Love Him And Cleave To The Lord!

Deuteronomy 30:15-20 KJV: Choose life! Love the Lord and put away your false gods.

Forgiven Much

St. Paul was forgiven much and so are we

Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;

By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.

For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:

After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.

After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.

And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.

For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

                                                     (1 Corinthians 15:1-10 KJV)

By the grace of God I am what I am. By the grace of God we are what we are. We have not loved God with our whole hearts. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We have sinned against all. Yet, we  are saint. We are children of our heavenly Father. We have been cleansed of our sin through and by faith alone through by the blood of Jesus the Christ!

Paul declared himself a horrible sinner; a persecutor of the church of God. Although, he was the least, after meeting Jesus on the road after  Jesus' ascension, he became most ardent in proclaiming Jesus as the one who died in declaring that Jesus' died for our sins and that he rose again from the dead for us.

There is not one of us who is without sin. No matter how hard we try we cannot save ourselves by any good works so we turn to the only one who can and has saved us. We turn to our loving savior Jesus in faith. We turn to the one who saved us by his work on the cross for us.

Do not let your sin overwhelm you. Repent and believe that your sins have been washed away for in Christ you have indeed been cleansed.  You have been forgiven!

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Love Increases

We must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. (2 Thess 1:3 NRVS)

On the first Wednesday of every month our congregation has a special service or program followed by a soup supper. The services began this past year with me leading a prayer or healing service and has evolved into having members of the congregation leading. 

This past Wednesday the theme was on Valentine's Day and love. Phyllis did an absolutely marvelous job sharing about the love of God in Christ and about the love we have for one another. The most amazing part was not just about what she said; but, about how her love of God and for us was seen in her words and actions as she presented some really Good News. What she shared about love was shared with genuine love. It was a unifying and edifying time together. It was evident in the way in which she shared the love of God that we are family and that not only does God love us; but, she also loves God and all the brothers and sisters in Christ to whom she was speaking.

And, then... all the brothers and sisters in Christ that were present gathered in the fellowship hall to share their love for one another over some awesome soup and bread.

I thank God for the love of every one of you for one another.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

The Meaninglessness Of The Love Of Things

The older I get and death becomes more of a reality, the more I lapse into moments of thinking that life is as meaningless as Solomon would imply. Why all the years of toil, if it is to be gone in a second? This toiling after amassing riches is totally meaningless. Living life to amass things means that we will miss out on living and enjoying our lives in Christ in the here and now. We can; after all, only serve one God. 

Solomon's words of wisdom in the book of Ecclesiastes tell us:

The lover of money will not be satisfied with money; nor the lover of wealth, with gain. This also is vanity.

When goods increase, those who eat them increase; and what gain has their owner but to see them with his eyes?

Sweet is the sleep of laborers, whether they eat little or much; but the surfeit of the rich will not let them sleep.

There is a grievous ill that I have seen under the sun: riches were kept by their owners to their hurt, and those riches were lost in a bad venture; though they are parents of children, they have nothing in their hands. As they came from their mother’s womb, so they shall go again, naked as they came; they shall take nothing for their toil, which they may carry away with their hands."
                                                                        (Eccl 5:10 - 15 NRSV) 

That is not to say work is evil. We should work if we expect to eat. But, it becomes very bothersome, even a burden, when one works only to amass riches. Jesus told this story to a crowd who followed to listen to Him: 
 

Then he told them a parable: “The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’  Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”
                                                                             Luke 12:16-21

Our work should bring joy to us as well as to others. Live life! Enjoy the life that God has given you! Whether it is in the hours you spend laboring or during the hours you are relaxing with your friends and family, life here on earth is to be lived and enjoyed. Life, abundant life, is a gift from God.

This is what I have seen to be good: it is fitting to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of the life God gives us; for this is our lot. Likewise all to whom God gives wealth and possessions and whom he enables to enjoy them, and to accept their lot and find enjoyment in their toil—this is the gift of God. For they will scarcely brood over the days of their lives, because God keeps them occupied with the joy of their hearts. (Eccl 5:18-20).

Focus your journey here on earth, not on amassing wealth or power to the exploit of others, but on living life so that God may be glorified.

And... may the peace and joy that is found in being in relationship with God, our Father and with one another, through His Son, Jesus the Christ, be with you always.  

Pr. J