20 June 2021
Two-Minute Features | 27 June 2021 | 13 June 2021

How We Thought Before We Were Saved, Part 2 (TMF:1640)

Friday, June 25, 2021
Peace to Live By: How We Thought Before We Were Saved, Part 2 (TMF:1640) - Daniel Litton
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       Our old behaviors, and our old ways of thinking, those things “held us captive”, as Paul states. We were prisoners of of own passions, our own lusts. We were lead by what our feelings wanted, and had a real difficult time going against our feelings. We let circumstances control our moods, instead of being emotionally stable regardless of what are circumstances were. And don’t get me wrong. Even now, as Christians, if we are not careful, if we are not mature, we can still let circumstances control our mood, how we feel. But as unbelievers we were powerless. If the hot water tank started leaking, we would get all upset. We would prophecy for the small leak to become a disaster, and it would. We couldn’t say, “Oh, it’s just a small leak. I will call and get it fixed. It’s no big deal.” No, for an unbeliever, small, trivial matters are a big deal. Eternity is not in perspective. We weren’t thinking about the things which are above; we weren’t setting our minds of them.

How We Thought Before We Were Saved, Part 1 (TMF:1639)

Thursday, June 24, 2021
Peace to Live By: How We Thought Before We Were Saved, Part 1 (TMF:1639) - Daniel Litton
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       Before each of us were saved, if we were old enough to become more and more depraved in our actions, we recall the sinful things we did, the works we bore in our flesh, only ended up bringing us death. We were never really fulfilled. There was always a sense of meaninglessness. There was this sense that we didn’t know who we were, why we were here, what we really were supposed to be doing with our lives. “Do people really love me?” was a common background thought. There was this lack of confidence, of disarray in our thoughts. And then the thought of death would come to mind every once in a while. And we would contemplate death. We would think, “Well, I’m not a murder, so I should make it to heaven.” “I think I’m good enough in comparison to people who do bad things, like criminals.” When those thoughts got too uncomfortable, we would just stop thinking about death, just kicking the unanswered questions down the road to be dealt with at a later time.

Serving the Basic Needs of the Church, Part 3 (TMF:1638)

Wednesday, June 23, 2021
Peace to Live By: Serving the Basic Needs of the Church, Part 3 (TMF:1638) - Daniel Litton
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       If that is what God has placed on your heart, great. But if it isn’t, you need to spend most of your time accomplishing what God has put in your heart. Again, we should not, we cannot, be following Scripture legalistically and be pleasing to God. That’s not the way God operates. The ant does not do the same thing as the owl. The lion doesn’t do the same thing as the elephant. All the animals and creatures in nature have varying purposes. They all do different things. They’re all animals, they have things in common. But they also have individual characteristics. An ant is a worker; it can carry things long distances. An owl is wise; he’s an observer. The elephant cannot run as fast as the lion; they have totally different demeanors. I think you get the point. The animals are in variety, and while they have similarities, they have individual, unique differences. And so it is with the way God gifts us.

Serving the Basic Needs of the Church, Part 2 (TMF:1637)

Tuesday, June 22, 2021
Peace to Live By: Serving the Basic Needs of the Church, Part 2 (TMF:1637) - Daniel Litton
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       A problem for us in the church is that often times we get into compare and contrast mode. I do it; you do it. We look at another person and say, “She is doing this, so I need to be doing this.” We say to ourselves, “How am I measuring up to this person over here?” We should be saying, “How am I measuring up to what Christ wants me to do, what he has called me to do, what he has laid on my heart to accomplish.” Not what some verse over here or over here says. It’s not a legalistic thing. It’s not that the Bible says, “Oh, we should take care of orphans and widows. So, gee, I guess I better spend all my time helping orphans and widows.” If that is what God has placed on your heart, great. But if it isn’t, you need to spend most of your time accomplishing what God has put in your heart. Again, we should not, we cannot, be following Scripture legalistically and be pleasing to God. That’s not the way God operates.

Serving the Basic Needs of the Church, Part 1 (TMF:1636)

Monday, June 21, 2021
Peace to Live By: Serving the Basic Needs of the Church, Part 1 (TMF:1636) - Daniel Litton
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       If we take a moment and look at nature, at all the things we see around us, what do we see? We see a vast variety of things. We see different kinds of flowers, different kinds of plants, varying trees, and a variety of animals--all of these things--living things. We see a vast variety of human beings. The point is that we see variation. And what can we note from this observation? Well, we can note that God likes variation, he likes variety. So, what can we note about his church then, and about us as individual members of the church? We see that God wants variation in our good works. He doesn’t want us all doing the same things. He desires some of us to be evangelists, some of us to be teachers, some us to be elders, deacons… you get the point. He wants some of us to be serving the basic needs of the church, and the basic needs of others. Just as nature displays for us all kinds of life, with different purposes.