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I have a few questions I'd like to ask you. Do you want to live a long
life? Do you want to be healthy and whole? Do you want to be blessed
going out and blessed coming in? If you answered yes to any of these
simple questions then I would think you are a pretty wise person. In
order to have these blessings, however, there are some things that we must
do first. We must be diligent in following God's commands that are written
throughout His Word. We must be the peacemakers that Jesus commands in
Matthew 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the
children of God.” We must be diligent in speaking the truth and doing as
much good as we possibly can as we read in 1 Peter 3:10-12 “If you want to
enjoy life and see many happy days, keep your tongue from speaking evil and
your lips from telling lies. Turn away from evil and do good. Search for
peace, and work to maintain it. The eyes of the Lord watch over those who
do right, and His ears are open to their prayers. But the Lord turns His
face against those who do evil.”
To receive God's blessings, we must follow His commands as we read in
Proverbs 4:20-22 “My son, attend to My words; incline thine ear unto My
sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of
thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to
all their flesh.” The Lord will preserve us if our hearts are perfect
towards Him. Even if we stumble and fall, if we continue to walk uprightly
before the Lord, we will be redeemed as we read in Psalm 37:23-25 “The
steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and He delighteth in his way.
Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth
him with His hand. I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen
the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.” See that it is to
your benefit to keep God's commands at the center of your heart. Do all
that you can to do the right things at all times and be that
beacon of
light, hope and love that others will be drawn to so that your life's
example will lead others to the One who has given you life.
What we must always remember and keep in mind is that God has set forth
His laws on the earth that will work either for our betterment or to our
detriment. The decision is ours to make. We can live in peace, joy and
harmony or we can live in strife, struggle and discord. When we are
peacemakers and peacekeepers, we are not only blessing others, but we are
also blessing our own lives. The Lord wishes for all of us to cease from
all strife and seek after peace. Let us learn from the mistakes of others
and not repeat them ourselves. Let us live peaceably among all men, let
us live with integrity, let us love without motive and let us treat our
neighbor as we wish to be treated. When we act in this manner, we will
receive the abundant blessing of the Lord. We will have found the secret
to longevity, to joy, to hope and peace. I pray that you receive what the
message is saying and strive for harmony all the days of your life. You
will be proud of your life when you do!
(Matthew 5:14-16) (1 Peter 3:8-12) (Luke 6:31-36)
I hope this message inspires and challenges your heart to be a peacemaker
every chance you get.
THE MOST IMPORTANT TRIP YOU MAY EVER TAKE
It is accurately said that it is easy to be an angel when nobody ruffles
your feathers. But it seems that feather rufflers will always be around.
We're told that 19th Century German statesman Prince Otto von Bismarck
once became so incensed at the criticism of a professor (he must have
ruffled the prince's feathers), that he challenged him to a duel. Protocol
had it that the one challenged was to have the choice of weapons.
The professor made his choice...sausages! He sent word to Bismarck, along
with a pair of sausages, that one sausage was safe to eat. The other had
been poisoned with trichinae, which would cause a slow and lingering death,
or at least long invalidism. He informed the prince that he should choose
which sausage to eat and said he would eat the other one.
Bismarck reasoned that a man might die with some sort of honor on a dueling
field, but never by food poisoning. He sent the message back, “His highness
has destroyed the sausages and asks that you be his guest at dinner this
evening. After due consideration he feels he may have been slightly in
error. He believes an agreement can be reached.”
One of the most important trips a person ever takes is “to meet someone
halfway.” Bismarck met his adversary halfway and chose to bring something
useful from his conflict.
When others ruffle our feathers, we always have a choice. We can meet them
on the dueling field, where one will clearly win and the other will lose,
or we can meet them halfway. Even armed only with words, we can seek to
hurt or we can seek a solution.
The choice we make will make all the difference.
By Steve Goodier
Read and meditate on these scriptures:
1 Peter 4:8-10 “And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves:
for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. Use hospitality one to
another without grudging. As every man hath received the gift, even so
minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace
of God.”
Galatians 6:2-4 “Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of
Christ. For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he
deceiveth himself. But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he
have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.”
1 Peter 1:22 “Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth
through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love
one another with a pure heart fervently.”
Hebrews 12:1-3 “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great
a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which
doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set
before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who
for the Joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame,
and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him
that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest ye be
wearied and faint in your minds.”
All of these scriptures can be found in the King James Version Bible.
Today’s Selected Poem: THE COMMISSION
Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/inpoem17.htm
Today’s Selected Testimony: TAKING A GOOD LOOK
Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/testimony189.htm
In Christ’s Service,
Dwayne Savaya
God’s Work Ministry |
