 | New Life For The Nations |
PURE GRACERomans 12:3 “I’m speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it’s important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.”“I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live.” Deut. 30:19 It’s a wonderful life. Even though we may go through trials here, serving God by believing in Jesus, is worth it. Since I found out that I had died in February, life has a different feeling than before it happened. Things that use to bother or stress me don’t seem nearly so bad. After all, they will pass away, and I have a promise from God that He will never leave me nor forsake me. I have thought a lot about the reason I came back. There is a purpose for me to fulfill. I can’t say what it is, but I will know one day. Today I am alive. I am to take no thought for tomorrow; for it will take thought for itself. I am here now because of God’s grace and a woman’s faith. LaVerne never saw me dead even though she held my lifeless body in her arms. She counted God’s Word as faithful and never doubted. I know that many good people have trusted God to restore a loved one, and it didn’t happen. I don’t have the answer as to why, but you never stop trusting God’s word until the trial is over. Remember, “to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.” As believers, whether we live or die we are the Lord’s. Pastor Jerry THOUGHTS FROM THIS WEEK From John Arcovia, Santa Roas, CA I heard the Spirit say, “Spiritual Eagles are rising against the spiritual resistance.” God is bringing a “gathering of eagles” from multi-denominational and other streams together to rise up in apostolic prophetic authority! Walls of tradition, religious order, racier barriers and other barriers are falling! …These “spiritual eagles” will not be limited by barriers of resistance however they will be empowered to “mount up with wings” to soar above the resistance and the bring the healing and glory of the Lord to the nations. Isaiah 40:27-31 The Message (MSG)27-31 Why would you ever complain, O Jacob or, whine, Israel, saying,“God has lost track of me. He doesn’t care what happens to me!” Don’t you know anything? Haven’t you been listening? God doesn’t come and go. God lasts. He’s Creator of all you can see or imagine. He doesn’t get tired out, doesn’t pause to catch his breath. And He knows everything, inside and out. He energizes those who get tired, gives fresh strength to dropouts. For even young people tire and drop out, young folk in their prime stumble and fall. But those who wait upon God get fresh strength.They spread their wings and soar like eagles. They run and don’t get tired, they walk and don’t lag behind. Statements I have read that have stuck with me this week Pastor LaVerne “Jesus Loved misfits——-The list was not promising. Making the cut, among others, was a hothead named Simon, a doubter named Thomas, a tax collector named Matthew, and a betrayer named Judas. Most would trust and believe in him. Some would deny him. All would abandon him. Jesus knew all that. And he was willing to grant them his power to represent him. “ From Today Devotional “Be filled with Crazy Courage-It’s time to Dance on Fear” by Kathi Pelton “So when, by God’s grace, we come to believe in Jesus, we too are anointed permanently with the Holy Spirit. As you ponder the Spirit’s work in your life today, remember the promise that God will never leave or forsake you.” From Today Devotional “Don’t fret–The Blood of Christ Jesus speaks for you, your family, your city, and your nation.” God has made a way for us to approach Him beyond the veil, through the Blood of His son, Jesus, and that Blood still speaks, and speaks of better things. That Blood still speaks even in the midst of shootings in our schools and universities, in the midst of terror threats and plots being devised secretly in our neighborhoods, in the midst of sickness, disease and pain, in the midst of prognoses from doctors, debt, divorce attorneys, and in the midst of historic disunity in our political system. It speaks of better things. from Kim Clement Soul Celebration Scripture Reading: Luke 5:33-39 “John’s disciples often fast and pray, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours go on eating and drinking.” John the Baptist’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees followed ironclad traditions of fasting and praying as signs of closeness to God. When they fast they made sure there was no joy associated with it. When they prayed in public, their faces were sober and serious. Holiness, in their minds, was not something to enjoy but to measure a disciple’s devotion to God, often in comparison to others. But Jesus and his disciples were different, By not overemphasizing fasting and prayer, Jesus crossed a theological line that was taboo for most rabbis. Instead of merely following tradition, Jesus challenged the status quo. His opponents concluded he was out of line. Jesus used wedding celebrations to illustrate his point. Weddings are about celebration, laughter, food, and dancing-joy and happiness for the bride and bridegroom. Jesus changed the focus from fasting and praying as ends in themselves to the means of entering into the joy of the Lord, who celebrates life with us all. When traditions are drained of purpose, they become mere rituals. John’s disciples and the Pharisees missed the joy of the Lord hidden in plain sight. We have a reason to celebrate with joy! We have the marvelous Savior, who desires life “to the full” for all his followers (John 10:10) What is your part at New Life- What is God asking of you? All of you together are Christ’s body, and each one of you is a separate and necessary part of it. 1 Corinthians 12:27 One reason why you need to be connected to a church family is to fulfill your calling to serve other believers in practical ways. The Bible says, “All of you together are Christ’s body, and each one of you is a separate and necessary