Spouse is a blessing!

Are we passing it on?

Psalm 145:3-4Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
And His greatness is unsearchable.4 One generation shall praise Your works to another,
And shall declare Your mighty acts.

Oh how great God is!!! He deserves our praise every second of every day. No matter how far you look or how deep you dig or how far out into space you go, you can not be without seeing His greatness! 

Now here is the question we need to ask ourselves....is our generation passing it on to another? Are we truly praising God so that our kids know the greatness and worth of God? Do we share the amazing acts of God with our kids so they know where the works come from? We have a great responsibility to pass the greatness of God on to the next generation.

If we are truly followers of Jesus this should be happening automatically in our lives. Our kids should be seeing us praying, studying our bibles, attending church faithfully, serving the church and others faithfully, and praising God in worship and everyday life! If our kids are not seeing this in out lives then something is wrong in our worship of God!

So are we passing our GREAT GOD onto the next generation? Think about it.

Tom

Mercy Tree

A friend of mine shared this song with me yesterday and it really spoke to me so I want to share it with you. Turn it up and worship the King!

https://youtu.be/hrgl9z3grKU?list=R...

Get to work!

Foolishness to some

Are you eager?

I am not sure if it is age thing or a maturing in Christ or what but the older I get the more I am ready for Jesus to come! How about you?

Philippians 3:20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,

Fo the follower of Jesus, we see here in the scriptures we are to be awaiting the arrival for Jesus to take us home to heaven!!! Come Jesus come! What a great promise from God that our citizenship is in heaven not here on earth! Praise the Lord.

Now for the unbeliever the coming of Jesus is not what you are looking for! Remember that those who have not trusted Jesus as Lord and Savior will be cast into hell for rejecting God’s son. Now is the time for salvation, repent and give your life to Jesus today, for Jesus could come at any time!

Tom

Head above all!

Easy way to share Jesus.

One of the simple ways to share our faith in Jesus is called the Roman Road. Very easy to understand and very easy to do. Lt me share it with you this morning and then I pray you will put it to use to bring others to Jesus for salvation.

1. Romans 3:23-for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Plain and simple verse that reveals we are all sinners! Every single one of us. We do not meet up to what God wants from us because we are sinners.

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

Because we a sinners we will die. We will die physically one day and we are already dead spiritually because we are sinners before a holy God who can not be in the presence of sin. 

BUT God has a free gift for us! Don’t we all like gifts??? That gift is Jesus and if we will receive Jesus as Lord and Savior we can have eternal life and be forgiven of our sins and thus be in God’s presence in heaven for eternity after we die physically!

3. Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Get them to think about what you have said so far. God loves us so much that He has shown us His love in that while we were dirty, rotten, sinners before Him, He sent His only Son, Jesus, to leave heaven and take on human form for the sole purpose of living a perfect life on earth so He could take our sins upon the cross and die so we can be saved! A blood sacrifice had to made to cover our sin so we can be in the presence of God and Jesus paid it all!!! That is how much God loves us!

4. So what do you have to do to be saved?

Romans 10:9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

Confess to God you are sinner, tell God you believe Jesus is Lord and Savior, believe that Jesus died on the cross for you, was buried, and rose on the third day defeating death and sin. If you truly believe these things you will be saved according to God’s Word! 

Ask them would you like to do that?

5. Know this: Romans 10:13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

If you call upon Jesus as Lord, you will be saved!!!

If they call upon Jesus as Lord, it is now your job to help them grow which is called discipling them. It is a must! Teach them about baptism, Lord’s Supper, prayer, bible study, importence of church and Sunday School, tithing, serving, meeting needs, and loving others. We fail in discipleship so often and many fall way because they do not know what to do next!

I hope this is useful to you and if you called upon Jesus as Lord let me know so I can help you!

Tom

Will your lips praise?

Are you born of God?

Jesus plainly tells us that to be saved and have eternity in heaven, we must be born again. In 1 John we are also told about being born of God and that there is a definite sign that tells us that we have been born of God:

1 John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.

LOVE! When we can love others it is a sure sign that we have born again. Why is this? In case you haven’t noticed in our own power some people are unlovable in our eyes. But when you realize God loves a dirty rotten sinner like ourselves then we learn we can love others by the power supplied by the Holy Spirit! That is so awesome!

So are you born of God? Look for the evidence...loving others!

Tom

What's on your mind?

Want to be blessed?

If you study the scriptures you know that there are many verses that say something similar to this:

Psalm 41:1 Blessed is the one who considers the poor, In the day of trouble the Lord delivers him;

We are to take care of those who are in need, are we? These is a blessing tied to this verse for those who help the poor in that when we are in need God will deliver us!

As a follower of Jesus it is our duty to help the poor. Are you?

Tom

What is your delight?

Psalm 40:8 I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.”

The more I study the Word of God, the more I want to do God’s will in my life. The more I do God’s will, the more delight it is to do it even more! I have found there is no blessing greater than doing the will of God. 

So a couple of questions to think on:

1. Do you study the Word of God? You can not fully understand God’s will for your life if you are not faithfully studying the bible.

