God rejoices in the truth. When was the last time I rejoiced?

1Cr 13:6

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

Love, I recalled that "God is Love". Of course He does not delight in evil. He is all about the truth, and I can see why He would rejoice with the truth. So now how does this apply to me?

What hit me first was truth.  We all know that the truth can make life interesting. "Sweetheart do I look fat in this outfit"? I will leave that discussion to you and behind closed doors, good luck.

What really applies is living out a life that is Christ centered, truth centered, love centered and an example to the family and friends that are always watching and listening. Think about it, what do you think about a person that you know tells a lie to one of their friends, their co-workers or their boss?  Do you trust them more or do you wonder when they have lied to you?  What about the time they gossiped about a mutual acquaintance? Were they delighting in evil?  Were you delighting in evil so that it wouldn't be a little uncomfortable if you spoke out to defend the truth?  Are you the one that said the joke that was offensive?

1Cr 13:7

It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Protects, trusts, hopes and perseveres.  These are all easy to do, when it is convenient.  The hard part is ALWAYS.  Tell me that we are not going to fall short at least once in our life.  Once a year, month, day or on some things, once an hour. How am I suppose to apply these two verses to my everyday life?

BY GRACE.  I will give it the old college try, plan to succeed, do my best, and strive for excellence.  But I find my comfort, peace, and the love of God when grace touches my life.  By grace we are saved, especially when we just finished a bible study, met a friend at church, or see someone that we know and we start to talk about them behind their back.  The next time you have a choice what will Truth + Love ALWAYS = ?

When I Sin, We all Sin

When We Sin

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

— 1 John 1:8–9

— 1 John 1:8–9 The question is not if I sin but when I sin. What I do when I sin is what shows my faith, character, and relationship with God. When I fall short with my family I need to be ready to come before God, my family and myself. I need to make sure that I do not decieve myself or try to hide sin. I need to seek truth and confess it. I need to have faith in God, my family and friends that I will be forgiven. That the unrighteousness in my life and heart will be wiped clean.

Marriage Bible Verse of the Week - Emotion Led? | MarriageVictory

Marriage Bible Verse of the Week - Emotion Led? MarriageVictory: "Letting our emotions lead us is a sure way to get out of the will of God.
We’re so used to doing or saying what we feel that we allow our emotions to control us without a second thought.
In the process of following where our “feelings” lead us, we begin veering away from God’s will. This then leads to many other negative consequences, including hurting those around us like our spouses, kids, friends, and coworkers.
Many times it gets us into trouble with people we don’t even know. Road rage would be a prime example of that.
Decisions should not be made on the basis of the negative emotions we are feeling.
That is especially true when it comes to dealing with another person. Damaged relationships can be hard to mend when one has been hurt by something another has said or done hastily in a moment of uncontrolled emotion.
Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.
Romans 14:19 (NIV)
So begin preparing now for how you’ll handle the next time you feel your emotions leading you to say or do something, that you will probably regret later. Instead ready yourself to take that road towards peace. Your relationships will be blessed by the effort."

What Does the Bible Say About Controlling Our Emotions?

What Does the Bible Say About Controlling Our Emotions?: "1 Corinthians 7:1-40 ESV /
Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.” But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. ..."

Let's remember that God created each of us for a purpose. To worship Him. We can do this and have a good time. If we think about it, when would it be a good time to NOT listen to God???? I can't think of one time that it would be GOOD to do something against Gods will.

Words of wisdom from Greg Laurie

Don't ever say, "I will never fall in this one area. No matter what, I will never. . . ." Watch out. If you think you are invincible, that is probably the very area in which you will end up falling. You don't know what you are capable of.

If you look at a certain sin and think, It is just a small compromise. I can do this little thing one time. It will never lead to anything else. I can handle this one thing . . . be careful. An unguarded strength is a double weakness. The Bible says, "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall" (Proverbs 16:18).

Satan is smart. Don't underestimate him. Watch your thoughts, because most temptations will start there. The devil will come and say, "Wouldn't it be fun to . . . ?" And then you have a choice.

It is not a sin to be tempted. The sin is not in the bait; it is in the bite. Just because bait was dangled before you doesn't mean that you have done anything wrong. The very fact that you are moving forward spiritually means you will get tempted, because the devil wants to bring you down. So if you have faced temptation and attack, that probably means you are doing something right.

The devil will come to you with things that are enticing, so keep up your guard at all times. It is the little deals we make with the devil, so to speak, it is the little compromises, the small things that we lower our guard on that lead to bigger things later. Most people, when they fall into sin, do not fall for a big sin straightaway. It is a series of smaller things that lead to the big thing.




Henry Cesena
blendedandmessy.blogspot.com
henrycesena@yahoo.com

How do you work out Who Goes Where and When?

A Blended Family has several build in conflicts just waiting to happen. Who takes out the trash, where do we go for Christmas, Thanksgiving or other vacations. Whoever wins the Christman vacation battle can be expected to give up Thanksgiving or another time that is valued. Would that be keeping score?

1Cr 13:5

It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

OK so here we go again with the appropriate bible verse to help change my heart. I must work this out from God's perspective. What does He want me to do or say? Where does He want us to go? How are we going to make this decision? What is my wife thinking? Oh, and the kids, where do they want to go? Is that where God want us to go? How will they react if I make them go where they don't want to go? Great start to our vacations.

What does the name DAD mean?

To my son and daughter I had to remember that DAD brought up some bad memories. We had to talk and define what the title meant to my kids. I had to tell them what it meant to me. Then we had to define what it would mean if they called me DAD. All this is what makes a Blended Family so special. They had the opportunity to decide if I was going to be their DAD. It's incredible that God has given each of us the opportunity to call Him DAD. In each case the decision is wheather you want to have a personal relationship. Or not.

A Time for Everything

Ecclesiastes 3:11-12 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live.

Living in this world is part of my eternity. I want to make the best of my time here as we all do. Can I really be doing my best if I am not "doing" something besides my daily life? Is it when I get out of my box, my comfort zone, or my routine when God sees that I am trying to do something by faith, when I require His power, is that when God and I are really having communion? When is the last time I did something that required God to make it happen? Is it time?