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Trusting God

Psalms 37:3
Trust in the Lord, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.

This scripture has been the focus of my life in recent times. I love how the Lord will speak to us through the scripture. If you are not spending time in the Word, then you are not hearing from God! God will speak to your spirit as you read His Word!

This is the type of scripture that you can read right by without really getting it, if you are not careful. Trust in God and do good. This instruction is most of what any believer needs. In fact, I’ve been seeing in my own life, that everything I’m believing God for has its answer right here and so this is the scripture I meditate on. What then, you may ask, is trusting in God really about? The context of the Word of God is absolutely amazing. He never leaves us hanging with stuff He wants us to know. Reading on in the 37th Psalm, we find verse 7 which tells us clearly, “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.” When you trust, you rest. When you trust, you wait patiently in faith. When you trust, you do not fret. That’s a tall order!
This all comes down to having faith in God and His character, and this is what we must get acquainted with if we will have victory in life. Faith in God is not believing that God exists, but that He is who He says He is and that He will do what He says He will do.

The only way to get this kind of faith is to spend time in His Word. Romans 10:17 tells us that faith comes by hearing His Word and Hebrews 4:12 explains that the Word is living and powerful. How is this? It is because it builds trial-conquering faith in its hearer.

We are a Word based church and as such, we are constantly reminding people and bringing them back to “what the Word says.” It seems foolish that spending time with a book could change any situation but that is exactly what God designed it to do. Just reading it is not enough, though. We are also a Spirit Church, meaning we believe that God’s Spirit is also alive and active. This is precisely why Jesus left us with the local church and the ministry offices which includes that of the pastor. Church isn’t a place to make us feel as though we accomplished our weekly spiritual duty. It is where we get equipped to take on the devil and all he will throw at us.

Trusting God all comes down to this: do you believe what His Word says enough to put it to practice? People will get mad a preachers like me because of the boldness of things being said, not realizing that those bold statements are not made for my benefit. They are made for the hearer, to teach them and guide them, and to give them truth to stand on during trial. Trust God and do good. He designed you, your world, and everything in it, so He knows how it works best. Trust His Word and what it says, allow this faith to be built in you, and see the desires of your heart come to pass in your life. He said it, so it must be true!

Psalms 37:4
Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

Be Blessed,
Pastor Jeff

Freedom For All, Not Free For All

“It’s a free country, I can do what I want.” Growing up, this is the tune my peers were always singing as they acted foolishly, mouthed off to authority figures, or walked in front of moving traffic. I used to roll my eyes in annoyance, because I knew they had no idea what freedom actually means. Thankfully, I had a healthy fear of authority growing up.

Freedom isn’t about putting yourself first and intruding on others. Freedom isn’t just doing and saying whatever you want just because you can, then expecting not to have any negative effects or consequences. If you rob a bank, you are no longer free. If you jump out into traffic and get hit by a car, you’re going to end up bound. If you mouth off to your boss, you’ll probably have a lot more free time, but you won’t have a paycheck with it. Every action has some sort of consequence. Every action has a reaction. Every effect had a cause.

Many Christians are singing the same tune my old peers used to sing. “Christ made me free, so I can do whatever I want and God’s grace will cover me.” I love what my husband said recently during one of his sermons. He said, “There’s freedom in Christ, but it’s not ‘free for all’ in Christ.” Ephesians 2:1 says, “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins.” Living in the “free for all” mentality will only produce death and destruction. If we were to continue in Ephesians 2, we’d see that Christ freed us from living like the world, that He freed us from living only according to the lusts of our flesh, and that He made us free to walk out the good works, the good plan God has for our lives. Look at Ephesians 2:10, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” Whom the Son sets free is free indeed, free to live for Him.

Look at John 8:31-32 (AMP), “Jesus said to those Jews who had believed in Him, If you abide in My word [hold fast to My teachings and live in accordance with them], you are truly My disciples. And you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free.” Notice that this freedom is in direct connection to living in accordance with the Word of God. God isn’t ok with us taking His freedom that He purchased through the blood of His Son and using it as an excuse to do whatever we want in this life. He made us free to follow His plan and His way.

Look at Romans 11:22, “Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, IF you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.” GOD HAS HIGH STANDARDS. HE WANTS THE ABSOLUTE BEST FOR US. He cares what we do. He cares what we say. It isn’t just a free life, with no consequences. James 1:22-25, “be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.” We will walk in his goodness as we walk in His ways.

“Jesus, thank You for the freedom You paid for for my life. I will do my best to follow You. I will do my best to be a doer of Your Word. I thank You for the promises and blessings that come as I abide in You.”

