Is the Word in your heart?

Run, run, run! Been all over the place my friends. Sorry for missing the devotions. I just got back last night from Gatlinburg,TN where we were at a youth conference with over 6,000 kids. Great conference. One of the messages was based on this question, Is the Word in your heart? It was based on this scripture:



Psalm 119:10-12



10 With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments!11 I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.12 Blessed are you, O Lord; teach me your statutes!



I want us to concentrate on verse 11. The speaker at the conference asked us a very interesting question, for those that have been saved over 4 years, can you quote a verse for each year you have been saved? Hmmm I have been saved for 22 years, that would mean 22 verses. That brings us to this question, how much of God's Word do I have stored up in my heart???? Why is that important? So that I do not sin against God!



Now I will be the first to admit I am not good at memorization. I can tell you lots of things the bible says but may not have book and verse and would have to look it up! These are lame excuses! If I sat down and thought about it I am pretty sure I could come up with 22 verses, but that is not the point....I should know much more! Why is it I can remember stupid sports numbers but not my bible? Perhaps I need to do some thinking on that huh? What about you?



So as we head into the new year, we may want to make a priority of storing up God's Word in our hearts! After all it will help us to not sin against our God!



Tom

Really whoever?

In this lonely, hate filled, sinful world of ours I want to remind you of some great news this morning. Check this verse out:



Romans 10:13



13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”



No matter where you are in life, if you call upon Jesus as Lord and Savior of your life, you will be saved! I love that word "whoever". That includes me and you. No matter where you been or what you have done. What a merciful and loving God we have. We don't deserve to be saved, matter of fact we deserve hell because we sin against a righteous and holy God. All we have to do is call on Jesus!



God loves us so much. We have a hard time understanding just how much He loves us. More than our parents love, more than our childrens love, and yes even more than a spouses love. God's love is deep and wide. This is how much God loves us:



John 3:16



16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.



Would you sacrifice your child for me? That is what God did for you! Amazing Love! Did you catch that word again? "Whoever"! Their is no one that is excluded from this whoever, the only way you are excluded is if you decide you don't want Jesus!



Thank you God, for including all us "whoevers" in your master plan! We love you!



Tom

Be like Phil, spread the truth!!!

Well needless to say I am very perturbed by what A&E has done to Phil Robertson. Suspending Him from the show Duck Dynasty for his views on homosexuality which are in line with the bible. If you haven't read it look it up on internet. So I am posting this to say Phil is standing on the Word of God and God's Word tells us we will face persecution when proclaiming God's Word. Each of us should ask ourselves, am I proclaiming the Word of God?



Here are some scriptures to think about:



This is the scripture Phil is being persecuted for:



Romans 1:18-32



God’s Wrath on Unrighteousness

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, 21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.

24 Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, 25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

26 For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. 27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.

28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, 30 backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; 32 who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.

Scriptures that tell us persecution will come when standing on God's Word:Matthew 5:10-12

10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. 12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

John 15:20

20 Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.



When spreading God's Word persecution will come:





1 Peter 4:12-16

12 Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; 13 but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. 14 If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified. 15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people’s matters. 16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter.





2 Timothy 3:10-12

10 But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance, 11 persecutions, afflictions, which happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra—what persecutions I endured. And out of them all the Lord delivered me. 12 Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.



2 Corinthians 12:10

Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.



John 16:33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”



Romans 12:12

Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.



James 1:2

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,



1 Peter 1:5-7

5 who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.



Spread the truth of God's Word:



2 Timothy 2:15

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.



John 17:17 Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.



Spread the truth, and if trials come so be it! Thanks Phil for setting the example!



Tom

Where is my mind?

Sorry about missing devotions the last couple of days. The stomach virus payed a little visit to me and my daughter!



I found this verse thought provoking:



Romans 8:5

5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.



We all have control over our minds. This verse makes it clear that we choose to live for the flesh or we choose to live by the Spirit. To sum that up, we choose to sin or we choose to live like Christ. From the moment we roll out of bed in the morning until we lay back down that night we have choices all day long. What is our mind focused on? Look at what the bible says if we are focused on the flesh:



Romans 8:7

7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot.



Ouch! Thank goodness for the grace and mercy of God! When our minds are in the flesh we are hostile to God!



When we are in the flesh we can not please God:



Romans 8:8

8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.



