Hey Brethren:
Romans 3:10 is the first verse on the Roman highway. It says, "AS IT IS WRITTEN, THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NO, NOT ONE"
Here is how I try to memorize scripture. I can say that I know and can quote quite a bit of scripture but my problem is I don't always remember where that verse is in the Bible. I don't think that is a bad thing but sometimes when I am sharing scripture with an unbeliever, I don't know where to go to prove the Bible says that and if I try to find it, flipping from book to book or verse to verse, I stand the chance that I lose the person's interest and the devil can convince him/her that I don't really know what I'm talking about. So I believe it helps if we know chapter and verse.
I use the topical method to remember the verse I want to quote. So with this verse I have come up with the topic, "Nobody's righteous". Then I memorize the verse's chapter and verse, then the scripture itself, then repeat the chapter and verse to help me remember where it is at, in the Bible. Just because I use the topic, "Nobody's righteous", is another thing that is not set in stone. You can make up your own topic to say that best helps you.
For instance, I will say to myself, "Nobodies righteous, Romans 3;10, AS IT IS WRITTEN, THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NO, NOT ONE. Romans 3:10". Saying the chapter and verse, before and after the scripture helps to cement it into my mind as to where the scripture is in the Bible.
Start with this verse and next week we will learn another one. Remember, it is better to know one verse well than to partially know a bunch of verses. When I am memorizing, some verses are a cinch and I memorize them right away and other verses take me a long time. Try to avoid moving on to the next verse until you have the previous one memorized. Use the translation that you are comfortable with, like I said, I will always use the KJV but its not necessary. What works for me isn't necessarily what you have to do.
Always pray for understanding and help as you do this. God Bless you as you take on this adventure with me.
In Christ,
Brother Bill
Please check out my other blog by clicking this link riverrat
Thursday, August 29, 2013
The Beginning
Acts 1:2 Until the day in which He (Jesus) was taken up, after that He THROUGH THE HOLY GHOST
HAD GIVEN COMMANDMENTS UNTO THE APOSTLES...
Matthew 28:20 Teaching them (all nations and new believers) to observe all things whatsoever I (Jesus) have commanded you (Jesus' Apostles): and, lo, I am with you alway, EVEN UNTO THE END OF THE WORLD. Amen.
Mark 16:15 And He (Jesus) said unto them (Apostles), Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to EVERY creature.
Luke 24:46 And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, BEGINNING AT JERUSALEM.
Welcome to the blog. I know I said we would start memorizing the scriptures that are termed the Roman highway, and I promise that I will. But, I feel the Lord has put it on my heart that I need to lay a little bit of a foundation for us to build on first. When I speak to Christians about witnessing, it is interesting that the majority of them don't see or feel that it is their responsibility to witness to the lost. So I want to take a minute to share why I feel that it is everyone's responsibility to share the Gospel. In the first verse above we see that Christ gave commandments to the Apostles and He gave the commandments THROUGH THE HOLY GHOST. In other words, He wasn't just running around the country coming up with some cool commandments that sounded good. He was listening to and obeying the leading of the Holy Ghost clear up to his death on the cross. He was obedient unto His death.
Then Matt. 28:20 says that He taught the Apostles to teach us to observe everything He had commanded them. He didn't say, Everything I suggested. He said, commanded. It was a command. They weren't commanded to only observe it themselves but they were commanded to teach us to teach others, Jesus' commandment. Its almost like the first multi-level marketing plan long before Amway was ever thought of.
He promised that He would be there with everyone who obeyed those commandments unto the end of the world. I take this to mean that these commandments were to be observed and taught to everyone who believed in Christ until this world comes to an end. I don't get the impression here that these commandments were to be observed only until all the Apostles died. Because in the next two verses, Mark 16:15 and Luke 24:46 we see two examples of what He commanded. Go into all the world and preach, and preach that Christ suffered and died and rose from the dead and preach REPENTANCE and remission of sins. Also, He commands that the preaching begins at Jerusalem. I could blog on this subject alone for days because it is so important to be taught and yet so much of this teaching is being missed by most of our churches today.
Brethren, we have all been called to the great commission given to us by Christ.
