good

Good Shepherd 

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Psalm 23:1 
“The Lord is my Shepherd . . .”

In this Psalm, David uses the illustration of a shepherd to speak of God’s care for those who belong to Him. This Psalm speaks of the benefits true to all who are in a covenant relationship with God. He speaks of God’s provision, comfort, protection and care. Jesus used the same illustration in John 10 when He said, 

“But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.” John 10:26-28

While the poetry of this Psalm is beautiful and comforting, it is important that we realize the promises are for those who have received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. If you want to experience God in the way that David describes Him, it begins with surrendering your life to Christ and following Him. Once that has happened, all these great and precious promises belong to you. As long as you live like a sheep outside the fold of God, you miss out on the loving care of the Good Shepherd; life’s difficulties must be faced with your own strength and resources. However, the moment you surrender to Him, He becomes your Shepherd, and you begin to lie down in green pastures, walk by still waters, benefit from His rod and staff, and experience goodness and mercy following after you.

With all that is promised to the one who follows Christ, it is so foolish to refuse Him. What are you holding back from God that is better than all He wants to do for you? Will you make Him your Shepherd today?

Pastor Jim

 

Life Is Good

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Psalm 16:5-6
“O Lord, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup;
You maintain my lot.
The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places;
Yes, I have a good inheritance.”

The Psalmist is describing his life. The lines he refers to, speak of his experiences in life. They might include his family life, his marriage, his ministry experiences, and even his recreational pursuits. He is saying, life is good. To use the words of Jesus, he is experiencing life in abundance. I think every one of us would like to be able to sing these words. The question is, how did he get there.?

Early on in Israel’s history, God divided the nation into sections, and each tribe was given a portion or a lot to occupy. These lots were determined by two things. First, where they lived was determined by the Lord. It was the sovereign will of God that Asher received a coastal plot and Naphtali was in the North.  The second determining factor, was the size of each tribe. The larger tribes were given larger lots, the smaller tribes, smaller ones. After failing to enter the Promised Land, the children of Israel spent thirty-eight years in the wilderness. During those years, some of the tribes increased in size, while others decreased, or remained essentially the same. When they finally entered the land, and were given their inheritance, the tribes that had grown received a bigger lot.

The same is true of us. Some of the things we face in life are controlled by the sovereign will of God, others by our growing in the Lord. The more we grow in Christ, the more we will find, “our lines have been drawn in pleasant places.” Instead of complaining about the things in life which are outside of our control, we should be focussing our energies upon growing in Christ. We do that by abiding in Jesus. The more we spend time getting to know His Word and applying His Word in our daily living, the more we will grow in Christ.

Let’s decide this morning that we will set our hearts on seeking the Lord, and let Him draw our lines for us.

Pastor Jim

Psalm 16

  1. How does David feel about other believers?
  2. “The lot” refers to the life that David had been allocated from the Lord. His life and calling was uniquely his, what do you think he means by his lines “falling in pleasant places”?
  3. Not all the places David found himself were pleasant. What truths does this psalm reveal about how it is possible to find joy in our difficult times?
  4. What application can you draw from your own life from the fact that at His hand are pleasures forevermore?

 

 

The Whole Town Is Talking

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Ruth 3:11

“And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you request, for all the people of my town know that you are a virtuous woman.”


Ruth was not an Israelite, nor was she born in Israel. She was a foreigner from the neighboring country of Moab. The Moabites had a long and sorted relationship with Israel that would add to the stigma associated with this young foreigner. When Ruth arrived in Bethlehem, all that was known of her was that she was the widowed daughter-in-law of Naomi, who had left Israel ten years earlier with her family, and returned alone. It is probable that a vast array of stories began to spread regarding the character of this young woman. I find it striking, and encouraging, that in the short time she lived in this new town, she had quieted those rumors, and was considered by all who knew her, to be a “virtuous woman.” 


The word virtuous means to be strong and able. It is often used to speak of warriors in battle, but is also used to describe a woman of he highest caliber. The final chapter of Proverbs records the advice Solomon was given when looking for a wife. He was encouraged to find a woman of virtue. 


By her behaviors, Ruth was able to silence her critics, and set an example of godly behavior in her generation. Regardless of our gender or the difficulties we are facing, we should take a page from the story of Ruth, and seek to be a witness of Christ in the world in which we live. 


How are you viewed by family members, co-workers, and your community? Do they consider you to be a valiant,  godly individual? Does your communication and your behavior give evidence to your commitment to Christ? 


It’s time to become virtuous men and women whose lives testify of the grace and goodness of God. Our world needs us. 


Pastor Jim 

 

Jesus The Gardner 

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John 20:15 
“She, supposing Him to be the gardener, . . .”

Mary saw Jesus, but the circumstance she was in, and the experiences she was facing, caused her to conclude that He was a gardener. It was not until she heard His Word, that she clearly understood who He really was.

It interests me how many different, even opposing views, people develop regarding Jesus. These views have two things in common. First, they are usually forged as a result of personal experience, and second, they are always formed without the illumination of Scripture. Some consider Jesus to be a good person who was misunderstood; others, a mythical figure; while till others, use portions of Scripture to develop a hybrid Jesus, who bears little resemblance to the Jesus of the Bible.

This is not only true of the unbeliever or the seeker, it is also true of the Christian. How often do we allow the circumstances of life to shape our view of Christ? When we are facing hardship, we think of Him as unloving, distant or even weak. While blessings cause us to think of Him as loving and kind. It is not our circumstances, but His Word, that defines Him. When we will listen to His Word, we will see who He truly is, and how He wants to work in our circumstances.

