A Prayer to Come to Jesus Just as You Are ..... By Rachel-Claire Cockrell

 A Prayer to Come to Jesus Just as You Are

By Rachel-Claire Cockrell

“It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Luke 5:31-32

We need Jesus because we are sinners. That isn’t confined to the small “easy to fix” sins. That applies to ALL sins. We put so much pressure on ourselves, but the truth is that we need Christ. We need him because we absolutely cannot live the way we are called to live on our own.

We shouldn’t look down on lost people for sinning. That’s the most hypocritical thing we could do. We can never forget that we, too, were once lost. We, too, were once drowning in our own sin. And I don’t know about you, but I still struggle to keep my head above water every day. We are broken; we are sinful. Jesus comes in and changes that. If we had the capability to change it ourselves, then we wouldn’t need him. He wouldn’t have had to die on the cross. None of that is necessary if we can “fix” ourselves on our own.

The thing that is so wonderful about Jesus is that he changes something fundamentally inside of us. It’s a change that cannot be described in words, it can only be experienced. You don’t have to change for Jesus. He is the one who changes you.

Even those of us who have accepted Christ aren’t perfect. We need to cut each other - and ourselves - some slack. We need to recognize that, yes, we have to live to a certain standard to be Christians, but that Jesus is about forgiveness first. He forgives us before he changes us, and then he continues to forgive us over and over again.

We have to remember that we are only human. We have to remember why we need Jesus; why his sacrifice was necessary. We have to remember that true change of heart requires supernatural intervention, not human intervention. We have to remember not to get things in the wrong order.

Jesus first. Accepting Christ is the first and most important step. He will initiate the change after someone accepts him into their heart.

I hope this encourages you when you do mess up. We are going to fall. We shouldn’t rub each other in the dirt or walk by as we look on scathingly. We should get down and help each other up. Let’s pray for the grace we need to get up after we fall down:

Lord,

Thank you that you are the one that can change me. Thank you that I do not have to change myself. Thank you for dying so that we could have life. Help us not to judge others in sin, but to treat them with love and compassion. Help us come to you just as we are: broken, imperfect, but fully alive and healed by the power of your blood on the cross. Thank you Jesus! The gospel is such good news. Help me live into that each day.

Amen.

Finding God in Creation ..... By: Betsy St. Amant Haddox

 Finding God in Creation (Romans 1:19-20)

By: Betsy St. Amant Haddox

Romans 1:19-20 (ESV) For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

Autumn is my favorite time of year. The crisp leaves exchanging shades of green for shades of amber and crimson and gold. The cool mornings and evenings that demand your favorite hoodie and cozy socks. The big Harvest moons that rise at night and silently hovers over the horizon. For me, Fall is one season that consistently brings God glory.

Without a doubt, God speaks to us through His creation. There are allegories and metaphors under almost every rock! We see how lovely it is to let dead things go in the way the trees release their leaves with a final burst of color. We see the promise of resurrection in the way the leaves grow back in the Spring, along with flowering blooms and fragrant blossoms. We see the consistency of God’s unchanging nature in the steady rising and setting of the sun every morning and evening. And we see the guarantee of His Word in the rainbows that grace the sky in colorful arcs after a rain shower.

I think these are just a few of the things Paul might be referring to when he wrote this chapter in Romans 1. One only needs to look around this earth to see the beauty of the Lord, to receive testimony of His glory, and to prove not only His existence, but His care and provision over all living things.

Matthew 6:25-26 (ESV) Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

God didn’t just create it, He manages it. He sees and cares for all living things, including nature.

The carefully ordained structure and order of the Earth all point back to God. Every leaf, every sea creature, every changing season, and every bird of the air brings God glory. The way the human body heals and repairs itself, the way animals’ instincts keep them safe during a natural disaster, the way seeds are planted and grow to provide a bounty, the laws of gravity…we as frail humans can’t accomplish any of these wonders on our own. We can only see and marvel at the Lord for creating them, as He did us.

