Thoughts on Monday

A typical Monday morning finds me reviewing the service from this past Sunday as well as beginning to look forward to the direction that the Spirit will place in my heart as I move forward in my walk with with Christ. These reflections will include my personal development as a Christian as well as the preparation of the message next week. I believe that everything must begin and end with the development of my personal walk with Christ. I believe Christ is more interested in what He can do in me more than what He can do through me. God working through us should be a direct result of what God is doing in us as we continue to draw near to His presence.

There is one thing that is very clear in my heart and spirit. I truly believe that God is calling us to draw closer to Him so that we can be fully prepared to face our future journey of life. There are many things that are taking place in our world at this time that is creating much concern in each of our lives. But I am determined to face these concerns/challenges through the power of the Spirit and not the power of the flesh. Is it possible that the enemy wants us to believe that God is not at work in this day and time? I refuse to believe that lie because of what I have read in the Bible; because of I what have seen in my life; because of what I have seen in the lives of others and because of what I have read about in the lives of others!!!

I want to share some words that I wrote yesterday on the FB page of New River Ministries. "Thankful for another opportunity to explore more of the "WOW" moments of God. I believe that when we fully recognize the AWESOMENESS OF GOD we will move from the mundane to the supernatural manifestation of the presence of God!!! I am determined to make that journey." I marked my comments as "optimistic." Let me add that my optimism is based on my faith in the Word of God which contains the promises of God.

Our world is not full of much optimism at this present time. Maybe it is because that we are looking at the wrong sources to find our optimism. It is time that we turn our hearts back to God and seek Him with our whole heart. I am concerned about the "canopy of doubt and fear" that satan is seeking to drape over the church. I encourage you to open your Bible and reconnect with the God who delivered you from sin and place you one the road of life. He is not finished with you as of yet. He has more of His presence and power for each of us and far too many of us are settling for less.

Monday's Musings, Continued

Philippians 4:19-20, "And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. 20 Now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen." (NKJV)

The Spirit continues to remind me of the "riches" that we can discover in our relationship with Jesus Christ, the Rock. Yesterday I referenced the riches that were hidden under the rocky soil on the mountain side in Massachusetts. I continue to discover greater riches the more that I review the life of Christ and the promises that were spoken by Him as well spoken about Him. Today's verse is an example of those reminders.

The enemy of our soul desires for us to live a life of "spiritual poverty." He also desires to clothe the Truth in the cover of darkness, fear, doubt, no hope, discouragement, etc. I also believe that the enemy seeks to keep the modern believer away from the power of the Word of God. The Word of God contains the promises upon which we build our faith, hope and confidence in God. The Word of God reveals to us the Truth about God and it also reminds each of us about the greatness of God's love for His family.

I encourage you to read your Bible. I encourage you to pray. I encourage you to pay attention to the message that God has placed on and in the heart of your Pastor. The Psalmist wrote about "hiding the Word of God in our heart." The Word of God has always played and in my opinion will continue to play a major role in our ability to live a successful Christian life in this challenging world. 

We must make time and take definite steps toward specific times of interaction with God if we are going to be prepared to face the challenges of the enemy of our soul. But I am convinced that God has all of the "equipment" that I need to finish my race on a winning note. 

Just remember that you will discover "riches" in Christ Jesus, the Rock!!!

Monday's Musings

I read this story in one of the devotional websites that I read on a daily basis. The words spoke to my heart and reminded me of the blessings of God that are bestowed on my life on a daily basis. Many of these blessings have gone unnoticed until I took the time to discover them. Life has a way of hiding the Truth of God from us but we can discover the Truth if we take the time to allow the Holy Spirit to open our eyes to the "treasure trove" of God's blessings!!

Unless you are a baseball fan, married to one, or mom to one, you probably haven’t heard of Matthew Joseph White. He signed with the Cleveland Indians in 1998, the Boston Red Sox in 2002, and the Colorado Rockies in 2003. But it is not his baseball career that captured my attention.

In 2003, Matt had an aunt who needed to go into a nursing home. She didn’t have the funds to make the move, but she did have a piece of land in his home state of Massachusetts. So Matt agreed to pay her $50,000 for the 45 acres of mountain real estate, which gave her enough to enter the nursing home and get the care she needed.

Matt’s original intent was to build a home on the property, but found the ground too hard. When he called a surveyor to inspect the acreage, he discovered treasure lying beneath the rocky soil. The land was solid Goshen stone, a type of valuable mica. Approximately 24 million tons of mica schist rock, worth about $100 per ton, had been resting on the mountain for thousands of years. The estimated worth of Matt’s land was two point five billion dollars. (2.5 Billion dollars)

The enemy of our soul wants us to forget the "mountain" of riches that we have in the written promises of God found in the Bible. Take time to read Ephesians 1 and realize just a few of the "riches" that God has provided for us through Jesus Christ. These "riches" become the basis of our faith, trust, and hope in Christ!! 

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!!!

The Enemy of our Soul

2 Corinthians 10:3-6, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. ⁴ For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,  ⁵ casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,  ⁶ and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.” (NKJV)

A few days ago I heard these words from a concerned parent; “Pastor I don’t think enough people realize that we have an enemy who is seriously seeking to destroy our families.” He proceeded to say that more of us need to be awake and alert to the tactics that satan is using against the people of God. I agree wholeheartedly with his comments and I am sharing these words so that I can do my best to expose some of the strategies of the enemy.   Dictionary.com gives this meaning to the word expose`: a public exposure or revelation, as of something discreditable.”   I am committed to “discrediting” satan this morning.   I am prepared to publicly place him on the “MOST WANTED” LIST OF THE FAMILY OF GOD!!!    

