Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “A life that matters”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “For sin will not rule over you, because you are not under law but under grace.” Romans 6:14 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Yes, you can.”

 

First of all this morning I want to remind everyone that our theme for this month, “A life that matters”, is not meant to imply that your life doesn’t matter unless you do the things I’m writing about. Of course not. All lives matter. Instead, our theme is meant to convey the great truth that your life matters so much to God that He wants you to live the very best life you can. He wants you to live a life of passion and purpose, a life that takes full advantage of the opportunities He gives you, and a life that makes a meaningful difference for the cause of Christ.

 

Second, as we continue to consider how we will invest our time in 2017 – the goals we will set for ourselves, the plans we will make, the changes we will implement in our lives, I want to caution you to not allow negative or defeatist thinking to enter in. All of us have some habits or patterns of living that need to be changed in order for us to be at our best. The possibilities are endless and range from taking better care of our physical body, to being more faithful in our devotional life, to breaking the stronghold of some sinful habit, and much more.

 

The problem many of us will run into is that Satan will attempt to get us off track and to defeat us by whispering lies. He will attempt to convince you that you’re not strong enough to break that sinful habit, or you aren’t smart enough to earn that degree, or you don’t have enough self-discipline to lose that weight. Well that’s just nonsense and it’s completely untrue. That’s what Paul was writing about in Romans 6:14 – sin cannot rule over you unless allow it to. You have been set free from the dominion of Satan and he has no power over you except what you allow him to have.

 

Paul also wrote about this in 1 Corinthians 10:13 when he told us, “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to humanity. God is faithful, and he will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation he will also provide a way of escape so you are able to bear it.”

 

The point is that whatever sinful, destructive, or self-limiting habit or pattern you are struggling with, the Holy Spirit will help you break free from it and reverse it. Whether we’re talking about an addiction to pornography or to food; whether your problem is lack of motivation or undisciplined financial habits; whatever it is that needs to change in order for you to be living the life the Lord wants for you, you can do it! Jesus has set you free from the power and dominion of Satan. With His help you can do whatever it is He wants you to do. Paul made that very clear in Philippians 4:13: “I am able to do all things through Him who strengthens me.”

 

If you have doubts about whether you can achieve your goal or not, my answer to you is, “Yes, you can!”

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

 

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “A life that matters”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “For when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his fathers and his body decayed.” Acts 13:36 (NIV)

 

Our thought for today: “Are you fulfilling God’s purpose for your life?”

 

Saint Irenueus was one of the early church fathers in the Christian faith. He was born in what is now modern day Turkey in A.D. 130 and served most of his adult life as the Bishop of Lugdunum in Gaul, in the Roman Empire. He was one of the first theologians of the Christian faith and in that capacity God used him to help clarify Christian doctrine and practice.

 

The most famous quote attributed to Irenueus is, “The glory of God is man fully alive.” What he meant by that is that when a person is living the life God has planned for them, that person is fully alive and fulfilling their intended purpose. That then brings great glory to God.

 

King David lived like that. Now if you read his story you will immediately realize that he was far from perfect, in some ways he sinned greatly, but he was a man with a heart that was after God and he did live with passion and purpose. That’s why in Acts 13:36 Luke was able to write that David served God’s purpose for his life and once that purpose was fulfilled, it was then that he died.

 

I don’t know about you but I would like to have that said about me: “Jim served God’s purpose in his generation …” But in order for that to be true for any of us, we will have to be fully surrendered to Jesus and intentionally living with passion and enthusiasm for the cause of Christ on earth. No room for casual Christianity or lukewarm faith in a life lived like that.

 

Recently I came across a poem written by the poet D.H. Lawrence. The title of the poem is “Vitality” and one stanza reads: “You might as well take the lightening for once and feel it go through you. You might as well accept the thunderbolt and prepare for the storms. You’ll not get vitality any other way.”

 

His point was that you cannot live with vitality, passion, and purpose; you cannot and will not fulfill God’s purpose for your life in your generation, if you are timid, withdrawn, lukewarm, or lazy. The glory of God is man fully alive. The glory of God is you fully alive. But living like that will require you to step-up, step-out, and embrace the Christian life in all of its fullness and with passion and commitment.

 

As we approach 2017 I encourage you to give much prayerful thought to how you will live in the New Year. Will you bring glory to God by being fully alive?

