A World of Change

“When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?” Psalm 11:3

In case you haven’t noticed, our world has dramatically changed. It wasn’t long ago that it would have been unthinkable that nearly 40 million unborn children would be murdered in America. There was a time when kids could pray in public schools. Nativity scenes dotted the lawns of county courthouses and municipal parks—without protest. Marriage was strictly a guy-girl arrangement. And you could even pray in Jesus’ name at graduation ceremonies.

I’m not interested in being like the grump who said, “In my life I’ve seen a lot things change and quite frankly I’ve been against them all!” But if you are talking about changing the face of America to the point where God is out and everything else is in, then I have a problem with that kind of change. My problem is wondering how to handle my heart and attitudes. Wondering how to live and respond in a world where the foundations of righteousness are being eroded on nearly every front.

How do we, as followers of Jesus, process right and wrong in a world that tells us there are no absolutes? How do we proclaim that Jesus alone is what people really need—that He is the “way and the truth” (John 14:6)—when most people no longer believe that there is such a thing as true truth?

You don’t have to be an industrial-strength theologian to realize that the current thought patterns of most Americans fly in the face of what we hold to be true. If there are no absolutes, you can forget about the Ten Commandments. If nothing is ever right or wrong, there is no sin and no need for a Savior. It’s easy to see that believing in what God tells us about righteousness, truth, and godly living leaves us marginalized and outdated. So our hearts cry out with David: “When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Psalm 11:3).

Let’s start with knowing what not to do. Notice that David didn’t wring his hands in despair. He didn’t “flee like a bird to [the] mountain” (Psalm 11:1). Instead, he decided to take refuge in the Unchanging One. His confidence was bolstered by the fact that God was on His holy throne and that His eyes were well aware of what was going on. Reminded of the ultimate judgment that God would pour out on wickedness, David knew that, in the face of unsettling change, staying on course with God is indeed the best and safest alternative. Looking at all the change from God’s point of view, he realized that though the change seemed overwhelming, God is still very much in charge and ultimately victorious.

Why would any of us want to go soft on God and His truth in order to feel more “with it,” when we know that the “with it” party train is headed for a disastrous train wreck? So, let’s quit all the hand wringing and feeling sorry for ourselves. Let’s cheer up, knowing that the things that can’t change—such as God’s righteous eternal reign—are still in place!

You can go with the change if you choose. I’m going with my changeless God!

YOUR JOURNEY…

• Has the changing philosophies of our world changed your approach to life, sin, and righteousness in any way? Be specific.
• What are some things that God loves and some things He hates? Do you love what He loves and hate what He hates?
• Are you willing to take a few hits for God because you stand with Him and His truth? To what extent? In what ways was Jesus unwavering in His willingness to take a hit for you in this ungodly world?
• Have you expected this changing, increasingly godless world to be a friend of Jesus? Read what Jesus had to say to us in John 16:33, and rejoice!

http://getmorestrength.org/daily/a-world-of-change/

Seek Humility

“Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the LORD’s anger.” — Zephaniah 2:3

Consider this:  God chose Moses, a man who wasn’t good with words, to give over the word of God. He chose Mount Sinai, a mountain that was barely as big as a hill, as the place where the Torah would be given. Wouldn’t it have been more appropriate to choose a skilled orator and a grand mountain for such a spectacular event?

When God appointed Moses to be the spokesperson of the Israelites, Moses protested:   “Who am I that I should go?” (Exodus 3:11). God could have chosen Aaron, the older, more confident brother, who—as time would prove – was much more charismatic and beloved by the people.

But he chose Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, and it was through him that the Ten Commandments were given to the world. For all that he lacks, Moses had the one trait that mattered the most. The Bible calls him:  “a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth” (Numbers 12:3).

Mount Sinai was a mountain that was smaller than any around it. Tradition teaches that when God was about to give the Torah to mankind, other mountains wanted to be the place of such a holy event. They boasted that they were taller and more majestic. They were grandiose and awe-inspiring. But God chose Mount Sinai because it was small. Even the place of revelation was chosen because it symbolized humility.

