Words from the Pastor
March has started off to be a great month for Canelo Cowboy Church already and we are barely in our second week! Last Sunday we ordained two new deacons, Fred Keys and David Stiffey and an associate pastor, Cisco Baez. I wish all of you could have been here for the service. It was a wonderful time of fellowship and preaching of the word. It is just so good to see how God is moving in our church and in our community! So please keep the leadership in your prayers because the enemy would like nothing more than to tear down what God has been building here for the past 12 plus years.
I Peter 5:8 tells us this: “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” In the 7th verse Peter tells us to, “Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you.” I know that I wrote those backwards, but I did that for a reason. When are you most vulnerable for an attack from Satan? I find that in my life it is when I don’t give everything to God. When I allow my anxieties and fears to float to the top and don’t allow the Holy Spirit to work in my life. Peter writes here to “Give all.” Some translations have replaced the word Give with the word Cast. In the Greek that pretty much what it is saying! Cast your cares or worries on Jesus! Or as Carrie Underwood sings it, “Jesus take the wheel!!” Don’t allow the cares and the worries of the world to pull you down and take the joy that Jesus so freely gives us in every situation! Be alert! Or stay awake! Do not even for a moment let down you guard and allow the enemy to infiltrate your thoughts! We have the power to resist Satan. Jesus has given us everything we need to have victory in this war, no matter what the battle looks like.
And now read verse 10: “And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.” So after you have suffered a little while, God Himself will restore you, make you strong, make you firm and make you steadfast! God will do this for you because He loves you and wants the best for you.
Sometimes, what we think is in our best interest isn’t. You see, because God has a bird’s eye view of everything that is going on in our lives, He knows when we will need a little extra help. He can see the foolish moves we are going to make even before we make them. But still, He wants only what is good for us and His desire is that we will be strong, firm and steadfast. So, He had Peter write, “After you have suffered for a little while…” Trust Him to lead you. If we keep our minds and hearts on Him, the enemy doesn’t stand a chance when he is sneaking around ready to devour us. Trust Him! Proverbs 3:5 & 6.
Please let me know if you need anything. You pray for me and I’ll pray for you. Naomi and I love you all. -Pastor Steve