Year: 2016

What Do We Gain By Prayer?

Dr. Mike Bible Life Questions
What is the Almighty, that we should serve him And what profit do we get if we pray to him?’ Job 21:15

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A better question is not what you gain, but what are you losing out on? If you are satisfied with your current experience in life, why want more? Though if you are tired and feel beaten, maybe it’s because you are trying too hard.

Ever notice when learning a new skill, the many ups and downs you may experience until you slowly become steady in your performance. When you finally arrive at the place where you are a master of your craft, only then do you realize the difference between being an amateur and a professional.

Ever notice how today’s luxury become tomorrow’s necessity? One of my first cars didn’t have air conditioning nor a radio. Yet today both are common items found in each vehicle. Before smart phones, we managed to communicate and survive. Yet after becoming proficient with the I-phone, we couldn’t live without it.

The same is true with prayer.

Imagine a married couple that rarely communicated. How would you rate such a marriage? When you compare such a marriage with one where both mates continue to share ideas and experiences, which would you prefer? In most cases, we would want the one where the relationship was strong; where there is mutual respect, love, and submittal. The relationship would build upon each other and help each side to grow and taste the best of the human experience. There is a great joy when two people become one new entity.

Isn’t that true with our heavenly Dad? Isn’t prayer simply the means for us to communicate with our heavenly Father? To strengthen the bond between each of us? To share life’s experience with one another? Until we realize that prayer is simply relating with God, we may never come to the place where God wants us to be. Whether we have a prayer closet, a prayer chair, or a prayer bike, the location is not as important as we talk and listen to our Creator. For when we do, his character, attributes, and favor oozes out of the relationship to the point where one wonders how come we didn’t start talking to our heavenly mate much earlier in life.

So quit making new year resolutions to pray more. Instead just pray wherever, whenever, for whatever. Like a marriage improves when two people spend more time communicating with each, so it is with our Triune God. There is so much more to gain when one loses oneself in pray with our heavenly Dad.

Rooting For You in Christ!

Dr. Mike

Executive Director & Founder
Marketplace Bible Institute
& Resource Center, Inc
Author of e-Books:
 *  Great Business Emulates a Good God
 *  Be Radical…Follow Christ!
 *  Simply The Messenger
 *  Unequally Married

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Born To Die?

Dr. Mike Bible Life Questions
What man can live and never see death? Psalm 89:48 ESV.

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No one leaves this planet alive. From the day we are born, it is a matter of time before our life will come to an end. The question is “what then?”

The fact remains, if there is no accountability or purpose for living, then anything goes. As Paul wrote in I Corinthians’ 15:32, “if the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” For if there is no divine reason for our existence, and our final breath leads us to the grave, then we might as well pursue every pleasure and selfish desire without the fear of any moral consequences. However, if there is a God, who created life with a greater purpose and will hold us accountable for our choices, then what does he expect from us?

The answer comes from not looking at life from a humanistic worldview, but from a greater perspective. That perspective is through the eyes of the Triune God himself. And we have been blessed by the same Creator with a Book that reveals God’s intent and purpose for humanity.

The Bible written by 40 different authors over a 1,500 year period leaves us with a vision that no Hollywood movie could ever duplicate. Starting with Jesus Christ, who is the central figure of all mankind, retracing history back to the beginning with the first couple, and moving forward with a climatic establishment of the merger of eternity with earth, we capture a small glimpse of God’s divine purpose.

This life isn’t about accumulating more toys than the next person. It is not about the achievement of our happiness or goals. It is not even about living the perfect moral life. God in his all encompassing love is simply enlarging his family.

Through and in Jesus Christ you and I have been adopted into the divine family. Though we have not yet been fully birth, we are residing in the spiritual embryonic stage. We are matrimonially engaged to Jesus Christ. We are being molded and prepared for eternity to serve in the Family Business. Our marketplace is now limited to the planet earth. In the new age, the entire universe will be our playground.

Our purpose today is simply to learn to abide in Christ. To learn to trust the Triune God in our daily affairs. To walk through the challenges of everyday life in step with the Spirit. To allow Father-Son-Spirit to reproduce Himself in us. To become transformed into the image of Jesus Christ through His workmanship is the goal of this life. To strengthen the relationship bond between God and yourself is the end result.

This He does as we lean on Him. This He does as we walk with Him. This He does as we serve Him through our relationships, through our work, and through all our efforts.

Yes we shall all die to the flesh which we all once proud fully displayed. Yet we shall all be resurrected. A new body that combines the best of heaven and earth. That is the hope of glory Paul writes about in 1 Corinthians’ Chapter 15. Read it. Then reread it. Than infuse yourself into God’s work. Enjoy His creation. He made it to share with you. And yes, while you live life slowly physically dying, know that you are being held in the arms of a Fatherly God who loves you more than you will ever realize. That experience will only make you want more of Him as He prepares you for the next chapter into eternity.

Rooting For You in Christ!

Dr. Mike

Executive Director & Founder
Marketplace Bible Institute
& Resource Center, Inc
Author of e-Books:
 *  Great Business Emulates a Good God
 *  Be Radical…Follow Christ!
 *  Simply The Messenger
 *  Unequally Married

Encourage your Friends…Share Today’s Message!

What Do You Gain From Your Work?

Dr. Mike Bible Life Questions, Business & Faith ,
“What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?” Eccl: 1:3 ESV.

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Solomon was the King of Israel after David died. Blessed by God with great wisdom and knowledge, he pursued every selfish desire that money could buy. We are told in the first several chapters of the Book of Ecclesiastes, that he built large buildings, vast gardens, and fruit farms. He acquired a large estate of herds and flocks, silver and gold, and male and female slaves. He was the richest man of his time.

Yet he didn’t stop there. He acquired more knowledge. He wrote books. He pursued every desire known by man seeking to discover the meaning to life. In short, he wanted to know how to best use his time on earth. But his path and experiments led him to despair, sorrow, and even hating life. The reason: everything in this physical life is temporary.

So what was his conclusion from his life’s work? What is there to gain from all one’s effort? Simply this: The appreciation of the joy God shares with you through His creation. He repeats it three times first starting in Ecc. 2:24-26. In summary, enjoy the work of your hands being appreciative for what God has given you. Ecc 3:13 states that it is God’s gift to you. In Ecc. 3:22 he writes that one should rejoice in your work. Again in Ecc. 5:18-20 Solomon writes that to enjoy food and drink and the work of your hands. In addition, he writes that if one has been given wealth and the power to enjoy one’s wealth, to rejoice because it is a gift from God. Remember, when God occupies a person’s heart with joy, the time and life goes by fast.

In Ecc. 7:14 Solomon adds that in times of prosperity be joyful, and when times are tough consider that God made both days so our lives will be less predictable. And because of the unpredictability of life, we don’t know for sure what will prosper, so work like all avenues may succeed or fail (Ecc. 11:6).

What about making money to pay the bills? Here are a few scriptures that the Bible reminds us.

In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty. Proverbs 14:23.
Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it. Proverbs 13:11.

Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go. Isaiah 48:17.

Bottom-line: enjoy the work of your hands, learn to live on what you make, save a little each day, and be thankful for everything God gives you.

Rooting For You in Christ!

Dr. Mike

Executive Director & Founder
Marketplace Bible Institute
& Resource Center, Inc
Author of e-Books:
 *  Great Business Emulates a Good God
 *  Be Radical…Follow Christ!
 *  Simply The Messenger
 *  Unequally Married

Encourage your Friends…Share Today’s Message!