Author Archives: andyfarwell

Things. You have your things. I have my things. We want more things. We want better things. We work and labor to fill our space with things. When those things wear out we get more things. Why? Is it because the one who has the most or the best wins? Do we really gain anything by having? How long does happiness last after a purchase of a thing? It is my assessment of my own life that the more things I have, the more things I want. Then, the more things I get, the more I worry about what I have or need to get. All of this is a grand distraction that keeps my mind occupied on anything other than the one purpose that I was created for. We were created for. Our reason for being is to bring glory to God. In Matthew 6, Jesus tells us that all of these things can be stollen or moth and rust can destroy it. In other words, they don’t last. The satisfaction of the purchase is temporary. Sometimes we even have regret before we get home with it! It’s called buyers remorse. He goes on to say that we should store up treasures in Heaven. The things we store there will last forever. How do we do that? Do good to others. spend time praying and studying the Bible and having fellowship with other followers of Jesus instead of collecting things. Use the resources that we have been buying our things with for helping those who don’t even have the basics like food and clothes. Just giving more of our time to God and others and less to ourselves. You know what? If we really did this , I’d be willing to say that we would have more lasting satisfaction in our lives than we have ever had doing good for ourselves. Things are okay, but I know that in my life I have let them rule me instead of me ruling them, and for what really? Yeah. Father in Heaven, help us to store up our treasures in Heaven so that you get the glory!

Have a great day!

What do you think? Is it better to look back and reflect or look to the future or just live the here and now? There are so many ideas. Some say never look back. What’s done is done. Let’s just live in the moment. If we don’t look back though, are we likely to make the same mistakes? I was reading a devotional this morning and a quote was used that I thought was clever. “You can either learn by making your own mistakes, or be wise and learn from somebody else’s.” So this quote clearly urges to give a look back, and not just look back at our own lives but look back at others. This is like the old saying, if you don’t study history then your bound to repeat it. What better history could we study than the Bible. It’s the origin story of mankind. It is full of examples of mistakes we can learn to avoid. I always have sin pestering me and luring me to endulge. Sometimes I engage in battle against it and sometimes I give in. Why, you may ask, would I give in? It’s simple really. I give in on days that I’m not studying God’s word. His word is our power against temptation. It is the examples given to us in its content that we can learn from and not repeat. 1Corinthians 10:11-13 These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warning for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come. So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you do not fall. No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
You may ask, what is the way out? His word. The more we read and study His word, the more we recognize the mistakes that have been made, the way to avoid them and the best part of all is how much God loves us. He always has and always will. The Holy Spirit resides in all who have put their faith and trust in the death and resurrection of Jesus, and He can use His word to help you in the hour of temptation, if you only take the time to study and learn it! Let’s do this together! Let’s take time each day to be in God’s word and prayer. We don’t need to spend our days making our own mistakes to learn from. Father in Heaven, once again we thank you for your word to us. It is a treasure of immeasurable worth!!
God bless you all and much love!

I had the privilege of growing up in a small rural community. We all knew each other to some extent. Many mornings I would tag along with my Dad to the coffee shop where many of the local men would gather. These men, without knowing it , were my examples of what a man should be. Many of them are gone now and I myself am aging. Now and then I have conversation with the few that are left. The other day I was visiting with one who I hadn’t seen in many years. He mentioned his age and how he wasn’t gonna be around much longer he figured. Then he said something that broke my heart. He looked me right in the eye and said: I wonder what’s next? Why does this break my heart? Because I grew up going to church with this man!! He’s not alone. Many people go to church all their lives and when the end draws near they wonder. My friends, there shouldn’t be a question! I don’t know where the disconnect is. Is it that the church is failing to teach of heaven and hell? Are we, as Christians, not telling the people about what Jesus has done so that we can be sure of heaven? Maybe some just go through life just closing the eyes of their hearts to the gospel of Christ. I don’t know about you, but I want to be sure of what’s next! 1 Peter 1:3-6 tells us that we have a living hope. Jesus died. Jesus also came back to life. He is alive! He is in heaven now keeping our inheritance for us. This inheritance can never spoil or fade. He is that living hope!! This is what’s next!! Are you questioning what’s next in your life? If you put your trust and hope in Jesus and his death and resurrection, and follow his example of what a person should be, you never have to question what’s next! In fact we can look forward to it!!
Thank you Jesus for giving us a reason to hope. Not a hope that is temporary but rather a hope that is eternal!!
Have a great day y’all

Truth. Absolute truth, is so dividing. You could speak it so kindly and ever so careful, like lightly buttering toast, and to the one who doesn’t like it, it’s hateful. If , however you are speaking to one who loves it, you can dump it on them like a 2 year old dumps ketchup on a hot dog and they would gobble it up and ask for more. As for myself, I do believe in truth. God’s truth. He is the truth. I also believe that we are to share the good news of Jesus to others. Sometimes we will be rejected and called names because of it. Sometimes we may even face much worse. There is no love in keeping Jesus to ourselves. The only way to love is to give it to others. That means speaking truth, even
to those who reject it, but always being kind and gentle and without pride but instead with great humility just as Jesus did when he washed the feet of his disciples. Don’t you remember that he even washed the feet of Judas who would betray him ? This is love! This is how to share the truth! My friends, Jesus gave his life for us and then took it up again. He will come back and get those who believe. Do you believe? Please consider Putting your trust in the one who is the way, the truth and the life!!

Love y’all! Have a good day

There’s just something about this time of year. Everything is growing and thriving. Growing up on the farm instilled in me a love to plant and see things grow. Gardening is one of my favorite things to do. Planting a seed in the ground, if you think about it, requires faith. I can’t do a single thing to make that seed sprout or grow. That is God’s business. I trust that if I plant the seed, He will make it grow. I do keep the weeds out so they don’t choke the plant as it grows and water it if needed but God takes care of the rest. It’s a miracle really. Our life is much like the seed planted in the garden. God alone gives us life. Our only part in it is to keep the weeds (sin) out and water (study God’s word) it. Like all plants though winter does come and life drains away from the plant and it withers back into the ground it came from. The good news about us though, is that even though our body dies, our soul can go on. Jesus made it possible to have eternal life by taking our sin, those pesky weeds that choke the life out of us, on himself at the cross. If we put our trust in Him we will have eternal life. We bear fruit when we share this good news to others. We are like God’s garden when you think about it!
Thank you Lord for my life. However long I’m here on earth help me to be a plant that gives fruit. Help all my brothers and sisters to do the same!!
Love y’all

Is Jesus slow in coming back? Have you pondered this? It’s quite easy to forget that He is returning when we consider it from our time perspective. It has been around 2000 years since He returned to Heaven to prepare a place for us. That’s a good bit of time from our vantage point but how does that time relate to God? In Psalm 90:2&4, we learn from the writer: Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. A Thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by or like a watch in the night.
God does not live by the restrictions of time. He has always been and will always be. That thought alone is mind blowing to me!! How can we not be in awe of Him? We also know that He never goes back on His word. Jesus is coming back! He is not slow in doing it. When He comes, it will be the perfect time. Let’s just remember together that He is coming as we patiently wait.
Thank you Lord for your promised return. Help us to eagerly anticipate your return and strive to live like you live in the waiting!
Have a fine day friends!

I like to reminisce about life when I was a kid. I was raised on a livestock farm and started going out to work with my Dad at a very young age. One of the things I remember is going to help our neighbors and them coming to help us. Whenever there was a big task that needed done, that’s just what we did. I’ve watched the agriculture community grow into something different today. It’s more of an every man for himself kind of life now. Our modern world tells us to do whatever it takes to succeed. To do whatever makes us happy. I’m not sure that’s the better way. It is good to serve others. Galatians 5:13 says: You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. Did not use your freedom to indulge in the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.
It’s so easy to get caught up in serving ourselves. We work hard and so we tell ourselves we deserve this or that so we buy it or we deserve to be happy so we leave our spouse for another, or we want something so bad that we borrow our way into debt to have it and on and on it goes. Meanwhile there are people living all around us who need help. We will say “ isn’t it sad about so and so” but do nothing to help them. We have given up our love for others to love ourselves and in reality we don’t even do that! Serving others is so much better! It’s good to love others and to help each other. Then we are truly free! Father in Heaven, forgive us for using our freedom for selfish things instead of for others. Help us to break these chains of serving self and teach us to live others!!

God bless you all

Have you ever just needed a do over? You know, like when you don’t get it right or you could have done better but there’s no second chance. I have for sure had that!! I say to myself: Man, if I could just do that again I could get it right. A do over! Well, I don’t know how many of you feel that way about your whole life, but at one time I did. Oh how I had things screwed up!! The good news is, there is a way at a second chance at life. 1Peter 1:3-4 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never parish, spoil or fade.
By trusting in Jesus and His death and resurrection we have a new birth. Our old life and all the sin baggage that we carried is gone and the new is here(2 Corinthians 5:17). Yes, we do still have consequences from our sin but the hope we have is that we, like Christ will be resurrected and given a new body that is unable to sin. There’s much more but that alone is enough to praise God forever and ever!! This do over is from God. It cannot fail. We are to live Godly lives but our eternal existence doesn’t depend on it. That is the work already done by Jesus. Thank you God for a do over that will last forever. One that comes from the throne room of Heaven!

Have a splendid day!!

There is a myth out there floating around the universe that tricks people into believing that once you are saved by the love of Jesus, everything will just go perfect after that. Nope. Not true. In fact, I would say it even gets tougher in some ways, but also better in others. Let me explain. Before Christ comes into our lives we pretty much do what we want. The enemy, by that I mean satan and his crew, has no real interest in us because we are no threat to him at that point. However, once the Lord begins to work in our hearts we come into the enemies sights and the battle begins. The first round of attacks come to keep us from being saved. If then, we do and start following Jesus, we are at that point launched into a lifelong war with the dark forces who battle against God and His people. Ultimately we know that we win in the end and that is good! There is considerable harm that can come along the way though. That is why it is so important to pray for each other. Ephesians 6:18 says: And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.
We need prayer. All of us. Not just the cliche type prayers that we talk about but don’t really do. I mean we need the deep contrition, on our knees in tears, specific and intentional, in the heat of battle type prayers like Jesus prayed that night in the garden when he sweat blood and poured out His heart to the Father! We need them for ourselves and we need to be praying that way for our forever family! I know that my life is relentless at times. Yes I have joy and sometimes even happiness but I also have pain, lack courage to share Christ, am weak against temptation and the list goes on! The last thing I need are your ”good thoughts”. I need Your prayers!! If your fully honest, you need mine too! Let’s do this for real!! God, we need you. We need help. All kinds of help. We even need to be reminded of how much we need to pray and be prayed for!!

I love you my friends! Have a beautiful day

Have you ever seen a toddler take something and try to stick it in an electrical outlet? The danger of it instantly triggers us to yell “no no no”!! The kid just looks at you and grins like there’s no worries at all. Do you know why they have no fear of doing crazy things? It’s because they don’t know, and how could they until they have been taught? To them it looks like a good idea! Inside all of us there’s a built in knowledge of basic right and wrong but until we have heard about Jesus and how He desires for us to live, how can we expect anyone to just know? That’s like expecting a toddler to just know that outlets are dangerous. Ephesians 4:20-24 reminds us of how we have learned about Christ and how he lived. We have learned from the word of truth(the Bible) about our old way of life and also the new. Now that we know, we are responsible to live according to how we have been taught. In other words, there should be a constant growing and maturing in the faith according to the measure of learning and studying we do. Also, we cannot expect those who have not heard of Jesus to live by faith because they haven’t been told. That is why it is important to live the new life we have been given and share our faith as often as we have the opportunity!!
Lord, thank you for the new life we have in you. Help us to continue in our growing process and give us the courage to share you with others!

Have a blessed day!!

For centuries the question “what is truth” has been asked. If you asked that question today to several age groups and people from all backgrounds it would likely produce an abundance of answers. For many, truth is what they want it to be. If they have a desire to do something and it feels okay for them, then it must be okay. What if what they wanted to do was a terrible wrong to another person? If truth was whatever we wanted it to be then not one person could or should be offended. There wouldn’t be any reason for lawsuits because the truth of what’s right and wrong would be up to each person. So where does the idea of right and wrong come from? Where did truth originate? In John 14:6 Jesus said: I am the way, the truth, and the life. Knowing that God is from before the beginning, and that He has never sinned, and knowing that all of mankind is imperfect and all have sinned (Roman’s 3:23), how then could we conclude that we know better what truth is than God himself? He is truth! All standards of right and wrong come from Him. To reject Christ is to reject truth. I know that this is going to ruffle some feathers, but it is concerning to see the world around us filled with violence, and hate and all kinds of vile acts being committed without any regard for what is right and wrong!! Our world needs absolute truth. Our world needs Jesus!
Father in Heaven, our world is full of bitterness and we have lost our desire for what is right so that we can do what feels good. Help us to come back to you. Help us to seek what is right in your eyes!

Have a blessed day!

Does anyone remember the tv show called candid camera? They would do these experiments and film people to get their reaction then tell them later “ smile, your on candid camera!” One of the experiments was giving out one hundred dollar bills to random people on the street. Out of all the people they tried to give the money to, only one actually took it. Most of us feel the need to earn what we get. Free stuff always seems like it comes with a “catch”. I think that mindset is what makes being a follower of Christ so difficult. People have been trying to earn their way to heaven by following rules. It cannot be done! Even if we follow God’s perfect law, we can never follow it perfectly enough for all of our life to gain access to God or heaven. Only Jesus could do that. He did do that. The only portal to Heaven is Christ. He made it possible through His death and resurrection and all we need to do is believe that and then follow Him. Why then do we feel the need to bog ourselves down with all these regulations? Galatians 5:1 says: it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm ,then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
My dear friends, if we become slaves to following the law, then Jesus went through all that for nothing! He doesn’t want us to live as slaves but as free people. Are we to keep on sinning? No, not intentionally, but instead of trying to follow a bunch of rules with the mindset that we must or we will perish, we should try to be Christlike out of appreciation for all He has done for us. It should be a joy to do good instead of evil because it is pleasing to God, and that is freedom! Think of it this way: Today, I am free to do all that God would be pleased for me to do. Doesn’t that sound better than: Today, I am bound to follow the law or tonight I will be burdened with guilt? It sounds better to me!! Thank you Jesus for giving us the freedom to live for you!!

Love y’all. Have a great day!

To so many people, today is just another holiday. They observe it with family traditions and give little thought to the meaning of the day. That isn’t a surprise really. Many people go through life without giving God a single thought. The idea of God, being unseeable, yet all powerful and loving is ridiculous to them. 1Corinthians 1:18 says: For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are parishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God!
If your one who is being saved, take some time to really think about what Jesus did for you and what today really means. Today He arose from the dead!! That is power!! Also, remember that we once were among those who were parishing. We must make it our priority to share the message of the cross and resurrection to all those we meet. Our souls have been saved and one day soon we too will be resurrected to life everlasting. That is the power we known. The power of the love of God!!! Thank you God for not staying in the grave. Thank you for loving us enough to go there in the first place!!

Happy Easter my friends!

I never liked school. My mind was always outside. When that last bell rang I couldn’t get out of the building fast enough. I remember when the teacher would give us work, and she would step out of the room, I would be drawing pictures of jeeps and trucks or making paper airplanes but as soon as she walked in the room I would be right back to my work making it look like I had been at it the whole time! Is that the way we should go about our work? Only doing our best when the boss is watching but then slacking when they aren’t? Well, that may be okay for some but if you are someone who professes to be a Christ follower then no. Ephesians 6:5-8 talking about slaves obeying their masters, which could translate to workers obey your bosses, tells us not to just obey them when they are watching, but as slaves of Christ we are to do our work from the heart. We are to serve wholehearted as if we were doing it for the Lord himself!
Not doing our best when the boss is out of the room but then doing it when he’s looking is very deceptive. Like me when I was in school!! The Lord deserves our best, and at the end of the day, if we give our best, we will be better off too. I know some days it’s hard to get into work. It’s monotonous at times, but we were made to work and be productive and Jesus served as an example to us who worked as well. We don’t serve a slacker so we shouldn’t be slackers!! Thank you Lord for the work we have. Thank you for our bosses both the good and bad ones! Help us to be workers from the heart giving our best every single day!