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “A life that matters”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Don’t you know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Your life matters so take care of your body”

 

As we continue to consider how we will spend our time in 2017, what goals we will set and what plans we will make, we have to consider our physical health. We have to be intentional about taking good care of ourselves.

 

We live in a society today where obesity is now a national health epidemic. Being overweight has become the norm rather than the exception. That’s true even among our children. Nowadays most adults have to take some kind of prescribed medication on a daily basis to control blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, and a host of other lifestyle related health problems. There are far too many people, even young ones, who are in bad physical condition because of poor nutrition and lack of exercise. But this should not be. Our bodies are a gift from God and we are Biblically commanded to take good care of them.

 

In 1 Corinthians 6:18-20 Paul was writing specifically about not using your body in sexually immoral ways. But there’s a larger and more general truth expressed in that passage as well. Your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit was placed within you by God. Your body is also not your own, it was purchased on the cross by Jesus. Your physical body is a walking, talking, mobile temple of God’s Holy Spirit. You were purchased by Jesus for that very purpose and therefore you are expected to glorify Him by the way you use your body – and that has to include taking proper care of it.

 

What if we don’t take proper care of this body the Lord has given us? What impact does that have on the cause of Christ? There could be multiple ways in which an improperly cared for body has a negative impact on God’s plan. For one thing, the less physically able you are the fewer ways in which He can use you. Church workdays become harder and mission trips may be impossible for you because of your health. Maybe you need to sleep more than normal, or perhaps because of your illnesses you are absent from church functions a lot.

 

How much work time does your deteriorating health cause you to miss? For that matter are you still able to work at all? How much extra money is spent on your doctor’s visits, medical tests, medicines, and other health-related expenses?

 

What about your life expectancy? How many more years would your family have had you with them, and how many more people could have been served and blessed and positively impacted by you, if you had only taken care of yourself?

 

I know this message is a little heavy and even negative, but the situation is serious and if my words result in even one person resolving to take better care of themselves in 2017, then I have achieved my purpose.

 

Your body has been given to you by God as a gift and you have a stewardship responsibility to take good care if it and to use it in a way that honors Him. God requires us to be a good steward of our finances, our relationships, and our possessions. So too we must be a good steward of our body.

 

Your life matters and we need you to be healthy. I urge you to be intentional about taking proper care of yourself.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “A life that matters”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “And besides this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge, temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.” 2 Peter 1:5-7 (KJV)

 

Our thought for today: “Strive for balance.”

 

I once heard someone say that the Bible teaches moderation in all things. Actually, that’s something your grandma used to say. The phrase “moderation in all things” isn’t actually used in the Bible. But the concept of moderation and balance is Biblical.

 

In 2 Peter 1:5-7 Peter gave us a laundry list of virtues we should try to cultivate in our lives. All of them taken together would constitute a well-balanced personality, but if any one of those virtues were to dominate the person’s character at the expense of the others, then that person’s character would be out of balance.

 

One of the virtues Peter lists as being an important part of any well-rounded life is temperance. In one narrow sense temperance can be used to mean abstinence, such as when the “temperance” movement in the early 1900’s urged everyone to abstain from using alcohol. But another application of the word refers to moderation and balance. When a person is temperate it means that they don’t over-indulge in, or over-emphasize, any one thing. They are moderate in all things and therefore they have a healthy and proportional balance in their lives.

 

This is an important understanding for us as we consider changes we need to make in our lives in 2017. We have to be careful that our new objectives don’t get us out of balance in other areas of our lives.

 

Usually when there are changes that need to be made it’s because we’re already out of balance and need to make some corrections. For instance, perhaps we have been over-indulging in food and under-indulging in exercise. Now we need to make some changes to achieve a healthier balance. Or maybe we have allowed ourselves to become far too busy at work and that has resulted in us neglecting key relationships in our life. So now we need to dial back the work stuff and focus more on our family.

 

But also, sometimes when we set a new goal or establish an objective we want to meet, we become too enthusiastic about it and we allow the pursuit of that objective to become too dominant in our lives. That then gets us out of balance again.

 

I recently read a book entitled “Moderation: Defending an Ancient Virtue in a Modern World”, by Harry Clor. In one section, when he was writing about the importance of maintaining a healthy balance in all areas of life, he wrote, “A single object of desire – be it love, family, career, politics, or even self-sufficiency – that is unbalanced by anything else can easily become a narrow fixation resembling addiction.”

