Time

Time...Solomon said “To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven.” Time, a resource that is scarce in the 21st century. Time is something that we cannot create more of, so we must make much of the time that we have! We are living life at a blistering pace...we have so much to do and so little time...so we are forced into the art of priority. Routine task have to be placed in an order of priority. Our daily balance of time has to be in place, we have to have some sort of routine or we wont accomplish the things that need to be accomplished. Prioritizing helps us to best utilize the time that God has given us. How do you plan your day? Are you including time for God in your daily plans. All disciples, or followers of Christ have to make spiritual development a major part of time we spend each day. What are you doing? Take some time to evaluate how you spend time with the Lord each day. How are you doing? Our daily routine must include time in Bible study. Someone asked me the the other day “How much time is enough time?” I believe that it is different for everyone. The point is that we must have some sort of systematic Bible study. We have to be in God’s word...the Bible is how God reveals His directions to us. We also need to spend time in prayer. We need the person to God communication. He wants to hear from us. We are to be anxious for nothing, but in everything we are to make our request of God. We are to make petitions (request) of God with a thankful heart. The God of the universe, loves you! If we delight ourselves in the Lord, He will give us the desires of our hearts. Prayer and Bible Study have to be a part of our daily discipline. What else, what other things must we include. Fellowship with other believers is also an important element! Iron sharpens iron...we help each other when we get together and open up the Bible and share with each other. Publicly reading the Word and praying together the body! The body that I am speaking of is the body of Christ, believers make up the body! We are the Church so by spending time together we strengthen each other How are you spending your time? My prayer for you today is that you make time for God and the things of God. I love you all <><

Impossible

Billy Sunday said, "We have a God who delights in impossibilities." I love this quote! I like to think about impossibilities! Our God is able to do exceedingly abundantly more than we could hope for or imagine! The Word teaches us this! What impossibilities are you facing this week? You this morning can approach the throne of grace with confidence knowing that our God is able to overcome any challenge or obstacle! Give God control of your impossibilities this week. Cast your burdens on Him, He is able to shoulder what ever you may be facing! Our God, truly is an awesome God! I love you all! <><

To eternity and beyond

To eternity and beyond…

I just love the movie “Toy Story”. I am so stoked that it is going to be back in the theater again very soon and that they are also working on a Toy Story three. I am looking forward to seeing it with my grand daughter’s. Every time I watch the movie, I see something in the movie that I must have missed in previous viewings. Each time I watch the movie, it is almost like a different movie because of the new things and thoughts that i now see. The writers of the movie are very creative. I love how they develop the story line and the characters. I love all the characters, but I especially love Buzz! I love his slogan, his theme verse, “to infinity and beyond”.
I have often thought about that very statement. Even though I love the movie that statement is far from being accurate. We as humans cannot understand infinity. Some people like to think they understand infinity, but in reality we were created very finite. Only God is infinite! Our minds are not capable of infinite thoughts. We can only speculate!
So I decided to change the slogan a little! I sure hope that PIXAR forgives me, but since I cannot understand infinity, I looked for something that I can understand, eternity. Jesus says “For God so Loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him, will not parish, but have everlasting life. What is everlasting life? It is something that is eternal, something that last forever! I have been around this world for almost 50 years now. In my journey, I know of only one thing that is eternal. And that is a relationship with Jesus! Only God can offer eternal life. And that eternal life that I am speaking of only begins in a real relationship with His only Son! My prayer for you today is that your slogan also can be “to eternity and beyond…”

Personal Bible Study

When do you do your personal bible study?

• first thing in the morning
• later in the morning
• at lunch
• late afternoon
• before bed

