Good News Brief For Men

Fear will…. Matthew 25: 25 And I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground; see, you have what is yours.   (NASB) I have heard many messages on the parable of the talents.   I can’t help but feel sorry for this man.   Fear was so overwhelming that he couldn’t trust the master to be just; therefore he hid the talent in the ground thus receiving a curse for his actions instead of a blessing for what he should have done.   Fear will literally kill our productivity if we allow it to do so.   Many people will never see success in life for they fear what will happen when they succeed.   How foolish but true.   There are others who fear the journey and don’t know how to do what God has put in front of them.   God never calls us to a task without preparing the way ahead of time.   We must stay in communication with God through the reading of His Word and daily prayer that this won’t happen to us.   I know a man who wa...

Know What You Believe   Hebrews 10: 23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)   (KJV) Have you ever been involved in a conversation with someone who just couldn’t make up his or her mind?   This can be very frustrating.   In today’s verse we are told to hold fast the profession of our faith .   Further research into God’s Word clearly states what can happen to those who can’t seem to hold fast .   (Reference James 1: 5-8 and focus on vs. 6-8.)   Wavering in what you believe can be dangerous.   When we study God’s Word we need to allow enough time for God to speak to us through the scriptures.   I recommend that we all keep a daily journal of what we sense God is saying to us through His Word.   It can be a composition book, or a daily organizer.   Whatever it takes to jot down the things God has called your attention to.   Leave nothing out.   Make sur...

You Have Been Raised! Colossians 3: 1 Since then you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.   (NIV) As believers in Christ we have been raised with Him.   Not beside Him, beneath Him nor above Him but with Him.     We are Christ’s brothers (Mark 3:35) through the redemptive action of our most holy God when He sent His son to the cross to die in our place that we might have eternal live in Him.   We must now set our hearts on the things above and focus on what God has for us.   It is relevant to what goes on in our life today.   God knows our every need and orders every step of those who fully trust in Him.   Let’s honor God by keeping our hearts on the things above. When we trust God to put order into our lives we should give over all control to His loving guidance.   He has our best interest at heart. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly th...

He Went To Pray…. Matthew 14: 23 And after He had sent the multitudes away, He went up to the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone.   (NASB) We have examples throughout Gods Word of ways we can pray and examples of ways that God showed His people how to address Him in prayer.   First, we must be clean.   Psalms 66: 18 states that “if I regard wickedness in my heart, the Lord will not hear”. (NASB)   We need to ask forgiveness from God for our sins so that we may approach the throne of grace clean before a holy God.   Is there really any other way to be before Him?   As for myself, I do not want to go before a holy God unclean.   I want His cleansing of my heart as often as necessary so that I might not hinder His access to me.   We all as believers want to be used by Him.   In the verse for today we have the example of Christ going off away from the multitudes of people in order to get away and b...

The Light of the World John 8:12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world.   Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”   (NIV) I love this promise of Jesus’ direction in our lives.   He tells us we must follow him but he doesn’t stop there.   He further promises that if we do so “we will never walk in darkness.”   He could have easily stopped there but he continues to expound on the benefits of following him by saying that we “will have the light of life.”   I have noticed in my search through the scriptures that nothing is left incomplete.   It all ties together and has been packaged for us to read and feed from.   As believers sometimes we find it confusing when we don’t understand the application.   But we must be patient.   God does deliver on his promises to us.   He reveals Himself through His Word in areas that he wants us to grow.   We ...

We Must Allow God To Become Greater John 3:30   He must increase, but I must decrease. (KJV) So, how can this happen?   The NIV translation states He must become greater ; and I must become less .   As we study more of God’s Word and apply Him to our daily lives He becomes greater and we become less .   But herein lies a major problem.   We cannot simply rely on what God can do only through the scriptures alone.   He wants to impact our lives through our personal prayer life, quiet time alone with Him, and our interaction with other believers as well as unbelievers.   He wants what is best for us and these are some of the ways we give Him access to our lives so we can grow more in Him.   We need to give Him our tongues so our speech honors Him.   We need to give Him our thought life so our mind will have thoughts of honor toward our Savior Jesus Christ.   We need to give Him our physical being so that we can serve others throu...

