WARNING!
II Timothy 3:1-13
In God's Word He warns about several things. In fact, He has always taken the time to warn His people about things that were going to happen, or things that were happening to them. He would also give them instructions to prevent things from happening.
God is again warning us today. In today's Bible reading , God wants us to be aware. He warns us that people will do some bad things to Christians. Some people will say,"Well, why? Christians are nice folks." For the most part I think that's true. Christians follow Jesus, and for some reason, people who don't follow Jesus seem to always want to try to tell Christians that people who believe in Jesus are foolish.
People have tried to say that Jesus, Himself, really did not live on earth, or that His plan of salvation is not right, and on and on the list goes. You may even recall that when Jesus lived on earth, the persecution was great even then. After His ascention into Heaven it continued.
Christians today face challenges as well. Our Bible reading today reminds us that there are always going to be people who will try to deceive us about Christ. In fact, the suggestion may be that it gets worse and worse before it gets really good. I don't know; I'm torn here I think, sometimes the situation is worse, but then there are those passages in our Bible that say "Things are the same today as they have always been. There's nothing new under the sun."
I know that as a Christian it gets easier and easier to do what's right -- if we really trust in God. So that really is the warning today. Let me just give you a warning: There are people who will try to deceive you, there are people who will try to lead you away from God. There are these people around you even today who will make it hard for people to do what's right. But, we need to trust in God. I want to give you some ways that we can stay close to God.
Here's number 1. Be aware that some people will try to fool you. Sometimes it's intentional and sometimes it's not intentional, they just simply don't know the truth themselves. That is why we urge you to take your Bible, and see for yourself what God has to say . Don't take the word of some preacher here on televeision or the radio. Instead, check him out. See if what he is saying is so,and if it is, then start applying it in your life. If it is not, I would suggest that you go to that person, and say, "Look, let's open our Bibles together and see what it is that God would have us to do."
The second thing we want to do is keep our minds focused on Christ. If we stay focused it is harder and harder for somebody to lead us down the wrong path.
The third thing I want to give you is to read our Bibles and pray every day. This is what I used to say, but one day one of our teenagers said," Mr. Box, you've got that wrong, We're supposed to read and pray every day and every night." Let me encourage you to pray every day and every night, and also, have fellowship with other Christians.
If you do these things God will help you stand strong for Him and in His truth. Trust in God. We can depend on Him. The question becomes not... Can we trust God, but can God trust us? I hope your answer is yes.
~Philip
30 October 2009
29 October 2009
God's Strength
Isaiah 40:28-31
There's a really steep hill close to my house, just as I am going back up at the end of my walk, or my bike ride every morning, I'm convinced it is the steepest in Elba. Some days when I walk up, it is really hard to get to the top.
One day as I was walking up the hill one of my neighbors was walking down. We both stopped, and he and I were both out of breath. He said "This hill will make you strong." and I said, " Yeah it will...it'll help anyway." and then we were talking about how to gain physical strength. I started thinking about that song we sing that says, "I am weak, but thou art strong." As we stood on the hill, we were in agreement with the words to that song.
God certainly is strong, and we only have physical strength to get up the hill, and to do a little bit, but even that strength that we have is because God has given it to us. Through many times during our life God has given us just the strength that we need. He has given us the spiritual strength that we need. He gives us the emotional strength that we need. Everything that we need comes from God.
In our Bible reading today, Isaiah 40:28-31, Isaiah says "The Lord helps weak people to be strong. He causes the people without power to become powerful." Verse 31 reminds us again that the poeple who trust the Lord will become strong again. Like eagles that grow new feathers.
I hope that you will trust God today. I hope that you will depend on him to be the one to give you the strength that you need. Your strength can only come from Him. This idea of renewing our strength like an eagle or growing new feathers like an eagle, is the idea that it comes from underneath, from the inside out. And when It grows, it is strong and ready for use. The same is true with our faith, our desire for God. It comes from inside and grows, and when it is grown it is ready for use.
Let's use our faith today to reach somebody who does not know about God. Maybe you could go to somebody today, and say "Hey, do you know about God's word. Let me tell you about it." And maybe a person is at the point where they need to understand that belief is a necessity. They may be at a point in their life where repentance is necessary, or at a time to make that great confession of faith in Jesus Christ. It may be that a person is in the need of being baptized, or maybe a person just needs to be restored.
Whatever the point is in our life, physically or spiritually, we know this: The strength that we need comes from God Himself.
I hope today will be a great day for you, that you will do great things and that you will show strength, and will remember where it comes from. That you will be showing God's strength as well.
I want to take just a second and remind you to come be with us this weekend, especially . We will have a table at "Pumpkins on the Square" and would love to see you there. Beyond that on Sunday, we are having a Ground Breaking for our new building and are excited aout that and would love for everyone to be at our services at 10am, our 1st Sunday Fellowship Meal at 11am, and our Ground Breaking at 12pm.
~Philip
Isaiah 40:28-31
There's a really steep hill close to my house, just as I am going back up at the end of my walk, or my bike ride every morning, I'm convinced it is the steepest in Elba. Some days when I walk up, it is really hard to get to the top.
One day as I was walking up the hill one of my neighbors was walking down. We both stopped, and he and I were both out of breath. He said "This hill will make you strong." and I said, " Yeah it will...it'll help anyway." and then we were talking about how to gain physical strength. I started thinking about that song we sing that says, "I am weak, but thou art strong." As we stood on the hill, we were in agreement with the words to that song.
God certainly is strong, and we only have physical strength to get up the hill, and to do a little bit, but even that strength that we have is because God has given it to us. Through many times during our life God has given us just the strength that we need. He has given us the spiritual strength that we need. He gives us the emotional strength that we need. Everything that we need comes from God.
In our Bible reading today, Isaiah 40:28-31, Isaiah says "The Lord helps weak people to be strong. He causes the people without power to become powerful." Verse 31 reminds us again that the poeple who trust the Lord will become strong again. Like eagles that grow new feathers.
I hope that you will trust God today. I hope that you will depend on him to be the one to give you the strength that you need. Your strength can only come from Him. This idea of renewing our strength like an eagle or growing new feathers like an eagle, is the idea that it comes from underneath, from the inside out. And when It grows, it is strong and ready for use. The same is true with our faith, our desire for God. It comes from inside and grows, and when it is grown it is ready for use.
Let's use our faith today to reach somebody who does not know about God. Maybe you could go to somebody today, and say "Hey, do you know about God's word. Let me tell you about it." And maybe a person is at the point where they need to understand that belief is a necessity. They may be at a point in their life where repentance is necessary, or at a time to make that great confession of faith in Jesus Christ. It may be that a person is in the need of being baptized, or maybe a person just needs to be restored.
Whatever the point is in our life, physically or spiritually, we know this: The strength that we need comes from God Himself.
I hope today will be a great day for you, that you will do great things and that you will show strength, and will remember where it comes from. That you will be showing God's strength as well.
I want to take just a second and remind you to come be with us this weekend, especially . We will have a table at "Pumpkins on the Square" and would love to see you there. Beyond that on Sunday, we are having a Ground Breaking for our new building and are excited aout that and would love for everyone to be at our services at 10am, our 1st Sunday Fellowship Meal at 11am, and our Ground Breaking at 12pm.
~Philip
27 October 2009
SUN AND SON
Revelation 22:1-5
The words "Sun" and "Son" are spelled differently but they sound alike. Let's look at these words today. The word Sun is the center of our solar system and gives us heat and light. Without the sun the earth would die. If the earth were any closer to the sun we would burn up and if the earth was any further away we would freeze to death. Everything in our solar system depends on the Sun.
Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus is the light that leads us to salvation. If we are Christians, Jesus should be the center of our lives. Without Jesus we would die spiritually. All people need to depend on Jesus. Revelation 21:23 tells us about a place that God has prepared for His followers. "The city did not need the sun or the moon to shine on it. The glory of God gives the light, the lamb Jesus is the city's light."
Wow! God's son, Jesus will be the sun in Heaven. I hope that Jesus is the center of your life today. If not, faithfully obey His will this day. Become right with God, so that when this life is over we can go to Heaven in the light that gives life to all the world.
Revelation 22:1-5 And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.
Revelation 22:1-5
The words "Sun" and "Son" are spelled differently but they sound alike. Let's look at these words today. The word Sun is the center of our solar system and gives us heat and light. Without the sun the earth would die. If the earth were any closer to the sun we would burn up and if the earth was any further away we would freeze to death. Everything in our solar system depends on the Sun.
Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus is the light that leads us to salvation. If we are Christians, Jesus should be the center of our lives. Without Jesus we would die spiritually. All people need to depend on Jesus. Revelation 21:23 tells us about a place that God has prepared for His followers. "The city did not need the sun or the moon to shine on it. The glory of God gives the light, the lamb Jesus is the city's light."
Wow! God's son, Jesus will be the sun in Heaven. I hope that Jesus is the center of your life today. If not, faithfully obey His will this day. Become right with God, so that when this life is over we can go to Heaven in the light that gives life to all the world.
Revelation 22:1-5 And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.
26 October 2009
WET PANTS
Psalm 61:1-4
Come with me to a third grade classroom....There is a nine-year old kid sitting at his desk and all of a sudden, there is a puddle between his feet and the front of his pants are wet. He thinks his heart is going to stop because he cannot possible imagine how this has happened. It's never happened before, and he knows that when the boys find out he will never hear the end of it. When the girls find out, they'll speak to him again as long as he lives...
The boy believes his heart is going to stop; he puts his head down and prays this prayer, "Dear God, this is an emergency! I need help now! Five minutes from now I'm dead meat."
He looks up from his prayer and here comes the teacher with a look in her eyes that says he has been discovered. As the teacher is walking toward him, a classmate named Susie is carrying a goldfish bowl that is filled with water...Susie trips in front of the teacher and inexplicably dumps the bowl of water in the boy's lap. The boy pretends to be angry, but all the while is saying to himself, "Thank you, Lord! Thank you, Lord!'
Now all of a sudden, instead of being the object ridicule, the boy is the object of sympathy. The teacher rushes him downstairs and gives him gym shorts to put on while his pants dry out. All the other children are on their hands and knees cleaning up around his desk. The sympathy is wonderful.
But as life would have it, the ridicule that should have been his has been transferred to someone else - Susie. She tries to help, but they tell her to get out. "You've done enough, you klutz!"
Finally, at the end of the day, as they are waiting for the bus, the boy walks over to Susie and whispers, "You did that on purpose, didn't you?" Susie whispers back, "I wet my pants once too..."
May God help us see the opportunities that are always around us to do good....Remember.....just going to church deoesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in your garage makes you a car...
Each and everyone one of us is going through tough times right now, but God is getting ready to bless you in a way that only He can. Keep the faith.
Psalm 61:1-4
Come with me to a third grade classroom....There is a nine-year old kid sitting at his desk and all of a sudden, there is a puddle between his feet and the front of his pants are wet. He thinks his heart is going to stop because he cannot possible imagine how this has happened. It's never happened before, and he knows that when the boys find out he will never hear the end of it. When the girls find out, they'll speak to him again as long as he lives...
The boy believes his heart is going to stop; he puts his head down and prays this prayer, "Dear God, this is an emergency! I need help now! Five minutes from now I'm dead meat."
He looks up from his prayer and here comes the teacher with a look in her eyes that says he has been discovered. As the teacher is walking toward him, a classmate named Susie is carrying a goldfish bowl that is filled with water...Susie trips in front of the teacher and inexplicably dumps the bowl of water in the boy's lap. The boy pretends to be angry, but all the while is saying to himself, "Thank you, Lord! Thank you, Lord!'
Now all of a sudden, instead of being the object ridicule, the boy is the object of sympathy. The teacher rushes him downstairs and gives him gym shorts to put on while his pants dry out. All the other children are on their hands and knees cleaning up around his desk. The sympathy is wonderful.
But as life would have it, the ridicule that should have been his has been transferred to someone else - Susie. She tries to help, but they tell her to get out. "You've done enough, you klutz!"
Finally, at the end of the day, as they are waiting for the bus, the boy walks over to Susie and whispers, "You did that on purpose, didn't you?" Susie whispers back, "I wet my pants once too..."
May God help us see the opportunities that are always around us to do good....Remember.....just going to church deoesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in your garage makes you a car...
Each and everyone one of us is going through tough times right now, but God is getting ready to bless you in a way that only He can. Keep the faith.
23 October 2009
TANGLES
Psalm 37:1-9
I mentioned to you several times before that I have three children. Brantley is nine, Bryson is six, and Brewer is 8 months old. All of them have some things that go on in the morning time. A couple of them, the boys get up gquickly and they are ready to go. They don't care if their hair is fixed or not, and they are always in a good mood in the monring. They talk, talk, talk, and are busy doing things.
On the other hand, Bryson and I are not morning people. Often she will get up and have tangles all in her hair. She would have so many tangles, especially when she had long hair. She will start working on it, and often will I will go over and help her with it. We do pretty well as long as she is real still, and doesn't really fight it very much. But sometimes, she'll become impatient with the tangles, and the one trying to de-tangle. She will then fight against it, which just hurts her head, then she cries.
I was thinking about our lives. We have a lot of tangles in our lives. We as individuals have all kinds of problems and things that we face and each day we deal with these.
Some days life seems real easy for us. I was just talking to some folks just in the last fwedays about howeasy life seems when you are doing what is right and you don'thave a lot of thing to worry about. I believe it gets easier and easier, but there are those who will tell you otherwise, and say, "It just gets harder and harder. I guess some things get harder, but many aspects of life become easier with time. That is the case with a lot of things, but we still have those areas that tangle us up.
There are writers in the New Testament who write about sin being an entanglement. Perer writes that even if we have been baptized and we have been faithful in our obedience to God, if we are not careful we get entangled therein. It's the idea of just getting mixed up in sin again. We need to be careful, don't we, what we should do is just be patient.
Just like with Bryson, who would be better off to just sit there still, and let me help her brush out those tangles; so we would be if we would sit still and listen to God. We should let God help us to get those problems solved in our lives.
Oh, how often it is we go to the wrong place for help. We go to the exact opposite place of where we need to go for help. We might have a financial problem and go to someone who is as broke as we are. We might have a martial problem, and go to someone who has been through a divorce, for advice. We'll have some other problem in life, and we need to go to the one who has been through it and overcome it, not someone like we are. Of course, uiltimately we need to go to God. God wants to help us. God wants us to go to Him and let Him solve those problems in our life.
Our Bible Reading comes from Psalm 37:1-9. Verse seven says, "Trust the Lord and wait for His help." If you will let God help you today with your problems, your tangles, life will run much smoother. God is someone you can depend on. Trust Him with your life, and He will do somthing that will amaze you.
~Philip
Psalm 37:1-9
I mentioned to you several times before that I have three children. Brantley is nine, Bryson is six, and Brewer is 8 months old. All of them have some things that go on in the morning time. A couple of them, the boys get up gquickly and they are ready to go. They don't care if their hair is fixed or not, and they are always in a good mood in the monring. They talk, talk, talk, and are busy doing things.
On the other hand, Bryson and I are not morning people. Often she will get up and have tangles all in her hair. She would have so many tangles, especially when she had long hair. She will start working on it, and often will I will go over and help her with it. We do pretty well as long as she is real still, and doesn't really fight it very much. But sometimes, she'll become impatient with the tangles, and the one trying to de-tangle. She will then fight against it, which just hurts her head, then she cries.
I was thinking about our lives. We have a lot of tangles in our lives. We as individuals have all kinds of problems and things that we face and each day we deal with these.
Some days life seems real easy for us. I was just talking to some folks just in the last fwedays about howeasy life seems when you are doing what is right and you don'thave a lot of thing to worry about. I believe it gets easier and easier, but there are those who will tell you otherwise, and say, "It just gets harder and harder. I guess some things get harder, but many aspects of life become easier with time. That is the case with a lot of things, but we still have those areas that tangle us up.
There are writers in the New Testament who write about sin being an entanglement. Perer writes that even if we have been baptized and we have been faithful in our obedience to God, if we are not careful we get entangled therein. It's the idea of just getting mixed up in sin again. We need to be careful, don't we, what we should do is just be patient.
Just like with Bryson, who would be better off to just sit there still, and let me help her brush out those tangles; so we would be if we would sit still and listen to God. We should let God help us to get those problems solved in our lives.
Oh, how often it is we go to the wrong place for help. We go to the exact opposite place of where we need to go for help. We might have a financial problem and go to someone who is as broke as we are. We might have a martial problem, and go to someone who has been through a divorce, for advice. We'll have some other problem in life, and we need to go to the one who has been through it and overcome it, not someone like we are. Of course, uiltimately we need to go to God. God wants to help us. God wants us to go to Him and let Him solve those problems in our life.
