For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulders, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, PRINCE OF PEACE. Isaiah 9:6

      What I wouldn’t give for some peace. Have you ever felt like that? I would dare say there are a a lot of people in the world today that feel that very sentiment. Bad news upon bad news upon bad news, with no relief in sight. Financial woes…wars and threats of wars…. evil appears to be winning in many circles of life. Stress and life messes are everywhere without solutions. Life, at times, makes you want to scream…. STOP!!! Have I described you or someone you know, who feels as the few sentences just penned? It may be hard to believe, but there is a place of peace in the mist of the craziness of life. A sweet peace that you do not have to give anything for, for it is a gift to you from the Prince of Peace. I know these words are easy to write but application is another story. So how do you receive this gift of peace that is offered to you?

BELIEVE:
     This may be the hardest work you will ever do. We labor in our minds with questions like: if God is so good and powerful, then how does evil even exist? Why do bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people? Why do children and the innocent suffer so unjustly? Just fill in the blank with whatever question you might have, for the list of questions could be endless. The answer, however, may be one you don’t want to hear. The fact is, God did do something… He sent His only Son…… and …… He created you. If you have the ability to identify and see evil, then do something about it. Jesus was once asked the question, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” John 6:28-29 ESV  If you believe in Jesus, then you know that he came and defeated the evil and death that was introduced by Satan. This is not a belief as the devils have, for they believe and tremble. (James 2:19) It is a belief that turns you from blaming God to serving God in whatever capacity he has enabled you to do. There are marks that identify a Christian and Romans 12:9-21 describes them well. Let me close this point of believing with verse 21 …. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

TRUST:
     In order for peace to be a reality in a person’s life they must trust. God provides this peace when we trust in Him and make Him our focus. You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Isaiah 26:3 ESV  The definition of the word ‘trust’ as a noun is this: a firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something.  Trusting in God is relational and becomes stronger as you walk with Him through life. It is knowing that God is sovereign and nothing can separate us from His love. (Romans 8:35-39) Peace comes when you grasp that, as a child of God, you are in His hand, and no one has the power to remove you. (John 10:28) Trust in yourself or trust in God; you make the choice, but let me remind you – one is a band-aid and only temporary; the other is the cure to life’s stresses and is eternal. Psalm 46:10 tells us, “Be still and know that I am God.”

FOLLOW:
      Zachariah, the father of John Baptist, said these words concerning his son, “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into THE WAY OF PEACE” Luke 1:76-79 ESV  The way of peace is salvation in Christ alone. It comes by being forgiven of every sin that has ensnared us – sins both known and unknown …. sins past and future. It is peace that comes in the middle of life’s storms when you recognize him as the shepherd over your life.  The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. Psalm 23:1-4 ESV  As sheep follow the shepherd, Christians follow Jesus. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and THEY FOLLOW ME. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. John 10:27-29 ESV

      As Christians, we need to Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known to God. AND THE PEACE OF GOD WHICH SURPASSES ALL UNDERSTANDING  WILL GUARD YOUR HEARTS AND MINDS IN CHRIST JESUS. Philippians 4:4-7 ESV

Simply put, as in the simple cliche….. No peace… No God. Know God… Know Peace.

      Let me close with this thought,  To those who have obtained a faith….by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: May GRACE AND PEACE be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 2 Peter 1:1-2 ESV

Because of His Grace ~ Pastor David

Hope in God …… Psalm 42:5b

      To hope in God is to live in the assurance of His promises. It is being keenly aware of the fact that God cannot and will not lie. (Hebrews 6:18) In a day of instant gratification, this may be a difficult truth to grasp, but hope believes God in the midst of life’s storms. God will calm these storms in His time and when the storm has accomplished its intended purpose. Storms are nothing new in life, and there were many so-called storms that surrounded Jesus, months before his birth, then during His birth, and following His birth. Christian hope is believing and knowing everything will keep moving in the direction God intended for kingdom purpose, no matter what the circumstance. Let us look at storms experienced by those who were involved in the coming of Jesus the first time.

