eBook
Available on Compatible NOOK devices, the free NOOK App and in My Digital Library.
Related collections and offers
Overview
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781607425922 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Barbour Publishing, Incorporated |
| Publication date: | 08/01/2011 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 288 |
| File size: | 5 MB |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
God's Wisdom for Your Life: Men's Edition
By Ed Strauss
Barbour Publishing, Inc.
Copyright © 2011 Barbour Publishing, Inc.All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-61626-466-6
CHAPTER 1
Abiding
Abide is a word rich in meaning—and without exploring these meanings we will never fully understand what Jesus means when He says, "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you," and when He commands, "Abide in My love" (John 15:7, 9 NKJY).
The original Greek word means "to remain, to continue"—so we are to remain in Christ and allow His words to remain in us.
This is not a static thing. To continue means to "keep on" being faithful to Him, to make up our minds to be near Jesus on an ongoing basis.
Our English word abide also means "to stick or adhere to" something, as in the expression "abide by the rules."
Perhaps the deepest meaning of abide is "to dwell, to live in." So we are to dwell in Christ and allow His words to have their home in us.
* * *
Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. John 15:4–5 NKJV
The branch of the vine does not worry, and toil, and rush here to seek for sunshine, and there to find rain. No; it rests in union and communion with the vine; and at the right time, and in the right way, is the right fruit found on it. Let us so abide in the Lord Jesus. Hudson Taylor
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
Psalm 91:1 NASB
They that trust in the Lord shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever.
Psalm 125:1 KJV
And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever.
John 14:16 KJV
Abiding in God changes our relationship with our fellow humans. We cannot keep our heads in the clouds as we walk with Jesus on earth. We must deal day by day with others and through our actions show them the love we have received.
He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.
1 John 2:10 KJV
Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.
1 John 3:6 KJV
As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love.
John 15:9–10 NKJV
I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.
John 12:46 NKJV
Abiding is an active service of trust in God that demands much of us but also provides us with untold blessings.
If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
John 15:7–8 NKJV
He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
1 John 2:6 KJV
Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.
1 John 3:24 NKJV
To abide with Christ—to stay with Him and to learn from Him—is to continually receive eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart to obey.
Angela McGuffey
Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.
1 John 3:15 NIV
Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son.
2 John 1:9 NKJV
And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
1 John 2:28 KJV
CHAPTER 2Addiction
An addiction is an activity repeated so frequently that it becomes very difficult to break free from it. Either that or a person has an inborn weakness for something—say, alcohol—and is hooked after even the first drink.
The Bible talks a great deal about the dangers of alcoholism, and had illegal drugs, tobacco, and pornography existed back then, it would have mentioned them as well.
Some men are also addicted to gambling or to extramarital sex because of the stimulation and the rush these things give them.
Many find the effort to resist sinful urges so difficult that they hide behind excuses such as "I can't help it. I'm genetically hardwired to give in to these things." No. We may have an inborn weakness in a certain area, or a tendency toward certain sinful activities, but we always have a choice.
It takes prayer and faithfully, repeatedly resisting temptation and fighting such urges, but God's Spirit can help us overcome.
* * *
Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags.
Proverbs 23:20–21 NIV
Don't be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 5:18 NLT
Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.
Romans 13:13 NIV
Of all vices, drinking is the most incompatible with greatness.
Walter Scott
Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin."
John 8:34 NASB
When any small adversity befalleth us, we are too quickly dejected, and turn ourselves to human comforts. If we would endeavor, like men of courage, to stand in the battle, surely we should feel the favorable assistance of God from heaven.
Thomas À Kempis
Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.
Romans 8:12–14 NLT
When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
Galatians 5:19–21 NLT
Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires.
Romans 6:12 NLT
But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.
Genesis 4:7 NIV
Sin is a sovereign till sovereign grace dethrones it.
Charles H. Spurgeon
If the Son gives you freedom, you are free!
John 8:36 CEV
There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
1 Corinthians 10:13 KJV
When people sin, you should forgive and comfort them, so they won't give up in despair.
