Thoughts of This Week Full of Death

(by Bible Lover Bill, September 2, 2005)

Two terrible tragedies, one in the USA that was either Satan caused or God caused and one
that was caused by individuals in Iraq. Thousands were killed. Anger and hatred greatly
increased. Much blame against various individuals, most wrongly said. There were warnings of
both way before they happened. The original architect of New Orleans was warned even before
anything was built. A book had been written about a possible tragedy happening there. But both
tragedies happened and it doesn’t seem that either is being dealt with properly. There are many
Christians still waiting to come help in the USA situation, but are not being allowed to because of
safety issues. I have been doing a lot of praying for them. I have grieved as I have seen the video
clips of the refugees, even though refugees in Nigeria, Ghana, and other African countries
probably are worse off. I have grieved that all I can do now is intercessory prayer. But I am
especially grieved by all of the anger and hatred I have witnessed via the three news stations I
view. I know that there are so many heroes and heroines in this situation.
And during most of the rest of the time this week, I have been mostly doing e-mail ministry
and nothing else. I still have a very soft “heart” and so the two tragedies have affected me a lot
and so I have had more “dead time” and spent more than normal time looking at sports news. But
I also have been asking God what should I be doing next in my ministries after I rate all of the
articles 1-5. The Holy Spirit mentioned the word “priorities” last night just before I went to bed. I
told Him that I already done an inventory of my abilities. He said that wasn’t the need for me and
for some of those on e-mail list. He suggested doing a self-inventory in relation to the following
list “The Commandments of Jesus” (compiler unknown). I was surprised because I thought I
would do something more related to the Great Commission. (I was recently rebuked for
emphasizing the just mentioned in my website. The man claimed that Jesus Christ never gave the
Great Commission.) First I suggest that you put the following in an Excel Spreadsheet or make a
table in MS Word. Switch the order of the groups for this project: in order of Christian life. Use a
1-5 or 1-10 system with the higher number meaning either already done or all of the time. Decide
what are your needs for improvement and what should be your spiritual priorities and daily life
priorities. I will try to do such this weekend. I had a hard time getting to sleep Thursday night
because this excited me. I know that the results will help me. Below is my first phase before
reading the Scriptures.

Commandments of Jesus
Topic Area
1 Searching the Scriptures
2 Faith
3 Believe (Trust for Your Life)
4 The New Birth ("Born Again
From Above")
5 Receiving the Holy Spirit
6 Repentance (Change)
1-10 Scripture
Matthew 7:15-17 & 16:6-12; Mark 4:24; Luke
8:18 & 9:44; John 5:39 & 15:20
Matthew 6:25-34 & 14:27; Mark 5:36 & 11:22;
Luke 12:4-7 & 29; John 14:1-27 & 20:27
Mark 1:5 & 11:24; John 6:28-29, 10:37-38,
12:36, 14:1 & 11
Matthew 12:33 & 23:26; Mark 9:50; Luke 10:20;
John 3:7, 6:27, & 15:4
Mark 7:27; Luke 11:5-13 & 24:49; John 7:37-38,
14:15-17, 15:26, 16:24, & 20:22
Matthew 4:17 (Revelation 2:5), 6:33, 7:7, 11:25
& 28, & 16:24; Luke 13:24
7 Following Jesus Matthew 3:13-15, 7:24, 11:29, & 28:19; Luke
9:23 & 22:17-19; John 12:26, 13:14-15, 14:23, &
15:9
8 Supreme Love to God Matthew 4:7 & 10, & 23:9; Mark 12:30; Luke
12:5, John 4:23-24 & 5:22-23
9 Prayer Matthew 6:6-8 & 9-13; Luke 6:28, 10:2, 21:36,
22:40-46; John 16:24-26
10 Unselfish Love from God the Matthew 5:39-41, 44, & 48, 19:21, 26:52; Luke
Father 6:27-28 35, 12:33, 21:19
11 Meekness (Humbleness) Matthew 11:29, 20:25, 23:8; Mark 10:43-44;
Luke 10:20, 14:8-11, & 17:10
12 Against Covetousness Matthew 5:42, 6:19-20, & 23:23; Luke 11:41,
12:15 & 14:12-13
13 Against Hypocrisy Matthew 6:1-6, & 16-18, 23:2-3; Luke 12:1,
20:46-47; John 2:16
14 Wisdom Matthew 7:6, 10:11 & 16-17, 15:12-14; Luke 9:5,
10:10-11, 22:35-36
15 Letting Your "Light" Shine Matthew 5:16; Mark 5:19; Luke 6:36 & 11:35;
John 4:35, 12:35, 15:8 & 16
16 Our Duty to God and Others Matthew 5:25 & 34-37, 19:5-6 & 17; Mark 4:22,
9:38-40, 12:17; Luke 10:8; John 6:12
17 Our Love for Other Christians Matthew 5:24, 7:1-5, 18:10-15; Mark 9:50; Luke
6:37 & 17:3-4; John 7:24 & 15:12
18 Our Duty to Our "Neighbor" Matthew 19:17-19; Luke 6:31
19 Preaching the Gospel Matthew 10:7-8 & 27, 28:19-20; Mark 4:22 &
16:15; Luke 24:46-47; John 21:15-17
20 Preparing to be Faithful Unto Matthew 10:19 & 23; Luke 6:23 & 21:28; John
Death 6:41; Revelation 2:10 & 3:11
21 Ready for the Second Coming of Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 12:35-36, & 40, 17:31-32
Christ & 21:8 & 34; Mark 13:5-6 & 34-37; Revelation
2:25 & 3:2-3

“In conclusion, my priorities from today on should be”:

1.)
2.)
3.)
4.)
5.)
6.)
7.)
8.)
9.)