Quote from Forum Archives on December 4, 2002, 10:08 pm

Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>

Dear friends,

Today's message comes from Quiet Walk, courtesy of Crosswalk.com
and Walk Through the Bible. One major goal of both organizations
is to encourage people to read the Bible to gain an understanding
and appreciation of the God who created all things and Jesus
Christ, the Son of God, who gave Himself for us as a ransom -
full payment - for our shortcomings and mistakes, misgivings,
errors, sins, all of it.

I've been encouraging all of you to read your Bibles and pray on
a daily basis. That's a great way to prepare ourselves for this
Advent season, a time of preparation. Let's get to understand
just a bit more (or hopefully a lot more) about the nature of
God.

Personally, I believe that thinking about Jesus Christ and
meditating on His great love, and sharing that love with
others, are some of the reasons that I celebrate. Please make
time for God every day, and please read His Word. Some day, it
will make an eternal difference!

I pray for each of you that God's Word will work in your heart,
help you to realize just how much He has done for each of us and
how desperately we really need Him (particularly if we are
feeling self sufficient). Those of us who are struggling are
probably in a better position to understand our need of Him.

For those who are struggling, I pray that God will sustain you,
that there will be those around who will comfort you. Please
know that while I am very limited as a person myself, I care a
great deal about all of you, which is why I devote so much time
researching material and preparing these messages. I pray that
God will somehow use my feeble writing to make a difference in
the lives of many people. That, in itself, would give me greater
satisfaction than most other things I can think of.

Your Brother in Christ, Brian

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Q U I E T W A L K D E V O T I O N A L
by Walk Thru the Bible

December 4, 2002

James 4

While selfishness produces conflict, humility produces
submission to God.

INSIGHT

Selfishness is the foundation for all conflict. When two hearts
want different things - and neither is willing to sacrifice for
the sake of the other - conflict arises.

Selfishness is the cause of war, crime, and interpersonal
conflict. By looking out for ourselves, we think we can get what
we want from life.

In contrast, the Lord teaches us that humility, not selfishness,
results in satisfaction in life. Promote yourself, and wars and
conflict result. Even God is against you (v. 6). But live in
humility and wars and conflict cease, assuming all parties
participate. And the Lord will lift you up.

PRAYER

Praise the Lord because He resists the proud but gives grace to
the humble:

Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!
Serve the Lord with gladness;
Come before His presence with singing.
Know that the Lord, He is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
And into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name (Psalm 100:1-4).

Pause for praise and thanksgiving as you seek to keep your life
free from sin:

My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may
not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the
Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the
propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for
the whole world (1 John 2:1-2).

Confess any sins that the Holy Spirit brings to your mind, and
pray this affirmation to the Lord:

Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me
shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never
thirst" (John 6:35).

As you make your requests known to the Lord, include:
greater faithfulness with your time,
the president and national affairs,
your activities for the day.

Finally, offer this prayer to the Lord:

May the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the
dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the
everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do
His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight,
through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen
(Hebrews 13:20-2).

QuietWalk is published by Walk Thru the Bible Ministries, Inc.
in Atlanta, GA. If you would like to see other resources from
Walk Thru the Bible, such daily devotionals, devotional Bibles,
devotional books, videos and live, in-church seminars, please
click here:
link.crosswalk.com/UM/T.asp?A1.17.9174.1.293748
www.walkthru.org

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* Copyright (c) 2002 Crosswalk.com, Inc. and its Content
Providers. All rights reserved.

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--
Brian Masinick, mailto:masinick@yahoo.com
Home page: www.geocities.com/masinick/

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