What is the most important relationship you can have? It is one that must be nurtured and maintained carefully throughout life. It is the relationship you have with the Father in heaven. You can be and should be His beloved child. Every moment of your time should reflect the fact that you belong to God.

1 John 3:1 (ESV)
“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.”

Each of us can be part of God’s household (1Ti 3:15). For that to happen we must enter that relationship with God through Jesus Christ (John 10:10). It is then that we begin living for the Lord (Ro 12:1-2).

God’s family is different from the world. For as God is holy we are to be holy (1Pe 1:16) We are to follow in the steps of Jesus who left us an an example of how to be a good, obedient and love-filled child (Mt 5:43-45). We truly are different because we are a new creation in Christ (2Co 5:17). Raised to walk in newness of life (Ro 6:1-6). As God’s child we have different goals, new outlooks and new standards by which we live each day.

Being God’s child means we no longer belong to ourselves (1Co 6:19-20) We’ve been purchased with the precious blood of Christ (1Pt 1:18-19). No longer do we do as we please but as God wills (Mt 7:21). We live to serve the Lord God until we leave this world for heaven (Re 2:10). We continually press toward the high calling of Jesus Christ (Php 3:12-15).

O how precious it is to be counted as part of God’s family with all of its blessings (Ep 1:3). Let us do all we can to maintain the good works that God has created us to do (Ep 2:10).

We all need to spend more time in the Word of God. Notice the attitude of the psalmist in 119:18

“Open my eyes, that I may behold
wondrous things out of your law.”

There are things in God’s Word that bless us, sustain us, reprove us, guide us, encourage us and many other benefits to those who delve into a study of it.

We have never traversed this world before so we need God to lead our steps so we will not sin or go astray from Him.

“I am a sojourner on the earth; hide not your commandments from me!” (119:19).

The truly wise person will seek God’s counsel for all the decisions of life! There are so many quandaries that are beyond our minds to know what is best alone.

Our Lord reminded us to seek first the Kingdom. Let every part of life be dictated by the wonderful words of God.

1  I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
2  My help comes from the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.
3  He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
4  Behold, he who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
5  The LORD is your keeper;
the LORD is your shade on your right hand.
6  The sun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.
7  The LORD will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
8  The LORD will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time forth and forevermore.

The good God of the Bible is an ever present help in the time of trouble (Psalm 46:1). He never leaves us and sees every need before we even have it. Paul reminds us that it is in God that we “live move and have our very being.” (Acts 17:28). Jesus told us that we can go to Him for our daily bread (Matthew 6:11). He gives His best blessings to us when we deserve it the least (Romans 5:8).

It is a comfort to know that the Father is protecting us at all times. He will keep us fro all evil (Psalm 121:7). Our hope is truly in the Lord (Psalm 39:7). The Hebrews writer reminds us that our hope is an anchor for the soul (Hebrews 6:19-20).

There is an old gospel song that encourages us to turn to the Lord for all our needs.

“Where could I go, oh where could I go?
Seeking a refuge for my soul
Needing a friend, to help me in the end
Where could I go, but to the Lord?”
James B Coats

I encourage you to turn to Him today. He loves you and wants you to live with Him for eternity. If you are uncertain about your soul please contact me and let’s talk about what the Bible says.

If you could summarize the main thoughts of the book of Hebrews in the Bible, you couldn’t find a better word than BETTER! In every way Jesus is better than all of the Old Covenant combined. I am so happy that Jesus is my better high priest. He knows what it is like to struggle with temptation yet He was without sin. He helps me better than anyone else can.

Hebrews 2:17 (ESV)
17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

His innocent blood cleanses us from all iniquities (1Pe 1:18-19). “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21 (ESV)). He stands ready to redeem us with that precious blood. It is true that what we could never do for ourselves Jesus did for us when we deserved it the least (Ro 5:8). Praise God it is through Jesus’ blood that we have “redemption, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace (Ep 1:7).

Yes Jesus is better than the high priests under the Old Covenant because He is sinless, merciful, gracious and determined to lead us to the Father.

“Jesus to Calvary did go
His love for mankind to show,
What He did there,
Brought hope from despair,
O how He loves you and me”
Kurt Kaiser

Our hearts must be turned off by sin. We should want to be as far away from sinning as we can possibly be. Why do we find it easy to hate some things in life while others, even though they are bad, we can’t seem to develop an aversion to?

Let us understand that the Holy God of heaven hates sin Proverbs 6:16-19. Our Lord cast out the money changers. We must learn to have that same disdain for unrighteousness. It is not enough to just love good things.

