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In the morning my prayer comes before you. --Psalm 88:13 There’s an amazing spiritual principle at work in our lives as Christ-followers called the principle of first fruits. It works like this: You and I honor God by giving back to him the first portion of all that he gives to us. One obvious example of this principle is tithing. We tithe 10 percent of our income to God in thanks for his provision. And in return, God blesses the remaining 90 percent of our income, making it go further than we could even imagine! But the principle of first fruits also applies to our work week. God calls us to dedicate the first day of each week to him and to set ourselves apart from the world for a day of worship and rest. And when we do this, we feel the wonderful blessings of God throughout our week. So let me ask you this. If we are to dedicate the first day of our week to God, shouldn’t we also dedicate the first portion of each day to him, as well? We should! Nothing will impact your day more positively than to begin it with Christ Jesus. So give him the first part of your day and let him set the pace and tone of what is to come. When you do, you will feel more connected to him and be more accessible to do his will. NOTHING WILL IMPACT YOUR DAY MORE POSITIVELY THAN TO BEGIN IT WITH CHRIST JESUS!

Thursday, November 29, 2018

The Value of the Word of God

by Dr. Paul Chappell

“And the child Samuel ministered unto the LORD before Eli. And the word of the LORD was precious in those days; there was no open vision. And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see; And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep; That the LORD called Samuel: and he answered, Here am I.”

1 Samuel 3:1–4

The amount of labor required to produce a hand written copy of even the first five books of the Bible was intense and meant that God’s people for thousands of years did not have easy access to much of what He had spoken. During the time of Samuel, the priests kept the sacred scrolls and ensured they were preserved, but most people did not have entire copies that they could read and study for themselves. As a result, they treasured the chance when they could hear the words of God read to them.

In our day the Bible is readily available. Thanks to modern technology, we can take it with us everywhere we go and read it in any number of different formats. We can even access study guides and resources to help us understand more clearly what we read. Yet with all of that available to us, we too often do not take the time to actually read the Bible and value it for the great treasure that it is. Charles Spurgeon said, “The Old and the New Testaments, are my heritage. I rejoice to accept them as the estate of my mind, the treasure of my thought, the mint of the heavenly realm, the mine from which I can explore fresh veins of thought as long as I live, claiming all as my heritage forever.”

Today’s Growth Principle: 

If we do not treasure and value the Bible, we will not follow its teaching and commands in daily life.

Wednesday, November 28, 2018

The Necessity of Sharing the Gospel

by Dr. Paul Chappell

“For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel! For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward: but if against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me. What is my reward then? Verily that, when I preach the gospel, I may make the gospel of Christ without charge, that I abuse not my power in the gospel.”

1 Corinthians 9:16–18

In 1841, Michael Culbertson left a promising military career for a new line of work. Culbertson, who had graduated sixth in his class from West Point in 1839 and later taught at that school, determined God was calling him to China as a missionary. He left behind the US Army for God’s army. Culbertson was in China when the American Civil War began, and many of those he had trained at West Point were now leaders of the army.

A friend told Culbertson that if he had remained in America and was still part of the army, he would surely have been a general in the war. Culbertson responded, “No doubt I might. Men I drilled are in that position. Among these are Sherman, Thomas, Rosecrans. But there is not one with whom I would be willing to exchange. There is no post of influence on earth equal to that of a man who is permitted to give the Word of God to four hundred million of his fellow men.”

There are many things in this life which are valuable and important and worthy of our effort, but there is one task that above all others focuses on the next life, and that is reaching out to others with the gospel. If we accomplish great temporal things but do nothing which impacts eternity, the world may praise us, but eternity will not.

Today’s Growth Principle: 

There is no more important task for any of us than sharing the Good News of salvation in Jesus Christ.

In the New Testament book of Galatians, Paul again warns: "But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!" (Galatians 1:8).

