God's Concern for Detail

Scripture Reading: Psalm 139:1-18

Focus Verse: Psalm 139:3  "You chart the path ahead of me and tell me where to stop and rest.  Every moment you know where I am."

Any great accomplishment must have attention to detail.  Every artist knows that the masterpiece they complete is made up of thousands of details.  God, as well, has given a lot of attention to the details of His creation.  Let's not forget that God knows how many hairs are on our heads as stated in Luke 12:7.

In our scripture reading today David recognizes that God knows where we are at every moment.  Sometimes we may feel stressed with so many details in our lives.  But you can rest easy knowing that God never gets anxious about details.  He holds the whole galaxy of stars in his hand and controls every detail.  Yet he is concerned with every detail of your life and is there to help you.

For every problem we have, God has a solution.  Our biggest problem is sin but God has a solution for that, and His name is Jesus.  You can trust Him with whatever you are facing today.  Remember He loves you and wants to help you.

Bobby Johnson
Interlocking Ministries

Jesus said, "You Will Have Troubles."

Scripture Reading: Job1:1-22   

Focus Verse: Job 2:10 Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never adversity?  So in all this Job said nothing wrong.

Sometimes in our lives we tend to remember all the bad things that have happened to us and forget the good things.  We remember Job for all the bad that happened to him.  But we should remember how Job had victory in spite of his adversity.  There were four things that were important to Job: his faith, family, friends and his fortune.  Satan tried to take all of them from Job hoping he would curse God.  Instead we see Job thinking on the goodness of God and worshiping His greatness.  Satan was probably the one cursing and not Job.  At no time do we see Job blaming God for these things.  God was enough for Job, with or without the other things Job had.  Job said in 13:15 "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him."

Do you bless God and praise Him even when you don't understand what is going on in your life?  Job's faith is a great lesson to us on how we can trust in God even though we may be going through unexplained trials.  Job did express his grief to God, and God wants us to cry out to Him also.  Remember Job for his victory during the trials and we can do the same with God's help.  Almighty God is enough.  We need nothing else.

"He who has God and everything else has no more than he who has God only".
C.S. Lewis

Bobby Johnson
Interlocking Ministries

Learn to Listen

Bible reading: James 1

Focus Verse: Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry." James 1:19

In order to serve the Lord together in the church or ministry, we need to have good relationships.   In order to build good relationships, you must become a good listener. And in order to be a good listener, you must do these: 

(1) Listen without interrupting. And that’s so, even when you know more than the person who is talking to you! Respect them enough to value what they say and listen attentively until they’re finished. 

(2) Try to understand their point of view, feelings, thinking, and needs. In other words, listen to understand. Good listening is hearing what people actually think, mean, or feel, not what you imagine they should think, mean, or feel. Instead of guessing, politely ask, “Am I understanding you correctly? Do you mean…? Are you feeling…?” Don’t assume—verify. 

(3) Avoid rushing to conclusions. Listen without judging. If what they say doesn’t quite add up, keep listening. “He who answers a matter before he hears it, it is folly and shame to him” (Pr 18:13 NKJV). When you hear more, it may make sense. 

(4) Refrain from putting them on the defensive. Listen without correcting, countering, or devaluing. Saying, “That’s not the way it was,” or “What did you expect?” or “You’re just being silly and too sensitive” kills real communication. 

(5) Accept their perceptions and feelings as valid expressions of a valued person. Validate the speaker. By saying, “If I understand you correctly, you’re thinking…feeling…am I right?” Ask them to help you get on the same page with them. Saying, “Given what you have told me, I can see why you would feel that way” will increase their willingness to consider your thoughts and accept the solutions you offer. 

If you want to win people and influence them, learn to listen.

 

written by Dr. Don Wilton

The Encouraging Word

https://theencouragingword.org/daily-encouraging-word/

A Loving Father

 A Loving Father

Revelation 12:10  "Then I heard a loud voice shouting across the heavens. It has come at last salvation and power and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers and sister has been thrown down to earth the one who accuses them before our God day and night."

There is a story that is told about a son who found himself in a situation where he had to stand guilty before a judge in a court of law.  The son really didn't know what to do.  But he was comforted, because his father, who loved him very much, went to great lengths to stand by his side and defend him on that day.  The son realized that his father was faithful and would not leave his side no matter what.  The judge ruled that the penalty must be paid, so the father paid the penalty.

Do you know that Satan, our accuser, is before God day and night accusing us of things we have done wrong?   The Bible says in Isaiah 33:21 "The Lord will be our Mighty One. He will be like a wide river of protection that no enemy can cross, and no enemy ship can sail on."  God has provided His Son to pay the penalty for our sin.  We need to take the step to follow Him. 

God is watching out for you.  Nothing happens to you that God does not first approve of.  That can be a very great comfort to us when we encounter such trials.  In this life we will have trials, but God always stands with you, helping you through.  God, our father, is faithful.

