Daily book quote;

We need to define the areas of stress in our lives, which are usually our real priorities in each area that we would like to see happen, but never do, because we have allowed everything and everyone to set our agenda, day in and day out!  We need to seek and find those undone priorities in each area of our lives such as our families, our work, our church, our physical health as well as our financial goals and dreams, and most of all we must make the decision to do something about taking control of this life that God has given us. We need to intentionally seek it, find it, and do it.

     We need to first understand that we are talking about our present and our future, we can’t change the past; but, we can change the future from this day forward. And, we can change every important area of our lives from this day forward, in ways that we never thought possible. We can get excited about life because we know we serve a God who is able to do “exceedingly, abundantly, more than we could ever ask, think, or dream!”  

Daily book quote;

John Maxwell has said; “Change is not a once and for all kind of thing - if only it were that easy. No, changing ourselves is a lifelong process.” Not only that, but we must be intentional about how we want to change. I find that we often make two mistakes in this area. First, we often sit around and wait for God to change our circumstances. Second, we wait for circumstances to change our attitude and our behavior. Is it any wonder that some people change so little? Most people fail to see that life is moving on at a rapid speed. None of us have all the time we'd like to have…and, in fact, we are not getting any more…so we need to take control and make the best of the time we have. Someone once said that the only person who really wants change in the church are the wet babies!

    If you see an area you need to change, CHANGE NOW. I'm not talking about cosmetic changes. That's where we change our talking but not our thinking, we change our environment instead of our expectations, our appearance instead of our attitudes, our business instead of our behavior, and our biases instead of our beliefs.

    Rather than intentionally changing ourselves, too many of us are “wisher’s” content with dreaming about the results we desire from life and wonder why they remain just that - “dreams, and wishes!”

Daily book quote;

If the church is here to teach the word of God; come expecting to be taught and to learn!  God wants to communicate with you. Pray that God would communicate with you. Ask him to help your heart and mind be open. Ask him to help you understand. Pray that God will clearly communicate with everyone else as well.

    If the church is here to help people belong…Come and be the first one with a smile and a warm greeting. Take time to get to know the people in the church. Talk to them here; and spend time with them away from here.

    If the church is a place to worship God; come and set the example for people around you. People are watching you whether you like it or not. Some people come and stand in church and their whole attitude during worship screams the title of the hymn I SHALL NOT BE MOVED!  You, as an individual, are important to the atmosphere of worship in our church. It doesn’t matter if you are outwardly expressive or more reserved. The issue is that you take advantage of the opportunity to worship God with sincere expression, and with other people who love him too.

    IF the church is a place for prayer; take the chance to pray and have your faith encouraged by a group of people who gather in a place dedicated to providing an atmosphere in which you can freely communicate with God. Take the time to pray for yourself, your family and the other people who are around you. Perhaps you could help set the tone by praying at the beginning of each service for God’s blessings and His will to be done in the service.

    If the church is a place for ministry; come, and get involved. There are many, many areas of ministry in which your gifts and talents can be used!

Daily book quote;

A Truth known never changes anybody; it is truth done, truth which has flowed through the emotions and gripped the heart and thus motivated the will that makes a difference. Thus this passage beautifully takes into consideration the way God has made us. He has made us so that truth hits the mind first of all. We are exposed to the facts, to the truth, but that is never enough. There are some people who think that if you merely study your Bible and take the right courses and learn all these great facts, learn the doctrine, and the truth of the Scriptures, that is all you need. But just that much will never change anybody. But truth must somehow move from the head down to the heart. It must grip "the eyes of the heart," to use the beautiful figure that Paul employs, “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened”…Truth alone can be dull and academic and deadly. Your heart also must be stirred in order to motivate the will!  Like the two disciples whom Jesus met on the road to Emmaus who said, "Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures?" (Luke 24:32)
Paul then prays "that he may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation so that you may know Him better.” Why does he say that? Because it’s all about relationship, not just knowledge.  Notice that he doesn't take it for granted that this is going to happen. This is not an automatic feature of the Christian life…He prays for it!