STORM ONE:
     Joseph found Mary with child before they had ever come together. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. Matthew 1:19 ESV  We don’t have a lot of information here, but one can only guess what was going through Joseph’s mind. Perhaps the heartache of misunderstanding, of trust betrayed, of love lost. What does this tell us about the man who would be stepfather to God’s son? The fact that he wasn’t going to make public her pregnancy caused by someone else showed restraint. In that day, unwed pregnancy was punishable by stoning the woman to death. This tells me much of the man God chose. He was a kind man, not self-centered, but was a man of love and compassion. He was man that also listened. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.” Matthew 1:20 ESV ……When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife. Matthew 1:24 ESV  This storm gave us a glimpse of Joseph’s character.

STORM TWO:
     Joseph had a pregnant wife and was ordered by Caesar Augustus to travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem in order to be registered/counted. This trip would be approximately 100 miles in distance and Mary his wife was very close to giving birth. This could be a difficult trip in modern days, but they had to do it by donkey and walking. When they arrived in Bethlehem, there were no vacancies anywhere which forced them to a dwelling made for animals that had a manger. Having to travel to Bethlehem was the storm, but it fulfilled the prophecy of Micah 5:2. But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is the ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from old, from ancient days.

STORM THREE:
There was a king named Herod whom the wise men visited when looking for Jesus. Herod became troubled over the news of Jesus’s birth and planned to kill him. He requested the wise men return to him and give him the location of Jesus that he might ‘come and worship Him, too’. God warned the wise men in a dream not to return to Herod, and they went home without returning to Herod. (Matthew 2:1-12) It was shortly after they left that an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and told him to flee to Egypt (Matthew 2:13-15) Why this storm? It was so another of many prophecies would be fulfilled concerning Jesus. When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. Hosea 11:1 ESV

We are given stories throughout the Bible of hopes fulfilled for those who followed God and believed. As we follow God as Christians, we are living in the hope of things yet to come. This is not a hope of possibilities, but a hope of assurance that gives us strength, for it is based upon the word of the living God. Jesus came the first time just as God had promised, and He will come again…. as promised. It is living in the hope, not that I might make it to heaven, but in the assurance that I will. This fact is not based upon who I am, but who Jesus is. The Lamb of God, who took away the consequence of my sin…..death. Every storm/event/experience has kingdom purpose in the life of the Christian. It gives us the opportunity to give testimony of the hope we have in God alone. Not a hope based on logic, but a hope based upon His word. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:23 ESV  So may we sing with boldness and confidence…… My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness; I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on JESUS’ NAME. On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand; all other ground is sinking sand.

Because of His Grace ~ Pastor David

     Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 ESV

     I heard a saying recently; I’m not sure who said it, but it goes something like this: “If I only had tomorrow what I thanked God for today, what would my world look like?” I immediately began to think of all the things I was thankful for, but later as I thought more about it, I realized I’d missed the mark. As Christians we need to be thankful for everything, but most importantly, for our relationship with God. First and foremost God should always top the list in the Christian’s life when it comes to being thankful. Sometimes we take for granted those we love the most. How many times when someone we love passes away do we say, “I wish I’d spent more time with them”? Or how often have you heard a parent say, “I worked so hard when my kids were growing up; I wish I’d spent more time doing things with them”? It isn’t that you didn’t love them; it was perhaps the thought “I will do it tomorrow.” The only problem is …. tomorrow is always tomorrow. It is God’s will for us to live thankful as stated in the above verse, but let us evaluate what that looks like for the Christian. It is easy for us to give thanks in good situations but what about in difficult times? We are, according to the will of God, to be thankful in…. every…. circumstance/situation/in everything.

In Good Times:
     It is easy to be thankful when things are going good. When the sea parts, and you are able to escape the approaching army by walking to safety on dry ground. When the harvest is plentiful and the barns are full. When you are healthy and experiencing life without apparent conflict. When life in general is just good, good, good. In these times we express, and rightly so, “God has been so very good to us and we are thankful.”

