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Monthly Archives: February 2015

Hole in the Bucket

26 Feb

Hole in the Bucket
Mark​ ​5:​8-20

And when He got into the boat, he who had been demon- possessed begged Him that he might be with Him. However, Jesus did not permit him, but said to him, “Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you.” And he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him; and all marveled.

There is a small group of my friends that God uses to constantly encourage me with living out their faith; true disciples of Christ battling the world just like all of us, but living with an eternal view. We talk about all the same worldly things in our lives, but at some point in our conversations it always turns to our faith and what God has been showing us since our last talk. That is our true desire, to share what God has been showing us in his Word, through experiences with day to day encounters, through what we see of Him in our day to day lives. There is honestly nothing else I would rather discuss that what you have been experiencing in Him; my attention span and boredom kick in without a measure of faith mixed in our discussion.

My struggles with memory comes from a mix of extended drug abuse, genetics, and stress. I can read something, comprehend it, be genuinely moved by it, and an hour later can’t retain it. With the genetic side, that is terrifying. I have a hole in my bucket I am constantly trying to fill. God showed me recently how sin removes my finger and increases the flow rate. You can’t live with one foot in the world and one foot stretching for heaven; the gravity of sin will keep you here. What do you struggle with? What is your focus in life? What do you want to discuss more than anything? Do you see how the demon-possessed man in Mark wanted to talk about nothing but his healing? Jesus commanded him to go share his testimony of faith to all that would hear. If you are truly saved, that same commandment and desire should be welling up inside of you. If you claim Christianity and desire to discuss money, possessions, sex, success, sports, partying, anything that this world desires, are you truly saved? Do you rest in the false religion of Sunday Christianity that condemns? “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ (​Matthew​7​:​21-23​ NKJV)

My testimony to you is one on incredible mercy and grace; I felt like Paul a chief of sinners, I felt like David who committed great sins, I now feel indescribable forgiveness that I so desire for you to have also. My heart lies not only reaching the lost, but in the incredible difficult ministry of Matthew 7; those that think they are saved, those who sit beside you on Sunday, those who profess Christianity but are not disciples, those who are truly lost…… Jesus spoke in parables all throughout the New Testament for so many could not understand. Their hearts were hardened to God’s Word, many rested in religion and the rituals of it. Jesus had come to fulfill the Law that they could not, and they rejected him because of their hardened, prideful, religious hearts.

I promise you, you will know when you are saved. If you are doubting it, that may be your warning from God to change your focus in life. This life is preparing you for the eternal life; how you spend this life directly correlates to your eternal life’s reward or condemnation. My hole in my bucket is no different from yours, it is sin, and it is plugged by the heart that desires to live their life for Jesus. My testimony is one simply of a repent hearts plea for forgiveness and the desire to read my Bible every day. There is nothing anyone can say that will change you like the Word of God. You cannot spend daily time in Gods Word and remain the same person as the day before. The assurance of salvation you so desire is found through a humble heart that seeks Him there each and every day. Plug the hole in your bucket with Jesus

 
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Posted by on February 26, 2015 in Daily Devotions

 

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Eternal Vineyard

21 Feb

Eternal Vineyard

Matthew  ​20:​8​

“So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, ‘Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first.’

I would not even know where to begin to describe the strains of running a business. God has placed me out of work for five weeks now, depleting funds rapidly, yet providing incredibly. He has laid a vision on my heart and is beginning to provide for it. In the midst of this incredible storm, with people close to me questioning my decisions, I have the peace of God and see the hand of God at work. I told someone yesterday that he is our CEO, I just manage the work he provides.

I read the parable of the workers in the vineyard this morning (Matthew 20:1-16). Much of the context of the parable is how the Jews were called first, then the Gentiles. All were called by the Gospel into the kingdom of heaven. Matthew Henry put it, “Till we are hired into the service of God, we are standing all the day idle: a sinful state, though a state of drudgery to Satan, may be called a state of idleness. The market-place is the world, and from that we are called by the gospel. Come, come from this market-place.” Everything in this world desires to take your eyes off God. When he calls you through the power of the gospel, your are called out of this world into his vineyard. You are called to focus on the reward of your wages in heaven. An eternal focus will produce a great heavenly reward. One that continues to focus on the world, even after being called by the gospel, receives the warning found in, Matthew​ 20​:16​ So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen.”

Nothing in this world matters except how you use the knowledge of the Gospel each day. Does your love for your Savior exude from your daily life, or is Sunday the only time people think you are a Christian? You will bow before God one day and he will ask you what you did with the knowledge of his Son that died for you. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians​ 2​:9-11 My prayer is that the gospel has so stirred your heart, that your every day you are hard at work in an eternal vineyard. Every thing, every day, every day you live can be used to draw glory to the One who provides you the opportunity to live in eternal paradise.

