Own Your Attitude
…the joy of the Lord is your strength. Nehemiah 8:10
I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. John 15:11
One of the most famous lines in the history of literature is found in the Declaration of Independence which was written in 1776. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. Happiness & joy can often be inter-changed. The Bible talks a lot about joy. Two of the more famous scriptures are quoted above. Jesus talked a lot in John 15 about staying attached to the vine with Him being the vine. He even called us friends if we obey His commands. The purpose of all this is that His joy may be in us & our joy would be complete. Nehemiah said the joy of the Lord is our strength!
Own your attitude and you can always own the outcome! Is the glass half full or half empty? It’s all in our attitude. Whenever someone asks me how I’m doing I always say the same thing. I’ve never seen a better day! Why? Because I decided a long time ago that my attitude is mine. I can choose it to be whatever I want it to be & it doesn’t matter what my circumstances are. So even if my world is falling apart I’ve still never seen a better day. My circumstances will not control my attitude!
So I want to encourage you today to let the joy of the Lord be your strength! It’s what God intended for you! Abraham Lincoln said, We are as happy as we decide to be. That doesn’t mean you can’t discuss your issues with friends or deny anything is wrong. But it does mean you decide your own attitude. Most of us let how we feel determine our attitude. I think we should let our attitude determine our feelings! Bless you as you let the joy of the Lord be your strength!
Consumed by the call,
Pastor Marty
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Friday, September 23, 2011
What is True Repentance?
What is True Repentance?
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalm 51:10
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Psalm 51:17
Rosh Hashanah has its origins as the Feast of the Trumpets (Leviticus 23:23-25; Numbers 29:1-6). At some point, the Feast of the Trumpets became the day on which the Jewish New Year is celebrated. Today, it is known as Rosh Hashanah, meaning, literally, “head of the year.”
While Rosh Hashanah is a day of celebration, blessing, and joyful anticipation, it also begins a time of earnest reflection and repentance culminating in Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the holiest day of the Jewish year.
The ten-day period between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is called the “High Holy Days,” or “Days of Awe.” These are the most widely observed of all Jewish holy days. The Hebrew month of Elul, preceding the High Holy Days, is set aside as a time for reflection and soul-searching. The dominant them during this 40 day period from the beginning of Elul through Yom Kippur is teshuvah, or repentance. Repentance is more than just a “change of mind.” True repentance involves a “change in action” as well, a turning away from bad and a turning toward good. In the words of the psalmist, “Depart from evil and do good” (Psalm 34:14)
I’m reminded of King David when he sinned with Bathesheba and had her husband killed. When the prophet Nathan came to him and told him the story of the lamb and then declared to David he was the man. Immediately David recognized his sin and began to fast and pray. You can see the heart of a man who is truly repentant. This is why I think later God said, “David is a man after my own heart.”
Over the next few weeks as the Jewish people celebrate Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur it would do us good to do some of the things they will be practicing. One of those is internal reflections. During these days they will spend time before God reflecting and repenting from their sins and bad choices and putting themselves in a position to receive from God and get directions for the New Year. God loves it when his people have a repentant attitude and heart. May God richly bless you as you endeavor to do His will.
Consumed by the call,
Pastor Marty
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalm 51:10
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Psalm 51:17
Rosh Hashanah has its origins as the Feast of the Trumpets (Leviticus 23:23-25; Numbers 29:1-6). At some point, the Feast of the Trumpets became the day on which the Jewish New Year is celebrated. Today, it is known as Rosh Hashanah, meaning, literally, “head of the year.”
While Rosh Hashanah is a day of celebration, blessing, and joyful anticipation, it also begins a time of earnest reflection and repentance culminating in Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the holiest day of the Jewish year.
The ten-day period between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is called the “High Holy Days,” or “Days of Awe.” These are the most widely observed of all Jewish holy days. The Hebrew month of Elul, preceding the High Holy Days, is set aside as a time for reflection and soul-searching. The dominant them during this 40 day period from the beginning of Elul through Yom Kippur is teshuvah, or repentance. Repentance is more than just a “change of mind.” True repentance involves a “change in action” as well, a turning away from bad and a turning toward good. In the words of the psalmist, “Depart from evil and do good” (Psalm 34:14)
I’m reminded of King David when he sinned with Bathesheba and had her husband killed. When the prophet Nathan came to him and told him the story of the lamb and then declared to David he was the man. Immediately David recognized his sin and began to fast and pray. You can see the heart of a man who is truly repentant. This is why I think later God said, “David is a man after my own heart.”
Over the next few weeks as the Jewish people celebrate Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur it would do us good to do some of the things they will be practicing. One of those is internal reflections. During these days they will spend time before God reflecting and repenting from their sins and bad choices and putting themselves in a position to receive from God and get directions for the New Year. God loves it when his people have a repentant attitude and heart. May God richly bless you as you endeavor to do His will.
Consumed by the call,
Pastor Marty
Friday, September 16, 2011
Crucified with Christ
May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Galatians 6:14
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20
The Bible says we are a three part being. We are a spirit, soul and body. When we are born again, we are given the spirit of God. Our soul is our mind, will and emotions. Our soul must be transformed. It is transformed by the Word of God. We must relearn how to think. As we submerge ourselves in the Word of God it changes us. Our eyes begin to be opened and we begin to see things from God’s perspective. Before salvation, God’s ways were beyond us. We had no comprehension of His ways. As we learn His Word it begins to change us. We are changed to the degree we accept His Word as truth and begin to apply it to our lives. We begin to be transformed by His truth.
