Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Trusting God”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I stand up; You understand my thoughts from far away.” Psalm 139:1 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “You can trust that God knows the truth about you.”

 

For the second half of 2015 I have been using Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase of the Bible, “The Message” for my personal morning devotional time. Yesterday I was reading in Isaiah and was startled by Peterson’s rendering of Isaiah 1:12-17:

 

“Quit your worship charades. I can’t stand your trivial religious games: monthly conferences, weekly Sabbaths, special meetings – I can’t stand one more! Meetings for this, meetings for that. I hate them! You’ve worn me out! I’m sick of your religion, religion, religion, while you go right on sinning. When you put on your next prayer performance, I’ll be looking the other way. No matter how long or loud or often you pray, I’ll not be listening. And do you know why? Because you’ve been tearing people to pieces, and your hands are bloody. Go home and wash up. Clean up your act. Sweep your lives clean of your evildoings so I don’t have to look at them any longer. Say no to wrong. Learn to do good. Work for justice. Help the down-and-out. Stand up for the homeless. Go to bat for the defenseless.”

 

That passage reminded me of what the Psalmist wrote in Psalm 139:1, “Lord, you have searched me and known me.” That’s what Isaiah was getting at. None of your religious charades fool God. He knows your true heart. He knows what you do behind closed doors, what you think, and what you say. He knows what’s really in your heart. Yes, you can trust that God knows the truth about you. He isn’t fooled by outward shows of piety.

 

So what do we do? How do we change so that our hearts are right with God and that our behavior really is a true reflection of the condition of our heart? For the answer to that I’ll refer to another Psalm, this one written by King David. He wrestled with this issue just like you and I do:

 

“God, create a clean heart for me and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not banish me from Your presence or take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore the joy of Your salvation to me, and give me a willing spirit.” Psalm 51:10-12

 

That’s the answer. Just be real with God. Acknowledge the struggle. Admit your failures. Truly desire to be better, holier, more righteous. Then trust Him to cleanse you and to restore to you a renewed spirit and the joy of salvation.

 

You can trust that God knows the real you. He isn’t fooled by outward shows of piety and righteousness. So be real with Him and get right with Him.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Trusting God”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “How happy are those whose way is blameless, who live according to the Lord’s instruction!” Psalm 119:1 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “The best life you can have is one lived according to God’s commands.”

 

In the Bible God has given us all the guidance we need in order to live life well. In fact, the best life you can possibly have is a life that is lived according to God’s commands.

 

The Bible provides us with a clear description of the boundaries within which God wants us to live. Those boundaries are actually very wide and offer us great freedom and many choices, but there are God-ordained limits to how we are to live. As long was we stay within the boundaries He has established for us, we will be fine. It’s when we wander outside of the Biblical boundaries that we get into trouble.

 

This is what the Psalmist was talking about in Psalm 119:1. Living Biblically leads to the best life a person can have. This was also a major theme for the Apostle Paul. Paul wrote the majority of the New Testament and most of it was all about how to live the Christian life well. In Ephesians 5:8-12 he wrote:

 

“Walk as children of light – for the fruit of the light results in all goodness, righteousness, and truth – discerning what is pleasing to the Lord. Don’t participate in the fruitless works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what is done by them in secret.”

 

Now listen to how Eugene Peterson renders that same passage in his paraphrase of the Bible, “The Message”:

 

“Don’t waste your time on useless work, mere busywork, the barren pursuits of darkness. Expose these things for the sham they are. It’s a scandal when people waste their lives on things they must do in the darkness where no one will see.”

 

Wow, is that ever true! Look closely at the lives of those who live un-Biblically – participating in the deeds of darkness such as substance abuse, sexual immorality, unethical and even criminal behavior. They end up with broken relationships, sick bodies, bankruptcy, jail time, etc. Then compare that to those who intentionally obey the commands of the Lord, living Christ-honoring lives. No contest! Jesus wins hands down! Life with God is always better than life without God.

 

Choose to live your life within the Biblical boundaries established by God, honoring Him with your life, and you can trust that He will give you the best life you could possibly have.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Trusting God”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13-14 (NIV)

 

Our thought for today: “Just keep moving forward.”

 

Sometimes the best you can do is to just keep putting one foot in front of the other and just keep moving forward. But very often, that’s enough. In fact, much of success in life is simply a matter leaning into your situations and issues, pushing through them, and trusting the Lord to guide you and protect you along the way as you keep moving forward.