 

Ever known somebody who was essentially “addicted” to this new thing in their lives, be it working out, or a hobby, or a relationship, or whatever, to the point that they gave it an unhealthy amount of time and attention? Maybe that’s you right now.

 

As you give careful and prayerful thought to how you will spend your time in 2017 – the kinds of activities you will be involved in, the goals you will set, and the plans you will make, I encourage you to strive for good balance in your life.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “A life that matters”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless!” Ecclesiastes 1:2 (NIV)

 

Our thought for today: “Don’t waste your life.”

 

The story is told of how, just months before he died at the age of only 42, Elvis Presley made a sad entry in his diary. It was late at night and he was alone in a penthouse suite in a luxurious hotel in Las Vegas. Earlier in the evening he had finished a show to a sold-out audience. Now he was alone in his hotel room.

 

I don’t have the exact quote in front of me but the essence of it was that Elvis was sad and lonely. He wrote of how, despite his fame and wealth, his life was actually empty and unsatisfying. He said that when he is onstage thousands of people cheer for him, and his millions of fans love and adore him, but privately he found his life to be unfulfilling and unrewarding. He was a deeply unhappy man. And just a few months later he was dead.

 

Actually, Elvis’ story is fairly common. Howard Hughes was one of the richest men in his day, a billionaire in a day when billionaires were rare. But when he died he was a sad and lonely recluse, terrified of having any contact with the outside world. Kurt Cobain was a rock-god, fabulously wealthy and adored by millions. He committed suicide at the age of only 27. Robin Williams gained fame and fortune by making others laugh, but in his private life he was depressed and miserable. He too committed suicide.

 

There’s an old saying that goes, “If you’re going to spend your life climbing the ladder of success, be sure the ladder isn’t leaning against the wrong wall.” How sad it is when someone finally reaches the top only to discover they’ve spent their life climbing a ladder that didn’t get them where they really wanted to go. What do you do when you realize that your achievements really didn’t matter much after all – that they didn’t bring you the peace and happiness and fulfillment you were searching for?

 

That’s King Solomon’s story and that’s why he wrote the book of Ecclesiastes. Few men in history have had more than Solomon had in terms of wealth, power, freedom, and instant gratification – only to discover how empty and meaningless such a life is.

 

Over the last few days I’ve been encouraging you to consider making spiritual growth a major focus in 2017. That’s because ultimately it’s only a deep and personal relationship with God which will provide you with the life you are seeking. Regardless of what you do for a living, and regardless of how much you acquire in terms of earthly wealth and possessions, it’s your relationship with God that will determine how happy and fulfilled your life is. So as you make choices about your life, do so based upon which choice will bring you closer to God.

 

Howard Hughes, Elvis Presley, Kurt Cobain, Robin Williams, and countless others like them never learned that lesson and consequently never found the peace and happiness they were seeking. But King Solomon did. It took him a while but towards the end of his life, and in the closing chapter of Ecclesiastes he wrote, “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter; Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.”

 

That’s it. That’s the bottom line. If you have Jesus you have everything. If you don’t have Jesus then you have nothing – at least nothing that really matters. We’ll explore this idea a little further tomorrow.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

 

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “A life that matters”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and incomprehensible things you do not know.” Jeremiah 33:3 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Cultivate a deep relationship with God.”

 

As we continue to consider the best investment of our time and energy in 2017 I want to remind you that the single most important thing you can do with your time is to take the steps necessary to cultivate a deep and meaningful relationship with God. Nothing you do will have a greater positive impact on your life than that.

 

Yesterday I encouraged you to consider the truth that many times in life “less is more”. By that I mean that sometimes the best thing we can do to improve the quality of our lives is to take things out rather than adding more in. But I also made the point that the purpose of creating that space in our lives is so we have quiet time to spend with God.

 

In that devotional message I encouraged you to go to my website at www.JimMersereauBooks.com and read the article entitled “Room for the Singing of Angels.” In that article you will read about the concept I refer to as “buffer zones of quiet inactivity”. The idea is that we are to pare back the sheer volume of people, activities, and noise that crowd into our lives, and thereby create buffer zones of quietness where we can meet with God.

 

Today I want to ask you to read another article I wrote some years ago, one that goes along with “Room for the Singing of Angels”. This one is called “Ancient Wisdom for Modern Times”. It teaches of how Christians down through the ages have been able to cultivate a deep and intimate relationship with God by developing what is often called a “contemplative lifestyle”.

