Word from a Pastor

A Pastor (Johnny Hunt) that I have learned many things from about the Lord posted this on his twitter account this morning and I thought I would share it with you....plain and simple:

“Only fear the LORD, and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you.” I Samuel 12:24 NKJV -Fear the Lord -Serve Him -Consider what great things He has done for you

Simple truth....are you listening and obeying God's Word?

Tom

Where do I go?

Where is the ultimate place for learning the most important things of life?

Proverbs 1:5 

5 A wise man will hear and increase learning,
And a man of understanding will attain wise counsel,

In my opinion the answer to the opening question is the bible. God gave us an instruction book for life. As He says in this proverb above if we are wise we will hear and increase in our learning....of His Word!!!! Learning other things can be good as well but the most important thing is learning of Jesus and His providing of salvation and then learning to live our lives as our example Jesus did.

Then the proverb verse says get wise counsel. I am not going to go to a man or women of the world for counsel on godly matters. I am going to someone who is a follower of Jesus and well versed in the bible. They will lead me in the direction God wants me to go and that is where the followers of Jesus should want to go!

So be wise and get in the Word for learning and go to wise, godly folks for counsel! That is your smartest move!

Tom

Michael W. Smith's 'Worship Around The World - THE WORD'

In a quiet place, when you are not in a hurry, watch this. Very powerful.

Tom

KNOW! God is love!

You must KNOW....God is love!

1 John 4:16 

16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

1. Know God loves you.

2. Believe God loves you.

3. God is love.

4. If you abide in God, you abide in love.

God loves you! He proved it by sending His Son Jesus to die for your sins. What more could He do for you????

Do you love God?

Tom

Reap what you sow!

Music Friday-Love And The Outcome - You Got This (Official Lyric Video)

Don't worry about it...God has got this!

Remember what God has done!

As we go through life it is easy to get overly focused on what is at hand at the moment. It may be a good time or it may be a bad time. We then tend to make judgements upon our whole life by what we are going through at the moment especially if it is a hard time. Look what God told Moses just before receiving the ten commandments:

Deuteronomy 4:9 

9 “Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children's children—

1. We must keep our souls diligently! Protect and nourish the things God has given us through salvation. Read the bible and pray. Keep our focus on God not the issue at hand.

2. Don't forget what God has done! We are a blessed people!!! God has brought us through so much and given us Jesus! Remember the past blessings of God knowing He will continue to see us through.

3. Pass on what God has shown us to our children. The world will not teach them about God and what He has done. It is our job to share how great God is to our children!!

So in the good and the bad remember what God has done!!! He loves us!

Tom

Easily seen!

God has mad it clear He is real and you see Him everyday if you are looking for Him.

Romans 1:20 

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.

 A new born baby, a sunset, someone who have given their life to Jesus, breeze blowing the trees, a blooming flower, a thunder storm, and a billion other ways we see God. God loves us and makes Himself known to us. If one is looking for God they seem Him. I know I have and will continue until He calls me home. 

Also remember....because God shows us Himself we are without excuse in following Him. God has even went to the point to give us a love letter by the bible to reveal Himself even more and tell us how to live the abundant life through His Son Jesus!!!! What more can God do???

Do you see God? You can....just open your eyes and look!

Tom

Remember what God has done.

In life we have good times and bad times. In the good times it is easy to remember all God has done but it seems in bad times we seem to forget what God has done. It is very important in both situations to remember what God has done and to praise Him for the loving, providing, merciful God He is!!!

Psalm 77:11-14 

11 I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
    yes, I will remember your wonders of old.
12 I will ponder all your work,
    and meditate on your mighty deeds.
13 Your way, O God, is holy.
    What god is great like our God?
14 You are the God who works wonders;
    you have made known your might among the peoples.

Remember and think about what God has done in the past. From what we read in the bible and what He has done in our own personal lives....God has blessed us greatly and has provided salvation for all who will follow Jesus. That is more than we deserve!

