My God Is Faithful

God is faithful. Are we? Some good thought for a Sunday morning from Pastor Anthony Baker at The Recovering Legalist. Blessings and enjoy!

I am going to church this morning.

I’m not going as one who wants to show off…as one who wants to be seen…as one who deserves any kind of blessing, healing, or anointing…as one who deserves anything at all.

I’m not going because it’s expected of me, even though it is – I’m the pastor, you know.

I’m not going to prove anything to anyone, especially God, because He knows my heart; He knows me better than I know myself.

I am going to church this morning because my God is faithful, despite my unfaithfulness.

I am going to church this morning because my God deserved to be praised by me in front of others, because I love Him, and I’m not ashamed.

I am going to church this morning. Are you?

Read more from Brother Anthony here

What you say vs. What God says

I am really thankful that, when time gets pressed and I find little time to write, that I have blogging friends who keep writing things that I can share with you. Of course this one ironic since my friend James actually reposted this from an earlier one of his!

You Say:  “It’s impossible.”

God says: “All things are possible” (Luke 18:27)

You say: “I am too tired”

God says:  “I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28-30)

You say:  “I cant go on.”

God says:  “My grace is sufficient.”  (II Corinthians 12:9 & Psalm 91:15)

You say:  “Nobody really loves me.”

God says:  “I love you.”  (John 3:16 & John 13:34)

You say:  “I cant figure things out.”

God says:  “I will direct your steps.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)………………..

Read the rest of the post here : What you say vs. What God says

The Living Word – His Holiness

A great post on the Holiness of God by Pastor Roland Ledoux

Isaiah 57:15, “For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, ….”

Psalm 99:9, “Exalt the LORD our God, And worship at His holy hill; For the LORD our God is holy.”

1 Peter 1:15-16, “but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”

We are getting to know God in an intimate and close way. We have discussed His Character of being Just and now I want to tackle and introduce you to His Holiness. You might wonder why I wrote “tackle” but the truth is, the Character of God’s Holiness is one of those attributes that has been the hardest for many teachers and preachers to convey. I have had to really dig deep myself, in not just study but prayer and meditation as well and I hope I can make it more clear and not so foreign to you the reader. As the Scripture from 1 Peter states above, the Lord, commands us to “Be holy, because He is Holy!” We are to emulate our Heavenly Father in all ways as best we can through the Blood covering of Christ Jesus and in the power of the Holy Spirit who does the work in us!….read the rest of this post here: The Living Word – His Holiness | Church Set Free

Do I have to go to church?

By:  Barry Cooper
© ExploreGod.com

Posted on the Isaiah 53:5 Project

I have better things to do than go to church. Do I have to go to be a Christian?

Church attendance in the West, even among Christians, is falling. According to a recent study, attendance at church services in any given week has declined among Christians by 9 percent since 1991. Now only a minority of Christians (47 percent) can be found at church during a typical week.¹

In a culture that sees independence and self-reliance as hallmarks of a truly successful person, church can feel like an imposition on our time and energy. We ask if we have to go to church in the same reluctant way we might ask, “Do I have to go to the dentist?”

But what if followers of Jesus only truly flourished when in community with other like-minded believers? What if true fulfillment could only be found in serving them rather than ourselves?

Church in the Bible

The Bible certainly makes a strong case for being at church regularly. Jesus himself assumes that his followers will gather together habitually in self-governing “churches.”² The writer of the book of Hebrews is explicit: “Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing.”³

According to the Bible, believers should meet together regularly so that they can

• hear God’s Word taught faithfully;⁴
• pray together;⁵
• be accountable to one another;⁶
• encourage one another;⁷
• use God-given spiritual gifts for the benefit of fellow believers;⁸
• exercise church discipline with the aim of restoring a person who is caught in a particular sin;⁹
• support one another in suffering;¹⁰
• rejoice with each other;¹¹
• commemorate Jesus’ death and resurrection;¹²
• serve one another;¹³
• bear with one another;¹⁴
• offer hospitality to one another;¹⁵
• love one another;¹⁶ and
• demonstrate the power and goodness of Jesus to a watching world.¹⁷

This list is far from exhaustive. As you read the New Testament, it’s hard to miss how many commands contain the phrase “one another.”

The New Testament describes each gathered group of believers as “the body of Christ.” Just as with a human body, each part of the body of Christ needs the others.¹⁸ Each believer is a “hand” or an “eye” or a “foot,” and just as it would be self-defeating for the foot to say, “I don’t like this leg; I’m leaving,” so it is when a believer stops attending church or refuses to settle in one church. The church suffers and so does the believer.

Read the rest of this article here

The ‘Wicked God’ of the Bible

Great one here by Ufuoma over at Ufuomaee

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Eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil has made man so wise! Now we know good and evil, we can judge God. In fact, we are so enlightened now that, we are wiser than God, and beyond judgement ourselves.

“How can a God be worthy of worship when He commands His holy people to kill innocent children and animals, and annihilate whole civilizations?” they ask. “How could He condone slavery, when we were loving enough to condemn it?!”

