When God speaks don't laugh! 6-30-15

Proclaim the known God!

Many know the true God, sadly many do not. Paul shows us what we are to be doing here:

Acts 17:22-31
22Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; 23for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription:
TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.
Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you: 24“God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. 25Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. 26And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, 27so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’ 29Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising. 30Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, 31because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”

Proclaim God and our only HOPE Jesus!!! Paul was bold and told straight truth. In our day is seems the true God is unknown, so we have the responsibility of making Him known not only by mouth but by the way we live our lives! May we also challenge all false gods like Paul did here and share the truth for only the truth will set you free!

John 8:32 
And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

Tom

Even Abraham had moments of disbelief! 6-29-15

God is so merciful and gracious!

God loves us so much! If it wasn't for His mercy and grace towards us....well we would all be destined for hell! Read these verses:

Psalm 103:8-10

8 The Lord is merciful and gracious,
Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.
9 He will not always strive with us,
Nor will He keep His anger forever.
10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
Nor punished us according to our iniquities.

I want you to catch a few things in these verses:

1. God is merciful and shows us much grace! We all deserve death and hell right now because of our sins but God gives us all the time he thinks we need to repent and call upon Jesus as Lord and Savior! Oh what an awesome God!

2 Peter 3:9

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.

2. Slow to anger...thank goodness God is patient with His creation.

3. He with not keep His anger forever! Judgement day is coming...all had better prepare! The only thing that will keep us from judgment is the shed blood of His Son Jesus....are you covered?

4. God has not dealt with us as He should....yet! Again refer to the 2 Peter verse above. 

So brothers and sister preach the truth and stand upon God's Word. Do not waver with public opinion, for in the end those who know the TRUTH(Jesus) will be the ones living with God for eternity! 

Thank you God for your mercy, grace, and patience with me so that I would finally surrender to King Jesus.

Tom

Are you dead or alive?

Did you know you can be living and be dead? Or you can be living and truly be alive!!! Which are you this day? Check out these verses:

Colossians 2:13-15

13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, 14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.

Look at verse 13...dead in trespasses means dead in sin! We are dead even though we are alive because we are sinners. Ouch! But the verse goes on to say we can be alive!!!! How? By Jesus and only Jesus! As you see in verse 14 he took our sins and nailed them to the cross...by Himself being nailed to the cross. (This may be a good time to thank and praise Jesus for that) Look at the great news in verse 15...Jesus took down Satan and his demons and made a spectacle of them!!! That makes me smile!!! Satan is defeated and it won't be long till he is thrown in the pit called hell with his cronies! 

Jesus is the definition of triumph!!!!! 

I am alive, alive, alive in Jesus are you?

Tom

Faithful patriarch! 6-25-15

Are you washed?

Read these verses:

1 Corinthians 6:9-11

9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.

This is key to learn....we all have sinned. If you look at the list of sins above, all of us have broken at least one of them. So that means we will not go to heaven. We can not inherit the Kingdom of God. That is what God's Word says...plain and simple!

BUT!!!! I have good news. If you were washed in the blood of Jesus, you are now sanctified and justified which means you are going to heaven!!! Praise Jesus! Nothing we can do to earn heaven. All we can do is put out faith in Jesus Christ who paid the price for our sin upon the old rugged cross!  

So I ask you the question....have been washed by the blood of Jesus?

Tom

Don't try to help God. 6-24-15

self=hell God=heaven

My Pastor Mark Warren preached on these verses Sunday night. Very simple truths taught in these verses:

Isaiah 50:10-11

10 “Who among you fears the Lord?
Who obeys the voice of His Servant?
Who walks in darkness
And has no light?
Let him trust in the name of the Lord
And rely upon his God.
11 Look, all you who kindle a fire,
Who encircle yourselves with sparks:
Walk in the light of your fire and in the sparks you have kindled—
This you shall have from My hand:
You shall lie down in torment.

So very simple put...fear the Lord, obey the Word that God gave His servants for us, walk in light of God, trust in the Lord, and rely upon God. When you do the the result will equal an eternity in heaven with God!

On the other hand...make your own fire, walk in your own selfish light, encircle yourself with sparks (people who encourage sin), you will find in the end that you are in hell. 

So are you all about self or all about God??? The answer will reveal what you need to do in life! Continue on as is or make changes!

Tom

Great Faith 6-23-15

I want more of you God!

Worship to this song this morning and may we all want more of God today and everyday!

Colton Dixon " More of You"


Proverbs 8:17
17 I love those who love me,
And those who seek me diligently will find me.

1 Chronicles 16:11
11 Seek the Lord and His strength;
Seek His face evermore!

Lamentations 3:25
25 The Lord is good to those who wait for Him,
To the soul who seeks Him.

Matthew 6:33
33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

James 4:8
8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Psalm 63:1-3
63 O God, You are my God;
Early will I seek You;
My soul thirsts for You;
My flesh longs for You
In a dry and thirsty land
Where there is no water.
2 So I have looked for You in the sanctuary,
To see Your power and Your glory.
3 Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips shall praise You.

Not much for me to say about these verse as they speak for themselves. Take your time and read through these and let God speak to you. Then listen to the song again and worship God!

Tom

Give the glory to God! 6-17-15

Do we deny selves?

For some reason this verse keeps coming to mind this morning:

Luke 9:23 
Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.

Summer time is here! The lake is calling, cookouts, sun tanning, camping, vacations, and family!! Whooo hooo! Nothing bad about about any of these things. BUT!!! Why does church attendance drop? Why do we get less volunteers to serve the Lord? When we examine the above verse are we being obedient to God?

