Isaiah 42:3 - "He will not break a bent twig. He will not put out a dimly burning flame. He will be faithful and make everything right."
Have you at some time tried to straighten out a bent pipe? Or have you tried to glue a broken piece of porcelain back on to a coffee cup?
In these cases we usually don’t make the effort to fix them. Usually we just throw them away because they are unusable and the effort to fix them is not worth the time.
It is different with God. He does not simply throw away the worthless, because it has some sort of defect. He keeps it in fact alive. And this is a great promise for you. In spite of your doubts, your inabilities, your faults and your many small failings – God stands by you.
Others gave up (threw you away) on you long ago. For them you carry the stamp of a loser, oddball, disbeliever, etc.
Even if you often feel useless and incompetent, God stands by you. He simply doesn’t throw you away, but holds you in his hand. Even when you consider yourself to be worthless, and you would rather throw your life away, God considers you valuable.
Church know that our God Don’t make no junk!
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
What have you done to be saved?
From an AOL survey 9 out of 10 people say what about the key to getting into heaven?
• Living a good life. 65.5%
• Having connections to someone at the top. 26.7%
• Helping old ladies cross the street. 2.7%
• Slipping St. Peter $20.00. 1.9%
• Having a strong letter of reference. 0.5%
• Making a deal with the devil. 1.2%
• Telling a really good lie. 0.5%
With the question: Are you going to heaven?
• Yes. 89.8%
• No. 10.2%
Total votes 143,309
(Source: www.aol.com)
Apparently, nearly 9 out of 10 people believe they are going to heaven, but many of them don't know and/or don't care why. That’s a scary thought.
Our job as Christian is to go out and explain to the lost how they can trully be saved, but we are up against what seems to be the impossible. People that do not want to know the true way to Christ.
With this mind set Satan’s job becomes fairly easy. He does not have to go out and convert people to his ways. All he simple has to do is stretch the truth a little. Make people believe that they are saved when in fact their not. If 65.5% of people feel like living a good life is all they have to do in order to be saved then Satan has won the victory in the battle of their soul.
As you go out this week realize that the field is ripe for finding the lost. Yes, you may be turned down by those that simply do not care why or how to go to heaven. Don’t let Satan us the fear of rejection to silence you.
Love,
Joe
• Living a good life. 65.5%
• Having connections to someone at the top. 26.7%
• Helping old ladies cross the street. 2.7%
• Slipping St. Peter $20.00. 1.9%
• Having a strong letter of reference. 0.5%
• Making a deal with the devil. 1.2%
• Telling a really good lie. 0.5%
With the question: Are you going to heaven?
• Yes. 89.8%
• No. 10.2%
Total votes 143,309
(Source: www.aol.com)
Apparently, nearly 9 out of 10 people believe they are going to heaven, but many of them don't know and/or don't care why. That’s a scary thought.
Our job as Christian is to go out and explain to the lost how they can trully be saved, but we are up against what seems to be the impossible. People that do not want to know the true way to Christ.
With this mind set Satan’s job becomes fairly easy. He does not have to go out and convert people to his ways. All he simple has to do is stretch the truth a little. Make people believe that they are saved when in fact their not. If 65.5% of people feel like living a good life is all they have to do in order to be saved then Satan has won the victory in the battle of their soul.
As you go out this week realize that the field is ripe for finding the lost. Yes, you may be turned down by those that simply do not care why or how to go to heaven. Don’t let Satan us the fear of rejection to silence you.
Love,
Joe
Friday, April 9, 2010
Have I Grown Today?
Have you ever looked at a mature Christian and said I wish I could be like him or her? Wouldn’t it be great if I knew my bible as well as they did, or if I could just pray as well is they do, or be a leader as much as they are, or just be as good at expression joy and love?
Most of us want to have instant growth. We want to wake up one morning and have it all, but what we forget is that we all have a person inside of us that is going through struggles and trials every day.
The only way we are going to become a mature Christian is through practicing spiritual disciplines like
• Reading our bible
• Praying often
• Fellowshipping with one another
• Giving back to God
• Serving God
Garden Question
Have you ever had a garden before or have you ever planted something before that you started from a seed. When you went out to plant the seed what were your intentions? Are you committed to the seed? Do you want to see it grow? Of course you do. You don’t plant a seed to not see it grow. There been a few times you were probably doubtful that it would grow.
