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Monthly Archives: January 2014

Frozen or overflowing?

31 Jan

Frozen or overflowing?

John 7:38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.

It was the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles. The celebration ended with a ceremony that commemorated when God provided water for the Israelites from the rock while they were in the desert for 40 years. It was the highlight of the show if you will allow me. Christ at that time stole the show when He spoke these words; 37 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” 39 But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. Jesus had left the crowd in awe; some saw him as a prophet, some as who he was, but they were all in awe of him. They truly knew that something was special about him. But, what did He speak about? He was proclaiming the gift of the Holy Spirit that would be given to them when He ascended back into heaven. This Gift would bless, comfort, teach, all that would receive Him. Not only that, but through the Holy Spirit many would be blessed through his outpouring in the believers life; rivers of living water to those that would receive him.

If you claim Christianity, is your river of living water overflowing into the lives of others, or is it frozen up? Is there evidence of your life as one that is full of the Holy Spirit, hopefully to the point He spills into the lives of others? Would they say, or do they feel His presence in you? If the only evidence of your Christianity is Sunday, your river is a small stream. The Holy Spirit may be alive in you, but your attention to all that is of the world is drying him up. Are you grieving him by your daily thoughts and actions that point to the hold the world has on you? Do you pain him how you deny those convictions of sins he points out to you? Ephesians 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Those painful pricks that He points out to you are the tugs on your heart to repent and draw near to God. Repent of your sins, and get back near God with daily time spent in his Word and prayer. That is how you nurture, or feed the Holy Spirit that is living inside of you. You feed him with a hearts desire for Him, and time spent with him in God’s Word. He in return, nurtures you by the wisdom he reveals to you in God’s Word. He opens up the truths of God to you, and that tugs your heart to yearn for more. This river of life begins to grow in you, and begins to spill it’s banks to those He puts around you.

 
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Posted by on January 31, 2014 in Daily Devotions

 

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Each Day

30 Jan

Each Day

Philippians 1:21 For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

What do you want to talk about
What do you want to do?
What does your life revolve around
Who really are you?

Does your work or hobby
Command your mind each day?
I have lived that life with both
Idolizing work and play.

What if that soul before you
Will not see another light of day
What if you were their last
Opportunity to learn of the Way.

Did they really want to hear
Your dreams or goals each day?
What if God was only giving them
One more single day.

If you truly know Christ
How can you not seek to be
A disciple of his each day
Pointing them to Thee!

Does anything else matter
This life is temporal you must know;
Only your eternal investments
Will you ever have to show.

Will you talk about deep things
Or do you run and flee?
Do you hide from deep things
Are you hiding from Thee?

How does your daily life
Reflect Who you claim to know?
Do those around you
Have any proof to show?

Nothing here really matters
If all fades away
If you go to heaven
You will reflect how you spent each day.

I don’t want to waste time
I want to live for Thee
I don’t want to ever forget
The price you paid for me.

 
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Posted by on January 30, 2014 in Daily Devotions

 

Looking Back

29 Jan

Looking Back

Philippians 1:20 according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death.

This scripture yesterday stopped me in my tracks. I knew I wanted to write about it, but yet I could not figure out what direction; I still this morning am moved by it’s content and context. Philippians is a book that Paul seemingly admits how bad he wants to depart and go to be with Jesus. He knows that all he is suffering for the advance of the Gospel, will be gone, and only paradise known at the feet of Christ. His desire is to be with Christ; surely if you are truly pursuing him yourself that desire is welling up inside of you also. How well do you know Him, if you do not desire to be with Him above anything and everything here?

There is also the side of Paul that much more deeply desires to serve Christ; in all he does to glorify Christ; in all of his life to spread the Good News of Christ. When we are called home, we will no longer perform any good work for him. Our life story is complete, and we must reflect on how we lived our lives for our short time here for eternity. Did we live as Paul, or did we live for the pursuits and pleasures of the world? Paul goes on in this passage to say; 27 Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel. Paul is pointing to how you live, in the light for those to see, and in the dark where nobody sees. Integrity is defined as doing the right thing when nobody is looking. Is Christ being glorified in you outside of Sunday?

I am feeling strong convictions in this study. I lived my life for all this world could give for so many years in prideful, sin-filled pursuits of pleasure. I hang my head in shame, much like Paul did. My hearts desire is to let God work out Sanctification in me, no matter the pain, and no matter how many times I still fail him daily. This work of God in me is constant and deep; he has out his hammer and chisel whittling me down to his liking; removing sin, pricking those that remain. Do you truly want to draw closer to Christ, and use your life to glorify him for your short time here? Does what you say or do reflect that heart’s desire outside of Sunday? Look at your focus in life, look at your posts on FB, look at your toys, listen to your conversations. Is your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ? If your hearts desire is to draw closer to God, for your life to draw glory to God, then pray to God to do a work in you that only he can. Be ready to accept what the Spirit points out, and be ready for your life to never be the same. Let today be the day you look back from eternity and see that humble heart was changed, and your life was spent doing something that mattered for eternity.

