Ever want quick, fast food style, answers to prayer?

Do you want to pull up to prayer window number 1 and by the time you get to window 2 you have your answer? It doesn't always work that way. David shared in Psalm 40 that the help that God sent him took time but it proved to be a blessing both for David and for those who saw it. 

Psalm 40

I waited patiently for the Lord;
And He inclined to me and heard my cry.
2 He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay,
And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm.
3 He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God;
Many will see and fear
And will trust in the Lord.
4 How blessed is the man who has made the Lord his trust,
And has not turned to the proud, nor to those who lapse into falsehood.
5 Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders which You have done,
And Your thoughts toward us;
There is none to compare with You.
If I would declare and speak of them,
They would be too numerous to count.
6 Sacrifice and meal offering You have not desired;
My ears You have opened;
Burnt offering and sin offering You have not required.
7 Then I said, “Behold, I come;
In the scroll of the book it is written of me.
8 I delight to do Your will, O my God;
Your Law is within my heart.”
9 I have proclaimed glad tidings of righteousness in the great congregation;
Behold, I will not restrain my lips,
O Lord, You know.
10 I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart;
I have spoken of Your faithfulness and Your salvation;
I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth from the great congregation.
11 You, O Lord, will not withhold Your compassion from me;
Your lovingkindness and Your truth will continually preserve me.
12 For evils beyond number have surrounded me;
My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to see;
They are more numerous than the hairs of my head,
And my heart has failed me.
13 Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me;
Make haste, O Lord, to help me.
14 Let those be ashamed and humiliated together
Who seek my life to destroy it;
Let those be turned back and dishonored
Who delight in my hurt.
15 Let those be appalled because of their shame
Who say to me, “Aha, aha!”
16 Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
Let those who love Your salvation say continually,
“The Lord be magnified!”
17 Since I am afflicted and needy,
Let the Lord be mindful of me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
Do not delay, O my God.

Do you like the Psalms? At you own pace you can listen to the entire Book of Psalms at the link below. Click on the link. Then click on "Psalms". Then click on the chapters. God bless

http://nasb-audio-bible-in-a-year.blogspot.com/p/audio-by-each-book.html

Scripture quotations taken from the "NASB" (www.lockman.org)
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Wonderful teachings in Luke 14-16

Jesus healing on the Sabbath
Don't pick out a place of honor for yourself
Allowing other things to be more important than a relationship with God
Seeking a sheep that is lost
The Prodigal son
A shrewd but unrighteous steward

All of these wonderful passages are found in today's audio Bible clip of Luke 14-16. It's easy listen to those chapters right now by do the following:

1. Click on the link below
2. Then click on the link titled "Luke" 
3. Then click on "Luke 14-16"

http://nasb-audio-bible-in-a-year.blogspot.com/p/audio-by-each-book.html

Do you want to be used by God?

Here are two character qualities that make you useful in His service. The first is having a genuine love for the Body of Christ as Timothy did. And the second is having a genuine love for God as Peter did. One reason Paul put Timothy into service was because of his love of people. And one reason Jesus put Peter into service was for his love of God.( I am using the verses below to make a point. Timothy also loved God and Peter also loved people.)  

Philippians 2:19-21

19 But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, so that I also may be encouraged when I learn of your condition. 20 For I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare. 21 For they all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus.

John 21:16-18
16 He *said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” He *said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He *said to him, “Shepherd My sheep.” 17 He *said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus *said to him, “Tend My sheep.

To sum up Love God and love people and you too may be given something to do for God. 

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

When guilt hinders me from returning to God

Some things I remind myself of when guilt hinders me from returning to God.

If I drift away from God I can feel like I can't return after sinning against Him. Here are some things I think about that encourages me to return.
1. God is slow to anger - Psalm 103:8
2. God stands ready to forgive - Psalm 86:5, 1 John 1:9
3. At the same time that God is speaking against me, His heart can be remembering me, and even yearning for me - Jeremiah 31:18-20
4. When I return to God, confessing my sins, He will meet me with forgiveness, a happy and loving embrace, and I will be treated as His son - Luke 15:11-32 (the Prodigal Son).
5. God may have planned to bring trouble into my life due to my sin. But if I repent, God may change His mind and not send the trouble - Jonah 3:10
6. Not only will confessing my sins result in forgiveness, but He may actually give me a blessing too - Joel 2:13-15
7. In Jeremiah chapters 2-3 God spoke to His faithless people. And one thing He spoke was an offer to returned to Him and that He would not look upon them with anger.


I have been posting shorter and more frequent Bible Devotions on my Short Bible Devotion blog, Facebook and on Google + . You can access them at the following links:
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Scripture quotations taken from the "NASB" (www.lockman.org)
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Obedience and sin impacts our mental state

Practicing obedience leads to a positive mental state. When we practice what is right our conscience is at peace and even feels good about pleasing the Lord and blessing others. When we practice sin our conscience disturbs us and we are not settled mentally. Our mental state drops lower and we can feel bad the we havehurt the Lord and have done harm to our fellow man.

The lifestyle we practice also effects our expectations. When we practice obedience we develop a positive expectation of God being with us, blessings pursuing us here on earth and an eager confidence that we will be with God forever after we die (Psalm 23). When we practice sin we can begin to doubt that God is with us. Instead of having an expectation of blessings we grow concerned that painful discipline will head our way. We can begin to doubt that we are saved and that Heaven will be our future home.

