Random Notes

Random Notes of my Grandmother - Estelle Nazary

I found these today and felt I had to share them. Not sure why all these were written on the same page, but good points anyway.

Success is not looking at where we are, but where we should/could have been if we had followed God's plans.

2 Corinthians 3:2-3
"You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men; being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, cared for by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts."

God's purpose is not the job we have, but God's message (that we develop to manifest Christ in our lives) for us to give others.

Get money 3 ways
1. diligent labor
2. through creative resourcefulness
3. through direct answer to prayer
God's direction

Rationalization is allowing my mind to find reasons to excuse what my spirit knows is wrong.

Satan's delight is to bring discontent.

Tolerance and Anger

Tolerance and Anger
by J. B. Jones

I wanted to depart a little from my grandparents words and add my own on a subject that has consumed me this week. I thought I might could find a good devotional or sermon, but I decided to do my own research and share my feelings on the subject.

I will start with Tolerance.

How in the world do you tolerate some people? I have been having a hard time with this lately. I usually never have much trouble getting along with all types of people, but every so often I guess it is inevitable to run into impossible people. Then, I found Ephesians 4:2 - "with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love." Do you just have to like everyone and get along with everyone?

Let's break the verse down -
1. humility - According to my trusty Strong's concordance Greek dictionary, the word means lowliness of mind. Wikipedia defines humility as out of the goodness of your heart, humble, and not proud. So basically, "with all humility" means we must not think too much of ourselves, but simply be humble.

2. gentleness - One word = Consideration. We should be humble and considerate of and to everyone.

3. patience - You have got to love this definition from dictionary.com - the quality of being patient, as the bearing of provocation, annoyance, misfortune, or pain, without complaint, loss of temper, irritation, or the like. The Greek word for patience means long suffering. We should be humble, considerate, and bear annoyance and pain without complaint. Great!

4. tolerance - My new favorite word is tolerance only without the humility, gentleness, and patience. Simply put tolerance is being able to stand to be around someone. Of course, that is my definition. Actually, in this verse, tolerance is to hold up, bear with, and endure. Oh well, I guess that means I not only have to be humble, considerate, and patient - I must endure or bear others.

5. love - Finally, this magical word that has so many meanings to so many different people. To our most high God, this word simply means love - beloved. He loves us and we should love others by not thinking too much of ourselves, being considerate, patient, and showing tolerance for one another.

"Therefore, I , the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling. one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift."
Ephesians 4:1-7

Anger - I feel I don't even need to talk about anger after really examining God's word.

I would like to point out - Ephesians 4:26 - "Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger." "Be angry" - I think this is saying you can be irritated with someone which is simply inevitable in human beings, but what you do with that anger is key. "DO NOT SIN" Don't let the anger consume you without giving it over to God. Further down in chapter 4 verse 29 instructs us "Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth...." Then in verse 31 - "let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice."

Ephesians 4 is full of good instructions for living. I have certainly been convicted of my feelings of irritation and bitterness. My prayer is that I can be considerate, humble, patient, tolerant, and loving with everyone I come across. I know that will not always be easy, but praise God for his grace (undeserved favor)! I want to close my rantings with the very last verse in this chapter that says it all - "Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you." Powerful!

How to Make Sure of the Will of God

How to Make Sure of the Will of God
Sermon by Jack Nazary

Colonial Hills 1971

John 5:30; John 6:39-40; Romans 1:10; Romans 12:2; 1 Corinthians 1:1; Ephesians 5:17;
1 Thessalonians 5:18; 1 John 2:17

Are you an atheist? No, as a Christian you are not. Are you a practical atheist? What does that mean? - James 4:13-15
A practical atheist is a person who however sound he may be in creed and confession, neglects to refer all his plans to the will of God. He fails to acknowledge his dependence upon God in all the undertakings of Life. You may not like being called a practical atheist! But I bid you think how serious it is for one to say that he believes in God and still ignores God in the plans and purposes of his life. Every Christian should be deeply concerned about the will of God - both knowing it and doing it. We should know the joy of His will. We should rejoice to say "Father, thy will be done in my life." A determination of the heart. His will should ever be first. We should make sure of the will of God. Certain things will be true when we are in His will. Let's study some of these things..

I. In the will of God, you are dissatisfied with yourself.
Paul was - Philippians 3:13-14
Writer of Hebrews - Hebrews 6:1
Apostle Peter - 2 Peter 3:18

How can one know the will of God?

Testimony of George Mueller:
1. "I seek at the beginning to get my heart into such a state that it has no will of its own in regard to a given manner" (Our main difficulty!)
2. "Next, I seek the will of the Spirit of God through, or in conjunction with, the word of God."
3. "Then, I take into account providential circumstances, these often plainly indicate God's will in connection with His word and Spirit."
4. "Finally, I ask God in prayer to reveal His will to me aright. Thus through prayer to God, the study of the word, and reflection, I come to deliberate judgment according to the best of my ability and knowledge, and if my mind is thus at peace and continues so after two or three more petitions, I proceed accordingly."

II. In the will of God, you are useful unto God.
Wasted lives in place of correction.
Men need to know Jesus Christ
Men need to surrender their will completely to His will.
Call of God to full time service
Call to daily service
Will of God to be done in all things great and small; in the home, in business, in pleasure at work or on vacation. Not turning if be useful.

III. In the will of God, you are successful.
No matter how humble your life may be, if in His will you will successful. Successful in prayer! Successful in behavior! Be in the will of God and you will know. Have the answer to all problems of life and behavior. Bow down before God and your own will be dissolved and positive signs will arise.

Successful in your testimony. It will have power and pungency!
First - Know His will
Second - Do His will
Third - Rejoice in His will
by David Livingston

IV. In the will of God, you are submissive unto God.
Luke 22:39-42
Hebrews 10:7 - "Then said, "Lo, I come in the volume of the book it is written of me, to do thy will, O God."

Too young - be submissive and know
Too old - be submissive and be a blessing

V. In the will of God, you are a blessing to others.
Genesis 12:1 - "And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee and make thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing."

"ye are the light of the world."
Makes no difference what people say or think if we are blessing to others.

John 10:9 - "I am the door, by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall be in and out and find pasture."