Roseville Church of the Nazarene

Greetings in Christ,

  We have heard of the Lone Ranger.  He is the good guy with his side kick Tonto who rides in the Wild West and fights evil villains.  He wears white, rides a white horse, and has silver bullets for his gun.  He rides in the west to carry out justice and fight for those who cannot stand up for themselves.   He is the symbol for justice and truth and at the end of the show you see him ride off into the sunset with his horse Silver standing up on his hind legs launching forward to another rescue.  We cheer for the Lone Ranger as the show ends thinking he is doing his job.

  The show is based the good versus evil.  It has a story line around every corner, and they appeal to many people because they can relate to the idea of good versus evil type of scenarios.  Who hasn’t had a time where they have faced a bad person in their life?  It is nice to have someone stand up for you and give aid in your fight against an evil person.  That is why we can cheer for the Lone Ranger and boo the evil villains.

  When we look at our spiritual lives it comes down to good versus evil.  The only problem we have with our spirituality is we blur the good and the evil letting the evil blend with our thinking.  The defined lines of crossing over into evil become invisible and they get crossed thinking we know best, and then find we have put ourselves in trouble and we need a Savior to save us from our evil tendencies.

  Revelation tells the story of good versus evil.  It tells of the battle of Satan trying to overtake heaven with his evil tendencies, but he could not overtake Michael and his band of angels.  In this battle, a third of angels were cast to the earth along with Satan himself.   They were cast out of heaven where they did not have the glory of the God shining on them and they changed.  Satan became the prince of darkness, and his evil sidekicks became distorted looking characters which represented the effects of darkness in their lives.  They no longer could stand to be in the glory of God, and they sought out the darkness.

  Revelation reveals more details about the battle in heaven and how it started.  It was good versus evil in that Satan felt he had more power than the Son of God.  Satan felt he deserved more recognition than Jesus and he fought to prove his point.  The only thing Satan did not consider was God Himself was stronger and He was not going to stand for evil in His presence, and Satan had to go.  Earth was the most logical place to go, but it came with a price.  Satan was going to have influence over mankind, but God had a plan.

  God planned for His Son to come to earth and bring salvation to mankind.  God knew His Son Jesus would bring light back into the darkened world and to show mankind how to overcome evil in their lives.  The light Jesus had to share was the glory of God revealed through Him, and it drove darkness into the recesses.  The battle of good versus evil would begin to brew even more with those in mankind who are willing to choose good over evil.

  The Bible refers to the light as the truth, and the darkness as deception.  John 3:16 tells us Jesus came to the earth to shine the light to reveal the truth so the darkness and its deception could be recognized.  Jesus came to earth so His light could shine even into those recesses where evil thought it could hide in the soul and heart of mankind.  Jesus came to earth to let His light drive out the darkness out of the deep recesses letting the truth guide our paths making those lines of good versus evil become defined once again.

  One day Jesus will appear wearing a brilliant white robe riding His white horse wielding a double-edged sword gathering all evil and casting it into the recesses of the abyss, and they will never have power over mankind again.  On that day we all will cheer and shout declaring Jesus’ work is finished.  What a glorious day that will be!

  “Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!  You have set your glory in the heavens.
Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.  When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?  You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor.  You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet: all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.  Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”  Psalm 8

  Lord may we never forget You have the power over evil and Your light can reach the deep recesses of our heart to let Your truth reign.  Amen

  Blessings,

Greetings in Christ,

  Have you ever looked at those multiple drawings of the same thing where you have to figure out what is wrong with one of them, or the ones where they have objects within the drawings?  Some of them can be easy to pick out the discrepancies, but some you must look and look to find what you need to detect.  You look to the point it all starts to run together.  You take a step back and regroup to take another look.  This time you begin to see what you missed the first time.  The objects you wanted to see appear and it becomes clear where to find them.

  We have been there at some time with other things.  It may have been when we were trying to study for some exam.  It seems the more you study the more confusing it becomes, the subject matter gets blurred, and it all runs together in your head.  Frustration sets in and you’re studying takes you backwards in your attempt to digest and remember data.  You must walk away from your studying and take another look at your methods of approach. 

  It is human nature to want to put a twist on what we see and interpret.  We have our own filters in how we process information.  There are times we process the information correctly, but then there are times we get it totally wrong.  We are so far off base we are not even close to where our minds need to go.  We have missed the picture completely.

  Jesus faced a situation just like this in His time with the leaders of Israel.  They were known as the leading scholars of God’s word.  They had studied it and they knew it backwards and forwards.  They could recite scripture after scripture with no error.  They lived out all the laws daily, and even added to them when they felt it needed to be done, but they missed the whole picture in God’s word.  They missed how to recognize Jesus in their studies.

