Monday, August 31, 2015

Out of order! 8-31-15

Is Jesus your everything?



Does this verse describe your feelings about your faith in Jesus?

Philippians 1:21 
For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

We all need to do some honest evaluation here. Is Jesus the most important in your life? If I am being honest I would say at times yes and at times no. I choose other things than Jesus at times and I get so disappointed in myself! Thank goodness for the abundant grace of God huh? When I do this and the Holy Spirit brings it to my attention them I strive not to do it again but to always serve my King and die to my own selfish desires! It is a minute by minute battle!

Join me in selling out and giving our all for our Lord Jesus! He is WORTHY!!!

Tom

Friday, August 28, 2015

Do you know peace? 8-28-15

A thank you to God.



Today we come asking nothing but just to say thank you. We love you Lord! 

Ephesians 5:20

20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Tom

Thursday, August 27, 2015

Don't put cart in front of horse! 8-27-15

Jesus wins!



Was reading devotion today when I came across this verse, wow did it jump out to me!

1 Corinthians 15:24

Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power.

For the followers of Jesus, this verse means victory not only for Jesus but for us!!! We are heirs with Jesus:

Romans 8:17

and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.

When the 1 Corinthians verse talks about destroying every rule, every authority, and every power it is referring to death, sin, and the power of Satan. Jesus has already won over death and sin and one day soon will put Satan in his final eternal place....hell!

So brothers and sisters rejoice this morning! If you are a follower of Jesus Christ....Jesus wins which means we win also!

Tom

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Hear Gods warning! 8-26-15

What is your cornerstone?



A cornerstone is: the chief foundation on which something is constructed or developed.

With that in mind I want you to think about your life. What is your cornerstone? What is the main foundation of your life. Is it your job? Is it a relationship such as husband/wife or boyfriend/girlfriend? Is it your children? Is it money? Is it drugs or alcohol? What is your foundation? The bible is clear, there is only one foundation that does not fail and will never crumble....Jesus! All other foundations will fail at some point.

Predicted to come hundreds of years before Jesus came:

Isaiah 28:16
16 Therefore thus says the Lord God:
“Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation,
A tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation;
Whoever believes will not act hastily.

Ephesians 2:18-20
18 For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.
19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone,

1 Peter 2:6
6 Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture,
“Behold, I lay in Zion
A chief cornerstone, elect, precious,
And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.”

The problem for us is the same as Israel, are we going to reject the Cornerstone(Jesus) and replace Him with something else! For us we may say we have the Cornerstone but is He really the foundation or do we have something else as the foundation???

Psalm 118:22
22 The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone.

Matthew 21:42
42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:
‘The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone.
This was the Lord’s doing,
And it is marvelous in our eyes’?

Acts 4:11
11 This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’

So once again I ask...Is Jesus the cornerstone of your life? This is the most important question of your life!

Tom

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

You are right where God wants you! 8-25-15

God is without equal! Praise Him!



In our ignorance we try to make gods out of everything, when will we realize and give honor and praise to the only ONE whom it is due??? The true, almighty, all-knowing, all loving, all merciful God!

Slowly read this and give it some thought:

Isaiah 40:18-26

18 To whom then will you liken God?
Or what likeness will you compare to Him?
19 The workman molds an image,
The goldsmith overspreads it with gold,
And the silversmith casts silver chains.
20 Whoever is too impoverished for such a contribution
Chooses a tree that will not rot;
He seeks for himself a skillful workman
To prepare a carved image that will not totter.
21 Have you not known?
Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
22 It is He who sits above the circle of the earth,
And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers,
Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.
23 He brings the princes to nothing;
He makes the judges of the earth useless.
24 Scarcely shall they be planted,
Scarcely shall they be sown,
Scarcely shall their stock take root in the earth,
When He will also blow on them,
And they will wither,
And the whirlwind will take them away like stubble.
25 “To whom then will you liken Me,
Or to whom shall I be equal?” says the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes on high,
And see who has created these things,
Who brings out their host by number;
He calls them all by name,
By the greatness of His might
And the strength of His power;
Not one is missing.

