Have you ever kept a mental list of all the good stuff you’ve done? I fed this homeless dude. I gave five percent more this month in tithes. I didn’t yell at a co-worker for being difficult. Whatever it might be. Paul here is referring to his pedigree of good works in Judaism. If you go back to the previous verses, you can see his impressive list as a devout Jew. But Paul looks at all of these works that were done apart from Christ and says, “I lost so much time with my Lord.”

This same mindset can happen to us! Being religious will never gain you more of Christ in your life. It WILL give you more pats on your back. All of the things I mentioned above are great! But, NONE of these things are where you will develop your relationship with God. They are the byproduct of your heart towards the Lord. Gain Christ through your personal time with the Lord in reading and praying and you will see a great gain in your relationship with Christ and you no longer have to look and say, “I lost so much time with my Lord.”

In Christ,

Pastor Sean Boehm

When I was growing up in Canada, we had a huge vegetable garden in the backyard. Every spring and summer, my mom would pick vegetables and then can them in jars so we would have veggies for the winter. She would always prepare a salt-water solution to put the vegetables in so they would be preserved once they had been sealed in the canning jar.

Those that belong to the Lord and love Him with all their heart are put in God’s enduring preservative and sealed in with His protection. That’s a great promise but the condition once again is that we love Him; that we identify with Him as our Savior; and that we walk in obedience to His will. So when the jar is opened on judgment day, we will have endured because it is Him and Him alone that preserves us.

Lasting in His Love,

Pastor Gerard Deleeuw

Are you looking for a way to strengthen your walk with the Lord? Look at the first line of this verse – you who love the Lord, hate evil! This is a wicked world in which we dwell, being that it’s ruled by the enemy. He tempts us constantly and tries to make us see evil as acceptable.

That shouldn’t be the mentality of the Christian at all. Indeed we should hate evil and see it for what it really is, offensive to God. Instead we sometimes find ourselves cozying up to evil, letting the things we watch and listen to entertain us instead of offend us.

To have the proper attitude towards evil, we need to put more of God in our minds. Philippians 4:8 says, Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy–meditate on these things. Those are the things which should fill our minds. If they do, we’ll be able to hate evil.

Transform my mind,

Pastor Ron Kitchell

1 Timothy 6:1

In a world where rights are redefined, demanded, and even forcefully pursued, this word from the Lord to being an employee may sound foreign and unworkable. Yet nothing could be further from the truth. Our witness in the manner we honor our bosses, the way we work, and our trustworthiness will all bring glory to the Lord and credibility to our claims of belonging to Him.

In a world of selfish disrespect, the believer shines like a light in the darkness. If you are working today, remember that as your employer, your co-workers, and others look on, your behavior may be the cause of someone’s eternal salvation.

Wanting to be a good example in my labors,

Pastor Jack Abeelen

I was driving down the street one day and pulled up behind a man at a red light. I looked at his car and I saw a bumper sticker on the back that said, “Honk, if you love Jesus.” So the light turned green, and as I got in the left lane to pass him, I beeped my horn a few times and waved.

Well, I apparently infuriated that fellow. He had forgotten about the bumper sticker, so he threw his hands up in the air and started yelling at me out his window. I couldn’t tell exactly what he said, but I know for sure it wasn’t “Jesus loves you.”

As a believer, you’re going to live your life under a microscope. When people find out you’re a Christian, they’re going to look at how you live your life and make a judgment by seeing your attitude toward others and how thankful you are to God for the blessings He’s given you. Fair or not, that’s how it goes!

So how should we live in front of a watching world? Humbly. Accept that you’re not perfect. Give thanks for the many blessings in your life, knowing who gave them to you. Ask forgiveness when you make mistakes and show grace when others do. Serve the Lord passionately and you’ll be a powerful witness to a watching world.

