Romans 10:5-10
For Moses wrote that if a person could be perfectly good and hold out against temptation all his life and never sin once, only then could he be pardoned and saved. But the salvation that comes through faith says, "You don't need to search the heavens to find Christ and bring him down to help you," and, "You don't need to go among the dead to bring Christ back to life again."
For salvation that comes from trusting Christ--which is what we preach--is already within easy reach of each of us; in fact, it is as near as our own hearts and mouths. For if you tell others with your own mouth that Jesus Christ is your Lord, and believe in your own heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is believing in his heart that a man becomes right with God; and with his mouth he tells others of his faith, confirming his salvation.
Reflections:
One Sunday, my son, while at church was asked if he was saved. He turned to the woman and said yes. I looked at him in amazement because I did not know that he had confessed Jesus as his savior. I looked him in the face and said, you are? He said, yes don't you remember when I was little and you had me saved at church? I realized that he was confusing being dedicated by the pastor of my previous church as being saved. I then explained to him what it meant to be saved. He said, "Oh I did not know." I then looked around church and wondered how many other people in here are confusing one thing for another. How many were in church, praising God but not sure what it took to be saved. As the scripture tells us that Moses wrote that if a man held out against temptation and never sin once then he would be saved. Well for most of us who have sinned that is bad news. Why would we need to be saved if we've never done anything? Saved, rescued, redeemed, these words indicate that you are coming out of something. However unlike what Moses writes in the Old Testament, the New Testament tells us that all we have to do is have faith, confess Jesus as our Savior and we will be saved. So while you are in the midst of something all you have to do is call out to Jesus, believe in your heart, confess him and you will be saved. Now that is good news.
Salvation comes from trusting God and for so many of us that can be hard when you are not sure who God is. God is the joy and the strength of your life, he moves all pain, misery, and strife. God is my all and ALL. I don't know about you but I love this God just for the things He has done when I did not even know him. I love this God just for being who He is in my life, I love this God because He loved me when I did not even love myself. So I want to know more about this God so that when I say that God saved me and His Mercy carries me through I will know more about Him.
For a week I was feeling ill, not sure why but my chest was hurting and my stomach was upset. I called my doctor and asked her what could I take to help get rid of this pain. She said well you can take some over the counter antacid or you can come in and I will prescribe you something. I told her that I had some pills that she prescribed before when I had the same thing happening and she told me to take them for 6 days. I began taking them and the symptoms began to disappear. This is the prescription for your life:
1.Confess to someone with your own mouth that Jesus Christ is your Lord.
2.Believe in your heart that God raise him from the dead
3.Read the Word daily: Your Daily Dose
4.Give your life, cares and worries over to God
You will be saved. So fill your prescription today!
Be Blessed and Encouraged
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Friday, November 5, 2010
Play to Win
Acts 14:22
Where they helped the believers to grow in love for God and each other. They encouraged them to continue in the faith in spite of all the persecutions, reminding them that they must enter into the Kingdom of God through many tribulations.
Reflection:
I was thinking back the other day to when I was a child and the childhood games I used to play. Many of them came to mind but I can remember getting a lot of enjoyment from playing "Jacks." Now it has not been that long since some of you have played Jacks. But for those who seem to have forgotten, it is the game you play by tossing Jacks onto the floor then bouncing a small ball and picking them up one by one while keeping the others from falling back out. Let's look at this game in a metaphorical sense. When you are not saved you become scattered about. Working to please every Tom, Dick, and Harry. You party and commit other sins, and are living in the valley. Our lives represent the jacks and are scattered around. God is the ball, who comes to lift us up. When you are at the lowest point in your life God bounces down and picks you up. Now with jacks you have to do this several times because you can't grab all of the pieces on the first try. Some of the pieces may slip between the cracks of your fingers; some may be too far to reach while the ones that are ready are in easy reach. If our lives were one neat little package it would be easy to say that we have it all together. It would also be easy to say that when we get saved everything will change, but the reality is that we don't have it all together, our lives have not always been a neat little package. Like many we have had our piece scattered about, and it may seem like no matter what you do things do not come together. Aren't you glad that God being the ball in this game of life, comes down and picks you up, not once but as long as you need him to.