Never limit Jesus to what you understand of Him; He is so much greater than that. Let His Word define Him as you worship Him.

Pastor Jim

 

Man-made Religion

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Luke 18:9
 “He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others . . .”

The chief trait of this Pharisee was the idea that he did not need God. A modern equivalent would be the person who, with his imagination and personal experience, has fabricated both a god and a religious system by which he is acceptable to his god. The Pharisees did just that. They picked out certain verses from Scripture to form what they thought God was like, then based upon that, they established behaviors they believed He would accept. The result was a group of self-righteous men who looked down upon others and rejected Christ. In contrast, we find a man who has lived a compromising life. While externally he seems to be the one whom God would reject, he is accepted because he came to God, not on his own terms, but on God’s.

The lesson is very clear. It will be those who humble themselves, confess their sin, and come to God through Christ, who will be accepted by Him.

Don’t be like the Pharisees who rejected Him because they thought they were good enough.

Pastor Jim


Meant For Good

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Genesis 50:20
“But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.”

2015/01/img_1378.jpgWe have all faced times in our lives when we have looked up from our circumstances and wondered, “How God could truly love me and let me go through this.” If any man had a right to allow his circumstances to call into question the loving-kindness of God, it was Joseph. I can only imagine the horror he must have experienced when his brothers suddenly turned on him and cast him into a pit. That scene must have played over and over in his mind, perhaps even while he slept. That first bitter act put Joseph’s life on a course that would seem to be leading ever downward, from kidnapped victim, to slave, to convicted rapist; forgotten in a foreign prison cell. Many men, perhaps even most men, would allow these circumstances to harden them as they plotted revenge on those who ruined their life. But Joseph proved himself to be unlike most men when, instead of looking back with vengeful hate, he looked up and saw the hand of God redeeming what had been destroyed. Long before he found himself face to face with his brothers, Joseph had gotten face to face with God, and learned that the hand of God had been guiding his life for a single purpose – the salvation of souls. In what is one of the most beautiful and searching statements in scripture Joseph declares,

“But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.”

Instead of allowing bitterness or regret to control our thoughts and action, we should follow the example of Joseph, and realize that the redeeming hand of God has placed us where we are, for the purpose of saving souls. Whether we are in a jail cell or sitting atop a corporate kingdom, it is the hand of God that places us there, with the purpose that we might win others to Christ.

Pastor Jim

 

Perspective

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Genesis 45:7
“And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.”

2015/01/img_1365.jpgEveryone of us has had the experience of being mistreated. For most, it has been the little things, like our character being questioned or our feelings hurt. Others, like Joseph, have experienced their entire life being altered by the deeds of another. The story of Joseph is significant in so many respects, not the least of which is, he used his newfound position of power, not to retaliate, but to rescue. It is nothing short of a miracle that this man was not bitter, angry and vengeful. I wonder if we can uncover the secret behind his success.

As the mask comes off, and Joseph reveals himself to his brothers, he reflects upon the years of his life. Instead of dwelling upon the time in the pit, or the prison, his focus is on the palace. He was able to see the difficulties which he faced, as part of a bigger plan and purpose. If there had been no pit, no Potiphar, and no prison, there would be no palace, and no preservation for the people of God. He views his entire life through the filter of God’s promises. Joseph understood he was playing a part in the salvation of a people, and every obstacle was, in fact, an opportunity.

Too often, we go through life with the wrong perspective. We see hardship only as it effects us and our comforts. We fail to see it as a small piece of a much larger puzzle. God is looking down at a world he loves and wants to save, and He sees each of us as playing a role in this great deliverance. Instead of complaining at the difficult hand we have been dealt, we should be looking at life from the perspective of preservation and deliverance. How does God want to use our current situation to bring others to Christ?

Joseph was able to see all he went through, as part of God’s plan of salvation. Do you see your life that way? Are you using your current sphere of influence for preservation and deliverance?

Pastor Jim

 

For Me Or Against Me

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Genesis 42:36
“And Jacob their father said to them, ‘You have bereaved me: Joseph is no more, Simeon is no more, and you want to take Benjamin. All these things are against me.’”

2015/01/img_1356.jpgSometimes perspective is reality. How we see things will determine how we act. Jacob had experienced a series of very difficult trials. He lost his sons, Joseph and Simeon, and now he was in danger of losing his youngest son, Benjamin. As these things built up around him, he cried out in despair, “All these things are against me.” What Jacob failed to realize is, the things that seemed to be working against him, were the very things God was using to work out the salvation of his family. All he could see was loss, but God was at work, behind the scenes, preparing a much greater reward than he could ever imagine.

Life is like that. We see things through the lens of our limited experience and knowledge. When something goes against what we perceive as “the plan”, we become discouraged, upset, heartbroken or even angry. Sometimes, like Jacob, we will forget God’s promises, and raise our voice to accuse Him of wrong-doing. If only Jacob could look beyond the walls of his limited vantage point, and see what God was actually accomplishing, then instead of despair, his voice would be filled with praise. God has a different way, He wants us to look beyond our experiences, and into His promises. He wants us to believe Him when He said, “ALL things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28

Regardless of what difficulties you are facing today, keep in mind that you cannot see the whole story. You are somewhere in the middle of what God is doing, and He promises not to leave you, but to work things out for His ultimate purposes.

Pastor Jim