God is a holy and just God. Everything he does and everything he allows is right. He knows all and we don't. Trust Him!! There is no other God! He has made Himself known to us and desires a relationship with us. That is amazing in itself!

So remember, in good times and bad, what God has done and what He continues to do! God is love and He will see us through all and one day soon welcome us home to heaven!

Tom

Hope in the Word

Check out this verse:

Psalm 119:49 

49 Remember your word to your servant,
    in which you have made me hope.

God's Word is full of promises for the believer and even the non-believer. If we have to narrow down the two most important promises it would be these two:

For the non-believer....if you chose you reject God and His Son Jesus you will spend eternity in hell.

For the believer....if you put your faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord you will spend eternity in heaven.

There are many promises in the Word of God. I encourage you to read it everyday and soak up the love of God in His letter to you. It gives me hope and it will you too. Hope in the sense that God will do what He says because He always has and always will!!!

Thank you Jesus for your Word and the hope it provides me every second of every day!

Tom

   

Be Touched!

Music Friday!-Lauren Daigle - Still Rolling Stones

Stay Free!

As a followers of Jesus our desire should be to stay free not return to the bondage that sin had on us!

Galatians 5:1 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

We have a choice to make everyday. Stay free by the power of the Holy Spirit and flee from sin or return to slavery and sin. We must fight for that freedom the Jesus provided upon the cross for our individual lives as Satan is busy trying to bring us back to His slavery! This is why we are tols here is this verse to STAND FIRM!!! We have the power to do so!!!

Stay free and help others become free by sharing the gospel with others! Thank you Jesus for true FREEDOM!

Tom

No doubt about it!

I can honesty say that even in the midst of this coronavirus I have not been afraid. Why? Because of this:

Psalm 46:1-2a

 God is our refuge and strength,
A very present help in trouble.
2a Therefore we will not fear,

God is in control. He is always near and helping those who love Him. It may not turn out the way I like or desire but I still love Him and trust Him and know He loves me and has provided all I need! Even if I get the virus and die I still know it is God's will and I move into paradise with Him!!!! 

Even though I don't understand everything going on....I understand my God and He is in control and He loves us! No doubt about it!

Tom

What is first on agenda today?

What is first on your agenda today? Could be a number of different things....work, clean house, exercise, do dishes, or a million other things. So what does God say we should do first?

Matthew 6:33a

33a But seek first the kingdom of God

Seek the Kingdom of God. Hmmmm did you do that? The Kingdom of God is not here yet as Jesus has not returned. BUT you can prepare for it! Make sure you are right with God and are drawing closer to Him daily. Meet the needs of others as Jesus told us to do. Share the gospel and help others be ready for the Kingdom of King Jesus!!!

Remember everyday....first is seeking the Kingdom of God.....make sure it is your first priority!

Tom

Next event???

The resurrection has happened so what are we looking for next as followers of Jesus????

Titus 2:13-14 New King James Version (NKJV)

13 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.

We are looking for His glorious appearance!!! To come and get His redeemed people. Those who gave their live to Him as Lord and Savior! Come Jesus come!!! Jesus gave Himself for each of us! Thank you Jesus!!! He redeemed us for sin and is purifying us to be like Him....special....holy!!!

So what do we do while we wait for our Savior.....good works!!! Love others, meet needs, and share the gospel!!!! Not to to these things would be disobedience!!!! So let us be about the Lord's business!!!

Have a blessed day and keep an eye to the sky for our King!!!

Tom

Resurrection Day!

Day 8: Resurrection Sunday

The Garden Tomb in Jerusalem, believed to be the burial place of Jesus. Steve Allen / Getty Images

On Resurrection Sunday, or Easter, we reach the culmination of Holy Week. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most important event of the Christian faith. The very foundation of all Christian doctrine hinges on the truth of this account.

