THE GOOD WOUNDS OF A FRIEND

Frankly Speaking,

14 I am not writing these things to shame you, but to warn you as my beloved children.                                                               I Corinthians 4:14 NLT

GOOD WOUNDS! ~ How do you handle being corrected by someone who cares? According to Pew Research, 65% of American adults believe that “people are too easily offended.” What if a caring friend exposes sin in your life and calls you out in love? They are right, but it hurts. What would you do?  It seems many just want to go to church to be reminded what good people we are. This is anti-biblical. The Bible confronts every human being declaring each of us as a terrible sinner not fit for heaven. “There is none righteous.” (read Romans 3:1-23)

Some people are ok with a pastor saying, “Well, we’re all just sinners, right?” However, the Bible declares this TRUTH, JESUS’ death is the only way we can be saved from hell. Every person on Earth needs JESUS!  Feathers ruffled yet? More biblical honesty ahead…

Guess what? You are a no good filthy, dirty, lying, cheating, selfish sinner. Yes, I am too! Without that painful truth as our starting point, we cannot understand why we so desperately need JESUS. If we believe the lie that we are pretty good, then we think we almost make it to heaven on our own. We are almost good enough! That is a lie from the pit of hell! The devil wants us to believe that because he does not want us to realize how urgently and desperately, we need THE LORD JESUS to forgive us and cleanse us from all our sin. We need A NEW LIFE!

Yes, we need encouragement sometimes. However, we are in desperate need of correction as well. If all you hear at church is positivity and encouragementRUN!!! The Bible is a book of rebuke and correction as well as encouragement! We need to hear it when we are wrong. Yes, it hurts, but genuine repentance brings healing! 😊

LIVING IN THE SHADOW OF THE CROSS

Blessings in CHRIST,

Pastor Wes

I PETER 3:15

LIFE IN CRISIS!

FRANKLY SPEAKING,

44 And when they gave it to the people, there was plenty for all and some left over, JUST AS THE LORD HAD PROMISED.                                     II Kings 4:44 NLT

You Matter to GOD! {Life in Crisis!} ~ I find myself reflecting on two differing philosophies of life this week. One says, “life is a dream.” In other words, everything is wonderful, and there are never any real worries or concerns. The other is this, “life is just one crisis after the other.” Of course, this means that everything is bad, and the sky is falling. You may see it as the glass half-full or half-empty. Although, some might say, “the glass is broken!” If that’s you, then you have my heart and my prayers. I feel this way because some people seem like they just can’t catch a break. I know people, through no fault of their own, who just seem to have one life shattering event after another. In your case, I agree: “Life is hard!”

If you’re in a pit, and you can’t see the top, look up! The passage above is written during a famine. There was little or no food to eat. The first group tries to fix what might be their last meal only to find that the food is poisoned. The second group does not have nearly enough food for one hundred people with no way to get more food. So, what happens? Does someone decide, “Well, life is short, and we’re just going to die anyway!” NO! They are wise enough to seek the ONE who made the earth and all the food contained therein. HE PROVIDES! ~ HE always has a plan, and it’s a great one (especially given that we can’t see all of it, yet). 😊

Often the OLD TESTAMENT clearly points to JESUS in the NEW TESTAMENT in such a way that none of us should miss it. This is one of those times. Elisha the prophet prays for GOD to provide/multiply loaves of bread so that all the people can be fed. Sound familiar? It should! JESUS does the same thing several times in the NEW TESTAMENT. In fact, on one occasion, HE even states the reason for the allusion to the bread and the miracles so often in HIS ministry. (Matthew 16:11-12)

11 Why can’t you understand that I’m not talking about bread? So again I say, ‘Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.’”

12 Then at last they understood that HE wasn’t speaking about the yeast in bread, but about the deceptive teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Please remember, THE REAL BATTLE is not the crisis you’re in. THE REAL BATTLE is about your attention, your passion, your heart, your faith, and your very soul! Cry Out to JESUS if you “Need a Miracle.Tell your heart to believe again! 😊

Living in THE SHADOW of the CROSS

Blessings in CHRIST

Pastor Wes

I Peter 3:15

Please remember, THE REAL BATTLE is not the crisis you’re in. THE REAL BATTLE is about your attention, your passion, your heart, your faith, and your very soul!

When Evil Triumphs!

FRANKLY SPEAKING,

15 When Jezebel heard the news, she said to Ahab, “You know the vineyard Naboth wouldn’t sell you? Well, you can have it now! He’s dead!” 16 So Ahab immediately went down to the vineyard of Naboth to claim it. ~ I Kings 19:15-16

When Evil Triumphs! Imagine living through the nineteen-twenties when a young man named Adolph Hitler rose to power from absolute obscurity. What it must have been like to be a follower of JESUS as the world moved closer to the second World War. Many believers must have prayed daily for GOD to intervene. How many Jews cried out to GOD in disbelief of what was happening to GOD’S chosen nation? Where was the providential hand of intervention? What was the HOLY SPIRIT doing in the midst of this genocide? We ask, “How could a loving GOD let these things happen?”

In the passage above, we see the same thing happening during the reign of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel. The difference is that they were the leaders of the nation of Israel ~ GOD’S CHOSEN PEOPLE! Everyone who knew Naboth must have been asking the same questions. Naboth was respected by everyone, but that did not matter to Jezebel.  How could GOD let Jezebel commit such an atrocity? Killing Naboth just so she could give his vineyard to Ahab. King Ahab had everything he could possibly want; yet, he wanted the one thing he couldn’t get. WOW! We cry foul and unfair! Right?

How many of us are asking GOD that same question? Why GOD? Why am I going through this right now? Tell me why this is happening to my loved ones. What about our country? Here’s GOD’s answer to Job’s question!

4 “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?  Tell me, if you know so much. 5 WHO determined its dimensions and stretched out the surveying line? 6 What supports its foundations, and WHO laid its cornerstone 7 as the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?   ~ JOB 38:4-6

What do we do when Evil Triumphs! We Trust in the LORD Our GOD!

Living in THE SHADOW of the CROSS

Blessings in CHRIST,

Pastor Wes

I Peter 3:15

When Evil (appears as though it) Triumphs! 🙂