Spiritual Development

I am thankful that God has given me another day to love and serve Him for which I am very grateful. I find myself thinking about each day of my life and my desire to do what is pleasing to God. I realize that I have more days behind me than I have in front of me according the average length of a man’s life. BUT I am still determined to give my best to our Savior as my life moves forward.

I can reflect on my journey and recognize the growth and maturity that has taken place in my natural life as well as my spiritual life. I am thankful that God has not given up on me even during the days of challenge and difficulty. God’s plan for our lives is greater than we can ever imagine. We will give up on ourselves before God gives up on us. Isn’t the love of God simply amazing? I have a desire to continue my spiritual growth even though I have been on this journey for a good number of years.

I feel that the present day church must see the need to draw closer to God. I am sure that you can sense that in my correspondence as well as any message that I may preach at New River or at any other church! But I am concerned that many of us present day believers do not take enough of our time and apply it to the development of our journey with Christ. Is it possible that we have settled into the routine of just complaining about the demise of our society yet do very little in seeking more of God? Is it possible that we have knowledge about God but fail to continue pursuing more of God in our lives? Am I leaving the right example for my family and friends? Do people see Christ at work in my life? I believe that each of us face these challenges in some shape or form. I (we) must shake off any interference of the enemy and be more determined to listen carefully to the call of God to seek His face. We take time for many things that please or satisfy us but DO WE TAKE TIME FOR GOD?

Let us take a moment and notice the response of the Psalmist David to the call from God. Psalm 27:7-9, “Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice! Have mercy also upon me, and answer me. ⁸ When You said, “Seek My face,” My heart said to You, “Your face, Lord, I will seek.” ⁹ Do not hide Your face from me; Do not turn Your servant away in anger; You have been my help; Do not leave me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation.” (NKJV)

Let us notice that David made a definitive decision. His response was not a maybe or I will get around to it when I have time. Let me remind you of his words; “Your face, Lord, I will seek.” He did not say that I will seek your hand (blessings) but I will seek your face (relationship). We spend much time in seeking His blessings but very little time seeking the continuing development of our relationship with God. Is there any wonder that our faith is so weak and we easily crumble under the attacks of satan? (Note: I am speaking to me as well as to you.)

What will we do with the present day call from Heavenly Father? Will we say yes or will we say no? Our spiritual future depends on our response to God. There are only two destinations for us to consider. We will either enter into the presence of God (Heaven) at death or we will be separated from God for all of eternity (Hell) at death. But we can celebrate the fact that God offers each of us the opportunity to make the right decision.

TODAY

I am sure that you are highly impressed with the title of today's blog. I am convinced that today is important to us as well as important to God! What will I do with today? Will I take some time to spend with God in a moment of reflection and prayer? Will I sense the need to read the Word of God before TODAY ends? I would like to share the letter that I wrote to the New River church family this week. I pray that your heart and life would be challenged and stirred as mine was as I was typing the words! 

Good morning! It is a wonderful blessing to be able to get up this morning and begin a new day in a new year. Do you realize that we are over ½ of the way through the first month of 2020? Have you ever asked yourself this question; “Where does my time go?” Do we realize that the Bible answers that question for us?

James 4:14, “How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone.” (NLT)

We often hear these words from people, “Time flys when you are having fun.” We all know that this is a statement that was created to explain how quickly time goes by. But we need to remember that the Apostle James had already felt the inspiration from God to share the truth about life. It is a lesson that each of us needs to learn. Our lives on earth disappear quickly. It is compared to a fog that is present for a period of time and then it is gone. No one of us knows the length of our lives but we do know that our lives vanish or disappear very quickly no matter our age.

We cannot control the length of our lives but we can control what we do with our lives!! We must remember that we CAN NOT MAKE TIME TO SERVE GOD but we CAN TAKE TIME TO SERVE GOD!! Is it possible that we overlook one of the wonderful blessings from God? It is the blessing of time!!

Many human beings have the tendency to become procrastinators. We find ourselves putting off certain things because of time restraints and various other reasons. The devil will encourage us to “put off serving God” (and I am talking about more than just salvation) until it is more convenient for us. Would you take a moment and read a brief statement from a man that had that plan for his life. “Now as he reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and answered, “Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I will call for you.” (Acts 24:25) FYI: We have no Biblical record that this man ever found a “convenient” time to include God in His life.

I believe that we all have good intentions when it comes to following God. But I also believe that satan has many ways of getting us to put off what needs to be done in the present moment when it comes to responding to God. I have heard many reasons for not taking time for God in my life as a Pastor. I also understand that many people can find good reasons to delay their personal response to God. I also understand that many people including me have been guilty of putting off until tomorrow what I needed to do at that very moment concerning my relationship with God. But the convenient time on TOMORROW never came.

I do not want my life to become a list of consistent excuses or legitimate reasons that hinders my journey with Christ. My life and your life is like the morning fog; it is here for a while and then it is gone. These thoughts are not meant to be a cloud of doom or gloom. BUT they are meant to be words that AWAKEN OUR HEART to the desires of our Heavenly Father. How often have I “put off God” until tomorrow so that I can could “take care of my needs” today? I was reminded during prayer that God would help me with my needs if I would only take time for Him TODAY!!!

The New Year is still a fresh year. The New Year is a time of new and fresh beginnings. I encourage you to join with your church family and seek the “freshness and newness of God in 2020!! I encourage you take some personal time to seek the freshness and newness of God TODAY!! I also encourage you to join your church family on SUNDAY as we seek the freshness and newness of God through prayer, praise and worship!!

Blessings on your journey with Christ TODAY!!!

2020 Thoughts

I would like to share some thoughts with you that I shared with our church family. I believe that it is truly the time to trust God as we have never trusted Him before. It is time to look forward and not be content with living in our past. 

The apostle Paul recognized the importance of putting the past behind him as well. He said, “I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead” (Philippians 3:13 NLT).

2019 is coming to a close. Now it is time to look into the future and trust God even more as we enter 2020. I believe that it’s very vital that we take time to both reflect on what God has done and allow him to prepare us for what’s to come. A new year marks a fresh opportunity to center our lives around the goodness of God. I pray that as you begin looking toward what is to come you will make space to gain God’s perspective, establish your hopes and pursuits on his grace, and celebrate all that God has done and is doing. 

There is no greater source of hope than God’s resounding declaration of his nearness. Jesus paid the ultimate price that you and I might no longer be separated from God. His presence now dwells within us through the Holy Spirit. And that fact brings a Bible based hope that has the ability to profoundly impact every aspect of our lives.

As we look forward, know that the God who dwells within you knows every moment of every day that lies in front of us. He dwells within all of eternity. Time for him is not as it is for us. And he promises to be with us in the midst of any trial, pain, victory, or defeat. He longs for each of us to know his presence moment by moment in everything we will face and confront in 2020.

During prayer this morning I was offering God praise for His presence this past year. I also expressed my thanks to Him for the promise of being with me in the future. But the Spirit seemed to interrupt my words to remind me that GOD IS PRESENT NOW!!! Each of us needs to hold on to the NOWNESS OF GOD!!

I am praying and believing that God will guide and direct our steps as we close the book on 2019 as well as guide our steps as we walk the road of life in 2020.