Family Friday: Water from The Rock

Have you ever come inside from mowing the grass when it's 95+°? Nothing taste as good as cold water!

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It refreshes. It cools. It rejuvenates.

Nothing else can quench thirst quite like it.

Have you ever come inside of church on a Sunday morning spiritually thirsty? Nothing taste as good as the Word of God speaking to you!

It refreshes. It cools. It rejuvenates.

Nothing else can quench spiritual thirst quite like it! Water from the Rock is what I needed so many times over. God speaks through song, or through His message, and a peace will wash over my soul. Just knowing that God is in control, makes everything alright. He can handle all of our problems! He has the water we need today; all we have to do is ask him for it.

Thoughtful Thursday: He's So Good To Me

I read the following devotion in "a daily WORD" by Paul Chappell.  It was a blessing to me, so I asked for permission to share it with our readers to hopefully allow it to be a blessing to you also.

Nahum 1:7 

“The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him."

Corrie Ten Boom was in a concentration camp in Germany with her sister during World War II.  Years after the war, as she reflected on God’s goodness, she wrote, “Often I have heard people say, ‘How good God is! We prayed that it would not rain for our church picnic, and look at the lovely weather!’ Yes, God is good when He sends good weather, but God was also good, when He allowed my sister, Betsie, to starve to death before my eyes in a German concentration camp. I remember one occasion when I was very discouraged.  Everything around us was dark, and there was darkness in my heart.  I remember telling Betsie that I thought God had forgotten us. “No, Corrie,’ said Betsie, ‘He has not forgotten us.  Remember His Word: For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward them that fear Him.’”

Have you ever praised God’s goodness when skies were blue, but questioned Him when the storm clouds rolled into your life? We easily praise God when things go well but neglect Him when we find ourselves in trouble.

We sometimes think the Christian life is a life of relaxation, happiness, and ease.  While there is joy and ease of burdens, God never said the Christian life would be a breeze.  We still face loss, trials, difficulties, and tough times.  It is often when things aren’t going exactly as we planned them, that we think God isn’t being good to us.  But just the opposite is true!  God always has our best interest at heart!  Everything He does is for our benefit –even trials.

Have you questioned God’s goodness during a trial? Don’t allow Satan to take your focus off God and onto difficulties.  Never forget that God has saved you from eternal punishment and has blessed you with so many things! Remember that God is always good no matter what happens in your life.

 

Teen Tuesday: Walk in the Old Ways

When Young People Do Not Walk In The Old Ways

Written by Jonathan Wells

1 Samuel 8:1-3, “And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel.”

2, “Now the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his second, Abiah: they were judges in Beersheba.”

3, “And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment.

4, “Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah,”

5, “And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.”

I honestly believe that young people do not realize how much their decisions today impact the destiny of tomorrow. Notice that Samuel’s sons “walked not in his ways.” Samuel was not just daddy, he was the preacher and man of God for the nation of Israel. So, in reality, these young men decided to NOT walk in the ways of the Preacher.

You may not think their decision makes much difference, but to the people of Israel, they were an excuse. Notice in verse 4 is says, “THEN…” A decision was not made to be like the other nations UNTIL the young men decided not to walk in the old ways. A decision was not made to modernize and come up with the times UNTIL the young men decided not to walk in the old ways.

We need a generation of young people who will take a stand and decide to walk in the old ways! The decision of those two young men sparked the entire nation of Israel to leave the old ways, to leave the man of God’s counsel, and to be like everyone else.

1 Samuel 8:9, “Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and shew them the manner of the king that shall reign over them.”

God now tells Samuel how to react. He tells Samuel to “hearken, yet protest solemnly.” This is exactly how a man of God reacts in the pulpit. He gets up and “protests solemnly.” He knows the end road of your decision-making. He knows how things will turn out if you keep going the direction you’re going. Even your youth pastor will try to tell you not to make those “on the border” decisions when it comes to your Christian life. He tries to help you by “protesting solemnly.”

Here’s Israel’s response to Samuel’s protest:

1 Samuel 8:19, “Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us;”

20, “That we also may be like all the nations…”

Samuel told them what would happen and nevertheless, they still wanted to have their own way. What a sad day when young people are warned by their parents, their preacher, their youth pastor, and their other godly authorities and nevertheless, they still choose to be like the world.