God has called us to a higher place and he is working in each of our lives to help us get our scattered pieces together to form one body in Christ. The thing about the scattered pieces is that it forms a testimony. In today's scripture we see that if we work together to encourage and remind each other that getting into the Kingdom of God requires many tribulations we will enter God's Kingdom.. Tribulations build character. Look at Rosa Parks and Harriet Tubman. They had to overcome obstacles but when they finished they came forth on top. When you go through stuff it is to make you stronger and when you rely on your faith to get you through you end up on top. I know while you are in the midst of your mess it is hard to see that it will come together. God is holding you and all your mess in the palms of his hands. In order to win at the game of jacks you have to pick up all the pieces and hold them in your hand. Once you have done that you are considered a winner. In Life you are a winner when you allow God to hold you and your scattered pieces in the palm of His hand. Remember that it was God's hands that made you and it is God's hands that will save you. Some may slip through the cracks but once you are leaning on faith, you know that even though you slipped God will bounce back down and pick you up. We are not perfect and from time to time we will fall but like Donny McCurklin said, we can get up and get back in line. While you are in the midst of your storm hold on to God's hand and know he is picking up the pieces in your life. Once they are all picked up and you are molded according to God's Divine plan, you shall win.
Be Blessed and Encouraged
Where they helped the believers to grow in love for God and each other. They encouraged them to continue in the faith in spite of all the persecutions, reminding them that they must enter into the Kingdom of God through many tribulations.
Reflection:
I was thinking back the other day to when I was a child and the childhood games I used to play. Many of them came to mind but I can remember getting a lot of enjoyment from playing "Jacks." Now it has not been that long since some of you have played Jacks. But for those who seem to have forgotten, it is the game you play by tossing Jacks onto the floor then bouncing a small ball and picking them up one by one while keeping the others from falling back out. Let's look at this game in a metaphorical sense. When you are not saved you become scattered about. Working to please every Tom, Dick, and Harry. You party and commit other sins, and are living in the valley. Our lives represent the jacks and are scattered around. God is the ball, who comes to lift us up. When you are at the lowest point in your life God bounces down and picks you up. Now with jacks you have to do this several times because you can't grab all of the pieces on the first try. Some of the pieces may slip between the cracks of your fingers; some may be too far to reach while the ones that are ready are in easy reach. If our lives were one neat little package it would be easy to say that we have it all together. It would also be easy to say that when we get saved everything will change, but the reality is that we don't have it all together, our lives have not always been a neat little package. Like many we have had our piece scattered about, and it may seem like no matter what you do things do not come together. Aren't you glad that God being the ball in this game of life, comes down and picks you up, not once but as long as you need him to.
God has called us to a higher place and he is working in each of our lives to help us get our scattered pieces together to form one body in Christ. The thing about the scattered pieces is that it forms a testimony. In today's scripture we see that if we work together to encourage and remind each other that getting into the Kingdom of God requires many tribulations we will enter God's Kingdom.. Tribulations build character. Look at Rosa Parks and Harriet Tubman. They had to overcome obstacles but when they finished they came forth on top. When you go through stuff it is to make you stronger and when you rely on your faith to get you through you end up on top. I know while you are in the midst of your mess it is hard to see that it will come together. God is holding you and all your mess in the palms of his hands. In order to win at the game of jacks you have to pick up all the pieces and hold them in your hand. Once you have done that you are considered a winner. In Life you are a winner when you allow God to hold you and your scattered pieces in the palm of His hand. Remember that it was God's hands that made you and it is God's hands that will save you. Some may slip through the cracks but once you are leaning on faith, you know that even though you slipped God will bounce back down and pick you up. We are not perfect and from time to time we will fall but like Donny McCurklin said, we can get up and get back in line. While you are in the midst of your storm hold on to God's hand and know he is picking up the pieces in your life. Once they are all picked up and you are molded according to God's Divine plan, you shall win.
