New Years Day 2015

"Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also"

—Matthew 6:21

As we enter into a new year, here is something to remember: When it's all said and done, we have three things we can offer God—our treasure, our talent, and our time. Each of these is given to us by God, and each of them should be given back in generous portions.

First, there is our treasure. I urge you to commit yourself to give faithfully and generously to the Lord in this coming year. Jesus said, "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" (Matthew 6:21 NKJV). Whenever we put our money into something, we develop a vested interest in it. It makes sense to us that we would place our treasures where our hearts are. If we love reading books, or being entertained, or the latest technology, we spend our treasure on those things. And if our heart's desires change, that changes where we put our treasure.

But it works the other way too: Where we put our treasures, our heart will follow. Do you want your heart to be in the things of God? Then put your treasures in the things of God! Develop a vested interest in God's kingdom.

The second thing we can give to God is our talent. God has gifted each believer in different ways. Everyone has something to offer for the work of the kingdom. Romans 12 says, "Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ's body. We are all parts of his one body, and each of us different work to do" (NLT).

Finally, there is our time. Let's say that one day your phone rang and it was the president of the bank that you use. He told you that an anonymous donor who loved you very much had decided to deposit 86,400 pennies into your bank account each and every morning. At first, maybe that didn't seem like a lot. But then you figured out that it was $864 a day. At seven days a week and 52 weeks a year, those pennies add up to almost $315,000 each year! But the bank president added one thing: "The anonymous giver said you must spend all of the money on the day you receive it! No balance will be carried over to the next day. Each evening the bank must cancel whatever sum you failed to use! Remember, what you don't spend is lost."

That may sound like fantasy, but here's the reality: Every morning, Someone who loves you very much deposits into your "bank of time" 86,400 seconds, which represent 1,440 minutes, which of course equals 24 hours each and every day. God gives you that much to use each day. Nothing is ever carried over on credit to the next day. There is no such thing as a 27-hour day. It's called time, and you can't escape it. Time is ticking away right now. The Bible tells us to "redeem the time"—to make sacred and wise use of every opportunity.

Offer God your treasure, your talent, and your time. Live this next year as if it were your last, because it could be. Make those minutes count!
 - Excellent words from Greg Laurie.

The Heart Satisfier

As human beings we are created by God to be happy and to feel good about ourselves. As a matter of fact, we must feel good about ourselves, or eventually we will develop some sort of unhealthy, uncontrolled behavior to get the good feelings we crave.

Think about it. A person who is addicted to drugs probably began using them because his pain was so intense he felt compelled to get rid of it, even if only temporarily. The same thing is true of drinking, or using food as a comfort. If we do not get good feelings from the inside, then we attempt to create them through outside means.

God created us that way and He's the only one who can satisfy us. When we go to something other than God to make us feel good about ourselves, we're really just replacing something real with a cheap substitute.

Whatever your emotional needs are today, know that only God can meet them. He is the only lasting source of life. Go to Him today, He's the only One who can satisfy your heart.

Easter and Relationship

32 years ago I made a decision for Jesus Christ because I finally realized that there is a difference between religion and relationship with God. There are no religions in the Bible because they are made by man. God wants a relationship with you and not a religion with you. If God was behind religion he would be multi divided within himself. 

I have been ridiculed by some police officers that I have worked with and by family members because of my stance with Jesus Christ. They look at you cross eyed when you tell them that God talks to you. When you have a relationship with someone, don't you talk to them? What kind of God would not talk to you? God talks to you in many different ways and he will get his message across to you in whatever means he has to if you are listening. If you take time, you will be able to hear his still small voice. 

Easter is not about an egg laying rabbit. Easter is about relationship. It is about God's relationship with his son Jesus and Jesus' relationship with mankind. What Jesus did on the cross can only be comprehended by a relationship with him. All relationships take time. Which relationships in your life are priority? 

