Wisdom, Discernment and Guidance

In choosing the path we will follow in our daily walk first we must seek direction for our lives.

Each new day we are presented with the same situation as Joshua and the children of Israel after Moses had died.  Camped on the opposite side of Jordan River from the Promised Land, they were facing a path which they had never taken before in order to reach the place God had prepared for them.

In Joshua, we read his exhortation to the people – dedicate yourselves to serving the Lord and be ready in the morning to step out in faith, trusting God to accomplish all that He said He would do.

When we are not exactly sure which direction to take in our lives, trusting our guidance to someone who knows exactly how to get there and has been there many times before, is the best course.  When we are seeking direction in our lives, there can be no better guide than our Lord and spiritual shepherd.

Wherever He leads we can be assured He knows the prefect path and if we will follow Him instead of our attempting to teach God a better way to go, our journey will be smoother and more peaceful than our way.

In choosing the path we will follow in our daily walk we must seek direction for our lives and secondly we must trust His promises for our guidance

Just consider this small sample of God’s promises concerning His guidance:

Psalm 25:9 He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.

Isaiah 30:21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”

Psalm 143:10 Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.

Third in choosing the path we will follow in our daily walk we must seek the Lord through His Word, in prayer and in continued fellowship with our Savior.

It is important it is for us to be well versed in the Word and have a consistent and active relationship with Jesus Christ through prayer and fellowship so that when we are presented with advice and direction from others we can properly discern when it is man speaking versus God.
When we have a casual approach to understanding God’s direction as contained in His Word and seeking God’s will in our lives, when confronted by differing messages and possible directions, we can find ourselves taking more wrong turns and detours.

Even though, through God’s grace, we may still arrive where God desires, the path will have been longer and probably have cost us more in anxiety and delayed opportunities.

Choose God above all others as the leader of your life, trusting in His wisdom, knowledge, power and love for you as He leads you in His perfect will and continually refresh your relationship with Him through prayer, study of His Word and fellowship with other believers in order that you might be equipped to discern the truth among all the choices you are confronted with each day.

I pray that you will take the time this week to make sure you know who is in control of your travels in this life and that you are spending enough time in the Word and checking in with God through prayer on a continuous basis to make sure you can hear His voice, reminding you not only when to turn but also when you might need to make a YOU TURN – back to Jesus as Lord of your life.

MONDAY MORNING MESSAGE / FRED G. CHITON

The Encouragements of Easter Sunday

As I sat enjoying the blessings of God and the manifestations of His power on Easter Sunday; I began to think of what could this day mean to us throughout the entire year…It is a continuing encouragement.

“The Encouragement of Easter”
I Peter 1:3-9

The Best is yet to come

And if Christ has net been raised, your faith is futile…If only for this life we have hope in Christ; we are to be pitied more than all men. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead. – 1 Corinthians 15:17-20

For the Christian…truly, the very last of life is the very best.  The last words D. L. Moody spoke on his death bed: Earth recedes…Heaven opens before me!

Because of Easter Sunday, because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, because he is alive today and promises heaven for us…THE BEST IS YET TO COME!

Some don’t think much about heaven because they don’t understand what it will be like David Lloyd George says: When I was a boy, the thought of Heaven used to frighten me more than the thought of Hell.  I pictured Heaven as a place where time would be perpetual Sundays, with perpetual services from which there would be no escaped.

What Luke says about Church Growth

Ask the question and pastors everywhere will flock to hear the answer. I thank God for the books, studies and seminars that have been devoted to this burning issue. But I also fear, lest many of my colleagues imagine that they can improve on the finality of what God has already said, and the reality of what God has done in the past and He can do again.

To start with from Scriptural text, Paul the Apostle remind us that when in Corinth, he “planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.” (1 Corinthians 3:6).  Genuine growth is a divine work. We can manipulate numbers in the church, but only God can multiply members in the body.

I have been impressed and excited all over again with Luke’s account of the early days of the church. Take a concordance and look up such words as “thousands”, “increase”, “multiplied”, “numbers” and “multitudes” and see what the Bible means by church growth. A careful examination of these opening chapters reveals that there were at lest seven Spirit-controlled activities that characterized those Pentecostal days.

