He Is In Our Midst

As I Ministered on the “Rock” last week, it has constantly been on my mind how Great our God is!  If only we could bring our flesh under control and live in the Presence of our Lord and Saviour. There are earthly things that must be accomplished in our lives, but God promises to never leave us!  What a powerful thought!  He has grounded us in Him, on the Solid Rock! Believe me, the winds of adversity blow against the saints of God – Yet He is there, even in the midst of the storm! “He is in our Midst!” If we could just settle down to meditate upon Him and the thought that He is in our Midst – well, we realize He is there even when we are out of order, or discomforted: Yet He sent the Holy Spirit to be our Comfort! Perhaps we should start each day and welcome Him into our day, and maybe there are those who do just that!  How comforting it is to know He dwells in our midst!  But if He dwells in our midst then He knows us very personally. Something is lost today in our society, we perhaps don’t always think of Him being in our every day business.  We love the thought that He never leaves us, He’s always there, we can call on Him in the midst of trouble; Think on this, He is always there in our midst! Remember He sees our heart as no one else can. Is there anything in our heart that should not be there? We are truly in a warfare not just with the elements of our world but with our own flesh and our spirit.  Interesting to note the Apostle Paul’s thoughts in Rom. 7:18-19 “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.  For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.”  Paul confesses he delights in the Law of God and in VS 23 “I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.” This is why God sent Jesus and this is why Jesus sent the Holy Ghost, that there would be an ever present conviction in our life. O Lord be ever present with us! Dwell in our Midst is our Prayer! Loving you, Pastor    Matthew 12:35

Upon This Rock

“...Upon this Rock I will build My Church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it!”   ~Matthew 16:18 

In a day of ‘sinking sand’ it is good to know that our Hope is built on an unmovable Rock. The above Scripture talks about the Church being build upon a Rock. The question may arise, “Who is the Rock?” Know that The Rock was, the Rock is, and the Rock always shall be! We hear about this Rock in Deut. 32:3 “...Ascribe ye greatness unto our God. Vs4 He is the Rock, His work is perfect: for all His ways are judgment: a God of Truth and without iniquity, just and right is He.” All through Scripture we hear about the Rock. I believe the Lord would inspire us in this Message if we ‘hear’ what the Scripture is saying to us.  We need to know that we are grounded-safe-secure; as we see the ‘signs’ of the time – There is a time of evil; which if we have read the Scriptures, we know that God has burned up a city for less sin then reins in our society today! What is staying the hand of God from the wickedness of our world, His Grace, His Mercy, His Everlasting Love for His people. The People of the Rock!  Questions arise, are we wise men & women, are we building our house upon the Rock? Only a house [talking spiritually here] that is built upon the Rock can stand against the winds of adversity, the floods of trouble, the vehement heat of strife and discontentment in our day. Such things unfolded as the Israelites wondered in the wilderness – but then see who was with them! 1 Cor 10:4 They “...did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that Spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. Jesus the Chief Corner Stone is the power that holds us firm in the Fathers hand. No wonder the Psalmist sings, “He is my Rock and my Salvation; He is my defense, I shall not be moved!” Loving you, Pastor

The First Commandment

Who can quote the First Commandment? Probably many people can, and even those who are not of the Christian Faith.  Sometimes we hear things so often that the depth of such a statement becomes a very common place and so shallow.  Jesus proclaimed this Commandment when He was asked “Master, which is the great Commandment in the Law?”  Jesus answered: “Thou shalt Love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart, and with all thy Soul, and with all thy Strength, and with all thy Mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.” Luke 10:27 everything we do stand on this Commandment of God. How we serve one another, how we Minister, how we live our life as an example of God’s way! Love today is a common word, rarely meaning what it is to activate God’s Love. What moves the hand of God in regards to Love?  A good look at 1 Cor. 13 should cause a “selah” in our spirit, that is to stop and give some depth of thought to the meaning of Love; for we are given a “First & Great Commandment” to Love God! To be brief: If we speak in tongues, have a gift of prophecy, knowledge, and great Faith that even moves mountains and feeds the poor ... we are nothing if we do not have God’s Kind of Love. What is God’s explanation of Love?  Well, it suffers long, it is kind, it does not envy, nor display boastfully vainglory, does not behave itself unseemly [act indecent in sacred matters], is not self-centered, not easily angry, and thinks no evil. God’s kind of Love rejoices in Truth, Believes, Hopes, and endures the trials of life. Such Love never fails and abides in Faith, Hope, Charity, and the greatest of all is Charity! Charity defined by Webster’s Dictionary is: “Christian Love!” Christian Love can only come by sensing the depth of God’s Love, a Love that would send His Only Begotten Son to die for OUR sins. What will we do for those who trespass against us? To trespass is a violation of moral or social ethics, or to put it simply “hurt our feelings or disagree with us, etc.”  This is truly a day of moral decay and could the God kind of Love have lost it’s valuable meaning in our lives? Let the Church of the Living God arise and truly display His Love!  For such “Love will cover a multitude of sins.”  -1Peter 4:8 “Above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.”  Not that God will overlook sin, but He will give us the Grace to overlook the faults in one another and not hold grudges!
Loving you, Pastor