Category: Inspirational

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Doers of the Word

‘Words from the Pastor’

Very often I ask myself if I am really putting my best effort forward in my walk with Christ. Let’s take a look at a passage in the Book of James that speaks to my heart every time I read it. 

James 1:22 says, “Do not merely listen to the Word and so deceive yourselves, do what it says (NIV).” King James Version puts it this way, “Be doers of the word and not hearers only deceiving your own selves.” Pretty plain and simple isn’t it? If we do not put into practice what God tells us then we are deceiving ourselves. It’s interesting that it says that we deceive ourselves. No one else is deceived, just us! 

A few weeks ago Naomi and I had the privilege of going to dinner with 6 of our children, their spouses and 10 of our grandchildren! All of the grandchildren had their own table and boy did they have a great time, as you can imagine! On our way home after dinner I mentioned to Naomi how well behaved our grandchildren were. Then I started remembering some of the shenanigans those little people were pulling! But it didn’t matter to grandma and me because we had on our “Rose Colored Glasses.” They’re our grandchildren! How could they ever do anything wrong? But grandma and I weren’t the ones that had to clean up the mess after we left. The wait staff may not have had the same impression that grandma and I had! 

Do you think we do that as Christians in our own lives? I know I do. There are things that I need to change and work on to become a better follower of Christ, but I don’t. I know I need to share my faith more with those that don’t know Him, but I don’t. I know I need to try and live more of the Big 9 (Fruit of the Spirit, Galatians 5:22-23) and show Christ in my life, but anger still creeps in not love. I lack joy so often. Peace should be the sign of a Christian but I loose mine so easily. Lack of patience still takes over. Not to mention how poor of an example I am when it comes to kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. And then Paul pours salt in the wound in the 24th verse and says, “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” Well Paul, I’m working on it. Praise the Lord that my salvation is through the Blood of Jesus and has nothing to do with my works! Faith in Jesus is all it takes. But I do strive, hope and pray that I will do better.

 Think about it. Naomi and I love y’all.

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Sawmill fire

What a week it’s been! With all the fires and displaced people and animals, some lives have been turned upside down. Then between doctor’s visits, financial difficulties and relationship issues it’s a wonder we are able to survive at all. But if you stop and think, it’s this thing we call life. Every human from the beginning of time has had these same types of issues and, if you can believe it, even those that don’t know Jesus as their personal Savior somehow find a way to survive! In reality I do not know how anyone could make it through life without knowing my Jesus.
The Sunday school workbooks for this quarter are titled, “The Rescue Begins.” The last few quarters we have been learning about the coming Messiah and how every book in the Bible points to the world that they need a Savior. And now, the rescue begins! Jesus is on the scene and only through Him we have the promise of eternal life! He will rescue us from sin and give us a place in the Kingdom of Heaven! That is what He has promised to all that have called on His Name.
But you know one thing He didn’t promise? He didn’t promise smooth sailing through life. Quite the opposite. He said that, “I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you WILL have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world (John 16:33 NIV).” We’re going to have troubles, problems and even death all around us, but we can overcome and have peace in these things if we know Jesus and trust in Him that He has it all under control!
In Matthew 7 as Jesus was finishing up His “Sermon on the Mount,” in verses 24-27, He tells us a very interesting story. He talks about two distinctively different types of people. Although they had everything in common and everything that they went through was the exact same, they had two very different outcomes. And the only difference in the two men was one was wise. He put into practice everything that he heard Jesus say. The other one didn’t put it into practice and Jesus calls him foolish. In this story both men built houses (Or were living life). Both men had the rain come down and the streams rising (Signifying the problems of living life). But the one that listen to Jesus’ Words, well, his house stood firm. The one that didn’t listen, his house fell with a mighty crash. Both living life but very different outcomes. Which one are you? Think about it. Naomi and I love y’all.

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Facing Giants

Deuteronomy 31:6 tells us to, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” Moses was speaking these things to the Children of Israel right before they crossed the Jordan in to the Promise Land. Now you’ve got to remember that there were giants in the land at that time! We’re talking real live giants! And the giants’ main focus in life was to kill people! I’m thinking that they probably didn’t even like to share the same air as anyone that were different from them. And truth be known, they probably didn’t even like the other giants that were just like them. They were mean and an evil bunch. But God said, “Don’t be afraid or terrified because of them.”

I guess we all have giants in our lives. Big ugly giants that are mean and evil. We may not be able to see them but we know they’re there just the same. Might be a giant in the form of cancer. Maybe a giant in the form of a relationship with a spouse or a friend or relative. Maybe it’s one of our kids living a life that we know is self-destructive. How about a giant in the form of, “To much month at the end of the money?” This Scripture speaks the same to us as it did the day that Moses said it, “Be strong and courageous!” We can face these giants, just like the Children of Israel did when they crossed the Jordan River into the Promised Land. And the great thing about God speaking these words to us is that we can realize that God knows what’s in store for us. He knows what we’re going to go through before we even go through it and He says to us, “Be strong and courageous!”