Be Blessed and Encouraged
Claim your Baggage
Philippians 3:13
No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead.
Psalm 51:7, 9-10
Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow......Don't keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt. Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me.
Reflections:
When you take a flight you check your baggage at the ticket counter. They place a tag on the bag indicating where you are going and who you are. The bag then goes through a series of slot before making it onto the plane. While you are sitting inside the plane, your baggage is underneath the plane in a special compartment. The thing about your baggage is that no matter how many layovers you have, your baggage goes with you and will meet you at your final destination. Many different people along the way handle your baggage but when it gets to you it is still the same baggage. If for some reason your baggage does not arrive the same time you do the airport has a designated area called 'baggage claim'. In this room are many pieces of baggage. You stop by a bag that looks exactly like yours but upon looking at the tag you realize that it is not your bag. You say to yourself, someone has the same baggage as me. So you move on to the next bag that looks like yours but again you find that it is not your bag. Again saying to yourself, “not mine but we have the same taste.” After looking at several bags that look like yours you find your bag. You go to the counter and make your claim.
In our lives we have made many mistakes. At some point we opened up our bag and each hurtful experience gets put in. We sometimes overload the bag with stuff we can not control. As we move forward in life we carry our baggage with us. For some, who have the same baggage, they are able to acknowledge their part in the problems that make up their baggage and they can move forward leaving their baggage in the special compartment. Oh it will always be with them, but they have put it behind them and are looking toward the future. Too many people however, not only carry their baggage with them, they open it and reveal the contents. When you walk out of a bad relationship and find a new man or woman, lock the bag. Don't throw the contents at the new person because he or she did not break your heart. When you enter a new job, don't go into the bag because this job is not your last job. You can't see ahead if you are constantly looking behind. As our scripture shows us, God can cleanse you and once you are cleanse you will be whiter than snow. Yes there will be people who will constantly remind you of the things you used to do. Claim your baggage and move on. You can look at that person and say, yes I used to do that, yeah I was the one who did this, but thank God I do not do that any more. You can look at the person who is revealing your baggage contents and say; my past is redeem through the Blood of the Lamb. As long as you hold on and keep opening up the baggage you can not move to the place God wants you to be.
God wants to cleanse you, he wants to renew your spirit and he wants to clear your path but you have to let go of the past. So, walk up to God' s ticket counter and check your baggage. And when you do, you will be able to see where you are going and you will arrive at a place of peace. And the good news is that you do not have to open up the door to the baggage claim because once God locks the door, it is sealed.
Walk into your season
No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead.
Psalm 51:7, 9-10
Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow......Don't keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt. Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me.
Reflections:
When you take a flight you check your baggage at the ticket counter. They place a tag on the bag indicating where you are going and who you are. The bag then goes through a series of slot before making it onto the plane. While you are sitting inside the plane, your baggage is underneath the plane in a special compartment. The thing about your baggage is that no matter how many layovers you have, your baggage goes with you and will meet you at your final destination. Many different people along the way handle your baggage but when it gets to you it is still the same baggage. If for some reason your baggage does not arrive the same time you do the airport has a designated area called 'baggage claim'. In this room are many pieces of baggage. You stop by a bag that looks exactly like yours but upon looking at the tag you realize that it is not your bag. You say to yourself, someone has the same baggage as me. So you move on to the next bag that looks like yours but again you find that it is not your bag. Again saying to yourself, “not mine but we have the same taste.” After looking at several bags that look like yours you find your bag. You go to the counter and make your claim.
In our lives we have made many mistakes. At some point we opened up our bag and each hurtful experience gets put in. We sometimes overload the bag with stuff we can not control. As we move forward in life we carry our baggage with us. For some, who have the same baggage, they are able to acknowledge their part in the problems that make up their baggage and they can move forward leaving their baggage in the special compartment. Oh it will always be with them, but they have put it behind them and are looking toward the future. Too many people however, not only carry their baggage with them, they open it and reveal the contents. When you walk out of a bad relationship and find a new man or woman, lock the bag. Don't throw the contents at the new person because he or she did not break your heart. When you enter a new job, don't go into the bag because this job is not your last job. You can't see ahead if you are constantly looking behind. As our scripture shows us, God can cleanse you and once you are cleanse you will be whiter than snow. Yes there will be people who will constantly remind you of the things you used to do. Claim your baggage and move on. You can look at that person and say, yes I used to do that, yeah I was the one who did this, but thank God I do not do that any more. You can look at the person who is revealing your baggage contents and say; my past is redeem through the Blood of the Lamb. As long as you hold on and keep opening up the baggage you can not move to the place God wants you to be.
