Good Works

I was dictating spelling words to my son today and I love that my spelling curriculum includes famous quotes and scriptures to show the context of the spelling word.

The spelling word was careful.

The verse was a portion of Titus 3:8 - Those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works.

I have been meaning to do a study for a while of all the verses that mention good works.  So I wanted to highlight this one in my Bible.

I opened up to that chapter and read the first eight verses.  Paul here is writing to Titus and exhorting him in what he should be preaching to others.  Verse 1 he says to remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities (very applicable to us today) and to be ready for every GOOD WORK.  Verse 2 he goes on to say that we should speak evil of no one and be peaceable, showing humility to everyone.  Verse 3 is the reason, because we ourselves were once deceived and foolish, slaves to sin and hating one another.  Verse 4 is the ray of light---it was the kindness and love of God our Savior and (verse 5) NOT our WORKS of righteousness, it was His MERCY that saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit (this reminds me of my past article on the subject).  Verse 6 goes on to tell us how He poured out that love on us through Jesus Christ.  Verse 7 is very important to get--we have been justified by His grace!  If you don't have a thorough understanding of this, please go read Galatians and then Romans.  And finally, verse 8, we should maintain good works.  Why?  Because these things are good and profitable to men.  Never forget this--the good works DON'T save you, they are good and profitable to men, this means to yourself and to others, in many different ways.  Our good works can bring glory to God, can show others the love of Christ, can put Christians in general in a positive light in people's minds, will bring about good character qualities in ourselves such as humility and selflessness, bringing us peace, not to mention laying up treasures in heaven, BUT they are not what saves us or makes God love us anymore than He already does!

Thought Life

I have been thinking about my thought life a lot lately and how I think it needs cleaned up a bit.

At my homeschool group mom's meeting in November we had a guest speaker, a missionary originally from her, but currently living in Indonesia.  She was really great to listen to.  She told us to go home and read Romans 8 and see what needed cleaned out of our "though closets", thoughts that don't line up with God's Word.  

I feel that lately my "thought closet" needs organized!  If I go into my thought closet to wear a black t-shirt and jeans, the red shirt is jumping out of the closet, yelling, "wear me, wear me!"  Or sometimes, 5 outfits at a time are jumping out of the closet saying, "Pick me, pick me!"  

Basically I feel like what ever I'm doing, my mind is on other things.  Maybe I'm the only one with these issues.  :)  I think I need to be more deliberate in my thoughts and focus my mind on whatever task is at hand.

So with this in mind, I went to bed the other night and wanted something quick to read.  I looked up the scripture that talks about bringing your thoughts into captivity.  I found it, it is in II Corinthians 10.  I read the whole chapter and many good things stuck out to me.

Verse 3 - we must always remember the battle is spiritual and we can only resist the devil with the Word! (James 4:7 & Ephesians 6:10-18)

Verse 4 - our weapon (the Word) is MIGHTY for pulling down strongholds!

Verse 5 - bringing every thought into captivity to the OBEDIENCE of Christ - this one got me - ouch!  Is it obedience to Christ to be so scatter-brained?

Verse 7 - we are Christ's!  We cannot focus on the external, but the internal and on the things of God.

Verse 12 - this one has been a favorite of mine for a while - it is not wise to compare yourself with others (I call this a trap, many get caught in it and let it rule their lives).

Verse 17 - we must not every forget - God wants ALL the glory!

Then I looked up in my concordance some other "thought" verses.  I came up with Psalm 139 and Psalm 40.

Psalm 139 tells us how God knows us inside and out, for He is the one who made us.  Verses 17 and 18 stuck out to me, they say, "How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!  How great is the sum of them!  If I should count them, they would be MORE in number than the sand;"  (Emphasis mine.)

Did you know God is thinking about you?  And thinking precious thoughts?  So many that they can't be numbered?  That's got to make you feel good!

Psalm 40 has a theme of God always being there for us, especially in times of trial.  But verse 5 tells us again that God's thoughts toward us cannot be numbered!