Weekly Text 11/26/2023

 Just leaving it here because every day is Thanksgiving Day for The Family of God!

Psalm 136: Thanksgiving to God for His Enduring Mercy

1Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!

For His mercy endures forever.

2Oh, give thanks to the God of gods!

For His mercy endures forever.

3Oh, give thanks to the Lord of lords!

For His mercy endures forever:

4To Him who alone does great wonders,

For His mercy endures forever;

5To Him who by wisdom made the heavens,

For His mercy endures forever;

6To Him who laid out the earth above the waters,

For His mercy endures forever;

7To Him who made great lights,

For His mercy endures forever—

8The sun to rule by day,

For His mercy endures forever;

9The moon and stars to rule by night,

For His mercy endures forever.

10To Him who struck Egypt in their firstborn,

For His mercy endures forever;

11And brought out Israel from among them,

For His mercy endures forever;

12With a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm,

For His mercy endures forever;

13To Him who divided the Red Sea in two,

For His mercy endures forever;

14And made Israel pass through the midst of it,

For His mercy endures forever;

15But overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea,

For His mercy endures forever;

16To Him who led His people through the wilderness,

For His mercy endures forever;

17To Him who struck down great kings,

For His mercy endures forever;

18And slew famous kings,

For His mercy endures forever—

19Sihon king of the Amorites,

For His mercy endures forever;

20And Og king of Bashan,

For His mercy endures forever—

21And gave their land as a heritage,

For His mercy endures forever;

22A heritage to Israel His servant,

For His mercy endures forever.

23Who remembered us in our lowly state,

For His mercy endures forever;

24And rescued us from our enemies,

For His mercy endures forever;

25Who gives food to all flesh,

For His mercy endures forever.

26Oh, give thanks to the God of heaven!

For His mercy endures forever.

Weekly Text 11/19/2023

Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day. ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭25:5‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

There it is.  Did you  catch the phrase?  "Your truth". 

This isn't David saying, " You have your truth and I have mine.  You do you and I will do me."  Far from it.  As all good leaders should,  David wants to be a follower of God first and foremost.  More than a follower of God's  truth, He wants to be a student of it. He wants God's truth to be his truth; one and the same. It draws to mind The Apostle Paul's words, ‭‭"Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ. " Corinthians‬ ‭11:1‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

David gives another godly leadership principle in the phrase, "On You I wait all the day." Pardon me for not doing a word study at this early hour but,  I  have a strong hunch that this is not a passive wait; an "I will wait until I  know it all before I do anything" kind of wait.

Instead I get the image of a servant waiting on his master; actively serving his master's commands. I believe David's  desire is to put the truth into action as quickly as he receives it.  In short, to live The Truth, God's Truth, The ONLY Truth.

Why? Because God is His salvation.  His primary  desire is to live life according to the Life-giver. It's a response of love to the One who first loves him.

Friends, as leaders let's  walk in the example of David and Paul and lead others to do the same. Disciple believers in The Truth of their Savior and lead non-believers to the God of their  salvation first and then Disciple them  in The Way.

Blessings for a wonderful day!

Weekly Text 11/12/2023

 

"Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Hebrews 4:16

Throne of grace???  We may not be accustomed to kings and queens sitting upon thrones ruling over us, but we've watched enough movies to know that royal thrones are not associated with the concept of grace. Fear and judgment? Yes.  Grace? Not so much. 

Yet, this is a throne of grace because of the one who sits upon it.  Jesus Christ, High Priest; Son of God; Resurrected Savior (v.14). And this High Priest can relate to our circumstances because He's been here, done that and has the "Victory Over Sin" t-shirt to prove it. (v.15)  So while we may be reluctant to approach other thrones, we are encouraged to approach this throne with boldness.  We can be bold in our approach when we "hold fast to our confession." (v.14) --that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, Savior of The World who promises forgiveness, an abundant, transformed life and eternity in Heaven when we surrender our sin for His righteousness. So run to His Throne without fear or trepidation and there you will find mercy and grace in abundance when you need it (which is 24/7).

But, let's also remember this...while this sounds like a wonderful personal benefit of our relationship with Jesus, we know that there's another biblical principle at work here.  The principle of generosity.  What God generously gives to us is not just for us.  It is to be freely given to others.  So we can also ask for mercy and grace for others AND the mercy and grace WE NEED to help in THEIR TIME OF NEED!

