Wednesday, November 29, 2017

This is no TIME TO BE IDLE

I would like to share a portion of a letter that I shared with our church family today. I trust that each of us will be challenged to seek to walk in a deeper, stronger, developing relationship with Jesus Christ!!

Good morning! I trust that you are sensing the Holy Spirit at work in your heart and life. I know that I sense Him calling me to draw closer to Him on a daily basis. The world in which we are living at this present time reminds us that we need God more than ever before.

We have made the turn away from Thanksgiving and we are quickly moving toward our encounter with the Christmas "holidays." Christians look at Christmas through a different set of eyes. We see more than a simple holiday; we see the celebration of the birth of our Lord  and Savior, Jesus Christ.

I am going to share a statement that I placed on Facebook yesterday. I would encourage you to read it again even if you read it yesterday and allow the words to "marinate" in your soul. I truly believe that God is calling each of us to examine our lives and make sure that we are moving forward in our relationship with Christ. This thought came into my mind yesterday morning as I was listening to my car's engine idling as it was warming up. The car was using up its supply of fuel even though it was not even moving. Could that same principle be true with our soul? Satan desires for believers to grow complacent sitting in a state of "spiritual idling." Their relationship with God has leveled off. Their spiritual engine is still running but they are not moving forward in their relationship with Christ. They are in the state of "idling" but their "spiritual fuel" supply is disappearing. I believe that God's plans for our lives includes more than just sitting and idling. He has called each of us to an ABUNDANT LIFE IN CHRIST!!

Charles Spurgeon spoke this great reminder to each of us, "the past is gone; the future has not arrived; we shall never have any time but time present. We are called to serve God promptly. This quote has also been attributed to Charles Spurgeon: "Do not fritter away your life in thinking of what you intend to do tomorrow as if that could make up for the idleness of today. No man ever served God by doing things tomorrow. If we honor Christ and are blessed, it is by the things which we do today."

I truly believe that this is a day and time in which God is calling us out of "idling" and He is calling us to follow Him NOW!! We must stop waiting. We must stop procrastinating. We must stop sitting on the side lines. We must become very active in our pursuit of more of God in our individual lives. Each of us (including me) must answer this call as an individual believer.


2 Corinthians 6:1-2, As God’s partners, we beg you not to accept this marvelous gift of God’s kindness and then ignore it. For God says, “At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you.” Indeed, the “right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation. (NLT)

Tuesday, November 28, 2017

But, Where are the Nine?

Luke 17 15-19, And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, 16 and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan.   17 So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed?  But where are the nine? 18 Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” 19 And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.” (NKJV)

This passage of scripture continues to marinate in my heart and spirit! I continue to examine my response to the the blessings of God. Do I take the time to offer genuine praise, honor and worship to God or do I just offer a brief response of gratitude to God and then get back to living my life? Doesn't God deserve more than mere "lip service"? But is it possible that there is another question that we need to be asking ourselves? "Is it possible that God is looking for more than just "lip service"? The Word of God does reveal that Jesus did ask the one leper who returned about the other nine who did not return!! I wonder if God has ever looked for us or listened for our voice. 

I presented these following questions to the New River congregation on Sunday. I truly believe that God spoke these words in my heart and I believe that we need to review them in our hearts as we reflect on the blessings that God provides in our daily lives.

Did the nine lepers find more important things to do with their time since they had received this new freedom?

Did the nine lepers think that they would take the time some other day to thank Jesus?


Did the nine lepers take this encounter with God for granted? Could they have felt that they “earned” this blessing because of all that they had endured in their lives?


Did the nine lepers appreciate the gift more than they did the giver of the gift?


Were the nine lepers just content to enjoy their new life and the new freedoms/opportunities that they were experiencing? Were they so captured by the moment that the “attitude of forgetfulness” took control of their lives?

We must not allow the attitude of "forgetfulness or lack of genuine gratitude" gain a foothold in our lives!!

Monday, November 27, 2017

I'm Back

I can not believe that it has been over a month since I last shared my thoughts with you. I have used other platforms of social media to express those feelings that God has placed in my heart but have not taken the time to share them in this particular platform. But I have come back today with some of the same "inspirations" in my heart such as: "I am convinced that God still desires to awaken the church in America to a deeper and more meaningful relationship with Him. I also still believe that God is looking for "true worshipers" who will worship from the heart and not just their religious mind. I also still believe that God responds to a "praying church" that will focus on the needs of others more than their own needs. One other thing, I still believe that God is looking for a church that will truly love Him in action and in deeds and not just with fancy words that seeks to impress their fellow human beings. WOW!! I am feeling better already since I have taken the time to write down a few of my core beliefs.

We just finished celebrating "Thanksgiving." But true thanksgiving is more than a holiday; it is a way of life for believers. I truly desire to live a life that is grateful to God and mindful of the blessings that He provides for me on a daily basis. I would like to share some thoughts from a recent sermon that I shared at New River.

Luke 17 15-19, And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, 16 and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan.   17 So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed?  But where are the nine? 18 Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?”19 And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.” (NKJV)

Do we still exhibit a humble attitude of gratitude, or have we graduated beyond gratefulness? In fact, the more we grow in the grace of God, the more thankful we should become. God provides each of us many with many opportunities to show up and speak up with thanksgiving at various chapters in our lives. For example, how long has it been since we thanked God for the employment that we have at the present time? Very few of us have a “perfect’ job but we do have a job which assists us in meeting the needs of life.   Let’s face this fact, it is a lot easier and simpler to grumble and complain. There are certainly times that we can more easily identify what we don’t like quicker than we can identify what we do like and appreciate. We must have an “attitude checkup” from time to time so that we can open wide our mouths with words of thanksgiving. I truly believe this action on our part will allow us to watch the Lord perform wonderful works around us as well as in us. Gratitude speaks up words of praise, appreciation and thankfulness to its Savior! Gratitude speaks out for our Savior and all of the daily benefits that He consistently places in our lives!!!