Family

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Ruth 2:11 What Will You Leave Behind?

Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband–how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know.” Ruth 2:11

Stepping out into the unknown is very difficult for many people. It not only requires a step of faith, but also a step away from the familiar and safe and known place.

Sometimes it will require leaving family and friends behind to go to the new place or to a new level. Doing this can be painful and difficult.

Boaz had heard of how Ruth had left her family and land to follow Naomi into a new land after her husband had died.

Every person has various points in their life in which they have to take a step into something unknown or new to them. It begins as a child moving up into new class levels in school and continues through adulthood with new jobs or locations to live.

Any time a person becomes a new believer, he must take a step into something new, something unknown. There is a change of the way of thinking and doing things. In this process one must be willing to leave behind things and people.

The new believer has a new life and is a new creation in Christ Jesus with a new family and a new way of living. It is a new culture that is drastically different from the past. The past is behind, and all things are new.

Taking a step like this requires complete faith in God and His boldness to step away from the past. It is trusting that God knows what is best and has something better in store.

As a believer there are some things that you have had to leave behind. There may be more things or people that God wants you to leave behind because they only distract you from Him and pull you down.

Keep your eyes focused on God and follow Him all the way. Do not allow people or things in your life to pull you away from God and what He has for you.

What God has in store for you is much greater than anything or anyone you must leave behind. Are you holding on to your past? Or are you leaving all behind and moving forward in Jesus?

Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Lord and Savior; that you will know what God wants you to leave behind; that God will give you strength to leave behind what will harm or distract you; and that you will follow God with all of your heart and life.

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Genesis 12:1 Not All The Details Are Always Given

The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.” Genesis 12:1

Knowing and understanding of what is expected is desired of most people. Not having a clear understanding of a job description can make it very difficult for people to fulfill a job.

Some will attempt to get out of doing a job because of the lack of details, while others will just do their own thing and sometimes miss the job entirely. The more details the less chance of mistake and easier to follow.

God tells Abram to leave his land, family and people to go to a land that He will show him, but does not tell him where he is going.

Picking up suddenly to leave to go somewhere where one does not know where he is going or what he will be doing there is very scary for most people. Most people, upon hearing something like that from God, would question God or question whether they actually heard from God. They would want to know the details of how to get to where they are going and where they are going.

God does not always provide all the details when He is giving some instructions. The believer is to hear God, trust God and act upon what he is being told. It is a walk of faith, knowing that God knows what He is doing and asking of the believer.

In order to act and live this way, a person must give up his control and his rights to God. He must be willing to give God complete control over his life, knowing that God will never do what is eternally bad in the life of any believer who trusts Him. Walking this way will allow God to great and mighty things through the believer.

God may never ask you to leave everyone behind and move to an unknown place, but He will ask you to do things that you may not fully understand. All the details will not always be given.

Your job with God is to trust and obey His every word. It is to step out in faith knowing that God will be with you and allowing Him to reveal the details when they are needed. Your life needs to be a walk of faith in God, not self or the details.

Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Lord and Savior; that you will hear God’s commands to you; that you will trust God’s word to you; that you will live a life of faith in God; and that God will work great works through you in building His kingdom on this earth.

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1 Timothy 3:5 It Starts At Home

If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church? 1 Timothy 3:5

All over the world there are people who strive to get into great leadership positions. On the outside they appear that they know what they are doing and will be able to do a great job. However, in their home life, there is constant stress and major problems.

Often their home or personal life actions can bleed into their business life and can destroy it. Many will try to live a double life.

Paul had been giving Timothy some instructions on how an overseer in the church should live his life. One of the standards was being able to take care of his family correctly.

In the church there are many people who desire high level positions in the church. On the outside they appear that they are more than qualified to be able to do it.

However, in their own quiet personal lives at home, individually or with a family, it is a different story. It is sadly common to see men in the church, who know the Bible very well and teach very well, but have a home that is falling apart an not following God.

Some are so focused on the ministry inside the church that they neglect taking care of their family. They are not leading their family in God’s ways of living.

The church is always portrayed in scripture as a family. The pastor or overseer, is the father head of the church body. As the head leader, he must be a leader in every area of his life.

He cannot be one person in church and another at home. He must never live a double standard way of living, but live for God, leading others in God’s way every where he is.

You may or may not be seeking a position of high authority in your church. Whether you do or not, you must be willing to lead yourself and your family towards God and in His ways.

Start with your home life in being a witness and teaching God’s ways and standards. As you can manage your own life and family life, it will open a door to be able to lead others also.

Do not allow yourself to live a double standard and hurt everyone, it starts in your home.

Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Savior; that you will live for God in every area of your life; that you will lead your family towards God; that God will use you to lead others towards Him; and that you will be able to manage others in the ways of God.

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Luke 12:51 There Will Be Division

Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. Luke 12:51

Peace is something most people all over the world desire, but do not know how to attain it. Every where a person goes there appears to be conflict and division.

It is commonly thought that believers will bring about peace around the world. Yet this is not seen.

Many thought Jesus was bringing peace to the world, but Jesus said He was bringing division on the earth.

Between man and God, Jesus did make a way to have peace. However, between people, Jesus brought division.

Jesus taught that to love Him or God, one has to obey God. Every believer must do what God says first and foremost in every thing that he does. Doing this will often cause division among people.

People like to be in control and have things done their way. When someone refuses to do it their way, it causes division.

The ways of God are much different than the ways of man. Division occurs when one begins to follow the ways of God, rather than the ways of man.

This division starts with dividing against the world. It will then increase to division in the family. One family member, who is a believer, will not act in the same way as another, because of Jesus, causing division.

Some members of a family will not understand or agree with the whole-hearted decision to follow Jesus. Their eyes are still on the ways of this world, not on God.

Those who believe in Jesus and are following Him with their whole heart, will bring division to those who are not truly following Him. One is living by God’s holy standards, while the other is living by the standards of the world.

As you commit your life to God and follow Him, there will be some family members who will oppose you. As a believer, your first priority is to obey and follow Jesus, not other family members or this world.

Always seek to obey God. In doing so, seek to bring others to Him and raise them up to His standard of living. Do not allow yourself to be brought down to the standards of this world by family members who are not sold out to God.

You have a choice as to who you will follow, this world or God. Your choice can cause division.

Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Savior; that you will follow Jesus with all of your life; that you will obey God in all He says; and that you be a witness of what God desires.