Meat Loaf with Peace Is Better Than Steak with Strife

The next time your family sits around the table to eat, remember that the most important thing they’re ingesting is not the food on the table but rather the quality of the dialogue around the table.

Where Jesus presides in a human heart, peace prevails.  Otherwise, watch out for strife because even when it’s not present, it’s always right around the corner.

Bible notes on this post.

The purpose of this blog is to proclaim Jesus Christ to those who want to hear about Him without having to join a church – or anything else – but Him.

Why Do You Try to Control Others When You Can’t Control Yourself?

Do you want to improve the behavior of others so that you will have a better life experience?  Why not just manage your own reactions to others?

And if you can’t improve your management of your own reactions, what makes you think you have the ability to improve the behavior of others?

Let Jesus Christ improve your behavior by living for Him instead of for yourself.

Bible notes on this post.

The purpose of this blog is to proclaim Jesus Christ to those who want to hear about Him without having to join a church – or anything else – but Him.

There Is a World of Difference Between Being Righteous and Being Self-Righteous

A person who is truly righteous looks to God for approval.  A self-righteous person looks no farther than himself.

This is why it’s not enough to just “do right” according to our own standards.  If we do what is right in our own eyes, what good is that?  Our view is obviously self-centered – no matter how “objective” we try to make it.  We must therefore do what is right in God’s eyes.  That’s the only objective standard, because He is the only one capable of being truly objective.

Besides, being around a righteous person is a pleasant experience while being around a self-righteous person can be miserable.  There’s a world of difference.

Continually submit your conscience to God.  It’s the only way to keep it calibrated.

Bible notes on this post.

The purpose of this blog is to proclaim Jesus Christ to those who want to hear about Him without having to join a church – or anything else – but Him.

What’s Missing from Most People’s Lives

What is missing from most people’s lives is what the Bible calls “the fear of the Lord.”

The meaning of “fear” in this context is reverence, awe, and wonder.  To fear God is to live as if He is your Creator.  Don’t superficially pass over these words.  Ponder them deeply.  If God is your Creator then He has more to do with how your day – and life – is going to go than any other being does.  Why then are we more in awe of other people than we are of Him?

If you fear the Lord, you live in an entirely different way than if you don’t.  It’s noticeable – especially by you!

(By the way, consider how many professing Christians are practicing atheists.  Don’t be one of them.  Instead, practice the presence of Christ.)

Bible notes on this post.

The purpose of this blog is to proclaim Jesus Christ to those who want to hear about Him without having to join a church – or anything else – but Him.

Prayer Is Not the Means to Live a Selfish Life

Why do people think prayer is a means of getting what they want?

Prayer is actually the means of getting what we need to live the life God wants.

This understanding means we use prayer not to seek physical stuff, but rather to seek spiritual qualities like patience, gentleness, kindness, and things like these…without which we can’t live the way God wants us to live.

But don’t we need a certain amount of physical stuff to live life, too?  Yes, but not as much as most of us think.  And even that, God has promised to throw in without our asking – if we faithfully ask Him for the spiritual stuff.

Bible notes on this post.

The purpose of this blog is to proclaim Jesus Christ to those who want to hear about Him without having to join a church – or anything else – but Him.

Why Do You Want What You Want?

People usually want what they want because they think getting it will make them happy.  What if they knew that getting it would just make them want something else?  And what if they knew that they could be happy without getting what they want?

What do we really need in life besides food and covering?  God is generous but our greed spoils it all.  Greed, by the way, has nothing to do with how much you have.  It has to do with how badly you want what you don’t have.

When you live for the sake of Jesus’ love, what you want matters less and less to you.  What matters more and more is what others need.

Bible notes on this post.

The purpose of this blog is to proclaim Jesus Christ to those who want to hear about Him without having to join a church – or anything else – but Him.

Do You Think About Your Audience?

Life is filmed before a live studio audience.  Most prominent among those watching you is Jesus of Nazareth, now reigning as King of the Universe.  Surrounding Him are His holy angels – way too many to count.  When you die, the film will be replayed for you to see and Him to make the final judgment on your place in heaven.  How do you think that is going to go for you?

It’s not too late to do something about it, you know?

Bible notes on this post.

The purpose of this blog is to proclaim Jesus Christ to those who want to hear about Him without having to join a church – or anything else – but Him.

The Way We Treat the Poor Is the Way We Are Treating Jesus

Our attitude toward Jesus is manifested in our attitude toward the poor.  It is clear that Jesus sees things this way.

If your children come to your table for supper and one of them has an empty plate, would you not want the others to put some of their food on it?  How could God be any less compassionate than you in this regard?

The only difference is that your children can see you and thus discern your approval when they share and disapproval when they don’t.  However, by faith in His word, we can “see” God’s approval or disapproval just as well.

Examine your attitude toward to the poor and you will find the degree of your faith in, and love for, Jesus.

Bible notes on this post.

The purpose of this blog is to proclaim Jesus Christ to those who want to hear about Him without having to join a church – or anything else – but Him.

Your Thoughts Are Vitamins…or Poison

A quiet heart leads to a healthy body.

How quiet a heart do you think Jesus had?  Was He worried, fretful, anxious?

Do you know someone who entertains thoughts of bitterness, misery, and thanklessness?  Do you sometimes resemble that person?

Jesus came to show us that what’s inside us is more important than what’s outside us.  Moreover, what’s inside us affects the health of our outward person.  By what you are thinking through the course of a day you are either improving your health or destroying it.

Think of Jesus and His ways if you want to see better health.

Bible notes on this post.

The purpose of this blog is to proclaim Jesus Christ to those who want to hear about Him without having to join a church – or anything else – but Him.

When There Are No Children, the House Is Neater

God’s life would be a lot neater without us around.  Fortunately for us, He has goals which transcend a neat house.

Jesus Christ had a public ministry noted for its dusty roads, raucous crowds, and vocal critics.  How much tidier His life would have been had he simply kept to His carpentry in Nazareth!  Yet He had those greater goals in mind.

Great goals sometimes bring about great inconvenience.  In perhaps the greatest example of this principle, the establishment of the kingdom of God required the crucifixion of its King.

The next time you’re tempted to rail against inconvenience, ask first if it’s in the service of a greater goal.  The kingdom of God is worth any inconvenience.  Especially where children are concerned.

Bible notes on this post.

The purpose of this blog is to proclaim Jesus Christ to those who want to hear about Him without having to join a church – or anything else – but Him.