After an evening fencing session last night, my son and I, being driven by our bellies, made a stop at a late night eatery. The lady, I’m sure out of boredom, desired to stir up some conversation with my boy and myself. During our intense inhalation of the food, our drink had spilled. Quickly, asking the lady for some extra napkins, she came to our rescue. She then began to make nice comments about our politeness and attitude and explained that this was a pleasant contrast from the usual behavior from customers. At this point the Holy Spirit had softly invited me to tell her about our Lord. But, I did not. I am challenged that even though we may not believe we are gifted as an evangelist, the apostle Paul exhorts us to do the work of an evangelist “But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. 2Ti 4:5. When the Lord invites us to tell others about Jesus and we don’t, this is an excellent time for us to inquire of our Lord to reveal our heart. This is so beneficial for us, because it is clearly seen in His word that sharing the good news is the Lord’s heart. In my devotions this morning I was reading through Acts chapter 26. Paul being accused by the Jews is sent before Herod Agrippa for trial. Paul knows that the Lord has allowed his circumstance to happen so that he could have the privilege to tell the king and the officials about Jesus. Paul then shares his testimony. He begins to simply share what he was before Jesus, how Jesus met him, and what he is now in Christ. A great tool! As converts in Jesus, we all have a story. I challenge you to organize a personal testimony that can be shared containing these three elements with a scripture or two. Trust me, the Lord will use it! They may challenge the truth, who can argue a changed life?

When a critical spirit begins to surface in my heart toward another, the Holy Spirit often reminds me that when I begin to focus and get turned off by a sin of another, I tend to recognize it easily because it is the very sin that as taken me. I like how the Apostle Paul encourages us to put down our critical spirit and focus in on what we can do and not what our brother can’t do

Rom 14:13 Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in [his] brother’s way.

Perfect love causes us to examine all our choices and actions and consider if they build up our brethren in Christ

A timely word from our brother Tim…
Welcome back to real life guys. I had a blast with ya’ll at PennYork, and I know our Jesus was speaking a lot of things to a lot of us; but I’ve noticed that after the spiritual high of a retreat, it’s easy to come back home and continue living the same way as before, even though we were so certain we were going to be different. Maybe some of you are thinking that all the things we talked about at the retreat were cool but that they’re too hard to actually live out. And guess what ….. you’re right. Everything we talked about IS way too hard for any of us to do, BUT realizing this is not a reason to give up, it is simply a reason to look for more strength than we have by ourselves.

Paul figured this same thing out in his own life, and said in Romans 7:18, “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.” However, the Lord showed him an answer to this problem: “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” The fact is, we CAN’T find the strength in ourselves to live out anything that we learned on the retreat; it HAS to be the Holy Spirit giving us the strength moment by moment. SO ….. if you’re discouraged or finding it really tough, ask the Lord to fill you with His Spirit and to BE your strength. He can do it in you; NO QUESTION.

“Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.” (Zechariah 4:6)

Amazed how easy it is for me to forget about one of the greater gifts that was and is given to the born-again believing church, The Holy Spirit. Perhaps it’s because it is not His nature to bring attention to himself, but He purposes to glorify and exalt the name of Jesus Christ. Yet we are commanded, “be filled with the Spirit.” Eph 5:18. The Apostle Paul exhorts us in his letter to the Galatians, “[This] I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.” Gal 5:16 I like what William Macdonald writes in his daily devotional…

“Exactly what is involved in walking in the Spirit? Actually it is not as complicated and impractical as some tend to think. Here is what a day’s walk in the Spirit would be like:

First, you start the day in prayer. You confess all known sin in your life; this makes you a clean vessel and therefore usable by God. You spend time in praise and worship; this gets your soul in tune. You turn over control of your life to Him; this makes you available for the Lord to live His life through you. In this act of rededication, you ‘cease from needless scheming and leave the ruling of your life to Him.’

Next, you spend time feeding on the Word of God. Here you get a general outline of God’s will for your life. And you may also receive some specific indication of His will for you in your present circumstances.

After your quite time, you do the things that your hands find you to do. Ordinarily they will be prosaic, routine, mundane duties of life. This is where a lot of people have the wrong ideas. They think that walking in the Spirit is foreign to the world of aprons and overalls. Actually, it is mostly composed of faithfulness and diligence in one’s daily work.

Throughout the day you confess and forsake sin as soon as you are aware of it. You praise the Lord as His blessings come to mind. You obey every impulse to do good, and refuse every temptation to do evil.

Then you take what comes to you during the day as being His will for you. Interruptions become opportunities to minister. Disappointments become His appointments. Phone calls, letters, visitors are seen as part of His plan.”

Sweet gleanings from our student friend Julia…
When reading the Word, The first thing I look for is practical application. I have been recently challenged. Rather than looking at the state of man and how to apply it there first, I should be looking at our Lord and what it speaks of Him. With this in mind while reading Luke 10:38-42, the story of Mary and Martha, I saw it from a new perspective.