 

The Apostle Paul understood this well. For him much of his daily life consisted of dealing with difficult people and difficult situations. Beyond that, the future for him was often uncertain and even ominous. Paul’s strategy however kept him always looking forward and moving forward. He refused to dwell in the past or even to allow himself to become overly fixated on or discouraged by his current circumstances. His focus was always forward-looking.

 

That approach will work equally well for us. The great Christian writer Woodrow Kroll once observed, “If God was faithful to you yesterday, you have reason to trust Him for tomorrow.”

 

Yes. During those times when I do briefly glance backwards, I see that God was always there for me and He always brought me through whatever the situations were back then. And as I look around me now I see that I am not homeless, I am not hungry, I am reasonably healthy, and even though there are situations to deal with, overall life is pretty good. So as I look forward to tomorrow, and next week, and next month, and next year, I remember that God has a pretty good track record in my life. Therefore I can just keep pressing forward and trust Him for what lies ahead.

 

That goes for you too.

 

If life seems a little tough for you right now I encourage you to do what Paul did. Forget what is behind, don’t get too obsessed with the issues of today, focus on tomorrow, put one foot in front of the other, and trusting in God just keep moving forward.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Trusting God”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain.” Psalm 127:1 (NIV)

 

Our thought for today: “If you are in the will of God, then you will be ok.”

 

A couple of days ago I wrote the daily devotional about the lessons taught in Psalm 126. As I was doing that, my eyes drifted ahead to Psalm 127. Immediately I knew there was an important lesson in this Psalm too about trusting God, and that I wanted to be sure to circle back and address it before the month ends.

 

Those of you who know me well know that one of my life verses is Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and He will make your paths straight.”

 

That promise clears up a lot of confusion for me and gives me the confidence I need to boldly move forward in life, even when the path forward isn’t clear. The key is to genuinely want and to seek the will of God, and then trust Him to lead and guide you. If your heart is right, and if you truly do just want to understand His will and be obedient to it, He will guide you.

 

Psalm 127 addresses this same truth, only with slightly different words. In fact, it is a truth which God states and then restates in many places in the Bible.

 

Verse 1: “Unless the Lord builds the house; its builders labor in vain.” In other words, if the Lord is directing this activity it will prosper, if He isn’t, it will fail. So here again the key is to seek the will of God and then be obedient to it.

 

Verse 1: “Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain.” You see, it doesn’t matter how big and bad you are, how strong and well armed; if God isn’t protecting you then you are weak and vulnerable. However if God is protecting you, then it doesn’t matter who or what comes against you.

 

Verse 2: “In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat – for he grants sleep to those he loves.” What a common story! People kill themselves trying to earn a living, working ridiculous hours under tremendous stress, only to discover they’re unhappy and unfulfilled. That happens because they are out of synch with God. But when we are right in the middle of God’s will, our lives will be balanced and healthy, our needs will be met, and we will sleep well.

 

The key to all of this is that when we truly and genuinely seek to know and obey the will of God, He will take care of us. We can trust Him for it.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Trusting God”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Idle hands make one poor, but diligent hands bring riches.” Proverbs 10:4 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Trust God, but then do the hard work to accomplish meaningful things.”

 

I read a statement in a book last night which impressed me as being profoundly true. So much so, that I want to share it with you this morning as we continue to consider our theme of “trusting God”. Here it is:

 

“God sets destinies in heaven, but those destinies have to be hammered out on earth one arduous minute at a time. We strain. We bleed. We grieve. We have to conquer each step. No one gets a pass. No one moves to the head of the line. Everyone is flawed.”

 

Jeremiah 29:11 is one of the great promises of the Bible which helps us to understand that God has a plan, a destiny in mind, for each person who belongs to Him. He has things He wants accomplished in your life. But Proverbs 10:4 is just one of the many passages which remind us that we have a role to play in this too. We have to cooperate with God. We have to do our part. That’s what this author was referring to.

 

As part of His beautiful and perfect plan, God sets our destiny. But then it’s up to each of us to hammer out that destiny one tough step at a time. In the unfolding of this lifelong process we will have to overcome our personal flaws and weaknesses; we will be faced with innumerable problems that we will have to lean into and push through; we will get hurt; we will encounter disappointments and sorrows; and maybe we will even bleed a little. That’s just life.

 

The author of the book made the above statement as he was attempting to illustrate the qualities of character and integrity that combined to make great men great. In his example, he referred to the lives of Abraham Lincoln and Winston Churchill, both of whom battled lifelong depression; both of whom suffered through multiple personal tragedies; and both of whom had to persevere through numerous failures in life before they experienced great success.