Bobby Johnson
Interlocking Ministries

Our Instrument, The Bible

 Scripture Reading:  James 1:2-18

Focus Verses:  James 1:2-4  "Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.  For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing."

In modern times travel by airplane is a very safe way to travel.  Although some accidents still occur.  Sometimes an airplane might crash because of pilot error or because of a malfunction of the airplane.  Every airplane has instruments that help the pilot to fly the airplane.  One instrument tells the pilot how high the airplane is, another tell him if the airplane is flying straight.  So the airplane has many instruments to help the pilot.  I remember flying with a friend who was a pilot and we were flying over the ocean going to the Bahama Islands and there were storms around us.  As we were flying in the storms all you could see around us were the clouds.  So the pilot had to keep his eyes on the instruments to tell him how to fly since he could not see the ground.  Then suddenly we came out of the clouds and I was surprised to see how close we were to the ocean.  But my friend the pilot was not surprised because he had been watching the instruments and knew right where the airplane was.

As we travel through life God has given us an instrument to faithfully guide us.  It’s called The Bible.  When we encounter storms in this life God Word will help us navigate safely until we get out of the storm.  James tells us we all will have these storms and trials.  Because we are all going to face hardship, storms and trials in this life.  You remember the storm that the disciples found themselves in on the sea.  They thought the boat would be destroyed and they would drown.  But there was really no need for concern because Jesus was in their boat, and He had total control over the situation.  

Are you using the instrument God has given us, His Word the Bible, as you navigate this life?   When you are caught in the storms of life is Jesus in your boat?  I hope so, because He is our only hope!

Bobby Johnson

Interlocking Ministries

Studying the Bible Keeps us Strong

 Scripture Reading: Psalm 119:9-24

Focus Verse: Psalm 119:9 "How can young people keep their lives pure?
    By obeying your commands."

God has given us an instruction manual for life.  It is called the Bible.  As Christians in this world we cannot overcome the enemy in our own strength.  "How can a man cleanse his ways?"  Not on his own.  On our own, we would struggle and fail.  We need help, and that help is available to us through the Bible.  Our focus verse ask a question.  How can we stay pure?  Verse 11 gives us the answer, by hiding God's Word in our hearts.  I wish I had memorized more scripture when I was young, because it is harder to do now that I am older.  In verse 24 he calls God's "testimonies" his counselor.  God will always show us and teach us as we read the Bible.

The study and application of God's Word will keep us from sin, even though we live in a sinful world.  When Jesus was tempted by the devil in Luke 4 we see Jesus quoting scripture with every temptation.  If you are a Christian and you don't have peace and joy in your life, you might have unrepentant sin and/or there may be a lack of Bible study and scripture memorization in your life. 

Some people view God's laws as a list of "DON'Ts", but these are really a shelter to protect us.  God gives us plenty of things we should "DO".   Take some time today to evaluate your spiritual strength.  Make a plan to increase the strength through God's Holy Word.


"Either God's Word will keep us from sin, or sin will keep us from God's word." ~Unknown

Bobby Johnson
Interlocking Ministries

Death, Taxes, and Sin

Scripture Reading: Genesis 4:7  “You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.”

There is a saying that goes like this,  “the only sure things in life are death and taxes.”  Well I would like to add another sure thing “sin”.  Sin will be with us until this life on earth is over.  As a Christian did you know there are some things that you don’t need to pray about?  Because God has already told us to do some things and not to do some things.  For example, God told us it’s not okay to steal, so you don’t need to ask God if it’s okay to steal.

But then there might be some things you’re not sure if they are right or wrong to do.  We would call this a gray area.  Here are a few safeguards to help you decide if a gray area is okay or not.  

First, if you do this activity is it going to help you spiritually or hurt you spiritually?  Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:23  “You say, ‘I am allowed to do anything’—but not everything is good for you. You say, ‘I am allowed to do anything’—but not everything is beneficial.”  You should avoid anything that is not helping you spiritually.  Or anything that may keep you from praying and reading your Bible.

Secondly, you can ask yourself this question.  Will this activity try to control you?  Paul also writes in 1 Corinthians 6:12,  “I must not become a slave to anything.”  You should be controlled only by Christ.

Thirdly, what is your conscience telling you about this activity?  When your conscience is talking to you it’s really the Holy Spirit talking to you.  If your conscience is telling you not to do something, you better not do it because it’s probably sin.  Paul says in Romans 14:23 (NLT) “If you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning.”

Death and taxes we don’t have much control over, but sin we can have control over with God’s help.  I hope you will remember to ask yourself these three questions when you are faced with something you are not sure about.  With all the sin that is in the world today it doesn’t need to be a part of your life.

Bobby Johnson

Interlocking Ministries