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Continue reading “He’s Such a Personal God”

When He Shows Up at the Door, He Never Comes Empty Handed

From the final book of the Bible, Revelation 3:20, we see an important truth about the Lord, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” The words “dine with” as written in this scripture mean to feast together. It is the same word that was used to describe the last supper where Jesus broke the bread and drank the wine symbolizing communion. It is symbolic of our salvation in the kingdom of God.

The Lord is standing at the door, knocking, waiting for you to let Him in. He’s not far. He’s right there. If anyone hears His voice, meaning if anyone gives attention to, realizes and understands what He’s saying and then opens the door, He’ll come right in. He’ll bring eternal salvation with Him and you’ll feast together on the blessings of God. Jesus literally comes to live in your heart and you become one with Him.

This is the same truth found again in Romans 10:9-10, “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” You understand His voice as He knocks on the door of your heart and you say, “Jesus, come on in!” It really is that simple.

Jesus is the perfect company. He’s at the door, just wanting to come in. He doesn’t care if your house isn’t cleaned and ready for Him. He just wants to be with you. Jesus isn’t waiting for you to clean up your life first. He isn’t waiting for you to have everything figured out, everything organized, or for you to put on a good face. He’s the kind of company that helps you get your house in order. He’s the one that says, “here, let me help you with that.”

Something else that’s so wonderful about the Lord is that when He shows up, He never comes empty handed. He brings with Him all the tools necessary to live abundantly, in peace, in good health, and in joy. He brings with Him all the answers for all life’s questions.

But, before Jesus can come in, we must listen to His voice knocking and answer the door.

Be Blessed,
Pastor Renée

Join us at Family Church Mayville Sunday mornings at 10:30 or Sunday evenings at 7. We’d love to share the Word of God with you.

Waiting On God

Faith is such a wonderful thing we are given. It’s a blessing to be endued with the ability to have hope for more than we have right now, and have the confidence that while it seems as though we don’t have it currently, in time with patience it will happen. This is what Hebrews 11:1 tells us faith is. It’s not your denomination, it’s not what church you belong to, it’s what you believe and expect God to be in your life. What a mighty God we serve!

As with all the promises of God, it is incredibly important to know what the scripture tells us. When we understand scripture, we understand God and know His will for our lives. We know according to scripture that His will always points TOWARD blessing, however there is always a path that leads to it. You don’t quantum leap on over to the blessing or the end but rather you obtain through faith and patience (Hebrews 6:12). This period in between knowing what the promise is and the promise actually coming to pass is the realm of faith. How you go through this period either qualifies you or disqualifies you and it let’s you and God know exactly what your faith is. This is the place where faith is proven and is the place where we please or displease our Heavenly Father the most. This is where we obtain or lose out. God intends for us to obtain!

What people fail to see is, although Jesus said we would see trial and persecution, Christians always seem to be taken aback at their particular trial. The truth is, the greater the blessing on the other side, THE GREATER THE TRIAL WILL BE. The trial does not define us and therefore doesn’t (or shouldn’t) even really matter to a believer. This is because if you are truly a believer you already know the answer and have already received the victory. So for a believer all that’s left is patience until it manifests. Yes, the trial does not define us, how we go through it does.
Christians are so often waiting on God to move and they do so in vain. What do I mean? Jesus said in John 19:30 and Revelation 21:6, “It is done.” God has done all that He is going to do. What is left is for us to take our place of authority, AND DO THE WORD, AND wait!!! Notice the ands! If you aren’t a good steward of what you have, in anything, you cannot expect more. If you abuse your body, don’t expect healing. If you don’t live in love, don’t expect God’s blessing. If you don’t tithe and give, don’t expect the windows of Heaven (God’s increase and supply) to be opened. Don’t partner with the devil and expect God to clean up the mess. It’s that simple.

