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Monthly Archives: April 2014

Rope for climbing

Rope for climbing

Genesis 22:14 And Abraham called the name of the place, The-Lord-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of The Lord it shall be provided.”

Abraham had been obedient to the point we cannot imagine. Abraham had taken his only son on top of the mountain to offer him in an obedient act as a sacrifice to God. God had let him go all the way in His test of his heart and obedience; 10 And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. We know the story, the Lord provided the perfect sacrifice of the ram stuck in the bush in place of his son. At the last minute, possibly the last second, the Lord came through with what was needed in the Lord’s perfect timing of any and every situation. He will ask us and let us go much farther than we would ever choose, to test us also in matters of our hearts and obedience. Do we fail, or do we see and experience God at work in a mighty way? Do we only know the level that He provided for us? It is in these matters and tests of faith that we grow much more intimate with our Lord.

I am experiencing the loads of life, the stresses of life, on an elevated scale these days. I am no different from you; the pressures of the world get to me too. My air conditioning business is what puts bread on my table, and requires an incredible amount of hours in the summer season. With the duties of where God has me at Lakehaven church as pastor, my time management scales are weighing down on me greatly. This is likely to be the toughest summer I have ever experienced. I could go down so many roads in the details of this, but it is all part of God’s plan for my life, and I only see to draw closer to him, and to give him all the glory throughout all the highs and lows I experience through each day.

He has provided for me in this OneMinuteMinistry for the last 2.5yrs like you cannot imagine. He has provided for me through the last six months as “Preacher Mike” on a level that only He and I know. I know that throughout this day, each day, The-Lord-Will-Provide. We are told in the Bible in Matthew 6:34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Whatever mountain you find yourself climbing today, look to God in prayer and his Word for the strength to face just today. He will provide all you need to face any thing and every thing you need.

 
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Posted by on April 3, 2014 in Daily Devotions

 

Ain’t no joke

Ain’t no joke

John 6:63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. 64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him. 65 And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.”

It is April Fool’s Day; the day of you can tell any lie, or claim any thing as long as it is followed up with the disclaimer, “April Fools.” It is mostly all good harmless fun, and a break from the monotony and stress of life. All jokes aside, are you secure in your eternal destiny? Do you understand that religion will not get you there? We have been studying at church the book of Philippians, and part of my preparation led me to study religious growth recently. An alarming trend is that 1 in 5 claim “no religion,” but of that group, 68% claim to still believe in God. That statistic baffles me on many fronts. Claim Christianity, yet no proof of their faith evident in their lives? Claim faith in God, yet indecisive on what form of God, or what blend of religion? Do they just believe their religion will get them into heaven, or any form of paradise when they die?

Religion, and any form of it that places you in the center of it, will be the key to eternal punishment, and not paradise. If at your core you believe that by ANY work on your own, that you earn ANY merit with any form of any God, you WILL pay eternally for your mistake. They key to heaven is only through the understanding of Grace, and that is through the provision of God and his son, Jesus Christ. 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. If you think that your church attendance record gets you to heaven; if you think that being more of a “good” person than bad, or even just not as bad as the other guy, you are sadly wrong. Going through ritualistic acts that make you appear religious, only makes you appear religious to men; that is called religiosity and opens the doors to the pit below.

Once you realize that God pursued you, such as the passage in John above; you will be humbled to the point of living your life for the One who gave you life. Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. You didn’t find God, he found you, and wants you to live your short time here serving him, so that he can reward you eternally in heaven. It is liberating to understand Grace, to understand the trap found in religiosity, to see and feel what God gives you in a relationship with him. We all will kneel before him on judgement day; we will either kneel forgiven in our understanding of grace, or condemned by any other means. That ain’t no April Fool’s joke.

 
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Posted by on April 1, 2014 in Daily Devotions

 

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