Our Mission To love all people at all times and lead them into a new life in Christ.
Our Vision To be a church that will be multicultural and generational, having a lasting impact on the people to whom we minister.
To see the gospel extend beyond the walls of our church through various outreaches.
|
“But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who spitefully use you.” Luke 7:27-28. “But love your enemies, do good…” Luke 7:35(NKJV)
“Therefore I exhort, first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.” I Timothy 2:1-4(NKJV)
One of the most evident things I see in the society around us is the abundance of hate that seems to be fill the atmosphere. Many of the thing people are doing in the name of their “cause” are not in harmony with the Word of God. This may not be of any concern to the people of the “world”, but it is essential to true Christians.
If you listen to any news source, you see the spewing of hate group after group has for others with whom they disagree. I am not trying to be political about this but speaking from my position as a child of God in a place of leader. Prophets and men of God always spoke from God’s point. Things have not changed. Our first priority is to serve and obey God. This is first– above being Democrat, Republican, conservative, moderate, man, woman, rich, poor,
majority, minority, or any other such thing.
The above scriptures admonish us as believers to love our enemies. Based on the Bible, we have no right to hate anyone. That means President Trump, Nancy Pelosi , Sen. Flake, Gov. Bevins, or any other person in authority. Keep this in mind in the coming days and years. Be careful which “voices” you follow ; they are leading you somewhere. The apostle Peter said thus, “ Which is right for us, to listen to man or to God.” This is the issue of the heart about which
I am speaking.
“And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find anything thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet. And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it…. And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursed is withered away. And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”Mark 11:13-14 and 20-24
Jesus said, “whosoever shall say.” You are whosoever? Your words can affect the natural as well as the spiritual world. In this verse of Scripture Jesus used the word “say” or “saith” three times. He was making it very clear that words have power and to have faith in God. Have faith in God is translated to have the God kind of faith. The words that have power are words that are filled with faith and this is not our human faith. This faith is the very faith of God that He placed in you when you were born again.
Proverbs 18:21 reads, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue. The words we speak are creating the atmosphere around us. When we speak we are giving power to what we are saying. If we say something long enough we will began to believe what we are saying. It becomes a part of us. That is why it is so important to consider how we are talking.
Look around you everything we see was created by words, and it is the very Word of God that holds the universe together. The Bible tells us in Hebrews 1:3 “He holds the universe together and expands it by the mighty power of his spoken word”.
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today and forever. Hebrews 13:8”
As we read the pages of the Gospels, we see Jesus Christ doing amazing things — healing the sick, cleansing lepers, casting out demons, even raising the dead. By His words and His mighty works He led thousands of people to faith in Him.
The Bible tells us that Jesus is exactly the same now as He was in the pages of the Gospels. All that Jesus did for people in the first century, He is able and willing to do for you today!.
Jesus Saves Today-1 Timothy 1:15 …Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners…
Jesus Heals Today-Matthew 8:16 When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick.
Jesus Baptizes with the Holy Spirit Today- Matthew 3:11 “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He [Jesus] will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
Jesus Delivers Those That Are Bound Today- Luke 4:18, KJV [Jesus said,] The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised.
Jesus Is Still Interceding for You Today- Hebrews 7:25, Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
Jesus Is Lord of All Today- Acts 10:36, Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all).
We have the promise in Scripture that Jesus is “the same yesterday and today and forever.” We as believers also have the wonderful promise that Jesus will return to get those that believe in Him.
Acts 1:11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
Proverbs 4:23-27 says, “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it springs the issues of life. Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee. Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil”.
What we’re to do with the “heart” – we’re to “keep” it or “protect” it. Our action is to be that of “watching” “guarding”, or “keeping” it. The Hebrew word for “heart” can have the symbolic meaning of such things as the spiritual aspect of man, the mind, the will, the conscience, the moral character of a man, the seat of his desires and passion, the seat of his sense of courage, even for the whole man himself. It is the whole “inner-life” that we’re to be concerned about – the “heart” in the sense of that part of us at which our thought-life, our values, our drives, our choices, and our sense of right and wrong.
How do we protect our heart? By doing what the Scriptures tells us in Proverbs 4:24-27? The definition of froward is, “not easily controlled; stubbornly willful; contrary.” We can insert this into the text to see what wisdom with my mouth is all about. We keep our heart by putting away a mouth that is uncontrollable, a mouth that is stubbornly willful, or contrary to what is righteous. Perverse lips is that which twists, distorts, perverts, or misrepresents what is true. Let your eyes look right on and your eyelids look straight before you. To look right on” and “to look straight before one” is to fix the eyes steadily and unswervingly upon an object before them, not to allow the gaze to deflect either to the right hand or to the left.
