There are 2 Halves to Exodus 31. The first half God explains to Moses that he has given the gift of the Holy Spirit to Bezalel. By the power of the Holy Spirit God blessed Bezalel to be able to craft everything in the Tabernacle that God had instructed Moses to build. This is a picture of how God blesses each of us with some type of spiritual gift. The Holy Spirit that God gifted to Bezalel is now given to each and every one of us that claim that Jesus is Lord and believe that when Jesus died on the cross that it was for the sins of the world. When we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit we still have the free will to choose how we will use our spiritual gifts. We can choose to use it for the kingdom of God or we can choose to use it for our own selfish reasons. The second half of Exodus 31 is the model of the work week that he required the Israelites to rest on the seventh day which he calls the Sabbath. He used this day to identify who his people were, compared to others and it was also a way for the Israelites to express to God that they trust in him and that they were Obedient to him. God even rested on the seventh day after he created man and everything on earth. When God rested he saw that his work was good and he rested in that fact. When we observe the Sabbath we should do it in the same way. We rest on the Sabbath for two reasons. One is because God led by example and showed us the model of what a work week should look like. Second we were created to have work to enjoy. The Sabbath is a way to sit down and smell the roses. It is a chance to rest and enjoy what your God given works have provided. It is a chance to see the good your works have provided and to take in what you have accomplished with God’s power. Take the time to fully enjoy everything that you are working for through the blessings God has given you. Love y’all! Have a great day!
Author: Gary
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Genesis 3:6-13
The #1 problem in men is passivity. Ever since the beginning God has given man dominion over his wife and family. This does not mean to pound our chest and every time our wives tell us no establish your dominance. We can’t just grit our teeth and try harder to fix everything. True Godly dominion is to be the Jesus figure in your household. It means to serve and not to be served. In our household are we the example for our family? Does our family know that the common goal is to follow Jesus? When Satan tempts someone in your family do we take the lead and stomp on his head and lead our family to the way of life God has meant for us or do we stand idly by and join in? When Adam and Eve eat from the tree of good and evil, God goes to Adam because he gave him the responsibility of his wife. Everything that happens to our families is our responsibility. This is biblical. I want to challenge you today as fathers and husbands to not be the man that just sits idly by as this world throws temptations at our wife and kids. Be the man that takes the time to make sure your family is seeking God in every decision that you make individually or decisions that involve everyone in your family. Satan will use the smallest sin to plant a seed to tear your family apart. Be wise enough to stomp it out before it grows into something life changing or life altering. Don’t be like Adam. Don’t be scared to give Godly advice or to take action necessary to separate your family from a sin that could lead them down a path of destruction. Love y’all! Have a great day!
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Hosea 8:1-14
Hosea 8 is a chapter that truly speaks to how someone can hit rock bottom. I can’t emphasize enough in this chapter that when you see God referring to the Israelites they are God’s chosen people. When we accept Salvation from Jesus we become a part of this group. Once you have been saved you now belong to God and are part of his Chosen people.
Romans 11:17
“Now if some of the branches were broken off, and you, though a wild olive branch, were grafted in among them and have come to share in the rich root of the cultivated olive tree…”Ephesians 2:12–13, 19
“You are no longer foreigners… but fellow citizens with the saints…”Galatians 4:4–7
We receive adoption and become heirs.In chapter 8 we see once again that there is a line to be crossed with God. Have you ever gotten so far away from God that when you pray it feels like he’s not there? Or have you ever been making a decision and felt like something was telling you not to make that decision but you did it anyway? This is exactly where the Israelites are in this chapter. In verse 13 God says that the Israelites are still going through the motions of what God has instructed them to do as far as repentance but he doesn’t accept them. The Israelites have gotten so far away from God that if they heard instruction or guidance from him they wouldn’t know it was God speaking to them. Once this line is crossed God’s judgment, time and time again comes. I have been to the point where I felt like God didn’t accept my prayers and I have also been to the point of going to church and feeling like “why am I even here?” This all stems from our decisions and choices to either follow God or follow what our instincts (our flesh) want us to do. The more we shut God out the more distant we become. I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to have a genuine repenting heart. Without it, you will slowly but surely distance yourself away from God. God loves us enough to bring us to our knees to bring us back to him. He also loves us enough to sacrifice himself for us even though most of the time we shut him out. Decide that today you are going to be patient enough to seek God in your decisions and actions. Understand that you were never meant to walk this life without him. Give God the reigns and see where he takes you. We were created to be able to rest by still waters which is peace. Our God is the good shepherd. Use your free will to belong to him and live this life in his will. Love y’all. Have a great day!
