God Is a God Of Magnificent Detail! …

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Exodus 28,29; Acts 7

God Is a God Of Magnificent Detail! …

And He Did It All Just For You!

Scripture

Acts 7

⁴⁶ “David found favor with God and asked for the privilege of building a permanent Temple for the God of Jacob. ⁴⁷ But it was Solomon who actually built it. ⁴⁸ However, the Most High doesn’t live in temples made by human hands. As the prophet says,


 ⁴⁹ ‘Heaven is my throne,
      and the earth is my footstool.
   Could you build me a temple as good as that?’
      asks the LORD.
   ‘Could you build me such a resting place?
    ⁵⁰ Didn’t my hands make both heaven and earth?’ 

Observation

Our God is a God of extreme detail. As I read this morning in Exodus 28 and 29 I was amazed how God wanted the priest to be dressed. Here is an example of what I read: 

Exodus 28

² Make sacred garments for Aaron that are glorious and beautiful.
 ³ Instruct all the skilled craftsmen whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom. Have them make garments for Aaron that will distinguish him as a priest set apart for my service. ⁴ These are the garments they are to make: a chestpiece, an ephod, a robe, a patterned tunic, a turban, and a sash.

⁵ So give them fine linen cloth, gold thread, and blue, purple, and scarlet thread. 

 ⁶ “The craftsmen must make the ephod of finely woven linen and skillfully embroider it with gold and with blue, purple, and scarlet thread. ⁷ It will consist of two pieces, front and back, joined at the shoulders with two shoulder-pieces. ⁸ The decorative sash will be made of the same materials: finely woven linen embroidered with gold and with blue, purple, and scarlet thread.


¹⁵ “Then, with great skill and care, make a chestpiece to be worn for seeking a decision from God. Make it to match the ephod, using finely woven linen embroidered with gold and with blue, purple, and scarlet thread. ¹⁶ Make the chestpiece of a single piece of cloth folded to form a pouch nine inches square.


¹⁷ Mount four rows of gemstones on it. The first row will contain a red carnelian, a pale-green peridot, and an emerald. ¹⁸ The second row will contain a turquoise, a blue lapis lazuli, and a white moonstone. ¹⁹ The third row will contain an orange jacinth, an agate, and a purple amethyst. ²⁰ The fourth row will contain a blue-green beryl, an onyx, and a green jasper. All these stones will be set in gold filigree. ²¹ Each stone will represent one of the twelve sons of Israel, and the name of that tribe will be engraved on it like a seal.


This is just a tiny part of the instructions that God gave them as to how He wanted the priests dressed. 

When I read the section about how all of the precious stones were to be placed on the chestpiece I thought of John’s description of Heaven in the book of Revelation and all of the precious stones found there.


If God was this detailed on what someone was going to wear that came into His presence here on earth can you imagine what it is going to be like in Heaven? Oh my goodness…


Stephen’s next statement was what got him stoned to death, “But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed steadily into heaven and saw the glory of God, and he saw Jesus standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand. ⁵⁶ And he told them, “Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand!”


I used to pray and ask God to let me see into Heaven. After my heart attack and after dying multiple times while I was in the hospital that is not something that I think that I am going to pray anymore. (By the way … I don’t remember getting to see Heaven any of the times that I quit breathing and they had to resuscitate me)! 

 Heaven is going to be glorious. It is going to be beyond our wildest dreams. It will be beyond all that we can imagine or think! God is so good. I don’t need to see it ahead of time!


God is a God of magnificent detail! Just look around today at everything that His Hands have created.


Everything that you see today that God created was created with you in mind. He did all of this just for you.  

Application


I will praise God for His wonderful creation as I go through this day. How about you?

Prayer

O LORD, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!


Your glory is higher than the heavens. You have taught children and infants to tell of your strength, silencing your enemies and all who oppose you. When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers— the moon and the stars you set in place—


What are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them? Yet you made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor.


You gave them charge of everything you made, putting all things under their authority— the flocks and the herds and all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea, and everything that swims the ocean currents.


O LORD, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth! Psalm 8

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Grumbling and Rumblings READ About How To Deal With Them…

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Exodus 25,26,27; Acts 6

Grumbling and Rumblings

READ About How To Deal With Them…

Scripture

Acts 6

¹ But as the believers rapidly multiplied, there were rumblings of discontent.

Observation

Every church before long experiences rumblings of discontent, but how we deal with the problem(s) is the difference between church growth and church decline. The Twelve apostles chose seven men to take care of the problem. These were not just any seven men these were men who were well respected and were full of the Spirit and wisdom. It would do our churches well to follow this pattern for correcting problems and issues within the church body. 

The Apostle Paul wrote letters to many churches and in most of his letters he was addressing problems within the church. Sometimes it was something seemingly very insignificant like the two women that were at odds with each other in the church at Philippi, but other times he wrote blasting the church for their immorality (like the church at Corinth), and other times it was for their drifting away from sound Biblical doctrine (Galatians).  

Churches are going to have issues and challenges. I can confidently say that because I know that the church is made up of a bunch of sinners. Most of those attending hopefully are forgiven sinners, but sinners just the same. We are not going to see eye to eye on every detail on every situation that faces the church. That is why God has placed godly men, men that are well respected and full of the Spirit and wisdom in every church. 

Can you pick out the men in your church that fit that description? I sure can in ours and I am glad that they meet with Pastor Bruce and support him the way they do. It is one of the reasons why our church is growing the way it is – godly laymen supporting their pastor!

Application

The next time I hear a rumbling in our church I will seek out those godly men in our church to work on solving the problem.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You that we have Your Word that gives us guidance and strength every day. Thank You for the godly men that You have placed in my life and for the godly men that we have in our church. I pray that Your Hand would remain on our church. I pray that You would continue to be glorified and honored with everything that happens within our fellowship. Thank You for a wonderful day of worship and fellowship yesterday. Thank You for the army of volunteers that made it so successful. Thank You for the generosity of people within our fellowship that provided the “Bar-B-Q" for our entire church. God You are so good. You are Worthy of Praise! 