I bring this up because I have talked to so many Christians who will say things like, "I don't feel that I have to go out and try to witness, after all, the Bible says that we aren't all pastors or evangelists...", "Witnessing is my pastor's job....", "I witness by supporting missionaries financially....", "I believe my ministry is to pray that God will raise up laborers", etc. etc. To me its sad. I have heard these kind of things from members of churches who only have 20 congregants and then gone back to that church 15 years later to visit and they still only have around 20 members! I have lived in California, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Montana, Florida and New York and the sermon I have heard preached in almost every church I've been in is on Tithing and how God loves a cheerful giver and the prayer request I have heard most is to pray for Revival because God wants to bring another Revival to America! In Revelation 3:15,16 Christ says to the church of the Laodicians, "I know thy works, that thou are neither cold nor hot, I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth". Strong words to hear from a Lord and Savior and I don't want to judge any church and say they are lukewarm. But, I can't help saying the old saying, "If it looks like a duck, waddles like a duck and quacks like a duck. There is a 99.99% chance it's a duck.
Let me close this by saying this about me so I don't leave any false impressions about myself. I have been guilty of all of the above. Just the other day I came out of a building and there were two men sitting on a bench and I instantly felt this voice say, "Witness to these guys". Reading this blog you probably think that I had no problem at all marching right up to them and telling them about how they need Jesus. Quite the contrary. I was immediately filled with fear, the verses that I am going to teach you, were gone from my mind. It was like I had a blank page and I immediately was making excuses to myself to justify my not wanting to talk to them. When I convinced myself to leave without talking to them, I was just filled with guilt and that night when I was praying, I was so ashamed to come before God. That isn't the first time that has happened. Then ironically, a couple days later, I went into a barber shop I'd never been in before to get a haircut. The barber was a hairs width away from physically throwing me out of the shop because I wouldn't shut up even after he told me he didn't want to talk about it. Through my years of Christianity, I have had periods where I have been fervently hot, I've had periods where I have been colder than a winter in Montana and more time than the cold and hot put together I have been lukewarm. I tell you this so that you don't think, or think that I think, that I am a modern day Spurgeon, Finney, Hudson Taylor or Dietrich Bonhoeffer because I am writing this blog. I am doing this blog because my mind for years has been obsessed with the idea and I have come to believe that the obsession is of the Lord. I am 100% human and imperfect yet forgiven just like everyone else. Please pray for me to be obedient and I will pray for your obedience to the scripture as well.
Here is the first Roman Highway verse and I will explain a memorization technique in the next blog:
Romans 3:10, As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one.
God bless your daily walk with Jesus.
Brother Bill
Please feel free to read my other blog about growing up outside of Yosemite on the Merced river. The web address is www.yosemiteriverrat.com but you can reach it by going here. If I don't see you on this side of heaven, hopefully, I will meet you on that beautiful shore.
HAD GIVEN COMMANDMENTS UNTO THE APOSTLES...
Matthew 28:20 Teaching them (all nations and new believers) to observe all things whatsoever I (Jesus) have commanded you (Jesus' Apostles): and, lo, I am with you alway, EVEN UNTO THE END OF THE WORLD. Amen.
Mark 16:15 And He (Jesus) said unto them (Apostles), Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to EVERY creature.
Luke 24:46 And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, BEGINNING AT JERUSALEM.
Welcome to the blog. I know I said we would start memorizing the scriptures that are termed the Roman highway, and I promise that I will. But, I feel the Lord has put it on my heart that I need to lay a little bit of a foundation for us to build on first. When I speak to Christians about witnessing, it is interesting that the majority of them don't see or feel that it is their responsibility to witness to the lost. So I want to take a minute to share why I feel that it is everyone's responsibility to share the Gospel. In the first verse above we see that Christ gave commandments to the Apostles and He gave the commandments THROUGH THE HOLY GHOST. In other words, He wasn't just running around the country coming up with some cool commandments that sounded good. He was listening to and obeying the leading of the Holy Ghost clear up to his death on the cross. He was obedient unto His death.
Then Matt. 28:20 says that He taught the Apostles to teach us to observe everything He had commanded them. He didn't say, Everything I suggested. He said, commanded. It was a command. They weren't commanded to only observe it themselves but they were commanded to teach us to teach others, Jesus' commandment. Its almost like the first multi-level marketing plan long before Amway was ever thought of.
