Angels Attended Him

"All this I will give you," he said, if you will bow down and worship me." Matthew 4:9

Sounds like a fair enough promise, if it weren't for the disturbing fact that this offer comes from Satan. We do love the thought. Imagine... "all this." What could that be?

First of all, let's make something perfectly clear. Satan has nothing to give because everything belongs to God. What the devil gives me... is a headache. Always making deals and exceptions. Always twisting the truth and only offering pieces of possibility. Lucifer said this to Jesus during the temptation. Actually took Him up to a high place and offered Jesus all that He could see. The devil must not understand or accept the way things are. The way things really are. Not how they appear or how we might like them to be either.

Jesus responds to the devil by saying in verse 10; "Away from me, Satan!" For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.' Then the devil left Him, and angels came and attended Him. Wow! Gotta love it when Jesus straightens somebody out. Especially a low-life like lucifer. Jesus makes promises He can keep. Knock and the door will be opened. Seek and you shall find. Ask in My Name and you shall receive.

The next time you get offered a promise you might want to ask who it is coming from. Jesus delivers. We need only seek His heart and His will. I hope today that you will seek Him and see what He would like to give you. Just ask what He wants to give you. You won't be disappointed. He knows what you really need. He deserves our worship.

Praise His Name!
Pastor Fred

His Plan for You

"For I know the plans I have for you”, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

I have been a little under the weather lately. For awhile I have been fighting some bacterial infections and just as I figured that out and was getting better, my resistance was low and I picked up the flu bugs going around. What is interesting to me is that I was starting to accept that I didn't feel well and almost presuming that wouldn't change. After a barrage of over the counter meds, home remedies and probiotics, I now am on antibiotics for a few days and I actually feel quite a bit better. Don't sound like it or necessarily look like it, but inside me I know I am getting well.

Pure Heart

"To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; even their mind and conscience are defiled." Titus 1:15

The condition of our hearts is expressed through the way we live our lives. It will be evident by our attitudes, our words and our behavior. Jesus said, 'you can only see others clearly when your own eyes are unobstructed.' Therefore, if our vision is hindered by sin, we will not look at others properly. If our hearts are pure, we will approach life without malice. We will not question the motives of others and we will not constantly look for fault in others. However, if our hearts are defiled, everything we are involved in will seem corrupt as well. We will be cynical about what we hear because our words will be deceitful. And we will be drawn to evil people and evil things. Having a pure heart will not make us perfect. But it will help us to be more patient and kind to those around us... because we will see them through God's eyes, not our own.

Just a Servant of the Lord

"Praise the Lord. Praise, O servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord." Psalm 113:1

Since this devotional is about one of the Hallelujah Psalms, it should come as no surprise that it starts like all the others so far, with the words, Praise the Lord. So much has been written in these devotionals, by many contributors over the years about praising the Lord. We should, we do, and we need to keep learning why and how. Today, as I write this where I am in my spirit, I was totally mowed over by another couple of words in the first verse. I literally was moved to tears by the two words 'O servant'. There is a good reason why, and I share with you now, hoping that you will not only capture some deeper meaning from this Psalm, but also a piece of my heart.

In God’s Hands

"His heart is secure, he will have no fear; in the end he will look in triumph on his foes." Psalm 112:8

This Psalm is also a Hebrew alphabet acrostic of praises, focusing on the blessings that come to those who fear the Lord and find delight in His commands. Being a Christian really is a blessing. The peace of the redemptive perspective and the righteous lifestyle truly brings much joy. These blessings are passed on to upright children and even when times seem dark he can see the light. He promotes goodness and generosity and it returns to him. The blessed follower of the Lord will not be shaken because he trusts in Him who blesses.

Good Affliction

"It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees." Psalm 119:71

You probably can guess where I might be headed with this verse from the next section of Psalm 119. I am enjoying immensely slowing down the reading and studying of the longest chapter in the Bible, because it is showing me just how important it is to relate everything that happens in life, to His Word. In every section the writer refers to the Word of God by its many different names. In this particular eight verses the terms; Your Word (2 times), commands, decrees (2 times), precepts, law (2 times) are all used to describe the Bible. This style of writing keeps our attention and doesn't allow us to just gloss over the passage. Very effective when you slow down a little.