God wants to cleanse you, he wants to renew your spirit and he wants to clear your path but you have to let go of the past. So, walk up to God' s ticket counter and check your baggage. And when you do, you will be able to see where you are going and you will arrive at a place of peace. And the good news is that you do not have to open up the door to the baggage claim because once God locks the door, it is sealed.
Walk into your season
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Times Like This I Wish......
Jude 1:1-7
From: Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ, and a brother of James.
To: Christians everywhere----beloved of God and chosen by him. May you be given more and more of God's kindness, peace, and love.
Dearly loved friends, I had been planning to write you some thoughts about the salvation God has given us, but now I find I must write of something else instead, urging you to stoutly defend the truth which God gave, once for all, to his people to keep without change throughout the years. I say this because some godless teachers have wormed their way in among you, saying that after we become Christians we can do just as we without fear of God's punishment. The fate of such people was written long ago, for they have turned against our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
My answer to them is: Remember this fact--which you know already--that the Lord saved a whole nation of people out of the land of Egypt, and then killed every one of them who did not trust and obey him. And I remind you of those angels who were once pure and holy, but turned to a life of sin. Now God has them chained up in prison of darkness, waiting for the judgment day. And don' forget the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring towns, all full of lust of every kind including lust of men for other men. Those cities were destroyed by fire and continue to be a warning to us that there is a hell in which sinners are punished.
Reflection:
Our scripture today says it all. It is a constant reminder of what can happen when the Lord takes his hand off of you, when you disobey him and his laws, when you listen to false prophets. The bible tells us to beware of those who come to you like a sheep but inside are raging wolves. Not everyone that speaks about life as a Christian are people of God. So beware. If you build a personal relationship with God you will be able to recognize these wolves for yourself. Lamentations 5:19 says, "O Lord, forever you remain the same! Your throne continues from generation to generation." This is said also in today's scripture. Jude is (in verse 3) urging us to "defend the truth which God gave, Once and for all, to his people to keep without change throughout the years. Isn't that just like God to be the same throughout the years. In Luke 1:50 we see that "His Mercy goes on from generation to generation, to all that fear him." God does not change but we do. We forget all that he has done for us, we forget about the sacrifice he gave us. We are living in trying times. Some say we are living in Sodom and Gomorrah. But there is one thing that we will never forget and that is that we can always come back to God. We may stray, we may even sin but we can come back in line with Jesus if we repent and ask for forgiveness.
The times we are living in right now are seen in Revelations. There is nothing greater right now then having a right relationship with God. Remember that if you do not get right with God, you will as our text says be chained in a prison of darkness waiting for the judgment day. If you get right with God, repent, let him into your heart you will be free to the light of eternal life. Call upon him today for forgiveness, defend him and remember that in Christ Jesus there is power and Salvation is his name.
Be Blessed and Encouraged
From: Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ, and a brother of James.
To: Christians everywhere----beloved of God and chosen by him. May you be given more and more of God's kindness, peace, and love.
Dearly loved friends, I had been planning to write you some thoughts about the salvation God has given us, but now I find I must write of something else instead, urging you to stoutly defend the truth which God gave, once for all, to his people to keep without change throughout the years. I say this because some godless teachers have wormed their way in among you, saying that after we become Christians we can do just as we without fear of God's punishment. The fate of such people was written long ago, for they have turned against our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
My answer to them is: Remember this fact--which you know already--that the Lord saved a whole nation of people out of the land of Egypt, and then killed every one of them who did not trust and obey him. And I remind you of those angels who were once pure and holy, but turned to a life of sin. Now God has them chained up in prison of darkness, waiting for the judgment day. And don' forget the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring towns, all full of lust of every kind including lust of men for other men. Those cities were destroyed by fire and continue to be a warning to us that there is a hell in which sinners are punished.