Have a blessed day!!

Being a parent is interesting. You get this little human being to raise and prepare for living life as an adult. Now the interesting part is that I personally haven’t perfected life as an adult, so how am I supposed to teach that to another human? It’s like a grand experiment that takes like 30 years to see if it worked!! We all have our own methods of raising our kids. Some push their kids to be involved in everything. Others take the laid back approach. Some are harsh disciplinarians and some spoil their kids. It’s hard to get that perfect middle ground. The Bible has a few tips. One of them is in Ephesians 6:4. It’s says: Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.
The first thing I notice about this passage is that It is talking to dads. Here in America the responsibility of raising kids has been left to moms a lot. Especially when it comes to religious matters. This should not be!! I’m guilty of this myself at times and I know better because my Father was very involved in my training. He was always ready to listen when I needed to talk and his advice came straight from the Bible. He also lived it out in his life for me to see. My Mom taught me the Bible and to memorize it and that was important but a child’s eye is watching Dad all the time. If mom is telling you one thing and dad is doing the opposite then it becomes confusing. This can “exasperate” I child. Dads, let’s live out our faith better! Let’s talk Bible to our kids, even after they are grown! They still need us even as adults! Thank you Lord for my parents who succeeded in the grand experiment of raising a hooligan like me! Not that I am anything at all but because they taught me to believe in you, and you are everything!!

Love on your kids today! Love y’all

I was thinking this morning about desires. How easily we are led by them often times only to experience a level of disappointment after our desires have been realized. I believe that desires could be used in a sinister way by dark forces of evil, to distract us from more important matters. Ephesians 4:22-24 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in righteousness and holiness.
Notice in this scripture it says deceitful desires. Remember Adam and Eve. Now looking at the fruit from the tree that God said to them not to eat from, they couldn’t see any reason not to eat it. They desired to taste it. It looked good to eat. That probably thought it would be quite satisfying to eat. They had some help in their decision. The dark force I mentioned earlier. Satan. He said that not only is it good but they would be like God if they ate it! We all know how that turned out! I’m sure at the moment it was delicious, but seconds later the consequences came. Their satisfaction was quite temporary and the pain of life for all of us has been felt every since. When we have desires in this life we really need to keep them where they belong. All of our decisions should be prayed about first to keep us from trouble later on! Lord keep us from being led into sin by our desires and wants. Help our desires to be your desires!!

Enjoy the day! The Lord made it for you!!

When I was a boy, my Dad taught me how to use a wood lathe. He gave me some walnut wood and helped me glue it together into a square block and then we chucked it up into the lathe. He gave me some safety tips and some pointers on what each tool would do and then he left our little shop. So I began to cut on the piece and after a few hours I had created a beautiful(or at least to me) candle holder. I put some clear coat on it to protect it and put it in my room. Over time I lost track of it and in a panic I looked everywhere for it. It meant something to me because it was my creation and I hated being separated from it. That’s how God feels about us. He made us with His own hands and because of sin we became separated from Him. Romans 5:6-8 describes how much He loves us. It tells us that He died for us. The ungodly. We are far from God even from birth. But that wasn’t His plan. He wants to be with us, not separated. He had a plan to bring us near to Him and that plan involved Him coming here to die. He did just that even though we were enemies of Him. There has never been a more accurate picture of love than that act. His creation is so important to Him and He hates being separated from us. The good news is that if we believe that Jesus is God and that He died and rose again to life, and if we confess our sin to Him, then we will no longer be separated from God our creator.
I found my candleholder. My Mom needed one and so she got it from my room and used it. When I saw it being used for what it was created to do it made me very happy. God wants the same for us. He created us to do good works. After we are saved and reunited with Him, nothing would please Him more than to see us doing what He created us to do!! Thank you Jesus for loving us enough to give your life to save ours!!!
Have a productive day doing what God created you to do!! Worshipping Him!!

Would you go to a doctor if he only called himself a doctor but had no real training? I hope not. Please don’t!! Would you cut into another person to fix them if you were not equipped with the knowledge to do so? God, when he created us had things in mind for us to do. After we come to believe in Jesus and get saved, training for work begins. Ephesians 4:11-13 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip His people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
Notice that we are to be equipped for works of service. When Jesus came to earth he didn’t sit idle. He worked. How can we expect the church to grow, individuals to come to faith and mature in Christ, if when we get saved the only thing we do is show up Sunday morning, sit in the seat and listen to the pastor, then go on about our week doing nothing to grow in our faith? We must actively take part in our growth. It doesn’t just happen. We need to study our Bible and ask questions, go to Sunday school, get in a small group and as we grow we need to put what we learn into service. Maybe you might teach a Sunday school class or clean toys at the church nursery or prepare communion and the list goes on. More importantly we will find ourselves sharing Jesus with those who don’t know him yet and praying and building each other up as we go! Brothers and sisters let’s get to work!! Thank you Lord for giving us the apostles, teachers ,pastors, prophets and evangelists to help us grow in our faith. Help us to put our hands and feet to the work of the gospel of Christ!

Have a good day folks

Do you know anyone who has stopped going to church because they have had a bad experience at one? I know I do. Several folks actually. It’s sad to me. Bickering among believers is probably one of the biggest turn offs causing people to leave church. Maybe your one of those people I’m talking about. I want to clear the air about something here. God’s people are not supposed to be bickering. Yes we are human and yes we make mistakes and knowing that fact should be kept in mind but also, it is very clear in God’s word how believers are to treat one another. 1John 3:16 says: This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.
Does this mean we are to die? Well, maybe, but I think it’s even more than that. I think it’s putting Christ first, others second, and ourselves last. I understand holding to the truth of scripture as a reason to “stand your ground” but I also know that it can lead to nitpicking. And should the church split over what color to paint the building or what flowers to plant around it? Absolutely not!! How can we as believers expect to express the love of God to others, if when they come to the place of worship and instead of seeing us hugging and singing together they find us fighting over some trivial thing that doesn’t matter at all? They have enough of that in their life already! We all do! Listen my brothers and sisters in Christ: We need to die to ourselves and put aside our pride and personal agendas and get back to living as our Lord intended for us to live. We need to love each other so that others can see what real love looks like. Okay, I’ll stop ranting now. Dear Father, thank you for sending Jesus here to show us the better way to live and love. Help us to put that into practice in our lives!

Be kind! Have a blessed day!!

Are you a follower of Jesus? If you are then what I am about to say is no surprise to you. It’s hard. Every day it’s hard. Many people start their journey as Christ followers with the thoughts that it would be easier. While it’s true that the burden of sin is lifted and we do have many benefits such as being able to pray at any time, or fellowship with others like us, there are also many challenges. You see, before coming to Christ and being saved, we are no threat to the enemy. But afterwards we are. And then come the attacks. Yes it’s a war. And your life is the battleground . The enemy is cunning and knows your every weakness and will use it to his advantage. And then there’s just that old sin nature that we are born with that we are constantly fighting against. For me that’s the worst! It’s every day. Non stop. But there’s hope. It’s that hope that gives us strength to fight on day after day. Here it is: Ephesians 1:13-14 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession to the praise of His glory.
The best part of this hard life that we have been called to, is that God himself is given to us. The Holy Spirit actually comes into our being in some way that only God can do and He walks every step with us in this battle, until that day when we go to be with Him in person!! My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, remember that we do not serve a far off distant God. He is with us and He is fighting our battles and the best part is: We win!! Thank you Jesus for being willing to shed your blood and give us the ultimate win to your glory!!
Love y’all

Hope is an interesting word. Do you hope? If so, what do you hope for? I’m sure someone has done a poll on what people hope for. For most of us I’m guessing, if you were to ask us, the answer to what we hope for has changed over the years. For example, as kids we hoped for something we wanted at Christmas. As we got a little older we hoped to pass our drivers test. Then we hoped to get a job, get married, have healthy kids and such. All good things to hope for right? Most of them can happen if we are wise and patient. But what about when our time runs out here on planet earth? What then? We spend so much time thinking and hoping for the next temporary thing and working to make it happen and often, I believe, we lose sight of the fact that we are not even sure that we will be here tomorrow! Also, we have no power to keep our life going another minute, so what or who are we putting our trust in that gives us all this hope?
For me it is Jesus. I know it sounds weird to put my trust in someone I can’t see, but I do. I haven’t always, but After years of hoping in myself, and that didn’t work out so well, I realized that life is short and I was messing up what little time I had. I was the lord of my life when in truth Jesus was supposed to be. It wasn’t until I put Jesus on the throne of my life instead of me, that I really understood hope. You see, when we are lord of our own lives then our hope is in ourselves and we really have zero power to save our eternal existence, so that is really no hope at all. On the other hand, if we make Jesus the Lord of our lives, who does have the power to change our eternal lives, then we can have true hope. When the world around us is crumbling and life gets so hard, hope is so important. But hope in anyone other than Jesus is no hope at all! 1 Peter 3:15 says: But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.
He is my hope. Who is yours? Father, in this world we have many troubles! Thank you for giving us hope in your Son Jesus!!
Love y’all! Have a good day.

Have you ever heard a little kid claim to be some impossible thing? Back when getting a spanking was still a thing, I remember a certain little boy who was testing his father’s patience and at the threat of a possible spanking he replied “ I’m a log truck. You can’t spank a log truck. Vroom vroom!” He wasn’t a log truck. As adults, sometimes we feel pressure to claim certain things. The question is, are we what we claim? 1 John 1:6-9 talks about us claiming to be in fellowship with Jesus. It’s says that if we claim to walk in the light, that is to live according to what Jesus gave us as an example of how to live, but instead we continue to walk in darkness, that is to continuing on in our old sinful way of life, then we deceive ourselves. It also says that if we claim to be without sin then we are liars. Instead we are to confess our sin to Him and He who gave His life for us, and then took it up again, is faithful, and He will forgive us!! That’s exciting! If we claim to be Christ followers then we should walk in His light, giving up our old sinful way of life out of appreciation for all He has done for us!
Dear Jesus, thank you for all you have done for us. Help us to live our lives in your light, forsaking the darkness we once lived in for a better way!!

Love y’all. Have a great day!

Life can be hard and it’s easy when things are going tough to get anxious. Yes, even Christ followers get anxious. It’s easy to tell someone who is going through a tough time to just pray about it and it’ll be okay, but I think it’s a bit more complicated than that! The troubles of this life are real and so are the inner struggles that go with it. That is where the battle begins! When trouble comes, the enemy attacks because in our weakened and distracted state our thoughts can be easily persuaded towards unhealthy and negative thoughts. If we are not on guard in our thoughts we can go down a dark rabbit hole of sinful thoughts that when fully manifested could lead to sin. Philippians 4:6-8 tells us not to be anxious about anything but in every situation by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
So when troubles come, first we pray. Listen to the next part though. It says: Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, noble, right, pure , lovely, and admirable – if anything is praiseworthy, think about such things.
We do have a part in this. We have to decide what we think about. Do we focus on the troubles and allow ourselves to sink into a bad mindset or do we intentionally think about what is good? And how do we think about what is good when the bad is on our minds? That’s tough! First I would say to be constantly in God’s word and pray, pray, pray. But I would also find someone you trust and talk to them and get them praying! It’s powerful pulling in another believer or two! We are all in this together and the enemy wants nothing more than to make us unaffective in our witness. If we help each other through these times then imagine how others that are suffering in similar ways would want to be a part of our Heavenly family!! Thank you Lord for helping us through this life and for the promise of a better one to come!!
Love y’all.

What really catches your eye? When I was young it was pretty girls! But now in the silver years of my life it’s pie. Yep, I walk by a pie and stop, turn around and I’m like: “ Whoa baby give me some a that !” I should add that I’m married to a pretty lady so that helps ( with the pretty girl thing). As human being we have to deal with something that we couldn’t stop if we wanted to. It’s called temptation. We don’t ask for it. We don’t desire it. In fact, I wish it just wouldn’t happen; but it does. We have many things that temp us and our enemy is keen to those things and is quite capable of using them against us for the purpose of goading us into doing things that displease God our Creator. Temptation in and of itself is not a sin. It’s what happens to us. We don’t do the tempting. We do, however, need to be on our guard against it. First Corinthians 10:13 says: No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
Sin happens when we linger in our time of temptation long enough to be so enticed by whatever it is that is tempting us, that we want it more than we want to do what is right. So then, we give in to it. So how can we keep ourselves from doing that? A good place to start is knowing God’s word. And to know it means we have to study it. God has given us a way to overcome temptation in His word and if we study it, His Holy Spirit that lives in us will remind us in our inner selves, right when temptation comes, of what his word says about that very thing. He has also blessed us with each other. If we share our temptations with each other then we can pray for each other and hold each other accountable. For example, I’ve already told you that pie is tempting to me. So if you were to see me in the pie store drooling over a big ole pie, you would come on up and slap my hand and remind me that God isn’t pleased with gluttony!! See how that works. Also, we are responsible for not putting ourselves in a place that might cause us to be tempted. So I shouldn’t have been in the pie store to begin with!! Right?
Dear Lord, thank you for helping us in our hour of temptation. Help us to run away from those things that are displeasing to you!
Love y’all

The human brain is an amazing creation of God. It is always storing up everything we watch and read and see and hear. Even when we don’t think we remember; we do. We may not be able to bring to our mind an exact thing right when we want to but it’s there and at the right time it will come back. Knowing that this is true, how should that influence what we allow to go in? There are a lot of things in life that are out of our control but what we watch on our phones or tv, and what we read or listen to are for sure our responsibility. Knowing that there are good things to put in our minds and likewise evil things, gives us choices to make often throughout the day. There are alot of things that we could allow into our minds that seem innocent enough but at its core may be sinful. We shouldn’t take it lightly. In Romans 16:19 Paul warns us about this. He writes: Everyone has heard about your obedience and rejoice because of you; but I want you to be wise about what is good and innocent about what is evil.
We know that God’s word is good. It is absolutely safe to read or listen to any time. If we put His word into our minds then we not only know what is good but He can bring to our memory things we need to know at just the right times. On the contrary, if we put sinful things into our minds then it’s easier for the sinful things to pop into our heads. It would be better for us not to know anything about such things. Innocent of them. What we put in stays in and has an influence on everything we say and do! In this I have much work to do!! How about you?
Dear Jesus, give us the will and desire to stop putting in the bad things and start putting in the good! Help us to remember the good!

Stay strong in the Lord today!!

When I was little, I would wait with eager anticipation for my Dad to ask me to go to work with him. I had no idea what I was doing, but I wanted to be with him. I would mimic his every move and watch everything he was doing so I could copy it. There were things I couldn’t do because a 5 year old cannot do what a 40 year old can, but I would try. I loved to hear him say: “Good job Son!”
When we are called by God to follow Jesus, it is very much like me following Dad. First Peter 1:15-16 says: For just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy because I am holy.” What a privilege to be called by Jesus to follow him. How do we live up to His holiness? Well, it’s like me when I was little. I watched every move my Dad made and tried to copy it. We should do the same. We can find out about Jesus in the Bible. We won’t be holy like He is holy because of our limitations. However, we need to be always working towards the goal of our lives being shaped into the likeness of Jesus our Savior. Like His disciples who were far from holy when Jesus first called them, but gave their lives for Him as they matured, so must we, out of our appreciation of Him, work towards that same maturity! Do not get discouraged though as you strive towards that goal. Remember that He who has called us, loves us, and gave His life for us! One day we will hear him say: “Well done my child.” Oh what a day that will be!!
Thank you Father in heaven for being patient with us as we mimic you with our imperfect lives! Help us in our efforts to be holy like you are holy!

