Let Not… 

Christ offers us peace which he made possible through His death on the cross. This peace of God fills our hearts with quiet confidence even when life is tough. But why do so many of us not experience this peace of heart and mind? For it to become a reality we must take care of our “let nots” as in John 14. There Jesus said, “Let not your hearts be troubled neither let it be afraid.” 

Another translation says,” stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed, and do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled.” How? Do not feed fear by what you watch on T.V. video games, movies, or books you read. 

Replace a disturbing thought with a good thought—quote a Bible verse or a stanza from a hymn or chorus. One that has helped me is “He leadeth me”.  

Today, tell God about your fear with thanksgiving say, “God, you are bigger than my problem. I give it to you now. I want to trust you with it.” Then move ahead despite your fear. “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” Phil 4:4-7. 

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” John 14:27 

Let’s Pray 

Yahweh, fill my heart and mind with your peace right now in Christ’s Name Amen. 

Patience and Listening: God Still Speaks To You

I just wanted some hamburgers for lunch. 

Me and my boys were in the Walmart attempting to use a gift card. It wasn't working, and I was left with only a bag of quarters my wife had given me. So we put back the roll of hamburger and got some bread and a trifold my other son needed for a school project. 

Then I was prompted by the Spirit to give it another go. I told my sons that we're stopping at a local Food Lion to grab some hamburger. Moments later, I have the hamburger, my bag of quarters, and I'm standing in line. I hate lines. It makes things tedious. However, considering it's the first weekend of the official holiday shopping season, it was expected. I looked around and saw all the other lines and was going to move but God said, "DON'T. MOVE." 

LISTEN: "Your Moment": 3 Don'ts For The Season

I was paralyzed. Why couldn't I move to another line? A God event was ocurring. That's what I call them when the Holy Spirit prompts me with urgent instructions. As I began to scan my area for any anomalies I looked up front and began paying attention to a younger guy and an older woman talk. He was paying for expensive pot roast  she was stunned. In return, she turned to the woman in front of me and paid for her groceries! The woman, unsure of what was going on, turned to me and paid for my hamburger! What an amazing moment! 

Here are some lessons I learned from the experience: 

  1. Be obedient to God's prompting, even when it doesn't make sense to me. 
  2. Be obedient to what God has called you to be – a follower with a pleasant Spirit. I could have easily gotten impatient and aggravated at my day. I didn't, and I thank God I did well! 
  3. Patience is more than an action, but a mental condition. The ability to be patient begins in the mind and is shown in our actions. 

Scripture tells us in James 1:25 that, "But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do."  

If we continue in what Jesus has taught us through his Word, we will always be free from bitterness, anger, poor spirits, etc. If we don't forget God's Word, and do it, God will bless us. He wants to bless us, but he also needs us to listen to bless us.  

And yes, I made some awesome burgers for Sunday lunch, but learned a lot more from the Spirit. 

Gospel Lessons From a Grocery Store perspective

I was in a grocery store looking for a particular snack. I couldn’t find it. I had traveled those grocery store aisles for at least 30 minutes.

Moments later a friend of mine who works in the store asked me what I was looking for. I told him and he immediately pointed me in the direction I was supposed to go. I got my snack and was headed to the checkout line when he said, “Rev, all you had to do was look up and you would have seen where it was.” He was right. I looked up and the information was on the signs hung above each aisle.

Then the Spirit spoke to me. I said, “Hold up brotha, you mean to tell me if I had just looked UP I would have found what I was looking for?” He smiled. “Yeah man, if you had just looked UP, you wouldn’t have wandered around for so long looking for what you wanted.

“You mean that sometimes the answers are right there only if I look up? “

“Yes.”

We were laughing because we knew what we were saying, and it wasn’t about snacks. The Gospel has a way of connecting us all. He knew that I knew that’s a powerful Bible lesson. You see, sometimes we spend more time wandering around the aisles of life when all we had to do was look up and we would have been given the answer. However, I did find the provider of that information that directed me to that thought. You see, Christians need to remember that to get to the answers of life, we need to find the provider, and that is Jesus Christ! Psalm 121 confirms this thought. The first two verses say:

  1. I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.
  2. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth

Look for Jesus. Don’t wander around.  Sometimes if you had just looked up to God, you would have found what you were looking for and would have been on to the next journey.  He has the answers. Just look up!

CRAFTS AND CHRIST

The Washington TimesThe Washington Times | By  Meredith Somers

If you want to make adorably tiny cupcakes or get ideas for charming engagement photos, Pinterest is your source. But what about people who are looking for an inspirational Bible verse, ironic religious T-shirt, or a picture of a holy site — all in one place?

Head to Godinterest.com!

“In today’s busy world, I believe that Christian ministries need to engage the public with social media and that there is added value in doing so,” said Dean Jones, project manager for Godinterest, in a press release posted to Digital Journal.

Godinterest, he said, “will enable our users to share within a Christian Social Network.”

Mr. Jones said his hope for Godinterest is that users find it easy to connect, share, and post information, all within a “safe, family-friendly Christian alternative” to its (apparently) sinful sibling Pinterest.

Read more here!  

 

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