We should show enthusiasm for the life God has given us!

 Show some enthusiasm!

It’s hard today to show enthusiasm for anything because of what’s going on in our country, what has happened over the last year, but it’s very important that we as believers show enthusiasm for life because we know the end of the story. We must remember whose kingdom that we are a citizen of and also remember that the best argument for Christianity is Christians! their joy, there certainly, their completeness. But the strongest argument against Christianity is also Christians – when they are somber… joyless… Self righteous… Smug… Narrow and repressive. The Christian life is not meant to be a journey to the grave with the goal of arriving safely in a well preserved body, but a race to the finish line, used up, totally fulfilled, and loudly proclaiming “wow” what a ride! David tells us that God lifed him out of a pit of despair, put his feet on solid ground, and gave him a new song in Psalm 40:1-31 and hasn’t he done the same for us?  So from this point forward, we should show enthusiasm for the life he has given us. 

Conflict and trails will come

 Conflict will come into our lives.

In my 20 years of ministry one thing seems certain, conflict will come into our lives, and when it does, we have the opportunity to honor God by responding as his word says we should. But it’s not easy. I’ve noticed the conflict seems to jump out just when things seem to be going smooth in church, someone gets their feelings hurt. I’ve had to deal with many different emotions from people who at the most unusual times come forward to say that I’ve done something wrong, someone else has done something wrong, someone is offended them, someone’s hurt their feelings or I said something I shouldn’t have said. So often it comes down to they’re just not getting the attention that they need. 

The Word tells in James 1:19-22 that I am to listen, I’m to think before I speak, and I am to avoid anger. So I know what God‘s Word says about anger I know what God‘s Word says about dealing with conflict but it’s not always easy to obey. So my prayer for today will be Lord, I want to always be a doer of your word. And as God would, I was finishing my thoughts on conflict when my wife sends me her daily devotion. 

From my wife Vicki;

Why does God allow us to go through trials...particularly trials of longer length?  Look at and consider Deuteronomy 8:1-11.

The Bible shares with us that there are valid purposes for trials:

1. To humble us

2. To test us

3. To know what is in our hearts

4. To reveal whether we will keep God's commandments or not

5. To humble us to reveal what we hunger for, whether it be good or bad

6. To show us our great need for God's Word 

7. To show us His provision

8. So we will know in our hearts that God loves us and cares enough about us to discipline us as His own---just as a loving parent disciplines his own son

9. As motivation to "keep the commandments of the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him"

10. To applicably teach us how to walk in His ways and to fear Him

11. To eventually bring us to a better place so we will be freed up to "bless the LORD your God for the good land which He has given you"

12. To free Him up to bless us at a greater level after we obey, walk in His ways, and fear Him

13. To teach us our need for Him so we will not forget to obey Him and we will not reject or neglect Him in the days to come

Trials are difficult and they truly show us what we are made of. They reveal the true condition of our hearts, what we think, and what we believe. They ultimately reveal what we truly think about God.

What if we are going through a life challenge right now...and we have failed miserably so far to love God and be loyal to Him?

Talk to Him about it right now and ask Him for His forgiveness. His mercies are new every morning and He is so faithful!

The Bible says if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

We are running a race and the goal is to condition our spiritual hearts. It's easy to fall down...and the enemy stops at nothing to trip you up.

Choose to get back up, brush yourself off, and continue to run a good race. Allow whatever situation you are in to refine you...not define you. Allow life's trials to bring you closer to God. 

Life may be very tough today but you serve a God who is in full control of all of your tomorrows. Go through this necessary journey with God to become better suited to love and serve Him...and in the process, He will bring you to a better place. There is a great prize at the end of the race of life, press forward with all your might!

Scriptures:

““Be careful to obey all the commands I am giving you today. Then you will live and multiply, and you will enter and occupy the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors. Remember how the Lord your God led you through the wilderness for these forty years, humbling you and testing you to prove your character, and to find out whether or not you would obey his commands. Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to you and your ancestors. He did it to teach you that people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.