The sum of it all?  Hanging out around the Throne of Grace is the place to be....ALWAYS.

Have a great day in the Lord!

Pastor Russ Ministry Catalyst Real Love Ministries International https://reallovehaiti.org

Weekly Text 11/5/2023

 The generous soul will be made rich,And he who waters will also be watered himself. Proverbs  11:25

"Count your pennies."

"Lack of money is the root of all evil."-George Bernard Shaw

We are taught to save as  a means to achieving wealth. Many Christians think good stewardship is "pinching pennies." We often try to do things "on the cheap" when it comes to ministry or projects around the church.

However, I think in God's economy the opposite is true.  Good stewardship is generous stewardship.  As individuals and churches, we are to certainly to be wise with the money and resources with which we are blessed with but being stingy is not being wise.  In fact, God teaches us throughout Scripture that we are to be generous towards others just as God has been generous with us.

A generous spirit is a good reflection of God's image. It also shows our  trust in God and an acknowledgement that all we have is from Him.  And God is a never ending fountain of wealth.

Of course, our wealth from God extends far beyond monetary and material wealth.  We are called to be generous with all that we possess be it money, talents, personalities, emotions, giftedness, etc.  In short, if it comes from God (and all of it does) then let it freely leave your hands.

O, and one more thing. Generosity towards others breeds generosity towards you!

Have a generous day!

Pastor Russ

Ministry Catalyst

Real Love Ministries International

https://reallovehaiti.org

Weekly Text 10/29/2023

 

"2Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, ³ as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, ⁴ by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." 2 Peter 1:2-4

"Don't give way to the fear of inability when the work of Jesus has supplied you with everything you need."--Paul David Tripp

As a leader in ministry, it's easy to get overwhelmed.  So much so, that we should expect it.  We are engaged in important work that has eternal consequences and the enemy wants to thwart our efforts.  We know too, that by the very nature of ministry, we will be led into difficult and challenging situations. Add to all of this, life in general can be overwhelming.  In those moments, we can find ourselves doing a quick assessment of our talents, abilities, character traits and past failures to conclude we are overmatched and underqualified.

Yet we must live in the truth of verse 3.

"as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue," 

We must look beyond our resources to the divine power that has been generously to each of us.  The gift is accessible, free-flowing, and ready to equip us for the immediate challenge.  Even more, the divine power of The Trinity is not limited to the catalog of gifts and talents already in our possession. God is always at work in us for His glory!

Blessings!

Pastor Russ

Ministry Catalyst

Real Love Ministries International

https://reallovehaiti.org

Weekly Text 10/22/2023

 12 Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. 13 But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, 15 and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 2 Timothy 3:12-15

Verse 12 would certainly make a great sales pitch for becoming a Christian!  I can see it now....#persecution.  All kidding aside, far from making a sale pitch, Paul is giving a stark reminder of the worldly consequences of following Christ.  I say reminder because many of his fellow Christians were experiencing the harsh reality of this truth. The same is true today for many of our brothers and sisters around the world.  For us, our reality is likely nowhere near as harsh but, we know it's a growing reality for us too.  We clearly see verse 13 playing out all around us. I'm sure the list is quickly forming in your mind.  If you are having trouble, the opening verses of this chapter will prime your thoughts.

But, Paul's intent (and mine) is not be doom and gloom but to be clear about how we are to live in the midst of such reality.

But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them,...  (v. 14)

Harsh realities and difficulties aside, "The standard is the standard," as the great Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin likes to say.  We are to remain steadfast in who we are in Christ Jesus!

Some final thoughts to consider:

*Being grounded in The Holy Scriptures is key as is the fellowship and accountability of The Family of God.

*Being equipped for every good work means we should be doing good works even when those around us are not.

*We set an example for others to follow especially, our children, grandchildren and the younger generation as a whole. Paul speaks of his own example in the verses leading into this section.

*Finally, our focus needs to keep turning upward to Jesus Christ on The Throne and drawing strength, comfort, peace and power from The Holy Spirit.  While not, expressly taught here in this passage, we know this is a necessary truth taught throughout all of Scripture.

May you be equipped for every good work as you worship with your church family today!

Pastor Russ

Ministry Catalyst

Real Love Ministries International

https://reallovehaiti.org