Who in their right mind wants to live like that??? I want to please my heavenly Father don't you?



So what is the answer?



Romans 8:16

16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God



Keep your mind on the things of the Spirit! Hard to do but doable! Be an obedient child. A reminder of what the things of the Spirit are:



Galatians 5:22-23

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness,

self-control; against such things there is no law.



So where is your mind at?



Tom

Want peace with God?

Romans 5:1



Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.



According to the Word of God there is only one way to have peace with God and that is through Jesus. You can't do enough good things to earn peace only through a relationship with Jesus Christ! Do you have this peace? You can. Invite Jesus into your life today, the peace of God is waiting for you!



Tom

No promise of easy life!

So many times I hear folks say they can't understand why something is happening to them because they are faithful followers of Christ. Here is my response to that. Why do you think it should not happen to you? We all have sinned, and we all have to face consequences of our sins. No where in the bible does it say we will not have troubles this side of heaven. Remember this side of heaven is not our home, we are just passing through. Heaven is our home and that is when we will have the perfect life! For an example, look at Job:

Job 1:1

1 There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.

Job was a godly man, he had everything one could be blessed with. In one day all that was taken away. He remained faithful to God. His wife turned on him, and his friends falsely accused him of sin bringing this on. Job remained faithful. Now in Job's case, his faithfulness, brought God's blessing back here on this side of heaven. That is not always the case. We can look at Stephen in the New Testament and see that as he remained faithful to God but was stoned to death.

The key is remaining faithful, and continuing to love our faith no matter what the circumstances. This side of heaven will not be easy but when we get to heaven oh will the good times roll! Praise God!

Tom

Why is the USA falling apart?

Once you read these verses below it is simple to see why the USA is falling to pieces:



Romans 1:18-32



God's Wrath on Unrighteousness



18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.



All that is this nation right now! I want to point out a few things in the above passage:



1. v.19 tells us God has shown us what He desires from us. He has given us His Word to show us sin and how to become right with Him through Jesus.



2. v.20 points out the fact that if you question if God is real just look at creation. We have no excuse to question if God is real.



3. v.22-23 tells us how foolish we are...we worship idols instead of a God who created us. Now we worship t.v. stars, cell phones, music, sports and a host of others things!



4. v.24-28 shows us how sexually immoral we are. Homosexuality, porn, adultery, molestation, rape and the list goes on. God allows us to do these things because we have pushed him out. Just like Sodom and Gomorrah it will cost us in the end.



5. v.29-31 describes the USA today. Sadly many of these things are both inside and outside the church. Most people can not see a difference between a follower of Jesus and one who is not. Brothers and sisters this should not be so! We are to be set apart from the world.



6. v.32 tells us not only do we know what God desires, we deserve to die because we do what God doesn't want us to do and encourage others to join us and approve of their sin! Wow.



So how can it change? One person at a time starting with me and you. Make sure our own life is right with God and then lovingly help others come to Jesus and live for Jesus. Remember you alone will answer to God!



Tom

We are not good!

I was reminded yesterday by a young lady that none of us are good! Kind of humbling when you sit down and think about it! Read this scripture and soak it all in because it is about you and I:



Romans 3:10-18

10 as it is written:

“None is righteous, no, not one;

11 no one understands; no one seeks for God.

12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”

13 “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.”“The venom of asps is under their lips.”

14 “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”

15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;

16 in their paths are ruin and misery,17 and the way of peace they have not known.”

18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”



Ouch! That hurts don't it? That is talking about you and me! We are not righteous, we don't seek God, we don't do good, we lie, we hurt others with our talk, we shed blood, we don't know peace, and we don't fear God. If that don't make you do some thinking I don't know what will.



I do have some good news and many of you already have it. Jesus! A free gift from God that overcomes all these terrible traits we have. The shed blood of Jesus covers all these sins. We repent of these things, ask Jesus into our lives as Lord and Savior, and then with the help of the Holy Spirit we live for God. We then become righteous in the eyes of God because he sees the blood of Jesus upon us. Thank you Jesus! Thank you.



We in ourselves are not good, but in Christ we are righteous!!!



Tom

Are you ashamed?

This is an important question for all those who say they are followers of Jesus: Are you ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ? Before you answer you better think about it. How often do you share the gospel? Do you find yourself holding back as people down Christianity? Do you vote by your faith? Is your faith first in your life? Do you boldly stand upon the gospel of Jesus?



