Brian’s Quiet Time Thoughts.

Deuteronomy 6:5-9 (CSB) 5 "Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. 6 "These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. 7 "Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 "Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol on your forehead. 9 "Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your city gates. Deuteronomy 11:18-28 (CSB) 18 "Imprint these words of mine on your hearts and minds, bind them as a sign on your hands, and let them be a symbol on your foreheads. 19 "Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 20 "Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your city gates, 21 "so that as long as the heavens are above the earth, your days and those of your

Success comes from God and doing what His word tells us to do. Moses had left to Joshua the first five books of the bible. That was all Joshua had to work with. Now we have 61 more books to follow. If all scripture is God inspired (2 Timothy 3:17) then we can trust that by living according to the whole bible we can have success. Joshua was to be strong and very courageous to carefully observe the whole instruction that Moses had left. He could not pick and choose which to follow. He had to follow the whole thing. We are also to follow the whole bible and not just the pieces we like. We are to love everyone from our family to an enemy, everyone! The bible helps keep us on the straight and narrow (Luke 13:24) as long as we don't stray from it to the right or left.

This is the first time of three God has told Joshua to be strong and courageous. Why does Joshua need to be strong and courageous? Moses is dead and Joshua now has to lead the next generation in the promise land. Joshua has seen Moses lead the people through the wilderness. Moses was his example and now Joshua has to lean on God as his example. Joshua has also seen Moses rely on God. No doubt he saw Moses part the Red Sea. He was half way up  with Moses on the mountain while God spoke to Moses. He was one of the faithful spy's who Moses had sent out. He was there to see Moses and the Israelites build the tabernacle. Joshua has seen it all in the wilderness. But now He is facing a new season, the promise land. The land of Giants, milk and honey. All of Gods blessings await them. But they have all the native people standing in their way. They will have to fight to receive it. They will have to trust God to fight with them to receive it. They will have to trust God and not fight again

Don't give into the pressures of the world.  But be obedient to the spirit in the ways of self control. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control (Galatians 5:22-23). We cannot do these things in our own flesh but only by the Spirit. I know I have a hard time with joy and self control but the Spirit can help me with those (Galatians 2:20, 2 Corinthians 5:17). "Do the work of the evangelist". Is this the charge of Paul to all Christians to do the work of the evangelist? Yes! We are to tell other people about Jesus. We are to tell of this Birth (Christmas), death (Good Friday), resurrection (Easter), and His filling of the Holy Spirit (Pentecost). This is the work of the evangelist. Now we have evangelists that travel to other churches to preach a revival. They are moving in the five fold ministry of an evangelist, but they can't preach to everyone. We are call to go and preach repentance to th

How quickly does the world forget the truth? Does it take 1,000 years, 100 years, or ONE generation?  The children of Israel forgot the truth in 40 days. Exodus 24:7 (CSB) He then took the covenant scroll and read it aloud to the people. They responded, "We will do and obey all that the LORD has commanded." Exodus 24:12-15 (CSB) 12 The LORD said to Moses, "Come up to me on the mountain and stay there so that I may give you the stone tablets with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction." 13 So Moses arose with his assistant Joshua and went up the mountain of God. 14 He told the elders, "Wait here for us until we return to you. Aaron and Hur are here with you. Whoever has a dispute should go to them." 15 When Moses went up the mountain, the cloud covered it. Exodus 24:18 (CSB) Moses entered the cloud as he went up the mountain, and he remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights. Exodus 32:1 (CSB) When the people saw tha

This verse was given to me during service today. God used it to encourage my heart and I shared it with one of the teens. Take some time today to ponder it over. God has removed our punishment! God has turned back our enemy! God is among us! God is a warrior who saves! God will rejoice over us with gladness! God will be quiet in His love! God will delight over us with singing! I think God is well pleased with us!

2 Timothy 3:1-5 (CSB) 1 But know this: Hard times will come in the last days. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, proud, demeaning, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unloving, irreconcilable, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, without love for what is good, 4 traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to the form of godliness but denying its power. Avoid these people. Romans 1:28-32 (CSB) 28 And because they did not think it worthwhile to acknowledge God, God delivered them over to a corrupt mind so that they do what is not right. 29 They are filled with all unrighteousness, evil, greed, and wickedness. They are full of envy, murder, quarrels, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, arrogant, proud, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 senseless, untrustworthy, unloving, and unmerciful. 32 Although they know God's just sentence -- that those who p

Paul's challenge to Timothy is to preach the word! What is the word? Jesus (John 1:1). So we are to preach Jesus, the word of God. Ready or not we have to preach. If actions speak louder than words then we must proclaim Jesus with our actions. Does the way we act around the world tell them that we are Christians? Next we must speak of Jesus other wise they will just think we are "good" people. Next we must be equipped and ready to lead someone into a saving knowledge of Jesus. We can do all this but we must be ready. We must not force Jesus on them but we must be willing in love to tell them of Jesus. We are to rebuke in love when needed. We must correct in love when needed.  We must encourage in love when needed. We must teach in love when needed. That all sounds like 2 Timothy 3:16. The Word of God is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training (encouraging). We must preach the word. Ready or not the world needs to hear it.

Before God the whole world is exposed, all of it's shameful acts and deep dark secretes. And Paul is having Timothy stand before God with a charge. Not with an accusation but a challenge. God is the witness to this challenge and to Timothy's response. God is looking for this young man to decide wether he will accept this challenge or not. Jesus is also called to this meeting. Why? Because He alone judges between the living and dead. He will judge the living and dead person, but He also judges the living and dead actions. The Holy Spirit will challenge the motives behind all of Timothy's actions to keep Him on the living side of the judgement seat. Paul is also challenging Timothy because of Jesus' appearing. They did not know when Jesus would return like a thief in the night to take His church home to Heaven (1 Thessalonians 5:1-22). Last of all Paul is challenging Timothy because of Jesus' kingdom. It needs more people. God desires all men to come into a relationsh

God has set up his words to tech, rebuke, encourage, and train us so that we may be complete. And He will not give up on us until we are complete (Philippians 1:6). The word of God can equip you with everything good to do His will (Hebrews 13:21). Those who are called in Ephesians 4:11-12 are to use their calling to equip the Christians to do the work that they are called to do. They must be in the word to equip them selves to equip others. Otherwise if they try to do it in their own power they may fail and be disqualified (1 Corinthians 9:27). God has a plan for his words and they will not come back to him until they have accomplished everything God sent it out to do (Isaiah 55:11).

The 66 books we have are God breathed. We call it the bible. God inspired the writers to write what we have. The bible has the power to teach us, rebuke us, correct us, and train us in the right direction. We just have to be willing to let it. We read in vs 15 that it gives us wisdom for salvation. Joshua 1:8 says by the Book of the Law we find success and we prosper. In Hebrews we find the word of God is living and active. In Psalm 119 we find that it is a lamp to our path. In John 14 we find that the word of God is truth. In Nehemiah 9:13 we are told God gave impartial ordinances, reliable instructions, and good statutes and commands. No where have I found that the word of God is harmful to those who obey what it says. It does however tell us what the consequences are for disobedience (Deuteronomy 11:26-28, Deuteronomy 30, Revelation 22:12-19). James tells us to obey the word of God and not just listen to it. Let us do our part and spend time in God's word so that we may be faith

I seem to relate to Timothy because of this verse. From childhood I have love the Bible. 2 Timothy 1:5 also talks of Timothy's grandmother Lois which was also my grandmother's name. However my mom's name is not Eunice. But anyway I appreciate the scripture in the guidance it gives me to keep me on the straight and narrow. I am not perfect in staying there but the word of God has brought me back to salvation more than once.

Timothy has received instruction first hand from Paul. This is classic discipleship / apprenticeship one older man training a younger man his trade. Giving him the schooling he needs to carry on the work in another town or after the teacher is gone. Not just schooling in the trade but for everyday life. No doubt that when Timothy had questions he would be able to ask Paul and Paul would teach Timothy drawing from his life and his knowledge of scripture. We in modern education have turned it around we supply a few teachers to teach a bunch of students. Even in church we expect the Sunday school teachers to teach our kids while we say nothing about God all week in our homes. We expect the pastor to teach us all about God but then we don't study the bible to see if what the pastor said is true. Evil is still spread from one person to another. We don't have classes how to this evil or that evil and the world is increasing in the evil it does. Should not the church of Jesus continue

Evil people will be here! We do live in the world. They will continue to present their ideas to influence their "religion". They want to promote their agenda. The people of Athens in acts 17 certainly had many of these people. The whole town was full of markers displaying which god they served at the time. But Paul as he traveled through the city found an open door to share Jesus with them (vs 23). So are we to find the open door for us to share Jesus with the world around us. Don't let their deceiving drag you down but expose them with the light of the word of God. A church sign on my way to work asks this question: Does your life cast shadows or project light?

Jesus says this in John 16:33 (CSB) "I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world." Anyone who wants to do the will of God will have persecutions. We have an adversary who wants to see us fail at our call of God! But we have a Father who wants for us to have victory and fulfill His calling in our lives. Since the world hated Jesus it will too also hate us (John 15:18). If we are experiencing a time of little or no hardships we have to ask ourselves "is this period because of the peace of God or am I out of step with my father and the devil has no reason to bother me." My boss has a sign on his desk that says something to the fact of: live your life in such a way that when you wake up the devil panics 'Oh no their awake!' (Proverbs 25:21-22, Mark 10:23-31, 2 Corinthians 12:10, Psalm 73)

Not only is Timothy to follow all the good things that Paul listed in verse 10 but also in persecutions and sufferings. We want all the good stuff. We want all the easy stuff. But persecutions and sufferings will follow the believer. 2 Corinthians 11:24-28 gives us a summary of what Paul had suffered in the name of Jesus (CSB) "24 Five times I received the forty lashes minus one from the Jews. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I received a stoning. Three times I was shipwrecked. I have spent a night and a day in the open sea. 26 On frequent journeys, I faced dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my own people, dangers from Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers at sea, and dangers among false brothers; 27 toil and hardship, many sleepless nights, hunger and thirst, often without food, cold, and without clothing. 28 Not to mention other things, there is the daily pressure on me: my concern for all the churches." This list

Paul is writing to his disciple Timothy to encourage him to diligent in his duty to his church. Paul is warning him to not be like the evil men in verses 1-9, but to continue the course that Timothy is on. Timothy is to continue in Paul's teaching, Paul's conduct, Paul's purpose, Paul's faith, Paul's patience, Paul's love and Paul's endurance. How can Paul declare that his way is so perfect? He was following Jesus! 1 Corinthians 11:1 (CSB) Imitate me, as I also imitate Christ. Paul had his eyes on Jesus and asked Timothy, Titus, and many others, " Follow me," without even taking his eyes off Jesus to see who would follow. Am I following Jesus? Am I asking others to follow my example as I follow Jesus?

Now after God speaks to us the Holy Spirit will teach us and remind us of what God has said to us. The disciples did not get it right, right away. I think of the two disciple on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24). They did not understand Jesus as he explained the scriptures to them but after Jesus broke the bread the Holy Spirit opened their eyes to see Jesus. Peter while Jesus was on trial would deny Jesus but as soon as Jesus looked him in the eye the Holy Spirit brought back the words Jesus spoke to him at the last supper and he was broken and wept (Luke 22:61). Peter was reminded of the words he had heard in church and school on the day of Pentecost when he was filled with the Holy Spirit while preaching to the crowd. He recited Joel 2:28. Peter writes to us and says, "Therefore I will always remind you about these things, even though you know them and are established in the truth you now have." in 2 Peter 1:12 (CSB). Remind us Holy Spirit of those words that have been spoken

We have changed the commands of the bible to better fit into the world. In the words of Paul we have accepted a new gospel that is not one of Jesus. I say we very generally. I am not talking to any one certain church, but to the church as a whole but also to each individual person. We have neglected the truth of the word of God and turned it into a happy fell good message. But in all reality if we continue in our sins of this nation then we will end up in the same predicament as the nation of Israel did in Jeremiah's day (verse 17). We are blazing a new road the NLT calls it a muddy path instead of the highway that God has built. As I read through the Old Testament prophets I wonder which of these prophets are currently speaking to America? Are we listening to Jeremiah or are we stubborn as Israel was and are saying  Jeremiah 18:12 (CSB) "But they will say, 'It's hopeless. We will continue to follow our plans, and each of us will continue to act according to the stub

Sure this is Jesus talking to His disciples but how does Jesus speak to us? Can He only speak to us what is already in the Bible? Most certainly the Bible does speak to us. Hebrews 4:12 tells us the word of God is living and active. There are times when I read that the Words in the Bible jump out at me and touch my spirit as it is sent by God to do (Isaiah 55:11, Jeremiah 1:12). God can use people to speak to other people. I think of Nathan the prophet when he spoke to King David (2 Samuel 12). God can also speak to us with His voice. Moses spoke to God face to face (Exodus 33:11). God's voice is not heard in the elements of nature but in quietness after it has all quieted down and we are quiet (1 Kings 19:11-12). Either way God speakers to us we must respect the Word of God (Isaiah 66:2).

I do not expect the world to act like a Christian, because they do not love Jesus and will not keep the Word of God. Now are there Christians who do not keep the Word of God? If they do not then they do not love God. They will not get these blessings; the Holy Spirit of God, the love of Jesus son of God, and God and Jesus living in them. I don't want to miss any of those blessings. I want as much of the Holy Spirit as I can get. I want the love of Jesus. I want God and Jesus LIVING in me. If  I want those blessings then I must love the words Jesus spoke and I must keep them. Did Jesus only speak the words found in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John? No! The words Jesus spoke was not his but God's words. So then I must love the words God spoke. All 66 books. All 1189 chapters. All 31,102 verses. (2 Timothy 3:16-17) The only way to know and follow all of them is to be in the word of God for myself and ask God to help me to understand and follow what He has said. Deuteronomy 29:29 (C

This is the third "if you love me" verse. The person who loves Jesus will keep His Word. The promise from Jesus to those who keep His Word  is that God will love him. And as a bonus Jesus and God will make their home with him. Revelation 3:20 is what Jesus is doing when He is waiting for someone to keep His word. Revelation 3:20 (CSB) "See! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me." Lord Jesus I pray that You will keeping knocking on my door so that way I can learn to obey Your word, Your voice, Your commands. I continually want You to love me and make Your home in my heart. I want the Father to make His home in my heart. I want the Holy Spirit to make His home in my heart. Help me to only hear Your voice and silence the voice of the World, my flesh, and Satin that pulls me away from you.

This is Judas son of James (Luke 6:16, Acts 1:13) and Thaddeus (Matthew 10:3, Mark 3:18). Verse 22 is the only time outside of the list of apostles that He is mentioned in the Bible. Some believe he is the author of the book Jude. But either way he was with the apostles in the upper room when Jesus showed Himself to the disciples and not to the world (Luke 24). And He stuck around for the Holy Spirit in acts 2. Tradition tells us he went in to preach to the Armenians in present day Turkey and was killed in present day Iran. Will we be a little known disciple who makes an impact on the world like Judas son of James?

This is the second "if you love me" verse (15, 23). It also comes with a promise. Just as we are to show our love to God by keeping His commands in verse 15 we now are to have and keep His commands. What does it mean to have His commands? Does it mean that just by having access to the bible we have His commands? What about just owning a Bible? Yes, but that is not all. We must have the word buried deep down in our heart. Like a tent stake that is used to hold a tent during major wind storms so is the Word of God buried deep in our hearts will keep our lives calm during great troubles. The Holy Spirit can recall these verses to the front of our mind to check us to keep us on the right track (vs 26). When we can do that then we can experience the love of God and Jesus and then Jesus can revel Himself to us and chase away the devil. (Psalm 119;9,11, James 4;7-8, Joshua 1:8, 2 Timothy 3:16, James 1:22-23)

The day that Jesus appeared to the disciples He declared that He was alive. And on that day they learned that Jesus and the Father are one. The day we accept Jesus we experience Jesus in us. We all were in Jesus' heart on the day He was crucified on the cross (Good Friday). He did it for us, for the world. Today is the day of salvation. The bible talks about our salvation in the past, present, and future. We got saved. We are being saved. We will be saved. We are to live each day crucifying our flesh and picking up our cross and following Jesus. Make today count! (Ephesians 2:5, 1 Peter 1:8-9, Philippians 2:12, Romans 5:9-10) Check out this article on the past, present, and future of our salvation