Yep, your worth it..............

Yeah baby! It's Friday!!!! Are you happy? Are you ready for the weekend. Has your week been a good one? Or, has it been filled with sorrow and hurt? Day by day I see on Facebook, T.V., and read in the newspaper all the hardships and bad stuff going on. Have things always been this bad? I don't remember when I was growing up, there being all this bad stuff going on. There is so much bad and very little good. I think that little by little we can change that. We can be difference makers and here is how. We must realize this and let it bring joy to our hearts! Let's dig into the good stuff and see what it cab show us........

Bible verse: Matthew 10:29-31 Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Fathers will. But, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are more value than many sparrows.

God is totally aware of everything that is going on, at all times. How valuable are we to God, that he would send His son to die for us. We should never worry about the trials or personal attacks in our lives. God's love and spirit is in us and there is no way any outside power or problem can take that away from us.

 

Saying that, we are all going to go through hard times. We are but sheep sent out among wolves. We will be tried and tested. We have to be aware and steadfast in our everyday walk. If we could all be like pillars of stone. Standing tall and strong in the face of the enemy and adversity. In Matthew 5:10 Jesus says "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven". I was told by a coworker one day that if I kept on talking about God and the Bible that people would start to shun me here at work. I thought about that statement for a bit and came to this conclusion. I would gladly accept being shunned by people for my faith in God and trying to share the Word of God with others. I was thinking,"Wow, this is just a hint of persecution. I can't imagine how Jesus felt". I know that it bothered me a little when this man said that to me. What about everything that was said and done to Jesus. What was it like to be in his shoes? Have you ever thought how life would be if Jesus never came to earth for us? What would our existence be like? If Jesus stood and took all that He suffered through. Can we not handle people saying hurtful things, talking bad about us because of our faith, making bad jokes, or challenging our faith. I really think that we will be tested from time to time and we should be. I also think that God will let this all happen to see how strong our Faith in Him is. Sometimes we have to be much stronger to turn the other cheek. There are other times that we show our true self. Let's try to show less of ourselves and more of Jesus. Are we true to God? Will we stand strong and stand tall? Remember we are Gods' children and we are so very valuable to Him. Have a great day and God bless!

If the mouth is talking and the feet aren't walking...........

What's up peeps! It's Thursday and did you wake up this morning with a smile or a frown? I must say that I have had a smile on my face for about the whole week and I marvel at God and what He will do in and with our lives if we let Him. The last three services at my church have been about love, love for others. Well, I am going to put a little different twist on it and show you why some have trouble with it. So, here's the deal! We must be alive in our faith. If we are born again then we should have works! We can't be dead beat Christians. Dead people can't do anything! Can they? Let's dig into some of the good stuff and look at this........

 

Bible Verse: Ephesians 2:1-2 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,

Bible Verse: 1 John 3:18 Little children, let us not love with words or tongue, but in deed and truth.
 

Did you hear about that team of dead guys who climbed Mount Everest? Nope? That's because dead guys don't climb mountains. Dead guys don't do anything. Dead guys who are pretty much all the way dead just sit there decomposing. You can poke them with a stick. Guess what happens? Nothing!

I have a question for ya What would it take to be good enough to be with God in heaven forever? It would take a lot more than being able to climb Mount Everest. Some people have done that, right? But none of them were dead.

Paul wrote that we all start out with a big, no wait a huge problem. Spiritually speaking, we're dead! We're born that way because we were born sinful. Poke-us-with-a-stick dead. All the way dead. Pretty much dead! Get it? And spiritually dead people can't take even one step toward God. So we lived spiritually dead lives, just like Satan wanted us to. Powerless. Lifeless. Dead.


If we start out as spiritual dead, how much of heaven can we ever hope to earn by doing spiritually good stuff? Just go ahead and say none! See, there is this thing called grace....It's by grace through faith that we are saved. It's not what we do. There is not any work you can do to get that ticket into heaven. But, what's cool is that when we are saved! We should have works! Basically, If the mouth is talking and the feet aren't walking, it's just fluff! It's useless!

Ok, I have a mission for you! Find something dead and poke it with a stick. No? Okay, find someone spiritually dead and poke him with a stick. Then read Ephesians 2:1-10 to them. Do me a favor. Have a great day and God bless!

Don't miss it!!!!!!!

