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.
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…..but David encouraged himself in the Lord. 1 Samuel 30:6
We all have one time or another faced difficulties in our life. But we can believe as we keep our eyes on God He will see us through any bad day of our life.
In 1 Samuel chapter 30 we have the story of one man’s very bad day of his life. Not many of us have had to experience as bad a day as David did. He return home to Ziklag after a journey and discovered that his enemy the Amalekites had destroyed or stolen everything that was important to him-and even his own men turned against him.
David sat among the ruins of Ziklag he was greatly distressed for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters. (verse 6) He could have question God why-he could began to to question if it was something he had done for all this to have come upon him. At this moment in time David had a choice to give up or fight. But before David could fight back he would have to get his strength and courage back.
As David looked around him he saw only discouraged and downcast men. David had no one to encourage him, so he only had one option if he was to fight back: “He encouraged himself in the Lord his God.” (verse 6)
David was a worshipper. I believe he began to encourage himself by singing praises to God. Through praise and worship David’s focus began to change. I can see David sitting in the midst of the ashes of what Ziklag was at one time his home singing, “I will bless the Lord at all times his praise shall continually be in my mouth. Oh come and magnify the Lord with me.”
Nehemiah 8:10 “Do not sorrow the joy of the Lord is your strength.” The devil knows that if can steal your joy he can defeat you. When we choose to sing on the bad days it will but our focus on God. That is where our strength comes from.
Steven Curtis Chapmans sings a song called “Beauty Will Rise” – Out of the ashes beauty will rise and we will dance among the ruins. We will see with our own eyes out of the ashes beauty will rise for we know joy is coming in the morning.
Now Faith-Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hope for the evidence of things not seen.
Now meaning- at the present time or moment.
“For the wind of My Spirit is blowing anew. You have entered into a new season. You have heard it said, “new levels, new devils but is it not true that I have given you power over all the power of the enemy. Yes it would be. For even in the days ahead you will need to know that when I give a Promise I provide the way for it to be fulfilled. So rest assured when I speak that settles it! You have heard the saying, “ you can take to to the bank.” Just as I own the cattle on a thousand hills I own the bank where My Word is deposited. So why would I not watch over my Word to make sure it is performed. When you to withdraw I have given my seal of approval which is my Name and you can go and write a check on me and it it will never be turned away. Only believe and doubt not that it is good and are given to those who are willing to cash in on them. So there you have it. It is yours. “Now” is your time to step into the overflow of what I have given.
I am concerned that we get caught living between the time of in the yesterday and the time of someday. We have those who say, “ if only if could be like yesterday, if I had it to do over again or those who say just hold on it will be better someday.” In the process of time the someday never comes because we have got caught up in living the yesterday over and hoping for a better someday. We then miss out on what is happening “now”. Miss on the opportunity of “now” “Now” is the best time of your life. God want you to seize the opportunity of “now” It is time to stop holding on to yesterday and waiting for tomorrow. It is time for “now faith” to operate. It is time for “now faith” that is rooted and grounded in the settled Word of God. It is is time for “now faith” that understands and believes in all the promises of God that are yes and in Him amen unto the glory of God by us. It is the same “now faith” that says, “let us forget about the baggage of yesterday” and it is the same “now faith” that says, “don’t worry about tomorrow.” I will cash in on what God is saying “now.” I have His seal of approval which is his name-Jesus. The name that is above every name of death, sickness, disease, famine, poverty, depression….Need I go on on Hallelujah!!!
God is waiting on you to cash in what He has already provided. Believe!!
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works so that no one should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared that we should walk in them.
And you are complete in Him, who is the head of all authority and power. Colossians 3:10
You are God’s workmanship, the finished product of His creation. The Greek word for “masterpiece is “poema” literally meaning a poem or a work of art. Gods says to us, “you are my poem, my work of art.” I have finished the poem. I have finished the painting now walk in the completed work I have done.
