Ruthie's Inspirations

Luke 14-15 And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief rooms; saying unto them,     When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him;     And he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room.     But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee.     For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.   Luke 14:7-11 Do you presume to be in high favor with your friends or those that are close to you? Do you take pride in being or thinking yourself someone's close or best friend?...

Luke 12-13 And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.     But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.   Luke 12:47-48 What are the responsibilities God has entrusted you with? How is your faithfulness in taking care of them? For what you know, God will hold you responsible. There will be great punishment if you slack in your duties and don't obey what you've been given to do. For those things that you don't know, the punishment is still there but will be lesser. The more that God gives you to do, the more God will require of you. Are you living up to His requirements?

Luke 10 Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.     And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word.     But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve along? bid her therefore that she help me.     And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:     But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.   Luke 10:38-42 Service is good, especially when done for the Lord. But service is temporary. A thing that anyone can do, a position that can be filled. Service for God means nothing without a relationship with Him. That's something that can't be taken away by anyone. No one can...

John 9-10 And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.     And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?     Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.   John 9:1-3 Not every problem in your life, or others life is a result of sin. So often we can be quick to judge others by their problems thinking that they're suffering for someone's sin and that they deserve it. Sometimes you may be quick to judge your own problems that way too. But sometimes, God allows problems into your life just so He can fix it and get the glory from it. Or just to get the glory from it even if He doesn't fix it. When I come to a hard spot, a trial in your life, do you jump to conclusions about why? Or will you bring it to God and trust Him to help you through whether He tells you why or not?

John 7-8 Jesus answered the, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.     If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.     He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.   John 7:16-18 What are you telling others about what you believe and what is right? What doctrine are you teaching and demonstrating in your life? It can be easy to tell others what is right based on what you think and feel is right even if it's not Biblically based or if the verses you have are taken out of context. Do you live by the Lord's doctrine or the doctrine of men? Do you lead others to Christ and His word or just give them wise sounding advice that isn't actually Biblical? If you’re following Christ, it will be Him and His glory that you seek, not your own.

Matthew 18 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?     Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.   Matthew 18:21-22 It can get tiring forgiving the same person over, and over, and over again. Especially if it's for the same offence. It can be tempting to pride ourselves on being forgiving and longsuffering but even the best of people have their "too far" point. We can justify unforgiveness by saying that we've forgiven them for so long and it's their fault for not changing. But Jesus gives such a high number indicating that there is no limit to forgiveness. There's no excuse not to forgive. God has forgiven all for absolutely nothing in return. Will you forgive those that wrong you knowing that Christ has done the same for you?

Matthew 17, Mark 9 And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us: and we forbad him, because he followeth not us.     But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me.     For he that is not against us is on our part.   Mark 9:38-40 There are so many times where we can feel superior to others because they aren't just like us. Yes, they claim to be saved and seem to live like it, but from the outside, they don't do things the same. They don't dress the same, watch the same movies, listen to the same music, etc. They have different standards and so they can't possibly be close to God with standards like those. But that's not true. Just because they don't follow the same standards we do, doesn't mean they aren't children of God. Then why do we spend most of our time picking people and their beliefs apart ...