Have a blessed day my friends!!

How is the church perceived? Why do people go? What is the church exactly? What is the purpose of the church? Is church attendance really a big deal? What should the church look like according to God’s Word? Have you ever asked yourself any of these questions? If so, then you are not alone. Some of these questions, perhaps, even trouble the minds of some who go to church. For some time now, it has been on my heart to share with whoever may read this what God has pressed upon my heart about church as I have studied His Word.

If you ask ten people how they perceive church, then you would likely get ten different answers. I will not claim to be any kind of expert on the matter, but I am out in public a great deal, and I have had the opportunity to be in conversation with many different people. During some of these conversations I have heard people say things about church like: “Church is just a place to rid you of your money,” or “I don’t go to church because it’s full of hypocrites.” On a bit more of a positive note I have heard: “I just go for the great music,” or “Maybe if I get my church on now and then, I won’t go to hell.” Therefore, I ask myself this question: is this how people really see the church? If so, then why do people go to church at all? I have asked this question to people and these are some of the answers I’ve received:

• To get closer to God.
• So my children will have a moral foundation.
• To be a better person.
• For comfort in sorrow.
• To continue family tradition.
• Out of obligation (to a spouse, parent, etc.).
• To meet people or to network for my business.

No matter the reasons for going to church, the number of those attending regularly has dramatically declined in recent years. I live in a small town. I’ve lived here for most of 55 years. In that time, I have witnessed the closing of at least six churches due to lack of attendance in the small rural area around this town. Many whom I went to church with growing up no longer go to church at all. This is happening all across the nation!  Why do you think this is? Has the church failed?

The best way to find out why something isn’t working, in my opinion, is to go back to when it was working and compare what was happening then to what is happening now. If we are to do that with the church, then a great place to start is in God’s Word.In Acts 2:42-47, the church is described as follows:

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Sounds pretty good, but that’s not what the church looks like today.

Let’s take a bit of time to have a closer look at how the first believers “did church.” The first thing we see is their devotion. When I think of devotion, the best way for me to describe it is being all in putting everything you have into it. It says that they were devoted to the apostles’ teaching. In those days, the Bible, in its entirety, had not yet been written and also, many people couldn’t read so they relied on the apostles to teach them. We are fortunate to have the Bible in many ways here in America, from printed form to Bible apps. We have no excuse to not have God’s Word at our fingertips. If we wanted to, we could be reading the Bible at any pause we have all throughout the day. In those days, they would have to memorize it! That is still recommended today. They also met together to study together. Every day! Does that sound like devotion to you? How would being that devoted to studying God’s Word with others from church change your life and those whom you are around every day?

We also see that they were devoted to fellowship with one another. I truly believe that one of the most efficient tricks that the old serpent Satan has used against the church is leading us to believe that we are too busy to get together or that it’s simply not necessary. I hear it all the time and have even said it myself, “I barely have time for church once a week let alone more than that.” Does God expect us to meet every day? I can’t answer that, but I know that’s what they did in the early church and it worked! Acts 2:46 States: Every day they continued to meet in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts. If we are only together once a week, if that, then how can we build relationships with each other? How will we know each others’ needs? How will we know what to pray for?

We all have needs, whether it be a physical need, financial need, or even more important a spiritual need. We all have sin in our lives and in order to best be equipped to fight it we need each other. We need each other for prayer and accountability in order to grow in our lives with Christ.Hebrews 10:24-25 Says: And let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another- all the more as we see the Day approaching. Listen, I know we are all busy. I do. I also know that in those days they also had jobs and children and when they had to go somewhere they had to walk or ride animals and in the extreme cold or heat. We have all kinds of comfortable ways to travel and we can be most anywhere nearby in minutes. They chose to make each other a priority. We can too.

We also have something else they didn’t have, instant communication. At any given moment, we can email, text, Snapchat, instant message or even call our brothers and sisters in Christ with prayer requests, good news, praises, or asking for help! Can you name a single sin in any one person’s life that you know who has told you about it and asked you to pray about it? Have you shared yours with anyone? How can we grow as believers if we don’t make these connections, and where better than church to build these relationships? We are trying to live for Christ alone! That is not what God wants for us! Paul said in his letter to theThessalonians in 5:11: Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. Are we doing that? Jesus Himself said inMatthew 18:20:  For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them. If we are together then Jesus is with us! And in Ecclesiastes 4:9-10,Solomon shared: Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up! The truth is, we were created by God to have fellowship with both each other and Him!

This brings us to another important part of church: the breaking of bread. This term is used to refer to a command that Jesus gave to all of us. It was to remember Him, and not just Him but also what He has done for us. He gave His body to be tortured and abused and he gave His blood to atone for our sin. Our sin, not His. He didn’t have sin! Therefore, as a reminder of His broken body He gave us bread to eat together. Likewise, He also gave us wine to drink as a reminder of the blood He shed. He first gave this command to His disciples just before He went to the cross, but don’t make the mistake of thinking that it was only for them to do.First Corinthians 11:23-26 states:

For I received from the Lord what I also pass on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is my body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”

Just as Jesus took this bread and cup in fellowship with His followers that night, so we are to take it together today and until He comes! For me, personally, this is something I need to do often. I need to be reminded of all that I’ve been forgiven, and who made it possible and how! I think we can all use the reminder and besides, it’s another way to draw us closer together; that’s just what Jesus had in mind! The whole purpose for us being created in the first place was to bring God glory and for Him to have a people to Himself with whom He can have fellowship. What better way is there to give God glory amongst mankind than to love each other and remind each other of our Father’s love through His Son? Hence, church is also a place to remember.

This leads me to the final thought I have on the importance of meeting together with God’s people: the results. Have you ever wondered why, after you have trusted in Jesus as your Savior, He doesn’t just take you right to heaven then? If He died and rose again so that we can be forgiven and be with Him for all eternity, then why leave us here after we are saved? Why do we need to stay here with all of life’s troubles and sorrows and pain? The short answer: we are His ambassadors. We are a body of people who belong to God, the church, and it is through us that He reveals Himself to the world. We are to be an image of the love of God to all whom we meet in our lives. Paul wrote in Ephesians 3:10 : His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. In him and through him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.  It’s because we have work to do that he leaves us here for a time. If we, meaning the church, were to live our lives like they did in the early church, how would our world look today? If they could see God’s people living in community with one another, how would the perception of the church change?Acts 4:32-35states:

All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.

If we were fully dedicated to each other like what Luke described here, don’t you think that those who are out there who are lost and hurting, alone and forgotten, would come running to see what it was all about? The Lord would be so present in our lives that the power of His love in us would bring people to Him! Don’t believe me? Look at the last sentence of Acts 2: And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

I don’t know about you, but I can’t think of one single thing going on in my life that’s more important than this! Can you imagine your own life if you were a part of a family like this? How might your town change? How might the world change? It all starts with us! We can either buy the lie of the old serpent, or we can trust what we see in God’s Word and start getting together. Let’s start being the church Jesus wants us to be!

Do any of us really like to be ruled? If we are honest most of us would say no. I remember when my son was little he would get into things he wasn’t supposed to and when I would tell him no he would close his eyes and his whole body would shiver. He didn’t like to be ruled. We just don’t like it do we? However, we are all ruled by something whether we like it or not. From birth we are ruled by our natural instinct and that instinct is evil. I know! We don’t like hearing that we are evil. From the moment of Adam’s sin when he ate the fruit that God told him not to, all humans born after were born with a sin nature. It is that nature that rules us from birth. We do not have to be ruled by that nature though. Paul writes in Romans 6:11-14: In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore, do not let sin rule in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

Jesus came here to give us a way to come out from under this rule of our sin nature and to live under the rule of His grace. When we give our life to Him, we are transformed from our sin nature, which is death, to a new nature that is life! The very Spirit of God comes to live in us and our life should begin to change, no longer living in our old sinful manner but rather, living as to please our Heavenly Father. Being ruled by a loving Savior is better by far than being ruled by the harsh master that leads to death! What master do you serve? Choose life my friends! Choose Jesus! Thank you Father for sending your only Son to give us life!

Have a blessed day my friends!!

For a long time I have had a few things that I’ve wanted to do but instead of just doing them, I say to myself that I’m too busy right now. I’ll do it one of these days when things slow down. Will I? Will I live to see that day? Will you live to see the day that you can do “that thing”. Listen, none of us know the day that is our last day. If God is pressing something on our hearts to do, then why do we wait? In Psalm 90:12 the author writes: teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
Gain a heart of wisdom. If we were to wake up every day, and appreciate that God allowed us to be here another day, and out of appreciation we would do what he wants us to do first, before we do anything else, and as we do everything else, as if it were our last day, then I think we would be starting to gain that heart of wisdom. If we put off doing good, that is just as much a sin as doing something we know is wrong! Dear Lord, teach us to number our days. Help us to gain a heart of wisdom and to do your work with vigor as though today was our last!!
Have a great day!! Much love to you my friends!!

I know I’ve talked about this before, but I believe it’s worth a second look. So often, when hard times come, or even just common concerns pop up in life, I will exhaust every effort of my own before taking it to God in prayer! I know I’m not alone in this! Why?? God loves us and our concerns in life are important to him! And he is the only one who has the true power to do anything at all about it no matter what it is! Now I know that or at least I think I do, but if I do, then why is going to him my final move? I Think sometimes we forget how powerful God is. We don’t study him enough to keep that knowledge in our hearts! This morning I ran across a verse that reminded me once again of just how powerful God is and how he uses his people to display it sometimes. Listen to this. Acts 19:11-12 God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him, were taken to the sick and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them! Did you hear that??
If God can take a handkerchief, and give it healing powers just by touching a common man, then imagine what else he can do! Don’t get me wrong, Paul was a man of God. A true believer and follower of Jesus, but still a man, that is a human, just like us! So why do we think that our prayers cannot be answered? Listen friends: we have access to God our Father, who has all power and endless resources, to do all that we ask of him, as long as we are asking in his will, and in the name of Jesus! Let us not make him our last resort but instead our go to for all requests and not forgetting to take all of our praise to him and thanks as well!!
Father, I am sorry that as your servant I have failed to recognize your power. I often forget what you can do and have done! Thank you for your word and the Spirit that you have given to us that reminds us of all you are!!
Have a glorious day!!

There are those in life that seem to go unnoticed. Just ordinary folks living life like everyone else but for whatever reason, people don’t take note of them. I’m sure that they feel lonely and unloved. But they are noticed. God sees them. He sees all of us and he sees what we do. Nothing is out of his sight. In Acts chapters 9&10 you can read the story of two such people. Tabitha was a lady who was a good person and always doing good things for the poor. She died but God took notice of the help she had given to the poor. When his servant Peter prayed for her God brought her back to life and many believed in Jesus that day.
Another was a man named Cornelius. He also gave to the poor and was a Godly man. God saw the good he had done and even though he was a gentile(non Jew) he sent his servant Peter to tell him about the salvation of Jesus. Gentiles were believed to be the worst in those days! But he was saved and his whole house with him that day.
All of us are sinners in need of salvation. We are all unworthy, but Jesus came and gave his life, then came to life again, so that we could be saved. Not all of us have been good or given to the poor but God sees us. He loves us and if we are seeking him like Tabitha, and Cornelius, he will come. It doesn’t matter if we are seen by the men if the earth. It only matters that we are seen by the man from heaven. Jesus!! Lord God, thank you for seeing us and not forgetting us!! Thank you for your salvation!!

Feeling low? Raise up your head my friend. You are seen by the Almighty!!

We have a front load washing machine. One of the things the salesman told us when we purchased it was to drain and clean the filter often, and wipe the door seal down every few loads. Well at first, me being me, didn’t think it was that important. I kept the outside all wiped down but forgot about the filter and seal. After awhile it began to stink! Like it was gross!! Then I remembered what he had told us( my wife told me). So I cleaned the inside seal and drained the filter. In Matthew 23:25-28 Jesus was talking about the “religious leaders” of that day. He compared them to a cup that had only been cleaned on the outside but the inside was still dirty. Cleaning the inside was more important. He also used a tomb as an example. They kept the grave stones cleaned and looking nice but the inside was full of dead bones!
He wasn’t talking about cups and tombs though. He was talking about them. And us. If we only have the appearance of being holy, like going to church and giving to the poor and so on, but inside our hearts we are still wicked, like hating our neighbor or coveting their stuff and so on, then we are only holy in appearance. We are not clean at all! like my washing machine, we stink!! What good does it do for us to do all the “religious stuff” if we are not changing what’s going on inside? Jesus says in verse 26 to first clean the inside of the cup and the outside will be clean as well. In other words, if we are truly working on changing our hearts to be hearts that love God and his word, then how we are perceived won’t be fake but real!! Dear Lord, forgive us for being hypocrites!! Teach us by your word to be clean inside and out!!
Merry Christmas my friends!! Remember that Jesus is the one who put the Christ in Christmas. There is no x.

We all have questions. Even the wisest have questions. We also have doubts. I know I do. It’s easy to say that I believe in something but when it’s put to the test? That’s when the truth comes out! All humans face doubt. John the Baptist was a man that was foretold about. God had a plan for him many years before he was even born. The Spirit of God was with him from birth and his purpose in life was to announce the coming of the Messiah. Jesus. And he did just that! He was unwavering in his mission. But he was human. He was arrested and put into prison. They weren’t nice like the prisons today. He was awaiting his death. When your feet are put to the flames so to speak, the mind begins to go into hyper speed and you start to question and doubt. In those times we need reassurance. John was no different. We learn in Matthew 11:1-12 that John had begun to doubt. So he sent some of his followers to find out if Jesus really was the messiah. Now Jesus could have been harsh and said that John had lost his faith and forgot who he was. But that’s not what happened. Jesus gently reassured him and spoke very highly of him.
I don’t know if John was questioning himself and whether he had announced the wrong man or what but I know I wouldn’t have done any better under his circumstances!! In my life, my feet have been put to the flame and I have had questions and doubts! But where do we go to find reassurance? John went to the source! Jesus. We have God’s word to go to. Maybe we need to ask a friend to help us like John did. We need to remind each other that Jesus is still with us. That he will come again just as he promised. All of us will experience hardship on this earth. All of us will doubt. But we have a Savior that loves us and will never leave us!! Thank you Emanuel (God with us) for loving us even when we question and doubt! Help us to remember that you are the Messiah and that nothing will stop you from coming on that Day!!
Have a great day!!

Have you ever had this voice in your head that says to do something or maybe not to do something? And then have you done just the opposite of what that voice said? And then another voice says hey You just did what I said not to. Why is the second voice so much louder than the first one? They are the same voice. God gives us warnings when we are about to do something wrong and he urges us to do what is right. He also reminds us when we have done wrong. Peter is a good example of how God works in us today. In Luke 22:54-62 Jesus tells Peter that he would deny knowing him three times. Peter didn’t think he would. In his mind he would follow Jesus to death. But when Jesus was arrested and Peter followed behind , some recognized him and when they asked about it, Peter denied knowing him. In the moment, I’m not sure Peter even realized what he had done. In verse 61 though it says that the Lord turned and looked straight at Peter and then he remembered that the Lord had told him what he would do. He was then aware of his sin. Peter had Jesus with him physically. We do not. But we have the Holy Spirit. He works the same way. In our inner self he speaks to us. And in that place he looks at us. And then we are aware. And yes sometimes we weep bitterly just like Peter did! But just like Peter, we are forgiven! Jesus didn’t just look at him to make him feel bad. He did it so that Peter would learn from it and mature into the incredible man that Jesus knew he could be. And he did. And that is just what Jesus wants from you and me. He loves us just like he did Peter. So when you hear that voice, take heart !! For the Lord is with you!! Thank you Jesus for looking into our hearts and showing us what you see and for helping us to grow and mature into who you want us to be!!
Be joyful today! God is with you!!

