I read in a book recently that people do not allow themselves to accept Jesus Christ for one of three reasons. 1) Arrogance. They think they are too smart, too cool, too something else to submit to God’s teaching, and don’t need it. 2) Ignorance. They have just not been given the opportunity to accept, or don’t realize the peace and joy that Christ’s salvation offers. 3) They have a Lifestyle conflict. Meaning they have a lifestyle that is biblically wrong and they don’t want to accept that fact and give it up. I tend to agree with this author’s idea.

I am going to write about these three items in my next messages.

Proverbs 16:18 writes, “Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.” We don’t use the word Haughty much, but the dictionary defines it as, “disdainfully proud; snobbish.” I think this description fits very well the Pharisees that persecuted Jesus and the disciples. It also describes many modern day atheists. In their minds, they are so smart about the natural world, that anything supernatural is ridiculous. (How humorous it is that they are so smart about the things God created.)

Regardless, however, of the disrespect these people show toward us as Christians, our responsibility is to love them anyway, and pray that they will open their hearts to the Holy Spirit.

Dear Lord, Thank you for giving us the ability to accept Jesus Christ as our savior. We all can occasionally be susceptible to pride, especially when things are going our way. Help us always to remember to counter this pride by thanking you for our blessings. Help us also to pray for those we know who have not accepted you, and demonstrate with our lives the joy of being a Christian. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

This message arrives Sunday morning, the traditional day for attending church services.

Why do we attend church services?

The clearest couple passages, I have found, in the bible on the subject are Hebrews 10:24-25, “Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another,” and Acts 2:42, ” All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.”

When I was younger, I remember people saying the point of church is “not for you to get something out of it, It is for you to worship God.” I agree that worshiping is one of the reasons we go to church, but there are many reasons and benefits to attending. Going to church is also about us learning the scripture, being inspired by the word as it explained to us in relevant ways, praying as a group, confessing and receiving forgiveness, and enjoying the friendly company and comfort provided by our spiritual family.

We should remember that our being there is as much about what it means to others as what it means to us. You will never know what that handshake, sharing of the peace, extra voice in the prayer for those in need, or smile may mean to another person.

If you have a good church and church family, make a point of participating, if you do not have a good church, find one, you will not regret it.

Dear Lord, Thank you for the love you show us and that we can show others through our churches and congregations. Help us remember to be regular attendees, giving glory to you, hope and help to others. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Many times in life we encounter issues and situations that look impossible too overcome.

The old testament prophet Elisha’s student had an experience like this. The Aramean army was attacking Jerusalem, but God was providing details about their location and plans to Elisha, and Elisha provided this information to Israel’s army who continued to defeat every attack by the Aramean’s? When the King of Arem found out about Elisha, he sent the army after Elisha.

Elisha’s servant awoke one morning and looked outside to find the Aramean army surrounding their city. They were looking for Elisha. When the servant told Elisha about the situation, Elisha said, 2 Kings 6:16, “Do not be afraid!” For there are more on our side than on theirs!” Then Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes and let him see!” The Lord opened the young man’s eyes and when he looked up he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire.

Just like this young man, sometimes we think our problems are too big to be solved. At those times we need to remember Elisha’s words, “there are more on our side than on theirs!. Our problems are nothing for God to solve.

Dear Lord, you control everything we encounter and have the ability to change the outcome at your will. Help us remember this and ask for you guidance and intervention when needed, knowing that with you all things are possible. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

One of the most important things in life is to control your own mind. If we just let our minds wander, most people’s thoughts will turn negative and often toward sinful things. This is made even worse when we read or watch negative news stories, TV shows, and internet posts, that sensationalize tragedy, immorality and evil. When we do these things, we are handing over the steering wheel of our mind to these things, and frankly to the devil.

We need to take the wheel of our own minds, and fill it with good things. Paul writes in Romans 8:6, “So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.”

Taking control of our minds includes controlling the things two which we are exposing ourselves. Paul also writes in Phillipians 4:8, “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”

Dear Lord, You have created so much beauty, creativity, ingenuity, and love for us to fill our lives and thoughts with. Help us take control of our minds and thoughts so that we may stay on the path to life and peace, and be fitting Christian examples for others. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Imagine you are hiking in the mountains. Your objective is to reach the top of a peak you can see several miles away. Between you and the objective are a few smaller hills and ridge lines. As you set out on your hike, you can easily see the objective as you go, but as you get closer to the smaller hills and ridges they block out your view of the peak, your objective. However, as you climb up the smaller hills, just as you are reaching the top, you again get sight of the objective.

This illustration parallels our lives on earth, as well as our Christian lives. When we get started, we can see our objective, though far off in the future, we see where we are going, but as we encounter the struggles and obstacles of life, they can block out our view of our real objective. We must keep moving forward even though, temporarily, we cannot see our objective, we know it is on the other side of the obstacle. Just as we are overcoming the obstacle, we remember our objective and see it again a little closer than before.

Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 4:18, “So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.”

Dear Lord, we know our ultimate objective is eternity with you. Help us remember to keep our focus on this objective as we overcome the troubles we see day to day. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.