He promised that He would be there with everyone who obeyed those commandments unto the end of the world. I take this to mean that these commandments were to be observed and taught to everyone who believed in Christ until this world comes to an end. I don't get the impression here that these commandments were to be observed only until all the Apostles died. Because in the next two verses, Mark 16:15 and Luke 24:46 we see two examples of what He commanded. Go into all the world and preach, and preach that Christ suffered and died and rose from the dead and preach REPENTANCE and remission of sins. Also, He commands that the preaching begins at Jerusalem. I could blog on this subject alone for days because it is so important to be taught and yet so much of this teaching is being missed by most of our churches today.
Brethren, we have all been called to the great commission given to us by Christ.
I bring this up because I have talked to so many Christians who will say things like, "I don't feel that I have to go out and try to witness, after all, the Bible says that we aren't all pastors or evangelists...", "Witnessing is my pastor's job....", "I witness by supporting missionaries financially....", "I believe my ministry is to pray that God will raise up laborers", etc. etc. To me its sad. I have heard these kind of things from members of churches who only have 20 congregants and then gone back to that church 15 years later to visit and they still only have around 20 members! I have lived in California, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Montana, Florida and New York and the sermon I have heard preached in almost every church I've been in is on Tithing and how God loves a cheerful giver and the prayer request I have heard most is to pray for Revival because God wants to bring another Revival to America! In Revelation 3:15,16 Christ says to the church of the Laodicians, "I know thy works, that thou are neither cold nor hot, I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth". Strong words to hear from a Lord and Savior and I don't want to judge any church and say they are lukewarm. But, I can't help saying the old saying, "If it looks like a duck, waddles like a duck and quacks like a duck. There is a 99.99% chance it's a duck.
Let me close this by saying this about me so I don't leave any false impressions about myself. I have been guilty of all of the above. Just the other day I came out of a building and there were two men sitting on a bench and I instantly felt this voice say, "Witness to these guys". Reading this blog you probably think that I had no problem at all marching right up to them and telling them about how they need Jesus. Quite the contrary. I was immediately filled with fear, the verses that I am going to teach you, were gone from my mind. It was like I had a blank page and I immediately was making excuses to myself to justify my not wanting to talk to them. When I convinced myself to leave without talking to them, I was just filled with guilt and that night when I was praying, I was so ashamed to come before God. That isn't the first time that has happened. Then ironically, a couple days later, I went into a barber shop I'd never been in before to get a haircut. The barber was a hairs width away from physically throwing me out of the shop because I wouldn't shut up even after he told me he didn't want to talk about it. Through my years of Christianity, I have had periods where I have been fervently hot, I've had periods where I have been colder than a winter in Montana and more time than the cold and hot put together I have been lukewarm. I tell you this so that you don't think, or think that I think, that I am a modern day Spurgeon, Finney, Hudson Taylor or Dietrich Bonhoeffer because I am writing this blog. I am doing this blog because my mind for years has been obsessed with the idea and I have come to believe that the obsession is of the Lord. I am 100% human and imperfect yet forgiven just like everyone else. Please pray for me to be obedient and I will pray for your obedience to the scripture as well.
Here is the first Roman Highway verse and I will explain a memorization technique in the next blog:
Romans 3:10, As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one.
God bless your daily walk with Jesus.
Brother Bill
Please feel free to read my other blog about growing up outside of Yosemite on the Merced river. The web address is www.yosemiteriverrat.com but you can reach it by going here. If I don't see you on this side of heaven, hopefully, I will meet you on that beautiful shore.
Monday, August 19, 2013
Witnessing 101
Hey everyone:
Ok, so now you know that your brain is most receptive fifteen minutes before you fall to sleep and the first fifteen minutes after you wake up, but how does this pertain to helping us witness for Christ?
