Serving the Lord Part II

"The Great Commission"  (Matt 28:19-20)

The great commission which Jesus left with the disciples, just before He ascended into heaven; Matt 28:19-20 reads:  (19) "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:" (20) "Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world."

So what do we do about serving the Lord?  The first thing that we do is do away with all of the excuses.  Some people might say; "I don't know enough", or maybe " I don't feel led to do a certain thing".  That's the type of thinking that will really quench the Holy Spirit in your life.  It takes a willing vessel for the Spirit to work.  That's what is pleasing to the Father.  Jesus said in Luke 9:23 that we should deny ourselves, take up our cross daily and follow after him.  If you don't know what your calling is, then read it again and deny yourself (put the Lord first in your life), take up your cross (repent daily of our sins), and follow Jesus (Learn His ways and follow the righteous path that He laid for us).  This is every one's calling.

Jesus set the example for us in the three and a half years that he ministered.  Although His life was cruelly cut short, the legacy that He left us with is still with us.  The reason that this is so is because Godly people were willing to obey the Lord, sometimes at the risk of their life.  Jesus told us to be the light of the world and to preach the Gospel to every living creature.  Let's get rid of those excuses folks.  You have your calling.  You have your commandment.  It's time to get off the church pews and hit the Hy-ways and the hedges, and seek that which is lost.  You don't have to worry, God will equip you; as He already has given us the Holy Spirit to teach us and guide us on our journey. 

David

Reference:

http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org 

          

        



         



           

         





                                    

                                                                                                                

Serving the Lord Part 1

                                                                                          

Joshua 24:15

...as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

We will start our study this week  with Joshua 24:15 which reads;  "And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that [were] on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Ammorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord".   This is a very important scripture about the importance of serving God and not turning from His truth unto vain idols.

Since Moses was forbidden to enter when Israel passed into the promise land, the leadership of the people fell on Joshua, who was also ordained of God just as Moses had been.  Joshua was also faced with similar problems as his predecessor in dealing with Israel.  He was burdened with a people who were inclined toward disobedience, idolatry and wickedness, and other faults which displeases God.  It seems that no matter how the Lord worked among the people, they were forever turning away and following the things of the world and flesh.

 "And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve".  Israel had the same choice that Jesus gave us in Mathew 6:24 when He said that you cannot serve God and mammon.  The bible also says that friendship of the world is enmity with God.  I don't know about you, but to me these are very important points that the Lord is making in how to serve Him in a way that is pleasing to Him, and not to satisfy our own nature only.

 "Whether the gods which your fathers served that [were] on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell"  Let's think for a minute what Joshua is saying in this line of verse.  The gods which their fathers (or ancestors) served on the other side of the flood were the gods that were in the days of Noah.  The bible says that the people of that day were living it up and knew nothing until the flood  overtook them.  When the Lord had enough of the wickedness He destroyed all life with the flood, except for the ones in the ark--8 souls and the animals which Noah was commanded to take into the ark.  All of the gods and idols were powerless to stop the wrath of almighty God.  He also offered them the choice of the gods of the Ammorites.  Joshua pointed out to the children of Israel that they were living in the land which they had taken from the Ammorites.  Again the Ammorite gods were completely silent against the living God of Israel, who had delivered up the enemy unto Israel and gave them the land for an inheritance.

Well that winds up this section of our study on serving God.  Let's not be too hard on Israel, because we have the same choice today that they had then.  do we put God first in our lives as we should are do we put the things of the world first.  Everyone has this decision to make; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

God Bless

David

References:

http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org



                                                                     

Serve the Lord thy God

                                                                           

Joshua 24:15

    "And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that [were] on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord".

That's a pretty straight-forward proposition that Joshua put to the tribe of Israel.  The knowledge, as Christians, of how to serve the Lord our Savior is a very serious matter, that each of us should think about each and every day.  Just like Israel in the days of Joshua, all too many times we call out to God when we're in need or sometimes when we want something that is to hard or maybe impossible to get on or own; and when things are going good then we put Him back on the shelf until we're in need again.

We're going to have a study over the next few days and discover in the Word just how we can serve God, and what we can do to please Him and bring glory and honor to His name.  I hope that you will join us and be sure to add any comments or questions.  Until next time God bless and I hope you the best.

Dave

References:

http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org





    

The Living Word

                                                                                                                  

Psalms 1:1-2

1)  Blessed [is] the man that walketh not in the council of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.  2)  But his delight [is] in the law of the Lord; and in His law doth he meditate day and night.