We are to protect our heart by pondering the path of our feet and letting all our ways be established. The word “ponder” means to make level, balance, or weigh out. The word established means be “set up or fixed”. Am I doing the things that I am doing because I know they will take me where I am intending to go. Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil”. “In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths”. Proverbs 3:6
1 Peter 5:8 “Your adversary, the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” According to this verse satan is our adversary. Adversary suggests an enemy who fights determinedly, continuously, and relentlessly.
John 10:10 “The thief (satan) comes not but that he may steal, and kill, and destroy.” He sends all kinds of life-defeating, joy-stealing attacks to threaten the well-being and faith of God’s sons and daughters. Satan lacks the power to steal our eternal destiny, and he cannot separate us from the love of God right now.
Paul tells us in Romans 8:35 “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our LORD”.
Romans 8:37 says, “We are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” To conquer is to be victorious over an adversary. To be “more than a conqueror” means we not only achieve victory, but we are overwhelmingly victorious.
Paul is encouraging us to stand firm in our faith when those attacks come, reminding us that not only will we win in the end, but Jesus enables us to win now.
No attempt of the enemy can steal the loving care of God from our lives, and that makes us more than conquerors through Christ who loves us.
As Sons and Daughters of God we are not to just survive in life. Or to take a space of existence in the earth for what time we have here. Life isn’t about just surviving, it’s about thriving! Surviving means, “to continue to live or exist,” while thrive can be defined as “to grow or develop well, to prosper or to flourish.”
It is easy to become discouraged during difficult times. And in those times get stuck in a survival mode. When we get stuck in survival mode, it is hard to see a lifeline because of the fog.
In those seasons of difficulty as we trust God, He will cause us to thrive and not feel like we are just surviving. We learn more of His faithfulness, more of His care, more of His unfailing love during the difficult seasons. And regardless of the circumstances we face in life, God has promised provision for people who place their trust in Him.
The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish (thrive) in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing (thriving); To show that the Lord is upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him. Psalms 92:12-15
Genesis 3:6-7 …..so she took some of the fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then their eyes were opened, and they both realized that they were naked. Verse 9-11 Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” And He said, “Who told you that you were naked?
Who told Adam he was naked, after the fall. After all he had been naked all along. When they ate the fruit, the knowledge of good and evil came in. It changed their view of their physical circumstances. God’s question to Adam “who told you that you were naked?” The voice that told Adam he was naked was the voice of falsehood. He told man a lie, made him believe it, changed his view and he saw that he was naked and then he experienced shame. The same voice is still speaking lies to people today. God is still asking us today, “who told you were naked? Or He may be saying, “who told you are not worthy, who told you that you will never amount to anything, who told you never be successful at anything.
Who is that, whose words seems to be so powerful to you that it is causing you to experience a different perception of yourself? Who is that, whose words are causing you to experience shame. Nothing truly stands if God has not spoken it. What He has to say about you is all that matters.
Just as the truth sets us free, so a lie brings us into bondage.
Have not I commanded you? Be strong, vigorous, and very courageous. Be not afraid, neither be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9
Life is full of things that can make us feel overwhelmed and in those it is tempting to become discouraged. It could be a ongoing health issue, a job lay off, your children or grandchildren beginning to go out and live life. Or it could be something God has called us to do.
There is a man in the Bible by the name of Joshua who must have felt this way. Joshua was given the task to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land after the death of Moses. Here was Joshua called to fill the shoes of an amazing man God had used to bring the Hebrew nation out of bondage. It was now his responsibility to claim the land that had been promised to Hebrew people some five hundred years earlier. This land was the focus of all these millions of people who had been wondering along year after year in the wilderness. They passed the word about the Promised Land along generation after generation. Yet no previous generation had gone in to possess what had been given to them.
Now I understand why God kept encouraging Joshua. In chapter one it is written four times where God is encouraging Joshua to be strong and of good courage.
There are times in life when we need someone to say to us, “Take Courage! Take Heart! “ I want to encourage you today to be strong and very courageous for you are not alone.
Has God ever ask something of you that seems impossible. As you stand and look at what He has spoken to you in the natural it seems to be no way. As we look at the impossibility of ever possessing what God has said remember the One who gave you the word to go and possess.
Joshua 1:2 “. . . Arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give them. . .”
The Israelites were told by God to go and possess the Promised Land. But there was a Jordan River between them and what was promised. The river was at at flood stage and seemed to them at the time impossible to cross. Yes God knew the Jordan River was there and He still gave the command to Joshua – Arise, go and possess!