  I work with a man who does not have a positive outlook on life.  He is not what you would call a church going person, and he even holds resentment against God because of his daughter’s medical issues.  He recently stated the reason for the world’s fighting and wars are based on religion.  Everyone is trying to kill everyone over religion.  I had to remind him it is the interpretation of religion by man which has caused the fighting amongst mankind.  His response was what is the difference?

  He is right to some degree, but wrong in so many ways.  The problem with studying God’s word it can become a religion.  The study of the word can become a process by which people process their actions in a certain way, and if others do not conform, they are wrong.  The leaders of Israel did not accept Jesus because He did not fit their way of thinking and study of the word.  Jesus did not conform to their way of thinking of religion.

  I am not advocating stopping studying the word, but rather let it move from the mind to the heart.  We can study the word so long it becomes just words in our minds, but when we let move down a foot or so into our hearts it stops being religion and it becomes a relationship.  My co-worker has it right to the point the fighting it is about religion, but he overlooks the fact it can be more than just religion, and he misses the intent of what religion really should be about.

  There are times we need to take a step back from the word to let it sink into our hearts.  We need to check in with the author and get an inside view of the intention of the word.  Sometimes it takes letting God shine through His word before we get the whole picture.  It moves from being religion to a relationship, and this is what God intended when He inspired His word to be written for mankind. 

  “O sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done wonderful things, His right hand and His holy arm have gained the victory for Him.  The Lord has made known His salvation; He has revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations.  He has remembered His lovingkindness and His faithfulness to the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.  Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth; break forth and sing for joy and sing praises.  Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody.  With trumpets and the sound of the horn shout joyfully before the King, the Lord.  Let the sea roar and all it contains, the world and those who dwell in it.  Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy before the Lord, for He is coming to judge the earth; He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with equity.”  Psalm 98

  Lord may we read Your word and apply it to our lives, and may it fortify our relationship with You.  Amen

  Blessings,

Greetings in Christ,

  We have all done it.  It helps build our self-esteem at times, and it gives us confidence.  We have seen it done on a grand scale which can sometimes seem a bit too much, but we go along with it to some degree.  It takes us to a point we become relaxed in our efforts because we think we have arrived.  It also brings up other feelings when we hear others do it as well thinking they are a bit too arrogant.  We have all done it.  We have boasted on our accomplishments.

  We have all done it, and it is only human to do, but it can go too far in our approach in how we boast.  We can build ourselves to the point we feel we have done something or many things on our own.  We can consider ourselves to be smart, educated, and experienced which gives us those bragging rights to proclaim ourselves worthy of other’s attention in our accomplishments.

  We have all seen it done.  We have seen others stand up and boast about all their accomplishments, and if you are like most people, you have the tendency to turn off their words in your head letting them go in one ear and out the other.  It gets quite annoying to hear others boast on themselves over and over.  It is all about the ego side of it which can drive people to constantly boast, and it is also the ego side it which drives us crazy because it is not us doing the boasting.

  We have all done it at one time or another, and it is not all wrong, but it can lead us down the wrong road.  It is when we let it be our driving force in our life thinking we have arrived turning us look inward to our own abilities based on our being smart, educated, and experienced.  It takes us on a journey which can lead to spiritual disaster when we have the focus only on us.

  This selected scriptures below give us a look at some boasting done in the past. 

  Amos gives us a depiction of the people becoming so relaxed they brag about the ability to recline and party all the time.  They have defeated their enemies to the point they have become so powerful the other nations fear them, and now the people of Israel can relax and feast all day and night without having to worry about a thing.  They have become so arrogant in their boasting they have forgotten their ancestor’s hardships and God Himself.  They have become self-reliant believing they have created their bliss on their own.

  Paul writes to the Thessalonians telling them not to fall prey to false teaching.  Those who are teaching the wrong things have believed they have all the answers and want to boast to others they know it all.  The arrogant proclaimers were making it known they know when Jesus will return, and they are leading others down the wrong path spiritually.  Paul is telling those who will listen to him not to fall for those who are boasting in their own knowledge.

  Luke gives us another side of boasting.  John the Baptist has been born, and all the people have gathered to hear the name Zacharias and Elizabeth will be giving their son.  Elizabeth declares it will be John, and all the people are amazed at her proclamation stating there is no name like that in their family history.  The people turn to Zacharias, who was not able to speak for nine months, as he writes his name will be John.  Zacharias regains his speech and begins to declare prophesy and praising God.

