The Resurrection of Christ

1 Corinthians Chapter 15: 1-10
Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand.  By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.  For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance : that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,  that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,  and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve.   After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.   Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles,  and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.  For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.  But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 11 Whether, then, it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.

How awesome that Christ achieved what is humanly impossible, the resurrection.  In the book of Matthew 20:17-19, he shared this would happen:

Now Jesus was going up to Jerusalem. On the way, he took the Twelve aside and said to them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!”

Wow!  What more can I say, Christ came to share the message of God's plan for our salvation, to die a painful death on the cross, and to rise up from death.  His death and resurrection provides each of us the opportunity to repent, accept Him as our Lord and Savior, and live eternally in the presence of our Heavenly Father.  All that is required is faith and a simple prayer, will you pray it with me?

Prayer of Salvation
Father I know that I have sinned and am separated from you.  I am sorry and want to turn away from living in sin, so I can live for you.  Forgive me Father and know that I accept Jesus Christ as your son and my savior, that I recognize He died and rose up from death so my sins would be forgiven and surrender my life to him, now and forever.  Amen

Praise the Lord and welcome to the family; find a good Bible based church, make new friends, and love the Lord!  Just a little advice to go!

Stop Meddling and Trust God!

It is easy to say we trust God and then continue to meddle in His affairs.  When we interfere in the lives of others or continue to disregard his direction for our own lives, we are meddling in his affairs.  Meddlers are people who never seem to be able to leave things alone.  They intrude into other people’s affairs or business; often think they know better than everyone else, rarely listen to a person before offering their input, second guess themselves and jump to the wrong conclusions.

We can all be meddlers at one time or another, meddling most in the plans God has for our lives.  We think we know God's plan and then start to meddle as if he needs our help to make things happen.  We commit to letting him take the lead in our lives, but when it doesn't seem to be going the way we feel it should, we quickly move into the drivers seat and take control.

God's word tells us in Psalm 46:10, be still and know that I am God.  Be still does not simply mean don't move; it means much more.  When God tells us to be still, He is telling us to cease meddling, let him take control, rest easy, rejoice and trust Him.  Why him, because he is God; he is the creator of all things and can make the impossible, possible.  Learn to stop meddling in God's plans, to be still, and trust God!  Just a little advice to go!

The Decency of You!

As believers we walk through life in a world full of sin, deception, hate, anger, division, and unbelief. We cannot ignore this world or retreat to some secluded area to practice our faith absent of unbelievers.  We are called to be God's eyes, hands, ears, and mouth, to speak His message to unbelievers so they too can find the path to salvation.

I believe Christians can fulfill God's calling by practicing what I refer to as "the decency of you". Our every day decorum, respectability, dignity, and virtue should reflect Christ regardless of the circumstances in which we find ourselves.  We must not lose sight of the fact that when we speak or act, our words and actions must align with the values of Christ.  We must curtail our anger, practice his unconditional love and look for the best in others.  Remember that God tells us that out of the abundance of the heart speaks the mouth, let us ensure our hearts are in the right place.  The decency of you can make a difference!  Just a little advice to go!

God's Guidance System

Most of you have heard about various types of guidance systems, most often the kind that help guide missiles to their intended targets.  What you  may not realize is that God's word is our spiritual guidance system, helping to guide us towards God's intended blessings for our lives. Neglecting his word and thus his guidance only leads us to the wrong places and the regrets we often face.  Perhaps we should take more time to read and apply God's word to our every day lives in an effort to better follow His guidance.

When we are aligned with God's will for our lives, we are blessed!  Follow God's guidance system to the blessings he intends for your life!  Just a little advise to go!

God's Five Protections

God's word outlines five protections in Chapter 18 of the Book of Psalms, verses 2 and 3.  These protections are guaranteed to each of us if we simply believe.  Our heavenly father is a:

1. ROCK that can't be moved by any who would harm us

2. FORTRESS or place of safety where the enemy can't follow

3. SHIELD that comes between us and harm

4. HORN of salvation-a symbol of might and power

5. STRONGHOLD  high above our enemies.

Challenges will come throughout your daily walk and the reaction for many of us, myself included, is sometimes apprehension and fear.  God reminds us that we need not fear the challenges of the day because he is our rock, fortress, shield, horn, and stronghold.  He is more than sufficient to protect and guide us through these daily challenges.  In Him will I trust!  Just a little advise to go!

God Always Hears You!

Perhaps you feel like God is not hearing your prayers; that you are not worthy of his attention.  Cast these thoughts away and know that whether you are crying out in agony or crying out in silent prayer, He hears you.  Even when you sin and fall short, he hears you just as he did the first time you asked him to come into your life.  

Please do not mistake God's unwillingness to respond in the manner you prefer as an indicator that he cannot hear you.  Instead recognize that while his response may be unrecognizable to you, He is doing all he can to bless and protect you.  You simply need to look at your problems in the light of God's power instead of looking at God in the shadow of your problems to understand that God always hears you!  Just a little advice to go! 

How Deep Is Your Love?

It is easy to say we love the Lord, but how deep is that love.?  Is the depth of our love such that when persecution and storms come our way, we stand strong in the Lord? 

In the bible there are many accounts outlining how believers were attacked and persecuted.  Some quickly denied they ever knew Christ, others stood strong even when they lost everything they cared about.  Christ provides us an example of what it means to stand fast in faith and love.  Throughout his time of earth he was persecuted and attacked, yet he remained faithful.   Facing death on the cross, he again proved his love lifting his voice to heaven and asking God to forgive his persecutors.  

We are challenged to consider the depth of our love for the Lord and our willingness to love him in spite of the persecution and storms we face.  Our love should be as unconditional as his love is for us.  He was willing to die for us even though we were sinners that we might be justified through his blood.  How deep is your love, deep enough that you would be willing to die for him?  Think about it...  Just a little advice to go!