 
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Posted by on January 29, 2014 in Daily Devotions

 

One day at a time

27 Jan

One day at a time

2 Corinthians 12:9-10    And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

In prayer earlier this morning I was thanking God for this scripture. In some very personal ways, in some pastoral ways, and then in prayer for a friend who is battling that huge trial of life with cancer eating away at his wife. In all three I prayed for strength; I prayed for strength that only our God can provide. When we are at our weakest, Satan comes into our minds and torments us with doubt and fear. He can come in so many areas that convict, anger, disillusion, weaken; you could put so many negative thoughts and emotions into each of our personal list there. He is evil and only has one goal in mind; The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. (John 10:10a) He puts the thoughts of lashing out, falling into sin, failure in any area that will drag us deeper into a pit of despair.

But, what is the second portion of that passage in John 10:10? I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. I do not know how people do life without their faith in God. I do not know how without a bedrock of faith promised to a failing soul through Jesus’ sacrifice, they can face life, or the mirror. Is there not some point of sin, some point of pain, some point of pride that needs to be broken, for them to see the power of Jesus Christ? How is it possible to be so prideful to not ask for help in any, and all areas? Oh, I can recognize it, for I lived it for so much of my life; my testimony is one rooted in pride, and the power of God to rescue me from, and continue to sanctify me, a process that is many times painful.

When we get to that point that we recognize we are destined to fail on our own, their is a humbling release in that heart that surrenders to God’s Sovereignty, power, and guidance. We come to know we don’t understand His ways. We come to know His ways are greater than ours. We come to know that we need Him the most, when we are at our weakest. We begin to see at those seemingly pits in our lives that is where he is the greatest in our lives. Heartfelt pleas for him to guide us, for we know we can’t face the day on our own. Heartfelt pleas for him to help us, for we cannot accomplish it on our own. Humble heartfelt pleas for His power, and Will, to be accomplished, and for us to show his glory in our day.

 
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Posted by on January 27, 2014 in Daily Devotions

 

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Sermon Link

26 Jan

Sermon Link

Mission Accomplished

Philippians 1:12-18

https://www.dropbox.com/s/zbx16vaudff1mjb/Philippians%201-12-18.docx

 

 
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Posted by on January 26, 2014 in Daily Devotions

 

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Pray for, flee from, draw near

24 Jan

Pray for, flee from, draw near.

1 Peter 1:13-16    Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, 15 but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior ; 16 because it is written, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.”

What are you still hanging onto? What in your life is your vice? What do you still have that is your escape, your go-to, your idol that you place above your Lord Jesus Christ? These are battles that we surely face early in our new found life as a Christian. All these old habits that are still there, but now the convictions of these sins now are painfully evident. The Lord may have miraculously healed you from a demon of sin at your conversion, but there is also the process of Sanctification that is not so instantaneous. This is where God begins to prick on those things you hold dear, those things that you hold above him. This sanctification process will continue for your life as a Christian; the more your hearts desire to become a disciple, the more pricks God shows you. You will never attain perfection, but his goal with you is to conform you into the image of his Son.

Are those secret sins holding you back form drawing closer to your God? Surely they are! What does this passage above command? “Be Holy for I am holy!” God knows your heart. God knows what you are hiding, God even knows if you are truly trying. Set down that sin and pray for the strength only found in Him to never pick it up again; to never think those thoughts again; to never put it before him again as any crutch in your life. Colossians 3:23 And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men. You are not alone in this battle; Satan wants to convince you that you are. Do not let him deceive you.

I can promise you that when you begin to set down your crutches in life, your feel good sedatives, that you will draw closer to God. When you truly desire to flee any sin or idol that God has pointed out to you, he is showing you what it takes to draw closer to him. It is a divide that must be crossed to move forward in your relationship with your Savior. Romans 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Pray for, flee from, draw near.

 
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Posted by on January 24, 2014 in Daily Devotions

 

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Comfort only in Him

22 Jan

Comfort only in Him

2 Corinthians 1:3-8    Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 5 For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. 6 If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. 7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort. 8 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. (NIV)

Yesterday as I worked on my sermon for this week, I received a message from church about someone who was in the middle of an extremely painful situation. A hurt so deep that it affected anybody that came to know about it; it truly gripped me. In the selfishness side of my position, I am clueless of what to say, to search for words of comfort when there are seemingly none. I worried about me, yet then God opened my heart to her. There is no way I can comprehend, or even begin to understand the pain of a mother. So many questions I cannot answer; big questions that rest in our faith of our Sovereign God. Through all the pain, we must know that He is in control.

