(October 6, 2010)
Prayer House News!
Betty Schwer went to be with the Lord on Saturday morning. Her funeral will be at our church on Thursday morning. The showing will go from 9:00am to 11:00am with the funeral beginning at that time.
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This week is Family Week which means we have a trimmed down schedule. There will be no mid-week services. I hope you get to spend extra time with your family.
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Jim Cumbie is in dire need of a miracle. Please continue to pray for him.
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Devotional!
Faith
In every instance we see that when faith works, it is independent of visible means. Abraham is called to break with all visible means of support and to simply follow the Lord to a land that he will show him. And Abraham went out not knowing where he was going. I want us to go to the setting where God gave the promise to Abraham that all nations would be blessed, and see something that I think will be important to us.
What I want us to see is that not only does faith work independent of visible means, but how possessing the visible means actually hinders faith.
Genesis 18:16-23 When the men got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way. (17) Then the LORD said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? (18) Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. (19) For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him." (20) Then the LORD said, "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous (21) that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know." (22) The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the LORD. (23) Then Abraham approached him and said: "Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked?
The men getting up to leave are the angels of the Lord that had come to talk with Abraham. In verse 18 we see the promise that all nations will be blessed by the faith of Abraham. But after they share this with him they turn their attention to the city of Sodom. The thought of them destroying Sodom concerns Abraham even to the point of approaching the Lord and asking him, "Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? The reason this bothered Abraham so was because of his nephew Lot who was living in Sodom at the time. But why was Lot living there?
Genesis 13:10 Lot looked up and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan was well watered, like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, toward Zoar. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) (11) So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east. The two men parted company: (12) Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom. (13) Now the men of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the LORD.
The green fields of Sodom met the eye of Lot, subsequently he turned from the invisible path of faith to acquire the visible. Lot didn’t show any reluctance to go away from Abraham. He didn’t express any unwillingness to part from his uncle. He should have been civil enough to have given the choice back again to Abraham. But we don’t find any instance of deference or respect to his uncle in this matter.
Here is what we must understand, the visible is ever ready to support and attract the heart that is dropping from faith. It is so simple to give up on faith and to latch on to the visible. Our human tendency is that when we acquire the visible we acquire confidence. Have you ever noticed the swagger of someone who has just purchased something new. Maybe it’s the latest model of a car, or house, maybe it’s just some new clothes, regardless of what it is, there is a tendency to acquire a bit of self-confidence with it. The problem is that along with that self-confidence faith is obscured.
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Medication: A Merry Heart
Four Men in a Car
Four men rode in a car: a mechanical engineer, an electrical
engineer, a chemical engineer, and a computer engineer.
The car stalled out.
The mechanical engineer said, "It must be the pistons; let's
repair them and be on our way."
The electrical engineer said, "It has to be the spark plugs;
we'll replace them and be ready to roll in no time at all."
The chemical engineer said. "No, it's got to be bad gas;
we'll flush the system and be on our way."
They turned to the computer engineer. "What do you think we
should do?" they asked.
The computer engineer shrugged and said, "Let's get out of
the car, close the doors, then get back in and try
restarting it."
Prayer House News!
Betty Schwer went to be with the Lord on Saturday morning. Her funeral will be at our church on Thursday morning. The showing will go from 9:00am to 11:00am with the funeral beginning at that time.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This week is Family Week which means we have a trimmed down schedule. There will be no mid-week services. I hope you get to spend extra time with your family.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jim Cumbie is in dire need of a miracle. Please continue to pray for him.
==============================================
Devotional!
Faith
In every instance we see that when faith works, it is independent of visible means. Abraham is called to break with all visible means of support and to simply follow the Lord to a land that he will show him. And Abraham went out not knowing where he was going. I want us to go to the setting where God gave the promise to Abraham that all nations would be blessed, and see something that I think will be important to us.
What I want us to see is that not only does faith work independent of visible means, but how possessing the visible means actually hinders faith.
Genesis 18:16-23 When the men got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way. (17) Then the LORD said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? (18) Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. (19) For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him." (20) Then the LORD said, "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous (21) that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know." (22) The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the LORD. (23) Then Abraham approached him and said: "Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked?
The men getting up to leave are the angels of the Lord that had come to talk with Abraham. In verse 18 we see the promise that all nations will be blessed by the faith of Abraham. But after they share this with him they turn their attention to the city of Sodom. The thought of them destroying Sodom concerns Abraham even to the point of approaching the Lord and asking him, "Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? The reason this bothered Abraham so was because of his nephew Lot who was living in Sodom at the time. But why was Lot living there?
Genesis 13:10 Lot looked up and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan was well watered, like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, toward Zoar. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) (11) So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east. The two men parted company: (12) Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom. (13) Now the men of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the LORD.
The green fields of Sodom met the eye of Lot, subsequently he turned from the invisible path of faith to acquire the visible. Lot didn’t show any reluctance to go away from Abraham. He didn’t express any unwillingness to part from his uncle. He should have been civil enough to have given the choice back again to Abraham. But we don’t find any instance of deference or respect to his uncle in this matter.
Here is what we must understand, the visible is ever ready to support and attract the heart that is dropping from faith. It is so simple to give up on faith and to latch on to the visible. Our human tendency is that when we acquire the visible we acquire confidence. Have you ever noticed the swagger of someone who has just purchased something new. Maybe it’s the latest model of a car, or house, maybe it’s just some new clothes, regardless of what it is, there is a tendency to acquire a bit of self-confidence with it. The problem is that along with that self-confidence faith is obscured.
================================================
Medication: A Merry Heart
Four Men in a Car
Four men rode in a car: a mechanical engineer, an electrical
engineer, a chemical engineer, and a computer engineer.
The car stalled out.
The mechanical engineer said, "It must be the pistons; let's
repair them and be on our way."
The electrical engineer said, "It has to be the spark plugs;
we'll replace them and be ready to roll in no time at all."
The chemical engineer said. "No, it's got to be bad gas;
we'll flush the system and be on our way."
They turned to the computer engineer. "What do you think we
should do?" they asked.
The computer engineer shrugged and said, "Let's get out of
the car, close the doors, then get back in and try
restarting it."
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