Be Blessed,
Pastor Renee

Trust God?

Hebrews 3:19 (NKJV)
So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.

This scripture is a powerful statement and one that every Christian should know and take hold of. It is referencing the Israelites as a reminder to us that though God has delivered (saved) His people, they could not enter His promised land because they didn’t trust Him.

Believing in God is never enough. The book of James tells us that even the demons believe in Him. When we say “believe”, we have to define it rightly. Truly believing in God means that the whole of your trust is found in Him and His Word. I have known many “believers” who don’t actually believe the Word of God. Some of them are even in positions of authority supposedly leading whole groups of people. I say supposedly because how well can you lead people in the things of God if you don’t know or believe in what He says about Himself?

My daughter and I decided one morning to start learning and reciting a scripture each week daily with the desire to really get it in us. Our first direction was found in Proverbs 3:5-6 which says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” What direction and what promise!

Trust here is the same concept as believing in God. It’s placing the whole of your trust in Him and only Him. To truly trust God, you will have to let go of what you thought you knew and be ready to have your world rocked. Trust is what led Peter out onto the water after Jesus. Everything told him in the natural it was an impossibility but His Lord called to him. Well, neither trust nor God have changed. His Spirit will take you out on a limb and you will have to have complete trust in Him if you are to go.

Interestingly, the word in Hebrew used here for “acknowledge” is the same one the Bible uses to talk about when a man and woman come together in marital relations. (I hope that’s PG enough!) In essence it means to be intimately acquainted with. Do you intimately know your God? I trust my wife and she trusts me because we are intimately acquainted with each other. I would trust her with anything. When you learn to know God like this, trusting Him is less and less difficult. In fact, it becomes a literal joy because you begin to realize that every place He has for you to go and all He has for you to do, ultimately bring the fullness of blessing in your life and others’ lives.

God so loved us that He opened the door to an amazing world for us and that door is His Son. Jesus got for us what we couldn’t get for ourselves and God told us that alone should be enough to trust Him unconditionally (Romans 8:32). So I ask, do you? Do you trust Him completely or are you still foolishly blaming God for all the bad things that happen in life? Do you boldly look to God for answers, or do you sheepishly plead, hoping that maybe this time He will help you?

I encourage you, try faith! By try, I mean live in and refuse any other kind of life. After all the Word tells us that living by faith is the sign of our righteousness. Do you trust God or not? The answer to that determines whether you’ll receive from Him or not.

Psalms 37:3-5 (NKJV)
Trust in the Lord, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. (Yes, that’s in your Bible!)

Be Blessed,
Pastor Jeff

The Way Of Life

Proverbs 14:12 (NKJV)
There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.

This scripture is one I meditate on often. Both as I judge myself and as I witness what others do, I am reminded of the importance of God’s plan, not mine.

I recently over heard a conversation that I have heard in various forms over and over many times. (See, if you pay attention, not being nosey but pay attention, God will teach you by what others do wrong.) The conversation was about a family man who left a new job without a plan for another, despite his need for employment, simply because he didn’t like it. We have created a society in which people faint at the first sign of opposition. We have created crying rooms where people can embrace their sadness and counselors who encourage them to rehash every bad thing that has ever happened to them. People are taught to focus on their happiness at all cost, regardless of the consequences.

I have heard parents complain about their young children up at all hours of the night on the internet and yet they provide them with unlimited access to smart phones. I have listen to parents who refuse to tell their children no to activities and then not understand why they have no quality time or money. I have seen people who make one horrendous financial decision after another and then question God’s desire to bless them. All these situations and more have a common thread. They are based on mans’ plans and mans’ ideas and not in the direction of God.

Romans 8:14 tells us that to be a child, to be an heir, you must be led by His Spirit. Yet, most who claim this sonship never consider to consult their Father. Christians have gotten too used to running with the world, according to the world’s ways, and then blaming God for the bad results in their life. Honestly, churches by and large don’t even teach the importance of being led. Even more true, many of them know little about it themselves because many churches aren’t built by God’s Word or His Spirit but by mans’ ideas.

This scripture in Proverbs is not talking about the Spirit led man, but the plans of the carnal man or the one who lives according to worldly principles. Galatians 5:17 says, “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.” These two are in direct opposition to one another so that whichever one is chosen is the one that has the say. Following the flesh always leads to death. Always. Stop making your own plans and asking God to bless them. Stop allowing the stress of trying to figure everything out ruin your life. Jesus died in part so we could inherit God’s Spirit, as a teacher and a guide on the inside of us, to show us the best way. He promised He would never leave us nor forsake us, but if we leave and forsake the path He’s given, we will find the ruin we claim we want to avoid. Follow God, His Word, and His Spirit and live a truly blessed life. His way is the the only way. His way is the way of life.

