From Pastor Steve

 

"When my daughter was a toddler, I used to take her to a park not far from our apartment. One day as she was playing in a sandbox, an ice-cream salesman approached us. I purchased her a treat, and when I turned to give it to her, I saw her mouth was full of sand. Where I had intended to put a delicacy, she had put dirt.

Did I love her with dirt in her mouth? Absolutely. Was she any less of my daughter with dirt in her mouth? Of course not. Was I going to allow her to keep the dirt in her mouth? No way. I loved her right where she was, but I refused to leave her there. I carried her over to the water fountain and washed out her mouth. Why? Because I love her.

God does the same for us. He holds us over the fountain. "Spit out the dirt, honey," our Father urges. "I've got something better for you." And so he cleanses us of filth; immorality, dishonesty, prejudice, bitterness, greed. We don't enjoy the cleansing; sometimes we even opt for the dirt over the ice cream. "I can eat dirt if I want to!" we pout and proclaim. Which is true—we can. But if we do, the loss is ours. God has a better offer."
~ Max Lucado 

 

"I pray because I can't help myself. I pray because I'm helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time- waking and sleeping  It doesn't change God- it changes me."
~ C.S. Lewis

 

"Some people, in order to discover God, read books. But there is a great book: the very appearance of created things. Look above you!  Look below you! Read it. God, whom you want to discover, never wrote that book with ink. Instead, He set before your eyes the things that  He had made. Can you ask for a louder voice than that?"
~ St. Augustine of Hippo


"Why is this happening to me? Why am I having such a difficult time? One answer is that life is supposed to be difficult! It’s what enables us to grow. Remember, earth is not heaven!"
~ Rick Warren 

 

"Forgive and give as if it were your last opportunity. Love like there's no tomorrow, and if tomorrow comes, love again."
~ Max Lucado

 

"Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.
Life is beauty, admire it.
Life is a dream, realize it.
Life is a challenge, meet it.
Life is a duty, complete it.
Life is a game, play it.
Life is a promise, fulfill it.
Life is sorrow, overcome it.
Life is a song, sing it.
Life is a struggle, accept it.
Life is a tragedy, confront it.
Life is an adventure, dare it.
Life is luck, make it.
Life is too precious, do not destroy it.
Life is life, fight for it."
~ Mother Teresa

 

"Experience is not what happens to you. It is what you do with what happens to you. Don’t waste your pain; use it to help others."
~ Rick Warren

 

"Happy moments, PRAISE GOD
Difficult moments, SEEK GOD
Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD
Painful moments, TRUST GOD
Every moment, THANK GOD"
~ Rick Warren

 

"The most pathetic person in the world is some one who has sight but no vision."
~ Helen Keller

 

"Feed your fears and your faith will starve. Feed your faith, and your fears will."
~ Max Lucado

 

"I want to tell you a growing conviction with me, and that is that as we obey the leadings of the Spirit of God, we enable God to answer the prayers of other people. I mean that our lives, my life, is the answer to someone’s prayer, prayed perhaps centuries ago.  It is more and more impossible to me to have programmes and plans because God alone has the plan, and our plans are only apt to hinder Him, and make it  necessary for Him to break them up. I have the unspeakable knowledge that my life is the answer to prayers, and that God is blessing me and making me a blessing entirely of His sovereign grace and nothing to do with my merits, saving as I am bold enough to trust His leading and  not the dictates of my own wisdom and common sense."
 ~ Oswald Chambers

 

"I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do."
 ~ Helen Keller


 

"The whole point of getting things done is knowing what to leave undone"
 ~ Oswald Chambers

 

"You weren't an accident. You weren't mass produced. You aren't an assembly-line product. You were deliberately planned, specifically gifted  and lovingly positioned on the earth by the Master Craftsman."
 ~ Max Lucado
 

"We have to pray with our eyes on God, not on the difficulties." 
 -  Oswald Chambers

 

"Humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.. Humility is thinking more of others. Humble people are so focused on serving others, they don't think of themselves." 
-Rick Warren (The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth am I Here for?)

 

"We see a hearse; we think sorrow. We see a grave; we think despair. We hear of a death; we think of a loss. Not so in heaven. When heaven sees a breathless body, it sees the vacated cocoon & the liberated butterfly."
-Max Lucado

 

"He saw you cast into a river of life you didn't request. He saw you betrayed by those you love. He saw you with a body that gets sick and a heart that grows weak. He saw you in your own garden of gnarled trees and sleeping friends. He saw you staring into the  pit of your own failures and the mouth of your own grave. He saw you in your own garden of Gethsemane and he didn't want you to be alone ... He would rather go to hell for you than to heaven without you."