In Difficult Times:
     Ok, it might not be quite as easy here, but we are still able to give thanks. Things are not going so well, but we are able to endure, for we can see light at the end of the tunnel. I’m always thankful when I can see, in life’s difficult situations, that it will only be a season. I may express thankfulness for what I see coming, more than my present circumstance. However, is God any less good and worthy of thanksgiving in this time than in the good times? Not if I believe you give thanks to God in the middle of every circumstance.

In Dark Times:
     This is where life is overwhelming, and there is no end in sight of the present circumstance or situation. In the book of Job, you can see this type of reality, as almost everything for which one would be thankful was taken away from him in one day. Then in days that followed, after the loss of all earthly blessings, he lost his health. One can see Job’s true heart when he was requested to curse God and die (Job 2:9) and this was his reply, “Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this Job did not sin with his lips.” Job 2:10b ESV

     Please understand that sometimes we give thanks not necessarily for the circumstances of life, but we give thanks to God in the midst of every circumstance. To be able to give thanks to God in the midst of every circumstance is to give testimony that your faith is in God and not in your position, or circumstances experienced in life. I have heard the statement, “Life is not fair.” Let me ask the question, “Fair for you or for God?” If life was fair Jesus would not have died on the cross for our sins. Fair would be that we pay the consequence for our own sin, not Jesus. The person who believes that life should be fair, is a person the devil will be able to easily sidetrack with a bad circumstance. I told my children when they were growing up, “You cannot always choose what life deals to you, but you can choose how you are going to deal with it.” Years ago when I experienced my heart attack, a nurse came in and said to me, “It’s not fair.” I asked, “What’s not fair?” She said, “You’re active, not overweight, yet you had a heart attack and have diabetes.” To which I replied with a smile, “Welcome to life.” By the way, how the Lord took care of me with a wife and four children at home over the days and weeks that followed was amazing. Not easy but amazing. Let me encourage you to practice this next week being THANKFUL TO GOD IN CHRIST JESUS before you give thanks for anything else. Don’t focus on any circumstance, be it good or bad, but only on God. Give thanks to him for his greatness, mercy, grace, salvation, and many, many more attributes. Do this and experience the joy that comes from living thankful to God. I hope you have an awesome Giving of Thanks this week.

Because of His Grace ~Pastor David

     And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Colossians 3:15ESV

     We are  living in a time where there seems to be much turmoil and stress. Perhaps this is not different from other times in history. There is turmoil and stressing every historic age. Nothing is new under the sun. I believe everything has a cause and effect. What we focus upon will affect our mental, and in some cases, our physical health. As Christians we have been given instructions as to how we are too live each day, and the Bible is full of such instructions. Is is one thing to know about such teachings and it is another to live these teachings. One place to live the teachings of the Bible is in the area of thankfulness. So let me ask a question, “What are you thankful for?” Many of us would say we are thankful for heath, food, our home, family, and on and on the list could go. What if the first thing that came from your lips when asked what you are thankful for was…….Jesus. All the afore mentioned things for which you said you were thankful can be lost but not Jesus. Don’t misunderstand; I believe we should be thankful for all those, but Jesus should be the focus of our thankfulness. So how do we make Jesus the center of our focus and thankfulness?

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly: Colossians 3:16a ESV
     There has always been a collation of living in victory by hiding and honoring God’s word in your heart. (Psalm 119:9-11 … 119:105 … Luke 6:47-48) This is not a casual reading of the word; this is writing it upon your heart with intention. It is daily looking to it for strength, it is seeking direction in living in harmony, and it is living obediently the teachings of Jesus. It is walking in the grace of Jesus as He teaches us by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. We will stumble and fall, but we don’t have to stay down because, “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” 1John 4:4 ESV

Singing psalms and hymns and spiritual song with thanksgiving: Colossians 3:16b ESV
     What do you sing? When all that God has done through Jesus and Holy Spirit is your focus, you will sing willingly with an outpouring of gratitude in song. I will sing to the LORD, because he has dealt bountifully with me. Psalm 13:6 ESV….. Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works! Psalm 105:2 ESV….. You can sing in every situation of life – good, bad, or indifferent because the goodness of God never changes. Paul and Silas gave us a great testimony of this fact. After being beaten, put in jail, and chained, About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them Acts 16:25 ESV Read the following verses and see the effect it had on this situation and those around them.

Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:17 ESV
     As Christians we need to be intentional in our walk with God, not casual.  In him we live and move and have our being. Acts 17:28 ESV  We need intentional Bible study time, prayer time, market place time, rest time…. all the time living on purpose for Jesus. If we live more this way, we will be thankful for the joy that comes from serving and living in His will everyday.

The peace we have is not our own; its “the peace of Christ”  It is as a quote I once read…. “Know Jesus – Know Peace …. No Jesus – No Peace.” So let us as Christinas live on purpose for God, And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Colossians 3:15 ESV

Because of His Grace ~ Pastor David

     Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Jude 24-25 ESV

     The book of Jude teaches us how we should live and gives testimony as to what we believe. There were those, which this book addresses, who were using the grace of God as a ticket to sin. They were living immorally and selfishly and claiming to be under grace. This in a nutshell gives an overview of the book. In this book, warning are given as to how God has dealt with sin in the past, and He hasn’t changed. Not only were people living in this manner, but false teachers, perhaps those who teach the prosperity gospel today, were promoting this false way of living. Jude addresses the improper lifestyles more than the false teaching. I believe it is because your life will always give testimony as to what you believe. Also, if you live improperly with NO regard to holiness, you are communicating to God, who is Holy, that He has made little difference in you life. You are also revealing how little YOU love him, for if you love him, you will desire to live holy. Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” John 14:15 ESV  We were not redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus to live with no regard for his teachings. Some teachings that involve grace are this…. That we are saved by it (Ephesians 2:8-9)…. That we don’t use it as a ticket to sin (Romans 6:1,14-15) and a multitude of other verses and teachings throughout the Bible also testify to that. Grace is a beautiful thing, for it is a gift to us. I provides for us a life in Christ that we could never obtain on our own. It is able to hold on to us when we fail. It is the expression of God’s abundant love for us by giving us the gift of life through His Son Jesus. Grace is God’s hand in our life doing wonderful things.

Keeps Us:
     We walk not in our own strength but in His strength because the Holy Spirit live in each one of us as Christians. We are soldiers in battle, not against flesh and blood but against an uses foe; but we walk not alone, fore he is with us. Paul addressed Timothy when he said, “You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” 2 Timothy 2:1 ESV  We have the Holy Spirit which Jesus promised before He ascended. Because we have this Spirit living in us, we, as Christinas, are the Temple of the Holy Spirit. This presence is for us that we might not walk alone but be empowered by His grace that keeps us living in the truth of His ways, and that we might be witnesses to all

Covers Us:
     We will one day stand before God, and if we were to do so without Christ, our sin would be all that God saw. Jesus is the grace need and given for the purpose of covering our sins by paying a debt he did not owe…. Our sin debt. He will one day present us before God, not in our righteousness but His. He saved my life for His glory. If someone took a bullet for fee, I would be eternally grateful and would like to thing I would do all I could to express my thankfulness. Especially if I deserved that bullet, and they were innocent but cared more about me than their own life. That describes in a very simple way what Jesus did for us as sinners. I am saved by His blood, and I desire to live for Him. I am thankful for His grace in my life. Without such beautiful grace, I would have no hope.

     Our response to such grace should be to honor Him by how we worship and live. Not Casually but with our mind, body, and soul. Everything within us should shout…… GLORY!      MAJESTY!     DOMINION!     AND     AUTHORITY!     BEFORE ALL TIME AND NOW AND FOREVER MORE! God has and is doing great things in our lives as Christians, and we need to be very careful not to become gospel-hardened … to hear and not be moved by the fact that we worship the Creator of the universe, and that He sent His only Son to die for us. Think much on this; for if we don’t, we will fill our minds with things that really don’t matter.  Never forget to keep what is most important in your life the most important. The most important is … God the Father….Jesus…. And the Holy Spirit and the grace that was shown by Him.  He is eternal and nothing else has eternal value. This is our enduring grace….. IN CHRIST ALONE!