part of it.” Your service is desperately needed in the Body of Christ–just ask any local church. Each of us has a role to play, and every role is important. There is no small service to God; it all matters. Likewise, there are no insignificant ministries in the church. Some are visible and some are behind the scenes but all are valuable. Small or hidden ministries often make the biggest difference. In my home the most important light is not the large chandelier in our dining room but the little night-light that keeps me from stubbing my toe when Iget up at night. There is no correlation between size and significance. Every ministry matters, because we are all dependent on each other to function. What happens when one part of your body fails to function? You get sick. The rest of your body suffers. Imagine if your liver decided to start living for itself; “I’m tired! I don’t want to serve the body anymore! I want a year off just to be fed. I’ve got to do what’s best for me. Let some other part take over.” What would happen? Your body would die. Today, thousands of local churches are dying because of Christians who are unwilling to serve. They sit on the sidelines as spectators and the Body suffers. God call you to a service far beyond anything you could ever imagine. He created you for a life of good deeds, which he has already prepared for you to do. Ephesians 2:10 Pastor Rick Warren “Look what the Lord has done. He healed my body; He touched my mind; He saved me just in time. I am going to praise His name–He’s ever more the same. Come on and praise Him. Look what the Lord has done.” A familiar song we sing here at New Life. As we sing that song, the Spirit of the Lord rises up within us as we remember what the Lord has done. Mark 19:18-20 “And when he (Jesus) got into the boat he who had been demon-possessed begged him that he might be with Him. However, Jesus did not permit him, but said to him,’Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how he has had compassion on you.’ And he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him; and all marveled.” Look what the Lord had done for the demon possessed man.Then Jesus told him to go home to his friends and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you. If Jesus can bring deliverance to this wild, miserable demon possessed man he can bring change to any life. Never forget where the Lord has brought you from and continue to testify, continue to sing, “Look what the Lord has done. Yes he saved me just in time!” Pastor Shirley Most people view the local church as a soul winning station instead of a soul building station. Let us look at it this way. What if a person gets accepted into medical school but receives no further training because all the medical school cares about is getting more and more people accepted into their medical program. The person going to school needs to receive the best training possible so that he might be able treat people properly and save lives. Yes, we should rejoice at every lost soul that comes to the local church and receives Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. But salvation is only the beginning of a life-long process of growing and maturing to be more like Christ. 2 Peter 3:18 -2 Corinthians 3:18 But according to to Ephesians 4:12 the primary purpose of the local church is to build up the believers in the most holy faith and to equip them for the work of the ministry. That ministry is to be done outside of the church as we go about our life every day. We use every opportunity to share the gospel with those God puts in our path. Mark 16:15 Jesus did not say go into all the world and invite everyone to come to church but he did say go into all the world and preach the gospel to everyone. We bring the gospel to the lost. Pastor Shirley What actually took place is this: I tried keeping rules and working my head off to please God, and it didn’t work. So I quit being a “lawman” so that I could be God’s man. Christ’s life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not “mine” but it is living by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I am not going to go back on that. Is is not clear to you that to go back to that old rule-keeping, peer-pleasing religion would be an abandonment of everything personal and free in my relationship with God? I refuse to do that, repudiate God’s grace. If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily. Galatians 2:20 Message Bible What happens when we live God’s way? Galatians 5:22-24. “But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard–things like affection for others,exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely. Legalism is helpless in bringing this about; it only gets in the way. Among those who belong to Christ, everything connected with getting our own way and mindlessly responding to what everyone else calls necessities is killed off for good–crucified.” FIVE REASONS CHILDREN SHOULD BE IN THE MAIN SERVICE REGULARLY Children should not be removed from the main body for convenience sake. This is one reason churches remove children. They want a professional church service where adults can enjoy the worship without being disrupted by noisy children. This sounds good but the Book of Acts never talks about having a professional service nor does the Bible talk about meeting our own selfish needs during church, but it does talk about children not being pushed aside. Matthew 19:14 Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Children are part of the body of Christ. There is nowhere in the Bible where it says children are a separate body. They are an important part of the church and shouldn’t always be excluded when the church meets. During the Feast of Tabernacles all of Israel would come before the Lord to hear the reading of the Law so that the children would hear it and learn to fear the Lord. In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he gave