My Scriptural Reflections

2 Cor 9:6-8  New    _         Posted April 16, 2007
Paul is asking us to take joy in our giving, just like anything else in our Christian journey.  What pleases the Lord is not the giving itself but the attitude that comes with it.  Since God will provide for us in all things, there is really no reason for giving reluctantly.  Besides, He will bless us with more as we give more.  After all, He can’t wait to give us more.

2 Cor 10:1-6 _____            Posted April 10, 2007
Since it is a spiritual warfare, the means to overcome the enemy should be a spiritual one as well.  No wonder many fail in defeating the enemy as they have been using the "carnal" weapons to fight the spiritual warfare.  What are some examples of spiritual weapons?  Prayer, fasting, meditating on the Word, praising God, giving thanks to God, sharing our faith, etc.

Mark 8:1-10                       Posted Feb 21, 2007
It’s amazing that the 4,000 were with Jesus for 3 days without eating anything.  They must have been so captivated by Jesus.  I wonder why Jesus didn’t feed them during those 3 days.  But He did have compassion for them when they had nothing to eat for 3 days.  He probably didn’t want them to become “rice” Christians following Him for mere material perks.  He did help when necessary.  God does want us to use the gifts and skills He has given us to live an abundant life.  He will come to our aid when needed.  And He will exceed our expectations!

Selected QT Quotes

"He that watereth shall be watered also himself."  Prov. 11: 25  "The only way to grow in grace is . . . to engage, to the extent of our ability, in helping and blessing those who need the help we can give them."  -- God's Amazing Grace

"For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly." Ps. 84: 11.  We are to stand firmly for the principles of the Word of God, remembering that God is with us to give us strength to meet each new experience. Let us ever maintain the principles of righteousness in our lives, that in the name of the Lord we may go forward from strength to strength. --- God's Amazing Grace

"True humility is the evidence that we behold God and that we are in union with Jesus Christ. Unless we are meek and lowly we cannot claim that we have any true conception of the character of God."
-- That I May Know Him - p.122

"Meekness is a precious grace, willing to suffer silently, willing to endure trials. Meekness is patient and labors to be happy under all circumstances. Meekness is always thankful and makes its own songs of happiness, making melody in the heart of God. Meekness will suffer disappointment and wrong and will not retaliate.  A meek and quiet spirit will not be ever looking out for happiness for itself, but will seek for self-forgetfulness and find sweet content and true satisfaction in making others happy. It is not the seeking to climb to eminence that will make you great in God's sight, but it is the humble life of goodness, of fidelity that will make you the object of the heavenly angels' special guardianship." --My Life Today - p.56

"He has made provision that all may be holy and happy if they choose. Sufficient light has been given to this generation, that we may learn what our duties and privileges are and enjoy the precious and solemn truths in their simplicity and power.  We are accountable only for the light that shines upon us. The commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus are testing us. If we are faithful and obedient, God will delight in us, and bless us as His own chosen, peculiar people. When perfect faith and perfect love and obedience abound, working in the hearts of those who are Christ's followers, they will have a powerful influence. " --My Life Today - p. 42

"Christ has made every provision for us to be strong. He has given us His Holy Spirit, whose office is to bring to our remembrance all the promises that Christ has made, that we may have peace and a sweet sense of forgiveness. If we will but keep our eyes fixed on the Savior and trust in His power, we shall be filled with a sense of security; for the righteousness of Christ will become our righteousness." --My Life Today - p. 45

"Instead of looking forward to some future time when, through a special endowment of spiritual power, they will receive a miraculous fitting up for soul winning, they are yielding themselves daily to God, that He may make them vessels meet for His use. Daily they are improving the opportunities for service that lie within their reach. Daily they are witnessing for the Master wherever they may be, whether in some humble sphere of labor in the home or in a public field of usefulness."
--My Life Today, p. 60

How was Joseph enabled to make such a record of firmness of character, uprightness, and wisdom?--In his early years he had consulted duty rather than inclination; and the integrity, the simple trust, the noble nature, of the youth, bore fruit in the deeds of the man. Faithful attention to duty in every station, from the lowliest to the most exalted, had been training every power for its highest service. He who lives in accordance with the Creator's will is securing to himself the truest and noblest development of character." -- My Life Today, p. 66

"The mind must be firmly controlled to dwell upon subjects that will strengthen the moral powers. . . . The thoughts must be pure, the meditations of the heart must be clean, if the words of the mouth are to be words acceptable to Heaven and helpful to your associates....The youth who finds joy and happiness in reading the Word of God and in the hour of prayer is constantly refreshed by drafts from the Fountain of life. He will attain a height of moral excellence and a breadth of thought of which others cannot conceive. Communion with God encourages good thoughts, noble aspirations, clear perceptions of truth, and lofty purposes of action." -- My Life Today, p. 83

"By taking one step after another, the highest ascent may be climbed, and the summit of the mount may be reached at last. Do not become overwhelmed with the great amount of work you must do in your lifetime, for you are not required to do it all at once. Let every power of your being go to each day's work, improve each precious opportunity, appreciate the helps that God gives you, and make advancement up the ladder of progress step by step. Remember that you are to live but one day at a time, that God has given you one day, and heavenly records will show how you have valued its privileges and opportunities. May you so improve every day given you of God that at last you may hear the Master say, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." -- My Life Today, p. 95

"We should not allow a day to pass without gaining an increase of knowledge in temporal and spiritual things. We are to plant no stakes that we are not willing to take up and plant further on, nearer the heights we hope to ascend. The highest education is to be found in training the mind to advance day by day. The close of each day should find us a day's march nearer the overcomer's reward.  Day by day our understanding is to ripen. Day by day we are to work out conclusions that will bring a rich reward in this life and in the life to come. Looking daily to Jesus, instead of to what we ourselves have done, we shall make decided advancement in temporal as well as spiritual knowledge"
-- My Life Today, p. 109

"Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." Eph. 4:32   "Let the tenderness and mercy that Jesus has revealed in His own precious life be an example to us of the manner in which we should treat our fellow beings.... Many have fainted and become discouraged in the great struggle of life, whom one word of kindly cheer and courage would have strengthened to overcome.... We cannot tell how far reaching may be our tender words of kindness, our Christ-like efforts to lighten some burden. The erring can be restored in no other way than in the spirit of meekness, gentleness, and tender love...The grace of God leads men to place themselves in all their business transactions in the place of those with whom they are dealing. It leads men to look not only on their own things but also on the things of others. It leads them to reveal tenderness, sympathy, and kindness. Cherishing a right spirit, living a holy life--this is what being Christlike means"
--My Life Today, p. 235

"I have read of a man who, journeying on a winter's day through deep drifts of snow, became benumbed by the cold, which was almost imperceptibly freezing his vital powers. He was nearly chilled to death, and was about to give up the struggle for life, when he heard the moans of a fellow traveler who was also perishing with cold. His sympathy was aroused, and he determined to rescue him. He chafed the ice-cold limbs of the unfortunate man, and after considerable effort raised him to his feet. As the sufferer could not stand, he bore him in sympathizing arms through the very drifts he had thought he could never get through alone.   When he had carried his fellow traveler to a place of safety, the truth flashed home to him that in saving his neighbor he had also saved himself. His earnest efforts to help another had quickened the blood that was freezing in his own veins and sent a healthy warmth to the extremities of his body". --My Life Today, p. 234