The Lord told Joshua to instruct the priests who were carrying the Ark of the Covenant. As soon as the priest stepped into the water God came through for them. The Jordan parted so the rest of the Israelites could cross over on dry ground.(Joshua 3)
How did God expect the Israelites to get across that river even at flood stage? Faith, obedience and believing that the One that gave them the promise was able to make it happen. Faith and obedience will bring God on the scene every time! Take that first step – take hold of the Word God has give you.
It’s time to step into the water!!
“O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God-through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.” Rom. 7:24-25
The verses above are the last two of chapter seven. They follow the discourse of Paul regarding the battle of the Spirit and the flesh in us. The believer’s two natures often baffle and confuse him or her. The wisdom found in the Word of God will help in managing this conflict by identifying which aspect of behavior result from the Holy Spirit’s life and which result from the fleshly nature’s activity. Especially in the book of Romans. Thus, we can navigate our new life with Spirit-engendered wisdom and understanding.
Romans reveals a new, victorious method for our dealing with sin. Living free of sin’s rule is now possible because we are no longer slaves of sin, but have become slaves of God, able to choose righteousness rather than being bound to the old nature. Obedience to the Word of God gains a new nature of holiness.
Through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, the very life of Jesus Christ is brought into effect in our mortal bodies. As we yield ourselves to Him, Jesus becomes in and through us the very fulfillment of the Law and Word of God.
We must understand it is God through Jesus Christ that makes us what God’s Word says we are. We cannot make ourselves righteous, clean, faultless, or improve our position with God. Our “work” is to “believe on Him who He has sent.” We become who God says we are by reading and studying His Word.and allowing it to govern our thoughts and actions. Submit to God. It’s your freedom to do so, “whom the Son sets free is free indeed.
This article contains material from The Spirit-Filled Life Bible (NKJV) In Romans.
Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come!
When we accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior, we became a brand new being. Our spirit is totally new. There is not an old sin nature left in us. The very core of who we are is Christ like. We are not in the process of becoming new we are new now!
The spirit is the real part of us. We have a body and that did not change when we got born again. Our soul, which is the mental-emotional part of us did not automatically change either. That is the part of us that is in need of change. In order for this to happen we must renew our minds with what the Word says we are and can have. The mind is where we will experience the battle. In order to live the life that God says we can, our minds must be renewed by the truth of the Word.
Romans 12:2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. There is no wand we can wave around and wake up to a renewed mind. We must intentionally fill our minds with God’s Word. As we do this our mind, thoughts, will begin to come into alignment with the Word. We then will see ourselves walking more in the spirit instead of the flesh.
“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven”. Ecclesiastes 3:1
Our lives are a continuation of seasons, time and the fulfillment of purpose. Seasons come and go in our lives and it is called “transitions”. Transition means “the process of changing from one state or condition to another”. One of the most difficult things to deal with in life is transition. For some it may the hardest thing for a person to do is embrace the process of change. But without change there can be no growth. This is true whether it is physically or spiritually.
Our children that God has gifted us with we so enjoy that season of them been little. But we would not want them to stay in the state of infancy forever. But as their parents we are raising them, loving them, teaching them, guiding them through the seasons of their life. Those times that they are in transition can be hardest for them to understand. As parents the role we play gets different as they get older but we will always be there for them as their parent. I raised my son in a manner that he could totally one hundred percent trust me. If mom said it nothing else mattered to him. In the seasons of his life when the things were not going well I was there to say let’s learn from this. Remember son it won’t always be this way. He knew that I was not causing the not so good times. He understood that life was life and things happen. But he knew that I was there for him no matter what.
Just as we are sons and daughters of God he desires for us to grow in our relationship with Him. Growth happens spiritually as we embrace the seasons in life and in each season of transition learning more and more the faithfulness of our Father God. The seasons we go through that seem the darkest is the time we lean into God knowing that we can fully trust Him.
Paul say in 1 Corinthians 3:18 that we we transitioning into Christ’s image from “glory to glory”.
Life goes on and every season is a new experience. Let us learn to embrace the seasons of life as we grow from glory to glory.
Proverbs 23: 18 For surely there is a latter end [a future and a reward], and your hope and expectation shall not be cut off.
In the previous verse surely means – definitely, without fail, certainly. This is the declaration of the Lord to you today – if your expectation is founded on the will of God; it shall not be cut off.
Everything that Jesus came to deliver is the will of God for your life. The will of God is your peace, the will of God is your joy, the will of God is your prosperity, the will of God is your deliverance and the will of God is your restoration.