 

The author then went on to point out that if you conduct a study of the lives of great men and great women throughout history, one common denominator you will discover in all of their lives is that they had to fight for success. They all endured tremendous struggles, great pains, lots of opposition, and numerous failures. But it was their perseverance through such difficulties that led to their greatness.

 

Don’t ever doubt that God has a wonderful plan for your life. But also know that you have a great responsibility to embrace that plan, and a lot of hard work to do, if that plan is to come to fruition. Trust God for the plan, and also trust Him for the process. Know that He will help you, but also remember that you have to do the hard work in order for the vision to become reality.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

 

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Trusting God”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “And now, God, do it again – bring rains to our drought-stricken lives …” Psalm 126:4 (The Message)

 

Our thought for today: “God blessed you before, He’ll bless you again.”

 

Have you ever stopped to consider – really consider – how much and how frequently God has blessed you? Can you even begin to count all the acts of mercy, compassion, provision, and protection He has poured into your life over the years? The answer of course is “no”, you can’t. He blesses you in a thousand ways every day. From the air you breathe, to the sounds you hear, to the sights you see, to the food you eat. Then there are the near-miss car wrecks you were never even aware of, and the deadly germ you almost inhaled but which passed you by, and, well, I could go on and on.

 

Then consider the nice home you live in, the dependable car you drive, your job, your spouse, your children. And how about the times of crisis He brought you though like the time you lost your job and needed another? Or when you were deathly ill but He healed you, or He brought your wayward child back to you, and so much more.

 

The point is that God has blessed you over and over again in the past (in big ways and in small) and He will continue to bless you in the future. You can trust Him for it.

 

I love the way Eugene Peterson paraphrases Psalm 126 in his paraphrase of the Bible “The Message”. It’s a short Psalm so let me just quote the entire thing for you:

 

“It seemed like a dream, too good to be true, when God returned Zion’s exiles. We laughed, we sang, we couldn’t believe our good fortune. We were the talk of the nations – “God was so wonderful to them!”

 

God was wonderful to us; we are one happy people. And now, God, do it again – bring rains to our drought-stricken lives so those who planted their crops in despair will shout hurrahs at the harvest, so those who went off with heavy hearts will come home laughing, with armloads of blessings.”

 

I love it! I want what he just said: “Yes, God, do it again! You’ve blessed me richly in the past – many times, in big ways and in small, so do it again now!”

 

I believe it’s perfectly legitimate to pray that way. In fact, it’s Biblical. After all, the Psalmist did it.

 

You can trust God to bless you. He loves blessing you. He has blessed you many times in the past and He’s eager to continue blessing you now and into the future. God ahead and ask Him.

 

“Do it again Lord, do it again!”

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Trusting God”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Surely I spoke about things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.” Job 42:3 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Trust God to teach you important lessons as you go through tough times.”

 

When we consider the story of Job we usually conclude by giving him credit for enduring tremendous hardship without losing his faith in God. But while it’s certainly true that Job never lost his faith in God, it’s also true that in the middle of his pain and suffering Job questioned God – a lot. Job wanted to know what he had done to deserve this kind of suffering; he even suggested that God was being unfair and even harsh.

 

Sounds like me.

 

I would like to claim that I’m a towering pillar of strength and courage in the face of tough times and pain, but I’m not. I’m actually a lot like you. And like Job. While I never lose my faith in God, I do ask questions – and yes, I do complain. I’ll bet you do too.

 

And God’s ok with that. I mean, He already knows you feel that way so you might as well admit it and talk to Him about it, right? There is actually great value in being open and honest with God about your questions and complaints. Because when you talk to God about what you are feeling, openly and honestly, He then helps you to think through it and begin to see things from His perspective. That’s what happened to Job.

 

Now, Job was never told “why” he suffered the way that he did. You and I, the readers of his story, we are told, but even at the end of the story Job was never told the “why” of it all. But through the course of the pain and the suffering, as he asked questions of God and voiced his complaints, Job’s eyes were opened to greater spiritual realities. Through it all Job came to know and appreciate God in ways he never had before.

 

In verse 42:3 he even spoke about “things too wonderful for me to know.” If you go back and read the unfolding dialogue in the previous 41 chapters you realize that as Job wrestled through this thing, he discovered many wonderful things about God which he had not previously known. Job’s times of trial and struggle ended with him having a much deeper relationship with the Lord than he had before going into that difficult season of life.

 

And therein lies the lesson for us. God will not only walk with us through our seasons of difficulties, but He will use them to teach us and to grow us – if we will just let Him.