Part of the problem with witnessing is that many of us don't memorize scripture. We want to witness and I have heard so many say that they would witness but they don't know what to say. Sadly, the majority of our churches never teach us the tools we need to share our faith. We get sermons on not judging others, we get sermons on why we need to tithe and how God loves a cheerful giver, they teach us why we need to get baptised and what we are doing when we take communion. We get plenty of biblical teaching about how we should daily be an example of Christ and why we practice certain church activities, and we need that, but it's hard to find a church that teaches the tools to witness to others. In other words, many of our churches today don't raise up soul winners or go out into the local community reaching the lost. They will spend hundreds of thousands of dollars sending someone to New Guinea, but I have found very very few that show any desire to train up Christian soldiers to go to the house across the street from the church.
I might also add that if we individually don't have a burden for souls, we need to pray about that. I encourage everyone to go to church. We need fellowship with other believers, other believers need fellowship with us. You might be the one that God uses to start teaching others in your church about soul winning, if you have a burden for souls.
Isaiah 55:11 says, "So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth, it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
To me this verse is promising me that if I just put God's word out there, He will do the rest. So this is why I feel that the strongest tool other than prayer and empowerment of the Holy Ghost is to memorize scripture.
It is the strongest tool whether we are memorizing it for witnessing or to draw on in our own personal walk in life. God's word changes lives, that is a truth that has been proven over and over for thousands of years.
That is why I bring up the part about our receptive minds. If you can get in the habit of trying to memorize scripture and use those two times a day to aid you, you can start building a tool box that you have with you at all times to take on any witnessing job that God puts in your path. From here, I would like to start sharing a series of verses that have been used by some of the greats of Evangelism. This first set of verses has been given the term, "The Roman Highway". It is a series of verses in Romans that if you memorize them, they can give you a strong foothold on sharing the plan of salvation. I suggest that each week, as we go through these verses, you underline that verse in your Bible, and spend fifteen minutes a day memorizing that verse. Then at night, try reciting that verse. If you can't remember all of it, get your Bible and refresh your memory and recite it over and over and pray until you fall to sleep.
I will always use the King James Version. You should use what ever version it is that you are comfortable with. I just personally like the KJV and have used it for a long time but I am not one of those staunch hardcore believers that thinks its a sin and desecrating the Word of God by using another version that you are comfortable with.
This week, start memorizing the verse above, Isaiah 55:11. It will give you practice and it is a promise to draw on as we together start our journey to learn God's word and reach a lost soul for Christ.
In Christ,
Brother Bill
Please feel free to check out my other blog about my growing up on the Merced River outside Yosemite.
It's not a Gospel oriented blog, but hopefully some interesting reading.
www.yosemiteriverrat.blogspot.com
Ok, so now you know that your brain is most receptive fifteen minutes before you fall to sleep and the first fifteen minutes after you wake up, but how does this pertain to helping us witness for Christ?
Part of the problem with witnessing is that many of us don't memorize scripture. We want to witness and I have heard so many say that they would witness but they don't know what to say. Sadly, the majority of our churches never teach us the tools we need to share our faith. We get sermons on not judging others, we get sermons on why we need to tithe and how God loves a cheerful giver, they teach us why we need to get baptised and what we are doing when we take communion. We get plenty of biblical teaching about how we should daily be an example of Christ and why we practice certain church activities, and we need that, but it's hard to find a church that teaches the tools to witness to others. In other words, many of our churches today don't raise up soul winners or go out into the local community reaching the lost. They will spend hundreds of thousands of dollars sending someone to New Guinea, but I have found very very few that show any desire to train up Christian soldiers to go to the house across the street from the church.
I might also add that if we individually don't have a burden for souls, we need to pray about that. I encourage everyone to go to church. We need fellowship with other believers, other believers need fellowship with us. You might be the one that God uses to start teaching others in your church about soul winning, if you have a burden for souls.
Isaiah 55:11 says, "So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth, it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
To me this verse is promising me that if I just put God's word out there, He will do the rest. So this is why I feel that the strongest tool other than prayer and empowerment of the Holy Ghost is to memorize scripture.
It is the strongest tool whether we are memorizing it for witnessing or to draw on in our own personal walk in life. God's word changes lives, that is a truth that has been proven over and over for thousands of years.
