It has been said that the more thankful you are, the more you attract things to be thankful for. It has also been said that those who take life day by day, those who complain very little, and those who are thankful for the things in life, tend to be happy. Scripture tells us to “always give thanks for everything to our God and Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:20 TLB). Maybe this is why those who are thankful for the things they have in life are happy truly.

“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever” (I John 2:15-17).

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Explaining faith to those who doubt the existence of faith can be summed up similar to this, which surprisingly supports the existence of faith that can be found in everyone.

A man (woman) agrees to take a job with a company. The company tells the man that he will be paid every two weeks. The man agrees to the terms and accepts the job. The man reports to work the first day, works eight hours, and afterwards, he goes home. The next day the man repeats what he did the first day. The man does the exact same thing for one week straight. This is a classic example of faith in action. The man has placed his faith in the company, believing that he will be paid when he gets to the end of the pay period, which is supported by him going to work every day and not getting any form of compensation during the period. Payday comes and the company gives the man his first paycheck. Now that the man has his paycheck, he does not need faith anymore because the thing that he had hope for, the thing that he believed he was getting from the company is now a reality.

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 Many of us are familiar with the verse John 3:16, which focuses on God and his son. Depending on the Bible version you have, the passage will read something like, For God so loved the world that he gave his “only begotten Son” (King James Version), that he gave his “only Son (the unique Son of God) (The Living Bible), that he gave his “one and only Son” (Basic English Bible), or that he gave his “only Son” (Weymouth New Testament Translation). As we have discussed in previous devotionals, there are varied beliefs about the son of God, so much so, that we wonder if the varied translations of this particular verse are all saying the same thing about the son of God. From these varied translations, we see that Jesus is labeled as God’s “only begotten Son,” his “only Son (the unique Son of God),” his “one and only Son,” or his “only Son.” In short, each of the Bible translations listed above and many others not listed, cite Jesus as being “the only son of God.” So, is Jesus the only son of God? To many believers and some non-believers, the traditional answer would be “yes.” The interesting thing is that according to the Bible, Jesus was not God’s only son. According to scripture, God had another son.

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When asked where “the word of God” can be found, the most popular answer is “the Bible.”  Many believe the Bible to be the inerrant and infallible word of God, but is this belief the truth?  Is the Bible actually the inerrant and infallible word of God?  First, let us define a few important words. The first word “inerrant,” simply means “free from errors or untruths.”  The next word “infallible,” means “incapable of making mistakes or being wrong” or simply “incapable of error.”  Another definition says that “infallible” also means “absolutely trustworthy or sure.”  When combined, we see why the Bible is said to be “absolutely trustworthy or sure” because of its association with the word of God.  This has led many to consider the Bible of being “incapable of error, of making mistakes, or being wrong.”  But does all of this mean that the entire Bible is true?  That is a question that has been pondered throughout the ages.

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Most of us have heard the phrase, “Money is the root of all evil.”  Stated this way, this phrase leads us to believe that “money” itself is “the root or cause of all evil.”

“For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (I Timothy 6:10).

According to scripture, it “the love of money” that is “the root or cause of all evil.”  The actual wording brings to light a slightly different interpretation where “the love of money” is the root cause of all kinds of evil and not money itself.  It is this “love of money,” this desire in people to be rich that is the first step of a downward spiral that causes all kinds of wrongdoings just to acquire this money.  Those who covet after money, fall into temptation, and do all kinds of unwise, destructive, and malicious things that eventually hurts them, all to satisfy this desire to gain access to money.  Because of their “love of money,” these same people have turned away from God, have been led astray from the faith, and have inflicted themselves with countless sorrows that eventually lead to their ruin and destruction.

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The Bible says, “The just shall live by faith” (Romans 1:17), but most believers do not live there, that is to say that they do not “live by faith.”  What we do instead is, we visit there from time to time.  Yes, we live by faith on occasion, but we never dwell there, nor do we take up residency there.  And though we see things that causes us to believe that anything is possible with God many times over, we fail to constantly maintain that belief, that level of faith that the scriptures say, “we should live by.”  Because we fail to live there, to take residency, we tend to be “carnally minded,” which the scripture says is “death” (Romans 8:6).  Carnally mindedness is being focused on the things of this world from a human emotional standpoint.  Carnally minded people fail to focus on God, fail to focus on his word, and fail to focus on the things of God.

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