"Ten Principles on Making a Decision"

The following list is one that I wrote in the back of my Bible on Aug. 25th, 2002. I hope it is a help and blessing to you as much has it has been to me.

1. Never make a decision based on feelings.
2. Always wait before making a decision
3. Make the decision based on what God would want
4. The decision should be based on "will it bring Glory to the Lord"
5. Find out what the Bible says before making the decision
6. Research the matter before making the decision
7. Count the full cost before making the decision
8. Have a list of counserllors that help you make decisions
9. Never make a decision that will pull you away from God's Word
10. Once a good decision has been made, don't reverse the decision.

"I'll Use My Burden"

Galatians 6:5 "For every man shall bear his own burden."

In life, no one is exempt from having burdens. They come to all of us. To the rich and to the poor. To the mighty and to the weak. Everyone from time to time has burdens. In Galatians chapter 6 the Bible gives us some insight to our own burdens. We must learn to carry them on our own.

When it comes to our own burdens we need to learn to look at them as a tool. When we have a burden we often say to God, "God I can't be used by you as long as I have this burden distracting me." And yet in my life it always seems to be that God says back, "It was with that burden that I was planning on using you." Turn your burden into a tool that can be used, rather than just allowing it to weigh you down.

The second thing I see about burdens is that we can carry more with our burdens than with out them. Our burdens make our shoulders broader. They make our backs stronger. They make our minds keener. They make our hearts softer. Our burdens will allow us to perform what Galatians is instructing us to do - assist in the carrying of other peoples burdens.

Stop fighting the burden God has allowed into your life and use it to bear the burdens of others.

"Building A House"

Psalm 127:1 "Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain."

As a pastor, I am always thinking about the strength of our church. There is only one difficult thing to understand when pondering on that. It's this, the church is only as strong as it's strongest member. But it doesn't stop there. The church is also as weak as it's weakest member. I believe today that it is imperative that we have a strong churches. But I have come to a conclusion, we will not have strong churches if we don't have strong families. We will not have strong families unless we have strong, faithful husbands and fathers. We will not have strong, faithful husbands and fathers without strong, supportive wives, mothers, and children. Basically in the end we must have each member in each family striving together in service to the Lord. Let's purpose to become what God would have us to be. Strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might!

"Can't or Won't?"

II Corinthians 12:9 "And he said unto me, 'My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.' Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."

"I can't get along with my wife/husband." "My spouse and I can't communicate with each other." "I can't discipline the kid's the way I should." "I can't stop overeating." "I can't find the time to pray." "I can't find the time to read my Bible." "I can't quit gossiping." "I can't be faithful to church." I can't, I can't, I can't......or should it be, I won't?

We tell ourselves these statements all the time. I can't do this or I can't do that. The fact of the matter is, is that most of the time it truly is not that we can't it is that we won't.

In II Corinthians 12:9 the Bible tells us that it doesn't matter what is going on in our lives - We can. We can because His grace is sufficient. In Ephesians 3:16, we can because He has given us His might. In II Peter 1:3-4, We can because of His promises. In I Corinthians 10:13, We can because He has provided us a way out. In Philippians 4:13, We can because the Bible says we can.

What is it that you think you can't do? You can if you take God at His word. Trust Him and you CAN! Do it today. You CAN do better.

"Committed to Christ"

Romans 12:1 "I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service."

Commitment: "The act or process of consigning, delivering or entrusting, as for safekeeping." Here in Romans 12 we find commitment is defined for us. The Lord wants us to put our trust in Him for safekeeping. Not just part of our trust but our full trust, our whole body. Our whole body means everything there that defines who we are. When you think about it, it means what we eat, where we live, where we go, what we wear, what we say, what we think, etc. All of these things are to be committed to Christ for His safekeeping.

For those of us who are Christians, commitment is not optional. It is a demand from Christ. We must serve God in His timing and under His conditions. If we are going to live our lives committed to Christ we are going to have to have patience and perseverance in the race of life.

So go ahead, commit your life to Christ for his safekeeping. It is truly a reasonable life to live.

"The Great Appraiser"

Matthew 6:21 "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

If you take the time to go back and read in verse 19 of Matthew 6, you will find the instruction not to "lay up treasures upon the earth." We are told this because those treasure are temporary. We have valuable things here on earth, but compared to the heavenly treasures they don't even compare. Usually when you want to know how much something is worth, you take it to an appraiser. The appraiser evaluates the item and then gives the item a value. We must understand that God is the appraiser of all things in this life. God places more value on a man's soul than he does upon anything else. When we spend our time on things and activities that are temporary, it often frustrates our relationship with God. May we learn to place our obedience to the principles found it the Word of God. Obedience is a life long lesson that we all must apply to our lives if we are going to live the way God would have us live.

"The Uncertainty of Life"

James 4:14 "Whereas ye know not shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away."

Here in our verse today, James tells us that our lives are nothing more than a mere vapour. It's here for a while then it is gone. We only get one life to live. We need to spend it wisely, doing the will of God, and preparing ourselves to meet Him when this life is over. As you read this devotion, can you see the vapour dissipating from your life into the air of eternity?

If we were totally honest with ourselves, we would have to say one of two things today. Either, "I am living my life based on the Word and the will of God." Or, "I am going my own way, doing my own thing, rarely considering what God wants for my life." I know that these are two extreme places to be, and that most are going to find themselves somewhere in the middle of both.

Wherever you find yourself today, watch for the vapour dissipating from you life, and do your best to draw yourself closer to God. Let it be a challenge to you, to live your life according to what God wants as opposed to what you want. You only have one life, spend it for Him.