Because Of His marvelous Grace ~ Pastor David

     For I rejoice greatly when the brother came and testified to your truth, as indeed you are walking in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. 3 John 1:3-4 ESV

     Jesus taught that he is the way, the truth, and the life and that no one comes to the Father except by him. (John 14:6) Jesus is referring to the salvation of a person’s life, and this salvation will change how that person lives. One of the changes that it will cause is how the fellow believer will walk in love and fellowship with one another. Part of the fellowship for Christians is receiving one another in the love of Christ and encouraging each other to walk in this new life as a believer. It is hospitality with fellow believers, thereby showing the world what a life in Christ should be. You can see in Romans 12: 9-21 the evidences that should be a reality in the life of a believer.

Be A Testimony Of Truth:
     John was happy and encouraged when he heard how Gaius (vs1-3) lived well the Christian life by reflecting the truth of Christ. The truth in which a Christian should live is not a set of rules but acknowledging the grace by which we are saved. When you are aware that you are saved by the mercy and grace of Christ alone, your walk will give evidence of that gospel…. good news… by how you live.

Walk In Truth:
     We must all ask this question concerning the life we say we live as Christians: Does my talk match my walk? Yes, there are marks and evidences in your life as a Christian as taught in Romans 12 but that is not what makes you a Christian. These evidences are the results of becoming a Christian; they don’t make you a Christian. When a person lives trying to be good and thinks that is how they will one day go to heaven, they will use phrases like, “Well at least I don’t do this or that as compared to another.” There is only one person with whom we should compare ourselves …. JESUS. To this comparison You would say, “I could never match up to him,” and you would be so right. When you have this understanding, you are on the first page of understanding why it is called the gospel…. good news. What we could never do on our own, he did for us on the cross…. and took the consequence of our sins. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6 ESV  That is why when we say we walk in truth, we are saying Jesus lives in us and the life we have is not our own. Jesus becomes the address of where we live in Christ. In him we live and move and have our being. Acts17:28 ESV  Again …… that should be the life address as a Christian. (Read 1 John chapter one verse 5 to chapter two verse 6)

Truth Brings Joy:
     Not everyone who hears the truth will be drawn to it, but those who do will experience joy and fellowship with other Christians, and most importantly, with God. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortals bodies through his SPIRIT WHO DWELLS IN YOU. Romans 8:11 ESV ….. The fruit of the Spirit is LOVE, JOY , peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23 ESV  My personal thought on this last verse is that true spiritual fruit will affect each other in the order they are listed.

     The life the Christian experiences is ALL because of Jesus. Fellowship as Christians is totally the result of walking well with him. He gave us every example we need to live life well; and then as a heavenly Father, He teaches us to walk. It doesn’t happen any faster for us than it does for a child learning to walk. But as a child learning how to walk who often holds the hand of another, may we never grow to the point that we ever turn loose of the hand of Jesus. As we hold on to Jesus, and more importantly, as he holds on to us, may we move toward Heaven where we will never again have the stumbling blocks of sin causing us to fall. Remember we are weak, but He is strong! Again, never let go of his hand, and know he will forever hold you….. in sweet fellowship.

Because of His Grace ~ Pastor David

     And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it. 2 John 1:6 ESV

     John continues in this second letter addressing false teachings concerning the truth of Jesus coming in the flesh. This false teaching would deny truth as taught in the Gospel of John affirming the coming of God in the flesh via His Son Jesus. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1 ESV  Then just a few verses later John teaches, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14 ESV  God, in his love for us, sent his only Son into the world to be the perfect Lamb of God. A lamb in the flesh that died and was placed in a grave and then rose again to conquer the curse of sin…. death. The reason Satan so desires to perpetuate this false teaching would be to nullify the truth of Salvation. Understand, for God to be flesh meant, blood flowed through his veins, and that blood was shed on a cross for the forgiveness of our sin. Indeed, under the law almost everything purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. Hebrews 9:22 ESV  It is imperative as Christians that you believe God did just as he said – that he came in the flesh. That he lived, died, and rose again is the whole gospel of good news to the one that recognizes that he is a sinner in need of God’s  forgiveness. So, as Christians, how do we battle this false teaching, as well as, other deceptions Satan introduces?

