Daily Inspirations

  Good morning. This will be part of various verses from Psalm 18. I love Thee O Lord, my strength, my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer in whom I take refuge. I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies. He rescued me, because He delighted in me. I have kept the ways of the Lord. All of His word was before me. I was blameless with Him. For You light my lamp You illumine my darkness. Then from Matthew chapter 5: you are the light of the world a city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. God will take care of you every day. No matter what comes against you, He will protect you. Why does He rescue you? Because He delights in you. You have kept His ways and followed His word. You are blameless before Him. You are the light of the world. Why – because He lit your lamp. Now people will see His light in you. The trouble with light ...

  Good morning. Today were going to look at Matthew chapter 5. You've heard many good messages about the passage – far better than I can do. This is just a reminder of them. You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how will it be made salty again? It is good for nothing anymore, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. Just how does salt taste? Well, it tastes – salty. It really doesn't have a taste of its own; it enhances the taste of the things you put it upon. And that is the way our lives should be. Our lives are supposed to add taste to those around us. We are to be a good influence on those around us. For some people though – there's not enough salt in the world to make them have a good taste. People should have a desire to have a life like ours. Salt doesn't try to make things taste good; it just does. It's not up to us to make the people around us to taste good. In fact we can't. We just have to be willing for ...

  Good morning. Today were going back to Romans chapter 4. I am leaving out some of the words. It is talking about Abraham. In hope against hope he believed, in order that he might become a father of many nations. And without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now good as dead. Yet with respect to the promise of God he did not waver in unbelief, but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what He had promised, He was able also to perform. Sometimes our situation seems hopeless. According to man we are doomed. But then we have two of the most comforting words of the Bible – but God. Our   belief is not in some words of man or in some man; but in God Himself. We can trust God to answer our prayer. We don't deny the situation or hide our eyes from it. Like Abraham we look at the situation honestly; but we still believe God will help us through it. We don't waver in unbelief about God's promise to us. Instead we grow strong in...

  Good morning. Try to keep dry with Collin out there. We're going to look at Psalm 17 today. And again we have this by night God ministering to us. You have tried my heart; You have visited me by night; You have tested me and found nothing; I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress. God looks at our heart, not just what we do. We can fool people, but we can't fool God. He has tested you and found nothing wrong. He knows your heart, and that it is in the right place. You have purposed that your mouth will not transgress God's word. You satisfy verse five: your steps have held fast to His paths. Your feet have not slipped. Also verse six: you have called upon Him, for He will answer you. He will incline His ear to you and hear your speech. He will listen to you because your heart is right. Eight: He will keep you as the apple of the eye; He will hide you in the shadow of His wings. You are His delight. He will protect you as you keep close to Him - in His shadow. 1...

  Good morning. I trust that you had fun last night. At first I wasn't too sure about these verses, but then it hit me – this really may be important. Psalm 16 verse seven: I will bless the Lord who has counseled me; indeed my mind instructs me in the night. I believe that you're going to wake up one morning and that you will know that you will know that you will know what you are   supposed to do! There won't be any doubt in your mind. Even in the natural our subconscious works at night. People wake up knowing how to do something they had been thinking about. It's even truer with God. Our lives and minds are so busy that we just can't hear what God says to us. But as we are at rest He can speak to our spirits and to our minds. And why does He do this? Verse eight: I have set the Lord continually before me; because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. When we put God first in our lives then He can speak to us even in our sleep, and we will listen. Nothing...

  Good morning. I'm sure you and your mom will enjoy it tonight. It's great that you can do something together. This is from Psalm three. It's one of those "old" songs. But Thou O Lord art a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. I was crying to the Lord with my voice and He answered me from His holy mountain. I lay down and slept; I awoke for the Lord sustains me. I will not be afraid of 10,000s of people who have set themselves against me roundabout. The Lord is our shield against anything that comes against us. He is our protector. We cry to the Lord when we are in trouble and afflicted. He hears us and answers us because we keep His word. Because He takes care of us, then we can lay down in peace and sleep. We don't have to lay awake in fear of what might come upon us. The people of the world take pills to go to sleep; but we need to take His word before we go to sleep. We don't have to be like in Deuteronomy: when it's evening, we...