Time is short...find, praise, and worship God today! He is without equal!!!!

Tom

Monday, August 24, 2015

God can use evil people for his glory! 8-24-15

We will be held accountable!



A reminder for us this morning with all the wickedness going on in this world of ours! Read very closely and soak it in:

Romans 2:5-11

5 But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, 6 who “will render to each one according to his deeds”: 7 eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; 8 but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath, 9 tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek; 10 but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 11 For there is no partiality with God.

Without Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit there is no way to please God and do good. Do you have Jesus and are you letting His be Lord of your life? It is all in each of our hands, we make the choice. There is no such thing as good without Jesus shed blood cleansing you soul! What will you do with Jesus today? Remember judgement is coming and we will be held accountable!

Tom

Friday, August 21, 2015

Is this you or me?



Luke 18:18-23

Jesus Counsels the Rich Young Ruler

18 Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

19 So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. 20 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’ ”

21 And he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.”

22 So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

23 But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich.

When we get right down to the meat of the matter here, it is do we love Jesus more than stuff? Before we jump right up and say yes we better look at our lives and think about it. We all seem to have great amounts of material things, are we willing to give them up and follow Jesus? HMMMM

Why do we have houses 3x bigger than we need? Why do we have to have more sheds and barns to store our unused stuff in? Why do we have to have the best cell phone? Why do we have to have to coolest car? Why do we eat out all the time? Think about this and let God speak to your heart. Maybe we are just like this rich young ruler. Maybe we love our stuff more than Jesus. People are starving, people don't know Jesus, people are homeless, people don't have clean water, people don't have clean clothes, people don't have shoes, and list goes on and on but we still are stocking up in our greed!

The rich young ruler couldn't put Jesus before all....can we?

Tom

Glory 8-21-15

Thursday, August 20, 2015

God has a plan...will you be a part? 8-20-15

How can this be?



“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” Revelation 4:8

This is a familiar verse to most followers of Jesus. Have you ever thought about what it is saying about the Lord Jesus? How can He be who was, is, and is to come?

Well let's see:

Who was:

Genesis 1:26
26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

1 Peter 1:19-21
19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. 20 He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you 21 who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

Notice the "US"...that is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. They have always been and always will be. Jesus was foreordained to be the Savior of the word. He came and was crucified for our sins, thus he was!

Is:

Revelation 1:18 I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.

Praise God Jesus defeated sin and death and is now alive! HE IS!

And this is where Jesus is right now:

Luke 22:69
69 Hereafter the Son of Man will sit on the right hand of the power of God.”

Await the words from the father to

to Come:

Matthew 24:29-31
29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Matthew 24:44
44 Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

Jesus is coming soon! Are you ready?????

May this give you a greater understanding of Jesus who was, and is, and will come again! Holy is our great God!

Tom

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Need something to be thankful about today?



Some days we just need reminded of a little something to be thankful for, well here it is:

Psalm 103:8

8 The Lord is merciful and gracious,
Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.

What do we deserve? Immediate judgement for the nasty, low down. sinners we are against a Holy God!

What do we get? Mercy and grace from the Lord who is slow to anger desiring that all repent and come to Him through His Son Jesus! That is love folks!

2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

John 3:16
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.

WOW! Lord I am thankful, forgive me for any thoughts otherwise!

Tom

Rejoice and be glad! 7-16-15

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

God knows! 8-18-15

Do you really have the best life?



Think about that question for a moment. You might have the best husband/wife or boyfriend/girlfriend, or you might have the finest looking car, or you might be the best on your ball team, or you might be the smartest in your class. You think you have life under control but do you really? The true answer to the original question question can only be found with this answer:

1 John 5:12

12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.

You see God told us plainly you can have everything of the world but if you don't have Jesus you have nothing:

Mark 8:36

36 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?