What joy and comfort there is in reading the word of God!  No matter what is going on in my life I can always find solice in the word.  Personally, I can't see how anyone would not love to be able to sit and read the bible at least for a part of every day.  Sadly many church members and all of the lost souls in the world are either too busy or just not interested in what God has to say.  After all that the Lord has done for us it's very sad.

Brother Dave

http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/ 

 

The Living Word

                            

I Timothy 1:15    This [is] a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.


What a wonderful God that we have, to send His only begotten Son to die for the sins of the world.  This message has been preached for 2000 years now and it's just as powerful as it was on the day of Pentecost.  It's hard to fathom the incredible love that our God has for his children. 

Sadly, the message of the cross falls on many deaf ears.  Jesus himself said that the gate to heaven is narrow and few there are that will enter there-in.  My dear friends it doesn't have to be that way at all.  The Lord said that He wanted to lose no one.  Salvation is a gift from almighty God that whosoever believeth on Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16).

If Jesus came into the world to save sinners like the bible says, then He was talking about everyone on the face of the earth.  The bible says that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.  This being a very true statement, we have to realize that Jesus has the power to cleanse us of all sin, no matter how bad that we think that our lives have been, or how horrible things that we've done.  God is bigger than anything that you've ever encountered and we can overcome anything through the name of Jesus, just as He overcame the world on Calvary.

Brother Dave

http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/  

Don't Stray from the Word

Romans 3:4

God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.

Reference:

http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/

 

Food for thought

Mathew 2:10

"When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy".

The bible says that when the wise men declared the King of the Jews was born for they had seen his star.  This caused Herod to be very troubled because if there was one thing that he didn't want, it was competition.  He called all of his chief priests and wise men and demanded of them where Christ should be born.  They told him in Bethlehem, for thus it was spoken by the profit.

That's all very well and just as it should be, but it seems to me that there is one problem with this scenario.  The problem is that Herod called the top religious leaders in the land for advice.  These men knew the scriptures, by there own admittance they knew the location that the Lord would be born.  My question is that knowing what they knew about prophecy, why did they not hot foot it down to Bethlehem to see the Savior of the world firsthand. 

Can you imagine?  They new He was there.  The Savior of the world was within walking distance and they chose rather to serve a man rather than give their lives to Jesus.  My friends, let us not make the same mistake.  Now is the accepted time of salvation and the Lord Jesus is there waiting on whoever will call on His name.  Do not think that we can put it off because we never know when our soul shall be required.

God Bless!!!

David

Reference:  http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/

Bible Verse of the Day

Matthew 6:34  "Take therefore no thought for the morrow:  for the morrow shall take thought of the things of itself.  Sufficient unto the day [is] the evil thereof".

Understanding Mathew 3:10

This is in response to a question on the meaning of Mathew 3:10  "And now also  the axe is laid unto the root of the trees; therefore every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire".

To break it down; the axe is the word of God, the root of the trees are the souls of people and the fruits are their works (whether they be good or bad).

Jesus said in Matt 7:15-20 "Beware of false profits, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither [can] a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them".

Every soul will have to face the Lord and make an account of their lives, whether they be in the Lamb's book of life or not. Jesus said in John 5:28-29 "Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation".

The Lord said that "you cannot serve God and mammon". This is a very serious choice that each person has to make, whether to serve God or to live their life lusting after the things of the flesh.

The apostle Paul said in Gal 5 19-23 "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envying, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like; of the which I tell you before, as I have also told [you] in times past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law".

According to the bible, saved people ought to act like saved people, accept God's blessings while we're here and then go on home to be with the Lord. I hope that this helps. It sure did me a lot of good.

Love you guys!

Brother Dave

Reference: http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/

June 20, 2011 1:17 AM

 



Bible Verse of the Day

I Timothy 1:15  "This [is] a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief".

God bless,

David

Reference:  http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/

Bible Verse of the Day

Mathew 3:10  "And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees; therefore every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire".

God Bless,

Brother Dave

Reference:  http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/

Bible Verse of the Day

Romans  1:8  "First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world".

God bless,

Brother Dave

References:  http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Romans-Chapter-1/

Verse of the Day



John 3:16   "For god so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life".

God Bless,

Brother Dave

Reference:  http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/

If You Talk the Talk, Walk the Walk

How many times have you seen someone who supports different charities, goes to church once or twice a week and throws bible verses at you every chance they get?  All of these things are important parts of being a christian and we all should do what we can.  But what about when a church member is not living up to what he is preaching?

Sometimes it's easy to get caught up in our everyday lives put our spiritual lives on the back burner.  There are so many temptations in the world that we live in that we must be ever vigilant against disobedience to God.  The bible says that "there is great pleasure in sin but it only lasts for a season".   Is a little pleasure really worth losing our testimony--especially toward unbelievers?