 
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Posted by on February 21, 2015 in Daily Devotions

 

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Proud or Pray?

18 Feb

Proud or Pray?

Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar- Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” (​Matthew​ ​16​:​17, 23​ NKJV)

There are only six verses that separate the pinnacle and the pit of Peters life. Jesus had commended him as a rock and cursed him as Satan. The mind of the most zealous disciple must have been spinning at what had transpired in however short this timespan. In his pride of the commendation of Christ, he likely had not seen the wide open door Satan had walked in through it. The outspoken had been chastised severely for the words he pridefully spoke to his savior and king. Peter had no idea the level of spiritual warfare that was present in his life. I cannot help but feel the Holy Spirit revealed it somewhat to him in this. We all know Peter failed greatly denying Christ in a latter point of his life; another battle that God allowed to fulfill His purpose and also show Peter his daily need for Him.

In my short time as a pastor I experienced a level of spiritual warfare I had not known. I humbly attest to you, that you do not know the level of warfare your pastor and those in ministry experience. I gained a lifetime of respect in one year of ministry. Without a doubt my level of support for those in ministry grew, and my heart to you that tear down your leaders is that He opens your heart to a glimpse of what they face. That glimpse will forever change you, and bend you to pray for your pastors and those in ministry as never before.

The closeness of these two passages should point us to our daily need for Him. It should show us that there is a world we are in that we cannot see, but directly effects us. Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. (​I Peter​ ​5​:​5-9​ NKJV) In the middle of that passage is the proof of your enemy and the need for you to remain faithful seeking God. There is an entire sermon there, but you must simply see that a prideful heart will fail, and a humble heart will pursue. Everything that you and the zealous Peter face can be used to draw glory to God. Only if you don’t try to do it alone.

 
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Posted by on February 18, 2015 in Daily Devotions

 

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Christian Label

17 Feb

Christian Label

John​ ​15:19​ NKJV. 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.

I am up in the middle of the night with my mind going 100mph on many different things. This time after surgery has allowed me extended duration of points to ponder. I could go down many paths, but the political path seems to be taking the lead. I love espionage shows and movies; all types of spy dramas and TV selections capitalize on weaving the fear of terrorism into our everyday lives. These dramas have become increasingly authentic. Do you live in a bubble and turn your back on things that for whatever reason you do not believe they effect you? Turn back around and face what will, and many times already is effecting you…..especially if you label yourself a Christian. Radical terrorism has placed the bullseye on Christianity.

The Internet this blog is published on labels me a Christian and a target for an enemy attack. The Internet has many labels for everyone, and that information is available for everyone. You cannot hide, but you can stand for what you believe. When I look at what my generation is seeing, it honestly scares me for what our children may see and face. My grandparents generation witnessed the inhuman genocide of WW2, and now we find ourselves headed down similar paths. The smiling preachers of our day want you to have the faith to be blessed in material stuff of this world. The Bible tells us to not live for this world, that we are not of this world. If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. (​Colossians​3:1-4​ NKJV)

I truly believe as Christians we are entering an era where it will cost us to be labeled a Christian. Will you stand or will you fail? You must understand what the inability to stand for your faith could cost you. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven. (​Matthew​10:33​NKJV) I do not see much wiggle room in those words of Jesus; red ink on white paper. The only way you will gain the necessary strength is through daily pursuit of Him in prayer and his Word. You need to start this training immediately, for you do not know the day you may be labeled a Christian.

 
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Posted by on February 17, 2015 in Daily Devotions

 

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Matters of the Heart

13 Feb

Matters of the Heart

Matthew 13:51-52​ Jesus said to them, “Have you understood all these things?” They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.” Then He said to them, “Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old.”

In my downtime after surgery I wanted to go through the Gospels again. I am constantly amazed by the living Word of God that reveals new truths as I read what I have read many times before. Read Matthew chapter 13 in its entirety. Jesus is speaking in parables and explaining why he is speaking in parables. This is a common question to people who read the Bible, but the answer is found in Matthew 13. Do you want to understand the word of God? That desire must come from within, deep within, for it is a matter of the heart, and not the head. Many people in that day were stuck in the traditions of men known as religion, seeking God by following the rules trying to find him through their own works.

You will never find heaven through religion, you will only find heaven through a relationship with your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Heaven comes through a humble repentant heart realizing the only way to get there is a matter of a humble repentant heart. The only thing you must do, is accept that is the only thing you can do. Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. (​John​14​:6​NKJV). Heaven is not found in your church attendance record or by living a good life by any standard. Religion kills, Jesus saves.

