Be Ye Doers

James 1:22-25 But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

I just returned from a Winter Retreat with so many wonderful Christian leaders. The last session was lead by Pastor Johnny Hunt and he challenged me greatly with some scriptures from James so I want to start out 2010 with each of you on this note.

Have you really accepted Jesus as your Savior? If you answered "Yes, of course!" I want to share this with you. What is your proof? Can you be found guilty? I hope each of us will feel the same urgency as I did to this question.

Do we gather together and socialize? Do we gather together and listen to the sermon? Do we gather together and learn scripture? Do we gather together and sing? Yes!!!!!!!!!!

Do you in your heart feel the presence of the Holy Spirit leading you to action? If you do, what is your course? God calls us into a relationship with Him. Look back on the life of Jesus and His actions and then consider how many people you share the message of His death on the cross that gives us eternal life. There are many roads to travel to share this message, but in the end the urgency of the love Christ showed on the cross is what we need to share with everyone we meet. Our lives should reflect our walk with Christ each day. I want to encourage each of you to start 2010 out looking into your life and seeing the reflection of the face of your Savior and His life's works.

What Faith Can Do

Colossians 1:23 (Amp) And this He will do provided you continue to stay with and in the faith in Christ, well grounded and settled and steadfast, not shifting or moving away from the hope which rests on and is inspired by the glad tidings the Gospel, which you heard and which has been preached as being designed for and offered without restrictions to every person under heaven and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

Do we ever lose faith? I think most of us at times lose faith and feel helpless. However, God tells us that when we remain in faith He has our back. He never continues to be faithful to us when we call out to Him. It is our charge to keep our faith and remain steadfast.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVM85dl-61E

Illumination

2Timothy 3:16 God has breathed life into all of Scripture. It is useful for teaching us what is true. It is useful for correcting our mistakes. It is useful for making our lives whole again. It is useful for training us to do what is right.

This is the season when many people buy or receive new items. Many of them require either assembly or set up. If you are like a lot of people you open up the box and get everything out and get started. As you run into trouble you then look for that piece of paper or booklet that was included called the instructions. The manufacturer put it in each box to help you assemble your item. Sometimes the words are helpful and sometimes we still end up with questions because we either don't understand or the directions don't give you all the information you need.

Why do we read the Bible? It is our book of directions from God. However, unlike the manufacturer's directions in our products, God will illuminate the Scriptures for your understanding. As a child of God, as you read your Bible He will speak to you. These are His Words to you. Be sure to pray before you begin to read that He will reveal to you His purpose and understanding.

Dear Lord, It is my prayer that as we read Your Word we will have understanding of Your intent and purpose of each Word for our lives. Thank you for giving us Your Word in written form that we have access to Your teachings whenever we pick up our Bible. Amen.

Treasure

Psalm 86:11
Lord, teach me how you want me to live. Then I will follow your truth. Give me a heart that doesn't want anything more than to worship you.

Treasures- what is your treasure? Do you you truly have a heart that doesn't want anything more than to worship God? Most of us have already started our Christmas list by now and have received a list of what others want. Christmas is a time of giving and it has become quite a commercial holiday. However, if we really consider what the holiday is all about.....it really requires nothing more than what this verse tells us. Worship our Savior. He is our Treasure beyond compare.

That night in Bethlehem, our Savior was born under the stars in a manger. Everyday since that God has been trying to tell us how important we are to Him. He came to the Earth to show us how far He would go to gain our love and worship.

Lord, teach me how you want me to live- then I will follow your truth. If only it were that easy. The truth is we struggle with this everyday of our lives. I think the whole problem is our lack of true submission. However, if we can ever get to that level - the Treasure is beyond compare.

Shepherds

Ezekiel 34:1-6

A message came to me form the Lord. He said, "Son of man, prophesy against the [spiritual] shepherds of Israel. Tell them, 'The Lord and King says, "How terrible it will be for you shepherds of Israel! You only take care of yourselves. You should take good care of your flocks. Instead, you eat the butter. You dress yourselves with the wool. You kill the finest animals. But you do not take care of your flocks. You have not made the weak ones in the flock stronger. You have not healed the hurt. You have not brought back those that have wandered away. You have not searched for the lost. When you ruled over them, you were mean to them. You treated them badly. "So, they were scattered because they did not have a shepherd. They became fool for all of the wild animals. My sheep wandered all over the mountains and high hills. They were scattered over the whole earth. No one searched for them. No one looked for them."

Matthew 9:36 When he saw the crowds, he felt deep concern for them. They were beaten down and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

I don't think there is much I can add to these words other than they are the Word of God- not me. I think it is time that we must recognize what is happening and not let it continue. Our flock does not have shepherd or a leader. Our sheep are wandering in all directions.

Dear Lord,

I pray that you will open the hearts and fill the floodgates with mercy upon us. In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Implosion

Yesterday, many people gathered to watch the implosion of the Owensboro Executive Inn. It's fate has been in the public eye for several years with financial problems, renovations, trying to decide what to do with it and much more. Finally, her fate was sealed. Complete wipeout- implosion. This term was one I had not given a lot of thought to in my life, but it became stuck in my head. Implosion- a series of strategically placed explosions to weaken a structure and cause it to fall in on itself. (that is my definition). I guess I thought about how Satan uses this tactic in our lives everyday. He finds the weak spots and starts his actions. If we don't recognize this process it will eventually lead to a full blown implosion in our life. I think that on a larger scale we see it all around us each day. He is gradually and now more rapidly acquiring the "weak spots". Think of all the events that we gasp at each day. Things that we don't understand why or how they could happen. It is my thought that this is just the way he has it all planned and we need to stand up and take notice of his big plan. We know the answer- Jesus Christ - we need to be sure that everyone else knows Him too.

Matthew 12:25 And knowing their thoughts, He said to them, Any kindgom that is divided against itself is being brought to desolation and laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will last or continue to stand.

Asking Directions

How often do we try to answer the question, "Why won't they listen to me?" We try to give out advice and offer a path that we think will lead people to the destination that we want for them. Our intention is to help them arrive at a place of joy, happiness and fulfillment. However, "they" simply won't follow our directions and choose their own path. Sometimes, the destination end up the same, but the journey was quite different along the way.

Contrast this with our Heavenly Father's wish for us to listen to what He tells us. Sometimes we don't even ask Him for advice because we are sure we know the way. It is called free will and we live and die by it. So, while we may be quick to give advice, let us be even quicker to ask the One who holds the answer first. It can certainly save us a lot of trouble if we start out right to begin the journey.

Galatians 5:13

My brothers and sisters, you were chosen to be free. But don't use your freedom as an excuse to live in sin. Instead, serve one another in love.