Paul boldly proclaims he is not ashamed of the gospel below:



Romans 1:16



16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.



I pray this morning we all can say this same thing! I recently asked the youth if they would give their life if they were put in a position of having to choose Jesus or death. The majority raised their hand. I told them it is much easier to say than to do if your neck is on the line. So I ask you the same....would you die for Jesus and your faith in Him?



Now one more important point to consider is this scripture:



Mark 8:38

For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”



These are to words of Jesus. Don't let these Words go by lightly. If we are ashamed of Jesus or His Words (gospel) then He will be ashamed of us before God! Ouch!



So are you being bold for Jesus and His Word? I don't really think it is an option, do you?



Think on this today!



Tom

Is this our nation now?

Just read this before you answer the question:



Acts 28:26-27



26 “‘Go to this people, and say,“You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.”27 For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed;lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’



Paul was quoting Isaiah here to the Jews but i believe it can be said of our nation that was founded on Christianity. We can still turn back to Jesus as a nation but it all begins with me and you!



Oh do we need Revival and oh do we need God!



Tom

Keep sharing Jesus!

Here we see Paul has just told his testimony of how Christ came into his life to King Agrippa. This is Agrippa's response:



Acts 26:28



28 And Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?”



The Holy Spirit was working on Agrippa. If Paul would have been allowed more time with Agrippa, he may have been moved enough to come to Jesus. So what does this have to do with us? Keep sharing Jesus to others. It may take some time to get them to come to Jesus. Every second spent on sharing Jesus with someone is worth the effort. In the end it may make the difference of heaven or hell for the person you are sharing with. I prayed for and shared with my dad for seven years before he gave his life to Jesus. Was it worth it? Absolutely!!!!!



So my friends share, share, share and you may just persuade someone to Jesus! If nothing else you have planted a seed! May God water that seed.



Tom

What are you here for?

God has a purpose for you. Everyone of us has things God wants us to accomplish in our life. When we do it brings God glory! Do seek God's Will for your life? It is of utmost importance that you do. I was reminded of this reading this verse in Esther yesterday:


Esther 4:14

14 For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”



At this time some folks had got the King to sign a decree to kill all the Jews. Esther was the Queen and asked to go appeal to the King to spare their lives. In order to go before the King the queen must be called or she could be put to death. Esther was willing to take the risk!



God has called all of us to His Kingdom. We have a choice to come into it or not. If we choose to follow King Jesus then we can come in but then we have work to do for the Kingdom! Are you willing? You are here to serve the King!



Think about this today.



Tom

Death keeps coming!

It seems like death just keeps coming don't it? I am sure you are like me and have lost some loved ones over the past year. Sadly this is life. Just yesterday, I lost a classmate, Henry Moses. Why does death come? Sin. All of us sin and all of us will die unless Jesus returns first. The bible has given us all the details:



Romans 3:23

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,



Romans 5:12



Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—



We do have good news in all this though. God loves us. Even though we sin against Him, He still loves us, and has a free gift for us.



Romans 6:23



23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.





Romans 5:8



But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.



A free gift! Everyone likes a free gift, only this gift has love and eternity in heaven wrapped up in the shed blood of Jesus Christ. All you have to do is believe and follow!Jesus died so you can live forever in heaven, don't ever get over that! You and I don't deserve heaven, but Jesus covered your sin so you and I can go! Thank you Jesus!



Remember this from the mouth of Job in the bible:



Job 14:1



“Man who is born of a woman is few of days and full of trouble.



So true! Life is short, be prepared!



Love to all!



Tom

Worship together

Did you take time to go to church yesterday? God expects you too.



Leviticus 23:3



The Sabbath

3 “Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work. It is a Sabbath to the Lord in all your dwelling places.





Hebrews 10:25



25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.



From the old testament to the new, God has always had the design for believers to come together to worship and praise Him. Anyone who says they do not need the church does not know their bible and the teachings of Christ. He established the church and died for the church. The church is not the building but the people who have trusted in Jesus as Lord and Savior.



God has given us seven days in a week, and He expects us to take one to rest and worship Him with other believers. It is very clear in the Word. So are you? Are you teaching your kids this important teaching in the Word of God? If not start today!



God even set the standard for us in the very beginning:



Genesis 2:2



And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.



No excuses! Get to church and worship with other believers!



Tom