Coming to the Still Waters

Today's verses are Matthew 10:40-42 which reads, "He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.  He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward; and he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward.  And whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward." "receive" - to take by the hand - and the context of the passage is about full surrender to Christ - so they are taking by the hand your message of full surrender "sent" - to go to a place appointed - we get our word apostle (sent one) from this word The person who takes by the hand this message of total surrender from you is taking the hand of Jesus and the person who takes by the hand the message of total surrender from Jesus takes the hand of G

Preparing For Sunday Worship

Psalm 118:5-9 are the verses for today, which read, "From my distress I called upon the LORD; The LORD answered me and set me in a large place.   The LORD is for me; I will not fear;   What can man do to me?   The LORD is for me among those who help me;   Therefore I will look with satisfaction on those who hate me.   It is better to take refuge in the LORD   Than to trust in man.   It is better to take refuge in the LORD   Than to trust in princes."   The couplets of Psalms and also Proverbs hold such power in each thought.  Let's look at them individually this morning to see what we can glean. "From my distress I called upon the LORD; The LORD answered me and set me in a large place."   Distress comes from the words "curse" and "stomach" so you are sick about something that is happening.  So where does God take you?  He takes you to a place to see the bigger view on the matter or pointing you to His point of view which i

Today's verses are Philippians 1:3-6 which read,   "I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all, in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now.  For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus." I think it is important to look at what Paul is thankful for here for the Christians in Philippi.  It is a thankfulness that drives him to prayer for them and it looks to be prayer on a regular basis that is loaded with joy. I am sure he is thankful that they are his friends and thankful for the support that the churches gave him as he went on his missionary journeys.  I am sure he is thankful for maybe a place to stay when there and probably some food to eat.  He is probably thankful for just the kindness of friendship from others who show some of the same thankfulness and love back to him. But Paul

Let's look at Matthew 6:33 - a very familiar verse that is quoted often, it reads, "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."   The word "but" makes you look back because it is a word that means your action is to be opposite or different than what was previously stated.  That is found in verse 31, "Do not worry then, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear for clothing?'   So instead of worrying about these things Jesus gives more support in verse 32, "For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things."   Jesus is saying that your heavenly Father has what you eat and what you drink and what you wear covered so... or "but" ... and then we are at verse 33. "seek first" - hmmm this is going to take priority "His ki

Today's verse is 1 Timothy 1:8 which reads, "But we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully,..." Some had become experts in the law and about the law but were not practicing the law.  Sound familiar.  I grew up with some who could play the part and recite the part of being a Bible knowing person but when it came to living it, that was another story.  Actually you didn't see it unless you stumbled upon it when they didn't know you were there.  The act was polished up for church and church events and church members to see.  At first it made me mad but now it saddens me that some of them probably thought that is what you did, you act this way here and you can act however you want in all those other places and it was okay. "But we know..." - it is to know but also to see, to observe, to have seen "...that the Law..." - pertaining to God's standard "...is good,..." - beautiful, handsome, excellent, eminent

Today's verses are Proverbs 5:1, 2 which read, 1 "My son, give attention to my wisdom,   Incline your ear to my understanding;   2 That you may observe discretion   And your lip may reserve knowledge." Let's look at some words here.   "give attention" - more than just to hear but to heed to   "wisdom" - it is more than knowing but also acting wisely   "incline" - the action of turning your ear, maybe our good ear to   "understanding" - again more than just knowledge but seen in practice   "observe" - to keep or to guard   "discretion" - deals with your thoughts, so guard your thoughts   "reserve" - to watch over   "knowledge" - to know Do you see all the action in these two verses?  We are to heed (action) to acting (action) wisely and we are to turn (action) our ear to practiced (action) knowledge and we are to guard (action) our thoughts and watch over (action)

  It is a big bell but looks to need some work to restore or maintain. Adam

Today's verses are from Genesis 1:6-8 which read, 6 Then God said, "Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters."  7 God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so.  8 God called the expanse heaven.  And there was evening and there was morning, a second day. One of the days of creation, the one that deals with water that would later be used in the great flood of Genesis 7.  God took one substance and divided it in two and put one part here and one part there.  It was enough to be done on that day and I would say so when you look at our planet and most of it is water. But the other phrases away from the action of separating the water is my focus today.  "Then God said,..."   The word of God is the Hebrew 'elohiym which is the plural for God and a masculine noun and it means rulers, judges, divine ones.

Today's verses are Ecclesiastes 4:7-12 which read... "Then I looked again at vanity under the sun. There was a certain man without a dependent, having neither a son nor a brother, yet there was no end to all his labor. Indeed, his eyes were not satisfied with riches and he never asked, 'And for whom am I laboring and depriving myself of pleasure?' This too is vanity and it is a grievous task. Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up. Furthermore, if two lie down together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone? And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart."   A longer passage but I think a central theme.  From the beginning of the passage the focus is on some type of relationship and even thoug

Nancy Leigh DeMoss True Woman '14: Nancy Leigh DeMoss—Jesus, What a Wonderful Name!