 

To be a contemplative means first of all that you have the regular habit of sitting quietly before God and simply listening. During this time there is no Bible reading, no talking to God, or in any other way attempting to interact with Him other than to sit quietly before Him and let Him talk to you. It involves listening, thinking deeply about Him, and simply savoring His presence. But this takes times. It takes set-aside time specifically for this purpose.

 

In time, and with practice, you will develop a contemplative mind-set that carries over into all of life. At that point you will find that you are able to go through your regular daily routine while maintaining a God-consciousness, an awareness of the continuous presence of God. This is sometimes referred to as active contemplation or, the with-God life. I encourage you to read the article.

 

Cultivating a deep and intimate relationship with God takes time, but there is no better way you could use your time.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “A life that matters”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Be still, and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10 (NIV)

 

Our thought for today: “Less is more”

 

We live in a culture today that would have us believe that more is always better than less, bigger is always better than smaller, and that the truly happy life is the one that’s filled to overflowing with people, possessions, activities, and achievements.

 

Folks, I’m here to tell ya this morning that it just ain’t so. More is not always better than less, bigger is not always better than smaller, and a life filled to the brim usually belongs to a person who is stressed out, overworked, and running on empty.

 

Years ago I wrote an article entitled, “Room for the Singing of Angels”. It was based on a theme I found in Howard Thurman’s book “Deep is the Hunger”. Thurman’s point was that if our lives are too filled with people, and things, and activities, and noise, then we’ve left no room when we can just sit quietly and listen to the music of heaven – the singing of the angels. In order to be able to hear the soft voice of God and the heavenly melodies of the angels, we have to be still and quiet. Such things are obscured and drowned out in the hustle and bustle of life. If you would like to read that article you can go to my website at www.JimMersereauBooks.com and click on the tab “Free Articles”.

 

As we approach 2017, and we give some thought to how we will invest our time in the New Year, we’re considering the activities we will be involved in, the people we will give time to, and the goals and objectives we will set for ourselves. I want to ask you to consider the great truth that sometimes less is more. Sometimes you can greatly improve the quality of your life by cutting some things out, rather than by adding things in. And that being the case, when it comes to deciding which people, activities, goals, and objectives you will keep in your life and which you need to cut out, you will have to make smart, Spirit-led choices.

 

We’re going to talk more about this in the days to come. For now I want to leave you with that thought that many times “less is more”. Often you will be much better off, and the quality of your life will improve dramatically, by cutting things out rather than adding them in.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “A life that matters”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13 (NIV)

 

Our thought for today: “Thank a veteran.”

 

For most of our history the people of the USA have always demonstrated deep gratitude for those who have served in our Armed Forces. There was one sad and dark period in our nation’s history when a segment of the population did not appreciate the active duty military or veterans. That was in the late sixties and early seventies during the Vietnam era. During those days members of our Armed Forces were often ridiculed, criticized, sometimes spat upon, and even discriminated against.

 

But aside from that ugly time, there has always been a sense of recognition by the citizens of our country that our nation’s security depends in large part on the sacrificial service of the members of our Armed Forces, and that in many ways, both big and small, their service does involve great sacrifice.

 

Beyond the fact that they could find themselves in battle and called upon to make the ultimate sacrifice of giving their lives in defense of our nation, members of the Armed Forces serve for relatively low pay; they’re on-call 24/7; they often put in work weeks of 60 or 70 hours or more; and they’re frequently away from home for long periods. There were a number of times during my own career in the Navy when I had to leave my wife and children on a Monday morning in January and I wouldn’t come back home until a Friday afternoon in July. Six and seven month deployments are still part of life for those who serve in the Navy. Our men and women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan are routinely away from home for a year or more.

 

Today is Veteran’s Day. I want to encourage all of us to make it a point to say a special word of thanks to those who have served our country in the Armed Forces. Maybe you could even go a little further and buy them a cup of coffee, or lunch.

 

I also want to say a word about those who serve in our law enforcement community. Sadly, there are people in our society today who are treating our law enforcement officers much the same way our military and veterans were treated by some back in the Vietnam era. Actually, it’s worse. Today police officers are being ambushed and killed, right here in the streets of our own communities.