God is looking for those who will prove their faithfulness in all things. As you’re good and faithful with what God has given you, He will cause increase in your life. Faithfulness isn’t spending (not just money) what you don’t have and believing God for more. It doesn’t work that way. Be faithful with what you already have! A dear minister of the Gospel has said, “Faithfulness isn’t proven in days, weeks, and months, but in years!” The further I go in ministry the more real this becomes to me. In Luke 6:38, Jesus said to give and it will be given to you. You can’t give what isn’t yours or increase what doesn’t exist. Start with what you have and let God bring the increase. Just like Him, His ways are real, are undeniable, and are sure!

Be Blessed,
Pastor Jeff

Join us at Family Church Mayville for Sunday morning service at 10:30 or Sunday evening service at 7. We’d love to meet you!

The Year of Double!

Jeremiah 29:11 promises a plan for the lives of those who follow the Lord. He’s got a purpose for each one of us individually and for the body of Christ as a whole. It’s important to get His direction on things. One of the ways we will learn how to be led by the Spirit into the plans God has for us is by getting rooted and grounded in a local church receiving from a pastor, called of God and led by the Holy Spirit, who feeds us the Word of God. Aren’t you thankful for the gift of the local church? Aren’t you thankful the Lord saw fit to send us pastors to shepherd, protect, and feed us?

The Word of the Lord was delivered to us this past Sunday and I saw fit to remind you all of what that was in this Faith Fix, because when the Lord delivers a message we want to take heed to that.

“When God’s will is in play, then the outcome will be sure and you can then have faith in it. Faith begins where the will of God is known. If it’s just your plans or your whims then when Satan comes to rob it from you, which he will do, you will be unsteady and unstable wondering if it will work out. When God is in the mix and His steps are followed then all that’s on your heart will come to pass. This is where light and easy is discovered. Make your call and election sure, trust Him and feed on His faithfulness, believe Him and be stable. It is a matter of do or don’t. You will waffle in your plans OR you can prosper in His. His ways are not our ways, nor are His thoughts our thoughts. We opt in, we judge Him faithful, to our own prosperity or not, to our own demise. The end intended of God for Job was double. If His will was that for one without covenant, then how much more for those with it. God is faithful, He shall bring it to pass. Amen!”

James 5:11 (NKJV) says, “Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.” This is the Year of Double! Faith begins with those who are willing to say yes.  Believe God to double the church in people, in faithfulness, in provision, in faith, and in effectiveness. Believe God to double you! Why? Because we have a work to get done, a great commission to fulfill, and the Lord always equips those who He calls.

Look at 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” Let’s trust God at His Word. Let’s stir ourselves up to enduring and persevering through until Jesus comes back for a glorious church! Let’s let the Lord use us as willing vessels, fully equipped and ready for every good work!

Be Blessed,
Pastor Renée

The Illusion Of Freedom

Deuteronomy 30:19 (NKJV) says, “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live.”

We live in a time when it’s an increasingly popular idea that the decision of a persons’s will or desire is always the right choice for them. “Do what’s good for you”, is common advice both in and out of the church. Really what’s being said is, “do whatever you want to and justify it by claiming it’s right for you.” Is this really sound advice? Where’s the proof that this is actually beneficial for humanity? Well, let’s take a look at it.

Consider the animal world. Animals by and large are not concerned about anything but what’s “good” for them. They establish pecking orders by which the strongest one takes care of its own needs before all others. Often, the weaker ones don’t get to partake at all. They aren’t concerned for the environment, over population, the good of anything else except survive at all costs. It’s funny because it’s so extreme that given the opportunity, the same people so devoted to protecting them would become food in an instant given the chance. That’s a true “me-first” way of thinking and though we are supposed to be evolved (their words not mine) humans are seemingly trying to return to what would be considered primal instincts. What happened to the day when a mother so prized the child inside her, she would give up anything to protect it? Today the unborn child is considered just a blob of tissue. They will justify their actions by saying that it’s “my body” though their choice completely affects the body of someone else. See though, “me-first” wouldn’t even recognize that.

