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.
|
“And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.” Heb.9:22(NKJV) The greatest most binding covenant known to mankind is what we call a “blood covenant”.
It is known throughout every civilization. Most places still hold it sacred when instituted. Blood is shed when a blood covenant is made. I am sure you have seen movies where two people cut their hands or wrists and symbolically mingle their blood together. This act makes them “blood brothers”.
Every covenant God has made with man has been a blood covenant. There are other kinds of covenants that exist that are binding on the ones entering them, but the blood covenant is the most sacred and binding because it cost a life. From the first covenant God made with Adam and Eve to the new covenant with Christ, all involved the shedding of blood. Covenants are made to foster relationships between two parties. All of God’s covenants were made to reconcile man to Himself. To better understand the strength of a covenant is to better understand the loyalty and love of the ones making the covenant.
We need to get anger, rage and hostility out of our lives. When coupled with Bitterness it can cause you to explode! Hostility is dangerous to your health!
So what is hostility? Hostility is intense aggression, anger or a strong opposition to someone or something. Long-suffering is a fruit of the Spirit of God. Long-suffering is the part of the nature of God. When you are hostile you are not reflecting the nature of the Father. Hostility and aggression are signs of bondage to the enemy’s influence, often linked with Occultism.
When you are hostile, you don’t have patience, you’re not long-suffering. A hostile person exhibits anger and rage. They tend to have a porcupine mentality where they bristle up at everything, or worse, be like a skunk and spray everyone their mouth. That’s a hostile person manifesting.
Hostility is not good for your health. Hostility might make your lungs sick, according to research which found that young adults with short fuses have impaired lung function. (pulmonary insufficiency or breathing difficulties). In a study of 18 – 30 year olds, hostility was more dangerous to their lungs than smoking.
Where do you think they learned that hostility? Hostile adults. You may be carriers of that generational iniquity. Perhaps every generation has been angry and hostile all through your generations and now your children and grandchildren are starting to act out just like you did…and your daddy did…and your granddaddy…and your grandmother did.
Hostility, in their findings seemed to accelerate natural aging of the lungs. If you want your lungs to age faster, just be hostile.
Hostility comes from and invisible spirit world that influences the mind and personality of humans. The Bible says that God’s ways are higher than our ways. I want the Holy Spirit to illuminate me–not other spirits. I don’t want my spirit man to be clouded with the information from another kingdom. If our minds weren’t occluded, we might have more healing today.
Remember, you can be a Christian and still be a servant of sin. You can be born again and still think, speak and act as a demonstration of the mind of another kingdom–opposing God. Did you know that? It doesn’t take long, if we listen to some people in Christianity, to see how they think, speak and act and you’ll quickly see that other kingdom still working. (to be continued)
We need to get anger, rage and hostility out of our lives. When coupled with Bitterness it can cause you to explode! Hostility is dangerous to your health! So what is hostility? Hostility is intense aggression, anger or a strong opposition to someone or something. Long-suffering is a fruit of the Spirit of God. Long-suffering is the part of the nature of God. When you are hostile you are not reflecting the nature of the Father. Hostility and aggression are signs of bondage to the enemy’s influence, often linked with Occultism. When you are hostile, you don’t have patience, you’re not long-suffering. A hostile person exhibits anger and rage. They tend to have a porcupine mentality where they bristle up at everything, or worse, be like a skunk and spray everyone their mouth. That’s a hostile person manifesting. Hostility is not good for your health. Hostility might make your lungs sick, according to research which found that young adults with short fuses have impaired lung function. (pulmonary insufficiency or breathing difficulties). In a study of 18 – 30 year olds, hostility was more dangerous to their lungs than smoking. Where do you think they learned that hostility? Hostile adults. You may be carriers of that generational iniquity. Perhaps every generation has been angry and hostile all through your generations and now your children and grandchildren are starting to act out just like you did…and your daddy did…and your granddaddy…and your grandmother did. Hostility, in their findings seemed to accelerate natural aging of the lungs. If you want your lungs to age faster, just be hostile. Hostility comes from and invisible spirit world that influences the mind and personality of humans. The Bible says that God’s ways are higher than our ways. I want the Holy Spirit to illuminate me–not other spirits. I don’t want my spirit man to be clouded with the information from another kingdom. If our minds weren’t occluded, we might have more healing today. Remember, you can be a Christian and still be a servant of sin. You can be born again and still think, speak and act as a demonstration of the mind of another kingdom–opposing God. Did you know that? It doesn’t take long, if we listen to some people in Christianity, to see how they think, speak and act and you’ll quickly see that other kingdom still working. (to be continued)
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Heb. 11:1
One of the most important aspects of life is faith. We are creatures that form our entire life around faith. Everything we do involves some element of faith. Faith is not just believing in God, it is believing in anything.
