Salt of The Earth

Have you ever had bread without salt? I’m not talking about some sweet bread here. Just imagine you go to your favorite bakery and but some freshly baked bread---that you’ve enjoyed for years---only to realize after you’ve had your first bite that it has no salt at all.  I don’t know if this has happened to you already but I can tell you that based on my personal experience it doesn’t taste good.

You may be asking yourself how does this relate to you well come along for the ride and I really do hope that this “bread-talk” will open your “spiritual appetite” for the word of God and that the Lord Himself will minister to your heart as you read.

So when you’ve enjoyed bread baked with salt and after try some without you will realize that the salt-less bread is just not as good and tasty. Some might even go as far as saying that they cannot eat salt-free bread period, it’s just not good.

If you can relate to this example take a moment to picture yourself in that very scene, the look on your face and the taste in your mouth etc. I can see some people going “yuck!” And quite understandably so because one of the thing that gives bread that taste we enjoy so much is the salt that was mixed into the dough.

Now, let’s get a bit personal and answer this question, “How do you see yourself?” You may answer by saying that you use a mirror or that you have your photo taken etc. In truth these are ways in which you can see yourself but today this is not what I want you to focus on but rather I want you to take a good look at your “self”, at your inner being, the one that the others cannot see with their naked eyes, the one that is not defined by looks, height, size, weight, complexion, education, background or job; I want you to focus on the inner being, the real YOU.

Interestingly enough though that person---the inner you---cannot be seen with the naked eye, there is another window that gives a pretty accurate picture of him. Believe it or not but your thinking, behavior, attitude, actions, words etc. paint a very good picture of who we really are. We may try to run away from it but there is no escaping, the things we say, the way we behave or react and generally speaking, the things we do tell a story about us.

We sometimes think of ourselves in a certain way and are even really convinced that’s how we truly are but the story that our life tells can be very different. We may say to ourselves over and over again, “I am a kind person, I am a kind person…” but I can assure you that in order for you to get a true picture you should ask your family members, friends, colleagues and even those that just see you from afar.

I am reminded of this passage of scripture found in Matthew 7:16-18 (King James Version), “16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?

17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.

18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.”

Ultimately, when we look at the word of God we realize that it is not enough to just think that we are a certain way or a certain type of person. In order for us to get a more accurate picture or ourselves we must carefully observe our actions, reactions, attitudes, words etc.

Am I saying that everything that everyone says about us is always true and accurate or that we are always right/wrong about ourselves? Certainly not but the word of God tells us very clearly that the fruit we produce (i.e. our actions, reactions, attitude, behavior, the words we say etc.) will tells us what kind of tree we are looking at. In the passage that we read previously we find two types of trees, the “good tree” and the “corrupt tree”. Both of which can be recognized by the fruit that they produce.

At this point I would like you to take an honest look at yourself and think of what kind of tree you are based on your fruit (actions etc.) Is your fruit tasty or is it bitter?

Think about the title of this post, “Salt of The Earth” and ask yourself am I the type of person that makes bread tasty or even if you add me it remains flavorless? What do I mean by that? Well ask yourself what impact do you have on the lives of others, do you cause them to “Yum!” or do they go “Yuck!”?

Think about it for a moment then read Matthew 5:13 carefully, “13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.”

First of all, I would like you to think about your purpose here on Earth. If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior and are born again (if you haven’t read here) then God has placed you here to be its salt. You are the one that gives flavor. You are useful, you are needed and you are highly valued by God. You are a bearer of God’s divine “saltiness” you are a living testimony of God’s grace, mercy and love towards mankind. You aren’t just there to live and survive you are here to be salt to the people in your life, to all those around you. You bare a very powerful testimony, you are a son/daughter of the Most High God and as a result when people get to know you they should see Jesus Christ in you. When they hear you talk, when they see your walk they should be exposed to God Himself through you.

Your actions speak volumes as the saying goes and this is true. And it’s not just what you do when you go to church, Bible study, Youth Ministry meetings etc. but it’s what you do all day, every day.

Take some time and think about this seriously because you run the risk of thinking that you are a certain way but as far as God and men are concerned there is no saltiness to you, you have lost your savor and have become tasteless. And I’ll go as far as saying that you may have become the kind of person that no one wants to be around, one that bring no salt to the game, one that causes people to run away.

