Morning devotions ~ Great Joy

/ The Pastor

When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. [Matthew 2:10-11]

What gives you great joy?
~ Seeing a beautiful sunset
~ Your children
~ A healthy looking checkbook balance
~ Athletic success
~ Good health
~ A full sanctuary
~ Peaceful relationships
~ [Fill in the blank___________]

All these things give a sense (false sense) of peace and happiness yet we pursue and worship them. The magi traveled a great distance to find a baby who was King and were exceedingly joyful when the star finally stopped at the place where Jesus was.

Once in the house they fell down in worship; the only appropriate response to Jesus but also, the only one/thing worthy of worship. Health or money or children or big houses or good jobs or many friends do not and can not give life, and therefore they are not worthy.

The magi gave up a way of life and belief system to worship the King. Will you give up your idols and worship the only one who is worthy for ONLY Jesus has given his life for you. Your idols of this world care nothing for you as they can not save your soul.

See in Jesus your hope, your salvation, your Life and be exceedingly joyful. All praise be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Pastor -|—

Bible reading

/ The Pastor

Are you looking for a New Year’s resolution? Call it a plan. Call it a goal. Whatever you call it consider reading your Bible. The link below is the one I use and I love it.

http://bible.com/r/O
M’Cheyne One Year Reading Plan

If a one year plan is too much right now, read through a book of the Bible and go from there. The YouVersion app I use has a lot of different plans.

Whatever you do, though, get into your Bible and read and listen. This is God’s story of salvation for you. And this will be the best book you read all year (and ever).

Happy New Year!

The Pastor -|—

New Year’s blessing

/ The Pastor

May the Lord bless and keep you as you leave 2014 and enter 2015.

May you leave 2014 with hope as you confess your shortcomings; remembering that the past is the past.

May you see 2015 as a fresh start; a reminder of the forgiveness you have through faith in Jesus.

May you see 2015 as a gift; reminding you of God’s amazing grace.

May you see 2015 with new eyes, reminding you of the New Life you have through Jesus.

May you know the strength that only comes from God.

May you know peace that only comes from the hope of the resurrection.

May you know the amazing love of God in this new year and may that love shine though your life as a witness to others.

All glory to God our Father through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Happy New Year and Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Morning devotions ~ God is more than enough

/ The Pastor

Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, “Who is the Lord ?” or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God. [Proverbs 30:8-9]

I find this an interesting prayer and one I am only half good at. I can pray all day long for God NOT to give me poverty. I mean, isn’t that the prayer of most people? But the next part I can’t say I have ever prayed before:

God, please don’t make me rich.

If you were to pray that line in public you might get some strange looks. Right? But then consider what else the author says:

lest I be full and deny you and say ‘Who is the Lord?’

Dear God, may I never say that. May I never deny you. May I never place riches as my god. My I never become so content that you are nothing more than a vapor in the wind to me. But don’t we already do this? Don’t we already become complacent at times with ease of life? Don’t we already forget to thank and praise God for good things. I guess this prayer is more important than I thought.

But what if you are living in poverty or are very rich. What then? Has God cursed you by placing you in poverty or by making you rich? By no means. Consider what the author prays next:

feed me with food that is needful for me.

This is no doubt the Word of God. This is the faith to know and receive Jesus as Lord and Savior. This is asking for the eyes to see our sinfulness and the faith to acknowledge such. This is the faith to bring our sins before the throne of grace. This is feeding on God; that which we truly need. As scripture says, man shall not live on bread alone but from every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord (Deuteronomy 8:3).

What a powerful and convicting prayer. It is one that directs our attention to where it should be. Poor or rich let God be God and may we praise him as such. Let us pray this together:

Holy God, may I not be distracted with poverty or riches but rather feed me with your Word. And may I never feel so full of your Word that I stop feeding and receiving from you. O God, you are my God no matter the circumstances in my life. May you always be praised and worshiped. Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Children of Our Heavenly Father

/ The Pastor

Children of the heavenly Father 
safely in his bosom gather; 
nestling bird nor star in heaven 
such a refuge e’er was given. 

Caring for my children is such a joy: feeding them, kissing boo boos, rocking them to sleep, wrestling on the floor with them, and even getting them a drink of water. I just can’t get enough of showering them with my love.

When I do something for my little girl I just love how she says, “Thank you daddy. I love you.” It is the most adorable thing ever. I will then say, “You’re welcome sweetie” to which she will repeat herself and this goes on. So cute.

As children of our heavenly Father, do you ever think of responding to God’s love like my daughter does to me?

“Thank you, Daddy. I love you.”

God longs to shower His children with love and I about imagine He longs to hear His children respond like my daughter does. God is not some distant God but one who gets down on the floor with His children and wrestles with them. He is there to kiss boo boos and he is there to comfort you.

But best of all, through faith in Jesus, we are gathered safely into His bosom forever. What a refuge, never has anything been given like it.

Dear God, thank you, daddy. I love you. Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Morning devotions ~ Being wise

/ The Pastor

And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. [Matthew 2:11]

A quick Christmas trivia question for you: How many wise men (magi) were there? Three? Actually we don’t know know. Scripture talks of three gifts but not the number of magi that showed up 🙂

But seriously, these magi (this is where we get our word “magic” and “magician”) traveled a great distance to find this king. And once there, scripture says they bowed down to worship Jesus. And one only bows down to someone who is of higher status or importance than oneself. These magi (magicians, astrologers, worshippers of the stars) knew who they were in the presence of and humbled themselves before Jesus; their new King and Way of life. I imagine they returned home changed.