One of the saddest verses is the last verse. God told Samuel to “Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king.” The people of Israel forced the “new ways” to become “God’s will.” The very first thing they should have done was to ask God what He wanted them to do. Instead, they told God what they wanted and eventually, that became what God did. Because, “Ask, and it shall be given you…”

Young people today are asking the wrong thing and then they are saying, “This is what God wants me to do.” When in reality, you left God no choice. It used to be, “All to Jesus I surrender,

All to Him I freely give;

I will ever love and trust Him,

In His presence daily live.”

But, that’s the old way…

We still get saved the “old way” by accepting Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone! So, let’s live our life the “old way” by separating ourselves from the world and being different.

You may not think your decision matters much; BUT, because of the decision of these TWO young men in Israel, the entire nation stopped walking in the old ways.

Young person, YOUR decision can impact the ways of our nation. Yes! Your decision can impact the ways of your church. Let’s get back to walking in the old ways. Let’s “…come out from among them, and be ye separate…” For the sake of America, get back to the old ways. For the sake of your church, get back to the old ways. For the sake of your family, get back to the old ways. For the sake of pleasing God and doing His will, GET BACK TO THE OLD WAYS!

Monday's Message: It's all about Him

2 Corinthians 4:5-7
As humans, we have a very innate desire to worship ourselves and think more

highly of ourselves than we ought to. We see it all around our world today on television,

on billboards, and in people’s everyday life. Phrases such as, “It’s all about you, take

care of yourself, promote yourself, you are the only one that matters, and so on clearly

show what we are focused on. Well as believers, we must separate ourselves from the

world and take a very different stance on this matter. In II Corinthians 4:5 Paul says,

“For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord;” Our sole job on this earth is to

preach Christ Jesus OUR Lord. We preach about who Christ is, what He has done,

what He is currently doing, and what He is going to do. He truly is an amazing God; He

spoke our universe into existence, He has healed the sick, cleansed the lepers, made

the lame to walk, caused the blind to see, He walked on water, He calmed the storms

with his voice, and to top it all off, knowing that we mankind would reject and crucify

Him, He still came down to die on the cross for the likes of you and me. Isn’t He

amazing?! Verse 6 of the same chapter says that God has shined in our hearts, which

He has if you are saved today. We teach the children a song that goes like this, “My

heart was black with sin, until the Savior came in!” When Jesus saves us He dispels the

darkness and causes His light to shine in our hearts and through our lives. Verse 7

says, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power

may be of God, and not of us.” This is an extremely important thought that we all need

to grasp. We need to be humble and remember that all of the wonderful things that

happen in salvation and in our lives following salvation is because of Him, not us. We

are simply called to take that light that He has shined in our lives and share it with a

very dark world. As the moon does not proclaim its own light, but rather that of the sun,

so you and I as believers are to proclaim the light of Jesus Christ. It’s not about us

believers….It’s ALL about Him.

Family Friday: What Mom taught me!

1. My mother taught me about WEATHER.
"Your room looks like a tornado hit it."
 

2. My mother taught me about RELIGION.
"You better pray that comes out of the carpet."
 

3. My mother taught me about TIME TRAVEL.
"If you don't straighten up I'm going to knock you into the middle of next week."
 

4. My mother taught me about OSMOSIS.
"Shut your mouth and eat your supper."
 

5. My mother taught me about the CIRCLE OF LIFE.
"I brought you into this world, I can take you out."
 

6. My mother taught me about ENVY.
"There are millions of less fortunate children in the world who don't have wonderful parents like you."
 

7. My mother taught me about RECEIVING.
"You are going to get it when we get home."
 

8. My mother taught me about GENEOLOGY.
"Shut that door... You think you were raised in a barn?"
 

9. My mother taught me about JUSTICE.
"One day you'll have kids... I hope they turn out just like you!"
 

10. My mother taught me about LOGIC.
"Because I said so, That's why."
 

11. My mother taught me about STAMINA.
"You'll sit there until your spinach is gone."
 

12. My mother taught me about IRONY.
"Keep crying. I'll give you something to cry about."