Now understand that this thinking exercise is between you and God, the One who knows all and sees all. He is able to judge our thoughts and attitudes accurately and will surely guide us if we diligently seek Him.

My encouragement to you my friend is to look deep within and if you realize that you have not been the salt of the earth then turn to God immediately, confess your sin and He will surely forgive you. Then repent from the things that you have been doing that were wrong. Go truthfully to God and allow Him to set you free by His divine power. Then and only then will you be full of salt and will bear fruits that lead to eternal life.

There is a lot more that can be said on this topic but I would like to leave you with these words to meditate on and I implore you to do like the apostle Paul says in Romans 8:3 (King James Version), “3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.”

And remember this last thought, God responds favorably to faith and humility.

May God’s minister to you personally and may you truly be salt to the world.

May your life be positively changed forever by the power of God Almighty!

Amen!

Reference #PRW0000009

Who's The Boss?

'Thought Provoker'
 
Have you given i.e. turned over your life to God? Have you ever said something like, "Lord I give you my life and accept you as my Lord and Savior"? If your answer is "no" then I would like to urge you to read a great article on that subject called "Did you miss the point? God's love for mankind." Now on the other hand, if your answer is "yes" then here is a little exercise that will help you determine how much of that is true in your life.

Reflect on the following and do your best to answer honestly; this is between you and God.

When faced with a difficult situation that you know the Bible addresses i.e. gives steps to deal with it, how often do you override these instructions with your own? If you don't quite get what I am talking about here is a practical example. You brother (or sister) in Christ accuses you of doing something wrong and even starts spreading rumors about you as a result. The unfortunate thing is that he never spoke to you nor did he have facts about the whole situation but none the less went about saying all those evil things about you based on mere speculations. Someone that realizes what's going and knows what really happened speaks to that brother telling him that what he is doing is wrong. He further explains to him what really happened, proves your innocence and tells him that he should approach you to tell you how he has wronged you and to ask for forgiveness.

Your brother recognizes him wrong and approaches you, explaining how he has been spreading rumors and saying all kinds of lies about you without knowing what really happened. He then asks you for forgiveness saying that he has sinned against God and yourself.

What would your reaction be knowing that his brother has been spreading those lies for quite some time and you've been really hurt?

Do you know what the Bible has to say about forgiveness?

If you don't, here is one instance of what Christ has to say about that subject in Matthew chapter 18 verses 19 to35 (King James Version), "19 Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.
20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
21 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?
22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.
23 Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants.
24 And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents.
25 But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.
26 The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
27 Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.
28 But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest.
29 And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
30 And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt.
31 So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done.
32 Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me:
33 Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?
34 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.
35 So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses."
We've just read one passage from the book of Matthew that talks about forgiveness and we learn a lot about God's stand on forgiveness. Christ clearly tells us here that we should forgive someone that offends us (has sinned against us) when they ask for forgiveness. Not only so but He tells us a parable that illustrates this very principle; we should treat others--forgive them--in the same way we would like God to deal with us i.e. forgive us.

So the godly response to our brother is to forgive him for his offense in the same way we would like God to forgive us for our offenses.

Now, my question to you is the following, "Is this the way that you react all the time?" The reason I'm asking this question is that not all of us react in this fashion. I have heard many say things like this, "I know what the word of God says but I can't let this go so easily." As a result many bear hatred in their heart against their brother/sister, even for many years and do so in such a way that they would avoid all contact with that person. No matter how hard that brother or sister tries and in spite of their best efforts to mend to relationship, some just refuse to forgive.

So tell me, according to God's word, is that the way we should handle this situation? Though it may not have been uttered in such terms, we are really saying, "God I hear what you say, I know what your word says but I'm sorry I can't have it, I'm going to handle this situation my way."

And this example only looks at forgiveness, there are many other areas where the word of God gives us guidelines and shows us what me must do. Consider the following areas:

• Love
• Money
• Reconciliation
• Helping those in need
• Service to God
• Humility/Pride
• Dealing with our enemies
• Anger
• Patience
• Etc.

I could spend the whole day talking about life's situations and the biblical response to them.