instructions directly to the children to obey their parents. he considered them a part of the church that he was writing to. Children need goldy examples of how to worship. If children never see adults in main service worshipping, they won’t know how to worship or what is expected of them. Children need to feel like they are a part of the church community. If children are always separated from the body of Christ, they will never feel like they are a part of the church community. And the members of church will never get to know the children and be an example to them unless they work in children’s ministry. Children who don’t feel part of community will leave church when they are older. Imagine the culture shock of a child who had been in church all of his life but has never been in the main service. He has played games every Sunday, sang active songs and had every message or Bible story illustrated with a skit, or object lesson or interactive device. Suddenly the child turns 10 or 12 , or in some cases, 18 years old. He has graduated to big church. The music is strange. There are no games, skits or illustrations only some guy he’s never met preaching for a half hour or longer. He does not know any of the people, and there is no candy. That is what happens to a child who is never in the main service. Within a few months maybe even a few weeks, he decides he doesn’t want to be there. If his parents make him stay, he’ll leave as soon as he turns 18. If not he’ll leave sooner. He’ll look for a church that entertains him and isn’t boring. if he doesn’t find one, he’ll drop out of church. This may be why so many young people are no longer attending church. they never were a part of the church. Church Leaders-Tamera Kraft “One day the children were brought to Jesus in the hope that He would lay hands on them and pray over them. The disciples shooed them off. But Jesus intervened; “Let the children alone, don’t prevent them from coming to me, God’s kingdom is made up of people like these.” After laying hands on them He left. Matthew 19:14 MSG Bible GOD’S WORD FOR YOU But now, God’s Message, the God who made you in the first place, Jacob, the One who got you started, Israel: “Don’t be afraid, I’ve redeemed you. I’ve called your name. You’re mine. When you’re in over your head, I’ll be there with you. When you’re in rough waters, you will not go down. When you’re between a rock and a hard place, it won’t be a dead end Because I am God, your personal God, The Holy of Israel, your Savior. I paid a huge price for you: all of Egypt, with rich Cush and Seba thrown in! That’s how much you mean to me! That’s how much I love you! I’d sell off the whole world to get you back, trade the creation just for you! STAND UP FOR THE TRUTH-–from “Don’t Limit God” by Andrew Wammack ROOTS OF BITTERNESS Zig Ziglar Certain kinds of roots can be dug up, dried, ground, and mixed with oil to make dyes to color fabric. And as any housewife could tell us, a dye misused causes a terrible stain. Bitterness is like a misused dye–it colors how we look at life, and it stains every relationship. People who are bitter feel they have every right to their feelings and perspectives. They feel like victims because they are victims. God doesn’t promise protection from every hurt we experience, but He doesn’t want our anger and hurt to fester into bitterness and ruin every aspect of our lives. Bitter people look for fights. They may say they don’t like them, but they actually thrive on the adrenaline produced by intense disagreements. Instead, God wants us to stop this process before it starts: to pursue peace with all people. When they hurt us, we are to forgive them quickly. We need to watch out so that patterns of recrimination don’t steal our joy, sap our energy, and ruin our ability to represent Christ. Bitterness is serious business. It’s a cancer that can’t be tolerated, or it’ll kill us. And it’s contagious. Ephesians 4:31 “Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.” THIS WORLD IS NOT MY HOME….. More and more I am feeling that what I believe as a Christian does not fit in with our current culture. There are some churches that try to fit in with today’s culture so much in order to make people feel comfortable that they have compromised the Word. When God raised up New Life for the Nations, He never mentioned anything about making people comfortable during the service. Our assignment here in this area was to teach the Word of faith and grace, love people, and pray for them. While it is important to reach out in winning others to Christ, the purpose of the church is to “make disciples.” I thought of the old song my mom used to sing: “This world is not my home; I’m just a-passing through. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue. The angels beckon me from heaven’s open door…and I can’t feel at home in this world any more.” The contemporary song that speaks to me is: “All I know is I’m not home yet. This is not where I belong. Take this world but give me Jesus. This is not where I belong.” THE MEANING OF THE SNOWFLAKE by Holly Gerth Every new snowflake comes to the earth as a picture of our Savior’s birth because they are sent from up above and remind us of God’s care and love. Each one is so intricate and small because Christ sees the details of us all, and just as two are never the same the Lord knows and calls us each by name. Snowflakes gently cover the world in white and hide what’s unlovely from our sight, showing us how He covers our sin and gives us His grace when we come to Him. So may every snowflake bring Christ to mind and in every bit of white your may you find a reason to celebrate anew and a reminder of His love for you. Habakkuk 3:17-19 “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crops fail and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls…” the poor man had a few problems. To others it may have looked over for Habakkuk. People may have just been waiting