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Acts 4:1-37
To fully understand chapter 4 in Acts we must understand that there is so much more going on than just the surface level of Peter and John’s disagreement with the Sadducees. It is a disagreement on the very foundation of the law and salvation. On the base level the Sadducees do not believe in the resurrection of the dead, they denied Angels and Spirits(Acts 23:8), but they accepted the Torah, which are the first 5 books of Moses. What Peter and John are trying to explain to them in this chapter is that the Torah that the Sadducees base their whole life and career on is fulfilled in Jesus Christ whom they murdered. Peter and John, through the Holy Spirit, are trying to explain that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Moses are one and the same. They are not seperate. The very law that they put all of their trust in has been misinterpreted over time. Peter and John try to
make known to the religions leaders that to reject the Jesus that gave them the power to heal the lame man is to reject the God of the law they believed in. They were blinded by the lusts of their flesh which were money, power, wealth, and status.This should be a warning to all of us. Who is the Jesus we believe in? Is it the Jesus of the Bible or is it the Jesus we have made up in our mind that makes life convenient like the Sadducees? Our minds, emotions, and feelings can become a dangerous thing unless they are based on the truth which is Jesus. It is also a warning for us to not use God’s word for our own advantage. It is easy to pick a verse here and pick a verse there to make it look like we are obeying God when all we are doing is looking at his word at the surface level and not for what it truly means. There is a lot of responsibility and wisdom that can only be obtained through true obedience and a true reverent fear of the Lord. Love y’all. Have a great day!
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Ezekiel 36:25-32
I like to read this through my times of doubt and the times the world tries to make me think that the story of Jesus is just a fairytale. This was written 600 years before Jesus stepped foot on this earth. God had a plan when he made a covenant with Abraham and that plan came to fruition through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. God let us know here in this passage what Jesus was coming to do 600 years before it even happened. Jesus is coming back again to restore all things. We are living in a real time a test of choosing ourselves or choosing him. To escape from this world we have to choose to believe in the God that has been revealing himself to us for thousands of years. Jesus wasn’t just some Good Samaritan or prophet. He was God in the flesh. The same God that told Ezekiel exactly what he was coming to do. God doesn’t ask us to believe blindly. He has been here since the world began and lives in and through us today. We have to choose to see it.
Matthew 13:16 (Jesus says)
“Blessed are your eyes because they do see, and your ears because they do hear.”Revelation 2:7
“Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.”Be alert, be mindful, and be watchful. God is everywhere and has not left us. Don’t get too busy or too occupied to sit still and see and hear God when he is around you. Love y’all! Have a great day!
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Acts 4:20-37
For the second half of Acts chapter 4, after Peter and John had been released from jail, it says that they unified back with “their people” and prayed to God “together.” Don’t skip over this part. Since the beginning we were never created to walk this world alone. It is imperative that we constantly surround ourselves with our brothers and sisters in Christ. We must always do this for two different reasons. Reason one is simply because that is what we were commanded by God to do.
John 17:20–23 Jesus says:
“May they all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I am in you… so that the world may believe you sent me.”Reason two is that Jesus promises that wherever two or three are gathered he is there also.
Matthew 18:20 Jesus says:
“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there among them.”One of the natural first steps that happens when we go through trials or suffering is isolation. When we isolate ourselves from other believers we are right where Satan wants us to be. This is where he is most effective because he consumes us with lies, fear, and shame. It is so important that we have enough wisdom and knowledge from God not to do this. It is not a coincidence that in prisons we use this as a torture tactic. It is just a simple fact that when people unify themselves in truth(which is God) the Holy Spirit moves and works. Yes we can worship Jesus by ourselves individually, but there is just something inexplainable that happens when we come together to worship God collectively. You can feel it in your soul. If you do not have a small group of people that you unify with God with I want to challenge you to find one. This group should be a group that you talk with daily, not just on Sunday’s. We were never made to walk this life in isolation. When we bury our darkest secrets deep down for no one to see, it will eventually overtake you. You were not created to carry that burden. Our God is a good Father and has done everything there is to do for you to be able to lay all of your sin and shame at the foot of the cross. The battle has been won and sin is finished when we give our lives to Jesus. He gladly took that weight on his shoulders because he loves you. Love y’all! Have a great day!
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2 Timothy 1:1-18
When reading about Timothy we have to understand that Paul is revealing to us how to make a disciple step by step. First, he establishes his love for Timothy. Paul understands that people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. Once Paul establishes this, he moves on to display his love and affection to Timothy through Christ (who is love) in his prayers. He cares for him on a human level and a spiritual level. Once this is established and the person you care about realizes this, they naturally open their heart to you. If someone sees that you are truly joyed to have them around it enables them to establish a connection with you and a real genuine trust. This is why it is so important for us to love people. God doesn’t just say to love your neighbor as yourself just so you can become a good person. He commands us to do this because it is a prevalent part to the great commission. It is the first and most important step to going out and making disciples.
1 Corinthians 13:1-3
“If I speak human or angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
If I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that I can move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing.
And if I give away all my possessions, and if I give over my body in order to boast but do not have love, I gain nothing.”The Bible is the greatest love story ever told. God is love. He displays his love by giving his life for his own. When you truly love someone you are willing to give your life for them, and when someone else is willing to give their life for you that love is complete. True love or true brotherhood is defined by two individuals willing to die for each other. There is no coincidence that if you talk to two married people or two people that went to war together you can see the love they have for each other. We love God because he first loved us. We give our life for him because he gave his life for us. Love y’all! Have a great day!