Our Bible Reading comes from Psalm 37:1-9. Verse seven says, "Trust the Lord and wait for His help." If you will let God help you today with your problems, your tangles, life will run much smoother. God is someone you can depend on. Trust Him with your life, and He will do somthing that will amaze you.
~Philip
22 October 2009
THE GREATEST LOVE
John 15:7-17
In our Bible reading today Jesus talked with His disciples about love. Why? Because Jesus was about to be killed on the cross for them and for all of us, and He wanted His followers to know that important message. I guess if we are scholars of the Bible we realize this is the most important message--the message of love. In verses 12 and 13 of our text, Jesus said this. "This is what I commanded you, love each other like I have loved you. The greatest love a person can show is to die for his friend." His disciples did not understand all He was trying to teach them at the time, but soon Jesus would be dying on the cross of Calvary and they would have a greater understanding of what it meant for someone to die for His friend.
All people of the world would have an understanding of what that kind of love looks like. When Jesus died on the cross He truly showed us that He loved us. Jesus arose from the dead, and showed us that He wanted us to live forever with Him.
Because of that great thing that happened, the Bible calls it the Gospel. In I Corinthians 15:1-4, we see Paul recapping the Gospel. He calls it the "Good News", the same thing he had been teaching. The things that the people in Corinth already knew--that Jesus had died, was buried, and rose again--The Good News of the Gospel, the Good News of the love of Jesus Christ.
Jesus wants His friends to love Him the way that He loved them. In verses 14 and 17 of our text, Jesus said this, "You are my friend if you do the things I tell you to do. This is my commandment, Love each other". Isn't that interesting. He said, you're my friend if you do what I tell you to do, and this is what I'm asking you to do. I'm asking you to love each other.
There are several other commandments in the Bible, and I'm not trying to tell you this is the only commandment that we are to follow. There are many others that we are responsible for as Christians and as individuals before we even become a Christian. But we as followers of Christ must realize this great, and maybe the most important of the commands, or requests, that He gave us, and that is to love each other.
When we obey Him by loving other people, He is pleased with our actions. Look for ways to love other people. Look around you; sometimes there are people who aren't very loveable, people like me. But we know that we need to, and need to spend time loving and caring for the needs of other people.
Sometimes it is hard, and sometimes it is very frustrating. Often we have people who request help, or we see people in our church and our families making the same mistakes over and over again, and we get to the point when we say "Oh, I don't even want to help anymore." But God will look at them and say "I still love them and you should too.
I know the lesson this day helps me, and I know it helps you as well to keep putting God first, caring about others, and loving the way He loved. If we will do that it will make a difference for this world, and for the world to come. In both places things will be better because of you having loved like you should.
Again let me stress, God said "If you love me you will keep my commandments." You can do that by faithful obedience to His will. I hope today, you will make a special effort to do that, and to follow Him every day of your life, by walking by faith and not by sight.
~Philip
John 15:7-17
In our Bible reading today Jesus talked with His disciples about love. Why? Because Jesus was about to be killed on the cross for them and for all of us, and He wanted His followers to know that important message. I guess if we are scholars of the Bible we realize this is the most important message--the message of love. In verses 12 and 13 of our text, Jesus said this. "This is what I commanded you, love each other like I have loved you. The greatest love a person can show is to die for his friend." His disciples did not understand all He was trying to teach them at the time, but soon Jesus would be dying on the cross of Calvary and they would have a greater understanding of what it meant for someone to die for His friend.
All people of the world would have an understanding of what that kind of love looks like. When Jesus died on the cross He truly showed us that He loved us. Jesus arose from the dead, and showed us that He wanted us to live forever with Him.
Because of that great thing that happened, the Bible calls it the Gospel. In I Corinthians 15:1-4, we see Paul recapping the Gospel. He calls it the "Good News", the same thing he had been teaching. The things that the people in Corinth already knew--that Jesus had died, was buried, and rose again--The Good News of the Gospel, the Good News of the love of Jesus Christ.
Jesus wants His friends to love Him the way that He loved them. In verses 14 and 17 of our text, Jesus said this, "You are my friend if you do the things I tell you to do. This is my commandment, Love each other". Isn't that interesting. He said, you're my friend if you do what I tell you to do, and this is what I'm asking you to do. I'm asking you to love each other.
There are several other commandments in the Bible, and I'm not trying to tell you this is the only commandment that we are to follow. There are many others that we are responsible for as Christians and as individuals before we even become a Christian. But we as followers of Christ must realize this great, and maybe the most important of the commands, or requests, that He gave us, and that is to love each other.
When we obey Him by loving other people, He is pleased with our actions. Look for ways to love other people. Look around you; sometimes there are people who aren't very loveable, people like me. But we know that we need to, and need to spend time loving and caring for the needs of other people.
Sometimes it is hard, and sometimes it is very frustrating. Often we have people who request help, or we see people in our church and our families making the same mistakes over and over again, and we get to the point when we say "Oh, I don't even want to help anymore." But God will look at them and say "I still love them and you should too.
I know the lesson this day helps me, and I know it helps you as well to keep putting God first, caring about others, and loving the way He loved. If we will do that it will make a difference for this world, and for the world to come. In both places things will be better because of you having loved like you should.
Again let me stress, God said "If you love me you will keep my commandments." You can do that by faithful obedience to His will. I hope today, you will make a special effort to do that, and to follow Him every day of your life, by walking by faith and not by sight.
~Philip
21 October 2009
TODAY
Psalm 90:12-17
Someone told me on Monday of this week that every new day is a gift from God. When we wake up in the morning, truly it is a great gift from God. God has given us another twenty-four hours to live for Him.
Probably most of us have the same routine that we follow every day. We do some of the same stuff. We eat, we sleep, we work, we spend time with our friends. Whatever it is, we fall into a routine of doing the same stuff over and over again. The things that we do over and over again may seem like we live a boring kind of life, but the truth is God wants us to realize every day is important.
Our scripture reading today comes from Psalm 90:12-17. In verse 12, the Bible says, "Teach us how short our lives really are, so we can become really wise." A wise thing to do is to redeem the time God has blessed us with. We don’t know how long we have to live on earth, so God wants us to use each day in the very best way that we can in His service.
God has given us today, Wednesday to be His people, to be His kind of person as we live our lives. Think about how you can use this day for Him. Draw closer to God through Bible study and prayer. Take some of your time and talents to go out and help other people. Maybe it’s caring for a friend’s need, or a family member, or whoever it may be. Or you may want to go and share the good news of Jesus with someone else. Don’t forget to tell them that it is faithfully obedience that results in salvation. That’s what it takes. We need to hear God’s word and believe. That’s the faith part of the equation. We then need to put it into action with our repentance of sin, our confession of faith, and being baptized. We, of course, need to faithfully continue to obey God as we live our lives each day, trusting him completely as we walk by faith and not by sight.
The question is, what are you, going to do with this day. What are you going to do with the time God has blessed you with? Are you going to use it for Him in His service, or will you just waste the time? You know there are a lot of things in life that we just waste. We see somebody with a plate full of food and then they don’t eat it. Somebody says, "you’re wasting that. There are a lot of hungry people in the world." I guess all of us have said, "Well, you can mail it to the hungry people" or whatever, but there are a lot of areas in our life in which we do the same kind of thing.
We waste a lot of time doing a lot of different things that are not important, that don’t even matter in the scheme of things. We need to be careful how we use our time. Today is the day of salvation, the Bible teaches. Today is the day we need to do it God’s way. Today is the only day that we have. Someone says, "Well, what do you mean by that?" Well, we can’t go back to yesterday, and we are not promised tomorrow. So, that means that today is the day. The question today is, "What are you going to do with it?" I hope you’ll use it in God’s service. Another good way is to join us in our Bible class today. We start at 7pm tonight, this very night. We would love to see you there–come and be with us!
~Philip
Psalm 90:12-17
Someone told me on Monday of this week that every new day is a gift from God. When we wake up in the morning, truly it is a great gift from God. God has given us another twenty-four hours to live for Him.
Probably most of us have the same routine that we follow every day. We do some of the same stuff. We eat, we sleep, we work, we spend time with our friends. Whatever it is, we fall into a routine of doing the same stuff over and over again. The things that we do over and over again may seem like we live a boring kind of life, but the truth is God wants us to realize every day is important.
