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Monthly Archives: December 2013

Full of supplies

30 Dec

Full of supplies

Philippians 4:19 And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

I have been up since about 3am. I woke up with church on my mind; well, a lot on my mind about yesterday to be honest. I have spent time in the Word reading the book of Philippians this morning, for I am hoping to do a series on it soon. I have also been reading a book I cannot put down called Knowing God, by JI Packer. This morning I read a chapter on the Holy Spirit, and sadly how as Christians we seem to pass Him over. Of how we concentrate our ministries on Christ, but miss Who Christ gave us personally till He returns. “The Spirit testified to the apostles by revealing to them all truth and inspiring them to communicate it with all truthfulness. Hence the gospel, and hence the New Testament. But the world would have neither without the Holy Spirit. Nor is this all. In the second place, without the Holy Spirit there would be no faith and no new birth – in short no Christians.”

In the book of Philippians, Paul is thanking them for the gifts that they have sent him while he was imprisoned in Rome. They have supplied more than his need, and the commentaries state that they have given much more over and above what was needed; made themselves poor per say. Paul is encouraging them greatly, telling them they cannot out-give God; they have a credit on their account.17 Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account. They were giving from a cheerful heart, out of their love for God and Paul. Paul has expressed contentment where he finds himself now; he knows that even if he is in chains, the gospel is being spread. He sees the Holy Spirit working through him to even strengthen and encourage the faith of the Roman guards in his presence. He knows in all things in his life that God is at work.

I could not help but reflect on Phil. 4:19 in the context of the gift of the Holy Spirit this morning. “Supplying all our needs” as the great comforter, teacher, helper. John 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever– 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. My prayer is that this small ministry has and will encourage you to spend daily time with God; to get into God’s Word and prayer and see how your life is transformed. The Holy Spirit that dwells inside of you as a believer in Christ, is who opens the truths of God’s Word to you. John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. There is One who will supply all your spiritual needs if you will only seek Him every day.

 
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Posted by on December 30, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Sermon Link

29 Dec

Sermon Link

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ucr0bvmajchnawo/Christmas%20Week%202.docx

 

 

 
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Posted by on December 29, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

Hope over suffering

28 Dec

Hope over suffering

1Peter 1:3-9    Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, 8 whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, 9 receiving the end of your faith–the salvation of your souls.

I hope and pray that you see the Good News in this scripture. I pray that you know the faith that lies in the hope of this passage. If you are sitting under a solid teacher of God’s Word, you will understand it. If you are sitting under one that only teaches prosperity, it brings about a question. It should bring about a question if you do not understand it. Smiling preachers that preach only hope that pads their pocketbooks, will never teach about suffering as a Christian; it would hurt their bottom line. Will the same Gospel that is taught in the nation of excess, teach in the street of the slums of India?

Christ told us that as his followers the world will hate us. John 15:18 “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Christ was telling this to his disciples to encourage them. He knew they would face persecution in their ministries to come; He knew the deaths they would die for their faith. But all that we face today is temporary as Christians. If we all understand that we will stand before Christ on Judgment Day, we all must understand our lives will be on trial. Did you accept the work of Jesus Christ to Atone for your sins; or did you deny him and pursue all the pleasures this temporal time here can bring? Christ taught that if you do, you will receive your reward only for your short time here. What does your eternity hold?

Someone at the bottom of the pile in this life, can truly grasp the Hope that lies in the next. Someone who understands the Bible sees that their life in the afterlife will be glorious when they live this life for God as his disciple no matter what their situation. Matthew 19:30 But many who are first will be last, and the last first. This life is temporal, a chance to live your life for the One who give you the life eternal afterwards. When you truly grasp that, hope grows more each day, for you realize you are closer to Him in eternity each day. Titus 3:4 But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, 5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

 
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Posted by on December 28, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Complacency needs to stop

26 Dec

Complacency needs to stop

Zephaniah 1:12-13    “And it shall come to pass at that time That I will search Jerusalem with lamps, And punish the men Who are settled in complacency, Who say in their heart, ‘The Lord will not do good, Nor will He do evil.’ 13 Therefore their goods shall become booty, And their houses a desolation; They shall build houses, but not inhabit them; They shall plant vineyards, but not drink their wine.”

The prophet Zephaniah was warning those in Judah of the coming judgement of God for their sinful lifestyles. They had again fell into lives of great sins under the last two evil rulers, Manasseh and his son Amon. Now under a good ruler Josiah, it looked like Judah was possibly beginning to repent of her sin. Zephaniah and Jeremiah were both ministering in Jerusalem about the same time; both calling for repentance, turning from idols, and turning back to God. This prophecies tell of God’s coming judgement on all the world; God will seek out those who think he will do nothing. God is going to use another nation to punish Judah, and the picture is clear of how they will be sought out above. There is not any escaping the judgement day of the Lord, either in the past, or in the future; all will stand before Him that day.

