Passion Or Principle?

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths." (Proverbs 3:5-6) 

How much do we act on what we feel, and how much do we act on the facts we know?

There are many who attend to the statement: "If it feels good, do it!" The truth of the matter is that our feelings can fool us, and have us be involved in things, that might have felt right at the moment, but later caused us great sorrow and regret.

It is always better to operate with the principles of God's Word, than on pure feelings. God has designed His word for our benefit. When we apply God's Word to our lives, we find out every time, that it works.

An airplane pilot has to depend on his/her instruments when flying into a storm, and vision is limited. If they don't, they may find themselves flying upside down, ready to crash into a mountain.

Am I saying that we shouldn't ever rely upon what we feel? Certainly not! But for the overall direction we need, we need to trust the Lord, and His Word. And the promise is that He will direct our paths.

Thank God, His word does not change. We can depend on it, to get us to where we need to be, for this life, and for the next! GP

Photo by Arvind Balaraman. Published on 20 April 2010 Stock photo - Image ID: 10015142
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Dancing With The Devil

"Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil." (1 John 3:8)

 In James 1:15, James reveals the process of sin, and the result of sin. "Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin when it is full-grown, brings forth death" No doubt Satan is encouraging us to follow through with this process.

But we need to remember that we don't have to dance with the devil. We have freedom of choice. We can choose to keep our desires from leading us down this destructive road. One of the fruits of the Spirit is Self-Control (Galatians 5:23b)

In the analogy of a dance, it would far better to have the Holy Spirit as our partner, than Satan. Instead of fulfilling the lusts of the flesh, we are to keep in step with the Holy Spirit (Gal.5:25)

In our text, John shares part of the purpose for Jesus coming into the world. "The Son of God appeared...to destroy the works of the devil." (v.8c) So why would we indulge in what Jesus came to destroy.
We can choose to keep in step with the Holy Spirit, and live the life God wants us to live. A life that is free of the sinful attitudes and actions, that can send us to hell.

In life's dance, let's make sure we have the right partner. GP

 ID 4552908 © Maksym Filipchuk | Dreamstime.com

The Right Choice

"And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15) 

Why should we choose to live and serve the Lord Jesus Christ?

Everyday we make choices. And some choices will have a great impact on the outcome of our future. Many in this world, do not consider their eternal destiny. They choose to live for today, and let tomorrow take care of itself. But there will come a time, when we will run out of time, and we will step into our tomorrow. When we do, we will find ourselves in a very bad state of affairs.

Only Jesus has the keys to eternal happiness. Apart from Him, there is no eternal hope for mankind, The choice is yours today. The choice to receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, and to place your eternal future in His hands.

Joshua made the right choice in this life, for him and His family. But He knew He was also making the right choice for eternity as well. I pray that before it's too late, you will make the right choice.
GP

 Photo by graur razvan ionut. Published on 10 May 2010 Stock photo - Image ID: 10016416
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