Again, I'm going to ask you this vital question, "Who's really the boss?" You may quickly say, God is the "Boss" He's in charge, He's the one that rules my life, He's my Lord and He's my Savior. But I'll tell you the truth, your reactions and the way you deal with situations you encounter will tell the true story about who the boss truly is, whether it's God or you.

Ultimately, you recognize a tree at its fruits and a wise builder builds on the rock by putting the word of God into practice; even when it hurts.

My encouragement to you today is to consider what you've just read and to truly give God that special place in your life where He is your Lord (above all else, even yourself) and the ultimate Master of your life.

Put God's word into practice every day, in the small and big things and include Him in your decision-making process. I assure you and the word of God confirms it, God knows best and He expects obedience from His children out of love and devotion. After all He is your Lord and Savior and salvation in found in Him through His Son Jesus Christ.

May God bless you and give you the strength to put His word into practice daily.

The word of God is indeed a "Practical Word" not just a mental exercise but has the power to change your life for the better.

Amen!

 

Reference #PRW0000008

Learn How You Can Live A Successful Life

Are you struggling with sin, bad habits, a temper etc.? I know for a fact that there are things about ourselves that we would like to see changed. Are these things destroying you, your family, your marriage or hurting those around you?

You may have tried several times to keep things under control? Maybe what you tried worked for a while but after a few months things went back to the way they were before. Well there is hope and I have some good news for you.

There is a place in Jesus Christ, a place in God, a place in our Christian walk that, when we get there, we are able to let go of the things that we struggle with and that stop us from fully serving God. When we get there, we allow God to have full control of our lives and direct us as He pleases.

When we focus only on trying to solve the problem(s) we have, it’s as if we were trying to block a whole in a sinking rusty ship with duct tape. We must understand that because of the rust we may just end up with more holes later. The better thing to do is to repair the entire ship (body), remove the rust and make it waterproof so that it will no longer sink. We must not focus on just one area of difficulty but rather on the bigger problem: our walk with God.

We keep sinning or remain stuck in our sin because there is a problem with our walk with Christ. The Bible tells us to walk in the Spirit so that we will not fulfill the desires of the flesh. The Spirit of God wants the opposite of what the flesh wants, Galatians chapter 5 verses 16 and 17 says, “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.” (King James Version).

When we get to that place in our walk with Christ, we will be able to set aside the sin(s) that so easily traps or entangles us as we see in Hebrews chapter 12 verse 1, “[…] let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us […]” (King James Version) and get rid of the thing(s) in our life that hold us back, without focusing on it (or them) per say but rather by focusing on our walk with God.

We can only do so by the power of the Holy Spirit in us, through Jesus Christ, not in our own strength. Will power is not enough, we are told by Christ in John chapter 15 verse 5 that he is the vine and we are the branches, if we remain in him we will bear much fruit and apart from him (or without him) we can do nothing. Even the strength to say yes to God and no to the world and the flesh comes from God. Read Philippians chapter 2 verse 13, “for God it is who is working in you both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” (Young's Literal Translation).

How can we get there?

In order for us to get there we need to make up our mind to live for God at 100% (to be totally committed). We often want to obtain the results we read of in the Bible but the problem is that we live our Christian lives one-foot-in-one-foot-out or at 50%. We can live something that on the outside looks, feels and sounds like the Christian life but in reality isn't.

We must take a bold step and have faith in God because it is impossible to please Him without faith according to Hebrews chapter 11 verse 6, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” (King James Version).

We find the strength to do so in the person of Jesus Christ and we can tap into that strength at any time, all we have to do is call upon God with faith.

We must also understand that God is a god of righteousness and that's what He wants, nothing less! We can't claim that we live the Christian life unless we are totally committed. There is no such thing as “lukewarm-Christian-living” as we see in Revelation chapter 3 verse 16, “So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth” (King James Version).

Finally, let’s keep in mind that the enemy is out there trying to cause us to fall as we see in 1 Peter chapter 5 verse 8, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (King James Version). He likes to attack us in our areas of weakness but we must stand our ground as the apostle Paul says in Ephesians chapter 6 verse 13, “Wherefore take up the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having done all, to stand.” (American Standard Version).