God’s workmanship is not the ongoing process of what God is doing in you. It is the completed work of what God has done in you. You have inside of your Spirit man everything you need to accomplish His purpose. It is in your spiritual DNA. Quit trying to find your purpose and just be. And in just being you will walk in what God has prepared beforehand. The works He has prepared for us is not by self effort or following the law. I see that God has already placed genes of love, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self -control. This flows not from the outside in but from the inside out.
God did not just save us so we could go to Heaven someday. That is the purpose of salvation. The plan within the purpose is for you to show forth good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. They are waiting to be activated by the Holy Spirit.
Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. The water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life. John 4:13
Jesus was speaking to the Samaritan woman who had come to the well to draw water. He used this opportunity to minister to her.
Just as water is necessary for human life. So is the living water that Jesus has to offer necessary to those who are trying to find life outside of a relationship with God. Water accounts for 50-70 percent of our body weight and is crucial for bodily functions. The fountain of living water is crucial for living a life of peace and wholeness on this earth. Crucial means, “most vital and of the greatest significance in determining an outcome”. The outcome of your life will be determined on whether you live in relationship with Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit or if you are singing the song, “I am doing it my way”.
In 1513 supposedly Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon set sail of the new land in attempt to find the legendary fountain of youth. A spring reported to have the power to make people young again. When you think of youth you think of life, newness vibrancy. People are still seeking the fountain of youth spending thousands of dollars on trying to stay young and vibrant. But if that which you are doing in the natural is to try fill a thirsty heart that is empty and void at the end of the day you will still have a thirsty heart that is empty and void. That is a place reserved for the one who created you-God.
John 7:39 On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. In these two verses Jesus proclaims himself to be the place where the living water is found. Throughout the New Testament water is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the one who abides in us and helps day by day.
What well are you drawing from? The well of the world that says you have to do the way of the world to quench your thirsty heart. Or are you drawing from the well of living water. Jesus is the fountain of living water and you can come and drink freely.
“Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days. Give a serving to seven, and also to eight, for you do not know what evil will be on the earth.” Eccl. 11:1-2
“In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening do not withhold your hand; for you do not know which will prosper, either this or that, or whether both alike will be good.” Eccl. 11:6
There is much said in the Bible about giving. It is more blessed to give than to receive. As a man purposes in his heart let him give. One does not give because of the “Law of Moses” but because of the “Faith of Abraham.” (Read Hebrews 7:1-9) Tithing is not a “work” of law but an act of faith. He who is a follower of Abraham is blessed with Abraham, the believer.
Under the law a man was required to give a tithe of all he possessed but under grace he owes everything to Jesus Christ. We claim “all” we have as ours and use “grace” as an excuse not to give. We say that tithing is under the law but giving is not a matter of “Law” but an act of faith. Giving is sowing seed in order to receive a blessing and have all our needs supplied. Remember the words “he who sows sparingly shall reap sparingly and he who sows abundantly shall reap abundantly.” II Cor. 9:6
If you do not give to the Kingdom of God, you will never have more than what you can make yourself. But, giving bountifully insures that God will make up the lack you may have. I have always given to God, and I do not plan to stop. I have never had a big bank account and my dad told me once he didn’t guess I would ever have anything because I kept giving it all away. Strangely enough I have never lacked in what I have. The things I have had and the things I have done could only be because I have a lot of money to spend. That is not the case but I DO HAVE GOD and I have been faithful to give. “Give and it shall be given to you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” Luke 6:38. God is faithful to remember your act of love. The church needs your gift.
“Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.” Heb. 11:26, 27
In the above verses the writer is speaking of Moses about his choice to follow God rather than rule in Egypt and live in luxury. When you think about why he chose as he did, let us just say–it was in his blood. He chose to live with God’s people even though they were slaves in a foreign land. They were slaves living on a promise. “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.” Heb. 11:13. It was not the conditions in which they lived that they were watching but it was the invisible. You cannot look at what is going on around you and live in faith. You must see the unseen by faith in the Word of God and stand on the promises of His Word to us. You must be like the people of faith and live entirely on the promises of the Word. Jesus Christ is the Word. “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” John 1:1. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14
“…looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith…” Heb. 12:2. The word “looking” signifies undivided attention, looking away from all distractions in order to fix one’s gaze on one object. In Hebrews 12:2 it is having eyes for no one but Jesus.( NKJV Spirit filled Life Bible word wealth) Too often our attention is taken away from Jesus and set on our circumstances. Our faith is then shaken and we cry, “Jesus where are you?” He is still there, but we just quit looking at Him. When Peter walked on the water as Jesus told him, he started to sink. Jesus had not gone anywhere, but Peter saw the conditions around him and not Jesus. To be guilty of the same lack of faith, just take your eyes off Jesus. Don’t give up, don’t ever give up. “But we are not of those who draw back to perdition (destruction), but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.” Hebrews 10:39. Keep on keeping on, and you can make the “Hall of faith!” Read Hebrews 10:35.
Now faith is the the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1
Jesus says in John 17:17 God’s words are true. We should firmly fix our minds on the fact that God’s Word is true. Our faith does not make God’s Word true. A fact is true whether we believe it or not. We are given faith to believe what the Word is true. Our faith should stand on the uncompromised Word of God. Faith is simply taking God at His word and receiving it as truth. The attitude of faith-God said it, I believe that settles, it!
When we read through the Bible we see all the wonderful promises of God. Those precious promises are given to us as His children. The fact is they are true whether we partake of them or not. They only become ours when we claim them by faith and make them ours by believing God’s Word.
What does it mean, “ Faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen?” It is the way we prove the reality of things not seen. We cannot see things of the spiritual world with our natural eyes but we know they are real by faith. We must always put our faith in the facts of God’s Word.
The Amplified version of Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the assurance (title dee, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen (the conviction of their reality-faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses.”
When we think of God, we think great, grand or magnificent. After all He is God that stood in the middle of nothing and began to speak and created everything. When I consider my life, I have come to understand that what I have to give does not to be grand, great or magnificent.
So many times we look at the bigger as better. But a little is alot to God. He specializes in the small things. The things that may look and seem insignificant to us. We are to be faithful to give even if it seems as little to us. The Bible tells us to give. It does not say you have to give a lot to receive. It simply says give and it shall be given unto you. He is the one who will multiply what we give. Who knows what God will do with your little if you can just get it into His hands!
In Mark chapter 6 the mother that packed a little lunch that day had no idea that it would be used to feed as many as twenty thousand people. Jesus could have fed the multitude with nothing. He could have made bread and fish float down from the clouds if He wanted to. But he chose to use what was given to Him. Jesus was the Lord of the little that day, and He is still the Lord of the little today.
What is in your hands to give? Do you hold back from giving because it seems so little to you? God uses the little things we choose to give him to accomplish His purposes. Not only for us the give but that to which we are faithful to give to.
Bring your talents and abilities and place them in His hands and watch Him began to use you. God specializes in taking these clay bodies and using them for His glory.
Get your little into the hands of the great, grand and magnificent One! He is still Lord of the little!
Let “GG” rule your relationship.
“Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.” Col. 4:6
Isn’t it easy to apply this verse of Scripture to all those “people” we encounter during regular day activities? We have trained ourselves to make sure we speak that which does not offend. We are nice to our church board, our members, our elders and deacons, and generally even to our critics. But let us go home and we forget to remember this with our spouse and family.
Having our lives ruled by “GG” is simply allowing “grace” and “gratitude” to be the defining rule in marital relationships. Grace is the sheriff of our emotions that makes sure we interact with our spouse in an appropriate manner through word and deed. Do I love my spouse enough that I would not let anyone else say or do something to hurt them? Do you say things the same way to them in a tone of voice or attitude your spouse would not like coming from someone else? If we can show grace to outsiders, why is it so difficult to give our spouse the same grace? Practice grace with your spouse, even if it kills you. And, if you are having trouble in this area, it will “kill” the fleshly man. But, you will be resurrected a much better person. Remember in everything let grace be first.