2 Corinthians 2:7 CEV
CHAPTER 3Ambition
Ambition can be a very good thing. According to the dictionary it is "the determination to achieve success or distinction." To be ambitious is to be "strongly determined." When you have a vision and a goal, it inspires you to work hard and achieve excellence.
You need a healthy dose of ambition if you're studying a career in college or starting a new business. If you have no ambition you'll just drift through life.
But there is a dark side to ambition. We've all heard of men so narrowly focused on succeeding that they sacrifice everything on the altar of ambition—their marriage, their family, their health, and their soul.
That is why you must pursue God's goals, and even then, not become so obsessed with "succeeding" that you get life out of balance.
The key is to submit all your plans to God for His approval, then constantly come to Him for direction and wisdom so you can make that ambition come true.
* * *
Also, make it your ambition to live quietly, to mind your own business and to earn your living by your own efforts—just as we told you.
1 Thessalonians 4:11 CJB
I realized that it's good and proper for a man to eat and drink. It's good for him to be satisfied with his hard work on this earth. That's what he should do during the few days of life God has given him.
Ecclesiastes 5:18 NIRV
Ambition has been called one of the major ingredients for keeping people from aging.
William Krutza
Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper.
Proverbs 13:4 NLT
Lazy people finally die of hunger because they won't get up and go to work.
Proverbs 21:25 MSG
He who tills his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows frivolity will have poverty enough!
Proverbs 28:19 NKJV
We work to feed our appetites; meanwhile our souls go hungry.
Ecclesiastes 6:7 MSG
Ambition must be tempered by self-control. It isn't somebody else's job to hold your ambition in check.
Mark Elfstrand
But as for you, do you seek great things for yourself? Stop seeking!
Jeremiah 45:5 HCSB
People who want to be rich fall into all sorts of temptations and traps. They are caught by foolish and harmful desires that drag them down and destroy them. The love of money causes all kinds of trouble.
1 Timothy 6:9–10 CEV
What's my goal? What's my ambition? Is it my happiness or my holiness?
Kay Arthur
Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow.... Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that."
James 4:13–15 NIV
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.
Philippians 2:3 NIV
For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.
James 3:16 NIV
To have peace with God one must intentionally die to self, to all self-ambition, until you are only living for Jesus.
Kathryn Kuhlman
CHAPTER 4Anger
The Bible has a great deal to say about anger. That's because it is very human to become impatient and frustrated with others and to express those feelings with heated words.
Likewise, when we feel that we have been slighted or treated unjustly, it's a natural reaction to become heated under the collar.
There are certainly times when we're justified in being angry—in fact, flagrant injustice ought to upset us. This kind of anger is referred to as "righteous indignation."
Most of the time, however, there is nothing righteous at all about us letting off steam. The Bible says, "the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God" (James 1:20 NKJV).
We must learn to control our temper—otherwise anger will rage out of control and cause us to say and do hurtful things. Words blurted out in anger are often long regretted.
True, we may have been born with a quick temper, but God can still help us master it.
* * *
Let go of anger, and leave rage behind. Do not be preoccupied. It only leads to evil.
Psalm 37:8 GW
Whoever is patient has great understanding, but one who is quick-tempered displays folly.
Proverbs 14:29 NIV
The peculiarity of ill temper is that it is the vice of the virtuous. It is often the one blot on an otherwise noble character.
Henry Drummond
People with quick tempers cause trouble, but those who control their tempers stop a quarrel.
Proverbs 15:18 NCV
Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.
Proverbs 16:32 ESV
Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.
Proverbs 19:11 ESV
Allowing anger to seethe on the back burner will lead to a very large lid blowing off a very hot pot.
Charles Swindoll
But now you must stop doing such things. You must quit being angry, hateful, and evil. You must no longer say insulting or cruel things about others.
Colossians 3:8 CEV
Like grabbing a dog by the ears, so is a bystander who gets involved in someone else's quarrel.
Proverbs 26:17 GW
An angry man stirs up strife, and a furious man abounds in transgression.
Proverbs 29:22 NKJV
Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice.
Ephesians 4:31 KJV
When anger wins, love always loses.
Willard Harley Jr.
Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because our anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.
James 1:19–20 TNIV
And "don't sin by letting anger control you." Don't let the sun go down while you are still angry.
