Posts Tagged ‘Sunday rest and reflection’
Dear Friends,
Greetings on this first day of a new week! It is a joyful day to praise our Lord and gather with God’s people. We gather to worship, honor God and read His word. We study and pray together as those being equipped for a battle with the forces of darkness to deliver the souls of men from their clutches. We join our church family and others around the world in every time zone who gather to praise His name. From the rising of the sun to the going down of the same, His name is praised!
God’s people are marked with joy. We are filled with joy because we know God as our father and Jesus Christ as our savior. We know that we are forgiven by God’s grace and free from condemnation. God doesn’t even remember our sins that we have confessed to Him. We know that we have a future and hope in God that far exceeds our understanding or imagination. Death is no longer an enemy to be feared, but is a doorway to God’s presence and a glorious future.
The people of Nehemiah’s day heard the word of God read by Ezra and taught by the Levites. When they understood it, some began to weep. Nehemiah encouraged them to enjoy the day and share choice food with others who had none, because that day was sacred to the Lord. The joy of the Lord was to be their strength! Let His joy fill your lives today as you listen to God’s word in the presence of His people! Rejoice in your God and Savior, Jesus Christ! He was filled with joy at the thought of seeing us in God’s presence and endured the cross and shame on our behalf! (Hebrews 12:2) May His joy be your strength!
In His Love, Pastor John
Dear Friends,
Greetings in the Glorious Name of Jesus Christ! Another week begins with worship, prayer, and gathering with the people of God. I pray that you are motivated to gather today to worship! We need each other and God commands us to gather together, all the more as we see the day approaching of His sudden return. It could be today!
As we look back on the last week, I am impressed by the strength of Ezra and Nehemiah as leaders of God’s people. Their strength is evident in ways that men in our day would not easily relate to. Ezra was strong because he was a priest and student of God’s word. He studied and taught the law of God. He was a man of faith who lived by what he believed and this took him into a place of leadership. (Ezra 7:10,12) When you study God’s word and desire to apply it, God gives you wisdom and insight. He puts others of a like heart around you to accomplish His work. (Ezra 7:25-28) God gives you humility and courage to lead the people in repentance when there is a spiritual problem. Ezra’s holy fit took humility and courage to walk through! (Ezra 9:3-4)
Nehemiah was a man with a heart for God and for Jerusalem. His sensitive heart and willingness to fast and pray took him into a place of leadership he never expected. His life of prayer opened him to incredible opportunity to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the walls. His focus on God’s will and direction gave him courage to face opposition and succeed! His holy burden brought a miracle of restoration to Jerusalem and it’s discouraged people. The work of God was quickly accomplished to His glory!
As you gather today with God’s people, listen for the word of God to show you a holy burden. Begin to pray and seek the Lord, offering yourself to God. Watch and see what He will do! Praying leaders are what God is watching for! Have a great week in the Lord! In His Love, Pastor John
Dear Friends,
Greetings on this first Sunday in May! May brings the fullness of new life back to the earth and trees. Gardens are growing and the crops are beginning to cover the ground in fields. Planting of seeds and plants is done with the expectation of resurrection and the hope of a harvest. I trust you are with God’s people today giving extravagant worship to the Lord of Heaven and Earth who abundantly bestows these blessings on all people.
As I reflect on the readings of this past week, I again remember the cleansing of the temple by King Hezekiah as he began his reign. He sent the priests and Levites to consecrate the temple and themselves for service to the Lord. This process took 16 days as they removed idolatrous articles and re-consecrated and restored the sacred utensils that King Ahaz had removed in his wickedness. The idolatrous articles were taken to the Kidron valley and burned there. This is the place that in Scripture is likened to Hell.
After the cleansing of the temple and the offering of sacrifices by the leadership, there was great joy and rejoicing. God had enabled them to quickly be restored and His favor was evident among the priests and leaders. Hezekiah then invited all Israel and Judah to come to Jerusalem for the Passover. Hezekiah encouraged the people to return to the Lord and that the Lord would restore their children who had been taken captive. People came from all over and brought offerings and sacrifices. They celebrated the festival for seven days and then, because they were so blessed, celebrated for seven more days! (2nd Chronicles 30:21-23) The priests stood and blessed the people and God answered with more blessing!
After this revival of the Passover by Hezekiah, the people went home, tore down their idols and smashed their sacred stones. They took actions of faith because of the grace of God. They brought tithes and offerings and blessed the Lord to such an extent that there was an abundance for God’s house and the storerooms were full! (2nd Chronicles 31:6-10)
Revival here had two notable effects: removal of idols and consecration to the Lord by the priests and people, and extravagant giving by God through the grace of passover and by the people in response to this grace! I pray your Sunday was filled with both!
In His Love, Pastor John
Dear Friends,
Jesus calls all of us His friends! We are not slaves or servants, but friends. Our Father’s plans have been revealed to us, and we have inside information that gives us great encouragement and hope! In the end, we win, and even now we can rest in the victory of the cross paid for by Jesus Christ! Today is a day of rest for God’s people! Find a family of God (church) and join God’s people in worship, prayer, and hearing His word!