Remember those funny mirrors from amusement parks? Some make you look short and fat, while others make you tall and skinny. The distortions make us laugh because we know what we really look like. But what if someone didn’t know that it was all a joke? Imagine if someone who was skinny thought she was obese, or if someone dangerously overweight saw a skinny person in the mirror?

You can’t make your body better if you don’t know what you really look like. And you can’t make your inner self better if you don’t know who you are. That’s what humility means —knowing who you are. It’s only when you can admit your flaws that you can begin to overcome them. Only one who is humble can receive the word of God.

The prophet Zephaniah writes, “Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land.” If you are looking for God, start by taking a good, honest look in the mirror. Be humble and acknowledge where you are lacking. By making yourself less, you open yourself up to becoming more.

http://www.holylandmoments.org/devotionals/seek-humility

Be Prepared

“And the LORD said to Moses, ‘Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes and be ready by the third day, because on that day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people . . .’ After Moses had gone down the mountain to the people, he consecrated them, and they washed their clothes. Then he said to the people, ‘Prepare yourselves for the third day . . . ’” — Exodus 19:10, 14–15

In Exodus, as God was about to appear to the people of Israel at the foot of Mount Sinai, He instructed Moses to have the people prepare themselves for that occasion. In the book of Numbers, the word “prepare” appears more than 30 times as God gave His people detailed instructions for how the people were to prepare the sacrifices and themselves for worship. Clearly, being prepared is important to God.

In the Jewish tradition, the extensive, detailed preparation for the Sabbath and our anticipation of this special day are essential parts of its observance. Just as the Israelites prepared themselves physically and spiritually before receiving the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai, so we undergo a physical and spiritual preparation before experiencing Shabbat.

Listen to what the God says in the book of Exodus:  “Six days you shall labor, and do all your work” (20:9). Physically, we plan to finish all our work in six days. If we embrace this mindset and plan for the week, then we are both physically and mentally ready for Shabbat.

You’re probably wondering how that is possible in today’s demanding workplace, where, with today’s technology, we are able to take our work with us wherever we are?

The rabbis take this passage to mean that we should feel as if all our work has been completed when the Sabbath arrives. Our work undoubtedly will still be there when the work week begins again, but we are to greet the Shabbat in a spirit of peace, without anxious thoughts of what has yet to be done. Our hearts and minds should be focused on Him and all that His grace provides for us.

Is that how you approach the Lord’s Day? Individually, and then with your family, consider what steps you can take to prepare for your worship time. What can you do to ensure that you are greeting this day of worship in a true spirit of peace?

http://www.holylandmoments.org/devotionals/be-prepared-2

The Price of Freedom

“I will walk about in freedom,        for I have sought out your precepts.” — Psalm 119:45

Irish dramatist George Bernard Shaw once penned, “Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it.” Think about that for a moment. Most of us would equate freedom with the absence of responsibility and the opportunity to do whatever we please. But for Jews, true freedom does include responsibility — a responsibility to serve God. And this concept of freedom is rooted in our celebration and observance of the Sabbath.

When God gave Moses and the people of Israel the Ten Commandments, He instructed them, “Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day” (Deuteronomy 5:15). The Sabbath is a sacred day set aside for us by God to remind us of the Jews’ slavery in and exodus from Egypt.

However, the freedom that was gained when we left Egypt was not intended to be total independence from all authority. This freedom — true freedom — included voluntary servitude to God. For this reason, the Bible states in Exodus 20:10 that on the Sabbath, “you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates.”

You see, every man and beast must be free, at least for one day in seven, to embrace something more supreme — something more — than just serving men. Indeed, even when not in bondage to other men, we can enslave ourselves to things that are not truly critical. Moses understood that true freedom from slavery did not mean that we may do whatever we please. Rather freedom from slavery is only true freedom if it leads to the acceptance of serving God.

By recalling the exodus motif on Shabbat, we are reminded of the true nature of slavery and freedom, and of our duty to bring spiritual purpose and meaning into our lives. Clearly, God had a higher purpose in freeing Israel from Egyptian bondage. He wanted them to work for, and with, Him.

