admin, Author at Christ Church

Your God is Bigger

Posted on Mar 8, 2024 by admin in Devotions |

March 8, 2024

You have an enemy. Did you know that? His name is Satan, the accuser. His main target is your mind, because the mind is the control center for your life. So, he wants to keep your mind cluttered, filled with doubts. What if it doesn’t work out? What if my health doesn’t improve? What if I don’t get that contract? As long as our mind is cluttered, it keeps us focused on our problems instead of our God.

Well, maybe you and I could learn a thing of two from a man named Hezekiah …

The Bible tells us a time when the king of Assyria invaded the land with a huge army – the largest army in the entire world. He marched from city to city, breaking through their walls and capturing their people.

Next in line was the city of Jerusalem, and word quickly spread through the city. The people were afraid and filled with panic, thinking, What are we going to do? They’re so much bigger than us.
King Hezekiah gathered the people in the city square and said, “Don’t be afraid of this mighty army. For there is a power far greater on our side. The enemy may have an army, but they are just men. We have the Lord our God to fight our battle for us.”

The same is true for you. When you are facing a big enemy, you have to remind yourself that our God is bigger – bigger than any person, bigger than any problem, bigger than any cancer, bigger than any addiction, bigger than any financial problem, bigger than anything life might throw at you in the future.

The way to stay in peace is: Don’t talk about how big your enemy is, talk about how big your God is. He flung stars into space, He spoke worlds into existence, He parted the Red Sea, and raised the dead!

I don’t care what your problem is – your God is bigger than your problem!

Feb '24

Love Yourself

Posted on Feb 8, 2024 by admin in Devotions |

Feb '24

February 8, 2024

Nobody should think better of you than you do.

Do you realize that the most important relationship that you have is with you?

Do you realize that the most important relationship you have with any human being is with you? You spend more time with you than anybody else. You live with you, work with you, and even vacation with you!

That becomes a real problem if you don’t like yourself. Too many people don’t like who they are. They focus on their faults and weaknesses. They’re constantly kicking themselves. And then they wonder why they’re not happy!

The other big problem is: If you don’t get along with you, you’re not going to get along with other people.

Jesus told us this: “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” (Mark 12:31)

You can’t love others if you don’t first love yourself.

And, so, the best thing you can do for neighbor … the best thing you can do for your family … the best thing you can do for your friends is …

Be good to you.
Be kind to you.
Be merciful to you.
Be forgiving to you.
Be loving to you.

You’re good to others, so why aren’t you good to you?

You don’t criticize your friend, so why are you criticizing you?
You compliment your coworker, when was the last time you complimented you?
Start being good to you.

Someone once said, “I discovered the enemy. It was me.”

Are you your own worst enemy? It’s time to be your own best friend.

Stay positive toward yourself. Nobody should think better of you than you do.

Jan '24

What is the Bible?

Posted on Jan 5, 2024 by admin in Devotions |

Jan '24

The Bible isn’t a book; it’s a library.

The Bible is …

A collection of 66 different books
Written in three languages
Across three continents
Over a 1,500-year time period
By 40 different authors

The authors include farmers and fishermen, shepherds and doctors, priests and prophets, philosophers and kings.

What is it? It’s actually a collection of poems and prophesies, letters and laws, histories and biographies that shows us God’s love for us.

And to understand the context of what you’re reading, when you open up the Bible, you’re always going to ask three questions …

Three Simple Questions

Who wrote it?
To whom was it written?
What is its purpose?

So, let’s practice this together. We’ll open up the Bible to Philemon, and we’ll try to get the context as we go. Philemon starts with these words …

Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, to Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker … and to the church that meets in your home … (Philemon 1:1-2)

First of all: Who wrote it? Paul. It’s the shortest letter he ever wrote – only 335 words.

What’s interesting is that he identifies himself as “Paul, the prisoner.” He doesn’t say, “Paul the apostle.” Almost every other time, he says, “Paul the apostle.” But here he writing to an old friend. And he doesn’t want to pull his official rank on his friend.

And the leads to our second question: To whom was it written? It was written to Philemon, a wealthy businessman who led a church in his home, and was an old dear friend of Paul.

When you start to understand the context, it comes alive for you. And to make it really speak to you, you begin to ask some very real questions. And so, the next thing you want to do is …

Read slowly and ask questions.

And I’ll tell you what you want to ask. We’re always going to ask the two biggest questions …

The Two Biggest Questions

• “What does this say about God?”
• “What is God saying to me?”