It's true that the bible says that "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God".  But is that an excuse to sin?  Not according to the apostle Paul who said "shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?  God forbid".  James said to "be a doer of the word, and not a hearer only, deceiving your own selves".

My friends I am not a legalist.  It's not about what you eat or what kind of cloths that you wear or any of the other type of things that men try to bind you with.  It's about living the kind of lifestyle befitting a child of God.  Above all things, we should try to live our lives in a way that is pleasing to God.

A christian life is not easy and it was never intended to be.  However, the reward that awaits us in the end more than makes up for passing up a few worldly pleasures.  My dear friends, lets strive to walk the walk that will be pleasing to our beloved savior, and when we slip we can get up, repent and be all the stronger for it.  This is what we call growing in grace.

God Bless You All,

Brother Dave

Reference:  http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/

The Living Word

How precious is the word of god to those who believe.  I remember the years before I was saved, how dark and dim my life seemed to me.  I knew that there was more to this life than just surviving in a world full of evil and danger at every turn.

Although I was raised in church, I never accepted Jesus as my Lord and savior until I was 34 years old.  I thought that I had all the answers, while in reality I knew nothing.  When finally I accepted the Lord and cried out to him to save my soul and come into my life, it opened up a whole new life for me.

If anyone has a doubt about their eternal home or needs a touch from Jesus, he's always there and always ready to help.  How are we doing in our walk with God?

God Bless,

Brother Dave

Star Creek Church



I guess maybe that I should say a few words about our little country church.  The truth is that star Creek is just that--a little church in the country.  We don't have a large congregation or a lot of programs to attract a lot of people.  Our pastor (Wayland Lovine) is a wonderful man and a devout man of God.  He really takes preaching the gospel seriously.

Then there's Mrs. Gertrude Hyde (I think that's right) who is a precious widow of another great preacher.  Joe and Carolyn Greenway are a real blessing to everyone who knows them.  They also sing in church and Joe takes prayer requests and often leads prayer.  Jerry and Cindy Garrin are another beautiful addition to Star Creek.  Jerry often does the preaching and Cindy plays the piano for the choir.  My wife Jennifer also sings and plays the piano.

That pretty well rounds up the core of the church, but we have several people who attend on occasion as they can.  But don't worry, we are never lacking the holy spirit.  The Lord pours out His blessings on us at every service.

God Bless!

Brother Dave

Bible Study



Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

2 Timothy 2:15

How important it is to dwell on the word of god daily.  What better way is there to "seek first the kingdom of God and to know exactly what He expects of us in our christian walk. Psalms 1:2 says that our delight should be to meditate in the law of the Lord day and night.  This is what the saved people should be interested in--the word of God as it was given to us, which is not always the way we would like for it to be.

Have a blessed day

Brother Dave

Reference:  http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/

After church

Not Star Creek church. but really nice!

Well church is over for now.  Now is the time that the followers of Christ should go and witness to the lost, backsliding and anyone who needs the Lord (which means everybody).  Jesus opened the way for everyone to be saved simply by believing on Him and the sacrifice that He made.  As simple as that sounds most people just won't have anything to do with it.  But that's all right, He said that it would be that way.  The apostle Paul said that in the end perilous times would come--well neighbor, perilous times are here.  I thank God through Jesus Christ my savior that He that is within me is greater than he that is within the world.

God bless!

Brother Dave
http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/
Reference:

Almost church time



It's almost time for evening service so I'm about ready to leave.  We are in the middle of a thunder storm right now and the rain is really falling.  That's OK, though, because we really need the rain.  Did you know that it didn't rain for three and a half years one time?  That's right!  One man (Elijah) prayed that it not rain and the Lord withheld the rain for three years and six months.  All things are possible if you just believe.  See you soon!

Brother Dave

Reference:  http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/

Introduction to my blog



Hi everyone.  This is the first time that I have ever tried to do anything like this so I hope that I 'm on the right track.  When I found about blogs just recently, I thought that it would be a great way to share the gospel truth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.  So that is what this is all about.

My wife Jennifer and I attend Star Creek Babtist church where we sing and she plays the piano.  I also take part in the ministry and teach Sunday school.  My greatest calling, however, is to witness to people outside of the church.  So many people nowadays are suffering and in such a need for Jesus and many of them don't even know it.

One thing that I am not is a bible scholar but I have read it and have a good understanding of God's plan of salvation.  If anyone has a question about or a problem, though, I can ussually find the answer in the scriptures pretty quick.  Just remmember that the Lord Jesus said that you must be born again to enter into the Kingdom of God.  There is no other way because He is the way. 

God Bless,

Brother Dave

Reference:  http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/