The Amen is Spoken

The Amen is Spoken

Look at, 2 Corinthians 1:20 (AMP), “For as many as are the promises of God, they all find their Yes [answer] in Him [Christ]. For this reason we also utter the Amen (so be it) to God through Him [in His Person and by His agency] to the glory of God.

As many promises as God has made to us in His Word, they are all yes, because of Christ. Christ was our exodus out of the captivity of this world and the bondage of our sin. Christ is our answer. Christ is our AMEN! Everything you have ever needed or desired in life is attached to following Christ. Remember what Jesus said in John 8:31-32 (NKJV), “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” True freedom comes through Him.

Notice the second part of 2 Corinthians 1:20, “For this reason we also utter the Amen to God.” Why does God want to hear our “amen”? Notice this scripture says it is uttered to the glory of God! To utter means to speak. It’s not enough to just believe in God, but we must speak it out of our mouths.
Luke 6:45 (NKJV) says, “…out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” If we say we love God in our hearts, we must speak that love out of our mouths. It’s a spiritual law, just like a natural law. The love in our heart causes us to speak just as gravity allows us to stand on the ground.

The word “amen” is quite a hefty word, in its original meaning. It means the assurance. It’s means surely, verily, firm. It means so be it. It means of truth. When we utter amen, whether in prayer or at the teaching of the Word of God during a church service, or when we’re discussing the Scripture with friends, or studying the Word of God on our own time, we’re letting God know that we know it’s truth. When we speak that to God it demonstrates our faith in Him as our assurance and as our firm “so be it”.

In John 19, when Jesus knew that all things had been accomplished as He hung on the cross, He said, “it is finished.” That’s a firm statement. It’s a great amen! So be it. It’s done. Here is your assurance. I am your assurance.

We need to show God that we know what Jesus meant for us, that we know what God did for us. It’s an expression of faith. It’s an expression of gratitude. It’s an expression of love. Don’t be afraid to utter “amen” to the glory of God.

Be Blessed,
Pastor Renée

Holiness, Not Spiritualness

Holiness, Not Spiritualness

1 Peter 1:15-16, “but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy.’”

“I’m spiritual.” I’ve heard this more times than I can count. Especially when people know that I’m a pastor, they always feel the need to claim this. Everybody has a concept of the importance of spirituality and they claim this as some sort of justification for how they live. Does claiming spirituality actually mean anything, though?

Not a bit! I’m sure, rather I know, there are are a lot of Christians or pastors who are quite ok with this statement and even get pleased by it. Honestly, it means nothing to me! What? That’s right! There is no secret that there is a spiritual world around us, but there’s something you should know. All spirits are not good. In fact, many, many spirits are not good. Therefore all spirits are not God. You can be “spiritual” and have nothing to do with God at all. I know some very spiritual people who are also the most flaky people. See, you can be “spiritual”, and also completely serving the devil.
Not far from where I live is the largest community of spiritualists in the world. Full of fortune tellers and palm readers; they have spiritual events all the time. Christians (at one time even me) foolishly will take part in these things thinking that they are doing something good or getting answers for their lives. They are getting answers alright, but I assure you they are not from God. They are of the devil and the Bible warns us about this. 1 John 4:1 says, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” And 2 Corinthians 11:14 says, “And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.” Most people are quick to gobble up anything fed to them as long as it feels good going down!

God has called us to be holy (1 Peter 1:16), not spiritual. We are told to seek God and His Word for our answers, nothing else. We are not even supposed to seek angels, that is not their purpose. That does not mean God won’t use them or that we are not meant to but that’s another lesson.

Following God is not hard but it does require something from us, that is the truth. We must follow the truth, live in the truth, and be truthful people. Especially as it pertains to ourselves. The Bible has strong warnings about deception and I tell you that one of the greatest deceivers can be our own mind. The devil knows this fact and often exploits it. Often times, he needs very little help because we just let him. As a Pastor, I have caught myself “wanting” to believe something that just wasn’t true. Have you ever been there? You want to believe it because it feels good. That my friends is very dangerous. I refuse to believe anything that is not true.
If you stay with a pure heart in God’s Word, He will keep you from being deceived. Part of that is refusing anything, even what you have traditionally believed, if it does not line up exactly with what is written. I constantly evaluate what I say I believe and put it against God’s Word. If it passes, then I keep it unto myself. If it doesn’t, I make adjustments. This is the path of learning, this is the path that’s safe. You don’t know everything there is to know and neither do I, but God teaches us through His Spirit by His Word as much as we will keep it before us. Don’t be spiritual, be holy. When you’re Holy the right kind of spiritual will manifest in your life. You won’t have to tell anyone, it will be very evident.

Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Be Blessed,
Pastor Jeff

Keeping the Local Church

Keeping the Local Church

As we’re approaching sending our oldest child out into adulthood, to live on his own, we’ve realized there are some things he’s not yet had to experience that he soon will. It’s interesting having an adult “child” who works a full-time job, living in your household. Though we give him certain responsibilities, such as paying a few of his own simple bills like phone and insurance, and doing a few chores around the house, he’s never had to run a household. He’s never had to wonder where the toilet paper is coming from or whether there will be electricity and running water when he needs it. He’s never had to consider the age of the roof and when it may need replaced or what to do about the leaking garbage disposal. The children of the house simply don’t know all the things Mom and Dad have to handle.

This is so similar to the way it is in a local church. The members of the church simply don’t know all the things that the pastors have to handle. Most church attenders and members simply show up, hang up their jackets, sit in the seats, and listen to the sermon. They don’t wonder who made sure the electricity was paid or who made sure there was heat today. Most church attenders don’t wonder if there will be toilet paper and soap in the bathrooms when they go to use them. These are just among the many things that are thought about and kept in order behind the scenes in a local church.

The difference between most church attenders and our 21 year old son is that, typically the members of the congregation are grown adults who do happen to have to think about all these things for their own households. Most Christians are very familiar with what it takes to run a household, yet they don’t consider it their responsibility to help assure their local church (household) is in good working order.

If people truly understood the way a local church was supposed to function, they wouldn’t dare not be a tither. Look at the primary purpose for tithing, Malachi 3:10 (NKJV), “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house…” The Lord has called His children, His church, all Christians, to tithe and be a supply to the local church, to make sure the local church is provided for. When you study the statistics of tithers in the body of Christ, you’ll be shocked to find that only roughly 3-5% of Christians even tithe. This means that 95% of Christians or more are showing up to church expecting someone else to worry about keeping the mortgage paid, paying the electric bill, and supplying their toilet paper.

Hebrews 5:12 (NKJV), “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food.” If we can’t trust God in something so simple as with our tithe, which is 10% of our income, then how will we ever believe Him to heal that cancer, to restore that marriage, to break that addiction? The tithe is about being faithful to God because He is faithful to you. The tithe and the offering are about providing for the kingdom. It’s about providing a place for the lost to be saved, for the broken to be restored, for the (spiritually) hungry to be fed.

In the early church, the responsibilities of the church weren’t left for one or two people. They weren’t left for the pastors and leaders to do alone. Grown adult “children” in a household ought not live off their parents, but ought to contribute and learn to be an asset, not a liability. Christians and church goers ought not be a liability to their local church, but ought to purpose to be an asset. Ask yourself, is my local church better off because I’m there? Am I tithing so I can do my part to pay the bills? Am I giving so I can be a part of the outreaches, church plants, and special projects? Am I serving in the ministry of helps or am I just making a mess and expecting my parents or my brothers and sisters to take care of it for me?

Mark 10:45 (NKJV), “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Jesus, our example, had two key characteristics that we need to strive to have ourselves, He served and He gave. For Jesus, none of it was about Him, but it was about others. We should likewise care more for the well-being of the whole, rather than for ourselves. Are you a giver? Are you a server? Are you an asset?

Let’s get this job done, amen!?

Be Blessed,
Pastor Renee

What’s Marriage For?

What’s Marriage For?

1 Corinthians 6:17 (NKJV), “But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.” Let’s look in Mark 10:6-8 (AMP), “But from the beginning of creation God made them male and female. 7 For this reason a man shall leave [behind] his father and his mother and be joined to his wife and cleave closely to her permanently, 8 And the two shall become one flesh, so that they are no longer two, but one flesh.” Of course these scriptures reference the beginning of mankind from the book of Genesis. When we accept Jesus as our Savior, we become one with Him. He becomes our husband, so to speak. What is marriage for? It’s to teach us about our covenant with the Lord, but if we look to the world for the example of marriage, we will not understand this.

Now, let’s look even further into this in Ephesians 5:30-32 (NKJV), “For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. 31 ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ 32 This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.” This is the highest form of covenant on earth. When a man marries a woman, the two go forward together as one. This is not just physical, but the two must also be united in mind and spirit. The two must live in agreement. This is why we’ve taught our children and our churches, that it matters who you marry. Who you marry becomes who you are. You become one and what one does affects the other.