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Can We Demand Our Rights? As Believers Our Rights Have Been Yielded Over to Jesus Christ …

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Exodus 23,24; Psalms 14; Acts 5

Can We Demand Our Rights? As Believers Our Rights Have Been Yielded Over to Jesus Christ …

Scripture

Acts 5

⁴⁰ The others accepted his advice. They called in the apostles and had them flogged. Then they ordered them never again to speak in the name of Jesus, and they let them go.
 ⁴¹ The apostles left the high council rejoicing that God had counted them worthy to suffer disgrace for the name of Jesus. ⁴² And every day, in the Temple and from house to house, they continued to teach and preach this message: “Jesus is the Messiah.”  

Observation

Persecution does not stop the work of God in our world today. In fact, in many places in our world where persecution is the worse more and more people are coming to put their faith in Jesus.

If you ever have a chance to go on a mission trip to Cuba or China you can experience this first hand. Hopefully not the persecution part but I would hope you could see how powerful God’s church is in those hostile countries. I haven’t been to China yet, but I have read a lot of books about how the underground church continues to grow there in spite of severe persecution.

We live in a country where we are not going to be flogged or thrown in jail for teaching and preaching the message that “Jesus is the Messiah”. In fact, we have almost total freedom to go house to house in our neighborhoods sharing the Good News about Jesus. Yet, for the most part, we aren’t doing it.

Maybe things need to get worse for believers here in our country before we share our faith like we should. I heard someone say the other day, “Christians need to stand up for their rights; our country is in the shape it is in because we don’t take a stand.” My response to the comment even though I didn’t say it was this, “Christians don’t have rights.”

We have yielded our rights to Jesus Christ. We are slaves to Christ. Yes, I think we should take a stand on moral issues, I think we should take a stand for what we believe, but we aren’t able to demand our rights because those rights have been yielded over to Jesus Christ.

Galatians 2:20 comes to my mind when I think of my rights as a Christian, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

I know that this is an election year. Florida is bombarded right now with politicians. I am sure that you have your favorite person that you believe that should be in the White House. Let me just encourage you to maintain a balance in your Christian life and remember that sharing the Good News of Jesus should always be our number one priority.

Application

I will look for people that need to hear about Jesus this week and share with them.  

Prayer

Heavenly Father, I pray for the right person to be elected to lead our country, a person that has strong moral values and that is honest. I would pray that it would be someone that has a personal relationship with You so that he would be able to call on You for help in leading this great nation. I pray that You give me the opportunity to share Jesus with someone this week. You are a Wonderful Savior. Be glorified today as we worship You in our churches.

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God’s Great Blessing Was Upon Them … God’s Great Blessing Can Be On Us Too!

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Exodus 21,22; Psalms 12; Acts 4

God’s Great Blessing Was Upon Them …

God’s Great Blessing Can Be On Us Too!

Scripture

Acts 4

 ³² All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had. ³³ The apostles testified powerfully to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God’s great blessing was upon them all. ³⁴ There were no needy people among them, because those who owned land or houses would sell them ³⁵ and bring the money to the apostles to give to those in need.

 Observation

This is the very First church, 5,000 men strong operating like a church should operate. We don’t know how long First church was able to enjoy that special moment. We don’t know if it lasted for several weeks or maybe even for several months but we do know that by Acts chapter 5 people began to mess it up. But we don’t read about that until tomorrow!

Prayer Rallies like our church had this past Wednesday help unite believers in heart and mind.

I would love to be part of any church that comes close to modeling what we find described in Acts 4! Our church is getting there … how about yours?

Application

I will pray for our church asking God to move it to be more and more like First church, the church we read about in Acts 4.  

Prayer

Heavenly Father, I pray that Your great blessing would be on our church. I pray that our people would be united in one heart and mind. Help us to be as generous as those folks that made up this very First church. Amen.

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REPENT … One Of The Most Positive Words In The Bible

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Exodus 17,18,19,20; Acts 3

REPENT … One Of The Most Positive Words In The Bible

Don’t Believe Me … Just Take a Minute To Read And Find Out Why

Scripture

Acts 3

¹⁹ Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away.

Observation

You might have thought that the word “repent” was a negative term. You may have seen someone with a sign at a busy intersection with the word REPENT in big letters, or maybe someone at a football game in the end zone with a sign telling everyone to REPENT. They are using saying to the crowd or to the passing traffic, “Turn or Burn!” 

These are well-meaning individuals and God may use their signs to get a sinners attention. But I think you and I will be better off explaining to people that the word “repent” is one of the most positive words in the Bible. In fact unless you come to understand the word “repent” you will never be able to enter into the kingdom of God. 

A good definition that I can understand for the word repent is this: changing of your mind/heart that causes you to turn from selfish living and turn to God. It is a changing of your heart about God and who He is. When you make that change and you turn the direction of your life in God’s direction it is easy for you to trust God through the Lord Jesus Christ to forgive you of all your sins. 

Everyone person on the face of this planet is a sinner. You are either a forgiven sinner or an un-forgiven sinner. The difference depends on whether you have heard the Gospel, whether you have had a change of mind/heart, and whether you have turned to God for salvation. 

Salvation is a totally free gift. You can’t earn it. You can’t feel sorry enough for your sins to merit it ... Only God saves! 

Have all your sins been wiped away? Have you changed your mind/heart from selfish living and turned to God and trusted in Him for your salvation? 

 Application

When I share the Gospel I will be sure to explain the term “repent” so people understand what it means.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, I would have like to have been there when Peter preached this message to the people. What a response to Your Gospel! I pray that we would see the same thing happen here in Tampa. I pray that people would understand the Gospel and that they would have a change of mind/heart and turn to You and trust You for their salvation. I know that only You save. I pray that You would use our church to take the Good News of Jesus Christ to thousands in 2012.  

Acts 4:4

“But many of the people who heard their message believed it, so the number of believers now totaled about 5,000 men, not counting women and children.”

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Your Church Can Be This Exciting … Honest It Can!

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Exodus 14,15,16; Acts 2

Scripture

Your Church Can Be This Exciting …

Honest It Can!

Acts 2

 ⁴¹ Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day—about 3,000 in all. 

 ⁴² All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer. 

 ⁴³ A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. ⁴⁴ And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. ⁴⁵ They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. 

⁴⁶ They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity— ⁴⁷ all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.  

Observation

I love reading Acts chapter two. It might be the most exciting passage in the New Testament next to the resurrection of Jesus! 