In Mark 11 Jesus said to His disciples, “Have faith in God.” The emphasis is not on having faith, but rather where you place your faith. As opposed to where else you have faith, switch it to God. Faith in oneself is still faith. “I can handle it.” Faith in where you work is still faith. Children have faith in their parents. We have faith in the weatherman or news broadcaster. We have faith in government. We have faith in “mother nature”. How do I know all this is true? Because we prepare for life based on what they say and do.
If you say, “Well, I don’t have faith in them.” You are still exercising faith. How? What is “lack of faith”? That night on the boat in the storm Jesus asked the disciples, “Where is your faith?” What caused Him to ask the question? Was it because they were emotionally in “neutral”? No, it was because He saw something in them. What was it? It was fear. There are only two great motivators in life, faith and fear. We live by one or the other. We are always motivated by either faith or fear.
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Heb. 11:1 One of the most important aspects of life is faith. We are creatures that form our entire life around faith. Everything we do involves some element of faith. Faith is not just believing in God, it is believing in anything. In Mark 11 Jesus said to His disciples, “Have faith in God.” The emphasis is not on having faith, but rather where you place your faith. As opposed to where else you have faith, switch it to God. Faith in oneself is still faith. “I can handle it.” Faith in where you work is still faith. Children have faith in their parents. We have faith in the weatherman or news broadcaster. We have faith in government. We have faith in “mother nature”. How do I know all this is true? Because we prepare for life based on what they say and do. If you say, “Well, I don’t have faith in them.” You are still exercising faith. How? What is “lack of faith”? That night on the boat in the storm Jesus asked the disciples, “Where is your faith?” What caused Him to ask the question? Was it because they were emotionally in “neutral”? No, it was because He saw something in them. What was it? It was fear. There are only two great motivators in life, faith and fear. We live by one or the other. We are always motivated by either faith or fear.
For the past several weeks we have been discussing prayer and what I call Prayer Basics
There are 5 prayer basics #1 ABIDE, #2 ASK, # 3 ASSURANCE, #4 AUTHORITY and today be will talk about #5 ASSIGNMENTS.
Prayer basics will lead you out of infancy in prayer and into rivers of Spirt-led prayer. John 7:38 says “He that believeth on Me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living waters.”
Only God knows He can rely on you to pray in reverence and with authority. He may place specific assignments on your heart. It could be an entire nation or you, a neighbor next door, but in His sight they are equally important and vital to His plan. Think of it: God has asked you to be involved in helping Him on earth! WOW!
Acts chapter 12 records a prayer assignment that was given to a church while Peter was in prison. Verse 5 says that they entered into fervent prayer on his behalf. Their prayer was so full of the fire of God that it broke open the prison door and set Peter free. That’s what fervent prayers can do.
When speaking about the Ephesians, Paul said that they labored fervently in prayer (Colossians 4:12) the word fervent is “to be hot, to boil.” The Bible tells us in James 5:16, that the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. That’s the kind of prayer that Elijah prayed. He really turned the heat of old Ahab because he was on an assignment to intercede for his nation.
Prayer always begins with God. If prayer is your lifestyle, God will find a way to get His assignments to you. But don’t worry; God will not throw you in over your head. He’ll stat you out in the shallows so that you can get your feet wet first. If you are found faithful, God will move you on to deeper things.
