Break!

Taking a break until after the New Year!

Everyone celebrate the reason for the season...Jesus! Have a great New Year too!

Tom

To our advantage!!! #5

Have you ever had the thought I wish Jesus was still here so I could talk face to face with Him or touch Him and know He is for real? I believe all believer's probably have thought that at one time or another. Read today's verse:

John 16:7
7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.

Wow! Jesus tells us very clearly here that it is to our advantage that He left us. But why? He goes on to explain to us that if He did not leave the Helper would not come. But if He did leave the Helper would come. Jesus promised to send this Helper. So who is this Helper? The Holy Spirit of course!!! In Acts 2 we see the fullfillment of this promise and Peter explains it is available to anyone who believes! Isn't God awesome???

Here is the reason the having the Holy Spirit is to our advantage. If Jesus was here in bodily form He could only be where His body was but when Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to us it can indwell us thus the Holy Spirit is with us 24/7. So know do you see why it is to our advantage?? God is so much smarter than we are and I am so thankful He is in control and not me...amen?

One day soon we will see Jesus in the flesh but until then be thankful for the Holy Spirit's presence in your body!

Have a great weekend!

Tom

Questioning what we are taught. #4

In an earlier note I said we must be careful when we are being taught the scriptures. Look at what this verse says:

Acts 17:10-11

10 Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. 11 These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether if these things were so.

I want you to catch the part that says "searched scriptures daily to find out if these things were so." Baiscally the Berians were searching to find out if what Paul was telling them was true! Brothers and sisters we should be doing the same. In many churches today it would be very easy to go in a preach a message filled with things that are not Biblical and mix just a little truth in with it and people would leave believeing everything the preacher said. This is how cults get started. So what we as believers do we need to do? Read your Bible and know what it says. Second, when listening to a preacher search the scriptures like the Berians and find out if what he is saying is so. Third, let the Holy Spiit guide you when being taught. God has many things to teach you and the Spirit will guide you in the truth.

I have always told the folks I preach to not to take anything man says including me as final....check it out and make sure it lines up with scripture. We should stand on the truth of God not man!

Think about this and apply it!

Tom

Do I guide or does the Holy Spirit?

Hebrews 4:12
12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

As I start today's lesson I want you to ask your self who is in control of your life? Now this is what I know from scripture. If you have accepted Christ you were bought with a price....that price was paid by Jesus on the cross for your sins. So if you are surrenedered fully to Christ He should be in control of your life through the Holy Spirit whom He sent to be your guide. So that brings us back to our original question who is in control of your life?

If the Spirit is in control do you let Him even control your learning of the scriptures? Now let me say there is definite place of teachers of the sciptures in our lives but I believe we sometimes over ride the Spirits promptings by what a teacher may have taught us. Listen to me carefully here. We have in the Christian community allowed teachings that are not scriptural to infiltrate us. That is why it is so important for us to let the Holy Spirit guide us in our Bilbe reading and studying. Read the scipture above and take a moment to think about it. A child of God reading and studying His word has benefits that those who have never surrendered their lives to Christ do not have. The guidance of the Holy Spirit. Promised to us by Jesus Christ Himself. I can tell you from personal expirience that when I read the Bible before I was saved it really was a bunch of jibberish in many areas but since being saved the Holy Spirit reveals things to me that I could not comprehend before. It is truly amazing. Now this brings me to another point. When you read read your Bible do you read with an open mind as to let the Spirit speak to you or do read with preconcieved ideas as taught by man? I admit this is very tough to answer. I try my best to read with an open mind. I have found that I don't agree 100% with any Pastor, Bible teacher, scholar, ect. Why? Because in certain areas the Holy Spirit has revealed to me a different interpetation of a scripture. That is letting the Holy Spirit guide me. Could I be wrong??? Yes. Could the other teacher be wrong??? Yes. Can there be a double meaning to the scripture??? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Could it be God had a something specific to say to me right at that moment...yes. There are many variables to this that is why it is so important that your are letting the Spirit guide you. Now let me say this if what you think the Spirit is saying to you does not line up with other teachings of scripture than you better question yourself. Is this the Spirit or is this me because God is not of confusion and He does not contradict himself!!

So who is guiding you...man?,...you?,....or the Holy Spirit? This is a tough question and I just scratched the surface. The church as a whole has been quenching the Spirit...it is time to stop doing this in our lives and let Him loose. We will be amazed at what happens I can promise you that!

