I have been studying the book of James and wanted to share some thoughts from there. James is one of my favorite books of the Bible I guess because it don't beat around the bush and pretty much tells it like it is. Here are the verses for today:
James 1:2-4
Profiting from Trials
2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
I don't know about you but it has taken me many years to grasp the meaning of these verses. At first glance I think now how in the world is one suppose to count it joy when we are in the midst of problems. Naturally our tendencies are to not be very happy when we are having problems. James tells us here though we should be counting it as joy??? Well how do we do that? It all comes down to the state of mind we are in. Verses 3 and 4 help give us the answer. The trials we face are a test! Ever thought of that? When we come to realize that fact it changes our sate of mind. For example....when someone in the store cuts in front of you in line. Our first reaction is to say "hey I was here first get in the back of the line!!". Now if we are in the right frame of mind which means having the mind of Christ and knowing that we are tested daily we should put others first not say a word and let them have that spot! For me that is very hard to do! You see how in verse 3 it says this produces patience? Obviously from my example this will help produce patience. Verse 4 says our patience then produces perfect work. Perfect defined here means mature. So we become more mature in our faith. When we become mature in our faith we lack nothing as we are becoming more and more like Christ. That is what we should be striving for each day. Now I want to say this. The example I gave was an easy trial compared to some things we will face in this life....so you can see how if we face them in the right frame of mind, keeping God and others first, how we will grow in our maturity in the Lord. That is how we can have true joy in our lives by being obidient to Christ and His Word.
Do you have joy today....get your mind in line with the mind of Christ and you can!!!
Tom
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Blood trail.
I was fortunate to get in the woods this morning to do some deer hunting before work. Saturday was the official opening day but I was out of town so today was my opening day. I was about 10 minutes away from leaving my hunting spot when a doe appeared and was making her way to me. I made the shot with my crossbow and had to trail her blood trail to find her and I did about 70 yards from where I shot her. As I have thought about the blood trail it reminded me of Christ's blood trail to the cross on our behalf. For some the thought of blood may be grusome. But for our faith it is absoluely neccessary!!!! Look at these verses:
Romans 3:23-26
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, 26 to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Really take time to read these verses to see what they say. We all are sinners is what verse 23 tells us...every single one of us except Christ! Verse 24 tells us only by His grace are we justified or made right in God's eyes. We don't deserve heaven but by His grace He offers it by His shed blood which verse 25 tells us. Jesus was a propitiation or a sacrifice for our sins. When we truly believe Jesus died for our sins (faith) God passes over our sins that we have previously comitted and will commit in the future. Then verse 26 tells us God is righteous and He is the justifier of those who have faith in Christ! He will be the judge of those who don't.
So we can see this morning that the blood trail to Calvary in which we find Jesus on the cross giving His life for our sins is a great reward to those who put their trust in Jesus....what is the reward...eternal life with Jesus in heaven....thank you Jesus!!! I praise you Holy name...the name above all names, King of Kings and Lord of Lords!!!
So you hunters next time you are trailing a deer I hope this pops into your mind....blood is needed for the reward!
Tom
Romans 3:23-26
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, 26 to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Really take time to read these verses to see what they say. We all are sinners is what verse 23 tells us...every single one of us except Christ! Verse 24 tells us only by His grace are we justified or made right in God's eyes. We don't deserve heaven but by His grace He offers it by His shed blood which verse 25 tells us. Jesus was a propitiation or a sacrifice for our sins. When we truly believe Jesus died for our sins (faith) God passes over our sins that we have previously comitted and will commit in the future. Then verse 26 tells us God is righteous and He is the justifier of those who have faith in Christ! He will be the judge of those who don't.
So we can see this morning that the blood trail to Calvary in which we find Jesus on the cross giving His life for our sins is a great reward to those who put their trust in Jesus....what is the reward...eternal life with Jesus in heaven....thank you Jesus!!! I praise you Holy name...the name above all names, King of Kings and Lord of Lords!!!
So you hunters next time you are trailing a deer I hope this pops into your mind....blood is needed for the reward!
Tom
Monday, September 28, 2009
Life is a short assignment!
Have you ever thought of life that way? God has given us life as a short prep for getting ready for eternity. Think on that as you read these verses:
Psalm 39:4
4 “Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be.
