting God

Today we will talk about God's unwillingness to answer the prayers of those who stubbornly reject Him. Please follow along in the Bible. We will be in Proverbs chapter 1:20-33

In verses 22-23 God calls out to three different groups of unsaved people. He calls out to the the naive, the scoffer and the fool. God expresses willingness to accept them and teach them His ways if they would listen and obey. But verses 24-25 shows that these people didn't have any willingness to obey.

And verses 26-27 show one consequence of their actions. Trouble will certainly overtake them. Some of the words used to describe their coming trouble are: calamity, dread, distress and anguish. And there will be an additional consequence. God will be unwilling to answer their prayers and help them in their distress. Their prayers will go unanswered and their waywardness will ruin them. ( Please note that there are times when the ruin of the wicked is delayed. Sometimes the wicked flourish and even prosper before their ruin comes. See Psalm 73)

I think it is important to understand a little bit more about God refusing to answer their prayers. The prayers of these people were coming from hearts that wanted nothing to do with God. The use of the word "all" in verses 25 and 30 shows their wholehearted rejection of God. Those verses mention that they, "... neglected all my counsel;" and they "... spurned all my reproof." So when these people that reject God seek Him in prayer their prayers are rejected too. Why? Because the sole purpose of their seeking God was to escape their trouble. They didn't want a relationship with Him. They wanted a change in their circumstances but not a change in their sinful conduct. And as a result of being stubbornly disobedient, God would not answer their prayers when distress came upon them.

Is there any hope for the one who rejects God and has calamity on its way? Is there any hope for the ones whose prayers won't get answered?  The answer is yes to both questions!

First lets talk about the calamity aspect. If a person seeks God with a repentant heart then God may change His mind concerning the coming distress. Remember what happened in the book of Jonah. God sent Jonah to warn Nineveh that He was about to overthrow it. And the people of Nineveh believed there was calamity coming and repented of their sins. And when God saw that they turned from their evil ways He changed His mind. God did not send the calamity upon them that He had planned.

The same applies to unanswered prayer too. If  a individual stops rejecting God and chooses to listen and obey then the Lord will open His ears to that persons prayers. Jesus talked about prayers being answered when a person was abiding in Him and God's Word was made so much a part of him that he would live by it. Jesus said it this way in John 15:7

 ⁷"If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

But the first step in order to achieve the above solutions is to receive Jesus into your heart as Savior and Lord.  If you want to do that and get things right with God today then go to this link. "What must I do to go to Heaven? "

God bless

Scripture quotations taken from the "NASB" (www.lockman.org)

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Want to listen to the entire Bible in 1 year?

Update!  The NASB® Audio Bible in a Year is now live. 
Find the links on the right side of this page.


Hello everyone. I am trying to put together a plan which allows you to listen. through the entire Bible in one years time. It would be on a separate blog just like this one. Each day a link to an audio file would be posted on the blog. Each audio clip would speak out loud a few chapters. If you listen each day then in one years time you will have heard the entire Bible.

There would also be some additional ways to access the daily Audio Bible links. You could subscribe to receive them either by email or through an RSS feed.

I am currently in discussions with 3 different Bible organizations trying to accomplish this project. I am awaiting their permission to use their copyrighted material. Every e-mail correspondence has been positive. And I truly believe they have a heart to spread God's Word.

However this is not a done deal. I don't have permission yet. If you want this Audio Bible plan to succeed then please pray. Ask God to work out every detail. He can do it. Your prayers can make things happen that were not going to happen. Afterwards you can be glad because you were part of the victory. You can rejoice because you were part of God's good Word going forth. And you were part of blessing many people.

Thank you for your prayers,
God bless

Wisdom is a treasure - Seek it like silver

It is necessary for us to learn God's wisdom in order to live skillfully in every area of our lives. Today's devotion talks about our need to diligently seek and prayerfully ask for that wisdom. Although we will only be discussing Proverbs 2:1-6,  I recommend that you read the whole chapter.

 ¹My son, if you will receive my words
         And treasure my commandments within you, 
    ²Make your ear attentive to wisdom,
         Incline your heart to understanding; 
    ³For if you cry for discernment,
         Lift your voice for understanding; 
    ⁴If you seek her as silver
         And search for her as for hidden treasures; 
    ⁵Then you will discern the fear of the LORD
         And discover the knowledge of God. 
    ⁶For the LORD gives wisdom;
         From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.


In verse 1 the father addresses a couple of things. First, are you willing to receive God's Words?  Are you willing to both listen and act on what you are taught? In contrast Proverbs tells us the fool despises God's wisdom. The fool is neither willing to listen to God's wisdom nor to act on it.