 

The next time you’re going through tough times I encourage you to use that season of life as an opportunity to learn and to grow. Spend lots of time with God; wrestle with Him; ask questions; voice complaints; seek understanding. Just like was true for Job, you can trust God to teach you valuable lessons through your times of trials.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

 

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Trusting God”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Where will my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.” Psalm 121:1-2 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “God is the One who can be truly trusted.”

 

Who or what do you really trust in? Who or what do you look to for security, protection, provision, and happiness? If you’re a Christian then you probably immediately answered “I put my trust in God.” Ok, nice answer. That’s certainly the “Christian” thing to say.

 

But is it true? Do you really mean it? In actual day-to-day living are you trusting in God alone, or maybe are you trusting in God and in your good job. Or are you trusting God and your good looks, or God and your intelligence, or God and your guns, or … well, you get the idea.

 

Psalm 121 is probably one of the greatest declarations in the Bible of truly trusting fully and completely in God alone. I think it would be appropriate to simply quote the entire Psalm:

 

“I lift my eyes toward the mountains. Where will my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

 

He will not allow your foot to slip; your Protector will not slumber.

Indeed, the Protector of Israel does not slumber or sleep.

 

The Lord protects you; the Lord is a shelter right by your side.

The sun will not strike you by day or the moon by night.

 

The Lord will protect you from all harm; He will protect your life.

The Lord will protect your coming and going both now and forever.”

 

Amen.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

 

Good Morning Everyone,

Our theme for this month: ‘Trusting God”

Our Bible verse for today: “Test Me in this way, says the Lord of Hosts. See if I will not open the floodgates of heaven and pour out a blessing for you without measure.” Malachi 3:10 (HCSB)

Our thought for today: “Take your eyes off of yourself.”

When we’re going through tough times it is basic human nature to turn our thoughts inward. We tend to believe we have to focus more intently on ourselves in order to deal effectively with our problems.

Unfortunately this can lead a person to become very self-absorbed. We convince ourselves that since our own issues seem so overwhelming, we don’t have the time or energy to be concerned about other people and their problems. But in the Bible God shows us a different way.

As an example, in Malachi chapter three the prophet taught about money and tithing. Evidently many of the people had come to the conclusion that their own financial needs were such that they could not afford to obey God’s command to give a tenth of their income to the church (a tithe). But through Malachi God told the people to simply obey Him and trust Him in this matter. Even though it might not have seemed possible or practical, He told them to trust Him, do what He commanded, and He in turn would bless their socks off.

God was telling the people to take their eyes off of themselves and off of their own problems, and to focus instead on obeying Him and blessing others.

Jesus spoke to this as well. In Matthew 6:25-34 (The “Do not worry” passage in the Sermon on the Mount), Jesus taught that rather than obsessively worrying about food and clothes, housing and car payments, money and bills, He said “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.”

God teaches us very clearly that He does not want us to be self-absorbed, focusing exclusively or even primarily on our own problems. He wants us to take our eyes off of ourselves and to focus instead on obeying Him and blessing others. When we do that, He assumes responsibility for all the other issues of our lives.

The best approach is always to simply trust God and obey Him. That doesn’t relieve you of your responsibility to make good choices and of being actively involved in solving your own problems, but it does open the door for God’s full blessings in your life. “Test Me in this way, says the Lord of Hosts. See if I will not open the floodgates of heaven and pour out a blessing for you without measure.”

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Trusting God”

Our Bible verse for today: “Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (HCSB)

Our thought for today: “God will use other people to help you.”

If you’ve been involved in church life for any length of time, especially if you’re fortunate enough to be a member of a good church family, then you have experienced the blessing of Christians helping one another. When you’re struggling with difficult life situations, and brothers and sisters come alongside to help you, it is a relief and a blessing.

In 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 Paul makes reference to the great truth that God comforts us and ministers to us in our own afflictions, so that we can then turn around and minister in similar fashion to others who are struggling. In fact, almost always, God brings us the relief we need through other Christians. Occasionally there will be a miraculous intervention. Maybe you woke up one morning to discover that in the middle of the night the angel Gabriel put an envelope of money under your pillow so you could pay for the needed repairs to your car – but probably not. More than likely the help you needed came from a generous brother or sister in your church family.

The Apostle Paul frequently relied on the help of other Christians, and he did so without hesitation and without shame. Life can be hard, and from time to time we all need help. That’s one of the primary reasons God brings us together in church families. We need each other. There is simply no Biblical model that allows for Christians to be out of church life. God does not call us to be Lone Ranger Christians.

In this life we all need help. You can trust God to bring you the help you need, but it will usually come – almost always – through other Christians. Accept the help. Receive it with thanksgiving. Then do the same for someone else.

God Bless,

Pastor Jim