Expectation based upon God’s word releases confidence and hope in your life. When one begins to have expectation, there comes an anticipation, an eagerness, a longing and an outlook of possibility and grounds for hope. Expectation gives you the grounds to state “I have anticipation with confidence of fulfilment; I am longing for something to come to pass. I am expecting that which God has promised me to be manifested to happen.
We have heard it said, “expectation is the breeding ground for miracles”. Breed simply means to reproduce. The Word is a seed and therefore will reproduce what you are believing for. Expectation gives birth to manifestation. It is with that expectation that connects you to the supernatural miracle-working power of God. I ask you, “What are you expectant with?”
Take up the Treasures of Heaven. Have you not seen, do you not perceive that I, your Breaker have broken through on your behalf, and that I your Breaker have laid at your feet those things that you have need of. In days of old when nations were conquered the spoil was taken and laid at the feet of the king, but I have made you more than conquerors in that I, your Breaker have won the victory and have laid at your feet the treasures of Heaven, but you must take them up and receive them to yourself. Once again, I your Breaker, do breakthrough your mindsets and traditions that have boxed Me out and boxed you in to the degree that it has become hard for you to receive or even believe that I would move on your behalf. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad for I set you free from those things that have restricted so that you might enjoy the pleasures of the Kingdom.
This Word was given to New Life last year from Jim Childs. It is time to position ourselves to receive the fulfillment of this declaration.
Isaiah 54:2-3 “Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. For you will spread out to the right and to the left….. ”
Enlarge in the Hebrew means – to grow large in influence and prosperity, widened, to go beyond, to make more room, to increase capacity, to break out, to breakthrough, expand, go further, occupy new territories, no limits, no boundaries, thinking big, broadened, and robust.
The treasures of Heaven have been given to us through Jesus Christ. We must now take them up. Enlarge your capacity to receive
God called Abram to come outside the tent in order to show him what he desired to do through him. (Genesis 15:5) God is calling us to step outside of the tent. It is too small to hold what God is wanting to do through us. This is the time we are breaking through. Our capacity is enlarging to receive!
Abram believed in (affirmed, trusted in, relied on, remained steadfast) to the Lord. (Genesis 15:16) He enlarged his capacity to receive what God was saying by believing. He put his trust in God that do what He said he would do.
John 10:10 “The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance [to the full, till it overflows].”
When we look into the Bible we find the will of God. His Word is His will for our lives. Faith begins where the will of God becomes known. His will for us as His sons and daughters is to live life in the overflow.
In John 10:10 it is written that Jesus came to give us life and not just a barely get by life but an abundant life. This word “abundant” in the Greek is perisson, meaning “exceedingly, very highly, beyond measure, more, superfluous, a quantity so abundant as to be considerably more than what one would expect or anticipate.”
We can see that on one side is the thief (devil) who comes to steal from us God’s blessings. But the other side is God who has bestowed upon us goodness, life and more than enough of all that is necessary for abundant life. Living in the overflow of the abundant life that we have been given is not just in the area of money. But it is every area of our life.
3 John 2 “Beloved, I pray that in every way you may succeed and prosper and be in good health [physically], just as [I know] your soul prospers [spiritually].” In ‘every way’ you may succeed and prosper. This does not leave out any area of our lives. Succeed (Greek definition) meaning to be on the right (profitable) path. Prosper (Greek definition) meaning to have a happy (successful) journey.
Our lives can be falling apart all around us, and we can still have an abundant life. The abundant life is a state of being from within, not a result of external circumstances.
Our life is a journey-one step at a time. When we put our trust in God and the promises of the Word we will have a happy (successful) journey. A life of abundance-a life in the overflow.
“The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness.” Matt. 6:22-23(NKJV)
In this passage of Scripture Jesus teaches His disciples a lesson about what we do if the illumination we receive is not “good light” but something else. It is the same as receiving real truth or something being passed off as truth. Any “truth” that can be traced to Satan is a lie, for he cannot speak the truth.
“I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.” John 12:46 (NKJV)
These are the words of Jesus to His followers. The meaning of the Greek word used for darkness has this meaning. It means darkness, gloom, evil, sin, obscurity, night, ignorance, moral depravity. The New Testament especially uses the word in a metaphorical sense of ignorance of divine truth, man’s sinful nature, the total absence of light, and a lack of spiritual perception. Light equals happiness. Scotia (Greek word) equals unhappiness. Scotia as spiritual darkness basically describes everything earthly or demonic that is at enmity with God. (Spirit filled Bible-word wealth p. 1599)
Jesus told His disciples that they were the light of the world. The only way we can be true disciples is to shine like Jesus shined. The only way we can shine like that is to keep our eyes only on Him. (Hebrews 12:2) It is not our mission to create light but only to shine from the light He puts in us as we absorb His WORD.
