What Priorities Make a Good Life?

With the internet, instant communication and information overload we can easily be sucked into a fascination with things that are not the best and even injurious to us. What should we pay attention to, and how should we spend our time?

"Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives tails, rather, train yourself to be godly." 1 Timothy 4:7, NIV.

HAVE
The word, have, in this context suggests a choice; another word like choose would not change the meaning of the verse, but the word 'have' is stronger. We must be on our guard for those things that become a preoccupation with our thinking and take us away from the best.

NOTHING
We must be firm in our choice to turn away from the lesser occupations and pursue the best. We should not have any involvement in things that draw us from The Lord and that which is good. "Nothing" is a clear word and means be void, not minimal, some, or a few but not any at all. We must make it a point to abstain from and refuse to engage in these things.

GODLESS
This is the acid test, godly or godless if we weighed every decision on this measure we will be delivered from many troubles. Moreover, we will have cultivated a healthier mindset and blessing in life.

MYTHS AND OLD WIVES TALES
These are insubstantial, they are like vapors that melt away when tested and are not worthy of the time of one who is dedicated to knowing and serving God. Our times are full of fascination with fantasy and media fiction; sadly we know more about TV shows than we do about the life and words of our Savior.

TRAIN
We need to be disciplined in our lives. This may be foreign to many modern people who are directed by markets and media on how to think and spend their time. To train in the sense of this word is to exercise toward a goal like an Olympics. This training is done with diligence, sacrifice and fervor; it brings all areas of the athlete's life to submit to the rigors of the training- to the athlete the goal is worth the cost of training.

We can train ourselves by a few disciplines.

     * Spend time in the Bible.
     * Meditate on God's Word.
     * Become devoted to prayer.
     * Worship in community with sincerity and truth.
     * Serve God and mankind.
     * Turn away from sin.

GODLY
It is worth all the effort to obtain godliness and to have the gracious approval of the Father in Heaven.

To learn more about finding God in your life follow this link: Click Here.

(c)Adron Dozat 5/1/13

Why Did Jesus Come? 1 Timothy 1:15

Why did Jesus come? Everybody has their own answers, but the Bible makes it plain.

"Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of which I am the worst." 1 Timothy 1:14, NIV.

A Trustworthy Saying
You can trust the teaching of the Bible.  Here is a statement that says, "Of all the statements of the Bible, pay special attention to this one," as if this one saying stands above all the others.

Full Acceptance
The saying is not only trustworthy but must have your full acceptance. If you believe anything in the Bible, you need to believe this one. You must completely accept the nine words; Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. If you accept or believe only some of them, it is not full acceptance.

Who?
Christ is the God One who saves by sacrificing himself on our behalf.

He is the one who came; the quote does not say born but came as if he was somewhere else before. This verse is clear that he existed before his earthly incarnation.

Why?
Jesus did not come simply to teach, establish a new religion, modify an old one, or be a revolutionary- he came to save sinners. We need salvation; we need to be rescued from the bondage of sin in our lives and be delivered from the future judgment of sin. Sin offends God, and being holy, he must judge sin, but being loving, God sent his son Jesus to die in our stead and take the punishment for our sins. God accepts Jesus' death as payment in full for our sins and gives us Jesus' righteousness.

Could The Apostle Have Been A Sinner?
Paul the Apostle was once a Pharisee who observed the strictest sect of Judaism. His teaching and writings were central to the establishment and survival of the church. He penned portions of the New Testament, and his writings give context for the teaching of Jesus. How could he say he was a sinner? In one place, he wrote about his struggles with pride, and in another, he discusses covetousness, and in another, he recounts his former way of life when in the name of God, he persecuted the church, even voting for the death penalty against Christians. Despite his sinfulness, the Apostle found Salvation in Jesus.

(c)Adron Dozat 7/11/12

Why Can't We Come To God? 1 Timothy 6:16

At first glance, we think we can never get to God but that is why He has provided the way for us.

"Who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen." 1 Timothy 6:16, NIV

ALONE
This verse tells much about God. He is the beginning, the source, the unending, and that God is One;  it says "Who alone..." as in the one and only, he is utterly set apart from all else we can dream, or understand.

IMMORTAL
Nothing about The Lord will diminish. He won't wear out, get tired, or need to be recharged. He is beyond, or outside of the boundaries of time and space since he created them; so all our ideas of God in relationship to the physical are going to fall immeasurably short. Our concepts are bound by the physical realities we dwell inside of, but God dwells outside our physical realities so we can't get a perfect understanding of him.

LIGHT
God dwells in unapproachable light. We who are weak and small do not have the physical, mental, or spiritual equipment to find The Lord; such traits do not exist outside of God.

ACCEPTANCE
We like the idea of earning acceptance with God but it is only a hopeful and fatal fantasy in the light of God. To know Him is the ultimate absolute in life, yet in our hearts of hearts we know finding God on our own is vain, and we both admire and disdain those who persevere in their efforts to do so. The fact stands no one through sacrifice, giving, religion, philosophy, or any discipline can see The Father.

That is a good thing because if we could comprehend God and put Him in terms of our limited understanding then He would be very small indeed, just as small as we are.

UNAPPROACHABLE
If The Almighty lives in unapproachable light what can we do to come to Him? The word "unapproachable" means we can’t come toward him, thankfully He desires for us to know Him and He has made a way.

HE DID IT!
God did what we cannot do; since we can't find Him He initiated a relationship with humanity by revelation. He revealed himself to humankind by becoming like one of us in the person of his Son Jesus; this also is beyond our logic. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6. Christ by his death and resurrection paid for the sins that kept us from The Father and so we are able to come to God

(c)Adron Dozat

Should a Christian Become Wealthy? 1 Timothy 6:17

What is the right attitude For a Christian regarding his wealth?

"Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment."1 Timothy 6:17, NIV.

WEALTH
This Bible verse assumes that some Christians will be wealthy. It does not praise or condemn wealth but acknowledges it and commands those who have wealth. The instructions to the wealthy are to not be arrogant.
     * We become arrogant when we feel wealth sets us apart or above others.
     * We begin to look down on those who do not have as much as we do.
     * We may think that we have been blessed because, for some reason, God favors us more than others, so we look down on those others.
     * We think that wealth will solve our problems.

These attitudes are opposite to the character of Christianity, which calls us to charity, sacrifice, love, generosity, and compassion.

Wealthy Christian?

COMMAND
Paul, the apostle, makes this statement with the strength of a command. The power of the allurement of wealth is so strong that Paul had to issue a "Command." to not be arrogant or put hope in wealth. We should be warned of the dangers of wealth and handle it with respect.

UNCERTAIN
He reminds us that wealth is "uncertain." You can't count on it; it is here today and gone tomorrow. We look to wealth to provide security, and then something unrelated to wealth, such as a natural disaster, dire illness, loss, or grief, takes us, and we are face to face with the fact that no amount of money can fix it.

HOPE
Paul admonishes us to put our hope in God. He is the true wealth, and he generously provides for us. God is not a killjoy, grouchy old man who doesn't t want us to have any fun. He gives us everything for our enjoyment. God wants us to enjoy life. He wants our lives to be a blessing to others and ourselves.

We should not look to wealth to be a blessing in our lives; instead, we should see wealth as an opportunity to make blessings in the lives of others.

To learn more about the plan of salvation, follow this link: click here.

(c)Adron Dozat 11/16/11