Dried up and Cracked

"Though I am like a wineskin in the smoke, I do not forget your decrees." Psalm 119:83

With just a little bit of research, or just some decent deductive thinking we can figure out what smoke would do to a wineskin. Wineskins can get old with time and neglect alone, much less with the harsh elements of life taking their toll on them. Our spiritual lives are like wineskins and in order for us to stay fresh spiritually the wine must be used and replaced regularly and the wineskin needs to be protected from the elements and oiled up from time to time. If exposed to too much smoke it will indeed dry out and crack, especially if not oiled regularly and with old wine going stale in it. This is rich for illustration. Think about all the implications this has in your life.

A Beautiful Story

Our Friday Devotion comes to us from Council Member, Ray Beeman:

"He has made us accepted (bestowed grace upon us) in the Beloved." Ephesians 1:6

I just finished another book (“Grace”) by Max Lucado, and I don’t think he will mind if I use his incredible knowledge of the Word, or his own words, as he relates the story of how an uncle had just told him, at the funeral of Max’s father, how proud his father had been of Max. He wept, and realized that we never outgrow our need for a father’s love; that we are wired to receive it. Then he asks if he can play the role of his uncle in YOUR life (the reader), and that the hand on your shoulder is his, and the words he gives you are GOD’s. He says to not filter, resist, downplay, or deflect them. Just receive:

Finding the Intangibles

"Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path" Psalms 119:105

We are often looking for something and can’t seem to find it. Sometimes that something is the keys, or cell phone, or a note we left somewhere. (Everything has to be somewhere, right?) We all have experiences to tell about what we misplaced or lost or how it gets found. What about those “intangible” things we are looking for: love, peace, security, etc. How do we find those? The Psalms have answers, and I pass on to you a list of intangible reasons to read Psalms.

Not Lost…Really I’m Not

"I have strayed like a lost sheep." Psalm 119:176

For the last of the devotionals from Psalm 119, I must use the first sentence of the last verse. Yes, like the Psalmist I sometimes act like a lost sheep. By no means am I actually lost, I know for sure I am found. But sometimes, I'll admit it because it is true; I stray just like I am lost. How is that possible? You see, when assessing our spirituality, or our walks with Him, we always find ourselves in one of three conditions. Remember, our position does not change, we are once saved, always saved (if we are for sure really saved in the first place), that is eternally secure. But our condition does change, or our situation, or our orientation.

A Perfect Seven

"Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous laws." Psalm 119:164

When we think of a number that is perfect we always think of 10. For me, I associate this with Olympic scoring and with spelling test scores. I remember as a kid always trying to get 10 out of 10 on my weekly spelling test, because that was a perfect score. More recently, I remember perfect 10's from Olympic competition especially in gymnastics. These amazing performances are memorable and noteworthy. We live in the western world though and the Hebrew influence on our thinking and number system is not very notable. In Hebrew culture, for the Jew, seven is the perfect number. There are countless sevens in scripture that symbolize God's perfection.

Free to Enjoy

"I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts." Psalm 119:45

Have you ever had that exhilarating feeling of being totally free? If you haven't, I hope you do someday, because there is absolutely nothing like it. When it happens you must have the following three components. 1. anxious for nothing, 2. the peace that passes understanding and 3. unfathomable joy.

Taking My Life In My Own Hands

"Though I constantly take my life in my hands, I will not forget your law." Psalm 119:109

There are a number of fantastic verses in this next section and I encourage you to read all of Psalm 119:105-112. We are familiar with the first of these verses that is often quoted as "Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." Kind of a surprising lead-in to the verse I have selected. Our human tendencies are so strong that even though we know that He is the light that can lead us exactly where we should go and keep us from many of the snares and pitfalls of life we still are prone to take our lives in our own hands. Even though we know we shouldn't.

My Light and My Salvation

"The Lord is my Light and my Salvation, whom shall I fear?" Psalm 27:1

There are times in our Christian lives when we feel victorious as we charge toward the battles before us…..