Yesterday my youngest daughter asked me what repent means. It was a good question. Many think it’s going to God for forgiveness. While that is true in part, I think there’s more there. Going to God for forgiveness I would say is more confession and talking with him in a conversation about it. Repent means to turn around or to change direction. It’s a change of mind and heart. To put it in young people terms, it’s flippin the script. My favorite example of repentance from the Bible is in Luke19:1-9 Zacchaeus was a tax collector. Not everyone’s favorite and especially back then. He was short and he climbed a tree to see Jesus coming because he couldn’t see over the crowd. Jesus called him down and told him he would like to come to his house to eat. After meeting Jesus, Zacchaeus, who likely had been a dishonest man , gave half of all he had to the poor and vowed to pay back all who he had cheated 4 times the amount. That is repentance!! It was a total turn from his normal. Jesus wasn’t just another man to him. He was now his Lord, and he was so grateful for Jesus loving him that he was ready to completely change the direction of his life!!
Change is one of the most difficult things in life, but to follow Christ, it is non negotiable. We must repent. We must change! Let’s follow in the footsteps of the sinful tax collector and turn our lives around for the one who gave his life for us!! Dear Jesus, you are not just a man to us!! Help us to repent not just with words but with our actions as well!!
Today is the day the Lord has made! Rejoice, and be glad in it!!

I’m about to tell you about a personal sin I have. I’m telling you in hopes that if you too have this sin then maybe together we can overcome it. I have this bad habit of observing a persons life and deciding whether or not to talk to them about Jesus. I’ll say to myself,” this person has always been this way or that and they don’t want to hear about Jesus.” That is terrible!! It’s like saying that Jesus can’t possibly save that person!! Who am I to say that!! I’m just a sinner myself. Nothing anyone else has done is any worse than me. The truth is we all fall short. We all are hopeless. But Jesus came and gave his life for such as us. In Luke 18: 18-30 Jesus tells about a rich man who asked him how to get to heaven. After telling him to sell all that he had and follow him the man went away sad. Jesus said it was as hard for the rich to get into heaven as it is for a camel to enter the eye of a needle. Those listening asked “how then can anyone be saved?” Listen to what Jesus says to them. He said “ what is impossible with man is possible with God!”
We have no way of knowing what’s in the heart of another person. How God is working in their lives! He told us who have been saved his grace to share the good news with others. He didn’t say to pick and chose who we think are worthy candidates. Only he knows the heart. I’m so wrong for ever assuming that I could tell if someone would except the truth of Jesus or reject it. That is Gods business!! My friends in Christ, will you join me in the battle against this prideful behavior and let’s pray for each other to be willing to share the good news of Jesus’ salvation to all we meet? Dear Jesus, I have sinned in my arrogance. Forgive me and others like me who have assumed we know who will accept you and who will reject you!! Help us to be open to share your great love with whoever you place in our lives and leave the saving to you, the only one who has made it possible!! Amen. Amen. Amen!!
Much love y’all

Have you ever put limits on what you ask God for in prayer? Like maybe you would ask for a friend to be cured if an illness but you won’t ask for help getting a job. Just an example. I know I’m guilty of this. I can’t honestly tell you why. It could be pride. We all like to think that we can provide for ourselves don’t we? I’m not bothering God with my stuff. I got this! Or maybe it’s a lack of understanding of God’s power and resources. Both of these are a poor way of thinking. Whatever the reason is for us not asking, we are wrong for not asking!! God wants us to rely on him. To communicate with him. In Luke 11:1-11 Jesus had been praying and after he had finished, his disciples asked him to teach them how to pray. He told them about a man who went to a friend late at night to ask for bread to feed a guest. The friend was already in bed with his children and told him he couldn’t give it to him. Jesus told them that even though they were friends, he wouldn’t get the bread, but because he was bold enough to ask for it, he would go ahead and give it to him.
Sometimes I think we miss out on some good things because we rely some much on our own selves and not enough on our God. If we are bold enough to ask and patient enough to wait, then we will see God do many things in our lives and the lives of others. But first we must be willing to ask. He loves us. If we love him and ask for things that we know are in his will then most certainly we will see him doing things in our lives which should give us cause to praise him and share with others his goodness!! Dear Father, help us to lose our pride and rely on you for everything!! Teach us to recognize your work in our lives and help us to give you the praise you deserve!!!
So often we want to see God. If we rely on him for everything then we can see him in every good thing!!
I pray that today you will be blessed!!

So I have a question. How seriously do you take your sin? I know, it’s like WOW he started off positive today!! But really. Have you considered the impact it has on your heart, mind and even your physical health? Have you considered how it affects your family and friends? Well, it’s sad for me to say this but at times, in fact often, I don’t take my sin near as serious as I should. I remember when I got divorced. It wasn’t long after when I realized the trama that my sin had caused in so many peoples lives that I love so much!! It was a weight too heavy to bear. Jesus was my only hope. In Luke 7:36-50 A sinful woman came to Jesus as he was eating as a guest in someone’s house. She cried and used her tears to wash his feet. She used her hair to dry them and then poured expensive perfume on them. She never stopped kissing his feet as she sat there. Her sin had become much too heavy to bear!! But she went to him. Can you see how much sorrow she had over her sin? How humble she was and how much love she expressed to the one who could save her? Jesus told his host about two men who owed a man money, one owed only a little bit the other owed a lot. The man forgave both mens debt. He asked him which one would love him more? He answered the one who owed him much!!
All of us have sinned. Some, like me, have sinned much! But the real question here is how do you see your sin? Is it no big deal? Or is it too heavy too carry? Either way, Jesus is the one we have sinned against and he is ready to forgive. How do I know that? Because he has forgiven me. Just like he forgave her. Listen to what he says to her: vs 48 & 50 Jesus said to her, “your sins are forgiven. Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.” Did you hear that!! We can all have this if only we trust and believe. Believe we are sinners in need of forgiveness and that Jesus is the one who can forgive and save us!! Dear Jesus, today I just want to say thank you. Thank you for being our God who forgives and saves!!

Have you wept at Jesus’ feet? It’s not too late!! Love you all! Hope your day goes well!!

So if I woke up this morning and decided I was a brain surgeon, how many of you would come to me for your brain surgery needs? What? Why not? I mean if I claim to be a brain surgeon then I must be one right? Wrong! So I guess there must be a need for some kind of foundation for me to claim to be something. I can’t just say it? How many of us claim to be the Lord’s people but have no foundation? Luke 6:46-49 talks about those who claim to be the Lord’s people. The first group are those who hear his word and then put it into practice. The other hears his word but then forget what it says. He compares these two with buildings. One building has a solid foundation on solid rock and when it storms the house stands. But the other was just build on top of the ground and when it storms the house is destroyed.
How can we expect to withstand the temptations and hardships of life that most certainly will come to all of us, if we don’t have a solid foundation? How do we do this? Study Gods word, then apply it to our lives. Fellowship with other believers so that we can know each other and help each other with our weaknesses and sins. And finally prayer. The constant communication with our Heavenly Father! Without these essential, foundational practices put into use in our lives we cannot expect to withstand all that life throws at us. We are just claiming to be something we are not. Heavenly Father, we claim to be your children, but so often we give our time to everything else and neglect to do the most import things that you have given us to do that are for our good and your glory!! Help us to start making you our priority instead of ourselves!
Love y’all! Have a good day!

Over the past couple of years our nation has become divided. Not just one division but divided on any number of things. Political views, views on race, gender, sexual preferences, vaccinate or don’t, wear masks or don’t, and the list goes on and on. As concerning as this is, there’s something more disturbing that’s been happening. Those who call themselves Christians being hateful not just to those outside of Christianity but also to each other. Those who bear the name of Christ talking trash about whatever they are against and those who follow it. Listen, I’m not innocent here. I’ve caught myself saying things that should have stayed unsaid. We are supposed to be representing Christ. His ambassadors. How can we expect the world to change if we are acting like the world. Don’t like what I’m saying? Well Luke recorded some of Jesus words in chapter 6:27-36. It’s a lot so I won’t put it all here but please look it up and read it. I’ll hit a couple of the highlights. 27 love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 31 do to others as you would have them do to you. (I remember that one well because when I was a kid, I hurt someone’s feelings and my Dad made me write it 2000 times neatly. )32 If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that!
All these words that Jesus spoke were reminders to those of us that claim to belong to him to act according to his example! He did not agree with the political system of his day but he didn’t trash talk it or run them down. He proved his power and strength by loving people. Yes even his enemies. And he has enemies! He didn’t just say these words, he lived them. While nailed to the cross in unimaginable pain, he prayed for his enemies and said, “ Father forgive them for they no not what they do.” So today, I remind myself and those of you who are my brothers and sisters in Christ, to live as Jesus lived. Love as Jesus loved. No it’s not easy, but listen to the end result..35 But love your enemies, do good to them, lend to them without expecting anything back. Then your reward will be great and you will be the children of the Most High because he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked!!!
Dear Father, help us to follow your example. Help us to be kind to those who oppose us and love those who hate us!!
Have a great day.

Is it just me or does everyone need a little alone time? Time to just be by yourself without all the noise. Don’t get me wrong. I love people, but they can be a lot. I can too. Just ask my wife!! If you get that time what do you do with it? With the demands that life continually places on us, we all need to retreat to a quiet place and just be. Jesus, even though he is God, did the same. What did he do with his time when he got alone? Luke 5:16 But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.
Jesus was healing people and casting out demons and preaching and when he was completely spent he needed to be alone. But he wasn’t alone. He sought the company of his Heavenly Father. He prayed. Praying is sometimes just being with our Heavenly Father. Fellowship time. Only with him we can be who we are and it’s okay. No special face. Just us. We can say anything to him. It won’t shock him. Just being alone with him for a few minutes is more restful than a nights sleep. For believers, life is a battle. And warriors get tired. They need rest. We all do. Have you taken time to go hide and just be with your Savior? Dear Father, help us to follow the example of Jesus and go to lonely places and pray!!

Have a good day. Take some time to be with the one who loves you. It will change your day!!

If someone were to ask you if you were a good person, how would you respond? For years, I lived my life like anyone else would. I got up in the morning and went about my day. If you would have asked me then if I was a good man I most certainly would have answered yes! I would have said something like, I work hard and pay my bills and take care of my family! Yes I’m a good man! Peter most likely would have said the same thing. He was a fisherman by trade and he worked hard every day. But one day something happened that changed his life forever. A man named Jesus borrowed his boat. He then took them out on the water to fish and gave them a catch of a lifetime. It was a miracle catch. Listen to how Peter responded. Luke 5:8 When Simon Peter saw this he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “ go away from me Lord for I am a sinful man. “.
Did you notice that Peter became aware of how sinful he was in the presence of Jesus? Why? Jesus is holy. He is the light. Light exposes darkness. Holiness exposes sin. It’s no wonder people reject Jesus. No person wants to see themselves as sinful or bad. I know I didn’t. But Jesus came to Peter. He wanted to change Peters life for the better. And he did. He has changed my life too. Yes, I had to face the ugly fact that I am a sinful man. I became very aware of it. I still am. But Jesus has forgiven me. He comes to us because he loves us. I think that when we are most aware of a sin in our life we can be encouraged. Why? Because that’s when we know Jesus is near. He hasn’t left us. He is active and working in our lives. When we sin, we may push him away. Like Peter, we don’t want him near because of our sin. But Jesus doesn’t go anywhere! Thank you Jesus for showing us our sin and reminding us of your presence and activity in our lives!!
Have a great day my friends!!

It’s hard for me to understand sometimes as I ponder about God, and heaven, how I could be known by heaven and those who dwell there. It seems to me like a far away place. And who am I that the God of the universe would know me? Well, I am human. I only know human things. I only know what is here on earth. But we do have Gods word. The Bible. We can know things about God from it because that was his way of showing us who he is and how much we mean to him. Today, once again, he has revealed himself to me in the most simple of ways through one verse I have probably read a hundred times. But today it was different. Luke 1:30 But the angel said to her, Mary; you have found favor with God.
Now that doesn’t seem like much does it? Let me explain why this means so much to me today. Gabriel, an angel, was sent by God to a girl named Mary to tell her she would give birth to Jesus. Mary, who loved God, probably had the same thoughts as me. Yet when God sent Gabriel to her, he knew where she was. He went right to her. Have you ever considered that God and his angels know right where you are? And notice what the angel said to her when she was afraid. Mary. He said Mary. Do you get what I’m saying here? He knew her by name. Heaven knows every one of us. Where we are. Who we are. We are not insignificant to those who dwell in heaven. Those of us who follow Christ, trusted in him for forgiveness, and live for him, are citizens of heaven!! I find so much peace in knowing that God and his angels know me by name!! They know you too!! Just that thought alone should give us reason to praise him today!! Thank you Father who dwells in heaven, for knowing us. For knowing where we are! For knowing us by name!!
I hope that each of you know how important you are! If God knows our names then we should recognize our worth and love each other accordingly!!
Have a good day.

I had a friend tell me one time that the only thing in life we can count on is change. We can be rolling along in life and things are going pretty good and out of nowhere life throws you a curve. A thing that changes your life. Maybe for a moment. Like the flu or covid or a broken bone or something. Maybe a financial setback. Or. It may change your life forever. Like a friend or family member passing. Either way, change is uncomfortable. I think we all like a change of scenery but we like to come home. That comfort of the familiar. But it’s not always there because nothing in our physical world is a guarantee. So what can we truly count on that never changes? What is that place of comfort we can always return to? Psalm 100:4-5 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.
If we woke up tomorrow and our house was taken away (been there due to house fire) or we had no food in the cabinets, or our bank account was empty or our loved one died or you fill in the blank of what awful thing could happen to change your life, we still can be thankful. That’s right! I said we can be thankful. Why? Because the Lord and his love endures. It didn’t say it endured. Past tense. It says it endures. It continues. Through all generations. Yes even ours! It’s that familiar place, only this one can’t burn or spoil or rot or die. If we had absolutely nothing in this world but that, we still have a reason to be thankful. In fact, that is the reason to be thankful. Without God, we would have never experienced the good things in this life that we enjoy! This thanksgiving, I think I just want to be thankful for God. For his son Jesus. Just because they are who they are. Lord, so often we take for granted that the good things in this life will always be there. But even our own life can end in a moment. All we truly have in this life that lasts is you! Thank you for being you!!!
I just want to say that I hope you all have a good thanksgiving. Maybe the holidays are not a good time for some of you. I get it. But remember the Lord. He is faithful. He is here. And always will be!! Much love!!

When Jesus was on trial , Pilot dressed him in a scarlet robe. Scarlet was a royal color to the Romans second only to purple. Pilot did this to make fun of him calling him the king of the Jews. Little did he know that Jesus is King of all!! Later while Jesus was hanging in agony on the cross he wore our sins. An interesting fact is that the color scarlet also represents sin. Isaiah 1:18 come now, let us settle the matter , says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be as wool.
Jesus was wearing every sin, past, present and future, of everyone of us like a scarlet robe. He was covered in our shame so that we could be forgiven. Once forgiven, we then would be considered clean. White was the color that represented clean. So now , even though we still sin, although not habitually, we are as white as snow. Clean. Forgiven. If that doesn’t rock your world I don’t know what would!! Thank you Jesus for wearing our shame and sin so that we could be made clean!!
Have a blessed day!!