Psalm 97:10 (ESV)
“O you who love the LORD, hate evil!
He preserves the lives of his saints;
he delivers them from the hand of the wicked.”

Hebrews 1:9 (ESV)
“You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has anointed you
with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.”

Loving what God loves will cause us to hate those things that He hates. Love right, hate wrong. Love truth, hate error. Love purity, hate impurity. Love light, hate darkness. See Ps 119:104; 113; 163; Pr 8:12; 28:16; Re 2:6.

There is just no room to embrace evil when righteousness and love for God fill the heart. We are to come out and be separate from sin (2Co 6:17-18). Spend your day today looking for the good things to love and spend time learning to find contempt for that which offends God. Make no provision for the flesh (Ro 13:14).

As humans, we often feel we are able to do just about anything we want to do. We disdain authority when it goes against our own desires. People don’t like to have to change their way of living to suit someone or something else. When it comes to religious matters it is vital that we find out what God ordains for us and what He does not.

“but test everything; hold fast what is good.” (1 Thessalonians 5:21 (ESV))

There is a reason we are to test the doctrines of preachers, teachers, denominations, and churches. It is just a simple matter of reasoning; two people expressing two differing interpretations of one doctrine cannot both be right. It is possible that they both can be wrong but no way can both be right. Notice that Jesus taught us that there would be wolves coming in sheep’s clothing (Mt 7:15). We are taught to try every teacher and teaching because there are many false prophets gone out into the world (1 Jn 4:1ff). Paul marveled that the Galatian brethren accepted a false gospel (Ga 1:6-9). He said that those who pervert or change the true gospel are cursed.

Can a person come to the truth simply by listening to the teaching of men? They can if the preacher or teacher is actually teaching the truth. But, that is not always the case. That is why we are to study the word of God for ourselves proving whether the teaching is truth or not like the faithful Bereans of Acts 17:11-12.

Paul commanded that we take heed to ourselves and to the doctrine in doing so we will save ourselves (1Ti 4:16). There was a time when people loved the word of God and demanded that it be taught and followed. However, over time the devil has crept in teaching for doctrines the commandments of men (Mt 15:9). These are the seducing spirits who proclaim the doctrine of devils (1Ti 4:1ff).

Let us heed the teaching of Paul, “Whatever you do in word or deed do all in the name of the Lord.” (Co 3:16-17), Let the word of Christ dwell in us richly so that we can know the truth and be set free (Jo 8:32). Let us demand from preachers and teachers book chapter and verse for every doctrine. Let us know the truth enough to identify false teaching and stop it before it pollutes people.

Why are there so many churches teaching so many different doctrines, worshiping God in so many different ways, and convincing people of salvation in ways not even mentioned in the Bible? It is because we are not living by the injunction to “Prove (test) all things and hold fast to that which is good.” We have forgotten to ask “what does the Scripture say?” (Ro 4:3). Let’s start living by the teaching of Christ in all we say and do in His church!

Texas is going down a road that will legalize gambling of newer sorts than before. There is a desire to have casino gambling, sports betting and other forms of betting as legally acceptable in our state. This is one more step away from listening to God’s way for man. Stop for a moment and think about a couple of things that make gambling wrong in the sight of God.

God is the provider of every good and perfect gift (James 1:17). God made man as stewards of what rightly belongs to Him (Lk 12:42). For us to take what God has entrusted us to care for and waste it on gambling is sinful. Just think of all the money that is lost that should have been used to feed and clothe the poor, care for one’s own family, to carry the gospel into all the world. God did not give us our daily care to squander it on some get rich quick ploy like gambling.

Think also of the fact that we are to want what is best for our fellow man. Gambling sets men at odds with one another. In order to win the other must lose. Often that may mean that a family will go without daily needs. That in no way describes what Jesus taught about loving one another and caring for each other.

It is proven that gambling can and does become an addiction just like drugs and alcohol. A man should abstain from things that cause him to out of control. Gambling will prey on people who are looking to win big and risk everything they have to do so.

When one has such a desire for money that they are willing to hurt someone else to get it they have fallen short of the high standard of God. Does one prove faithful over earthly riches when willing to risk it all? It isn’t possible for that person to be entrusted with the real spiritual riches that God wants to bestow (Lk 16:11).

