personal

June 23, 2020

“Keep Them Safe”

15 I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. – John 17:15 NLT

Praying for the Family 

We have the privilege of listening into a personal conversation between Jesus and our Father. As we read through the prayer that Jesus is praying for His disciples, we get a little glimpse of His love and compassion for them. Jesus is not asking God to remove all the bumps, He is asking Him to keep them safe as they travel the rocky road. He is also asking our Father to teach them the truth. Jesus, as the oldest of all God’s children, is taking the responsibility of being sure that the family is being taken care of while He is separated from them. Of course, He knows that our Father is going to take good care of the disciples, but His compassion demands that He set the example for them to ask. Not only that, but He is paying in advance for their care by giving His life on the cross. Jesus is the perfect example of a servant, a brother, a friend and a Redeemer.

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” -Anonymous

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December 21, 2019

“Don’t Show Favoritism”

1 My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism. – James 2:1 NASB 

James 2:1-4 NLT

​We must be careful not to make quick judgments and choices based on how someone looks or the price of the clothes they wear. God created each of us in His image and has a plan and a purpose for each of us. We must learn to look at people as God sees them.

7 But the Lord told Samuel, “Don’t look at his appearance or how tall he is, because I have rejected him. God does not see as humans see​.​ Humans look at outward appearances, but the Lord looks into the heart.”  –1 Samuel 16:7 (GW)

Of course, we can’t actually see into their hearts. So, what we must learn to do is withhold our opinions of them until we get to know them. Until then, we should not show favoritism to one person over another. We must also remember that whatever standards we use to judge and form our opinions of others are the same standards that will be used to judge us.​

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” -Anonymous

Post 12-21-2019

August 29, 2019

“Wait Patiently For Him”

7 Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act. Don’t worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes. — Psalm 37:7 NLT

In our busy, busy world, how do we find the time to just sit in the presence of the Lord? Many times in the Scriptures, God admonishes us to just be still. Jesus set the example for us, He would often go out into the gardens and spend time alone communing with God. If he needed that, how much more do we need it? We not only need those times of rest and refreshing, but we need to know Jesus on a personal level. There is a huge difference in knowing about Jesus and really knowing Jesus. And to really know anyone, we have to spend time with them. Bask in His presence and you will start to get a grasp of the depth of His love for you. The knowledge of His love for us will sustain us through the tough times.

10 “Be still, and know that I am God!  I will be honored by every nation.  I will be honored throughout the world.”— Psalm 46:10 NLT

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous

Post 08-29-2019

December 30, 2017

Keep It Simple – Don’t Add Anything To It

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5 I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law? Of course not! It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ. – Gal.3:5 NLT
Gal. 3:1-5 NLT

There were religious leaders and teachers that were trying to convince the new converts that the Gospel was not true. They taught that you must still obey the law to please God. But the Good News is that we are now saved by grace through faith, not by works. Once we have accepted this truth, then the Holy Spirit comes to indwell us and lead us into all truth. The Holy Spirit could not be obtained by works or by obedience to the law. There is only one way to receive the Holy Spirit and that is by hearing the Word of grace and ,by faith, accepting Jesus as our Savior. Adding anything to God’s plan is nothing but vanity and man’s pride. We still have to answer the same question today. Are we saved by God who works miracles among us and provides us with His Holy Spirit? Yes, yes, we are! And once we accept Jesus, is there some great work we must do to be sure make it to heaven? The answer is no, works still cannot obtain our salvation. There are works that we should do, yes, but they do not add to our salvation. Our works are how we store up rewards in heaven.
26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.-Matt. ​-  16:26​,​27(NKJV)

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” -Anonymous

Post 12-30-2017

November 11, 2017

It’s All About Love

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17 This is my command: Love each other. – John 15:17 NLT
 
John 15:16-21 NLT

Are you getting the feeling that we are stuck on this “love” theme. Love the Father, love me, love each other? We are and we should be. After all, the author of the Bible is perfect, complete Love.
8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.–1 John 4:8 (NCV)
​The world is full of hate. Those that walk in the flesh despise people that love. We have been chosen out of the world, but as long as we inhabit this fleshly tent, we will remain in the world. While we are here, it is our job to show the world love. Some of them will be drawn to Jesus through that, others will not be so kind. The name of Jesus is powerful. Every time a person hears that name, they have to make a decision. They will either be for Jesus or against Jesus. If they are against Jesus, they will offend and persecute us. We hear about it in the news every day. You can talk about religion all day and nobody cares, but just mention the Name of Jesus and there will be, there must be, a reaction. It gets personal because it is personal. It requires each of us to build a relationship with a living Savior that is founded on and built with LOVE!

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” -Anonymous

Post 11-11-2017

August 16, 2017

Why Me, Lord?