A wise man once said that “we should always be running toward something, not away from something.” Celebrate your freedom today, as the psalmist says, by running toward God’s precepts and His word.

http://www.holylandmoments.org/devotionals/the-price-of-freedom-2

The Price of Liberty, Part 3: Breaking the Covenant by Michael Youssef

This is the third post in my blog series, titled: The Price of Liberty. You can read the first two posts here and here.

No country is perfect, but I choose to live in this country because there is no nation I love or respect more than these United States. And there is no other place where people have more freedom.

A fact to consider about the United States: There is no other place more hospitable or more caring.

People can point out the problems we have in this country such as homelessness and corruption in government. However, if we compare this country to the rest of the world, it would be hard to top this nation. Why is this so? The so-called goodness of this mighty nation is because it was founded and built for the honor and glory of God, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence.

For more than 100 years following the Declaration of Independence, this nation continued on its godly path. In 1892, the Supreme Court’s decision in Church of the Holy Trinity v. United States said:

Our laws and our institutions must necessarily be based upon and embody the teachings of the Redeemer of mankind. It is impossible that it should be otherwise, and in this sense and to this extent, our civilization and our institutions are emphatically Christian … This is a religious people. This is historically true. From the discovery of this continent to the present hour, there is a single voice making this affirmation.

The Court ruling continued:

We find everywhere a clear recognition of the same truth . . . These, and many other matters which might be noticed, add a volume of unofficial declarations to the mass of organic utterances that is a Christian nation.

After reviewing the Court’s ruling in 1892 and considering some of the Supreme Court’s rulings in the last 40 to 50 years, we need to ask: Why has the great dream of our Founding Fathers turned into a nightmare?

• Why has Christianity in America become the object of ridicule?
• Why do our governments take on such enormous levels of debt?
• Why is sexual immorality rampant in the entertainment industry, while out-of-wedlock births soar and traditional families decline?
• Why do our young people turn to drugs at such alarming rates?
• Why is the rise of Islamic extremism treated with such complacency and ignorance?

To answer these questions and others about our current problems in America, we need to turn to the Bible. Some 4,000 years ago, God called the nation of Israel to be His chosen people and made the same promises to them that He made to our founding fathers. These praises are set forth in Deuteronomy 28:1-6:

If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God: You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country. The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks. Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed. You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.

Deuteronomy 28 also contains the curses that follow if the people refuse to follow God and walk in obedience. Verse 15 makes clear: “If you do not obey the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you.”

The curses are spelled out in the remaining verses of 28.

In the Old Testament, the people understood that to keep the covenant meant life. To break or disobey the covenant meant abandoning it and facing certain death. America’s Founding Fathers, by signing the Declaration of Independence, were actually covenanting with God.

Throughout the 200 years that ensued, the nation went through good times and bad, and made its share of mistakes. However, in recent times, our nation has deliberately and systematically chosen to drift away from God in the following ways:

• We willfully broke the covenant of the Founding Fathers
• We tampered with God’s absolute standards – the Ten Commandments
• We ridiculed Christian believers while acquiescing to Islamic demands and ignoring Islamic misdeeds and oppression
• We began to tolerate the same sin that brought destruction to Sodom and Gomorrah – calling it an alternative lifestyle
• Our courts that once legislated against immorality began to grant freedom to everyone. And “everyone did as he saw fit” (Judges 17:6)
• Our courts have allowed murder on demand—what can we expect?
• Our courts have expelled prayer from schools, so we should not be surprised at the problems that replaced it: drugs, teen alcoholism, teen pregnancy, promiscuity, and children killing children at school

Sadly, these problems no longer shock many in our nation. Jeremiah’s words ring true: “Are they ashamed of their loathsome conduct? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush” (Jeremiah 6:15)?

America has forgotten what it is to blush, and our eyes have grown accustomed to the darkness. Yet the most distressing situation is that whenever someone tries to point out the root of these problems—

• He is labeled old-fashioned
• He is labeled a bigot
• He is labeled intolerant

We should be intolerant to the ills of our society, and we should be especially intolerant of godlessness and wickedness.