Never underestimate the power of prayer! It is so awesome that it will heal the sick, save the lost and set the captives free. Prayers spoken in faith parted the Red Sea, raised the dead, and fed the multitudes. Regardless of the need, prayer will always reveal God’s plan for your victory.
Don’t let past failures keep you away from God’s throne of grace. Discover the awesome power that is available in prayer and never pass up the opportunity to pray.
This is the 30th year for NLFTN’s ministry. Anything that can last that long has had at least a measure of success. I was 32 years old when we started meeting. Our children were younger than any of my grandchildren are now. I am drawing social security and am now 63 years old. Wow, it is hard to believe I have been around that long. I have ministered over 5000 times. Does that mean 5000 different sermons? No, there has been many repeats on the same subject.
The interesting thing is that sermons from thirty years ago and sermons from now, on the same subject, may not say the same thing. Does that mean the Word is changing? No it does not. It means I have changed. The Word is alive and active. Although it is alive, it never changes. It is our understanding of the Word that changes as we study it.
Just because we believe something and preach it a certain way does not mean it is the truth. We are influenced by many sources and develop our ideas for many reasons. Most of our beliefs are based on our environment and experiences. To rightfully interpret and understand the Word of God we must move beyond ourselves and not let our life experiences “color” our view of God’s Word. We must study the Scriptures to show ourselves approved. This means having correct doctrine and theology by which to live. What was right 30 years ago is still right today. What is not right today was not right 30 years ago. The way I believed about an issue 30 years ago may not be the way I believe about it today. Am I trying to change the Word or has my study of the Word changed me to agree with the Word? I hope it would be the latter.
How much have you changed in the last 30 years? Are you being changed by knowledge of the Word? Or, are you changing the Word to suit you?
“He who sits in the heavens shall laugh: The Lord shall hold them in derision.” Psalms 2:4
I know all of us have heard the expression, “a laughing stock”. A laughing stock is something that is so silly it can’t be taken seriously.
Imagine God looking at man’s antics and thinking of them as a laughing stock. God is not the one who creates laughing stocks. Satan comes up with ideas for our “enjoyment” and when we fall for them he considers us a laughing stock.
God may laugh at us as parents laugh at their children when they do something funny. God unquestionable has a sense of humor. “A merry heart does good like a medicine.” But, in the context above, He is not laughing in fun. It is a mocking of them for being such a “fool” as to ignore His ways and commands.
As the old proverb says, God will always get the “last laugh”. We need to live our lives in such a way that God never sees us as silly or a “laughing stock”. The Bible says that the man that doesn’t recognize God’s authority is a “fool”. Fools always end up being laughing stocks.
For the past several weeks we have been discussing prayer and what I call Prayer Basics
There are 5 prayer basics #1 ABIDE, #2 ASK, # 3 ASSURANCE and today be will talk about #4 AUTHORITY.
AUTHORITY Every born-again believer has the potential to tear down strongholds of the enemy and build up the Kingdom of God with their prayers. I am not talking about a haphazard prayer life that occasionally reminds God about our problems. I am talking about a perpetual, consistent and even constant communication with God–communications that keep the airways open, so that the Holy Spirit is able to the plans of the enemy to you and show you how to neutralize his forces and send them running for cover.
It is no wonder the devil works overtime to stop your prayer life. He knows that it is all over for him the moment that you discover the authority you have as a believer in Jesus Christ. Luke 10:19 “Behold, I give you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”
Jesus gave you authority to use His name in John 14:14, “If ye shall ask anything in My name, I will do it.” When you have the authority to use someone’s name, it’s as though they were standing there in person. Like you having power of attorney of that person.
That’s what happened in Acts 3:6 to the paralyzed man tat sat at the gate of the city begging for alms. Peter said “…Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have give I thee: in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.” The power of the Name of Jesus instantly healed that man.
When you use the name of Jesus in faith, everything that is named has to bow. Philippians 2:10-11 “That at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of things in Heaven , and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
The devil messed up when he put a name on your problem. Cancer has to bow, poverty has to bow, oppression has to bow, fear has to bow–every name that is named has to bow at the name of Jesus! Of course for this to happen we must be in a relationship with Jesus and doing His Word in our life.
