GETTING THROUGH THE FIRE - 4

This will be the last part of this blog of Getting Through the Fire.

Isaiah 43:2 - "When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon you." Living through the pressures of life can be like walking through the fire, and for many today it is a fire storm. Remember God did not promise that you would not feel the heat, just that you would not be burned!!

To get through the fires let me add a few more principles today:

- HAVE AS MUCH FUN AS YOU CAN! I think we take ourselves way too serious, and not God serious enough. We need to learn to laugh again! Have fun! Enjoy the small blessings of God even when the fire is burning around you! Solomon said - "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine." Take you medicine of laughter today!

- DETERMINE WHAT IS OUT OF YOUR CONTROL, AND WHAT YOU HAVE CONTROL OVER! The reality is we cannot control what happens to you, but we can control how we respond and what happens inside of us. We need to control our reactions, responses and our attitudes! Help me to respond the way that Jesus would respond!

- BE ENTHUSIASTIC - Enthusiasm literally means: GOD IN US. If God is really in us, let Him shine through our lives. Let us fuel a passion for God and His will in our lives! Find out God's purpose for your life and live for Him with passion.

And remember:
- God will finish what He starts in you! (Phil. 1:6)
- God will supply all your needs! (Phil. 4:19)
- God will sustain you by His grace! (2 Cor. 12:9)
- God will not make any mistakes along the way. (Psalm 18:30)
- God will defend what is worth defending. (Exodus 14:14)
- God will lead you one step at a time. (Psalm 37:23)
- God will make all things beautiful in His time. (Eccl. 3:11)

Hope to see you tomorrow!

Connecting with you,
Pastor Ron

GETTING THROUGH THE FIRE - 3

It is so cold, that a little fire right now would be so nice to take the chill out of my old bones. The last couple of days, I have been blogging about how to get through the fires of life.

Isaiah 43:2 - "When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon you."

Review from the last couple of days: To get through the fires of life.

1. Keep on Walking - through the fire. Do not get weary and stop in the middle of the problem, fire. Walk through it!

2. The fire will pass. Every problem has a beginning and an ending. We need to be patient and trust in the Lord.

3. Make difficult times work for you. Have courage to believe that He that began a good work in you will bring it to the day of completion.

4. Take What Is and make the most out of it. Do not waste your time on complaining and learn to be content. Because the Lord is in control.

Today

5. Clean up your own Trash! We need to accept responsibility for our own actions. I cannot control what happens to me, but I can control what happens in me. I do not have to allow the trash of this world, to live inside of me. Read Philippians 4: 4-9.

6. Be Gladder than Madder! How will you respond to the fire storms of life. You can get angry, mad at God, people and even your self. Or you can be gladder, have a spirit of thanksgiving." Paul said - "Give thanks in all situations for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you!"

Remember: God never promised that you would not feel the heat, just that you would not be burned by the fire."

I will continue this idea next time. Eccl. 3:11 - "He makes all things (you and me) beautiful in His time."

GETTING THROUGH THE FIRE - 2

Yesterday I as blogging about getting through the fires of life. Isaiah 43:2 - "When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon you."

To get through the fires of life....

1. Keep on Walking - do not give up in the middle of the fire, storm, trial.
2. Remember that this difficult time will pass. Be patient because all problems have a beginning and an ending.

Today
3. Make the difficult times WORK FOR YOU.
There are many things that happen to us in life that are not good in themselves. Many things in life are hard and unfair. The Bible reminds us that everything can be used for good if we submit to God's Will and respond the proper way. We must make a decision to get better and not get bitter when we are in the fire storm. Romans 8:28 - "And we know that IN All things, God works together for the good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose."

4. Take WHAT IS and make the most of it. How many people are looking for perfection in life. We need to lower our expectations of ourselves, other people and look for progress and not perfection. The old saying says - "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade." I am making an effort of not complaining, because it will not change anything in life. But to do what Paul tells us - "I have learned to be content in whatever state I find myself in." When you are going through difficult times, let us learn to be content in God and in His Word.

