Category: Faith Fix

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!

You Make or Break You

God is not in control. He is not sitting on His throne with a remote control or puppet strings determining which way we turn, what we say, what we do, where we do it, etc. He isn’t a slave master. He isn’t a dictator. Psalm 115:16 writes, “The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s; But the earth He has given to the children of men.” The book of Genesis records the Lord handing over dominion of the earth to mankind. (Genesis 1:26) He always intended and planned a hope and a future for mankind. (Jeremiah 29:11) He never wanted anything else. From the beginning, He also gave mankind direction on how to walk and live in that plan of blessing. Yes, dominion of the earth belonged to man, but man gave it over to Satan, as recorded in Genesis 3.

Later in scripture we see, when the devil came to tempt Jesus he didn’t lie when he said the kingdoms of the world were his. Matthew 4:9, “And he said to Him, ‘All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.'” The devil’s hands are all over this fallen world. We need to stop blaming God for our bad decisions. We need to stop using sovereignty as an excuse for tragedy and tribulation and start recognizing Who God really is in the situation and the part we have to play. In our churches, we’ve often heard this said: there are three parts to every service; there’s God’s part, there’s the minister’s part, and then there’s our part. Well, this doesn’t just apply to a church service. In this life here on earth for a Christian, there’s God’s part. God created us, God gave everything to us, and despite our failure, He forgave us. God sent His Word. God sent Jesus. God sent the Holy Spirit to guide us from the inside! He has done His part, and done His part well. Then there’s the minister’s part. God gave gifts onto men to help teach us, guide us, and unfold the Word of God to us. (Ephesians 4:8) You can’t blame your decisions on God, or the minister if you don’t show up to allow those gifts to work in your life. You will be responsible if you aren’t living the life spelled out in the Word if you won’t find a local church that will teach you the promises and the whole Gospel, uncompromisingly. Then, finally, there’s our part. We must be doers of the Word for the Word to work. We must take control and the authority we were given and stop giving the devil so much leeway!

People use this scripture out of context all the time: Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” See, God has a plan in everything. It’s all good. Everything happens for a reason. We just accept it and live with it. But John 14:15 lets us know that love isn’t just a feeling of fondness for God. It says, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” So when we interpret scripture based on other scripture, we see that Romans 8:28 is letting us know that when we are doers of the Word of God, all things will work together for our good, whether it appears that way based on circumstance or not. See, God does not control what we do. God does not choose which way we go. But, when we choose to go His way, He will bring us through!

I love what Lester Sumrall, a faithful minister of the gospel for over 60 years, said, “You make decisions and decisions make you.” We decide. We choose. We go or we don’t. We say or we don’t. We succeed or we fail. God never fails. To say God is in control negates any responsibility we have and puts the ball in God’s court, so to speak. But that’s foolishness, to blame God for the devil’s handiwork or the results of our actions taking on the resemblance of the world instead of the resemblance of the Word. Let’s make good decisions, God’s way. Let’s let those decisions make our paths straight. Let’s let those decisions make our blessing sure, our cups running over, our bodies whole and well. Let’s live the God life, the blessed life He intended.

Be Blessed,
Pastor Renée

If you’ve been reading our weekly Faith Fix devotional, stop in and join us at Family Church Mayville for a service, Sunday mornings at 10:30 or Sunday night’s at 7. We’d love to meet you!

What’s Our Motive?

I love the testimony from 2 Kings Chapter 4 of the faithful Shunammite woman. Her testimony demonstrates a heart condition worth aspiring towards. The Old Testament prophet Elisha would frequently travel through Shunem, a small town on the way to Mt. Carmel. You may recall that Mt. Carmel was significant for Elisha because his mentor, Elijah had defeated the prophets of Baal there and proven the Almighty Father God was the only God who answers by fire! (1 Kings 18)

Look at 2 Kings 4:8-9, “Now it happened one day that Elisha went to Shunem, where there was a notable woman, and she persuaded him to eat some food. So it was, as often as he passed by, he would turn in there to eat some food. And she said to her husband, “Look now, I know that this is a holy man of God, who passes by us regularly.” This Shunammite woman took note of Elisha’s travels, recognized this was a man of God, and saw to it that she provided for Him when he would travel through. There are so many things we can learn from this faithful woman of God.

First, she wasn’t afraid to show honor for the man of God in big, costly ways. Look what happens next in scripture, 2 Kings 4:9-11, “And she said to her husband, “Look now, I know that this is a holy man of God, who passes by us regularly. Please, let us make a small upper room on the wall; and let us put a bed for him there, and a table and a chair and a lampstand; so it will be, whenever he comes to us, he can turn in there.” And it happened one day that he came there, and he turned in to the upper room and lay down there.” This faithful woman wasn’t satisfied with her original giving. Her heart was to give more. Notice it started with something small like a meal, but increased to something much larger, an addition of a second story loft specifically for lodging Elisha during his travels. As Christians, our hearts should never be satisfied staying at the level of generosity we began with. Romans 8:32, “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” The heart of the Father is to give!

Next, she wasn’t interested in making a name for herself. I find it extremely telling that she will forever be a nameless example of a behind the scenes servant of the Lord. This is representative of what the Lord values in His people. Look at Philippians 2:5-7, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.” The heart of Jesus was never to boast of His own doing or give Himself glory for any good deeds. Too often, people want the glory. People want a name for themselves. People want fame. We would do ourselves well to take upon us the name of Christ and learn from this humble Shunammite woman.

This brings me to another point worth noting; her motives were pure. When asked what kind of repayment she desired for her good deeds and her giving, she was quick to decline. 2 Kings 4:13, “….Look, you have been concerned for us with all this care. What can I do for you? Do you want me to speak on your behalf to the king or to the commander of the army?’ She answered, “I dwell among my own people.” In other words, “I didn’t do this for fame. I’m not looking for a reward.”

Finally, her miracle was found after her honor, her generosity, and her motives were proven. Elisha wasn’t content, because God isn’t content, for those who demonstrate such honor and faithfulness to go without good things. As the account continues, we see that a desire of this woman’s heart was to have a child and she and her husband were naturally unable to do so. God is faithful and performed a miracle in her life, giving her a son. 2 Kings 4:17, “But the woman conceived, and bore a son when the appointed time had come, of which Elisha had told her.” I know many who are looking for the same kind of miracle and it is always found at the hands of the Lord, accessed by our faith and faithfulness.

This Shunammite woman has such a testimony and is such an example. Let’s remember why God chose to include this account in scripture, making our lives of similar testimony, always keeping our hearts and our motives pure before the Lord as we walk out His plan for our lives.

Be Blessed,
Pastor Renée

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