God is committed to see us Grow
1 cor. 3:6-7 “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.”
Right there it tells us that he is the one that planted the seed. We are the seed.
Isaiah 60:21: “They are the shoot I have planted, the work of my hands, for the display of my splendor.” When we grow we show His splendor.
What responsibility do we have for our growth?
• 2 Peter 3:18 – Talks about us growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus
• 1 peter 2:2 – Tells us to grow up in our salvation
• 2 Cor. 10:15 – Paul talks about when our faith grows the activity of the church will grow to
It’s just not all up to God and it’s not all up to us. God has designed it so that we work in a partnership with him.
Philippians 2:12-13 - Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling [that’s our part] for it is God who works in you [that’s God’s part] to will and to act according to his good purpose.”
Most of us want to have instant growth. We want to wake up one morning and have it all, but what we forget is that we all have a person inside of us that is going through struggles and trials every day.
The only way we are going to become a mature Christian is through practicing spiritual disciplines like
• Reading our bible
• Praying often
• Fellowshipping with one another
• Giving back to God
• Serving God
Garden Question
Have you ever had a garden before or have you ever planted something before that you started from a seed. When you went out to plant the seed what were your intentions? Are you committed to the seed? Do you want to see it grow? Of course you do. You don’t plant a seed to not see it grow. There been a few times you were probably doubtful that it would grow.
God is committed to see us Grow
1 cor. 3:6-7 “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.”
Right there it tells us that he is the one that planted the seed. We are the seed.
Isaiah 60:21: “They are the shoot I have planted, the work of my hands, for the display of my splendor.” When we grow we show His splendor.
What responsibility do we have for our growth?
• 2 Peter 3:18 – Talks about us growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus
• 1 peter 2:2 – Tells us to grow up in our salvation
• 2 Cor. 10:15 – Paul talks about when our faith grows the activity of the church will grow to
It’s just not all up to God and it’s not all up to us. God has designed it so that we work in a partnership with him.
Philippians 2:12-13 - Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling [that’s our part] for it is God who works in you [that’s God’s part] to will and to act according to his good purpose.”
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Vapor in Time
A guy rented out a whole movie theater for a new movie coming up that he was the Star in. He sent out invitations to several people and on the invitation he explained that the new movie was about him and he wanted all his friends and family to come and watch him in action.
As the movie was more than half way over people felt that all though it was great show their friend was nowhere to be seen in the movie, and there was no way he was the star of the show.
You see he was an extra 1 of a thousand or more that were sitting in the background in one of the scenes. He might have been on the screen for less than half a second.
You can imagine the weird looks this guy was getting as people left the theater and he asked them about his acting skills.
What was this guy thinking?
So many of us do exactly what this guy did with our own lives. No, we don’t rent out a theater and invite people to a movie that we say we were the star in, but we act like our life is the center of the universe. That the reason the earth turns is because we are breathing.
We look at the things we are doing and put them at the top of the list of importance, and then try to press that importance on the people that are around us.
We are a Vapor in time
James 4:14 (New International Version) - 14Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
In the grand scheme of history, human life is short. This verse reminds us that all of our plans and schemes amount to little more than mist or vapor when held up against the backdrop of eternity.
As the movie was more than half way over people felt that all though it was great show their friend was nowhere to be seen in the movie, and there was no way he was the star of the show.
You see he was an extra 1 of a thousand or more that were sitting in the background in one of the scenes. He might have been on the screen for less than half a second.
You can imagine the weird looks this guy was getting as people left the theater and he asked them about his acting skills.
What was this guy thinking?
So many of us do exactly what this guy did with our own lives. No, we don’t rent out a theater and invite people to a movie that we say we were the star in, but we act like our life is the center of the universe. That the reason the earth turns is because we are breathing.
We look at the things we are doing and put them at the top of the list of importance, and then try to press that importance on the people that are around us.
We are a Vapor in time
James 4:14 (New International Version) - 14Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
In the grand scheme of history, human life is short. This verse reminds us that all of our plans and schemes amount to little more than mist or vapor when held up against the backdrop of eternity.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Servant of God
Satan is the entity in our lives that is good at yanking our chains and messing with our daily walk with God. Sometimes we get his action confused with God’s action and place blame on God when in fact it is Satan that is causing us all the dilemmas in our lives.
