Resolved to Remain Faithful!

Daniel 1:8, “But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine…”

verb (used with object), resolved, resolving : to come to a definite or earnest decision about; determine (to do something)

The Babylonian strategy was to take the brightest and best from each culture and make them Babylonian in their thinking and Babylonian in their religion.

Daniel and his friends are humble enough and smart enough not to balk at being renamed, they know that sticks and stones and Babylonian spears can break their bones, but changes of names couldn’t really harm them.

Whereas, when it came to their eating habits, that was another story. Long before we knew about germs and microbes and the nature of diseases, God knew. So He forbade the nation of Israel to eat certain foods that were prone to disease, if not handled right. Foods like pork and crustaceans. Foods that King Neb was likely to serve for dinner.

In addition, the Babylonians had a practice of offering their animals to their gods as sacrifices before they ate them. So for Daniel and his friends wanted to stay away from eating any meat that had been offered to idols.

Daniel was definite about his conviction to maintain inner purity! As we live in a world prone to seek out the mediocre, I pray we resolve to not defile the inner purity we discover in Jesus. You know I love ya, Don

Falling Between the Chairs!

Luciano Pavariotti tells this story:

"When I was a boy, my father, a baker, introduced me to the wonders of song," tenor Luciano Pavarotti relates. "He urged me to work very hard to develop my voice. Arrigo Pola, a professional tenor in my hometown of Modena, Italy, took me as a pupil. I also enrolled in a teachers college. On graduating, I asked my father, 'Shall I be a teacher or a singer?' 

"'Luciano,' my father replied, 'if you try to sit on two chairs, you will fall between them. For life, you must choose one chair.' 

"I chose one. It took seven years of study and frustration before I made my first professional appearance. It took another seven to reach the Metropolitan Opera. And now I think whether it's laying bricks, writing a book--whatever we choose--we should give ourselves to it. Commitment, that's the key. Choose one chair." 

If you want to have income, influence, and impact then you have to get serious about your commitment to God and His priorities in your finances. Do your choices reflect a generous and giving heart? If not you might be falling between the chairs.

You know I love ya, Don

A Crowning Achievement!

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According to Dr. David Mace, "Poor communication is the main problem in 86% of all troubled marriages." A happy and healthy home is one of the best places on earth, while an unhappy and unhealthy home is one of the most miserable places. Someone rightly said “Where purpose is not known abuse is inevitable…” When a person does not understand the purpose of a thing, they almost always abuse that thing and marriage is no different. An all-wise God who created order out of chaos, handcrafted man and woman in His own image, and then instituted and ordained marriage must have had a purpose in doing so. What then, one must ask, was God’s purpose in creating marriage? Indisputably … the most fitting answer will be found in harmony with the will of God as it is revealed for us in His Word. In the next few weeks we are going to turn to His Word in order to find the divine purpose of God’s institution of Marriage… in fact this series is an examination of all our relationships.

There are those who call the church the body of Christ, and there are those who call the church the bride of Christ. Some modern teachers have argued over which is correct. They say, “If the church is His body, which is male, it cannot be His bride, which is female.” 

The fact is, in the first marriage between Adam and Eve, Eve was both Adam’s body and his bride. She was bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh, yet she was separate from him in form and inseparably bound to him in spirit. As believers in Jesus, we are inseparably bound and eternally married to the Lord Jesus Christ in Spirit. Yet, on this earth, we live out His life in our flesh. We are body and bride simultaneously… That is why our relationships are so important… important in marriage, in families, with co-workers, with neighbors, and yes, even in our relationships with our enemies.

Marriage is “made In Heaven” because it is God’s idea. He created the idea of relationships. He designed it. He established it and defined its parameters. Secondly, marriage is “made In Heaven” because God made Eve and brought her to Adam. Eve was God’s original idea. Our first parents did not woo, solicit, or choose each other. This was an arranged marriage, a match literally made in heaven: Eve is the absolute pinnacle of creation, the crown of Adam, “the glory of the man” (1 Cor. 11:7). How many of us look at our spouse as God’s crowning achievement in our lives?