Proverbs 19:21 (NKJV)
There are many plans in a man’s heart,
Nevertheless the Lord’s counsel—that will stand.

Be Blessed,
Pastor Jeff

Led By A Pure Heart

Psalms 119:9 

“How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word.”

One morning while reflecting on the goodness of God and His faithfulness to teach me continually, I asked Him, “how does one make their heart pure before You?”. Instantly, the above scripture entered my heart as I prayed.

How does one build their love for God? By keeping His Word before them. How do you build faith in God? By keeping His Word before you. I love the 119th psalm because it relays the same message over and over. It is the Word of God continually put in our hearts that changes lives. 

Jesus said this in John 8:31-32, that by living in and according to His Word, we would find the freedom we need. His Word is always the answer. I love this knowledge because Jesus also gave us another promise, that of the Holy Spirit Who would lead us and teach us all we need to know. However, He also told us that the Holy Spirit will remind us of the Word. Well, what if you don’t have His Word in you? You could have the Holy Spirit but He can’t remind you of anything because it’s not there. Therefore, your leading cannot be effective and you can get easily deceived.

This is such a huge problem in the body of Christ, that people are unbalanced; Not enough Word or not enough Spirit. You may ask, “well how much is enough?”. The answer is easy. Jesus said live in it. How often do you do the other things you live on? Don’t you eat until you are full? Don’t you cover up when you are cold? Don’t you sleep when you are tired? I endeavor to put the Word in me continually, nonstop, all the time. Because of this, when the time comes when I have not been doing it as I should, I start noticing something is off. I start getting hungry again and it’s time to eat.

As a Pastor, I have noticed the problems most people have are almost always a result of not spending enough time in the Word or not praying enough. God in His grace gave us His Word, the Psalmist encourages us by relaying, “I have hidden Your Word in my heart that I might not sin against You.” I encourage you, feed on God’s Word. In it are all the answers to everything you could ever need. Don’t just read it. Don’t just memorize it. Feed on it. Chew on it. Go back and think about it over and over again. Get it in you and allow His Spirit to guide you. If you want to be led perfectly, God’s Word is the way He will do it.

Romans 8:14

“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”

Be Blessed, 

Pastor Jeff 

Don’t Drive the Dead Car
I remember giving our oldest son his first car. It was our old car, but it was new to him. He was excited to get it, but it ended up being quite the learning experience for him. He had to pay insurance, he had to put gas in it, and he had to give it routine maintenance. All these things were easier said than done and over a couple years, the car died. It died, died. There was no driving that thing again. Anytime he tried, it got him nowhere and cost him a whole lot of time and money. Christians could learn something from this experience.

Look at Romans 6:1-2, “…Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” When we are born again, it’s like we’ve been given a new car. If we stick with the new car it will take us further. It will benefit our life more. It will make us happier. Life will be easier. See, when our son had gotten a new car, it would have been foolish for him to have kept trying to drive the old one. Imagine him going to that junk yard and trying to sit in that car, trying to turn the ignition over, trying to live like he still belonged in that old car, while all the while his new one was sitting in the parking lot ready to go. It’s kind of a funny picture, isn’t it?

Our old life, by the grace of God, has been made dead to us! 2 Corinthians 5:17, tells us, “…if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” Jesus did so much more than just give us a new car. We were lost and living to die, but he made us alive! He made us new! Just as we no longer want to keep driving a dead car because that dead car isn’t getting us anywhere, we no longer want to keep trying to live in our past, because that dead life isn’t getting us anywhere! Living new, living for Him, that’s what takes us places.

Let’s read, 1 Peter 2:9-10, “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.” We’re joint heirs with Christ according to scripture, and our lives are meant to be lived to the praise of the Lord. We no longer need to live dead and in darkness. Now, we must live alive in the light of His Word. Look at the next two verses in this passage of scripture, verses 11-12, “Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.” We were once inclined to live by the flesh, like the rest of this world, but now, we must incline ourselves to His sayings in order to live by the Word and Spirit and conduct ourselves in the newness of this Christian life. As we live right, as we go about this life in this born anew vessel, others will glorify God as a result. Yes, we’ll take others along for the ride!

Matthew 28:19-20, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you…”

Be Blessed,
Pastor Renee