Mike Wilkins Ministries

PHILIPPIANS 2:4 NLT
4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an
interest in others, too.

It’s not unusual for someone to feel like life is not worth
living. Many, if not most, feel this way some time.

My recommendation for those who feel this way is to begin
focusing on helping others. Lift the burdens of others and make
their life better. That will produce a life with meaning and
joy.

Only those who live to help others will ever find true
satisfaction in life.

It may seem like other plans people use to make themselves
happy are working in the short term, but in the long run they
always fail to bring lasting joy, fulfillment, and
satisfaction.

If you desire to be like God — who is happy and joyful — then
be a helper.

God helps everyone. He produces and gives an abundance of good
things for everyone. Air, water, food — the list is endless.

At the end of your life here on earth, only what you have done
to help others will be valuable to you. All that you did for
only selfish reasons will be a disappointment.

The best tonic for depression is to get involved in helping
others.

When you begin to help others, it is amazing how your own
problems seem to shrink.

Do you want your life to be better? Then focus on what you can
do to make life better for others.

God not only approved of everything Jesus did — He was very
pleased with everything Jesus did.

JOHN 8:29 NKJ
29 “And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me
alone, for I always do those things that please Him.”

Why is it important for us to look at this?

Many people are unclear what God’s will is in many areas. There
is much confusion over what many call “acts of God” which bring
destruction. But if we understand that Jesus always did God’s
will perfectly, and that God was thrilled with everything Jesus
did, then we can examine what Jesus did and see what God’s will
is.

Did Jesus ever make anyone sick — even to teach them
something? Did Jesus ever tell anyone it was not the will of
God for them to be healed? Did Jesus ever tell anyone that God
would not love them and help them? Did Jesus ever destroy
anyone’s property or steal it from them? Did Jesus ever kill
anyone’s family member?

No. Never. Jesus did what was pleasing to God. Those things are
still not pleasing to God, and He should not be blamed for
them.

Is God pleased when people are helped? Is God pleased when
people are healed and delivered from bondage? Is God pleased
when people’s needs are met? Is God pleased when people have
their sins forgiven? Is God pleased when people know that God
loves them?

Yes. Those are the things Jesus did, and He perfectly pleased
God.

If you want to know what the unseen Almighty God is like —
look at Jesus Christ in the pages of the New Testament.

Everything Jesus said and everything Jesus did was the exact
will of God — and perfectly revealed God to us.

JOHN 1:18 TEV
18 No one has ever seen God. The only Son, who is the same as
God and is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

COLOSSIANS 2:9 PHILLIPS
9 Yet it is in him that God gives a full and complete
expression of himself in bodily form.

Don’t be satisfied listening to what someone else believes God
is like — read the New Testament and see for yourself. Watch
Jesus of Nazareth in action and know that everything He did
perfectly pleased the Father God and perfectly revealed the
Father God.

JOHN 14:7-9,11 NKJ
7 “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also;
and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.”
8 Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is
sufficient for us.”
9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you
have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the
Father; so how can you say, `Show us the Father’?
11 “Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or
else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.

JOHN 12:44-45 NKJ
44 . . .Jesus. . .said, “He who believes in Me, believes not in
Me but in Him who sent Me.
45 “And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me.

ACTS 2:36 NIV
36 “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made
this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”

“Boss” is a modern meaning of the word “Lord.”

Somebody has to be the boss. Somebody has to make the final
decisions.

It’s not a hard thing to let Jesus be your boss — it’s a
wonderful privilege.

Jesus knows more than you do. And Jesus loves you more than you
love yourself. So He desires the very best for you and knows
how to make it happen. Therefore letting Jesus call the shots
in your life is the smartest thing you could do.

Of course, if you choose, you can go your own way and do your
own thing. You can try to do the best you can on your own —
and see how it works out.

If you owned a large important company, who would you rather
run the company for you, a brilliant executive with a perfect
track record of running many other companies successfully, or
someone who has never run a company before?

You have control over something much more important than a
company — your life. Who do you want to run it for you? Jesus,
with a perfect track record. Jesus, who knows more about the
future than you know about the past. Or, yourself?

Without the wise, loving, experienced, guidance of Jesus, you
will almost certainly crash in life.

Sure, you may get along fine for awhile. But, eventually, it
will all crash around you. Trust in yourself, and you will be
disappointed. Trust in God and obey Him, and you will not
regret it.

PHILIPPIANS 3:20 NRSV
20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that
we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

As a believer in Jesus Christ, you have a new citizenship. Your
name is written in Heaven. Heaven is your homeland.

Because you are its citizen, Heaven is responsible for you. If
necessary, Heaven will send its soldiers (angels) to assist
you, and when necessary, to evacuate you.

Although we live on earth, we operate under the laws of our
homeland, Heaven, as well as the laws of earth.

As a citizen you have certain rights and obligations. To
understand them you need to read the Bible with the help of
illumination by the Holy Spirit. You need to ask the Lord to
teach you and give you understanding of these things.

COLOSSIANS 1:13 NRSV
13 He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred
us into the kingdom of his beloved Son,

As believers, we are no longer under the authority or control
of the devil. We have been transferred into a new kingdom.

One of our rights as citizens of Heaven is to resist the devil
and all his works. Anything that is of the devil, we do not
have to submit to.

2 CORINTHIANS 13:14 LB
14 May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. May
God’s love and the Holy Spirit’s friendship be yours. Paul

God has feelings, emotions, and desires.

God does not enjoy being neglected any more than you do.

God has none of the weaknesses we associate with people, but
nevertheless, God is a person.

God knows, thinks, and communicates.

God is not just a force. God has personality. We are made in
His image. We are like God, even though the image has been
marred by sin.