Let us bring up the word of God on that very matter just like Christ did in Matthew chapter 4 verses 4, 7 and 10 “[…] it is written […]” (King James Version). The word of God is the sword of the Holy Spirit and we need it to fight, Ephesians chapter 6 verse 17, “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (King James Version). What happens if we have nothing to fight with? For this reason, it is very important that we know and learn God's word for ourselves. Psalm chapter 119 verse 9, “With what doth a young man purify his path? To observe -- according to Thy word.” (Young's Literal Translation).

Practical Guide:

1. We must focus on our walk with God rather than trying to make a list of everything that is wrong in our life and see how we can deal with them one at a time.
2. If we do not want to fulfill the desires of the flesh, that is, sin against God, we MUST live our lives according to what God’s Spirit wants us to do.
3. When we put God first, we can put the things that caused us to stumble, even fall, behind us.
4. For us to live the Christian life we must be like Christ (take him as our example).
5. We must put God first and keep him there no matter what.
6. We need to stop trying to do everything in our own strength and depend on Jesus Christ’.
7. We need to understand that God cares for us and trust him with ALL our heart and believe that he is going to lead us the right way.

One last thing, you can do it!!!

Reference: #PRW0000003 

A Light For Our Path

Dear reader,

I would like to invite you to take a moment to think about life and to be more specific, about yours.

Picture your life as a journey from point A to point Z and the way that you choose to live your life, the decisions you make etc. as your path.

We read in Psalm chapter 119 verse 105  “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” (King James Version).

If you were to consider your path you would realize that throughout your life you have to make many decisions. Some decisions were good and others bad; some were pleasing unto God and others not but at the end of the day we chose to do certain things over others.

I want you to consider the word of God as “a lamp unto my feet” (or a lamp for my feet). Picture yourself in olden days walking in darkness from point A to point Z (see figure above) using a lamp (a lamp that used oil of some sort) as your source of light. Your lamp would only provide light that would cover a small area around you, allowing you to see potential dangers like rocks etc. but you would not be able to see far ahead (my guess is a few feet).

Having traveled from point A to point Z, that lamp would have given you light every step of the way. Your path or journey would have been made up of a whole bunch of little steps put together. Now, if you used the lamp the entire way, though it may only have provided light to a small area at a time, at the end it would have been the light that you used for your entire path.

In a similar manner, if we use God’s word as our guide in all the situations that we are faced with it will be the lamp for our feet, meaning, it will be our guide when it comes to the way we live and the choices we make. If we do so everyday in all the situations that we face, it will be more than just the “lamp for our feet” but it will be the “light for our path”, meaning, it will be the guide for our entire existence, for our journey from A to Z.

May God’s word be the lamp for your feet and the light for your path.

Don’t wait, get into God’s word!

Reference: #PRW0000002

Why is God's word Practical?

We all face difficult situations that cause us to react one way or another. We are also faced with tough choices at some point or another. The question that I have for you is the following: "What determines the choices you make or the way you react?"

You may say to me that the choices we make are determined or influenced by several factors like: the way were brought up, what we saw your parents, siblings, family members and friends do, our education or mood at the moment and the list goes on.

One may say that the aforementioned reasons are totally legitimate but I have a question that I would like you to ask yourself: "What about God in all that?" Are my decisions influenced by God’s word? You see the problem is that we claim to be children of God, followers of Christ etc. but when it is decision time we tend to do what want.

A very popular phrase that illustrates this is "What Would Jesus Do?" or for short "WWJD?" Basically, the idea here is that before I act--which may be based solely on self--I ask myself what would Jesus do or how would Jesus have reacted in such a situation?"

While this is a very good principle, it is only relevant if you actually have in depth knowledge of the life of Christ and His ministry. The only way to gain sufficient knowledge of the life of Christ--who is the word of God according to John chapter 1 verses 1 to 18--is to get into your Bible and read it, study it, memorize it and meditate on it daily.

We are encouraged to do so in Joshua chapter 1 verse 8 which says “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.” (King James Version).

So my friend let’s encourage each other and carefully study God’s word, putting its principles into practice and as we rely on Christ (the Living Word) to see us through all our endeavors, we will live a successful life by God’s standards.

You will see for yourself that the Bible is full of very practical principles for our daily living...

Don’t wait any longer, get into God’s word!

Reference: #PRW0000001