If He promised, He will deliver!

THERE HAS NOT FAILED ONE WORD OF ALL HIS GOOD
PROMISE, WHICH HE PROMISED BY THE HAND OF MOSES  HIS SERVANT.
                            ( 1 KINGS 8:56 *KJV )
   Dear Brethren ,
      Did you know that there are 8,910 promises in the Bible?  There are 7,706 promises in the Old Testament, and 1,104 promises in the New Testament!  That is a total of  8,910 promises in all!

      Now you will find that God made 7,485 promises to mankind,
  and mankind made 1,416 promises to God.  [ The remaining 9
  promises were made by satan to mankind!  Most of those you
  will find in the Book of JOB.]

      Well, these 7,485 promises from God to us just about
  cover all of the bases!   Isn't it wonderful that we have a Heavenly
  Father that is gracious enough to give us all of those promises?
  A God that also anticipates all of our needs and often sends us
  help even before we ask Him too.  After all it is written; HE SHALL
  GIVE HIS ANGELS CHARGE OVER YOU, TO KEEP YOU IN ALL
  YOUR WAYS.  ( PSALM 91:11 )
       So, HAVING THEREFORE THESE PROMISES, DEARLY
  BELOVED, LET US CLEANSE OURSELVES FROM ALL
  FILTHINESS OF THE FLESH AND SPIRIT, PERFECTING
  HOLINESS IN THE FEAR OR GOD.  ( 2 CORINTHIANS 7:1 )
       Therefore my dear brothers and sisters in the faith, why not enjoy your day thinking about  how well GOD has taken care of you, and knowing that HE
 always will!    Amen.


a God's Minute reprint

Home Improvements and Renovations

Over the last couple of years, my wife Faye and I have been replacing windows in our home. This 2020 year was no different, as we chose to replace the bathroom and kitchen windows.

   It is a lot of work but well worth it because during this process I found there were issues with the current Tyvek,(a synthetic insulation for outdoor walls), and the Sheathing, and even with broken siding, and along with that, I had to relocate an electrical box in addition to the other areas that needed fixing.

   Now during this window replacement I also planned on removing the siding from the deck area near the kitchen window. My plan was to only remove the siding and replace the old Tyvek and put in another electrical outlet.  I had the pieces ready to go, I just needed the opportunity which seems simple, right?    No, not at all. As I started pulling the siding off and seeing what was left of the old Tyvek, I came across bigger problems.  So being the person that I am, I took the necessary steps to fix it the right way.   To do this, I had to pull ½ the deck apart, remove the rotted sheathing and replace it with new sheathing. Then I could add the flashing and waterproof the decks ledger board due to a lot of water damage.  I am thankful that I had the opportunity to fix this to avoid issues further down the road.  

   It was during this time of the house project that I was also needing to prepare the July forward for our CBF newsletter.  I was having trouble coming up with something to write. I kept asking the Lord for help in finishing up the house and providing me with something to write about.

It was then that I felt the Lord speaking to me to write on home improvements and renovations, not on my house, but on our spiritual houses/temples.

   Now during the whole COVID 19 pandemics, many people have been taking this time to do home improvements and what a wonderful opportunity for Christians to be doing the same, spiritually speaking.

 When we are self-evaluating our lives and addressing issues that need to be dealt with, there will be times that the Lord will reveal to us an area other than the one we are working on, possibly an area of our lives that has a lot of rot which l know needs to be addressed.  That is the time to address it and fix it right and not ignore what the Lord is trying to show us by saying to ourselves, ‘not now, I do not have time’ and then we cover it back up.  You might say to yourself, ‘I will fix it later’, as we all know, later can often lead to more damage being done, just like under the surface to the structure of the integrity of the building.

   We are commanded to not be like the Pharisees and Sadducees, when the Lord addressed them in Matthew 23:26 and Luke 11:37-40, to clean the inside of the cup first then the outside.

   Jesus was referring to what is inside us, where our spiritual character is defined and developed. We can only improve and renovate our character by the Holy Spirit that the Lord promised to all of God’s children. There is no room for shortcuts, or ‘I will deal with it later’ attitudes.

   I pray that the holy spirit may continue to speak and reveal to you as it has revealed to me.  But remember, one must seek and be willing to hear and do. 

