1 day til new year 2018 -We may need a new perspective!

2 days til 2018!

Music Friday! Can I get a witness of how great our awesome God is????

3 days until 2018

4 days til new year 2018!

You exist why?

You exist for one main reason, do you know what it is? It is not to make money, it is not for that special girl or guy, it isn’t even for your child. Want to make a guess at it? Here it is:

Revelation 4:11

11 “You are worthy, O Lord,
To receive glory and honor and power;
For You created all things,
And by Your will they exist and were created.”

The reason you exist to to bring glory and honor to God! That is the main reason and nothing else even comes close! 

So know the next question…are you doing what you exist for? You will have no peace or contentment in your life until you have God in the right place in your life. 

So as we go into 2018 let’s make sure we all have God in His proper place as God of our lives and remove ourselves from that position!

Tom

Mary Did You Know? (listen to song Mary did you know before watching)

Music Friday-see if this don't get you in the Christmas Spirit!

Others first even after Christmas!

You got what you need.

Want a free gift?

Everyone likes free gifts, right? Well there is one free gift everyone needs:

Romans 6:23
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God offers the free gift of Salvation through His only Son Jesus Christ. Will you take that gift today? 

For those of us that have we need to spread the news of this free gift, not only at Christmas or Easter but everyday! God has told us to do so! Are you?

The greatest gist of all time is offered to us by God, so sad that so may chose never to receive this precious, eternal gift!

Tom

A Reminder of what Christmas is about!

Short and simple.

Matthew 1:21

21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

This Christmas is about Jesus…make sure you and your family don’t leave out of your gatherings why we gather….Jesus. 

Worship and Praise the King of King and the Lord of Lords….the Savior of the world.

Tom

I AM The Resurrection!

Don’t worry about it!

Are you prepared to meet God?

Thank you God!

We always need to thank God for this fact:

Luke 1:68

68 “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel,
For He has visited and redeemed His people,

He visited us in the person of Jesus Christ to redeem us!!!!!

That is why we celebrate Christmas…the birth of Jesus is the beginning of the visitation in the palm to redeem us upon the cross!

Thank God always for providing redemption to sinful folks such as you and I!

Tom

You better show mercy!

James 2:13
13 For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

God is very clear in His word here in this verse above! We must show mercy to others. Do you? Are you a merciful person? Sometimes we don’t want to be merciful but that is not an option!

God goes on to say in this verse above that mercy triumphs over judgement and Jesus is THE example of that! Jesus could have judged all of our sin with no questions asked and in doing so He would have been rich to do so! BUT….instead He chose to take on human flesh and show us mercy by taking our place upon the cross and dying for our sins! Think on that mercy shown!

Now do we have any reason not to show mercy to others? 

Let us be like Christ and show mercy to all instead of judgement!

Tom

Herman Forrest-a heart of wisdom.

Jesus told us so!

John 16:33
33 These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

Like always…Jesus told us so!

There are many tribulations going on in this world and in our lives. Is there any denying that? 

But then He gave us the good news…..I have overcome the world!!! That is how we win…in Jesus! That is how we get our peace…in Jesus! There is no other way!

Oh what a mighty Savior we have! Let’s praise Him and live for Him always!

Tom

Go after God!

Live for this God!

Chew on this verse for a bit:

1 Timothy 1:17
17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

Our God…Jesus! Who is King, eternal, immortal, invisible(at the moment), and wise! No One else is like our God! 

So what are we to do?

Give Him the glory and honor due Him by living for Him every moment of everyday! Forever!

Let us always keep in mind who our God is and live for Him!

Tom

Do what Jesus did!

I Am the Good Shepherd!

Remember the promise!

As we are in the time of year of remembering the birth of Jesus, remember this promise of God from the very beginning:

Genesis 3:15b

15b
He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel.”

Here God told Satan, one day the Savior would come and smack him upside the head in defeat and that was fulfilled by Jesus in His death, burial, and resurrection!

Jesus came to this earth for one reason….You! To die for your sins so you can have eternal life! Think on that today and this fulfilled promise of God! Also remember another promise from God…Jesus is coming back soon to take us home to heaven! Are you ready?

Tom

Get out of the flesh.

Are you worn out yet?