Iraq in Bible History

1. The Garden of Eden was in Iraq.
2. Mesopotamia, which is now Iraq, was the cradle of civilization!
3. Noah built the ark in Iraq.
4. The Tower of Babel was in Iraq
5. Abraham was from Ur, which is in Southern Iraq!
6. Isaac’s wife Rebekah is from Nahor, which is in Iraq!
7. Jacob met Rachel in Iraq.
8. Jonah preached in Nineveh – which is in Iraq.
9. Assyria, which is in Iraq, conquered the ten tribes of Israel.
10. Amos cried out in Iraq!
11. Babylon, which is in Iraq, destroyed Jerusalem.
12. Daniel was in the lion’s den in Iraq!
13. The three Hebrew children were in the fire in Iraq (Jesus had been in Iraq also as the fourth person in the Fiery furnace!)
14. Belshazzar, the King of Babylon saw the “writing on the wall” in Iraq.
15. Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, carried the Jews captive into Iraq.
16. Ezekiel preached in Iraq.
17. The wise men were from Iraq
18. Peter preached in Iraq.
19. The “Empire of Man” described in Revelation is called Babylon, which was a city in Iraq!

Israel is the nation most often mentioned in the Bible. But do you know which nation is second? It is Iraq! However, that is not the name that is used in the Bible. The names used in the Bible are Babylon, Land of Shinar, and Mesopotamia. The word Mesopotamia means between the two rivers, more exactly between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. The name Iraq means country with deep roots. Indeed Iraq is a country with deep roots and is a very significant country in the Bible.

No other nation, except Israel, has more history and prophecy associated with it than Iraq.

Ten Essentials of an Evangelistic, Spirit Filled Church

A few years ago the Assemblies of God established a “Decade of Harvest”. Soon we discovered that a “harvest” involves more than: A Proclamation, A Banner and Printed Goals

(Humor) Someone has said, If you want to be successful: You must attend a Church Growth Seminar, and visit the Holy Land

In recent years we have seen a great Church Growth Movement featuring people like: Dr. Peter Wagner, author of, “The Pentecostals are Coming”, Dr. Win Ern, Dr. George Barna, Dr. Elmer Towns and many more. Church Growth Principles and Publications are in great demand. I have attended some of these seminars and they were helpful in giving us a new focus.

But in the Book of Acts the Bible gives us ten things that must be in place for church growth to occur. Let’s take a quick look at God’s list:

Five Principles of the “Every Member” New Testament Church

This church in the New Testament was an “Every Member Church”. By this I mean that the church was made up of members that were loyal. Every member should consider himself a vital and important part of his church.

First every member was in attendance – “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place” (Acts 2:1).  They had one purpose – united fellowship as they remembered the exhortation of Christ (John 17:20-21).  They were all present; a growing spiritual body needs every service.

If A Child…

If a child lives with criticism, He learns to condemn.

If a child lives with hostility, He learns to fight.

If a child lives with ridicule, He learns to be shy.

If a child lives with shame, He learns to feel guilty.

If a child lives with tolerance, He learns to be patient.

If a child lives with encouragement, He learns confidence.

If a child lives with praise, He learns to appreciate.

If a child lives with fairness, He learns justice.

If a child lives with security, He learns to have faith.

If a child lives with approval, He learns to like himself.

If a child lives with acceptance and friendship, He learns to find love in the world.

…Author Unknown

A TRIBUTE TO MY WIFE ON VALENTINE’S DAY

From the first time I saw you,
And for every moment until this day,
In whom you are and all you do,
You are beautiful in every way.

God blessed me with a mate,
My lover and my friend to stay,
One from which nothing could separate,
You are beautiful in every way.

In a God called ministry to which we said yes,
You stood by my side without dismay,
While others you influenced to do their best,
You are beautiful in every way.

Even though it’s not Linda anymore,
It’s Lyn that we speak of throughout the day
Or it may be Mom, or Grandma that we adore,
You are beautiful in every way.

There are some, who have gone ahead,
Whose lives you tendered their every day,
Mom, Dad, Pa and Ma — they all have said,
You are beautiful in every way.

Those three boys and their partners in life,
And gorgeous grandchildren even in play,
Have seen in your strength and also your strife,
You are beautiful in every way.

We have seen the influence of His love, your Savior dear,
Through you, The Spirit has impacted our lives today,
Often we have said it, but someday from Him you will hear,
You are beautiful in every way.

Somethings We Never Forget

Things have changed over the years. When I was a young boy living in Tennessee my Dad was one of the first to purchase what then was the state of the art in electronic media a large vacuum tube radio with a battery larger than most car batteries today.

Very few families owned one and they would gather at our home to listen through the static to the first variety shows, radio dramas, Grand Old Opera, heavy weight boxing championships, the Lone Ranger and the news; with only a handful of stations available. There was a sense of magic in hearing voices coming from the other side of the country and even across the ocean, at times.