Thought of the Day !!

Don't let anyone mislead you, for many will come in my name, claiming, "I am the Messiah," and saying, "The time has come!" But don't believe them.
Luke 21:8 (NLT)

Jesus prophesied that their would be false teachers. They often come in the form of charismatic speakers who form their own cults or just pull people away from the Truth of Christ Jesus. Some will go as far as claiming to be the Messiah. David Koresh called himself the Son of God and Lamb of God. Jim Jones believed himself to be the reincarnation of Jesus. There is a guy in Florida now growing a group of disciples and one in the Philippines who already has thousands fooled, both of which claim to be Jesus.

There will also be those who make the claim that they know when the end of time is coming. Joseph Smith of the Mormon faith, Ellan White (7th Day Adventist) and the Jehovah's Witnesses all predicted the end of time, none of which came about. Most recently Harold Camping, a self-proclaimed Bible teacher, predicted the end would come on May 11 of this year. There were billboards bought and a lot of news coverage about it. When it didn't happen, he claimed "Oops, I miscalculated. It's actually October 11." Since October I haven't heard anything about him.

The point I make is that Jesus said that there would be false teachers that would come to the vulnerable, those who've lost hope or forgotten it because of difficult times. These false teachers would be used by Satan to lead people astray and give false hope. We must be careful not to be fooled by them. We also must make sure that we don't read into the Bible what we want it to say and then teach others our opinions, stating them as fact. Otherwise we become the false teachers ourselves.

In the love of Christ,
greg

Thought of the Day !!

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
Jeremiah 29:13 (NIV)

I wonder how many half-heartedly seek God and how many truly seek with all their heart. What about you?

In the love of Christ,
greg

Thought of the Day !!

People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.
Mark 10:13-16 (TNIV)

What faith children have! They simply believe God is God and Jesus is who we say he is. No need for us to prove it…just say it. And they believe.

Children believe in miracles. Children believe that God will take care of them.

It's not until sin becomes evident to them and the world teaches them about pain and misery that they begin to doubt.

Jesus says that we must have the audacity to believe again. And when we do, we will join the Kingdom of God. This Kingdom begins here on earth with true believers. But it continues on into an eternity with Jesus in Heaven.

In the love of Christ,
greg

Thought of the Day !!

I awoke this morning to the song "I Wish We'd All Been Ready" sung by D.C. Talk.


Life was filled with guns and war
And all of us got trampled on the floor
I wish we'd all been ready
Children died the days grew cold
A piece of bread could buy a bag of gold
I wish we'd all been ready

There's no time to change your mind
The Son has come and you've been left behind

A man and wife asleep in bed
She hears a noise and turns her head he's gone
I wish we'd all been ready
Two men walking up a hill
One disappears and one's left standing still
I wish we'd all been ready

There's no time to change your mind
The Son has come and you've been left behind

Children died the days grew cold
A piece of bread could buy a bag of gold
I wish we'd all been ready

There's no time to change your mind
The Son has come and you've been left behind

The Father spoke the demons died
How could you have been so blind

There's no time to change your mind
The Son has come and you've been left behind

I hope we'll all be ready you've been left behind
I hope we'll all be ready you've been left behind
I hope we'll all be ready you've been left behind

Is there anyone you care about that you need to ask if they're ready or not?

In the love of Christ,
greg

Thought of the Day !!

Never stop praying.
1 Thessalonians 5:17 (NLT)

Let me ask you something. Do you wish your prayer life would be more fruitful? Do you wish you were more consistent or that you enjoyed praying more?

If asked, I think many Christians would say that they feel like they don’t pray enough or struggle with a prayer life for one reason or another. To be quite honest, it's something we must choose to work at. As with anything worth doing it doesn’t just happen by itself. There has to be effort put forth. But when that effort is put forth, it becomes not only something we can be good at, but also something we will enjoy.

Today I offer some practical tips for perseverance in prayer.

1. Find a prayer partner. Seek someone who will hold you accountable as well as pray with you.

2. Find a proper balance between routine and variety. By this I mean to make your prayer life a part of your routine. This might mean a certain time of the day or a certain kind of prayer. Then prayer becomes habit. But then also add a variety of other times or types of prayer. This will keep your prayer life from becoming just routine, which can be as bad as not praying at all.

3. Keep yourself motivated. You can do this in a variety of ways. First of all, remember why you're praying. Keep in mind how much you want to get closer to God. You can also keep motivated by learning more about prayer. This can be done by reading through the many passages in the bible about prayer, reading books on prayer and doing studies about prayer. Another way to stay motivated is by making your prayer life more meaningful or enjoying through aids such as music, prayer journals, prayer walks, or other such things.

4.Don't allow feelings or interruptions to dictate your prayer life. If you decide to only pray when you feel like it, the devil will soon have you convinced to put it off over and over again. And if you allow interruptions to divert you from your commitment, you'll soon find out that you aren't praying anymore.