Paul prayed that in Ephesians they would know “…what is the exceeding greatness of His power to usward who believe, according to the working of His mighty power, which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominions, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come, and hath put all thins under His feet, and gave Him to be the head over all things to the church…And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 1:19-22. 2:6
You are seated with Christ and have full authority to use His name to trample on the devil’s head!! Get busy! Pray! We have the authority!!
to be continued
I have learned to live with modern phone technologies as a necessary part of modernization. But I have often wondered, “What if God decided to install automated voice mail system?”
Imagine praying and hearing this: “Thank you for calling My Father’s House. Please select one of the following four options: Press 1 for requests. Press 2 for thanksgiving. Press 3 for complaints. For all other inquiries, press 4.”
What if God used the familiar excuse: “All the angels are helping other customers right now. Please stay on the line. Your call will be answered in the order it was received.”
Can you imagine getting these kinds of responses as you call on God in prayer?
“If you’d like to speak with Gabriel, press 1. For Michael, press 2. For any other angel, press 3.”
“If you’d like King David to sing a psalm for you, press 6.”
“To find out if your relative is here, enter his/her date of death and listen for the list that follows.”
“For reservations at My Father’s House, simply press the letters J-O-H-N, followed by the numbers 3-1-6.”
For answers to nagging questions about dinosaurs, the age of the earth, and where Noah’s ark is, wait till you get here!”
“Our computers show that you have called once today already. Please hang up immediately.”
“This office is closed for the week-end. Please call again Monday,”
Thank God, you can’t call Him too often! You only need to ring once, and God the Father hears you. Because of Jesus, you never get a busy signal. God takes each call and knows each caller personally.
Then you will call and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and He will say: “Here am I.” (Isaiah 58:9 NIV)
I was about the last one of our crew to arrive at New Life and Tim ushered us in just as the Praise and Worship services were getting underway. They have a great Praise and Worship team and from the moment they started you could feel the presence of the Holy Spirit this morning.
As I was getting used to the service I noticed the guy in front of me on the first row had no right hand. Something clicked in my memory about how I thought I had overhead my wife and Tim say something about their Pastor, Bro Reliford being the Pastor at Atwood Chapel in Casey County years ago. That Bro Reliford had actually baptized her when she accepted Christ as her Saviour. The “wierd” thing was that only yesterday I had seen the picture of her being baptized in 1974 that was printed in the Casey paper. For some reason the picture was laying there on the dresser in our bedroom. I have no idea why it was there as I hadn’t seen it out in a lot of years.
While I was contemplating on that, a gentleman came in and joined the Praise and Worship team after a few songs. I recognized him as the man who sung at David Ballard’s funeral almost 2 years ago in Russell Springs. He sang a song that was titled “We Will Ride”. I was so moved by that song at the funeral, that I came home and found three different versions of it. My intention was to use the song as a backdrop for a video segment about our chapter. I have worked on it off and on but still haven’t made it happen. I started thinking about how I could get to him somehow to ask him if he could sing it this morning.
About this time, a young lady in a wheelchair came forward. It seems as if she has a lot of trouble breathing except when she is singing for the Lord. This morning she sang a duet and did a great job. The song she sang was “I Can Only Imagine”. That song is very personal to some of our members and as they sang it, I was filled with quite a bit of emotion also.
It struck me that here I was in a church I had never been in before and that in front of me was a Pastor I had never met. And he had brought a message way back in 1974 that allowed the Holy Spirit to move on a young high school girl and become saved. How she and I got married and that she has been the rock of spirituality for our marriage. And that just yesterday we celebrated 34 years of being married. Thats when I think I kinda lost it. I am glad I had the sunglasses on at that time. The emotion was pretty strong for me.
But God wasn’t done just yet it seems. About this time Bro Reliford gets up and asks Tim to come up and let the church know a bit about CMA and our ministry. Tim of course gets up as a good military man will and then in perfect military fashion, he decides to pass the buck on to someone else. That someone else happened to be me!!