Paul points out in Romans 1 that no one can claim an excuse for not seeing what God has obviously put on Earth in so many wonderful, various ways—the glory of His majesty.

God's Reminder for Today: Don’t Let Your Hearts Be Troubled..... by Debbie McDaniel

 God's Reminder for Today: Don’t Let Your Hearts Be Troubled

by Debbie McDaniel

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me." John 14:1

Sometimes we face circumstances in life that are just out of our control. No amount of our own planning and effort can make it better, or could have even prevented it from occurring. Hard things happen. We feel at a loss in how to fix it all. Sometimes it seems too broken. We may try hard to regain some sense of order, but life can still feel unbalanced, uncertain, even chaotic, because of the pressures that cling too tightly.

Jesus Himself understood these pressures. Over and over in His Word, He reminds us not to worry, not to fear, not to be "troubled" in our hearts.

And on the heels of the Last Supper, before His difficult journey to the cross, Christ offers comfort to His disciples, for He knew what lay ahead. He knew the trials they would all soon face. He could have said so many things in that moment, but these are the words He chose then, and the words that have such power for us still today:

"Do not let your hearts (inmost part, center of your spiritual life and physical being), be troubled (agitated, restless, disturbed). Trust (believe, to have full confidence) in God, trust also in me." John 14:1

4 Truths from this verse to help us live wisely:

- Many around us will have troubled hearts in this world, troubled souls, but Jesus reminds us, don't let "your" heart be troubled. Don't follow the crowd, stand apart, for we know where our true peace and security are found.

- Take care of your "heart" for it is "the fountain and seat of all the thoughts, passions, affections, and purposes" in our lives. Our hearts compel us in every action, thought, and decision. He reminds us to guard our hearts for "everything we do flows from it."

- Don't be "troubled." Sounds easy enough, but quite possibly the most difficult thing in the world. How can we not be troubled when facing huge trials, loss, illness, uncertainty? The only answer lies in Him, and it's how He ends this verse.

- "Trust. Believe." Have full confidence in God, in Christ. For He is the answer for our troubles, every single one. He is our help for each need that we face. He knows our road, the one ahead, and also the tough one we may have just passed through, for He is with us every step. This world is not all we have. This one may be riddled with obstacles, potholes, and even dangerous cliffs. Often we find ourselves struggling just to stay the course.

But we can have hope, still. Right in the very midst of it, in the tough stuff, in the battle. For He is secure. He is trustworthy. He is faithful.

And He has much better, and great blessing, still in store...

Peace.

Intersecting Faith & Life: That one thing that’s been pressing on your heart? Give it to God. And make the choice to leave it there. Choose to trust and believe He’s working on your behalf, even behind the scenes where you can’t see. Ask Him for His Presence of peace to fill your life today.

Believing Impossible Things..... KAREN MOORE

 Believing Impossible Things

KAREN MOORE

“Jesus looked at them intently and said, ‘Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But not with God. Everything is possible with God.’” Mark 10:27 (NLT) 

Most of us like our world to operate in a predictable way. We know what’s important to us, and we accept our own limitations. Days fly by, and it’s all quite agreeable until suddenly, everything changes. The recent pandemic ushered in so much change, we could hardly recognize our world at all.

It felt like we had tumbled into some unknown place in time. Perhaps now we can identify more with Alice as she tumbled into the world where the Red Queen lived. Lewis Carroll, in Through the Looking-Glass, gives us a glimpse of how Alice responds to her new situation when she is asked to believe impossible things:

“Alice laughed: ‘There’s no use trying,’ she said; ‘one can’t believe impossible things.’

‘I daresay you haven’t had much practice,’ said the Queen. ‘When I was younger, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.’”