Now let’s look at this concept scripturally. The Bible makes it clear that God has given us free will because He desires that we choose to love Him. However, just because you have the choice doesn’t mean that any choice you make is good or helpful. In fact, often the choice is simply a matter of life or death. You can choose to start a fire next to a busy gas station but don’t be surprised by the carnage that follows. Let’s look at the few scriptures before the above and see what God says about choice. Deuteronomy 30:14-18 (NKJV) says, “But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, THAT YOU MAY DO IT. Just look at what it says here, the Word is there for you to do it. Why? Well, I suspect we will see. 15 “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, 16 in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess. 17 But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them, 18 I announce to you today that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess.” Do you know what it means to worship other gods? It is literally anything you place as greater importance than God.

Do you randomly take days off church so you can do what you want? Are you so busy with life that you have zero time to read your Word, pray, or serve in your local church. If you spend more church days out of church than you do in church, you are choosing evil. If you allow your children to choose other things instead of church on a continual basis, you are helping them bring curse and evil into their lives.

There is right and wrong, truth and lies. God wants you to be able to choose but He desires that you choose right. The fact is the world was made to work a certain way. In that, blessing and cursing work a certain way. We can obey or choose the Word of God, and be blessed or we can disobey or not choose the Word, and perish. All choices don’t lead to good but all choices do lead you somewhere. Choose the one that leads to life.

Be Blessed,
Pastor Jeff

Join us at Family Church Mayville Sunday mornings at 10:30 or Sunday evenings at 7pm.  We’d love to meet you!

The Deceived Church

2 Corinthians 11:3-4 (NKJV) says, “3 But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 4 For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it!”

There is so much deception among Christians today and it really comes down to one thing: people are willfully ignorant of the truth. I love what Paul wrote here because of its present truth and I want to break it down for you. First we must understand how scripture works. Romans 15:4 and 2 Timothy 3:16 tell us very similar things: that all scripture is meant to teach us something and that it’s no accident that we have each and every one of them. We need to cling to, learn from, and be guided by scripture first and foremost above every thought, idea, counsel, or experience. Scripture keeps us grounded and always points us to the Father and His will for our lives. Aren’t you glad that we have as 2 Peter 1:19 says, a sure Word. One that’s unchanging and firm. Our faith should always be built and strengthened upon His Word first, before any tradition of man!

So let’s look at 2 Corinthians 11:3 again, “But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” Christ, His Word, His direction, and His will are not hard to know or comprehend. God DOES NOT work in mysterious ways. He has revealed or given us the ability to get everything He wants us to know. Notice Paul says here, “…as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness…” This is how people get off. God has given us His will and direction, written it down for us, sent His Son to show us, and sealed it all with His Holy Spirit, which He left to stay upon the earth until Jesus comes back. Yet, people constantly revert to what they have known, what they see, or what they feel exactly the way Eve did when she ate the fruit. I find it interesting that people often come to church seeking change and then spend so much time rejecting the way to have it. Though the Bible tells us not to lean on our own understanding, people generally won’t consider anything but their own understanding and this is why they fail. Hosea 4:6 tells us God’s people are destroyed through the willful lack of knowledge.

2 Corinthians 11:4 continues with, “For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached…” What does that mean exactly? What message did the apostles of our Lord bring and preach? What things did they see and what were the effects of that type of preaching? Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2:4-5, “And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.” Demonstration of the Spirit and power! Yet, today it is popular to reject this idea of Spirit and power because people are not seeing it, because though all things with God are clearly received by faith in Him and His works, people willfully reject them for a myriad of reasons. The church goes without, not because God wills it but rather because they are deceived into rejecting the very teaching that saves them.

God’s will is for His people to be knowledgeable and fruitful in that knowledge but this will not happen if we reject knowledge. Romans 1:28 says, “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting.” God will let you have what you are settled on in your own mind. You choose life or you choose death, and deception is always and most definitely a choice.

Be Blessed,
Pastor Jeff

Join us at Family Church Mayville for a service Sundays at 10:30 am or 7 pm. We’d love to meet you and share the Word of God with you!