Sometimes in the scheme of life we wonder how we fit in. With over 8 billion people on this planet it is easy to feel insignificant. How can someone so unnoticeable draw the attention of the Creator of the heavens and earth?
As we live our life much passes by us we do not really recognize or even pay attention to. You would think God would experience this even more with all that goes on throughout His universe.
Thankfully the Heavenly Father does not think like man. No matter how lowly we think of ourselves God’s awareness of us is incredible.
Matthew 10:29, 30 (ESV): Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.
But even the hairs of your head are all numbered.
In Biblical times sparrows were commonly considered the cheapest of items. At two for just one penny exhibits this. Yet, this small price, indicating its lack of importance, demonstrates a love that God has for us beyond human understanding. If God notices such insignificance of a small bird falling to the ground and that He takes the time to number the hairs on your head, you bet you are prized in His sight!
No matter how lowly we may think of ourselves, God has us on His prayer list constantly. And His prayer list is tattooed on the palms of His hands!
Isaiah 49:16 (ESV): Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.
Our Heavenly Father cares for every aspect of our life; our joys, our sorrows and every tear we shed: “Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?” (Psalms 56:8 KJV).
Oh, how precious we are to our Heavenly Father. May we live our lives with confidence, absolutely convinced of His love for us.
Agape,
Bob
The study of seeds range from microscopic orchid seeds to 40 pound Coco De Mar (A huge coconut type plant). All seeds carry DNA that determine every characteristic of that particular seed. There are some seeds that have been dormant for centuries and yet with the right conditions, they will germinate.
The Scriptures lay out how awesome seeds are: “And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain.
But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body.” 1 Corinthians 15:37 and 38 ESV.
There is one seed that as believers we rejoice at. And that is our incorruptible seed!
1 Peter 1:23: Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
Our salvation is all about seed. Our first birth was from a seed that was corruptible, but our new birth seed is incorruptible. Therefore it is eternal. Another term for our new birth seed is holy spirit.
1 John 3:24B: And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.
1 John 4:13: Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.
God secured our salvation with an incorruptible seed that carried all the dominant characteristics for an eternal life with the Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Agape,
Bob
This Thursday, October 31st our doors will be inundated with all kinds of different characters expressing desires for goodies of all sorts.
Exactly 507 years ago, on an October 31st someone approached the church door, but instead of requesting favors, he left a note with 95 points of concern. That one action contributed to perhaps the most significant event in the Christian Church since the finished work of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ – The Christian Reformation
Martin Luther decided to take a stand against the evils of the Roman Catholic Church which dominated the lives of practically every Christian alive at that time in history.
Representatives of the Catholic Pope where collecting money from the believers to pay for loved ones being released from purgatory. Martin Luther decided the truth of God’s Word was more important that the wicked desires of the organized church.
It was his study of the book of Romans that he recognized that it was not man’s works that made him righteous before God, but “…the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference.” (Romans 3:22). He took a bold stand in his time declaring “Solo Scriptura.” [Only Scripture].
“No greater mischief can happen to a Christian People, than to have God’s Word taken from them, or versified [change into another written form like cute poems], so that they no longer have it pure and clear. God grant we and our descendants be not witnesses of such a calamity.”
- Martin Luther
May we in our time declare a reformation replacing Halloween with the joy of giving out Scripture treats!
Agape,
Bob
This summer and now into the fall, our Wednesday night fellowship has been working the book of Acts. We are on Chapter 20, which deals with insights for a true Christian leader. Paul in verse 17 calls for the “elders” in Ephesus to meet. In Verse 28 he imparts some valuable leadership skills, that anyone who ministers can appreciate.
Acts 20:28: Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
Here are the valuable perspectives shared by Paul:
There you have it. A guideline for true Christian service. We first get our life on track with God’s Word and then we can shepherd God’s people feeding them the Word of God realizing the awesome price paid for our salvation.
Agape,
Bob
Here is a challenging question. What kind of Christian am I? I guess when you really think about it there is only one kind of Christian. The one that is born again of God’s spirit by way of believing God’s Word. Romans 10:9 is a good Scripture that leads to a person’s conversion to becoming a Christian. “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”
Many times when this question is asked, the interviewer is requesting, “How are you manifesting your Christian lifestyle?” This really is the essence of the challenge for each and every Born Again Christian: “What kind of a Christian lifestyle am I living?”
Many years ago a man of God by the name of E. Stanley Jones responded to this question by declaring: “There are three kinds of Christians.” Below is his explanation of three kinds of Christians utilizing 3 kinds of boats.
There are three kinds of Christians: the row-boat type, the sail-boat type and the steam-boat type. The row-boat type is the type that is humanistic, self-dependent, trying to get on with its own resources. But as those resources are limited, the progress is limited.
The sail-boat type depends on the winds. They are the people who are dependent on circumstances — the other-dependent ones. If the winds are with them, if people are constantly complimenting them and encouraging them, they get on. But if the patting on the back stops, they stop. They are circumstance-conditioned. Not very dependable Christians.
Then there is the steam-boat type — those who have power on the inside — and they go on whether winds are favorable or unfavorable. It is true they go on faster when there is a helping wind, but nevertheless they go on, wind or no wind. They have an inner adequacy. They are not self-dependent, nor circumstance-dependent, but Christ-dependent. They are dependable.
This power to go on when life is dead against us is the deepest necessity of our lives. In victorious living this becomes a working fact. — E. Stanley Jones in Victorious Living (1936).
This sure encourages us to upgrade our vessel and be our best for our Heavenly Father.
Agape,
Bob