And, if you want to dig deep, try looking at every little SPECK on the page …

SPECK ….

• Is there a SIN to be avoided?
• Is there a PROMISE to be claimed?
• Is there an EXAMPLE to follow?
• Is there a COMMAND to obey?
• Is there something to KNOW about God?

So, we’re going to read slowly, and ask questions, and look at every little SPECK on the page. And when you read the Bible like that, wow! It comes alive and the Holy Spirit can speak to you and begin to work on you from the inside.

Dec '23

Obedience

Posted on Dec 8, 2023 by admin in Devotions |

Dec '23

December 8, 2023

Joseph got a message from an angel in a dream to take Mary as his wife.

He didn’t know any details. But he obeyed immediately.

And how does that hit you? How does that apply to you? Because let me tell you something: At some point God is going to speak to you – He is going to speak to you through His Word … He is going to speak to you through something you hear in this church … He is going to speak to you through a prompting in your heart from His Holy Spirit – and He is going to ask you to do something without knowing all the details.

Do you obey … or not?

What will that look like for you? I don’t know, but maybe it’s going to go like this …

• Maybe God is going to prompt you to give something. And you think, Yeah, but God … but God, things are really tight right now. Inflation is crazy and gas prices are up and … God is going to ask you to give something.

• Maybe it’s not give something; it’s give up something. God has been tugging at your heart, saying, You’re not living your best life. You need to change that habit. You need to get that area of your life under control.

• Maybe it’s not give or give up; it’s forgive. God is going to ask you to forgive somebody – somebody who offended you, who hurt you. Are they sorry? No. Have they apologized? No. Do they deserve your forgiveness? No. But God is asking you to forgive them – He is asking you to forgive them because if you hold on to that bitterness, you’re only going to poison yourself.

So, you have a choice to make. It may be difficult. And you may not have all the details. You don’t know what might happen. But God is prompting you.

And that’s when I would encourage you to remember:

Obedience is our responsibility –
the outcome is God’s.

Nov '23

What’s Your Plan?

Posted on Nov 10, 2023 by admin in Devotions |

Nov '23

November 10, 2023

If you want a better chapter, have a better plan.

What’s your plan?

• Some of you aren’t happy at your job. What’s your plan! Well, Jeff, my plan is to stay there forever and just keep complaining. You’re not a tree! If you don’t like where you are, move! Some of you listening to this talk today may be starting to think: Maybe I’m going to dust off my resume. Maybe I’m going to go back to school, or learn a trade, or start taking some courses online.

• Some of you might say, “Well, my marriage is struggling right now.” What’s your plan? You say: “We’re going to go to counseling. We haven’t been able to figure this out on our own and so we’re going to go and get some help clarifying things.”

• Financially, what’s your plan? Some of you might be acting like your plan is to spend more than you make. If that’s your plan, it’s not a good one. But you might crunch the numbers and say, “This boat won’t float.” So, you’re going to cut up your credit cards, start paying down your debt, work your plan and get out of trouble.

• What’s your health plan? Eat, sleep, eat some more. I mean, if you want to honor God with your health, create a plan. Here’s what I eat and when I eat. This is the time of day that I go for a walk or do a workout.

• How about friends? If all your friends are stoned 80% of the time, and they’re all broke, and they’re all far from God, maybe you need a different plan when it comes to the people you’re spending your life with. Because you’re going to become like the people you surround yourself with.

It is a Law of Life: The decisions you make today determine the story you tell tomorrow.

The decisions that you are making right now are writing the chapter that will be published tomorrow.

Let’s Pray.

I wonder how many of you would say, just real honestly now, there’s some part of your life that you wish wasn’t in this chapter. You want something different. You want something better. You want something more. It could be something for you; it could be something for someone you love. But you’re asking God for a better chapter.

Father, I pray that even though we can’t see You now, we thank You that You are here – that You’re even with us in the chapters that we don’t understand. So, help us trust You.

And, Father, help us do our part – to create a plan and work hard. But, Father, ultimately, we know that we depend on You. Thank You for Your providence in our life. You’re so good to us. Thank You for the new chapter that You’re writing in our life.

Thank You, Father, especially for your plan to save us and bring us home to heaven. You sent Jesus to die for us. That’s your plan. You sent Jesus to defeat death. That’s Your plan. And I want to thank You for letting me be a part of it. Thank You that there is a chapter of my life that is called “Heaven.” And there is a chapter of my life that is called “Victory.” And there is a chapter of my life that is called “Glory.”

Thank You, Jesus, I pray this in Your Name. Amen.