by David Long
"Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do" (Heb. 4:13).
"The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good" (Prov. 15:3).
Remember: God sees.
by David Long
The Bible is more than just a road map to heaven, it is a guide in life too. The Bible is the book that not only pertains to our spiritual health but also to our mental and physical health. "According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue" (2 Pet. 1:3). Don't count the Bible out when it comes to its ability to deal with life's problems. It has the answers. The problem is, we may not like its answers.
by David Long
"So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean. But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper. Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage. And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean? Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean" (2 Kings. 5:9-14).
There are many people like Naaman, they don't like God's plan. They want God to do it their way. If we want to be cleansed from sin then we must do it God's way (Acts 22:16). Any other way, won't work.
by David Long
"And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" (Lk. 6:46). To call Jesus the Lord of your life and not keep His commandments is all talk and no action.
"If ye love me, keep my commandments" (John 14:15). To claim to love Jesus and not keep His commandments is all talk and no action.
"Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only" (James 2:24). To say you have faith or believe in Jesus and not obey Him is all talk and no action.
Are you all talk and no action?
by David Long
"We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error" (1 John 4:6). Who is the "we" in this verse? It was the inspired men, John being one of those men. Those inspired men were guided into all truth (John 16:13). To reject their message is to reject Christ (Lk. 10:16). Their message is the New Testament. Do you believe it? Are you obeying it? Or are who hearing another gospel (Gal. 1:6-9)?
by David Long
Gluttony is one of those topics that people don't want to hear about. What is gluttony? It is defined as, "habitual greed, excess eating or drinking or excessive indulgence." Gluttony is the sin associated with unhealthy indulgence in material delights, usually food and drink. It is creating an idol out of something material, often consumable. If anything material or fleshy is in control, then there is gluttony.
"one of themselves, a prophet of their own, said, Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, idle gluttons" (Titus 1:12).
"Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things" (Phil. 3:19). Their palate is their god. They worship and serve their desires. That's gluttony.
by David Long
"In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous" (1 John 3:10-12).
Why did Cain murder Abel? Because Cain's works were evil and Abel's righteous. Read Genesis 4 and Hebrews 11:4. Abel obeyed God and was accepted while Cain disobeyed God and was rejected. Cain wanted to do as he pleased and be accepted by God. Sorry that's not the way it works. Instead of repenting and doing what God said do, he killed Abel. Don't know what he thought he would accomplish by killing Abel but it just made matters worse.