The reason that this great nation is beset with problems and corruption is because our lawmakers and courts have deliberately and systematically distanced themselves from the covenant that the founding fathers made with God. We must recognize that this is the disease that ails us before we can hope to turn things around.

In my next post, we will consider Jeremiah’s message to the people of Judah after they had succumbed to a spiritual breakdown, and how his message is relevant to us today.

http://www.michaelyoussef.com/michaels-blogs/the-price-of-liberty-part-3-breaking-the-covenant.html

Are You Doing It? by Mark D. Roberts

Romans 13:8-10

Owe nothing to anyone—except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law.

Romans 13:8

In Romans 13:8, Paul sums up how to live the Christian life. “Love your neighbor,” he writes, “and you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law.” He then illustrates this fact by citing four prohibitions from the Ten Commandments. His point? If you love others, then you won’t commit adultery with them. You won’t murder them. You won’t steal from them. And you won’t even covet their possessions. Here is the Christian life in a nutshell: Love your neighbor!

I expect that 100% of my readers know this already. The call to love our neighbors isn’t new. In fact, it wasn’t new when Paul wrote it in the late 50s A.D. And it wasn’t new when Jesus said it. We find the command to love our neighbors all the way back in Leviticus 19:18: “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against a fellow Israelite, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.” So today you’re not getting new information.

Rather, I want to ask you a simple question: Are you doing it? Think about it. Pray about it. Allow the questions below to get you thinking…and loving.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: Are you loving your neighbors? Are you letting this fundamental principle actually guide your life each day? When was the last time you paused to reflect on how you might better love the people in your life? How can you love your spouse today? Your children? Your parents? Your siblings? Your roommates? Your colleagues? Your employees? Your boss? Your waiter? Your literal neighbor next door? What can you do today to put into practice the command to love your neighbor?

 

PRAYER: Gracious Heavenly Father, I know I’m supposed to love my neighbor. This isn’t new. But I must confess that I can easily forget this simple commandment. Or I can allow myself to belief that if I’m generally “nice,” this counts as love. Forgive me for neglecting something so central to discipleship as the call to love.

Help me, dear Lord, to love my neighbors today. Give me eyes to see how best to care for them. Give me ears to hear what they’re really saying. Give me a heart of compassion, so that I might extend your love to them. I ask especially for fresh insight for how I might love those closest to me: my wife, my children, my colleagues, my extended family, my brothers and sisters at church.

As I care for people in tangible ways, may your love flow through me to others. Make me a channel of your love, dear Lord. Amen.

http://www.thehighcalling.org/reflection/are-you-doing-it-0?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheHighCallingDailyReflections+%28Daily+Reflection+%26+Prayer%29

The Price of Liberty, Part 1: Achieving a Right Perspective

Is America still the land of the free and the home of the brave? Or is our nation dangerously adrift on a sea of complacency and immorality? Too often we are content to think only of our families and ourselves, and ignore the world around us. We pay little attention to the continual changes taking place in governmental policies.

Like the frog in lukewarm water—unaware that the water is boiling until it is too late for him to leap—we, too, may be in more danger than we realize. When more than 3,000 babies are aborted every day, the Bible and the Ten Commandments are removed from the classroom, and prayer in the school is forbidden, it is time to assess where we are as a nation.

Psalm 33:12 states: “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people he chose for his inheritance.”

We should ask ourselves, however, whether the Lord is still America’s God—or, like the children of Israel, are we now pursuing other gods? Although our Founding Fathers based America’s important documents—such as the Declaration of Independence—on Christianity and the Bible, through indifference, ignorance, and neglect of biblical principles, we are in danger of losing our precious freedoms. However, it is yet possible to reclaim what we’ve already lost if God’s people will awake and rise up.

As an immigrant—now a naturalized citizen—to this great country, I would like to share some of my concerns for America. I have come to love America and its rich heritage. This country means so much to me because of the persecution I experienced in my birth country of Egypt. I know firsthand what it is like to be persecuted for one’s faith, and I understand the process that takes place in a country to get to that point. When I observe these telltale signs rising everywhere in our country, it causes me great alarm.

