Good News Brief For Men

Good News Brief Weekend John 8: 36 “So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.”   (NASB) Good Day Men! What is true freedom?   We know that true condemnation and captivity is eternity in hell.   Then true freedom must be eternity in Christ.   I know of some believers who had a real problem giving up their life of sinful conduct and bad habits because it was so much fun from the worldly standpoint.   Satan had distorted their view of freedom during the time that they were unsaved that all they can see is what they left behind.   God wants us to see what lies ahead.   Visits to the past through our memories can be damaging to our spiritual growth.   God wants to refocus our efforts toward Him and accept His grace that covers our past sins.   Through our seeking Christ and experiencing the fullness of His grace we can grow beyond the worldly desires and see what Christ holds for our future in Him. Our future in Christ...

John 8: 12 Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”   (NASB) Good Day Men! When our Boy Scout Troop went on a weekend camp-out, the first thing that showed up on that first night was the kid with a good flashlight and weak batteries.   Our spiritual life is much the same.   If we allow our spiritual life to become strained by not spending sufficient time in God’s Word then we will experience the same effect as the weak batteries.   But we must go to the source.   Jesus said, “I am the light of the world;” We need to let Him shine but we must give Him something in our lives to use.   Our source is God’s Word.   If God has someone waiting for your testimony today and you go into today unprepared, you WILL notice it and God will lovingly allow you to experience a sense of loss in not knowing Him as you should.   Through this exp...

John 14: 27 “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.   Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful”.   (NASB) Good Day Men! We understand these words to be from Christ.   What are some of the things you are trying to accomplish in Christ?   Could it be raising your children in the ways of God?   Could it be the stand you are trying to make in front of your friends when poor jokes are being told?   Could it be the possible change of you career in order to follow Christ and His call in your life?   Whatever the circumstances, Christ is there with you.   He wants you to have His peace, but not as the world understands peace.   He wants you to have that godly inner peace that only He can provide through the Holy Spirit that dwells within you as a believer.   We are not to allow things to trouble us.   We are not to be afraid of what lies ahead when we are truly see...

1 Peter 3: 15 but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;   (NASB) Good Day Men! Your personal testimony is an important tool in the hands of a mighty God.   He reaches out to the unsaved with what He has done in your life.   Even believers want to know about your conversion experience so they too can join you in rejoicing.   But our testimony doesn’t stop there.   Our salvation experience continues as we grow in Christ.   Paul tells us in Philippians that we are to work out our own salvation.   Salvation occurs when we accept Christ as our personal Savior, however the life that we live following our accepting Christ is the continuation of Salvation in action as the direct result of our being saved.   In short we are saved through faith.   This is the same faith that will be with us throug...

2 Timothy 3: 16-17 All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.   (NASB) Good Day Men! In the years past since the time I got saved and even before I have heard many laymen and even a pastor or two say that the Bible is just an optional guideline and that times have changed and we must compensate by adjusting God’s Word to suite the times.   These men’s confidence is NOT in God but in themselves.   These are the men who stand by political correctness and not God’s guidelines set forth in His Word.   The faith of these men is highly questionable.   My faith is in God and His Word I cherish.   I like the word profitable as it is used in today’s text.   It doesn’t say just suitable, it says profitable .   Thus our lives will profit from learning and applying God’s Word daily.   In short we wil...

Proverbs 30: 20 This is the way of an adulterous woman: She eats and wipes her mouth, And says, “I have done no wrong.”   (NASB) Good Day Men! In the study of this verse; She eats and wipes her mouth references eating food to the act of making love.   To add insult to injury the verse further states; And says, “I have done no wrong.”   This woman is self consumed and her target was another man who was not her husband.   Look at Proverbs 2: 16-19 and see further the results of falling into this trap.   Over the years in Men’s Ministry I’ve heard the reasons for infidelity from men on why they had the affair.   They are a broad range however, they convinced themselves that this was the thing to do, “besides we deserve to be treated better and our needs in the physical part of the relationship need to be met.”    So men, here’s your question before you attempt to reason with yourself why you need another woman to meet your needs other than y...