Reflection:
Our scripture today says it all. It is a constant reminder of what can happen when the Lord takes his hand off of you, when you disobey him and his laws, when you listen to false prophets. The bible tells us to beware of those who come to you like a sheep but inside are raging wolves. Not everyone that speaks about life as a Christian are people of God. So beware. If you build a personal relationship with God you will be able to recognize these wolves for yourself. Lamentations 5:19 says, "O Lord, forever you remain the same! Your throne continues from generation to generation." This is said also in today's scripture. Jude is (in verse 3) urging us to "defend the truth which God gave, Once and for all, to his people to keep without change throughout the years. Isn't that just like God to be the same throughout the years. In Luke 1:50 we see that "His Mercy goes on from generation to generation, to all that fear him." God does not change but we do. We forget all that he has done for us, we forget about the sacrifice he gave us. We are living in trying times. Some say we are living in Sodom and Gomorrah. But there is one thing that we will never forget and that is that we can always come back to God. We may stray, we may even sin but we can come back in line with Jesus if we repent and ask for forgiveness.
The times we are living in right now are seen in Revelations. There is nothing greater right now then having a right relationship with God. Remember that if you do not get right with God, you will as our text says be chained in a prison of darkness waiting for the judgment day. If you get right with God, repent, let him into your heart you will be free to the light of eternal life. Call upon him today for forgiveness, defend him and remember that in Christ Jesus there is power and Salvation is his name.
Be Blessed and Encouraged
Did You Get The Valley Lesson?
Job 2:1-10
Now the angels came again to present themselves before the Lord and Satan with them. "Where have you come from?" the Lord asked Satan. "From Earth, where I've been watching everything that's going on, Satan replied. "Well, have you noticed my servant Job?" the Lord asked. "He is the finest man in all the earth--a good man, who fears God and turns away from all evil. And he has kept his faith in me despite the fact that you persuaded me to let you harm him without cause." "Skin for skin, Satan replied. "A man will give anything to save his life. Touch his body with sickness and he will curse you to your face!" "Do with him as you please," the Lord replied; "only spare his life." So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with a terrible case of boils from head to foot. Then Job took a broken piece of pottery to scrape himself, and sat among the ashes. His wife said to him, "Are you still trying to be godly when God has done all this to you? Curse him and die."
Job 4:7-9
Stop and think! Have you ever known a truly good and innocent person who was punished? Experience teaches that it is those who sow sin and trouble who harvest the same. They die beneath the hand of God.
Reflection:
Again we see Satan back in front of God because his plan failed. Although he was allowed to take away Job's wealth and family, Job still praised God. So here we see Satan again asking permission to now touch Job's body in an attempt to get him to curse God. Isn't that just like Satan, to attempt to bring us down but I guess he has not figured out that when we are at our lowest that is when God truly blesses us. Let's take Job for example. If he would have listened to his wife, he would have cursed God and died, instead he took a piece of clay to scrape himself. Now he could have used anything else but the clay would give the most comfort. We could consider the text in the bible that tells us that God is the potter and we are the clay. Like a potter molds and shapes the clay to form is art, God molds and shapes us taking us from simple clay and forming his masterpiece. "Masterpiece" is an interesting word when you break down it's definition. The word Master means, a person with the ability or power to control, a person highly skilled in an art, craft, etc, a male teacher. The word Piece means, a quantity of some material forming a separate entity, an example, specimen, or instance of something, to mend by adding a piece or pieces, to make by or as if joining pieces. So when God forms a masterpiece it is a piece of himself. Job was not only receive physically comfort from the clay he was summonsing the potter to recreate the masterpiece.
