Category: Devotional Thought

“Get it the same way I did — work for it!“

When Ken saw the bumper sticker, he appreciated its warning about envy. But he was curious. What was the “it” he should work for? Certainly not the old Dodge van the message was stuck on! That vehicle was unlikely to send anybody’s pulse racing.

What was “it” that the van driver had worked for? His house? His boat? His tools? Had he really made it his life’s work just to accumulate things? “That’s pretty foolish,” Ken thought.

Was the van driver referring to his career success? If he was successful, no doubt he had worked hard. But success takes more than work. It takes intelligence, ability, help from others, health. None of these things are our own doing — and nobody ever succeeds without them.

Was it his family? Now there something worth having. But again — it’s something no sane person would take credit for. Look at your own wife and children. Can you claim you bought them with hard work and now own them? That can’t be.

What about spiritual things? Could the van owner have meant that he worked for his good standing with God? Utterly impossible. Nobody ever got anywhere with God by working for it.

Forgiveness, salvation, even faith are all gifts from God. They are not paybacks. The Bible teaches that clearly from beginning to end.

“When God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work — this is a gift of God” (Ecclesiastes 5:19).

The person who said that lived long before bumper stickers. If he had had them, he might have written:  “Get it the same way I did — from a gracious God!“

Pastor R.

 Why would you avoid church? Let’s check the attitude department.

Do you think . . .

• there are too many hypocrites in church?
• the church is only after your money?
• the sermons are too long and boring?
• you feel saved without attending worship services?
• you attend only to do God a favor?
• life is too busy and you can get by without God?
• all of the above?

When mother makes a meal, she doesn’t need to thank you because she fed you. Nor does God need to thank you because he has provided you with spiritual nourishment.

We go to church to feed a starved soul. We also go to offer God praise and thanksgiving for his many blessings to us.

Christ established his church to offer comfort and forgiveness to all sinners. The Lord cries out, “Comfort, comfort my people” (Isaiah 40:1).

The chief responsibility of pastors is not to brow beat members or give visitors a guilt trip. God wants everyone to have the hope of eternal life. That hope is offered only through the sin-washing and life-giving gospel of Jesus Christ.

If I am avoiding church because my spiritual values don’t agree with Christ’s, I am in serious trouble. I don’t want to die in that condition.

When it comes to church, what the Bible says really makes sense, “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another — and all the more as you see the Day [of judgment] approaching” (Hebrews 10:25).

God loves you with an everlasting love. He demonstrated this love by sending his Son, Jesus Christ, to live perfectly for you, and to die innocently to pay for your sins.  Worship him!

“Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly” (Colossians 3:16). Then whatever storms of life bear down on you, you will be able to weather them all.

See you in church.
Pastor R.

You can get all kinds of financial advice. Chop up your credit cards; invest in TSAs, IRAs, mutual funds. It seems everywhere you look someone is trying to give advice on how to secure a comfortable retirement.

Are you putting away a set amount each month? Do you have investments, stocks, bonds? It takes planning and effort to become economically healthy.

Wait a minute. We’re forgetting something. How long do you expect to live? Eighty, ninety years? How do you know? Maybe 35 is all you get, or 52. Then what? How will you spend eternity?

Jesus told a story of a farmer who became very wealthy. He said to himself (Luke 12:19), “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”

It sounds good, doesn’t it? But God said to him (v 20), “You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?”

Jesus went on to say (v 21), “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.”

It doesn’t do much good to plan and work hard for economic fitness in this life, and then to be bankrupt in eternity. To put it bluntly, it is foolish to spend eternity in hell.

A wise person plans for this life and for eternity.

How? Listen to the promises of God. Believe them.

In the Bible God offers everlasting life, his love, and happiness. These heavenly treasures are a result of his planning and the work of his Son Jesus.

You don’t have to earn these commodities. You don’t even have to send for them. They are yours as a free gift.

Believe that Jesus has paid for your sins and that he has earned eternal life for you.

Make it point to be in worship every Sunday. We can share more about how you can be totally fit.

Pastor R.

Loud music. Glistening bodies. High energy. Another aerobics class is in session.

“Exercise!” “Get in shape!” “Tone that body!” Those are buzz words of the 1990s.

Recreational centers are springing up quicker than discount stores. Cities everywhere are offering hockey, basketball, racquetball, swimming, dance, and exercise rooms.

Many people work out on an almost daily basis. They exercise at home, run or walk outdoors, or go to a gym. People who work out regularly feel better, have more energy, and get more done.

This is great for the body, but what about the soul? Where does Jesus fit into this picture? If we exercise our bodies but not our souls, we are not really totally fit.

The Bible says, “The soul who sins is the one who will die” (Ezekiel 18:4). “The dust [body] returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit [soul] returns to God who gave it” (Ecclesiastes 12:7). This tells us we need to get our souls in shape. We need soul exercise.

We need the daily routine of reading God’s Word. We need to do spiritual breathing exercises under the guidance of a spiritual trainer. We need to get our souls in shape through the message of forgiveness of sins and eternal life provided by the Son of God, Jesus Christ.

As one believer put it, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that lasts forever” (1 Corinthians 9:24,25).

It’s great that so many people desire to exercise their bodies. It’s greater still when people also desire to exercise their souls. That’s the type of fitness that lasts forever.

After a race or a tough workout, a drink of cool water really tastes good.  Much better is the taste of the water of life. The message of Jesus Christ provides perfect health for the soul.

Exercise your soul each week at our spiritual training center — our church.  You can become totally fit!

Pastor R.

“Take your pulse for 15 seconds,” the treadmill screen spelled out. The five-minute fitness test was finally over.

Jim felt great about what he had accomplished. He was doing better each week and was scoring higher than his coworkers.

Physical fitness is something we work at or accomplish by our efforts — like being able to finish the 5K run.

What about our spiritual fitness? What kind of shape will we be in when we stand before God and he sees our hearts and lives? Can we exercise ourselves into good spiritual shape by what we think or say or do?

Being better than our neighbor won’t get us into heaven. With God we can’t be merely pretty healthy. We need to be perfectly healthy.

The Bible demands, “Be perfect . . . as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). But how?

Jesus once told a story of two men who went to the temple to pray. One boasted that he was a good “spiritual” person. He listed many deeds which he thought put him in good shape with God.

The second man humbly admitted that his life was a mess according to God’s standards. He relied on God’s mercy and asked him to cancel his record of sins. This man was the one who passed the test of spiritual fitness. (Confer Luke 18:9-14).

Spiritual fitness isn’t something we accomplish by our efforts, no matter how hard we try. It’s a gift from God.

When we trust in Jesus, God counts none of our sins against us. “The blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).

God’s guide to spiritual fitness is spelled out clearly in the Bible, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5).

Join us each Sunday to learn more about God’s spiritual fitness plan!

Pastor R.