Daily book quote;

It is when we begin to understand these words that we can apply them and accept them. Now let's look at the other one, “blameless”. Most people refuse to think of themselves as blameless because they know that they have done many things for which they ought to be blamed. That is, they have made choices, deliberate choices, against right, against God, and even against the knowledge of the consequences. But we confuse this word with another, because it is not sinless. Never having done anything wrong is sinless. But, the Bible says you can be sinful and still be blameless. Do you know how? By handling your sin in the right way. If you did something that injured someone else, and the full result of it was not visible to you when you did it, but afterward you saw how much you had hurt the person, and you acknowledged it, apologized to them, asked for forgiveness, and did what you could to restore it, then there would be nothing further you could do. From that point on you would be blameless. You would not be sinless -- you still did it -- but you also did all you could to handle it rightly, or to make it right.

    The idea is the same with our offenses against God. What can you do about your sins? You can't go back and straighten it all out, no, but you can ask for and accept his forgiveness. You can acknowledge what you did and your need for forgiveness, you can seek to restore the relationship, and when you've done that, you're blameless! That is what God has chosen us to do -- to learn this wonderful process of being whole (holy) and blameless. 

Daily book quote;

You see, these are much more than mere doctrinal or mere theological ideas. They are facts, they are foundational truths. And, unless we understand those facts, we can't utilize them, we can't benefit from them. I would even say that these great facts are so revolutionary, so radical, that we hesitate to believe them! And even more-so, we hesitate to apply them to ourselves despite the fact that they are true. The reason we hesitate is that we have such distorted ideas of what these words mean. We think of words like “holy and blameless” and we think that holiness is all about being absolutely sinless and pure…and we don't want to claim that for ourselves. But it is not that at all. Holiness means "wholeness," and wholeness means "to be restored to the originally intended function; to be put to the proper use, that's all. Physical wholeness prevails when the body works the way it was supposed to. When your whole being functions the way it was intended to function, you are holy.

Ephesians 1:1-14 – In Verses 3-6 you have the work of the Father: Then, in Verses 7-12, you have that which relates to the Son: Finally, in Verses 13 and 14, you have the work of the Holy Spirit:

    Remember that these are all available to us in the “heavenly realms” That is not heaven; it does not mean they are only available in heaven when you die. No, "in the heavenly realms" is a reference to the invisible realities of our life now. It reaches on into eternity, yes, but it is something to be experienced now, in the inner life. He is talking about our thought-life, our attitudes, our emotions, our inner life where we live, where we feel conflict and pressure, struggle and disaster. He calls them “spiritual blessings in Christ”…What does that mean?

    It is in these areas of our inner life that we are exposed to the attack of the principalities and powers which are mentioned in Chapter 6, those dark spirits in high places who get to us, and depress us, and frighten us, and make us anxious or hostile or angry. It is the realm of conflict, but it is also the realm where God can release us and deliver us, and where the Spirit of God reaches us at the seat of our intellect, our emotions and our will. It is the realm of those deep, surging urges which rise within us and can create either restlessness or a sense of peace, depending on the source from which they come. So don't read this as though it were something out in heaven somewhere, someday. These blessings that Paul gives us and which we will be looking more closely at, are ours in our inner experience, now, if we are in Jesus Christ…This is the “package” that it all comes in – “Christ”.

Daily book quote;

    Man in his natural mind cannot begin to comprehend God. In fact, one basic truth that the scriptures teach us from beginning to end, is that apart from the Spirit and spiritual birth, God is infinitely and eternally out of man’s grasp. “Man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1^st. Corinthians 2:14) Paul is, in effect, repeating Jesus’ teaching when He told the Pharisee Nicodemus, “...unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Man cannot have the knowledge of God apart from God’s Spirit; the wisdom, the teaching, and the understanding of the things of the Spirit.

    Here is probably the clearest and best example. The disciples walked and talked with Jesus for over three years. They were with Him constantly, listening to Him teach, seeing His miracles, asking Him questions, seeing Him in all the aspects and circumstances of life. But they did not understand. They did not perceive His purpose in coming, until after the resurrection, and even then they continued to ask questions that exposed their ignorance. “We were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel”…They asked him; “Lord, is it at this time you are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” It wasn't until they were gathered in the upper room, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit that they stepped out onto the streets of Jerusalem with a greater knowledge and power.