I know I’m not the only one who doesn’t like the direction that our nation is going. I do my fair share of complaining about those in power. So far I haven’t seen any results in any of my complaints!! So if complaining doesn’t work then what do we do? Is it just me or does anyone else feel powerless to affect change? Well, I have good news. This morning I was reading the Bible and like always, I found an answer. 1 Timothy 2:1-2 I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people – for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.
We pray for those who are sick and for our friends and family and even for ourselves but how often do we pray for those in our government? How many of us take the time to learn the names of those in power and then pray for them? I know I don’t but I should. We all should. Don’t you think that if all of us as believers took the time to learn their names and pray for them that God would respond? I know he would! We should even pray or especially pray for those in our local governments. And school boards. We really can affect how things are going in our nation but we need to build up the callouses on our knees in prayer. Prayer can be work. Exhausting even, but it is a vital part of our lives for those who follow Christ! Even Christ himself prayed! Father in heaven, help us to complain less and pray more! I pray for our leaders today. They have so many things to do, I pray that they will do them well and that you will guide their decisions and votes and even their thoughts, so we can live peaceful, quiet lives in godliness and holiness! Amen!!
Have a great day dear friends!

Long live the king! These words were often yelled out in ancient times whenever the king came to town. Especially if it was a good king. He had the people’s loyalty and they would live under his protection. They would do nothing to undermine the image of their king. In fact they would fight to protect it!
Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords. There is none greater than him. Now if you have believed in him and been saved then you are part of his kingdom. So we have a responsibility to the King to lift up his name. To live our lives, even in our innermost self, in loyalty to him because we live under his protection. And we have a dangerous enemy, satan, who is always looking to attack! Every moment of our day should be a moment of thankfulness to our great King. 1 Peter 2:9 says: But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, Gods special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of the darkness and into his wonderful light!
We are to declare his praises. This means we should live our lives that others can see the goodness of our King. Jesus!! Long live the King!! Help us Lord to live our lives worthy of your calling!!
Corrie Ten Boom, a Holocaust survivor once prayed, “Lord you died for me; what can I do for you?” We should pray this together today.
Have a great day

It’s very normal human behavior to put people in classes or groups. And then it’s also normal to get into the group that makes us feel the most comfortable. It’s like the intro to the sitcom cheers. Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name. And their always glad you came. It’s true. Sadly most people would feel more comfortable in a bar than church. The class system is even in church. No matter where you go the “regulars” always have their section they sit in and maybe even their seats. It’s kinda fun to sit in someone’s seat and watch them figure out where to sit!! Not nice though so please don’t. My question is this: is it okay to separate in the church? Let’s see what our brother Paul says. In Romans 12:14-16 he writes: Bless those who persecute you;bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.
Listen, I’m not gonna tell you that I’m mr perfect here and always just love and accept everybody. What I am gonna tell you is that I should. If we never step out of our comfort zone and build relationships with people , and yes even people in a different group than us,no matter what that group is, then how can we share the love of Christ? It’s easy to talk about Jesus with others who believe and are in our own “class”. But we are not to segregate ourselves especially with arrogance. So someone less fortunate than us or more fortunate than us or different colored than us or different sexual preferences than us or on and on; do they not also have the same right to know Jesus as we do? And how will they get to know him and the good news of salvation if we always distance ourselves? Jesus himself always went to the hated and the outcasts of society and befriended them. Shouldnt we? Dear Father in heaven, oh how we need your help! Help us to study your word. Help us to study you and then go out and love people like you love people!!
Love someone today that you normally wouldn’t. It may surprise you what a friend they may be!!

I have come to realize that I can butcher the English language as good as anyone. That in itself is bad enough but there’s something that I do that is worser(my wife just cringed). There are certain words that are intended to be for God. Like awesome. And holy. Now I know what they mean as a description of our Lord. And because he is above all I should only use these words when I’m talking about him. But instead I say things like “that pie was awesome!”. Or “holy cow did you see that! “. So often we give little to no thought about the words we chose or what they mean. I know that when I do that it’s just me not being mindful or alert to what I am saying. 1 Peter 1:13-16 Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace that is to be brought to you when Christ is revealed at his coming. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you were living in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, be holy in all you do; for it is written: be holy because I am holy.
It’s safe to say that all humans have room for improvement and among humans I have the most room! We should all be mindful of our words but especially those of us who claim to serve Christ. After all, he deserves it. He is truly awesome! He is truly holy! Thank you Lord for your servant Peter, who wrote down these words to remind us. I know that he too struggled but you helped him grow to maturity and I’m asking that you will help us grow mature as well!
Be well and stay alert! Let’s choose our words wisely today!

We live in a world today that questions everything. Some question their gender. Some Their sexuality. Others question why they are even here. Why they exist. Many wonder about their purpose in life. Absolute truth is something that a vast majority of people don’t believe in. Even the existence of God is questioned. I can understand that if God didn’t exist, then truth wouldn’t exist. And if there is no truth then everything in life could be called into question. Our very existence would have no meaning. How sad that would be!! In John 14:6 Jesus was talking to his disciple Thomas, who doubted and questioned a lot of things. He said: I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
So how do we come to a knowledge of truth and of Jesus? One must trust and believe by faith first of all. But then Jesus explains to us in John 14:15-16 If you love me keep my commands. And I will ask the Father and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever- the Spirit of truth. You see, truth does exist, but our human minds need help understanding. God knows this so he gives us the Holy Spirit to help us come to understand. Once we do that then all of life begins to make sense. I know it is true because I’ve experienced it in my own life! Thank you God for answering so many of our questions!!
Have a wonderful day!!

Christians who truly follow Christ and live by his word are among the most hated people on earth. Funny. If we are living like we should we would be the first to feed you when your hungry. The first to clothe you if you had nothing to wear. The one to bandage your wounds even if your our enemy. We are taught to love those who hate us. We are taught to do good and not evil. So why are we hated? Well Jesus himself was hated. He healed people everywhere he went. He promised to forgive them and give them a place in eternity if only they would believe in him. So why are we surprised when we are hated? He lives in us! If they hated him then yes they will hate us! We live in a world that calls sin and shameful things good and calls good evil. You know what? I’m not surprised. What bothers me is when we live our lives so much like them that it’s hard to tell the difference! Those who call us haters will never know the love of Christ if we hate them back! If we retaliate eveytime we are spoken against then how are we any better? How is that showing them Jesus? Did he do that when they spit on him? Beat him? Insulted him? Hung him on a cross? What did he say on the cross to his Father? Send them all to hell!!!? No. He said this: Father forgive them for they know not what they do. That is the attitude we are to have! And yes even when we are hated. Especially when we are hated!! Remember this; before we knew him we hated him too! Thank you Lord for forgiving us. Thank you for your sacrifice and not only that but showing us how we should live among those who despise us.
Love your enemy and be good to them! Have a great day!!

One of the great troubles in the mind of the American Christian is the subject of suffering. It’s hard to understand why some are allowed to suffer but then others to have blessing upon blessing. What if suffering was a blessing and blessings were a curse? What if we, as followers of Christ here in America, have it all wrong? I know that in my mind I cringe at the thought of suffering. I think we all do. But if we truly believe then we should know that suffering here is only for a short time. Heaven awaits. And it’s better by far than here. It is written by the historian Eusebius that Peter, the apostle of Christ, was executed under king Nero. First he was made to watch his wife executed and then it was his turn. Listen to how this went down. As he watched his wife led out to be killed he rejoiced as she was called home by her Lord and he called out to her by name encouraging her to remember him! Then when it was his turn they were going to hang him on a cross like Jesus. He asked them to hang him with his feet towards heaven because he wasn’t worthy to be hung as his Savior Jesus was.
Peter in his maturity rejoiced and considered it a privilege to suffer. Many others before and after him have suffered greatly for the name of Jesus. It’s happening today! As I’m writing this 17 followers of Christ are suffering from the hands of a gang in Haiti. 5 of them are children. Are we mature enough to rejoice in suffering? If you were to ask me I’m not sure I am. Dear Father, many suffer and die and it’s hard for us to understand. But we ask that if suffering were to come to us that we would rejoice at the privilege and give you praise because we know that it’s nothing compared to the life that awaits us!!
Have a great day. Love y’all

I wonder how many times in the span of one day we use the words I, me, or my? I’m sure it’s a lot. I know I do. We are all consumed with ourselves and most of us don’t even know it. Mom used to tell me that the order of importance in our lives should be Jesus, others, then you. Notice you is last. I wish I could say that I’ve lived by this rule but most days I haven’t. It wasn’t just my Moms theory. Paul wrote about it. Philippians 2:3-4 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interest of others.
You might say you can see in this reading that it talks about others but where’s the Jesus. In the next few verses it describes how Jesus, being God, came here and suffered for us and not with himself in mind. He was a servant to us by taking our deserved punishment onto himself!! Would we do that?? He is our great example of selfless behavior. Maybe what we need in our lives is a lot less me and more thee! Lord help us to follow you example by serving others more than we serve ourselves!!
Be a friend to someone today.

Mom used to tell me to “ watch my mouth”. I would look cross eyed down my nose with my lips stuck out snd say “I can’t even see my mouth. How can I watch it?” I knew what she meant though. We live in a world these days where people are hyper sensitive and so easily offended. It’s no wonder too. We don’t seem to love each other much. We say whatever comes to mind without regard for the other person. Is it even possible to speak the truth to someone these days? Well, on our own, probably not. With Gods help, yes. It’s not a new problem though this watching our mouths. Many many years ago, King David wrote a prayer asking for help with this very thing. Psalm 141:3 Set a guard over my mouth Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.
The Lord said of David that he was a man after his own heart and even he couldn’t watch his own mouth!! So he asked God to help him. Oh how I must ask God to help me with this!! How bout you? My Dad used to say “the least said, the least mended” which he got from his Dad. Wise words. But we do need to speak. We must share Christ with others. How we do it is where we need God. Truth, in all truth, is offensive, so it doesn’t need our help. It’s easy for us to use our sarcasm and attitude that stems from our inner pride. Instead we should, with Gods help, speak truth with the kindness and love that comes from the Holy a Spirit that lives in us. Lord, like your servant David, we ask you to guard our mouths and keep watch over the door of our lips. Help us not to speak evil but only what you would have us say!
Be kind and enjoy your day my friends!!

When I was a kid I went with my Dad on saturdays to do whatever the day might bring. Most of my friends watched cartoons. Now and then when it rained I would too. One of my favorites was foghorn leghorn. There seemed to always be an argument about who was a hawk and who was a chicken. Leghorn was always quick to point out that dogs don’t look like chickens and hawks can’t be no chicken. It was good for a laugh. It’s true though. A dog can’t ge a chicken and neither can a hawk. Some of us get confused at times too. Like Christians. I am a Christian. I follow Christ and have trusted him to save me. But sometimes I wonder why he doesn’t use me in a mighty way like those great men and women in the Bible. I read this morning Romans 12:2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what Gods will is-his good pleasing and perfect will.
If we profess to be followers of Jesus but we live like the devil then how can we expect God to use us for his glory? We must change our thinking from the old way of life we once lived and start living life according to the way Jesus lived his life. We find that in his word, the Bible. We should read it daily! And not just read it but do what it says! (James1:22)How can we be hawks when we look like chickens? God will only use us when we are seeking his will and not our own. Thank you Lord for giving us these reminders from your word so that we can be a people living in your will to bring you the glory you do richly deserve!
Love y’all! Have a good day today!

I am a daydreamer. It’s true. I admit it. Sometimes that’s not all bad. Have you ever asked someone what they are thinking about and they said “nothing”. I can’t think of a single time in my life when I was awake that my mind was not working. I like to dream of what heaven and the new earth will be like. We don’t really know but we know it’ll be good. It used to worry me that I might get bored. Jesus gave three men a glimpse of what being in his presence in heaven will be like. In Matthew 17 the first few verses tell us that he took Peter, James, and John up a high mountain. There Jesus was transfigured into his glorified body like he will be in heaven and he was accompanied by Moses and Elijah. The verse that really grabbed me was verse four. Peter said to Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here.
There Peter was on a mountain. No luxuries of any kind. He had been with Jesus for awhile up to this point. So why was he saying it was good to be here? Jesus revealed his true glory to those men. Jesus in his gloried state is enough. Enough for us to be good wherever we are. Being with him will be the very climax of our lives and it will be the very best part of heaven. Colossians 3:2 tells us to keep our minds son things above and not on things of earth. If we are going to daydream, I think dreaming of Jesus and setting our minds on the things that he wants for us is the best daydream we can have. Often I dream of the next best thing I can gain here on earth only to get bored with that once I get it, but being with Jesus will not disappoint! He is with us now in our heart but one day we will see him in all his glory and we will join Peter and say “ it is good for us to be here!!” Thank you Jesus for coming here and giving your life for ours! We look forward in our thoughts to being with you in person. Help us to strive to be like you here on earth!!
Have a great day! Dream of Jesus.

Some believe to live outside the law is to be truly free. But is it? If I were to steal or rape or commit violent acts without regard for the law it is true that I’m doing what I want but wouldn’t I always be looking over my shoulder wondering where the police are? Is that really freedom? Living in sin outside the grace of God is no different. Yes we do what we want but is it really freedom? Romans 6:20-23 When you were slaves to sin you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things lead to death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefits you reap leads to holiness, and the result leads to eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our a lord!
So we can either be slave to sin that gives us a false idea if freedom that leads to death eternal apart from God or anything good, or we can choose to be slaves to God which actually sets us free and leads ultimately to eternal life in the very presence of God! I remember when I used to smoke. I couldn’t go anywhere without my cigarettes. I had to have them. I thought I was free because I was doing what I wanted. But the truth is I was bound to them. Those cigarettes were my master and were killing me little by little! Don’t be tricked by the illusion of sin! Only God, through his Son, can set you free! Thank you for the reminder Lord that being slave to you is the only true freedom!!
Be the blessing in someone’s life today. It will bless you too!

There was a man who saved another mans life. Afterward this man who had been rescued from death followed his savior around everywhere he went. He would help him with his work. If he got injured he would care for him. He fixed him food. For years he never left the mans side. One day the man who had saved him asked why he followed him. He replied “you saved my life so now it is yours and not mine”. Even though I got this story from a fictional movie it tells a great truth that we who have been rescued from sin should never forget. In Romans6:13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness.
Just like the man in the movie, our life belongs to God, who through his own sons death he rescued us giving us eternal life!! Thank you Lord for saving us even though we don’t deserve it. Help us to remember daily just how much that means for us!!
Have a great day!

I used to think that believers in the United States didn’t suffer. I thought we had it easy especially compared to those believers who are persecuted for their faith in Christ. In a way that is true. We may not fear for our physical lives like they do but there is another type of trouble that we do face here. Because we have, we don’t rely on God for everything. Because we have, we don’t rely on each other. Then we become so independent that even when we get stuck in our own sin we try and overcome it all by ourselves. I’m so guilty of this! It’s not how God intended for us to live. James 5:16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayers of a righteous person are powerful and effective.
When was the last time you were struggling with something, maybe a personal sin or health or financial problems, and you called up a fellow believer and just poured out your heart to them and asked them to pray for you? To my shame I can count on one hand how many times I’ve done it. But when we do and then actually pray for each other the Lord does not sit idle!! Listen, we need each other! We need the Lord! He is our friend! I had a friend call me one time. He was suffering over an issue. In his mind he saw himself as a failure. But when he called me I saw great faith on his part! It’s not easy for us to call for help!! But we should! We must encourage one another and earnestly pray for each other, especially in these last days! Thank you Lord for my friend who reminded me that it’s good to call for help and prayer. That faith in you is how we win our battles and relying on each other!
Much love in Christ to each of you today!!