How much is your church like the first church, the one we read about in Acts 2? Do you feel the excitement when you walk into your auditorium’s foyer? Is there fellowship? Are people being saved every week? Are you praying together?

Can you imagine a church growing by 3,000 in one day? Then by chapter four of Acts the church has grown to 5,000! Wow!

Church should be like what we read about in Acts chapter two. Don’t settle for anything less. If your church has lost its vision and excitement to reach people for Jesus then you need to be the one to change that!

What are you doing to make sure that when people come on your campus they feel loved and accepted? Are you being intentional about how you treat first time guest.

I love what we are doing at Christ Fellowship!  

We want people to know that we care about them and it is our goal to make sure they know that just as soon as they arrive in the parking lot. Our teenagers greet people every Sunday the moment they turn into our parking lot. In fact, our students greet people every Sunday as they drive by our campus letting them know that Christ Fellowship is a very special place. 

When people drive on to our campus they are met with an army of smiling greeters in orange shirts. Their first impression of our church is so important to us because we want them to feel accepted and loved so they will want to come back. 

We experience a little of what the first Christians experienced at Pentecost every Sunday morning at Christ Fellowship! I am amazed at what God is doing! I am delighted to be a small part of this movement. 

 Application

I am going to make sure that I do my part to make people feel loved and accepted at our church. How about you?  

Prayer

Heavenly Father, may Your Hand continue to stay on our church. Don’t let us lose the excitement of seeing people saved each week. Help us to do our very best at making people feel loved and accepted about our church. Give us Your heart for our city. I pray that You will continue to receive the Glory and the Honor for everything that is happening at Christ Fellowship! 

Exodus 15:18 “The LORD will reign forever and ever!”

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Prayer Rallies … It Is The Early Church Started Out!

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Exodus 12,13; Psalms 21; Acts 1

Prayer Rallies … It Is How The Early Church Started Out!

Don’t Miss The Joy and Excitement Of Being A Part Of The Next Prayer Rally

Scripture

Acts 1

 ⁸But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. 

 ⁹And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. 

 ¹⁰And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; 

 ¹¹Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.

 ¹²Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day's journey. 

 ¹³And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James. 

 ¹⁴These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren. 

Observation

Our Pastor, Bruce Moore issued a special appeal for our church to come together for a Prayer Rally and that happened tonight at 7pm. I normally would have read my Bible and had my quiet time this morning but I wasn’t able to do that because I spent the night in the hospital. It turned out to be nothing. I was having chest pain but after lots of tests they ruled out that it had any thing to do with my heart. So I am a little late writing my blog. 

There was excitement tonight at the Prayer Rally. Our youth came to pray. Our children came to pray. Everyone came together to ask God to do mighty things in our church and transform the lives of those that attend. 

As I read this passage I couldn’t help but think that this was first Prayer Rally of the early church. God gives birth to the first church in Acts chapter two, but in chapter one of Acts we can feel the excitement of the disciples as they gathered to pray. Can you imagine what it must have been like to watch Jesus ascend into Heaven? As they gathered together for prayer it must have been a glorious event. I left church tonight anticipating the movement of God this Sunday because the church gathered together to pray. 

In Acts 1:8 we read that we have been given dynamite power through the Person of God’s Holy Spirit. The Bible says that we have received the same power that brought Jesus back to life.

God’s Power resides in us. 

The church is so powerful. When we come together and pray God will work and God will bless. I am so looking forward to see what God does this Sunday. I hope that you are just as excited about what God is going to do in your church as we our in ours!

Preparation for a powerful Sunday begins with us. We need to be praying together and asking God to work!

Application

I will participate in every Prayer Rally that our Pastor calls and I will do it with great joy and excitement. 

Prayer

Heavenly Father, I enjoyed praying tonight to You with a group of friends. Now we anticipate great things for this Sunday. We will anticipate miracles. We will rejoice over those whose lives are transformed. I pray for people to be saved this Sunday.

I pray for many people to make commitments to serve in our church. You are the Great Healer. I pray for those that are sick that need Your healing touch. I especially pray for Jene Williams who is in the VA hospital that You heal him.

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The Most Powerful People On The Face Of The Earth … Believers in The Lord Jesus Christ

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Exodus 9,10,11; Luke 24

The Most Powerful People On The Face Of The Earth …

Believers in The Lord Jesus Christ

Scripture 

Luke 24

⁴⁷ and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. ⁴⁸ You are witnesses of these things. ⁴⁹ I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

Observation

Have you been clothed with power from on high? Do you know what Jesus is talking about when He makes this statement to His disciples right before He ascends in to Heaven?

When you and I accept the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior something very significant happens to us. God Himself comes to live within us! That’s right God’s Holy Spirit comes to reside in us. He sets up house right inside our heart. 

He has given us the task of being His Hands and His feet to reach this world for Christ. And to make sure we can accomplish that task He comes to live inside every Christ follower to make sure that we are successful.

You don’t believe me? You don’t have to believe me but you do have to believe the Word of God. Here are just a few verses to show you that you and I are capable of accomplishing some very big assignments:

    But when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you will receive power and will tell people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Acts 1:8

    And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us. 1 John 4:13  

    And God has actually given us his Spirit (not the world's spirit) so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us. 1 Corinthians 2:12

    And the Holy Spirit helps us in our distress. For we don't even know what we should pray for, nor how we should pray. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. Romans 8:26

    For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. 2 Timothy 1:7

    I can do everything through him who gives me strength. Philippians 4:13

What this means is that those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun! 2 Corinthians 5:17

    The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as he raised Christ from the dead, he will give life to your mortal body by this same Spirit living within you. Romans 8:11

    … And he has identified us as his own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first installment of everything he will give us. 2 Corinthians 1:22

    Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Matthew 28:19

Application

Because God Himself lives within me I can do anything that God places on my heart to accomplish. How about you?

Prayer

Heavenly Father, I know that You want to use us to take Your Gospel message to every people group on this earth. You live within us. We have no excuse. Help me to be the witness that You want me to be. Give me Your Heart for people. Help me to have Your compassion for those around me that don’t know You. We have been empowered by Your Holy Spirit to do great things. Use our church to be a light to the Nations. Use our church to reach the Tampa Bay area. Thank You for taking up residence inside of me. 

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Salvation Is More Than A Prayer!

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Exodus 6; Exodus 7; Exodus 8; Luke 23 

Salvation Is More Than A Prayer!