We could give myriads of examples of how states have promised funding for schools and humanitarian projects from the funding of legalized gambling. Yes, even our state of Texas still hasn’t cured a need for funding of schools even though that was the promise of legalizing the state lottery and lotto. Why would we think that legalized casino and sports betting will be any different. The poor will become poorer and the state will absorb the need to feed and clothe the children of parents who habitually gamble their money away.

Paul gives Titus a list of things that young women and men are to strive for. We cannot just hope to be good people as we age. We have to actually work at it. Notice a few things that Paul instructs…

Love your own husbands and children. Seems odd that Paul would want this to be taught, doesn’t it come naturally? A quick look at our society will show what a great need, this is. Divorce and abortion are as prevalent as marriage and raising offspring, if not more. Putting the needs of someone else above your own takes determination. The love Paul is speaking of is the kind of love that wants what is best for another person, even at your own hurt.

We can’t just love our spouse when it is convenient. We must love them even when they are not easy to love. Remember the old wedding vows where couples promised to love, honor, obey, and cherishing each other, preferring one another above all others, in sickness and health, during good times and bad, richer or poorer. These things are choices that demand losing a piece of yourself in love for another.

Loving a child takes ones complete surrender for many years until they can make it on their own. Putting their needs above self. I can remember many times my mother going without so we (her children) could have whether it was clothing or the last piece of pie. Dedication and care are part of learning to truly love spouses and children as God instructs.

Marriage is not an easy undertaking. Paul’s instruction calls for self-control, purity, working in the home, kindness and submission. None of these things allow self to come first.

Young men need to learn to control their being. Which indicates all the things needed to put the Lord, wife, children, and self in proper order. A husband cannot live for himself only. He cannot live to fulfill the callings of the flesh. He cannot let fleshly pursuits come ahead of his love for his wife and children.

It is interesting that Paul calls for Titus to teach these things to the young. This is the time that we are setting the pattern for life. Just like the Proverbs writer said, “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them.” (Eccl 12:1). Much of what it takes to be a husband is learned as a faithful son to mother and father. One does not learn fidelity, self-control, protection and providence all at once after marriage.

There are a few things in which youth has the advantage. You have time to learn, you can make mistakes that can more easily be corrected in youth than after adulthood. In youth, you have fewer commitments allowing for time to serve the Lord fully without having to look out for wife and children.

Thank God for preachers and parents like Titus, who will accurately teach the will of God in the lives of their children.

When I am down and out David’s writings lift my spirit. They remind of just how awesome our God is. We often see David in the valleys of life. When he is depressed and hurting, he turns to God for help. Oh, that we would do the same.

Psalm 3:1–8
1  O LORD, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me;
2  many are saying of my soul, “There is no salvation for him in God.” Selah
3  But you, O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.
4  I cried aloud to the LORD, and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah
5  I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the LORD sustained me.
6  I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around.
7  Arise, O LORD! Save me, O my God! For you strike all my enemies on the cheek; you break the teeth of the wicked.
8  Salvation belongs to the LORD; your blessing be on your people! Selah

David wrote this psalm when his son had launched an all out attack against him. This drove David to his knees in prayer. He calls for God’s salvation in this desperate time. How often do we need to seek God’s mercy and comfort and we neglect His great help. Let us remember that the Lord is a shield about us and a lifter of our heads.

Faith is a puzzling thing. Taking God at His Word because He has proven Himself over and over makes it less so. Faith sometimes requires us to do things we don’t yet understand. Think about the people of Israel while they were in Egypt. At the last plague, they had to consecrate a spotless lamb. They would care for that lamb for 10 days, then sacrifice that lamb taking its blood and painting the lintel and door jams with a hyssop branch. They would feast on the lamb and then burn the remains. They had to stay in their homes while God’s judgment poured out on the unfaithful Egyptians.

I don’t know if this made any sense to them except that God’s prophet instructed them to do it. Faith sometimes demands that we do a thing just because God said so. We may not understand why God uses water baptism to add us to the kingdom. We may not see the reasoning in being in the assembly to eat the Lord’s Supper, sing, pray, listen to preaching, and give as we prosper. We just know that that is what God’s Word tells us to do. We may come to an understanding of these things later but Faith demands adherence without complete comprehension of the ways and mind of the Father.

I do know that obedience is better than sacrifice (1Sa 15:22). Jesus obeyed things that cost Him his life (He 5:8). His humanity called for another way but did God’s will without deviation. A person who knows little about God’s word and ways, may not understand all about the plan of salvation. He may not comprehend the importance of all that God commands of the saint. He just does them because it is what God says.

We must come to God in faith knowing that God commands therefore I must obey.