Proverbs 28:26
Here in this chapter Solomon teaches us of the wisdom in keeping the law. When God's people forsake the law they praise the wicked, but those that keep the law are contentious to the wicked. Solomon goes on to say that those who reject or refuse to listen to what the law says, not only will they have their prayers rejected but their praying will be an abomination, a sin! It seems to me that God takes this thing of obeying His Words seriously! To compromise our commitment to God and His Word by participating in even a few sinful pleasures will render our prayers ineffective. God has given us the law to be our guide, but many Christians foolishly make their heart their guide. People say, "follow your heart." WRONG! Wrong answer, we can not follow our heart for the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked according to Jeremiah and here Solomon says the following: Proverbs 28:26 He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered. We are not to trust in our heart when deciding what is right or wrong, the Bible is our Final Authority! If we trust our heart we are a fool, but if we walk wisely we shall be delivered from the destruction of sin and Satan. So I challenge you to walk wisely. In order to do that you must first be wise. So I give you Proverbs 28:7a Whoso keepeth the law is a wise son... Friends there is great wisdom in using the law as our standard for living. Of course you'll never be perfect but if you set the standard high, when you do miss, you still will be better off than being deceitful and desperately wicked. Walk wisely in obedience to His Word today. Amen!
Sunday, August 30, 2015
Sunday, August 23, 2015
Colossians 3:1-4
As Christians are lives should be lived above and beyond! Due to the fact we are risen with Christ and seated in heavenly places our desire should be on things up there. First we ought to be seeking or Looking to involve ourselves in things that remind us of heaven. We should have a heavenly outlook on life her on earth. Second we ought to be setting our affections or Loving that which is above. We should have a love for things of God and desire in our hearts for things that are in heaven. Last we ought to be storing up or Laying up treasures in heaven. We need to remind ourselves that when we give our time, talents and tithes to the cause of Christ we are investing in the work of heaven. If we look, love and lay up things in heaven we will keep Christ at the center of our lives, seated on the throne of our hearts. This should be the desire of every Christian, that Christ who is our life shall appear through our lives as we seek His glory. Let's live our lives above and beyond. Amen!
As Christians are lives should be lived above and beyond! Due to the fact we are risen with Christ and seated in heavenly places our desire should be on things up there. First we ought to be seeking or Looking to involve ourselves in things that remind us of heaven. We should have a heavenly outlook on life her on earth. Second we ought to be setting our affections or Loving that which is above. We should have a love for things of God and desire in our hearts for things that are in heaven. Last we ought to be storing up or Laying up treasures in heaven. We need to remind ourselves that when we give our time, talents and tithes to the cause of Christ we are investing in the work of heaven. If we look, love and lay up things in heaven we will keep Christ at the center of our lives, seated on the throne of our hearts. This should be the desire of every Christian, that Christ who is our life shall appear through our lives as we seek His glory. Let's live our lives above and beyond. Amen!
Sunday, August 16, 2015
Matthew 27:62-66
After the crucifixion of Christ, a rich man named Joseph requested the body of Jesus from Pilate. Joseph took the body of Jesus and laid it in a new tomb that he had purchased for himself. A great stone was rolled in front of the tomb to secure it! Well that was not secure enough for the chief priests and Pharisees. They went to Pilate and requested that the tomb be guarded by Roman soldiers to prevent the disciples from coming and stealing the body of Jesus. Pilate granted their request with these words, "make it as sure as ye can." The chief priests and Pharisees did just that by sealing the stone(most likely with mortar) and putting guards in place to watch over it. It does not get more surely secured then that! However we know the rest of the story, nothing could stop the resurrection of the Saviour! Up from the grave He arose with the mighty triumph over His foes! No matter how hard they tried to abolish this man and His teachings they could not! Humanly speaking they did everything they could to prevent the spread of this sect. As a result of that tomb made as sure as it could be ended with making the truth of the resurrection as sure as it can be! Years later one of their own a Pharisee and Doctor of Law named Gamaliel gave this advice, "Refrain from these man, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: But if it be of God, ye cannot over throw it.." Yes, how true and now 2,000 years later the gospel of Christ is still changing lives. No matter how hard they tried to snuff Him out, no matter how hard they tried to silence Him, no matter how hard they tried to abolish His followers, the truth is still marching on! Amen!!! I am so happy to be a Christian, how about you? Don't ever lose the joy of your salvation for we serve a risen Saviour, He is in the world today and I know that He is living whatever men may say. Hallelujah!
After the crucifixion of Christ, a rich man named Joseph requested the body of Jesus from Pilate. Joseph took the body of Jesus and laid it in a new tomb that he had purchased for himself. A great stone was rolled in front of the tomb to secure it! Well that was not secure enough for the chief priests and Pharisees. They went to Pilate and requested that the tomb be guarded by Roman soldiers to prevent the disciples from coming and stealing the body of Jesus. Pilate granted their request with these words, "make it as sure as ye can." The chief priests and Pharisees did just that by sealing the stone(most likely with mortar) and putting guards in place to watch over it. It does not get more surely secured then that! However we know the rest of the story, nothing could stop the resurrection of the Saviour! Up from the grave He arose with the mighty triumph over His foes! No matter how hard they tried to abolish this man and His teachings they could not! Humanly speaking they did everything they could to prevent the spread of this sect. As a result of that tomb made as sure as it could be ended with making the truth of the resurrection as sure as it can be! Years later one of their own a Pharisee and Doctor of Law named Gamaliel gave this advice, "Refrain from these man, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: But if it be of God, ye cannot over throw it.." Yes, how true and now 2,000 years later the gospel of Christ is still changing lives. No matter how hard they tried to snuff Him out, no matter how hard they tried to silence Him, no matter how hard they tried to abolish His followers, the truth is still marching on! Amen!!! I am so happy to be a Christian, how about you? Don't ever lose the joy of your salvation for we serve a risen Saviour, He is in the world today and I know that He is living whatever men may say. Hallelujah!