Remind me that my days are numbered—
how fleeting my life is.
2 Corinthians 4:18
18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
If you are like me I need to be reminded daily that I am here for just a short time. My dad has told me for years that as you get older life goes by faster and he is right. I can not believe how fast a week goes by. So I need to ask my self each day have I accomplished what God has placed in my path today?
The 2 Corninthians verse tells us how we are to be looking at life. Be looking for the things that are unseen as those things will last for eternity. What are those things? They are the things God places in our path each day to accomplish for him such as witnessing, and helping others. When we do those things it brings blessings that we will receive in heaven which will last for ever!!! Praise God!
The things we see such as money, material things, ect. is just temporary and we won'y be taking them with us so why in the world do we put those things in front of God? Pure greed is all I can think of.
So today remember we are on assignment, we have a job to do for the Lord, how are you doing on your task? One day soon we will be home with the Lord so let us be busy about His work!
Have a great week!
Tom
Psalm 39:4
4 “Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be.
Remind me that my days are numbered—
how fleeting my life is.
2 Corinthians 4:18
18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
If you are like me I need to be reminded daily that I am here for just a short time. My dad has told me for years that as you get older life goes by faster and he is right. I can not believe how fast a week goes by. So I need to ask my self each day have I accomplished what God has placed in my path today?
The 2 Corninthians verse tells us how we are to be looking at life. Be looking for the things that are unseen as those things will last for eternity. What are those things? They are the things God places in our path each day to accomplish for him such as witnessing, and helping others. When we do those things it brings blessings that we will receive in heaven which will last for ever!!! Praise God!
The things we see such as money, material things, ect. is just temporary and we won'y be taking them with us so why in the world do we put those things in front of God? Pure greed is all I can think of.
So today remember we are on assignment, we have a job to do for the Lord, how are you doing on your task? One day soon we will be home with the Lord so let us be busy about His work!
Have a great week!
Tom
Friday, September 25, 2009
Are we reaching our community?
All I can say is the Lord opened my eyes yesterday to some things going on in our churches that we need to look at immediately. While at Pastor's school Eric Gieger spoke to us for a few moments. He helped write th book "Simple Church". I have not read this book but I will be very soon. Basically what Eric told us stems from this verse:
Matthew 22:37-40
37 Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
The commandment above is very simple....love God with all you have and love those around you. Now I want you to know that when I hear someone speak that I have never heard before I am very skeptical until I can prove that person is solid in his faith of Jesus Christ. Well it did not take Eric Gieger long to show me he was solid and what he said is so simple but yet so very true. So here is what he siad to us in a nut shell. Eric said we have become so complex in our churches that we have become inneffective in the most crucial area for all of us our own community. The way he proved this too us was to think about our churches and all the programs and ministries we have going on. So I did that and was thinking yeah we are doing good we are very busy for the Lord. The Eric went on to say we are so busy doing things that we are not being effective in doing the second part of the commandment above......love your neighbor. My first gut reaction was we are reaching our neighbor!!! But as Eric explained in more detail how folks in our own community are not being reached with gospel of Jesus Christ and how folks in our communities are hurting and their needs are not being met I had to start doing some real thinking and admit we are not being as effective as we need to be....is your church??? Are you growing? Are you bringing folks to Jesus. Are you loving your neighbors? Are you meeting the needs of those who are hurting? The answeres to these questions area good indicator.
So what do we do? It is really simple to be honest. Evaluate your ministries and vision. Then we need to cut anything that does not lead us to the direction of our mission. For example if you are doing something that has basically no effect of reaching anyone for Christ and reaching out to the needs of others we need to cut that program and use our resources more effectivly. We have so many programs in our churches these days that do nothing for the cause of Christ. I hope I have explained this well enough for you to get what I am trying to say this morning. Jesus siad the two greatest commandments are Love God and Love our neighbor. Are we as the church loving our neighbors and doing all we can to reach them or are we more like a country club???? Are we reaching our community? Honestly evaluate... it may hurt but we must get busy doing what Jesus has told us to do!
Simplify and focus.....would do a church good.
Praying for you!