Our scripture reading today comes from Psalm 90:12-17. In verse 12, the Bible says, "Teach us how short our lives really are, so we can become really wise." A wise thing to do is to redeem the time God has blessed us with. We don’t know how long we have to live on earth, so God wants us to use each day in the very best way that we can in His service.
God has given us today, Wednesday to be His people, to be His kind of person as we live our lives. Think about how you can use this day for Him. Draw closer to God through Bible study and prayer. Take some of your time and talents to go out and help other people. Maybe it’s caring for a friend’s need, or a family member, or whoever it may be. Or you may want to go and share the good news of Jesus with someone else. Don’t forget to tell them that it is faithfully obedience that results in salvation. That’s what it takes. We need to hear God’s word and believe. That’s the faith part of the equation. We then need to put it into action with our repentance of sin, our confession of faith, and being baptized. We, of course, need to faithfully continue to obey God as we live our lives each day, trusting him completely as we walk by faith and not by sight.
The question is, what are you, going to do with this day. What are you going to do with the time God has blessed you with? Are you going to use it for Him in His service, or will you just waste the time? You know there are a lot of things in life that we just waste. We see somebody with a plate full of food and then they don’t eat it. Somebody says, "you’re wasting that. There are a lot of hungry people in the world." I guess all of us have said, "Well, you can mail it to the hungry people" or whatever, but there are a lot of areas in our life in which we do the same kind of thing.
We waste a lot of time doing a lot of different things that are not important, that don’t even matter in the scheme of things. We need to be careful how we use our time. Today is the day of salvation, the Bible teaches. Today is the day we need to do it God’s way. Today is the only day that we have. Someone says, "Well, what do you mean by that?" Well, we can’t go back to yesterday, and we are not promised tomorrow. So, that means that today is the day. The question today is, "What are you going to do with it?" I hope you’ll use it in God’s service. Another good way is to join us in our Bible class today. We start at 7pm tonight, this very night. We would love to see you there–come and be with us!
~Philip
20 October 2009
SLEEP
Psalm 4:1-8
All people need to sleep. Sleep is a healthy part of a healthy body. When somebody doesn’t sleep, they develop all kinds of physical problems. Someone says, "Yeah, I sleep all the time through the preacher’s sermon." Maybe that’s the time that you can catch a nap. God built us in such a way that we can get some rest.
Genesis, chapter 1, tells us about God creating day and night. Gen. 1:16 tells us about two lights – one is a great light that God made to rule during the day, and a smaller one, the Bible says is to rule during the night. God plans for us to sleep so that our bodies can rest and receive strength.
Sometimes like you, I have trouble sleeping. Sometimes if my wife leaves the TV on, or if I get a book or something, I find myself staying up late, and then sometimes I have trouble getting to sleep at all. Used to I had even more trouble than I do now. I told someone before, that I hadn’t slept since 1989, when I graduated high school. We go through these cycles.
We see ads on TV about sleep aids, but there is something we can do. When we are having trouble sleeping, we can go to the Bible. In Psalms 4:1-8, our bible reading today, David tells us what we can do. I want to specifically give you verse four of that text. " The Lord listens to his good people." The Lord hears me when I pray to Him." Think about these things when you go to bed. Then relax. This is from the easy to read version of the Bible, an interesting version of the Bible to read sometimes, to give the text a simple kind of language today. The idea is, have you talked to God, have you prayed to God? It will help you relax.
If I’m having trouble sleeping, I can pray. I know God wants to help me so that I will not be troubled, and not be afraid; and I won’t get to a point in my life where I am sick even, physically. God helps with those things as well. You can ask God to help you to sleep this night, or any night.
God is with you. He loves you and will never leave you. In the new testament the Bible says, "I leave you peace." It is my own peace that I give you. So I don’t want you to be troubled. And don’t be afraid." (John 25:27). God doesn’t want us to be afraid, He doesn’t want us to be troubled. He doesn’t want us to be sleepless. Instead, He wants us to be able to rest in the promises that He has given us.
I think it carries over into physical sleep. Especially, we know that He wants us to be assured spiritually of eternal rest that can be found in Him. The way we can be assured of finding eternal rest in God is if we faithfully obey His will; That we hear his Word, that we believe it, repent and confess our faith, and be baptized. Then when we have done these things, we continue to live faithfully every day. We spend time in prayer like we have talked about today. We give of our time, talents, and treasures. We teach other people. We study for ourselves. We attend all the services of the church. All of these things lead us to a healthy life spiritually, as well. I hope you will put God first in your life. The way we do that of course, is walking by faith, and not by sight.
~Philip
Psalm 4:1-8
All people need to sleep. Sleep is a healthy part of a healthy body. When somebody doesn’t sleep, they develop all kinds of physical problems. Someone says, "Yeah, I sleep all the time through the preacher’s sermon." Maybe that’s the time that you can catch a nap. God built us in such a way that we can get some rest.
Genesis, chapter 1, tells us about God creating day and night. Gen. 1:16 tells us about two lights – one is a great light that God made to rule during the day, and a smaller one, the Bible says is to rule during the night. God plans for us to sleep so that our bodies can rest and receive strength.
Sometimes like you, I have trouble sleeping. Sometimes if my wife leaves the TV on, or if I get a book or something, I find myself staying up late, and then sometimes I have trouble getting to sleep at all. Used to I had even more trouble than I do now. I told someone before, that I hadn’t slept since 1989, when I graduated high school. We go through these cycles.
We see ads on TV about sleep aids, but there is something we can do. When we are having trouble sleeping, we can go to the Bible. In Psalms 4:1-8, our bible reading today, David tells us what we can do. I want to specifically give you verse four of that text. " The Lord listens to his good people." The Lord hears me when I pray to Him." Think about these things when you go to bed. Then relax. This is from the easy to read version of the Bible, an interesting version of the Bible to read sometimes, to give the text a simple kind of language today. The idea is, have you talked to God, have you prayed to God? It will help you relax.
If I’m having trouble sleeping, I can pray. I know God wants to help me so that I will not be troubled, and not be afraid; and I won’t get to a point in my life where I am sick even, physically. God helps with those things as well. You can ask God to help you to sleep this night, or any night.
God is with you. He loves you and will never leave you. In the new testament the Bible says, "I leave you peace." It is my own peace that I give you. So I don’t want you to be troubled. And don’t be afraid." (John 25:27). God doesn’t want us to be afraid, He doesn’t want us to be troubled. He doesn’t want us to be sleepless. Instead, He wants us to be able to rest in the promises that He has given us.
I think it carries over into physical sleep. Especially, we know that He wants us to be assured spiritually of eternal rest that can be found in Him. The way we can be assured of finding eternal rest in God is if we faithfully obey His will; That we hear his Word, that we believe it, repent and confess our faith, and be baptized. Then when we have done these things, we continue to live faithfully every day. We spend time in prayer like we have talked about today. We give of our time, talents, and treasures. We teach other people. We study for ourselves. We attend all the services of the church. All of these things lead us to a healthy life spiritually, as well. I hope you will put God first in your life. The way we do that of course, is walking by faith, and not by sight.
~Philip
19 October 2009
FAITH
Hebrews 11:1-13
Johannes Rabmann was a missionary in Africa. He had heard stories about a high mountain there that covered a large area of ground and was topped with snow. He had faith in these stories. He had heard them for a long time, and decided that what he wanted to do was climb that mountain. He decided he would search and he would travel wherever he needed to travel, asking more and more people for details about the mountain. Eventually he thought he would find the mountain , because he believed those stories. In 1848, he finally saw the mountain in the distance. Today we know this mountain as Mt. Kilimanjaro, over in Tanzania. He had faith in this mountain.
There are others who are adventurous and want to climb this famous mountain, and other famous peaks from around the world. We know that today there are those who have done that already. They have been on that snow tipped mountain because this missionary followed up on some stories he had heard -- not having seen the mountain for himself beforehand, but taking the steps necessary to get him where he needed to be so that he could see his goal in the end.
Today, our Bible reading, Hebrews 11:1-13, tells us about people who had faith in God. We sometimes refer to this chapter as the "roll-call of faith" We see people like Adam and Abraham. We see Enoch and Noah, Isaac and Jacob, and on and on the list goes. As a matter of fact, the writer of the Hebrew book says the list would be so long if he added all the names that they wouldn't fit in the book. He just gave us a few names.
These are people who had followed and obeyed God even though they had never seen Him for themselves. They had heard about Him, and they understood, maybe not all of God's plan, but enough of God's plan to get moving, to follow the plan and get right with God.
Sometimes we don't understand all of God's plan for our life. Sometimes we don't see the goal out in the distance, but if we have faith in God, we know that if we do right, God will continue to take care of us and protect us along the way. We can meet that goal in the end. Of course, the goal is that place that we call Heaven. We haven't seen it for ourselves. We've sung songs about it, and read about it in our Bible, that travel brochure for the place called Heaven. (Revelation 21 and 22)
Today, though, we just need to depend on God. We need to depend on Him to take us where we need to be. He will always be with us. He is not going to be leaving us or going somewhere else. He'll be there for us to take us through. If we will trust in the stories we read in the Bible, of that beautiful place , we can reach that place when this life is over. God's power is complete. The Lord's Word has been tested. He protects His people who trust in Him. (Psalm 18:30)
~Philip
Hebrews 11:1-13
Johannes Rabmann was a missionary in Africa. He had heard stories about a high mountain there that covered a large area of ground and was topped with snow. He had faith in these stories. He had heard them for a long time, and decided that what he wanted to do was climb that mountain. He decided he would search and he would travel wherever he needed to travel, asking more and more people for details about the mountain. Eventually he thought he would find the mountain , because he believed those stories. In 1848, he finally saw the mountain in the distance. Today we know this mountain as Mt. Kilimanjaro, over in Tanzania. He had faith in this mountain.
There are others who are adventurous and want to climb this famous mountain, and other famous peaks from around the world. We know that today there are those who have done that already. They have been on that snow tipped mountain because this missionary followed up on some stories he had heard -- not having seen the mountain for himself beforehand, but taking the steps necessary to get him where he needed to be so that he could see his goal in the end.
Today, our Bible reading, Hebrews 11:1-13, tells us about people who had faith in God. We sometimes refer to this chapter as the "roll-call of faith" We see people like Adam and Abraham. We see Enoch and Noah, Isaac and Jacob, and on and on the list goes. As a matter of fact, the writer of the Hebrew book says the list would be so long if he added all the names that they wouldn't fit in the book. He just gave us a few names.
These are people who had followed and obeyed God even though they had never seen Him for themselves. They had heard about Him, and they understood, maybe not all of God's plan, but enough of God's plan to get moving, to follow the plan and get right with God.
Sometimes we don't understand all of God's plan for our life. Sometimes we don't see the goal out in the distance, but if we have faith in God, we know that if we do right, God will continue to take care of us and protect us along the way. We can meet that goal in the end. Of course, the goal is that place that we call Heaven. We haven't seen it for ourselves. We've sung songs about it, and read about it in our Bible, that travel brochure for the place called Heaven. (Revelation 21 and 22)
Today, though, we just need to depend on God. We need to depend on Him to take us where we need to be. He will always be with us. He is not going to be leaving us or going somewhere else. He'll be there for us to take us through. If we will trust in the stories we read in the Bible, of that beautiful place , we can reach that place when this life is over. God's power is complete. The Lord's Word has been tested. He protects His people who trust in Him. (Psalm 18:30)
~Philip
16 October 2009
Hills
Matthew 27:27-44
An old hymn that most of us are familiar with begins with these words: "On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross." The song talks about the place where Jesus was crucified, for you and for me.
The Bible says, in maybe the most familiar text in all of God's word, John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes on Him should not perish but have everlasting life." That everlasting life can be had through contact with the blood of Jesus Christ, that same blood that was shed for us on the cross of Calvary.
Our scripture reading today comes from Matthew 27:27-44. Verse 33 of that text tells us that the soldiers led Jesus to a place called Golgotha. Golgotha means "Place of the Skull" . We don't know for sure all the details about the place. We do know for sure though, that Golgotha was a hill. Many people think the place was shaped like a skull.
Often we see beautiful pictures of the crucification of Jesus with a cross on either side to remind us that He died for us. I don't believe there is anything wrong with that kind of rembrance of Jesus' death, although probably the picture painted in our Bible is much dfferent from the actual place. The place where Jesus died was a cruel place, an ugly place.
When Jesus was on the cross, He suffered a lot of pain. He not only suffered immense physical pain, but He also suffered the pain of having to bear the weight of the world's sin on that cross for us all. He did so, in order that we could have our sins forgiven. Why? Because He loved us, he loved us so much that He wanted to cure the problem that the world has with sin. Make no mistake about it, we all have that same problem. It is common to all men. All of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
Have you said to God, "Thank you". Have you said to Jesus, "Thank you for dying on the cross for me. Thank you for sending your Son to be my Savior." The way we thank Him for what He has done for us is by accepting him as part of our lives, accepting Him as our Savior. The way we do that is by faithful obedience to His will -- We hear His word and we believe it. We are willing to repent of our sins, confess our faith, and are willing to be baptized and live faithfully all the rest of our life. We summarize this every day by just saying -- Faith + Obedience = Salvation.
Are you living in faithful obedience? If not, I encourage you to become a Christian today. We encourage you to become a Christian because God loved us so much, and by the way, He said, "If you love Me you will keep My commandments. We will show our acceptance of Him, our desire to do what He wants us to do, by our actions. So put it into practice today. Get busy doing what God wants you to do and know for sure that God will bless you for those efforts.
~Philip
Matthew 27:27-44
An old hymn that most of us are familiar with begins with these words: "On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross." The song talks about the place where Jesus was crucified, for you and for me.
The Bible says, in maybe the most familiar text in all of God's word, John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes on Him should not perish but have everlasting life." That everlasting life can be had through contact with the blood of Jesus Christ, that same blood that was shed for us on the cross of Calvary.
Our scripture reading today comes from Matthew 27:27-44. Verse 33 of that text tells us that the soldiers led Jesus to a place called Golgotha. Golgotha means "Place of the Skull" . We don't know for sure all the details about the place. We do know for sure though, that Golgotha was a hill. Many people think the place was shaped like a skull.
Often we see beautiful pictures of the crucification of Jesus with a cross on either side to remind us that He died for us. I don't believe there is anything wrong with that kind of rembrance of Jesus' death, although probably the picture painted in our Bible is much dfferent from the actual place. The place where Jesus died was a cruel place, an ugly place.
When Jesus was on the cross, He suffered a lot of pain. He not only suffered immense physical pain, but He also suffered the pain of having to bear the weight of the world's sin on that cross for us all. He did so, in order that we could have our sins forgiven. Why? Because He loved us, he loved us so much that He wanted to cure the problem that the world has with sin. Make no mistake about it, we all have that same problem. It is common to all men. All of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
Have you said to God, "Thank you". Have you said to Jesus, "Thank you for dying on the cross for me. Thank you for sending your Son to be my Savior." The way we thank Him for what He has done for us is by accepting him as part of our lives, accepting Him as our Savior. The way we do that is by faithful obedience to His will -- We hear His word and we believe it. We are willing to repent of our sins, confess our faith, and are willing to be baptized and live faithfully all the rest of our life. We summarize this every day by just saying -- Faith + Obedience = Salvation.
Are you living in faithful obedience? If not, I encourage you to become a Christian today. We encourage you to become a Christian because God loved us so much, and by the way, He said, "If you love Me you will keep My commandments. We will show our acceptance of Him, our desire to do what He wants us to do, by our actions. So put it into practice today. Get busy doing what God wants you to do and know for sure that God will bless you for those efforts.
~Philip
15 October 2009
Hills
Mark 1:35-38
I have been very blessed in my lifetime to be able to travel to several interesting places. I have been able to go to beautiful places in our state and our area, like to Mt. Cheaha, the highest point in Alabama, located in the northeast part of the state.
I’ve been able to go out in Oklahoma. A friend and I were out there for the National Workshop for the Deaf. We climbed up a mountain and had a devotional on top of that mountain.
This week we have talked about hills. I've talked about the hills my grandparents have in Titus, Alabama. There is a pond in a low spot there. All the way around it there are hills, almost like a bowl. It was a place I enjoyed going.
I have been able to go down to Ecuador, South America, where the great mountain ranges of our world are. I remember when we were on some of those trips to Equador, some of us went out one morning early, up to the top of one of these mountains, maybe the highest I have ever been, and still been on earth. We were looking around, seeing all the beauty of all the things God had made, and I felt very close to God. In that special place, there was not a lot of noise, or distractions to bother us, so we took time to sing a song and pray -- to thank God for what He had done in our lives.
