Good morning everyone,
Have you ever wondered why you were created? Have you ever wondered why your were special enough to actually be one that survived all the possibilities of not being here? Think a minute brothers and sisters! This life is all due to the fact that God thought you were important enough to spend a little time of eternity on this planet earth. In other words, He thinks that you are important enough to be placed here in this temporary home as you pass through to something much greater! Think of this period of time as your elementary stage in preparation for what is in store. 1 Corinthians 2:9 says, 'But as it is written, eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.' Something so big that we would not fully understand even if we knew exactly what He has prepared. Hopefully you are tracking with me. It is kind of mind boggling to think that each of us have an opportunity to take advantage of what God will reveal to us when the time is right. Christmas time is coming boys and girls and the present that you are going to open is Jesus Christ himself. This is just a temporary stop on the way to where we are going! 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 says, 'For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.' All your troubles, all your burdens, all your heartaches, all are temporary because the Present that you are going to inherit is going to take them all away. In the mean time think of those things that are unseen and dwell on them! May God richly Bless you as you seek His face and let Him be the Craftsman in developing you like He wants! Enjoy Carrie Underwoods video about this being our temporary home!
Your brother in Christ,
p
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
What do you have to offer Him? Hebrews 13:15-16
Good morning everyone,
Lord, You have given us so much! Why am I willing to give so little? Lord use me up and help me to give all I have so that I can be a reflection of who You are! Help me to seek Your face so that Your instructions flow easily to me and not on deaf ears. When You reach out to me, help me to know You so well that I carry out Your plans. What I have to offer will never be enough, but what I have to offer is all You ask! Hebrews 13:15-16 sums it up so well. 'Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise-the fruit of lips that openly profess His name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.' God created you so that you would always praise His name. Luke 9:26 reminds us to not be ashamed of our Lord and Savior. 'Whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when He comes in His glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.' God did not make it complicated to worship Him and in fact, He made it very simple. The simple minded are instructed to worship the same God that the wealthy and famous are to worship. The problem that the wealthy face is the number of distractions they have in their way while serving Him! If you happen to fall into that category of wealthy, I pray that you put it in prospective and give the Father the credit because He is the One that allowed you to have it! If you fall into the category of not being wealthy, praise Him because you have less distractions. Whether or not you are wealthy, pray to the Father that you are rich in Spirit! By you giving your all, you give Him the things that makes Him smile! Go out and have a Blessed day in Jesus name!
Your brother in Christ,
p
Lord, You have given us so much! Why am I willing to give so little? Lord use me up and help me to give all I have so that I can be a reflection of who You are! Help me to seek Your face so that Your instructions flow easily to me and not on deaf ears. When You reach out to me, help me to know You so well that I carry out Your plans. What I have to offer will never be enough, but what I have to offer is all You ask! Hebrews 13:15-16 sums it up so well. 'Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise-the fruit of lips that openly profess His name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.' God created you so that you would always praise His name. Luke 9:26 reminds us to not be ashamed of our Lord and Savior. 'Whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when He comes in His glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.' God did not make it complicated to worship Him and in fact, He made it very simple. The simple minded are instructed to worship the same God that the wealthy and famous are to worship. The problem that the wealthy face is the number of distractions they have in their way while serving Him! If you happen to fall into that category of wealthy, I pray that you put it in prospective and give the Father the credit because He is the One that allowed you to have it! If you fall into the category of not being wealthy, praise Him because you have less distractions. Whether or not you are wealthy, pray to the Father that you are rich in Spirit! By you giving your all, you give Him the things that makes Him smile! Go out and have a Blessed day in Jesus name!
Your brother in Christ,
p
Friday, September 16, 2011
Betrayal at the very heart of the matter! John 18:1-18
Good morning everyone,
Most all of us know the story of the betrayal of Jesus by Judas Iscariot! It is something that goes against everything that we hold as sacred. It is unimaginable to think that someone so close to the Savior could be a 'turn coat!' Jesus dined and reclined with the 12 disciples regularly and shared His most private thoughts! To think that someone would sacrifice their entire being for 30 pieces of silver is mind boggling! Or is it? While this was happening, Peter, one of the 12 closest to Him, would deny knowing Him on 3 different occasions. In Luke 9:23, Jesus said to them all, 'Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Me.' It is all very easy for us to say, 'If I was in the same situation, I would follow Jesus without having to question the matter.' Would you now? Following Jesus is a minute by minute commitment that we take much lighter than we should. In order that we don't fall into the same trap that His most trusted fell into, we need to be brutally honest with Him. The foot of the cross is where we need to lay down our non commitments and where we need to pick up our Sword and Shield! Denying self is the biggest issue we will face because we are continually bombarded by the things of this world that are distractions from serving our risen Savior! Jesus is in the business to forgive us when we fall short and is ready to restore us to continue to serve Him. I say that because if He could forgive Peter for denying Him (one of His closest), why shouldn't we forgive those that are closest to us when they disappoint us? To show you how close He was to Peter, in Matthew 18:20-22, He reminds Peter that there really is no limit to forgiveness! We can only get that type of mind set from the One who gives you life and breath! Connecting and staying connected with the Father is the answer and it is my prayer for each of you!