That is why I bring up the part about our receptive minds. If you can get in the habit of trying to memorize scripture and use those two times a day to aid you, you can start building a tool box that you have with you at all times to take on any witnessing job that God puts in your path. From here, I would like to start sharing a series of verses that have been used by some of the greats of Evangelism. This first set of verses has been given the term, "The Roman Highway". It is a series of verses in Romans that if you memorize them, they can give you a strong foothold on sharing the plan of salvation. I suggest that each week, as we go through these verses, you underline that verse in your Bible, and spend fifteen minutes a day memorizing that verse. Then at night, try reciting that verse. If you can't remember all of it, get your Bible and refresh your memory and recite it over and over and pray until you fall to sleep.
I will always use the King James Version. You should use what ever version it is that you are comfortable with. I just personally like the KJV and have used it for a long time but I am not one of those staunch hardcore believers that thinks its a sin and desecrating the Word of God by using another version that you are comfortable with.
This week, start memorizing the verse above, Isaiah 55:11. It will give you practice and it is a promise to draw on as we together start our journey to learn God's word and reach a lost soul for Christ.
In Christ,
Brother Bill
Please feel free to check out my other blog about my growing up on the Merced River outside Yosemite.
It's not a Gospel oriented blog, but hopefully some interesting reading.
www.yosemiteriverrat.blogspot.com
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
The First and the Last
Rev. 22:13 I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
Last time we talked about putting God first in your day and today I would like to talk about making Him the last of your day and a way that we can do that. If you remember, I mentioned how the first fifteen minutes after you wake up and the last fifteen minutes before you go to sleep is what researchers claim is when your brain is the most receptive to what you put into it. I use to have insomnia for years. I hated going to bed at night because I knew that the minute my head hit the pillow, no matter how tired I was, my brain kicked into overdrive and I laid awake thinking. So one night I decided to pray and praise God. It wasn't easy at first. Many times I found myself thinking again and wasn't praying, so it was something I really had to work hard at. It worked. I don't know if God honored my prayers and put me to sleep or Satan put me to sleep because He didn't want me praying..., just kidding. God honored me putting Him last in my day and I started getting sleep.
The other night, my wife was tossing and turning in bed not able to sleep. This is unusual for her because she usually is almost asleep before her head hits the pillow. As I just got into bed and was starting to pray and praise God, she said, "I hate this, I just for some reason cannot get to sleep tonight". So we said a little prayer and I told her how I like to think of all the different ways I can praise God when I lay down and what or who I can pray for or about and how I always end up falling to sleep. I suggested she try it which she did and I of course started praying silently that God would use her silent prayer and worship to give her rest. It wasn't five minutes and I suddenly heard her breathing change and knew she had fallen to sleep. I couldn't help smiling there in the dark and thanking and praising the Lord and the next thing I knew was I was waking up from having a deep sound sleep myself and getting up to start my day putting Him first again.
In our verse above, Jesus is saying I am the Alpha which is the first letter in the Greek alphabet and Omega which is the last letter in the Greek alphabet, then He goes on to say the beginning and the end and the first and the last. Any way you look at it, God is there. As Christians we should include Him in our minds, especially if the first and the last part of our waking moments are the most receptive to whatever we feed it.
Now you are possibly wondering, cool, got it, but what does that have to do with learning how to witness to others? How does that help me have the tools to talk to others about Christ during the two times a day that I know I won't be seeing anyone who needs to hear about the Lord?
I would consider it the foundation that we all need in order to build a solid life of knowledge, wisdom and understanding in the principles of sharing our faith. You wouldn't get up in the morning and take off to work without having gas in your car. Likewise, we shouldn't get up in the morning and take off out the door to be a witness of God's power in our lives if we don't fill our tank first with the Holy Spirit's gasoline. So lets all work on building this solid foundation and next time I will share some tools we need to mix the mortar or lay the brick, and nail the lumber, etc.
Please, as you practice praying tonight and tomorrow morning and all through your day, pray for me, and I will especially pray for all of you reading this. I need God's wisdom, knowledge and understanding to write what will lift Him up and you need God's wisdom, knowledge and understanding to learn what He wants you to learn from what I am inspired to write and how to apply it to your daily life.
Pray for the Church.
If you can, watch these two videos I am listing. They are full of some tools on how to share Christ to non-believers. www.180movie.com and www.evolutionvsgod.com.
