Belief/Disbelief

Mark 9:24b 

Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.

There have been times when I believed God could do something, but not that He would. In instances like these, I had belief, yet I had disbelief.

God wants us to truly believe. In just the previous verse, Christ says, "all things are possible to him that believeth." He didn't say some things, but all things! When we lack the faith to truly believe, we need to go to our Father and seek His help. We can ask Him to strengthen our faith just as we can ask Him anything else.

True Wisdom

Job 28:12-13; 28

 12 But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding? 13 Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither is it found in the land of the living. . . . 28 And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.

The world stresses the importance of education. I'm not saying education is wrong, but it needs to be put in perspective.

True wisdom will not be found in college degrees or earned fancy titles. True wisdom is found in the fear of the Lord.

Our founding fathers were wise men. Our nation has stood as long as it has because of their wisdom. Their wisdom did not come from books, but from the book--The Good Book--The Bible.

Despite what most modern textbooks say, the majority of our founding fathers feared God and departed from evil. They were wise and full of understanding.

God's Calendar

Happy Mother's Day to all mothers!

Chad preached on God's Calendar today to prepare us for his series on the feasts.

(Due to difficulties, this wasn't actually posted on Mother's day, so happy belated Mother's day!)

Obedience is Better than Repentance

1 Samuel 15:22 And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.

Does God forgive? Sure! Does God prefer us to obey the first time and not have need of forgiveness? Definitely and 1 Samuel 15:22 tells us exactly that.

Obedience is better than repentance. When we do commit sin, we surely need to repent and ask forgiveness, but it would be better for us to obey in the first place.

We can not live our lives thinking we can just sin and then ask forgiveness. If we live like that, is our heart truly repentant?

There is a saying, "Better to ask forgiveness than to be told no," but God's Word tells us the exact opposite--obedience is better than forgiveness!

Turn Aside

1 Samuel 12:14 If ye will fear the LORD, and serve him, and obey his voice, and not rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then shall both ye and also the king that reigneth over you continue following the LORD your God:But if ye will not obey the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then shall the hand of the LORD be against you, as it was against your fathers.

Could this apply to American and our president? I feel that it definitely can! The people have turned from God. We, as a nation, no longer fear God. We don't live by His commands.

1 Samuel 12:20 And Samuel said unto the people, Fear not: ye have done all this wickedness: yet turn not aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart; And turn ye not aside: for then should ye go after vain things, which cannot profit nor deliver; for they are vain.

We need to turn back to God! We need to serve Him! We need to follow His commands! We need to put aside our greed for it is vain. Money can not save us--only Christ can save us!

Spiritual or Tradition?

Isaiah 66:2-3 For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word. He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog's neck; he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine's blood; he that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations. 

When reading these verses in context of the entire chapter, you see that the people approached sacrifices as rituals; the sacrifice had lost meaning and they were just doing it because it is what they were supposed to do.

God desires our hearts. His concern is not with who gives the most or who gives the best speeches, or who knows the most scripture. He wants our hearts! If we give what little we have out of our thanks for Him, He is happy. If we speak His Word to others, He is happy. If we tremble at hearing His word, then He is happy.

What does it mean if we stand in church and open our mouths to sing if we don't have a spirit of praise? What does it mean if we put something in the offering, but not willingly or with respect? God sees our complacency as an abomination. Traditions and rituals can become vain repetitions if our hearts are not in the actions.

Ecclesiastes 1:2 Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.

LifeWalk 2015

Life Resources of Northern MI, Inc. is an organization that supports families. Their mission statement

Life Walk 2014-Eva was missing last year as she was
volunteering at a Joni & Friends family camp.

is: Because God gives life, we affirm this truth to those we serve. They have pregnancy resources (pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, learning opportunities, provide needs such as clothing, formula, etc.), abortion recovery, fatherhood services, and even enter local schools for abstinence education. My family has been supporting this wonderful organization for the past 10 years. Every year we walk and raise funds for Life Resources of Northern MI, Inc. by participating in their LifeWalk.

We will be participating in LifeWalk 2015 on May 30th. We would love if you would join us by praying for us and Life Resources of Northern MI, Inc., sponsoring our walk, and/or joining us on our walk (if you are local)!  You can follow this link to sponsor us and see pictures of previous walks as well as watch our progress on raising funds. If you would like to walk with us, you can register at www.donor.liferesourcesnm.org and click on the "engage" tab and then click on the event and date and follow the link.

Life Resources of Northern MI, Inc. will also be hosting their first ever 5K 4 Life the same day. If you are local and are a runner and would like to participate, please let me know and I will share more information.

Different By Design

Alistair Begg preached on something that I often talk about with my children and others if the topic comes up. My husband listens to Alistair every morning and sometimes I am still in the room to hear it also, but other times I listen on-line.

Different By Design Part 1 of 2

Perfect Peace

Isaiah 26:3-4 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength: 

God's promises--if only I would remember them and dwell in them!

I have had a stressful 24 hours and I wish I would have read these scriptures 24 hours ago instead of now.

"Perfect peace" is what I long for as well as strength. How do I find those things--by keeping my mind on Him! I need to keep reminding myself that God is in control and that He has a plan for me. I may not see the plan or understand the plan, but I know that He knows and He desires good things for me.

Drawing Close to the Lord

Today our church had a guest speaker. Chad preached at the Blessing of the Jeeps yesterday (I'm trying to find someone who recorded it as I wasn't there) and he didn't feel like he would have time to work on two sermons so he asked Abraham VanDuinen to fill the pulpit. Abraham has filled the pulpit a few times for Chad in the past.

His sermon today (5/3/15) was on drawing closer to the Lord.