Ephesians 4:26 NLT
We all get angry, and at times we should. What's important is that we find constructive outlets for that anger.
Mort Crim
Now when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she ... said to Jacob, "Give me children, or else I die." Then Jacob's anger burned against Rachel, and he said, "Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?"
Genesis 30:1–2 NASB
CHAPTER 5Backsliding
You don't hear the term backslider used too much in churches today—although the condition it describes is still around.
Today we're more apt to say that someone is no longer walking with the Lord or that they have fallen by the wayside. Or we may take part of the blame for their fall, confessing that we "let them slip through the cracks."
For whatever reason—and there are many—Christians sometimes lose their initial, ardent love for God. They no longer believe, or strive to live, their faith.
They may openly slide back into their former lifestyle, even openly speak against their former faith. Or they may continue attending church, outwardly living a moral life, but be spiritually cold and/or secretly indulging in sin.
We should be charitable toward backsliders knowing that we, too, have backslidden at times—or even just in a specific area.
We should also remember that God loves the fallen, longs for fellowship with them, and implores them to return.
* * *
For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things.
Philippians 3:18–19 NIV
"Your own wickedness will correct you, and your backslidings will rebuke you. Know therefore and see that it is an evil and bitter thing that you have forsaken the LORD your God, and the fear of Me is not in you," says the Lord GOD of hosts.
Jeremiah 2:19 NKJV
For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.
2 Peter 2:20–22 KJV
For every one that definitely turns his back on Christ, there are hundreds who drift from him. Life's ocean is full of currents, any one of which will sweep us past the harbor-mouth even when we seem nearest to it, and carry us far out to sea.
F. B. Meyer
Man-like is it to fall into sin, Fiend-like is it to dwell therein; Christlike is it for sin to grieve, God-like is it all sin to leave.
Friedrich, Freiherr von Logau
Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say: "Return, backsliding Israel," says the Lord; "I will not cause My anger to fall on you. For I am merciful," says the Lord; "I will not remain angry forever. Only acknowledge your iniquity, that you have transgressed against the Lord your God ... and you have not obeyed My voice," says the Lord. "Return, O backsliding children," says the Lord; "for I am married to you."
Jeremiah 3:12–14 NKJV
(Continues...)
Excerpted from God's Wisdom for Your Life: Men's Edition by Ed Strauss. Copyright © 2011 Barbour Publishing, Inc.. Excerpted by permission of Barbour Publishing, Inc..
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Introduction 9
1 Abiding 11
2 Addiction 15
3 Ambition 19
4 Anger 23
5 Backsliding 27
6 Blessings 31
7 Brothers 35
8 Church 39
9 Citizenship 43
10 Comfort 47
11 Compassion 51
12 Competitiveness 55
13 Complaining 59
14 Conversation 63
15 Decision Making 67
16 Defrauding 71
17 Dependability 75
18 Diligence 79
19 Doubt 83
20 Dreams 87
21 Emotions 91
22 Eternal Life 95
23 Evil 99
24 Exercise 103
25 Failure 107
26 Fatherhood 111
27 Fear 115
28 Finances 119
29 Following God 123
30 Forgiveness 127
31 God's Discipline 131
32 God's Love 135
33 God's Will 139
34 God's Word 142
35 Hope 146
36 Integrity 150
37 Joy 154
38 Knowledge 158
39 Leadership 162
40 Legacy 166
41 Legalism 170
42 Loving Others 174
43 Lust 178
44 Mentoring 182
45 Patience 186
46 Peace 190
47 Perseverance 194
48 Possessions 197
49 Power 201
50 Prayer 205
51 Pride 209
52 Procrastination 213
53 Protection 217
54 Providing 221
55 Rest and Relaxation 225
56 Revenge 229
57 Salvation 233
58 Selflessness 237
59 Self-Sufficiency 241
60 Service 245
61 Sin 249
62 Spiritual Fruit 253
63 Spiritual Gifts 257
64 Sports 261
65 Stress 265
66 Success 269
67 Teamwork 273
68 Temptation 277
69 The Poor 281
70 Wisdom 285