In our reading of the Chronicles this past week, God delighted in showing his grace to King David and Solomon. He brought rest to the kingdom and nation He dwelt with. They enjoyed a reign of peace while Solomon built the temple. All their enemies were at peace with them during the building process. Nations sent workers to help build the temple. There was favor and good will among the people and leaders as they focused on the job at hand. People gave willingly and generously and had to be stopped from giving because so much came in!
We have such blessing in our King Jesus! He gives all His people rest each day. We live in the Sabbath rest that is ours through His atonement. We have no enemy that can snatch us from His hand. He causes everything to work for good for us who love Him. We are all co-workers in His kingdom with many of the nations who are becoming friends of God. There is unity and favor in the true body of Christ and real generosity toward the work of God. We are such a blessed people to live in the church age when Jesus is building His temple! The gates of hell will not stop it or prevail against His mighty church!
In His Love, Pastor John
Dear Friends,
Greetings in the Glorious Name of Jesus Christ! What a beautiful season of the year! Spring is in full swing here in Kentucky and gardens are growing, trees are full of leaves and flowers are blooming everywhere! New life is springing forth as we have passed Resurrection Sunday and move toward Pentecost Sunday! I pray that you are enjoying a day with God’s people and resting in His great love and care!
Reflecting on this past week’s reading and all that transpired in the history of Israel and Judah, I remembered a small incident that relates to the resurrection that is worth noting. Elisha the great prophet of the time of 2nd Kings had died and was buried. Later a band of Israelites were burying a man when a group of Moabite raiders interrupted their grave digging; they threw the body of the man in the tomb of Elisha. When the dead body touched the bones of Elisha, the man came back to life and stood on his feet! (2nd Kings 13:20-21)
We remember that Elisha had a double portion of Elijah’s spirit granted to him. He was powerful in ministering the miraculous and had himself raised a woman’s son to life. It is hard to understand, but the power of God must still have been present in Elisha’s bones.
We now have the Holy Spirit residing in us and our bones are also charged with resurrection power. The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead will also quicken our bodies and raise us up in a glorified body! Our bones may be aging and we may have aches and pains, but we who have had contact with the body of Jesus Christ have already been raised and seated with Him in the heavenly realms! (Ephesians 2:6) We are just waiting for the final fulfillment! God is so good to give us glimpses of our future and strengthen our faith in resurrection!
In His Love, Pastor John
Dear Friends,
Greetings and blessings on this wonderful day of rest! I pray that you enjoy time with God’s people in worship, prayer, and receiving God’s word. God has a passion to meet with His people and enjoys delighting in them when they gather in unity and worship! He inhabits the praises of His people!
As I reflect on the reading for this past week, a section that I didn’t write on comes to mind. It is the story of Ahab and Jehoshaphat coming together to fight the King of Aram in 1st Kings 22. As they prepare for battle, Jehoshaphat suggests that they consult the Lord first of all! What a novel idea! The king of Israel brought four hundred men who claimed to be prophets and inquired of them. To a man they backed the King of Israel.
The King of Judah, Jehoshaphat, was still not satisfied and asked if there was not a prophet of the Lord that they could inquire of. Ahab answered that there was one more prophet, but he always prophesied something bad! (1st Kings 22:8) His name was Micaiah. The reason he was a bad prophet was that he did not tell the king what he wanted to hear!
This time was no different; Micaiah, asked for his opinion and told to tell the truth, gave a different word than the other false prophets. He told of Ahab’s death on the battlefield because of the deception of the false prophets! This not only infuriated Ahab, but made the false prophets angry, too. What a bad prophet Micaiah was! He was imprisoned and slapped by one of the other prophets.
What kind of word from the Lord do you like to receive? Are you critical of the preacher when he preaches a convicting word from God? Do you get angry or tune him out? Do you decide not to go so you won’t have to listen to that “bad preacher” anymore? Blaming the messenger will only make matters worse! Hopefully you adjust your attitude and listen even when it is not what you want to hear!
God bless you with ears to hear what the Lord is saying to His church! In His Love, Pastor John
Dear Friends,
Greetings on this day of rest and reflection! May the Lord bless you with refreshing as you worship Him and honor Him by listening to His holy word! Your pastor has a word from the Lord this day that you and your family need to hear and heed! Please don’t miss out on being in the presence of the Lord as His people gather for worship today!
As I reflect on the reading of this past week, yesterday’s reading about Saul’s partial obedience comes quickly back to mind. I find that I, too, can make excuses like Saul did and seek to justify my own way of obeying God. Saul easily got rid of all the damaged goods, but kept the best. He still felt that he had obeyed the Lord’s instructions because he had won the battle and had gotten rid of most of the goods. When confronted, he said he was going to offer the rest as a sacrifice to the Lord. This sounded like a good idea, but was not in line with God’s instructions to destroy everything! What difference could it make if they would be offered to the Lord as a sacrifice? They would still be destroyed?