God bless...Tom

Fruits of Holy Spirit #2

We can talk much about the Holy Spirit but to know if we are living life in Holy Spirit we can start by looking in this verse:

Galatians 5:22-23
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

These fruits are characteristics of one who is living their life with the Holy Spirit guiding them. Now look at these fruits closely. I don't know about you but I can speak for myself that is takes the Spirits's moving in my life to do these daily. Love...do you love everyone daily. Now think before you answer. Do you see how it takes the Holy Spirits guidance to do this day in and day out? Do you live with joy? If you have expirienced the joy of the saving grace of Jesus we should be joyful no matter what we go through in a day again the Spirit may have to remind of us that truth! Peace! Do you have that peace in your life that only God can bring throught the Spirit! I know before I had Jesus in my life peace was not a constant part of my life but it is now and the Holy Spirit reminds me often of that peace that is only obtainable through Jesus! Longsuffering....think about this for a moment. God puts up with our non-sense daily...He is longsuffering twards us and He expects us to be the same twards others. If we fly off the handle at the drop of a hat we had better check our walk with God and if the Holy Spirit is really guiding us. Kindness are you kind? It takes a leading of the Spirit fo us to be kind even when the situation may not warrent it! Goodness..are you genuinely a good person? Does good flow from you. It is not a natural thing for us to be good...the Spirit must flow from us to do this! Faithfulness...hmmm as we can see in today's society faithfulness is not a trait of many. To be faithful in all area's of life is a sure sign of the Spirits leading your life. Gentleness...are we gentle to others? Do we care about others feelings? Again this is not a top priority in many lives today but God's word tells us it is a sign of one's life being led by the Spirit. Self control....this kind of sums up all the other fruits because it takes self control to do all the others. For me if I have self control I can do all the others and there will be no doubt the Spirit is leading my life if I am able to control my emotions and my actions. I am the first to admit I can only do this if I yeild my self to the Spirit's control of my life. I like how this verse ends..."against such there is no law"!!! For the Spirit filled Christian these fruits should be flowing from our lives and if they are the world will be noticing that we are different!

So how are you doing in these? Is the Spirit evident or do we have work to do?

Pray for me please and I will pray for you...these friuis of the Spirit should be flowing freely from us!

Tom

Are we forgetting the Holy Spirit?

I have started to read a book called "Forgotton God" by Francis Chan. It has really made me do some thinking about the Holy Spirit. So today we are going to venture into a new series of devotions on the Holy Spirit. Many of the thoughts will come from Chan's book and I will just comment and expand on it. So here we go!

As we go through these lesson's I want you to just forget what you have been taught over the years through your various churchs and Bible teachers. The reason I ask this is many times myself included we can be taught things that pertain to the Holy Spirit that really are not scriptural. So as I have been reading this book I am trying to let the Bible or God speak to me through the Word without man's opinions influencing me. By the way we should do this with the whole Bible not just parts on the Holy Spirit. So clear your mind and here is the thought for today:

How has the Holy Spirit changed your life? Honestly ponder this thought for a few moments. When others see you do they see you different from the world because you are indwelt with the Holy Spirit? Look at the change that took place in the disciples in Acts 4:13:

Acts 4:13

13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.

One thing I want to point out to you here. People marveled at there boldness. Where did this boldness come from? Not long before this they fled in fear as Jesus was arrested and crucified. It came when the Holy Spirit indwelt them at the day of pentecost a short time before this event mentioned in the verse above. So my question is this....Do you have a boldness to serve Jesus? From what I read that is one fo the things the Holy Spirit provides to us. Hmmmm think about that.

As we go through these devotions my prayer is that we will gain a fresh new perspective on the Holy Spirit and that we will realize the church has forgotten in many ways the workings of the Holy Spirit. So join me for this adventure and share it with others and ask them to join us. As always your comments are welcome!

God bless...Tom

Help a sinner!!!

Over the years since I have been in ministry there has been much debate about confronting those in sin. People will say you are judging some one when you confront someone who is in sin. I believe the Bible makes it clear we are suppose to point out sin in folks lives and here is one of those verses:

James 5:19-20

19 Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, 20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.

Now none of us are perfect. When we are in sin we must be able to take the pointing out of our sin without getting angry. The Bible is clear that when pointing out sin we must do this gently and lovingly. Jesus is our prime example in this. Look at what verse 19-20 shows us....if we turn back a sinner we save a soul from death! Isn't that awesome!!! You see when one repents from their sin...their previous sins (multitude of sins) are covered by the shed blood of Jesus. So let's stop and ask oursleves...when is the last time we pointed out in love the sins of another??? I can already hear some thoughts going through our head..."who am I to point out others sins when I have my own to worry about?" Well my friend do yourself a favor and repent of yours now and get your life in line with what God desires. Then help some one who is straying from the truth. It is so important as we are told we will save a soul from death!!! How much more important can it be?

Ponder these scriptures today....it is a matter of eternity in hell or heaven!