Good morning! I have been up for a while now and have been sitting on the back porch with a big cup of coffee and the Word just soaking it in. I am going to brag on God for a bit. I thought this week was going to be a hard one for a few personal reasons. Well, it started to be amazing at 11:30 Sunday night and has continued to make me smile everyday so far! It's like I am able to see again. Crazy right? So, when God speaks to you do you know it? When you do....Do you listen? Or, only when it is what you want. Think about it for a second. Let's dig into the good stuff and see what it says about it.......

 

Bible Verse: 2Kings 5:10 And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, "Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean."

 

I must give you the story if you don't know it yet. We have talked about the great leader Naaman and that he was a leper. Well, his wife's servant girl from Israel told her of a prophet in Samaria that could heal her husbands leperosy. Well, even Naaman's king didn't want his great leader to die and sent money and a letter to the king of Samaria to make a way for Naaman to see Elisha. Well, it all worked out and Naaman rode his chariot to Samaria and came to the door of Elisha. Well, here comes the hard part for Naaman. Elisha sent a messenger to Naaman and didn't come himself. That really ticked Naaman off! He thought that Elisha should have came out to meet him and do some hand waving and shouting and heal him with the power of God. The messenger told him to go and wash in the Jordan seven times and he would be clean. Naaman in his anger said are the rivers Abana, Pharpar, and Damascus not cleaner and better than the Jordan? Why can't I wash in those? He left angry!!!!

 

How many times when God tells or even asks us to do something that doesn't make sense do we refuse or get angry? It is all about obedience and that begins with humility. Guy's we are not always going to understand His way of working, but if we humbly obey, we wil recieve His blessings.

 

Back to Naaman, He left angry and his servants came to him and asked "If the prophet asked you to do some big thing would you have do it?" So, why would you not do this? It is something so very small. So, Naaman went and did what Elisha told him. His skin was made like a newborn babies!! The leperosy was gone!!! It was all about obedience!!!!!! That is what God wants from us. Just our obedience. How obedient are you? Are you only obedient when it is what you want to do? Are you humble in your obedience? Let's put our pride in check and pay attention to the little things this week. Allow yourself to be blessed! I promise you don't want to miss your blessing. Have a great day and God bless.

25,000 a day..........

Happy Friday! That's what my kids say every day. They say "Happy _______", when they are saying goodbye. Whatever day it is. Sure do miss them. They have been gone for a week on vacation. I want to ask you today, Do words matter? I think that we really don't have a clue how much our words do matter. How much we can hurt people with our words or how much we can build up with our words. Can our words be influenced by someone else? Let's dig into some of the good stuff and see what it shows us.......

Bible Verse: Proverbs 12:5 The thoughts of the righteous are just, But the counsels of the wicked are deceitful.

This devotion is going to be a little personal. I must tell you that I have been wounded pretty bad by some words said by a few very negative people. Do you know the kind of person I am talking about? Let me step back for a moment. If you stand by and allow someone mistreat someone else. In my humble opinion, you are a little to blame. It makes me think of the responsibilities of a knight. We Christians should stand up for the helpless and/or weak. Now, I am not saying that I am helpless but, we should defend the defenseless or maybe if someone is not there to defend themselves. We should do the right thing. But, let's be real. That would cause us to go against the grain. Maybe make some of our friends or family members mad. I am not mad at the people that were involved or not involved in the very harsh and negative words but, I do expect more from them. I have prayed a lot about the issue and know God will work this all out. What is totally cool is that I still love these people and will not quit. I know sounds crazy. I should hate them or at least be totally mad at them. Spiritual warfare really sucks sometimes! But, it's real!!!!

Here is some more meat for you. I read recently that we each speak around 25,000 words a day and we hear many times more than that. It's no wonder we treat words like they're meaningless and don't really matter. It's easy to believe the old sayings: "Words are cheap." "You've got to walk the talk." "Sticks and stones . . ." I've heard this one a lot in the past too, "The proof is in the puddin'"

But God's Word and specifically some of the verses from Proverbs 12 says that words are powerful. For one, they reveal what's really going on in our hearts and minds. How we use them shows who we are. Today's verse tells us not to go looking for good advice from wicked people (remember we are all wicked at times) or people who do wicked things. Sometimes their advice lies, either because they're really lying to us or because they don't know the truth themselves. If you want true advice, go to people known for telling the truth and doing good.

I must ask you whose advice are you most likely to listen to? How careful are you about what voices you are willing to trust? Let's ask God to help us to make wise choices about who we trust to give us good advice. Listen this week for words of advice offered from friends or media or other sources and think about who it is that is giving the advice and how we can know if that person is trustworthy. I think this will open your eyes to what is going on around you. Spiritual warfare everywhere. I pray you have a good day and God bless.