It worries me that as a world we too have become complacent. We have religions teaching that God blesses those that have great faith; we have religions coming together, blending to the point of no absolute truth; we have lost our spine in Christianity for absolute truth. We are showing evidences of no reverent fear of God; we are watering down and weakening the truths of God to appeal to all, and not offend to any. Are we becoming like the church of Laodecia in the book of Revelation? Are we becoming neither cold or hot in Christianity? The strong words that Christ uses as warning for that church should put us in fear of the Lord. Revelation 3:15 I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. 16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. 17 Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’–and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. Would the term complacency not fit into the description of the Laodecian church also? Lukewarm is a term that indicates laziness, bending to conform as not to take action; conforming as not to offend; taking a stand for your faith would indicate your either hot or cold. Lukewarm would mean you don’t care enough to believe it matters, to you, or possibly even to God. That surely would mean that you don’t fear Him, or truly know him. Psalm 111:10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever.

 
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Posted by on December 26, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Early Gift

24 Dec

Early Gift

Proverbs 8:17 I love those who love me, And those who seek me diligently will find me.

What is the one things you are looking forward to over the next couple of days of vacation? OK, honestly, before the Christmas present you hope to be getting? Is it that the alarm clock will be turned off? That you won’t have to get up to go to work for the next couple of days? It does seem no matter what age we are, we come to have a tough relationship with that necessity. It does start really early in life in the form of likely our parents waking us up for school, then continues to the likelihood of first shift work at some point in our lives. Therefore those couple of days a week, and then those holidays throughout the year bring a simple joy of sleeping in. I can promise you there is a God-sized way to change your attitude about every morning: First thing every day spend time with Him in prayer and his Word. No longer will it be anything less than exciting and expectant to hear from your Creator each day. You will arise each day like it was Christmas morn.

Next to Salvation found through Jesus Christ alone, if there is one thing I can share with you, is to spend daily time with God in his Word. My testimony is one of the power of that. I still remember not so long ago starting that daily habit with like maybe five minutes; “Whew, got that tasks done. Now on to the rest of them.” You cannot spend daily time with God and remain the same person. True change begins with Christ, and life changes when spend each day with God. When Jesus was teaching us how to pray, he told us to seek from God what we need for each day. Matthew 6:11 Give us this day our daily bread. That daily bread is found through prayer and his Word. Everything you need is found in the daily time consecrated to God.

John 6:33 For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.” 35 And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. Christ had performed the miracle of feeding the 5000, and the followers were drawn to him by the miracles. They had followed him to the other side of the sea. Christ had claimed to be their Messiah, and yet they still wanted another sign. This bread of life, Jesus Christ, is revealed to the true heart that searches Him out; a true heart that seeks him every day will find him. Jeremiah 29:13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. Arise early during these holidays and spend quality time with God. It could be the be the best present you get this year.

 
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Posted by on December 24, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Sermon Link

22 Dec

The INCARNATION

https://www.dropbox.com/s/3s6s1fxetxn5l0l/Christmas.docx

 

 

 
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Posted by on December 22, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

Keep pursuing when it gets hard

21 Dec

Keep pursuing when it gets hard

2 Corinthians 4:1-6   Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. 2 But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. 3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. 4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.(ESV)

This has been a week that brought a new challenge; getting sick and trying to prepare a sermon when the pains in my head made it hard to think. I have truly had a rough time with it. I could go down a long road with what I am feeling, but this is not supposed to be about me. But these devo’s are supposed to show you that I am no different from you, struggle the same as you, and try to encourage in all of it to show Christ to you. Sermon’s are many times supposed to show these deep revelations of God, everyone wants the wow in the sermon; “What did God show the pastor in all his time studying this week?” Couldn’t the wow in the sermon be God showing you the same thing that He showed the pastor that week? Shouldn’t Sunday be a reflection of your time spent with Him? When you sit and hear that God laid the same thing on both your hearts, that will truly be an incredible Sunday morning with God you will never forget.

Paul was struggling in this message to Corinth. Paul goes on to list his persecutions in 2 Corinthians 11:23-33; read that list for a humble reality check any time you are feeling sorry for yourself. Paul suffered greatly for Christ, but he also kept his eyes on Christ. He knew he was only to preach the simplicity of the Gospel. He knew in all his education he could sway any crowd down any road, but he wanted no glory, nor any of his words to take away from the message of the Cross. 2 Corinthians 4:8 We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed– 10 always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. Spend time this week seeking God in his Word and prayer. Spend time this week leading up to Sunday and see what God shows both of you. If you have had a rough week, maybe the encouragement you need will be greater than you imagined when you have sought God through all of it.

