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Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Don't Be Limited to the Here & Now

What does faith have to do with joy? Everything!

The man Paul, whom God used to write almost half the New Testament, was
known for singing and leading a cruel Roman guard to Salvation while chained
to a wall in a cold, damp jail in Philippi. There is no question of his
faith in Christ and the obvious joy he exuded in the most strenuous of
circumstances. Paul made the bold comment, "follow me as I follow Christ".

It was Paul who wrote to the church in Philippi, while imprisoned in a cold,
lonely cell, these amazing words,
             "Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say, rejoice" (4:4)
Paul was able to rejoice and call others to rejoice because Christ was more
precious and more powerful to him than having comfortable circumstances.
Rejoicing in Christ the Lord takes faith. Without it, our tendency is to
focus on the negative and rely on ourselves. This tendency limits us to the
here and now instead of the eternal glory of God and future reward that
awaits those who trust Him.

Jesus promised us a divine joy that is full and complete. The personal
condition for the realization of that kind of joy is simply to abide in Him.
That is, be in Him, in union, in submission, in obedience, in love.

If you are hearing the Word of Christ in your heart saying, "abide in Me",
"remain in Me", then take a moment to seek Him.

He is the perfect One and does not need to change, I do. I ask Him all the
time to change me, conform me, and make me more Christ-like.

O how He loves you and me. He is worthy!

~ From, Pastor David ~

Thursday, January 17, 2013

The Only Thing That Counts

My wife reminded me, for the 7th or 8th time, that I had better get started this year on my Faith Thoughts of theDay. I deliberately waited until after prayer week I was involved in because I wanted to hear from the Lord and receive fresh faith thoughts from Him. I have to say the reading of Psalms and Proverbs to begin 2013 was a huge lift to my spirit and an adrenaline rush to my worship life.

To begin the first faith thought of the year, I choose Galatians 5:5,6 “But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. THE ONLY THING THAT COUNTS IS FAITH EXPRESSING ITSELF THROUGH LOVE.” (capital letters used for emphasis only). Christ is our righteousness! Our faith in Christ saves us but life does not stop there. As long as we live, Christ’s command is to love one another.

Love is patient. To love is great gain, to diminish love brings darkness and strife.
"If we understand love, we will see it’s general absence today and understand the social conditions which are the result of it’s absence. Without love we lose the will to live. Our mental and physical vitality is impaired, our resistance is lowered, and we succumb to illness.” Dave Grant
God’s family is a love family. If you love someone you will not gossip about them; you will not steal from them; you will not covet what they have. If you love someone you will rejoice in their success and mourn with them in times of loss. Love is the fulfillment of the whole law.

If we step in love we will not step in sin. One step out of love is a step into sin. Since faith expresses itself through love then faith must be carefully fed and cultivated. We feed our faith through the Word and prayer. Love is the outworking of a a healthy, God-revering, Spirit-anointed faith. There is not a more excellent way than that of faith, hope and love! The greatest of these is love because God is Love.

“Lord turn our gaze upon thy cross, counting all else not gain but loss; For this we pray, this is our plea – Lord keep our eyes on Calvary.” Amy Carmichael (1867-1951) We see the horror of man's sin and the holiness of God’s love revealed in the Cross of Christ. “God made Him who who had no sin become sin for us that we may in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” II Corinthians 5:21
So apply it. Take time to worship Jesus and to reflect on His cross. The cross is the place we die to sin and live a new and holy destiny. Thank Him for His salvation. Go out and do the "love thing" now. Show someone the kind of love Christ has shown you and the purity of God's love given to you.


Pastor David