Good News Brief Weekend   Proverbs 24: 3-4 By wisdom a house is built, And by understanding it is established; And by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches.   (NASB) Good Day Men! When you pass by a house under construction what do you see?   A crew, a foreman, equipment, lumber, bricks, blocks, nails, screws, etc.   All this and more go into the building of a house.   But what does it take to make a house a home?   Any General Contractor will tell you that he works from a set of plans provided by the Architect.   He then builds according to the plans, give or take a little on the needed changes to make the house a real home when it’s completed. What about your spiritual life?   What about the spiritual well-being of the family that moves in the new home?   Does our construction ever stop?   Certainly not.   If you want a strong, secure family then you must put into the relationship tha...

Good News Brief Weekend   Proverbs 4: 23 Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life. (NASB) Good Day Men! As a Boy Scout I went on many camping trips.   Occasionally the Scoutmaster would post a night watch for the fire to keep us safe and make sure it didn’t go out overnight.   It required diligence to keep the fire burning low but not let it go out.   We cooked breakfast on that fire the next morning so it was important to keep the blaze hot.   I still have my mess kit from those days, and I can still cook.   It took effort to be a fire watch on a camping trip.   This was mostly the responsibility of the guys with the Second Class rank or higher.   Scouting was fun and I grew up a lot while in the Boy Scouts.   I learned what diligence meant early in life.   We learned how to guard our integrity as our character developed through the years.   Scouting meant a lot to me as a youth....

Matthew 6: 14-15 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your father forgive your trespasses.   (KJV) Good Day Men! Obviously the power of forgiveness requires great attention.   Matthew 5: 22-25 gives us a great example of how we are to look at reconciliation.   God takes forgiveness seriously.   Either we need to forgive or we need to be forgiven.   Both require our direct action.   If God has moved in your heart to forgive someone who has wronged you then move and move now.   Don’t wait, forgive them.   You don’t have to wait for them to ask.   Discuss the situation and get it out in the open.   The same applies to someone you may have wronged.   Go to them and ask forgiveness.   Don't wait, do it NOW!   This may sound a bit simplistic but forgiveness is necessary so that we may live in God like harmony with o...

Matthew 6: 13 For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.   Amen.   (KJV) Good Day Men! As The Lord’s Prayer opened in praise, it closes in praise as well.   This tells us that acknowledgment of who God is recognizes the fact that He IS all things to all men.   When we seek to understand and accept His kingdom, and power, and His glory we draw closer to Him in faith and love.   When we study God’s word and dwell in prayer and seek His will, these three points of The Lord’s Prayer become very meaningful.   God builds substance into our lives as men when we seek Him through bible study and prayer.   The result is that He will answer us and feed us His wisdom and strength and build our faith as we follow Him.   He will begin to grow through us and reach others through us in His name.   We will become a useful tool in His hand. For He is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.   Amen. May Go...

Matthew 6: 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: …..   (KJV) Good Day Men! Though we follow our God and continually seek His will in our lives, we are still subject to the temptation of sin.   In Luke 4: 1-13 we see the devil tempting Christ to fall to sin.   Christ had not eaten for forty days and He was hungry.   No doubt we understand that when we miss even a meal or two our attitudes change we become agitated and susceptible to failure.   At this point temptation is easy to fall into, for the body is weak.   But Christ’s response to Satan’s temptation was the same response we should use to fight temptation.   Christ quoted scriptures at the devil and the devil fled.   Direct relationship to the first part of this verse is the method we employ to keep us from temptation…..BIBLE STUDY, God’s holy word.   This is how God delivers us from evil.   We must stay close to Him through our study of His word an...

Matthew 6: 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.   (KJV) Good Day Men! As Jesus forgave those who sinned against Him, we are to forgive those who have sinned against us.   We must forgive unconditionally, with no strings attached.   When we forgive others we unconditionally release those who have wronged us so that they too may experience the same type of unconditional forgiveness that our heavenly Father has for us when we do wrong against Him.   This expression of forgiveness on our part reflects the character of God directly through our actions.   This represents Christ in all that He accomplished on the cross.   In Luke 23: 34 we see Christ and His great love and the price that was paid to cover our sins of which we needed to be forgiven as well. Then Jesus said, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. (KJV) May God richly bless us as we continue to seek His will and His way through His word. Have a gr...