  Good morning. Today we are going to go back to Psalm one. I'm going to change A few of the words to make it more personal. How blessed is the reader who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his/her delight is in the word of the Lord, and in His word he/she meditates day and night. And he/she will be like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he/she does, he/she prospers. Too many Christians today are listening to the Council of those who are not Christians. They are getting their advice from people whose heart is not towards God, and who do not live their lives according to God's word. They scoff at us Christians. They put us down at every turn. They call wrong right and right wrong. They don't delight in God's word; because it points out where they are wrong. And sadly the same Christians that I'm talkin...

  Good morning. Well I'm in the book of Revelation which doesn't have a lot of things in it that would be encouraging in your everyday life. So today I'm going to back up to the first chapter of the book of Romans. I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, but the righteous man shall live by faith. Today's liberal world of political correctness tells us that we should be ashamed of the gospel - that the gospel is not all-inclusive and offends people. In fact there are billions of people that are offended by it. They are offended by it because it is the truth. And no one wants to hear the truth; they want their ears tickled. They are looking for someone or something that tells them that what they want to do is all right. But it's definitely not all right. We should be tolerant, they sa...

Good morning. Today we are going to start with Jude 24 and then back up to Jude 20. Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy. As always it is not we in our own power that can keep us from stumbling. He is the one that does that; we just have to agree with Him - to allow Him to do His work in us through the Holy Spirit. We have to be so in tune with Him that we don't even have to think about whether something is right or not. Many times that's easier said than done. Also to stand in the presence of His glory. In the Old Testament the priests were not even able to stand when the glory of God entered the temple or the tabernacle; and yet we will be able to. Just as Jesus was blameless, so we are to be. That is the way that God sees us when we walk in His Spirit and allow Him to control our lives. We are just as if we never sinned. And we will stand in His presence with great joy. How can we achi...

  Good morning. Remember from yesterday – perfect love, God's love, casts out fear. As hard as it seems decisions do not have to be made right this instant. In fact the more insistent that we are in making a quick decision, the more likely it is that we will make a mistake. Trust in yourself – and trust in God. I guess it is a "coincidence" what we going to talk about today. From first John chapter 5: and this is the confidence which we have before Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him. When our car is giving us trouble and we know that we need a new one, it's "easy" to believe that He will answer our request for a new car. When we see that beautiful new Mercedes though, it's a lot harder to believe that He will give us that one - that that car is the one that He will give us. You know that it is God's will t...

  Good morning. It is beautiful in the Smokey Mountains! I'm sure you're having a great time. It's always good to hear that what I send is meaningful. I'm sure you'll have a great memorial day. We are in chapter 4 of first John. We're going to start with verse 18, and then refer back to verse four. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. When we are walking in God's love, there is nothing to fear. First of all, we have nothing to fear from God. Because if we are walking in love, we are walking in God's will. Even if we disobey God, there's still nothing to fear. He doesn't try to make us fear Him. That's the way the devil operates, not God. If we do fear punishment from God we are not perfected in His love. We don't...

  Good morning. This comes from first John chapter 3. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight. If our conscience has not been seared, then we can listen to our heart. If we disregard what our heart is trying to tell us, eventually we can't hear when it tells us we have done wrong. When God is the desire of our heart, we want to obey Him; and so we listen carefully when our heart tells us we have done wrong. But we're not talking about that kind of person – we are talking about you. Your heart dearly seeks after Him to do His will. So you can trust your heart. And therefore you can have confidence when you come before God requesting things. It says whatever you ask of God you will receive. That is because you do keep His commandments and you do the things that are pleasing in His sight. You can have confidence that you wil...

  Good morning. Today we're going to look at first John chapter 2, 15 and 16. do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. Remember that lust means very strong desire. In fact the NIV translates the first one as cravings. What's interesting is that all three words - love - in verse 15 is the Greek word agape. Too many Christians today love the world system and/or the things in the world. Instead of centering their agape on the Father and His word they center their agape on the world or the things of the world. If they centered it on Him then the things of the world would not attract them. The lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and boastful pride of life began in the garden of Eden. Eve saw that the tree was good for food – that's the lust of the ...

