Thought of the Day !!

For the word of God is alive and powerful.  It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow.  It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.
                                                                                     Hebrews 4:12 (NLT)       

John Wesley used to say that the Word of God is twice inspired, once when it was written and once when it is read.  This Word is just as much alive today as it ever has been.  But it can only live in us and through us if we delve into it. 

Is a sampling enough?  Is this one verse that you've just read enough to truly come alive in you?  I believe the answer to be "No".  If we want to grow in Christ...if we want to mature as Christians...if we want to be guided by the Holy Spirit and not our own sinful nature...then we must dedicate time to spending with our Lord and Savior, Jesus.  We do this through two ways.  One is prayer, and the other is prayerfully reading His Word.

Set aside some time today to get to know Jesus again through reading your Bible.  If you haven't picked it up in a while, may I suggest taking a Gospel (Matthew, Mark, Luke or John).  Don't think you have to read from beginning to end starting with Genesis and ending with Revelation.  That is quite alright for many.  But for those who are not accustomed to reading daily, begin with something easy and build your way up to all those laws and genealogies in the first few books.  The key is to spend time with God.

May you be deeply enriched and grow in Christian maturity as you delve into God's Word.

In the love of Christ,
greg

Thought of the Day !!

[God says,] "Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth? Tell me, if you know all this. What is the way to the abode of light? And where does darkness reside? Can you take them to their places?"
                                                                                    Job 38:18-20 (NIV)

Job has asked God, "Why am I suffering?"  How many of us have done the exact same thing?  Or maybe you felt that you were not supposed to ask because that might mean your faith wasn't as strong as you thought? 

It's OK to ask God.  Job did.  And Job, though he suffered for a season, was a blessed man whom God loved.  But what it all boils down to is this.  There are things that we just don't understand.  Just as we don't know the "way to the abode of light" or "where darkness resides", we don't always have a clear cut answer for our sufferings.  The one thing that we can know is that God does know and God does care.  He will see us through the times of suffering.  He saw Job through his, and He'll see us through ours.

I don't know it all and will be the first to admit that.  Something my pastor, John Sudduth, taught me when I went into the ministry was that sometimes the most important three words I can utter will be "I don't know".

But I do know that Christ loves you and so do I.

In the love of Christ,
greg

Thought of the Day !!

If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing. 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.
                                                                                          1 Corinthians 13:1-3 (The Message)

I was listening to this great new song by King and Country on the way to the office this morning called "The Proof of Your Love".  Towards the end of the song the singer began quoting this verse from 1 Corinthians and it occurred to me just how many Christians there are who don't show love.

When we submit our lives to Christ we give up our selfish ways.  If not, have we truly submitted?  Yet so many people who call themselves, and truly believe themselves to be Christians get angry and demand their way.  We can be led astray by the devil if we're not careful.  We can show disrespect for other people.  We can demand our way instead of thinking of others.  We can hurt people who seek Christ by telling them everything that is wrong with them instead of showing the love of Christ with them.  We can turn people off from the Church and Christianity as a whole if we don't have genuine love for them.

I'm a pastor.  I can preach the best sermons people have ever heard.  I can believe and trust that God will grow my congregation.  Instead of ten percent of my income, I can place fifty percent in the offering plate.  I can even go to a non-Christian nation and be jailed or executed for my public displays of faith.  But if I do these things for any reason other than love, then they make no difference whatsoever.  And if you do what you do for any reason other than love of God and love of neighbor then there is no reward for you.

Before Jesus left his disciples he gave them one new command.  He told them to love one another.  Not only to love one another, but love each other as he loved them.  Can we do the same today?  I believe the answer is "yes" if we commit our lives to Jesus and allow the Holy Spirit to guide us each day.

In the love of Christ,
greg

Check out this link for For King and Country

Thought of the Day !!

If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
                                                                 Romans 12:18 (NIV)

What do you think this might mean for you?  Are there angry people in your life that you'd like to respond in kind?  Does revenge ever enter your mind...even in a slight way?  Do you ever want to treat others as they treat you instead of as you would like for them to treat you (Golden Rule)?

When Jesus told his disciples that he was going to leave them with his peace, it was a peace that passes all understanding (Paul's words).  It was a peace that went beyond the absence of conflict.  It was the ability to live joyfully even in the presence of conflict.  

Can we live at peace in a world where people will try to take advantage of us and it seems that everyone wants something?  Can we live at peace with those who hate us or even might want to do us harm?  Can we live at peace with people who don't care about us?  

We can if we ask and allow Jesus to give us His Peace.  This truly is the peace that passes all understanding.  It can get us through anything because it never promises us a rose garden.  It promises to strengthen, sustain and never leave our side.  That peace is Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit.

May the peace of Jesus be with you today.