Matthew 11:28
28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Well the Holidays are upon us. Thanksgiving just went by and Christmas is upon us. We run, run, and run. Have to get the shopping done. Have to get the food prepared. Have to see all the relatives….and then BAM! It is clean up time! Get the tree down, get kids prepared to go back to school, get ready to go back to work if you ever had any time off to begin with! Wow I am worn out just thinking about it. 

It seems we miss the whole point of Christmas….Jesus!

So slow down! Cut a few things out and come to Jesus. Give it all to Him and take time to worship Him and enjoy what He has done for you….provided salvation!

Don’t go away from Jesus with busyness, come to Jesus with worship!

Tom

Are you near God?

Only way to make sense of this world!

Most days the Lord lays a message on my heart right away for a devotion and well other days I may get nothing or late in the day, like today, something will just hit me and here it is:

"It is Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ alone, who makes sense out of everything in this world." AW Tozer

It is plain and simple and true. If you look at life any other way than through Jesus, it will not make sense because God made us to be filled by Himself only! All else will not satisfy or make sense!

Tom

Get wisdom and instruction!

I lack nothing!

Psalm 23:1

1The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want.

I love this verse! For the follower of Jesus it says so much! As the Shepherd of my life, He provides and I have no need (want). It is that simple! Sure there are things I would like for my own pleasures but as far as needs I have none!!!

Of course the biggest need for all is salvation and God provides that as a free gift through His Son Jesus Christ! So if you have not filled that need call upon Him today!!!

Tom

Do you have the right mindset for today?

To live is Christ!

As a follower of Jesus, do you hesitate to say this?

Philippians 1:21

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

Jesus gave His life for our sins, and now if we surrender our lives to Him, our lives should be all about following Jesus and doing what He has taught us through His Word. 

We also should know this earth is not our home….heaven is! So when death comes it is gain not loss! Praise the Lord!

As followers of Jesus we should never hesitate to live for Jesus!

Tom

Want to be blessed?

Are you a good friend, brother, and sister?

Proverbs 17:17
17 A friend loves at all times,
And a brother is born for adversity.

As followers of Jesus it should be automatic that we are friends until the end and love our friends even in tough times.

Also as brothers and sisters in Christ we must be there for one another. That is what family does! I am grateful for the churches I have been able to serve in and attend in my life. Many great friendships have been made for a lifetime! No matter how far apart we may be I always know they are there if I need them! That is what love is all about!

So are you a good friend, brother, and sister in Christ?

Tom

I AM THE DOOR

Music Friday-Thank you for Mercy Jesus!!!

Turn it up and worship King Jesus! Wow!

Time to grow up!

I AM THE VINE

You need the MILK!

1 Peter 2:2
2 as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,

Once again my brothers and sisters, God is telling us here that we need His Word! It should be a desire of ours. If a baby doesn’t get his milk he is upset and hungry! We should be the same way about the bible, our guide book for life! 

A baby can not grow without the milk and the same is for us without the Word….we can not grow in our relationship with God and we can not grow in our Christlikeness in which we are called too!

We need the milk…let’s get into the Word daily and GROW!

Tom

Thirsty for God?

Are you clean?

Matthew 23:25

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.”

I am subbing today at a local middle school and the kids have an assignment to describe what this saying means…”Clean your finger, before you point at my spots.” That is basically what the verse above is talking about isn’t it?

We have a job to do in helping others in their walk with the Lord in allowing way, but the the bigger job we have is taking care of our own walk with the Lord and being sure our lives are being lived as clean and pure as we possibly can through the power of the Holy Spirit that lives inside those who have given their lives to Jesus.

For those who have not given their lives to Jesus, you do not have the power to live a pure and clean life….so give Jesus a try and be clean through His shed blood!

Tom

Have you tried Jesus?

Clean heart

Are you willing?

Think on this verse for a moment:

1 John 3:16

16 By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

Do you know love by what that verse says? Jesus was willing to die for you and me. Are you for others? That says much about the love you have for others and it goes for people outside your family and friends.

It also can mean something else other than physical death. What about giving up your time and resources for others. Are you willing? That also gives us a sign of what is in your heart…love or selfishness.

So think on this and ask yourself are you willing to love like Jesus? If we are followers of Him it really isn’t a choice!

Tom

Follow the Holy Spirit

"But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh." Galatians 5:6

Think very hard on this verse and think about what you are doing. Are you following God (the Holy Spirit) or are you following yourself (the flesh)? God makes it very clear what you are to be doing here. Following Him!

