Good News Brief For Men

Psalm 118:5-7:   In my anguish I cried to the LORD, and He answered by setting me free. The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? The LORD is with me; He is my helper. I will look in triumph on my enemies. (NIV) How many times have we cried out to our Holy God and waited for an answer? The freedom that I think was experienced here was the relief of knowing that God was still in control. He sets us free of dealing with the problem ourselves, when we give Him control of the outcome.   “The Lord is with me; He is my helper. I will look in TRIUMPH on my enemies.”    Enemies do not have to be people. The enemy could be a circumstance that rears its ugly head at the worst time. So, who or what is the enemy today? Give the situation to God and watch Him work THROUGH you. He will give you peace in the midst of the storm as well as the wisdom to follow it through. Just remember one thing…. HE gets the praise. Pra...

Matthew 22:39   “And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”    (NKJV) In this second commandment, Jesus states that it is like the first one. We should have the Godly love that only He can produce, in order to love our neighbor as ourselves. Godly love will overcome obstacles. Godly love can clear a path to the heart of one whom you are trying to reach in His name. You shall be to that neighbor as Jesus would be to you. We must always remember that when we step out into the world, as it is today, that we represent Christ first. Our first step out into the morning sun or rain or some other inclement weather, must always represent Him first in every step we take. As believers, we need to be prepared to do this in a way that would always honor God. This means we need to stay in His Word and honor Him in prayer so that we may represent Him correctly to this lost and dying world. There may be another believ...

Matthew 22:37-38 Jesus said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind! This is the first and great commandment.”    (NKJV) Jesus ushered in a new attitude of what a believer is to cherish the most. God is above all in our hearts in all things. There is none greater. We are to reverence God with our entire being, heart, soul, and mind. This also tells us that our God is a consuming God. He wants all of us, in all we are so that we may be conformed to His image. Key Thought: We represent Christ to all we encounter. And we need to give God full control of all we can become. Only through this can we experience His peace and love, as He so desires. Prayer:     Dear Lord Jesus, help me to remember Your greatest commandments that I may reverence You in all and through all that I am and who I am to become in You. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen!!! Have a Blessed Day!!! In Christ,...

Romans 8:6   The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace. (NIV) “Sinful man” here refers to a person that has not experienced salvation through Jesus Christ. It also includes the carnal man or one that is not in right relationship with Christ even after salvation.  When we refuse to give up authority of our lives to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, we begin to falter in our relationship with Christ as well as other believers and loved ones. God refuses to take the backseat in the life of those He sacrificed His Son to save. As a fallen (backslidden) believer we open ourselves up to the influence of Satan himself at which point he begins to gain valuable spiritual territories that at one time belonged to Christ when He sat on the throne of our lives. Through our refusal of allowing the Holy Spirit to convict us of our wrongdoing we again allow Satan to regain former spiritual territories. Our refusal to allow Christ to live in...

Psalms 55:1-2   Listen to my prayer, O God, do not ignore my plea; hear me and answer me. My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught. (NIV) At this time in David’s life, he wants to retreat to a quiet place to sort out his thoughts, but that is impossible. He is in the middle of great controversy that is consuming his very being. So, he does the only thing he can do; he calls out to God where he is. David is in turmoil at the fact that he is facing the conspiracy in Jerusalem against a former friend. This verse could represent any one of us. How many times have our thoughts not been God’s thoughts? How many times have we thought malicious thoughts against someone who has done us wrong? Any one of these thoughts can make a person distraught. But what did David do? He went to God with his problem, right where he was. He did not seek a prayer closet or a quiet place. That was not an option at that particular moment. He went to God right...

Philippians 4:8   Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things. (NKJV) Paul gave us some very serious guidelines for our thought life. If we do not control our thought life, how can we truly be children of God? Paul is giving us standards to live by. Maintaining this avenue of thought can benefit us greatly. If we control our thoughts and use this verse to guide us, it will produce healthy useful thoughts and that will be reflected in how we live in all areas of our lives. Is this easy? Of course not. Challenging? To be sure! Our thoughts need to be healthy. They need to be reliable. It takes time and it takes work. There is no time like the present to get this going in the right direction. Check out ...

Psalms 32:8   I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will  guide  you with My eye. (NKJV) Often, we enter each day in the same routine way, not giving much thought as to what lies ahead of us. That first cup of coffee is always a welcome sight, and it basically signals the day to begin. As routine as that is, all the way down to setting the timer and preparing the coffee the night before, it seems to be a somewhat automatic mode of just getting out the door. On our way to work, everything seems to change. We must be alert in traffic, and we need to always be on the lookout for careless and sometimes even sleepy drivers. We constantly review our mirrors and watch for those around us. And then, we arrive at work. Whew! We made it through traffic again unscathed. WHEW!  In our verse for today, I have underlined the word  guide . Often in our rush to get out the door to work so we will not be late, we seem to ...

Romans 15:13   May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (NIV) Paul wanted the Romans to live at peace and to have joy. Paul never knew that almost 2,000 years later his writings would be seen, read, absorbed, and lived out by those who believe. I see in this verse great words of encouragement. Paul’s missionary journeys were not easy. He suffered some very hard times. He suffered persecution, sickness, loneliness, captivity, beatings, just to name a few, and yet he encourages us to apply this verse to our lives. Obviously, Paul’s joy and hope was in Jesus Christ and there is where he found his joy in all things. Key Thought:  When our day looks to be a difficult one, Look to God, the finisher of our faith for He wants us to experience Him in all we say and do.  May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so th...

