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Contributing Writers: Mike Mills, Spring Hill Church | Doug Fincher | Pastor Randy and Sue Smith | Mike Belgard | Tim Perkins
Faith
January 11, 2017 - As we look upon the light of a new day, a new year, let us have hope for a better time in 2017. Let us look forward to a closer walk with our Lord each day, let us do as the Lord instructs us in Psalm 27. "You have said, "seek my face." My heart says to You, "Your face, Lord do I seek." (Psalm 27:8)
We must seek His face daily if we are to walk closer with Him who is our refuge, our strength.
But, how do I seek His face and walk closer with God each day? God set in motion the link we have to Him, He inspired the writings of the Old Testament Prophets, then He sent His only Son, to open the door to the throne of God and to start the gospel of Christ. Through the Apostles and disciples that Jesus called to Him we have the New Testament, more inspired writings of God, we must seek His face through His word.
"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." (Psalm 46:1) When man has rejected us, when the world looks upon us with scorn for our faith, let us know that the answers to life's problems are within our reach, within God's Word.
"Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." (Psalm 46:10)
God told the Israelites at the Red Sea when Moses said; "Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will work for you today." (Exodus 14:13) God is telling us the same today, when we are troubled we must turn to Him for strength and guidance. Know that He is God, that He is all powerful, that all glory is His and that we have our Lord to carry us.
Jesus tells us; "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30)
Study in God's Word gives us the most powerful weapon on earth, no enemy can overcome the message of the Word.
As the Word says; "Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord and you are exalted as head above all." (1Chronicles 29:11) NOTHING of this world can overcome our Lord.
Study His Word daily so you too have the weapons to overcome the world. And remember this each day, no matter the situation or circumstances; "The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress." (Psalm 46:11)
Seek His face daily, if you know Him seek His face so you can walk closer with Him. If you do not know Him, please, seek His face, pray to Him, today, for forgiveness for your sins, for if you do, He is good and just and will forgive you and save you from the fires of hell.
May God bless you each day...
January 11, 2017 - I was riding my bicycle down a country road when I noticed a house with two large German Shepard dogs lying on the porch. They began to bark so I just stepped up my peddling and went past without incidence. It helped that when I passed I was going down hill. I made my bike ride and had really pushed myself pretty hard and was tired. As I came up the last hill I was exhausted and struggling just to keep the wheels moving forward.
When all of a sudden off the front porch came those two large dogs. I was so focused on making it up the hill that I forgot where I was at. As they ran toward me with teeth bared, I tried to pedal the bike faster but was so tired and out of breath I couldn't make it move any faster. I realized I couldn't out run them.
My "flight or fight" response had kicked in and since my "flight" was exhausted, I did the only thing left to do, I jumped off the bike, grabbed it with both hands and put it between me and the dogs. From somewhere deep inside of me came this bellow like a charging bull, and I stood my ground! I am sure I had this crazy look in my eye and those dogs figured out by my look, that I had poised to fight. When the dogs became aware that I wasn't going to run they just turned to one another and looked as if to say this guy is crazy. There was a brief standoff and then they left and I continued on my way. Those dogs never chased me again. Sometimes they would bark but they never got off the porch again.
Things we have done, or have been done to us in the past, can be like those dogs. We can peddle right past them without hardly giving them a second thought when we are fresh and feeling good about life. But when we get tired, worn out from what life is throwing at us today, looking back and feeling sorry for ourselves for what has already happened that we can't change, that's when those sleeping dogs from our past wake up and try to bite us. The devils main tool he uses against us is our past mistakes and circumstances. When the devil brings those things back up to us we have only two responses; we can run or we can fight and stand our ground against the attack.
God is not a god who brings up our past mistakes or hurtful circumstances but he is the God who delivers us from those things and separates them from us "as far as the east is from the west." He gives us a blessing for today and a hope for a future. He wants us to "Let sleeping dogs lye." God knows that we can't move forward if we constantly look back to our past. Those thoughts and circumstances will "chase you" the rest of your life and steal your peace and joy. Jesus wants you to put Him between you and your past. Matthew 11:28 "Come to me all who labor and heavy laden and I will give you rest."
If you put your faith in Him, those dogs from your past may raise up and bark at you but they will never get off the porch to chase you again. Jesus died so that you can let your past be just that, your past. He wants you to trust Him, put Him between you and your past. He will give you peace and rest.
I'm just Sayin
Mike Belgard
January 11, 2017 - Huxley Helping Hands, a local mission group from the Huxley Community, are holding a food pantry for the residents of Shelby County on Saturday, January 14, 2017. All recipients must show identification, proof of residency and income. Only one (1) box per household.
Sign-in starts at 9am at Hillcrest Baptist Church until food is gone. Hillcrest is located at 901 Southview Circle, Center, Texas 75935.