Let me give you an example: A person strives daily to do good deeds by helping others, he prays for wisdom, strength, and support in hopes that all will be fine in his life. Then out of no-where in the middle of doing all these good deeds an obstacle is presented in his life that causes him to ask the question. Is this God challenging my faith? Why is that God did this to me?
Questions like this have probably come to all of us at one point or another. They cause us to re-evaluate who we are and who God is, and how he is working in our lives. When you do question God’s plan for you get back to the bible. As you read you will began to reassure yourself of his true plan for all his followers.
God loves you and wants you to become matures always looking to Him for peace and guidance. We know that in the bible Jesus said “in this world you will have trouble”. It’s not you may have trouble, but you will have trouble. The trouble can seem very confusing when your actions and prayers are based on sincere faith. If you feel like someone is causing pain and grief in your life consider that it could be the enemy using condemnation. Condemnation comes in the form of an accusation it’s never kind and often is a sound bite from our past. Maybe something like "You can't do anything right." You could respond to that thought with frustration or instead remember and say "That is not true!" Also the enemy uses opposition. Opposition is when you are doing what God wants you to do and Satan wants you to give up! Don't stop and you will see why. Remember when God corrects us, it is called conviction. Conviction can be very uncomfortable but is always kind and the yank is in our very best interest, like a loving parent. Conviction leads us to the true heart of God. My hope is that you can be built up and strengthened in Christ this week.
In Him,
Joe
Let me give you an example: A person strives daily to do good deeds by helping others, he prays for wisdom, strength, and support in hopes that all will be fine in his life. Then out of no-where in the middle of doing all these good deeds an obstacle is presented in his life that causes him to ask the question. Is this God challenging my faith? Why is that God did this to me?
Questions like this have probably come to all of us at one point or another. They cause us to re-evaluate who we are and who God is, and how he is working in our lives. When you do question God’s plan for you get back to the bible. As you read you will began to reassure yourself of his true plan for all his followers.
God loves you and wants you to become matures always looking to Him for peace and guidance. We know that in the bible Jesus said “in this world you will have trouble”. It’s not you may have trouble, but you will have trouble. The trouble can seem very confusing when your actions and prayers are based on sincere faith. If you feel like someone is causing pain and grief in your life consider that it could be the enemy using condemnation. Condemnation comes in the form of an accusation it’s never kind and often is a sound bite from our past. Maybe something like "You can't do anything right." You could respond to that thought with frustration or instead remember and say "That is not true!" Also the enemy uses opposition. Opposition is when you are doing what God wants you to do and Satan wants you to give up! Don't stop and you will see why. Remember when God corrects us, it is called conviction. Conviction can be very uncomfortable but is always kind and the yank is in our very best interest, like a loving parent. Conviction leads us to the true heart of God. My hope is that you can be built up and strengthened in Christ this week.
In Him,
Joe
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Gift from the Giver
When I was younger I had a passion as a lot of my friends to collect baseball cards. We would buy tons of them from the store, get them as gifts for our birthday and Christmas, and trade them with one another. I stored all of my cards in three ring binders with protective sleeves. That was the cool thing to do back then and we all loved it.
I would keep my most prized cards locked up tight and only bring them out every once in a while to show off. I remember several Saturdays we would all sit around going through the cards and putting a value to each of them using a price guide. I had several Nolan Ryan’s being a big fan of his. I think the most valuable card I had was worth around $10, but it meant the world to me.
While at my grandparents house my brother and I had just bought a box of cards together and we were going through them talking about them. My grandfather walked in the room with us and talked about the cards. Right off I guess he could tell the importance the cards were in our lives. He left and then soon after called us into his office. When we walked in the room he handed us both an envelope. Inside the envelope were baseball cards that he had. I opened my envelope and there was a 1955 Topps Sandy Koufax Rookie Card. I remember grabbing my pricing guide and at that time it was worth over $200.00. I couldn’t believe it. I gave my granddad a big hug and my brother and I were so excited about the cards that we talked about it for weeks. We showed the cards off to our friends and then I made a special place for it in my locked cabinet. To this day I still have most of my cards including this one and from time to time I will take it out and think about my granddad and the gift he gave me. There was no way I could pay for this card; there was no card or cards that I had that would be the same value as this card. It was an extravagant gift of love.