“By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made by things which are visible.” Hebrews 11:3
One of the most well known facts about existence is that we are here. Unless we are all the figment of our own imagination we are real living creatures that exist and interact with all other living creatures on this planet. So far there is not real evidence that there are life forms anywhere else in the universe. Why should we be so interested in other life in the universe when most people on earth don’t know where they came from or why they are here?
I cannot deny that I am here even though, by science, I cannot prove how I got here. But I do have a book that gives me some vital information about me and the place I call home for now, Earth. After years of studying my Bible and scientific theories I have concluded that true science and rightly interpreted Scripture do not contradict each other. No attempt by man to prove the Bible wrong has succeeded. At that, all Scripture must be received by faith in God. But, we have more evidence to believe in God than Ancient alien theorist do to believe in alien visits to this planet.
Science believes the universe came into existence by The Big Bang Theory and so do I. God said, “Let there be—BANG—and there it was.” Ask a scientist what was before The Big Bang and the most common answer is, “We don’t know.” Well I do! IN THE BEGINNING GOD!!!
Psalms 23:1-6 “The Lord is my Shepherd [to feed, to guide and to shield me], I shall not want. He lets me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still and quiet waters. He refreshes and restores my soul (life); He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Even though I walk through the [sunless] valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod [to protect] and Your staff [to guide], they comfort and console me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You have anointed and refreshed my head with [oil; My cup overflows.Surely goodness and mercy and unfailing love shall follow me all the days of my life, And I shall dwell forever [throughout all my days] in the house and in the presence of the Lord”.
While studying the twenty third Psalms over the past few weeks I have learned about the special relationship between a shepherd and his sheep. As the caretaker of the sheep a shepherd loves them and always keeps a watchful eye over them. He leads them and guides them along the way they should go.There is so much we can learn about our relationship with Christ from the lesson about shepherds and sheep. Jesus says in John 10:11 “I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His [own] life for the sheep”.
Verse one in the twenty third Psalms sets the theme for the rest of the chapter. The Lord is my Shepherd I shall not want. When we make Him our Shepherd we have no lack. Because He is our Shepherd we can trust Him with complete control of our lives. No matter what may come and go He has promised to never leave us nor forsake us. What great comfort to know that we have the Good Shepherd who takes care of us. Whatever you are asking the Good Shepherd for in your life know that He will always be with you. Know that He will always provide just what you need. He is the Good Shepherd and He has already laid down His life for yours.
“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6
1 John 4:7-8 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
The above Scripture tells us that “love is God” and “God is love”. Love is a basic characteristic of who God is. Whatever God does is influenced by His love. The Greek for the love God displays is the word “agape” and it refers to a benevolent and charitable love that seeks the best for the loved one.
Nothing shall separate us from the love of God. Romans 8:39 “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord”.
Perfect love cast out fear. John 4:18. “There is no fear in love. But perfect love casts out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”
Overcoming fear is learning to have total and complete trust in God. Trusting God is how Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego faced the fiery furnace without fear (Daniel 3). Trusting God is how Stephen stood before his killers fearlessly (Acts 7).
To trust God is refuse to give in to fear. Even in the darkest times, we can trust in God to make things right. This trust comes from knowing God and knowing that He is good. Once we have learned to put our trust in God, we will no longer be afraid of the things that come against us. We will be like the psalmist who said with confidence, “Let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you”. Psalm 5:11
Psalms 3:4-6 “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever”.
As we continue our message today on Psalms 23 we have understood in the previous messages what life is all about walking with the Lord (Yahew) as our Shepherd. Throughout Scripture God’s people are described as sheep. The word tells us in Psalms 100:3 “Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us and we are his;we are his people, and the sheep of His pastures”.
David must have wrote the twenty third Psalms later in life. He seems to be writing from experience of knowing who his Shepherd was. David sets the theme in verse one for the rest of the Psalms by stating that the “Lord is my Shepherd I shall not want. Shepherd meaning “one who directs or guides in a particular direction”. The best translation of the word “want” is “I shall not lack”. With God as his Shepherd (protector), David knew he would not lack anything he needs.
We like David should settle in our heart that the Lord is our good,good Shepherd. He wants only the best for His sons and daughters. He leads we follow and He begin our good, good Shepherd will always provide for the journey!
|
|
