You know when you see those warning signs and labels, you need to consider the dangers involved.
"Please consult a physician before attempting"
"May cause injury or even death"
Why aren't there any warnings for activities that may hinder your faith? Like when you're surfing the web and you reach a site that isn't wholesome, it should have a disclaimer.
"Warning! May cause you to stumble"
"Please consult your pastor before proceeding"
"Not for the faint of faith"
Sometimes we fall into the subtle traps of what the world has to offer. It seems so easy to fall into a lukewarm attitude with God that you make excuses for what others do.
I think its time to be held accountable for your actions. We should also feel the same accountability when we see our fellow brother or sister in Christ suffer the same dangers.
Looks like I need to equip myself the best way I know how. Studying scriptures and living out God's word. This isn't going to be easy.
"Prolonged exposure to God's Word will lead to conviction, rebuke and correction but will ultimately end up with atonement, grace and salvation."
I got a serving of humble pie this Sunday.
It started with the verse found in 1 Corinthians 16:22
"If anyone does not love the Lord - a curse be upon him."
Pastor Edsel faced the congregation, a look of seriousness on his face and asked, "Do you LOVE God?"
I responded in my mind. "Of course I love God. I'm actively participating in His ministry." But the following statement pierced my heart with so much accuracy it was hard to breath. "Do you make sacrifices to ensure you get to church on time?"
The Lord had spoken through Pastor Edsel right to me.
Had I truly loved God, would I have come late? Although I wasn't the only one who was late, I felt as if I was standing in the front of the congregation getting lectured for my tardiness.
God has made so much sacrifices for me that the fact that I can't even make it to church on time definitely hits me where it counts.
"Lord, please give me the strength to keep my eyes on you as a servant willing to do his Master's will."
Seems that I have lost my way with this blog.
Instead of it documenting my personal revival, I find that I'm "preaching" too much. Perhaps if I realign my focus I can achieve a blog worthy of sharing and most importantly, reading.
For the remainder of the year I'll focus on MY walk with the Lord and extract any insights from there as opposed to just repeating what I hear from sermons and what not.
A revival for my personal revival. That sounds about right.
Yesterday's message was an insightful one as it looked at a man named Elijah.
1 Kings 17:1 -7 gave us an insight on the kind of preparation that God will put his servants through to train them for greater things.
The first impression of Elijah in the text is that he was a man who served God and God alone. His proclamation of his living God and the coming drought to an evil King showed just what type of moxie Elijah really had. Upon announcing the news of things to come, Elijah was then led, by God, to a ravine in Kerith - just off the Jordan.
Here at the ravine he was fed by ravens and the nearby brook. Everything was going well until the brook eventually ran dry (v7).
The question came up - What do we do when the brook runs dry? Do we blame God for taking away what he has given us? Do we look for alternate ways to fulfill our needs, using our own strengths?
God told Elijah to go and stay at the Kerith Ravine, and he did. God said he would provide for him a brook for water and ravens to bring food, and He did. Then God took the water away.
I've learned from Pastor Chuck Swindoll of the 4 areas of resistance that hinder a man or woman from living a godly life. Here they are:
- Pride
- Fear
- Resentment
- Habit
In order for us to truly serve God the way He wants us to, we must first release these areas of resistance. God helps by providing training. He breaks through our pride by removing us from the limelight. By taking us away from the center stage, we have no reason to be proud. He tackles our fear with removal of status. If we are afraid to lose something, He will take it. Then comes resentment. Our training there would be the removal of rights. God shows us that nothing is truly ours. Everything comes from Him. He provides all that we need. The hardest area of resistance - habit. We are creatures of habit. Having a routine helps us cope with the unknown - but it also hinders growth in the Lord. He helps us change by renewing the inner man.
There isn't a man who is used by God greatly who first wasn't hurt deeply. There will come a time when our brook will run dry. God isn't punishing us, he hasn't forgetten us, rather, he has taken us under His wing and is training us for His work.
Where are you in your Christian walk? Are you feeling the deep hurt of a dried up brook? Rejoice, for God is closer to you now more than ever. He is preparing you for some great work.
Well, it was Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada and millions of people are taking the time to give thanks for the many blessings they received in the past year.
This week's message recap is found in Psalms 107. The very heart of the message is in the very first line:
Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.
There are so many things that we should be thankful for. Nothing says it better than the psalmist when he says, "give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!". But to add on, "For His mercy endures forever" as an additional reason to give thanks for is just icing on the cake.
A God who's mercy never ends is something we all can be thankful for. When we're down and out, he's there. When we are at our highest moments, he's there.
So, what have you given thanks for this year?
I don't know about you, but I'm struggling with keeping up with my Memory Verses. At the end of this month, I will recap all the memory verses that we had so far.
This week's memory verse is 1 John 5:14:
" This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us."
Let's be confident that our prayers will not fall on deaf ears. When we are at our most lowest moment in our lives to when we want to shout His praise, he will hear us and answer us accordingly.
Not sure if He knows who you are? He knows. The question is, do you know him?
The responsibility thrusted upon you as a parent can seem quite daunting. Particularly when it's your first child and you know nothing about the subject of parenthood.
This week's message recap was a great one as it touched upon a subject that was very new to me. Fatherhood. Of course, since it was officially Father's Day it was an expected message, but since it was the first time I celebrated Father's day it seemed all the more important to me.
Pastor Edsel talked about the Father's Duty in the family. He pulled the message from Ephesians 5: 15 - 33.
15Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. 18Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. 19Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, 20always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
21Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Wives and Husbands
22Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26to make her holy, cleansing[a] her by the washing with water through the word, 27and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church— 30for we are members of his body. 31"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh."[b] 32This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
Pastor rounded out the father's duty with these 5 P's:
- A father must be PROTECTIVE
- A father must be a PROVIDER
- A father must be a POINT MAN
- A father must be a PRIEST to the family
- A father must be a PRINCE of God
In this day and age of political correctness, it may be a sensitive subject -- but to a world that needs to have strong family values, nothing takes away the importance of a faithful father to the Lord.
You may be a father. You may be a good protector, provider and even point man for your family. But are you the priest of the family? Do you ensure the faith of your children are accounted for? If you are a true Prince of God, you will make sure that you do not overlook the eternal destination of your wife and children. It's your duty.