Praying that you get through your fires today! (I will continue this theme next time)

Pastor Ron

GETTING THROUGH THE FIRES OF LIFE

There is something that attracts people to fires. We watch on the news the fires that spread of thousands of acres in California, and we watch with amazement the power of those fires. We tend to forget that people's lives are impacted by those fires. Fires can be very painful, destructive, life changing.

Isaiah 43:2 - "When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; neither shall the flame kindly you."

Living through the pressure and stress of life can be compared to walking through fire. The Old Testament prophet Isaiah believed that if you have faith in God, you can walk through fire and not be burned. He did not promise that you would not feel the heat, just that you would not be burned.

TO GET THROUGH THE FIRES OF LIFE.....

1. KEEP ON WALKING!

A fact is if you stop walking in a fire you are going to get burned. When you are afraid, or under stress, or hurting - keep going! Do not give up, quit, sit down and complain. No matter how it gets - keep going, persevere, and watch what God will do!

Paul tells us - Do not get weary in doing good.

2. REMEMBER THAT THIS FIRE WILL PASS!

Many times when you are in the fire, you feel that you will never get through it. We need to remember that PAIN IS TIME-LIMITED. All fires (problems) have a beginning and an ending. Be Patient and God will bring you through.

"He that began a good work in you will bring it to the day of completion."

I will continue these thoughts next time.

Connecting with you,
Pastor Ron

WHAT IS OUR REAL PURPOSE?

How many people have a difficult time in enjoying today! We get so caught up in worrying about tomorrow or fretting over yesterday, that we cannot enjoy the moment that we are living in today. How many times we think, well when I get that new job, or new promotion, new home, new car, when I get married, or when I retire then I will be able to enjoy life. No you won't! We need to learn to enjoy right now!

The Shorter Westminster Catechism says - "The chief end of man is to glorify God and ENJOY HIM FOREVER." We may be glorifying God, but do we have a hard time enjoying God?
That almost sounds disrespectful, but the reality is the "Joy of the Lord is my strength."

Jesus tells us - "Do not worry about tomorrow, because today has enough evil of it's own." What is the principle? - Do not worry about things that you cannot control. That is a useless endeavor, and a waste of our emotional energy.

I want to encourage you to enjoy God today and you will glorify God!

THANKFUL FOR ROLE MODELS

This weekend we will be honoring the life and ministry of Martha Jackson, who has been faithfully serving the Lord and people for all of her life. Her impact and influence will keep on going because of her love for children and missions.

What a role model to the lives of hundreds or thousands of children when she started Dayspring over 42 years ago, and it is still touching and impacting children today. Dayspring is one of the largest ministries of our church. The other part that you may not know is that Martha has given and built churches in Bulgaria and continues to do so today. Martha has a great heart for children and missions. That is really the heartbeat of God!

I am thankful for her role model and pray that God will raise up many more Martha's in our church body!

Thank you Martha!

GROWING SPIRITUALLY!

This morning in my devotions I was reading in John 8:32 - we read these familiar words: "Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." When we know the truth it will cause us to act, change and to grow in our spiritual lives. Can we really know the truth and it will not change us?"

When you read verse 31 - "If you HOLD to my teaching, you really are my disciples."
There is a correlation between knowing something, and doing something. If I am obeying God and His Word then I am a true disciple of Christ. Being a follower of Christ means that I am living, applying and walking in obedience to God and His Word! Freedom comes in obedience to God and His Word!

I want to continue to grow spiritually! No matter how long I have been serving the Lord, there is always room for more growth!

Growing with you,
Pastor Ron

WHAT'S NEXT?????

I had the great privilege to go out to breakfast with a few of the men from the church for a time of fellowship and encouragement. It was a great way to begin a Saturday morning, as we sat in Babe's and shared with one another. We need to connect with one another in smaller groups. I was strengthen and blessed by my brothers.

Last night, the couples could not go on the hayride, so we came to the church gym and played some games and got to meet three new couples in the church. Emma and I were blessed by this time in a small group!

What's next? I pray that you will become a part of a LIFE Group or small group in our church. We have many opportunities for people to connect with others and we need it! We cannot be a lone ranger as a Christian!

What's next in your spiritual walk? Get Connected!!!!

If you are looking for ways to get connected please talk with me!

Connecting with you,
Pastor Ron

A LIGHT FOR YOUR PATH!