Tom
Matthew 22:37-40
37 Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
The commandment above is very simple....love God with all you have and love those around you. Now I want you to know that when I hear someone speak that I have never heard before I am very skeptical until I can prove that person is solid in his faith of Jesus Christ. Well it did not take Eric Gieger long to show me he was solid and what he said is so simple but yet so very true. So here is what he siad to us in a nut shell. Eric said we have become so complex in our churches that we have become inneffective in the most crucial area for all of us our own community. The way he proved this too us was to think about our churches and all the programs and ministries we have going on. So I did that and was thinking yeah we are doing good we are very busy for the Lord. The Eric went on to say we are so busy doing things that we are not being effective in doing the second part of the commandment above......love your neighbor. My first gut reaction was we are reaching our neighbor!!! But as Eric explained in more detail how folks in our own community are not being reached with gospel of Jesus Christ and how folks in our communities are hurting and their needs are not being met I had to start doing some real thinking and admit we are not being as effective as we need to be....is your church??? Are you growing? Are you bringing folks to Jesus. Are you loving your neighbors? Are you meeting the needs of those who are hurting? The answeres to these questions area good indicator.
So what do we do? It is really simple to be honest. Evaluate your ministries and vision. Then we need to cut anything that does not lead us to the direction of our mission. For example if you are doing something that has basically no effect of reaching anyone for Christ and reaching out to the needs of others we need to cut that program and use our resources more effectivly. We have so many programs in our churches these days that do nothing for the cause of Christ. I hope I have explained this well enough for you to get what I am trying to say this morning. Jesus siad the two greatest commandments are Love God and Love our neighbor. Are we as the church loving our neighbors and doing all we can to reach them or are we more like a country club???? Are we reaching our community? Honestly evaluate... it may hurt but we must get busy doing what Jesus has told us to do!
Simplify and focus.....would do a church good.
Praying for you!
Tom
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Do you have passion for God?
Last night at the Pastor's school, Johnny Hunt talked a little about passion. He told us that if you have passion for what you do it is like a river going through a mountain. That river will cut and twist and turn and sometimes dive miles to make it through that mountain. In other words it can't be stopped the river will get through one way or another. So this morning I want you to think about how your passion for God is. if we are truly passionate for God nothing can stop your service to Him and I mean nothing.
Here is one of the definitions of passion: a strong or extravagant fondness, enthusiasm, or desire for anything.
Matthew 16:24
Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
In the verse above this is the kind of passion that God has called us too. Denying ourselves....not every once in a while but daily. Taking up His cross which in part can mean sharing the love of Christ with others. And following Jesus no matter where He leads. I am afraid we need much work in this area as most of the time we are trying to please self not denying self. Our passion is what can I do for me not what can I do for Christ. Think on that for a moment this morning.
When ever I hear the word passion the thought that comes to mind is the movie "The Passion of Christ". I have always said we need to watch that movie about once a week to keep our focus and passion in the right perspective. The passion you see of Jesus in that movie is the passion we need to have in serving Him!
So this morning if you are a river are you easily dammed up? Or are you a ragin' river for Christ where even a mountain can't contain you???
Share you passion for Christ today!
Tom
Here is one of the definitions of passion: a strong or extravagant fondness, enthusiasm, or desire for anything.
Matthew 16:24
Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
In the verse above this is the kind of passion that God has called us too. Denying ourselves....not every once in a while but daily. Taking up His cross which in part can mean sharing the love of Christ with others. And following Jesus no matter where He leads. I am afraid we need much work in this area as most of the time we are trying to please self not denying self. Our passion is what can I do for me not what can I do for Christ. Think on that for a moment this morning.
When ever I hear the word passion the thought that comes to mind is the movie "The Passion of Christ". I have always said we need to watch that movie about once a week to keep our focus and passion in the right perspective. The passion you see of Jesus in that movie is the passion we need to have in serving Him!
So this morning if you are a river are you easily dammed up? Or are you a ragin' river for Christ where even a mountain can't contain you???
Share you passion for Christ today!
Tom
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Get busy!