The second “G” is also critical to remember in marriage. Everyone likes to feel appreciated and loved. This emotion comes from the gratitude shown by those around you. Workplace success does not make up for a lack of gratitude from spouse and family. When night comes and it is time for bed, don’t focus on the lack of grace that was shown that day but develop a sense of gratitude for a spouse that loves you and sticks by you. After all, you may not be as easy to live with as you think. Everyone has bad days now and then. LaVerne and I had a bad day yesterday which we allowed to happen. When the day ended, we were in full pursuit of “grace” that shook our “gratitude.” Both of us were thinking, “They can’t treat me that way.” But we had, so it became time to deal with the matter. It is amazing how God can remind you of what you know when you are not doing it. I am glad to report it is well, for now at least. The best mediator between a couple is God because He calls the counseling season before the fight. Couples! Live long and prosper!
“Therefore if the Son makes you free you shall be free indeed.” John 8:36
Freedom! That is a word that many people hold dear. You cannot understand freedom unless you have been in bondage. Some people are in bondage and are not even aware of it. In the above Scripture the Pharisees response to Jesus’ words was “We are Abraham’s seed, and we have never been in bondage to anyone. How can you say, You will be made free?”
I wonder what concept of freedom was instilled in the Jews. After God called Abraham, his descendants were slaves for over four hundred years under the Egyptians. After Israel turned to other gods during the time of Solomon they eventually were slaves in Babylon for seventy years. As they spoke to Jesus they were under the rule of the Roman Empire who eventually totally destroyed Jerusalem and scattered the Jewish people into the Gentile world. As a history student I wonder what they were thinking.
I suppose freedom is as much a state of mind is it is a set of conditions; meaning you can be free in spirit and be in bondage to circumstances. When Jesus talked of making them free, He was not talking about freedom from Roman occupation but freedom from the bondage of sin. A devote Jew held on to the concept of a coming Messiah that would set them free from slavery. Yet, they did not seem aware they were in bondage to sin. Sin is a harsh taskmaster. It will take you where you don’t want to go, make you do what you do not want, and keep you there longer than you want to stay.
The freedom Jesus was speaking of is that we “might have life and have it more abundantly.” Paul once said that “sin shall no longer have dominion over you.” When the slavery of sin is broken, it gives us the right to walk through other doors of freedom. If we are a follower of Jesus we are not waiting to be free, we are already free. That’s the truth and if we know His word, we KNOW we are FREE!
For I know the plans I have for you, “ declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Jeremiah 29:11
A very familiar passage of Scripture. A wonderful promise to believers. A lifeline for those going through a hard place in life.
The Scripture was written to the Jewish exiles who had been removed by Nebuchadnezzar to Babylon. (Babylon means confusion.) They had been uprooted from all that was familiar to them. Hundreds of miles from home in the middle of pagan worship. The Jewish exiles may have thought they would never be in a place called Babylon–but they were. Once there they thought they would never get out–but God. While there a Word comes that gives them hope that they were not forgotten by God. In the midst of their Babylonian experience they survived by continuing to live. God told them not to let the prophets and diviners among them deceive them. (Jeremiah 29:4-9)
In life sometimes we may find ourselves in a place we never thought we would be. Going through an illness, an unexpected loss of a loved one, loss of a job, divorce, a child on drugs. When we find ourselves in that unexpected place, it makes us catch our breath and we forget to go on living. That is what the enemy wants to happen. He whispers lies about what God said, “The Word must not work for you.” Just as God encouraged the Jewish exiles so too He wants to encourage you. Don’t give up hope–keep on living life by believing. Don’t let the lies of the enemy keep you from breathing.
God wants to remind us today the plans He has for each and everyone of us–plans to prosper, plans not to harm, plans to give hope, and plans for a future. Breath again. Just as God promised the Jewish exiles He would bring them back home so He promises you today.
Home is a feeling of security, connection, love. When we are in that unexpected place, the enemy wants us to withdraw. When we began to withdraw, we get to feeling insecure, not connected, and unloved. Remember there is power in unity. God knows exactly where you are and what you are going through. You have Pastors and a church family that love you and will stand with you.
Allow the fresh wind of the Holy Spirit to blow over you today.
