Mark My Words

James 2:14-17; James 1:23-25; Titus 1:16; 1 Peter 2:12

Words are important. They can be encouraging, uplifting, and inspiring, or they can be discouraging, hurtful, and even damaging. But the truth is, our actions are so much more important. We've all heard the old saying a father tells his children; "do like I tell you, not like I do." I can think of countless times I didn't want my children to act the way I did. 

One song that has always made me think about having my actions line up with my words is Make My Life A Prayer To You, written by Melody Green, wife of the late Keith Green. (https://youtu.be/PNww8F6G9U8) That should be our true desire; to live out what God wants in our lives. Not just say the words, but live the life. To put into action our love for Him. I fall so short and fail time after time, but I will not cease to make that my goal; to die to self and live for Christ. To allow Him to use me as He sees fit.

As many of you know, as I write these words it has been just under a week that my mother went to be with her Lord and savior. One thing that can definitely be said of my mom is that she did her best to keep her word. She tried her best to live out what she told us kids to do. She taught and led by example. She touched many lives because of her selflessness, always putting others first, and living out what she believed.

Jesus said in Matthew 5:16 “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works. That's not to say that our good works will save us. It's not our good works that make us worthy. Only He can make us worthy. And the good works are not done to bring us any glory. That very verse ends with; and glorify your Father who is in heaven. All that we do we should be doing for Him. If there is anything good in us it is to the glory of God. Without Him we are nothing. So let us do our best to live out His Word, being examples of Christ to all around us, and being the light of the world as He shines through us. And let us declare, "to God be the glory."

1 John 3:18 (NASB) Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.

Pastor Mike Deese

Choose Whom You Will Serve

Deuteronomy 6:13-15; 1 Samuel 7:3; 1 Chronicles 16:25; Psalm 96:4-5; Psalm 145:3; John 4:23

In a recent discipleship study of Joshua 24, Tony Evans comments on the worship of idols and false gods by the children of Israel. Joshua had challenged the Israelites to worship God and God alone. He reminds them of all that God had brought them and their fathers through; how God had delivered them time and time again. Then he warned them that they would not be able to worship Yahweh. He knew of their history of making commitments that they had failed to keep. Of course as Joshua 24:24 points out, they reply “We will serve the Lord our God and we will obey His voice.”

Dr. Evans brings up a great point in his commentary that the worship of false gods would be so tempting because these false gods made no demands on or had any expectations of them. It's easy to worship something that requires nothing in return. Joshua affirms in verse 19 that our God is a holy and jealous God. He will not share His glory. As Dr. Evans also points out, God's expectations haven't changed. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever so we know that He is still holy and He is still a jealous God. He will never share His glory; never has and never will.

In Luke 14 we see large crowds following Jesus. He turns and says to them “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it?" (verses 27-28). Have you counted the cost of following Christ? Are you willing to take up your cross and follow Him? The cost may be high but the benefit is out of this world!

Joshua 24:15 (NASB)“If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

Pastor Mike Deese

Lose Something?

John 15:5; Ephesians 3:17-19; Colossians 2:6-7; 1 John 2:24; 1 John 3:24

Recently I have been reading Charles Spurgeon's daily devotion Morning and Evening. I'm certain that you can relate to going over a lesson, devotion, or scripture reading when something just sticks out and really grabs your attention. One such devotion from Spurgeon did just that for me. The basis for that particular devotion, as is for so many, was on where you are in your relationship with the Lord. He began with the statement:"Tell me where you lost the company of Christ, and I will tell you the most likely place to find him." The entirety of this particular devotion can be found at http://www.heartlight.org/spurgeon/0119-am.html. 

As I read those words I began to take a closer look at my walk with the Lord; not just where I long to be, but a true assessment of where I am. Am I trying to convince myself and others that I am further along than I am? Am I really where I want to be? Am I really where I should be? Such questions are not meant to discourage but to encourage. We must constantly determine where we are in our relationship with Christ, for our strength lies not within ourselves but in Him alone. 

If we are not careful we will find ourselves in a situation similar to Samson when he was abruptly awakened by Delilah; and as Judges 16:20 records ”did not know that the Lord had departed from him." His strength was gone and he was seized by the Philistines. Of course we know the rest of the story; Samson was avenged as he asked the Lord for his strength to return in one final action as he kills 3,000 Philistines, dying along side of them. Although he was avenged and had his strength returned, the consequences of his disobedience remained. 

In John 15:4, Jesus gives this instruction: “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. Let us continually assess where we are in our relationship with Christ, lest we be awakened in a time of desperation only to find that we have unknowingly drifted much further off course that we could have ever imagined. He longs for a deeper relationship with us. Are we truly longing for a deeper relationship with Him?

Judges 16:20–21 (NASB) She said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him. Then the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes; and they brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze chains, and he was a grinder in the prison.

Pastor Mike Deese

Pick Me, Pick Me!

Deuteronomy 20:1-4; 2 Chronicles 20:15; Psalm 33:16; Proverbs 21:31; 1 Corinthians 15:57; 2 Corinthians 2:14

I never liked the picking process of pick-up sports in school or with the neighborhood kids. That's because I was usually near the end of the line to be picked. You tend to sense the captain saying "well, I guess we're stuck with you so come on over here." You kind of feel like you should just stay out of their way and let them play.

I think Gideon must have had a similar feeling when he met up with the messenger of God under the oak tree on his dad's property as we read in Judges 6:11. When the messenger of God tells him that he has been chosen to deliver the Israelites from the hand of the Midianites, he begins to immediately explain why the Lord has picked the wrong guy. He said to Him, “O Lord, how shall I deliver Israel? Behold, my family is the least in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house” (Judges 6:15). The Lord assures him that He will be with him and that he is the one that the Lord has chosen for this job.

We all know the awesome story of how God whittled Gideon's army of 32,000 down to 10,000 and eventually 300, to go up against an army of 135,000. We don't even have to wonder why God would do such. He gave the reason in chapter 8, verse 2: The Lord said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give Midian into their hands, for Israel would become boastful, saying, ‘My own power has delivered me.’ God wanted to make sure that Gideon, and all of Israel, knew how this victory was going to be secured. The part that Gideon was responsible for was to trust and obey the Lord. 

Maybe you've felt God tugging on your heart to do something for Him. Maybe you have felt like it MUST be a mistake; there's just no way that you could possibly do what God is asking. Well, you would be correct; you can't, at least not on your own. But if God is calling you, then He will provide. All that is required of you is to trust and obey. He'll take care of the rest! 

Judges 6:15–16 (NASB) He said to Him, “O Lord, how shall I deliver Israel? Behold, my family is the least in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.” But the Lord said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat Midian as one man.”

Pastor Mike Deese