  We have all done it.  We have bragged on ourselves many times, and not to say it is all bad, but when we think we have accomplished the things we done our own we forget Who has given us those capabilities, we lose sight of our Creator.  As much as we like to boast on ourselves, we do not always like to hear it done by others because it can get annoying.  We let our ego get the best of us.

  We have all done it, but we forget where our boasting should be centered.  Our boasting should be centered on the fact God has created us and He has given us the talents and abilities to do all the things we do.  God does not like listening to our boasting as much as we do not like listening to others brag.  It takes Him out of the picture, and it puts us in the center which is not the right thing to do.  We should be boasting about God giving us the abilities to do the things we do.

  We can never boast enough on what God has done for us.  It takes the focus off us, and it puts it on God where it belongs.  God’s grace has been extended to us in many ways, and we should never take it for granted.  Boasting on God reminds us of the grace which has been extended to us.

  “O Israel, trust in the Lord; He is their help and their shield.   O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord; He is their help and their shield.   You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord; He is their help and their shield.
The Lord has been mindful of us; He will bless us; He will bless the house of Israel; He will bless the house of Aaron.  He will bless those who fear the Lord, the small together with the great.  May the Lord give you increase, you and your children.  May you be blessed of the Lord, maker of heaven and earth.  The heavens are the heavens of the Lord, but the earth He has given to the sons of men.  The dead do not praise the Lord, nor do any who go down into silence; but as for us, we will bless the Lord from this time forth and forever.  Praise the Lord!”  Psalm 115:9-18

  Lord may we boast on You and all You do for us.  May we keep You in the center of our lives.  Amen

  Blessings,

Greetings in Christ,

  Many people like to plan out their activities in life, and they have daily planners in one way or another to organize their time to be able to be more efficient of the time they have.  People try to fit all the activities of life in an orderly fashion which best suits the individual or the individual’s life with other people.

  It is especially true around this time of year when people are planning to spend time with family and friends during the holiday season.  There are so many activities which a person may want to attend and many places to be with family and friends.  To make use of the time more efficient, people plan their time accordingly to maximize their activities to see those they choose to spend time with.

  People need to plan.  It is an important part of daily routines and lives to plan out the activities of life.  It creates a sense of security knowing there is a plan in place for the day, week, or month.  Planning falls into the category of responsibility where it makes people accountable and dependable.  People rely on this to be a normal approach to life so we can better plan our lives for the future, but even the best thought out plans have some have errors in them, or they do not include other things which may occur to alter those plans.

  People expect their plans to go accordingly just as they have been mapped out, but things do occur which change those plans.  In those cases where plans have been changed some people react very well, but some people do not handle change very well, and in some cases when disaster strikes even those who react well do not have the best composure.  People like to have their plans work out just the way they plan them, but that is not always the case in life.

  The reality of life is it can change at any moment.  Our best plans can be altered at any given time for any reason.  We cannot plan for everything in life.  We can run through every scenario of life and try to incorporate the things we have encountered or think we may encounter, and we hope we have thought of everything which can happen.  We want that sense of security in life to know we will complete our plans accordingly.  We rely on our plans daily and try to think of those things which can offset those plans.  This Sunday’s scriptures give us look at life changing events.

  Amos gives us a look at Israel, Judah, and the surrounding nations which will suffer the judgment of God due to their sinful lives.  Amos is trying to tell them of God’s anger which will be coming as judgment soon.  The people have planned their lives around activities which exclude God and His righteousness.  They are worshipping idols giving them the praise He deserves.  God is fed up with their plans and He is going to bring changes to them.

  Paul writes to the Thessalonians telling them they need to make sure they do not fall away from their path of righteousness for Jesus is returning soon.  He is warning them not to get caught doing something sinful like those who live out their plans during the cover of darkness.  Paul goes on to say as long as they walk in the light, they will be fine.  The timing of Jesus’ return is not known.

  Luke records Jesus telling the people of the events which will occur near the end of time.  Earthquakes will be happening, family members will turn on each other to be persecuted for their beliefs, and nations will revolt against each other.  Jesus goes on to say the best plan is not to have a plan of defense in those times for no one will be able to think of everything.  The only thing they need to have as a plan is to be dependent on Him to be with them.  He will see to it that not even a hair on their head will not perish.

  We want to plan out our lives.  We want that idea of having a sense of security knowing we have control of our lives in every situation, but the reality of life is control is an illusion.  Too many things happen in life we cannot plan to incorporate or avoid.  We do not have the capability of thinking of every scenario of life we can encounter; we can only plan for what we have experienced on think we will experience.  The only real thing we can incorporate in our plans is to follow Jesus.

