Thought For the Day November third week

Monday  Nov 18

Scripture:1 Samuel 18:3

Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul

Lesson Objective: To understand what is necessary for the ultimate love.

I had an acquaintance, who had the blessing of having a true friendship with three others. They had gone to elementary school, middle school and high school together. They had entered the service together and served in Viet Nam together and came home and purchased Philadelphia Eagles season tickets together. They were the best of friends. Their love for each other was evident in that they constantly sacrificed for each other. True love of friends requires willingness to sacrifice for the benefit of the other. Jonathan was willing to sacrifice his right to become King of Israel for the friendship of David. He also on several occasions chose the love of David over the affection of his own father.

 

Thought for today: How can you say that you love God who you have never seen and hate your brother who you see every day?

 

Tuesday Nov 19

Scripture: Genesis 39:21

But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.

Lesson Objective: To understand that God will be with us wherever we are.

We often wonder why we are in a particular job or a certain place in life and bemoan the experience. We can spend most of our time having a self pity party or we can recognize that God has us where we are for a reason. It may be a lesson for us or to serve others. The fact of the matter is that wherever we are God is with us and he is preparing us for something better. God allowed Joseph to be put in jail so that he would be in a position to be made known to Pharaoh and thus ended up in a position where he could feed his family in a time of need. Joseph did not do anything to be put in jail but he never forgot his God and thus retained God’s mercy throughout all of his trials.

 

Thought for today: Make the best of where you are today in preparation for what is to come tomorrow.

Wednesday Nov 20

Scripture: Joshua 24: 15

But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

Lesson Objective: To understand that to save the world we must begin at home.

Sometimes I read the paper or watch the news on the television and get so despondent. I walk the streets and see people who are doing things that I may feel are so destructive like selling drugs, cussing or other such actions. I wonder what I can really do to affect a change. Because of the enormity of the situation, I get discouraged. Everything seems to be out of control. Then I think about the things of which I do have control and realize that I am not doing all that I can. If I would do a better job with the youth that I do work with daily, if I do a better job helping to maintain my own block where I live then I will be making a difference. I have to control those things that I can.

Thought for today: Identify one area of your life today that you can better control and then do it. .

Thursday Nov 21

Scripture: Matthew 27:3

Then Judas, His betrayer, seeing that He had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders

Lesson Objective: To understand that Christ paid for us so why should we take anything else.

We live in a world that is filled with material temptations. Each day there are more and more “stuff” that we may feel that we cannot live without. It was a time when a color tv would be good enough or at least a big screen tv but now we must have HDTV. We must have capability for 200 plus channels even thought we can only look at one channel at a time and there are times when we can flip through the channels and cannot find even one channel with a decent show to watch. We are never satisfied. We must be careful that we do not spend so much time trying to get “stuff” that we get our priorities all out of whack and lose our way to heaven.

Thought for today: The question is not how much money we make but what do we really do with what we make

 

Friday November 22

Scripture: Ezra 6: 15

Now the temple was finished on the third day of the month of Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.

Lesson Objective: To understand that God works through all types of individuals to accomplish his will.

I remember a song that symbolizes well this lesson. The story line of the song is that a woman lived in an apartment and she needed some groceries so everyday she prayed to God for groceries. There was a man who lived next door who heard her prayers every day and constantly asked her to be quiet. One day after getting tired of hearing her praying, he went to the store and brought her some groceries and knocked on her door and delivered the groceries. He told her that she could stop praying because he brought her the groceries and not God. She responded that God told him to buy the groceries and then she began to praise God.

 

Thought for today: God’s blessings come in all size packages. Be careful that you do not loose a blessing because you overlook the source