Today's verses are Matthew 13:57, 58 which reads, And they took offense at Him.  But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household."  And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief. Jesus had just got done speaking a series of parables and then teaching in the synagogue in his hometown.  No doubt they have heard about what Jesus had been saying and doing all over the countryside (miracles and such) and now they have a front row seat to Him.  They are astonished but they also question how Jesus could have all this wisdom.  They knew his mother and His brothers and sisters and Jesus' earthly father's occupation.  Maybe they thought that Jesus thought Himself better than them and they took offense.  Does this sound familiar? I have noticed that when someone turns their eyes to Jesus and see and accept Him as their Savior and then put Him first place in their lives by going to ch

Today's verse is Proverbs 19:23 which says, "The fear of the LORD leads to life, So that one may sleep satisfied, untouched by evil."   Is there a healthy fear?  This word is used in basically two ways in the Bible.  One is the way that we usually think of fear as terror or fright.  The other is the definition of respect and reverence.  The fear of the Lord can be taken both ways at times so the context of the verse needs to be looked at to determine which fear we are talking about.    This fear leads to life.  This fear leads to one resting with a clear conscience.  This fear leads to feeling the protection of God from evil.  I would say that we are looking at fear that would mean the reverence and respect of the Lord and everything about Him. I have had many sleepless nights.  We have 4 children so I think that is part of being a parent at times.  But I have also had some sleepless night because my lack of reverence and respect for who God is

Today's verses are Jesus' words in Matthew 7:7, 8, which reads, "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened."   It is hard to type those words without singing the song I learned in a kind of kids klub group a while back.  All the words are very simple in the original language and mean what they mean in English.  There is that element of desire that is added in to the words.  What I am asking I am desiring enough that I will take the next step to seek it and then the next step to knock on some doors to find it.  So it is a progression of your prayer that leads to some action on your part. I would like to direct it to what are you asking and seeking and knocking on for your church?  What are you desiring for this church that you are asking God for it?  I want to thank you for those prayers for this church

Today's verse is Proverbs 20:15, which reads, "There is gold and an abundance of jewels;   But the lips of knowledge are a more precious thing."   In this couplet we are being asked to compare what is in the first phrase to what is in the second phrase.  We are to compare the gold and jewels in line one to the knowledge in line two.  A couple observations here: Gold has been something that has been precious and sought after and the abundance of jewels shows the ability to accumulate things of this world.  The lips of knowledge (so something you know that you can articulate and is readily available to share) is something that is not a physical thing you can hold in your hand.   God says that the knowledge is the more precious thing.  The word for "more" means "and so much more" so it qualifies that what is being compared here is not on an even playing field.  God is saying that knowledge (the kind that is on our lips to not only know

Today's verses are from Romans 1:11, 12 which read: "For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established; that is, that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other's faith, both yours and mine."   "For I long to see you..." "...to you,..." "...encouraged together with you..." "...while among you,..." "...both yours and mine." are such beautiful phrases given by Paul to the church in Rome.  You hear his love for his brothers and sisters in Christ.  It was a mutual feeling.  Even though Paul was coming or longing to come to share a spiritual gift with them, he was also going to be receiving encouragement from the faith of others.  We couldn't ask for a better description of what should be happening on Sunday mornings all over the world.   A great reunion happens every 7 days.  As we have been walking with Jesus every

Good morning all, Today's verses are Psalm 31:6-8 which says, "I hate those who regard vain idols, But I trust in the LORD. I will rejoice and be glad in Your lovingkindness, Because You have seen my affliction; You have known the troubles of my soul, And You have not given me over into the hand of the enemy; You have set my feet in a large place." "Hate" is a very strong word.  A lot of emotions rise up when that word is used.  In this  verse it points to those who "regard" (to keep, guard, have charge of) "vain idols."   Any idol is vain and any idol is another god and we are to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength.  We are to have no other gods before us.  So what is being promoted is taking people's eyes off of God. Even though David "hates" this action, he trusts in the Lord and the "lovingkindness" of the Lord.  What about His "lovingkindness&qu

Today's verse is Romans 1:8 which says, "First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world."   Paul is writing to the church in Rome where the persecution of Christians is very high under the emperor Nero.  Paul also gives a very theological statement by saying "my God through Jesus Christ."   Paul is saying he has a personal relationship with God and that has come through the Son, Jesus Christ and His life, death, and resurrection.  Paul is thankful that others have taken up the cause of Christ and the gospel of Christ to be proclaimed, so he is writing to those who are doing what he is doing. But what strikes me is the phrase, "throughout the whole world."   I know that Rome was thought to be the center of the known world but they didn't have the internet or YouTube or the evening news.  They didn't have Facebook or Twitter.  They didn't have websites an