Second, do you value God's teachings just like a treasure? Are you willing to frequently get into the Bible and store up His teachings within you? Will you meditate on those valuable teachings? Will those teachings be so valuable to you that they will guide your decisions? 


In verse 2 we see that obtaining both wisdom and understanding requires a decision on your part. You need to "Make your ear attentive to wisdom," and you need to  "Incline you heart to understanding."   Acquiring wisdom requires you to set your desire for it.

In verse 3 we see that obtaining wisdom requires dependence on God. We need to recognize that God is our teacher. We must pray and ask Him to give us wisdom. David recognized his dependence on God to teach him. Look at how he asked God to teach him in Psalm 119:18

¹⁸ Open my eyes, that I may behold
         Wonderful things from Your law.

In verse 4 we see that in addition to prayer we need to make diligent effort. Seeking wisdom requires the same determined effort that is made by a person seeking silver or a hidden treasure. Those seeking these material treasures might get tired along the way but they don't stop seeking until they find their desire. In the same way we need to persevere in seeking for God's wisdom.

In verses  5-6 we find that our dependence and diligent effort will not be in vain. We will be taught by His hand and find valuable spiritual treasures.

Scripture quotations taken from the "NASB" (www.lockman.org)
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Avoiding the Gang's enticement for easy money

Today's devotion encompasses several things. It speaks about avoiding bad company and it's deadly consequences. To be more specific it speaks about the dangers of joining a gang in order to obtain easy money. For being lured into these things leads to spiritual death and can result in physical death too. Please turn to Proverbs 1:8-19 so you can follow along.

In verse 8 we see one safeguard against being lured into this trap is listening to the Biblical teachings of godly parents. Note here the importance of the mother's teaching within the home. The child needs the teachings to be reinforced from both father and mother.

Starting at verse 10 notice the use of words that are plural such as: "sinners", "us", "we", "them", and "they". This may refer to a group of people. Since verse 11 states the group's desire to do harm to the innocent it is possible to label them as a gang.

And how are they enticing him. In a couple of ways. In verses 13-14 they are enticing the youth with fast and easy money. In verse 13 notice the use of the phrases, "all kinds", "precious wealth" and "fill our houses". The gang is painting a picture of obtaining various kinds of wealth that is of high quality and that is plentiful.

There is another enticing draw in verses 13-14. The youth is being offered the opportunity to be part of a brotherhood. They promise that everything that they obtain will be shared amongst themselves. We will all be one big family. But this promise of being a brotherhood is deceptive. They attack the innocent because they lack compassion. Since they lack compassion, how can the youth expect them  to fulfill their promise of being a tightly knit family?

The advice from the youth's godly parents is don't consent to go with them. Avoid their company altogether. Their deeds will boomerang back on them. It will take away their life. And you will suffer the same fate too if you align yourself with them. 

Here are a couple of additional safeguards against this type of temptation. Since the desire to be part of a brotherhood was part of the enticement, one counteragent would be developing a network of godly friends. Choose to meet that God given desire for fellowship with godly people. Another safeguard is to recognize that happiness can't be found in material things. I'll close with what Jesus said in Luke 12:15 

 ¹⁵ Then He said to them, "Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.".  

Scripture quotations taken from the "NASB" (www.lockman.org
God bless
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Bad company will corrupt your morals

In today's devotion will address the need to avoid bad company. The verse we will look at is 1 Corinthians 15:33

33 Do not be deceived: "Bad company corrupts good morals."

What a powerful impact bad company can have on our walk with God. It can take a person who has good morals and cause those good morals to be weakened. Don't let yourself be tricked into thinking you are steadfast and can't fall. Don't be tricked into thinking you can keep the wrong kind of company and be unaffected. Obviously the potential is there to be tricked in this area otherwise the Bible wouldn't say, "Don't be deceived..." If we have that mindset that our walk will be fine while we keep bad company then we are deceived and our walk will suffer.

And don't think that all of your Bible learning will prevent you from drifting. The bad company will outweigh your wisdom and knowledge and understanding. Remember that God granted Solomon great wisdom but that wisdom did not keep him from turning to other gods. And why did Solomon turn to other gods? It was because of the wives he married. His wives were a source of bad company. Their company corrupted his morals and turned his heart away. The passage that tells us about Solomon's wives corrupting him is found in 1 Kings 11:4

4 For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been.

This teaching must be kept in balance. On one hand we need to avoid bad company. And on the other hand we need to be around those that are not healthy spiritually in order to show them love and share the gospel with them. Ask God to show you the proper way to keep this balance in your situation.

Scripture quotations taken from the "NASB" (www.lockman.org)
God bless
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