Pastor William Del Casale

David cries out to God in this psalm because the multitude hates him without any cause (v. 4). Those who hate him are powerful and David feels that he is going to drown. Even his family has distanced themselves from him. However, during all the turmoil and strain, David never takes his eyes off of God. He starts the psalm crying out, “Save me, O God!” When he feels hopeless and that God is not there, he still responds by waiting on God (v. 3). He continues to pray to God for deliverance and rests on the foundational truths of God’s mercy and salvation (v. 14) and loving-kindness (v. 16).

David never doubts the LORD will deliver him, because he sees a day where he will praise God and give Him thanks for deliverance (v. 29-30). Through all his troubles, David maintained a firm reliance on God, no matter how bleak or dire his situation became. Lord, may we have the faith and heart of David to rely on you when we encounter one of life’s valleys, when there is chaos around us, and when things look bleak, may we firmly wait upon your deliverance.

Jeff Mericle

After three very dark verses explaining our hopeless spiritual state, Paul breaks through the clouds with a ray of dazzling, hopeful light: But God, who is rich in mercy… made us alive!

“For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6).

At the beginning of time, God said, “Let there be light.” And in our time, because of His mercy and infinite love, God saved us, even though we were spiritually dead and full of sin. God commanded light to shine in our hearts to dispel our blindness. We awoke from the dead and embraced the light. He washed away our sins and made us eternal objects of His infinite love. O what amazing, undeserved grace!

This is great news amid years of extremely bad news. Even though you may be battling dire circumstances or dealing with emotional or physical pain—even though you are plagued by disappointments or facing overwhelming obstacles—you are loved by a good Father who is rich in grace and full of love for you. Find hope and encouragement in all that we have gained in Christ and all we have been saved from. Even though your current state may be extremely unsettling, your future state will be glorious. Let the anticipation of the fullness of joy in the presence of Christ fill you with joy now and give you peace.

Tom Day

The fifth commandment in God’s Law is the first commandment that switches from the vertical to the horizontal in terms of relationships. It acts as a nice transition because in many regards this command still contains an aspect of the vertical, our relationship to God.

Despite the fact that parents are flawed, the Lord calls us to honor them. To honor doesn’t just mean obey but to reverence them and to show them a respect that comes with the title of being your parent, whether the respect is earned or not.

God has created order and structure and the family is at the core of that structure. Destroy the family and you will destroy society, hence we are given this command by God to create a safe environment for one to live. We live in a time where this command is getting increasingly less popular and disregarded by many in practice. May the church not be numbered among those, but have a healthy respect and honor for our parents that speaks to God’s goodness in the structure and order he created for us to live in.

Pastor Jason Witt

You can usually tell a lot by a person who needs to swear just to confirm what they are saying is in fact true and accurate. I’ve had a friend who would have to swear after telling their story. It’s almost as if their words meant nothing until they stressed how serious and truthful they were by swearing to God.

Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, reminds us of the very same thing. Let your “Yes” be “Yes” and your “No,” “No.” The fact that you have to swear to something demonstrates that there is not enough weight in your own character to confirm what you are saying. Let this not be true amongst us.

Joshua Navarro

Philippians 2:3-4

Selfish ambition always pulls another person down and conceit pushes oneself up! It’s all with one purpose, to exalt ourselves and put ourselves in a position of power or prominence. If all you do is for your benefit, then division in inevitable. We would come to church and say, “I don’t like that worship song, it’s too fast. Can you believe it, that person is sitting in my spot? That usher didn’t smile at me, I would be much more friendly if I was ushering.” And Church becomes a place to have our needs met rather than a place to serve one another.

The key is to, “esteem others better than yourself.” How does this happen? By humbling yourself and making the decision to place others above yourself. The natural, carnal mind doesn’t work this way, but as we walk in the Spirit and see others in the body as brothers and sisters in Christ, we choose to esteem them higher.

We should come to fellowship seeking to bless others, hoping for opportunities to minister to each other. “Looking not on your own interests, but on the interests of others.” I know that as we seek to bless others, we will end up blessed as well.

Pastor Doug Hardin