Humble

Humble 
Bible reading: James 4

James 4:10 “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” ESV

As a child of Christ, pride and selfish ambition have followed me throughout my life.
The message of society has always been to look out for yourself and your family, work hard and find success. Success as measured by material goods, worldly possessions, positions of power and friends of influence. Building a life, family and career requires dedication, determination and hard work. A natural result of success is to have pride in the success and the life that is being built. Pride and confidence in worldly accomplishments can become detrimental to my walk with Christ. If I become too confident in my own ability to provide and succeed, measuring my success by the standards of the society in which I live then I become less dependent on God and more dependent on my own ability. This leads me to only seeking God and his blessing to supplement my plan and provide when my ability falls short. 

His word tells me to humble myself before him in James. In Matthew the Lord tells those who would follow him to “Take up your cross and follow me...” Matt 16:24. The cross was an instrument of death and once someone took up their cross they were on their way to be executed. When we take up our cross we die to self and live for Christ. The only way we can become truly humble before God is through taking up of our cross and following him. When we fully humble ourselves before him we do not live according to the expectations of the world but according to the expectations of our heavenly father. 

Seek today how you can humble yourself before God, asking him to show you through his Holy Spirit, how to become humble before him and how to “Walk humbly with your God” Micah 6:8 ESV. For this is what the Lord demands of his children. 

David Warr
Pastor, Gretna Baptist Church

Giving Thanks Honors God

Giving Thanks Honors God

Bible Reading: John 6

Focus Verse: John 6:11 "Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks to God, and distributed them to the people. Afterward he did the same with the fish. And they all ate as much as they wanted."

 When someone gives you a gift, you generally thank them for it.  That is a good thing to do because someone has shown you a kindness.  In our story today, a young boy gave his lunch to Jesus for feeding the people.  Jesus took the loaves and fish and gave thanks to God.  Why do you think He did that?

We can get further insight with this verse:
"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows."  James 1:17
The result of thanking God, was supply in the abundance!  There was more food than the people could consume!  This was a blessing indeed.

When someone gives you a gift, thank the giver, but don't forget to thank the God who is the ultimate giver.  Without Him, the gift couldn't be given.

~Page Johnson
Interlocking Ministries

Future in Focus

Bible Reading: Psalm 23

With 2014 in the rear-view mirror and most of 2015 still before us, our thoughts tend to be future-oriented.  What will this year's headlines reveal about the economy?  The Middle East?  ISIS? Wars and rumors of wars?  Births and deaths?  How will our own personal headlines read?  As you navigate your way through 2015, is your outlook one of anticipation or apprehension?  Confidence or consternation? 

In Psalm 23, David expresses his optimism regarding the future:  "Surely goodness and mercy (loving kindness, NASB) shall follow me all the days of my life" (v. 6).  As he looks back on his life, David sees the faithful, loving, shepherding hand of God protecting, providing, leading, comforting, healing and delivering.  His past experiences have forged an unwavering confidence in the present and an unshakable hope for the future.  Not "possibly" or even "likely," but SURELY is the abiding reality of God's steadfast goodness and lovingkindness in his life.  And just as surely is that wonderful promise given to all who possess the faith of David. 

Knowing that a good God orders and oversees our days, however, doesn't mean that everything awaiting us in 2015 will be "good" (as we perceive it).  David had to deal with ferocious lions, an intimidating giant, a paranoid, hot-tempered king, and a rebellious son, among other things.  He knew what it was to feel isolated and lonely, abandoned and afraid, misunderstood and persecuted, weak and sinful and broken.  But all along the way, a good and loving God was at work on his behalf to sustain, strengthen, forgive, restore and perfect.  And as each day's happenings unfold for us in 2015, we, too, can rest in the knowledge that "in ALL THINGS God works for the GOOD of those who (like David) love Him, and who have been called according to His purpose" (Rom. 8:28, NIV). 

As Haddon Robinson says in his book, Trusting the Shepherd:  Insights from Psalm 23, "Surely goodness and mercy will pursue us.  'Surely,' because God has never failed us in the past.  'Surely,' because He does not begin a work He does not complete.  'Surely,' because the experience of His flock attests to what David knew:  that God never forsakes us.  If the Lord is your Shepherd and you are His sheep, He walks before you, and goodness and mercy will follow you all the days of your life.  That includes today."

Scott Brinson

Are You Compromising?

Are You Compromising?

