The Bible starts off with Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Because of that, the world and the enemy go against that verse constantly. Yet throughout the Word that scripture is reaffirmed, including in the verse above.
The devil knows if he can get people to question the first verse of the Bible, they’ll have doubts about the rest of the book. So in the schools, the children are taught evolution and that man took millions of years to evolve. It’s no longer given as a theory, but as fact and anyone that questions it is just a religious freak who doesn’t trust science.
While science has brought many good things to man, it doesn’t overrule God or His word. God created the universe and all that is in it and if we believe that, the rest of the Bible is easy!
Loving the Creator,
Pastor Ron Kitchell
You might recognize this portion of scripture as part of the passage Jesus read at the synagogue in Nazareth in Luke 4:16-21. He actually only read Isaiah 61:1 and a part of Isaiah 61:2 before closing the book and applying what He read to His first coming.
Jesus came anointed by the Holy Spirit to bring us Good News, deliver us, set us free from sin and death, and be our Savior and Redeemer.
Today we are commanded to go forth, filled with the Holy Spirit, declaring the Good News of Jesus’ coming. There is no greater work that can be done than leading a sinner to repentance and to faith in Christ. The prophet Daniel in Daniel 12:3 declares, “Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever.” May your life this week accomplish His will of telling the world He has come!
A message of deliverance for all!
Pastor Jack Abeelen
A while back, I heard a sermon from a pastor preaching on revival. He defined revival as “getting the roof off the church where God can come down.” I really like that definition, but there’s something else I’d also add. True revival is taking the roof off so God can come down, as well as taking the walls off so the people can go out.
I think what’s missing from many teachings is how we’re supposed to respond to the truths we’ve received. People love hearing about God and what He’s done for them. But they very often lose interest when it comes to talking about the steps they need to take now that they’ve heard the truth.
It’s been said, “The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” There’s so much truth in that statement because the message of Jesus Christ should never terminate with the receiver. Rather, it should prompt the receiver to action!
As you experience God in your life, let that experience translate into the action of taking the Gospel out. In Christ, you have eternal life. Share His message with others too!
Pastor William Del Casale
From David’s sin with Bathsheba, a child was born. He tried to hide his sin against the Lord, but the Lord used Nathan the prophet to reveal David’s sin and to proclaim that as a consequence his child would die (2 Samuel 12:13-14). The child indeed became gravely ill, and David fasted, wept, and lay on the ground for seven days. When his servants revealed that his child had died, he did not harm himself as they had surmised, but he got up, went to the house of the Lord to worship, then he ate.
David worshiped because he was certain of his future heavenly reunion with his child (2 Samuel 12:23) and he worshiped because God did not require the punishment due of David, but rather God had forgiven him (2 Samuel 12:13).
Are our walks with the Lord as crucial to us as with David, or when we are running late, do we choose breakfast over devotional time? It is all too easy to let temporal concerns push the spiritual necessities out of our lives, and we must be diligent in guarding our walk with the Lord. May our hearts seek after God, and may we not waiver in our walk with Him.
Jeff Mericle
James tells us that God has a goal in mind when it comes to all the difficulties we face on this earth. And we face many of them, don’t we?
Trials are meaningless, suffering is senseless, and testing just doesn’t make any sense, unless there is some good purpose for them. Well, God says there is a reason for them and it is a good reason, they are producing in us patience.
Trials are going to come often and after many trials, the attitude of our hearts will have learned that God is truly in control.
We go back to everyone’s favorite verse, or at least one of the top five verses, Romans 8:28, where Paul writes, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”
So when those tough trials come, our attitude ought to be that God has allowed this for a reason. And we can know that He is working something good in our lives.
Walking in His grace,
Rich Kikuchi
I have had the privilege of speaking to various people about my faith. Some were unbelievers, others were religious people, some just needed help in understanding God’s word better. With each person, I had to speak to them in a way that they understood. One Bible commentator translates this verse: “Let your speech always be with gracious charm, seasoned with the salt of wit, so that you will know the right answer to give in every case.”
But the point Paul was making here is we must be able to have a pleasant and wise conversation so that we may be able to speak accordingly to each person according to their needs. We need to be relevant to today’s time but not compromise what God’s word says. Peter, in 1 Peter 3:15, says to always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you. Paul, in 2 Timothy 4:2, says to preach the word! And to be ready in season and out of season.
It is important to know what God’s word says so that you can be ready to give the right answer to anyone that might come your way.
Joshua Navarro
In the middle of this religious celebration, the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus made His way to the Temple and boldly taught the people there. As the Jewish leaders listened to Him, they marveled at Jesus’ words saying, “How did this man get such learning without having studied?” Jesus had never been to seminary, He had never sat under any Rabbi, He had no letters of degree. Yet He taught the scriptures with such authority that they couldn’t believe their ears.
In Acts chapter 4, when Peter and John were brought before the rulers, the elders, the scribes, and the High Priest to answer for their healing of a lame man, Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, spoke from the Old Testament scriptures pointing to Jesus as the Messiah. Verse 13 says that, “When they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.”
Do you want to make people marvel? Just spend time with Jesus, fill your heart with His word, and live it out for Him and be a living epistle. And people will marvel as they “see” the Gospel you share.
Pastor Doug Hardin
Proverbs 24:16
In today’s culture, when things get difficult, people give up and move onto what they hope will be easier. This is why people bounce from job to job or place to place. This is why people will give up on a friend or family member rather than reconcile the relationship. A life that lacks perseverance is not much of a life at all.
The saddest thing is that people will take this same approach to God and quit before they ever really gave the relationship a chance. Solomon warns us of the need for perseverance. He tells us that the righteous may fall, but they will always rise again. Christ has created us to be warriors, we are meant to fight not flee. When life inevitably knocks us down, we get back up through the power of Jesus and continue on. While there are times to move on, it should never be our first response. May we be people of perseverance.
For the King,
Pastor Daniel Batistelli
Ephesians 3:17b-19
In a world where the term love is tossed about like it’s nothing, we know the importance of this word. Not only do we know the importance of this word, we know the true definition. Paul says that if you have all the gifts of the Spirit but lack love it really doesn’t matter. Jesus tells us that we are to love God with everything and to love our neighbor as yourself.
Being grounded in a biblical love that is of the Lord and not of our self will help us be filled with all the Lord has to offer and be in the will of the Father.
Resting in Him,
Pastor Sean Boehm
John 15:9
Who wouldn’t want to hang out or even live in a place where you are constantly cared for and pampered, watched over and protected, corrected, if need be, to keep you on a safe path, and promised this can last forever. That’s what Jesus’ love for us looks like. And all we have to do is stay in that place; abide in His love. Paul promises us in Romans 8:38-39 that nothing can separate us from His love. It’s even more amazing that this love is the same love that is shared between our heavenly Father and His wonderful Son, the most perfect relationship that ever existed; and we get to be a part of it.
So bask in His love today. Stay in that place. Let Him take care of you and love on you and when He instructs you, lovingly obey.
In all His love,
Pastor Gerard Deleeuw