As I took the mike after being thrown under the bus, I knew that God was providing me a way to get to the singer as well as to Bro Reliford. I quickly asked Bro Reliford if he had served at Atwood’s Chapel in Casey County and he looked at me a little weird and said that he had. I then turned to the singer and asked if he had sung at David Ballard’s funeral and he said that he did. I was on the hook now I guess. In a way I was hoping that they both would have said no and that I was mistaken on both counts. I asked the singer if he could do the song that he sang at the funeral. I was so pleased when he said he and the band would try.
As I briefly told the congregation about CMA and our chapter I was trying to keep some composure, but I think I blew it when I tried to tell Bro Reliford how much affect he had on my life by being at a small country church a lot of years ago. About all I could do was to hug him, thank him and sit down out of the way.
We got to hear again one of my favorite contemporary Christian songs that I have heard and I was truly blessed. Bro Reliford brought a good worship message and I knew I had recieved another great blessing today.
Thanks so much Tim and Jodie for inviting us to be a part of your church family. I hope everyone was as blessed as I was today.
Richard Durham
2010 President
Vision Riders Chapter 1038
Christian Motorcyclists Association
For the past several weeks we have been discussing prayer and what I call Prayer Basics
There are 5 prayer basics #1 ABIDE, #2 ASK and today we will talk about # 3 ASSURANCE
(ASSURANCE) My mother, I feel is the best cook ever. She absolutely loves to cook for me if I want her to. I could walk into her house today and say mother would you cook me some of your delicious sweet potatoes and cornbread and she would prepare them in no time flat, just for me. I know that it would happen just that way. I know her that well. That’s my assurance.
In John 5:14-15, the amplified says “And this is the confidence (the assurance, the privilege of boldness) which we have in Him: [we are sure] that if we ask anything (make a request) according to His will (in agreement with His own plan), He listens to and hears us.
And if (since) we [positively] know that He listens to us in whatever we ask, we also know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that we have [granted us as our present possessions] the request made of Him.
Assurance in prayer comes from knowing the character of God. You have studied His Word and you know His will concerning the things you are asking about. There is no reason to be timid or fearful because God’s Word say, “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in the time of need” (Hebrews 4:16)
The moment you ask in reverence to Him as your Source, you can rejoice for the answer because you know the Father has heard your request. When you abide in Him and He abides in you, you can be assured that He will always hear and listen to you, and grant anything that you ask. You just know it will happen just that way because you know Him that well!
Continued
“And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” Gal. 6:9
Is it “due season” to faint or is it time to persevere until God’s “due season”? Oral Roberts put it like this.
“God has a timetable for every seed we plant. His timetable is not always our timetable. Sometimes the “due season” means a quick return. Sometimes it means a process or a slow return that may take years, even a lifetime. But we can count on three things. First, God will cause a harvest to come from our seeds. Second, God is never early or late. He is always right on time with our best interests at heart. Third, our harvest will have the same nature as our seeds sown: good seeds bring good harvests, bad seeds bring bad harvests. What are we to do during the growing time of our seeds? 1. Refuse to become discouraged. 2. Determine to keep our faith alive and active. 3. Give and keep on giving; love and keep on loving. Know this-His harvest is guaranteed. Continue in an attitude of expectancy.”
The main object of the adversary is to cause us to faint. Our strength is not found in us, but in The Holy Spirit and the blood of Jesus.
(continued from last week)
With so many people in the earth asking, have you ever wondered how God knows who is who? Well, in the same way that your fingerprints are unique to you alone, Your voice has a voiceprint that is unique to you as well. It is you address in the spirit realm and is easily recognized by God. His system is much more advanced than telephone voicemail or computer e-mail, and is not limited by time or distance.
Psalm 145:18-19, says: “The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon Him, to all that call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of them that fear Him, He also will hear their cry, and will save them.”
When you cry out to God, He instantly identifies your voiceprint. Not only does He hear it, the Bible says He is always nearby to those that call Him in truth and will fulfill the desires of them that fear Him. So go ahead and ask. It’s His idea.
to be continued
As we can see from the following scriptures the Bible begins and ends talking about fruit?
