Whether Life or Death

From Pastor’s Desk:

For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. –

Romans 14:8 NKJV

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Since the Lord Jesus has taken the sting out of death, and the victory from the grave (SEE 1 Cor. 15:55-56), we can rest assured that whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. Rather than being fearful of death, we ought to realize that death is as much a part of life as life itself. Death is but a transition. Easy to say, I know. But nonetheless, true. When God’s time for a person to pass from this life to eternity, the unknown aspect of death tends to distract from the truth that we are Lord’s.

A hymn written in 1934 by Thomas Ramsey and Charles E. Durham has quite a message: “I Won’t Have to Cross Jordan Alone”

(Chorus)                                                                                                                                                   I won’t have to cross Jordan alone,                                                                                            Jesus died all my sins to atone.                                                                                                When the darkness I see,                                                                                                             He’ll be waiting for me,                                                                                                                        I won’t have to cross Jordan alone.

Living or dying, we are the Lord’s. The promise that He will never leave us nor forsake us holds true through the transition of death.

Inside Latch

From Pastor’s Desk:

“And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, ‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. – Revelation 3:14,20 NKJV

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Note that Jesus is standing at the door and knocking. He won’t bust it down! The latch to the door, as it has been said, is on the inside.

There are many that hear the knocking, but refuse to open the door. Many hear the voice, but pay no heed.

Jesus said that He came to give life, and life more abundantly (John 10:10). The abundant life He is referring to is not just life in heaven, but in life here and now.

Life, and life more abundantly, is standing at your heart’s door right now, knocking and calling. Don’t hesitate: open the door. The choice is yours!

A Holy Temple

From Pastor’s Desk:

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NKJV

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Some folks constantly struggle with what’s right and what’s wrong. In other words, is this thing I desire really a sin? Can I eat this, or can I drink this? Is tobacco, alcohol, (lesser) drugs, etc., really a sin?

If this verse is applied honestly with reservation, it will answer many questions pertaining to what is and what is not, sin. The answer to that is not opaque, or vague, but rather clear in the light of 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. God is holy, and we are to be holy, or striving toward holiness to the best of our ability.

As we are the temple of the Holy Spirit, we need to be aware that the Holy Spirit will not, indeed cannot, abide in a temple that is unholy.

Darkness into Light

From Pastor’s Desk: 8-13-17

2 Samuel 22:29 You are my lamp, O LORD; the LORD turns my darkness into light.

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If the LORD can create something from nothing, take a world that was without form and void with darkness covering the face of the waters (Gen. 1:1-2) and bring forth light, what is to stop Him from turning darkness into light in the human heart?

Allow a brief word study:

“Without form” is from תֹּהוּ tôhû (to’-hoo) From an unused root meaning to lie waste; a desolation   (of surface), that is, desert; figuratively a worthless thing; adverbially in vain: – confusion, empty place, without form, nothing, (thing of) nought, vain, vanity, waste, wilderness.

“Form” is originates from בֹּהוּ bôhû (bo’-hoo) From an unused root (meaning to be empty); a vacuity, that is, (superficially) an undistinguishable ruin: – emptiness, void.

“Darkness” is derived from חֹשֶׁךְ chôshek (kho-shek’) From H2821; the dark; hence (literally) darkness; figuratively misery, destruction, death, ignorance, sorrow, wickedness: – dark (-ness), night,      obscurity.

“Moved” comes from רָחַף râchaph (raw-khaf’) A primitive root; to brood; by implication to be relaxed: – flutter, move, shake.

Adam Clarke says of this word: Moved] tpxrm merachepheth, was brooding over; for the word expresses that tremulous motion made by the hen while either hatching her eggs or fostering her young.  It here probably signifies the communicating a vital or prolific principle to the waters.  As the idea of incubation, or hatching an egg, is implied in the original word, hence probably the notion, which prevailed among the ancients, that the world was generated from an egg.

Does this sound like the human heart, blackened by sin until the light of the glorious gospel dispelled the darkness within? Were we not without form and void, with darkness the very depth of our soul?

Then the Holy Spirit came and “moved” in our soul, taking us out of sin and sin out of us, dispelling all the darkness and creating light within!

The responsibility is ours to now walk in that light!

Instruction or Wealth?

From Pastor’s Desk:

I rejoice in the way of your instruction more than in any kind of wealth. Psalm 119:14 (CJB)

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So sad that this verse has completely turned around. Not many desire to be instructed in the ways of the Lord in current times. Of course, this is not something new. Old Testament prophets, New Testament Apostles and writers faced the same lack of desire in their day. It’s hard to tell if it’s worse today than then. We can only go by what we see firsthand and that is not a pretty picture. Too many are striving after the “Almighty Dollar” and paying little, in any, heed to Scripture.

Not to be a “Prophet of doom” but it’s not going to get better. Oh, for a while, when going through some of the stuff that’s going to happen in the last days, people will turn to God and His word, only to last briefly.

Those who know the Scripture can say with John, “Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus.”

Refuge and Present Help!

From Pastor’s Desk:

[God the Refuge of His People and Conqueror of the Nations] [To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. A Song for Alamoth.] God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. – Psalm 46:1 NKJV

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Pretty much all we need to know. The difficult part comes in believing it when we are in the middle of a trial. When pressure from an unseen circumstance blindsides us, it is only human to quickly captivate on the problem at hand. This falls into what may very well be a pattern that has been established during a life-time.

Until we arrive at a place where we can totally trust God, we will continue to go through life expecting the worse in times of adversity.

God IS our refuge and strength. God IS a very present help in trouble. He won’t stop being that. Maybe when we tap into the realization that He is, He can be that to us.

The Beauty of Humility

For the Lord takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the humble with salvation. – Psalm 149:4 NKJV

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Ever notice that humility is a first requirement of receiving anything from God, of which the most significant is salvation? The first step being to humble ourselves to the point of admitting and confessing that we are sinners, and letting God do the rest. It may take take a while for that beauty to take hold. It may seem to come in little “Baby steps” but it will come.

Maybe a message to the church is to allow that one who has recently accepted Christ as Savior the time to beautify.