2 Corinthians 12:9  And He said to me,  “My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.”   (NKJV) We know that Paul pleaded with the Lord three times to remove his thorn in the flesh, but the Lord did not remove it. Even when we have trials and tribulations, the Lord will be with us. We must trust Him to see us through, and He will be with us on the hard journeys we encounter. Some of us are truly experiencing difficulties. It can be physical, emotional, or another ailment. We cannot let things like this hinder our testimony as we try to reach others in Christ. God is continually forming us into His servant as we submit to His purposes and direction in our lives.  Sometimes we do not understand what God is doing through the problems in life we experience.  We need to look to God for the grace needed and that He so over-abundantly supplies when the need arises. Romans 8:28  And we know that all things work to...

1 Corinthians 10:13   No temptation has overtaken you, but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it. (NASB) Have you ever felt trapped by a sinful habit that leads you to try to compromise with God? Compromising with God is pointless. God’s position on sin is very clear. God hates sin. Proverbs 6:16-19   covers the sins that God hates. Proverbs 6:16-19 16 There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: 17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, 18 a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, 19 a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community. Even though God hates these things, He still loves us and has great passion for us as His children. He wants us to experience His heart and...

Philippians 4:13   I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.  (NKJV) I have revisited this verse many times throughout my life only to rediscover its powerful truths. 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. We need to understand God’s supply is continual. The Holy Spirit lies in wait to give us God’s strength and courage when tragedy and trials occur in our lives. We need to understand that God is not just waiting for us to cry out to Him when His strength in our lives is needed. He wants our lives to be so impacted by His presence that we simply acknowledge that He and He alone is already supplying the strength needed to get through every situation we encounter. Paul did not say, I can do all things that require God’s strength, and he will strengthen me when I call out with the need. He said, “ I can do all things”...

Luke 2:40   And the Child continued to grow and become strong, increasing in wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him. (NASB) Often, we look to God for His grace in time of need. Often, 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 do not 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 is crafty and will use any...

Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you” (NIV) Just before Jesus ascended into Heaven, He left this promise of spiritual empowerment for our journey. This empowerment is seen in the remainder of the verse concerning missions near and far. This also includes our daily walk in Christ. God has promised us the Holy Spirit, and we receive Him when we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior. The gift of Salvation totally includes the Holy Spirit in His completeness. There are moments we need that extra grace. God provides this grace through the Holy Spirit in a powerful filling and is always more than enough. We often forget the Holy Spirit is there for us in our daily walk in Christ. We often take Him for granted even though He is ever-present. I challenge you today as you go through your daily activities to ask God to empower the Holy Spirit so you may sense His presence even in our daily steps and every breath we take along the way. Key Thought: The...

Philippians 4:12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation whether fed or hungry whether living in plenty or in want. (NIV) Often times when reading  Philippians 4:13 , I can do everything through Him who gives me strength. (NIV) , we miss the intensity of the previous verse. Paul talks about being both in need and to have plenty. Paul was content in ALL things because he had discovered and completely accepted the fact that Christ was and is ALL things to him. He is our… comforter… companion…... sacrifice…. in other words, He IS ALL things to believers. We can believe this and know that Christ wants to be all things to us. He celebrates when we celebrate a spiritual victory…...He cares when we are spiritually down, and He is with us while we are there. He will NEVER leave us nor forsake us. Such wonderful promises He has made to those who love Him. We can ...

Our Willing Savior Matthew 8:2-3   A man with leprosy came and knelt before Him and said, “Lord if you are willing, you can make me clean.”  Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man ,  “I am willing,”   He said. “Be clean!”    Immediately he was cured of leprosy.  (NIV) This remarkable story of healing is powerful. But I would like for us to focus on the phrase stated by Jesus: “ I am willing,”   These few words are often overlooked on their own as a statement in themselves, but they speak volumes of what Jesus desires to do for us.  He is willing . He does not negotiate terms, He simply loves and guides us daily when in our hearts, we truly want more and more of Him.  Key Thought: He is willing to always give more of Himself to us than we can ever imagine. Today, let us start with this request. “Lord if you are willing” …… Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, Give me Your peace, in Your time, that I may share...

The Burden Bearer Psalm 68:19 Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens. (NIV) David understood what it was like to have his heavenly Father be his burden bearer. He had fellowship with his Father often. God comforted him and blessed him with great wisdom and mercy because David understood that only the one who cared for him as God cared, loved Him enough to get involved in David’s daily life experiences. God loves us the same way He loved David and wants to be involved in everything we do. Involve Him today and you will see a difference in how God moves. Key Thought: We need to trust God in His involvement in our daily lives. He bears our burdens as well as celebrating our victories in Christ. Prayer: Dear Lord. Give me the desire to involve you in every area of my life and help me to wait expectantly on You as You build more of Yourself into me. In Jesus’ name, Amen    Have a Blessed Day!!! In Christ, Ted Wilkins ...

  His Love Endures Forever Psalm 136:1   Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His love endures forever. (NIV) Have you ever been told, “I don’t love you,” or “I don’t love you anymore?” The love that God has for us is eternal and is incredibly DEEP! It is not timid, shaky, or unreliable. His love is fully committed to His greatest creation, mankind.  God loves completely and to the fullest. He does not shut his love off from us when we do wrong. It is only His kind of love that can draw us back to Him when we leave His side. He will never leave us nor forsake us (Joshua 1:5). But here is a benefit of His great love that astounds me. We can have His same kind of love for others (regardless of how unlovable they may be) that He has for us. Simply ask Him and watch Him work His great wonderful love right through you. Yes, it takes time, but His Love is so great and powerful. How can I know this? He sent His Son ...