Scripture

Luke 23 

³⁸ There was a written notice above him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
 ³⁹ One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” 

 ⁴⁰ But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? ⁴¹ We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” 

 ⁴² Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
 ⁴³ Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” 

Observation

Don’t think that by mumbling, saying, or repeating a certain prayer that you will be saved. The words you say or repeat do not save you.

You must be born again.

The criminal on the cross did not use our standard salvation prayer that we commonly have people repeat today, but in that moment on the cross that criminal passed from death unto life. Jesus told him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.

So if it is not the words that you say to God that saves you then how is a person saved?

Romans 10:9-10; 13

    For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved. For "Anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

John 3:3 

    Jesus replied, "I assure you, unless you are born again, you can never see the Kingdom of God."

As we preach the Gospel we invite people to express what has happened in their hearts. We do that by encouraging them to pray what we call the sinner’s prayer. If they have not believed, or more accurately, if they have not by faith trusted in their hearts that Jesus is the Son of God, if they have not repented (turned from sin and self and turned to God) of their sins, then they are not born again.

How do we know if someone has truly been saved? We don’t. Should we stop extending an invitation at the end of our worship services … absolutely not! We share the Gospel … then we ask people to respond ... Only God saves!

If all the people that make decisions at the end of the service are not saved then why do we extend an invitation. For some that come forward during the invitation it is the first step towards God. We have the opportunity to counsel with them so they can better understand the Gospel and move even closer to God. It may be a month, year, or several years before that person truly understands the Gospel message and is saved.

God pursues us. God saves us.

The one thief on the cross died and went to Hell. The other thief trusted in Christ for his salvation and will spend eternity in Paradise with Jesus. Both heard Jesus’ words while they hung on the cross, one repented and trusted in the Messiah and the other did not.

It is our job to make the Gospel message as clear as possible. It is God’s job to save those that hear the Gospel message.  

Application

I will continue to share the Gospel. I know that those that turn from their sins and trust in Christ for their salvation will be saved.  

Prayer

Heavenly Father, I pray for a movement of Your Holy Spirit like happened at Pentecost for our church. I pray that many will be saved. I pray that they would follow their decisions with baptism and I pray that they would grow in Christ and find a place to serve. I pray that You would move in a Mighty way in the life of our church. I pray that Your Hand would remain on our church and that it would continue to reach our city for Christ. Amen.

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Moses…”What Is That In Your Hand?” How God Can Use Us To Do “God Size” Task!

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Exodus 3,4,5; Luke 22

Moses…”What Is That In Your Hand?” How God Can Use Us To Do “God Size” Task!

Scripture 

Exodus 4

¹ Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The LORD did not appear to you’?” 

 ² Then the LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?”
   “A staff,” he replied. 

 ³ The LORD said, “Throw it on the ground.” 

   Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. ⁴ Then the LORD said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand.

 ⁵ “This,” said the LORD, “is so that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you.” 

Observation

Moses had plenty of excuses why he could not do what God told him to do. It is so easy to think that we can’t do what God has asked us to do. It is easy to make excuses. 

Everyone one of us have talents and abilities that God wants to use. The truth is though that none of us can do what God wants us to do in our own strength. God showed Moses that all he had to do was to allow God to work through him and he could accomplish this God size task!

Moses was a shepherd. His staff was used for many purposes. He was probably skilled at using it to protect the sheep. When he put what was in his hand (his staff) into God’s hand it became an unbelievable force. 

What is in your hand? Are you a skilled musician? Maybe you are a good administrator or successful in business? Some of you are very good at construction and some of you are very good with children, or with youth, or with preschoolers. 

Here is what has to happen before God can use you to accomplish a “God Size” task -you have to take that skill or talent out of your own hands and give it to the Lord. 

God has made you a 10 in some area! You excel in some area and God wants to use that talent/skill to further His Kingdom. Think about it. Don’t make excuses. Give your talents, abilities, and skills to the Lord and watch what happens. 

He will use you to complete a “God Size” task!

Application

I will take my abilities, skills, and my talents out of my hands and give them to God. How about you?

Prayer

Heavenly Father, I love the story of Moses. It helps me realize that You can use any of us that are willing to give You what is in our hands and let You use us to further Your Kingdom. I pray that You would help me not make excuses for why I cannot serve You. I have no excuse. You can and You will do incredible things through me as long as I am yielded to You. 

I pray for Pastor Bruce today. Use Him to further Your Kingdom. May Your words penetrate hearts as He shares them and I pray that people would be saved today! Amen.

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Extravagant Giving!

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Exodus 1,2; Psalms 88; Luke 21

Extravagant Giving!

Scripture

Luke 21

The Widow’s Offering

 ¹ As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. ² He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. ³ “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. ⁴ All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”

Observation

Have you ever thought about this story very much? Here is a poor widow that is giving her offering but instead of giving a part of what she owns she gives everything that she owns and when she leaves the temple she is totally broke. Jesus praises her for her sacrificial gift.  

What motivated her to give everything she had? 

Would any of us do that today? She was a poor widow. She wasn’t getting to get a check from the government the next week. She may not have had any family that was taking care of her. Yet, Jesus said that this widow gave more than all of the other rich people because she gave everything that she had while the rich gave out of their wealth. When the rich people gave their offerings and left the temple they were still rich. 

Are you and I more like the rich people in this story or are we closer to being like the poor widow? When we leave church on Sunday after giving our tithes and offerings has it been a real sacrifice for us. Does it hurt? Or are we just tipping God? The rich people in this story were just tipping God. They gave out of their abundance.

Church is tomorrow. How will you give? How will I give? 

I think the widow must have known the secret about giving and that is why she gave everything. You and I would be more generous toward God if we just knew and acted on His promises about giving. Let these two verses sink in: 

Malachi 3:10 

    Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the Lord Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. 

Luke 6:38 

    If you give, you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full measure, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, and running over. Whatever measure you use in giving—large or small—it will be used to measure what is given back to you." 

Do you believe the Word of God? 

God says, “Put me to the test.” He only says this about giving. We only believe what we practice! Lets pray today about how much we should put in the offering plates tomorrow. 

Application

The next time I give I will think of the poor widow and how she gave everything and I will seek to be a lot more generous in my giving.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, help me to trust You when it comes to earthly possessions. You own it all. I don’t really own anything. Help me to be generous with people and with You. I know that I cannot out give You. 