  

   For we can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.  Phil 4:13. 

May the Lord Bless you and keep you this day.  

Brother Steve

Being a Child of the Almighty

THE SPIRIT HIMSELF BEARS WITNESS WITH OUR SPIRIT
  THAT WE ARE CHILDREN OF GOD.
                          ( ROMANS 8:16 *NKJV )
   Dear Brethren,
      Indeed we are God's Children for; GOD SENT FORTH HIS
  SON, BORN OF A WOMAN, BORN UNDER THE LAW, TO
  REDEEM THOSE WHO WERE UNDER THE LAW, THAT WE
  MIGHT RECEIVE THE ADOPTION AS SONS. AND BECAUSE
  YOU ARE SONS, GOD HAS SENT FORTH THE SPIRIT OF
  HIS SON INTO OUR HEARTS.  ( GALATIANS 4:4-6 )      

    The Apostle Paul used adoption or "sonship" to illustrate
  to us, the believer's new relationship with God.  For when a
  person becomes a Christian, he or she gains all the privileges
  and responsibilities of a Child in God's family.

      One of these privileges is being lead by the Spirit. Now we
  may not always feel as though we belong to God, but the Holy
  Spirit is our witness!  For His inward presence reminds us of
  who we are and encourages us with God's love.  For it is written;
   NOW HOPE DOES NOT DISAPPOINT, BECAUSE THE LOVE
  OF GOD HAS BEEN POURED OUT IN OUR HEARTS BY THE
  HOLY SPIRIT WHO WAS GIVEN TO US. ( ROMANS 5:5 )
      
     So, have a wonderful day remembering that you are
  indeed a Child of God Almighty, and an heir as well.  For it is
  written, YOU ARE NO LONGER A SLAVE, BUT A SON; AND
  SINCE YOU ARE A SON, GOD HAS MADE YOU ALSO AN
  HEIR.   Wow!  Wow, Indeed!   Amen.   ( GALATIANS 4:7 )

Blessings

reprinted from God's Minute

Pastors - Being Well-Prepared

If sweat were blood, my study would be red. So would yours. As pastors, part of what helps us become good communicators is paying the personal price for being well-prepared. That takes hard work.

“The Preacher,” Solomon tells us, “also taught the people knowledge”—and this occurred by “pondering, searching out, and arranging” his thoughts (Ecclesiastes 12:9). These verbs are in the intensive stem in the Hebrew. In other words, in becoming well-prepared, you have to sacrifice. The cost is high! Both in time . . . and in tools.

Buy books that help you understand the Word of God. Some of my best books are what I call my “blood” books. When I was in seminary, I used to donate a pint of blood and in return receive twenty bucks. I bought the Old Testament series by Kyle and Delitzsch with blood money. I bought Kittel’s Theological Dictionary of the New Testament with blood money. They were supposed to take my blood only every six weeks, but I’d occasionally go in after five weeks. One time I pushed it to four weeks! Cynthia told me, “I think you’re kind of pressing it on this thing with your library.” And she was right. But hey, where else can you have 100 scholars at your fingertips when you’re stuck away in Fargo . . . or Frisco! Get and use good tools.

You’ll have to deal severely with the temptation to dance around a passage rather than to dig in deeply—especially when time is of the essence. So start early. We both know that Saturday night panic doesn’t yield quality stuff on Sunday. “A mist in the pulpit puts a fog in the pew” is another way of saying it!

I would encourage you to write down more of your ideas. Don’t rely on your memory. Write down those fleeting thoughts that come to you in the middle of the night. Many times I have gotten up to write something I didn’t want to lose. Those times that I didn’t do that, almost without exception, I forgot them by the next morning. I must go through half a yellow tablet of paper per sermon writing things down. I have discovered that it is in the writing of my thoughts that my ideas take shape and narrow into understandable terms. It is in the “pondering, searching out, and arranging” of thoughts that the preacher is well-prepared.

Oh, and please . . . don’t feel bad about taking your notes and outline into the pulpit! What could be more frustrating than being well-prepared to communicate only to forget half of it after the choir sings? The best expositors I’ve heard use notes.

Changing lives is God’s job. We rely on Him for that—unquestionably. But being well-prepared . . . that’s our responsibility.

—Chuck

A reprint from Chuck Swindoll