    Now I want you to take notice here... they weren't given a crash course in theology. They didn't stay sequestered in the upper room for another thirteen weeks while Jesus appeared to them with a dry erase board and a box of scrolls and taught them doctrine and homiletics and how to properly apply the scriptures…They had a certain knowledge, a learning that He had stored up in them while He was with them, but they had no revelation of the Spirit, until He came and filled them; and baptized them, there in that upper room. And when He did, these disciples who only days before stood gazing into the sky as He ascended...now stepped immediately out of the upper room and preached a Holy Spirit inspired sermon that had even those who crucified their Lord crying, “What must we do to be saved?”

Daily book quote;

    God has given us great disciplines in which our new created spiritual nature may grow in the grace and the knowledge of God. Staying in His Word, prayer, fellowship, worship, service with a heart consistently filled with praise and thankfulness--- will see the presence, power and peace of our Lord enlarged and magnified within the believer’s mind and heart. The more time we spend seeking the Holy Spirit’s leading and direction, the more the Holy Spirit will occupy the desires, the reasoning, and the choices one makes, as the will seeks to please God.

    I guess the word for this lesson on change would be “focus”. What is the real focus of your life? If you were to keep a spiritual journal, how much time do you spend seeking and feeding and following your spiritual nature? An hour on Sunday? – Ten minutes a day? Real change means always having the right focus.

Daily book quote;

Growth is about improving who we are; change is about becoming someone different. Growth usually concerns addition – “Make every effort to add to your faith…goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love.” ( 2 Peter 1:5 ) Change is more about elimination of things that are damaging; “put off” - “put to death” – “crucify” – “rid yourselves of” – such things as; and then the list goes on…most of which are an act of our will.
Yes, God will help us to change, but He never forces himself upon us…He will only do what we allow and ask Him to do. He does it by the power within us, but we must work “with” Him. “With God nothing is impossible!”

Daily book quote;

    There are those who think if they BELIEVE the right thing that makes them okay with God. However, if what we believe (which is what we think or what is in our heads) never reaches our hearts, it is useless. The Pharisees believed a lot of right things, but Jesus had a problem with them!

    There are also some who think that if they DO the right things, they are o.k. with God. “I attend church; give tithes and offerings; read my Bible now and then…” Just doing right things won’t do it either - “any who say to me Lord, Lord”, didn’t we do this or didn’t we do that… and Jesus said to them “Depart from me, I never knew you.” (Matthew 7:23)

    There are also those who think because they DON’T do certain things, they are right with God. “Well, I don’t cuss, drink, smoke, or chew and I don’t go with girls that do!” There were a lot of things the Pharisees didn’t do, they were very righteous, but Jesus called them “white washed tombs.” What God says in His Word is “They honor me with their lips, but their HEARTS are far from me.”

    Does God care about what we believe? ( Yes) Does he care about the things we DO? ( Yes ) Does he care about the things we DON”T do? Of course! But, all of those things must stem from a heart that loves God because it’s that love that will influence every aspect of our lives. “Man sees the outside, but God sees the heart!” (see Mathew 23:28)

Daily book quote;

    The blessing of God is not intended to make us materially rich. In fact, material things have a way of hindering God’s blessing! While he has promised to provide our needs, our hearts must be set on Him and His Kingdom; “Seek Ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.”

    I could mention many ways in which we feel blessed by God; and they all are true blessings, but I think one of the most important and fulfilling dimensions of God’s blessings is when we allow ourselves to become “channels” of God’s blessing. The blessings of God in our lives, whatever we have received from God in our lives, be it financial, good relationships, love, grace, or peace, they must flow through us to reach people and show them God. When we are channels of those blessings, God will turn their hearts toward Him. When we think of the many ways we have been blessed, we ought to ask ourselves if we have just received those blessings and held on to them for ourselves, or have we had opportunity to be a “channel” and shared that blessing with someone in need?

Daily book quote;

    His name is Simon Peter. We remember him as the disciple who tried to walk on water, but started sinking when the wind and the waves blew his faith away. He was the one who testified Jesus as the Son of God, yet denied him three times in one night. He swore never to forsake his master, but ran away for fear of his life. Simon Peter, a man of broken promises…a man of failure.

    His name is Simon Peter. We remember him as a great Apostle. He boldly and tirelessly proclaimed Jesus as the Son of God. He baptized hundreds and perhaps thousands of people. He performed many miracles by healing the sick and even raising the dead. People chased his shadow believing that if his shadow fell upon them, they would be healed. Simon Peter: a man of great success and fame in the church of Jesus Christ.