Willie Nelson has a Christmas song called pretty paper. It talks about a homeless man who sits there as people pass by him in a hurry to get their shopping done. Then they are celebrating in the comfort of their homes as he sits crying in the cold. There are a couple kinds of sin. There’s the kind that we commit. Like murder or adultery of foul language and such. But there’s another kind of sin. It’s a sneaky sort of sin that seams less in our minds and we easily justify it with all kinds of excuses. James, The brother of Jesus, wrote about it in his book. In James 4:13-17 he talks about boasting about tomorrow. He mentions that we cannot even know what tomorrow brings. In the last verse he says: If anyone then knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.
The second kind of sin is not doing what we know we should! See how sneaky that is!! Like the people in the song. They were in such a hurry to do their own thing that the poor man on the street wasn’t even of any concern to them! When I look at my own life I know that I sin. But how many times have I passed up the chance to do good and was so self absorbed that I didn’t even notice? What if as believers we would ask God in our prayers to make us aware of the opportunities to do good and by asking him this often ,we might recognize these chances as they come? Dear Lord, I have certainly sinned against you in many ways. Help me not to avoid doing good. Help all of us look for these opportunities to serve you and others!
Have a good day but even more important: help someone else have one too!!

In our western culture, especially in recent years, comfort is what we strive for. We don’t like pain. We don’t like to be ridiculed or disliked. We hate being disagreed with. So much so that it’s become very difficult to have a truthful conversation with anyone. Everyone guards their words to keep from offending someone. So I agree that we should be kind and polite and consider the feelings of those we talk to ,but should we keep from speaking truthfully? If the gospel of Christ might offend someone, and it will, should we then just stay silent? Should we not consider a persons soul and eternity more than their feelings? Sharing our faith in Christ could cause great discomfort and I believe it will more and more as time goes on. Even quietly living our faith will be offensive. Do we just hide it then so that we can please everyone? Matthew 5:11-12 Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. (Jesus) Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who came before you.
Being insulted for no reason isn’t good but to be insulted because of Christ is very good. And we are not alone. All the saints who came before us suffered as well. Any suffering or insults that happens here is temporary but we are eternal. Our suffering will only be for a short time. We should live out our faith in confidence and share the love of Jesus with everyone we meet. He did not want us to live in fear but to be courageous in our faith in him!! Thank you God for the ones who have gone before us, who though they suffered greatly, never let the light of your love grow dim. Help us to do the same!!
Be strong and courageous!!

The news today is full of stories about horrible acts being done from one human to another. Almost every day you could read or hear about a murder or child abuse. There is sex trafficking, drugs, mass killings and all kinds of violence. The church is not without its issues. We hear of those in the church molesting children and extorting money. We ask ourselves why? How can another human being do these things to another human being. 1 Corinthians 2:14 tells us this: The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolish, and cannot accept them because they are only discerned through the Spirit.
We often forget that not everyone has the Spirit of God living in them. If a person does not accept Jesus Christ as their Savior and give their lives to him then the Holy Spirit does not live in them. Then they are not guided by him in their hearts to do what is right or to keep from doing wrong. As time goes on, and the more evil they do, the less remorse they feel about it and over time their hearts become hardened. Then whatever seems right to them ,even though it is evil , they do without thought or conscious. As believers we often forget the importance of the third part of the trinity of God, the Holy Spirit. He is God and he lives in those who believe serving as a guide to do what is right before God and keeping us from evil! We all teeter on the ledge between right and wrong and should thank God daily that he helps us escape from doing evil and we should always give him credit for whatever good we do. Dear Father, I thank you that you rescued me and so many others from the evil that dwells within us. Thank you for your forgiveness and the second chances!!
Love y’all

When I take a hard look inside myself it’s not a pretty sight. I have spent most of my years making this life about me. Now the world would say that’s good. But is it really? Is it okay for us to spend our short lives doing whatever it takes to gratify our own desires? We work to either buy that must have thing that we “need” or we hoard away food or toilet paper or whatever it is. We try our best to save up to retire. How much thought during the day each day do we give to eternal things? How often do we concern ourselves with our friends and neighbors who may never have heard about Jesus? What about our children? Do we really know what they are being told at school? I’m not saying we shouldn’t work. I think we absolutely should. But i know myself that it’s easy to slip into my own concerns and neglect a lot of other things much more important than myself. In Matthew 6:33 Jesus is teaching about this very thing. He reminds us of how he provides us with our basic needs. But what does he say about our focus? He says”But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Are we seeking God’s kingdom in our lives first? Can we add anything to our lives by worrying about tomorrow? We can’t even know for sure if tomorrow will come!! That’s why it’s so important to seek God’s will instead of our own!! Tomorrow may not come but eternity will. Thank you Lord for sending your Son for us. Help us to seek to live for him instead of ourselves!
Make it a point to live on someone today!!

My Dad used to tell me stories about when he grew up. With no television or computers or cell phones to entertain them they did this weird thing. They would go visit neighbors!! And sometimes the neighbors would come over to visit you! What? Even when I was a kid it was a bit like that. I miss that. Another thing was that all the neighbors would help each other with their work and at noon they would share a meal together. Often times the ladies would bring food out to the field. Hospitality. A lost art that needs to be rekindled. We have become a society of individuals. Little islands that keep to ourselves. Loneliness is so common and all kinds of research shows serious mental problems stemming from it. We were not created to be islands. We were created to be together! We were created to love others. Romans 12:9-13 love must be sincere. Hate what is evil;cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
The last to words to me should be in all caps! PRACTICE HOSPITALITY What would happen in our world if the believers did such a simple thing as inviting some folks over for coffee or a meal?What conversations could take place? It’s hard to live a Christlike life by yourself. We need each other! We need to talk about our sins and pray for each other. We need to study the Bible together. Sometimes we just need to laugh together and have meaningless chatter to give us a break from life. But what we don’t need is more me! To much me can be harmful! We need more us! Lord I don’t know how we have become so individualistic. We need your help to break through this weird barrier that separates us from being together! Teach us to be good hosts in our homes!! Teach us to be devoted to loving each other!
Invite someone into your life today. It will do your heart good!!

We are continually being told these days that we must bend our minds to accept whatever culture shifts to in its acceptance. If all kinds of detestable behaviors become acceptable by culture then we too are to accept it. So if we believe that Jesus is God and that he came to save us from our sins and we have committed our lives to follow him and we look to his word, the Bible, as the source of his authority and truth, then how can we accept all that we see as good? Let me be clear here. We are to love all people. It’s the behavior that is not acceptable. Romans 12:2 says: Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is-his pleasing and perfect will.
It says to be transformed. That would mean that we once thought like the world thinks. But now, following the perfect example of Christ, we must renew our minds and think as he thinks. We must love as he loved but remember, he loved people but he hated sin. So as believers, are we to bend to the culture? If we do, then how can we call ourselves followers of Christ? Just a thought. Lord, teach us your perfect way. Guide us through these troubled times and give us the wisdom we need to make good choices!
Have a beautiful day! Fall is here!!

My message today is short. Our world is a wreck. We cannot put our trust and hope in the government or kings of the earth that are run by mere mortals like ourselves. As chaotic as the world seems to us it’s all under control. God has it. Our trust should be placed in Christ for our future, and even the present. He has so much glory and wonder in store for us if only we worship him alone. Romans 8:18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
What’s happening now is not even worth complaining about! We have a grand future to look forward to. And it’s eternal! Thank you Jesus for all you are doing in the lives of those who love you!!
Be well. Love much!

I have a short attention span. Or maybe I should add that I have a short attention span about certain things. I remember what I make it important to remember but some things I forget. I can remember the lyrics to songs I liked from the 1980s but I may not be able to tell you what I read in the Bible this morning even a couple hours from now. I say this to my own shame! The first verse I read this morning was from James 1:22-25 Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at himself in the mirror and then goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom and continues in it, not forgetting what they have heard but doing it, they will be blessed in what they do.
Do we so easily forget God’s word because we are not looking into it intently? My wife has asked me to go to the store to get something and I’ll come home with three things and none of them are what she asked me to get. Why? Because the chips and cookies were more appealing to me than the lettuce. It’s easy to be distracted by what can harm us because it looks good at the time. What if I made the lettuce more important. Write down lettuce on a note. Put the note where I can see it. Make it important because it was important to the one who asked me! God asks us to follow him in certain ways to keep us from harm and to bring him glory. We don’t always understand it but we should, I should, make it important to me to follow his word. Look intently into it, not forgetting like I so easily do, but setting my mind to remembering and following it. Dear God, I so often fail to make you the priority of my life. Forgive me . Thank you for your Son who so willingly gave his life to forgive us. Thank you for your word. Help us to make it the priority of our lives!!
Have a great day!

When I was younger I remember thinking that life would get easier as I got older. I was optimistic. I have since become more of a realist. Don’t get me wrong. I’m still optimistic. But not about this life on earth. About that I’m a realist. I store up my optimism for the life to follow. Life is more manageable if I’m realistic about it. Jesus himself told us that in this world we would have trouble. (John 16:33) He also reminded us that he has overcome the world. The troubles of this world are just going to happen. We will have health problems. People we love will die or leave us. Our children will rebel. Our governments will fail us. We will suffer for our faith. Life is a trial. If we navigate through life with our eyes open to the fact that troubles will come then we will be better prepared to persevere through them. How do we prepare? Study God’s word. Fellowship with other believers. Prayer. James 1:12 Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him!!
The trial and test that James speaks of here is this life here on earth. We have all these troubles including our own sin that we struggle against. But we have a Savior that has already overcome it all. He is preparing a place for us right now that will blow our minds! We can have confidence that these troubled times will come to an end. We must persevere in our faith in Christ through this life with the hope of the life to come through the resurrection of Jesus. This is where we can be optimistic!! The glory of the life to come will soon make the troubles of this life fade away. Thank you Jesus for going before us in your death and resurrection and in your trials and pain giving us hope for a very bright future!
Persevere my friends!

Those who follow Jesus in most parts of the world are living in grave danger. Many are tortured and killed for their faith every day across the globe. Believers here in America have been safe for many years but that might not always be the case. So when so many die for their faith in Christ, how then can we explain Bible verses like 1John 5:18 which says: We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the One who was born of God keeps them safe and the evil one cannot harm them.
So we know that many believers have been harmed and even killed. So what does this mean? God is an eternal being. He has always been and will always be. So he thinks eternally and not just here and now. The evil one, or Satan, wants us to parish. Eternally. He doesn’t just want to hurt us here, although he does do that, but his goal is to bring eternal harm to us. When Jesus died for us and then rose again he assured a place for us in eternity that will not harm us but will be free of pain and suffering. In that way he provided for us an eternal protection. Yes we can be harmed or even killed for our faith but only in the physical body but our souls cannot be harmed if we believe and follow Jesus. Our life here is temporary but we are, once we are born, eternal. This part of our life is nothing more than a breathe compared to eternity. Jesus, thank you for keeping our souls in your hands and insuring that our pain is only here if only we believe and trust in you!!!
Have you put your faith in Jesus? Today would be a good time to start!

Lately my attitude has been…..well, bad. Much of what I see in the world infuriates me. As I watch the events happening here in my country, that I love, I don’t like much of what I see. I’ve come to realize that I have a focus problem. I’m not seeing things clearly. You see, I’ve been looking at my world through the eyes of the world. The news and coffee shop talk and even fellow church people. But what I’ve neglected is looking at God’s word. I have a bad habit of looking more at what we humans see than I do at what God sees. Then my view gets out of focus. Joshua was about to take command of the nation of Israel following Moses. No small shoes to fill!! The land they were going to go into was sinful and an overall frightening place from their point of view, but from God’s vantage point it was a great place for his people to go. In Joshua 1:8 he tells his servant Joshua a little secret that would keep him from losing focus as he led them into the new land. He said”keep these books of the law always on your lips:meditate on them day and night so that you may be careful to do everything written in them. Then you will be prosperous and successful. He told him to be strong and courageous. He said not to be afraid because he would be with them. It’s still good for us today. The Bible was this amazing gift to us from a God who doesn’t leave us or forsake us!! The world may seem scary but when we view it through God’s eyes we can face this world with courage! Thank you Lord for your word that brings our world into focus from your point of view! The only true point of view!!
Be blessed today my friends!

I’ve come to realize that I cannot change anything by watching the news and then complaining about what I see. In fact, I’m not sure that’s even good to do. Jesus teaches us about what we can do though. What he wants us to do. In Luke 10:27 it says: love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind. And love your neighbor as yourself. A question comes as to who is my neighbor? Our neighbor is anyone who we come into contact with. A cashier at the grocery, a nurse at the doctor, a coworker or waitress at the restaurant. It’s a big list. Imagine if we were to show the love of Christ by just being kind to these people that come and go from our lives and it influenced them to go and do the same? I believe that if the Jesus followers would do this with their whole heart then the love of Christ would filter into our mayors office, the governors office, the house, the senate and even the Oval Office!! Complaining about what we disagree with does not change one single thing. But we can change things. It starts in each one of us in our little circle of influence. It starts by loving our God, Creator, Savior and loving our “neighbors”. Then pray for our leaders. Not just a half hearted prayer but deep prayer. A prayer for them to be humble and not self serving. To serve and make wise choices. To seek their counsel from Almighty God!! Thank you Lord for reminding us in your word that we do have a way to change the world. Help us to love you and our neighbors!!
To change the world we first must have a change of heart!!
Have a blessed day!!

Life is in an uproar. There’s no end of things to be angry about if we so choose to be angry. From covid policies to American soldiers being killed. Mandates of all kinds. Freedom being hacked away in big chunks now instead of small slivers. It shouldn’t be a surprise. We were told. In 2 Timothy 3 Paul writes to his young friend Timothy and also to us that there will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self control, brutal, not lovers of good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God-having a form of godliness but denying its power.
Sound familiar? So as not to be uninformed I listen to the news. Most days I turn it off angry at what I hear. Or sad and disappointed. Sometimes I just need a break from it. If I don’t my attitude gets bad. But there is good news among all the bad. You won’t hear it on mainstream media. Sadly you may not even hear it at church, although you should. You can find it in the Bible. John 16:33 Jesus says I have told you these things so that in me you will find peace. In this world you WILL have trouble. But take heart!! I have overcome the world. Notice he didn’t say I will overcome. He said I have overcome. Yes we will see terrible things happen in this world. Yes some of them will happen to us. But an end is coming to the bad in this world. For those who trust and believe in Jesus to save them, and forgive them of their sins, there will be great days ahead, void of troubles , and full of joy. In this, in Jesus, we find our peace. Are the troubles of the day overwhelming you? Spend more time in God’s word and less time in the news!! Dear Father in Heaven, teach us to trust in you and not ourselves to find peace. Keep us from being discouraged in these troubled times where sickness and death and war are constantly in front of us. Help us to shine your light in this dark world by loving those around us!
Love someone today my friends that you haven’t loved before.

Every morning I wake up with every intention of being fully obedient to Christ my Savior, and every day I fail. Some days I do much better than others. I know it’s impossible to go a day without sinning but what bothers me about me is when I’ve worked to overcome a specific sin and then something happens or maybe nothing happens and I’m right back doing it again. One of these is my language. Just being honest here for a moment. In a crowd of people who don’t believe ,there are days that you wouldn’t be able to tell that I do. This is to my shame. God gave us his word to help us fight these kinds of things if only we wouldn’t be stubborn and use it. All sin can be fought against and that battlefield is in our minds and hearts. Paul gives one of the best pieces of advice in 2 Corinthians 10:5. He says to take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ. Look, if we read the Bible, then we know what thoughts we should be allowing and the ones we need to press out of our minds. If we really love our Savior then this is one way to show it. Take our thoughts captive. It is hard no doubt. Yes we will fail. Our days are busy and thousands of thoughts go through in a day. Isn’t it worth it though? To battle through these thoughts and fight the good fight with the hope of one day to hear Jesus say “ well done my good and faithful servant!” Lord, give us your strength and constant reminders to take captive every thought and make it obedient to you!!
Have a great day my friends!
Fight the good fight!