We Walk In Truth:
     With no apology the Christian walks in the truth of God’s word. I rejoice greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we were  commanded by the Father. John 1: 4 ESV  The only way a person can walk in the truth is for the truth to abide within them. (1 John 1: 2) When as a  Christian you walk in truth, you desire to walk in harmony with the teaching of God’s word- the Bible. You walk in such a way that it gives evidence of the Spirit of God living in you only made possible by God. This truth has set you free from the power of sin and death. (Romans 8: 1-11)

We Walk In Obedience:
     We walk according to his commandments 2 John 1:6 ESV  Yes, we are saved by grace (Ephesians 2:8-9), but grace will walk in harmony with God’s commands. Salvation is not a ticket to heaven but in salvation we are to live in a way that reveals the truth that lives within us. Salvation is God saving us by grace and mercy, and our walk is showing evidence of that reality. Jesus said this in John 14: 15 ESV, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Which takes us to the next point……

We Walk In Love:
     Love is not an emotion although often times we feel emotion with love. Love is a command given to us by Jesus. Love acts on truth even though that may not alway feel warm and fuzzy with emotion. Love is doing what must be done in order to reflect God. The cross was a gruesome way to die, yet love put Jesus on the cross to show the hideousness of our sins, and the measure by which God was willing to take to redeem us back to Himself. He commands us to love as he loved us. This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. John 15:12 ESV … Theses things I command you, so that you will love one another. John 15:17 ESV  (It would be of value to read John 15: 1-17 to receive the full context of Jesus’s command.) We can truly love if we abide in Christ, and abide means to live there.

     Christians will discern false teachings when walking in true love for their Savior. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life in which we are to live. (John 14:6) Satan’s lies are alway nullified when as a servant you live truth out loud in speech and action. So as Christians, let us nullify the false teachings of Satan by walking in truth, obedience, and love showing that we believe that God really did come in the flesh to redeem the world from sin.

Because of His Grace ~ Pastor David

     This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 1 John 1: 5-7 ESV

     I enjoy light; and if Mary would let me, I’d have almost every light in the house on when it is dark outside. Darkness restricts our ability to see the good and bad that surrounds us, and without light we tend to stumble and move slowly. This is true both spiritually and physically. In the spiritual application, God is light, and sin is darkness, of which Satan is the father. Light, in the physical world, dispels darkness and a person can move through a room or area with ease, seeing all the obstacles that could trip them or cause them harm. Darkness, on the other hand, will cause a person to move very slowly and can cause you unnecessary pain if you fall or trip over unseen obstacles. To be spiritually blind is to walk in perpetual darkness, but to walk in light is to have the ability to see that which is only explainable by God. This is why John Newton, in his song Amazing Grace, wrote the lyrics “I once was lost but now am found was blind but now I see.” To know God is to understand that He is the light of the world, and when creating the physical world, he separated light from darkness. (Genesis 1:4 16-18) The spiritual light rules over darkness just as the physical light we see with our eyes rules over the darkness described in Genesis. This is the message of 1 John, and is our message to the world today – that…..

God Is The Light:
     Not much has changed in Satan’s schemes in the world or church concerning false teachings. False teachings and lies were part of the concerns and reason for John writing 1, 2, & 3 John. John started where God started in the very beginning of all things…. with light. God was and is the beginning of all things, and is eternal, for in him is no darkness. In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the LIGHT of men. The LIGHT shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1: 1-4. ESV …… And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the father, full of grace and truth. John 1: 14 ESV  One of the false teachings was that Jesus was not God’s son, and attempts were made to dispel him as the Messiah. As Christians, we know this is false because the light of God dwells and shines in our hearts. (2 Corinthians 4:6) To deny this is to not be of Him, for Jesus, in the Christian, will not deny Himself. Light has revealed this to the Christian and in this light is no darkness.