The resurrection of Jesus was an extravagant gift of life. Make no mistake—it was not a fair exchange. God saw the distress of his people, their brokenness, their hopelessness; and God gave them the one thing they needed: Jesus.
We can give our money, gifts, and time. We can dress up and go to worship on Sunday. We can offer our services to the poor and needy people in our town. We can give gifts to people that will change their situation for the better. We can give gifts to the church in order to progress God’s work, and we can be sure they bring joy to God’s heart. But the gift of Jesus, God’s son, is a no-trade-possible gift. All we can do is receive the gift and then latch on to the giver in some attempt to say thank you.
I would keep my most prized cards locked up tight and only bring them out every once in a while to show off. I remember several Saturdays we would all sit around going through the cards and putting a value to each of them using a price guide. I had several Nolan Ryan’s being a big fan of his. I think the most valuable card I had was worth around $10, but it meant the world to me.
While at my grandparents house my brother and I had just bought a box of cards together and we were going through them talking about them. My grandfather walked in the room with us and talked about the cards. Right off I guess he could tell the importance the cards were in our lives. He left and then soon after called us into his office. When we walked in the room he handed us both an envelope. Inside the envelope were baseball cards that he had. I opened my envelope and there was a 1955 Topps Sandy Koufax Rookie Card. I remember grabbing my pricing guide and at that time it was worth over $200.00. I couldn’t believe it. I gave my granddad a big hug and my brother and I were so excited about the cards that we talked about it for weeks. We showed the cards off to our friends and then I made a special place for it in my locked cabinet. To this day I still have most of my cards including this one and from time to time I will take it out and think about my granddad and the gift he gave me. There was no way I could pay for this card; there was no card or cards that I had that would be the same value as this card. It was an extravagant gift of love.
The resurrection of Jesus was an extravagant gift of life. Make no mistake—it was not a fair exchange. God saw the distress of his people, their brokenness, their hopelessness; and God gave them the one thing they needed: Jesus.
We can give our money, gifts, and time. We can dress up and go to worship on Sunday. We can offer our services to the poor and needy people in our town. We can give gifts to people that will change their situation for the better. We can give gifts to the church in order to progress God’s work, and we can be sure they bring joy to God’s heart. But the gift of Jesus, God’s son, is a no-trade-possible gift. All we can do is receive the gift and then latch on to the giver in some attempt to say thank you.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
It is part of your nature to forgive
Eph 4:31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. 32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.
Devotional
The Lord has commanded us to Love one another. Although people may hurt us, and at times we my feel rejected by them, we have been instructed to forgive 70 x 7 times. If someone is continually hurtful to you, your responsibility is to forgive them. Take the opportunity talk to them about how their behavior is hurting you. This is a task that when written in black and white seems so easy but when done in life can be one of the most challenging thing we do.
Forgiveness is something that is vital to us as Christians. God tells us that he will forgive us just as we have forgiven others. That makes forgiveness high on the priority list for us. When someone does something wrong towards you immediately find a way to forgive them. Remember like most things in our lives practice makes perfect.
I have heard people say it’s completely against our nature to not retaliate on those who harm us, but it just can’t be. God made us in his image and he has forgiven sins beyond belief. He has created you with the will and the strength to forgive others when they do wrong to you. Take that as your encouragement as you work on forgiving others.
Devotional
The Lord has commanded us to Love one another. Although people may hurt us, and at times we my feel rejected by them, we have been instructed to forgive 70 x 7 times. If someone is continually hurtful to you, your responsibility is to forgive them. Take the opportunity talk to them about how their behavior is hurting you. This is a task that when written in black and white seems so easy but when done in life can be one of the most challenging thing we do.
Forgiveness is something that is vital to us as Christians. God tells us that he will forgive us just as we have forgiven others. That makes forgiveness high on the priority list for us. When someone does something wrong towards you immediately find a way to forgive them. Remember like most things in our lives practice makes perfect.
I have heard people say it’s completely against our nature to not retaliate on those who harm us, but it just can’t be. God made us in his image and he has forgiven sins beyond belief. He has created you with the will and the strength to forgive others when they do wrong to you. Take that as your encouragement as you work on forgiving others.
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