God doesn’t take pleasure in sacrifices and offerings that are made in disobedience! Our sin shouts loudly against us and grieves God’s heart! He really wants His people to simply obey! This is the best sacrifice we can give Him. A heart of obedience to fully comply with His word brings God more pleasure than any other sacrifice!
As you chose what path you will take today, reflect on your heart! Are you being obedient to what God has shown you is right? Are you completely following God’s instructions, or making up your own rules and thinking God will understand your intentions? Read 1st Samuel 15 again and reflect on Saul and his great loss because of rebellion and idolatry. In His Love, Pastor John
Dear Friends in Christ,
Greetings on this day of rest and reflection! I hope you are attending the church of your choice and fully giving yourself in worship and service to our God and Savior Jesus Christ! We come together to lift up His name and celebrate His love for us and sacrifice for our freedom.
Jesus loved us and demonstrated that love by giving Himself for us totally on the cross of Calvary. His act of obedience to the Father stands out as supreme love. We can only worship at such a display of selfless giving for those whose acts of rebellion put Him on the cross. We respond to His love as we worship and gather together to listen to His word.
The Israelites of Judges show us our selfish and carnal nature. We are so like them as we selfishly go our own way and mix with the cultures around us. We easily worship other gods, mainly ourselves! We can be filled with the Holy Spirit on Sunday and and filled with lust and revenge like Sampson on Monday! We can see miraculous deliverance one day and forget God the next! We end up doubting God’s love for us and looking for love in all the wrong places!
God really just wants our hearts! He desires that we respond to His love and live a life of love each day. Faith works through love! It is not the law or a set of rules that we must follow to earn God’s love or keep to prove our love for Him. We love Him because He first loved us! We love Him and others and that is the fulfillment of His law! Love does no wrong to a neighbor! Love never fails! It is so simple and yet so profound!
Allow your day to bring to mind ways to love God. Practice His presence in all your activities this day. Rest in His love for you! Be refreshed in your souls by His amazing love! Loving You as Christ, Pastor John
Dear Friends,
Greetings! Our faith brings us to another day of rest in Jesus Christ! He conquered our walled city of self and the walls fell outward. His love entered and we were overcome! Our “Joshua” advanced on us with the presence of God, in the Holy Spirit. His army went ahead, trumpets blaring, banners flying and worshiping their way to victory, speaking to the walls with a mighty shout! Each member of the army was armed with that powerful sword of His word and followed the Presence! The old man was slain and the goods of the city devoted to God! We were among the spoil, more precious than silver or gold, iron or bronze!
Like Rahab, we had prostituted ourselves but were drawn by members of God’s army to plead for mercy. We trusted in the scarlet cord of Jesus’ blood to save us from destruction. We gathered our loved ones in a blood-marked room. We waited in faith and heard the shout. The earth rumbled, walls fell, but we were kept safe. We were brought out and joined to the people of God with great joy! What a joy it is to be conquered by God! What a celebration it is to march with the army of God and be armed with His Presence and holy Word!
Take time today to celebrate with God’s people (army) and arm yourself with a sharpened sword (Word)! He is worthy of our faith and worship!
In His Love, Pastor John
Dear Friends,
Greetings and blessings in the Name of Jesus Christ! He is our peace and the One who brings us blessings! He bore the curse of the broken law of God on our behalf and we now are in a place to receive blessing.
As Moses repeated the history of the last 40 years, he continually brought to their memory the need for these younger survivors to carefully listen to and obey God. Moses defines this obedience as loving God. (Deuteronomy 11:22) Love always brings blessing! When you love someone, you desire their best and do what you can to see that they have the best. God initiated this love relationship because He alone is love.
Moses set up the case for obedience and loving God as a choice between something good and something evil. To obey was the choice for blessing and to disobey was a choice for a curse. (Deuteronomy 11:26-28) If they chose to disobey, that would mean that they followed other gods and were unloving and unfaithful.
Man has an impossible task in perfect obedience in himself because of the sin nature. (Galatians 3:10-11) We are prone to disobey and go our own way. We end up following other gods and under the curse. The curse is God’s decreed reaping for disobedience. When we know His law, we are responsible to keep it. We fail in our own strength because of sin and rebellion. Who will deliver us from this terrible curse?
Thanks be to God, He has Himself! Jesus Christ was made a curse for us. All the curses written against us were nailed to His cross and taken out of the way! (Galatians 3:13-14) He redeemed us so that the blessings of Abraham might come on us! Instead of obedience to the law, we inherit the promise of the Holy Spirit received by faith! The Holy Spirit is our down-payment of the blessings to come! (Ephesians 1:13-14) Blessings that are beyond what eye can see and ear can hear are awaiting those who love God and know Him through Jesus Christ! What a day of rest we can enjoy today and in eternity! In His Love, Pastor John