Scripture Reading: Daniel 1

Focus Verse: Daniel 1:8  "But Daniel was determined not to defile himself by eating the food and wine given to them by the king.  He asked the chief of staff for permission not to eat these unacceptable foods."

Every day we are faced with decisions to compromise or to not compromise our beliefs.  We live in a land where many do not honor God.  As Christians we must decide, will I compromise my purity?  Will I compromise my integrity?  Will I compromise my lifestyle?  What kind of price do we pay for compromising these things in our life?  Daniel decided in his heart that he would not eat the King's food and wine.  It may be because the meat was not prepared by Jewish laws.  However, his decision meant that he could have been put to death for not eating the food offered to him by the king.  But he decided even if it meant death he would not compromise, and he would stay true to God. 

Do you compromise your beliefs for gain?  Are you willing to be dishonest in business to gain financially?  Satan will tempt you into thinking that this is okay.  Satan will say "after all you need to feed your family and provide for them.  God can certainly provide for your family without you cheating and stealing to gain. 

Don't compromise your Christian character and testimony by listening to Satan's lies.  I hope we can all stand before God one day knowing that we have not compromised our beliefs to gain something that we can't keep anyway. 

Bobby Johnson
Interlocking Ministries

Know Your Enemy

Know Your Enemy

Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthians 4

Focus Verses: 2 Corinthians 4:3-4  "If the Good News we preach is hidden behind a veil, it is hidden only from people who are perishing.  Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God."

Ever since God cast Satan out of heaven he has been trying to destroy God's greatest part of creation.  People are God's greatest creation.  Satan does not have unlimited power like God, but he does have certain abilities.  Paul says Satan is the god of this world.  When we look at the mess this world is in today, there is no doubt that Satan has something to do with this.  Satan will one day lose his power when Jesus returns to set up His Kingdom here on earth. 

But for now, Satan does his best to blind the minds of unbelievers from seeing and hearing the truth.  Satan has a deep hatred for God, and he will do anything possible to keep people from having a loving relationship with God.  The Bible also calls Satan the father of lies.  Satan has the ability to make lies look like truth.  This is where believers need to be careful.   Satan will try and get you to doubt something that you know by mixing truth with lies.  We can know what is truth if we will continue to read God's Word.  You can tell the difference between truth and error when you test it against God's Word the Bible. 

So let's be aware of who our enemy is.  The way to win this battle is to know God's Word as well as the tactics of the enemy.

Bobby Johnson
Interlocking Ministries

Don't Cause Another to Stumble

Don't Cause Another to Stumble

Scripture Reading: Romans 14

Focus Verse: Romans 14:21  "It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak."

There are activities mentioned in the Bible that are clearly wrong.  You should not steal.  You should not commit adultery and so forth.  These activities are as clear to understand as easy as telling the difference between black and white.  We all know right from wrong.  But there are other activities that we would call gray areas where it is not as clear if an activity is right or wrong.  In doing something, we should question the possibility of causing a brother to stumble.

What if a believer in Christ drinks some alcohol?  There are at least two problems I see with you doing this.  First, the one who drinks has the potential of becoming an alcoholic.  Second, if a young person new in their faith sees a Christian drinking, so they feel it is okay for them to drink.  Then if they became addicted to alcohol, you would be responsible for that person living a wasted life.  They will have stumbled.

Therefore we would do well to choose our activities carefully.  You don't want to do anything that would bring criticism against yourself, the church or Christ.  What we do affects others.  We should not only be concerned with the opinion that God has of us, but we should also be concerned with the testimony of our lives.  Today let's examine our lives and see if there is anything that would cause another to stumble and fall.

Bobby Johnson
Interlocking Ministries

God is Concerned

God is Concerned

Scripture Reading:  Mark 8:27-38

Focus Verse: Mark 8:33  But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” 

The Bible tells us that God is concerned with many things.  But what do you think concerns God the most?  The Lord is concerned that His will is done on earth just as it is in heaven.  This includes your obedience, making disciples to build His kingdom.  That is why it is important that we tell others about God's love for them.

God is concerned with the promises that He makes to us.  Does God hear our prayers?  Yes, that is one of His promises.  Sometime it may seem that God doesn't hear us.  But God always listens to us.  He sometimes doesn't answer our prayers the way we want.  Because He always knows what is best for us.

Peter thought that he knew what was best, even better than Jesus.  But Jesus told Peter, "You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.  So many times our human concerns get in the way of what God is concerned with.  Today let's make God's concerns our concerns.

Bobby Johnson
Interlocking Ministries