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To know that you know

To know that you know…

In thinking about my life, one of the greatest things to happen to me is my salvation. It is easy for me to see this now! My life has truly been an adventure! In reflecting on my relationship with our creator, it is so easy for me to love Him with all my heart! I really do love Him, these are not words that I just say it is a life that I live. God has blessed me in so many ways. In the world and culture in which we live, it amazes me at the things that I hear coming out of Christians mouths! Sometimes we let circumstances dictate our current way of thinking. We tend to think of the here and now! When things are going bad in our lives it is so easy for us to throw in the spiritual towel and depend start depending on self! It happens all the time! We talk in spiritual speak about our faith, but when our faith is tested, to many times we deal only with what we can control. Can I tell you today that no matter what happens in the world, God is still God! He is large and in charge! He will always be God, He is not capable of being anything else! Nothing surprises Him! Malachi 3:6 says “For I, the Lord do not Change…”. He never changes! He is always God! In the changing world and culture we can take comfort knowing that the creator of the universe will not change! God is consistent and He always has your best interest at heart. He is God.
So today, just know that you know! Take courage and believe that God is exactly who He says He is! Always remember that He is capable of getting you through the tough times that you somehow find your way into I was reminded tonight by my niece, that if we delight our selves in the Lord, He will give us the desires of our heart. Are you able to see that God has a plan? And if you have an element of faith in your life, and believe that God truly is in control, you will know that He is a God that provides for us spiritually and physically. God’s plan for your life is all encompassing! He see’s the big picture and knows all of the trials you are dealing with. I personally believe that for every trial there is a lesson for me to learn. First, I am constantly reminded to depend on God. I must stay clean and close! I have to stay connected to the source. Second, I have to look for His plan for my life! Discernment is imperative here. God is never going to give you more of a load than you can bear. God is not going to ask you to do anything that contradicts His word! He is not going to call you to do anything that will bring questions to your testimony! Our God, truly is an awesome God! I cannot explain why God does all of the things He does, but I know that the God who was capability of creating the heavens and the earth, the God who before the foundations of the world was laid was thinking about me...I know that God is able to do exceedingly abundantly more than I could ever hope for or imagine! So what can you know today? You can know that God created you for a purpose...God wants you to connect to and wait on Him. He has a plan! I love you all! <><

What a friend we have in Jesus

“Sticks and Stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me”

As a child I remember saying this little rhyme as other children would say things about me or my friends! As badly as I wanted it to be true, it never worked; words do hurt. I believe that words are one of the most powerful forces on the planet. The words that we say can hurt people. As Christians we need to think before we speak. We need to consider others. Jesus left us two commandments, to love God with all our hearts, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. In the church today we see and witness all kinds of strife and discord. As a believer, I have personally witnessed some of the hurtful things that people sometimes say in the body. This should never happen. God’s word is very clear on how we are to treat one another. He wants us to “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.” We are to be like Jesus, because this is what God wants us to be like. Jesus in His earthly ministry never used words to hurt anyone. We should not use words to heart the people that we come into contact with. Proverbs 16:27 says “A worthless man digs up evil, while his words are as a scorching fire.” We need to think about the words that we say to others, they do hurt; they do have an impact on others. So today think about the words that you use when you come into contact with people that you may not see eye to eye with. Think about how Jesus would deal with these individuals. After you have thought about how Jesus would react, imitate Him. <><

a matter of perspective

Many times in my ministry I have heard parents make statements like “we did not raise our children to be that way”. I have often agreed with mom and dad as they sat in my office dealing with major issues or a crisis with their child all the while trying to understand where they went wrong. In thinking about this generation of students and often knowing the unreal expectations that parents sometimes put on teens it is no wonder and very understandable that youth may rebel against the things of God! So many times with parents, they turn to God and the Church when they cannot deal with the problems any longer! When conventional worldly reasoning doesn’t work parents throw up their hands and and cry “mercy” to God. In any cases the problems could have been avoided if the parents truly raised their kids in the ways of the Lord. Most of the problems I deal with are because of a relaxed attitude that families have towards the things of God. Parents fail or refuse to see the warning signs that lead to problems until sometimes it is to late! Problems like disrespect! Disrespect tolerated leads to other problems. Our (believing) children are supposed to honor us! This is a concept that teens have a grasp on. They (for the most part) understand the application of authority and order in their lives and are capable of being respectful. Disrespect does not equal honor. If a child cannot honor his/her earthy parents, there is no way they can honor their heavenly father. So early on, when you experience problems you have to deal with them immediately! Parents should help their children develop a biblical worldview which includes respect for the authority in their lives. Parents also early on need to foster and help their children understand the importance of a strong relationship with Jesus and the things of God. For parents this means things like sports and activities have to take the backseat to the things of God! Don’t get me wrong, I do not think that there is anything wrong with sports or activities but I believe that things of God must come first! In most cases, students who are heavily involved in ministry tend to have less problems in relationships with mom and dad! Let them see how important the things of God are to you! Think about it, can your children see Christ reflected through the life you are living? Parents have to be...the parent! I love my children, but I also realize the importance of being a model of responsibility in front of them! I have never really been interested in being my child’s friend! I am a lot more interested in being their parent! What a blessing it has been to raise my three beautiful daughters! It boils down to perspective...what is important to you? If the things of God are high on your priority list, they most likely will be for your children and on the flip side if the things of the world are important to you, they most likely will be for you children! Train them up in the way they should go...and you will never regret it! I love you all! <><