Who do you put your trust in?

Recently I found out that when you think the things are very obvious and whatever is happening will turn out the way the facts are pointing to and the way it makes most sense and is the right way it should be done, it does not.  We can not trust in the government system or any agency or any person to do or choose what's right.  We are all fallen and there is nothing good in us absent from the love of Christ guiding us.  Christ is the only one who will get us through the good and the bad.  If we focus on Him and His direction, found in the Bible, we can get through things stronger.

It's just sad that when you think you can depend on people or established systems that are there to help you, they will hurt you and fail you deeply.

May our trust be only in the One who is perfect, holy, without any fault or blemish, the One who will always be fair and just in all He does.

I have been reading about the Sabbath as I have always wondered about what should we and what should we not do on the Sabbath.

God has chosen this day for us to "catch our breath", to relax, to recharge our batteries.  We are called not to do work like business wise, or homework, or housework.  We can do work that is showing grace to others or helping those in need as Christ did that on the Sabbath when he healed many people. 

So what about recreation?  The day is supposed to be a day of rest which is not the primary focus, but a major part of the reason for the day.  The major focus of course is to worship and praise God and enjoy Him wholly.  If recreation becomes the focus of our day like playing a lot of competitive sports or always looking to do something with our time to keep busy, that becomes the idol is not an acceptable thing to do on the Lord's Day.  If the motive is to relax and enjoy playing tennis with your family which will result with your mind resting from all the other stresses, it's okay to enjoy that.

How about blogging?  Is that work or recreation?  I look at it as sharing what God has put on my heart, and learning from others about God's wonderful works and therefore is not work, but relaxing in His wonders and meditating on His things as viewed by others.

What do you think and how do you view the Lord's Day?

I have been reading along with my wife the Bible in a chronological way.  It's a great way to keep on track by holding each other accountable.  I am the one falling behind a lot of the times.

There are two lessons that are loud and clear in the Old Testament:

1. Generational faith and vision can be lost quickly.  Chapter after chapter in the books of Kings the Bible talks about men that honored and obeyed God.  Then it talks about the king's son being wicked in the eyes of the Lord.  We as humans will run from God and want to do evil.  Obedience is a narrow path and the path to destruction is a wide highway.  These lessons teach us that we must be on guard to ensure our children are developing that understanding and can defend what they believe prior to them leaving the home.  God put us in our homes to make sure we pass on the truth and that God will be honored through their lives and their children's lives and so on.  Let us not fall down and loose sight of our duties, but embrace God's strength and battle daily for the cause of Christ.

2. Sins will not be unpunished.  God teaches us that as the different kings ruled Israel, the ones that worshipped Baal and other false gods were punished by being given over to the enemy hands or killed.  Sometimes God just wiped out a whole family (many generations of it) and sometimes He allowed the enemy to defeat the Israelites.  We see this example constantly in the books of Kings. 

Why is that we don't learn from this?  Why do we continue to choose to sin?  It's a touch battle fighting Satan, but it can be fought with God's power.  May those lessons be on our mind when we choose to be lazy or angry or bitter.  May we be reminded that sin will not go unpunished.  It might not be that other lands will take America over, but it's punishment that God will allow Satan to put disagreement within our marriages, put financial strain on our households, put pain in our bodies or other ways that we might not realize it's happening because of our sin.

The opposite is true as well.  When we obey Him and His commandments, He will bless us abundantly.  He will keep us away from Satan's schemes.  He will pour His blessings on our whole families.

May we desire to obey ALL His commandments and seek to learn how we can live more obediently daily.

God Bless.

Very good question anonymous, m-i-l. 

The question we have to ask ourselves is, if the church we are part of has great teaching and the people show love and have genuine care for others, but have added things that are not biblical, can we just ignore those things?

I belive that is the reason why society continues its downfall.  Take television for example, the normal broadcast/free programming has shows filled with foul language and partial nudity.  Did that happen overnight?  No.  The people making the shows decided to add one foul word into their vocabulary and see what happens.  Over the last few years we have arrived at the current state of numerous foul words and the nudity.

How does this relate to God and the church?

A lot of "religions" use the Bible as a guide, but add some rituals or practices or beliefs to their daily lives.  Adding programs, youth groups, baby-sitting rooms are some of those practices that started not long ago.

What gives me the right to choose what to follow and what not to follow in the Bible or what to add or subtract from it? 

If I say that I don't want to follow the Bible's example of worshiping as a family, what stops me from saying that I don't want to follow the Bible's example of not stealing?  When we decide what to follow and what not to follow we are saying that God is wrong about a certain subject.

We must seek to understand His Word and follow it whole-heartedly in every area of our life.  This is what is agreeable to God, and God entrusted my family to me to take care of and shepherd.  I must therefore seek things and places that will glorify Him in all areas, not just some. 

We live in Arizona and our air-conditioner went out for about 24 hours.  Outside it's about 110 or more daily.  This experience reminded me that we can't take everything for granted.  It's nice to be in a cool vehicle or house, but it could all change in a moment.  We can't take our salvation and our current freedoms for granted either.  Thinking that ohh I'm saved and I don't have to do anything is not the right attitude.  Don't get me wrong, I am not a believer in that you can loose your salvation, just saying that it should not be something forgotten and ignored.  We need to be reminded daily that Christ died for each one of us and a painful, long death too.  We need to thank and rejoice in His grace and His wonderful gift for us.  We can't forget that the freedoms can be temporary.  It is a blessing to be in a country that allows us to freely study, worship, and discuss God and all His wonderful attributes.  God forgive us for being selfish at times, for complaining, being lazy or not obeying You, our Rock and our Redeemer.   

I can not understand why this country is so saturated with churches that go against the biblical model.  The question and topic of why churches are age segragated versus family integrated does not surface almost at all.  The Bible does not talk about segragation and youth groups and programs.  Segragation is a phenomenon that started less than 200 years ago for several reasons.  Why then does the church of today embrace it so vibrantly? 

Is it because it's easy?  I don't think so as you have to build more rooms, get stuff to put in it, get people to volunteer to staff it. 

Why are we so blind?

Is it because today's society "plays" church versus lives a life obedient to Christ?  

We need to follow His rules, not man's.  We need to get out of the comfort zone and take a stand.

May it be our prayer daily to seek God's wisdom to fulfill His will daily.

Well blogging is going to be just like anything else, a discipline.  With so many things to pull us in some many directions we need to make sure that we choose Christ before EVERY other thing, but why don't we?  I am not sure if it's laziness or just lack of faith in the unseen or wrong priorities. 

I have read that if you do something for a month it will become a habit.  The problem is I can't get to that month.  I think it has to be a decision that is made and no matter what I need to stick to that decision.  Of course the priority must be spending time in the Word, spending time with my family fulfilling a father's mandates, taking care of what needs to be taken care of around the house, then blogging.

If you have found good discipline with the most important things, let me know how you approached it and how successful you are.

Here is the beginning of my blogging.  I called it meditations of my heart because it will have my thoughts and my feelings on whatever comes up for discussion.  I hope that anyone who reads my blogs will be blessed, challenged, and/or encouraged in what they see and ponder.  I pray that I always reflect God's thoughts when I discuss what I study in the Word and that I honor Him in my meditations.