One of the first things we do when hard times fall on us is to question. Did this thing happen because of me? How can anything good come from this? Is God still with me? If I was a better person or if I had done things different could I have avoided this trouble? The truth is, we don’t always know why things happen. Job, a Godly man, in a few short days lost his children, his servants, his wealth, and then his body was covered from his head to his feet with boils! His wife tells him to curse God and die. His friends came and told him he must have sinned to cause all this. Do you think he had questions? Paul, an apostle of Christ, had what he called a thorn in the flesh. A messenger of satan that caused him great anguish. He asked God three times to have it removed. God said nope. My power is made perfect in weakness. These were faithful men who loved God with all their hearts. Their faith was strong but tested. Following God is not always easy. Troubles come. They always do. With God though, nothing goes to waste. Even the troubles of this hard life are used by the Almighty. James, The brother of Jesus, wrote in James 1:2: Consider it pure joy my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. When life is throwing some hard stuff at you remember this: you are not alone, and it’s not for nothing. God will not leave you and he won’t allow your pain to be in vain. It will have a purpose and ultimately it will bring him glory. We, my dear friends in Christ, when pain comes can be full of joy even in our suffering because we have the knowledge of the joy that will one day come when Jesus returns for those who remain faithful. Dear Lord, thank you even for the troubles we face that gives us strength and perseverance and a deeper faith in you!
Have a blessed day my friends!!

Sometimes people go through stuff. Hard stuff. It’s not necessarily their fault. Stuffs just happens. And when it happens they have to deal with it and everyone deals with things differently. Often when going through stuff it can be life changing. Painful. It’s can even make doing everyday tasks nearly impossible. I know because I’ve been through some stuff. Likely I will again. What really hurts is while your going through stuff, the people you think will understand or give you time to work through it, are often the ones that can’t handle the change in you during the rough thing that’s happened to you. And it will change you!! Your routine of life gets all screwed up. Before I go getting all tough on the ones who turn on those who are struggling, let me just say to my shame, I’ve been that person. I admit that I hate it when someone I love has their life all jacked up. It affects me too. It should if I truly love them. But how I handle that is somewhat of a biblical matter. So often we judge people in our minds thinking we could do so much better if this thing or that would happen to us! What pride we have! I’m not saying that as a good pride! We have such a limited view of what goes on in another persons life. Our lives are so intricate and unique that no one person is going to handle things the same. So how can we say anything at all or even think it when only God himself has the ability to see. Matthew 7:1-2 Do not judge or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use ,it will be measured to you! Ouch!! Listen, loving people is an action. It requires work. You’ve got to put your mind to it. When your friends are having hard times, cut them some slack. Pray for them. Encourage them. Leave the judging to God. Only he knows what’s happening in their heart.
Dear Father in heaven, help us to be better friends when hard times come. Help us to look into our own hearts and not everyone else’s!!
Be a friend!! Love y’all

There are many people around the world who live under the rule of a harsh master. Here in America we live under an easy master. We are pretty much free as long as we obey the law. We all have a master besides a government or dictator though that truly rules over us. It’s our desire. It’s where our heart is. What consumes our thoughts. It could be anything. Money, things, family even. It could even be religion. Whatever consumes the majority of our thoughts and time is our desire and that desire is our master. Have you ever thought about that? Jesus was teaching a group of people from a mountain and he was talking about not storing up treasures here on earth but storing up treasures in heaven. He tells them not to worry about their needs here because he would provide. But his last statement on this matter is what hit home to me. Matthew 6:24 No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. The word money here could be replaced with anything you desire more than God!! Let’s say for example you love food. We all like food but I mean that’s all you think about. Your whole life is spent persuing food. You spend everything you have, your time and money, on storing up food. Food then is your master. Food is your god. When we ask Jesus into our lives he then becomes our master. He should be the desire of our hearts. There’s nothing wrong with desiring food or money or family or anything else. We just need to remember that we cannot let any of those things become our master. Jesus, thank you for being a loving and forgiving master! Thank you for giving us all we need!!
Have a joy filled day!

Have you ever taken a hard, deep look at your life and gotten discouraged by how far you haven’t progressed? I know I have. There are things I wanted to do in life that just didn’t work out for different reasons. When my new life in Christ began I was super excited and ready to dive in and learn and fight that ugly sin out of my life. It was great! There are many things that I didn’t like about myself and they were gettin fixed! Well my timing and God’s are not the same just like my ways are not his ways. The road we travel as believers is not a road for the faint of heart! It’s a road for warriors. I had no idea the battles ahead and soon found myself discouraged. It’s been many years now and from time to time I look back and do a check to see if there has been progress. Some days I would tell you there hasn’t been much and other days I would say look how far God has brought me. The thing that is most important is who is leading you. Philippians 1:6 says: being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Jesus Christ.
There are times on this road we travel that it will seem like we’ve taken one step forward and five steps back. We may not fully see the progress or impact we’ve made on others lives. We may feel sinful some days. We may be sinful some days! But God has not left us on this road to fight alone. He gave us his word, prayer, and each other to face these times when the enemy sets up an ambush against us! Listen, all soldiers get tired. It’s okay. Our leader is going to see us through this life and one day the battle will be over and victory will be ours because we have God almighty as our leader and he will never leave us nor forsake us!! Keep fighting the good fight my friends!! Lord, sometimes it seems like the sin in our lives is too strong an enemy to face but thanks to you we are fully forgiven and victory is ours in Christ!!

A very prominent woman who was very wealthy used some of her resources to help people during times of crisis. She sent truckloads of supplies to places that hurricanes had hit and things like that. She received much praise for it and I will not diminish her help in the least. She then aired a program on television showing the world all that she had done to help people. Matthew 6:2-4 Jesus says: So when you give to the needy do not announce it with trumpets as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. But when you give to the needy don’t let your right hand know what the left hand is doing so that your giving may be done in secret. Then your Father who sees what is done in secret may reward you.
If we give and then tell others then we have done it for ourselves. Been guilty of that before!! Not proud of it at all!! But if we give in secret it is to glorify God and to truly help someone in need. God will remember it and reward you in heaven. It’s a heart thing. Is our heart for Jesus or for ourselves?? Dear Lord, it’s so easy for us to want recognition for what we do but help us to remember that if we are able to help someone, it is only because you have blessed us with the means and talents to do it. Help us not to brag but to give you the glory!!
Be safe and have a great day!!

Sometimes a word, although it sounds the same when spoken, has a different meaning. It has to do with the point of view of the speaker. Like the word blessed. If we see someone that is good looking with great hair and perfect skin we might be inclined to call them blessed. Maybe we see someone that is wealthy and they have all the nice things then again, we might call them blessed. Jesus was standing on a mountainside teaching his disciples and there was a big crowd of folks there. He began by talking about all those that are blessed. Most of those he called blessed we would likely call them cursed. Matthew 5 is where you can find this list of blessed folks. In verse 11 Jesus says that those who are insulted and persecuted and falsely accused because of him are blessed. Does that sound blessed? Well from our limited earthly view it doesn’t sound very good. But from God’s perspective he sees us as blessed if we suffer because of him. If someone believes in Jesus enough to take insults and persecution then they have an eternal future that is full of blessings. So often we look at our life from a temporary vantage point. We only see this life here on earth. There is more. This isn’t it. Life here on earth is a small part of our eternal existence. If we trust in Jesus then our life is blessed even when troubles come because the troubles will for sure end. If we don’t then the troubles here are only the beginning of the trouble. That is why Jesus sees those who have difficulties because of his name as blessed!! If you are going through hard times you are not alone. Jesus knows what it means to suffer. He is not a God who doesn’t care or understand!! Our life may not look blessed to the majority but it’s God’s perspective that counts!! Thank you Lord for blessing us in your son Jesus and securing for us a future beyond our wildest dreams!!

Serving the Lord doesn’t just happen in church. In fact I would say for most of us, the majority of it doesn’t happen in church. But a church does take a lot of work to keep going and it takes many hands to do it. Sadly, in many churches, not all, but many, the majority of the work is done by a minority of the people. Paul wrote in 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15 about idleness. Using himself as an example he talked about how he worked night and day to provide for himself so he wouldn’t be a burden to the church there. He warns against idleness. There are those who would never help set up tables and chairs for a church dinner but would be first in line to eat and first to disappear when it’s time to clean up. (Just an example. No fingers pointing here) We must set an example for those who are idle by doing our part both in church but also in life. I am blessed to serve in a church where many hands are put to task and the work is not a burden because many hands make much work light!! Thank Lord for giving us the ability to work. Help us to serve you with all the energy and strength you provide!!
Have a wonderful day!!

One of the questions that plagues mankind is what happens to us when we die. For some it’s a sense of wonder. For others it’s pure fear. Why fear? I’m no expert and won’t claim to be but I have a couple thoughts. Fear is a human emotion that didn’t exist until sin came into the picture. Sin directly opposes God who in his very nature is perfect. God is also the authority over all things because he created them so that means he has authority over us. So the moment sin entered into mankind we became directly opposed to God. And then came fear. Why? Because with sin comes death. And death was punishment. But Christ came to give us a way not to fear death. If we trust and believe and live for him then death is only physical and temporary. 1Thessalonians 4:16 tells us: For the Lord himself will come down from heaven , with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Verse 17 says then those who are alive in Christ will be brought up to meet them in the air and so we will be with the Lord forever!!
Faith by itself is worthless but faith in Christ conquers fear. Even fear of death. For those who don’t know Christ ,death is to be feared ,but for those who do know him death is just a moment. Temporary. Nothing to fear!! Jesus made it possible to be right with his Father again through his shed blood and the forgiveness of sin. Do you live in fear of death? Have you trusted in Christ to forgive you and save you? Father, thank you for your plan of redemption for us through your son Jesus. Thank you that we no longer have to fear!!
Have a joy filled day my friends!!

I can’t believe that anyone would want to go through life and not be an encouragement to at least one person. We all need someone to push us, and tell us to keep going. God didn’t put us here to be individuals. He put us here to be a community. A community of people who trust and believe in him. Living life for Jesus is not easy. It’s not popular or mainstream. It goes against the culture. So living out our faith gets tough. We need to be helped and encouraged along the way and we need to be that encourager. 2 Thessalonians 2 :11-12 Paul says to the folks there: For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God who calls you into his kingdom and glory.
Paul set us an example. He was always being tortured or imprisoned and yet he wrote letters to all his church folks to keep them going and growing in their faith. It was a great concern to him that they keep growing in their faith and not become complacent. Do we love each other that much?? I know I need help to keep going. We all do. If we encourage each other and pray for each other then imagine how much we could grow!! Thank you Lord for your word and the examples we find in it!!
Tell someone you love them today. And then show them.

Yesterday was Father’s Day. My Father passed in 2015. Yesterday I woke up and I was working on a home project so I had forgotten about Father’s Day. It wasn’t until I took a break that my Dad came to mind. My Dad would probably not fit today’s mold of what a dad should be. He used discipline. The real kind that you could feel. Before you start getting all bristled up let me finish. Before he would issue out any kind of discipline he would first take time to explain to you the wrong you had done and usually from the Bible explain the better way. I don’t have one bad feeling about my Dad. I couldn’t have been more loved by anyone. I knew when I was being disciplined that I had a lesson to learn. Colossians 3:21 says: Fathers, do not embitter your children or they will become discouraged. I’ve seen men yell and berate their children. They say awful things to them making them feel like total failures. To me, that is so much more abusive than a good old fashion spanking.Especially when it’s done out of love. The “experts “ wouldn’t agree maybe that physical discipline is a good way but when done in the right way is not harmful at all but very helpful. I’m living proof. I got a handful of spankings and I wouldn’t trade my Dad for anyone or anything. I was not embittered or discouraged by him at all. I owe him much gratitude for his loving way of teaching me right from wrong! Thank you Dad!!! Thank you Father God, for the discipline that you give us still today. You love us and show us the better way!!
Have a beautiful day!!

I want you to use your imagination today. Imagine you are living in a kingdom. This kingdom has a harsh king. He is a ruthless ruler who keeps you in slavery demanding that you do terrible things and he blames you and accuses you of these things to another king. The only escape from this dark nation is death. One day, another king visits you in your dark kingdom and promises you will be rescued if only you will trust him to. But first he must go a make ready a place for all who will come. Suddenly being in this dark nation is more bearable. Why? Hope! You now belong to a new nation. A nation with a king who loves you. Who is kind and forgiving. He doesn’t accuse you nor does he ever ask you to do wrong. Can you imagine it? This is us!! We were born into this dark world. But there is another world being prepared for those who trust in the king. Jesus is that king. Colossians 1:13-14 says: for he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. This story is our story. We don’t need to imagine it. We are living it!! If your life is dark and miserable there is another way other than death to escape. Jesus is that way. If you trust him he will take you into his kingdom!! Having that hope makes this life worth living!! Thank you Jesus for coming here. For the promise of your return in which we find our hope.
Have a joyful day!!

Who besides me remembers being a kid and whenever something bothered you Dad or Mom were the first person you would run to? It would seem like a problem that was just insurmountable but as soon as I would talk to Dad I was ready to take it on! The anxiety of whatever it was would subside and confidence would take its place. Not that I had any more confidence in myself really. I think it was having support from someone much bigger than me. Remember David when he faced the giant Goliath? He was just a boy fighting a champion warrior! But his confidence wasn’t in himself. It was in who went with him! God was with him. And he had been before! He had helped him fight lions and bears!! Philippians 4:6&7 tells us this: do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation but by prayer and petition with thanksgiving present your requests to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
It’s like running to Dad and saying you’ve got this giant to fight and he says go get him son. I’m right there with you. If you are anxious about anything, and I mean anything, and there are gonna be things come up in your life that will cause you to be anxious, take it to our Heavenly Father! Follow David’s example. God has helped you fight smaller battles. He will help you with the big ones too!! Lord, the peace that comes in our hearts after laying our burdens on you is amazing. We know that the troubles are still there. We know that we still have to face them. But knowing you are with us gives us confidence and strength and for this today we praise you!!
What giant are you facing today? Don’t do it alone! Call out to Jesus!!

When I was young the word most used by others to describe me was wild. That was my category. We categorize people. We put them into groups. Like tall people. Short people. Redheads and blondes. Quiet people and noisy people. There are hundreds of categories. God sees two. Those who love him him and follow him. And those who don’t. We like to think we are pretty smart. God, however, who created all things has put us in only these two groups. Philippians 3:18-22 tells us, group 1 are enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is their destruction. Their god is their stomach. Their glory is their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. It says about group two that our citizenship is in heaven. We await a savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that we will be like his glorious body.
Group one is headed for destruction while group two is headed for glory. Now the groups that humans talk about are just observations about how we are made or act. Like me. I’m a wild one. Just a fact . Not much I can change about that. If your a redhead you can color your hair but your still a redhead. But Gods two groups are a choice. You can trust in Christ and his work on the cross and believe in the resurrection or you can chose your own way that leads to eternal destruction. You get to chose. Why does a wild child like me chose Christ? Because I know I’m messed up. I know I can’t save myself. I don’t want to be in this shell of a human body forever. I want to be like Jesus!! My choice. You have the same choice. What will it be?? Thank you Father for giving us your son Jesus so we can be forgiven and one day have an indestructible body!!
Chose well my friends!! It’s an eternal decision!!