5. Celebrate answers to prayer. People will praise God and thank you for your prayers when a healing or some other miracle has occurred. But celebrate the little things as well. Pray each morning for God to guide you and keep you safe and celebrate the answers to these and other such prayers daily. Thank God for listening.

These are but a few helpful hints. The key is to keep seeking God through prayer. When we do this, the bible says that we will find Him. Have a happy prayer life.

In the love of Christ,
greg

Thought of the Day !!

We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves.
Romans 15:1 (NIV)

Today I share with you one of the least enjoyed topics of faith. This is patience. How many of us want to have patience, but not have that patience tested? I've even heard that you should never pray for patience because then God will teach it to you through giving you something to be patient about. Patience is a gift, along with being one of the great fruits of the Spirit. Whether we like having to be patient or not, we must strive for patience if we are to truly be what Christ calls us to be.

Paul teaches us who are more mature in our faith to bear with the failings of those who are less so. In other words, we are to be patient when others annoy us or seem to come up with "weird" ideas based on a misinterpretation of scripture. We must allow for the fact that they might not act as Christ-like towards us as we would like because they haven't been taught how yet. We must must remember to do to them as we would have them do to us, patiently trying to teach the love of Christ.

Bear with one another so as to build others up instead of trying to please yourselves.

In the love of Christ,
greg

Thought of the Day !!

If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.

Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
Love doesn't strut,
Doesn't have a swelled head,
Doesn't force itself on others,
Isn't always "me first,"
Doesn't fly off the handle,
Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn't revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.
1 Corinthians 13:3-7 (The Message)

Love never gives up

A lady sits anxiously waiting for a call or letter. Her husband has gone overseas to some country she has never heard of, in a war that she never wanted to happen. He is listed Missing in action. But she will not give up. There is a bond between herself and her husband that won't break until the day he arrives at her door and she finds herself in his arms.
A crowd cheers on a handicapped boy who is so close to the finish line. Even though the race has long been over, the other runners come back to encourage him. When he sees that no one else has given up on him, he finishes the race and is celebrated just as if he were the victor.
True love never gives up. Just look at the father of the prodigal son. Do you remember in the story how the son takes everything and leaves? But when he comes back, the father sees him from far off and is filled with compassion. I have to believe that the father was always looking over the horizon. He never gave up.
Look at Jesus. He had every right to give up on the motley crew that he had surrounded himself with. They never understood, they were always saying dumb things. Yet it was because of his love for them that he never gave up.
Is there anyone that you've given up on? Is there anyone who you need to give a second chance? Remember that God doesn't give up on us. So we should learn from the Master of Love.

In the love of Christ,
greg

Thought of the Day !!

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Colossians 3:17 (NIV)

When we do something in God's/Jesus' name, it means that others know what we're doing is because we belong to Him. Many good deeds are done everyday by people of all faiths and backgrounds. How will people know that your words and deeds are done in the name of the the Lord Jesus?

One way is to make it known that you are a Christian. We are not to boast. But when we're not afraid to bring Jesus into conversations with others, they will begin to get a clue. When we're given praise, we may give a humble reminder that we would be able to do nothing without our Lord and Savior.

What I get from this scripture is that we should be speaking and doing deeds that are Christlike, but that we should also be letting others know why we do them.

In the love of Christ,
greg

Thought of the Day !!

I long to visit you so I can bring you some spiritual gift that will help you grow strong in the Lord. When we get together, I want to encourage you in your faith, but I also want to be encouraged by yours.
Romans 1:11-12 (NLT)

Paul is writing to the church in Rome when he shares his great desire to be with them. This desire is not to receive something, but to give something. He longs to be with them so that he can share "some spiritual gift that will help (them) grow strong in the the Lord." That is Paul's great desire...to help others grow strong in the Lord. And his encouragement comes from seeing others' true faith.

If you were to write a letter to your church...or a church you used to be a part of, what would it sound like? What is your great desire for others in the community of faith? Are you encouraged by others' faith?

I guess the most important question for us today, though, is if we have the same desire that Paul had. Do we truly desire today to bring others spiritual (or any other kind of) gifts that would help them grow strong in the Lord?

Today has been one of the many days that the Lord has made for us to rejoice in. Let us not only rejoice though. Let us make it even better by sharing any spiritual gift we may have in our possession...especially the gift of love.

In the love of Christ,
greg

Thought of the Day !!

A man with leprosy came and knelt in front of Jesus, begging to be healed. "If you want to, you can make me well again," he said. Moved with pity, Jesus touched him. "I want to," he said. "Be healed!" Instantly the leprosy disappeared--the man was healed.
Mark 1:40-42 (NLT)

The gospel says nothing about this man except that he was a leper. But we know that lepers in that day and culture were outcasts. They were at the lowest class level. They were unclean, and if you touched one, you would be unclean as well. If this were not bad enough, they had to walk around wearing certain clothes that distinguished them as being different and yell out "unclean, unclean" so that all would know what they were.