Tom

Accountability Partner

Here is today's verse:

James 5:16

16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

Over the years I have heard many men and women of God tell me and others that we need to have a person in our live that will help us with our walk with God. It must be someone who you know is very strong in their faith and someone you can trust with personal information that you would be sharing with them. We call these folks accountability partners. Once you find this person you have to be honest with them about your life. Just like the verse above says you confess your trespasses (or sins) to them for the sole purpose of them holding you accountable for your sins. They will then pray with you about this sin and then help you stay true to your commitment to God to walk the walk not just talk the talk. Now let me also say you must confess your sin to God first and foremost but the bible tells us here to be in prayer for one another and to pray for one another so we may be healed. I believe part of the healing process is our friends helping us to stay away from what ever the sin was that crept into our life! The verse goes on to say our friends effective and fervent prayers avails much. That is so awesome. Again be sure to choose friends who are solid in the faith and are in their Bibles daily!

Do you have an accountability partner? Find one today it will help you in your walk with God!

Have a great week!

Tom

Need healing?

This verse is very interesting:

James 5:14
14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.

I have often wondered since I first read this verse many years ago why this isn't isn't practiced in most churches today. The first part of the verse is really pretty simple. Do we have any sick? Yes all over the place. While I think James is talking to the church here I want you to think how many folks in your church are sick? Cancer, disease, flu, are just a few of the sicknesses we have. Once again our great God tells us exactly what we need to do. Call for the elders of the church. They are then to go and pray for the sick person and then anoint them with oil in the name of Jesus. Why in the world don't we do this? It isn't hard. Perhaps it comes down to two things. First it may be like everything else...we are to busy to take the time to do this. God forgive us if this is the reason. Second...could it be we don't have the faith in God that He can heal the sick? If we don't have faith in God to believe He can heal then how in the world can we believe in His Son? Those are the only two reasons I can come up with and neither are worth a hill of beans.

Folks we need to get back to following God's word. God is amazing and can do marvelous works but we must be obedient to His Word.

I am interested in other opinions on this...why don't the church as a whole practice this?

In Christian love...Tom

I know someone who is suffering....do you?

Here is the verse for today:

James 5:13

13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms.

When I first read this I thought to myself..."People are suffering everywhere." Why are people suffering? The answer to this is broad. Some bring suffering on themselves by allowing sin to dominate their lives. Some don't take care of the bodies God has given them and thus suffer the consequences. Some suffer with disease that they have done nothing to get but have been overtaken by. There are many, many more reasons for suffering too. So what is the answer. God gives it to us right here. Pray. Wow is it really that simple??? Yes it is. God wants us to talk to Him about our suffering. I can say from my own expiriences in life that prayer has helped me in a way that nothing else can when I am suffering. My problem is though I want to try everything else to solve my suffering before I take it to God. Why do I do that to myself? Plain stupidity I would say! Just like any good parent God wants us to bring our pain and suffering to Him and He will console us like no other. Thank you God for listening to a sinner like me, I am forever greatful.

I like the second part of this verse too. Are we cheerful? We should be! God is sooooo good. If we are we should be singing psalms. Go read a few and look at some of the praises to God. It will teach you much as to how David and others praised God in good times and bad. The definition of a Psalm is a Spiritual song. You may even want to write your own Psalm and sing it to God. He loves it when we worship Him with honesty. Pour your heart out to Him. If you read the Psalms in the Bible they poor their hearts out to God even if they feel like God has left them they cry out to Him. Pure honesty. God can handle it. He can also handle your praises and adoration for Him. So sing away God loves to hear from His children!!!

Such a simple verse but so much to say! God loves you remember that!!!

Tom

Is your word good?

Here is today's verse:

James 5:12

12 But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your “Yes” be “Yes,” and your “No,” “No,” lest you fall into judgment.

If there is anything that really gets under my skin it is liars. I try my best to tell the truth even when it hurts. Since Jesus is Truth I believe He wants the truth from us at all times. For some reason we have started to believe that little white lies are ok but this is not found in scripture. In this verse God warns us not to swear or make an oath by heaven or earth. What He means by that is when we tell someone something and say I swear to God I will _____ fill in the blank. Do not do that! God tells us not too for one but also if you do not do what ever you promised you just broke an oath to God! If we would just do as God says and let our yes be yes and our no be no it would be so much eaiser and it would be pleasing to God. Not long ago folks made agreements by a handshake. Now we have to have all kinds of paperwork and lawyers and people still break their agreements! Again God says this should not be so and if we do lie we fall into judgement! I like to stay away from judgement as much as I can!

So as those who are followers of the Truth let us be up holders of the truth even though it may hurt sometimes it will be worth it in the end!

God bless....Tom