Our verses today are Isaiah 55:6, 7 which reads: Seek the LORD while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the LORD, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon. This is a great passage because it is an Old Testament passage that is pointing to salvation.  We are to "seek the Lord," "call upon Him," "forsake his (my) way," "return to the Lord and God," and we receive "compassion and pardon."  I think the easy part is to turn to the Lord or return back to the Lord and we love the compassion (that love in action) from the Lord and the abundant pardon that God has provided through His Son Jesus Christ.  These are all things that God has provided and even the idea that God is there, the Lord is there to turn to or return to.  The hard part for us is forsaking our ways a

In the closing chapter of the great book of Romans, Paul says in 16:16,  "Greet one another with a holy kiss.  All the churches of Christ greet you." The word for greet means to bid welcome or come close to with the idea of joy and gladness to see that person.  Early Christians would greet one another with this "holy kiss" which is so different than the way that Judas kissed our Savior.  The word for churches means "a gathering of citizens called out from their homes into some public place, an assembly."   Isn't that very appropriate to what we will do today? A couple of thoughts - how do we greet those that we are going to assemble with today?  Could you call it a holy kiss?  Is it a gathering of people so thankful to see one another and wishing well of each other?  Do we come to the gathering place with a "holy" kiss or would our kiss be more like Judas' that had another agenda then following the will of the Father? 

Our verses today are Psalm 96:11-13 which says, "Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; Let the sea roar, and all it contains; Let the field exult, and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy Before the LORD, for He is coming, For He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness And the peoples in His faithfulness."   I am always amazed at how much the Scripture brings up about the coming of Christ and this is either referring to His first coming or second coming.  Just the presence of Jesus in His first coming brought judgment for us to all answer the question, "But who do you say that I am?"  His second coming will bring upon us all the final judgment and the kingdom to come.  His coming.  Have you thought about it today?  Have you thought about it this week?  Sometimes I can go awhile just living life and fulfilling earthly obligations and forget about the return of Jesus Christ.  It d

Today's verses are Psalm 141:3, 4 which says, "Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips. Do not incline my heart to any evil thing, To practice deeds of wickedness with men who do iniquity; And do not let me eat of their delicacies."   Some observations: Look at the emphasis of protection to something evil - to set a guard, keep watch, do not incline, to practice, do not let me eat - there is a calling out to God to help us to stay away and not participate in evil. Look at the emphasis on the mouth - mouth, lips, eat - many sins come out of us through our lips but ultimately comes out of our hearts. Look at the emphasis of others - with men, their delicacies - an association with others that leads to participation in what they do. I do believe that in our world we need to dial back our involvement in what the world does and we need to ramp up our holiness to what God does.   It is so easy to get sucke

A practice that I am striving to keep up with is daily devotions to the church and so I thought I would post some of them here - so this will have multiples and maybe I can keep up after this with dailies... The verse today is Proverbs 30:5 which reads, "Every word of God is tested; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him." The Proverbs writer takes this from David who said in Psalm 18:30 and also in 2 Samuel 22:31, "As for God, His way is blameless; The word of the LORD is tried; He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him." I think the key here is the actual "taking refuge in" part.  We know the Word of God but do we lean on it and practice it when it is hard to practice it?  God's word is saying that His word will protect us because it has been tested.  We look for things in life that have been tested.  "9 out of 10 dentists say..." and we buy the toothpaste based on that testing.  God's word has been tested ove

     It was a great first Sunday.  I can't believe I had enough senses left to hear the bell ring and register the tone and take it to the piano in the sanctuary.  It leans toward A flat according to that instrument.        This has been a week of listening.  I think this might be a month of listening.  I am observing and learning a congregation's way of life.  I am not only a newbie but throw into that being a part of a church that is not of the denomination you have been with for 28 years so this switch also doesn't have that familiarity from church to church.  So this is a time of learning.      The book of Titus calls us to God's standard.  God's standard about the senior pastor.  God's standard about the spiritual leadership of the church.  God's standard about the members of the church.  God's standard about the church as a whole.  The question is:  Does God's standard matter anymore?  The answer is that it does by Scripture but we live in

  The sign out front welcoming us to the church... The cornerstone of a little of the history of the church... Tomorrow starts a new day in the life of the Wolfgangs...thank you for all your prayers for us on this journey of following God's will. Adam

  Oh and I wish this was only part of it but if I point the camera in any direction you get more of the same.  Parts of the house are coming together but the garage will have to wait for another day.  I will just have to pull out the radio and put on some great music and start organizing the day away.  I guess this is my before picture. Our transition has gone well but Stephanie and I both had a melt down and we both realized that it was not over the boxes to unpack but it was that we were separated.  We have been together so much since the cancer and moving most of my work into the home that even being across the street for 3 to 4 hours at a time was an adjustment that we were going to have to make.  I must be more productive because my sermon is coming together in half the time but that may be because I have to get it done.  Sunday marks the start of our study of the book of Titus.  3 chapters that fall into place with chapter 1 being about the character and the conduct