Thirsty?

Sitting here drinking a coke this morning, usually it is coffee. This passage of scripture came to mind:



John 4:1-13



1 Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John 2 (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples), 3 He left Judea and departed again to Galilee. 4 But He needed to go through Samaria.

5 So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.

7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” 8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.

9 Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.

10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”

11 The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? 12 Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?”

13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”



Are you spiritually thirsty? Be careful how you answer it can be a trick question! First we have to answer the question if we have accepted Jesus to fill that unquenchable thirst that only He can fill spiritually. Then the tricky part is can we ever be spiritually full, where we don't need any more? I don't think we can until we one day are home in heaven with Jesus. Now don't get me wrong here....Jesus is all we need but we have to continually keep filling up our daily lives with Him also. I know I thirst for for Him and want more and more of Him as I daily live my life.



So how is your thirst this morning?



Tom

God loves you!

Just a reminder of something we all need to hear often!



1 John 4:8

He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.



John 3:16

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.



John 16:27

for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from God.



Titus 3:4

But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared



1 John 3:1

Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.



1 John 4:7-12

7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.



Oh my brothers and sisters remember how much God loves you this day and everyday!



Tom

How is your faith?

I was studying in the book of Judges yesterday. I was reading about the great man of God, Gideon. If you get a chance read chapters 6 and 7. When I think of Gideon, I think of how He and 300 men defeated Midian with trumpets and breaking jars! What a feat! God did an amazing thing here. But what I had for gotten is the lack of faith Gideon had. Here are some examples:



1. God told Gideon to destroy altars of Baal his father had built, He did but did it at night because he was afraid of family and men of town!

Judges 6:25-27



25 Now it came to pass the same night that the Lord said to him, “Take your father’s young bull, the second bull of seven years old, and tear down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the wooden image[a] that is beside it; 26 and build an altar to the Lord your God on top of this rock in the proper arrangement, and take the second bull and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the image which you shall cut down.” 27 So Gideon took ten men from among his servants and did as the Lord had said to him. But because he feared his father’s household and the men of the city too much to do it by day, he did it by night.



2. Gideon wanted God to give him a sign to show He would save Israel by his hand. Then He asked again after God did the first!



Judges 6:36-40



The Sign of the Fleece

36 So Gideon said to God, “If You will save Israel by my hand as You have said— 37 look, I shall put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that You will save Israel by my hand, as You have said.” 38 And it was so. When he rose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece together, he wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowlful of water. 39 Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me, but let me speak just once more: Let me test, I pray, just once more with the fleece; let it now be dry only on the fleece, but on all the ground let there be dew.” 40 And God did so that night. It was dry on the fleece only, but there was dew on all the ground.



3. Gideon was afraid and needed a sign to go against Midian, God provided!



Judges 7:9-14



9 It happened on the same night that the Lord said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, for I have delivered it into your hand. 10 But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant, 11 and you shall hear what they say; and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp.” Then he went down with Purah his servant to the outpost of the armed men who were in the camp. 12 Now the Midianites and Amalekites, all the people of the East, were lying in the valley as numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the seashore in multitude.

13 And when Gideon had come, there was a man telling a dream to his companion. He said, “I have had a dream: To my surprise, a loaf of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian; it came to a tent and struck it so that it fell and overturned, and the tent collapsed.”

14 Then his companion answered and said, “This is nothing else but the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel! Into his hand God has delivered Midian and the whole camp.”



Now I give Gideon credit because he was growing in his faith as God gave him these signs:



Judges 7:15



15 And so it was, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, that he worshiped. He returned to the camp of Israel, and said, “Arise, for the Lord has delivered the camp of Midian into your hand.”



As I read this about Gideon, I realize we all have weak times in our faith. As we grow in our faith we should be growing stronger and bolder for God has delivered us so many times! So this morning how is your faith? If God calls you right now to do something for Him are you ready to move? Would you need a sign from God? Questions we need to ask ourselves and then do as needed!



Tom

Your Pastor's job.

If you were to ask yourself or your congregation what you Pastor's job is what answers would you get? I imagine you would get answers like this:

1. His job is to win the lost and get people to church.
2. Visit people.
3. Answer my questions.
4. Come to my aide anytime I need him.
5. Be at the hospital when our members are in there.
6. Do weddings and funerals.

And you can add the many things I left out. Many of these things are needed to be done but lets look at what the Bible says:

Ephesians 4:11-16

11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

Ok now let me pick out the things the pastor is suppose to do:

1. Equip the saints for the work of the ministry.

The pastor is to prepare the saints(which is you if you are a believer) to do the work of the ministry! WHAT? That's right the pastor is not to do it ALL! He is to train us to do the work! That should shake many off their rocker!