Most believed that these people were sinners and had gotten themselves into this situation by the way they lived their lives. Most people thought them unworthy. Most people thought them to be different and repugnant people that were no good ---- and often up to no good.

But not Jesus. Can you see these poor people in your mind. Picture them. Take a good hard look at them. Do you have pity for them? Do you feel sorry for them? Jesus did.

Now think about those in our culture today that fit that same mold. Those whom you may think are outcasts, or different, or unworthy, or no good, or up to no good. Who are those people today? Can you find yourself feeling sorry for them?

Jesus does. Those are the ones that Jesus most wants to heal. He said that He came to heal the sick, not those who were well. And He wants us to help Him help them.

In the love of Christ,
greg

Thought of the Day !!

Whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy. For when your faith is tested your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything.
James 1:2-4 (NLT)

Trials and trouble that come our way can be thought of as building blocks. They make up who we are. Or maybe I should say how we handle them defines us. When there's a difficult time in your life, you are surely not going to laugh and jump for joy because there's something wrong. But you can look back at these occurrences and see how you can grow from them. Remember that God is always at work teaching us if we will just listen. And it's during our own failures and the times we seem to hit bottom that we not only need God the most, but that we can learn the most.

In the love of Christ,
greg

Thought of the Day !!

But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong.
1 John 1:9 (NLT)

There is nothing that you have done, can do, or will do that God cannot forgive you of. He knows these things already and is ready and willing to forget all about them. All you have to do is talk to Him. He's listening.

In the love of Christ,
greg

Thought of the Day !!

Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again--rejoice!
Philippians 4:4 (NLT)

I read an online devotion this morning about this verse that ended saying it was all about perspective. Think about Paul's perspective. He was in a Roman jail. And before that he was on board a ship that shipwrecked. Before that he was in prison for years in Caesarea. Before that they mobbed him in Jerusalem.

Paul had not had a lot of good luck for some time now. But his words to the people were not words of anger, revenge or even depression. They were words of encouragement to the Philippians. He said "be full of joy in the Lord...rejoice!"

Wow, what a perspective! We can complain when our hair isn't cut the way we wanted or the person driving the car in front of us isn't going as fast as we want or we don't get the service we desire out of the young man we hired to cut our yard. Compared to what Paul was going through, what do we have to complain about? Yet we do.

Let us take on Paul's advice to rejoice instead of being down or upset about the things in this life that don't go our way, but will soon enough pass away.

In the love of Christ,
greg

Thought of the Day !!

Jesus replied to Simon, "Don't be afraid! From now on you'll be fishing for people!" And as soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus.
Luke 5:10b-11 (NLT)

Jesus gives Peter the invitation to follow him. He calls the disciples to grow deeper and cast their proverbial nets out to catch people now instead of fish. And he calls us to do the same.

What does Peter and his partners do? They drop everything and follow Jesus. And the voyage is just beginning for them. For great things will come their way.

We’re called to go into deeper waters as well. This means leaving our comfort zone. For some it might mean leaving the country on a mission trip or a pilgrimage like Michelle and I took to the Holy Land.

For others it might mean going outside the walls of our church. It’s easy to come to church and worship and talk about God in the comfortable confines of a church building. But doesn’t God call us to go outside the walls and fish for people, just as Jesus called the disciples?

Without the faith and obedience and willingness to take a chance and leave our comfort zones, we’ll never get anywhere. But as Christians, that's exactly what we're called to do. May we all go out today into the deeper waters of faith and service and be fishers of men, women and children.

In the love of Christ,
greg

Thought of the Day !!

When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, "Oh, Lord, please leave me—I'm too much of a sinner to be around you." For he was awestruck by the number of fish they had caught, as were the others with him. His partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were also amazed.
Luke 5:8-10a (NLT)

This comes after Jesus told Peter to take the boat out into the deep waters even after they had caught nothing all night long. When they did, they let down their nets and caught so much that it almost sunk two boats.

Peter had had some faith in Jesus…enough to go out into the deeper waters and waste his time trying to catch fish again. But when the miracle happened, it dawned on him just how powerful Jesus was. At this point Peter falls on his knees before Jesus understanding for the first time his own sinfulness and low standing before Jesus.

One of the first things we must do before going deeper in our faith journey with Christ is realize our place. I love singing the songs about Jesus as our friend like "What a Friend We Have in Jesus". I absolutely love the fact that I am able to speak to Him as a friend or a big brother. But Peter illustrates the fact that Jesus is much more. He is God incarnate. He is to be worshiped. He is all powerful. And when we stand before Him, we must realize the need for our change. We must realize how great our sin is and how He is the only one powerful enough to take that sin away. He has the unique quality of being a friend and at the same time a Lord.

We must not look flippantly on our sinful nature, making excuses like “we’re only human” or “at least we’re not as bad as so-in-so". We’re not to make excuses before Jesus, but instead to apologize and ask for help.

When we do this, God hears, Jesus walks with us, the Holy Spirit strengthens us and our voyage to deeper waters of faith starts to become a reality.

In the love of Christ,
greg