Our Bible reading today, Mark 1:35-38, tells us about Jesus going to a special place that I picture to be a lot like the one in Ecuador. A place where He could be alone and pray, and think about everyone's needs. A place where he could go and communicate with God, to be alone with God.
Maybe you can't go out to the country or up on some mountain, but you can find a place to do what Jesus did, and that is to get alone with God. You can just close the door where you are, in your bedroom, or just take time when you are by yourself in your car driving, or maybe just sit under a tree in the backyard. I hope that you will take the opportunity in the quietness of that area to be alone with God, to talk with God again and thank him for all the things that He has done for us. Read His word and pray to Him, communicate with Him. You know as adults, I think, we sometimes lose that. Children will say thank you for this day and for the trees and the leaves on the trees, for the hamburgers and the cheese on the hamburgers, and for the french fries. We laugh at children for praying that way, but I think children really get it. They understand what God wants us to see. They understand that every blessing is from Him. We hope that the things we give you will help you. We realize that we can't give you everything in one day but maybe it will help get you through this day. I know that it will if you will put God first in your life, and through faithful obedience to God, He will take us where we need to be in life, and finally to that home in Heaven with Him.
~Philip
Mark 1:35-38
I have been very blessed in my lifetime to be able to travel to several interesting places. I have been able to go to beautiful places in our state and our area, like to Mt. Cheaha, the highest point in Alabama, located in the northeast part of the state.
I’ve been able to go out in Oklahoma. A friend and I were out there for the National Workshop for the Deaf. We climbed up a mountain and had a devotional on top of that mountain.
This week we have talked about hills. I've talked about the hills my grandparents have in Titus, Alabama. There is a pond in a low spot there. All the way around it there are hills, almost like a bowl. It was a place I enjoyed going.
I have been able to go down to Ecuador, South America, where the great mountain ranges of our world are. I remember when we were on some of those trips to Equador, some of us went out one morning early, up to the top of one of these mountains, maybe the highest I have ever been, and still been on earth. We were looking around, seeing all the beauty of all the things God had made, and I felt very close to God. In that special place, there was not a lot of noise, or distractions to bother us, so we took time to sing a song and pray -- to thank God for what He had done in our lives.
Our Bible reading today, Mark 1:35-38, tells us about Jesus going to a special place that I picture to be a lot like the one in Ecuador. A place where He could be alone and pray, and think about everyone's needs. A place where he could go and communicate with God, to be alone with God.
Maybe you can't go out to the country or up on some mountain, but you can find a place to do what Jesus did, and that is to get alone with God. You can just close the door where you are, in your bedroom, or just take time when you are by yourself in your car driving, or maybe just sit under a tree in the backyard. I hope that you will take the opportunity in the quietness of that area to be alone with God, to talk with God again and thank him for all the things that He has done for us. Read His word and pray to Him, communicate with Him. You know as adults, I think, we sometimes lose that. Children will say thank you for this day and for the trees and the leaves on the trees, for the hamburgers and the cheese on the hamburgers, and for the french fries. We laugh at children for praying that way, but I think children really get it. They understand what God wants us to see. They understand that every blessing is from Him. We hope that the things we give you will help you. We realize that we can't give you everything in one day but maybe it will help get you through this day. I know that it will if you will put God first in your life, and through faithful obedience to God, He will take us where we need to be in life, and finally to that home in Heaven with Him.
~Philip
14 October 2009
HILLS
Matthew 6:25-34
I remember when I was a child hearing this sometimes, and my wife has probably said it to me after being an adult. Somebody will make something big about something unimportant and my Mother would say "Don't make a mountain out of a mole hill." It means we should not get upset about something that is not important. A small problem should be like a small hill and shouldn't be a big deal for us. We ought to be able to just step right over it, or around it, or even just knock it down, and keep going. Instead, like people do sometimes, we worry, and worry makes it a big mountain of a problem. Make no mistake about it, God does not want you to spend any of your time this day worrying.
Over in the New Testament book, 1 Peter 5:7, the Bible says "Give all your worries to Him because He cares for you."
Our Bible reading today, Matthew 6 :25-34, tells us that God takes care of the birds, the flowers, and the grass of the field. If He will do that for them, then certainly He will do that for you. Jesus says, "Look at the birds. They don't have farms, they don't toil and reap. They don't have to work. God takes care of them. " We are not saying don't work, just that God takes care of your needs. Look at the grasses in the field how beautiful they are. These grasses, flowers of the field that are here this morning, are burned up in the heat of the day. God will take care of you a lot more than He will a bird or the grass of the field So, when we have problems we need to tell them to God, to give them to God completely and quit worrying about them. We have to let go and let God take care of the problem.
I hope you can do that today. That you can look at the problem, whatever it is, and say "You know this is big for me, but it's nothing for God. There has never been a time when God has said, "You know I wasn't expecting that. I never saw that one coming. That problem is one I've just never dealt with before, I don't know what to do. God knows how to take care of us. God knows those things that we need. He knows what you are going through and he understands. I hope you can trust Him enough today to give your problems to Him.
We have asked the question, "Do you trust God? The real question may be "Can God trust you?" Do you trust Him enough to just hand it off. Do you trust Him enough to just give Him those burdens and let Him deal with them. That's what He wants. He desires that we give Him all of our cares, all of our concerns. We should trust Him completely with our lives.
I hope you will do that today with your life. Faith + Obedience = Salvation is what it takes today. Nothing short of that will do. I hope it is what you are doing.
~Philip
Matthew 6:25-34
I remember when I was a child hearing this sometimes, and my wife has probably said it to me after being an adult. Somebody will make something big about something unimportant and my Mother would say "Don't make a mountain out of a mole hill." It means we should not get upset about something that is not important. A small problem should be like a small hill and shouldn't be a big deal for us. We ought to be able to just step right over it, or around it, or even just knock it down, and keep going. Instead, like people do sometimes, we worry, and worry makes it a big mountain of a problem. Make no mistake about it, God does not want you to spend any of your time this day worrying.
Over in the New Testament book, 1 Peter 5:7, the Bible says "Give all your worries to Him because He cares for you."
Our Bible reading today, Matthew 6 :25-34, tells us that God takes care of the birds, the flowers, and the grass of the field. If He will do that for them, then certainly He will do that for you. Jesus says, "Look at the birds. They don't have farms, they don't toil and reap. They don't have to work. God takes care of them. " We are not saying don't work, just that God takes care of your needs. Look at the grasses in the field how beautiful they are. These grasses, flowers of the field that are here this morning, are burned up in the heat of the day. God will take care of you a lot more than He will a bird or the grass of the field So, when we have problems we need to tell them to God, to give them to God completely and quit worrying about them. We have to let go and let God take care of the problem.
I hope you can do that today. That you can look at the problem, whatever it is, and say "You know this is big for me, but it's nothing for God. There has never been a time when God has said, "You know I wasn't expecting that. I never saw that one coming. That problem is one I've just never dealt with before, I don't know what to do. God knows how to take care of us. God knows those things that we need. He knows what you are going through and he understands. I hope you can trust Him enough today to give your problems to Him.
We have asked the question, "Do you trust God? The real question may be "Can God trust you?" Do you trust Him enough to just hand it off. Do you trust Him enough to just give Him those burdens and let Him deal with them. That's what He wants. He desires that we give Him all of our cares, all of our concerns. We should trust Him completely with our lives.
I hope you will do that today with your life. Faith + Obedience = Salvation is what it takes today. Nothing short of that will do. I hope it is what you are doing.
~Philip
13 October 2009
HILLS
Isaiah 40:6-8
When I was young, my grandparents would take me out to a hill on their place out in the country. They lived up in Titus, Alabama, in Elmore County. There were several hills on their place, some were very steep. One of hills they took me to, I called Flower Hill. I guess we all have names we give to areas on our property and around town that other folks would not know. I called it Flower Hill because when I was little I would go out and look at the wildflowers growing on the side of the hill. It led down to a stream which I thought was a very beautiful place. It had a little sandy area. Sometimes we would go down there and work on the fence to keep the cows in the area, and my grandparents would bring a little picnic lunch and we would eat by the stream and talk about the flowers on the hill. My Grandaddy would point out things and tell me what they were, and my Grandmother would tell me what a lot of the flowers were. But, these flowers did not last long.