I pray for those that are struggling financially. Many of them need to learn the lesson of the widow’s mites. I pray that You help them even though they have robbed You and have spent most of their money on themselves. Show them how to be generous towards You so that they can receive Your blessings. 

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Why Are People So Important To God?

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Genesis 49,50; Psalms 8; Luke 20

Why Are People So Important To God? 

Scripture

Psalm 8

    ¹ LORD our Lord, your name is the most wonderful in all the earth! 

   It brings you praise everywhere in heaven.
 ² From the mouths of children and babies come songs of praise to you.
   They sing of your power to silence your enemies who were seeking revenge.
 ³ I look at the heavens you made with your hands.
   I see the moon and the stars you created.
⁴ And I wonder, “Why are people so important to you?
   Why do you even think about them?
Why do you care so much about humans?
   Why do you even notice them?”
 ⁵ But you made them almost like gods
   and crowned them with glory and honor.
⁶ You put them in charge of everything you made.
   You put everything under their control.
⁷ People rule over the sheep and cattle and all the wild animals.
⁸ They rule over the birds in the sky
   and the fish that swim in the sea.

⁹ LORD our Lord, your name is the most wonderful name in all the earth! 

Observation

Maybe you have wanted to ask God the same question that King David asked Him in this Psalm, “Why do you care so much about humans?” 

I have wondered that myself. Why does He put up with us? We have messed everything up. We don’t deserve His Love or His goodness that He lavishes on us. Just think He has put us in charge of everything on earth. He made the entire Universe, the Sun and the Moon and all of the stars and all of the planets just for us! He has crowned us with glory and honor and He has made us like Him.


Even children and babies sing praises to God. 

The Bible is a love story all about how much God loves you and how much He loves me. Over and over and over again He tells us in His Word just how much He loves us. Can you think of some verses that speak of God’s love for us? You probably immediately thought of John 3:16, maybe even Romans 5:8, or how about Romans 8:37-39

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

    “God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us”. Ephesians 3:20

LORD our Lord, your name is the most wonderful name in all the earth! 

Application

 All day today I am going to Praise the Lord for loving me and blessing me so much. I am going to praise Him for His creation and thank Him for creating it just for us!

Prayer

LORD our Lord, your name is the most wonderful name in all the earth! 

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Jesus Came To Find Lost People and Save Them!

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Genesis 47,48; Psalms 10; Luke 19

Jesus Came To Find Lost People and Save Them!

Scripture

Luke 19

¹⁰ The Son of Man came to find lost people and save them.”

Observation

Luke 19

¹ Jesus was going through the city of Jericho. ² In Jericho there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a wealthy, very important tax collector. ³ He wanted to see who Jesus was. There were many others who wanted to see Jesus too. Zacchaeus was too short to see above the people. ⁴ So he ran to a place where he knew Jesus would come. Then he climbed a sycamore tree so he could see him. 

 ⁵ When Jesus came to where Zacchaeus was, he looked up and saw him in the tree. Jesus said, “Zacchaeus, hurry! Come down! I must stay at your house today.” 

 ⁶ Zacchaeus hurried and came down. He was happy to have Jesus in his house. ⁷ Everyone saw this. They began to complain, “Look at the kind of man Jesus is staying with. Zacchaeus is a sinner!” 

 ⁸ Zacchaeus said to the Lord, “I want to do good. I will give half of my money to the poor. If I have cheated anyone, I will pay them back four times more.” 

 ⁹ Jesus said, “Today is the day for this family to be saved from sin. Yes, even this tax collector is one of God’s chosen people. ¹⁰ The Son of Man came to find lost people and save them.” 


Zacchaeus was a sinner. He was a tax collector. To the people of that day being a tax collector was worse than being a prostitute or at least just as bad. Tax collectors worked for the Roman government collecting taxes from the Jews. Because tax collectors were usually dishonest and they would charge more that what they should they were very well off. Zacchaeus was very wealthy which probably meant that he was not totally honest when he collected taxes from the people.
Jesus found Zacchaeus up in a tree. 

The little guy wanted to see Jesus and that was the only way he was going to have the chance because he couldn’t see over the crowd. It is important to note that Jesus came to Zacchaeus who was up in that tree. He called him by name and said, “Zacchaeus, hurry! Come down! I must stay at your house today.” 

Sometimes we think that we are the ones that seek out God but the truth is that Jesus came to this earth to find the lost and save them. God pursues us and not the other way around.
Salvation came to Zacchaeus and his family not because he or his family deserved it. They were saved because Jesus found them and saved them. 

Are you saved? 

Have you repented (turned away from) of your sins and have you trusted in Jesus Christ to save you?  Jesus wants to save you just like you are. You are a sinner. He came to find and save “sinners” 

The Bible says that once we are born again that Jesus Christ comes to live in us. He will use us to find the lost and save them. 

Who do you know that needs Jesus? 

Have you invited them to church? 

Why not? 

Do you go out of your way to spend time with them? 

Why not? 

Jesus went to eat at Zacchaeus’s house. He went to spend time with him. Jesus wants to do the same thing through us.  

Application

This week I will look for people who are lost and witness to them. How about you? 

 Prayer

Heavenly Father, Jesus shocked the religious leaders by going to the house of a sinner. Help me to be willing to do the same thing. Give me your heart for the lost around me. Show me who You want me to witness to and show me who You want me to spend extra time with this week. I pray that You would guide and direct me. Help me to be sensitive to the leading of Your Holy Spirit.

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Pray and Never Give Up Hope

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Genesis 44,45,46; Luke 18

Pray and Never Give Up Hope

Scripture

Luke 18

¹ Then Jesus taught the followers that they should always pray and never lose hope. 

He used this story to teach them: ² “Once there was a judge in a town. He did not care about God. He also did not care what people thought about him. ³ In that same town there was a woman whose husband had died. She came many times to this judge and said, ‘There is a man who is doing bad things to me. Give me my rights!’ ⁴ But the judge did not want to help the woman. After a long time, the judge thought to himself, ‘I don’t care about God. And I don’t care about what people think. ⁵ But this woman is bothering me. If I give her what she wants, then she will leave me alone. But if I don’t give her what she wants, she will bother me until I am sick.’” 

