New Beginnings

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Then I said to them, “You see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire. Come and let us build the wall of Jerusalem that we may no longer be a reproach”… So they said, “Let us rise up and build.” Then they set their hands to do this good work. --Nehemiah 2:17-18 As a servant of Jesus Christ, you have a purpose for living. And you can make a difference in your community, church, and world… especially when you work in partnership with others. When Nehemiah began rebuilding the wall, he knew he couldn’t do it alone, so he enlisted the help of others. All kinds of people were involved… priests, politicians, perfumers, clothiers, tradesmen, bachelors, women… there was a role for everyone. Yet in the midst of this great movement of service to the Lord, there were still those who chose not to be involved. Nehemiah 3:5 says certain nobles from Tekoa “would not stoop to serve their Lord.” It was forever recorded in God’s Word that when there was a job to be done for him, these people were absent. Imagine that! Never let it be said of you that when there was something great to do for God and his Kingdom, you weren’t involved. Some believers have the idea that when we come to Christ by grace through faith, we don’t need to serve and work hard. But Nehemiah and the believers of his day realized the charge to work hard and accomplished the impossible for God’s glory. I want to challenge you today: Do you have a place on the wall? Are you participating in building God’s Kingdom? There is a ministry for every person in the fellowship of the Lord—and every place is important. Ask the Lord how he wants to use you! AS LONG AS WE HAVE LIFE AND BREATH,WE’RE TO SERVE THE LORD JESUS CHRIST!

Power Destroyed

Monday, July 29, 2019

by Dr. Paul Chappell

“Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.”

Romans 6:6–9

Alarmed by the growing threat of Iran’s nuclear program, somewhere around 2005 (the details have never been released publicly) the American and Israeli intelligence services created a new kind of weapon—a computer “worm.” This program worked by making copies of itself over and over on each new computer with which it came in contact. When it had spread, Stuxnet, as the worm was called, began altering the speeds at which the centrifuges used to enrich uranium ran. The program was designed so that the controls would report everything was normal, even as the sensitive equipment was being damaged or destroyed. In the end, Iran still had the buildings and equipment standing, but their power to enrich uranium to create nuclear weapons had been largely taken away.

Before we are saved, we are completely unable to resist the power of sin. No amount of will power or good intentions can deliver a lost person from Satan. Paul described this condition to Timothy: “And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will” (2 Timothy 2:26). But Jesus has, through His death and resurrection, destroyed the power that sin had to control us. The same habits and desires that once held us in captivity are still there after salvation, but they no longer have the ability to force our surrender to evil. Though we still sin, it is no longer because we have no choice, but because we have given in to a powerful foe.

Today's Growth Principle: 

The dominion of sin over us has been destroyed, and we no longer are forced to yield to it.