I have been away for a couple of days at a board meeting for Valley Forge Christian College. I traveled back yesterday and it was raining, then turned to snow and driving in the dark was a real fun time. I was thankful for my high beams and the light that it was able to give to me on the back roads of Route 6.

We live in a very dark world. Psalm 119: 105 tells us - "Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path."

How many of us need direction in our lives today? Do we need direction in our homes, jobs, relationships, etc. How many realize that if we have to make the decisions on our own, we will mess it up. I am thankful for God's Word and that God will give us direction and wisdom in every decision that we need to make.

I want to encourage you that you can ALWAYS TRUST GOD because He is for you and not against you. God wants to lead us in ways that will help us, bless us, and even prosper us in a difficult world!

Allow God's Word to give you the light that you need today!

THINGS I CAN CONTROL?

What can we control in our lives? The older I get (turning 50), I realize how little I really can control! A pastor that I read his blog said - "The only way to avoid panic and live in peace is when we choose to focus on what we can control and let God take care of the rest." (Jeff Leake) That is good wisdom for living today!

So what can we control?

1. When I focus on - If I choose to live worrying about tomorrow, than it will produce fear, stress and anxiety. God will give me grace for NOW! I need to focus on right now and not worry about tomorrow.

2. What I do - I cannot control what anyone else does, but I can control my response. Trials, problems will come, but I need to ask the Lord to help me respond in a proper way.

3. What I carry - What are we carrying around in our life? In Acts 27, the men chose to throw things overboard in the middle of a storm, so that they would survive the storm. These things were good things, but in a storm it causes to evaluate what we are carrying with us. (No excess baggage)

4. Who I listen to - In the storms it is easy to get discouraged. When things are bad we do not need to listen to negative voices. We need to hear voices of faith, encouragement, and love.

5. What I believe - when problems come our way, we can determine what we are going to believe. We must make a choice if we are going to believe God and His Word or believe the world?

#6. Who I trust - Am I going to trust God or trust people, self etc. Proverbs 3: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not to your own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths."

Control what you can control and leave the rest to God!!!! Lord help us journey through the storms of life.

TURNING THE LIGHT ON!

Fall is a wonderful time of year, as the leaves begin to change colors. The crisp mornings and the beautiful afternoons, and great nights for sleeping. However, one thing that is not so nice is that it gets darker earlier and earlier each day. In a couple of weeks we will put the clocks back an hour and then it will really get dark a lot earlier.

In the spiritual sense we live in a dark and sinful world. Someone said, "Instead of cursing the darkness, light a candle." I believe that as the world gets darker and darker, the church must burning brighter and brighter.

I was reading in Philippians 2: 14-15 - "In everything you do, stay away from complaining and arguing, so that no one can speak a word of blame against you. You are to live clean, innocent lives as children of God in a dark world full of crooked and perverse people. LET YOU LIVES SHINE BRIGHTLY BEFORE THEM."

My prayer is that I will let my life shine brightly in this dark world!!!

WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?

What are you looking at in life? How many people are visual and we love looking at all the wonders around us. Just look outside your window and see the beautiful leaves and the changes of color. Sight is a wonderful thing, and we can look at the beauty of the world around us.

I read an interesting quote from Corrie Ten Boom about what are we looking at in life.

She said - "If you look at the world, you'll be depressed. If you look within, you
will be distressed. If you look at Christ, you'll be at rest." That is a powerful statement to help us in our daily life.

If we are looking at external things, (world, people, government etc.) we are going to be depressed. If we are looking within (ourselves, our abilities) then we are going to be distressed. But if we look at Christ, we will be at rest! I am making the decision today to Look the Lamb that takes away the sin of the world.

Look to Jesus today!

GOD IS IN CONTROL!

I am thankful that God is control of every situation! We live in a day when people are getting away from the authority of Jesus Christ! As I prepare for tomorrow and we will be taking communion together, it reminds me of the authority that Jesus has over every sin, emotion and sickness.

Tomorrow I am going to preaching another message on healing. Let us come expecting and praying that Jesus will minister and heal people of all sickness, and sin!

Invite someone to come with you to church tomorrow! God is still the healer!