DECEMBER 11 DEVOTIONAL BIBLE READING: PSALM 55:20-23 Every born again Christian has placed their eternity in God's hands and we find great comfort and security in that. Our biggest problem it seems is not eternity, but today and tomorrow. We need to trust the Lord, with whom we have entrusted our eternity, with our everyday. Worry robs us of so much. It takes our peace of mind. It makes it hard to function and it steals our joy. God is the God of eternity and that means He is

DECEMBER 10 DEVOTIONAL BIBLE READING: 1 JOHN 2:1-2 All sin is dangerous...all sin is bad...all sin, left unforgiven will result in eternity in hell. The only hope for all we sinners is Jesus. Man wants to take sin lightly; we have grown accustomed to moving further and further away from God. Today, even in the church, sin is condoned, accepted and in some cases celebrated. Sin is always serious and will always result in our destruction. We tend to want to define sin by the on

DECEMBER 9 DEVOTIONAL BIBLE READING: MATTHEW 18:19-20 It is funny, but not in the "ha ha" sense, who people will go to church to see. They will line up out the door for a Christian personality, for a sports star...for a high ranking dignitary. But they neglect to understand that every time the church gathers to worship the Lord, He has promised to be present. Jesus said that when we assembled together in His Name, He would be there in the midst of us. You would think that wou

DECEMBER 8 DEVOTIONAL BIBLE READING: EPHESIANS 1:3-6 One of the great truths of our Christian faith is that when Christ saved us He changed us completely. I have had people tell me, "I don't feel any change." But I tell them there are changes regardless of how we feel. Our whole position and identity has changed in Christ. Our position changed in many ways. We were lost, now we are saved. We stood guilty of sin, now we have been declared forgiven. We were estranged from God,

DECEMBER 7 DEVOTIONAL BIBLE READING: HEBREWS 7:20-28 The old saying, "Once Saved, Always Saved," always sounded to me as something that should go on a bumper sticker rather than an expression of the wonderful promise we have in Christ Jesus. To be sure, in Christ we have the gift of eternal salvation but we need to be careful how we express it and treat it. We want to be sure we never use our security as a reason to live anyway we want and do anything we want; because we know

DECEMBER 6 DEVOTIONAL BIBLE READING: ACTS 4:32-37 The Scripture tells us that the things of this world are all temporal in nature and that we must be careful not to put our trust in things, but to put our trust in God. Most things are actually amoral...meaning in themselves they are neither good or bad. What makes them bad is how we look at them and what place we give them in our lives. Even things that we see as a great blessing, put before the Lord, turn into idols and resu

DECEMBER 5 DEVOTIONAL BIBLE READING: ROMANS 6:5-11 There are few things in this life you that can always count on. Sometimes people will tell you something, with no intention of ever following through. Sometimes people will tell you something with every intention of following through, but something unexpected happens and they are unable to do what they said. Sometimes people will tell you something and they honestly forget. There are a whole range of reasons why people are no

FROM A PASTOR’S HEART…DECEMBER 4 BIBLE READINGS:  PROVERBS 8:32-36 Waiting on and resting in the Lord does not mean a passive wait and rest. As we wait upon the Lord we rest in His promise while we are active in what we know He has called us to. Being a follower of Christ means to be involved in what He is involved in. It means to be about the work that He has called us to, the work that He has equipped us for, the work that He Himself is involved in. At each stage of activel

FROM A PASTOR’S HEART…DECEMBER 3 BIBLE READINGS: MATTHEW 20:20-28 Do you aspire to greatness? Once again the economy of heaven differs completely from the economy of this world. We know that while the world says we need to be strong to accomplish anything of significance that the Scripture teaches, that it is in our weakness that Christ's strength is revealed and works through us. The world says that if you want to be great you must lord over people...you must use people...yo

FROM A PASTOR’S HEART…DECEMBER 2 BIBLE READING:  2 CORINTHIANS 12:7-10 The Bible's way to get things accomplished is not man's way. We think we need to be strong for the Lord and that it is at that point, that we will see something supernatural happen. The Scripture teaches the exact opposite. It says that, "...in our weakness, His strength is made manifest." Could it be the reason we see so few actual miracles...so few supernatural acts of God in our lives...so few genuine t