  Good morning. This comes from the first chapter of first John. God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. In math, which is my native tongue, when we say that A equals B, it means they are exactly the same. But in Greek that's not true. When it says that God is light, it does not mean that light is God. God is love does not mean that love is God. In Him there is no darkness. So if there is darkness, it means that we have stepped away from Him – out of the light. Sometimes little children are afraid of the dark. Most of the time they get used to it little by little. We say that they grow out of it. The same can be said about the darkness of being away from Him. When we become Christians, we are afraid of the ...

  Good morning. Today we're actually going to take something out of context; but the words have an application to our everyday life. From chapter 3 of second Peter: with the Lord one day is as 1000 years, and 1000 years as one day. The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. Of course in context it is talking about the end times and God being patient rather than bringing judgment upon people right away. But we're going to look at this as God is not slow about keeping His promises to us. He has promised you things, and it really seems like He is slow about keeping them. But He's not slow. It just seems like that to us. We want everything right now. Remember – it's at the right moment. He knows when it's the best time. Jesus, the promised savior, was born at the right time; not too soon and not too late. Everything had to be in place. The same is true for ...

  Good morning. This morning were going to get a little happier than we have been. We're going to look at the first chapter of second Peter. The first half of this chapter is so poetical. Poetical – from a fisherman? Absolutely! So many things come in pairs. I will point them out in parentheses. Starting with verse two: Grace and peace (1) be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord (2); seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness (3), through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence (4). For by these has granted to us His precious and magnificent (5) promises, in order that by them you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. Five pairs in just a few verses. God Himself has given us everything we need pertaining to life and godliness. He gave it to us when we made Jesus Lord of our lives. We didn't have to seek i...

  Good morning. Today's inspiration is a continuation of what we talked about yesterday. This will come from chapters 4 and five of first Peter. Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you. Whoa! Fiery ordeal? I thought yesterday He was just talking about some little something that a person asked us about. What's with this fiery ordeal? It's not much of a testing if it's just baby powder. Of course He knows what's in us; but we don't. We don't know if we will bend like the palm tree or break like the pine. Then it says: but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing. Rejoicing – seriously? I don't like to suffer. It hurts either physically or emotionally. In Acts chapter 5 the apostles had been flogged, and they went on their way rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name. Back to first...

Good morning. Today we're going to look at chapter 3 of first Peter. Don't worry I'm not going to talk about wives being submissive to their husbands. Starting at verse 13: and who is there to harm you, if you prove zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. And do not fear they are intimidation, and do not be troubled, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. In today's world Christians are greatly coming under fire for believing and doing what God considers good. We are slandered if we believe or say that something is wrong. No one likes being told they are wrong – even Christians. It used to be that if you told someone t...

 Good morning. This is from first Peter chapter 2: but you are a chosen race (generation), A royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. You are chosen. You are not an accident. We ask ourselves, "why would He ever choose us?". "We haven't done anything to be worthy of being chosen." That's the good news. We don't have to do anything; we don't have to become anything. He chooses us based on what He knows we will believe and will become in our lives. We are also a priesthood – and not just some ordinary one – we are a royal one. And what do priest do? They offer sacrifices. Our sacrifices are not of animals, but of praise to Him. Just as He smelled the sweet aroma of the animal sacrifices in the Old Testament, He smells the sweet aroma of the offerings of our praise to Him. We are also a holy nation. The priest were n...

 Good morning. Last night as I was getting ready for bed it suddenly struck me (don't worry I'm OK) - what I was supposed to talk about this morning; and that it was going to be significant. In fact it may be one of the most significant things we will ever talk about. Sadly I am no expert and have failed miserably at times to follow the rules. How do we know if it's God and not something else? Of course Uncle Jimmy (better-known as James) knows best. Starting with verse 15 of Chapter 3: this wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. But where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruit, unwavering, without hypocrisy. First how do we know it's not God? Is it earthly, natural, or demonic? The demonic is easy to dismiss with sincere Christians. They are not going to do something contrary to God...

 Good morning. It was a late Big Daddy Weave concert last night. I am also sending a video with Plumb speaking last night. It was a moving testimony. James chapter 4: what is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust (very strong desire for anything; not just sexual) and do not have; so you commit murder. And you are envious and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. We ask for a lot of things. Sometimes it's with good motives, and sometimes with bad. Too many times when we ask for something we really don't want to hear no from God. It's very hard sometimes especially when something is so important to us. It's not that we are bad people, or that we're asking for something wrong. It's just that we want it so much. Is the reason we don...

