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2 CORINTHIANS 5:1 NKJ 1 For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. The “real you” is not your body. Your body is just a house you live in so you can function here on earth. Just as someone can change houses where they live, you can, and will someday, leave your body and still exist. We focus too much on our body. The inner part of us is most important. These bodies we live in are not eternal. It is not wrong to take care of our bodies, any more than it is wrong to take care of the house or apartment where we live. It is a mistake, however, to spend all our time on our body and neglect our spirit and mind. 1 TIMOTHY 4:8 RSV 8 for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. Who a person is on the inside is more important than what their body looks like. We judge too often on th

JAMES 1:22 NKJ 22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. How easily we fall into the trap of listening to, or even studying, the Bible – but not acting on its instructions. According to this verse, that opens us up to deception. We think we are spiritual. We think we are safe. But then, when things don’t work out we will blame God and question why He let us down. LUKE 6:46-49 NKJ 46 “But why do you call Me `Lord, Lord,’ and do not do the things which I say? 47 “Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: 48 “He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. 49 “But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that h

HEBREWS 8:13 NKJ 13 In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. The part of the Bible we call the Old Testament is not exactly the same as the Old Covenant, nor is the part of the Bible we call the New Testament exactly the same as the New Covenant. The Old Covenant was an agreement between God and the children of Israel. We have the record of it in the Old Testament. The New Covenant is an agreement between God and Jesus Christ. (Therefore it includes all who are united with Jesus Christ, or as the Bible says, all those who are “in Christ.”) The New Testament is the name we give to the 27 books of the Bible from Matthew through Revelation. The New Testament book is not the New Covenant, but reveals it and explains it. The New Covenant did not start until after the death of Jesus Christ. For it was sealed by the precious blood of Jesus paying the price for the complete remission of sins f

PSALM 107:1 NKJ 1 Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. It seems the more people have the less thankful they become. Today complaints are abundant, but thank you’s are few. COLOSSIANS 3:15 NKJ 15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. Being thankful is not optional for a Christian. If it was impossible, God would not have told us to do it. So, why are people not thankful? Gratitude is a mark of maturity. Ingratitude is a mark of immaturity. Babies are never thankful. Neither are proud people thankful. Why? Because their mindset is that they deserve not just everything they have, but even better. “Why be thankful for something less than what you deserve?” describes their thinking. A funny thing you will notice if you consider it: unthankful people are never happy. In fact, the more thankful a person is, the happier they are. (This is an example of how acting on God’s Word is

MATTHEW 22:37-38 NLT 37 Jesus replied, “‘You must love the LORD your God…’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. Some commands are more important and carry more weight than others. Not all of Scripture is commands. Mostly it could be called rules (or precepts) for living. In some situations these rules may conflict with one another. When they do, we must know which ones take precedence. Unless you recognize this, you might find yourself confused when facing an important decision. The Bible says children should obey their parents. But children should not obey an order to forget God. EPHESIANS 6:1 NLT 1 Children, obey your parents because you belong to the Lord, for this is the right thing to do. The Bible says we are to obey government leaders. But what if you live in a country where it is illegal to be a Christian? Clearly, God is a higher authority than human government, so there are times when a believer may have to disobey human government. TITUS 3:1 NLT 1 Remind the

God loved the people of the world (including you) so much, that He chose to suffer the penalty justice demands for your sins, so He could enjoy life with you. We should rejoice in God’s mercy and love, but we should not forget that sin is a terrible thing. Sin is not just a list of things God has arbitrarily determined to be against. Sin is bad. Even if there was no God, sin would still be bad. God is against sin because it hurts people. The Bible is clear that sin is deadly. All sin eventually brings forth death. I don’t mean that sin results in punishment (which is another issue), but that sin produces death and loss. ROMANS 5:12 ESV 12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned - ROMANS 5:21 ESV 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. ROMANS 6:16 ESV 16 Do you not know that if you present your

MARK 6:31 KJV 31 And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat. One preacher paraphrased this verse by saying “come apart before you come apart.” God is our Source, so resting should be a turning to God, not a turning away from Him. It would be unwise to take a “vacation” and ignore God. Our bodies need rest, but our minds also need rest from the constant barrage of bad news and entertainment the media tries to sell us. Many fill their days with noise. The news or some other broadcast plays constantly in their background. But we need times of quietness. We need time when we allow God to guide our thinking, instead of the media. We need to make room for the thoughts God desires to share with us. We need times when we shut out all the other voices trying to speak to us and focus on God. Everyone wants your attention. Advertisers want to convince you to buy their

1 CORINTHIANS 10:13 NLT 13 The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure. There have been times in my life when it looked like Jesus had failed me, and I certainly felt like He failed me. But I was wrong! Jesus has never failed me. I have failed Him many times. I deeply regret that. I also regret the times I doubted the Lord and thought He was failing me. Jesus does not deserve to be treated that way. A lot of it happened when I was very immature spiritually. I guess I expected the Lord to make my life a bed of roses with never any challenges or difficulties. I thought I could do whatever I wanted and God would always bless it. Well, I had to grow up and realize that going my own way and doing my own thing was not working very well. Yet, through all of my immaturity, through all of my failures,

2 TIMOTHY 2:13 NLT 13 If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny who he is. I have walked with God for over 40 years. I can tell you, from experience, that God is faithful! I have failed Him many times, but He has never failed me! God has always taken care of me. He has stuck with me through all kinds of things, always helping me. Even when I was not trying to follow Him, I can see that He was protecting me and helping me. I have not been a perfect person. I have made many mistakes. I have wasted a lot of time and money. I have done a lot of wrong things. But God has never failed to be perfect! Even now as I write this my eyes are filled with tears, because of the astounding faithfulness of God! To think that the perfect Almighty God would love me and care for me so faithfully – one so unworthy – is beyond comprehension. (I must add that the precious blood of Jesus has made me – and you – worthy in God’s sight, but it was nothing we did to deserve God’s love an

1 JOHN 5:4 ETR 4 because everyone who is a child of God has the power to win against the world. If you have received Jesus Christ then you are a child of God (John 1:12). The Bible says you are an overcomer – a winner! A big problem is that many Christians have a mistaken identity. They don’t understand who they really are because they have not been told the full truth. When you received Jesus Christ, more happened than just getting your sins forgiven. You became a new person, a child of God (1 John 3:2). And not one of God’s children are losers! 2 CORINTHIANS 5:17 NLT 17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! If you are a Christian, then you are what God says you are. You may not be acting like it yet, but whatever God says you are – you are. For whatever God speaks comes to pass. If God were to say you are a monkey – you would become a monkey. God has said many things about you. He says you are an overco

2 CORINTHIANS 5:1 NKJ 1 For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. The “real you” is not your body. Your body is just a house you live in so you can function here on earth. Just as someone can change houses where they live, you can, and will someday, leave your body and still exist. We focus too much on our body. The inner part of us is most important. These bodies we live in are not eternal. It is not wrong to take care of our bodies, any more than it is wrong to take care of the house or apartment where we live. It is a mistake, however, to spend all our time on our body and neglect our spirit and mind. 1 TIMOTHY 4:8 RSV 8 for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. Who a person is on the inside is more important than what their body looks like. We judge too often on th

JAMES 1:22 NKJ 22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. How easily we fall into the trap of listening to, or even studying, the Bible – but not acting on its instructions. According to this verse, that opens us up to deception. We think we are spiritual. We think we are safe. But then, when things don’t work out we will blame God and question why He let us down. LUKE 6:46-49 NKJ 46 “But why do you call Me `Lord, Lord,’ and do not do the things which I say? 47 “Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: 48 “He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. 49 “But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that h