-Max Lucado

 

Previous Devotions:

 

"Forgive and give as if it were your last opportunity. Love like there's no tomorrow, and if tomorrow comes, love again." 

                   ~ Max Lucado

"Faith is not the belief that God will do what you want. It is the belief that God will do what is right." 

                   ~ Max  Lucado

 

 

CLICK HERE to visit the Pastor's Devotional Archive to read and download past devotionals

 

I Chronicles 4:9-10, "Now Jabez was more honorable than his brother, and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, because I bore him in pain.' And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, Oh that you would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that your Hand would be  with me, and that you would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!"

Someone has well said that there are three persons you could be. There is the person you are right now. there is the person you could be for evil if you allowed Satan to control your life, and there is the person youcou ld be for God if you allowed God to rule and reign in your life.

 Jeremiah 29:11 says, "I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. Plans to prosper you and  not to harm you; plans to give you a hope and a future."  Jabez had the faith to believe that principle and so he rose above his peers because he believed that God is a good God who wants to bless His children and that God has an exciting purpose for every person who will be willing to discover God's purpose or plan for their lives.

Willaim Carey often prayed, "O God, help me to be the man that you want me to be. Jabez wanted the great t hings from God. He wanted more than the average. He wanted to experience great things from God and to do great things for God.

Let's look at this wonderful prayer of Jabez.

First he prayed for prosperity.  Notice in verse 10, "And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, "Oh that thou would wouldest bless me indeed."

The theme of God's prosperity for His people runs throughoutth e Word of God. God wants His people to prosper. God wants your life,  your home, your family, and your church to prosper. He is a great, magnificent, generous God that delights in the prosperity of His people.

 Hudson Taylor, a great missionary used to pray, "Oh God give me wider usefulness." That is what Jabez was asking, that God would expand his opportunities and enlarge his usefulness..

Second he prayed for provision. Notice the second phrase in verse 10, "enlarge my territory." In Old Testament times, the land  was distributed by lot. Each person was given a specific portion of land that was their's by inheritance. The only way they could get any more was  to take
some from the enemy.

When we put this in a New Testament context, Jabez is saying, "I want to be a victorious believer. I want to take back the territory that have  given to the enemy. I want greater spiritual responsibility that I might be a servant to more people.

Third he prayed for power. Jabez prayed, "O God, let your hand be upon me." Jabez knew that what he was asking for was bigger than what he could accomplish himself.

What would you pray for if you knew that God would say yes, and if you knew you could not fail? What have you dreamed about, but  dismissed because you thought it was an impossible dream you dismissed it. Nothing is impossible to you if God has his hand upon your life.

Fourth he prayed for protection. He prays for God's protection, that God would keep him from evil. We have a fierce, cruel adversity who every day tempts us to do evil. His name is Satan.

Jabez prayed for protection from evil because he knew the sorrow, shame and suffering sin brings to the believer's heart; so he wanted to be protected from the harm of evil, but he also wanted to be kept from sinning, because he knew that sin causes pain.

Most preachers today will not mention sin, but they do their congregation a disservice because sin brings pain into the life of the one who commits it. It brings pain into the lives of those whom the sin was committed against, but most of all it brings pain to God.

This is why David prayed, "I have hidden your word in my heart that I may not sin against God."

Go ahead and take hold of the promises of God and do something great for Him. Go ahead and ask for the moon, and he will give you the sun and the stars as well.

 


Be a People Builder

 

 "Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up." I Corinthians 13:4

Now this verse says that love is patient and is kind. Jesus commanded us to love one another, but we need to learn how to do it better, and part of that is learning to become encouragers. Love is kind and it doesn't just mean to be nice, it means to build each other up, to encourage one another.  In Romans 15:2 Paul said we should consider the good of our neighbor and help build up his character. How can you be a  people-builder? How can you be a people-encourager?

You know the history of the Green Bay Packers. The first twelve years they won 30% of their games. Twelve straight years, they had losing  seasons and then a man named Vince Lombardi came along and became their coach. For the next nine years, they had winning seasons.  They won five national championships including the first two super bowls. Here was a losing team developed into a winning team because  Vince Lombardi was a people-builder. He knew how to identify the special gifts of people, how to encourage and motivate them and use those gifts in connection with one another on a team so that team could effectively accomplish the goal. 