  The things of this earth will fade away.  Family and friends will let us down.  The only one truth is God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit will remain forever.  The only one plan we can have for the security we try to incorporate in our lives is to know they will never leave us nor forsake us.  We may not be able to plan for all of the things of life, but we can plan on the Trinity to be at our side walking with us, and that is the best plan we can have.

  “Praise the Lord!  Praise, O servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord.  Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and forever.  From the rising of the sun to its setting the name of the Lord is to be praised.  The Lord is high above all nations; His glory is above the heavens.  Who is like the Lord our God, Who is enthroned on high, Who humbles Himself to behold the things that are in heaven and in the earth?  He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit with princes, with the princes of His people.  He makes the barren woman abide in the house as a joyful mother of children.  Praise the Lord!”  Psalm 113

  Lord may the best plan be is to follow You no matter the situation(s) of life.  Amen

  Blessings,

Greetings in Christ,

  The morning is very bright with the sun shining like it never had before.  There is singing in the background, and the voices are in perfect pitch.  There is something different about this morning.  There are different surroundings, and many people walking by the house.  Many people who had not walked by for a long time appeared in the neighborhood.  What is going on here?

  Many of those people have not been alive for a long time walked by this morning.  There goes George and Louise.  They lived down the road just a way, but I thought they had passed years ago.  Where have they been for so long?  They must have been somewhere else all this time, but then out of the corner of my eye I see Tom the meanest man I ever had to deal with.  I do not even want to see him today, but wait his obituary was in the paper just a few months ago.  What is going on?

  Then it hits me I am not at home; I am in heaven.

  We often have preconceived notions about what we think a scenario will be like, but we often find ourselves having to rethink those scenarios when reality hits us in the face.  How many times have we thought about something only to find out later we were wrong?  We create in our mind what we think heaven will be like with a preconceived idea of what we think and who will be in heaven.  We base our idea on what we consider to be reality for us, but we do not have a clue to the whole picture, and we do not include those whom we think will not make the cut to get into heaven.

  People have been trying to determine who will make the cut to get into heaven for many generations.  People have been trying to base their idea of those who would be worthy to get into heaven and forgetting it is not up to them to make those decisions.  God the Father does not want anyone to miss out on the opportunity to get into heaven and He has worked in many ways to provide an opportunity for people to make a choice to be with Him.

  Isaiah writes about God telling the people they will see Egypt and Assyria worshipping Him.  In the middle of Egypt here will be an altar where the Egyptians will bow to Him and worship Him.  Along with the altar there will be a highway which connects Egypt to Assyria, and both Assyria and Egypt will join Israel and worship God.  Can you imagine Egypt and Assyria worshipping God?  The ones who crushed Israel in many battles and they are bowing to God.  How can this be?

  Paul is writing to the Romans telling them they need to include the Gentiles in their worship.  The Gentiles are considered unworthy because they eat meat which is unclean and offered to idols.  Why is Paul telling them they need to be included?

  When we really get down to the basics, nothing we have is ours.  It is God’s.  God does not consider our decisions when it comes to those who will make the cut to get into heaven.  Many people will be in heaven we do not consider to be worthy.  We will look around and see those who we deemed not worth it to even share the gospel with when we had the opportunity to tell them about Jesus.  It is up to God to decide who can get into heaven.  We are to be the messengers to declare the gospel to all people.

  Luke writes about the parable Jesus told regarding the nobleman who claimed his kingdom.  The nobleman had to leave and left ten men in charge to run the kingdom.  Some of the men stepped up to the challenge and did well for the nobleman, but there was one who chose not to do anything fearing the nobleman.  When the nobleman returned, he wanted the men to report to him and give account for their actions while he was gone.  The nobleman took away from the one who did nothing and gave to the one who did the most and judged the one who did nothing accordingly.

  We have a good idea of what heaven will like, but we cannot leave anyone out of the picture.  There will be many people in heaven who we think should not be there by our standards here on earth, but it is not up to us to decide.  God’s desire is for all His creation to be with Him, and not for us to be a part of the decision process.  God wants us to be the messengers and to tell of His story of salvation.  God is proud of His Son Who died on the cross for all mankind, and He wants us to declare what has been done to all mankind no matter our opinion of those who we share it with. 