I John 4:18 tells us that there is no fear in love. God says He’s our Father and that He loves us. Which one of us as earthly fathers would do anything that would jeopardize our children? How many of us would knowingly put our children in harm’s way? Our desire is to protect them from things that will hurt them in anyway. But we can’t shelter them from every evil that’s out there. Our Father doesn’t want to hurt us either, but He understands that we need to go through some things to make us mature.

II Corinthians 4:17 tells us, “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving in us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all!” It’s doing in us just what Romans 8:28 tells us it’s going to do. It is working together for our good! We need to experience these “giants” here on earth before we experience the glory that He has for us in eternity. That’s why the author of the wonderful hymn, “It Is Well With My Soul” could pen those beautiful words. “When peace like a river, attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll. Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say It is well, it is well, with my soul.” Horatio Spafford knew the peace that transcends understanding. Remember, the bigger the giant the easier it is to hit! David didn’t see a giant, he saw a great big target! Think about it.

Please pray for me and I’ll be praying for you! We serve a great God! Naomi and I love y’all.

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Laws of Nature

Brothers and sisters there are some things that we just can’t do anything about! Like gravity. What goes up must come down. For some of us gravity is not our friend. We fall down. A lot. Or the laws of nature. Ever tried to control nature? How’s that working out for you? So often we need rain and there’s nothing that we can do about it. We can just sit back, pray and continue to ask God to bring it on! And then we realize, there really are some things on this ole’ Earth that we just cannot change, and the list goes on and on!

And just like in nature, there are somethings in God’s law that we just cannot change. For starters, God cannot lie! The Bible says if you have given your heart to Jesus, REALLY given your heart to Jesus (Not just walked an isle to satisfy your mother), nothing can ever take that away! Also, His love for you is everlasting. There is nothing that you will ever do that will stop Him from loving you. And that my friends is called mercy!

In the book of The Lamentations of Jeremiah chapter 3:22-23 tells us, “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” If I was God, I’d have wiped out this old evil world a long, long time ago! But because He shows us mercy He doesn’t. His mercy is constantly updated! No matter what is going on or how rotten we’ve been acting, His mercy is new every morning. We get a do over! I praise the Lord for that!

Then there’s giving to Him. Do you realize that you can never ever out give God? That no matter how much you give He’s going to give back to you much more! That’s a promise that you can take to the bank! And if you really think about it, we came into this world naked and we’re going to leave this world naked. We’ll all circle the proverbial drain no matter how much or how little we have. Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:21 that, “Where your treasure is there will your heart be also.” What that simply means is this, if you’re storing up treasures on this earth and not investing that treasure in Heaven your heart is on this Earth! But if you are laying up your treasures in Heaven, your heart is fixed on Heaven! So ask yourself, “Where are your treasures?” Think about it! Jesus says in Mark 8:36, “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” What good will all the money in the world do us in eternity?

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Happy New Year!

In the past 10 years I have watched so many people in the church come to faith in Jesus Christ. I have had the privilege of leading many to the Lord myself by leading them in the sinner’s prayer right here in Canelo Cowboy Church! It has been such a blessing to see what God has done here in the last 10 and ½ years and He keeps on doing it! It’s a great thing to behold!
But coming to a saving knowledge of Jesus is just the first step. Alan Redpath in his book, “The Making of a Man of God,” says that, “The salvation of a soul takes only a moment, but the making of a saint takes a life time.” In other words, salvation comes so rich and so free and so easy, but to grow in Christ and become a mature Christians takes a long time. Just like a little baby. All of us here at Canelo Cowboy Church have been introduced to little Ellie Robbs and we have watched as her sweet mommy Heather has nurtured her and loved her and given her everything she needs. The Bible says this is how we are when we first come to Christ. We’re just new born babies in the Lord. But just like little Ellie, we don’t stay that way. We should start growing in the Lord from our first breath as a new Christian! And the Bible says that, just like little Ellie (Or all newborn babies), we should, “Crave pure Spiritual milk, so that you may grow up in your salvation (I Peter 2:2).”
Crave, it says. Thirst after it. Desire it. If you don’t feed a new born it will die. And a new Christian in the same way. If you don’t get fed you’re going to die! But Peter also puts some of the need on the new Christian. The new Christian must desire to grow, crave the milk and when something is pointed out to them they need to desire to change! And this also goes for older mature Christians. When our Heavenly Father aluminates something in our lives that doesn’t please Him, we need to do everything in our power to change. We need to repent, turn away from our sin and change whatever needs changing!
Have you ever heard someone say, “I’ve done that all my life and I don’t want to change?” That’s a sin. Our desire needs to be towards pleasing God. No matter where we are in the Lord, a new born or and old person spiritually speaking, our desire should be to do whatever we need to do to please Him. Pray about it.
Happy New Year! Naomi and I love you all.