Look in the mirror

People need to stop, stop playing like you have it all figured out, stop complaining that the "church" is full of hypocrites, and doesn't meet your needs.

1st the "church" is the bride of Christ so complaining about her is telling Jesus who died for the " church" that He was wrong.

2nd you are the " church"  so what you say about the " church" is what you truly say about yourself.

It is time you get it in your hearts and minds we do not go to " church" but that we are the church.

Jesus is the rock , the foundation of the "church" of which we stand. Start standing up, stop complaining, start taking your role serious in the Kings plans.

And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Matthew 16:18

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you," nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.

1 Corinthians 12:12‭-‬31

Do you trust in God's providence?

The providence of God is written on the pages of time, and is displayed ever second of everyday in our lives.

Just as God provided everything for Is real as He led them through the wilderness He does us, our faith may be stretched but do not lose heart, God is faithful always.

Trust in Him and His providence.

God's providence is shaping our lives, and shaping history. We are not at the mercy of a cyclical, happenstance repetition of events or ideologies, moving aimlessly through time and space. Our destiny is not controlled by powerful nations, great men or circumstances. It rests securely and comfortably in the hands of God.

For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this immense wilderness. The Lord your God has been with you this past 40 years, and you have lacked nothing.’ Today I will begin to put the fear and dread of you on the peoples everywhere under heaven. They will hear the report about you, tremble, and be in anguish because of you.’ “Then the Lord said to me, ‘See, I have begun to give Sihon and his land to you. Begin to take possession of it.’ The Lord our God handed him over to us, and we defeated him, his sons, and his whole army. There was no city that was inaccessible to  us, from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley, along with the city in the valley, even as far as Gilead. The Lord our God gave everything to us.

Deuteronomy 2:7, 25-25, 31, 33-33, 36

Lingering in sin.

Sin, a word we are all familiar with. But it is more than a word it is a heart condition. It is a silent killer that daily destroys lives, marriages, and families

It dwells in each of us, we are born with it by nature and there is only one cure. Jesus Christ and His atonement, redemption and reconciliation with God the Father through Faith and Grace.

But we are resistant and we are stubborn and hooked on our sins. Like Lot in the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, we want to stay where we are we linger when God says run, we negotiate with sinful desires when God says to stay away, we are blinded by our desire to please our selfish ways.

Read Genesis 19 today look at the entire picture here of how far sin will take a person, at some point people go beyond response and God turns them over to their gods, themselves.

Are you lingering around a certain sin today that God has told you to flee from? No matter how big or small it is , sin will hold you back from what God is doing, it will take you further than you ever thought you would go, and it will leave you for dead once it has used you as it's slave.

Then the men said to Lot, “Have you anyone else here? Sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone you have in the city, bring them out of the place. For we are about to destroy this place, because the outcry against its people has become great before the Lord , and the Lord has sent us to destroy it.” As morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city.” But he lingered. So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city. And as they brought them out, one said, “Escape for your life. Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Escape to the hills, lest you be swept away.” And Lot said to them, “Oh, no, my Lords. Behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have shown me great kindness in saving my life. But I cannot escape to the hills, lest the disaster overtake me and I die.

Genesis 19:12-13, 15-19

Where do you find joy?

Where do you find joy?

In people, places or things? Do you feel that these complete you or make you who you are?

Reading this morning this passage stuck out to me, "the joy of the Lord is your stronghold."

Nehemiah and Ezra have just rebuilt Jerusalem and just started reading the laws of God to the people who had been in captivity, and now where free. They were reminded that God is Holy and that they are set apart by Him and that they have a call to live by His ways. The people where grieving for they knew why they where in captivity but they were told." Therefore do not grieve all that they have suffered but take joy in our portion of the Lord."

Circumstances, people, health, family, friends, jobs, living arrangements, the economy, wealth, the weather, the old and the young alike die, political parties, bosses, the laws of man everything here on earth changes and we have no control over any of it.

But the Lord our God never changes, He is the same yesterday, today and forever. And if you are His, your portion of His inheritance, your portion of the promises of God, will never change, no matter what happens here on earth.

That is a stronghold of joy that we should hold onto no matter what.

What ever your facing today Take heart

" the joy of the Lord is your stronghold."

Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to all of them, “This day is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people were weeping as they heard the words of the law. Then he said to them, “Go and eat what is rich, drink what is sweet, and send portions to those who have nothing prepared, since today is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, because the joy of the Lord is your stronghold.”  And the Levites quieted all the people, saying, “Be still, since today is holy. Do not grieve.” Then all the people began to eat and drink, send portions, and have a great celebration, because they had understood the words that were explained to them.

Nehemiah 8:9-12

Be Thankful

Things in life seem to never go as we think they should, our children don't always do as we desire, our jobs don't always go as planned, our drive to work and back home seem to get longer, food prices are up, heating prices are up, keeping up with all the bills that seem to come each month is stressful and disheartening.

Now when you look back at the paragraph above, look at all the things God has blessed us with. We always seem to see the negatives of our daily lives, and miss the power of God working for us and in us.

If we have children, a home, a job, a vehicle to get back and forth with, if we can buy groceries, have heat, water and electricity, if we have an income coming in, we should be thankful. The very fact you can read this means you're still alive.

This Thanksgiving let us give God thanks and praise for all that He has given us, not dwell on the negatives as everyone else, but be grateful for God's providence,love,mercy and grace that He pours out and over our lives.

Psalm 107:1
Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.

Psalm 100:4
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.

Psalm 50:14
Offer to God thanksgiving, And pay your vows to the Most High.

Psalm 95:2
Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.

Psalm 107:2
Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy.

Psalm 116:12-14
What shall I render to the LORD For all His benefits toward me? I will take up the cup of salvation, And call upon the name of the LORD. I will pay my vows to the LORD Now in the presence of all His people.

Philippians 4:6
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

Hebrews 13:15
Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name