  “I am a stranger in the earth; do not hide Your commandments from me.  My soul is crushed with longing after Your ordinances at all times.   You rebuke the arrogant, the cursed, who wander from Your commandments.  Take away reproach and contempt from me, for I observe Your testimonies.  Even though princes sit and talk against me, your servant meditates on Your statutes.   Your testimonies also are my delight; they are my counselors.  My soul cleaves to the dust; revive me according to Your word.
I have told of my ways, and You have answered me; teach me Your statutes.   Make me understand the way of Your precepts, so I will meditate on Your wonders.  My soul weeps because of grief; strengthen me according to Your word.  Remove the false way from me, and graciously grant me Your law.”  Psalm 119:19-29

  Lord may we share Your word with everyone, and may we never hold back what You have done for us.  Amen

  Blessings,

Greetings in Christ,

  Credibility is one of those things which is earned and not given.  It is something which is proven to be a quality in a person and has the integrity to stand firm on certain values, understandings, or methods.  This person shows consistent performance in small things as well as major things in their lives.  It could range from everyday activities to job performance where the individual has proven to be a person of certain traits which do not waiver in how they approach life.  This person has gained the trust and respect of others who have observed their actions.

    This type of credibility is deep in the person’s life, and it dwells in their thoughts and actions without having to think about it.  It is their inner nature to act and react with the same consistent actions.  It is their inner desire to be who they are, and there is no way of faking this type of action or credibility.  It resides in the inner heart and soul of that person who has earned this credibility.

  King David had this type of credibility.  He rose to power in Israel because he was credible in his actions.  David had the trust and respect of many men in his army which expanded to the people of Israel.  David’s credibility was based in the fact he trusted in God, and he did nothing without inquiring of the Lord before he did anything.  David based everything he did on being righteous in the sight of God.  It was his inner desire to please the Lord in everything he did.  This desire to please the Lord gave him the trust and respect of God.

  God knew He could trust David to be who he said he would be because David had proven himself to God in many things in the past.  David also had trust and respect for God because God had proven to be credible to him.  They both had proven to be credible to each other and out of this relationship David became King of Israel.  God had entrusted him with leading a nation of people while at the same time showing other nations God was in control.  God knew He could trust David to be the king who would lead Israel, and David would be the example of God working in his life.

  Luke quotes Jesus in a parable which He tells of a steward who is being called in by his master.  The steward is going to be relieved of his duties because he is unjust, but before he meets his master he goes and makes deals with those who owe his master money.  The steward is concerned with his outcome and wants to find favor with those he has done business within the past hoping to find a place to land after being released. 

  The steward strikes a deal with those who owe the master money and stands before his master who finds his actions to be very shrewd.  The master responds to the steward’s actions with praise telling him he has acted shrewdly, but then tells him he only acted this way with those which he has dealt with to gain favor with them.  The master knew the steward was acting selfishly and only acting for his own agenda.

  Jesus goes on to say that men cannot serve two masters.  He will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to one and despise the other, but He prefaced those words with His thoughts on being faithful.  It comes back to being credible in a person’s actions.

  Credibility reaches far into our lives daily.  It is something which comes from our inner self which has the foundation that cannot be moved.  Everything we do and say is based on what we believe and take a stand, and it is unwavering.  We act and react from our inner core beliefs which we believe with our whole heart and soul.  It is something people see in us which gains their trust and respect, and most important God sees and gains His trust and respect.

  Credibility correlates to being faithful to God which gives us our strength, truth, and sense of righteousness.  When we really look at life and all it has to offer, what is the most important?  The glitz and glamour of the world is enticing, but it only has the sparkle for a short time.  The newness and the excitement wear off and it gets set aside to be forgotten, but to remain faithful to God has it rewards beyond measure.

  Credibility in God’s eyes should mean more to us than anything else.  It means He trusts us to be faithful in our actions no matter what the situation.  It is something which comes from within us and it our desire to please Him and to be righteous in our actions.  May we be found faithful in the little things which build our credibility with Him.

  “The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.  The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.  The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the Lord are true; they are righteous altogether.  They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.  Moreover, by them Your servant is warned; in keeping them there is great reward.  Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults.
Also keep back Your servant from presumptuous sins; let them not rule over me; then I will be blameless, and I shall be acquitted of great transgression.  Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.”  Psalm 19:7-14

  Lord may You find us faithful and may we be credible in Your eyes.  Amen

  Blessings,

Greetings in Christ,

  To be a Christian or not to be a Christian.  This is the question.  There are some misconceptions about waiting to become a Christian.  People have the tendency to put off becoming a Christian because they feel they have all the time in the world to live life the way they want.  People also believe once they become a Christian their lives will be perfect.  These two misconceptions are the farthest from the truth to what being a Christian is all about. 