What do you think would  happen if you and I just plugged in to the truth of being encouragers to one another? If we were dedicated to loving one another in that we would show one another that encouragement, help one another identify our gifts, and challenge one another to be all that we could be with the grace of God, the filling of the Holy Spirit in our life.  I tell you the potential is absolutely phenomenal. We can't even imagine what god could do in and through the body of Christ, what a healthy, growing, mature productive body we would be if we would  accept this from the Lord, to be people-builders, to be encouragers.

 

Facing our Fears

II Timothy l:6-12

 

I want to ask you a question? What are you afraid of today?  What are you dealing with these days that is causing you fear?

I read this week about one child that was afraid of storms.  One night a big storm came up and he asked his Mother to stay in his room that night. She said, "Honey, you will be alright without me. I have to stay with Daddy." As she turned to leave his room she heard her son say  under his breath, "Daddy that big sissy."

The truth is we all face fears. Children fear being alone. Adolescents fear rejection. Young adults fear failure of their dreams. Senior adults fear Social Security drying up! Most of us are like that man who said, "I don't have any problems with eternal life and salvation and all of that it's these next 24 hours that I'm worried about."

Look what Paul says in II Timothy l:7, "For God has not given us a spirit of fear..." God doesn't want you being controlled by fear. His desire is for you to conquer your fear!

So how does that happen? How can you turn fear into a friend rather than a foe? Now not all fear is bad. If you didn't have any fears you would probably  injure yourself or perhaps acccidentally kill yourself. God's given you a sense of caution that protects you.

Let me tell you that the Lord Jesus Christ never meant for His children to live under the bondage of unhealthy unproductive fear!

In fact 365 times throughout the Bible God tells us to "fear not don't be afraid." God has a "fear not" for every day of the year. Paul tells us  here in II Timothy 1:7 what God supplies us with in order to have daily victory over our fears.

Verse 7, "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.  Jesus said in Acts 1:8, "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you." Remember who you are and who is within you! You have the power of God in your
life!

 "Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world." Psalm 27:1, "The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?" In verse 7, "For God has not give us a spirit of fear, but of power and love." I John 4:18, "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love."

 In other words you do not have to fear anything because God loves you! Do you remember what Jesus said to His disciples that night when
they found themselves in a storm while boating on the Sea? Matthew 14:27. "Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid."

One day a man walked up to evangelist D. L. Moody and said, "Brother Moody what times I am afraid, I trust in the Lord." Moody said, "Sir, that's wonderful, but let me you something even better."

The man said, "But Brother Moody how can anything be better than trusting in the Lord when you're afraid?" Moody said, "Better than being afraid and trusting in the Lord is trusting in the Lord and not being afraid."

Isaiah 12:2, "I will trust and not be afraid; for Yahweh, the Lord, is my strength and my song; He also has become my salvation."

Better than being afraid then trusting in the Lord is trusting in the Lord and not being afraid.

 

 

Scripture Reference: I Corinthians 15

The Hope of Easter

If there was ever a day that give us hope it is resurrection Sunday! In fact that's why the church gathers week by week on Sunday the Lord's Day for worship, rather than on Saturday, the Sabbath: to celebrate and commemorate the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ!

In fact every Sunday is a celebratiaon of the empty tomb! A celebration that Jesus is alive!

It's the empty tomb of Jesus that gives us hope. Hope in the here in now and hope in the hereafter. And don't get the idea thaat the hope I'm talking about is a Hope so kind of Hope. No sirree! I'm talking about a know so kind of Hope.

The Hope of forgiveness. The Hope of peace. The Hope of assurance. The Hope of heaven. And that Hope is centered in the person Jesus Christ. It certainly was for King David Psalm 39:7, ".......My hope is in You." Psalm 71:5, "For You are my hope, O Lord God; You are my trust from my youth.

With your Hope in the resurrected Jesus..you can make it! I don't know a more sad word in the English language than hopeless. Life without Jesus is hopeless and "hopeless" is worse than failing!.

But thank God on this Easter Sunday morning that it doesn't end there!

Here it is! Hold on to your hat! Verse 20, "But now Christ is risen from the dead..." Because Christ is risen from the dead He's taken the gloom out of the grave. He's taken the dread out of death and given us a hope that is sure!

Worse than failure is hopeless! "If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved" (Romans 10:9).

There is HOPE! And that hope is found in the resurrected Jesus Christ.