In this familiar passage we read of Jesus entering Mary and Martha’s home. Mary is found at Jesus’ feet while Martha is busy serving. Martha was doing what we often think is so important, but she was coming up short. When she came to the Lord asking for help from her sister, I find it interesting that He knew the state of her heart. She had not spent time with Him, yet He knew that she was anxious and troubled. When He speaks to her, He uses her name and tells her He knows what she’s feeling, but help isn’t what she needs, He desires to spend time with her. How comforting that our Lord knows the details and emotions of our heart. When I’m overwhelmed, the Lord knows, and He is the one I should be running to for strength and endurance.
“O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me. How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them!” Psalm 139:1, 17

I have the blessed opportunity to travel this week and make my way out to the West Coast by attending Calvary Chapel’s Youth Workers Conference. Excited to be refreshed and encouraged in God’s Word, looking forward to the week anticipating revived vision for our Teens, but to write plainly, I just want to hear from our Lord. The vision shared thus far, which denotes the theme of the conference is to “Imitate.” Throughout the New Testament, the Apostle Paul invites people around him to ‘Imitate me’ as he also imitated Christ. Paul willingly set his life up as an example for the people to watch. What would evangelism look like if we took the phrase ‘Initiate me’ seriously and actually allowed people to witness and watch our lives? Would our lives look different than they do now? Would they see Jesus living through us? Imagine what our church, community, and world would look like if we take this invitation of Paul to heart and seek to imitate him as he imitated Jesus. I covet your prayers.

Rom 2:13 (For not the hearers of the law [are] just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.

Many times in the course of the week, I read a news headline or learn of some account that will reaffirm the downward spiritual course of man in our culture. I read or listen, hear the contents, and agree. I will agree that the account is wrong which will only confirm in my conscious that the event is the result of the consequence of man’s sin. This reminds me of a danger we have as believers. Like what James writes, we are to be doers of God’s Word and not just hearers. We can error too easily because we can take this mindset into our time with the Lord in our personal devotions or in our church pew. We can fall prey to listening to a message, hearing it’s truth and simply agreeing with it, yet there is no action or perhaps adjustment that needs to take place. This is a real danger for us of the Faith that we must not slip into. One of the best defenses which will be the better offense is to purpose in our hearts at least one thing that we will do or apply to our lives every time we do our devotions with the Lord. Every time we read His Word. Every time we sit in a Bible Study. Ask, receive, and then purpose to do one thing.

Luk 12:48 But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few [stripes]. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.

Sweet words from Julia…
If I have a poor attitude towards another brother in Christ, yet I don’t change my behavior and love that person in return, I know it to be sin. I keep my attitude, “If they were just more lovable it wouldn’t be a problem. Why should I be the first to change?” In reading 1 Peter 4:17, we receive a heavy exhortation as believers, “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?”
In 1 Peter 4, Peter explains to us that as Christians, redeemed from sin, we are responsible to act in such a manner that would reflect to unbelievers that we are no longer finding satisfaction in the sinful life style. We should rather suffer for our faith verses suffer the effects of sin. He then goes on to say that the end is near, therefore there are a few characteristics that should be found among brothers in Christ, and the last exhortation is to be put above all others, “to have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.” I find it interesting to see that it was not suggesting that there may be sins that love will have to override, it is definitive, the sins. The chapter continues to explain that as we all have received gifts from the Lord we are responsible to use them wisely as good stewards of His grace; they are to be used with His strength and for His glory.
It’s so easy to become content with the knowledge that Christ loves all and is all sufficient for everyone, that we somehow think that it’s not important for us to love others. But as Peter stated, we are to love not only because the opposite of loving is sin, but because it is a witness to the lost that we are conformed to the mind of Christ and no longer desire to sin as we once did before Christ. This love is no light commitment when it states that is it to overlook sin. We need to be actively pursuing Christ and seeking to honor Him in our actions toward one another. “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” Ephesians 4:32

A sweet note from our friend Billy…

I recently began working with a young man from a country in Africa called Burundi. He had come to America two and a half years ago as a refugee with his wife and children. In Burundi, he shared with me, that the government would kill all those who opposed it’s rule. A massive genocide took place in 1993 that resulted in more than 25,000 deaths, and many of those being innocent civilians. Though the atmosphere in Berundi now is not that intense, it is still a place many are fleeing in fear. My co-worker shared with me that when villages were about to be attacked, the people would take the blood from those recently deceased and cover themselves with it. They would then “play dead” and when the attackers came they would pass through the village without harming anyone. Wow, covered by anothers blood would save their life.
I was sharing this horrific event with my wife when the Holy Spirit showed me, this was my current state. It is the blood of Jesus that has covered me, and has saved me from the death that judgment would bring. It is the blood that our Father in heaven must see upon us. It is not the good works , the attitude, the ambitions, the desires that will rend you faultless before our Father. It is only the blood. By that blood we are justified, and the process of sanctification begins. ” … for thou was slain, and hast redeemed us to God, by the blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.

Hemoglobin or our red blood cells are one of the more complex and larger molecules
in the human body. Its structure represents one of the most complex factories ever designed. It acts like an engine with thirty trillion cylinders that is powered by a pump that is far superior to the finest machine. Our blood is an incredible lifeline that’s carries the precious cargo of oxygen to every corner of the body, reckons with exhaust, and deals with intruders. More importantly, is the shed blood of Jesus Christ and how it is the source of life to our spirit.

Act 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.

Christianity is sometimes accused as being a bloody religion. I am pleased to announce that we are guilty. Another profound and distinct characteristics of the Bible is that it is living. The author of Hebrews tells us how the Word lives. As a result, we can enter boldly to the living throne.

Hbr 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Because the Word lives, we should not be surprised; the blood that runs through our veins also runs through the Word. In Acts 20 we are told that the blood of Christ purchases the church. The apostle Paul refers to the blood more than he does the death and the resurrection. The Blood is a mega theme in the Bible

Lev 17:11 For the life of the flesh [is] in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it [is] the blood [that] maketh an atonement for the soul.

Isa 1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.