In this excerpt, Carroll manages to shine a light on one of the bigger issues of our Christian experience. You see, Alice is like most of us. She sees the reality of the world and cannot see how incredible things are even possible. Her mind is finite, fixed, and as it observes the world, it tosses the miraculous over the side and quickly declares, “It’s impossible!”

Perhaps the Queen in this tale believes as God might have us do as well. The Queen admits she may not do it enough, now that she’s older, but somewhere in her younger days, she was able to believe many impossible things even before breakfast.

What keeps you from believing impossible things? What causes you to imagine the world is rolling along, almost without hope? Perhaps the problem is we’ve become a little too adult.

The story of Alice reminds us we might be better off to adopt a more childlike faith, to go back to a time when we believed God could do anything. If we had that kind of faith, and we believed as Jesus told us, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But not with God. Everything is possible with God,” then we’d be more confident. We would trust that no matter how things look, God still reigns, and that means there’s a whole lot more that is possible. God alone can bring us possibility, assurance and perfect awareness of His intentions.

When you experience the bleak moments of life that cause your spirit to sag and your face to lose its glow, don’t go tumbling down into the gloom. Instead, look up and see the One who offers you His favor. Reach out to your Creator, the One who makes all things possible. After all, your life is in God’s hands, and He has unlimited power for your good.

God wants to carry you through each dark moment into His glorious light. Why? Because He knows all that is possible for you, and He wants you to know it too. Just say it out loud: “All things are possible with God.”

Heavenly Father, when everything is falling apart, or simply feels chaotic, I lose sight of my choices. I imagine there are no possibilities that make any sense for the situations I face. I pray You would remind me that my life is in Your hands and that You will guide me toward those things You intend just for me. Help me, Lord, to believe You are God of all that is possible for me and for the people I love! In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

TRUTH FOR TODAY:
Lamentations 3:22-23, “Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”(NIV)

Grace to Keep Going..... Dr. Charles Stanley

 Grace to Keep Going

Dr. Charles Stanley

Acts 15:7-11

As believers, we readily attribute our salvation to God’s grace, but what does “this grace in which we stand” mean to us now (Rom. 5:2)? How does it work out in everyday life, especially when we’re going through periods of trial or suffering?

1. The Lord’s grace releases His supernatural power within us so we can endure life’s hardships with a godly attitude. In fact, we’ll even be able to rejoice in what He is doing in us through the adversity.
2. Grace builds our confidence in the sovereign Lord. Nothing looks hopeless when we focus on Him instead of on our problems.
3. We discover the assurance of God’s sustaining presence as He walks with us every step of the way.
4. Because we’ve experienced His care for us, we are able to show empathy and love to others facing hard times.
5. During fiery trials, grace works to transform our character so that others can see Jesus reflected in us.

Difficulties in life are unavoidable. So we need a daily dose of God’s grace if we are to walk through trials with confidence that there is great reward on the other side. If we rely on our own strength, however, obstacles will appear insurmountable, leaving us discouraged and ready to give up.

Too often believers rely on Christ for their salvation but then try to go solo. If God’s grace was needed to save us, then logic says we would also need it for the rest of our days. Only through a continuous infusion of His sustaining power can we live a victorious Christian life.

Streams in the Desert

 Streams in the Desert

Blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me. (Luke 7:23)

It is sometimes very difficult not to be offended in Jesus Christ. The offenses may be circumstantial. I find myself in a prison-house—a narrow sphere, a sick chamber, an unpopular position—when I had hoped for wide opportunities. Yes, but He knows what is best for me. My environment is of His determining. He means it to intensify my faith, to draw me into nearer communion with Himself, to ripen my power. In the dungeon my soul should prosper.

The offense may be mental. I am haunted by perplexities, questions, which I cannot solve. I had hoped that, when I gave myself to Him, my sky would always be clear; but often it is overspread by mist and cloud. Yet let me believe that, if difficulties remain, it is that I may learn to trust Him all the more implicitly—to trust and not be afraid. Yes, and by my intellectual conflicts, I am trained to be a tutor to other storm-driven men.