When Job was in his valley experience he choose the only thing that he knew would bring him a bit of comfort, the clay. When we are going through our valley experience we can call out to the only person that will bring us comfort and that is to call upon the Potter, the Master, our Lord and Savior. In Job's valley experience he heard a word from his friends. They share with him that only those who sow sin and trouble will receive the same. Those who harvest trouble and sin will die beneath the hand of God. Did Job learn something in his valley experience? I say yes. He learned that even when everything else was taken away, when his body was wrath with pain, when it seems that there is no way out he kept his faith and his eyes toward heaven and learned that God will never leave us nor forsake us. In every low in our lives there is a lesson to be learned. We may not get it the first time but in due time and many valley experiences something will click symbolized a learning experience. So while you are in your valley experience, look for the lesson. If indeed you are like Job, a good obedient person you will not die beneath the hand of God; You will not die in the valley; you will come through with power and knowledge. When you are in the valley, grab a piece of clay and ask the Lord to rebuild his Masterpiece, then walk with the Lord.
Be Blessed and Encouraged
Now the angels came again to present themselves before the Lord and Satan with them. "Where have you come from?" the Lord asked Satan. "From Earth, where I've been watching everything that's going on, Satan replied. "Well, have you noticed my servant Job?" the Lord asked. "He is the finest man in all the earth--a good man, who fears God and turns away from all evil. And he has kept his faith in me despite the fact that you persuaded me to let you harm him without cause." "Skin for skin, Satan replied. "A man will give anything to save his life. Touch his body with sickness and he will curse you to your face!" "Do with him as you please," the Lord replied; "only spare his life." So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with a terrible case of boils from head to foot. Then Job took a broken piece of pottery to scrape himself, and sat among the ashes. His wife said to him, "Are you still trying to be godly when God has done all this to you? Curse him and die."
Job 4:7-9
Stop and think! Have you ever known a truly good and innocent person who was punished? Experience teaches that it is those who sow sin and trouble who harvest the same. They die beneath the hand of God.
Reflection:
Again we see Satan back in front of God because his plan failed. Although he was allowed to take away Job's wealth and family, Job still praised God. So here we see Satan again asking permission to now touch Job's body in an attempt to get him to curse God. Isn't that just like Satan, to attempt to bring us down but I guess he has not figured out that when we are at our lowest that is when God truly blesses us. Let's take Job for example. If he would have listened to his wife, he would have cursed God and died, instead he took a piece of clay to scrape himself. Now he could have used anything else but the clay would give the most comfort. We could consider the text in the bible that tells us that God is the potter and we are the clay. Like a potter molds and shapes the clay to form is art, God molds and shapes us taking us from simple clay and forming his masterpiece. "Masterpiece" is an interesting word when you break down it's definition. The word Master means, a person with the ability or power to control, a person highly skilled in an art, craft, etc, a male teacher. The word Piece means, a quantity of some material forming a separate entity, an example, specimen, or instance of something, to mend by adding a piece or pieces, to make by or as if joining pieces. So when God forms a masterpiece it is a piece of himself. Job was not only receive physically comfort from the clay he was summonsing the potter to recreate the masterpiece.
When Job was in his valley experience he choose the only thing that he knew would bring him a bit of comfort, the clay. When we are going through our valley experience we can call out to the only person that will bring us comfort and that is to call upon the Potter, the Master, our Lord and Savior. In Job's valley experience he heard a word from his friends. They share with him that only those who sow sin and trouble will receive the same. Those who harvest trouble and sin will die beneath the hand of God. Did Job learn something in his valley experience? I say yes. He learned that even when everything else was taken away, when his body was wrath with pain, when it seems that there is no way out he kept his faith and his eyes toward heaven and learned that God will never leave us nor forsake us. In every low in our lives there is a lesson to be learned. We may not get it the first time but in due time and many valley experiences something will click symbolized a learning experience. So while you are in your valley experience, look for the lesson. If indeed you are like Job, a good obedient person you will not die beneath the hand of God; You will not die in the valley; you will come through with power and knowledge. When you are in the valley, grab a piece of clay and ask the Lord to rebuild his Masterpiece, then walk with the Lord.
Be Blessed and Encouraged
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)