How quickly do we respond to God's instructions?

Pay attention to the word "immediately" used more than once in the passage below. They showed no hesitation. They responded to the Lord immediately.

Matthew 4:18-22

18 Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 19 And He *said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. 21 Going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them. 22 Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.


Scripture quotations taken from the "NASB" (www.lockman.org)
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Pleasing God or grieving God

Proverbs 10:1 talks about a son either acting wisely or foolishly. If he acts wisely he can bring joy to his parents. If he acts foolishly he can bring them grief.

10 The proverbs of Solomon.

A wise son makes a father glad,

But a foolish son is a grief to his mother.

It is necessary for the son to have the knowledge of how his conduct affects his parents. They provide both a positive and a negative motivator for obedience. Likewise these same two motivators produce obedience in us towards our heavenly Father. On one hand we are encouraged to walk in love because we know it will please God 

Hebrews 13:16

16 And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

And on the other hand we don't want to walk in sinful conduct since we know it can grieve Him. 

Ephesians 4:30

30 Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

Scripture quotations taken from the "NASB" (www.lockman.org)
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Two keys to a successful marriage

I don't want to oversimplify relationships which can be complex but nevertheless there are two core principals that are needed for a successful marriage. One principal applies to the man and one to the woman.

God who knows us and fashioned us understands how our needs differ and has given us good counsel on how each spouse can meet the need of their partner. As you read this you may think of other things that keep a marriage strong but for sake of this devotion we will only focus on just two core issues.

God identifies these two core needs as love and respect.

Ephesians 5:33
Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband.

Notice in this verse the core need of a woman that is addressed is different from the core need of the man that is revealed. A core need of the woman is her need to be loved by her husband. And a core need that a man has is to be respected by his wife. When a woman feels loved it makes it easier for her to respond with respect to her husband. When a man feels respected it makes it easier for him to respond by expressing love to his wife.

But a vicious circle can develop when we only meet the other persons need when our need is first met. Mindsets like " Respect is earned and I'll only show respect to him when he shows love to me" Or "I'll only express love towards her when she starts showing me respect" In this example each spouse is withholding a core need of the other until their own need is met. Having these type of mindsets leads to further deterioration of the relationship.

In the above example of conditionally meeting the other persons need the couple can be driven further apart.  The woman sensing that love is being withheld from her digs her heals in and withholds respect from her husband. The man feeling that he is not respected by his wife responds by withholding love from her.

One solution for this example is to show unconditional love and unconditional respect.
This can keep a vicious cycle from forming. Instead with an unconditional display of love and respect a positive cycle can be produced. The woman feels loved and she is encouraged to respect her husband. And that respect sits well with him. The husband feeling respected is encouraged to respond by showing his wife love and this meets a great need in her. This can feed upon itself in a positive way and fuel a cycle of increasing love and increasing respect. This cycle is key to a successful marriage.

God bless you.


Scripture quotations taken from the "NASB" (www.lockman.org)
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Wise business investing - The benefits outweigh the disadvantages

Proverbs 14:4

4 Where no oxen are, the manger is clean,
But much revenue comes by the strength of the ox.

Make wise business investments is one point that can be drawn from this verse. Here the farmer will incur initial financial loss in the purchase of an ox. He will have added ongoing cost to feed and keep that animal healthy. He will have added inconvenience in keeping the stall clean. 

But one thing this scripture is saying is don't let the cost and inconveniences hinder you from investing wisely in your business. In this example the benefits of a greatly increased  harvest will far outweigh the financial outlay and the inconveniences associated with adding one or more oxen to your barn. 

God cares about every single area of our lives. As a result He even gives counsel concerning running a business. The outlay of money and extra work may not be God's leading for your situation so take it to prayer before making any decisions. 


Scripture quotations taken from the "NASB" (www.lockman.org)
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Creating our own problems

There are times when God brings discipline into our lives. There are times when God allows trouble to enter our lives for a purpose. And although there may be other reasons why difficulties come there are times when people have trouble because  they brought it upon themselves. Their own conduct created an unnecessary problem in their own lives. Lets look at one example in Proverbs.

Proverbs 14:3

3 In the mouth of the foolish is a rod for his back,
But the lips of the wise will protect them.

Here the sinful use of the tongue ended up being a rod for the foolish person's back. Unnecessary trouble came back to this person as a direct result of sinful speech. Words that hurt others could be one example. When someone is wounded by unloving speech they can respond back to the speaker with anger, quarreling or even violence.

This trouble would come to the speaker by their own doing. God's hands did not engineer this conflict. They created their own conflict by the way they treated their fellow man.

We will never be trouble free in this life. But we can reduce unnecessary trouble by building godly character in thoughts, words and deeds.


Scripture quotations taken from the "NASB" (www.lockman.org)
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Tempted to use your mouth in the wrong way?

Psalm 39:1

I said, “I will guard my ways
That I may not sin with my tongue;
I will guard my mouth as with a muzzle
While the wicked are in my presence.”

David had more than one approach to keeping his tongue under control. In Psalm 39 we see two of his methods. One of the things he focused on was the tongue itself. He made a conscious effort to keep his tongue under control. He guarded his mouth.

But notice he did not just guard his mouth but he also guarded his ways. He said, “I will guard my ways That I may not sin with my tongue;"  The way we are on the inside will eventually work its way out to our tongue. So addressing our ways is also very important if we are going to keep our tongue under control. That principal is clearly stated in Luke.

Luke 6:45

45 The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.

Scripture quotations taken from the "NASB" (www.lockman.org)
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Having a balance between work and rest

Ecclesiastes 4:4-6

4 I have seen that every labor and every skill which is done is the result of rivalry between a man and his neighbor. This too is vanity and striving after wind. 5 The fool folds his hands and consumes his own flesh. 6 One hand full of rest is better than two fists full of labor and striving after wind.

In this passage we see three different mixtures of work and rest. One person chooses to avoid work, one has a healthy balance between work and rest and one works too much. 

In verse 5 the foolish person takes a lazy extreme. He chooses to fold his hands and to avoid work. He did not get a lay off which caused him to be out of work through no fault of his own. He was unwilling to work and provide for himself. In his case his poverty is his own fault. 

In verse 6 the next person balances work and rest. One handful of rest suggests that he has one handful of rest and one handful of work. He has a balance between a time of work and a time of rest.

The third person which is also in verse 6 has two handfuls of work. He works too much and does not rest from his work when he should do so. Whatever is motivating him to be a workaholic is robbing him of needed rest. Sin can be a hard task master that drives us and deprives us of needed rest. But God doesn't drive us like a task master. God leads us to work and He also leads us to times of needed rest too. 

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