Imagine with me the following scenario. Due to my kindness and hospitality, I decide one day to bring a young man into our house. He needs food, shelter, and a job—all of which we gladly provide for him. He also needs an identity, so we let him use our family name—giving him all the privileges and responsibilities of being in our family.

After a few years, the young man decides he doesn’t like the arrangement of the furniture, so he rearranges it without regard to the rest of the family. Then, over our vigorous protests, he decides that family devotions are offensive to him, so he insists that our family must stop praying together. Moreover, he decides that having too many Bibles in the home is offensive to him, so he takes the Bibles away.

Finally, he tells me, “If you ever talk about your religious views publicly, I will have to take you to court because I find your views offensive.” His attitude is reflected as follows, “You brought me into your family, you gave me all of the privileges and legal rights of being a member of the family. Therefore, you have lost your rights to continue living your biblical and moral lifestyle because I don’t like it.”

He continues by saying, “I may be one of seven in this house, but because I believe that your belief system is out of date, I demand that you be silenced while I pillage and reinterpret your faith for you. I demand that you accept my new understanding of the foundational principles of your life.”

You are probably thinking, I can’t imagine a worse nightmare for my life and for my family’s life than that.

But something much like that has been happening in our own country of late. From my past, I know what it is to grow up in a family that has been subjected to socialism. I know, too, what it is like to lose family property. In fact, overnight, family, and friends lost the company that had belonged to their families for years. In the 1960s, they lost everything they had worked for because the government seized their property and possessions. The argument, of course, was that the government knew how to handle these businesses better. We were told that it was only getting the rich “to pay their fair share.”

Let me caution you that these same things have been happening in America for the past several years. It is time for us to become fully aware of the path our beloved country is following. There are reasons why we are experiencing so many problems as a nation.

For the next several weeks, I’ll be exploring those reasons and how we have turned away from God’s protection and blessing. Only by first becoming aware of the significance of our flawed path can we take the necessary steps to reverse course.

http://www.michaelyoussef.com/michaels-blogs/the-price-of-liberty-part-1-achieving-a-right-perspective.html

One Nation Under Government — Not Under God

This is why we need to vote Obama out of office!  He is not good for America!  He does not value our belief in God, and does whatever he can to get God out of the hearts and minds of people, in whatever way he can.  What’s wrong with the Ten Commandments?? They are the word of God, moral compasses of the way we should all be living, and I do not understand why anyone thinks they have the right to change what our Creator wrote! (trinityspeaks)

When Barack Obama promised to “fundamentally transform the United States” we could not have anticipated the extreme transformations he would seek. The evidence is rolling in that he is determined to transform America into a totally secular land where religion is permitted only within the walls of a church and is banned in every public place, public gathering and public school.

 

Obama tipped us off to his animosity toward religious Americans when, campaigning in San Francisco in 2008, he insulted religious people in small towns. He said, they “get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”

In April 2009, Obama delivered a speech at Georgetown University, only after his staff had pressured the Catholic college to conceal the monogram for the name of Jesus that was always displayed above the podium. In May 2009, he cancelled the traditional White House event honoring the National Day of Prayer, saying that he would pray only in private.

Obama began censoring religious words out of important American documents, such as the Declaration of Independence, from which he many times deleted the word “Creator.” In a November 2010, speech, Obama pretended to quote the U.S. national motto, “In God We Trust,” but he changed it to “e pluribus unum” (out of many, one).

When Obama gave the traditional Presidential Thanksgiving Day address in 2011, it’s not clear whom he was thanking on this uniquely American holiday, but it was not God.

Barack Obama is trying to morph our traditional religious liberty to the lesser scope of freedom of worship. That means worship only inside a church, or maybe a synagogue, but not any public affirmation of belief in God.

In July 2011, Obama’s Department of Veterans Affairs banned any mention of Jesus Christ during burials at Houston National Cemetery. The ban was lifted only after hundreds of demonstrators protested.