“….They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.” Heb. 11:38
There has been a lot of talk about caves in the last two days during Kid’s Camp. You have found yourself in the atmosphere of one this morning when you came to church. Caves can be different things for people. One may see caves as a place of fear and danger while another sees them as a place of safety and protection. Mankind has used caves for thousands of years as a place of safety and shelter. We live in cave country and there are at least four within a mile of my house. I have been in all of them except one. Due to the nature of that cave I was afraid to try it out. I am not sure if anyone knows of its existence except a cousin and me. My message today is “Which cave are you living in and why?”
There are numerous scriptures that refer to caves. The references are from Genesis to Revelation and from pleasure to fear. Would you be comfortable living in a cave? You may enjoy visiting one, but would you want to be a permanent resident? That was the fate of many followers of Jesus in the early years of Christianity. They knew they were people wanted by the authorities. They were willing to give up everything to continue as followers of “The Way” as they were called by others.
Today “church people” are ready to quit if they are talked about or made fun of. Many places in the world today Christians are still following Jesus under penalty of death or prison. The Lord provides for their safety in these kinds of situations and never forsakes them. Deliverance from death or prison does not always happen, but those around them are faithful to “keep on keeping on” trusting in the Lord. Many of the early apostles and disciples died at a young age not from “natural causes” but as martyrs giving their lives to keep their relationship with Jesus. The pagans never celebrated the death of Christians but they celebrated when a person renounced Christ to save their life. How much are we willing to give up and die for Christ? I believe if one will not live for Jesus, they certainly will not die for Him.
“And he believed in the Lord and He accounted it to him for righteousness.” Gen. 15:6 (NKJV)
In case you need to be refreshed as to whom this refers, it is Abram. Before his name change, when he first met God, he believed in Him and He called Abram righteous. There was no law to tell Abram what to do or how to live. When you read in context, one sees exactly what God told Abram. Abram was childless and was planning to make his servant Eliezer of Damascus his heir. God said, “No,” and told him he would have a son as his own offspring and heir and other offspring as numerous as the stars he could see. That is what Abram believed God about and God knew he did.
Let us consider who was the writer recording this incident. Abram was justified by faith in God. In other words he simply believed God was God and telling him the truth. The law was not involved at all but this account was written by the law giver himself, Moses. Moses makes no attempt to excuse Abram or editorialize on the statement. This says to me that Moses understood how a person becomes righteous. It is not by the law but by believing the Word of God is enough. Moses wrote the first five books of the Old Testament, and I believe he knew it was impossible to keep the given laws. The law was designed to show man it is impossible to make ourselves righteous. In the Old Testament no one was justified by the law; they were justified by the sacrifice on the Day of Atonement. These sacrifices were a “type” of Christ. He fulfilled the law of Atonement when He died on the cross for the sins of man. He was raised from the dead to finish giving us eternal life. You can find all this in the Bible. Praise God!!!
“… ..Be Holy, for I am holy.” I Peter 1:15
Hello. I’m back and I am glad. There are many things in the Bible that make one ponder. The above verse is one of them. I have a question, “Are you holy?” Did you think, “No, but I am trying to be.” What are you doing to become holy since the same Bible says that “all our righteousness is as filthy rags.” How long have you worked at it? How much is left to do? What if you run out of time?
God put a requirement on man that he cannot do on his own. He asks us to be like Him. That is humanly impossible, and we need to admit that to ourselves. We must begin to understand and believe the truth of the Bible. Can you become like God? The answer is no, not by your own efforts. In the statement God is basically telling us to be like Him when He knows we cannot.
Are you saved? Are you a child of God? Do you believe that Jesus died that you might live? If you answered yes to these questions, then go one step further and confess that you are “holy.” Start thinking that God is telling us we can be like Him. We must just believe that He is saying, “I am holy and I make you holy. Jesus lives in us. We live “by the faith of Jesus.” When we are saved, we become righteous. Righteousness is the same as holiness. Stop trying to be holy and start living like you are holy.
“Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ…” ( I Peter 1:13) God declares us holy, we didn’t earn it , we just believe it.