    What made the difference between the first Simon Peter, and the second Simon Peter was the account in our scripture of Jesus – as he walked - approaching the shoreline – He was the God of “Second Chances”.

    There are two other separate occasions when Jesus appeared to His disciples, yet Jesus did not confront Peter. He gave him time! Then he gave him a second chance. Instead of rebuking Peter for his failures, Jesus gives him another chance to prove himself. Jesus was not looking to Peter’s past, he was looking to Peter’s future! He was looking to what Peter was going to do from that moment on.

Daily book quote;

    Then there are those who have “selective hearing”. They only hear what they want to hear. They “tune out” the things they don’t want or don’t like to hear. Sometimes we have selective hearing on a subconscious level. A mother, for instance can hear her child whimper while she is in the midst of a sound sleep.

    Then, of course, there are the good listeners. They are the seekers. They are seeking to know and seeking to grow. This is the kind of listener Cornelius was in Acts 10:30 -33 – “Three days ago I was in my house praying at this hour, at three in the afternoon. Suddenly a man in shining clothes stood before me and said, ‘Cornelius, God has heard your prayer and remembered your gifts to the poor. Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. He is a guest in the home of Simon the tanner, who lives by the sea.’ So I sent for you immediately, and it was good of you to come. Now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us.” 
    Good listeners are always ready to hear God speak. They are eager to take notes and hungry to learn. They are literally seeking to grow spiritually and not just content to let spiritual growth just happen to them. There is a certain part or parts of spiritual growth that will happen or “rub off” just because we are there! However, this type of listener desires life change!

Daily book quote from "More from the Pastor's Desk"

James 1:19-25 – “My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do."

    The Book of James is written in a very direct way. It contains a lot of “imperatives” or things that we must do because of our faith. The Book of John 20:31 states “These things are written that you may believe…” But, the Book of James is written to give us the things we need to DO because of what we believe. I would say that most of Paul’s writings were for the same reason.

    I want to focus in on the words in verse 19 - “Quick to listen” and bring out four principles of faith that concern how and why we should listen to God’s Word. How we hear has a direct effect on our faith;

Romans 10:17 – “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.” John 10:27 - Jesus said “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me.”

    Our readiness to hear reflects upon our relationship with God. For instance; There are those who are “slow to hear.” These listeners can hear sermon after sermon and it never seems to affect their lives or their thinking. They may even nod their heads in agreement at some point, or even understand that what they heard was truth, but it makes no difference at all. Matthew 13:13-15 – ““Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.”

Daily book quote;

    There are those on our prayer lists who are not only physically sick, but spiritually sick. They have sin-fever and a spiritual temperature of 110* They need the touch of God in their life. There are those who are deaf to God’s Word. Their hearts are so hardened they cannot hear the truth, and they need the touch of God. There are those who are spiritually blind. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 4:4 that “the god of this age has blinded their minds” not their eyes, but their minds, “so they cannot see the light of the gospel” and they live in darkness! They need the touch of God on their lives. There are those who are doomed. Doomed to an eternal life in the “lake of fire” of hell, eternally separated from God, unless someone brings them to Jesus! They need Him to touch their lives and bring the assurance of eternal life that salvation brings; and a transformation in their lives.
    Ephesians 2:1 tells us that before coming to Christ, we were “dead in our transgressions and sins.” This is the situation of everyone who is lost and without God; spiritually dead, and facing what the Bible calls “the second death”. We need to pray for God to touch them with his life-giving Spirit! The touch of God is a powerful touch, it is a transforming touch, it is an intimate touch, it is a healing touch, and it is a saving touch! For whom will you pray for God to “touch” today?

Daily book quote;

There are times when we deliberately touch something to see how it feels texture wise. Or, in the case of a grandchild, we touch because we desire intimate contact. Touch certainly stirs within us certain emotions like love, and compassion. Sometimes our touch can even effect change in that which we touch; (a pool of quiet water is affected by our touch,) A touch can be creative and sensitive, or it can be destructive. It can be a caress, or it can be a destructive blow!

    The touch of God is a powerful touch. It is an intimate touch. It is a transforming touch. The touch of God always invokes change, and, it is always needed change in the object of His touch. We know there is something that needs to be changed, so we pray; “Lord, touch... It may be a healing touch; it may be a spiritual touch; a comforting touch; a change in circumstance touch; or even change of thinking or action or lifestyle touch; but it is a powerful touch we are asking for!