 ⁶ The Lord said, “Listen, there is meaning in what the bad judge said. ⁷ God’s people shout to him night and day, and he will always give them what is right. He will not be slow to answer them. ⁸ I tell you, God will help his people quickly.

Observation

Have you prayed much lately? If you answered, “Yes”, what has been the focus of your prayers?
Jesus is teaching a huge truth here about prayer using the story of a bad judge who didn’t care anything about God or people. A lady came to the judge asking the judge to help her because someone was mistreating her. She kept bothering the judge until he finally gave in and helped her. He didn’t do it because he feared God or even liked people he did it because he realized that they lady was going to continue to drive him crazy until he said he would help her. 

The point of the story is that we have a Righteous Judge who wants to help us. He cares about us and wants to answer our prayers. Jesus says that we should pray and never give up hope. He was reminding his disciples and he is reminding us that we have a Good Heavenly Father who wants to answer our prayers.  

If you spend most of your prayer time praying for yourself and your own personal needs I think you are going to be disappointed? I am not saying that God will not answer your prayers, but I am saying that there is more to prayer than praying for our own needs. Why not pray for everyone else that comes to our mind first and ask God to work in his or her life and then mention your own needs to God. 

God knows that my heart is damaged and I would like for Him to fix it, but I am not going to spend all my time praying to God about my own health. God puts on my heart other people that need healing and I pray for them. My focus needs to be off of myself and I need to pray for those around me. Plus I know that I have lots of people who are praying for me everyday and they are asking God to heal me. 

Application

I will pray today for those that need healing and those that are going through very difficult situations.  

Prayer

Heavenly Father, help me keep my focus off of myself and help me think more about the people around me and the needs that they have. I know that You are going take care of me. You are the Great Provider. You are the Healer. There is nothing too hard for You.

I pray for those sick and in the hospital today: Jene Williams and Myrtle Varnes. I pray that You give them strength today and I pray that you heal them. I pray for my friends that are facing huge legal issues I pray that You would come to their rescue.

I pray for our pastor and our staff today.  I pray that You bless them, that You give them the desires of their hearts, that You would answer their prayers and that You would make their plans successful. Amen.

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What You Do When Someone Hurts You … You Give Them “The Gift of Forgiveness”

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Genesis 42; Genesis 43; Psalm 5; Luke 17

What You Do When Someone Hurts You … You Give Them “The Gift of Forgiveness”

Scripture

Luke 17

 “If your brother or sister in God’s family does something wrong, warn them. If they are sorry for what they did, forgive them. ⁴ Even if they do something wrong to you seven times in one day, but they say they are sorry each time, you should forgive them.” 

 ⁵ The apostles said to the Lord, “Give us more faith!”

Observation

I know someone that most of his children won’t have anything to do with him because of the way he mistreated their mother and how badly he hurt them. It has been years. When he tries to send Christmas presents to his children and to his grandchildren the gifts are refused and returned. Recently one of his children and her husband spoke to him and forgave him. They are now beginning to rebuild their broken relationship … How beautiful is that!

The children of this person are all believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. I grieve over this because I know that it hurting his children even more than it is hurting him. Since they are holding a grudge and refusing to forgive him they will suffer way more than he will. It will affect all of their relationships. They will never get to enjoy the Christian life in a way that God intended as long as they refuse to give him the Gift of Forgiveness!

Forgiveness is not something that a person earns. Sometimes we want to set down rules for the person who has hurt us and tell them that they have to do this and that and then we will forgive them. Jesus says, “If your brother or sister in God’s family does something wrong, warn them. If they are sorry for what they did, forgive them. Even if they do something wrong to you seven times in one day, but they say they are sorry each time, you should forgive them.” 

When you and I get hurt by someone our human tendency is to get even with them. Resentment builds and before long it blinds us to God’s truth and we begin to rationalize why we can’t forgive the person. Peter asked Jesus once, “Lord, when someone won’t stop doing wrong to me, how many times must I forgive them? Seven times?” Jesus’ answer to Peter’s question was, “I tell you, you must forgive them more than seven times. You must continue to forgive them even if they do wrong to you seventy-seven times. 

Did you notice that the Lord used the word “must” when He responded to Peter’s question about forgiveness? Forgiveness for believers is not something that is optional. We must forgive. They don’t deserve it, true, so we must give them forgiveness as a gift.

Who do you need to forgive? Who needs your gift of forgiveness? Why not forgive them right now and let them know that you have forgiven them. God is all about reconciliation. There is nothing more important in life than relationships and keeping them healthy. 

It doesn’t depend on the other person that has wronged you it depends on you. 

 Un-forgiveness is so unlike our Heavenly Father and so uncharacteristic of His children. 

You can’t lead a godly life if you refuse to forgive someone. It is impossible.  

Application

When I am wronged I will try to quickly respond and give the gift of forgiveness. How about you? 

Prayer

Heavenly Father, you know how my heart hurts for this father who desperately wants to be reconciled with his children. How he wants to be a grandpa to his grandchildren. I pray for Your divine intervention into this situation.

I pray that you will change the children’s hearts toward their father. Help them to be able to gift him with the gift of forgiveness. I am so glad that you have given me this wonderful gift. I am so glad that I won’t get what I deserve. I am glad that You quickly forgive my sins and don’t hold them against me!

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When You Are In Hell … It Will Be Too Late… There Is Urgency To The Gospel!

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Genesis 39,40,41; Luke 16

When You Are In Hell … It Will Be Too Late… There Is Urgency To The Gospel!

Scripture

Luke 16

¹⁹ Jesus said, “There was a rich man who always dressed in the finest clothes. He was so rich that he was able to enjoy all the best things every day. ²⁰ There was also a very poor man named Lazarus. Lazarus’ body was covered with sores. He was often put by the rich man’s gate. ²¹ Lazarus wanted only to eat the scraps of food left on the floor under the rich man’s table. And the dogs came and licked his sores. 

 ²² “Later, Lazarus died. The angels took him and placed him in the arms of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. ²³ He was sent to the place of death and was in great pain. He saw Abraham far away with Lazarus in his arms. ²⁴ He called, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me! Send Lazarus to me so that he can dip his finger in water and cool my tongue. I am suffering in this fire!’ 