God is able…
The ringing cry of the Christian faith is that our God is able. Many Christians may believe God can do anything but few will dare to believe He will. Faith is not only knowing He can but that He will. The God that we worship is not weak neither is He incompetent.
Do you believe God can do anything? Is there something you are facing that makes you wonder if God is able to handle it. The Word tells us that there is nothing too hard for God.
God promised Abraham and Sarah a son. Abraham and Sarah were advanced in age and way past child bearing age. It was impossible for them to have a child in the natural. Sarah heard the promise from her tent door and laughed. And the Lord said, “Is there anything to hard for the Lord.” (Genesis 18:14)
In considering the creation of the universe, Jeremiah wrote, Ah Lord God! Behold You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for You” (Jeremiah 32:17) If God was able to create the heavens and the earth with His spoken Word, could there possibly be anything that is to hard for Him?
In the midst of all his trouble, trials and having lost everything, Job said, “I know that you can do everything and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You.” (Job 42:2)
What are you presently going through? Do you believe God can do anything and that nothing can hinder His purposes from being fulfilled? Is there something that you feel God has promised you that seem impossible? It may be so unusual that if you old someone they would laugh as Sarah did. God’s question for you today is the same question he asked Abraham, “Is there anything to hard for the Lord.”
God is omnipotent and is able to do anything. No matter what you are going through or facing today. Our God is able! It may seem impossible in the natural but let me assure you on the authority of God’s Word He is able!
Worship – A way of life.
Colossians 3:17 Whatever you do (no matter what it is) in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus (and in dependence on Him), giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
Does your Monday through Saturday life reflect your Sunday morning praise and worship. We should not just come to church in order to praise and worship the Lord. But we bring our praise and worship to church and when we leave praise and worship should go with us. Worship should extend to every area of our lives everyday of our life. Everything we do should be done to the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all for the glory of God.
We were created for worship. God is our creator we were his idea. The Bible tells us in 1 Peter 2:9 You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. True worship is a passionate love for God that is made alive by His Spirit and overflows into a life lived to the glory of God.
Praise and worship is not something that comes just from the right conditions around us, it comes from the heart. The Bible teaches us that both our lips and our life should be offering up pairs to God continuously. Hebrews 13:15-16 Through Him therefore let us continually offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, which is the fruit of lips that thankfully acknowledge and confess and glorify His name.
Praise is not just something that we do, it is what we are and who we are connected to…relationship with Jesus that makes it possible. The Scripture in Hebrews 13 tells us that praise is continual. It is not just at Church where worship and praise is suppose to happen. It is a life lived.
Therefor I urge you brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies (dedicating all of yourself set apart) as a living sacrifice, holy and well pleasing to God which is our rational (logical, intelligent ) act of worship. Romans 12:1
The Message Bible reads it as, “ So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you; take your everyday, ordinary life, your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking around life and place it before God as an offering.
Today is Father’s day a day that has been set aside each year to recognize father’s.
I have been blessed to have had a Christian father. He loved the Lord and would always witness wherever he went. I am aware that not everyone has the same experience with their earthly father. While others are celebrating today, for you it may be a day filled with sadness, hurt and misunderstanding.
Sons and daughters have been tormented, even abused by someone they called father. Others may have been ignored, deserted, or some may have never known who their earthly father was.
There are fathers who are hurting today because you are estranged from your son or daughter for whatever reason. You may have lost a child to death or a child may have decided to distance themselves and are going down a dark path. You may feel you have failed has a father.
If on this Father’s day you are hurting and your heart is breaking, there is hope! The Word tells us in Psalms 34:18 “The Lord is near the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Another Scripture is found in Psalms 147:3 “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds (healing their pain and comforting their sorrow.” When you accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, God became your heavenly Father. Galatians 3:26 “For you all all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.”
Galatians 3:26 “Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.” You are a child of God in the fullest sense. You have been adopted into the household of faith and you now live your life under the watchful paternal care of the Heavenly Father.