The knowledge that our mental state can be raised due to obedience or lowered due to disobedience gives us yet one more good reason to walk in God's ways.
(If you don't want to miss any of my Bible devotions then consider subscribing to my wall posts. I pray that this was a blessing for your walk with the Lord. God bless)

Scripture quotations taken from the "NASB" (www.lockman.org)
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Sleep robbed from practicing evil

Those that make it their habit/practice to do wickedness can have their sleep robbed. They enter a viscous cycle that parallels that of a drug addict undergoing withdrawal symptoms. The drug addict in withdrawal seeks relief by returning to very drug that created the miserable state in the first place. In a similar way the evil that the wicked practice creates an internal turmoil that hinders sleep. They seek relief from their inability to rest by doing wrong to their fellow man. Sadly they use doing evil, which actually created their internal turmoil, as a temporary means of relief. Read about this in Proverbs 4:14-17

14 Do not enter the path of the wicked
And do not proceed in the way of evil men.
15 Avoid it, do not pass by it;
Turn away from it and pass on.
16 For they cannot sleep unless they do evil;
And they are robbed of sleep unless they make someone stumble.
17 For they eat the bread of wickedness
And drink the wine of violence.

Scripture quotations taken from the "NASB" (www.lockman.org)
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Avoiding the adulterous woman - Part 3

In this devotion concerning the adulterous woman we will focus on several things. We will look at some of the tactics that she uses to lead her victims into sin. And we will talk about the severe consequences that follow. Please open to Proverbs chapter 7 so you can follow along.

In verses 1-5, as in previous chapters, we see that cherishing the teachings from the Bible is necessary if the son is going to avoid sinning with the adulterous woman. He must treasure the sound teachings and think upon them both day and night.

In verses 6-9 the father observes unwise decisions made by a naive young man. He sets himself up for failure by taking a path that goes near her house. And to further compound the problem he goes near her house at the worst time of the day. So he increased his chance of failure by going to the wrong place at the wrong time. And verse 23 tells us that these bad decisions can result in the loss of his life.

In verses 10-21 we see her use a variety of tactics in order to lead him into sin. Her tactics aim at many of the physical senses and even include some phycological appeals too.

In verse 10 her tactic is to appeal to his sense of sight. She dresses inappropriately and entices him visually.

In verse 11 we see that she is rebellious and does not stay at home. If the young man had any sense he would not want to enter into any type of relationship with her. Even if her husband died and things somehow led to marriage it would be nothing but bad. Since her nature is stated  to be rebellious then living with her will be difficult. Also, if her feet don't stay at home then what kind of mother will she be to their future children. On every front this woman should be avoided.

Verse 12 seems to have some similarities with Proverbs 6:26. Both verses show her as a predator seeking her prey.

In verse 13 her tactic is to appeal to his sense of touch. She is aggressive and forward and grabs and kisses him.

Verse 14 may refer to the peace offering found in Leviticus 11. If so it would suggest that she would have food left over from the peace offering to serve him. So she may also be luring him by offering a good meal.

In verse 15 she uses flattery. She tells him how earnestly she has looked for him. She is making him feel like he is the most wonderful man in town and no one else could compare to him. A man is hard wired for respect. So words like these are absorbed just like a sponge and draw him yet closer to the trap set for him.

Verse 16 appeals to his sense of sight. Colored linens from Egypt were supposedly of very high quality and were costly. This paints an aesthetically pleasing picture for him. Additionally she may be enticing him to come experience a wealthy setting that is very comfortable. If he does not live this way day to day he may be lured by this rich lifestyle.

Verse 17 appeals to his sense of smell. She allures him with these appealing aromas.

Verse 18 appeals to his sense of touch and his sex drive. She describes only the benefits and not the painful and possible deadly consequences.

Verses 19-20  are very important. She tries to take away his fear of consequences. She makes it clear that they won't be caught. Her husband won't be back for a long time. And taking away the fear of consequences was one tactic the serpent used in the Garden of Eden in order to lead Eve into sin. We find that account in Genesis 3:4-5   ⁴ The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! ⁵ For God knows that in the day you eat from it  your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”


Verse 21 shows that she did not limit herself to just one approach. Her persuasions were many. And flattering lips is mentioned yet again as a powerful tool she used to seduce him. 

Verse 22-23 uses words that refer to being trapped and losing one's freedom. It also shows that falling into sin with her will lead to discipline or even death.

Verse 24 once again shows one of the antidotes. Pay attention to God's wisdom. Keep thinking on the godly teachings day and night.

Verse 25 - The words "Do not" direct him to make a determined choice. He must exercise self control so that he won't let his "... heart turn aside to her ways..." Or allow himself to " ... stray into her paths."

Verse 26- 27 shows how numerous are the men that have been led into sin by this kind of woman. It  also shows the deadly consequences they experienced.

So to sum things up we see that many of her tactics relied on her speech and also her being close enough to grab and kiss him. So the son needs to avoid going near her. He can't go near her dwelling. He must stay out of her reach. He must also stay away from  her visual enticements and he must stay away from her seductive words. Instead he must guard himself from her by meditating on the wisdom in God's Word both day and night. He must think past the pleasure of right now and maintain a healthy fear of painful consequences and possible death. He must realize that resisting her will require a determined choice. So he must exercise self-control.


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