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Acts 4:13-21
I know we went over this same passage yesterday in chapter 4, but I want to emphasize us to not skip over this particular part of Chapter 4. In these days the so called “educated” or “most fit” to preach and teach the word of God were the Pharisees and Sadducees. They were the true Bible scholars of their time. When Peter and John spoke boldly about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ they spoke with the authority of the Holy Spirit. The Pharisees and Sadducees fell in the trap of thinking there were better than everyone else because of their knowledge of the text of the Old Testament. They had fallen into the trap of thinking that they had more to offer God than other people who weren’t as “holy” as they were. Though it is wise to daily look for direction and knowledge from the word of God, we must never fall in the trap of the Pharisees and Sadducees. They had all of the knowledge, but they had a heart problem. They had a love problem.
1 Corinthians 13:2 (spoken by Paul)
“If I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that I can move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing.”John 13:34–35 (spoken by Jesus)
“Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples…”We must never get caught up in the trap of thinking that we have anything to offer God but our God given free will. Even our free will is “God given”. Without God we are just sinful humans destined for hell. The blood of Jesus is the only thing that makes us righteous. Yes, we are righteous in the eyes of God, but it is only by the perfect blood of Jesus that was spilled for us. God sent his perfect and only beloved son for us. Always remember this. Always have this mindset. This mindset is what keeps us humble. To think otherwise is the first step to pride and self righteousness. The only “good” thing about us is the love of God that dwells in us. The source of any good thing we can do comes from our Father in heaven through Jesus Christ. Love people because God first loved us. Love y’all! Have a great day!
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Acts 4:1-22
In Acts chapter 4 we see a plethora of things happening simultaneously. First Peter and John have performed a miracle of healing on a lame man, they used this moment to give glory to God, five thousand people got saved, and the sadducees had them arrested. This chapter should show us how hard it is to follow Jesus. As humans, our emotions and feelings tell us that we are doing what is right when we spread the gospel, but the world tells us otherwise. Peter and John literally performed a miracle healing on a man that had been lame from birth. They gave all glory to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the spiritual leaders threw them and prison. The spiritual leaders had to let them go because all of the people were giving glory to God. This chapter is another prime example of how the prosperity Gospel is a lie. Following Jesus is hard and the world we live in is in complete opposition to it. If you are following Jesus and it feels like the world is against you welcome to the club. Until Jesus comes back it will always be like this. Do not get discouraged, keep going, and know that when the world opposes you that the same world opposed Jesus no matter how many miracles he performed. It is easy to fall in the trap of thinking that this world will reward you. The truth is our reward will come when this life is over and no matter what this world throws at us heaven is worth dying for. Love y’all! Have a great day!
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Are you ready to Stand Firm and Act Like a Man?: Final Chapter
As you wrap up this Bible plan and rediscover what biblical manhood is and how to live it out, remember this: if you have surrendered your life to the lordship of Jesus Christ, your heavenly Father is proud of you.
He is not disappointed in you.
He is not exasperated with you.
He is not annoyed by you.
He loves you perfectly—because when He looks at you, He sees the sinless, spotless, righteous life of His Son, Jesus.
You have been given the imputed righteousness of Christ, which means you are justified. Think of it this way: because of His Son Jesus, God the Father sees you just as if you’d never sinned.
You are not primarily a servant in God’s house or a soldier in His army—the Bible says you are a primarily a son. Sonship is forever. It is given, not earned, and it can’t be lost. Being a son means that when you mess up, you can run to your Father, not from Him. You are not an orphan—and you don’t have to live like one.
The most important thing about you is what you think about when you think about God. So—what do you think when you think about Him? Do you picture a loving Father, an angry judge or an out-of-touch old man in the sky? Do you see Him with arms open, beckoning you to come to Him or with a pointed finger shaking in disapproval?
God is not a reflection of your earthly father—no matter how good or bad your earthly father may be. He is the perfection of what it means to be Father. He was pleased with Jesus simply because He was His Son—and He is pleased with you, because you are His son.
When you bow in surrender to Jesus you bow as an orphan—but then God the Father wraps His arms around you and gives you a new name: son. You are no longer an enemy of God, but an heir who will dwell in His kingdom for eternity. You are valuable because of whose you are, which means you have everything you need to stand firm and act like a man.
What do I do now?
This may sound unusual, but this week, take time to wash your family’s feet and lead them in the Lord’s Supper.
Plan and prepare by getting the necessary elements: a bowl of warm water, a washcloth, grape juice and bread or crackers. Set aside intentional time to gather your family and read Matthew 26:26–29 and John 13:12–17 aloud.
Wash their feet, then lead them in Communion by taking the bread and saying, “This is the body of Christ, broken for you,” and taking the juice and saying, “This is the blood of Christ, shed for you.”Then, pray over your family.