Our Bible reading reminds me of something very similar--that everything on earth is temporary. In the Old Testament book of Isaiah 40:6-8, we see that things on earth, at best, are only here for a very short time and the only thing that lasts forever is God's Word. Verse 8 says "Yes, all people are like grass, grass dies, and wildflowers fall, but the Word of our God continues forever." When the Old Testament was written, God's word was very important to the people. Not only was it important then, but it is important to us this day.
The same is true of the New Testament. When the New Testament was penned it was of great importance to all the people who had a chance to read it. We live in a time when many of us have multiple copies of God's Word, and it is made up of 66 books, 39 in the Old, and 27 in the New.
As we look at God's Word we know that it will always be there for us. Those Words are important to us today because they guide our life in the direction that we should be going and ultimately they will be the same words that will judge us on Judgment Day. The Bible is our guide to life. There is no doubt about it. The Bible is the Guide Book to get us where we need to be. It was never before and never will be uncool or old fashioned. to read God's Word. As a matter of fact, today I want to encourage you to do that--to read and study God's word because it is so improtant to our eternal lives.
What is important to you? Is it important for you to live the way you should, and go to heaven when this life is over? I hope your answer to that question is ..YES. If you want that, you have to know what God's word says, you have to know the rules to know where the Guide Book leads us and we have to follow it. Get your Bible out today and spend some time with God's Word.
Isaiah 40:6-8
When I was young, my grandparents would take me out to a hill on their place out in the country. They lived up in Titus, Alabama, in Elmore County. There were several hills on their place, some were very steep. One of hills they took me to, I called Flower Hill. I guess we all have names we give to areas on our property and around town that other folks would not know. I called it Flower Hill because when I was little I would go out and look at the wildflowers growing on the side of the hill. It led down to a stream which I thought was a very beautiful place. It had a little sandy area. Sometimes we would go down there and work on the fence to keep the cows in the area, and my grandparents would bring a little picnic lunch and we would eat by the stream and talk about the flowers on the hill. My Grandaddy would point out things and tell me what they were, and my Grandmother would tell me what a lot of the flowers were. But, these flowers did not last long.
Our Bible reading reminds me of something very similar--that everything on earth is temporary. In the Old Testament book of Isaiah 40:6-8, we see that things on earth, at best, are only here for a very short time and the only thing that lasts forever is God's Word. Verse 8 says "Yes, all people are like grass, grass dies, and wildflowers fall, but the Word of our God continues forever." When the Old Testament was written, God's word was very important to the people. Not only was it important then, but it is important to us this day.
The same is true of the New Testament. When the New Testament was penned it was of great importance to all the people who had a chance to read it. We live in a time when many of us have multiple copies of God's Word, and it is made up of 66 books, 39 in the Old, and 27 in the New.
As we look at God's Word we know that it will always be there for us. Those Words are important to us today because they guide our life in the direction that we should be going and ultimately they will be the same words that will judge us on Judgment Day. The Bible is our guide to life. There is no doubt about it. The Bible is the Guide Book to get us where we need to be. It was never before and never will be uncool or old fashioned. to read God's Word. As a matter of fact, today I want to encourage you to do that--to read and study God's word because it is so improtant to our eternal lives.
What is important to you? Is it important for you to live the way you should, and go to heaven when this life is over? I hope your answer to that question is ..YES. If you want that, you have to know what God's word says, you have to know the rules to know where the Guide Book leads us and we have to follow it. Get your Bible out today and spend some time with God's Word.
12 October 2009
HILLS
Proverbs 3:1-8
Today, and for the next few days, we will be talking during our devotional time about hills. The town we live in, even in South Alabama, has some hills. Some of them seem pretty steep.
When I go out on a walk or ride my bike, I try to avoid those hills. Some of them are so steep I don't even want to challenge them. Some though are good, and I try to attack those hills. Sometimes I even try during my walk, taking those hills at the beginning of my walk instead of the end of the walk because it is hard to do it by finishing up hill. My house is even on a hill and a lot of times just as I'm going back to my house, I'm going straight up one of the steepest hills in town, and it's hard--I'm tired and I'm struggling .
If I am in good physical shape, walking is not difficult, but if I am in poor physical shape and my fitness level is down, then walking is a struggle, not to mention walking up hill.
It is the same with my spiritual lie. If I'm fit spiritually, I feel close to God. If I'm in good shape spiritually, it's easier for me to live the way I need to be living. It is much easier to work through those problems that we have in our life.
Today's Bible reading, which comes from the Old Testament book of Proverbs 3:1-8, tells us that we can be spiritually fit. There are some things we have to do. For example, verse 5 says we must trust God completely. We have to continually trust God, and it doesn't mean we trust God a little bit, but have to give Him our whole life. He also tells us in that same text that we have to think about God in all that we do (verse 6 ), and, of course, we need to respect God verse 7 teaches us. It also teaches us to avoid evil things. Stay away from the evil that goes on. Now in that text, in those few verses we see some things that will help us be willing and able to face those spiritual hills in life-- those challenges the devil puts in front of us which we will overcome if we're going to be in heaven together when this life is over.
I hope you will work to be spiritually fit. I hope you will start doing some spiritual exercise each day. We do that by prayer, studying , by doing those things that a Christian ought to be doing. It is important that we look at God's word and know what it is. It is easier for us to overcome the devil, to be what God wants us to be, if God is who we depend on every day. Then our life is better than it would have been otherwise.
Paul said, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. Galatians 2:20.
God gave Himself for us. God gave His only son on the cross of Calvary to give us hope when this life is over. It would be sad to say, "I just decided that it didn't really matter and I just let myself go spiritually." It's probably a shame to say that physically, as well. We really ought to be working on that and get better at what we eat, and to excercies, but I know it would be a shame not to be fit spiritually. Faith + Obedience =Salvation, or = Spiritual Fitness
I hope that you are spiritually fit.
~Philip
Proverbs 3:1-8
Today, and for the next few days, we will be talking during our devotional time about hills. The town we live in, even in South Alabama, has some hills. Some of them seem pretty steep.
When I go out on a walk or ride my bike, I try to avoid those hills. Some of them are so steep I don't even want to challenge them. Some though are good, and I try to attack those hills. Sometimes I even try during my walk, taking those hills at the beginning of my walk instead of the end of the walk because it is hard to do it by finishing up hill. My house is even on a hill and a lot of times just as I'm going back to my house, I'm going straight up one of the steepest hills in town, and it's hard--I'm tired and I'm struggling .
If I am in good physical shape, walking is not difficult, but if I am in poor physical shape and my fitness level is down, then walking is a struggle, not to mention walking up hill.
It is the same with my spiritual lie. If I'm fit spiritually, I feel close to God. If I'm in good shape spiritually, it's easier for me to live the way I need to be living. It is much easier to work through those problems that we have in our life.
Today's Bible reading, which comes from the Old Testament book of Proverbs 3:1-8, tells us that we can be spiritually fit. There are some things we have to do. For example, verse 5 says we must trust God completely. We have to continually trust God, and it doesn't mean we trust God a little bit, but have to give Him our whole life. He also tells us in that same text that we have to think about God in all that we do (verse 6 ), and, of course, we need to respect God verse 7 teaches us. It also teaches us to avoid evil things. Stay away from the evil that goes on. Now in that text, in those few verses we see some things that will help us be willing and able to face those spiritual hills in life-- those challenges the devil puts in front of us which we will overcome if we're going to be in heaven together when this life is over.
I hope you will work to be spiritually fit. I hope you will start doing some spiritual exercise each day. We do that by prayer, studying , by doing those things that a Christian ought to be doing. It is important that we look at God's word and know what it is. It is easier for us to overcome the devil, to be what God wants us to be, if God is who we depend on every day. Then our life is better than it would have been otherwise.
Paul said, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. Galatians 2:20.
God gave Himself for us. God gave His only son on the cross of Calvary to give us hope when this life is over. It would be sad to say, "I just decided that it didn't really matter and I just let myself go spiritually." It's probably a shame to say that physically, as well. We really ought to be working on that and get better at what we eat, and to excercies, but I know it would be a shame not to be fit spiritually. Faith + Obedience =Salvation, or = Spiritual Fitness
I hope that you are spiritually fit.
~Philip
08 October 2009
GOOD SEEDS
Mark 4:1-9
When you plant a watermelon seed, it grows more watermelon. This is what always happens, you can't plant watermelon and grow green beans.
It is the same with our thoughts and actions. We can't put unkind, selfish, evil ideas in our mind and expect to be a loving, kind, unselfish person.