  In the waiting to become a Christian, people live their lives doing what they feel they need to do, but they do not realize it is leading them to form habits or traits which may be hard to break, and those habits can haunt them later as regrets.  It is easy to say I can do what I want, but to break those habits or traits becomes hard to overcome later once a person tries to quit.  Those habits become so embedded in their lifestyle it becomes common place and their hearts become numb. 

  The flip side to becoming a Christian, people feel once they commit to Jesus their lives will be dramatically changed by having a perfect life.  People feel God will answer all their prayers and no trouble will come their way.  Life will be rosy, and things will go perfectly.  This is the farthest thing from the truth.  Being a Christian does not mean life will be void of any troubles or trials, and those past habits can be a way for Satan to haunt them and create doubts in their minds.

  Saul/Paul was one of those people who did what he wanted before becoming a Christian.  He believed in God and the law, but he refused to listen to the words of those who knew Jesus.  He chose to ignore what was being said and took a stand to eliminate those who believed in Jesus Christ.  Many of us know Jesus had a different agenda for Saul/Paul.  Saul/Paul is an example of one who refused to listen, but when he did listen, he was to suffer for the cause of Jesus.

  Saul before becoming Paul had a real moment when he came to know Jesus.  It took Jesus bringing Saul to his knees before Saul would recognize Jesus as Lord, but then he turned to Jesus and accepted Him with no reservation.  There was a learning curve for Paul to overcome before he could go and reach those who he was called to reach for Jesus.

  Paul retreated to the desert for three years to retrain his heart and mind.  He had to overcome those habits he had learned.  He had to recognize the habits which led him down the wrong path, and to look for new ideas/habits which lead him to Jesus, but his life would certainly be far from being perfect even when he learned new habits.

  Paul suffered many trials and tribulations in his ministry and regretted doing the things he did before becoming a Christian.  He was beaten, stoned, went hungry, went without clothing, and had more jail time than most criminals.  Paul even prayed for relief from his suffering, but Jesus told him His grace was sufficient.  Paul went on to plant many churches and wrote over half of the New Testament in the Bible we have today.  Despite his suffering, Paul was able to encourage many in his time, later after his death, and even today.  He words have helped many live a Holy Spirit filled life here on earth.

  Many believe they have plenty enough time to live their lives here on earth, but the truth is life here on earth is very short in comparison to eternity and becoming a Christian does not mean everything will be perfect in life.

  It takes some time to overcome the past when we do not live a Christian life early in life.  It takes time and dedication to want to overcome, but more important it is having faith in Jesus to forgive those past sins to never be remembered any more.  Living a Christian life is a process of growing and maturing which takes a lifetime to achieve, and there is no way to speed up the process.  The best way is to start early in life not waiting till later, for life here on earth happens very quickly.  The decision to become a Christian does not mean your life will be perfect once you accept Jesus, but it will be rewarding if you have faith God will deliver on His promises.

  A Christian life is a relationship with Jesus and God our creators.  It is a lifestyle which is to be filled with joy and companionship with Jesus and God, but it also has its hardships.  A Christian life will not be perfect.  It will have its trials and tribulations.  Being a Christian is a lifelong journey which will stretch us and mold us to look like Jesus.  It takes those trials and tribulations to stretch us and mold us, and for us to be a witness to those who need to hear our story of how we trust in Jesus and God to bring us through those trials and tribulations.  When we trust and have hope God will fulfill His promises, we give encouragement to those who need the encouragement.  In a way we are writing our history for others to see and read.  We must never forget God is faithful to keep His promises!

  “The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and His ears are open to their cry.  The face of the Lord is against evildoers, to cut off the memory of them from the earth.  The righteous cry, and the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles.  The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.  Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.  He keeps all his bones, not one of them is broken.  Evil shall slay the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.  The Lord redeems the soul of His servants, and none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned.”

  Lord may we live a life worthy to be called a Christian, and may we remain faithful to You no matter the trials and tribulations which may come our way.  Amen

  Blessings,

  Greetings in Christ,

  One of the things which create a hang up for people to become Christians they do not want to give up their time.  The statement has been made by many people they do not have enough time or energy to give to the church or the cause to help serve.  Many believe they will become slaves to the church or the cause. They find it to be drudgery.  They are more interested in fulfilling their own desires than to give up serving in any capacity to further the work of the church or Christianity.  They miss out of the whole idea of being a servant.

  There are documented studies which have been done on people who serve versus those who do not serve.  Those who serve have a better outlook on life than those who do not.  Those who did not serve in any capacity had the tendency to be unhappy and did not live healthy lives.  Those who did serve had a better outlook on life and had better health.  Those who served also did not focus on their own desires and troubles, but rather those who served wanted to help others achieve their desires or overcome their troubles.  Those who served gave of themselves freely, and they did not regret their decision to serve.