Does God Really Hear me? Proverbs 15: 29 The Lord is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayer of the righteous.   (NKJV) Throughout God’s Word we see evidence that God does hear us when we sincerely call out to Him.   But the wicked He turns away from.   God calls us to come to Him throughout His Word but here is the promise that He loves us enough to listen to the concerns of our hearts on a continual basis.   He cares about the things that concern us.   He cares deeply for the direction in life that we take when we don’t include Him in His direction for us.   We need to consult God at every turn.   His blessings await. Prayer :   Dear Father in Heaven, remind me that You care enough to hear me when I call out to you.   When trials and troubles hit, help me to know that You are there listening to what concerns me most.   Thank You for your fulfilled promises found in Your Word.    In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen. ...

Eye Has Not Seen! 1 Corinthians 2: 9 But as it is written: Eye has not seen nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. (NKJV) This verse is very revealing to the power of God and His desire for us.   He wants to give us all He has for us.   But we must first have a better understanding of His great love.   We cannot out-give God.   We cannot out-love God.   We cannot out-sacrifice God for we cannot provide a sinless sacrifice in the form of a son as He did.   Even in infancy our children are born into sin upon their first breath.   It makes perfect sense for us to understand that God and all that He has planned for us is so much greater than what we could ever see for ourselves.   Jeremiah 29: 10-11 states:   For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.   Then you will cal...

He is ABLE! Ephesians 3: 20-21 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever.   Amen. (NKJV) I want us to focus on “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us,” At times we limit God by asking of Him only those things that we as humans can conceive of when He answers.   But the scripture says “exceedingly abundantly above” I sense our approach should be that we ask God to expand our capability in understanding how we should call upon Him so that we can do according to His great purpose for our lives.   Otherwise we limit His answers to only what we are capable of understanding.   Sometimes we even tell God how we want Him to answer our requests to Him.   It’s time to step outside the box. God is ready to...

Godly Strength Philippians 4: 13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.   (NKJV) I have revisited this verse many times throughout my ministry only to rediscover its powerful truths that lie in its heart.   What drove Paul to write this was his deep need and desire for God’s power, not only in the dark times of his life, but throughout his entire life as a believer.   Let’s face it guys, we really can’t just pull up to God’s fuel pumps of strength and fill up in the time of dire need when God-like strength is required.   That would be cheating God and ourselves.   We need to understand God’s supply is continual and the Holy Spirit lies in wait to fill us (till our cup runneth over, Ps. 23) in the time of need. We need to understand that God is not simply waiting for us to cry out to Him when His strength in our lives is needed.   He wants our lives to be so impacted with His presence that we simply acknowledge that He and He alone ...

Empowered in Christ John 10: 10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill and to destroy.   I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.   (NKJV) What in your life could reflect Jesus such that everyone around you is strangely and positively moved?   Well over the next several devotionals we will look into what causes this to occur and how this (spiritual) attitude can become a major part of your life. We see in today’s verse that the abundant life is ours for the asking, but many of us are satisfied with a sub-par life and are living as if what we have that day when we rise and face the morning is enough to just get by, and that is all we need.   We even feel that sometimes that is enough.   Well God expects us to live above these attitudes and step into the abundant live He already has planned for you.   The reason we don’t experience this abundant life is that we are satisfied with what the world...