 

Just as the active duty military and the veterans during the Vietnam era needed words of encouragement and support, so do our law enforcement officers today. Please reach out and let them know how much you appreciate what they do for us. While you’re thanking a veteran, thank a police officer too.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “A life that matters”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.” Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (NIV)

 

Our thought for today: “Establish proper priorities”

 

At one point in my career as a Naval Officer I served as an instructor at the Surface Warfare Officer’s School in Coronado, CA. The purpose of the school was to prepare newly commissioned officers for their first assignment onboard a Navy warship. I taught courses in Propulsion Engineering and Basic Leadership Principles.

 

In the Basic Leadership course one of the issues I addressed is something known as “the tyranny of the urgent.” This is a principle which states that the thing that makes the most noise or which seems to be the most pressing, is the thing most likely to capture your attention and get your time. This can be a problem because the things that sometimes seem the most urgent are often not really the most important.

 

That ringing telephone seems urgent because it’s making noise and begging for your attention, but your time would actually be better spent comforting your distraught child who simply needs to be held for a few moments. Or a co-worker walks into your office wanting you to take care of something for them (right away), but you’re already involved in something that’s more important to you. Does their sense of urgency trump your priorities? The answer should be “no”. I’m reminded of the old saying, “A lack of planning on your part doesn’t constitute an emergency on my part.”

 

The point that Solomon was making in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 is that there is proper time for everything and therefore everything has to be keep in its proper place. He’s talking about getting your priorities right and then living by them. But for many of us this isn’t easy. We find ourselves continuously subjected to “the tyranny of the urgent” and we allow those “urgent” things to interfere with our priorities.

 

Very early in my adult life I discovered that in order to protect myself from the tyranny of the urgent I had to actually write-out my priorities, on a daily to-do-list, and then stick to them. Number one on my list, everyday, is my time with God. I get up early everyday and spend time with God before anything else can happen to get in the way. Number two on my list, everyday, is time with my family. For forty years I have always made it a point to have at least a few moments of quality time at the beginning of the day with my wife (and with my children when they still lived at home). Exercise is on my list, everyday. So is some time for reading.

 

My point in all of this is that as we approach 2017, and we give thought to how we will spend our time and what kinds of things we are going to involve ourselves in, we have to set good priorities and then stick to them. Don’t allow your life to be dominated and directed by the tyranny of the urgent. Take control, establish priorities, stick to them, and keep everything in its proper time and place.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “A life that matters”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “I have come that they may have life and have it in abundance.” John 10:10 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “All lives matter.”

 

Right now in our country there’s a movement known as “Black lives matter”. The motivating premise behind the movement is the belief that blacks, especially young black men, are being singled out by law enforcement officers for unfair treatment and are even being killed by police in numbers disproportionate to other ethnic groups.

 

While everyone would agree that black lives do indeed matter, many people believe they hear in that slogan an inference that perhaps black lives matter more, and therefore blacks should be given special consideration or special treatment. So the push-back has become “White lives matter too”, and “Police lives matters”, and “All lives matter”.

 

It’s not my intent this morning to enter into that debate. I only wish to use that contemporary example as a way of pointing out that while all lives do matter, some people live lives that are full and rich and productive, while others waste their lives. So when in our theme for this month I urge us to strive to live “A life that matters”, I don’t mean to suggest that your life doesn’t matter if you don’t do the things I write about this month. I only mean that there is a way to live that will make your life much more meaningful, and productive, and significant.

 

What I’m referring to is what Jesus meant in John 10:10 when He said that one of the reasons He came was so that those who follow Him can have a life that is full and abundant. In one respect that’s a reference to eternal life. That’s the life that matters most. But Jesus also meant that it is His desire for us to live lives now that are full of meaning and purpose. His intent is that we don’t waste our lives on frivolous pursuits and on things that don’t ultimately matter very much.

 

Towards that end, He has given us the power of His Holy Spirit living within our hearts in order to empower us to live the life He wants for us (Acts 1:8, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20). And, as was taught in an earlier devotional message this month, He has also endowed each of us with spiritual gifts, talents, skills, and abilities which we can and should use to bring glory to God and as a blessing to others in His name.

 

That’s what we mean when we refer to living a life that matters. As the followers of Jesus we are to utilize the power of His Holy Spirit and the gifts, talents, skills, and abilities He has given us, to live a life that is full and abundant and productive in ways that matter for eternity. That, my friends, is a life that matters.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim