Thursday... So, what is appealing to us?

Proverbs 15:2 (NLT), "The tongue of the wise makes knowledge appealing, but the mouth of a fool belches out foolishness."

Thursday... So, what is appealing to us?

There is so much foolishness being shared around us and it is so easy for us to kept listening. It is can be appealing to us.

Now Proverbs 15:2 (NLT) says, "The tongue of the wise makes knowledge appealing, but the mouth of a fool belches out foolishness." And this is so important for us to see.

What is it that gets our attention? There is so much out there that is really foolishness but we keep listening when we should be quick to change the channel. What is it that gets our attention?

Now the Apostle John starts chapter 4 this way. Verses 1-3 says, "Jesus knew the Pharisees had heard that he was baptizing and making more disciples than John (though Jesus himself didn't baptize them - his disciple did). So he left Judea and returned to Galilee."

Now this caught my attention because so many of us in the church are excited about numbers. I am a retired Church Planter so I was very interested in numbers. But it seemed that Jesus was more interested in individuals. In fact it was a woman who wasn't even a Jew. And that caught my attention. Yes Jesus is interested in all of us. Gender and race are not a problem to Jesus. And for many that is not appealing. She also had had multiple husbands and who she was living with at the time was not her husband.

Jesus was I believe intentionally sitting by a well and he started a conversation with an individual who was a Samaritan woman by asking her for a drink. And that caught her attention. Verses 9-10 says, "The woman was surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans. She said to Jesus, 'You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink?' Jesus replied, 'If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.'" And that was very appealing to her, That got her attention.

Verses 13-14, "Jesus replied, 'Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again, It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving then eternal life." And that really caught her attention and verse 15a says, "'Please sir,' the woman said, 'give me this water.'" And that is where the conversation began. She knew he was a wise man and his knowledge was appealing to her.

She at one point ran into the city and told people about what she had heard from him. And verse 42 said, "Then they said to the woman, 'Now we believe, not just because of what you told us, but because we have heard him ourselves. Now we know that he is indeed the Savior of the world."

I have found the Bible so appealing to me because it is God's Word. It really does make a difference in my life. "The tongue of the wise makes knowledge appealing, but the mouth of a fool belches out foolishness." Also seeing how Jesus responded and what he said is so appealing. Yes, yes! #todaysbeginning

Tuesday... I wonder what would happen if we didn't take the credit?

Nehemiah 6:16b (NLT), "They realized this work had been done with the help of our God." Tuesday... I wonder what would happen if we didn't take the credit? Over in the Old Testament in the book of Nehemiah it tells of a major task that through the leadership of Nehemiah was accomplished. The walls of Jerusalem had been torn down and God had laid it on Nehemiah to build those walls back up. It was definitely an almost impossible task but Nehemiah 6:15-16 says, "So on October 2 the wall was finished - just fifty-two days after we had begun. When our enemies and the surrounding nations heard about it, they were frightened and humiliated. They realized this work had been done with the help of our God." Now, we so many times want to take credit for doing the impossible. It would make such a difference for us. But I wonder what would happen through us if God got the credit? Psalm 96 tells us what we are to do. Verses 2-3 says, "Sing to the LORD; praise his name. ...

Tuesday... We just have trouble listening.

1 Corinthians 13:7 (NLT), "Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance." Tuesday... We just have trouble listening. Over in Jeremiah 25:4 (NLT) it says, "Again and again the LORD has sent you his servants, the prophets, but you have not listened or even paid attention." And Jeremiah went on to tell what was going to happen. There will be consequences if we do not listen to what God says through his Word. Now the Apostle Paul over in 1 Corinthians was having a problem with some professed Christ followers who were having trouble at listening. And we too can have problems at listening. We can think that being a Christ follower means we do a lot of finger pointing and we give up on people who don't do what we say. We can even do that in our families. But Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13:7 (NLT), "Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance." In verse ...

Thursday... Yet, now this is true.

Colossians 1:22a (NLT), "Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body." Thursday... Yet, now this is true. Now Paul a prisoner in Rome is writing a letter to a church in Colossae. And in Colossians 1:21 (MSG) he says, "Once you were alienated from God and were hostile in your minds, engaging in evil deeds" The NLT says "This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated by your evil thoughts and actions." And that is where so many in this world live today. They are blowing it and they don't know what to do. Yes, they are hostile in their minds and they are engaging in evil deeds but there is Good News. Now Paul in verses 19-20 sets the stage for an answer to those who don't want to live that way. He says, "For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and earth b...

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