Psalm 90:12

So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

Psalm 37:4

Delight yourself also in the LORD,
         And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

God has Blessed Us!

" 'Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Eph. 1:3A.S.V.). If you run over in your mind and find one single blessing with which God might bless us today, with which He has not already blessed us, then what He told Paul was not true at all, because He said, 'God Hath.' It is all done. 'It is finished.' Goth hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies! The great pity of it all is that we are saying, 'O God bless us, bless us in this, bless us in that!' and it is all done. He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies."


L. L. Letgers

Exercise

Every now and then I make for myself new physical exercise goals. Sometimes I want to build my endurance and make a goal to run a decided distance in a certain amount of time. Or maybe I want to build strength and work on doing more push-ups or chin-ups. Often working towards these goals means lots of hard work and sometime getting up earlier or passing on some activities. I tend to be very driven and will often go to great lengths to attain these goals.

Today in my Bible reading I came across 1 Timothy 4:8

"For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come." 

I began thinking, do I put the same effort into Spiritual exercise as I have been my physical? I have to admit I've failed here. I've heard this verse several times but today it caught me differently. I challenged myself to put just as much effort into Spiritual exercise as I have been the physical.

Love

I could not even start to do justice to this topic but two men who speak very well on it are Voddie Baucham in chapter three of his book Family Driven Faith and Norm Wakefield in his fifth message in the Equipping Men Series called Equipped to Love. After hearing what these two men and others have had to say I've been thinking about it quite a bit. Here are a few thoughts.

I thought it would be interesting to start with how the world might define love.

Wikipedia: Love is any of a number of emotions related to a sense of strong affection and attachment. The word love can refer to a variety of different feelings, states, and attitudes, ranging from generic pleasure ("I loved that meal") to intense interpersonal attraction ("I love my husband"). This diversity of uses and meanings, combined with the complexity of the feelings involved, makes love unusually difficult to consistently define, even compared to other emotional states.

So what is the Biblical definition of love?

Deut. 6:5 "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength."

The three Hebrew words used here (translated heart, soul, and strength) provide a clear biblical definition of love:

love is an act of the will accompanied by emotion that leads to action on behalf of its object.

Biblical love is a choice. While emotion is a large part of the love equation, it must not be the sum total. Although love is accompanied by emotion, biblical love is not led by emotion.

Love leads to action on behalf of its object. John 14:15 says "If you love Me, keep My commandments."

Therefore, if a man says he loves his wife you should be able to tell by his actions as well as his words.

Biblical love is not a random, overwhelming or an uncontrollable force. Neither is it sensual.

Biblical love keeps giving even when there is no return. This kind of love I've seen portrayed in a elderly man who must care for his sickly wife, and does so cheerfully, day in and out, with no breaks.

Mythical love won't endure hardship, overcome adversity, or triumph over disaster.

Often we use the word love with out thinking. If I say I love my car what do I mean? I love it because of what it gives me? I guess as soon as it stops giving I stop loving it? God forbid that this kind of love be applied in relationships!

Biblical love is volitional, transferable, secure, and it satisfies.

Think about what true love means. Watch how you use the word love.

My two cents. Thoughts?

Read Through Your Bible in One Year

Have you ever read the entire Bible all the way through? One of the most important essentials in the daily life of a Christian is spending time reading God’s Word. The Bible says in Psalm 119:105, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Statistics show that most people professing faith in Christ have never completely read their Bible. Many Christians don’t know where to get started or how to go about this seemingly daunting undertaking. Bible reading plans are designed to help you go about this task in a focused and organized way in only 20 minutes a day. I strongly encourage you to consider reading through your Bible this year.

Here is a site with several reading plans.