Keep Your Eyes Fixed On God

Week of September 30, 2022

And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock; and He said to them, “Hear now, you rebels!  Must we bring water for you out of this rock?”(Numbers 20:10, NKJV)

  It’s easy to see why Moses became frustrated with the Hebrew people. Moses lost his patience and became angry with them because they were being so hard-hearted.  Yet each and every time that Moses shifted his focus away from God, it cost him.  When he sought to help his people by taking matters into his own hands he ended up spending the next 40 years herding sheep on the back side of the desert.  This time his behavior cost him the opportunity to enter the Promised Land.  In his frustration, at the people’s irreverence, Moses committed the same sin of disobeying God’s instruction.  Sin happened because Moses allowed his attention to shift to the behavior of others rather than God. This can happen to us all.  God is always putting people around us who need our ministry but if we concentrate on their weaknesses and stubbornness their disobedience may frustrate us.  We may, just like Moses, commit the sin we are condemning.  We must keep our eyes focused on God.  When a friend’s behavior disappoints you, don’t concentrate on the friend’s sin but go to the Lord and ask Him what He wants you to do in that person’s life. This way you will have the wisdom and the patience you need to help your friend in a way that God desires.

God Bless, Pastor Rick

He Counted Me Faithful

Week of September 23, 2022

“And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry,” (1 Timothy 1:12, NKJV)

Paul was known as the “chief of sinners’’ but everything changed when God saved him. Paul embraced the Christian life with the same fervor that he had when he had previously opposed it. Paul worked to be a faithful servant in every assignment he was given, no matter how small or great. As a result, God found him to be faithful in the work of ministry.

Your ability to serve God is not based on your past, your level of education or your talent, but is firmly placed on your faithfulness to God today. If you are faithful with the tasks that God entrusts in you, He will empower you to accomplish it. Do not distinguish between big and small assignments as a measure of how God views your worth. Whether God has asked you to pray for a certain situation, minister to a person in need, care for the sick, or lead a Bible study, you must be faithful to what you have been called to do. When we are faithful we will experience His empowering strength through the work of the Holy Spirit. Remember that if you are faithful in a little, God will entrust you with more. You also will be able to rejoice in the same manner that Paul did when he was counted as faithful. Through all of Paul’s trials he remained grateful for all the opportunities that were given him. I hope the same can be said of all of us today!

God Bless, Pastor Rick

Dedicated Hands

Week of September 16, 2022

 “So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town. And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything.” (Mark 8:23, NKJV)

Everywhere we go; there are tasks that need to be accomplished.  Most of those tasks, I would say, require the use of your hands.  Our hands are truly a wonderful part of our body.  A carpenter can use his hands to build a house, an artist can use his hands to paint a beautiful picture, and a nurse can use her hands to help bring relief to a sick soul.

As we read through the Gospels, we find many scriptures where Jesus laid His hands upon people who were sick.  On another occasion, He divided the bread and fish for the multitude to have something to eat.  The Bible tells us in Mark 10:16 that He laid His hands on the children and blessed them.  The Bible also says that as He was ascending back to the Father, He lifted His hands and blessed the Disciples.

Whatever our talents, have you ever thought about this, we have a duty to use our hands as Christ used His to bless the world?  We have a task to accomplish in life.  In every place where there are people, there are tasks to accomplish with the use of dedicated Christian hands.  Jesus used His hands.  I challenge all of us today to dedicate our hands to be used for God’s use.

God Bless, Pastor Rick