Your Word Is In My Heart

Psalm 119:11

I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.

I’ve said before – that living for Jesus is enhanced – even made possible – through our being open to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit came to teach us all things and to remind us of the things that Jesus taught. We’ve also said that we cannot understand the Bible without the Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives. As we search the truths in the Bible – inspired and urged on by the Holy Spirit – we grow in our knowledge and understanding of Jesus.

A deep knowledge and understanding of the Word of God is only possible through a deepening of our walk with Jesus through the Holy Spirit. The more we know – the deeper we search the Word of God – the more useful a tool it will be for us in our spiritual journey. I once said – the more we use our Sword (our Bible) the more useful that tool becomes to us – so we would encourage people to bring their Bibles to church and to follow along during the sermons. Today – we can read our Bible on our smart phones and even follow along on them by following sermon notes by using the URL found in the bulletin each week. There are so many tools available to us as we read the Bible. But – none of them has worth to us without the Holy Spirit.

Reading and storing up the Word of God in our heart – in our mind – is so important. Jesus resisted the Devil when he tempted Him by quoting the Word of God. Jesus was such a student of the Word of God – that He knew when Satan was using it wrongly! Matthew 4:1–11 – ¹ Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ²After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. ³ The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” ⁴ Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” ⁵Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. ⁶ “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” ⁷ Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” ⁸ Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. ⁹“All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” ¹⁰ Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’” ¹¹Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

Gathering Together

Hebrews 10:24–25

²⁴ And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, ²⁵ not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Last Sunday was Easter – and most sanctuaries were probably fuller than normal. I know our church had a number of folks that were visiting and most of our regular members were present. It wasn’t packed – but there were more than usual. It was a wonderful day and worship was a blessing. Did you attend worship? If so – leave some comments in the comment section giving God glory for what you experienced.

My sermon Sunday – was about commissioning the Body of Christ – the church – to go out and tell somebody about Jesus. You can hear the service and sermon here. The sermon is titled – The Great Commissioning – and is based on Matthew 28:1-20. I challenged the congregation – and myself – to think of four persons that they believed needed to hear about Jesus – and go and share our faith with them.

Everything is Possible for One Who Believes!

Mark 9:23

Everything is possible for one who believes.

Let’s begin today’s devotional with today’s passage in context. Mark 9:17–29 – ¹⁷ A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. ¹⁸ Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.” ¹⁹ “You unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.” ²⁰ So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. ²¹ Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?” “From childhood,” he answered. ²² “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” ²³ “ ‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.” ²⁴ Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” ²⁵ When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the impure spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” ²⁶ The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.” ²⁷ But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up. ²⁸ After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” ²⁹ He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer.”

I Have Fought the Good Fight

2 Timothy 4:7

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

One of the things I do as a pastor – is to encourage the Saints of Christ in their final days. I have done more funerals than I’d like to count – losing some dear friends along the way. Along with being blessed and called upon to help folks in their last days or hours – I’m also called to encourage and guide the rest of us. We do not know when those last days and hours will come for us. We need to be ready – for it could come at any time.

I came to believe in Jesus Christ as a 12 year old. Oh – I was raised in a Christian home and would have told you – before 12 – that I was a Christian – but my faith was based upon my parent’s faith and my upbringing in the church. It wasn’t until a revival – the summer when I was 12 years old (57 years ago) – that my faith became personal and mine. I went to the altar and accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I asked the evangelist to pray over me after the service – because I felt a tug on my heart to do so.

Whatever We Do!

Colossians 3:23

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,

Whatever we do – we should do it to God’s glory! Whatever we do – we should give our best effort – as if we were doing it for God. This is a Scripture that has been in my thoughts throughout my life. I wish I could say I’ve always followed it – but – I can’t. I have failed to follow these instructions on numerous occasions. But – I will strive and have strived often to follow it.

We’ve talked a lot about witnessing and our Christian walk of late. Some of us are more excited and give a better effort to persuade someone to like our favorite sports team or to vote for our preferred candidate in the upcoming elections than we do to persuade them to follow Jesus. We get more pumped up for worldly things – at times – than we do for spiritual things. We would invite someone to a game a lot quicker than to church. We put more time into our worldly endeavors like our work or our hobbies – than we do in deepening our faith walk with Jesus (at least it seems that for many of us).