The evidence of the necessity of a heart seeking God, and not a head seeking God, is proclaimed in Matthew 13. If you are feeling those two hugs of the heart, that is God pursuing you first, and wanting to open up the truth of his Word to you. You must understand that he pursues you first through your heart, and how you respond to that tug determines your eternity. Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived wrote; I applied my heart to know, To search and seek out wisdom and the reason of things, To know the wickedness of folly, Even of foolishness and madness. (Ecclesiastes​7:25​ NKJV). He sought God, wisdom and understanding through matters of the heart, not the head. You can only know Him, and be granted a glimpse of understanding through a matter of the heart.

 
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Posted by on February 13, 2015 in Daily Devotions

 

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Love Brings Obedience

11 Feb

I am a prideful man thankfully being broken by the hand of a loving God. My testimony is rooted in pride, and to this day God is working his sanctification process for my life in the removal of it. Somewhere in this process of it, after I was wrought out of this world by the gospel, He began to open my heart to understanding obedience; obedience would be an oxymoron to an independent prideful heart. I look back to how God used this devotional so powerfully in my life less than ten years ago. As I read it this morning I knew I had to share it. Every step of obedience out of love draws you one step closer to God. The only way you will draw closer to God is through obedience to him, there is no other way.

 

Love Brings Obedience By Henry Blackaby
Daily Devotional for Wednesday, February 11th, 2015

He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him. John 14:21

Obedience to God’s commands comes from your heart. When you begin struggling to obey God, that is a clear indication that your heart has shifted away from Him. Some claim: “I love God, but I’m having difficulty obeying Him in certain areas of my life.” That is a spiritual impossibility. If I were to ask you, “Do you love God?” you might easily respond, “Yes!” However, if I were to ask you, “Are you obeying God?” would you answer yes as quickly? Yet I would be asking you the same question! Genuine love for God leads to wholehearted obedience. If you told your spouse that you loved her at certain times but that you struggled to love her at others, your relationship would be in jeopardy. Yet we assume that God is satisfied with occasional love or partial obedience. He is not.

Obedience without love is legalism. Obedience for its own sake can be nothing more than perfectionism, which leads to pride. Many conscientious Christians seek to cultivate discipline in their lives to be more obedient to Christ. As helpful as spiritual disciplines can be, they never can replace your love for God. Love is the discipline. God looks beyond your godly habits, beyond your moral lifestyle, and beyond your church involvement and focuses His penetrating gaze upon your heart.

Has your worship become empty and routine? Have you lost your motivation to read God’s Word? Are you experiencing spiritual lethargy? Is your prayer life reduced to a ritual? These are symptoms of a heart that has shifted away from God. Return to your first love. Love is the greatest motivation for a relationship with God and for serving Him

 
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Posted by on February 11, 2015 in Daily Devotions

 

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Tell them about Me

10 Feb

Every once in awhile you read something that truly stirs your soul.

Yesterday I read this link and stir it did.Truly one of the best things I have read recently.

I need to add nothing to it, just please read it.

 

http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/tell-them-about-me

 

 

 
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Posted by on February 10, 2015 in Daily Devotions

 

Can Ya’ Hear Me Now?

09 Feb

Can Ya’ Hear Me Now?

Matthew​10​:27 “Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops.

God wants to use you! Yes, you heard me right, God wants to use little old you in his big old plan of the redemption of all of mankind from sin. He wants to use you as a part of rescuing mankind from the snares of hell that awaits them who have not heard; those who have not come yet to repent and believe. Now we must understand that God does not need our help, he could simply rewrite history by speaking it into existence. It is a humbling honor and privilege to be used by God. How could you not want to climb on top of your house and scream what he has shown and done for your life by rescuing you from yourself and sin? Proclaim him to all that will hear!

In the text above, the historical context was when priest would whisper to those who would proclaim God’s truths. Many times the flat rooftops where a good venue to preach the word of God. Commentaries believe this is mostly to the mind however, to where the Holy Spirit imparts truths to us that we must share with others. You don’t understand the Word of God from study, you understand it as a gift through the Holy Spirit living inside of you. 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. (​John​14​:​26​ NKJV) You cannot understand the Bible without the gift from God upon salvation. He has likely stirred your heart with a glimpse, but until you repent and believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of sins as the only way to heaven, you are not in dwelt with the Holy Spirit, God living inside of you.

