It is not how good we are, But God's goodness within us

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This is a good news for those who accept God’s truth. Paul asks the question of the bad news… Romans 3, verse 3, “Will their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness?” God will be faithful regardless of how much we rebel. That is not to say there are not consequences to our sin, God’s faithfulness and I believe the good news is that with God’s faithfulness …you and I have hope.

The hope found in God’s faithfulness grants the believer the power, the will, and the strength to go on. The good news is shadowed in our doubt and inability to save ourselves. The problem is our society and with many religions is that they maintain you get nothing without doing something, which is a matter of law. People just cannot get it in their heads that we can be justified by faith in Christ and that our good deeds have nothing to do with it. It is our recognition that God is faithful, that we can confess our sins, and then join with Christ as we bury our old self in baptism and come out of that water a new creation through the power of Jesus Christ … And that gives us HOPE! Hope never disappoints us.

From Parade magazine comes the story of self-made millionaire Eugene Land, who greatly changed the lives of a sixth-grade class in East Harlem. Mr. Lang had been asked to speak to a class of 59 sixth-graders. What could he say to inspire these students, most of whom would drop out of school? He wondered how he could get these predominantly black and Puerto Rican children even to look at him.

Scrapping his notes, he decided to speak to them from his heart. "Stay in school," he admonished, "and I'll help pay the college tuition for every one of you." At that moment the lives of these students changed. For the first time they had hope. Said one student, "I had something to look forward to, something waiting for me. It was a golden feeling." Nearly 90 percent of that class went on to graduate from high school.

While it is true that should live a life of doing good things, these things do not save us. We do them because we are saved by His grace. We are motivated by His gracious salvation. It is God that is faithful and just … it is God that loves beyond words … it is God that has granted us good news … it is God’s gracious grace that motivates us to love on people and move to new levels of service and sacrifice.  It is not how good we are, but God’s goodness within us.

You know I love ya, Don

A great place to get resource for energy!

 John describes Jesus as the Word...He writes: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.”

Jesus is called the Word or in the Greek, Logos. The written Word is also called the Logos.
God the Father wrote the Bible through the Holy Spirit for you and me. The Words of the Bible are full of life! These precious Words are a gift from God the Father to ALL who take hold of them.
The Words of God promise salvation, eternal life, righteousness, redemption, deliverance, protection, prosperity, healing and wholeness of spirit, soul and body.
In Hosea 4:6 God says that “My people perish for lack of knowledge.”
In order for you and I to take hold of the blessings of God and know His will for us, we need to read His instruction manual, called the Bible. In the Bible you will find Words that give you answers and will encourage your to be full of abundant life.

The Bible is God revealed...Jesus is God in the flesh...Thus, the Word (God revealed & the recorded life of Jesus) is a light and a lamp.

Jesus is the Word of God. The Gospel of John definitively declares that Jesus is God, what Jesus did from the foundations of the world, and that Jesus is the Word of God grants direction and wisdom on the path. It is the source and energy to say...”Get out of the way.” So, as you look at the path of your life you can look to the Word of God...Jesus...with direction.

1 Corinthians 3: 11 - For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.

So, you're walking along the path and there is a pitfall ahead...what do you do? If you are in the the Word of God it will illuminate what's ahead and give light to how to proceed. The question is...do you know God's word? It is the source and energy to say...”Get out of the way!” to that which distracts us from the destination!

You know I love ya, Don

New Carpet...some new cleansing!

12 Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. 13 And He said to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer,' but you have made it a 'den of thieves.' " 14 Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them.

New carpet at the 1341 Palm Ct. address this morning. It made me think of this scripture and I found this devotion...thought you would enjoy it as well.

Jesus cleansing the temple, we all love this story, because it shows Jesus getting busy and getting those darn thieves out of God's house.

You see these guys (and women) were overcharging God's people to worship Him.
Say a turtledove was sold for $5.00, but they would jack up the price to $10.00 because they would say that the one you bought was not good enough. So they would over charge you, take what they said was not good enough, then turn around and sell it to the next person for $10.00.

Jesus couldn't stand this any more, and drove these robbers out of the temple.
Then the cool part comes in verse 14: Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them.

These poor people could not afford to enter the temple, according to those who were robbing the people; therefore they were outcasts from the temple and being held back from God, in a sense.
Kind of makes you stop and wonder how we keep others out of the churches.

I remember a story of Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel, who when he started, him and his wife would go down to the beach and witness to the surfers. He was a pastor of a small church as well. Eventually they got new carpet and pews for this church; the surfers would come in from the beach all wet and full of sand. The people didn't want these surfers in the church messing up their new carpet and pews. Chuck's response was to tear out the pews and carpet, because these material things meant nothing and the souls of these men and women meant everything to God. If you have ever heard of Calvary Chapel, you will find that there are hundreds of churches now throughout the USA and around the world. All because one man had the heart of God to see the more important things, which were the people and not the material that we tend to find more precious then the souls of men.

God makes all things new...you know I love ya, Don

Change, Challenges, Stretching, and Hope!

This morning I learned that a ministry friend of ours is moving to a new congregation after 14 years. God is leading him to a new work and he is leaving with a strong reputation along with that is a large congregation that will have a hole, but also a fantastic legacy of worship and declaration of how much God is worth in their lives. Well done!

This got me to consider God's work and the Kingdom we all minister in. I am continually amazed at how God does not see a plurality of churches, but one church in the singular. There are times when God paints a new picture for a congregation and the minister is not in the picture. Praise the Lord, He also is painting a new picture for another group of believers with that minister in the picture with a totally new (and often renewing) abundance of life. Jesus told Peter, "I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against her." (Don's Paraphrase) The unity we share is also proportional to the abundance we grow and stretch.

Change is the hard part of the equation. It is hard to process the abilities and education that comes with change. I have discovered that as we change, we are challenged and with challenge comes growth. I think this is much of what Paul was talking about in Romans chapter 5. Paul's words of challenge and growth guides us to a production of "Hope."

The key to this equation is to not compromise on doctrine. The only way to know if you are not compromising is to know what the Bible teaches. Thus, a believer needs to be in the word daily and sometimes more than once a day. There is also a deep need to listen to God in prayer. I have found some of the best counsel in this world is to wait and listen to God's direction. There are also times that waiting for God is the hardest challenge. God's timing is so perfect, that I often get anxious and jump ahead or not move at all.

What I like most is that Jesus truly grants his words of Matthew 11:30, "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." (NKJV) It is not about us AND we are not alone in the process. WOW! That will preach.

Have a great Monday and you know we love ya,