Are we fully aware today that Satan, the incredibly powerful, unseen but dangerous god of this world wants to poison our thoughts and emotions away from the purity of God's truth?    Our spiritual enemy has focused his attacks upon us in two areas: our thoughts and our emotions.

If we stay unaware of Satan’s unseen but dangerous plan, he will start using the unguarded pieces of our lives.   The enemy is looking for each little area that we fail to guard.   Satan will take advantage of any opportunity that he can find to attack our thoughts and emotions.   Many of us have faced those types of attacks this week.   Some of the attacks are the same strategies that he uses day after day while others are surprise attacks that he springs upon us to see if he can catch us off guard.   But we must remember that God is greater than any weapon that satan may bring against us.

We must stay alert to the tactics of the enemy and we must also prepare our hearts to resist the attempts of satan to overthrow our faith.  God is able to cast down as well as cast out the enemy who seeks our spiritual demise. We must put our confidence and complete trust in the promises of God's Word. Victories can be won as we continue to surrender our lives to God and allow His to lead us in the correct direction. 

Catching Up

It has been several days since I shared any of my thoughts with you via this blog. Trust me, I have thought about many things and I have been in some Pastoral situations in which I needed to be reminded about the omnipresence of God. Isn't it a wonderful blessing to understand and believe the fact that "God is truly interested in my life?" I stand in awe of the love of God and realize that it is shed abroad in my life on a moment by moment basis. I have sensed His love this morning as I have been preparing some thoughts for Sunday's message. I have sensed His love this morning as I have communicated with some individuals with a heart that desired to provide encouragement to them. The line from a song is going through my mind even as I type these words; "Oh how He loves you and me..." Praise God for the awesome revelation of His love and concern for each of us!!

I would like to share a few thoughts with you from last week's message.

John 3:14-17, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.  ¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  ¹⁷ For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” (NKJV)

God created you in order to love you. WOW!!! Isn’t it a relief to know that God does not hate me but that He truly loves me?  Jesus refers to a “snake on a pole as an example of the love of God.   Let me take a moment and remind you of that story. The Israelites had won a great victory over the Canaanites. A spirit of impatience set in among the people and they began to grumble and complain against God.They complained about the food that God has provided. God responded to their impatience by allowing poisonous snakes to come among the people.   Many of them were bitten and many of them died. They turned back to God in repentance and asked Moses to intercede for them. Let us look at God’s response to the intercession of Moses.   Numbers 21:8-9, “Then the Lord told him, “Make a replica of a poisonous snake and attach it to a pole. All who are bitten will live if they simply look at it!”⁹ So Moses made a snake out of bronze and attached it to a pole. Then anyone who was bitten by a snake could look at the bronze snake and be healed!” (NLT)   This is the incident that Jesus is referencing when He speaks about Him being lifted up on the cross.   God’s love was revealed even during these moments in which Israel had rebelled against God.   Let us remember that we were living in rebellion and yet God revealed His love to us through Jesus Christ our Savior.

Ephesians 2:11-13, “Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. ¹² In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. ¹³ But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.” (NLT)

Trust in God

Psalm 62:1-2, "I wait quietly before God,for my victory comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will never be shaken." (NLT)

I read these words at some point in my life. I am unsure of the source of the comment but this is the statement that the writer made. Each of us will face those moments in which our faith will either hold up or fold up. I dare say that many of us have seen those times in our lives. But it is during those times that we rely on the "Rock of our salvation." We realize that the truth of God is unshakeable so we are able to place our full confidence in the presence and promises of God. 

I would like for this passage of scripture to encourage you today. Our world is full of uncertainty but we can trust in the certainty of God. It is during the challenges of life that Satan chooses to interfere and interrupt our journey with Christ. But remember that the consistent and persistent development of our relationship with Christ will produce many wonderful benefits as you well know. Our faithfulness to God will provide Him opportunities to reveal His faithfulness in our lives. Blessings on your continued pursuit of the presence of God in your daily life. 

Thoughts on Thursday

It has been a few days since I made a post on the blog. But I can tell you with all sincerity that my heart has been filled with moments of inspiration, guidance and direction from God. Normally I share on the blog early in the morning following my time of prayer. My early morning schedule this week was adjusted due to different things that took place early in the day. But I am here today  and I will take the opportunity to remind you of the goodness of God and His loving concern for each of us. 

A few days ago a friend of mine from Georgia shared this passage of scripture with me. The Word of God confirmed what I have been trying to share with people. People need to know that God loves them but they also need to know that God cares about the daily affairs of their lives. Zephaniah 3:17, "For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.” (NLT)

This passage of scripture encouraged me to share the following words with some individual believers and today I feel led to share them with you. 

Each of us face those moments in which we need to be reminded of God's interest in our lives. God takes "delight" in us. He does that even though He knows our weaknesses, faults, failures, etc. But we must remember that He also sees the desire that we possess regarding the development of our relationship with Him. God's love calms down our fears. I believe He is referencing the fears that we recognize as a possibility in our future but also those daily moments in which we feel overwhelmed with concern, worry or fear. It appears that even God "sings songs over us." I realize that there are those moments that we sense an unique presence of God. Is it possible that God is singing over us during those moments? I don't have all of the answers but I do know that God cares for you and that God is aware of the challenges that we face on a daily basis!!

I encourage you to walk in the strength of the knowledge that God is aware of YOU and that HE ACTUALLY IS CONCERNED ABOUT YOUR WELL-BEING!!