2. For the edifying of the body of Christ. Our work in the ministry will build up the church! When we all work together amazing things happen! It build all up!~

3.The pastor teaches us until: till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;

Unity, perfection, and fullness are all a continuing process so the pastor will continue to teach us until Jesus comes or we die first!

4.The pastor teaches so: that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,

We won't be drawn away by man to the ways of the world!

5.The pastor teaches us:   but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—

He tells us the truth in love even when it hurts! So we may grow up (mature) in Christ!

6. The pastor teaches us:  from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

We have a responsibility! To do our part in the ministry building and serving in love!

So what part of ministry do you own? The pastor is to lead not do all! Think on this today as it is straight from God's Word!

Tom

Me Monster!

If you enjoy clean comedy check this clip out:






Why are we so selfish? If you think about it the very first sin started from selfishness! Eve wanted to be like God~!



Genesis 3:1-6



3 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”

2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’”

4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.



Have you ever thought about that? Our lives are consumed with me, me, me! We are starting a new study at church called "Seven daily sins" by Jared Wilson. Some of these thoughts this morning are coming from this study. In the study Jared says this Me Monster has a name and it is Pride. Jesus had an answer for pride:



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.



If we deny selves and put Jesus first in everything I can promise you pride will not be a factor! Christ humbles us when we put Him first.



Pride is basically self-worship. Look at how Satan tempted Jesus:



Matthew 4:1-11

4 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. 3 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”

5 Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written:

‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’

and,



‘In their hands they shall bear you up,

Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’”

7 Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’”

8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”

10 Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’”

11 Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.



I want you to notice a couple of things here of how this temptation of Jesus and the temptation of Eve have in common.



1. Satan told Jesus to turn stones to bread, Satan tempted eve with the fruit. Both events appealed to the appetite. Satan is good at tempting us with things that appeal to our appetite both physically and mentally.(Not just food either!)



2. Satan tempted Jesus to call the angels to appeal to His deity. Satan tempted Eve to "be like God". Again we are me oriented so if we think we can be like God, we want to go for it!



3. Satan tempted Jesus with the kingdoms of the world and their appeal. Satan tempted Eve with the fruit which was "delightful to look at". Oh aren't we a coveting kind of people? We want what the world has to offer!



Notice how Jesus countered Satan's offers, He quoted scripture! This once again shows the importance of knowing God's Word! Pride tells us "I am God and can do whatever I want." The scriptures show us God is God and we are nothing before Him. But He loves us and the truth will set us free!



So think on this some today. Does the Me Monster of Pride have a hold on you? Think before you answer because it may have more of a hold on you than you can imagine!



Tom

Excitement!

So many deer hunters won't be able to sleep tonight. Tomorrow is opening day of bow season here in Tennessee. I get a little excited myself, but trust me I will be able to sleep! Many things in life bring excitement into our lives. Think about your own life and what really gets your heart pumping? Thinking on this it made me think about my excitement for the Lord. Jesus is the greatest part of my life. Do I get excited about serving Him? Do I get excited about telling others about Him? Do I get excited to go to church every time the doors are open? Do I get excited about reading His love letter to me...the Bible? Do I get excited to be able to talk to Him in prayer? All these are questions we need to ask ourselves. If we are not excitied about these we need to find out why!



Hebrews 11:16

But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.



Get excited my friends about the King of Kings.....Jesus!



Tom

What are your priorities?

The Holy Spirit has a plan for you today. You have a plan for today. So who wins out? If our lives are in tune with God the answer is easy...the Holy Spirit. But if we are not in tune with God self will win out. Being on fire for God takes so much discipline and self denial. Think about this question, What if you knew today was your last day on earth? How would you sum up your ministry for the Lord? Would others have any doubt you are a follower of Christ? How much of God's Word have you learned? How much regret would you look back on your life about? All these have to do with our priorities. How did you do on answering these?



One of the most important jobs of a believer is sharing the good news of Jesus. Paul summed up the importance with these words:



Acts 20:26

26 Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men.



2 Timothy 4:6-8

6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.



I wish I could say that! I know I have let witnessing opportunities slip through my fingers many times. I will answer for that one day. Those days my priorities were in the wrong place! I am working for the Lord now but I must let the Holy Spirit lead me and not miss out on the race set before me! I just want to remind you here that our job is not to convert people, only God can do that, our job is to share the gospel so folks have the opportunity to be saved!



I want to encourage you this morning to examine your priorities in your life right now. Are you a faithful servant of God? God wants us to give our all not just half-hearted service to him. It is our choice!



2 Chronicles 16:9A

9A. For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.



Tom