In times like this I tend to reflect on how little I am. I think back at the incredible life story of Job; the pawn in a spiritual warfare; the guy who God so loved he let Satan sift him; he rewarded Job greatly for his enduring faith. When Job questioned God, God replied “who are you to question me?” Job’s mind just like ours was limited; we are simple and God is beyond intricate to the highest degree. Isaiah 55:8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. We can never come to understand the plans He has laid out for us. We so many times question the painful trials He allows us to go through. We would never walk down these paths by our own choice, but we must know that He has walked this path ahead of us. When we are in the middle of these seemingly trying times, “draw near to Him, and He will draw near to you.”

 
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Posted by on January 22, 2014 in Daily Devotions

 

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Bottom of the pool

21 Jan

Bottom of the pool

Romans 6:3-4   Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Let me lay out a scenario for you if you will. A child raised in a Christian home with regular church attendance. Followed routine church practices and requirements including infant baptism (sprinkling); later in life, they truly come to know Jesus Christ as their Savior; do they need to be baptized again? There are much bigger questions that can lie here that are deep in the religiosity of the particular sects of religion they practice. Some believe that in an infant baptism that produces salvation; some believe that any baptism produces salvation; some believe all their religiosity wrapped up in together produces it; but does any of it? NO! Only through a humble repentant heart that desires to be forgiven through the sacrifice that Jesus Christ paid on the Cross will be saved. Only through the understanding that Grace is what saves you; no act or work or deed of your own merit will ever get you into heaven; none except you swallowing your pride and accepting that fact. John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

Let me probe a little deeper. That later in life is you that came to know Christ, but you don’t feel as though it is necessary to be baptized (submerged), for you were sprinkled as a child. Necessary is a difficult answer, but why would you not do it anyway as a public profession of your new life in Christ? Are you ashamed to publicly profess Christ? Luke 9:26 For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels. What reason other than embarrassment could there possibly be for not being water baptized? Do you think God is going to be mad at you for doing it twice? Would He not be glorified in it both times? What about the day that you stand before Him and he asks you why you did NOT follow that tug on your heart to be baptized? Is there truly any answer that will suffice?

Do you know what the word baptize means? I found this online; “It comes from a Greek word which means “to submerge in water.” Therefore, baptism by sprinkling or by pouring is an oxymoron, something that self-contradictory. So then a baptism by sprinkling would mean “submerging someone in water by sprinkling water on them.” Baptism, by its inherent definition, must be an act of immersion in water.” There is no point in your life, no age in your life, no reason in your life if you know Christ as your Savior to not be baptized by submersion. How glorious it will be to be at his feet and tell him you were proud to identify with his death, burial, and resurrection. You are leaving your old life on bottom of the pool, and arising to a new life in Him.

 
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Posted by on January 21, 2014 in Daily Devotions

 

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Just a spot in time

20 Jan

Just a spot in time

Philippians 1:12-14    But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, 13 so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ; 14 and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

Paul was in prison, for sharing his faith. Paul was in prison, sharing his faith. Paul was in prison, and the faith of others was growing, because Paul was in prison. Most people end up with prison with the understanding they got caught doing something they were not supposed to. Many times they will throw up a false front, and begin to plea innocence and falsely accused. They seek pity parties, and cry wolf with the “why me” coming into view. They all along are playing the system to try to get their convictions reduced, or a crafty lawyer to get them aquatinted completely, so they can likely return to their lifestyles before.

Paul knew that his preaching the Gospel could end him in prison, just as the criminal should. Paul knew that he answered to only God’s call on his life, the criminal avoid God. Paul knew that the highest calling he had in his life was to spread the news of Jesus Christ that had came to rescue all mankind from sin. Christ came to provide eternal life, and prison was just as temporary as life itself. Paul summarizes his life’s focus in one short sentence in this chapter; 1:21 For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Paul did not care where his feet took him for each day, each day’s journey was designed by God for a place to spread that hope that lied within Paul. Paul did not care where the Holy Spirit led him, he knew he only had to follow God’s call on his life to spread the Good News until the day he was called home.

I have a friend who’s wife is battling cancer. Many of you personally know this battle and all the struggles of life and death realities that come with it. They both are battling these realities in the strength of their relationship with the Lord. They are scared, but they are secure. They know they cannot understand God’s plans for their lives, but they know that God has a plan for their lives, and this is part of it. They are a testimony to so many that God has put in their circle of influence; just as Paul’s circle in prison to the guards, and to those in the faith that saw him endure. The closer you come to God, the clearer your understanding of life; the life that he has designed and provided you that is truly temporal, but as his child, truly eternal paradise with him awaits…..

 
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Posted by on January 20, 2014 in Daily Devotions

 

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Sermon Link: Thinking of You

19 Jan

Sermon Link: Thinking of You

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/gaid7ky1j6a8fw3/Philippians%201-1-11.docx

 

 

 
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Posted by on January 19, 2014 in Daily Devotions

 

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