“If there is such a God, He is wicked and we should all refuse to worship Him. If judgement day comes, we’ll just hide it out. He will be so embarrassed when nobody bothers to show up!” they mock. Are you on board?

The whole premise of the atheist’s unbelief is built on the idea that they are wiser than God. Not only wiser, but kinder and more just too. If they were given the job, they’d solve all the world’s problems before you can say “Boo!” The philosophy is built on arrogance, pride and foolishness, which is itself, its own punishment, ironically.

Read the complete post here.

Daily Devotion-May 19,2015-Love, If You Have it You Probably Are His!

1 John 4:15,16

Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.

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Since yesterday’s devotion might not have been particularly uplifting, we are heading a different direction this morning. In case readers did not read yesterday’s, we discussed the possibility that a lack of expressed love in one’s life and conduct might be a warning sign that a person might question their actual personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Today, we are going to briefly discuss the opposite condition. Let’s review love again very briefly. We have talked about love as a feeling we have towards particular people. In other words, there is “love” as expressed towards those we like, those we might be simply duty bound to love and those who will return something to us. We should all know by now, that is not the definition God uses for love. His love in an action based, self sacrificial love and is modeled on the actions of His Son Jesus Christ.

Can an unsaved person love extensively? Of course they can. The world is full of lost people who show great acts of love. Can an unsaved person love self sacrificially? Of course they can. History is full of examples of that. Is it likely that an unsaved person will live a lifestyle of self sacrificing love towards every single person they meet? Probably not; in fact, the odds are slim that most saved people could do that on a continuous basis.

However, read our verse. Dwelling in love could be defined as constantly living a state of self sacrificing love toward all those around you. And understand, that may also mean simply desiring to live that life, because as sinners we still fail daily. If that is true, then further reading reveals some encouraging news. A person who dwells in love, dwells in God, who dwells in that person.

So, while a lack of self sacrificing love in one’s life could be cause for worry; the presence of it as a lifestyle should be a very strong encouragement for a person to rest comfortably in their salvation through Jesus Christ.

Daily Devotion-May 4, 2015-Love-It Matters to God

Due to an insane work schedule, for the next week or so, our Daily Devotions will be some re runs of an earlier series on love I did. It was pretty early in my Blogging career, so it may actually be new to many. I promise to return and finish our study on James as soon as possible.

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Matthew 22: 37-40

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

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Love matters to God: a lot. How much does it matter to Him? Well, just read the above passage. Jesus taught us that the greatest commandment is to Love God with everything we have. And the second greatest commandment is like it: we are to love our neighbor like we love ourselves.

Today begins a devotional series on some of the things God’s word has to say about the topic of love. The Bible has many, many things to say about love; there are so many that if we discussed them all this would become simply the Daily Love Devotional. So, we are just going to look at some of them.

The key take away for today is going to be to take note of the fact that Jesus didn’t say these two were the biggest suggestions; He said they are the biggest commandments! These aren’t things Jesus would have us do if we don’t mind, or if we agree or if we like it.

We are to love our neighbor just as we love ourselves, which for most of us is fairly completely. God says so. If we choose to NOT love our neighbor, we are basically thumbing our noses in the fact of Almighty God! That is really not a good idea.

Stay posted for more about love over the next few days!

Daily Devotion-November 11, 2014-Love, If You Have it You Probably Are His!

1 John 4:15,16

Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.

---

Since yesterday’s devotion might not have been particularly uplifting, we are heading a different direction this morning. In case readers did not read yesterday’s, we discussed the possibility that a lack of expressed love in one’s life and conduct might be a warning sign that a person might question their actual personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Today, we are going to briefly discuss the opposite condition. Let’s review love again very briefly. We have talked about love as a feeling we have towards particular people. In other words, there is “love” as expressed towards those we like, those we might be simply duty bound to love and those who will return something to us. We should all know by now, that is not the definition God uses for love. His love in an action based, self sacrificial love and is modeled on the actions of His Son Jesus Christ.

Can an unsaved person love extensively? Of course they can. The world is full of lost people who show great acts of love. Can an unsaved person love self sacrificially? Of course they can. History is full of examples of that. Is it likely that an unsaved person will live a lifestyle of self sacrificing love towards every single person they meet? Probably not; in fact, the odds are slim that most saved people could do that on a continuous basis.

However, read our verse. Dwelling in love could be defined as constantly living a state of self sacrificing love toward all those around you. And understand, that may also mean simply desiring to live that life, because as sinners we still fail daily. If that is true, then further reading reveals some encouraging news. A person who dwells in love, dwells in God, who dwells in that person.

So, while a lack of self sacrificing love in one’s life could be cause for worry; the presence of it as a lifestyle should be a very strong encouragement for a person to rest comfortably in their salvation through Jesus Christ.

You can accept Him or reject Him…

Truth, no matter how strongly disbelieved will never stop being true. Untruth, no matter how strongly believed, will never become true.