Monday, May 31, 2010
Letting God Guide
Letting God Guide
By Pastor Marvin Moss
This week's topic: God's Guidance
I’ve preached a series of sermons recently about God’s grace for leading us through the storms in our lives.. about stepping out on faith and living through the Not Yet. The comments and feedback confirm that many of us are in a time of transition. The economic recession has led to a depression, and we struggle not just with the big tasks like keeping our mortgages, cars and careers, but keeping a smile on our faces when it seems as though all Hell is erupting around us. As we enter in a new season, let this be a new a new opportunity to let our faith spring forth by really allowing God to guide our footsteps.
Do you remember your best friend? Many of us have had friends since childhood. There’s nothing like having someone you can talk to about anything without regard to being judged or misunderstood. We find ourselves seeking advice from friends on issues involving our personal finances to family matters. There have been famous songs and favorite films about friendships and they are valuable. But as Christians we must remember to lean on the Friend who is like no other:
"But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went to Arabia, and returned again to Damascus." - Galatians 1:15-17
In the text Paul did not seek the counsel of other Christians. No, he put his trust entirely in the Lord. As we face the tough decisions in our lives, we must have the same faith as Paul and trust God to Guide our footsteps. Friends may give good advice, but the words of God are pure and His promises are true.
So what happens when we put our trust in God and not man? What happens when we let God guide our thoughts and our actions? God begins to open doors that may have been dead bolted. He shows us His divine power by giving us peace through whatever challenge we are facing. He shows us He is the best and only true friend we will ever need. How many times have you reached to pick up the phone to call your friend when you’re worried about the follow-up visit to the doctor, or when you’re confused about the next step to take in your personal or professional walk?
Put down the phone and pick up the Word. Rest on the promises of God knowing He alone is the one friend in whom you need to depend.
Remember, We too have the gift of the Spirit and it’s in these difficult economic, personal, political and spiritual times that we must trust in God alone to guide us, and then walk in that faith. The promises of man will not do. We must remember God’s promises are Yea and Amen!
Scripture Of The Day: "And those who know Your name will put their trust in You; For You, LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You." - Psalm 9:10
By Pastor Marvin Moss
This week's topic: God's Guidance
I’ve preached a series of sermons recently about God’s grace for leading us through the storms in our lives.. about stepping out on faith and living through the Not Yet. The comments and feedback confirm that many of us are in a time of transition. The economic recession has led to a depression, and we struggle not just with the big tasks like keeping our mortgages, cars and careers, but keeping a smile on our faces when it seems as though all Hell is erupting around us. As we enter in a new season, let this be a new a new opportunity to let our faith spring forth by really allowing God to guide our footsteps.
Do you remember your best friend? Many of us have had friends since childhood. There’s nothing like having someone you can talk to about anything without regard to being judged or misunderstood. We find ourselves seeking advice from friends on issues involving our personal finances to family matters. There have been famous songs and favorite films about friendships and they are valuable. But as Christians we must remember to lean on the Friend who is like no other:
"But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went to Arabia, and returned again to Damascus." - Galatians 1:15-17
In the text Paul did not seek the counsel of other Christians. No, he put his trust entirely in the Lord. As we face the tough decisions in our lives, we must have the same faith as Paul and trust God to Guide our footsteps. Friends may give good advice, but the words of God are pure and His promises are true.
So what happens when we put our trust in God and not man? What happens when we let God guide our thoughts and our actions? God begins to open doors that may have been dead bolted. He shows us His divine power by giving us peace through whatever challenge we are facing. He shows us He is the best and only true friend we will ever need. How many times have you reached to pick up the phone to call your friend when you’re worried about the follow-up visit to the doctor, or when you’re confused about the next step to take in your personal or professional walk?
Put down the phone and pick up the Word. Rest on the promises of God knowing He alone is the one friend in whom you need to depend.
Remember, We too have the gift of the Spirit and it’s in these difficult economic, personal, political and spiritual times that we must trust in God alone to guide us, and then walk in that faith. The promises of man will not do. We must remember God’s promises are Yea and Amen!
Scripture Of The Day: "And those who know Your name will put their trust in You; For You, LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You." - Psalm 9:10
COMPELLED BY LOVE
COMPELLED BY LOVE
2 Corinthians 4:16-5:21
http://www.SearchGodsWord.org/desk/?query=2+Corinthians+4:16-5:21
Dear Father, invisible but absolutely real,
May I be compelled by the love of Christ, convinced that he died
that I might no longer live for myself but for him, the one who
died for me.
So let me not regard Christ from a worldly point of view. I am in
Christ. I am a new creation. The old has gone, the new has come!
I am reconciled to you, my Father, through your Son Jesus. Thank
you for what you did for me - through him!
In the name of Jesus I praise and thank you for all your great
mercies and your continuing and constant grace. Amen.
2 Corinthians 4:16-5:21
http://www.SearchGodsWord.org/desk/?query=2+Corinthians+4:16-5:21
Dear Father, invisible but absolutely real,
May I be compelled by the love of Christ, convinced that he died
that I might no longer live for myself but for him, the one who
died for me.
So let me not regard Christ from a worldly point of view. I am in
Christ. I am a new creation. The old has gone, the new has come!
I am reconciled to you, my Father, through your Son Jesus. Thank
you for what you did for me - through him!
In the name of Jesus I praise and thank you for all your great
mercies and your continuing and constant grace. Amen.
WEIGHT OF GLORY
WEIGHT OF GLORY
2 Corinthians 4:16-5:21
http://www.SearchGodsWord.org/desk/?query=2+Corinthians+4:16-5:21
Dear Father, invisible but absolutely real,
Let me not lose heart. I know from your word that my light and
momentary troubles are working for me an eternal weight of glory
that far outweighs them all.
Help me fix my eyes not on the things that are seen, but on the
things that are unseen, for what is seen is temporary, but what is
unseen is eternal.
Help me to live by faith and not by sight. I want to trust you
completely.
In the name of Jesus I praise and thank you for all your great
mercies and your continuing and constant grace. Amen.
2 Corinthians 4:16-5:21
http://www.SearchGodsWord.org/desk/?query=2+Corinthians+4:16-5:21
Dear Father, invisible but absolutely real,
Let me not lose heart. I know from your word that my light and
momentary troubles are working for me an eternal weight of glory
that far outweighs them all.
Help me fix my eyes not on the things that are seen, but on the
things that are unseen, for what is seen is temporary, but what is
unseen is eternal.
Help me to live by faith and not by sight. I want to trust you
completely.
In the name of Jesus I praise and thank you for all your great
mercies and your continuing and constant grace. Amen.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
We will never forget
We will never forget you , nor can we ever thank you enough for all you do and have done to keep us free. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.............................May God continue to cover,guide and protect each of you. In Jesus' Holy Name...... .Amen
Thank you and God Bless
Thank you and God Bless
Friday, May 28, 2010
Temporary Visible Things, Eternal Invisible Things
Temporary Visible Things, Eternal Invisible Things
For our light affliction—is working for us—[an] eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:17-18)
Our gracious God wants to use the trials in our lives ("our light affliction") to produce for us eternal blessings ("eternal weight of glory"). He intends to use our daily difficulties to enlarge our spiritual capacity to experience more fully the glorious eternal realities of knowing, worshiping, and serving God forever! The Lord desires a full, rich inheritance to await us in heaven: "For so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 1:11).
A life of great difficulty here on earth does not guarantee enriched experience in heaven. The process of earthly trials producing heavenly blessings is not automatic for God's children. Verse 18 tells us exactly when this process is occurring: "while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen." The difficulties of life are turned to eternal blessings "while" we turn our attention upon unseen realities.
Many believers waste their afflictions by focusing upon "the things which are seen." They set their minds on themselves, their circumstances, or some conventional human wisdom. Such an approach to life's problems fosters temporal frustrations, not eternal blessings. To accrue eternal benefits from temporal situations, we must look to unseen eternal resources, because "the things which are not seen are eternal."