Our flesh thinks it is needy! And we as fleshly humans desire to fill that need with something…but we are designed only to fill that need completely with God! He lets us have a hole but the fill to that hole is HIM and Him alone! He gives us the Holy Spirit to guide us in filling ourselves with Him and not the flesh!

So today, if you are following Jesus, you have a choice! Follow the flesh or follow the Holy Spirit! What are you going to do? Be faithful to God or be selfish and follow our own fleshly desires which is disobedience to God!

Tom

Advent is here!

Are we Thankful enough?

Thanks to God!

Do you know God correctly?

Think very carefully on this quote from AW Tozer: “It is impossible to keep our moral practices sound and our inward attitudes right while our idea of God is erroneous or inadequate. If we would bring back spiritual power to our lives, we must begin to think of God more nearly as He is.”

Do you know God correctly as the bible tells us? The only way to do that is to be in the Word daily, get good bible teaching, hear the Word preached correctly, pray, and be filled with the Holy Spirit by having a relationship with Jesus so the spirit can give you deeper meaning of God!

There is much false teaching out there so make sure it is in the bible, lines up with the bible, and is in the right context of the bible. If it don’t….run from that teaching and come to know God as He really is! 

It is your responsibility to learn the True God so get busy. He loves you so much and is Awesome and wants a relationship with YOU!

Proverbs 9:10

10 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

Tom

Listen to godly advice.

Proverbs 19:20

20 Listen to counsel and receive instruction,
That you may be wise in your latter days.

Why so often do we not want to take advice? We would rather fail then listen to someone else. We are so hare headed at times. We want to act like we know all the answers!!! Well as we see in the verse above God instructs us to take advice, learn from it, and then be wise ourselves! Then we can share our wisdom with others!

One thing to remember though is to get good godly advice not advice from the world. Godly advice with come from someone who is strong in their walk with the Lord, and spends much time in the Word and prayer. Find these folks for they are rare treasures!

So get that godly advice, it will do you good!

Tom

A submit you won’t regret!

I AM The Light Of The World

God would????

God’s Plan or yours?

Billy Graham said this:

"Don't waster your life, and don't be satisfied with anything less than God's plan.”

So the question is are you seeking God’s plan for your life or are you doing your own thing? God has the abundant life in store for us but the only way we can have that life is to do what He has laid out for us.

John 10:10
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.

Look what God says:

Jeremiah 29:11
11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Hebrews 13:20-21
20 Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, 21 make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Luke 9:23
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.


Proverbs 3:5-6

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;

6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct[a] your paths

So whose plan are doing? Don’t waste your life live for God and His glory!

Tom

God will serve justice one day!

Respect your elders!

We honored the folks in our church yesterday who were 75 and older. It was an awesome day! We must remind our selves to always honor and respect our elders and listen too their advice and they have great wisdom to share. Look at these verses:

Leviticus 19:32

32 ‘You shall rise before the gray headed and honor the presence of an old man, and fear your God: I am the Lord.


Proverbs 16:31

31 The silver-haired head is a crown of glory,
If it is found in the way of righteousness.

Proverbs 20:29

29 The glory of young men is their strength,
And the splendor of old men is their gray head.

Listening and learning from our elders is a wise thing to do, give them the respect they deserve!

Tom

Crowder - All My Hope ft. Tauren Wells

 Music Friday!!! Where is your hope? Mine is Jesus!!!

Watch what you say!

The bible has much to say about how you talk to others. So let us heed the warnings and here is an example:

Proverbs 18:20-21

20 Wise words satisfy like a good meal;

the right words bring satisfaction.

21 The tongue can bring death or life;

those who love to talk will reap the consequences.

Take time to study God’s word about how he desires us to talk with others. Then be obedient to His teachings. He wants us to love and build others up not tear down and be hateful.

So what what you say!

Tom

Seek God continuously!

Honor others.

Do you have good character?

John Henry Jowett said “The real measure of our wealth is how much we’d be worth if we lost all our money.”

“Character is more important than position, and wisdom than possessions. God doesn’t glorify poverty, but neither does He magnify affluence.” says Warren Wiersbe.

What does the bible say?

Proverbs 13:7

7 There is one who makes himself rich, yet has nothing;
And one who makes himself poor, yet has great riches.

So let us think about our godly character and make sure it is of more importance than riches and possessions for God is looking at our hearts not our wallets!

Tom