My Daily Pause

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  • Teaching is Difficult

    Teaching is Difficult

    Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 2:2 to follow the example of the apostles and teach God’s word. Paul was a very persuasive teacher and really knew his stuff. His skill didn’t keep him from facing difficult situations though, did it? Paul was beaten, mocked, run out of town, arrested. (Acts 16, 17, 18) But he kept teaching  – and that is the example he wants us to follow.

    The next time you need a little boost in your courage, think about Paul and Silas as they travel through tough terrain converting some tough people.

  • Two Faces

    Two Faces

    24 Those who hate you may try to fool you with their words,
    but in their minds they are planning evil.
    25 People’s words may be kind, but don’t believe them,
    because their minds are full of evil thoughts.
    26 Lies can hide hate,
    but the evil will be plain to everyone.     – Proverbs 26:24-26 NCV

     

    Instead of focusing on the obvious warning of who to avoid, let us look inward. To be godly and loving – the opposite of what this passage describes – we should…

    • …follow through on our promises
    • …tell the whole truth
    • …avoid setting others up to fail

    Allowing these basics to erode will lead us dangerously close to the two faced nature the proverb writer describes.

  • The Things We Worry About

    The Things We Worry About

    God’s word calls us, much like Psalm 49, to hear about the priorities we need to have. The psalmist reminds us that things we once worried about when we were younger don’t seem so important today. And later, the same will hold true for what worries us right now.

    Jesus taught us not to worry because we are the most important thing to God (Matthew 6:25-34).

    God’s invitation then, is to learn from his word – the earlier the better, so we spend our years on better things than worry.

  • 5 More Tips for Effective Prayer

    5 More Tips for Effective Prayer

    In the previous article, 5 Tips for Effective Prayer, we saw some qualities our prayer should have when making our requests from God. A quality prayer that pleases God contains much more than personal requests to satisfy our needs and wants. God is pleased with praise of his name and of his majesty, much like we read in Psalm 48. Let’s take some time today to think about the part of our prayers that do not ask anything but offer the Lord our everything.

    Here are five tips that will help:

    1. Speak to Him reverently (Matthew 6:9)
    2. Praise for Him (Matthew 6:13b – For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. The NIV and other versions do not include this part of the verse)
    3. Offered with a merciful spirit (James 2:13)
    4. Not offered to be seen of others (Matthew 6:6)
    5. Prayer is to be accompanied by personal action (Luke 6:46)
  • 5 Tips for Effective Prayer

    5 Tips for Effective Prayer

    As Jehoshaphat was watching the enemy amass themselves against him, he turned to God in prayer (2 Chronicles 20). He was in a period where he was leading well and teaching his people to fear God, so God obliterates the enemy. Jehoshaphat’s reign was always either hot or cold in its relationship with the Lord – so why did God so completely respond to that prayer?

    The Bible is full of tips on how to pray. Here are five:

    1. The prayer of the righteous is effective (James 5:16)
    2. Prayer is to be offered in Thanksgiving (Philippians 4:6, 1 Thessalonians 5:18 )
    3. Prayer should be continuous (1 Thessalonians 5:17)
    4. Prayer should be offered Sincerely (Matthew 6:5)
    5. Prayer should be offered with humility (Luke 18:10-14)

    Here is  5 More Tips for Effective Prayer

  • Guilt by Association

    Guilt by Association

    Ahab and Jehoshaphat tried to change the word of God, just like the people of the world are today. Ahab tried to have his own desires forced on God, but then attempted to hide when he realized it wasn’t going to work out for him. (2 Chronicles 18, 1 Kings 22)

    The things God has deemed as sinful will still be counted as sins on the judgment day no matter how much society tries to convinces us of the  contrary.