 ²⁵ “But Abraham said, ‘My child, remember when you lived? You had all the good things in life. But Lazarus had nothing but problems. Now he is comforted here, and you are suffering. ²⁶ Also, there is a big pit between you and us. No one can cross over to help you, and no one can come here from there.’ 

 ²⁷ “The rich man said, ‘Then please, father Abraham, send Lazarus to my father’s house on earth. ²⁸ I have five brothers. He could warn my brothers so that they will not come to this place of pain.’
 ²⁹ “But Abraham said, ‘They have the Law of Moses and the writings of the prophets to read; let them learn from that.’ 

 ³⁰ “The rich man said, ‘No, father Abraham! But if someone came to them from the dead, then they would decide to change their lives.’ 

 ³¹ “But Abraham said to him, ‘If your brothers won’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they won’t listen to someone who comes back from the dead.’” 

Observation

This story tells us quite a bit about the place called Hell. First we can be sure from the story that Hell is a real place. It is a place of torment. There is fire in Hell. The person can get no relief from the fire. The rich man desired to have just a drop of water to cool his tongue. 

This story about the rich man and Lazarus also lets us know that Hell will be a place of regret. Here we find the rich man in hell and all of a sudden he thinks of his five brothers. He desperately wants to warn them so they don’t find themselves in the same place but it is too late.


Who in your family still needs to be saved? 

Have you turned from your sins and surrendered your life to Jesus Christ. Now is the time because one day it will be too late. Now is the time to share with your family members because one day it will be too late. 

Lazarus in a way experienced a little of “Hell” on earth, but the big difference between his situation and the rich man is this, Lazarus only suffered while he was on earth, but the rich man has to suffer forever and ever and ever. 

This story also stresses the urgency of the Gospel. We never know when we will die. Once we die then it is too late to share the Gospel. Once we die it is be too late to give our lives to the Lord. We need to share with those around us now. We need to get right with God now. Don’t put it off!

Application

I will order devotional magazines from LifeWay for each one of my nine grandchildren this week. I want them to grow up knowing all about Jesus. I want them to be able to put their faith and trust in Him. 

Prayer

Heavenly Father, help me be the witness I need to be for my family, for my children, for my grandchildren, and for my extended family. Let them see Jesus in me. And help me to verbally share my faith with them. I don’t want any of them to go to Hell.

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What Causes Joy In Heaven? … What Causes Joy In Your Church? … What Causes Joy In Your Life? Take a Minute To Read This Before You Go To Church Today!

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Genesis 37,38; Psalms 7; Luke 15

What Causes Joy In Heaven? … What Causes Joy In Your Church? … What Causes Joy In Your Life? Take a Minute To Read This Before You Go To Church Today!

Scripture 

Luke 15

Joy in Heaven

 ¹ Many tax collectors and sinners came to listen to Jesus. ² Then the Pharisees and the teachers of the law began to complain, “Look, this man welcomes sinners and even eats with them!” 

 ³ Then Jesus told them this story: ⁴ “Suppose one of you has 100 sheep, but one of them gets lost. What will you do? You will leave the other 99 sheep there in the field and go out and look for the lost sheep. You will continue to search for it until you find it. ⁵ And when you find it, you will be very happy. You will carry it ⁶ home, go to your friends and neighbors and say to them, ‘Be happy with me because I found my lost sheep!’ ⁷ In the same way, I tell you, heaven is a happy place when one sinner decides to change. There is more joy for that one sinner than for 99 good people who don’t need to change. 

 ⁸ “Suppose a woman has ten silver coins, but she loses one of them. She will take a light and clean the house. She will look carefully for the coin until she finds it. ⁹ And when she finds it, she will call her friends and neighbors and say to them, ‘Be happy with me because I have found the coin that I lost!’ ¹⁰ In the same way, it’s a happy time for the angels of God when one sinner decides to change.” 


Observation


What is your church like? 

Do you celebrate when someone gives his or her life to Christ? 

Is the focus of your church reaching the lost for Jesus?

 We have a few people that get very excited about our music but not excited in the best sense of the word. A few of them come in late and a few of them leave early because they don’t particularly care for our praise and worship time. But the vast majority of our folks love what is happening at Christ Fellowship and at the end of the worship service celebrate with those that give their lives to Christ! 

The ones that leave early – or the very few that choose not to even attend worship - I wonder if they even care if someone gets saved or not? They must not have read Luke 15 lately!

One of our older saints who just turned 80 has one of the best attitudes of anyone in our church and it is an attitude that all of us need to have, he says, “It is not my kind of music, but that is OK because I am so excited about all the new people and all of the people giving their lives to Christ!” I don’t want to miss what is happening in our worship service. (Eddy paraphrase!) 

He has learned how to rejoice like the Angels do in Heaven! If you and I were up in Heaven right now, and remember I came very close to being there, we would hear continuous praise and celebration all over Heaven over all the people that are repenting of their sins and that are trusting in Jesus. 

How does God feel about you when you repent of your sins and turn to Him for salvation? The next story in this text from Luke 15 is usually called the “Story of the Prodigal Son”, but I think it is better titled the “Story of the Prodigal Father!”

The story is really about our Extravagant Heavenly Father and how He lavishes on us an abundant life here on earth, how He pours out on us so many blessings it is impossible to count, and how He promises us that we will spend forever with Him in a place called Heaven, a place that He has specially prepared for us. And we don’t deserve any of it. 

We are sinners. We deserve judgment. We deserve punishment. We deserve to go to a place called Hell. But because we have a Prodigal (Extravagant) Heavenly Father we are not going to get what we deserve, but rather we are going to get so much that we don’t deserve! Wow! What a Savior! 

Application

I am going to focus and join in on the celebration at the end of the service when someone gets saved and I am not going to critique or fret about what is wrong about the worship service. 

Prayer

Heavenly Father, help me rejoice over what makes You and the Angels happy in Heaven. Guard my heart so that I don’t become someone who is critical and mean. I pray for people to be saved today in our worship service. I pray that our church really rejoices at the end of the service with the people that have found a new life in Jesus Christ. 

I thank You for Pastor Bruce and his commitment to bring people to Jesus. Nothing is more important to him. It is his focus. I praise God for that! You have been so extravagant to my family and me. I am overwhelmed at Your goodness. You are so good. We are not worthy of such Extravagant love!

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Don’t Lose Your Influence – Tim Tebow Has A Unique Platform And So Do We!