The offense may be spiritual. I had fancied that within His fold I should never feel the biting winds of temptation; but it is best as it is. His grace is magnified. My own character is matured. His Heaven is sweeter at the close of the day. There I shall look back on the turnings and trials of the way, and shall sing the praises of my Guide. So, let come what will come, His will is welcome; and I shall refuse to be offended in my loving Lord.
—Alexander Smellie

Blessed is he whose faith is not offended,
When all around his way
The power of God is working out deliverance
For others day by day;

Though in some prison drear his own soul languish,
Till life itself be spent,
Yet still can trust his Father’s love and purpose,
And rest therein content.

Blessed is he, who through long years of suffering,
Cut off from active toil,
Still shares by prayer and praise the work of others,
And thus “divides the spoil.”

Blessed are thou, O child of God, who sufferest,
And canst not understand
The reason for thy pain, yet gladly leavest
Thy life in His blest Hand.

Yea, blessed art thou whose faith is “not offended”
By trials unexplained,
By mysteries unsolved, past understanding,
Until the goal is gained.
—Freda Hanbury Allen

WHERE ARE THE OTHER NINE?..... Pastor Jeff Schreve

 WHERE ARE THE OTHER NINE?

Pastor Jeff Schreve

"And Jesus answered and said, 'Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine--where are they? Was no one found who turned back to give glory to God, except this foreigner?'"  Luke 17:17-18

In Luke 17, we read the story of the ten lepers. These ten guys had the dreaded, disfiguring disease that made a person unclean, unfit for society, and virtually subhuman. The tremendous physical toll inflicted by this incurable disease was only surpassed by the great emotional toll of feeling worthless, vile, and unlovable.

When these men saw Jesus, they cried out, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" (Luke 17:13).  Jesus responded with compassion and a challenge, telling them to show themselves to the priests, an obvious reference to Leviticus 14 about the cleansing of a leper.  Luke 17:15 says, "As they were going, they were cleansed" (Luke 17:14).  Do you see that?  "AS THEY WERE GOING, they were cleansed." That's always the way it works with faith.  You have to believe God's Word enough to obey it.  When you take a step of faith, then you see God do miracles.

EXHILARATION

Can you imagine the overwhelming exhilaration these guys must have felt? Their leprosy was cleansed! The vile disease that had taken virtually everything from them was now gone! They could return to their families! They could return to society! They could really live again!

Nine of them scurried away to enjoy their great blessing.  But one turned back ... and he was a hated Samaritan.  This guy was also overcome with exhilaration at his cleansing, and he wanted to give thanks and praise to the One who made it possible. He couldn't dream of taking another step without glorifying God and expressing his sincere gratitude. And the Lord responded to his thanksgiving by bestowing on him a far greater gift, the gift of salvation.

Interestingly, Jesus was wondering aloud about the other guys. Where were they? Why was this "foreigner" alone in his thanks?

The question for our day is clear: why do so many experience the goodness of God and so few return with grateful thanksgiving?

THIS THANKSGIVING

Let me challenge you as I challenge myself to emulate the Samaritan in this story and give thanks, first and foremost. To be sure, thanksgiving can be a sacrifice.  Life can be cruel and hard. Circumstances can knock us down and leave us devastated. If we are not careful, we can easily become disillusioned, depressed, critical, cynical, and bitter.

This is the key to rising above the circumstances: focus on what you do have, not what you don't have. Rejoice in the Lord! Give thanks for the cross and the empty tomb! Give thanks for His unfailing love! I truly believe the greatest witnesses for Christ are those who have experienced the worst of life and yet have the best of attitudes, continuing to praise God no matter what.

Make this Thanksgiving a Thanksgiving to remember as you set aside time to glorify the King. He will be honored, and you will be blessed.

Love, 

Pastor Jeff Schreve,