How humbling it is to share something and see the hearers eyes light up as God showed them a truth through your voice. I personally don’t know who is more amazed. God has allowed you life, all the bad and good, to enable you to glorify Him in it. He has set people in your path for you to be able to proclaim His goodness, grace and mercy, for all to see and hear. Don’t keep your testimony or a truth to yourself. You are stealing a gift from God to those that may receive, and yes even to those that give.

 
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Posted by on February 9, 2015 in Daily Devotions

 

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The Three P’s

06 Feb

Pray Pursue Persist

Matthew 7:7 Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you
will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
I was with a brother in Christ this week and we were talking
about how upside down our lives are at this point in our life.
We look back and thought in our 40s we would have a better
plan and our life better together. Before the Lord got a hold of
me, I was living for this world, and by this world standards I
did have my life more together. But I was not living my life for
God. I was living my life for everything I could get my hands
on in every way. Now the sanctification process of God begins
to ring out the sin in my life. The sanctification process draws
me closer to Jesus, and puts a greater burden on me to share
him with you. I fail daily, I try to repent daily, I try to be a
better person daily. Days like the past couple I have so much
on my heart I honestly do not know what to say. I look back at
my testimony and know that if God can forgive me, he can
forgive anything you have ever done. Satan is the ruler of this
world, and as such he will do everything in his power to
convince you otherwise. Do not listen to his little voice and
understand that he is a defeated foe; what Jesus Christ
accomplished at the cross defeated him eternally!
What would be my plea to you then? To pursue God every
single day of your life! Without that, the voice of the enemy
will be greater in your life. Without the strength found in
prayer and daily time in God’s Word, you are fighting a losing
battle as a Christian; you are truly living for this world and
will pay for your mistake eternally. Colossians 3:2 Set your
mind on things above, not on things on the earth. I do not
know how you could be living today and not see how far the
world is slipping from God. I do not know how you could live
in the USA and not see how our country is turning it back on
God. I do not see how the atrocities of the terrorists do not tear
at the pit of your stomach against Christians and mankind. The
days of Christian persecution are upon us and may be

knocking at the door of your home one day. Will you build

your faith daily to prepare for the battle that comes?
Matthew seven simply states to ask and seek and knock.
Simply put to pray, to pursue, to persist. The more time you
spend with God, the greater your understanding of a humble
spirit. The more time you spend with God, the greater your
understanding of his sovereignty. The more time you spend
with God, the greater you pursue God by being in the center of
his will, by understanding his sovereignty. You pray brave
prayers by asking God to use you today, you begin to dedicate
your daily life to him, plea for him to use you just for that day.
This is not accomplished by going to church on Sunday; this is
only accomplished by humble heart that pursues God every
day. If you are a Sunday Christian ponder Matthew 7:21-23.
That is the scariest verse in the Bible. God knows your heart
and he will either punish or reward you eternally. Do you pray,
do you pursue, do you persist?
3
 
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Posted by on February 6, 2015 in Daily Devotions

 

Faithfulness

03 Feb

Faithfulness

Matthew 4:21-22. Going on from there, He saw two brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.

The Lord has laid faithfulness so heavy on my heart the last 24 hours. I sold my most cherished possession this weekend, and He is giving me a glimpse of the blessing through that act of faithfulness. I experienced the Parable of the Talents personally last year from Matthew 25, and the Spirit keeps reminding me of the lesson taught there. What level of faithlessness does it take for us to hold onto our most cherished possessions? How little do we trust God and rest on our own provision? Satan even gave me a possible “out” as a test in the middle of that sale, but thankfully God’s sovereignty prevailed my possible mistake.

I wanted to spend time in the Gospels this morning seeing where the Holy Spirit wanted me to write about faithfulness. I got no farther than the fourth chapter of Matthew. I don’t know what I expected, the entire Bible is a book of faithfulness. The entire Bible is a book of blessings to those that were faithful, and the consequences to those that were not. What is faithfulness? Faithfulness is the act of obedience resting in the assurance of a sovereign God.

No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Matthew 6:24 In the context of that passage Jesus is speaking directly how we view money, or stuff, or anything of value that we have accumulated. Do you realize that anything you have is a gift from God that he has a loaned you? James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. When we can grow in our faith enough to understand that all in this life is temporary, letting go through faith and obedience draws us closer to Him every step. We begin to see the blessings found in each act of faith and obedience. He then uses us to encourage others to do the same. All throughout the Bible are the evidences that you must let go, and let God. Countless times men and women of faith experienced great moves of God when they stepped out in faith. You can do this, only by letting Him do this, through your obedience.

 
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Posted by on February 3, 2015 in Daily Devotions

 

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