 Good morning. Thank you for your kind words. Of course anything that is good doesn't come from me. Ready for a toughie this morning? James 3:2 - for we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well. Just as the bridle controls what the horse will do, so this is talking about bridling the whole body. Of course some of us need a bigger bit than others (speaking of myself). Remember what the pastor talked about the other Sunday – be slow to speak. Some people immediately say what pops into their heads. Afterwards they may regret it. The sad thing is though sometimes they don't regret it when they should. Somebody says something; and then we react to that by saying something. Then they say something, and then we say something. It escalates too quickly. We are not slow to anger then. Of course it's not just talking about this kind of speaking. And it's not just talking about using bad langua...

 Good morning. This morning we're going to look at the book of James. There is no way that I can do half as good a job as the pastor has done the last few Sundays. Consider it all joy when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect results, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. Right ... Joy. But it did say consider it joy. It's not going to seem joyful though. Why do we endure? Because the testing of our faith produces endurance. People who run the marathon don't just get up one morning and say "I think I'll run a marathon". They have to start out little, and then build up. They need to produce endurance. Remember the saying, "you can't have a testimony without a test". It's possible to endure but have a bad attitude in doing so. "I'm just suffering for Jesus". That kind of endurance won't have a perfect result. Why do we e...

 Good morning. This is from chapter 13 of the book of Hebrews: Let your character be free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, "I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you," so that we can confidently say, "the Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What shall man do to me?" We think it would be easy to be free from the love of money if we had a lot out of it. We don't want a lot of it; just enough to take care of everything - well maybe a little bit extra. But for some people, it seems like there's just never enough. No matter how much they have, they want more. We feel imprisoned because we don't have enough money. We feel shackled. Sometimes we even cloak it in religiosity. If I had more I could give God more. Remember He's not after your money He's after your heart. If He has your heart, then He has your money. When we don't have money and the pressure is upon us to take care of ou...

 Good morning. Continuing in the vein from yesterday – and without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. For the Christian it's not just a mental thing like in some religions. If we truly believe, then no one can convince us differently. We do believe that He exists and that He is the same yesterday today and forever. He hasn't changed what He expects from us; and He hasn't changed what He will do for us. It doesn't say that He is a rewarder of those who do some list of things; but He is a rewarder of those who seek him – the king James says diligently seek Him. We have that hope of the bicycle. Our hope is in this God who never changes. You heard it before "it's not seeing is believing; but rather believing is seeing". When we believe that he is a rewarder of us who seek Him, then we see that bicycle in our hands. We seek God and not the bicycle. Our motto i...

 Good morning. Today we're going to look at verse one of the 11th chapter of the book of Hebrews: now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. King James says the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. A child hopes he will get a new bicycle for Christmas. The bicycle is the substance, the hope has no substance. It is a wish - it does not exist in reality at this moment. If he actually possessed the bicycle, he wouldn't need to hope for it. He would actually possess it in his hands. Our faith is that bicycle in our hands. It's as real to us as that physical bicycle would be. The fact that we had that faith is the evidence of the bicycle not seen. On all these crime shows evidence is what they are looking for. It shows what happened and who did it. We can't see it but we know that it's real. So too is our faith. We can't see what we hoped for; but the fact that we have the faith is the evidence that ...

 Good morning. Verse 10 and verse 14 of the 10th chapter of the book of Hebrews: by this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. When Jesus died on the cross legally we were sanctified. We were set apart as holy unto God. Experientially though we still have work to do. We didn't have anything to do with the first part, but we do with the second. The working out of that sanctification in our lives doesn't happen by accident. It takes work and will. Sometimes it's hard to have the will to keep on keeping on. It seems like nothing is happening. Verse 14 says that he has perfected for all times – those who are being sanctified. Through the cross we were made perfect. Experientially we're still working on it. It's like that song says "I am a promise, I am a possibility". The promise and the possibility are that day by day we are being...

 Good morning. From chapter 9 of Hebrews: for if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled, sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more with the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, in order that since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. Under the old covenant sins were just covered over. It was a matter of following the regulations. It did not cleanse your conscience. It took the blood of Jesus to do that. The blood of Jesus did not just cover over sin; it eradicated it from your very conscience. It's just as if you never sinned  – justification. You can truly say "my conscience is clear...