What are these unseen things? They are the resources of the grace of God. This includes grace for consolation and hope: "Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has…given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace" (2 Thessalonians 2:16). This also includes grace for endurance: "My grace is sufficient for you" (2 Corinthians 12:9). It actually includes "grace upon grace" (John 1:16) for whatever is needed.
All of this is available through daily dependence upon the Lord. "For we walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Corinthians 5:7). The Christian life is lived by faith in the Lord, not by mastery of observable circumstances. God's people enter into His blessings by trusting in Him. It is by looking to the grace of God during our difficulties that afflictions are turned into an "eternal weight of glory."
Lord God of abundant grace, I confess that I have frequently wasted my afflictions by concentrating upon temporal things—very often focusing upon myself. Please help me to look to the resources of Your unfailing grace, that my trials might have eternal, heavenly significance. Through Christ Jesus, I pray, Amen.
For our light affliction—is working for us—[an] eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:17-18)
Our gracious God wants to use the trials in our lives ("our light affliction") to produce for us eternal blessings ("eternal weight of glory"). He intends to use our daily difficulties to enlarge our spiritual capacity to experience more fully the glorious eternal realities of knowing, worshiping, and serving God forever! The Lord desires a full, rich inheritance to await us in heaven: "For so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 1:11).
A life of great difficulty here on earth does not guarantee enriched experience in heaven. The process of earthly trials producing heavenly blessings is not automatic for God's children. Verse 18 tells us exactly when this process is occurring: "while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen." The difficulties of life are turned to eternal blessings "while" we turn our attention upon unseen realities.
Many believers waste their afflictions by focusing upon "the things which are seen." They set their minds on themselves, their circumstances, or some conventional human wisdom. Such an approach to life's problems fosters temporal frustrations, not eternal blessings. To accrue eternal benefits from temporal situations, we must look to unseen eternal resources, because "the things which are not seen are eternal."
What are these unseen things? They are the resources of the grace of God. This includes grace for consolation and hope: "Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has…given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace" (2 Thessalonians 2:16). This also includes grace for endurance: "My grace is sufficient for you" (2 Corinthians 12:9). It actually includes "grace upon grace" (John 1:16) for whatever is needed.
All of this is available through daily dependence upon the Lord. "For we walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Corinthians 5:7). The Christian life is lived by faith in the Lord, not by mastery of observable circumstances. God's people enter into His blessings by trusting in Him. It is by looking to the grace of God during our difficulties that afflictions are turned into an "eternal weight of glory."
Lord God of abundant grace, I confess that I have frequently wasted my afflictions by concentrating upon temporal things—very often focusing upon myself. Please help me to look to the resources of Your unfailing grace, that my trials might have eternal, heavenly significance. Through Christ Jesus, I pray, Amen.
GOD'S TREASURE REVEALED
GOD'S TREASURE REVEALED
2 Corinthians 4:7-12
http://www.SearchGodsWord.org/desk/?query=2+Corinthians+4:7-12
Dear Father, powerful sustainer,
Thank you for putting your treasure in a cracked clay pot like me
so that it will be evident that the treasure is from you, the
transcendent and powerful God, and not from me, the container.
Thank you for upholding all who serve you. When I am afflicted in
every way, I am not crushed; when perplexed, I am not driven to
despair; when persecuted, I am not forsaken; when struck down, I am
not destroyed.
Reveal your immortality through my mortal body. May unbelievers
see the glorious work you are doing in my life.
I come as your humble servant, in the name of your only Son. Amen.
2 Corinthians 4:7-12
http://www.SearchGodsWord.org/desk/?query=2+Corinthians+4:7-12
Dear Father, powerful sustainer,
Thank you for putting your treasure in a cracked clay pot like me
so that it will be evident that the treasure is from you, the
transcendent and powerful God, and not from me, the container.
Thank you for upholding all who serve you. When I am afflicted in
every way, I am not crushed; when perplexed, I am not driven to
despair; when persecuted, I am not forsaken; when struck down, I am
not destroyed.
Reveal your immortality through my mortal body. May unbelievers
see the glorious work you are doing in my life.
I come as your humble servant, in the name of your only Son. Amen.
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