None of us need to live without the Fatherhood of God. He loves every one of His children without distinction and He is faithful and true to the uttermost.
John 4:13-14 Jesus answered, (the Samaritan woman) “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
In 1513, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León set sail for the New World in an attempt to find the legendary Fountain of Youth, a spring reputed to have the power to make old people young again. Of course, he found no such source. Yet the quest for eternal youth did not die with Ponce de León.. Here in the almost 21st century, not much has changed. People are still looking for the mythical fountain of youth. Today modern science continues to search for ways to prolong youth. People are buying into with thousands of dollars spent on what will never be found.
About fifteen centuries before Ponce de Leon, a woman came to a well. She wasn’t searching for the fountain of youth. She was just looking for enough water to get her through another day. We don’t know how old she was physically, but we know she was very old emotionally and spiritually. People and life had used her up and when she had outlived her usefulness, they had thrown her away. On that day the woman of John 4 came looking for a jar of water Jesus told her that He could give her a fountain springing up with eternal life – eternal youth. Jesus was the only person that she had ever encountered that loved her completely not because of what she could do for Him but because He was love. He was the only one whom she had encountered in a long time – perhaps ever – that offered her something of value without expecting her to do anything in return This was an offer of love that she may have never experienced before, but Jesus was offering a different kind of love.
The love of God will pursue us to the ends of the earth to catch us. This love He has to offer is not a forceful love but one of grace and hope. You can spend all your time and money trying to stay young and making the outside look acceptable to the world, but it is a heart issue.
Having a personal relationship with God is more than a insurance policy that guarantees you a entrance to heaven when you die. It has more to do with the here and now. Getting the here and now right is receiving the unconditional love of God. God’s nature is love, and He focuses His love on us right where we are with all our ups and downs in life. God’s love is the most powerful medicine on the earth. When we receive a revelation of the love God has for us, it will change the way we think, the way we live, and the way we feel. His love can do what doctors and therapist cannot do. No matter what your problems are or how long they have been present, God’s love will work on them until the job is done.
In Ephesians chapter 3, Paul prayed that the Ephesians would get a greater revelation of God’s love for them. He said, “For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to strengthened with might by his Spirit, in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that you begin rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height, and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge that you might be filled with all the fulness of God. (Ephesians 3:14-19) In verse 19 Paul said as we experience God’s love then we would be filled with all the fullness of God. Experiencing God’s love equals fullness.
Many people cannot experience the fullness of God’s love because they have a wrong view of God. He is not out to get you. He is not causing the bad things happening in the world. Bad things are happening because people do not understand and receive the love God has to offer them. When you do, it will drastically change your life. You will love people like you have never loved people before. You will love yourself like you have never loved loved yourself before.
All of this is possible because of His amazing grace!
When we look at the creation of man, he is set apart from all previous acts of creation. The Bible tells us in Genesis chapter one verse 2 and 3, “Now the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light, and there was light.”
God began speaking and brought forth life to that which had no life, and He saw that it was good. After He brought life to the darkness and sat things in order, He then said,”’Let Us’ make man in Our image, according to our likeness; let them have dominion.” (verse 28) Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it…” When He was speaking creation into being, He spoke as one, “Let there be.” But in creating man He brought the Godhead in, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This word “created” from the Hebrew word “bara” describes both creating by bringing into existence and creating by fashioning existing matter into something new as God did creating man out of the dust of the ground. It is to form or fashion.
Man was brought into the center of the created order. This puts the spotlight on created man who is seen as God’s Masterpiece in the created order! He said we are going to make something in our image in our likeness to fill that which I have spoken into being. This earth needs someone to have authority over it to take care of it. He looked over the earth which He just created and said, “That is good, but I am about to create my Masterpiece.” God’s greatest workmanship of His creation is man kind.
We are God’s Masterpieces. Ephesians 2:10 “For we are His workmanship )his own master work, a work of art) created in Christ Jesus )reborn from above-spiritually transformed , renewed, ready to be used) or good works, which God prepared (for us) beforehand (taking paths which He set) so that we would walk in them) living the good life which he prearranged and made ready for us).
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