for him to throw in the towel and give up. But as we will see he did not surrender to those problems. In the next verse-Yet (nonetheless or in spite of) I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. Habakkuk is choosing to rejoice because, he is confessing that the Lord God is his Strength, my personal bravery, and my invincible army; He makes my feet like hinds’ feet and will make me to walk [not to stand still in terror, but to walk] and make [spiritual] progress upon my high places. When we are faced with what seems as if nothing good is happening in our life-bank account is in the red, the pain persist, that addiction is creeping back in, laid off—-this is not the time to surrender to a attitude of why me, but take on the attitude of, “I will rejoice.” The difference between the person who is defeated and the person who is victorious is their attitude. Habakkuk was able to rejoice in spite of all that was happening in his life because of his attitude. He was choosing to say, yet in all these things that are happening, “God is my strength.” Attitude is controlled by choice. Choose to rejoice in spite of. Regardless of the circumstances, begin to rejoice! Rejoicing is an expression of joy.The joy of the Lord is your strength. This too shall pass. Behold, the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. Things are being put in order on your behalf. Be strengthened now in Praise to our Sovereign God!!!! Pastor Shirley MEDITATE ON THE THINGS OF GOD by Joyce Meyer If you don’t want to be devastated by discouragement, then don’t meditate on your disappointments. Did you know that your feelings are hooked up to your thinking? If you don’t think that is true, just take about twenty minutes or so and think about nothing but your problems. I can assure that by the end of that time your feelings and maybe even your countenance will have changed. When you get disappointed, don’t sit around and feel sorry for yourself. As bad as things may seem, we still have a choice. We can choose to fellowship with the problems or fellowship with God. We can allow our thoughts to dwell on the bad things until we become totally discouraged and devastated, or we can focus our attention on all the good things that have happened to us in our life–and on all the blessings that God still has in store for us in the days ahead.
“Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition (definite requests) with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God. And God’s peace (shall be yours, that tranquil state a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and being content with its earthly lot of whatever sort that is, the peace which transcends all understanding shall garrison and mount guard over your hearts and minds in JOYLESS CHRISTIANITY IS DANGEROUS by Jim Johnston One key sign of spiritual danger is losing your joy., Don’t skim past what Paul says at the end of Philippians 3:1, “Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. to write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you.” Paul reminds them to rejoice because it is safe. Joy is one of the vital gauges on the dashboard of the Christian life. When the needle dips–when you lose your joy–you should take note. To stay safe, you need to pay attention to your joy. Here’s an illustration. Coal miners know that dangerous gases can gather silently and secretly in the tunnels. Carbon monoxide will asphyxiate them. Methane explodes. But in the early days of coal mining, they found an effective, low-tech solution: they brought canaries into the mines. A canary’s metabolism is very sensitive to air quality. As long as the bright yellow birds chirp and sing, miners know the air is safe. If gas levels rise, the canaries stop singing, wobble on their perch, and eventually fall to the floor of the cage. Christian joy is like that singing, yellow bird. One of the first effects of sin or doctrinal error is that we lose our joy in Christ. When your heart stops singing, that is a warning to watch your life and doctrine closely. John 15:10-11 “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love…These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” Don’t confuse this unique joy with other upbeat feelings. Genuine Christian joy is not the power of positive thinking. Joy is not a bubbly, optimistic personality. Joy is not being happy because life is going my way. Joy is not walking through life with a naive, glass-half-full attitude. “The joy we have in Jesus cannot be extinguished by the circumstances of life.” Jesus says it is my joy…in you. Joy is the emotion of salvation. It is the joy of seeing, knowing, loving and trusting Jesus Christ. We cannot generate this true joy ourselves–it is the product of the Holy Spirit in us (Galatians 5:22). Joy is a glorious gladness and deep delight in the person of Jesus Christ. WHEN LESS IS MORE…..by Ziz Ziglar Many of us are afflicted with the “go, go, go disease.” Somehow, we’ve developed the core belief that we can’t be happy unless we have our lives full of activities. But the disease leaves us feeling exhausted. Our most cherished relationships become shallow and tense, and we become confused because we’re trying so hard but feel so empty. In our light-speed culture, one of the marks of true wisdom is the determination to carve out time and space to reflect, rest, and recharge our emotional batteries. Creating “margin” in our lives doesn’t just happen. We have to schedule it, value it, and then protect it from the onslaught of voices that scream, “You’ve got to do this, too!” The price we pay for creating these regular times is that we have to say no to some activities, but we need to be honest about the price we’ve paid for saying yes to too many things. Making margin a priority reduces stress, increases fulfillment, and leads to richer relationships with God and every person in our lives. |
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