“I’ll be back…” John 14:3
January 9, 2017 - Last spring I spent several weeks photographing a painted bunting in the Brady Community near Center, Texas. He was a beautiful bird…blue, green, red, yellow…and in time this timid little gem became so comfortable in my presence that he allowed me to photograph him from only ten feet away! The distinguishing white spot on his red breast earned him his name, “Spot”. He raised two clutches of young, molted in August, grew new feathers, and in October returned to Central America to winter.
On this cold December day I drove out to the little sandy road where I’d found him last spring. All the leaves had fallen, the vegetation he’d fed on was dead and the large number of happy birds in love was conspicuously missing. But next spring when the seedy patches of rumex grass reappear along the sand hill roadsides, the air will awake again with the singing of these sweet avians …and Spot will be back!
Two thousand cold winters and hot summers have passed since Jesus left his disciples and returned to heaven. Many look at our decaying society and say “where is the promise of his coming”. But at a time when nations are at loggerheads with each other and the world rocks and reels in sin, the Eastern sky will suddenly split open, the trumpet of God will sound… and our hearts will burst with joy…
…and He’ll be back!
January 4, 2017 - In the movie "Back To The Future part II," the bully character named Biff, went back in time with a book on sports statistics that had the scores of every major sporting event and who had won. He took that information and bet on all the events and won so much money that it changed his future. Instead of being a personal assistant to someone, he altered his future and became the richest man in the world. With that book he couldn't lose. It gave him the edge, in that he knew the final score before the game was ever played. It altered his whole life plan. He became confident and bold in the way that he dealt with life and people.
Now think about this. What if you knew that no matter what happened in your life that in the end you would come out on top? That no matter what life threw at you, it would always come back around to be to your advantage? What would you do different than you do now? What would that do to your confidence? How would it change the way you react to problems and difficulties? I have to say that for most people that I know it would completely change their outlook on life, and the day to day problems that pop up. I am sure that if you were confident that things would always eventually work out in your favor that you wouldn't let little things bother you. You would approach each day with the confidence that something great was going to happen that day. You should be able to "shrug off" disappointments and setbacks as nothing more than small obstacles that slow down but not hinder the great thing that is going to happen that day.
Now let me let you in on some really good news! There is a way for you to be on top. Its a promise given to us by God. He says that if we put our trust in Him we will always be victorious. Paul asks a rhetorical question in Romans 8:31 "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?" This does not mean that we will not have hard times or be exempt from challenges; but that if we have the One who created the universe and controls the outcome of life on our side, we don't have to worry about what the final score will be. The game still has to be played for there to be a declared victor. You will have to go through the trials in life but you can be assured that you will be victorious because the one true God of all creation is on your side. That's why Paul went on to say in Romans 8: 28 "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." God has your back. He will make sure that no matter what, you win in the end.
What you have to do is to believe God and trust his promises. That book of statistics would have been of no use to Biff if he had not trusted what was in it. That's what faith is. Knowing that something is true even if you can't or haven't seen it. Trusting in the author and creator of all. God loves you and he wants to make you victorious. The ball is in your court. Do you want to be successful for eternity or do you want to just keep doing what your doing? The choice is yours. I choose victory over defeat and success over failure. You have to make your choice.
I'm Just Sayin
Mike Belgard
In 1 John, the Apostle tells us how we must "test the spirits" in these latter days in order to know the truth and that we must remember that God is love and we to must live in love for one another.
"Beloved do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world." (1 John 4:1)
How, you may ask can I know? Simple, if the prophet speaks of Christ coming in the flesh then he is from God, all others are from Satan.
A true, God-sent-preacher must profess that Jesus has indeed come in the flesh, a living man, and that He truly is the Son of God, that Jesus is both man and God, one in the same. If any preacher does not profess this then you should not listen to him nor assist him.
How can we know we are in the company of other true Christians?
"Beloved let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God." (1 John 4:7)
God's love was made manifest when he sent His only Son into the sinful world so that all humanity had the chance to live eternally with Him in heaven. The love of both the Father and the Son is so strong that Jesus died a cruel death on the cross for the sins of all people, forever.
Only those "of God" will show love to others when they are persecuting them, those of the world do not know the love of God and will not show Godly love to those who disagree with them."Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God." (1 John 4:15)
Each day we are to witness to others that Jesus is truly the living Son of God so they see the joy we have as we abide in Him. We don't live in a perfect world and we are not perfect so there will be trials and tribulations but we must do our best to hold true to the faith and promote the gospel of the Lord to others each day. Just saying "I pray you have a blessed day" is sometimes all it takes to help someone through a rough day, be an example of good for Christ.
"By this love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgement, because as He is, so also, are we in this world." (1 John 4:17)
Residing in Christ gives us the peace of mind we need to have total confidence in the day of judgement and our place in it. Either eternal life or eternal punishment awaits all humanity. "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. (John 3:36)
The choice must be made by each. If you do not know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Redeemer, simply ask Him and He will save you.
May God bless you each day.
January 17, 2017 - The Gates Chapel Baptist Church of Shelbyville will host its Annual Mens and Women's Day Program on Sunday, January 15, 2017 at 2:30pm.