Think about it: Just as a parent disciplines a child, the Lord your God disciplines you for your own good. “So obey the commands of the Lord your God by walking in his ways and fearing him. For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land of flowing streams and pools of water, with fountains and springs that gush out in the valleys and hills. It is a land of wheat and barley; of grapevines, fig trees, and pomegranates; of olive oil and honey. It is a land where food is plentiful and nothing is lacking. It is a land where iron is as common as stone, and copper is abundant in the hills. When you have eaten your fill, be sure to praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. “But that is the time to be careful! Beware that in your plenty you do not forget the Lord your God and disobey his commands, regulations, and decrees that I am giving you today.”  ‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭8:1-3, 5-11‬ ‭NLT‬‬

“The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.”Lamentations‬ ‭3:22-23‬ ‭NLT‬‬

“But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.”1 John‬ ‭1:9‬ ‭NLT‬‬

“When I am with those who are weak, I share their weakness, for I want to bring the weak to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some. I do everything to spread the Good News and share in its blessings. Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.”

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭9:22-27‬ ‭NLT‬‬

“My child, don’t reject the Lord’s discipline, and don’t be upset when he corrects you.

Joyful is the person who finds wisdom, the one who gains understanding.”

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭3:11, 13‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Four of a kind, beats a full house

 Four of a kind beats a full house

Message notes from 2 /21/2021

Mark 2:1-12

 

I. FAITH FACTOR ONE: A CHURCH FULL OF PEOPLE (v.1-2)
“A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. [2] So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them.” 

II. FAITH FACTOR TWO: A CHURCH FULL OF LOVE: (v.2-4)
“So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. [3] Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. [4] Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on.” 

III. FAITH FACTOR THREE: A CHURCH FULL OF COOPERATION (v.3-4)
“Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. [4] Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on.” 

IV. FAITH FACTOR FOUR: A CHURCH FULL OF CHANGED LIVES (v.5) 
“When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven.”

V. FAITH FACTOR FIVE: A CHURCH FULL OF CHALLENGES (v.6-9)
“Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves,  "Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?"  Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, "Why are you thinking these things? Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, ’Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ’Get up, take your mat and walk?” 

VI. FAITH FACTOR SIX: A CHURCH FULL OF HIS POWER (v.11-12a)
“I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all…” 

VII. FAITH FACTOR SEVEN: A CHURCH FULL OF PRAISE (v.12b)
“This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, 

 

 

             "We have never seen anything like this!”

FAVORITE DEVOTIONAL FROM MY WIFE, VICKI

 Something I have noticed about Christians who go through grief is they become super dynamic as they allow God to mold their hearts throughout their grief experience.

1. They live a life of LOVE- they extravagantly love God & others.
2. They place themselves under authority and wise counsel- they respect & honor God, their parents/in-laws, government, & employer.
3. They actively and purposely develop the fruits of the Spirit into their lives--LOVE, JOY, PEACE, PATIENCE, KINDNESS, GOODNESS, FAITHFULNESS, GENTLENESS, & SELF-CONTROL.
4. They are sensitive to the heart of God--what brings God joy will bring a Christian joy..and what breaks God's heart will break a Christ follower's heart.
5. They approach life, and others, with an eternal perspective--they desire to love and build God's kingdom and they desire to love, encourage, and build others up.
6. They live a life of PEACE-- they strive to have harmony in all their relationships, families, marriage, and homes. They don't take revenge. They do good to others.
7. They strive to live lives of faithfulness...and are GIVERS, not takers ...in their marriage, parenting, families, relationships, homes, business, and finances.
8. They have a heart for the less fortunate and hurting. They actively minister to widows, orphans, the fatherless, the grieving, poor, and the struggling.
9. They have a heart for evangelism and missions. They love what God has done so much in their own life that they desire to share their testimony and faith with others. 
10. They live a life of FAITH and HOPE--they understand that life on earth is not the final destination. Hardships strengthen their faith and hope. Trials refine them and sharpen them for God's use and ultimate purpose. They live out their life purpose with joy.
11. They live a life of service. They seek ways to be an asset to others instead of a liability. They look for ways to bless others. They are more than willing to roll up their sleeves to help God, their family, friends, church, and others.
12. They seek to live a life of WISDOM and refrain from living a life of foolishness. They give God complete access and “say-so” in their life and life choices.
13. They live a life of self control instead of self indulgence. They seek to live morally, ethically, and responsibly, and have a conscience about how best to carry out God's purpose for their life. They understand boundaries and implement wise ones. 
14. They live life on God's schedule instead of their own schedule. They seek to develop and establish a wise schedule that maintains harmony in their home, church, school, and workplace. Since they understand how precious time truly is, they wisely redeem the time God entrusts to them.
15. They respect and implement COMMUNITY--They "do life" with others. They take time to enjoy God, life, family, friends, loved ones, church, as well as each moment God blesses them with...in the good times and the bad. They rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn. They see the miracle life is and God's hand in every moment. They seek to establish strong families, marriages, churches, friendships, mentorships, and communities. Those who grieve have a powerful ability to love God, love others, and change the world.
What have you learned through your grief? I'm telling you, grief is one of the most powerful teachers you can learn life lessons from.