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Genesis 34; Genesis 35; Genesis 36; Luke 14

Don’t Lose Your Influence – Tim Tebow Has A Unique Platform And So Do We!

Scripture

Luke 14

Don’t Lose Your Influence

 ³⁴ “Salt is a good thing. But if the salt loses its salty taste, you can’t make it salty again. ³⁵ It is worth nothing. You can’t even use it as dirt or dung. People just throw it away.

Observation

Are you following Tim Tebow? No matter what you think about him there is one thing for certain and that thing is this…God has given him a unique platform to share the Gospel and influence people. God has also given you and I unique platforms to share the Gospel and influence the people around us.

What we have to watch and what Tim Tebow has to watch is that we don’t lose our influence by doing something stupid. You might ask, “Well what stupid thing could I do to lose my influence with those around me?” Here are just a few of the stupid things that we could do that would cause us to fall: adultery, dishonesty, sexual immorality, lying, and pride. In other words…SIN!

So how do you and I maintain our integrity and keep from falling. How do we keep from losing our influence? You and I need to establish boundaries.

To keep from falling into sexual sin I have set up some boundaries for my life; here are a few: 

1. I don’t ride in a car with alone with a woman unless it is Kathy or one of my children or grandchildren.

2. I will never share a meal alone with a woman except for Kathy.

3. I will not counsel a woman more than once and when I counsel her that first and last time I make sure the door is open and my secretary knows that she is in my office.

4. I do not look at bedroom scenes or Victoria Secret commercials on television or anything else sexually inappropriate for me.

 Have you established boundaries? Does your spouse know them and do you hold each other accountable. Too many of my friends have lost their influence with those around them because they did not set boundaries with the opposite sex. And they did something stupid!

Another way we could lose our influence on those around us is if we begin to think more of ourselves than we should. Christians that are professional athletes, other Christians that may be celebrities, and even pastors that stand in the pulpit each week run the risk of starting to believe that they are more than they are. Once they begin to receive the glory from people then it is all over … they have begun to lose their influence. They have become salt that has lost its salty taste.

My prayer for Tim Tebow is that he will always give God the glory. My prayer for my pastor Bruce Moore is that he will always give God the glory. My prayer for you and I is the same thing that we will always give God the glory. God wants to use us to bring those around us to a personal relationship with Him. And He will use us if we remain people of integrity.

By the way, even if Tim Tebow and the Broncos lose tonight they are still winners!

 Application

I will stay in God’s Word everyday and I will stay close to Him. I will maintain my boundaries with those of the opposite sex. How about you?  

Prayer

Heavenly Father, I do pray for Tim Tebow today. I also pray for my pastor Bruce Moore. I pray that both of these men will continue to bring You glory. Keep them from doing the stupid things that would cause them to lose their influence. Help them to set up and maintain boundaries in their lives.

I pray that you would use the leadership in our church to continue influencing those that are coming every week. I pray that Your hand would remain on our church and that we would continue to see lives changed. Don’t let our church lose its influence on the city of Tampa! Keep us salty Lord. Keep us salty! Be gloried in us and through us today!

Today’s"Life Journal" Daily Bible Reading can be found on Line. Click Here!

Divinely Favored – Do You realize How Blessed You Are Today? Get Your Chin Up!

Today’s"Life Journal" Daily Bible Reading can be found on Line. Click Here!

Genesis 31,32,33; Luke 13

Divinely Favored – Do You realize How Blessed You Are Today? Get Your Chin Up!

Scripture

Luke 13

 ³⁵ "Look, your house is left empty. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.' "—(Psalm 118:26)

Psalm 118

²⁶ Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
      From the temple of the Lord we bless you.
 ²⁷ The Lord is God.
      He has made the light of his favor shine on us.

²⁸ You are my God, and I will give thanks to you.
      You are my God, and I will honor you.
 ²⁹ Give thanks to the Lord, because he is good.
      His faithful love continues forever.

Observation

As I read the daily Bible reading I noticed that Jesus quoted from Psalm 118. Have you read Psalm 118 lately? Why not read it right now! It will only take you a couple of minutes. It is one of my favorite Psalms. Jesus took this verse to share His heart about how He felt for those that rejected Him in Jerusalem. It is also the way Jesus Christ feels about those that reject Him today.

Luke 13

³⁴ "Jerusalem! Jerusalem! You kill the prophets and throw stones in order to kill those who are sent to you.

Many times I have wanted to gather your people together. I have wanted to be like a hen who gathers her chicks under her wings. But you would not let me!

 ³⁵ "Look, your house is left empty. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.' "—(Psalm 118:26)

The word “Blessed” means Divinely favored. Jesus Christ God’s Son is “Divinely favored”. Do you remember what God the Father said about His Son when John baptized Jesus the Baptist or what He said about His Son when Elijah and Moses visited with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration?

 Matthew 3

¹⁶ So Jesus was baptized. As soon as he came up out of the water, the sky opened, and he saw God’s Spirit coming down on him like a dove. ¹⁷ A voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the one I love. I am very pleased with him.”

Luke 9

^34-35 While he was babbling on like this, a light-radiant cloud enveloped them. As they found themselves buried in the cloud, they became deeply aware of God. Then there was a voice out of the cloud: "This is my Son, the Chosen! Listen to him."

When you and I share the Good News about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ with people we are also “Blessed”. God also Divinely favors us. 

Just look with me at Psalm 118:26-27

²⁶ Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
      From the temple of the Lord we bless you.
 ²⁷ The Lord is God.
      He has made the light of his favor shine on us.

If you and I are living for God today then we should have our chins up.

We should have big smiles on our faces because God favors us. The light of His favor is shining on us! Wow! This truth alone should make our day!

 Application

I am a Christ Follower. I am blessed because I go out in the name of the Lord. I will thank God today for allowing His favor to shine on me. How about you?

Prayer

Heavenly Father, this is my prayer to You today found in Psalm 118:23-24; 28-29

 ²³ This is the LORD’s doing, and it is wonderful to see.  ²⁴ This is the day the LORD has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.

“²⁸ You are my God, and I will give thanks to you.  You are my God, and I will honor you. ²⁹ Give thanks to the Lord, because he is good. His faithful love continues forever. Amen.

Today’s"Life Journal" Daily Bible Reading can be found on Line. Click Here!