  Jesus was confronted by a lawyer asking how he could inherit eternal life.  Jesus asked him what the scripture had to say about that very question.  The lawyer responded by saying love the Lord God with all your heart and to love your neighbor as yourself.  Jesus told him that was all he needed to do to have eternal life but being the lawyer, he asked who his neighbor was.  The answer became the story of the Good Samaritan taking care of the beaten man along the road while others had passed the man leaving him to suffer.  I am sure the lawyer did not like the answer he received, but it had a point to it.  If you love your neighbor, you will be glad to be of service to them.

  There is freedom in serving others.  Society gets serving and being a slave turned around.  A servant willingly does things as an act of service.  A slave is ordered to do things which they may not want to do which is why many people tend to look at Christianity as being a salve; they have to do something they do not want to do.  To be a servant is to be free.  When we willingly do things for other people, we give from our heart out of love; a love which flows from God through us to others.  This love which flows from God has powerful ways of changing people from both sides, the serving and the receiving. 

  There is a transforming power which happens when we serve.  It gives us a different outlook on life.  We feel the love of God flow though us which gives us hope.  It helps us realize God’s still on the throne and He will fulfill His promises.  God has never been shy about sharing His resources with those who are righteous.  We forget He owns all the resources we need, and He wants us to share with others what He has done for us, and He will give us all the love we need to truly serve others.

  That is why there is freedom in serving.  It is not ours in the first place to give, but rather we share what God has given us.  God has more than enough for us to go around for everyone to serve each other.  It is the desire of God to see us transformed into the image He created.

  “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name.  Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits; Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases;  Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion; Who satisfies your years with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.  The Lord performs righteous deeds and judgments for all who are oppressed.  He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the sons of Israel.  The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.
He will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever.  He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.  For as high as the heavens;  are above the earth,
So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him.  As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.  Just as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him.  For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust.”  Psalm 103:1-14

  Lord may we serve others with the love You give us and may we all be transformed into the image You so desire.  Amen

  Blessings,

  Greetings in Christ,

  Luke records an event where Jesus had sent out seventy people to preach and heal people in the surrounding cities.  Jesus has given them instructions on how to prepare for the journey and how to receive the city when they entered it.  They are only to eat what is given them and to stay in the same house where they are given a place to rest.  If they are rejected, they are to shake the dust of the city off their feet and move on.  Jesus had empowered them to do great things in His name as they went out to spread the word Jesus was going to visit their city soon.

  They returned to Jesus after their journey and reported many things, but they seemed even more excited that even the demons were subject to them by using the name of Jesus.  Jesus responded by saying, “I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning.  Behold I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall injure you.  Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.” 

  It would be great to have been part of that group preaching, healing, and casting out demons.  The absence of any fear knowing you possess the power of Jesus at just saying His name, but this was not the point Jesus wanted them to understand.  It was for them to understand they are part of something greater; they will have a place in heaven.  Jesus referred to having their names recorded in heaven, or as many may know it as the Book of Life.  It may not seem all that great compared to healing and casting out demons, but having their name recorded had more depth to it than they realized when Jesus spoke those words.

  To the Jews having their names recorded was an everyday event.  They held recording things in a book to be of great value, and a good way to keep the records straight for future reference.  Recording things in a book held even more importance in the tracking of people’s lineage as the family grew and multiplied.  Being part of certain families had its advantages in life which could be valuable to a person to get ahead in life and receive wealth in case of death of their parents or grandparents.  They certainly did not want others to claim what was to be theirs.

  Jesus was trying to remind them of the importance in their names being recorded in heaven or in the Book of Life.  To have their names recorded as being a child of God should be held close to their heart and in their thinking.  To be considered a child of God meant they had an inheritance which was waiting for them once they were in heaven.  They would not need anything more; they had arrived and would be set for the rest of their lives.

  Jesus was trying to remind them it was not about the power, but rather the one who had the power, and the one who was willing to share all He had with those who wanted to be part of His family.  Their name had been recorded in the Book of Life, and nothing could change or blot out their name from the book.  They had a place in heaven.

  There is great value in knowing your name is recorded in the Book of Life.  You have become a child of God, and He is willing to share all He has with you.  To be empowered to do great things in the name of Jesus would be nice, but it is fails in comparison to the rewards which wait for us in heaven; to be called a child of God.   Let’s not forget to rejoice we are a child of God!