“And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat’…” — Genesis 2:15-16
“And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. “Revelation 22:1-2
God’s purpose for our life is for us to bear spiritual fruit. Our relationship to Jesus is described in John 15:5, “He is the vine, and we are the branches.” John 15:16 the Bible declares, “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it to you.”
In order to bear this fruit, you must be planted and properly rooted spiritually. “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper”(Psalm 1:1-3).
If you want to bear spiritual fruit, then you must reject sin, walk in holiness, and delight in God’s law. You must also be planted in the house of God – connected to the Body of Christ.
Hebrews 10:25 tells us not to “forsake the assembling of ourselves together” and Psalm 92:13-14 tells us that: “Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing…”
THANK YOU!! That is for all of you who have helped with repairs on the church. The roof is being fixed as we locate the leaks. The front door has been repaired. The ceiling tile in the sanctuary have been replaced. Some other doors are in line to be fixed.
There are other things that still need to be done.
LIST:
1-Service the emergency lighting units in the building.
2-Trim the brush near the back of the building.
3-Work on children church restroom walls and fix leak.
4-Put porch over outside door to children’s church.
5-Ask about other jobs needed done.
You can help with time, talents, or money.
We will let you do all three.
Praise the Lord and thank you.
If you have some extra time, contact Pastor.
Over the last few weeks we have been looking at the types of prayers and discussing the five essential elements to effective prayer.
#1 ABIDE This was discussed in my last article. We know from God’s Word that it is always His will to heal the sick, save the lost, and deliver the oppressed!!
# 2 Ask
When speaking about prayer, John Wesley said, “It seems God is limited by our prayer life–and He can do nothing for humanity unless someone asks Him.”
It is difficult to think that the Creator is limited by the creation, but it is true. God is just and will not intervene in our lives without being asked or invited. A perfect example of this is the Israelites that refused to possess their Promised Land. Psalm 78:41 says “Yea they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.” When you refuse to ask God for the things you need, regardless of your reasons, you limit God in the earth.
Now don’t think that you are going to shock God with your requests. Remember, He knows what you have need of before you ask. However, His will is still that you ask.
Jesus said, “So I say to you. Ask and keep on asking and it shall be given you; seek and keep on seeking and you shall find; knock and keep on knocking and the door shall be opened to you–If ye then, being evil, know how to give food gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in Heaven give good things to them that ask Him? …Again, I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of My Father which is in Heaven.” (Luke 11:9 AMP Matthew 7:11. 18:19).
Today is Father’s Day. It is a special time to recognize what fathers do to improve the quality of life. Some of our fathers are gone on. Some are still here with us. If your father is alive show respect by your love and attention. If your father is gone, show respect by the quality of your life.
Today I will present four things that a father should be doing.
Think upon these things. I plan to use the word “LIPS” to illustrate my main points. This comes from the Scripture in Proverbs 12:14, “A man shall be satisfied by the fruit of his mouth (lips)”. Every area of life should be ministered to by fathers. Fathers should be more than biological propagators. They need to have input into the lives of family members. Men, let us do all we can to promote healthy and Godly offspring.
I have an interesting question for you to ponder. Do you serve God or does God serve you? Even though it may seem obvious we don’t always act like we know the answer. How many times do we dismiss obedience as unnecessary and do what we feel like doing? Yet, when we want something from God, we expect Him to be right there on the spot ready to do our biding.
How seriously do we take our relationship with God? Why did Jesus establish the Church? Were we created for the church or was the church created for us? Why are there pastors, evangelists, prophets, and elders and deacons? The Bible plainly lays out instructions for the gathering of the church body. “Forsaking not the assembling of yourselves together, as the manner of some is.”
Is it the church’s responsibility to serve you or your responsibility to serve the church? How much do you want to see the church do? How willing are you to help? We want all we need to feel good about how things are, but are we personally willing to get involved? Most people that complain about church are the ones that never get involved in the ministry of the church. Attending services when you decide to and never doing anything else doesn’t make you an active member. You must decide where you want to fit in. Don’t just drift the easy way by staying uninvolved. “Have I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth?” Gal. 4:16
continued from last week…
I discovered there are five essential elements to effective prayer. Each one happens to begin with the letter “A” which makes it easier for me to remember. I call them Prayer Basics.