If we want to be a person who follows God, (a Christian) we must plant good "seed" in our minds. Philippians 4:8 tells us what these seeds are. "Brother and sisters, continue to think about what is good and worthy of praise. Think about what is true and honorable and right and pure and beautiful and respected."
These are the kinds of seeds we should be planting in our minds. Then if we study and pray (water), we will help these good seeds to grow in us. Soon they will show up, or be evident, in our way of thinking and our action.
Think about these good "seeds" today, plant them in your heart through faithful obedience to God's will.
~Philip
Mark 4:1-9
When you plant a watermelon seed, it grows more watermelon. This is what always happens, you can't plant watermelon and grow green beans.
It is the same with our thoughts and actions. We can't put unkind, selfish, evil ideas in our mind and expect to be a loving, kind, unselfish person.
If we want to be a person who follows God, (a Christian) we must plant good "seed" in our minds. Philippians 4:8 tells us what these seeds are. "Brother and sisters, continue to think about what is good and worthy of praise. Think about what is true and honorable and right and pure and beautiful and respected."
These are the kinds of seeds we should be planting in our minds. Then if we study and pray (water), we will help these good seeds to grow in us. Soon they will show up, or be evident, in our way of thinking and our action.
Think about these good "seeds" today, plant them in your heart through faithful obedience to God's will.
~Philip
07 October 2009
BIBLE WOMEN
Romans 16:1-2
The last Bible woman we will learn about is Phoebe. Only two Bible verses mention Phoebe...Romans 16:1-2. Paul said that Phoebe had helped him and many other Christians. Phoebe was a servant like Priscilla, who we talked about yesterday.
But these verses tell us something else about Phoebe. In verse 1 Paul said, "I want you to know that you can trust our sister Phoebe. She is a special servant of the church in Cenchrea." Paul told other Christians they could trust her. That was a very important. Why? Because at the time, the Roman government was doing bad things to the church. Many Christians met together in secret, Paul wanted them to know Phoebe was on the right side.
There are many people in the world that cannot be trusted. Some people lie about everything, but it is important for us as Christians to be trustworthy.
Think about your life...make sure that others can trust the things you say/sign and do. Even beyond that, answer these two questions:
Do you trust God?
Can God trust you?
Faith+Obedience=Salvation
~Philip
Romans 16:1-2
The last Bible woman we will learn about is Phoebe. Only two Bible verses mention Phoebe...Romans 16:1-2. Paul said that Phoebe had helped him and many other Christians. Phoebe was a servant like Priscilla, who we talked about yesterday.
But these verses tell us something else about Phoebe. In verse 1 Paul said, "I want you to know that you can trust our sister Phoebe. She is a special servant of the church in Cenchrea." Paul told other Christians they could trust her. That was a very important. Why? Because at the time, the Roman government was doing bad things to the church. Many Christians met together in secret, Paul wanted them to know Phoebe was on the right side.
There are many people in the world that cannot be trusted. Some people lie about everything, but it is important for us as Christians to be trustworthy.
Think about your life...make sure that others can trust the things you say/sign and do. Even beyond that, answer these two questions:
Do you trust God?
Can God trust you?
Faith+Obedience=Salvation
~Philip
05 October 2009
BIBLE WOMEN
Acts 12:11-17
The first part of Acts chapter 12 tells about King Herod arresting Peter and putting him in jail. Acts 12:5 says, "So Peter was kept in jail. But the church was constantly praying to God for Peter."
While the Christians were praying for Peter, God sent an angel to help Peter get out of jail. Peter went to the house where the church was praying . Peter knocked on the door and a "servant girl named Rhoda came to answer it. Rhoda recognized Peter's voice, and she was veyr happy " (verses 13 & 14).; Rhoda was so excited that she didn't even open the door!
Rhoda ran to tell the other people that Peter was out of jail, but they did not believe her. These people had been praying for Peter to get out, but when God answered their prayers, they didn't believe it.
Sometimes we pray about something, and when God answers we don't believe it is really happening. Rhoda believed that God had answered their prayer. When you pray today, be sure to trust God to answer.
~Philip
Acts 12:11-17
The first part of Acts chapter 12 tells about King Herod arresting Peter and putting him in jail. Acts 12:5 says, "So Peter was kept in jail. But the church was constantly praying to God for Peter."
While the Christians were praying for Peter, God sent an angel to help Peter get out of jail. Peter went to the house where the church was praying . Peter knocked on the door and a "servant girl named Rhoda came to answer it. Rhoda recognized Peter's voice, and she was veyr happy " (verses 13 & 14).; Rhoda was so excited that she didn't even open the door!
Rhoda ran to tell the other people that Peter was out of jail, but they did not believe her. These people had been praying for Peter to get out, but when God answered their prayers, they didn't believe it.
Sometimes we pray about something, and when God answers we don't believe it is really happening. Rhoda believed that God had answered their prayer. When you pray today, be sure to trust God to answer.
~Philip
02 October 2009
BIBLE WOMEN
Luke 2:36-38
These verses in Luke tell us about a woman named Anna. She was 84 years old, and she was a widow. It appears, Anna stayed at the temple all the time worshipping both day and night.
Our Bible reading tells us about something very special that happened to Anna...God allowed Anna to see Baby Jesus. She was there when Joseph and Mary brought Him, and Anna knew who Jesus was. She knew He was the Savior. Anna,"...praised God and talked about Jesus to all those who were waiting for God to free Jerusalem. " (Verse 38b)
We should all be like Anna. We should worship God, and if we know who Jesus is, we should talk about Him to all people. Maybe we can't stay at the church building worshipping all the time, but we can attend the services. We can pray anytime, we can think about God's word, or even some song that is a favorite. We can always serve others and teach. We must be teaching others, you know. Talking about Him as if we really know who He is.
Think about ways to faithfully obey God today with your life.
Faith + Obedience = Salvation
~Philip
Luke 2:36-38 Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess,
Luke 2:36-38
These verses in Luke tell us about a woman named Anna. She was 84 years old, and she was a widow. It appears, Anna stayed at the temple all the time worshipping both day and night.
Our Bible reading tells us about something very special that happened to Anna...God allowed Anna to see Baby Jesus. She was there when Joseph and Mary brought Him, and Anna knew who Jesus was. She knew He was the Savior. Anna,"...praised God and talked about Jesus to all those who were waiting for God to free Jerusalem. " (Verse 38b)
We should all be like Anna. We should worship God, and if we know who Jesus is, we should talk about Him to all people. Maybe we can't stay at the church building worshipping all the time, but we can attend the services. We can pray anytime, we can think about God's word, or even some song that is a favorite. We can always serve others and teach. We must be teaching others, you know. Talking about Him as if we really know who He is.
Think about ways to faithfully obey God today with your life.
Faith + Obedience = Salvation
~Philip
Luke 2:36-38 Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess,
01 October 2009
TO LIVE LIKE A SERVANT
Matthew 20:17-28
Sam Rayburn was the speaker for the U. S. House of Representatives longer than any other representative. When one of his friends lost his teenage daughter in a car wreck, Rayburn knocked on his friends door early the next morning.
"I just came by to see what I could do to help," he said
His friend replied, "There's nothing anyone can do."
"Well, have you had your coffee this morning?" Rayburn asked.
The man said that they had not taken time for breakfast. Rayburn went into the kitchen and began preparing the family breakfast.
After a little while the friend came into the kitchen and asked, "
I thought you were supposed to have breakfast at the White House this morning?"
"Well, I was, but I called the president and told him I had a friend in trouble who needed my help, and I couldn't come."
What a different world we would live in if we all learned to live like a servant. Jesus expects all of us to be servants.
~Eddie Lewis (Gospel Advocate)
Matthew 20:17-28
Sam Rayburn was the speaker for the U. S. House of Representatives longer than any other representative. When one of his friends lost his teenage daughter in a car wreck, Rayburn knocked on his friends door early the next morning.
"I just came by to see what I could do to help," he said
His friend replied, "There's nothing anyone can do."
"Well, have you had your coffee this morning?" Rayburn asked.
The man said that they had not taken time for breakfast. Rayburn went into the kitchen and began preparing the family breakfast.
After a little while the friend came into the kitchen and asked, "
I thought you were supposed to have breakfast at the White House this morning?"
"Well, I was, but I called the president and told him I had a friend in trouble who needed my help, and I couldn't come."
What a different world we would live in if we all learned to live like a servant. Jesus expects all of us to be servants.
~Eddie Lewis (Gospel Advocate)
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