Character of stability

I thank God for all the good things that He has done in my life. I thank Him for my salvation, the provisions that He has given to me and for the stability that He has granted to me in my life. Yesterday I spoke about the "Vision for Bethel" which is 'Being a stable, healthy Pentecostal church' within this community needs to see. I encourage you that if you missed this message that you pick up a copy next Sunday. I am going to address the character of stability today which is peace, contentment, hope, sense of belonging and a place where people will want to come and be a part of it. For many people peace seems to be very elusive. Far too often people think peace is the absence of difficulty and conflict when peace is our reliance of God in how we handle the difficulty and conflict. In saying that I can have stability even when life is not all that it should be because our God is able to help us in how we handle and approach these times. Contentment comes from how we are approaching the things of life. When we allow the attitude that things can bring us happiness we can become disillusioned because God is to be our source and the scripture says "But Godliness with contentment is great gain" I Timothy 6:6. God has been and always will be our source of stability. One more thing on the character of stability. Wherever there is stability whether it is a home or church people want to be a part of that because when someone is living in chaos (instability) they find comfort just being in a place that has the atmosphere of stability. If you have greater instability then you should I encourage you to talk to someone and begin to work at making the necessary changes to create greater stability in your life.
May the God of all love and peace be with you.
Pastor John

How to love one another

Today I had an experience that I am sure many others have had in their walk with the Lord. I was reading a very familiar passage of scripture (I John 5:2) and the Lord revealed something to me or I could say He spoke to me in a way that brought greater light on as aspect of being His disciple that was very refreshing. I John 5:2 "This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out His commands." Whenever most talk about how to love one another there are discussions on being kind, forgiving, compassion, acts of mercy, our conversations being healthy and etc. But this verse actually is saying that one of the best indicators of our love for one another is within our relationship with God, by loving Him and by obeying Him. So let's keep this in its proper context by asking a couple of questions. How have you been loving God lately? Have you been obeying His commands? If I am struggling in these areas of my life then the apostle John is saying that you are not loving one another to your full potential. The way the apostle John has put this means that whether it is love for one another or for God it is always about God. Even in our love for others we must put God first and if He is not first then we can quickly distort what it actually means to love one another. If I truly love God and I am obeying Him then I will have the proper prespective to truly love others. I want to encourage you to love one another and you will know how well you are actually doing that in your love relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
May the love of God overshadow all aspects of your life.
Pastor John

Being Full of the Spirit

I thank God that as one of His children He did not leave me alone and expect me to live by His standards. I would fail consistently for I do not have what it takes to follow Jesus. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God and I believe the Bible is the Word of God. I have always believed that from my childhood but I have not always lived as if I believed that. There was an experience in my midteens that I struggled with a particular sin and became convinced there was no power in the church to help me. I still believed that Jesus is God and the Bible was His Word but I became involved in many sins of the world. When I was 21 I accepted the Lord and everything changed because not only did I believe but became convinced that there was power to help me to live right. I have failed many times but I continually return to the promise that when I am weak He is strong. Late in the life of the apostle Paul he was in a season of weakness and God assured him with these words, "My grace is sufficient in you, for My power is made perfect in weakness." II Corinthians 12:9
This is one of my consistent prayers that God will continue to be with me in my weaknesses so that I will have strength and wisdom to do what is right in His sight. Saying means that I have a need to be full of the Spirit everyday. Jesus promised never to leave us or forsake us and He promised to answer our prayers. I just happen to believe that when I pray for His power, His Spirit to come because I am weak and dependent upon Him that this is the kind of prayer that God is eager to answer. May we learn to depend upon the Lord and continually ask to be full of the Spirit.
May the love and peace of the Lord overshadow your comings and goings.
Pastor John

Importance of Character

Being a Christian by definition means being a follower of Jesus Christ. There are a variety of opinions of exactly what this means but let's keep it simple. Philippians 2:5 "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus." Our attitude basically defines our character. Is your character positive or negative? That is all dependent upon your attitude. Within the context of being a Christian the apostle Paul said the our attitude ought to be similar to that of our Savior, Jesus Christ. In other words our character should be similar to that of Jesus. I needed a Savior because I was a sinner with attitudes far from that of Jesus. The task of every follower, disciple of Jesus is to see the importance of transforming our character from what it was to what it ought to be. For all of us this is a life long pursuit because it is a slow transition due to the fact that change is not easy and at times we do not welcome it. In order for this transformation to work I must understand how the process works and then being willing to work the process. The emphasis of this blog is to point to the importance of the character of Christ being worked in us. I cannot become more like Him if I remain as I am. If I am going to be the witness that God wants me to be then I must begin to reflect Him more and more and that is done through our character. Saturday (October 15) at Bethel I am teaching a class on Spiritual Formation that will cover the process of putting on the character of Christ. May we do our part so that we can become more like Jesus.

May the peace and love of our Heavenly Father guide our lives.

Pastor John

I Believe

Faith has always been the access to the heart of God. In Hebrews 11 the author commends many people for their faith beginning with Abel and then tracing it throughout the Old Testament. The Law was given in a time of Israel to give them direction and understanding of God but unless there was faith the Law could not save. It was all about Faith and it still is all about Faith in a God who hears and acts for a people who will put their trust in God. Jesus said in Mark 11:22 "Have faith in God" and then in verse 24 said "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." This type of faith is not hoping for the best but it is a confidence in God that He will be the God who keeps His word and promises, the God who has shown Himself faithful throughout all generations. This confidence does not dictate to God what to do and when to do it but stands upon His word and believes for the impossible to become possible in the power of the Spirit. Jesus also said to Martha right before He raised Lazarus from the dead in John 11:40 "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God." We may receive many great blessings when God answers our prayers when we believe in God but all honor and glory is His. Seeing the activity of God in our midst ought to be reflected in bragging on Daddy when He does what only He can do. Let us speak of His wonderful works when He does answer our prayers.
Have faith in God. Trust and obey for there is no better way.
May God increase your faith as you continue to believe in God for your need.

Pastor John