 
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Posted by on December 21, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Land & Souls

18 Dec

Land & Souls

   2 Chronicles 7:14 if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

God went to Solomon
He had heard Solomon pray;
God had come to the temple
And there He planned to stay.

God warned Solomon to keep
Their hearts focused above;
To remember what God had done
For Israel out of love.

God knew their hearts
Of how soon they would forget;
Of the days of slavery
Now that all their needs were met.

When we turn against God
Take sin by the reigns and ride;
At some point we become convicted
And likely from God we hide.

Look at the promise
Look at the hope here found;
Humble repentant hearts
In grace they abound.

A glimpse of the Gospel
Prayerful humble pleas to above;
Praying for forgiveness
An outpouring of His love.

Prideful hearts will perish
They will ever be in pain;
Humble hearts that soften
With Him they will remain.

Turn from your sin to Him
Humble your heart & pray
Forgiven through Christ
More than land healed today.

 
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Posted by on December 18, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

Revelry

17 Dec

Revelry

Luke 12:29-31    And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. 30 For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. 31 But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.

The past couple of weeks the pressures of life have been getting to me. I am no different from you, and we all know the added stresses that come with this time of year. I have found the mental strains wearisome, and found myself sleeping in more. The excuses could be many, but this morning I just lay there thinking…….. and I realized the stresses had increased, because my time alone with God had decreased. I have spent much time in prayer and his Word during the day preparing for sermons each week, but my alone time with Him was lacking in these early morning hours. This is our special time of day; our appointed time where God began to change my life only a few years ago. Where He began to do a great work in me by opening my eyes and mind through my heart in the scriptures. He began to reveal himself to me, and tugged my heart to began sharing it with all of you. He placed Matthew 6:33 on my heart, which is parallel to Luke 12:31; (Seek Ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.)

There is nothing that I have that makes me anything special. All I seek to do is to point you to the One who will make you special. Outside of Salvation, nothing will change you in life like spending time every single day in God’s Word. You cannot open the truths of God and not be changed by them. You will begin to view life differently when you begin to filter it through the Bible. Luke is telling you not to have that anxious mind here; to know that God will supply all your needs, and the proofs of that are recorded throughout time in the Bible.

New Years resolutions are rolling around the corner. There is nothing that will change, whatever you are wanting to improve, like spending time in God’s Word. Any bad habit, will bring about a conviction of sin, and urge to change. Any desire to be a better person, will come as the outpouring of love you feel welling up inside of you. You cannot spend time with God every day and remain the same person; His Word is a living word and will change you like nothing, or even your own pride, can change you. Luke ends this portion of scripture with the proofs of where your heart lies; where you place your focus in life; where our focus should be. Luke 12:34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

 
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Posted by on December 17, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

The other 11 months

16 Dec

The other 11 months

Romans 13:10-14    Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. 11 And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. 12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. 13 Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.

We are steadily approaching Christmas week, the celebration of the birth of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. I have been thinking, praying, and studying on the message for this coming Sunday. This coming week there will be the message of Christ’s birth 2000 years ago, but there will also be the message of his return; Lord willing he doesn’t return before then. If we are truly a child of His, we should grasp the grace that God bestowed upon us that day in that barn. We should grasp that our eternal lives were secured by that incarnation of God himself; humbled beyond description, destined to die for our redemption. All to pay for our sins for which we could not ever pay on our own. He came and died to provide what we could not ever accomplish by any good deed, or work, or sacrifice in any way.

Paul writes in Romans of this coming day, the day that Christ returns. He speaks of how we are to live our lives as an expression of love; 1 John 4:8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. This time of year we many times find ourselves doing our good deeds, showing expressions of our love for our fellow man, or those that are seemingly less fortunate. It brings about a good feeling inside when we perform these tasks; it shows a warm heart and hopefully an example of Christ living inside of us. But what about the other 11 months out of the year? Do we return to our worldly ways on January 1st and live for ourselves and our worldly pursuits? Do we  reflect Christ for those other 11months?

Paul is truly pointing the finger at us, he is reminding us that every day brings us closer to Christ return. Matthew 24:36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. In these days of office parties and New Years celebrations, take time to remember the true meaning of the season and how you are reflecting it. When He returns, we shall stand before him and give an account of our lives. It will be much better to live all 12 months out of the year in with the evidence of love that He gives us.

 
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Posted by on December 16, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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