Fellowship With Darkness:
     The real lie is to say you have fellowship with God, yet walk or continually practice a sinful lifestyle. God did not bring the Christian into the light to embrace sin but to reveal sin that we might confess it and then walk in love for God. It should be frustrating for the Christian to sin, for the practice of sin will without exception separate you from fellowship with God. God does not have fellowship with darkness for He is light, and just as in Genesis- He separated them from each other. ( 1 John chapter 3)

Fellowship Because Of Jesus:
     The light of fellowship is a reality; for when we walk in the light, we have fellowship with others who do the same. Jesus recognizes Himself within fellow believers. God chooses to dispel Spiritual darkness by His collective light in believers perhaps much like the stars of the heavens do in the darkness of night. Take away the stars, and all you have is darkness. The stars in the darkness enabled sailors to navigate through the oceans. Christians should so shine in the darkness that it enables those who are lost to navigate to God. Fellowship with one another in love shows the world that we are different because of Christ living in us, or at least that is the way it is suppose to be. It should be this way because the blood of Jesus cleansed us from all sin, and we are to no longer walk in that sin. Loving your sin will keep you from God, but loving God will keep you from sin.

     Let this be a challenge for you this week. Evaluate your life to see if any sin is causing your fellowship with God to be diminished. If it be so, then confess it. Live as a Christian who is called to walk in the light and fellowship with God. Jesus said these words in Matthew 5: 14-16, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good words and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”  The light in us for the world to see is the light of God. May your life truly give evidence of His light.

Because of His Grace ~ Pastor David

     Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our GOD and SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST: May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 2 Peter 1 1-2 ESV 

     There is nothing new under the sun concerning the deception and craftiness of Satan. He deceives and leads astray anyone who will follow him away from the truth/truths of God. Peter was about to be martyred for his faith and teaching. Peter teaches and challenges Christians to live strong in the faith that they have been called to in Christ Jesus. Christians are called to a higher standard of living in order to be a witness of the salvation we have in Christ. (Read 2 Peter 1:3-8) Living well in Christ will also have the benefit of reminding you of who you are in Him. (vs 12-15) There are some things we always remember
as Christians…..

YOU ARE A SERVANT:
     Servants are just that …. servants. Servants of Jesus Christ will not exult themselves; they simply serve, for that is their calling. Peter was about to be martyred for his faith; and with a servant mentality, as recorded according to tradition, he was crucified upside down, for he said he wasn’t worthy to be crucified as his Lord. I wonder what type of affect this might have had on those who were crucifying him? You are about to die a hideous death, but as a servant of the most high God you did not want to be recognized as equal with the God/Savior you served, but even in death wanted to serve Him as Lord. To learn how to be a servant in this way, study the ultimate servant…. Jesus. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. Mark 10:45 ESV  Imagine how this might change the world we live in if people followed Jesus’s example.

IT IS GOD’S RIGHTEOUSNESS:
     Jesus is the Savior of the world, for He was the perfect Lamb of God. Once Jesus died on the cross for our sins no other sacrifice for sin was needed. The perfect lamb of God covered the consequence of all sins. We are not redeemed by our righteousness but by the blood of the Lamb of God. To recognize the righteousness of God is to recognize your need of forgiveness and your lack of Godly righteousness. And being found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith. Philippians 3: 9 ESV

WE MUST GROW:
     How are we to grow?…. In truth. Chapters 2 and 3 of 2 Peter debunk false teachings concerning faith. This has and always is Satan’s strategy; to fill one with hopelessness and lies concerning all that God has promised through Christ Jesus. Distorting truth in order to fill one with doubt is one of Satan’s greatest pleasures. If you are not growing spiritually in the word, you are in danger of believing the lies of Satan. We are to fill and saturate ourselves with the word of God standing on His truths. Peter closes his letter with this challenge….But grow in the grace and knowledge of our LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. 2 Peter 3:18 ESV