Also feel free to read my other blog www.yosemiteriverrat.blogspot.com
May God bless you in your growth.
Brother Bill
Last time we talked about putting God first in your day and today I would like to talk about making Him the last of your day and a way that we can do that. If you remember, I mentioned how the first fifteen minutes after you wake up and the last fifteen minutes before you go to sleep is what researchers claim is when your brain is the most receptive to what you put into it. I use to have insomnia for years. I hated going to bed at night because I knew that the minute my head hit the pillow, no matter how tired I was, my brain kicked into overdrive and I laid awake thinking. So one night I decided to pray and praise God. It wasn't easy at first. Many times I found myself thinking again and wasn't praying, so it was something I really had to work hard at. It worked. I don't know if God honored my prayers and put me to sleep or Satan put me to sleep because He didn't want me praying..., just kidding. God honored me putting Him last in my day and I started getting sleep.
The other night, my wife was tossing and turning in bed not able to sleep. This is unusual for her because she usually is almost asleep before her head hits the pillow. As I just got into bed and was starting to pray and praise God, she said, "I hate this, I just for some reason cannot get to sleep tonight". So we said a little prayer and I told her how I like to think of all the different ways I can praise God when I lay down and what or who I can pray for or about and how I always end up falling to sleep. I suggested she try it which she did and I of course started praying silently that God would use her silent prayer and worship to give her rest. It wasn't five minutes and I suddenly heard her breathing change and knew she had fallen to sleep. I couldn't help smiling there in the dark and thanking and praising the Lord and the next thing I knew was I was waking up from having a deep sound sleep myself and getting up to start my day putting Him first again.
In our verse above, Jesus is saying I am the Alpha which is the first letter in the Greek alphabet and Omega which is the last letter in the Greek alphabet, then He goes on to say the beginning and the end and the first and the last. Any way you look at it, God is there. As Christians we should include Him in our minds, especially if the first and the last part of our waking moments are the most receptive to whatever we feed it.
Now you are possibly wondering, cool, got it, but what does that have to do with learning how to witness to others? How does that help me have the tools to talk to others about Christ during the two times a day that I know I won't be seeing anyone who needs to hear about the Lord?
I would consider it the foundation that we all need in order to build a solid life of knowledge, wisdom and understanding in the principles of sharing our faith. You wouldn't get up in the morning and take off to work without having gas in your car. Likewise, we shouldn't get up in the morning and take off out the door to be a witness of God's power in our lives if we don't fill our tank first with the Holy Spirit's gasoline. So lets all work on building this solid foundation and next time I will share some tools we need to mix the mortar or lay the brick, and nail the lumber, etc.
Please, as you practice praying tonight and tomorrow morning and all through your day, pray for me, and I will especially pray for all of you reading this. I need God's wisdom, knowledge and understanding to write what will lift Him up and you need God's wisdom, knowledge and understanding to learn what He wants you to learn from what I am inspired to write and how to apply it to your daily life.
Pray for the Church.
If you can, watch these two videos I am listing. They are full of some tools on how to share Christ to non-believers. www.180movie.com and www.evolutionvsgod.com.
Also feel free to read my other blog www.yosemiteriverrat.blogspot.com
May God bless you in your growth.
Brother Bill
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Seek ye first
Praise the Lord, He is risen, He is risen indeed. In case you are one of the only 73 that has looked at this blog and read past blogs and today you don't see them, it's because I sent them to draft. Why? Well, my first intentions with this blog was to teach others how to be a witness for Christ. To provide tools that will help all of us to fulfill the commission to go into all the world and preach the Gospel. My only problem when I try to do things for Christ, is ME. So looking back on those last blogs, I felt like I was writing about the Gospel according to Bill, instead of really providing tools that will enable us to go out.
I think that one of the best or maybe the best tool is found in the Bible in Matthew 6:33, But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.
I read once where studies have shown that the first fifteen minutes after you wake up and the last fifteen minutes before you fall asleep is when your brain is the most receptive to retaining whatever you think about. I'm not a psychology kind of guy but I do believe that we couldn't have the study of psychology if God hadn't have created a brain. Isn't it interesting that the world tells us about a scientific fact concerning our brains and God tells us to seek His Kingdom first? I personally don't think its an uncanny coincidence.
