Matthew 25:45 KJV
Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as *ye did it not* to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
Actions have consequences, but sometimes not doing the things we should have done can carry equal impact. “The price of inaction is far greater than the cost of making a mistake” ( Meister Eckhart).
Matthew 20:19 KJV
[Jesus said] And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him : and the third day he shall rise again.
A lot of people go through life, allowing whatever bad stuff that happens to keep them stagnant in their past, while time passes. Life is usually unpredictable, but like Christ, one can be intentional about how we react to it. “Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail” (Ralph Waldo Emerson).
Proverbs 27:2 KJV
Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips.
In a generation which puts emphasis on self-worth, self-esteem etc, it is important to remember that there is a thin line between self-confidence and arrogance. It is good to know one’s good values, but there is always that line. “Get someone else to blow your horn and the sound will carry twice as far” (Will Rogers).
1 Samuel 14:23 KJV
So the Lord saved Israel that day: and the battle passed over unto Beth-aven.
Matthew 22:21 KJV
Render…unto God the things that are God’s.
Inasmuch as as human beings, we would like to think of ourselves as self-made men or women, the truth is that God had always been looking out for us. It is God “who from ourmothers’ arms, has blesed us on our way” to wherever we find ourselves now. “When God is my way, I never get lost” (Nick Catricala).
Hebrews 12:1 KJV: Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us , and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
”Bad habits cause failure. Identify the habits holding you back and make a decision to crush them. The mentally tough mind is like a flourishing garden, and bad habits are the weeds that suffocate it. Watering the flowers without killing the weeds is an act of self-delusion” (Steve Seibold).
Romans 12:6 KJV : Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;
“Every Christian is gifted of the Lord to fulfill a divine vocation. Along with the gift, God gives a desire or a motivation to make use of that gift” (R. C. Sproul). Let us identify and use thé gift God has given us.
Numbers 13:33 KJV
And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.
Sometimes we are our own biggest enemies. What people think about you do not change who you are, that is until you let it. People are allowed to have their opinion, what matters most is how you see yourself.
Malachi 3:14 KJV
Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts?
1 Peter 3:4 KJV: … the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.
It is not abnormal to feel discouraged in our walk of faith sometimes, but let us watch the things we say against God in those times, outwardly and inwardly.
Genesis 3:4 KJV
And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
James 4:7 KJV
Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Compromising on our faith starts from engaging voices that are opposed to the voice of God. You can’t bargain with the devil and walk with your holiness intact. “Spiritual death happens one compromise at a time.”
The Bible Digest 