In the love of Christ,
greg

Thought of the Day !!

Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ?  Any comfort from his love?  Any fellowship together in the Spirit?  Are your hearts tender and compassionate?
                                     Philippians 2:1 (NLT)

These are rhetorical questions asked by Paul where the answer is assumed to be "yes".  After he asks the questions, he continues with an if/then statement.  He's saying that if all this is true, then....

Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.  Don't be selfish; don't try to impress others.  Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.  Don't look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.  You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
                                      Philippians 2:2-5 (NLT)

If we've received encouragement, comfort and fellowship with God's Holy Spirit through Christ our Lord, then doesn't He deserve the best from us?  And if so, the best is described by Paul here where he sums it up with, "have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had" (and still has).

In the love of Christ,
greg

Thought of the Day !!

Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy, for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now.
                                                               Philippians 1:3-5 (NLT)

Paul was giving thanks for the people in the Philippian church.  They heard the good news and then partnered with Paul in sharing it with others.  Paul spoke of finding joy in his prayers as he thought of them because he was proud of them. 

As Christians we are to share the responsibility of ministering to others and sharing with them the Good News of Christ. This is not the pastor's job, the deacon's job, the lay leader's job, etc.  It is the job of each person who identifies himself or herself as a Christian.  For those of us who are leaders in the church, we are to lead by example.  I look forward to praying on behalf of each person in my parish with the joy of knowing that we are all partners in spreading the Good News about Christ.

In the love of Christ,
greg

Thought of the Day !!

Again I say, don't get involved in foolish, ignorant arguments that only start fights.  A servant of the Lord must not quarrel but must be kind to everyone, be able to teach, and be patient with difficult people.
                                                                  2 Timothy 2:23-24 (NLT)

How many of us argue over something that doesn't really matter in the whole scheme of things? 

In the love of Christ,
greg

Thought of the Day !!

So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves.
                                                                  Galatians 5:16 (NLT)

When we're not guided by God's Holy Spirit, we're guided by our own sinful nature.  Often times we justify our sinful actions by claiming that "it's only human nature".  We get mad or refuse to forgive and blame it on being human.  That's a much nicer way of telling the truth, which is that it's just our "Sinful Nature" controlling us.  So yes, it may be human nature to do some things, but that doesn't make them any less sinful.  And the reason we live that way is because we're listening to our sinful nature instead of the Holy Spirit.

Then we also use the excuse that it's too hard to be a good Christian when so many out there are against us.  Or it's too hard to do what Jesus wants me to do with all the pressures in my life.  Or it's too hard to...(you fill in the blanks).

Being "too hard" is just another excuse.  Jesus never promised us a rose garden.  He used words like "take up your cross" and "deny yourself".  Of course he also told us that when things got too hard that we could bring those things to him for help.  That's part of what it means to be guided by the Holy Spirit.

So lets quit making excuses today.  Be guided by the Holy Spirit in what you say and do.  And see what a difference it makes when God is guiding us instead of our own selfish sinful nature.

In the love of Christ,
greg

Thought of the Day !!

But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
                                                                                 Isaiah 40:31 (KJV)

If you're ill, weary, or weak, God still has a purpose for you. If you feel like you're at the end of your rope and feel like giving up, Jesus wants you to know that He'll never let go of you.  You may not always be given the strength to soar like an eagle, but you'll at least be able to "walk and not faint."  

In the love of Christ,
greg

Thought of the Day !!

"I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me."
                                                                      John 17:23 (NIV)

Unity.  Now there's a word I have some trouble with.  And this is because we, even as Christians, are so divided.  There's Catholics and Protestants.  There's numerous denominations.  Don't forget conservative thinkers, moderate thinkers and liberal thinkers.  Then think of all the things that have been done in the name of God that divide us.  Some split over issues like abortion, divorce or homosexuality.  Others on how church should be done.  While still others part company in their church every time they hear something they don't like from the preacher because they know very well there's another church down the road.  

Yes, we are divided in many ways.  But Jesus was truly unified with the Father and prayed for the unity of his disciples.  I believe he would want this unity to flow down to everyone who has put their faith in him since then as well.  As unified people we can let the world know that God loved us so much that He sent His only Son for us.  Maybe the reason there are so many who don't believe is that we are so divided. 

But what others may not see is that we do hold something in common.  If you call yourself a Christian...and mean what that says (accepting Christ as your Lord and Savior and being Christ-like), then you share something in common with me and I with you.  We love God.  We love Jesus.  And we know of God's love for us shown in how He sent His Son for us.  If only our unity in that fact could be seen as clearly and shouted as loudly as the things that divide us, we'd do a better job of fulfilling the Great Commission (Go and make disciples).  

Let us strive to seek more unity in love than division in anger.

In the love of Christ,
greg