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“By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.” —Hebrews 11:7 One day in the presence of Mark Twain someone said, “This world is coming to an end.”  And with a gleam in his eye, Twain said, “Don’t worry, we can get along quite well without it.” As we look at our world, our world is a sinking world, and we wonder if we can do without it.  But God promises that a new world is coming, a better world is coming, and that world is the world of His kingdom and of His glory. Noah learned how to rise above a sinking world. His faith produced good works.  He believed God and built an ark.  He believed God and obeyed God. And so because of a faith that worked, Noah was able to rise above a sinking world, and so can you. How did Noah do it?  How do we do it? God spoke to Noah!  And when God spoke above the clamoring voices of his times, Noah listened to the voice of God and obeyed the voice of God. In the midst of all the voices that are clamoring for our attention just as in Noah’s day, we must hear the voice of God!  Beyond the rabble noise of the crowd, beyond the call and the cry of the crowd we must hear the voice of God. God is speaking and wants you to listen. Tuesday, November 27, 2018 Unfailing Mercy by Dr. Paul Chappell “It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of musick, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the LORD; So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of God.” 2 Chronicles 5:13–14 Thomas Hooker was a powerful preacher and effective author in the early 1600s. He fled from England to America because of religious persecution, and helped establish the city of Hartford, Connecticut. Even today he is known as the “Father of Connecticut.” Hooker’s life made a difference, and he accomplished a great deal for the Lord, but he never forgot what God had done for him. It is said that on his deathbed, one of Hooker’s friends told him, “You are going to receive the reward of your labors.” The dying pastor replied, “No, I am going to receive mercy.” The unfailing need that we have for God’s mercy because of our fallen state is matched by the unfailing supply of mercy that God provides to those who trust in Him. “It is of the LORD’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22–23). No matter how much we work for God, how much we give, how much we witness, how much we accomplish, we are still utterly dependent on His mercy. Our best attempts fail to measure up to God’s standard. But mercy covers our faults with the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ, allowing God to see us as acceptable unto Him. Today’s Growth Principle:  When we recognize the vital role God’s mercy plays in our lives, we will give no place to pride.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God, not a result of works so that NO one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Nota bene: Grace is getting something we don’t deserve; Mercy is not getting what we do deserve. 

Quote of the day

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“Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.” —Ephesians 4:31 We are in a culture that knows many different kinds of anger and even rage. You know, there’s road rage. Been there? Then there is sports rage! Listen to sports talk radio lately? There is voice mail rage. If you’ve ever been into the abyss of one of those voicemail systems you have perhaps known voicemail rage. There’s work rage and office rage and, end of semester test rage, right? Maybe you wrestle like we all do with how to get a handle on your anger, on your temper and your temperament. If that’s you, and really that’s all of us, and you said, “Pastor, do you get angry?” Of course, I do. We all battle this. It is frustrating, isn’t it? In fact, I’m mad about it! Well, the Scripture is clear that anger must be laid aside. Let it go. If your goal as a follower of Jesus is to reproduce the righteousness of God, then you must be willing to lay aside anger. Anger can be an ally when we control it. We ought to be passionate about some things in life. But we know that so much of our anger today is not disciplined or directed by God, but it is misdirected. God cares about our personalities. When Christ comes to live in our lives, He wants to transform the way we think, and therefore, the way we act. And so we need to let go of any addiction we have to anger. How do you do that? We confront it, we confess it, we control it, and we conquer it. You can, by God’s grace, Let go of anger!

Monday, November 26, 2018

A Solitary Place

by Dr. Paul Chappell

“And at even, when the sun did set, they brought unto him all that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils. And all the city was gathered together at the door. And he healed many that were sick of divers diseases, and cast out many devils; and suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew him. And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.”

Mark 1:32–35

Jesus had many purposes for His time here on Earth. His overarching mission was to be the Saviour of the world, but He also spent a great deal of time touching the lives of hurting people, offering them healing and hope. And He poured years of His life into training a small group of disciples who would carry on His work after He returned to Heaven. Yet even with His busy days and nights of teaching and ministry and so much that needed to be accomplished while with others, Jesus often took time to be alone to commune with the Father.

We live in a hyper-connected world where technology has made it easy for us to be in contact with others pretty much around the clock. But while we must be invested and connected to others in order to minister to them, there must also be times of solitude and quiet when we are alone with God. Andrew Bonar wrote, “In order to grow in grace, we must be much alone. It is not in society that the soul grows most vigorously. In one single quiet hour of prayer it will often make more progress than in days of company with others. It is in the desert that the dew falls freshest and the air is purest.” The voice of God can easily be drowned out by the hustle and bustle of life unless we intentionally take time to be in His presence.

Today’s Growth Principle: 

Do not get so swept up in the busyness of daily life that you neglect spending time alone with God

Sunday, November 25, 2018

The Destructiveness of Sin

by Dr. Paul Chappell

“Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.”

Hebrews 12:15–17

The devil is a deceiver, and one of his most effective lies is to tell us that sin is not really that dangerous. In the Garden of Eden he used this lie to persuade Eve to take the forbidden fruit. “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die” (Genesis 3:4). But sin is deadly, and it has consequences that reach far beyond what we expect. Indeed if we saw those consequences clearly, we would never yield to temptation. But sin is deceitful, and we must remain on guard.

Dr. John Rice said, “Sin always leads to a hardened heart. You cannot sin and be the same. You think you can play with sin and when you are ready, leave sin alone. When you are ready to leave sin alone, sin is not ready to leave you alone. Sin of itself, necessarily and always, changes the character, hardens the heart, dulls the sensibilities to right and wrong, sears the conscience as with a hot iron, makes it so you do not want to do right, though you once did. Sin itself hardens the heart. It always turns out that way.”