Don't fall asleep where you get in..........

Good morning everyone! I sure hope you haven't started this week out with an awful Monday! We discussed some things in Sunday school yesterday and I would like to talk about one of them. Have you ever heard the term "Deepening your spiritual roots"? How do we do that? Can we do it on our own? Do we need help? I think we can do it on our own, but it's harder. Proverbs 27:17 Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. I think our spiritual roots get a double dose of miracle grow when we hunger for God and to know Him better. Let's dig into some of the good stuff and see what God can show us.........

Bible Verse: Psalm 1:3 He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers.
 

Let me tell you a story from a couple years ago. We were on vacation in Destin a couple of years ago and Joslyn fell out of bed and was crying. When I got to her, I picked her up, and said, "Jos, what's wrong? How did you fall out of bed?" She said, "Daddy, I think I went to sleep too close to where I got in."

I think there are a lot of people who have done exactly the same thing with their walk with Jesus. They get into Christ and somehow they just seem to go to fall asleep right there. They say, "I'm saved and that's it." "I'm good!" But guys, that's not it. It's just the beginning of a relationship that will last through all eternity. It is just the start of your journey. Now, don't let that scare you. You can do it! There is help out there. I think that is what tickles me about the church I am attending. God has sent some unbelievable teachers there. So basically God has brought new Christians and some that have been walking with Jesus for a long time together. If you look around there are groups like this everywhere. Remember Proverbs 27:17. Look for a place like this to grow. If you can't find one. Give me a shout and I will help you.

Here is the thing I want you to take from this today. God wants to move closer and be more intimate in knowledge of Himself. I don't know about you guys, but I am definitely not satisfied with the status quo of my life. I want to grow deeper and let my roots dig deep into to the heart of Jesus. I pray we can have this desire together! Have a great day and God bless.

Train em' up!!!!!!!

Good Sunday morning. Wanted to get my devotion in before I left for Sunday school. My kiddo's are off on vacation this week with their mother. So, I thought I would do some reflecting on my role as a father. Thought I would start by watching an amazing movie called “Courageous” and it made me look at the my role as a father. We are to raise our children up to follow and respect God. To do that, we as fathers must lead from the front. You will never be able to truly lead your family from the backseat.

Bible Verse: Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it.

So, I had a lot of time yesterday to think about my role as a father and was weighed and measured and found lacking. It is my job to make sure my children are ready for this world when they leave the nest. I don't want to be a good enough dad. I want to be the best daddy I possibly could be.

I have seen so many young people that are being raised by single mothers or grandparents or maybe even someone that is not even their family. My hat goes off to the single mothers that are filling both roles! What breaks my heart is when the parents are able to take care of the children but, they just refuse to. When we bring these children into the world it is OUR responsibility to nurture and raise them up. Not just set them in front of the TV or video game. We must mold them to be better than we are. We must break the vicious cycle. This world we live in is going to hell in a hand basket and I want my children to stand among the few and resist the ways of the world. Please hear this, there are too many children without dads and I see the effect it has taken on them. If your a dad and have laid down and not been there for your children. It's not too late! We MUST break the cycle of our culture. We must be the spiritual leaders of our families. We must be courageous!!! We must be men of faith! Have a great day, and God bless.

Want to be a flamethower???????

Good morning! Yesterday I was down at my buddy's barber shop. He was giving back to his customers with free hotdogs, watermelon, and drinks. Well, A friend of mine stopped by with her daughter and while there all the boys were outside shooting fireworks off. Her daughter went out for a bit but, those boys had a big thing for fire and the things that go "BOOM"!!! So, the question I have for you. How many of you liked to play with fire as a kid, or liked sitting around the campfire telling stories? Every boy no matter what his age is a pyromaniac and even some girls too! For this article, I want to put a positive spin on the word “Pyromaniac”. I have two things for you to remember after you are finished reading this. One, Jesus is the ultimate and original pyromaniac. And two, Jesus is looking for someone to become His firepower. Do you believe me when I say that Jesus is the ultimate pyromaniac? Well, check this out. Did you know that “Fire” is mentioned over 500 times in the Bible? You maybe sitting here saying, “what is a pyromaniac?” Well, it is someone who has the irresistible urge to start fires. Jesus wants to use you spark a love for Him in others. Remember, we are putting the positive spin on pyromaniacs.

