Promise for Today Reminder - Strength to Fight

Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have confessed so well before many witnesses. And I charge you before God, who gives life to all, and before Christ Jesus, who gave a good testimony before Pontius Pilate, that you obey this command without wavering. Then no one can find fault with you from now until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again.

1st Timothy 6:12-14 NLT

The following lines are excerpts from Pastor Alan Neel's sermon...

• There will always be a fight. We are not fighting flesh and blood; we are contending for our faith.
• There is no "Golden Acres Retirement Center" here on Earth.
• THERE IS NO CONVENIENT CHRISTIANITY.
• We better learn how to fight.Discernment
• Discipline
• 1st Timothy 4:7 "Train yourself..."
• If you don't establish the right habits, by default you'll continually reinforce the bad habits.
• Quote by Dr. Gary Brothers, "Don't cause yourself more trouble than the trouble causes you."
• Determination
• We'd better learn how to win.We are not moving to a place of rest here on Earth. That doesn't happen here. Here - we need to fight!

Fight for our faith!
Fight for our children's faith!
Fight for our grandchildren's faith!

Like the Apostle Paul commanded, "Fight the good fight for the true faith."

The Finish Line is in sight! We can't slack off - we must win!

Prayer:

Father,
          Today I pray as Scotty Smith prayed - for "strength to do the next right thing", according to Your Word in Philippians 4:13. "I can do all things through him who strengthens me...this verse has been underlined in my Bible, pasted on my refrigerator...But today I need it to be an active force in my life. Free me from the temptations of an “approval suck”. I don’t want to become aloof and callous, but neither do I want to be oversensitive to what people think...

"I need strength to deal with destructive choices of friends. Marriages, health, the hearts of children, and Your glory are on the line. I need strength, Jesus, to get involved where frankly, I’d rather not. It would be much easier just to “pray from afar” than to run after prodigals, confront foolishness, and face anger. Strengthen me so that I will not wimp out. You pursued me, and You pursue me still. Likewise, be a persistent Lover through me in these messy situations.

I need strength to seek You with fresh passion and delight, earnestness and anticipation. I never like it when I find it easier to watch TV than to meditate on the Scriptures. It’s not a good sign when exercising my body for vanity comes easier than exercising my heart for godliness. Renew my heart’s affection, adoration, and allegiance to You; for You alone are worthy of everything I am and have."

In Jesus’ Name we pray. Amen

* My Neighbor

He said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?”

So he answered and said, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’”

And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.”

But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Then Jesus answered and said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.’ So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?”

And he said, “He who showed mercy on him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
Luke 10:26-37 NKJV

We live in a time when knowing your neighbors - the ones on either side of your house - and knowing them well enough to lend or borrow a cup of sugar are seemingly things of the past. So, who IS my neighbor? What does it take to be one?

Mercy. Compassion. Born of God's love alive in us. When we see someone in need, are we moved with compassion to help meet their need? Do we dig down, find a way to contribute money or time? Will we inconvenience ourselves to help another? 

By inconvenience, I'm not talking about taking food from our children's mouths. I mean would we forego one trip a month to Starbuck's and donate that $5 to an orphanage? Would we skip an hour or so of a Netflix binge to visit someone who may need to know someone cares enough to come "out of their way"? Would we actually take the time to pray for the person on Facebook for which we just typed, "Praying"?

Or do we govern our lives by "my four and no more"? I believe Mr. Rogers (who was a minister) knew exactly what he was asking when he sang, "Won't you be my neighbor?"

[Jesus speaking], So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?”

And he said, “He who showed mercy on him.”

Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

Prayer:

Father,

           Forgive us for all the times we never noticed the opportunity to be a neighbor. Open our eyes and our hearts to see and respond to "go and do likewise." In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen