When I ran the Nottingham Marathon 2 years ago, I was at around mile 23, my friend Lon had been biking along side me the whole way offering encouragement and plenty of water.  I was close to tears and giving in when he suddenly biked on ahead, and somehow got an entire restaurant to start shouting in unison “Go Lee”.  Partly them embarrasment, but also the inspiration from all those encouraging words spurred me on to complete my first ever marathon (and at the time I thought is should probably be my last…  2 years on and I haven’t learnt that lesson!)

Verse 24 says: Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.

(NLT)

Our Christian lives are very much like a marathon.  There are temptations left right and centre drawing us to them, there are many people who do not understand what we are so passionate about and they can sometimes be cruel, or inconsiderate.  Busy lives with work, family and hobbies can pull us away from church and or time with the Lord.  There are many times that we can hit that proverbial wall!  That is why it is so important we do what we are being told here.  Encourage one another.

Just as my strength was renewed on the Nottingham Marathon, our strength, our confidence, our sense of doing the right thing, our love for the Lord, our passion for Him can be renewed within a heart beat by one kind and encouraging word.  We can build each other up using encouraging words, words of truth from the Bible as well as prayer.  Coming together as groups of believers and sharing fellowship is so important if we are to keep running the race.  Without other Christian brothers and sisters to cheer you on, there is a temptation to stop, veer off the race track, no not finish the race.   Church, fellowship, Bible Study and socialising with Christians?  An absolute MUST!

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It is a very valid point, and a reminder of how important it is for us as Christians to ensure that we live our lives according to Gods Holy Word.  The Bible should always be our final say in any decision we make.  With the millions of “self help” speakers out there pioneering break through ways to improve your self worth, and become successful, it is tempting to loose sight of the single source of truth and wisdom that has not gone out of fashion for thousands of years;  God’s Word the Bible.

Any teaching we hear, we should always ensure that not only is it firmly rooted in scripture, but also that we have investigated the subject further ourselves, and studied the scripture, not only to clarify the learning, but to gain an even deeper understanding of the exciting truths contained there in.

With all the modern day sources of information, we need to make sure that the Bible remains number 1.

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of scripture in the Bible! Stuart emphasised though that we should not pick and choose what portions of scripture we read and obey, but we must consider the entire Bible, and strive to do all the Lord asks of us.

3Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? 4Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal

? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God.” (NIV)

The Our Daily Bread picks up on Ananias and Sapphira’s lack of honesty. And although the result of their dishonesty is very extreme, it acts as an example / reminder of the consequences of sin and the need to be completely honest with God. God is everywhere. He knows all and sees all therefore we should not consider trying to hide things from Him, or trying to lie to Him.

In any situation in life we need to be honest, not only with each other, but to our Creator God. There is not half way house for honesty, we can’t be 90% honest, and keep something back for ourselves, or to protect ourselves. Is not honesty a key part of any loving relationship? How much more so, is honesty important with our God?

Honesty is a requirement, therefore we must be obedient to God. I will end with a quote from today’s Our Daily Bread:

There are no degrees of honesty.

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