If Jesus is not the primary purpose of your life, you are not in a good spot!!!

Jesus is here to provide us with the best, what an awesome God!!!

John 10:10 

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

So let me ask you again, do you have the best life? God's Word makes it clear for us, it can only be had with a relationship with Jesus and for Him to be the number one priority. Is that true in your life? 

Kick the world out and move Jesus in!!!! It is the only way!

Tom

Monday, August 17, 2015

Remember God loves you more than anyone!



God is clear in His Word and we need to be reminded every once in a while that He loves us more than anybody else ever could!

Ephesians 2:4-10

4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Reread the above passage slowly and soak it all in.

Mercy, great love, we were dead in sin, He made us alive in Christ, sit in heavenly places together, show riches of HIS grace, kindness to us in Jesus, through grace been saved by faith, a gift of God, not our works, we can't boast, we are HIS workmanship, created in Christ for good works, God prepared all this before we were even born, so we should walk in good works!!!

Whew, what love!!!!! No one else can even come close to loving us like this!!!

Give the Lord some glory and praise this morning, God loves you!

Tom

Set the example of worship! 8-17-15

Friday, August 14, 2015

Worship at church is so important.



If you are a follower of Jesus, you are the church. Thus if your heart is right with God your desire should be to be at church every time the doors are open to worship Jesus and to fellowship with believers. Look at these verses as they speak for themselves:

Hebrews 10:25

not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

Acts 2:42

They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

You know how often the early church met? Daily! Hmmmm

Acts 20:28

"Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.

Why are pastors so worried about you being at church? So the Word can be taught and we can help each other defeat Satan and worship the King!

1 John 1:3

what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.

Matthew 18:20

"For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst."

1 Corinthians 12:27

Now you are Christ's body, and individually members of it.

People are the church not the building.

1 Corinthians 12:12

For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ.

This is the reason we all should be at church when the doors are open...we are all one body and if on member is missing then it don't function properly!

So get to church, serve where you are called, you have other days to try to please self, but give God the days he has called the church to gather! No excuses!

Tom

Be diligent!!!! 8-14-15

Thursday, August 13, 2015

Jesus Follower-never give up!



Brothers and sisters we must remember that we are just passing through this world we live in. God has something much greater in store for us....never give up on that promise!

Read this:

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light and momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that er unseen are eternal.

Our bodies may be dying day by day but our souls are not! We are renewed by Jesus Christ day by day! The aches and pains of this side of heaven are nothing compared to the worship and celebration that awaits us in heaven! Praise the Lord! So let's keep are minds focused on that fact and not what we see in front of us on a day by day basis. For today will pass but eternity does not!

Oh Jesus come quickly!

Tom

Be very careful parents...children are watching! 8-13-15

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Keep things in check.



If you are like me I need a reminding of where I am in Christ. I have done nothing on my own, Jesus has done everything for my salvation. This scripture reminds me of this fact:

Psalm 51:1-2

Have mercy upon me, O God,
According to Your lovingkindness;
According to the multitude of Your tender mercies,
Blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
And cleanse me from my sin.

And a couple others too:

Isaiah 43:25

“I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake;
And I will not remember your sins.

2 Corinthians 5:17-21

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. 21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

It is all God brothers and sisters, cleansing us from sin and bringing us to Himself by the blood of Jesus! What a loving God! all that is left up to us is faith! Do you have the faith?

Tom

Older will serve the younger. 8-12-15

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

A reminder from Jesus!



Every so often we need a reminder of what Jesus said about Himself:

John 11:25-26

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. 26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

Jesus is life for the believer!!! Don't ever forget that! Forever life in eternity! Praise the Lord! Thank you Jesus!

Don't miss that last question from Jesus..."Do you believe this?" That is the most important question of all time! If we do believe it then our job is to be asking others if they do.

Thank you dear Lord for your Word and the promises that you have given us. We are so thankful for your mercy, grace, and love!

Tom