Daily book quote;

You see, God's Word is powerful. There is something I have learned about the Word of God that I've never forgotten. There are three things you have to do when you come to the Word;

1.  Learn It. It can't change you until you know it. "Learn it, and that deals with your head."

2.  Love It. You've got to begin to embrace the Word and let it embrace you.

3.  Live It. You've got to let the Word of God that comes into your heart go out through your hands, and you've got to apply it to others.

Daily book quote;

    God's Word has the ability to come alongside of us and enable us do that which we perhaps could not do ourselves. I learned a long time ago that if you have the Spirit without the Word, you blow up; and if you have the Word without the Spirit, you dry up. But when you have the Word and the Spirit together, you grow up. Sometimes I wonder, when we hold the Word, if we realize what we have in our hand. Sometimes we just kind of take God's Word for granted.
    The Bible was written over a 1500-year span. It was written by 40 generations, by over 40 authors from every walk of life including kings, peasants, philosophers, fishermen, poets, statesmen, and scholars. It was written in different places, including out in the wilderness, in dungeons, in palaces, inside prison walls, while traveling, on lonely islands, in the midst of war. It was written at different times, sometimes in peace, sometimes in battle. It was written during different moods, some writing from the heights of joy while others wrote from the very depths of sorrow. It was written in three continents: Asia, Africa, and Europe. And it was written in three languages -- Hebrew, Arabic, and Greek. It covered subject matters including hundreds of controversial subjects, yet with harmony and continuity from Genesis to Revelation, there is one unfolding story, and the story is the redemption of man through Jesus Christ.

Daily book quote;

While it is true that change is the result of prayer, the real purpose of prayer is to bring us into a closer relationship with Almighty God. Prayer would be - and is - a wonderful privilege even if nothing changed. We take our relationship with God in the wrong direction if it depends on whether or not He does what we ask of Him. In reality, our relationship with God is based on whether or not we do what He asks of us!

Daily book quote;

    The mind is known as the “seat of intellect and knowledge”. The heart is the “seat of emotion”. Both are filled with good and bad, right and wrong. For many of us, even after being “born again” the mind and the heart - the intellect and the emotions - are still controlled by “SELF” and although self is able to discern good from bad, and right from wrong, self discerns pleasure and not truth! Romans chapter 8:8 calls this living by the flesh or “according to the sinful nature.” You see, it all depends on who is sitting on the throne! Verse 9 goes on to say “You, however, are not controlled by the sinful nature, but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you.”    The Spirit teaches us truth, and reminds us of truth when we are tempted to yield to “self” or the “flesh.” The Spirit convicts us of guilt, when and if we do fall, and helps us to focus on repentance, forgiveness, and the future....helping us to keep our eyes on eternity and eternal things, rather than just the things of this world. The Holy Spirit of God will only do in our lives that which we ask Him and allow Him to do.

Daily book quote;

The key work of the Holy Spirit is:

1. To TEACH us and REMIND us.

2. To CONVICT us in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment.

3. To TESTIFY with our spirit, that we are children of God.

4. To manifest the FRUIT of the Spirit in our lives.

5. To give us SPIRITUAL DISCERNMENT

6. To FILL us, or take CONTROL of our lives… which the Bible calls the sanctification process.

7. All of this is to help us know that He is greater than Satan or the world.

“And, this is how we KNOW that He lives in us; we know by the Spirit he gave us.” Once we understand these functions or the work or the purposes of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we then can look at ourselves and see if any of these things are there or not there in our lives.

    It would be sad to find ourselves in the position of 1Corinthians 2:14 where the things of the Spirit are foolishness and we cannot understand the things that are spiritually discerned and, the only thing that applies our life is the fact that the Holy Spirit is constantly convicting of the guilt of sin! If that is true for you, I have some bad news, and some wonderful news for you this morning; The bad news is that the reason you may struggle spiritually is because the Holy Spirit has been stifled in your life, and the good news is that relief and joy and understanding and assurance, is only a prayer away!