And really, humbly coming before Jesus in worship is the only appropriate response to Jesus. When you consider what he did for you, how can you not fall down before him. Jesus was born in order to die for you and for me; miserable sinners. Jesus came to bring us to God. Jesus came to defeat death and give us life.

These wise men were indeed wise. They recognized their true King and Way of life. Humbly come before Jesus and worship the one who is worthy; the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Humbly come before Jesus and praise the one who gives you life.

Merry Christmas and Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Morning devotions ~ Seeking

/ The Pastor

One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. [Psalm 27:4]

The day after Christmas is the second busiest shopping day of the year. People rushing around to return or exchange gifts and/or to use their new gift cards at all those post-Christmas sales. A flurry of activity in order to find that perfect gift one did not receive.

But to seek to dwell with God; to seek his face; to long to gaze at his beauty; to desire these things, is something that will be added unto you without fail when/if you ask God.

Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be added unto you. [Matthew 6:33]

And God’s Kingdom is the best deal out there; available all year long, 24/7. It’s available through faith in Jesus. And the price is indeed right: $0 ~ Free ~ Zilch ~ Nothing. The only cost being the life of Jesus.

Someone once told me that a review of your checkbook will reveal your treasure. Convicting and true.

What do you truly seek? What’s your desire? What do you ultimately want to enjoy? Do you daily seek and ask God to dwell in His courts? Do you long to gaze at his face? Do you look forward to the day when you can inquire of the Lord’s wisdom face to face?

Keep your wish list short ~ God’s Kingdom ~ and you will never be disappointed.

Praise be to God, always and forever. Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Morning devotions ~ Your reflection

/ The Pastor

As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects the man. [Proverbs 27:19]

Never think or imagine that what you believe about anything goes unnoticed by anyone. Your heart is indeed a reflection of who you truly are.

I have heard people say,

“My faith is a private faith. I believe in God. I just don’t think I need to go to worship to prove to anyone what I believe.”

That is sad and a little hypocritical for you ARE proving something; that you really don’t believe and love the Lord. Worship is not about proving anything to anyone. Worship is about praising God. It’s an outflow of what is in your heart. If your heart is not busting at the seams to worship and praise God then I have to wonder what is in there.

What you believe about God is going to be revealed whether you like it or not:
~ How you live.
~ How you respond to situations.
~ How you love (or don’t love) people.
~ How you react to adversity.
~ How you respond to suffering.
~ How you respond to death.

Your heart reflects the person you are and shines brightly what you believe about God. Private faith? No such thing. Think about what you say and what you do; for they tell others a story about God. So make sure you do your daily heart check up.
~ Pray
~ Read scripture
~ Spend time with God
~ Worship
~ Question God
~ Listen to God
~ Be shaped by God
~ Reflect on your sinfulness
~ Know that through Jesus Christ you are forgiven

And be ready to reflect the glory of God in your life. Be ready to praise God with your whole being. Be ready to live as a forgiven sinner.

May God be praised always and forever. Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Still Christmas

/ The Pastor

And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. [Luke 2:20]

It’s still Christmas. And I’m not talking about being in the midst of the 12 days of Christmas. It’s still Christmas in the sense that the Good News of Christmas is still Good News and always will be. I don’t imagine the shepherds glorifying and praising God only for a season. I imagine it continued on and on. They saw and heard amazing news. They gazed into the face of salvation. They had their lives turned upside down (or in terms of my Christmas sermon, “messed up”). I mean, how does one get sick and tired of news like this:

Jesus was born for you that you may know God and therefore everlasting life.

That is amazing!
That is awesome!

A season is not enough time to share the Good News of Jesus for there are many who have not heard. And for those who have heard, we often forget. So continue on your way, like the shepherds, glorifying and praising God for all you have seen and heard.

Praise be to God, always and forever, Amen!!!

The Pastor -|—

Christmas prayer

/ The Pastor

O God, loving Father, what a beautiful morning to wake up and contemplate your amazing love. For Jesus was born for us that we may come to know more of you. Not that we don’t think about your love on other days but Christmas seems to heighten our awareness of this awesome gift. May this awareness not weaken throughout the year. May we not drift back into being complacent. May we not take this gift of all gifts for granted.

Holy God, I am also reminded of those who are grieving this Christmas season; people who are mourning the death of a loved one or the ending of a relationship. May they be reminded of your amazing grace and love. May they be granted strength and courage to meet the days ahead. May they cling to that which will never end; You, O God.

God of healing, I am especially mindful this morning of those in my own community who are sick. There seems to be a lot of people dealing with the flu or some other ailment. Please don’t let Satan win but rather grant healing, strength or whatever is needed so that those not feeling well, here in Jackson or elsewhere, may remember the joy of this day.

O God, you are great. You are awesome. And words fail to describe you to the fullest. Bless this day and all our days that we may glorify you and shout from the mountain top that Jesus Christ is born and is Lord of all. All praise to you, O God.

Amen!!!

The Pastor -|—