Get Smart! by Gene McGuire January, 2012

RE: READING THE NEW TESTAMENT IN 30 DAYS

     I read half of today’s assignment this morning and I am attacking the second half this evening. I am really excited about reading larger portions of God’s Word at one setting. I am getting much more out of this method than my usual daily reading.

“TRY IT, YOU’LL LIKE IT”

Gene

p.s.  Here is our guiding principle for the New Year:

“DAILY DELVE INTO THE WORD OF GOD IN 2012”

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“Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us; we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.” (2 Cor. 5:20)

COMMENT: This world is not our home; we are ambassadors of Christ. Our situation is similar to the condition we had when the Soviet Union was intact. Although we were enemies, each country exchanged emissaries. Suppose the American ambassadors became so enthralled with socialism and autocratic rule that they embraced that philosophy rather than democracy. That can be likened to Children of God who live in this world when they adopt or continue in the sinful ways of this world. This planet is just our temporary home; you might say it’s a “stop over”. In the Army, we used to call this TDY (Temporary Duty). Our home is Heaven. We represent Jesus and those in the world should see Jesus in us and want to emulate us and receive Him as Lord and Savior also. 

SCRIPTURE STUDY: Matthew 5:13-16 and 2 Cor. 3:2&3 

WISE SAYING: I’D RATHER SEE A SERMON THAN TO HEAR ONE ANY DAY. I’D RATHER ONE WOULD WALK WITH ME, THAN MERELY SHOW THE WAY.

Related articles

• Everyday Miracles! Pleading The Blood Of Jesus! by E. Davenport January 29, 2012 (thebloodofjesus.wordpress.com)
• Ambassadors For Christ – By: Mafe Rodriguez (livesharp.org)
• No Hope without Jesus Christ – Part 3 (godsbreath.wordpress.com)
• Oh yes, there is hope… (ptl2010.com)

Innocently Cheating! by Gene McGuire January 31, 2012

“The integrity of the upright will guide them….” (Proverbs 11:3a) 

 

 

COMMENT: Since, in these daily messages, I often tell you about some of my indiscretions, I feel I have the liberty to relate to you an incident in my life that demonstrates how the Lord is changing me. Some time ago I picked up a CVS/Pharmacy advertisement and  was delighted to see that a particular vitamin that I needed was on sale. By purchasing  one bottle, the second one was free. I made a list of other needs and hurried over to CVS. I was surprised to see that they did not have a sign on the vitamins indicating the sale, but that didn’t stop me.  As The cashier was ringing everything up, I saw that she had not given me the second bottle of vitamins free. I told her about her mistake and she made the correction. When I got home, I realized that I didn’t get the sales price on the Fixadent I had also purchased. I searched the advertisement I had used and discovered that the sales were for the previous week. I suspect the cashier simply took my word since I was a regular customer and she trusted me. Now the “old Gene” would have said: “Well, I made a mistake but no one is hurt; CVS has plenty of money, they won’t miss it!” However, I am a changed man regarding such matters and I immediately went back to the store and returned the “loot”. Isn’t it great when “practicing righteousness” becomes second nature without giving it a second thought?

 

SCRIPTURE STUDY: Romans 12:2,  2 Corinthians 3:17,18 and James 1:22

 

WISE SONG LYRICS: HE’S STILL WORKING ON ME, TO MAKE ME WHAT I OUGHT TO BE. IT TOOK HIM JUST A WEEK TO MAKE THE SUN AND MOON, THE EARTH AND STARS, JUPITER AND MARS. OH HOW PATIENT HE MUST BE. . . .HE’S STILL WORKING ON ME.

Guilty or Not Guilty? by Gene McGuire January 30, 2012

 “Except the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it. . . .” (Psalm 127:1)

 

COMMENT: There are some TV commercials that need to be “sacked” while there are others I really like because they can readily be used to illustrate a spiritual principle. One of the latter is the Nationwide Insurance TV commercial which features a gentleman driving a car in which he had evidently programmed his onboard navigational system to tell him how to reach his destination. You hear the devise directing him to turn this way and that way and he immediately obeys each command without a second thought. Finally he is astonished as his vehicle crashes into a store! The world system in which we live is continually giving us instructions as to how to live our lives. Here are just a couple: “He did you wrong, GET EVEN!”, “Pre-marital sex is okay, everyone is doing it.”and “All the church wants is money, money, money. It is hard enough living on !00%;  how can you possible give a tithe and live on the 90% that is left?” When we decide to follow these worldly directives, it is equivalent to building a sand castle too close to the water’s edge. It’s inevitable that the tide will flow in and cause disastrous results. 

 

SCRIPTURE STUDY: Proverbs 3:6 and 12:7, Romans 12:2

 

WISE SAYING: TO BE WORLDLY MINDED IS DEATH – TO BE WORD MINDED IS LIFE IN ABUNDANCE..

Let My People Go! by Gene McGuire January 16, 2012

“IN 2012, INTO THE WORD OF GOD, DAILY DELVE” 

 “And you shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall set you free” (John 8:32)

COMMENT: When I think about Martin Luther King and what he did to help free our great Country from racial discrimination, my thoughts go back to some activities I was involved in while living in Detroit, Michigan. In the early 1960’s I jumped on the Civil Rights band wagon and joined the NAACP. I carried signs and protested outside of businesses that didn’t hire Blacks. I never participated in a “sit in”, but I do have one memorable moment at a downtown business called First Federal Savings Bank. Two other people and I took big bags of pennies and got in line, pretending to take care of some business. When the signal was given, in order to produce  confusion and chaos, we dropped the pennies on the floor and curried around the bank to pick up the “lost coins”. Well, Mr.King was the leader for the freedom of African Americans, but our Lead Scripture tells us about a different and much more important freedom. My Life Application Study Bible by Tyndale House Publishers explains it extremely well:

“Jesus Himself is the truth that makes us free (John 8:36). He is the source of truth, the perfect standard of what is right. He frees us from the consequences of sin, from self-deception, and from deception by Satan. He show us clearly the way to everlasting life with God. Thus Jesus does not give us freedom to do what we want, but freedom to follow God. As we seek to serve God, Jesus’ perfect truth frees us to be all that God meant us to be.”  

SCRIPTURE STUDY: Romans 6:17,18, Romans 6:22 and Galatians 5:1

WISE SAYING: GOD FORMED US IN HIS IMAGE, THE DEVIL DEFORMED US AND JESUS REFORMED US!

2012- Harvest Year! January 1, 2012

“Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.”
2 Corinthians 9:10

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR’S from Gene McGuire and Cafe Sozo!!!