     Take the challenge of Peter this week. Don’t believe the lies of Satan no matter how they are presented to you. Truth- that is absolute true- is all that will matter when you stand before God one day. Absolute truth is Jesus, God’s only Son, made flesh, and dwelling among us. Jesus died for our sins, then raising from the grave defeated death caused by sin. Grow in the knowledge of His grace and mercy, never believing anything less. Serve Him as God, Lord, and Savior.

Because of His Grace Pastor ~ David

     But as it was written, What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those that love him. These things God revealed to us through the Spirit. 1 Corinthians 2:9-10 ESV

     This past evening, we had a church movie night in which we features the movie, I Can Only Imagine. The movie told the life story of the lead singer, Bart Millard, from the band Mercy Me, and how the song, “I Can Only Imagine,” came into being. It is an extremely powerful and moving story of pain, redemption, and the thought of a future that can only be- imagined. We can learn from this story that God, as always, takes tragic situations and produces glorious outcomes. If you study the Bible, you will see this is the consistent theme of who God is- a mender of hearts and lives. God can take things that absolutely make no sense and makes it good. He can heal all that Satan destroys. God is the creator of all that is good past, present, and future. Satan will endeavor to convince you otherwise; but more importantly, God has endeavored to show you that Satan is a liar. To believe Satan’s lies is to miss the fact and reality that God is the solution to all the problems in this world. Years ago I was talking with a young man about all the tragedies in the world and the confusion that comes with trying to understand them. In our discussion we reflected upon how many people blame God, to which the young man asked the question, “Why doesn’t any one ever blame the Devil?” When Jesus identified the devil, he said these words, “He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” John 8:44 ESV  Jesus, when referring to himself, says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6 ESV  When you live for the devil, you will die for him; but when you live for Jesus, it is because he died for you. When Jesus died for you and you believed in Him as Savior, you can only imagine what it will be like one day to live with him for all eternity. It is something the Spirit of God brings to the mind of the true believer. It is not about heaven being a safe place and avoiding hell. It is about spending the rest of eternity with Jesus, the one who saved you by his grace, and loving Him with praises forevermore. I like the way Paul describes this in 1 Corinthians 2:9 when he says,

What no eye has seen, nor ear heard:
     This is the splendor of heaven that no one at this point had seen nor heard concerning the glory of Angles singing and the worship of the the King of ages. This is the place He is preparing for the Believer /Christian when He comes to take us home. (John 14: 1-3) It is described by the vision of John in Revelations which was overwhelming to him. We can only imagine seeing him face to face and hearing the sound of praise and worship unlike anything we have ever seen or heard. The natural man will not think in this fashion but the growing Christian will tend to become more homesick for Jesus as he / she grows in the faith.

The heart of man imagined:
     I am amazed at the ability of a person who can take an image in their mind and put it on canvas. Where did this ability come from? …. GOD! God gives us glimpse of things to come in the form of art, for he was the ultimate artist creating all things. I have seen beautiful, beautiful, beautiful paintings but nothing compared to what I believe heaven will be. We dream and talk of heaven, but I believe our reaction when we really see heaven will be WOW!!! Man left to himself will only see beauty in this world of which there is much, but as a Christian, let me encourage you to remember, If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set you minds on things that are above, not the things that are on earth. Colossians 3:2 ESV

What God has prepared for those who love him:
     Love is the word that stands out to me in this part of the verse. To love him is to do his will. Love is doing for another with actions that speaks louder than words. Salvation in Christ is not fire insurance from hell; it is loving him with all your heart, soul, and mind. (Matthew 22:37… Mark 12:30…Luke 10:27)
Loving Jesus will change how you live and will create in you an anticipation to be with him for all eternity.

Let me close with this thought…… I— Can Only— Imagine.

Because of His Grace ~ Pastor David