Why do we choose to live our life in a pit?

 Why do we choose to live our life in a pit? I often ask that question and get asked that question as to why with all that we have in our lives all that God is supplied why do we go through times of living our life in what seems to be a dark pit. 2020 certainly has created a life environment where it is easy to be in the pits. I’m reminded of the scripture and I think to myself when we talk about being in a pit it’s like Joseph in the Bible we may get thrown into a pit. Or maybe like David we may slip into the pit! Or maybe you feel like Elijah you just want to find a pit and jump in it. And of course there is Job, we may  just realize that life is the pits. The question is not whether we will face pits in our life? The question is what will we do when we find ourselves in the pit? David cried out to God from the pit and God not only heard but he helped. And just as he helped David, God will help you. Have you allowed the pit moments of life to define who you are? I want to suggest to you today that you avoid the temptation to become comfortable in the pit, it is so easy for us to.So starting today let’s refuse to throw a pit-y  party let’s say goodbye to pit-iful living and remember that Jesus came out of the tomb so that we could come up out of the pit.

May God keep you safe, and be light that takes you from the pit!

We survived 2020, while seeing God’s hand at work!

 We survived 2020, while seeing God’s hand at work!  We have lived through one of the most frustrating years of the 20 years of my ministry here in Mesquite Nevada. We saw in March of last year the government start to shut down everything, in fact reluctantly we shut the church down for Easter of 2020. And that is a burden that I’ll have for a long time, because I don’t believe it was God‘s will for us to ever ever shut down his church. I believe shutting down the church just played right into the hands of Satan, in fact I believe he probably celebrates every time the doors closed on the church or someone stays at home because they’re afraid. I’m not making light of the virus, I know it’s out there, and I know it’s serious. I know that people have lost their lives and continue to. I also know that the mortality rate is extremely low and I believe that many people are going to have illness in their life, whether it’s from the pandemic or not. 

During the close of 2020 we saw God do amazing work with regards to his church. In the middle of all that was going on God opened the door for us to be able to move into a new church home in 2021 twice as large as the current facility. In spite of all the darkness we’ve seen and are living through in these days, I see a tremendous bright light ahead of us as God guides and directs us with this new building to be able to reach more and more people in our community with the love of Jesus Christ. I’m excited to be a part of it, I thought that I may be retiring this year or maybe next year but God seems to have a different plan. So I’ll continue to faithfully serve him,  reach as many people as I can with the message and the good news of Jesus, and wait to see what God has in mind.  So stay with me over the next few months and I’ll try to keep my blog more current than I have since I haven’t done anything on it for almost 2 years shame on me. But starting today I’m gonna try to at least once a week give you an update on what’s going on at First Baptist Church Mesquite. May God bless you and keep you safe and healthy. Pastor Bill