As an atheist I only believed in what touched my five senses. Then one day someone asked me if that was true, how do I know I have a brain since I can't see it? We know we have a brain by the product of our thinking. We can't see air yet we know it exists because of wind. We know that God exists because of what he produces and created.

If you died today where would you spend eternity? What would be the basis for your conclusion to that question? If there is a God who created this whole universe, don't you think he can create a relationship with you? A casket is not a place to find out the answer to that question.

This weekend take time to think about your relationship with God. If you're not sure, as I was, just call out to him. It's not about religion, it's about relationship.

Time

Most people to day have some sort of mechanism that can tell them what time it is. Do you remember the song from the group Chicago, "Does anybody really know what time it is?" I believe it was one of their first songs to hit the charts. But the concept was that we are all so busy that we really don't know what time it is in our lives. We're all so busy doing "things" and "stuff" that what really is important in our lives goes by so fast and you can't push the undo button!

The concept of time exists because everything that has life dies so we measure that existence in increments of time. If none of us died, time would have no value. But we will all die eventually, physically speaking, but our spirits live forever. But our physical bodies don't last forever. What would you do if you were told you had only a month or couples of months left to live? What would be your priorities? How would you view the various things in your life?

Conforming to the World

The world - those we know and deal with on a daily basis - is continually trying to conform us to its image. You see it everyday especially on TV and other media!  Hollywood decides what the morals of this country should be. The word conform means "to be similar in form or character; to behave in accordance with prevailing modes or customs." 

Romans 12:2 says, "Do not be conformed to this world, ." And 3 John 1:11 says not to imitate what is evil, but to imitate the good things of God.

In James it says, "You adulterers! Don't you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God."

People will always try to fit us into their mold, partly due to their own insecurity. It makes them feel better about what they are doing if they can get someone else to do it too. Very few people have the ability to be who they are and let everybody else be who they are.

Can you imagine how nice the world would be if we would all do that? If each person would be secure in who he is and let others be who they are? Then we would not have to try to conform and be imitations of each other. 

I want to encourage you today to believe you can be an imitator of Christ and break out of the world's mold!

Son of God movie

Check out @compassion's Tweet: https://twitter.com/compassion/status/434049139374952448

The Power of Words

I'm not a man of many words. I'm not an eloquent speaker even though I'm asked to speak at various places and give my testimony. Some people just have that "gift of gab" and sometimes  you wished there was a shut off button! But as a Police Officer, I was always to the point. "Sir, I pulled you over for this reason. License, registration and insurance card, please". Right to the point.

Politicians, salesmen all seem to say much but with no substance but still convince you to do something. Some try to convince you that nothing is wrong and everything is OK yet some will make it seem like a country is about to nuke another country if not our country.

Yet words in music can be so appealing and bring forth much emotion. The same with poetry. The right words expressed can illuminate your mind with many visuals.

Look at TV commercials. Millions are spent to express a product or service and get you to buy it in 30 - 60 seconds! And do people buy? Sure! The power of words.

News reporters express many stories on TV and give visuals that help enhance what they are saying. In radio, words have to be expressed clearly to the listener will have a full understanding of what is being expressed. How many stories have you heard about being misled because what was expressed was not stated properly or truthfully? The power of words.

God has given of His words and warnings on what words can do. In James 3:6, "The tongue is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one's life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell." It's really not difficult to get the point here. And God give many more examples in the Bible.

I can delete or undo words here as I type but words that are spoken can never be deleted. Once they are out there, they can't come back. That's why we must be so cautious about what we must say to people. Has anyone ever said something to you that hurt? Do you remember those words? Probably because we tend to remember the bad words that people say to us and not remember the goods ones! Bad words cut to the heart and it takes a long time to heal those situations.

So today, take some time and think about how you speak to people especially at home to your spouse and kids. I have regretted too often what has come out of my mouth. Even as a minister, I am imperfect and let my anger get the best of me at times. We all do. Today, try expressing something positive to the people around you and then make a habit of it. What you sow, you will reap! The power of words.
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