Special guest speaker will be Rev. Wilbert Simmons of the Todd Springs Baptist Church.
Everyone is invited to attend says Pastor Frankie Cooper.
January 2, 2017 - Pastor Marlin Cloudy, Sr., and the Abundant Love Ministries Men’s Ministry will host a Men’s Revival, Jan 5 - 7, 2017. Services will begin at 7pm, Thursday and Friday night, and at 10:00 am, Saturday morning.
The guest speaker is Pastor John Russell, Senior Pastor of Calvary Tabernacle, Alexandria, LA.
Everyone is invited! Abundant Love Ministries is located at 1426 Shelbyville Street, Center, TX.
January 2, 2017 - Sunday was the First Sunday after Christmas and, of course, New Year’s Day! Happy New Year! I hope that the New Year will bring you joy and fulfillment. On this Sunday the Psalter Lesson was Psalm 148. The Psalms are the Jewish people’s hymnbook (but we just recited—no singing). Hymn 148 is an exuberant song of praise sung by the entire universe. The Gospel Lesson has Joseph once again receiving a vision in a dream, in which he is told to take his family to safety as mad King Herod was on the loose. These two scriptures deal with the paradox of faith. We go from the world shouting out with joy to the story of human depravity found in Matthew 2:13-23.
Psalm 148’s song of praise does not spring from a delusion that the world is fine but from the human capacity for joy. The Irish monks and mystics of the 7th Century had a practice of “listening for the heartbeat of God”—NOT listening to the heartbeat but listening for it concealed within all that is around us. Listening for the heartbeat of God is certainly a good practice for us this New Year!
Ms. Fannie had a great lesson today and encouraged everyone to take time this New Year to notice all the beauty around us. The scripture lesson for today was Psalm 33:1-9, a hymn of celebration of God’s creative power and his steadfastness. One of the reasons for worship is to praise God for all his creation.
We were in double digits again this Sunday! It was great to have Laura and Joe worship with us again. It was wonderful to see Carolyn after a long absence—she has been in Pennsylvania since October. Joy and Gene are back from Christmas with their family in Houston, and Joe Fielder said he had a good visit with Ben and his family. All the Paxton folks sure appreciate Hilda and Joe for bringing us our music each Sunday.
Our next nursing home program is scheduled for Monday, January 2, at 2PM at Green Acres.
We’re expecting rain, but maybe we can slosh through the puddles for this mission of ours. And speaking of weather, they’re even predicting snow for Friday! This week we might be experiencing all the seasons in a matter of days.
“Whoever you are, in whatever faith you were born, whatever creed you profess; if you come to this house to find God you are welcome here.” Paxton United Methodist Church is an inviting church that takes to heart the idea of “Open Doors, Open Hearts, Open Minds.” Sunday School starts at 9:30 and Worship begins at 10:00. Our email address is paxtonumc@yahoo.com. If you would like the weekly email newsletter about Paxton Methodist you can send me your email address to the Paxton email address and I will add you to the list. God’s Speed!
December 29, 2016 - It's New Year and everyone is trying to come up with their New Year resolutions. It always amazes me that people typically have to make the same resolutions every year. Some of the more popular resolutions are; losing weight, starting a new workout program, quitting smoking, praying more, and reading your bible more. And while these are all great resolutions, it seems that after a few days or weeks our resolve tends to begin to weaken and before you know it, we are right back to where we were. It's not because we don't really want to accomplish these things, we just seem to get busy and distracted and it becomes too easy to put other things first.
God knows how we are. He created us. He knows that we are weak in our resolve sometimes. The disciples were, Moses was, even the Apostle Paul realized this when he wrote in Romans 7:15 "For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want but I do the very thing I hate. (ESV)" We all struggle with resolve. God has given us some encouragement in His word to help us along our journey to accomplish what He has put in our hearts .
Here are some "pearls" of scripture from the word to help you accomplish your goals this year and succeed in accomplishing your resolutions.
1) Proverbs 3:5-6, " Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight."
We must learn to trust God in all things. We don't have to understand whats going on or even how He is going to work it out. We need to put it in His hands, and have faith that He will work it for our good and His glory.
2) Philippians 4:13, "I can do all this through Christ who gives me strength."
When we feel ourselves getting weak this verse reminds us that it's not our strength that can carry us through, but we must rely on His strength. The God that created the universe and all things in it with just a word, promises us that He will give us His strength to accomplish anything that he puts in our hearts to do.
3) Matt.19:26, "Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
When the world tries to tell you that it can't be done, this scripture reminds us that when we place trust not in our self, but in the One who has control over everything, nothing is impossible.
Write these scripture down and review them everyday and when the going gets tough they will renew your resolve. Remember God loves you and wants you to be successful in all you set out to accomplish. Trust Him and He will give you the strength you need to succeed this year and forever.
I'm Just Sayin
Mike Belgard
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