So after reading that brain news from world science, and seeing Matthew 6:33 from the mouth of God,
I looked at it as proving scripture and started trying to use it to my spiritual advantage. The first thing I did was quit getting up in the morning and turning on the world news, which I did every morning and thought I enjoyed doing for years. I started training myself to immediately praise God that He gave me another day of life. Then out to my easy chair in the living room and instead of turning on the TV, I grab my Bible and try to put God's word into my brain for the first fifteen minutes of my new day I,ve been blessed to get to live. It's kind of like saying, " Hey Dad, what do you say we get together in the morning and spend some time together". One of the neat things is, that first fifteen minutes, usually never ends in fifteen minutes. After reading I pray.
What is interesting is sometimes I don't think that I am getting as much out of this first fifteen minutes or that my day doesn't really seem to be that much more positive. But when I miss a day of putting God first, I realize how much of a difference it does make in my whole day. I want to add too that this isn't the only way to feed your mind first with the Kingdom of God. Some mornings you could turn on the TV to a Christian station or a gospel Dvd and watch a good sermon, then read and pray. Or put a Gospel music station or CD on and listen to the words and let God speak to you through music.
The point here isn't to get into a religious rut, but to put God first in your day and open the door for God to speak to you and fulfill the verse listed above. This can put your mind in a place where you are more apt to think of something Godly to say to someone if they strike up a conversation that isn't Godly. You could be planting seeds or watering or maybe you might find yourself right in the middle of a harvest.
Next time I will talk about the last fifteen minutes of the day. Pray for laborers and keep the faith.
Brother Bill
Please feel free to go to my blog www.yosemiteriverrat.blogspot.com and take a moment to see the new video by Livingwaters. www.evolutionvsgod.com
I think that one of the best or maybe the best tool is found in the Bible in Matthew 6:33, But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.
I read once where studies have shown that the first fifteen minutes after you wake up and the last fifteen minutes before you fall asleep is when your brain is the most receptive to retaining whatever you think about. I'm not a psychology kind of guy but I do believe that we couldn't have the study of psychology if God hadn't have created a brain. Isn't it interesting that the world tells us about a scientific fact concerning our brains and God tells us to seek His Kingdom first? I personally don't think its an uncanny coincidence.
So after reading that brain news from world science, and seeing Matthew 6:33 from the mouth of God,
I looked at it as proving scripture and started trying to use it to my spiritual advantage. The first thing I did was quit getting up in the morning and turning on the world news, which I did every morning and thought I enjoyed doing for years. I started training myself to immediately praise God that He gave me another day of life. Then out to my easy chair in the living room and instead of turning on the TV, I grab my Bible and try to put God's word into my brain for the first fifteen minutes of my new day I,ve been blessed to get to live. It's kind of like saying, " Hey Dad, what do you say we get together in the morning and spend some time together". One of the neat things is, that first fifteen minutes, usually never ends in fifteen minutes. After reading I pray.
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| My son and I with a sister in Christ at the Huntington Beach Pier |
What is interesting is sometimes I don't think that I am getting as much out of this first fifteen minutes or that my day doesn't really seem to be that much more positive. But when I miss a day of putting God first, I realize how much of a difference it does make in my whole day. I want to add too that this isn't the only way to feed your mind first with the Kingdom of God. Some mornings you could turn on the TV to a Christian station or a gospel Dvd and watch a good sermon, then read and pray. Or put a Gospel music station or CD on and listen to the words and let God speak to you through music.
The point here isn't to get into a religious rut, but to put God first in your day and open the door for God to speak to you and fulfill the verse listed above. This can put your mind in a place where you are more apt to think of something Godly to say to someone if they strike up a conversation that isn't Godly. You could be planting seeds or watering or maybe you might find yourself right in the middle of a harvest.
Next time I will talk about the last fifteen minutes of the day. Pray for laborers and keep the faith.
Brother Bill
Please feel free to go to my blog www.yosemiteriverrat.blogspot.com and take a moment to see the new video by Livingwaters. www.evolutionvsgod.com
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