Seek (Part 3 of 3) Matthew 7: 7   Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you.   (NKJV) Good Day Men, Ending this devotional series, we look at the work “knock”. Knock:   In the use of this word we are knocking on a door to get the attention of the one inside who can answer the one who is outside. Typically, when we approach the home of someone we want to see we knock on the door.   We are letting them know that someone is there and wanting to see them.   Sometimes we even have to knock twice.   If they are home, generally they will answer.   In this verse, Christ is on the inside the door willing and able to respond to our knock. Christ wants to answer, but He also wants us, as believers to understand our need for Him.   Christ knows our future, minutes from now as well as days and years away from now. Sometimes the trials and tribulations are “placed” into our lives in or...

Seek (Part 2 of 3) Matthew 7: 7   Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you.   (NKJV) Good Day Men, Continuing the thread “how to” on how we should make our requests to God, we examine the term “seek”.   How do we know His purpose for our lives if we don’t pursue Him? Seek: In this verse it means to actively pursue Reading God’s Word is a form of active pursuit, however, we should not limit this term to a single definition. When we seek God, we do so with purpose and intention.   Merely reading the Word of God never really occurs in and of itself.   We do absorb some of what we read.   Nevertheless, when we read the Bible we need to be focusing on the purposed desire God has planned for us as we read.   There is always something ready and waiting for us when we open the Bible. I was talking with someone the other day and he mentioned that he would like to read the Bible from co...

Ask (Part 1 of 3) Matthew 7: 7   Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you.   (NKJV) Good Day Men, Today’s verse gives us a “how to” on how we should make our requests to God. Ask: As simple and easy as this word sounds, there is a sense of complexity about this word and how it is used in this verse.   God is not a Genie in a lamp.   God has purpose in all for which He makes us responsible in the things that we ask of Him.   He makes us responsible for knowing what to ask for as well as how we come to Him with our concerns.   Our requests should be well thought out, and not a Christmas list of miscellaneous items. When we ask God for something, we must consider the following: God’s intended purpose for that particular need He has placed in our lives. Is our request of a selfish nature?   If so, how should it be addressed before God. Is our request for the betterment o...

Don’t Worry? Matthew 6: 27   Which of by worrying can add one *cubit to his stature?   (NKJV) Good Day Men, Many women will tell you that worry equals wrinkles.   There may be some truth to that.   It takes by far more muscles to frown than it does to smile or laugh. What do you do more of daily, frown or smile?   When we worry, our facial features change reflecting a hard look.   This is quite the opposite of smiling.   Smiling is open and inviting.   A grin is open and inviting as well.   A frown can communicate a “don’t come near me” attitude.   Home is a great place to practice your facial expressions.   People around you are at ease when you smile and your facial expression is inviting.   When you frown, most times people won’t come near you except when they have to. A frown can turn away people, but a smile can disarm the frown, even when the frown comes from someone else.   Besides, what does worry...

Ask with Faith!!! James 1: 6-7   But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.   (NKJV) Good Day Men, Faith is a powerful tool in the heart of men who understand what faith is.   Faith is defined in Hebrews 11:1.   In this verse we see that faith is the substance or foundation of things hoped for, the evidence (confidence) of things not seen.   In short, we believe in God through our faith in Him.   Our confidence is in Him and Him alone. In God’s Word, we find many promises from God.   He has never failed in fulfilling those promises.   When God has laid something on our hearts to pray for then we are to wait, in faith, expecting His promised outcome.   Sometimes that outcome is peace in the midst of our own personal storms. ...

All You Have To Do Is… ASK!!! James 1: 5   If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.   (NKJV) Good Day Men, Have you ever needed an idea greater than yourself?   Have you ever needed to solve a problem for which only God could provide the answer? Why do we as men try to do everything on our own even to the point of failure?   Have you ever had a “do or die” attitude?   I have.   God is waiting for you to get Him involved.   I want to share this important point with you today. At times in my past, I would work at something to produce an answer for a particular situation only to end up at a dead end with no results.   Sometimes this resulted in more fruitless attempts in finding the answer again only to become more frustrated with the wrong outcome.   I remember a time when I was doing my own repair work on the family car several years ago. ...