Matthew 6:33

33 “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

 

Matthew 19:19

“…and love your neighbor as yourself.”

 

Mathew 7:1-2

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

 

John 13:34

“A new command I give you: Love on another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”

 

I cannot help but remember 2008 as a hard year. My personal finances were in dire straights, my professional life experienced a complete restructuring and my self esteem bottomed out drastically!

 

There are aspects of 2008 that were satisfying, however. 1) I realized that I can depend on my partner for support and longevity through thick and thin. 2) My Hope grew and became stronger, 3) my faith grew and again became my “Standard Operating Procedure” and 4) I, again, became more involved with Church than my mind tells me is acceptable.

 

In 2009 I am following the Leadership of God, the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit the best I can. My natural inclination is to resist things that I feel will bring criticism; however, I have faith that soon I will be able to simply open my mouth and the dominion of God will flow easily.

 

I believe the hardship I experienced in 2008 could have been avoided if I had not turned away from God by depending on my own devices for success. In 2009 I am giving all things to God and listening for direction. It is the Glory of God that matters and is the avenue for success in the end.

 

GOD BLESS YOU ALL!

This is a prayer from an article that Joel O'steen wrote. It spoke so cleary to my recent experiences and I wanted to share it with you.

Heavenly Father,                                                                                                                                     thank You for Your promise of victory in every area of my life.                                                                  I choose to trust You, knowing that You are working behind the scenes on my behalf. 
In Jesus' Name.
Amen.

For about a year and a half now I have been searching for full-time employment and a renter for a house that I own but do not live in. God has been helping me to keep the monthly bills paid but for about four months the mortgage had to go unpaid. Every day I would pray and ask God to bring me a job that paid well enough to cover all my expenses and a renter/buyer for my house because my partner and I could not afford to make two mortgages and both of our monthly bills. This year and a half has been a rollercoaster of hope and rejection. My partner was at his wits end because we were both beginning to think about bankruptcy. I felt like it was all my fault that not just me but now someone I loved and respected was going to become destitute.

About three weeks ago, instead of my usual praying where I sat or stood, I began to actually get down on my knees and pray to God for help. I have to tell you that this act has tremendous power! Within a week my phone began to ring with calls from people who were looking for a place to live, and I began to get reponse to my resume for employment that was in the area of my experience. In the third week of praying daily on my knees I have accepted employment and found a renter for my house.

If you have the faith, and you make the sacrifice God will satisfy you needs. You will have to prove your faith and you will have to make the scarifice but God promised and God delivers.

Love in Christ, Jerry

Intervene

 

Genesis 45:1-15

Joseph has become the Ruler of Egypt and reveals himself to his brothers with loud, uncontrollable weeping and insists that they go and bring his entire family to live near him forever.

Psalm 133

1 How good and pleasant it is when families live together in Unity!

3b For there the Lord bestows his blessings, even life evermore.

Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32

32 For God has bound all people over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.

 

Joseph had been betrayed by his brothers when they sold him into slavery to the Egyptians. I can only imagine the thoughts and feelings he must have experienced while all of that was occurring. Somewhere along the line he realized there was hope that he could endure all of these hardships and decided that forgiving his brothers was what he had to do to escape being bitter and full of hatred. I think that after he had settled the matter in his heart he was able to commune with God and understand how to apply fairness to each situation. I think that is when he began to figure out how he would use his accomplishments to get his family near him again and the day the opportunity arrived must have been the happiest day of his life.

Psalm 133 reveals that the family that can live in unity is not just a blessing but the example of everlasting life in heaven. I have not enjoyed a loving and unified relationship with most of the family of my bloodline. However, God is building a spiritual family for me that is of his design and I have the same desire, responsibility and obligation to have you close to me as Joseph had for his family. Joseph’s story gives me hope and even if it doesn’t happen with the family of my bloodline, it will happen with the family God is building for me.

            We have all heard stories about people that have had tragedies strike them and their families, a lot of us have had particularly difficult experiences and wondered how God could let this happen to us or why HE is punishing us. After a tragic event we are told we’ll experience a series of stages and emotions like anger, denial, hate, etc.

First we have to realize that we, by nature, are a disobedient people!, or Rebel as exemplified by the popular bumper sticker with of the word “Rebel,” proudly displayed for all to see, and we have all rebelled against or been disobedient to something or someone in our life because, if for no other reason, it just seemed like the thing to do at the time. Romans 11:32 tells us the TRUTH about this: “For God has bound ALL people over to disobedience”, and here is the answer to the question, “so that HE MAY HAVE MERCY on us all.”