Early Sunday morning, several women (Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Salome, and Mary the mother of James) went to the tomb and discovered that the large stone covering the entrance had been rolled away. An angel announced:

"Don't be afraid! I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He isn't here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen." (Matthew 28:5-6, NLT)

On the day of his resurrection, Jesus Christ made at least five appearances. Mark's Gospel says the first person to see him was Mary Magdalene. Jesus also appeared to Peter, to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, and later that day to all of the disciples except Thomas, while they were gathered in a house for prayer.

The eyewitness accounts in the Gospels provide what Christians believe to be undeniable evidence that the resurrection of Jesus Christ did indeed happen. Two millennia after his death, followers of Christ still flock to Jerusalem to see the empty tomb.

Sunday's events are recorded in Matthew 28:1-13, Mark 16:1-14, Luke 24:1-49, and John 20:1-23.

Because He lives!

https://www.facebook.com/636026606/posts/10156755554166607/?

Silent Saturday

Day 7: Saturday in the Tomb

Disciples at the scene of the entombment of Jesus after his crucifixion. Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Jesus' body lay in its tomb, where it was guarded by Roman soldiers throughout the day on Saturday, which was the Sabbath. When the Sabbath ended at 6 p.m., Christ's body was ceremonially treated for burial with spices purchased by Nicodemus:

"He brought about seventy-five pounds of perfumed ointment made from myrrh and aloes. Following Jewish burial custom, they wrapped Jesus' body with the spices in long sheets of linen cloth." (John 19: 39-40, NLT)

Nicodemus, like Joseph of Arimathea, was a member of the Sanhedrin, the court that had condemned Jesus Christ to death. For a time, both men had lived as secret followers of Jesus, afraid to make a public profession of faith because of their prominent positions in the Jewish community.

Similarly, both were deeply affected by Christ's death. They boldly came out of hiding, risking their reputations and their lives because they had come to realize that Jesus was, indeed, the long-awaited Messiah. Together they cared for Jesus' body and prepared it for burial.

While his physical body lay in the tomb, Jesus Christ paid the penalty for sin by offering the perfect, spotless sacrifice. He conquered death, both spiritually and physically, securing our eternal salvation:

"For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver. He paid for you with the precious lifeblood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God." (1 Peter 1:18-19, NLT)

Saturday's events are recorded in Matthew 27:62-66, Mark 16:1, Luke 23:56, and John 19:40.

Good Friday from a few Pastors of Humphreys County

https://www.facebook.com/tom.jehnzen/videos/10156749102051607/?d=n

It's Friday but Sunday's Coming HQ with The Passion and Risen clips

Holy Week-Good Friday

Day 6: Trial, Crucifixion, Death, and Burial on Good Friday

Close-up of "Crucifixion" by Bramantino, 1510, oil on panel, 372 x 270 cm. DEA / G. CIGOLINI / Getty Images

Good Friday is the most difficult day of Passion Week. Christ's journey turned treacherous and acutely painful in these final hours leading to his death.

According to Scripture, Judas Iscariot, the disciple who had betrayed Jesus, was overcome with remorse and hanged himself early Friday morning.

Meanwhile, before the third hour (9 a.m.), Jesus endured the shame of false accusations, condemnation, mockery, beatings, and abandonment. After multiple unlawful trials, he was sentenced to death by crucifixion, one of the most horrible and disgraceful methods of capital punishment known at the time.

Before Christ was led away, soldiers spit on him, tormented and mocked him, and pierced him with a crown of thorns. Then Jesus carried his own cross to Calvary where, again, he was mocked and insulted as Roman soldiers nailed him to the wooden cross.

Jesus spoke seven final statements from the cross. His first words were, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." (Luke 23:34, NIV). His last words were, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." (Luke 23:46, NIV)

Then, about the ninth hour (3 p.m.), Jesus breathed his last breath and died.

By 6 p.m. Friday evening, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea took Jesus' body down from the cross and lay it in a tomb.

Friday's events are recorded in Matthew 27:1-62, Mark 15:1-47, Luke 22:63-23:56, and John 18:28-19:37.