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God's Will - Your Will...

6/22/2017

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15“Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves. 16You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. 18A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. 19So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. 20Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions. 21“Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. 22On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ 23But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’ (Matthew 7:15-23 NLT)
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These words from Matthew are not often thought of as one teaching, but they are. Jesus warns all who would follow Him about false teachers and how to recognize such teachers: Verse 20, “20Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.” There it is, plain and simple. I know we like to apply it to other people, but I am asking you this day to apply it to yourself. You see, to use an old cliché, it is easy to talk the talk; but can you invest the effort to walk the walk? I hope you can. (I hope I can) because the last part of this teaching clearly indicates that we are judged on what is in our HEARTS not just what comes out of our mouths – and what is in our hearts is made clear to all by the actions in which we choose to invest.  Jesus is clear, very clear, that the first action in which we must invest is submitting our lives to HIM. Many will claim to have done good deeds in the name of Jesus but in reality did them according to THEIR will – not HIS. It is not a great thing to get to heaven and brag to Jesus about everything you did in His name only for Him to say, “That’s great, but I never asked you to do any of that; you were too busy, however, to listen to what I really wanted.” 
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SO LIVE!!!!!!!!!

6/15/2017

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6For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. 7We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves. 8We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. 9We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. 10Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies. 11Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus, so that the life of Jesus will be evident in our dying bodies. 12So we live in the face of death, but this has resulted in eternal life for you. 13But we continue to preach because we have the same kind of faith the psalmist had when he said, “I believed in God, so I spoke.” (2 Corinthians 4:6-13 NLT)
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So simple – yet so very powerful. We have the light of Christ in us and He is meant to shine in al that we do and say. Moreover, this light is power – it is the Power of the Love of God; The power of Hope shining through in all circumstances; and the Power of Faith in Jesus Christ as the Lord of my life and the Savior of humankind. We may be hunted, broken, confused and suffering; but we are NEVER alone and never without hope. The light that shines within us shines for the whole world to see so that others may come to know Jesus the way that we do. Yes, it is so simple, like the words of the Psalmist, “I believed in God, so I spoke.” You have the light of life inside of you – SO LIVE! 
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So How's Your Calling Going?

6/8/2017

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Then one of the angel-seraphs flew to me. He held a live coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. He touched my mouth with the coal and said, “Look. This coal has touched your lips. Gone your guilt, your sins wiped out.” And then I heard the voice of the Master: “Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?” I spoke up, “I’ll go. Send me!” 9-10 He said, “Go and tell this people: “‘Listen hard, but you aren’t going to get it; look hard, but you won’t catch on.’ Make these people blockheads, with fingers in their ears and blindfolds on their eyes, So they won’t see a thing, won’t hear a word, So they won’t have a clue about what’s going on and, yes, so they won’t turn around and be made whole.”
11-13 Astonished, I said, “And Master, how long is this to go on?” He said, “Until the cities are emptied out, not a soul left in the cities—Houses empty of people, countryside empty of people.
Until I, God, get rid of everyone, sending them off, the land totally empty. And even if some should survive, say a tenth, the devastation will start up again. The country will look like pine and oak forest with every tree cut down—Every tree a stump, a huge field of stumps. But there’s a holy seed in those stumps.” (Isaiah 6:7-13 – The Message)

So how’s your calling going? What? You don’t think you have one? Well, if you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you indeed have also accepted your calling. I do not say “a calling” because the call of God is not generic, it is personal – as personal as HIS relationship with YOU! Now, what does that mean? The answer is… It means whatever God wants it to mean. Take a look at what it meant for Isaiah. Isaiah was asked, “Whom shall I send,” and agreed to go even before he had an inkling what “going” might look like – only to find out that it is going to look like dismal failure. He is told that he will preach but none will listen; none will turn to the Lord and will fall away into despair until only a remnant, a memory, of God and His love remains. Profit after profit and disciple after disciple is called by God and flat out told that the work ahead will lead to frustration, failure and/or death. Still want to sign up? To be called is to be made holy – to stand out – and to take refuge in your relationship with your creator… to take refuge in your calling. May God bless you as you seek and RESPOND to the calling that was placed upon your life the moment you responded to God’s grace. My advice, do what He asks. It is not always easy, but if you submit, you will discover the true power of The Spirit of God. 
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Lie Number One....

6/1/2017

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1-2 God, come close. Come quickly! Open your ears—it’s my voice you’re hearing! Treat my prayer as sweet incense rising; my raised hands are my evening prayers. 3-7 Post a guard at my mouth, God, set a watch at the door of my lips. Don’t let me so much as dream of evil or thoughtlessly fall into bad company. And these people who only do wrong—don’t let them lure me with their sweet talk! May the Just One set me straight, may the Kind One correct me, Don’t let sin anoint my head. I’m praying hard against their evil ways! Oh, let their leaders be pushed off a high rock cliff; make them face the music. Like a rock pulverized by a maul, let their bones be scattered at the gates of hell. 8-10 But God, dear Lord, I only have eyes for you. Since I’ve run for dear life to you, take good care of me. Protect me from their evil scheming, from all their demonic subterfuge. Let the wicked fall flat on their faces, while I walk off without a scratch. (Psalm 141, The Message)
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Lie number one: “Evil is not real.” If we choose to follow this line of thinking then we must also conclude that good is not real – that we are all just random atoms that have randomly joined in such ways that all of creation has randomly become what it is. Without good or evil we must conclude that there is no morality – no moral absolutes such as, “Thou shall not commit murder.” If a person allows themselves this delusion, her or she has already given themselves over to our enemy for Satan need not bother to greatly with someone who denies the spiritual reality of creation. Lie number two: “Evil is ugly, disgusting and unappealing.” If evil was all of these things, very few would choose it of their own free will. The fact is that evil presents as very appealing and in most cases serves an immediate and satisfying purpose in our lives. It is like a drug from which we get a high; it is temporary, fleeting, and we must go back to the evil in order to get more “satisfaction.” I view evil as a lure and Satan as a VERY patient fisherman who will allow me to ingest the lure, grow used to the lure, become addicted to the lure – and then set the hook. Let me ask you what tempting lures are in front of you? Which lures are in your mouth right now? And which lures have been set – which only the power of Christ can break? 
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    Pastor Brian is the senior pastor of Churchtown Church of God and regularly shares his thoughts & insight here - he invites you to join in the discussion of life & faith!

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