  “Praise the Lord!  Sing to the Lord a new song, and His praise in the congregation of the godly ones.  Let Israel be glad in his Maker; let the sons of Zion rejoice in their King.   Let them praise His name with dancing; let them sing praises to Him with timbrel and lyre.  For the Lord takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the afflicted ones with salvation.  Let the godly ones exult in glory; let them sing for joy on their beds.  Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand, to execute vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples, to bind their kings with chains and their nobles with fetters of iron, to execute on them the judgment written; this is an honor for all His godly ones.  Praise the Lord!”  Psalm 149

  Lord we rejoice our names are recorded in heaven!  Amen

  Blessings,

Greetings in Christ,

  Have you ever looked in the dictionary for the word faith?  It is the second word past fairy tale in the Merriam Webster Dictionary.  This made me think about the meaning of faith and how best to describe it.  I will make mention I had to research this, and much smarter people have given better answers than I could ever give which I will pass on to you. 

  I wonder if people get confused in thinking about faith making them fairy tales.  Last week I wrote on faith being the size of a mustard seed to believe, but it goes much farther.  People have faith, but do not know they employ faith in just about everything they do.

Faith is a trust, allegiance to a person or duty, fidelity to one’s promises, sincerity of intentions, belief and trust in and loyalty to God, belief in traditional doctrines, and firm belief in something when there is no proof.  We all apply some of those traits in many ways in our lives every day in some way or form.  The way we go about arriving to apply faith may be the problem we have in employing it.

Faith has many facets to it and we as humans tend to put our touch and thinking to it in many ways to get it to fit our limited knowledge.  The following is from Unger’s Bible Dictionary regarding the process of faith.

Philosophical.  Faith viewed philosophically must be regarded as lying at the basis of all knowledge. 

We as humans apply faith in two ways.  We think of faith first in attaining knowledge, or we attain knowledge to gain faith.  We have the tendency when we apply faith from both sides to believe in what our minds can accept because we have confidence in the human mind.  Our knowledge rests in our human testimony, but also we have faith in the testimony, all matters of knowledge to lend to be matters of faith.

Theological.  Faith in the theological sense contains two elements recognized in the scriptures: there is an element that is intellectual and also an element, of deeper importance, that is moral.  Faith is not simply the assent of the intellect to revealed truth; it is the practical submission of the entire man to the guidance and control of such truth.

Intellectual.  Viewed more particularly with reference to its intellectual aspect, faith is properly defined as the conviction of the reality of the truths and facts God has revealed, such conviction resting solely upon the testimony of God.  These truths and facts are to a large extent beyond the reach of ordinary human process of acquiring knowledge.  Still, they are of the utmost importance in the relation to human life and salvation.  God therefore has revealed them, and they who accept them must do so upon the trustworthiness of the divine testimony.

Results of Faith.  They who receive the divine testimony and yield to it become partakers in heavenly knowledge.  Their knowledge comes by faith, yet nonetheless it is knowledge.  The scriptures, it is true, recognize the difference between walking by faith and walking by sight, and thus the difference between the objects and methods of sense-perception and those of faith. 

Reason and Faith.  The relation of reason to faith is that of subordination, and yet not that of opposition.  The truths of revelation are in many cases above reason, though not against it.  Such truths were revealed because reason could not discover them.  They are to be therefore accepted though the reason cannot demonstrate them.   

I go back to the dictionary where fairy tales precedes faith by one word.  How do we approach faith?  A fairy tale or accept faith with its full-face value.  We apply faith in many ways in our daily lives, but we only allow faith to be faith when we can reason within our own minds it will work.  It is only true faith when we accept the unknown and rely on the testimony of God through the scriptures and believe in His promises.  We then can live out the promises of God in our lives giving hope to those who do not understand faith.  Faith is walking on the testimony of God, not by our sight in what we believe.

  We will never fully understand the depth and width of God, and if we did, He would not be God.  To fully trust and accept His testimony from His word is to live by faith, and that is no fairy tale.

  “Praise the Lord!  I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart, in the company of the upright and in the assembly.  Great are the works of the Lord; they are studied by all who delight in them.  Splendid and majestic is His work, and His righteousness endures forever.  He has made His wonders to be remembered; the Lord is gracious and compassionate.  He has given food to those who fear Him;
He will remember His covenant forever.  He has made known to His people the power of His works,
in giving them the heritage of the nations.  The works of His hands are truth and justice; all His precepts are sure.  They are upheld forever and ever; they are performed in truth and uprightness.  He has sent redemption to His people; He has ordained His covenant forever; Holy and awesome is His name.  The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who do His commandments; His praise endures forever.”  Psalm 111

  Lord may we live by faith trusting in Your understanding and living in the knowledge You give us.  Amen

  Blessings,