There’s an old saying “I feel like I’m taking one step forward and two steps backwards”. Have you ever felt like that? Yeah me too. All areas of life can give you those two step backwards feelings. In our journey towards spiritual maturity in Christ we have those days. Like when you battle against a sin in your life and think you have it conquered then you slip up. Two steps backwards!! Paul, talking to the Philippians in Philippians 3, says of himself that in his effort to become more Christlike he did not consider himself as having attained it yet but forgetting what is behind he presses on. In verse 16 it’s says to live up to what we have already attained.
We are going to have occasional slips in our lives that make us feel horrible. Like we’ve went right back to where we started. But there’s a difference between a one time incident and falling back to a habit of continual sin. Listen, our sin is forgiven. We must press on, like Paul, forgetting what is behind us. When we slip, we must not allow it to get a foothold but rather just keep pushing forward knowing that we live in the love and forgiveness of a kind and patient Savior! This is our road to maturity. It’s not always a smooth road but one well worth traveling!! Thank you Father for being a God of second chances. Help us to keep pressing on!!
Fight the good fight my fellow warriors!!

My wife and I were asked one time to teach a Sunday morning class to teens. We had a young child at the time and there was just no way that we could both do it. But me being me, I wanted to teach it. So, without my wife, I took it on. It was a disaster. After some painful realization I came to understand that I wasn’t doing it for the Lord or the kids. I wanted to do it. It was all about me. Why do we make everything all about ourselves? It’s one of the tricks that the evil one plays on us. If we are so wrapped up in ourselves then we cannot be effective for the gospel. Philippians 2:3-4 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking after your own interests but each of you to the interests of others.
I learned the hard way, more than once, that God takes care of all our needs, we don’t have to be always looking out for ourselves. We need to look out for others. Often, if we are helping others it ends up good for us too! God calls us not to be selfish but selfless. And Christ gave us this example by going to the cross. He went for us and by doing that he gained a family. Us!! I need to improve in thinking more of others and less of me. Will you join me? Dear God, help us to put you first, others second, and ourselves last!!
Love y’all

When I was a young boy i remember that it was very seldom that you ever watched tv and heard a cuss word. The men around where I grew up seldom cussed in front of women or children. Shows on tv were “ clean” for the most part and if they weren’t then they were on late after kids were in bed. Sin was done in secret so to speak. Why? It’s certainly not that way now is it. Paul gave the Ephesians a warning. In Ephesians 5:12 he’s says: it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. Allowing sinful behavior to be done in front of us and our children numbs our conscience towards it and it becomes more and more exceptable. Paul says not to even talk about it. If we do, soon we are making light of it and maybe even doing some of those things. Sin is destructive to us and families and brings no good thing into our lives. It’s not to be taken lightly. Don’t get me wrong, I’m as guilty as anyone of not paying close enough attention to it but we all should. It’s dangerous!! What we watch and see around us cannot be unseen. I remember one of the lines in my Moms Sunday school songs was: be careful little eyes what you see. For the Father up above, is looking down with love, so be careful little eyes what you see. It’s still true. Be careful what you see, hear and say. Father, sin is all around us today. It’s more visible than ever in our lives today. Help us not to glorify it or give it a foothold in our lives but help us to fight against it for your glory!!
Be careful my friends!!

I worked with a man a few years ago who had been in a bike gang in his younger years. He had been a pretty rough character. One day, things were not going well and I let out some not so good language. He took me aside and asked me if I had ever really thought about the words I was speaking. He said curse words used in a sentence really make no sense. He told me that if a person uses a lot of curse words then that must mean that they are not intelligent enough to come up with something better to say that makes more sense! Ouch!! Ephesians 4:29 says: do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful in building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
Unwholesome talk is not just foul language. It could be gossip or backbiting or just butting into business that isn’t yours even if it’s done with the best intentions. This is a lesson I’m still learning. Ours words cannot be unsaid. It is so important to use restraint in our speech and be ever so careful to only say what is good and necessary for helping others. Most of the time I would be better off not speaking at all!! Maybe praying about what to say before we say it and taking time to think and use the good intelligence that God gave us would be a better option! Lord, forgive us for so often using unwholesome speech and help us to work to do better!
Be well my friends

We were going on a camping vacation recently and one of the activities we planned was renting a boat and going on the lake for a day. We had to book the boat ahead in order to ensure that we could get it because they book up fast. One of the requirements to rent one is putting down a deposit ahead of time as a guarantee that you will actually show up and use the boat. No deposit, no boat. They won’t just take your word for it that you’ll show up. Unlike us, when God says he’ll do something, he will do it. He doesn’t need to give us any kind of guarantee because his word is good enough. However, he knows us. So when he provided a way to be saved through his Son Jesus, he also included with it a guarantee. A deposit. In Ephesians 1:13-14 it tells us that when we believe, we are marked with a seal, the Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession to the praise of his glory.
God does not leave out any details in his work. As if sending his only son here to die a horrible death that we deserve but he didn’t wasn’t enough, he also then would send his very Spirit to live in us. This Holy Spirit helps us battle against sin, understand God’s word, and apply his word to our lives. He gives us comfort in our struggles and helps us comfort others. He is our companionship with Jesus here on earth until his return when we will be with him face to face. Unlike a human deposit that is a small percentage of the value, God gives a deposit of full value. He gave all of himself. The Holy Spirit is no less God than the Father or Jesus. They are God and if you believe then he is already with you and nothing can take you from his hand!! What a privilege it is to be God’s child!! Thank you Father for your Son and for your Holy Spirit and the security we have in you!!
Today, even in the troubles, may you find peace in him who lives in you!!

It amazes me to watch how quickly church folks come to the aid of their brothers and sisters in Christ when troubles come. Whether it be cooking meals for them or writing encouraging notes and letters or taking them places or praying for them , it is a rapid response to crisis that is second to known. Why and how do you suppose this is? One reason is that we have a Spirit that is given to us when we first believe in Jesus. He lives in us and through us. He is God. I can’t explain how this works in human words adequately but the idea is that God , being love, binds us all together with himself through his own Spirit and gives us a supernatural love for one another. When one of us is joyful, all of us are joyful. Likewise when one of us has pain, we all have pain. We can hardly sit and do nothing when we know that one of our own is in trouble!! Galatians 5:13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use this freedom to indulge in the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. Helping each other is how we express Gods love for each other! It is his design for us as a community of believers. Family. This family is one that lasts!! Forever! Loved ones, when you have knowledge of those in the family of God who are experiencing hardship, don’t be idle! Get on your knees and pray for them. Spring into action and do what God calls on your heart to do! And when you do, don’t do it for your own recognition but to bring glory to God who gave us this love and freedom!! Thank you Lord for your Spirit that you have given us in abundance! Thank you for the comfort he brings to all of us who believe and for binding us together in love!!
Peace, joy, and love to each of you today!!

My Dad had this thing he did when we worked together. When the job was finished, he would walk around and check everything to make sure there were no details left to finish. After checking, if it met with his approval, he would say “ good enough”. We knew when we heard that it was time to move on to the next job. So when in life can we say “ good enough”? Can we ever be good enough? Can we live a perfect life according to Gods law and earn our way to heaven? No. That’s the answer. No we cannot. I think we forget sometimes that it’s only by Gods grace in Christ that we can make it to heaven. Even Peter, who walked with Jesus himself, made this mistake. He pulled away from the gentiles who had not been circumcised leading others to do the same. Paul called him out on this reminding him that the law could not save but only Gods grace. In Galatians 2:21 he says: I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing.
Not one person can get into heaven without being righteous and not one person has the ability to be righteous. Only Jesus could do that. He died in our place so that his righteousness could be placed on us. So then, it is by his righteousness that we can enter heaven and when our Heavenly Father inspects us he will say” good enough”! Dear Jesus, we thank you for what you have done for us. How we long to hear you say, well done!!
Have a great day!

Freedom. We all want it. But what is it? What are the requirements to have it? Some would say that freedom is doing whatever we want, whenever we want. Are we truly free when we do that? What if what we want is harmful to ourselves and even addictive? Do we not then become a slave to what we want? We are all sinners from birth. Enslaved by this sinful nature with no way to be freed from it, Christ in his mercy came and gave his life so that we could be forgiven. Then he took his life back giving us the hope of being resurrected also. If we accept this truth and follow him it is then and only then that we are truly free. Well then, some might say that following Christ comes with a bunch of rules. My response to that is this: out of appreciation for what God has done for me I gladly try to do those things that the Bible teaches. But if I fail from time to time I am forgiven. No punishment! Free!! Now some may tell you different. Paul dealt with this in his letter to the Galatians. In Galatians 2 he deals with some folks that were trying to say that you must be circumcised to be saved. That was man adding their own rules to salvation. Slavery. Not freedom. Trusting in Christ as your only way to be saved is the only way to be saved. Following rules does not or cannot save you! Doing what God wishes for us is for our good and is done only out of love for him!! Thank you Jesus for giving us freedom from our sin and punishment that we deserve!!
Enjoy your freedom in Christ today!!

Isn’t it true that if certain people tell you something that seems unbelievable you question the validity of what they have told you. You may believe them if they are very trustworthy but you might still check it out. But if there were many who were eyewitness to the event then we are likely to believe it. It’s hard to go against the testimony of many witnesses. So in the matter of Jesus, and whether he was actually here as a human, and did he really die on the cross, and did he come back to life again, many have trouble believing all of it. They might believe some of it. Paul, in his letter to Corinth, addressed this issue. In 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 he tells us that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and after 3 days was raised to life. All “according to the scriptures”. All of it was foretold to happen in the Old Testament and it all happened just as it said. Then Christ, after he was raised from the dead, appeared to Peter, then to the twelve disciples, then to over 500 others. 500!!! Then he appeared to James and finally Paul. Folks, Jesus is real. He is God, and he came here in a human body. He died and was buried and rose again. There are eyewitnesses who saw him, and touched him and heard him and even watched him go up into heaven!! How then can we deny him? He will return. Are you ready? Oh God, thank you for those who wrote down for us in this generation, the events of the life of our Savior Jesus who is Christ our Lord!!
Bless you my friends!

I remember the very first time, for no reason at all, I heard the words “ l love you daddy”. From a child that small there was no expectation from her to hear me say it back, although I’m sure I did, it was simply her letting me know. We all want to know we are loved. We often gage love by how we are treated or maybe what we are given. I think we may even have a very distorted view of what love is sometimes. We look for it in all the wrong places. Often, in pursuit of love we will find ourselves doing things we normally wouldn’t or shouldn’t. But is it really love when we have to do that? So the author and originator of love is God. If we want to know if we are truly loved or loving others then I would say he is our source to go to and find out. 1 Corinthians 13 has often been referred to as the love chapter. Paul, speaking of spiritual gifts in his letter to the church in Corinth, gives us a list of the Godly attributes of love. In verses 4-7 it tells us, love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy or boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps not record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in the truth. It always protects, trusts, hopes and perseveres.
If there was a love gauge that read from empty to full, these attributes would determine where the needle would fall. We could be the best workers or givers or the smartest and wisest in the room and it wouldn’t make that needle move the slightest!! It’s what’s in our hearts! If Jesus isn’t there then true love is missing! Without him we are missing the true love we desire and we cannot truly love others without him!! Is your meter reading on the empty end of the gauge? Maybe it’s time to invite Jesus into your life. It will be full in no time!! Thank you Jesus for your great love!! Teach us from your word dear Lord to love others as you have loved!!
Rejoice in the day today because you are loved!!

Have you ever noticed that person that when there’s a free meal, they show up and gorge themselves? Like when the local seed corn dealer has a pork chop lunch for his costumers and this person, who has never bought any seed, shows up and pounds down 7 pork chops!! Well, in the early days of the church, there were groups who considered themselves elite, who would gorge themselves with all the bread and wine during the communion celebration and those outside the group wouldn’t get to participate!! In 1 Corinthians 11, Paul writes to them and calls them out. When taking the bread and wine, which symbolizes the broken body and shed blood of Christ, it shouldn’t be done in a sinful manner. It should be done in a reverent manner in order to bring glory to Christ. In verses 34&35 he says, so then my brothers and sisters, when you gather to eat, you should all eat together. (No special groups) Anyone who is hungry should eat something at home so that when you meet together it may not result in judgement. Taking communion is not a time to pig out. It’s a time of sober reflection. It’s a time of celebration. What Jesus did for us was beyond amazing. He didn’t have to. He did it out of his great storehouse of love for us!! It’s not often that we actually do a meal for communion these days but it is possible to do communion with the wrong attitude of heart. Let’s honor God when we do it and do it for the reason God commanded us to. To remember!! Thank you Father for your Son. For all he has done for us!
Love you my friends. Enjoy your day!!

Training. It’s part of our lives from early on. Potty training, training to crawl, training to walk, training to drive, training for a career, training for sports, and on and on it goes. Training isn’t always the fun part but necessary if we wish to be able to do what we desire to do. I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I shot my rifle as a kid. Thousands of rounds I’m sure because I wanted to be good at it. So if training works in all theses areas of life then I am to assume it works for our life in Christ as well. If we are living a life saved by the grace of God in Christ’s death and resurrection then the number one thing we should want is to tell others. Now that will entail all kinds of road blocks. Like questions. People ask questions. It’s what we do. That’s okay. But what if we are not prepared? What if if we are not living our own lives in such a way that others can tell a difference? 1 Corinthians 9:25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.
We are not just going through life to die in vain!! Our lives have a purpose. That purpose is to bring glory to God. How can that happen if we are just doing the bare minimum we need to to get by? No! We must train! How else can we be productive citizens of the kingdom of God? How do we train? Study the Bible and put what we learn into practice. Pray constantly. Have fellowship with other believers and help each other along the way. Train!! Dear God, thank you again as we often do for your word that trains us to live upright and holy lives! May our lives lead others to you!!
Run to win a crown that lasts forever!!

We’ve all been there. That place that you get to when you’ve made a bad decision and now your not sure how to get out of the pickle your in. I know I have and I still do from time to time. Maybe it’s a bad business decision or a poor financial move. Maybe a relationship situation that could have been handled better. The prophet Jonah, found himself in a bad spot, actually the worst kind of spot, because of his disobedience to God. He was supposed to talk to some people for God about their poor choices so that they would repent, but he didn’t like them so he didn’t want to go. He found himself hurled from a boat into the sea to his death. That’s kinda bad wouldn’t you say? He cried out to the Lord for help as the waters surrounded him and God had a big fish come and rescue him. Now when I say rescue I mean the fish swallowed him! Yep. True story. From inside the fish Jonah thanked and praised God for saving him! The fish spit him out after three days and Jonah then did as God had asked in the first place. My favorite part of the account of Jonah is that when he thought he was going to die in the sea and couldn’t see any way out, he called out to God and God answered him. We don’t always know how God will deliver us from the predicaments we get ourselves in to but he has unlimited resources and is waiting for us to call out to him. Even better is that when we confess our sins and repent he is quick to forgive!! Dear God, thank you for always being ready to hear from us in our distress. Thank you for your deliverance and forgiveness.

Have you ever had someone in your life that has done you wrong?Seeing them makes you cringe? Hearing them talk is like scraping your fingernails on a chalkboard? Yeah me too! Have you ever thought about how they feel about you? Nope, me either. Didn’t care. I was just fine having bad thoughts about them. Until I came to know Jesus that is. He has a different way of looking at things and he wants us to be conformed to his way of thinking. He forgives completely and loves his worst enemy even as he is being mistreated! I know this because I’m one who was once his enemy. I’ve committed atrocities against him. Before I was ever sorry for any of them he gave his life for me. He gave his life for that person who makes me cringe too! And he loves them too! In Luke 6 starting at verse 27 Jesus tells us how to act towards our enemies. If we were to read these verses it pretty much tells us to do the opposite of what is in our nature to do. Love them is the long and the short of it. Anyone can love someone who loves them back but who can love an enemy? Jesus can and with his help so can we. Will you join me in loving our enemies and praying for them? Dear God we all have people we struggle with. Help us to love them. Help them to see you in our kindness towards them so that they can share in your forgiveness along with us!