Your brother in Christ,
p
Most all of us know the story of the betrayal of Jesus by Judas Iscariot! It is something that goes against everything that we hold as sacred. It is unimaginable to think that someone so close to the Savior could be a 'turn coat!' Jesus dined and reclined with the 12 disciples regularly and shared His most private thoughts! To think that someone would sacrifice their entire being for 30 pieces of silver is mind boggling! Or is it? While this was happening, Peter, one of the 12 closest to Him, would deny knowing Him on 3 different occasions. In Luke 9:23, Jesus said to them all, 'Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Me.' It is all very easy for us to say, 'If I was in the same situation, I would follow Jesus without having to question the matter.' Would you now? Following Jesus is a minute by minute commitment that we take much lighter than we should. In order that we don't fall into the same trap that His most trusted fell into, we need to be brutally honest with Him. The foot of the cross is where we need to lay down our non commitments and where we need to pick up our Sword and Shield! Denying self is the biggest issue we will face because we are continually bombarded by the things of this world that are distractions from serving our risen Savior! Jesus is in the business to forgive us when we fall short and is ready to restore us to continue to serve Him. I say that because if He could forgive Peter for denying Him (one of His closest), why shouldn't we forgive those that are closest to us when they disappoint us? To show you how close He was to Peter, in Matthew 18:20-22, He reminds Peter that there really is no limit to forgiveness! We can only get that type of mind set from the One who gives you life and breath! Connecting and staying connected with the Father is the answer and it is my prayer for each of you!
Your brother in Christ,
p
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Spread the Gospel wherever you can and if you have to, use words! Act 1:8
Good morning everyone,
Much of the time when you think of witnessing, you might think that you have to say something profound! You might think that you have to say a lot in order to get the job done. Pastor Bro. said at the 911 anniversary event that we are instructed to spread the Gospel whenever and wherever we can and if we have to, use words! I feel as though that is so true! If you really think about it, much of who we are is lived out in our actions, not in the words we say. In Acts 1:8, Jesus says, 'But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.' If we are really honest, most of us freak out at the thought of witnessing. Yet this verse is so comforting when we think about where we get our 'power!' It is not something you can do on your own. It is the enveloping of the Holy Spirit! Once the Holy Spirit has a hold of you, nothing can stop that power and we should be confident in how we trust our Savior! He doesn't give you timidity with half knowing what to do when He fills you up. He gives you what you need and so much more! He wants us to spread compassion more than anything else that He has given you the ability to do. Compassion is not difficult to live out if we truly believe Philippians 4:12-13. First of all the apostle Paul suffered greatly. At times he had much; at times he had very little. Through it all he said, 'I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.' Remember that you can witness greatly by showing compassion to your brother and sister and you really never have to say a word!
Your brother in Christ,
p
Much of the time when you think of witnessing, you might think that you have to say something profound! You might think that you have to say a lot in order to get the job done. Pastor Bro. said at the 911 anniversary event that we are instructed to spread the Gospel whenever and wherever we can and if we have to, use words! I feel as though that is so true! If you really think about it, much of who we are is lived out in our actions, not in the words we say. In Acts 1:8, Jesus says, 'But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.' If we are really honest, most of us freak out at the thought of witnessing. Yet this verse is so comforting when we think about where we get our 'power!' It is not something you can do on your own. It is the enveloping of the Holy Spirit! Once the Holy Spirit has a hold of you, nothing can stop that power and we should be confident in how we trust our Savior! He doesn't give you timidity with half knowing what to do when He fills you up. He gives you what you need and so much more! He wants us to spread compassion more than anything else that He has given you the ability to do. Compassion is not difficult to live out if we truly believe Philippians 4:12-13. First of all the apostle Paul suffered greatly. At times he had much; at times he had very little. Through it all he said, 'I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.' Remember that you can witness greatly by showing compassion to your brother and sister and you really never have to say a word!
Your brother in Christ,
p
Monday, September 12, 2011
When life throws you a curve, will you be ready to make the adjustments? Philippians 3:13
Good afternoon everyone,
When you run into a wall, you probably are going to fall down! Will you stay down? What reason do you have to get back up? Have you felt as though you need a masters degree to do something that is elementary? All these questions seem to be bombarding me as I face a lot of unknowns in my life right now. The blessing is Jesus is Lord of my life and for that I am very grateful! I work in sales and our business is very slow right now and when I generally have too much time on my hands, I start thinking more than I should. If during that thinking period, I've forgotten to include my Lord and Savior, He has allowed road blocks that have caught me completely off guard. Anytime you try to reason out your problems without including Him, most of those times, He will let you flounder until you bring Him back into the picture! Philippians 3:13 also tells us not to flounder in our current situation, but that we should forget what is behind us and strain forward to what is ahead! Ladies and gentlemen, you are not always going to have fast balls thrown your way! You are going to have curve balls sent your way too! The question is, will you be prepared to make the adjustments? The fact of the matter is that you have very little control on what choices others make. You have complete control on what choices you make! If you include the Lord in those choices, you will hit a home run every time.
Your brother in Christ,
p
When you run into a wall, you probably are going to fall down! Will you stay down? What reason do you have to get back up? Have you felt as though you need a masters degree to do something that is elementary? All these questions seem to be bombarding me as I face a lot of unknowns in my life right now. The blessing is Jesus is Lord of my life and for that I am very grateful! I work in sales and our business is very slow right now and when I generally have too much time on my hands, I start thinking more than I should. If during that thinking period, I've forgotten to include my Lord and Savior, He has allowed road blocks that have caught me completely off guard. Anytime you try to reason out your problems without including Him, most of those times, He will let you flounder until you bring Him back into the picture! Philippians 3:13 also tells us not to flounder in our current situation, but that we should forget what is behind us and strain forward to what is ahead! Ladies and gentlemen, you are not always going to have fast balls thrown your way! You are going to have curve balls sent your way too! The question is, will you be prepared to make the adjustments? The fact of the matter is that you have very little control on what choices others make. You have complete control on what choices you make! If you include the Lord in those choices, you will hit a home run every time.
Your brother in Christ,
p
Monday, September 5, 2011
Praising Him Who gives you life! Luke, Acts, 1 Corinthians
Good morning everyone,
If you just look up the words 'Praising God' on the Bible Gateway website, you will find example after example of people being healed and in return, they leave their affliction and go about praising Him who gave them life! Many times we forget to praise the Father for all the things that He does in and through us. Instead we focus on the trials and tribulations that we are faced with and we get side tracked so we can't see through the forest for all the trees! I want you to do me a favor and take your eyes off of your own problems for a moment and look at someone else that is facing something much tougher than what you are battling! You say you can't think of anyone! What? All you have to do is turn on the news or open up the daily paper! Once you find an individual that meets that criteria, pray for that person. When we take our eyes off of our problems and we pray for others, our problems become less and less of an issue. Before you know it, you will see God working in and through your issues for His Glory to shine! You see, we live a very uncomplicated life when we trust the Man that walked before us! Jesus has heard it all, seen it all, and been through it all! There is nothing that you will face that He hasn't already faced! If you have a 'thorn' in your side like the Apostle Paul had, praise Him and watch it turn into something beautiful. Acts 3:8 says that he jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. He didn't just go about his daily grind of being afflicted. Once the chains were gone, he had been set free and he began to show and tell everyone Who deserved the credit! Go out and praise Him today and see what happens.
Your brother in Christ,
p
If you just look up the words 'Praising God' on the Bible Gateway website, you will find example after example of people being healed and in return, they leave their affliction and go about praising Him who gave them life! Many times we forget to praise the Father for all the things that He does in and through us. Instead we focus on the trials and tribulations that we are faced with and we get side tracked so we can't see through the forest for all the trees! I want you to do me a favor and take your eyes off of your own problems for a moment and look at someone else that is facing something much tougher than what you are battling! You say you can't think of anyone! What? All you have to do is turn on the news or open up the daily paper! Once you find an individual that meets that criteria, pray for that person. When we take our eyes off of our problems and we pray for others, our problems become less and less of an issue. Before you know it, you will see God working in and through your issues for His Glory to shine! You see, we live a very uncomplicated life when we trust the Man that walked before us! Jesus has heard it all, seen it all, and been through it all! There is nothing that you will face that He hasn't already faced! If you have a 'thorn' in your side like the Apostle Paul had, praise Him and watch it turn into something beautiful. Acts 3:8 says that he jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. He didn't just go about his daily grind of being afflicted. Once the chains were gone, he had been set free and he began to show and tell everyone Who deserved the credit! Go out and praise Him today and see what happens.
Your brother in Christ,
p
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