Matthew 6: 11 Give us this day our daily bread.   (KJV) Good Day Men! We know that God supplies our needs and here is our first personal request in The Lord’s Prayer”.   In Matthew 6: 25-34 we see how we are not to worry over these things but to trust God in all things.   Our requests to God in prayer are an acknowledgment of our needs that He already knows about and understands.   Pastor Clarence C. Vaughn mentioned in several of his sermons that we cannot surprise God in any of our requests to Him through prayer for He knows our hearts long before we utter a word of our need to Him.   Our prayers to God confirm our need of His presence in our daily lives. Prayer is our resultant action as God reveals to us the need and we respond properly through making our requests known unto Him. Give us this day our daily bread. May God richly bless us as we continue to seek His will and His way through His word. Have a great day!!! Your servant in C...

Matthew 6: 10 Thy kingdom come.   Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.   (KJV) Good Day Men! Great expectation comes to mind when I read Thy kingdom come.   It’s a knowing that it will take place and through this verse we express our expectancy in it’s happening.   The verse further states Thy will be done in earth.   As believers we want His will to be done here on earth but we often fail to realize that we may be the very ones keeping God’s will from occurring.   This can happen when we fail to pray or encourage others.   Maybe even when we turn God away by choosing NOT to teach that Sunday School class that you have been asked to teach.   It could be a number of obstacles that we throw in the path of God.   One especially is our rejection of His call in our life.   When we tell God NO, we are telling Him that we have a better idea.   Some great men of the Bible like Moses, Jonah, Jeremiah, and Peter thought the...

Matthew 6: 9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.   (KJV) Good Day Men! Here, at the opening of what we refer to as “The Lord’s Prayer”, we see three points.   First is the direction in which we out to pray.   The key word here is manner .   So we are directed to how we should pray.   This doesn’t mean that this should be our one and only prayer but our prayers should closely resemble this example. Second is the recognition of who we are addressing.   The first two words speak volumes to each and every believer. Our Father , clearly points to our heavenly Father as described by the place in which He resides as seen in the phrase which art in heaven . Third is showing GREAT praise and adoration to our holy, heavenly Father, our one and ONLY God in the use of the word Hallowed .   This description of God sets Him apart from any other being by describing the holiness of His posi...

Matthew 6: 8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.   (KJV) Good Day Men! What an awesome God we serve.   He knows our hearts and seeks to supply our needs.   He loves us and knows our greatest need is Him in our lives.   God wants the freedom to work His love and grace in and through our lives every day.   When we call upon Him and seek His will we are welcoming God into our lives to do His wonderful work in and through us as believers.   We need to be flexible and open so that God can use us to reach others in Christ with the great message of His love and salvation.   God’s knowledge of our needs and desire to serve Him opens our hearts to do His will.   We need to give our lives to Him each and every day so that He can mold us into the men, husbands, and fathers He wants and desires us to become for He knows that this is good for us and will bless our calling out to H...

Matthew 6: 7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do : for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.   (KJV) Good Day Men! In short this verse says “say it once and move on”.   God knows our hearts and will hear us when we earnestly seek His desire for our hearts (and others) through prayer.   When we have vain repetitions in our prayers it looks as if we don’t trust God to hear us just the one time.   But when we seek Him, He DOES hear us.   He knows our hearts and will bless us with His presence in our lives through the great privilege of prayer He has given to us to reach out to Him. Keep it simple.   God doesn’t require vain repetitions in order to hear us, so we don’t need to pray as the heathen do .   Our savior Jesus Christ is our greatest example in ALL things. We need to allow God to draw us into His presence through the personal attention He gives to us each time we call upon Him in P...