God is a Father. His intention is no less than a close,
personal relationship with you.

1 CORINTHIANS 1:9 ICB
9 God is faithful. He is the One who has called you to share
life with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

God desires a relationship with you. But a good relationship
cannot be one-sided.

Love, respect, and communication are essential in any healthy
relationship.

When we ignore God and go about our lives like He doesn’t even
exist, we can’t expect our relationship to flourish.

And if the only time we talk to Him about anything is when we
run into a problem we can’t handle, what kind of relationship
is that?

Fortunately for us, God is not touchy and doesn’t treat us the
way we treat Him. But for us to continue treating God in such a
way is wrong.

It’s time for us to grow up, quit acting like self-centered
babies, and treat God as He deserves.

MARK 6:31 KJV
31 And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a
desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and
going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.

One preacher paraphrased this verse by saying “come apart
before you come apart.”

God is our Source, so resting should be a turning to God, not a
turning away from Him. It would be unwise to take a “vacation”
and ignore God.

Our bodies need rest, but our minds also need rest from the
constant barrage of bad news and entertainment the media tries
to sell us.

Many fill their days with noise. The news or some other
broadcast plays constantly in their background. But we need
times of quietness. We need time when we allow God to guide our
thinking, instead of the media.

We need to make room for the thoughts God desires to share with
us. We need times when we shut out all the other voices trying
to speak to us and focus on God.

Everyone wants your attention. Advertisers want to convince you
to buy their product. Broadcasters want your attention so they
can attract advertisers.

But God also wants your attention, not to get something from
you, but to provide you with His wisdom and guidance.

God wants to communicate with you. But when you surround
yourself constantly with other voices, you will miss some of
what God wants to say to you.

Prayer is a way for us to rest. It is a time when we can cast
our load on the Lord, refocus on Him, and quit carrying all the
responsibilities ourselves.

ISAIAH 40:31 NKJ
31 But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and
not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.

The Bible also cautions against laziness, so resting should not
be our primary focus in life. But with today’s hectic pace of
life, many are neglecting this part of God’s instruction given
for our benefit.

Remember, God commanded the children of Israel to rest for one
day each week. Their Sabbath was not a day full of religious
activity either, but a true day of rest.

While we are not under Law requiring us to keep the Sabbath in
order to be right with God, it is still a principle we need to
practice. To be our best, humans need to rest!

Rest should be a time when you do something different than your
normal daily activity.

We cannot ignore God’s instruction without it costing us. Many
today are broken in body and burned out needlessly. We must
learn to rest properly, so God can refresh us and strengthen us
in order to finish our course.

DEUTERONOMY 31:8 NASB
8 “And the LORD is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be
with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear, or
be dismayed.”

Here is my favorite translation of Hebrews 13:5, done by a
professor of Greek, who indicated that to understand what the
verse says in the Greek, it would have to be translated like
this:

HEBREWS 13:5 WUEST
5 Let your manner of life be without love of money, being
satisfied with your present circumstances. For He himself has
said, and the statement is on record, I will not, I will not
cease to sustain and uphold you. I will not, I will not, I will
not let you down.

God’s promise is He will never leave us or forsake us. Yet we
may sometimes feel hopeless and helpless — like we are facing
life all alone. What is the truth?

Regardless of the circumstances, or how you feel, remember that
God cannot lie. He is there to help you — and He always will
be.

Feelings are fickle. Just because you feel a certain way does
not make it the truth. Yet we are all tempted at times to put
our feelings above what God has said.

Of course the devil will tell you that God has forgotten you,
or that you have committed the unpardonable sin, or anything to
get you to doubt the Word of God, and give up on your faith.
The devil is a liar and deceiver, but God is true to His Word
and will never fail you.

You just need to cooperate with God so He can help you and
bless you as fully as He desires. The key to this is learning
the Word of God, so you will know how to cooperate and receive
from God.

God’s track record is perfect. He has never failed anyone. And
He will never fail you.

JOB 40:8 LB
8 Are you going to discredit my justice and condemn me so that
you can say you are right?

Many are quick to blame God for all the bad things in their
life and in the world. “After all, God is ultimately
responsible, isn’t He?”

Is a parent responsible for the choices their grown children
make? Certainly, they had influence in raising their children.
But ultimately, each human makes their own choices and we are
each responsible for our own actions. We cannot blame our
parents — our spouse — or anyone else. If we choose to do
wrong, it is our choice.

People are guilty. The devil is guilty. Not God.

“But what about storms, earthquakes, and such?”

Jesus rebuked the storm in Luke 8:24. Are we to believe that
Jesus was rebuking something that God was responsible for?

Although it is not clear now to most people, one day it will be
clear to all: God is not guilty of anything. The devil and
people shoulder the blame for all the heartache, misery, and
pain on earth.

JEREMIAH 9:24 NIV
24 but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands
and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness,
justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,”
declares the LORD.

1 THESSALONIANS 5:11,14 ESV
11 Therefore encourage one another and build one another up,
just as you are doing.
14 And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the
fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.

People accomplish more if someone believes in them and
encourages them.

All of us can grow fainthearted without encouragement.

HEBREWS 3:13 NIV
13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called
Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s
deceitfulness.

HEBREWS 10:24-25 NLT
24 Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love
and good works.
25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people
do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of
his return is drawing near.

PROVERBS 12:25 NLT
25 Worry weighs a person down; an encouraging word cheers a
person up.

Just one encouraging word can make a big difference in
someone’s life.

So encourage someone today!

PROVERBS 21:19 NLT
19 It is better to live alone in the desert than with a crabby,
complaining wife.

Whether you are a husband, a wife, or a child, no one enjoys
being with a crabby, complaining person. But everyone loves to
be around someone who encourages them.