In Genesis 3:23, God sent an angel with a flaming sword to guard the Garden of Eden. In Genesis 19:22, God set a couple of evil cities on fire (Sodom & Gomorrah). In Exodus 3:2, God set a bush on fire when He appeared to Moses. In Deuteronomy 4:24, God’s Word says, “The Lord your God is a consuming fire”. Here is a tidbit of info for you; the only books in the Bible that don’t mention fire are Ruth and Ester. See, I told you, boys are pyromaniacs!!! What I am trying to get at is Jesus is looking for someone to become his firepower. Here is the definition of firepower: “The capacity, as a weapon, weapon system, or military unit for delivering fire, the ability to deliver fire against an enemy in combat; effective power of force.” God wants you to become a powerful weapon that He can use to deliver fire against the enemy in combat. Don’t think for a second that we are not in combat as Christians. So, do you want to become a “Pyromaniac” for Jesus, a “flamethrower” for Jesus who shares the good news of Christ everywhere? Do you have it in you? I know you do. You just have to believe in yourself and in what Jesus can do through you.

Luke 3:16 tells the story of John the Baptist.  John is teaching about the coming of Jesus and he says, “He will baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.” Do you know what fire does? It refines! Let’s get fired up! Let’s let Jesus refine us and make us His firepower. You maybe thinking right now that you are just an average Joe or that you can’t make a difference in this world, and I beg to differ. The Bible is full of average Joe’s making a huge difference for God. If a flaming meteor fell from the sky and landed next to you, burning up everything that wasn’t of God. What would you have left? What would be left of you? I know you are thinking of some things in your life right now that God does not and would not approve of. Why don’t you let God refine you, give them up. He needs His firepower to be strong, and sin is like water that puts out or dampens your fire. Let’s stoke our fire and help it to burn hot and bright! Smokey, the bear says, “Only you can prevent forest fires,” and he is right. Our sin quenches our fire. Are you ready to stoke your fire? Here is the fuel, The Word of God, prayer, and the Holy Spirit. Let’s get to work. Have a great day and God bless! 

Forget how it sounds..........

Happy Independence Day! I want to tell you a quick story. Last night as the kids and I sat down for dinner. They began to argue over who was going to bless the food. So, I told them they could both pray. Luke first and then Joslyn. Luke said his "God is great, God is good" prayer and then Joslyn busts out this probably two minute prayer. About everything from struggles she has seen lately to upcoming events. I must say that I sat there blown away that my eight year old was praying the way she was. It was "big girl" prayer! It was "battle" prayer. My question to you today is. How do you fight your battles? If your a Christian, how do you wage war on the devil and his demons? Or, should I ask do you wage war? Because whether you want to believe it. That is what is going on if you are a born again believer. Our greatest battles can be won in prayer. The wars and battles with the devil are won in the closet. The prayer closet. We must be prayer warriors to win this fight from day to day. Alright, let's dig into the good stuff........

Bible Verse: Matthew 6:6 But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

 Let's be about prayer today. Really, Let's be about what Jesus said in Matthew 6 . He was teaching about how we should do this thing called "prayer." First: We should pray for God's ears, not other people's. Praying in public makes some people feel really weird. I don't really blame them for saying silly things to God in those moments, but you can sometimes tell they're worried about "sounding right" to the people around them. They work in a few churchy words or phrases because they've heard everyone else do it. Jesus told his listeners to do their praying behind closed doors in secret. But, really Jesus just wants you to talk to Him like He is your best friend. Now, the closed doors thing is not during mealtime or other occasions as such. But, for your personal prayer.

Why should we pray this way? For one thing, it weeds out all the wrong motives. The Jewish religious leaders gave each other spiritual browny points for how sweet and good sounding their public prayers were, but they were missing the point of talking to God. When you're alone, you know you're not impressing anyone with your prayer talk. You're more likely to talk to Him straight out of your own life, not how someone else's might pray.

Of course, you're not going to pray in secret unless you're convinced God is listening. Prayer in secret is an act of greater faith in the God who cares so much about you. Jesus promised that our Father listens and rewards those prayers. You don't need to step up to the microphone for Him to hear and answer you.

Have you ever prayed in front of people, do you pray any differently than you do when you're alone? Are you ever tempted to try to impress people with your prayers? How likely are you to pray when nobody is looking? Let's ask God to help us talk to Him more often when nobody else is around. Let's be prayer warriors and share our heart with the King on Kings!

This may sound funny but, got a closet handy? Try praying in it today. No, I am just kidding you don't really need to pray in a closet for God to hear you, but trying it once or twice might make you more aware of how you're talking to God. Have a great day and God bless.