KEEP SERVING THE LORD

 And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ” (Colossians 3:24). 

We serve many people in the course of our lives who often show no gratitude for our service, or quickly forget it. That is not the case with our service to Jesus. He knows all that we have done by serving others in His name and serving Him with joyful hearts. He will reward our faithful service. While you wait for His rewards, don’t forget to thank the people who serve you. 

Keep pressing on, 

Pastor Tom

GOD'S DELIGHT

 

“He (the Lord) does not delight in the strength of the horse; He takes no pleasure in the legs of a man.
The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him, In those who hope in His mercy.” (Psalm 147:10,11).

“In ancient times the strength of the horse and the legs of a man refer to an army of cavalry and infantry. A king might boast in his powerful army on horseback or his swift foot soldiers who  are well-trained for battle. What, or who, are you relying on for strength in the spiritual battles you fight? God wants us to be mindful that we cannot trust in the natural resources we have, we must continue to trust in God alone and the things He provides.  God takes delight in those who fear Him and hope in His mercy. These are the unseen weapons of our warfare.  

Keep pressing on! 

Pastor Tom

TRIED BY FIRE

  “Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.  For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it: for how should my name be polluted? and I will not give my glory unto another” (Isaiah 48:10-11).

If you are not going through a hard time now, you can be certain there is one coming your way. Life makes no exceptions when it comes to trials. God’s purpose in these trials is not to weary us, wear us out, or weaken us. His purpose is to help us grow spiritually stronger. Even when he was suffering great persecution for preaching the gospel, the apostle Paul came to realize this truth, “for when I am weak, then am I strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10). All trials serve to bring God glory as we continue to trust in Him, lean upon Him and know he is working for our good as in says in Romans 8:28. Meditate on this word from a preacher long ago who suffered many health trials and spiritual attacks. “The fire only refines; it does not destroy. We are to be brought through the fire, not left in it. The Lord values his people as silver, and therefore he is at pains to purge away their dross. If we are wise, we will welcome the refining process rather than decline it. Our prayer will be that our alloy may be taken from us rather than that we should be withdrawn from the crucible. Oh Lord, you test us indeed…still this is your way, and your way is best.” —Charles Spurgeon

Keep pressing on,

Pastor Tom

 

DISAPPOINTMENTS

 Life has an innumerable number of ways to disappoint us. I can never count the times I have been disappointed in my life. Disappointment I have brought upon myself by bad choices, disappointments I have incurred by the actions of others, and disappointments because life does not treat us fairly. Why should we expect it to? We live among fallen men and women in a cursed world. Sinners will do what sinners do. Sometimes things go our way, but many times they do not. In  the course of  my pastoral ministry for 34 years I have seen the heartaches, the tears, the sorrows, and the death of dreams that disappointment brings. The career you wanted failed to materialize. The loving husband or wife you desired turned out to be someone other than you thought. The son or daughter you raised went their own way. The robust health you worked to obtain and maintain brought you cancer instead. The friends you thought you had for life, could not be found when you when you needed them the most. In times like these we can begin to feel that even God has disappointed us and forsaken us. He seems like a distant stranger. You are not alone. On the road to Emmaus two disciples of Jesus met someone who appeared to be a stranger. The encounter in Luke 24:13-21 goes like this:

"Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem. And they talked together of all these things which had happened. So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him. And He said to them, “What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?” Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, “Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there in these days?” And He said to them, “What things?” So they said to Him, “The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him. Him. But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened. 

Did you pick up on the disappointment of the disciples?  They were hoping Jesus was going to redeem Israel and usher in the Kingdom of God they longed for. But that did not happen. Jesus had been crucified on a cross and a dead Messiah/deliverer does not offer any hope, or so they reasoned. After Jesus called them foolish ones and slow of heart, He explained that what had happened was all in the plan of God for a greater purpose and "And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself" (27). This is the problem we all face in the midst of our disappointments. We cannot see what God can see. We do not know what only God can know. We fail to understand the greater purpose God is fulfilling in our lives. We know that all things work together for good to those who love God etc., but somehow in the midst of our disappointment, that Scripture in Romans 8 seems like a promise to others and not to us. What do we do in such times? What did Habakkuk do when he looked for answers?

“I will stand my watch and set myself on the rampart, and watch to see what He will say to me, and what I will answer when I am corrected (Habakkuk 2:1). 

God’s answer was write what I tell you, in the end it will not disappoint, wait for it - because it will surely come to pass. And while you are waiting to make sense of it all, remember that, “the just shall live by faith” (Habakkuk 2:4). Keep pressing on dear saints of God, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of your faith (Hebrews 12:2).

