by Don Ruhl

Read Galatians Chapter 6

Paul wrote to the Galatians,

15 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation (Galatians 6:15, NKJV).

What or who we are in the flesh does not get us closer to Christ or to His glorious home, but what does get us closer is whether we are new creations. If I am still the old creation, living by the standards of the world, then heaven is not my home. If I have died to the world and the world to me, then heaven is my home. Is it truly that simple? Yes, it is just that simple!

Therefore, watch yourself today. What matters to you? What counts in your mind in how you deal with the world? Is it the flesh that rules your daily concerns or the spirit?

by Don Ruhl

Read Isaiah 3 and 4

I have a duty to fulfill to you as a teacher and preacher. Isaiah 3:10 says,

10 Say to the righteous that it shall be well with them, For they shall eat the fruit of their doings. (Isaiah 3:10, NKJV).

Therefore, to the righteous, I say, It shall be well with you. You shall eat the fruit of your doings. Keep doing well and you shall reap what you have been sowing. Therefore, do not cease sowing that which is good and right. The harvest may be off in the distance, but it shall be. Be patient. You will eat the best fruit that exists.

by Don Ruhl

Read Galatians Chapter 3

Please think for a week on Paul's question in Galatians 3:3,

3 Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? (Gal. 3:3, NIV).

Many Christians start right, walking with the Spirit, but then they encounter troubles of living and turn to teachings and philosophies of man to find out how to solve the troubles of life and to have a peaceful and successful life. Why not stay with the Spirit? Can we learn anything from the Spirit, as revealed through the Scriptures, about daily living?

by Don Ruhl

Read Ecclesiastes 1--3

Learn from Solomon in the Book of Ecclesiastes. Why go through the sorrows of life without understanding life and its purpose. For what are you looking in life? Solomon will take you on his journey through life, looking for its meaning, showing where happiness and pleasure are not, but giving hints along the way of what life and man are all about.

One of his observations along the way is the following,

11 [God] has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end (Ecc. 3:11, NKJV).

What God has made, He made beautiful. If man has not corrupted something, but you do not find it beautiful, then learn to see what God sees in it and you will see its beauty.

We have the desire for eternity. We want to live forever, looking for anything that will prolong our lives. Gradually we sense that this life is not all that there is. Why do we have this desire and why do we sense that our existence is more than what we have on this earth? God put eternity in our hearts!

Yet, we cannot discover every beautiful thing that God has made. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. Therefore, I would love to see every part of His earthly creation, but, as Solomon says, no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.

The Bible says we shall be in heaven forever. The beauties there far surpass the beauties here. We are restricted by time as we attempt to see all of God's beauties on the earth, but God has put eternity into our hearts and when we arrive in heaven, our hearts will have an eternity to search the beauties of God's work. Everything is beautiful in its time here, but over there everything is beautiful in eternity; how vast are the beauties of eternity?

by Don Ruhl

Read Second Corinthians 13

I wonder how much harm would have been prevented in every church in the land, if the following verse had been followed,

1 By the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established (2 Corinthians 13:1, NKJV).

If you hear something about another person, how many people have told you? Are they witnesses? Right there, tons of damage can be prevented. If two or three people, or obviously more, have spoken, and they are indeed witnesses, that is still not a cause for speaking further about someone behind his or her back. It is cause for resolving the matter.

Use this verse as a test for the things that you hear about other people. If the test is not met, do not spread what you heard. If the test is met, do not gossip, but see what can be done to solve the problem.