Who Am I ??

Satan attacks us with a furry of fiery missiles.  He often seeks to destroy our foundation.  The following Scriptures are specific verses to remind you of who you are in Christ.

In Christ I am…

            … the salt of the earth and the light of the world. (Matt. 5:13,14)

            … a child of God. (John 1:12)

            … part of the true vine, a channel of Christ’s life. (John 15:1,5)

            … Christ’s friend. (John 15:15)

            … chosen and appointed by Christ to bear His fruit. (John 15:16)

            … a slave of righteousness and enslaved to God. (Rom. 6:18, 22)

            … a son of God; God is spiritually my Father. (Rom. 8:14, 15)

            … a joint heir with Christ, sharing His inheritance with Him. (Rom. 8:17)

Let your light SHINE

"You are the Light of the world... Let your light SHINE before men 

in such a way that they may see your good works and 

glorify your Father who is in heaven.” [Mt.5:14, 16]

Blind man's bluff is a great game to play and a good depiction of the many way people go through life - blind, groping around in the darkness, stumbling and tripping over the many obstacles that are in the way.  Although the game is fun, there is nothing funny about their predicament.  The course of the lost is harmful both here on earth and in eternity.  Sin places every person on the path to destruction.

Knowing that men are blind and unable to come to Him on their own

"God demonstrated His own love to us in this: 

while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." 

Romans 5:8

He provided the means to meet our greatest need - this is the theme that we see throughout Scripture; and it is the source of the Light that we need to allow to SHINE!


For the full message shared on 04-22-12 at the  First Church of God - Racine, WI go to:
SHINE

Giving God His Due

Here it is Tax Day and time to file our taxes.  Nobody really enjoys paying taxes, but it is our legal obligation as US citizens.

When Jesus was presented with the question as to the legality of Jews paying taxes to the Romans, the Pharisees thought they had Him in a Catch 22.  Answer No and the Romans would try Him for treason.  Answer Yes and the Pharisees would claim He was blaspheming.  Either way He couldn't win; or so they thought.

The answer wasn't as simple as yes or no.  Jesus said, "Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's, and to God that which is God's"


For the full message shared on 04-15-12 at the  First Church of God - Racine, WI go to:
Giving God His Due

Resurrected Joy

Have you allowed anyone to steal your joy? 

• Satan is always on the prowl to rob you of the joy that is within you.  He finds pleasure in your loss.  
• People also tend to steal our joy.  You know what I’m talking about… that individual whose comments (although meant to be harmless) you take personally.  Or perhaps the person who says something to hurt you, and you let it cut you deep.  
• Situations frequently steal our joy.  When things don’t go your way, or the way you thought they should go, and we sulk and pout our disapproval.  I know of a number of folks who, when their team loses a game, will become sullen and depressed; allowing their joy to be taken from them.

It is commonly thought that the female gender is weaker, more emotional than men; but as we see from the biblical account of Christ’s death, it was this ‘weaker’ gender that had the strength to stand by their Lord while most of the other disciples (the men) ran away.  These women, who remained with Jesus, who likely saw Him beaten, who Luke says followed Him as He bore the cross to Calvary, who John reports as standing by Christ’s cross as He died; these women were women of great strength, but at the death of their Savior they had lost their joy.


God knows our every need and He knew the need of these ladies to get into the tomb.  Now while the need was met, the purpose was different.  They were headed in to see Jesus, God opened the tomb to reveal Jesus was not there. (But that’s getting ahead the story.)


For the full message shared on 04-01-12 at the  First Church of God - Racine, WI go to:
Resurrected Joy_040712

Jesus is the KEY to being FREE

Some of you may have heard of the German Lutheran Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer, he was 39 yrs. old when he spoke publicly against the Nazi regime and was promptly arrested and sent to prison.  As Christmas approached, Bonhoeffer sat alone in his cell journaling when a thought occurred to him how our lives are like prison cells and Christ the means to freedom.

He wrote, “We putter around inside our stone walls and iron bars, and we long to be free.  But the door is locked, and it can only be opened from the outside.”  Bonhoeffer would not survive the war; being a disciple of Christ cost him his life.  His best known book is ‘The Cost of Discipleship’.  A faith not worth dying for is not worth living for either.

As long as we struggle to free ourselves we remain locked up in the cell that Bonhoeffer described.  There is only one key to free us from the chains of sin, Jesus.  He said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.  The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever.  So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” [Jn. 8:36].

Jesus is the KEY to being FREE.

For the full message shared on 04-01-12 at the  First Church of God - Racine, WI go to:
http://www.esnips.com/displayimage.php?pid=33857339