            If you are like me you are thinking, THAT’S IT? THAT’S THE REASON I HAVE FELT LIKE I’M BEING TORTURED AND DESTROYED? THAT AIN’T THE ANSWER! But there it was, in black and white, in God’s word. Well, I have to admit that for a fleeting second there I was a little pissed off about this and I was having some feelings of being insulted, and I thought this was unfair to me, and that answer was too simple to be the truth about why all these horrible things were happening to me. But I quickly realized that Jesus endured much greater, much more important issues than I am having and how beautiful this answer is to the question.

            God chose the simple things to confound the wise, God set my life in an order to challenge me to grow in faith, and by realizing his MERCY and giving GLORY to his name I was living the will he had set forth in my life.

Take some time and explore how you have felt when you have been betrayed by your family or someone close to you, but don’t get bogged down in the details, remembering that Joseph’s brothers hated him to the point of wanting to kill him. Then remember the example Joseph gave us. Decide if we are going to live in unity as a family and how you can make a difference in the future. This does not mean that we will always agree and it does not mean that there will not be arguments. What it does mean is that we should always Love each other, it means that we should agree not to let any incident permanently separate us, to forgive and to ask forgiveness from those we have hurt. What a Blessing and Comfort and offering of Hope that God has mercy on us. We are instructed to have mercy on others as well.

 

God Bless You!

Love in Christ,

Jerry

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few months ago Rev. David was suggesting some of our parishioners prepare and deliver a message during the Wednesday night service. I prepared the following message. Any of you who were in attendance that night remember that I didn't do a very good job of delivering the message but if you read it here you'll get more of the point. Here it is:

 

ARE YOU ASLEEP?

I Thessalonians 4:13-18

 

            Last weeks bill board out front stated, “The Cost of Learning is Teaching”. In all honesty, I can’t claim to be teaching you because I don’t have any recognized authority or training in matters of God. All I have is my own personal experiences and understanding. We are supposed to pass our knowledge and understanding along to others so that we can all grow in Christ, so that is what I am doing, confessing my sins to you and passing my understanding on. You know, not hiding my candle under a basket. I gotta tell you, this is not an easy thing to do, I’m nervous!

I have been lax in going to my Bible study group. We were to meet on A Tuesday evening and I had intended to go but my usual sleeping mind didn’t remind me to go. We were going to study I Thessalonians. I got an email the day after the meeting that they got stuck on Chapter 4. Now, I have to admit that I hadn’t read the book in preparation of the meeting and that probably contributed to my failure of remembering to go. Curiosity got the best of me and I set down to read that book. If you’ve never read I Thessalonians you should. But I have to tell you, it will cause to you face some tough issues. Rev. David usually goes to this study group and since I didn’t attend I don’t know what influence he contributed to understanding its message. He told me later he hadn’t gone to the meeting either. This is my interpretation of “those who have fallen asleep in him” (Jesus) in Chapter 4, verses 13-18.

            After I finished reading the book my first thought was of myself, no surprise there, It is clear to me that these verses describe those who are asleep as not just those who have passed away but also those who are born again and have, as the Baptist would say, “Back slid” back into the world. My experience over the past couple of years is what gives me this understanding of these verses.

A few years back I was a born again-faithful-prayerful-actively paying attention to and living God’s will for my life Christian, in all actions awake and living through Jesus. I had been greatly blessed with more than I had ever imagined I could have. I dreamt of what my blessings could be turned into and began to take control of my own affairs rather than let God continue to be in control. I guess I decided I could do as good, or maybe even better, I don’t know. During this time I made decisions on my own, took action on my decisions, and got so full of myself that I turned my eyes away from Jesus. I suppose I managed alright for a while but I got tired. I needed a break from the “business” of all this and didn’t really get back on top of things right away. In a way, I fell asleep. Now, Dan will tell you, I’m not exactly a morning person. Usually I get up, try to move gracefully while the coffee kicks in so that I don’t rush into having a bad day, and try to avoid growling at the least disruption in my “routine”. But reality seldom takes the same approach by waiting for the best time to give me its “wake-up call”. Eventually I found myself in a mess with an almost insurmountable hill to climb to gain control of the business again.   That was God’s wake up call.

            I do feel like I have woke up from a long sleep and am now living in God’s will once again. I have turned my eyes back to Jesus and am praying more, reading scripture more, and am longing to have the love that is so frequently taught in the Bible. It isn’t an instantaneous fix, this is something that happens in God’s time and, in this case, seems like my usual morning routine, slow and deliberate. I believe this is exercising my faith, making it grow into patience, and therefore allowing God’s perfect work to reveal itself.

            I want to encourage you to read the scriptures, trust in Jesus, exercise your faith, and let God bless you with the understanding he is giving you about the life of Jesus. In doing these things you’ll be blessed. Be patient and let God impose his will for your life.