Sunday, August 9, 2015
Matthew 19:13-15
Praise the LORD! We just finish a great week of Vacation Bible School at our church and it was a blast! What a privilege it is to serve Christ by ministering to his children. We had a great group of kids and were able to see four of them trust Jesus Christ as their Saviour.
In this text, we see Jesus after a long days journey still had time for little kids. The disciples did not want the kids to bother Jesus, but Jesus's heart of love instead took the children into His arms and embraced them.
Today we still have Christians like the disciples who are bothered or ignored by children. We treat the kid with a behavior ignorantly by not understanding the reasons behind it. We get annoyed with the kid who does not know how to sit still and we ignore the kid that is less lovable than the others. Jesus Christ loved the unlovable, He went after the down trodden, the less fortunate, and those who had issues. Now it is our job to allow the Christ living within us to love the unlovable, to seek the wayward and to help those whom society has written off.
Dwight L. Moody said, "If I could relive my life, I would devote my entire ministry to reaching children for God." This great hero of the faith realized that children are the hope for a society. I thank God for the children He has allowed us to minister too. The hard work of VBS is done but the task of reaching our kids for Christ is still at hand. Pray with me! May we not lose one of them!
Praise the LORD! We just finish a great week of Vacation Bible School at our church and it was a blast! What a privilege it is to serve Christ by ministering to his children. We had a great group of kids and were able to see four of them trust Jesus Christ as their Saviour.
In this text, we see Jesus after a long days journey still had time for little kids. The disciples did not want the kids to bother Jesus, but Jesus's heart of love instead took the children into His arms and embraced them.
Today we still have Christians like the disciples who are bothered or ignored by children. We treat the kid with a behavior ignorantly by not understanding the reasons behind it. We get annoyed with the kid who does not know how to sit still and we ignore the kid that is less lovable than the others. Jesus Christ loved the unlovable, He went after the down trodden, the less fortunate, and those who had issues. Now it is our job to allow the Christ living within us to love the unlovable, to seek the wayward and to help those whom society has written off.
Dwight L. Moody said, "If I could relive my life, I would devote my entire ministry to reaching children for God." This great hero of the faith realized that children are the hope for a society. I thank God for the children He has allowed us to minister too. The hard work of VBS is done but the task of reaching our kids for Christ is still at hand. Pray with me! May we not lose one of them!
Sunday, August 2, 2015
Matthew 15:1-20; 23:25-28
It's dinner time! As the kids come inside from playing they are told to go wash their hands before dinner. Perhaps your out to eat at a restaurant and after you place your order you go to the restroom to wash your hands. In an attempt to safeguard ourselves from consuming germs we often do these things.
The Pharisees were always concerned about appearance and the exterior. They condemn the disciples for eating with unwashed hands. At this point Jesus uses this opportunity to expose their Pharisaical teaching. We are not defile by what we come into contact with, but rather by what we allow to enter into our hearts. Proverbs tells us to "Keep thy heart with all diligence," because that is the true source of our defilement. Jesus said, "But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man."
In this wicked, evil, sinful world we live in, as much as we try, it is impossible to avoid coming into contact with things that could defile us. So the key is to make sure those things never make it down into our heart. In order to keep our heart clean we must first guard it. Keep watch over what your allowing into your heart. If by chance something sneaks into your heart, God has given us a great cleansing agent called Confession. Confession is spiritually washing your hands. Confession is not informing God our your defilement, He is already aware of that. Confession is cleansing your heart.
Jesus rebuked them..."Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess." Let's heed Jesus teaching to cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside may be clean also.
It's dinner time! As the kids come inside from playing they are told to go wash their hands before dinner. Perhaps your out to eat at a restaurant and after you place your order you go to the restroom to wash your hands. In an attempt to safeguard ourselves from consuming germs we often do these things.
The Pharisees were always concerned about appearance and the exterior. They condemn the disciples for eating with unwashed hands. At this point Jesus uses this opportunity to expose their Pharisaical teaching. We are not defile by what we come into contact with, but rather by what we allow to enter into our hearts. Proverbs tells us to "Keep thy heart with all diligence," because that is the true source of our defilement. Jesus said, "But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man."
In this wicked, evil, sinful world we live in, as much as we try, it is impossible to avoid coming into contact with things that could defile us. So the key is to make sure those things never make it down into our heart. In order to keep our heart clean we must first guard it. Keep watch over what your allowing into your heart. If by chance something sneaks into your heart, God has given us a great cleansing agent called Confession. Confession is spiritually washing your hands. Confession is not informing God our your defilement, He is already aware of that. Confession is cleansing your heart.
Jesus rebuked them..."Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess." Let's heed Jesus teaching to cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside may be clean also.
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