You know I love ya.... Don

Devoted to Love!!!

A few years ago I read a book titled, "Crazy Love," by Francis Chan. He talks about how infinite God is and how Crazy in Love with us that God is. I encourage you to go to www.crazylovebook.com and watch the video on the Awe Factor of God. You will be amazed at how vast our God is and that He loves you. The same Jehovah God that created us, died for us. It is amazing to know without a doubt the love of God and then experience His vastness. All I can do is bow in reverence and worship.

Lets consider the worship truth, God is holy. A lot of people say that whatever you believe about God is fine, so long as you are sincere. But that is comparable to describing your friend in one instance as a three-hundred-pound sumo wrestler and in another instance your friend is a five-foot-two, ninety pound gymnast. No matter how sincere you are in your explanation, both descriptions of your friend simply cannot be true. There is only One God that created us, died for us, and redeemed us.

The preposterous part about our doing this comparison to God is that He already has revealed His name and identity. We don't get to decide who God is. Exodus 3:14 states, "God said to Moses, 'I am who I am'." A few chapters later, God tells God chosen people to be Holy because He is holy. We don't get to change these truths.

To say that God is holy is to say that He is set apart, distinct from us. Because He is set apart, we will never be able to fathom all that He is. To the Jews, saying something three times demonstrates its perfection, so to call God, "Holy, Holy, Holy" is to say that He is perfectly set apart, with nothing and no one to compare Him to. That is what is means to be "holy."

Many Spirit-filled authors have exhausted the thesaurus in order to describe God with the glory He deserves. His perfect holiness, by definition, assures us that our words can't contain Him. Personally, I am glad that I can and do worship a God that is beyond my ability to exaggerate! He is bigger than my feeble mind...His set apart from all my praises, yet chooses to dwell among the praises of His people...He is more powerful than any issue this world throws my direction.

I want to be devoted to love...not just to love the things I am devoted to, but to be a person that is devoted to loving God and others. You know I love ya...Don

Character....I want it!

Character is the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual.

President Abraham Lincoln is considered one of the best President's in all of American History. His character stands out and above in the waves of despair during the civil war. He was a man of faith, principle and of Character.

One day, President Abraham Lincoln was riding in a coach with a colonel from Kentucky. The colonel took a bottle of whiskey out of his pocket. He offered Lincoln a drink. Lincoln said, “No thank you, Colonel. I never drink whiskey.” After a little while, the colonel took some cigars out of his pocket and offered one to Lincoln. Again Lincoln said, “No, thank you, Colonel.” Then Lincoln said, “I want to tell you a story.” The president was always telling a story.

He said, “One day, when I was about nine years old, my mother called me to her bed. She was very sick. She said, ‘Abe, the doctor tells me that I am not going to get well. I want you to be a good boy. I want you to promise me before I go that you will never use whiskey or tobacco as long as you live.’ I promised my mother that I never would, and up to this hour, I’ve kept this promise! Would you advise me to break that promise?”

The colonel put his hand on Lincoln’s shoulder and said, “Mr. Lincoln, I would not have you break that promise for the world! It is one of the best promises you ever made. I would give a thousand dollars today if I had made my mother a promise like that and had kept it like you have done. I would be a much better man than I am!” (Martin M. Hyzer, 15K-WS)  

That is Character.

How a Christian deals with the circumstances of their life speaks of their character.

• Crisis doesn’t necessarily make character, but perseverance through it does reveal character.
• Adversity in our lives is a crossroads where a person chooses one path – Character or Compromise.
• Jesus and the Cross are the ultimate example of character.
• Every time we choose character, we grow more into the image of Christ
• Character is who you are when no one is looking. 
• People that always seem to be at war with themselves have a problem in their character.
• Your character determines who you are.

I am seeking God in every opportunity so as to demonstrate His character in my life. You know I love ya, Don