God designed us this way as three part beings and His purpose for us is for our Spirit man to be king, our soul to be a servant and our body to be a slave. We start out really weak spiritually. We are born again and we are instantly filled with His joy! It feels so good to have our sins forgiven, but we have little knowledge and we have spent years and decades developing certain ways that are contrary to God. We must feed our spirit man so he can grow and become king. We must transform our soul man so he can learn to become servant to the spirit man. We must crucify our flesh so our flesh man becomes slave to our spirit man.
In the verses above Paul says, “the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” He no longer lives according to His old ways. He no longer lives based on the culture. He has died to that and his boast is in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. He said, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Let us make Paul’s conviction our own. I no longer live for myself. I live for Christ. I am dying to the world and its system and its culture. My boast is in the cross of Christ! I am dying so I might truly live!
Consumed by the call,
Pastor Marty
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20
The Bible says we are a three part being. We are a spirit, soul and body. When we are born again, we are given the spirit of God. Our soul is our mind, will and emotions. Our soul must be transformed. It is transformed by the Word of God. We must relearn how to think. As we submerge ourselves in the Word of God it changes us. Our eyes begin to be opened and we begin to see things from God’s perspective. Before salvation, God’s ways were beyond us. We had no comprehension of His ways. As we learn His Word it begins to change us. We are changed to the degree we accept His Word as truth and begin to apply it to our lives. We begin to be transformed by His truth.
God designed us this way as three part beings and His purpose for us is for our Spirit man to be king, our soul to be a servant and our body to be a slave. We start out really weak spiritually. We are born again and we are instantly filled with His joy! It feels so good to have our sins forgiven, but we have little knowledge and we have spent years and decades developing certain ways that are contrary to God. We must feed our spirit man so he can grow and become king. We must transform our soul man so he can learn to become servant to the spirit man. We must crucify our flesh so our flesh man becomes slave to our spirit man.
In the verses above Paul says, “the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” He no longer lives according to His old ways. He no longer lives based on the culture. He has died to that and his boast is in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. He said, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Let us make Paul’s conviction our own. I no longer live for myself. I live for Christ. I am dying to the world and its system and its culture. My boast is in the cross of Christ! I am dying so I might truly live!
Consumed by the call,
Pastor Marty
Saturday, September 10, 2011
The Unstoppable Christian
The Unstoppable Christian
Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8
Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Ephesians 6:11-12
I heard a story this week about a lion in the Serengeti who was just standing there looking awesome when he spots a lizard approaching him. The lion just stands there and looks at him as he approaches. The lizard never wavers from his line of walking which goes right through where the lion is standing. The lion never moves, just stares at the lizard. The lizard gets right up to him and looks up like “are you going to move or what?” When the lion doesn’t move the lizard begins to crawl right up the lion’s leg and up on his back and when he gets toward the end of his back, he looks back as if to say, “What are you going to do about it?” The whole scene is kind of hilarious because here’s the king of the jungle just watching as the lizard walks all over him. The lizard crawls down his hind legs & carries on the same line he had wanted to travel. Now, what the lion knew & I didn’t know was that this lizard has poison spikes all over his back & if the lion had swatted him or tried to eat him the poison would have killed the lion.
I immediately thought the lion knows who he can eat and who he can’t. This is just like the devil. He knows whom he can devour and who he can’t. How does the devil know? Then I begin to think about how people hunt coyotes. They make these wounded rabbit sounds. To the coyote this sounds like lunch to him. Then I begin to think that is how the devil knows whom he can devour and who he can’t. Many Christians sound just like these wounded rabbits. The Christian whines, complains, murmurs, gossips and sounds just like a wounded rabbit. Here comes the devil to devour.
Satan walks around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. He can’t devour just anybody. It’s only those whom he can trick, deceive and manipulate. He makes a lot of noise but really has no power unless he can trick us or deceive us into giving him that power. The other scripture listed above says we are not to be ignorant of his schemes. We should know how the enemy operates and realize our battle is not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers. We should always cling to God who has all power and authority. We are safe in the arms of Jesus!
Consumed by the call,
Pastor Marty
Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8
Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Ephesians 6:11-12
I heard a story this week about a lion in the Serengeti who was just standing there looking awesome when he spots a lizard approaching him. The lion just stands there and looks at him as he approaches. The lizard never wavers from his line of walking which goes right through where the lion is standing. The lion never moves, just stares at the lizard. The lizard gets right up to him and looks up like “are you going to move or what?” When the lion doesn’t move the lizard begins to crawl right up the lion’s leg and up on his back and when he gets toward the end of his back, he looks back as if to say, “What are you going to do about it?” The whole scene is kind of hilarious because here’s the king of the jungle just watching as the lizard walks all over him. The lizard crawls down his hind legs & carries on the same line he had wanted to travel. Now, what the lion knew & I didn’t know was that this lizard has poison spikes all over his back & if the lion had swatted him or tried to eat him the poison would have killed the lion.
I immediately thought the lion knows who he can eat and who he can’t. This is just like the devil. He knows whom he can devour and who he can’t. How does the devil know? Then I begin to think about how people hunt coyotes. They make these wounded rabbit sounds. To the coyote this sounds like lunch to him. Then I begin to think that is how the devil knows whom he can devour and who he can’t. Many Christians sound just like these wounded rabbits. The Christian whines, complains, murmurs, gossips and sounds just like a wounded rabbit. Here comes the devil to devour.
Satan walks around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. He can’t devour just anybody. It’s only those whom he can trick, deceive and manipulate. He makes a lot of noise but really has no power unless he can trick us or deceive us into giving him that power. The other scripture listed above says we are not to be ignorant of his schemes. We should know how the enemy operates and realize our battle is not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers. We should always cling to God who has all power and authority. We are safe in the arms of Jesus!
Consumed by the call,
Pastor Marty