Our disappointments are God’s way of drawing us closer to Him. They are the fire that He uses to refine the gold and make us more like His Son.

Keep pressing on,

Pastor Tom

 

SATAN'S SUBTLE WAY OF BRINGING YOU DOWN?

 The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis is the fictional account of an older devil giving his advice to his nephew Wormwood, who is not yet worldly wise enough to secure the damnation of an ordinary young man named "the patient". Wormwood needs his devilish methods and tactics polished up if he is to useful in Satan's kingdom, because he is not skilled enough about the nature of temptation and how to take humans away from God. The Screwtape Letters is a classic on the subtle strategy of spiritual deception and warfare. One of the things that I read recently which caught my attention is Screwtape saying, "It is funny how mortals always picture us (devils) as putting things into their minds: in reality our best work is done by keeping things out." Life can easily make you busier and busier, and push the Word of God, fellowship with other believers, prayer, and other godly influences far from you. You become a very shallow Christian and the winds of the time cause you to drift away from the things that matter most in your spiritual life. Maybe it has already happened, or is happening to you now. The tragedy is that you may not even notice that it is occurring. Slow drifts tend to work that way. 

It is time to put on the full armor of God as described in Ephesians 6. Don’t be ignorant of Satan’s devices to neutralize your service to God, and keep you down in the spiritual ditch called "lukewarmness" (Revelation 3:15,16). Rise up, repent, and follow Jesus with your whole heart, mind, soul and strength (Matthew 22:37).

May God give us all the strength, wisdom, and courage we need to keep pressing on in our spiritual life to His glory.

Pastor Tom

THIS IS YOUR LIFE

 Proverbs 4:10 Listen, my son, and accept my sayings, And the years of your life will be many. ¹¹ I have instructed you in the way of wisdom; I have led you in upright paths. ¹² When you walk, your steps will not be hampered; And if you run, you will not stumble. ¹³ Take hold of instruction; do not let go. Guard her, for she is your life.

How many times has good advice been ignored in your life, and what was the outcome? Sometimes, a single bad decision has tragic consequences. Sometimes, it is a matter of life or death. As of 2023, every day, 37 people in the United States die in car crashes with an alcohol-impaired driver. This is one death every 39 minutes. Each of these deaths has a lifelong impact on many lives that could have been prevented by following the simple advice, “Don’t drink and drive”. Some drunken drivers perish by their own hand, as well as taking the lives of innocent people. DUI drivers who caused a fatality and survive must live with the guilt of what they have done and the legal consequences for their actions. Solomon instructed his son to “take hold of instruction and not let go.” In other words, hold onto it for dear life because it can be a matter of life and death. Moses gave the children of Israel the same admonition prior to their entering the promised land, “Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day, which ye shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law. For it is not a vain thing for you; because it is your life” (Deuteronomy 32:46,47).

The Holy Scriptures are God’s instruction book to his children to show us the way we are to go, and the paths to avoid. Let all who name the name of Christ as Savior take heed to follow this “way of wisdom” so that we do have to live with many regrets and sorrows.

God bless,

Pastor Tom

THE DEPTH OF GOD'S LOVE

“For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;  That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God” (Ephesians 3:14-19).

Fridtjof Nansen was a Norwegian explorer who led an expedition to the Arctic Ocean in a search for the North Pole. He took his ship into very deep water. As part of his studies, he would drop a sounding line to check the ocean's depth. When the line was too short to reach the bottom of the ocean, he would record the date, time, location, length of line, and a final note that read, "Deeper than that." He would then lower a longer line with the same result and notation, "Deeper than that." Then he would make another attempt with the same result and notation: "Deeper than that." Finally, after lowering his longest line, the logbook received the final notation of so and so length of line and "deeper than that."

This story illustrates in a very small way what we know, and do not know about the depth of God’s love. No matter how much we learn about it, there is always more to learn.  No matter how much we try to plum the depth of God’s love, there is always more to it. The love of God is an infinite love!  Psalm 147:5, reads, “Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite.”  Infinite means “cannot be counted or numbered.”  We might use the word “immeasurable” to describe it. “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12). This “infinite forgiveness” is just one aspect of the love of God. Our sins, once forgiven by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ will never be held against us. Gone, gone, gone, gone! Yes, my sins are gone. Now my soul is free, and in my heart's a song; Buried in the deepest sea, Yes that's good enough for me; I shall live eternally, Praise God! My sins are gone” (lyrics from a gospel chorus).  If you have experienced this wonderful love of God, take time to thank Him for it every day and share it with those around you. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Fredrick Lehman wrote:

Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.

Keep pressing on,

Pastor Tom