In September 2011, the U.S. Army revised guidelines for Walter Reed Hospital to read: “No religious items (i.e., Bibles, reading materials…) are allowed to be given away or used during a visit.” The hospital rescinded this policy only after Congressman Steve King, R-Iowa, reported it to the House of Representatives.

In February 2012, the Air Force removed the Latin word for God, Dei, from the logo of the Rapid Capabilities Office, and it was also removed the Latin motto, which means “Doing God’s Work With Other People’s Money.” The new logo says, “Doing Miracles with Other People’s Money.”

Also in February 2012, the U.S. Army warned Catholic chaplains not to read from an archbishop’s letter opposing the Obama administration’s mandate that all employers, including religious hospitals, schools and colleges, must pay for abortifacients drugs, contraceptives and sterilizations for their employees. People were shocked by the military order telling chaplains what they cannot say to members of their own faith during a religious service.

A prime example of Obama’s hostility to religion is the Supreme Court case of Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC, in which the Obama administration challenged the longtime religious exemption that prevents politicians from controlling the hiring and firing of employees of religious institutions. The church had fired one of its minister/teachers, and she sued to get her job back.

With the help of Obama’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, EEOC, this case got up to the U.S. Supreme Court. Obama’s lawyer made the astonishing argument that the federal government could force the Lutheran church to rehire her, but the Obama administration’s case was so ludicrous that in January 2012 it lost 9 to 0.

Obama’s first judicial appointment, David Hamilton, had worked for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now as a fundraiser, as vice president for litigation for Indiana’s American Civil Liberties Union branch and was known for blocking pro-life and pro-decency laws. Even the left-leaning American Bar Association called him “not qualified.”

Hamilton was most noteworthy as a district court judge for striking down a prayer in 2005 used in the Indiana Legislature that mentioned Jesus Christ and ordering the Indiana Legislature to “refrain from using Christ’s name or title or any other denominational appeal.” At the same time, Hamilton stated that it is permissible for the Legislature to use the word “Allah.”

After that, President Obama promoted David Hamilton to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

Another ACLU-type judicial appointment made by President Obama was federal Judge Michael Urbanski. He suggested in court that the Ten Commandments be censored down to six commandments in order to make the posting of the commandments legal under the First Amendment.

Barack Obama has a record of hostility to religion that we have never before seen in any American president.

Phyllis Schlafly

Phyllis Schlafly  is a national leader of the pro-family movement, a nationally syndicated columnist and author of Feminist Fantasies.

http://townhall.com/columnists/phyllisschlafly/2012/07/10/one_nation_under_government__not_under_god/page/full/

Dads: If You Don’t Want Your Daughter to Date Charlie Sheen, Lil Wayne, Beavis or Butthead, Read This

Here are my 10 Commandments for my daughter’s potential boyfriends.

Please facebook, email and tweet this list and my accompanying new video to dads who do not want their daughters to ever date or marry Lil Wayne, Charlie Sheen, Beavis or Butthead.
Commandment I. Thou shall understand that your presence doesn’t make me happy. And know this: I’ve got a PI doing a background check on you at this moment.
Commandment II. Thou had better have a life. I have worked my butt off providing a good life for my daughter; therefore, you better have one, Spanky.
Commandment III. Thou shall not touch my daughter. If you do, I’ll smash your hands and your mommy will have to help you gel your Justin Bieber haircut.
Commandment IV. Thou shall look me in the eye and shake my hand like a man. And turn off your damn cell phone.
Commandment V. Thou shall understand that you are a boy talking to a man. Do not gush around me or attempt to read me an entry from your journal. I’m not Oprah. I am a Neanderthal.
Commandment VI. Thou shall know that our family is old school. Do not even think about approaching me with liberal, hippie, agnostic, atheistic, anti-American or tree-humping bull crap.
Commandment VII. Thou shall know that I like cool and expensive gifts. You’d be shrewd to approach me like the three wise men did Baby Jesus, namely with gold, frankincense and myrrh.
Commandment VIII. Thou shall understand that if you’re dumb enough to tell me a dirty joke, I’m comfortable enough with kicking your ass.
Commandment IX. Thou shall keep your word. If you say you’re going to do something, then I expect you to do it.
Commandment X. Thou shall memorize commandments I – IX. Yep, your best bet, home slice, is to both memorize and practice these commandments because I am Dad Almighty!
Parents, if you’d like an awesome full-color, punk-scaring poster of my 10 Commandments for Your Daughter’s Potential Boyfriends to grace your entryway, man cave or office, click here. Be afraid, scrubs. Be afraid.