"The Secret Place of God"

Psalm 91:1 "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty."

I remember as a little kid trying to learn how to make shadow creatures with my hands. You know what I'm talking about. I used to watch people that knew how to that and I thought it was the coolest thing in the world. I actually learned how to make a bunny and an alligator. Boy did I think I was big stuff.

There are 71 references in the Bible that have the word "Shadow" in it. And in our text this morning we see that God has a secret place. This secret place is under His shadow. What a blessing this is. Usually, shadows are considered to be a scary of spooky kind of thing. But here in the Word of God, the shadow is something that is to be an encouragement to us.

When was the last time you went to the secret place of prayer to the Father? The Bible tells us that we are to pray with out ceasing. If we arrive at the secret place of the Father through our prayer lives, then I guess the shadow of the Almighty could be a scary thing if are prayer lives are suffering.

May I encourage you to day, to get out of the heat of this life, and to get under the shade of the Shadow that is in the secret place of God. Get in your prayer closet right now and ask Him to cover you in His calming shadow.

New devotionals coming Nov. 1st, 2009

Thank you all for being so patient with me. We have been so busy over the last couple of months. We have been making some pretty big changes at church which has required a little more time and attention from me. I look forward to blogging once again, beginning November 1st.

Aaron Smith

Integrity vs. Talk

Proverbs 25:19 "Confidence in a an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a broken tooth, and a foot out of joint."

Anyone can say they have integrity, but their actions are where the real test of integrity and character are really at. As Christians, our character determines who we are. Who we are determine what and how we see things in this world. What we see determines what we do. If our actions and intentions are constantly battling against one another, then we must look to our character to find out why. We must do more than just talk. Our actions are the most important aspect of who we are.

"Commitment"

Philippians 3:14 "I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."

From John C. Maxwell:
"When it comes to commitment, there are 4 types of people:

1. Cop-outs: No goals in life, rarely commit to anything.
2. Holdouts: Don't know if can reach their goals, afraid to commit.
3. Dropouts: Start but usually don't finish.
   
4. All-Outs: Set goals, commits to them, and willing to pay the price it costs to finish them."

When it comes to your Christian life, where do you fit in here? Are you a finisher? Never starting is just as bad as never finishing. In the Christian life it is not about how you because you are competing with your own self. Just determine to commit to Jesus and finish your race with patience and endurance. You'll be glad you paid the price in the end.

"Let's eat"

I Corinthians 10:2-5 "And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and all did eat the same spiritual meat; and did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness."

As a pastor, it never ceases to amaze me how sermons that are preached affect people in different ways. During the same sermon some are encouraged, some are moved, some are ticked off, some are offended, some are excited, some are bored, some are challenged, some are critical, some are resolved, some are blessed, some are eased, some are assured, some are discouraged. But it's the same sermon!

How does this happen? I am not really sure, except to say, we all have different tastes. Not everybody in this world loves to eat pecan pie. To me that's just crazy! There is nothing better in this world than pecan pie for dessert. But not everyone agrees with me. THAT'S OKAY WITH ME! Just means more pie for me. Now, back to the spiritual stuff. We must all realize first of all that we are all eating the same spiritual meat. And even though there are times we may not like the taste of what we are being given, we must trust God that he knows what we need at that moment. If are feelings are wrong, we need to change them, not the sermon. Just be grateful God cares enough about us to feed us what He knows we need at the time.

"We would see Jesus"

John 12:21 "The same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus."

Let's take a moment to set this scene. Jesus had just made the triumphal entry into Jerusalem. There was a crowd of several people already there worshiping and glorifying Jesus. The pharisees were complaining about the public display of worship for Jesus.

While all of that was going on, there were some Greeks that came to Jerusalem to worship at the feast. While there, they observed what was going on with Jesus. They found Philip, and asked if they could see Jesus. Not knowing what to do (more than likely because they were Greek) Philip finds Andrew and tells him. Andrew also doesn't know what to do, so he tells Peter, who in turn finally tells Jesus.

Wow, who would have thought, even among Jesus' disciples they didn't know what to do with people. The Greeks that came unto them came very sincerely. All they wanted to do was see Jesus, and they were not sure if they would be able to.

You know times haven't changed to much over the last 2000 plus years. We still look at how someone looks, acts, or behaves, and wonder whether or not they can truly come to Jesus.

May God help us look beyond who or what someone may look or act like. When they want to see and meet Jesus - Let them come!

"What's in your hand?"

Exodus 4:2 "And the Lord said unto him, 'What is that in thine hand?' And he said, 'A rod'."

Here in Exodus God asked Moses a very important question, "what is that in thine hand?" This verse illustrates to us God's ability to use anything or anyone, anytime He chooses. Moses had never even thought that God could use him, let alone his rod. Boy was he wrong! Not only did God use it, but he use it is a spectacular way.

I want to ask you the same question. What is in your hand? Is it a hammer? Then let God use that hammer. Is it a drivers license? Use it to pick someone up for church. Is it a baking dish? Use it to encourage one of God's children. Is it a pencil or pen? Use it to send someone a note or a card. What ever ability you think you have or don't have - give it to God. Let Him decide how to use it to further His work.

You never can tell what the Lord will use to accomplish His work. You never can tell, He may even want to use you!

"The Father's Love"

John 16:27 "For the Father himself loveth you"


God's never-ending love for us is very far from my human understanding. He loves us as though we, as individuals, were the only lost soul in the entire world. He would have given His Son if we were the only ones who needed to be redeemed. Don't ever forget this fact. We are very precious in His sight.