Psalms 32

Today's Bible reading, you can find it

 in Psalms 32

God is truly faithful even to a sinner like me, when we come and confess our sins before the Lord, He is gracious enough to forgive.


 
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2 Peter 1

Godly Wisdom through His Word




1 Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:
2 Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

Confirming One’s Calling and Election

3 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.
10 Therefore, my brothers and sisters,[a] make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Prophecy of Scripture

12 So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. 13 I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, 14 because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. 15 And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things.
16 For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”[b] 18 We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.
19 We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. 21 For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
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" The LOVE of money, is..." 1 Timothy 6:9-10

"Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs."(1 Timothy 6:9-10)

The Dangers: Fueled by greed is a love that consumes.


Fueled by greed, the opponents "lost their way," a sobering illustration of how the desire for riches drives a wedge between the believer and God. Paul describes the toll taken in spiritual loss, broken relationships and damaged reputations as griefs that pierce like thorns. An obsession with acquiring wealth is a self-feeding fire. The pursuit of wealth leads down a road filled with every variety of pitfall. But the reverse is also true. And this does not only consume our time and energy but also our values. 

The words temptation and trap may well be used with Satan's manipulations in mind and the Enemy is certainly capable of using the hope of wealth to blur the moral distinctions of believers. Foolish and harmful desires not only are for wealth itself but are probably also immoral cravings unleashed by access to wealth.Strangely,  money may be a solution for all our problems and difficulties but at the same time it can also lead to ruin than to wealth.

Some people will do anything, to be rich whether by hooked or by crooked to attain it. Wealth leads people into circles where the rules are different, the peer pressure is tremendous, and the values are totally distorted. What, for the believer, might have been unthinkable from the outside becomes quite natural once on the inside. Riches as we know are not forbidden of course, but the price of them is. And at the end of the day, which Paul emphasizes with a verb that means to plunge (as if to drown) and two nouns that combine to describe complete destruction.  

"The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil", is meant to give to the warning a kind of popular authority. Beyond this, however, the root metaphor contains an important truth. Similarly, Paul's hearers must not simply treat the problems caused by greed. They must tear out the root that produces the problems.
Jesus' own assessment which follows is no easier: "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle" (10:24-25). But the same passage points to our only hope: "all things are possible with God" The dangerous part is whether the love of money in a materialistic society or the Christians rationalization for joining in the chase.The answer must lie in seeking God for the strength and determination to do what is impossible for us—to somehow take control of the lust for money and things, to somehow bring about the paradigm shift that will allow God and others to occupy the places of priority in life.

Let me end this with Luke 12:16-21 and

 "And he told them a parable, saying, The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17 and he thought to himself, What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ 20 But God said to him, Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (1 John 2:15)

This is just a reminder for us, to put our priorities in checked not to lose our focus on God alone. For He is telling us not to focus our mind on the temporal things that we see in this world but the things that are unseen, for this is eternal. And this is the world of God..Be blessed!
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Psalm 139

Psalm 139

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.




For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.
You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. 
You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.
 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. 
Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. 
You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me.
 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. 
 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?
 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 
If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 
even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. 
 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” 
 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. 
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 
 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 
 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. 
Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
 How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! 
Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand— when I awake, I am still with you.  If only you, God, would slay the wicked! Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
 They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name. 
 Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord, and abhor those who are in rebellion against you? 
I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies.
 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 
See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
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Turning to Gods Word For Comfort And Strength





 "Don't be afraid, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my victorious right hand."
(Isaiah 41:10)
 "He sets on high those who are lowly, and those who mourn are lifted to safety." Job 5:11
"I believe I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord; be strong, and may your heart be stout; wait on the Lord." (Psalms 27:13-14)

"Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you, yes, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand." (Isaiah 41:10)

"I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But be of good cheer. I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)

"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities nor powers, neither things present nor things to come, neither height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans (8:37-39)

"Let your lives be without love of money, and be content with the things you have. For He has said: 'I will never leave you, nor forsake you.'" (Heb. 13:5)

"We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28)

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with gratitude, make your requests known to God." (Philippians 4:6)

"Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Spirit." (Romans 15:13)

"Blessed be God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble by the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God." (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)
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1 Timothy 4:1-16


 But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude; for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer.

A Good Minister’s Discipline

      In pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following. But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women. On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance. For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers.

      Prescribe and teach these things. Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe. Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching. Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, which was bestowed on you through prophetic utterance with the laying on of hands by the presbytery. Take pains with these things; be absorbed in them, so that your progress will be evident to all. Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you.
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