#1 ABIDE Although this is the first prayer basic, it is enough to get your prayers answered. In John 15:7, in the Amplified Bible, Jesus promised. “If you live in Me (abide vitally united to Me) and My Words remain in you and continue to live in your hearts, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you.” Now that is an awesome promise! Think of it: Ask whatever you will and Jesus said it shall be done for you. It all hinges upon that little two-letter word “if”…
If you live in Christ (abide vitally united to Him).
If His Words remain in you.
If His Words continue to live in your heart.
If you ask for whatever it is that is on your heart.
While on earth Jesus walked in this powerful truth day-by-day and He wanted us to have the same advantage. Because He stayed vitally united to His Father in prayer, He could ask whatever He willed and it was done.
Remember the leper that came to Jesus wanted to be healed? He said, “Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean” (Matthew 8:2” Some people know that God can, but don’t know if He will. Others believe that it’s God’s will to heal, but they don’t believe He can heal them. This man had the will and can in the right perspective and got his miracle that day.
Psalm 91 describes an impenetrable fortress of protection that is available. However, there is a condition that must be met before the protection promise can go to work. Psalm 91:1 says, “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.”
The definition for the word shadow in Strong’s Concordance is “shade”. That secret place is a cool spot to abide in. no matter what weapons the devil may be forming against you, they will not prosper. Psalm 91:16 says, “With long life will I satisfy him and shew him My salvation.” When you stick with Jesus, you have it made in the shade!
Haggai 1:1,2 “…in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, saying, ‘Thus speaks the Lord of Hosts, saying: “This people says, ‘The time has not come, the time that the Lord’s house should be built.”
June 1 is the first day of our sixth month. That was this past Tuesday. I encourage you to read all of Haggai chapter one. I am not implying that the chapter is a word from God for us here at New Life in its entirety, but there is a principle involved. Due to my physical condition the past two years have been spent just trying to live and function. This limited the energy I had for many necessary things that needed doing. Now that repairs to my body have been made and things are beginning to get back to normal, attention needs to be given to church needs.
I want to thank everyone for support and prayers and for filling in for me over the past six months but now I ask for your help in a different way. You may be aware that it is projected the new Heartland parkway will someday take our property here. Due to that we have tried to reduce spending money on our property. However, we have much needed repairs. It looks like it may be several years before the road is built. We need to keep our building up to par. This will take some money (not a great amount) and much labor by anyone available. There is a job to fit your skill and time. I am in the process of compiling a list of “chores” that need doing.
June needs to be called, “build the house month”. “Consider your ways!” What are you available to do? You can work on your own schedule. We will give a list of things that need doing. Time, labor, and money are what we need. Let us all rise to the occasion.
Let’s get ‘er done!
Good or good enough, which is it? Our lives are based on what we perceive to be right in our own way of thinking. We don’t always act the way we know is right. We act the way we want to act. Just because I might believe something is wrong, doesn’t mean I won’t do the thing. I probably just hope I don’t get caught.
In a Fox News article they gave the results of a national morality poll. Over 90% surveyed said they believe adultry is morally wrong. Great belief, but what about actions? Statistics show that over 50% of spouses commit adultry at some time in their marriage. This proves that humans will do things they don’t really believe is right.
Combine that with the fact that many people don’t even have a moral standard on which to base their behavior. This leads to a mixed up set of values. Our values are based on what we are taught and that becomes our ground rules of life. Most of our values are a product of the society in which we live. Biblical standards cross cultural lines and remain true. However, if we interpret the Scriptures with a cultural bias we are subject to opinions as much as real truth. We must allow Scripture to form its own interpretation and standard. Romans 12:2 in the Amplified Bible says, ” Do not be conformed to this world (this age) (fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial curstoms), but be transformed (changed) by the entire renewal of your mind ( by its new ideals and its new attitude) what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect in HIs sight for you.”
|
|