NOVEMBER 30 DEVOTIONAL BIBLE READING: PSALM 46 Our God is all sufficient! That is not just a religious phrase, but an eternal truth. Because of all that God is, He is everything we need at all times and through all things. Yes, even suffering. There is a faction with the church that teaches people that they don't have to suffer...that if their faith is strong enough they can, by their faith, avoid suffering. This is not true. Our own experiences and the Scripture itself, tell

FROM A PASTOR’S HEART…DECEMBER 1 BIBLE READING: PHILIPPIANS 3:7-11 Where there is no growth something is wrong. When we have an infant there is an expectation that we must do most everything for them. But, we also expect them to grow and mature as they age to be able to do things for themselves. If someone is twenty years old and still having their parents do everything for them we would all agree that things are not right there for some reason. Spiritual growth is much the s

NOVEMBER 29 DEVOTIONAL BIBLE READING: JOHN 14:19-24 Where there is no growth something is wrong. When we have an infant there is an expectation that we must do most everything for them. But, we also expect them to grow and mature as they age to be able to do things for themselves. If someone is twenty years old and still having their parents do everything for them we would all agree that things are not right there for some reason. Spiritual growth is much the same. There is d

NOVEMBER 28 DEVOTIONAL BIBLE READING:  HEBREWS 6:13-20 God is holy and God is omnipotent. It is He who decides who can come into His presence and by what means they may come. In the Old Testament there was a barrier that stood between God and man in the place where God said He would meet man. The curtain that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies in the Temple was that barrier. It was God's command that only the High Priest, and he only, on one day a year after man

NOVEMBER 27 DEVOTIONAL BIBLE READING:  1 PETER 2:11-12 Do not be mistaken...there is a battle going on. Paul says the battle we are in is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, spirit forces of wickedness in heavenly places. These wicked demons from hell are warring against you as a child of God. They want to see you fall and thus lose your testimony. The Devil knows he can't have you, for you are a child of God. But he sure is going to do everyth

NOVEMBER 26 DEVOTIONAL BIBLE READING:  COLOSSIANS 3:22-25 At times it can be difficult to submit ourselves to certain people in our lives. We may have an employer that is very difficult to work for, but the Bible says we are to submit and work hard for them. As a matter of fact, we are told as Christians that wherever we work and for whomever we work, whether they are pleasant or unpleasant, we are to work for them as if we are working for the Lord. The truth is, as Christian

NOVEMBER 25 DEVOTIONAL BIBLE READING: JOHN 16:5-10 The Devil deals with guilt and accusations, while the Holy Spirit brings conviction. Have you ever felt overwhelmed with a sin that you have done long ago, that you know you had confessed and you know the Lord had forgiven you? I want to tell you that is the guilt of the Devil, not the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Have you ever asked for forgiveness over and over again for some sin that you know you had confessed and had re

NOVEMBER 24 DEVOTIONAL BIBLE READING: JAMES 1:16-18 Thank you God! Thanksgiving is an expression of our faith. In giving thanks we acknowledge who is the provider of every blessing in our lives. God is always pouring blessings into our lives, everyday and in every way. Our thankfulness to our Lord also reveals a heart that is filled with the joy of the Lord. How many times have you sang that wonderful old hymn, "Count Your Blessings?” You can't sing that song properly without

NOVEMBER 23 DEVOTIONAL BIBLE READING: 1 PETER 3:13-17 With my own kids and with every church I have been blessed to pastor, I have always told them that they need to know what they believe and why they believe it. For my kids the answer of, "because my Dad said," was not good enough. And to the churches I have pastored, to say, "because the pastor said" was not enough. The matter of true discipleship is to make people followers of Jesus, not to make them followers of a certai

NOVEMBER 22 DEVOTIONAL BIBLE READING: HABAKKUK 3 Thankfulness and joy, from where do these come? What is your source of joy? Far too many people treat God as if He is this exalted servant in the sky. They are happy with Him when He does what they want...when they want it...and how they want it done. They are glad that He is just a little more powerful than man, but not to powerful as to neglect to do what man demands. And when He doesn't perform up to man's expectations, we g