Doug Giles

Doug Giles is the author of Raising Righteous & Rowdy Girls. Follow him on Twitter @Doug_Giles and on Facebook. You can see and hear Doug’s video blog and talk show at ClashRadio.com.

http://townhall.com/columnists/douggiles/2012/07/01/dads_if_you_dont_want_your_daughter_to_date_charlie_sheen_lil_wayne_beavis_or_butthead_read_this

Putting God First in Your Priorities By Joyce Meyer , Christian Post Guest Columnist

There are so many things that clamor for our attention and devotion: our jobs, our kids, our spouses, our hobbies-the demands and distractions of life. And we have to be careful not to let them become more important or more of a priority than our relationship with God.

The first of the Ten Commandments states we will have no other gods before Him (see Exodus 20:3). And Deuteronomy 5:8-9 (NLT) says, “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind, or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods.”

Yet how many of the things that occupy our time, money, thoughts and attention have taken the place where God is supposed to be? Anything can become a god to us-anything we worship or put an excessive amount of time into. Even your feelings can become a god if you allow them to control you. We need to ask ourselves, “Am I bowing down to God and His Word or to my feelings?”

Another challenge we have to confront is living in a world full of humanism and people not wanting God and His Truth to interfere with their lives and routines. It seems we have an epidemic of selfishness in our world today, and this creates all kinds of unhealthy situations. For example, when people refuse to honor God and follow His wisdom in their decisions, it causes them to become bogged down with worry, resentment and bitterness. Eventually it shows up as sickness and disease in their bodies. And in our culture, this behavior causes a decline in our moral standards and attitudes.

But the good news is, we don’t have to settle for this way of living. In Christ, we can enjoy our lives-abundantly! (See John 10:10.)

How to Establish the Habit of Living for God

The key to having God’s “abundant life”-His love, peace and joy-is keeping Him in His rightful place in our priorities. God said to Abraham, “Walk and live habitually before Me and be perfect (blameless, wholehearted, complete)” (Genesis 17:1 AMP). Notice that God instructed Abraham to be habitual in walking with Him and living for Him. We can do this by establishing daily habits of prayer, worship and regular, consistent time spent in His Word.

I love the Word of God! It is amazing. It contains wisdom, encouragement, comfort and inspiration for every conceivable human problem or dilemma. His Word brings peace and stability to our spirits and it will renew our minds (see Romans 12:2). Get excited about getting into the Bible!

The Benefits of Keeping God First

Make it your goal to have a deep, intimate relationship with God. Let Him into every area of your life. If you constantly look to other people for answers and validation, pray about this and ask the Lord to help you stop doing that and instead look to Him. First Thessalonians 2:4 (AMP) says, “We speak not to please men but to please God.”

As we live to please God, He promises to bless our lives and make us prosper. The Bible says in Psalm 1:3 (AMP) that the man who walks and lives in God’s ways is “like a tree firmly planted [and tended] by the streams of water, ready to bring forth its fruit in its season; its leaf also shall not fade or wither; and everything he does shall prosper [and come to maturity].”

When you decide to serve God with your whole heart and make Him first in your life, your soul will prosper and your joy and peace will increase. Remember to lean on Him more than anything else, and tell Him, “God, I want to do this, but I can’t do it without You.” He doesn’t expect you to live for Him in your own strength or ability, and He understands when you make mistakes. So if you mess up, don’t give in to discouragement and let it hold you back; confess it and keep going. He will give you grace to do what you need to do. One day at a time you and God together can do anything!

http://www.christianpost.com/news/putting-god-first-in-your-priorities-77085/