Matthew 6: 6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou has shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.   (KJV) Good Day Men! Here is where the rubber meets the road.   Today’s verse ties into James 5:16 …. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. (KJV)   Looking at the intimacy of spoken prayer to our most Holy God, I can’t think of a better place to pray than in my prayer closet.   Let’s look at the prayer closet a moment.   It can literally be a closet or room in your home or it can be a time of prayer you have set aside to communicate with God.   I personally know of a man who rises early in the morning and has a prayer walk before he starts his day.   But the key is to get alone with God and not only call out to Him with your praise and requests, but spend time listening to Him through the Holy Spirit.   God gives c...

Matthew 6: 5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men.   Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.   (KJV) Good Day Men! By now we have all heard of the prayer of Jabez …(1 Chronicles 4: 10) but there are many prayers throughout Gods Word.   The prayer known as “The Lord’s Prayer” by far is the most recited prayer of all times.   But the shame is that most people say it without realizing what it means. God’s intention through His son Jesus Christ in this prayer was to provide us as believers with the prayer that God want’s to hear.   In this prelude to “The Lord’s Prayer”, we see that God does not like a showy personality to be flamboyant and so articulate with words that he makes a spectacle of himself and not point to our most holy God. These lengthy prayers can be said easily in our prayer closet (which we wil...

Good News Brief Weekend Hebrews 8: 12 “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and lawless deeds I will remember no more”.   (NKJV) Good Day Men! Can you tell me the name of anyone who can and will forgive you and forget the sin you committed against them and do so completely?   God is the only name I can think of.   Even though we have the capability of forgiving others as God forgives us, it’s most often times the forgetting that gives us a problem.   God is not absentminded or forgetful.   He simply chooses NOT to hold a confessed, repented and forgiven sin against the one who committed the sin.   God knows that we also have a problem in forgiving ourselves.   This is where God’s grace abounds.   God many times will draw another believer into our world to help us recover and be able to one day forgive ourselves for the sin committed.   Our loved ones will forgive us, but do we forgive ourselves?   ...

Good News Brief Weekend Psalms 5: 3 In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.    (NIV) Good Day Men! This is an appeal to God from David for God to hear David’s prayer.   We see the importance of Morning Prayer.   Twice in this verse Morning Prayer is mentioned.   We wake up in the morning and oftentimes we do so with great dread of what awaits us.   Sometimes it will be painting the house, (trim or otherwise), mowing the yard, cleaning out the garage or fixing a plumbing problem that occurred at 5:15 P.M. Friday afternoon or problems at work that make you too sick to show up.   Take your pick.   It has taken a long time but I have finally adjusted to the morning event of praising God when I wake up.   I never praise Him the same way each morning but my praise to God is real and true.   Sometimes I quietly sing the Doxology.   This is a great song o...

Luke 2: 40 And the Child continued to grow and become strong, increasing in wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.   (NASB) Good Day Men! Often times we look to God for His grace in time of need.   More often than not we ask for grace in times of trouble and it never occurs to us that we can also ask God for His grace in time of needed wisdom when studying His Word.   In today’s verse we see Christ (Child) growing and becoming strong, increasing in wisdom ; during which time the grace of God was upon Him .   God wants no less for us than to seek His grace when we are learning through His Word and its application to our daily lives.   He wants us to come to Him when we are confused.   If we don’t go to God during these times of confusion, Satan will come upon us and make us begin to doubt the Holy Word of God.   This is the toehold in life that Satan uses quite often to begin his decay of our lives.   We must remember that the enemy i...

Proverbs 8: 17 I love those who love me; And those who diligently seek me will find me.   (NASB) Good Day Men! What great reward we receive when we give over to loving God completely.   God’s love for us is beyond compare.   He loves us completely and we hurt Him when we turn away from Him in sin.   We burden His heart by quenching the Holy Spirit when He only wants what is best for us, and that is to remain in Him always.   But His promise goes farther.   We need to diligently seek Him in all we say and do.   For when we seek Him we will find Him.   God doesn’t play hide and seek with us.   He is there, wanting to pour His blessings into our lives as often as we come to Him.   Go to Him today and seek Him where he may be found, in His most Holy Word, the Bible. I challenge you to set aside some time today and spend time alone with God and His Word.   Allow Him to communicate His great love to you by being a willing rec...

Hebrews 10: 23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)   (KJV) Good Day Men! 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 sure you date your...