A walk with the light

Mark 7: 14-15 (NIV) “Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.”” The question originally posed by the Pharisees and teachers of the law was, why did his disciples not follow the tradition of washing their hands before eating? His answer however covers a much broader area of discussion. He condemned the Pharisees hypocritical attitude and nullifying the word of God through their human traditions. We may find ourselves in situations today where human traditions have been passed down and followed blindly, that contradict the word of God. For example going out drinking to celebrate, we are violating the commandments of God by taking part in drunkenness. Let us look at other areas as well. The shows we watch, books we read, music we listen to and conversations we have, in themselves do not defile us. However if ...

John 5:30 (NIV) “By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.” Who are you trying to please and at what cost? To please is to cause a feeling of happy satisfaction and enjoyment. I have heard this saying many of times, “You cannot please everyone; so just please yourself.” This statement should go more like this, “You cannot please everyone; so do what is pleasing to God.” A lot of times in this world we have people around us who we want to satisfy, make happy, and help them to be able to enjoy themselves. We would give up time at church, reading the bible, and prayer time to do what we can to cater to those around us that we care about. Then there are times that we give into pressures around us and take part in sin to please others around us. Such as drinking alcohol (drunkenness), watching shows that are filled with homosexuality and other sinful actions, swearing, fornication, and so on...

Hebrews 13:5 (NIV) “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”” Living in a first world country I see many people struggle with this verse, including myself at times. We see people embezzling, Ponzi schemes, insider trading, doing anything they can to get more money. People are always saying, if I can just make a little bit more I will be content. Being a financial analyst I am always thinking about how decisions I or others make will affect me financially. I can honestly say that I am content with my current situation. My struggle comes when I think about things, or consider decisions that are going to dramatically change my current situation. Instead of relying on God’s promises and the fact that he will meet my needs; my first inclination is to think about, “what can I do.” The fact is that God has met all of my needs and will continue to meet them. He knows what...

Proverbs 24:1-2 (NIV) "Do not Envy the wicked, do not desire their company; for their hearts plot violence, and their lips talk about making trouble.” I look back on my youth I can see that choosing friends is very important. To me in middle school it seemed like the “cool” kids were the bad kids. Kids that were fighting, and always getting in trouble. I can look back now and say that they were not the cool kids, but unfortunately they were the kids that I hung out with. The friend choices I made then influenced my life greatly. I would get advice from them and do things that would impress them. This led me down the wrong path, a path that brought me a lot of trouble and grief. No matter what your age is, you need to consider the qualities of those we choose to spend our time with. If someone talks about making trouble or Make plans with bad intentions, you do not want their company. Once I finally submitted to Christ and accepted his free gift of salvation, I began to...