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9 The woman was surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans. She said to Jesus, “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink?”  – John 4:9 NLT
John 4:1-9 NLT

Jesus didn’t need this woman or anyone else to draw the water for Him. He needed a point of contact with her, so He asked her for water. She, being a Samaritan was definitely surprised that a Jewish stranger would speak to her at all. But Jesus knows how to reach each one of us. Although she was totally unaware of it at the time, Jesus had a plan for her. He “needed” her to evangelize a whole town. Isn’t it strange that His disciples were already in town, why couldn’t they evangelize the town? Because Jesus had a plan for this woman to be His witness for this town. When God calls us to witness to someone, do we ask “why”? There are hundreds of churches with pastors and teachers, why can’t they do the witnessing? Because God loves us and He has a plan for each of us to be a part of His work here on earth. Jesus doesn’t “need” us any more than He needed this woman, but His plan includes each of us. Don’t cripple the Church body by refusing to do your part.


“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” -Anonymous

Post 08-16-2017

August 7, 2017

See for Yourself

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“Come and see for yourself,” Philip replied.
– John 1:46b NLT
Come and See

Each of us must come to Jesus for ourselves. No one else can do this for us. Parents and Grandparents, regardless of how much they love and pray, cannot make this decision for you. It is personal and it is eternal. Just as Jesus knew Nathanael before He came to Jesus, so He knew each of us before we came to Him. He knows us at our very worst, He knows our unkind thoughts. No matter how sinful or how ugly it is, Jesus knows all about it but He still loves us. He is waiting with open arms to receive us. If you haven’t truly accepted Him as your Savior and Lord, then, please, “Come and See for Yourself”. Once you have accepted Jesus as your Savior, you will never be alone again.

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” -Anonymous

Post 08-07-2017

June 19, 2017

“Come Back to God”

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9 But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. — 1 Peter 2:9a NLT
1 Peter 2:6-9 NLT

​Those that are exposed to God’s Light must make an immediate decision. They will either accept Him or reject Him. There is no neutral ground. “Almost persuaded” is not good enough. We must become totally committed to Jesus. When we trust Him completely, we will never be disgraced. But for those that reject Jesus, they will stumble and fall. If they choose to continue to reject His free offer of salvation, then they choose to go to hell. We have been called out of darkness into His wonderful Light. Therefore,we must be the Light that draws others out of darkness. We have been chosen, made royal priests and a holy nation. We must be ambassadors of that nation and spread the Good News so that others can become citizens as well.

19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. 20 So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” — 2 Cor. 5:19,20 (NLT)

We must speak boldly with no fear of rejection. After all, it is not us, personally, that they are rejecting. They are rejecting Jesus and His plan of salvation. Our part is to scatter the seed, it is God’s part to see that they take root and grow. We must labor in the fields understanding that we may not see the results of our work while we are here on earth. Our treasures are laid up in heaven.


“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” -Anonymous

Post 06-19-2017

June 15, 2017

Live As Obedient Children

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14 So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. – 1 Peter 1:14 NLT


When we accept Jesus as our Savior, we become a new Creation. Before that change, we were controlled by fleshly lusts. We did what “self” wanted to do without exercising self-control. Now that we are a new creation, we walk in the Spirit and do those things that are in obedience to Christ. Are we now perfect? No! But we are striving toward that mark. Will we fall short? Yes, but the blood of Jesus has covered those sins. Now that we know the right things to do, we must pursue them and not go back to our old ways. Our lifestyle should reflect our new destination. People who have known us should be able to see a difference in the way we walk and talk. The things that used to occupy the highest priorities in our lives should be further down the list. There are some things we should want to give up immediately and others need to be moved way down our list of priorities. We need to take an inventory and honestly find out where Jesus is on our list of priorities. Jesus is not in a contest with other “gods”. He will accept nothing less than the top shelf, He is either “Lord of all” or He is not “Lord at all” in our lives.


“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” -Anonymous

Post 06-15-2017

April 9, 2017

Show Me – “Who Do You Love?”

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3 They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. — 2 Timothy 3:3 NLT

Every day we see and hear about more and more evil. The spirits of discord, deception, violence and disobedience are more and more apparent and open. All of us seem to be more concerned about ourselves and our possessions and less concerned about our neighbors. We are filled with pride. Society scoffs at the idea of a God, yet our actions show that we worship our bodies, our families, our careers and our entertainment to the point of making them our “gods”. We have become an ungrateful, unloving, unforgiving people. We take no responsibility for our own actions always blaming things on others. We say we believe in Jesus Christ but we refuse to be accountable to Him or to obey Him. We speak about religious things but we deny the power of the Holy Spirit, not allowing Him to change our lives. We need to bend our knees, ask God for forgiveness, repent and start living a lifestyle that lets the world know that we love Jesus and will remain faithful to Him.


“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” -Anonymous

Post 07-09-2017