Look at verse 33, “Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.” Husbands, the way you love your wife is the way you love Jesus. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (NKJV) tells us exactly what real love should look like, “Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” This is the way Jesus loves us! He gave Himself for us, His church, His bride. This is what a husband is supposed to represent to his wife. My husband loves me, so unconditionally, with all that is in him and he would do anything to see me protected, safe, and blessed. My husband lives for me and our children. He lives to love me.

Now look at the second half of Ephesians 5:33, “…let the wife see that she respects her husband.” This word respect means to honor, to fear the idea of displeasing out of true reverence, to treat with true respect. A godly wife will act and speak in such a way that her husband will be honored. I live to make my husband’s life better, I love to bring him respect. When someone looks at me, I want them to see how great a husband I have. Remember those old shampoo commercials, “if you don’t look good, we don’t look good”? A wife must be sober about that. If you don’t live in such a way that brings your husband respect and honor, you’re not being the blessing you were meant to be. This is how we are to look at Christ. He loves us and we reverence and honor Him with how we live and what we say. If we look good, He looks good.

True marriage is to be a blessing! Isn’t that awesome of God, that He would create the institution of marriage to teach us about our relationship with Him, but also to bless the socks off us!? Look at these scriptures: Proverbs 5:18 (NKJV), “Let your fountain be blessed, And rejoice with the wife of your youth.” Proverbs 18:22 (NKJV ), He who finds a wife finds a good thing, And obtains favor from the Lord.” Proverbs 31:10-11 (NKJV), “Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies. 11 The heart of her husband safely trusts her; So he will have no lack of gain.” The implication of all these scriptures is that a true marriage covenant will be a blessing. Marriage God’s way should cause us to rejoice! Marriage God’s way is favor, it’s valuable, it’s a good thing!!

Marriage is for us. It’s for us to know and understand the true covenant we enter into with the Lord. I tell you, my marriage is heaven on earth! We rejoice together, we trust and respect each other, and we greatly love one another. True godly marriage is a good thing! If you have a godly marriage, keep these things in remembrance always. If you don’t have it, believe Him for it!Psalms 37:3-4 (NKJV), “Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.4 Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.”

Be Blessed,
Pastor Renee

You’ve Got to Want It; You’ve Got to Want Him

You’ve Got to Want It; You’ve Got to Want Him

Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

This is a scripture we have on the wall of Family Church Mayville. It’s a scripture we read and teach every single service in both of our churches. Everyone wants God to bless them. They want abundance, they want peace, they want an amazing life and future for themselves and for their children. God has promised that for His children. Most Christians don’t even know that much, that God is good and only wants good things for them. Simply believing that is the first step to walking in that blessed plan.

But, when we have gotten the revelation of who God IS, we’ve got to do more than just believe. Look at Jeremiah 29:12, “Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.” YOU will call upon God. YOU will go to Him and He will listen. It’s YOUR responsibility. Look at verse 13, “And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.” When YOU search for Him, He will be found by YOU. Look at verse 14, “ I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity…”

The Lord is a perfect gentleman. He never forces Himself on anyone. If you don’t invite Him in, He’s not coming. If you don’t seek Him, you won’t find Him. If you don’t find Him, you’ll never realize all He’s got planned for you now and in your future. But the great thing is that He’s right there just waiting for you to call upon Him.

Look at Proverbs 8:17 (NKJV), “I love those who love me, And those who seek me diligently will find me.” Have you ever known anyone who wouldn’t let you love them? Maybe it seemed like they tried their hardest to keep you out of their life or they worked so hard to destroy all you tried to give them? People do the same thing to God. He can’t be in covenant with someone who won’t be in covenant with Him. It. Just. Can’t. Work.

This principle is found in scripture over and over again. You must seek God, you must want God, you must choose God, if you’re going to have God in your life. Look at Hebrews 11:6 (NKJV), “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Believe in who God IS. Believe that He needs you to invite Him in, through your words, through your actions, in your thoughts, and in your heart. And when He reveals Himself to you, through His Word and the inward witness, do your best to follow His lead.

Matthew 7:7-8 (NKJV) “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” What will be opened? That blessed plan, that hope and that future, that God has had for you all along.

Be Blessed,
Pastor Renee

Trusting God

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