Daily book quote;

    Once again, I have been writing about assurance. In John’s first letter, he gives us eight ways that we can tell, or know, or have the assurance that we are a child of God; saved by grace and walking in righteousness. What I would like to do this morning is put together, or bring together verses six and nine of our text, and see if we can decipher what John means when he says; “No one who is born of God will continue to sin.” He basically says the same thing three times in these verses; “No one who lives in Him keeps on sinning”…“No one who continues to sin has either seen Him or knows Him” And, of course, “No one who is born of God will continue to sin.” Then he tells us why this is so at the end of verse 9 - “because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.” This is how we know! Says John.
    In order to clarify something in our own minds, let me first explain what John does not mean; He does not mean that Christians do not or cannot sin…“never say never”. What I hope will come across is the difference between committing sin - and continuing in sin.

    What John is telling us is not the impossibility of sin, but rather, it’s incompatibility with our “new nature”. For you see, if we are born again, if we are a child of God, if we have come to Christ, the Bible says we have “put on the new self” “Old things have passed away, and all things become new.” What this new self, this new nature, does not do, and cannot do, is “continue in” habitual and persistent sin.

    A believer may sin, even with the consent of the mind and the will, but because of the indwelling Holy Spirit, he is always overwhelmed with grief and repentance, and does not continue in sin. SIN AND HOLINESS ARE INCOMPATIBLE!

Daily book quote;

    When we become Christians and understand the things of God, we read things like Paul telling us we must “put off the old self” and we need to remember that he also says “and put on the new self”. If we give up or “put off” something in our lives, it leaves a void, and if we do not fill that void with something else, Satan will constantly tempt us to re-fill it with the things of the world. We call that “backsliding.” So, we if we give up worldly attitudes, we must fill up with Godly attitudes. If we put off worldly thinking, we need to put on godly thinking, and so on. So, as we have seen, love for the world and love for God cannot mix; they do not, and cannot, live together in the same spirit. Again, only God fits in that God-shaped hole. Love for the world and love of God are like oil and water; they’re like twinkies and broccoli; things that just don’t go together.
    We cannot truly love God and love the world at the same time. Jesus said in Matthew 6:24: “No one can serve two masters.” Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other.” Let me put it this way; It is right for the church to be in the world; it is wrong for the world to be in the church. (I am speaking of worldly attitudes and thinking.) A boat in the water is good; that is what boats are for; however, water inside the boat causes it to sink. Love for the world pushes out love for God, but the opposite is also true; a love for God will and should, push out love for the world.

Daily book quote;
From "More from the Pastor's Desk"

    What can explain a psalmist writing, "Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long." Does that sound like something a typical non-believer would say? No. This is a person who has been changed, who’s understood that the God he hated and feared is in fact a God of tremendous love and has embraced him and brought him into fellowship with Him and he says, "Man, I love your law! The lights are on, the blinders are off, and now I can see how wonderful your Word and your commands are." "If anyone obeys His word," verse 5 says, "God’s love is truly made complete in him." Not - will be made complete, IS made complete! This obedience or “keeping of God’s Word” means we are actively complying with His Word. It means we habitually keep or keep on keeping His commandments. What I know does not mean a whole lot unless it leads me down the path of obedience.

    I like to put it this way; “Being a Christian is a “Be” experience; “Believing”; “Becoming”; and “Behaving” all of which are a part of “obedience”. Believing is the first step to Becoming and Behaving, and Becoming and Behaving are the direct results of believing! I think John would agree that if there is no becoming and behaving, there really is no believing!

Late Daily book quote;

1 John 2:15-17 – “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.”

    Most people have the idea that “worldliness” is external; in other words something we can see, the people we associate with, the places we go, or the things we participate in, or even the things we have. However, these things - maybe because they are external things - are “legalistic”. In other words they are an adherence to certain manmade rules or conduct, in order to live up to man’s idea of what a Christian looks and acts like. But, the truth of God’s Word tells us that while “man sees the outside or external things, God sees the heart.” We have a tendency to look at what a person may have or what a person may do, and say “Surely they can’t be a Christian.” Just because they have a lot of things; or just because they wear flashy clothes; or just because they play cards or go dancing or don’t fit our mold in some other way. “God sees the heart” means that He knows our attitude toward these things, and He knows if they are “of the world”. So, we must start not by looking at outward symptoms, but by digging down to our very hearts, and looking there. What are the desires of my heart? What does my heart find satisfaction in, and what do I put my confidence in, and what brings me comfort? Is it in this temporary earthly life and the things that belong to it? Or, is it in God and His blessing and plan and purpose for my life and the life to come?

