Vows Part 1

FAITH:
Very recently I had a great conversation with a dear friend. She had come upon this information and was going to share it on her blog. I loved it so much I asked if she minded if I shared it with all of you. I am going to do it in parts as it is quite long and I just did another long one a few devotionals back. This is some especially good information that will help with your walk with the Lord.

“Thy vows are upon me, O God,” he said. “I will render my praises unto thee” (Psalm 56:12).

The truest characters in the Bible were persons who made resolutions. And while they surely did not always succeed in keeping the resolutions resolving as they did, helped them to become the characters they were. Consider these examples:

Daniel: "Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which lie drank" (Daniel 1:8).

Joshua: "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" (Joshua 24:15).

Hannah: "For this child I prayed: and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked him; therefore . . . . as long as he lives lie shall be lent to the Lord" (1 Samuel 1:27-28).

Ruth: "Intreat me not to leave thee .... for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge; thy people shall be my people, and thy God shall be my God" (Ruth 1:16-17).

David: "I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways; I will delight myself in thy statutes; I will not forget thy word" (Psalm 119:15-1 6). At the very beginning of this new year, each of us will do well to make some resolutions. in fact, each of us should go a step farther and make some commitments. A "resolution" is only "an inward determination;" a "commitment" is "a binding promise." This year we want to make some New Year's commitments to God, and then say, "I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day" (2 Timothy 1: 12). Each should say:

I will (like Paul) forget those things which are behind, and press forward.

I will (like Abraham) trust implicitly in my God. I will (like Moses) choose rather to suffer with God's people than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.

I will (like job) be patient under the trials and hard places in life.

I will (like Joshua) refuse to become discouraged because of superior numbers on the other side. I will (like Joseph) turn my back on all seductive advances of the opposite sex.

I will (like Aaron and Hur) uphold the hands of my spiritual leaders.

I will (like Andrew) strive to lead my brother into a closer walk with Christ.

I will (like Stephen) manifest a forgiving spirit toward all who seek my hurt.

I will (like Timothy) vow to study the Word of God each day.

These are some good deeds that will show our faith to be real and genuine. Realizing that I cannot hope to achieve these objectives by my own strength I will rely upon Christ, for "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13).

Jonathan Edwards made the following resolutions early in life and sought to abide by them throughout his entire ministry.

1. Resolved never to lose one moment of time, but to improve it in the most profitable way I can. "For what is your life? it is even a vapor that appeareth for a little time, and then vanishes away" (James 4:14).

2 . Resolved never to do anything out of revenge. -Avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath; for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord" (Romans 12:19).

3. Resolved never to do anything which I should despise in another. "All things whatsoever ye Would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them" (Matthew 7:12).

4. Resolved never to do anything which I should be afraid to do, if I knew it were the last hour of my life. "But the end of all things is at hand; be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer" (1 Peter 4: 7).

Surely anyone who will adopt these resolutions and strive to follow them in his daily walk, will be a more useful and Christlike person.

FRIENDS:

Father, Remind us of the days when we were separated from Christ, then bring our minds back to the moment we first saw the love of your Son. Please help us to never grow complacent in our relationship with you. In Jesus' name, Amen.

DAILY BIBLE CHALLENGE
APRIL 24
Mark 9:1-13; 1 Cor 15:29-58; Psalms 93; Ruth 1-2
APRIL 25
Mark 9:14-32; 1 Cor 16; Psalms 94; Ruth 3-4

~Ruth~
Here is a play with four characters.

Character number one is a prostitute.

Character number two is her son. By the time we meet him he is wealthy, powerful, and single. (We wonder if his bachelorhood has anything to do with being the son of a prostitute.)

Character number three is a foreign widow in a clannish culture. Everything about her is different. Speaks with an accent. Wears a different name. Eats different food. Has a different way. Her only friend is her mother-in-law who happens also to be a widow and happens to be:

Character number four. She is older than the first widow. Too old to have kids. When her two sons die and her husband dies, she is left alone. With only a foreigner as a friend.

Four people. Each rejected. Each alone. four frazzled strings in the bottom of the knitting basket. Left untouched, awaiting the toss of the master-weaver. But he doesn't discard them.

He picks them up and weaves them together. The result? The unmarried son of the prostitute meets the foreign widow who left her homeland to accompany her mother-in-law.The mother-in-law recognized the bachelor as a relative and urges her daughter-in-law to make herself available. She does, the two marry, and the single bachelor has a wife---the young widow has a husband the the older widow has a grandson and we have a story of providential romance.

Such is the story of Ruth.

You'll recognize her as the younger widow. The older is named Naomi. Boaz is the son of the prostitute. And the prostitute? Well, she isn't mentioned in this book. But she is mentioned in, of all places, the Gospel of Matthew.

Read the words in chapter one verse five. Go ahead and flip over there.

Did you see it? Salmon was the father of Boaz. (Boaz's mother was Rahab)

Who would've thought? A harlot on Jesus' family tree.

But these kind of things happen in the Bible. Aren't we glad they do? Aren't we glad the mater-weaver has a place in his plan for each of us?

FOOD:

Does anyone out there love the Crock Pot as much as I do? Here is a great link for my fellow crockpotters....

http://crockpotrecipes101.com/blog/index.htm

FUN:

Look at the face of the little guy who is waiting his turn. I wonder if he had just been laughing a few seconds ago like the other little boys are?