Denying self is not easy. We want to satisfy our fleshly desires and well it seems God is usually the first one we cut out. I often ask why is Sunday night services or Wednesday services any less important than Sunday morning? They aren't but if you look at the supposed followers of God you sure can't tell it! It all goes back to the words of Jesus.....deny yourself, take up the cause of Christ (your cross), and follow Him. 

Are we? Examine yourself and see!

Tom

Don't move into Sodom! 6-16-15

Do we have blood on our hands?

Read this verse this morning and it reminded me of the importance of sharing the truth no matter what others think!

Ezekiel 33:7-9
7 “So you, son of man: I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore you shall hear a word from My mouth and warn them for Me. 8 When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you shall surely die!’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. 9 Nevertheless if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.

While this was not written directly to us as it was written to Ezekiel as a prophet to Israel. It does serve as a warning to us as a messenger of the gospel of Jesus Christ. WE have the same responsibility...to share the truth of sin and its consequences and the love and mercy of Jesus and His forgiveness. If we keep this life saving news to ourselves should we think we will be any less guilty than Ezekiel? I think not! 

Ezekiel's message was not popular and neither is the message of Jesus, but we must stand against sin and for the truth of Jesus. In all honesty we all will have blood on our hands because we let opportunities to share Jesus slip by, may we all keep this to a minimum and reap the forgiveness of Jesus when we fail!

Tom

Let God lead! 6-15-15

Do what you always do for God! 6-11-15

Serve God only! 6-10-15

Don't defile yourself! 6-19-15

This is the Way! 6-8-15

Do you have an altar? 6-5-15

Cross is power of God but not for fools!

These verses pretty well sums up what God thinks about those who trust in the cross of Jesus and those who don't:

1 Corinthians 1:18-25

Christ the Wisdom and Power of God
18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written,

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. 22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

Yesterday I was told because I believe and follow Jesus I am gullible, mindless, full of hate, and bigoted. As I refer to the above verses I understand why I was told that. I know pray for this person to come to the knowledge and truth of our Lord and Savior before it is too late. We must stand and tell the truth in today's culture as they push their agenda which stands in opposition to the Word of God. 

I will stand upon the cross of Jesus until death, no matter the cost, for I believe!!!

Tom

Do you have the faith of Abraham? 6-4-15

Is God ashamed of me?

Ran across this verse as I was doing my devotion this morning:

“But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared for them a city.” Hebrews 11:16

Wow just think about that for a moment. God can be ashamed to be called our God. I think about that on a personal level and I also think about it on a national level. Is God ashamed of me? Is God ashamed of our nation? We each have to answer for ourselves but as for our nation I believe I am safe to say God is ashamed of us and the morals we now have. We have taken Him out of everything exactly opposite of what He desires. 

So let us look at the verse above a little close. What can we learn from it that shows God won’t be ashamed of us?

Desire a better country-heaven. Do you desire heaven or this world? You see this one point shows where our heart truly is….desiring to be with God or something else! When we desire to be with God He then is not ashamed of us! 

2. God loves us so much He is working for us. God has prepared a city just for us! Those who follow Jesus! It will be like nothing we have ever dreamed of! Remember these words from Jesus: “in my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.” Wow what a promise!

So this morning let us take some time to look at ourselves and determine what we are desiring the world or God? It will determine if God is ashamed of you or not!

Tom

Thoughts on Bruce Jenner.

My thoughts are simple:

Psalm 139:13-16

13 For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.

God made us they way He wanted us and we have no right to change ourselves. If God wanted you a woman He made you that way, If He wanted you a man He made you that way. We are not God and have no right to override what He has done!

Jeremiah 1:5
5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

God made you the way you are and has a plan for you. Do His plan they way He designed you for!

Again God made us, who can over ride what God made? No one!

Remember these words from God....He will render to each according to his works....Romand 2:6.

Also remember God forgives, if we have made a mistake...repent, ask for forgiveness, live the way God intended for you to live. God loves you more than anything and has provided all we need through the love of Jesus Christ.

Biblical response is only response to Bruce Jenner's choices as well as the choices we make!

Tom

Genealogies are important! 6-3-15

Do we really want the presence of the Lord?

I was listening to this song this morning and it got me to thinking...do we really want the God's presence through the Holy Spirit all the time or do we just want it every now and then to appease ourselves??? Listen to this song "Holy Spirit" by Francesca Battistelli



I am very afraid we are in a day where so called Christians want the Spirit on Sunday but not the rest of the week so they can live their greedy, self-centered lives and not feel guilty.  

Look at these verses:

John 16:13
13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.

You see when we have the Holy Spirit He reveals what God wants from us...do we want that 24/7? Many don't.

Acts 1:8
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Jesus sent the Spirit to all believers. The Spirit comes into us as soon as we commit our lives to Jesus. We are then to live under the Spirits leading for the rest of our lives.

Acts 7:51

51 “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you.

A warning for uses well! Heed the warning! This is exactly what is happening to so called believers today!

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.

Are we living for fleshly desires or spiritual desires?

Ephesians 4:30

30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

A warning for all of us!

1 Thessalonians 5:19

19 Do not quench the Spirit.

Do not let these warnings go in one ear and out the other! For without the Spirit at the very least we are very weak and at the highest level we are lost and undone!

So where are you at with the Spirit? Full or empty? It is of utmost importance you figure it out now!!!

Tom

God's will! It will be done! 6-1-15