This is gonna be short and sweet! I am headed to Pastor's school in Gatlinburg this morning. Here are our verses:
Matthew 28:18-20 (New King James Version)
18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
After reading these verses ask yourself...How am I doing in telling others about Jesus Christ? I hope you share your faith with others. Our biggest excuse today is that others may get mad at me for sharing my faith with them. But we need to think of it like this...it is an emergency situation. It is like we have the cure for a dreaded disease but we are not giving it to others. We do have the cure to sin Jesus Christ and if we don't share it many will die and go to hell. I say that is very serious!!! Also the world don't mind telling us what they think about things so why should we be bashful about sharing the love of Jesus Christ.
Jesus didn't say in vese 18 if you feel like it make diciples, He gave a command..."go"!!! So let's get busy this morning and the coming days and share the love and saving power of Jesus!
Have a great day!
Tom
Matthew 28:18-20 (New King James Version)
18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
After reading these verses ask yourself...How am I doing in telling others about Jesus Christ? I hope you share your faith with others. Our biggest excuse today is that others may get mad at me for sharing my faith with them. But we need to think of it like this...it is an emergency situation. It is like we have the cure for a dreaded disease but we are not giving it to others. We do have the cure to sin Jesus Christ and if we don't share it many will die and go to hell. I say that is very serious!!! Also the world don't mind telling us what they think about things so why should we be bashful about sharing the love of Jesus Christ.
Jesus didn't say in vese 18 if you feel like it make diciples, He gave a command..."go"!!! So let's get busy this morning and the coming days and share the love and saving power of Jesus!
Have a great day!
Tom
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
How do you see your life?
Ask your self that question this morning. Many have described their life in many different ways over the years such as...a circus, a roller coaster full of ups and downs, a puzzle, a journey, a dance, and the list goes on and on. So again what would you say? How would you describe your life? How ever you describe your life it says alot about you. If your life is one big party then you are looking for fun in everything. If you see life as a race then you are looking for speed in everything. If it is a marathon then endurance is your thing. So what is it in your life? The Bible is clear on how we are to see our life look at this verse for today:
Romans 12:2
2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
We don't need what the world thinks our life should be. We need what God says our life should be! How do we find what our life should be according to God??? Pretty simple in His Word. The Bible tells us every detail. So if we are not reading the Bible then we really don't have a clue. God also reveals to us through prayer. But if we are not in His Word then our prayers are very shallow and not nearly as effective because we are not obeying God by reading His word which He tells us to do! The Word renews our mind as the above verse says. It cuts and disects our lives so we know without a doubt what is good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Isn't that what we want in our lives???? What God wants...not what we want or what the world wants....WHAT GOD WANTS!
How we see our life is important right this very second. Because if our life is not in line with what God expects from us then we need to make some changes right now! Don't wait do it now. The longer we put it off the longer we lose blessings from above if we are Christians. If we have never asked Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives then it is even more important because we risk eternity in heaven! That is risking everything!
So how about this morning are you conforming to the world, or transforming to God? Something to ponder on today!
Have a great day. A good potion of the opening paragraph thoughts came from Rick Warren's book Purpose Driven Life which I am taking our youth through right now so I wanted to give Him the credit.
Share Jesus today!
Tom
Romans 12:2
2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
We don't need what the world thinks our life should be. We need what God says our life should be! How do we find what our life should be according to God??? Pretty simple in His Word. The Bible tells us every detail. So if we are not reading the Bible then we really don't have a clue. God also reveals to us through prayer. But if we are not in His Word then our prayers are very shallow and not nearly as effective because we are not obeying God by reading His word which He tells us to do! The Word renews our mind as the above verse says. It cuts and disects our lives so we know without a doubt what is good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Isn't that what we want in our lives???? What God wants...not what we want or what the world wants....WHAT GOD WANTS!
How we see our life is important right this very second. Because if our life is not in line with what God expects from us then we need to make some changes right now! Don't wait do it now. The longer we put it off the longer we lose blessings from above if we are Christians. If we have never asked Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives then it is even more important because we risk eternity in heaven! That is risking everything!
So how about this morning are you conforming to the world, or transforming to God? Something to ponder on today!
Have a great day. A good potion of the opening paragraph thoughts came from Rick Warren's book Purpose Driven Life which I am taking our youth through right now so I wanted to give Him the credit.
Share Jesus today!
Tom
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