We do not develop immunity to sin by being exposed to small doses of it. Instead small doses of sin damage our conscience and our sensibilities, and leave us vulnerable to even deeper sin. We must treat every sin, even the “little” ones, as the deadly poison that it is.

Today’s Growth Principle: 

One of the best protections against temptation is a clear understanding of the destructiveness of sin.

The apostle Paul warns of "another Jesus whom we have not preached... a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted" (2 Corinthians 11:4).

 

I Quote

It was a dream. I was standing on the higher ground with a sudden earthquake underneath. The building where I stood suddenly collapsing, I saw massive landslide as the land and water parted ways down below. As I reached the ground, I saw myself walking in a sunny greenfield sound and safe like this (as the night came in, the rain water pours)…

Meg, 25 Nov 2018

The Lost Book of Abraham

Saturday, November 24, 2018

What a Christian Can’t Say

by Dr. Paul Chappell

“And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat. But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean. And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common. This was done thrice: and the vessel was received up again into heaven.”

Acts 10:13–16

Oswald Smith recounted the story of a Christian young lady who was struggling with the issue of God’s will for her life. After hearing a powerful sermon on obedience and discipleship from the British preacher Graham Scroggie, she went forward and told him she was struggling with yielding her life completely to God. When he asked why, she told him that she was afraid God would call her to China as a missionary. Scroggie opened his Bible to Acts 10 and read her Peter’s words, “Not so, Lord.” He explained that this was an impossible contradiction. Either Jesus is really Lord, in which case we cannot decline, or we are lord in His rightful place. He told the young lady to either cross out “Not so” or else cross out “Lord” for she could not have both. After she prayed, she took the pen and crossed out “Not so,” yielding her life to God completely.

We have a culture that celebrates what they call freedom, which is usually simply a more polite word for unrestrained license to do whatever someone wants. Of course that is not true freedom, because sin always leads to bondage in the end. But as Christians, we must guard our hearts and minds to ensure that we are not influenced by the world into thinking that we can pick and choose which commandments we will obey and which we will regard as optional. We are not in charge of our lives. We do not belong to ourselves. And we have no right to say “Not so, Lord.”

Today’s Growth Principle: 

No Christian has the right to disobey anything that God has commanded in His Word.

³³ “Again ^hyou have heard that it was said to those of old, ^q‘You shall not swear falsely, but ^rshall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ ³⁴ But I say to you, ^sDo not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for ^tit is the throne of God, ³⁵ or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is ^uthe city of the great King. ³⁶ And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. ³⁷ Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.⁷ (Matthew 5:33–37)

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“But one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion…” --Luke 10:42 If you made a checklist of things that were necessary for your well-being, what would be on it? Naturally, you’d include things like food, water, air, and shelter. But what about spending time with Jesus? Do you find daily fellowship with Christ Jesus essential? Well, I hope you do, because it is absolutely essential to your growth and effectiveness as a Christ-follower. You and I can see this truth presented so vividly in the story of Mary and Martha’s encounter with Jesus. You’ll recall that Martha had invited Jesus to come to her home for a time of refreshment. Maybe a meal and time of fellowship. And after Jesus arrived, Martha’s sister, Mary chose to sit at Jesus’ feet soaking up his words and his very presence while Martha became busy with preparations. When Martha asked Jesus to send Mary to help her, Jesus told her that Mary had discovered the one thing necessary, the truly essential thing: spending time with him. You see, as a Christ-follower, spending time with Jesus isn’t just a good thing to do, it is THE thing to do! To experience his presence every day of your life, you must seek him, spend time with him, and know his heart. Will you choose this one necessary thing today? I pray that you will. TIME SPENT WITH JESUS ISN’T JUST A GOOD THING TO DO, IT IS THE THING TO DO! Friday, November 23, 2018 It All Matters by Dr. Paul Chappell “Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto you. For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth.” Zechariah 4:8–10 The rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem following the Babylonian Captivity was a lengthy and arduous process. When Solomon built the first Temple, he had access to vast financial resources, and the kingdom was safe and prosperous. In contrast, the building project undertaken in the days of Ezra by Nehemiah and Zerubbabel was done while surrounded by enemies and threats. One of the problems that delayed the construction was the feeling of some people that because what they were doing was so much smaller and less than the original, it was not worthy of their commitment and sacrifice. God sent the prophet Zechariah to challenge them to do all that they could, trusting God to provide the rest. Many times we are tempted to overlook what seems to us to be small things, not realizing that those may be the very things that make the biggest difference. The world may ignore or mock what we are able to do, but God does not. He keeps track of even the smallest investments that we make in His work, and rewards us for them. Jesus said, “And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward” (Matthew 10:42). Doing nothing because we are only able to do a little is foolish, and keeps us from reaching our best for God. Today’s Growth Principle:  There are no small acts of obedience and sacrifice in the eyes of God.