Daily book quote;

    When it comes to the Christian walk with God, the world sees it as a lifestyle of negatives; “You can’t do this”…”You don’t do that” “You “shouldn’t go here or there” and it’s also filled with a lot of “have to’s”… You “have to attend church.” ”You have to give 10% of your income.” “You have to stop doing anything that’s fun!” But, when I read my Bible, I see all the things that Jesus did! It doesn’t list the things that he didn’t do! And, even our text for today does not say “Don’t do the things that Jesus didn’t do”; it says “If you want the assurance that Christ is in you and the assurance that you are growing as a Christian, then do the things he did!

#1. Jesus walked with Compassion.

#2. Jesus walked in Power.

#3. Jesus walked in humility.

#4. Jesus walked in Knowledge.

#5. Jesus walked in Unity.

#6. Jesus walked in Expectancy.

Jesus expected people to change. Jesus expected people to be healed. Jesus expected people to be delivered from addictions and abuse. Jesus expected God the Father to answer prayer and to do the unexpected! And, Jesus expects us to walk in that same expectancy as his followers. We need to believe God! We need to believe that God can change and transform even the worst of sinners. We have no right to pick and choose who we think ought to be a part of Christ’s church because he expects all to be a part! It is God’s will that not one should perish! We need to walk believing that “nothing is impossible with God.”

Daily book quote;

One of Satan’s favorite tactics is to cause us to question whether we indeed are in fellowship with God. John counters that with some great identifying marks and the first one is this; are you walking in the light? Remember that the one word John uses a lot here is “continues.” We must be continuously in the light! Jesus said, we must “remain” in the vine, not just be in the vine once in a while, or whenever we feel like it, or just when it’s appropriate; not just “step into the light” on Sundays; but continuously!

    The second is, “Are you walking in obedience?” Somewhere along the line people have the mistaken idea that salvation is without obligation. However, John says in verse three - "We know we have come to know Him,” and now here’s the if -“if we obey His commands." In other words, we know that we have come to know him, we have the security, the assurance, because we have seen in our lives the change that has taken place so that;

*The commands we once thought were ridiculous and stupid and life-destroying, we now learn to joyfully obey… because God’s work in our lives changes our understanding.

*We have come to learn that this God who we used to hate, we now love.

*And the commands that we used to disregard and were “not for me”, have now become something we follow.

Daily book quote;

1 John 1:5-7 – “This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”

    First of all it’s important to know that John is not just giving his opinion here as to how we ought to live and grow, for he says in the very first verse; and watch the progression here; “That which we have “heard”, that which we have “seen”, (or we could say that which we have “read” or “looked at” or “studied”) “and our hands have touched” (personal experience) “This is what we proclaim to you!” You see, John was there! He heard Jesus, he saw Jesus, and he touched Jesus! He tells us of his experience by summing it up in the words - “God is light!”

    Do you know that even the greatest scientists are baffled by the mystery of light? They can study it and explain the effects of it, but they still don’t understand what light is! Hmmm…John simply says; “God is light” and he is just as mysterious in the spiritual sense as light is in the natural to scientists.

    An October 2001 edition of the National Geographic had an amazing article on the “Power of Light.” This is what the introduction said; “Light reveals the world to us. Body and soul crave it. Light sets our biological clock. It triggers in our brains to the sensations of color. It feeds us by supplying the energy needed for growth. Light inspires us with special effects like rainbows, sunrises and sunsets. It gives us life-changing tools, from light bulbs - to lasers - to fiber optics. Scientists don’t fully understand what light is or what the limitless possibilities are…They just know that it will illuminate our future!” (Hello!)

Daily book quote;

Third, I find that God gives each one of us Spiritual gifts, and talents and skills. And, God works in us to use those gifts to fulfill our part in the ministry of his church. 

1 Corinthians 12:4 - “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.”

    So, let’s look at this whole thing, this whole scripture together: God has created us to be a part of the body of Christ; and He has also given us a purpose in the body of Christ; therefore, He is forever working in us - molding and shaping our lives through circumstances and experiences - to prepare us to fulfill that purpose; however large or small that purpose may be. He also works in us to empower us and enable us with gifts and talents and skills, to will and to act according to His purpose - as we work out our salvation- in order to get the very most out of life as we possibly can; so we can Shine! Shine! Shine in the world around us. You see, it’s a partnership. As we “work out our salvation” God works in us at the same time, and the result is - we reap the greatest potential possible from this short earthly life.