2. Do you know what God’s will is for you? There is a specific will which only God can reveal to you and then there is a general will which all of us followers are to do such as share gospel, love others, and meet needs.

3. Have you tried to do God’s will for you? You are made for this and will not know what true delight is until you are obeying God in this area!

So what is your delight this day? God’s will or the world’s will? Only one choice truly satisfies!

Tom

What are you created for?

Not the horse but the Lord!

How are you walking today?

Ephesians 5:15-16 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.

Hmmm, am I walking wise according to the scriptures today? It does not matter what the world says it only matters what God says. We must be wise, and the only true wisdom comes from God! There is no way to be wise unless one is in the Word of God.

Am I using the the time God has allowed me this day to the best of my ability? Remember we have been bought by Christ if we are His followers and because of that our time should be overwhelmingly used to glorify Him by sharing the gospel and serving others. Are we?

The days are evil! Satan is doing his best to distract us and take us of the course God has laid out for us. Be ready for his tactics! If we are walking wise and using our time right the ole devil don’t have a chance!

Tom

Careless words

Children are....

Given to us by God! We must remember the awesome responsibility God has given us as parents, grandparents, teachers, day care workers, and whoever else has a hand in raising our children and other peoples children!

Psalm 127:3 Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, The fruit of the womb is a reward.

Are we raising them in a way the Lord would be pleased with us? Remember one day we will stand before God and give an account, I pray we all will be able to show how much we cared, loved, and raised our children in the fear and love of the Lord!

Life is tough but let us make sure we are taking care of the children God has given us!

Tom

Not ashamed!

Give Thanks in everything?

My Pastor, Mark Warren, preached on this as part of his sermon Sunday:

1 Thessalonians 5:18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Are you giving thanks to God in everything? The good, the bad, and the ugly? We are a blessed people and we have hard times but our God is worthy of praise no matter what!!! This verse goes on to tell us it is the will of God for us to give Him thanks. The reason being He deserves all glory, all honor, and all praise.
So think on this today. Is your personal relationship so deep with Jesus that you can give Him thanks no matter what comes your way? Think of it this way, no matter what happens today, He is on the throne, He loves you, and has provided salvation. He deserves thanks! Give it to Him!

Tom

Let that light shine!

God knows you personally!

A little reminder this morning that God knows you personally and wants a relationship with you! Are you willing?

Tom

Others before self!

Following Jesus is tough!

Just a little word of encouragement this morning. Following Jesus is not easy! The Word of God tells us this over and over so be prepared!

Hebrews 12:3 For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.

Jesus gives us the example of perseverance as His life was given for us. The hostility he went through before the cross is more than we can even imagine. So let us not grown weary in being Christ like, loving others, meeting needs, and sharing the good news of Jesus. For in the end we win no matter what we go through now. In Jesus we are the victors! Praise the Lord!

Tom

Good servants and stewards.

Only one place for fullness of joy to be found!

Brothers and sisters this is so simple but yet so hard to figure out in life. We search for true joy in so many areas of life. Why? God has revealed to us in His word that there in only one place where that can be found....in His presence! He created us this way!

Psalm 16:11 You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

In life and in death, full joy can only be found in the presence of God. In life, he gives us the Holy Spirit to dwell in us when we follow Jesus. God is with us all the time through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit thus we should have joy to the fullest!

In death, obviously we are immediately ushers into the presence of God for eternity thus we have the fullness of joy in heaven that God has made just for the believers in Christ! Wow!

So if you are going through life and haven’t found true joy...you won’t until you surrender all to Jesus! Come find joy today!

Tom

Think before you speak to God!

Make war!

Remember my brothers and sisters we must make war each day as instructed by the word of God against the devil and his tactics to tempt us to sin. Make War!

1 Timothy 1:18 This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare,

James 4:7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

Romans 8:13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

Ephesians 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
2 Corinthians 10:4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,

I pray for you, you pray for me, and let’s win this battle against the devil by the power of the Holy Spirit! Make War brothers and sisters!

Tom

Do you bless God?

Tell now!

After we become followers of Jesus, do we immediately tell others about Jesus? Then do we continue til death? We are supposed to....but do we?

Acts 9:20 And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.”

John 4:28-29 So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?”

If we follow the second greatest commandment, we have no choice but to share Jesus and give folks a chance at eternity instead of hell.

Matthew 22:39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Do you love others? Tell them NOW about Jesus!

Tom

Insulted? You are blessed!

For those who think they are too bad....

I want to remind those who may think they are to bad or to much of a sinner for God to save then what God’s Word says:

John 6:37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Romans 10:13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Notice the words in the verses above...whoever, everyone. That includes you and me. I meaning John 3:16 the world is used!!! There is no sin that will keep you away from the grace, mercy, and forgiveness of God. 

Also notice these words in the verses above will come, comes, believes, and calls. It all lies in your hands. You have to take the step towards Jesus and Jesus does the rest. So go now!

God loves you so much that Jesus has shed His own blood to cover your sin, all you have to do is believe and follow. You are bad and so am I but we can be made new again by Jesus!

Come to Him this day won’t you? If I can help just let me know! I am praying for you!

Tom