Building On The Rock

Scripture Reading: Matthew 7:24-29

Focus Verse: Matthew 7:24  “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock.”

 

I love the ocean and the sand and the waves as well as fishing in the ocean.  We just got back from a family holiday at the beach.  This time when I explored the island, I noticed something unusual. Last year when we visited the beach there were big piles of sand in one area, and this year those piles of sand were gone.  The waves had washed it all away.  There’s another place I like to visit, and it’s a lake with mountains all around it.  And the shore line is rocky with very large rocks.  I’ve noticed that no matter how bad the storms get at that lake, those big rocks never move.  They stay right there securely.

If you were going to spend a lot of money and build a house, where would you build it?  On the sand or on the rock?  In our scripture reading, Jesus talked about a foolish man who built his house on the sand, and a wise man who built on the rock.  Notice that both of these men encountered a storm.  We will all face storms in life.  Only one house, the house on the rock, could stand against the storm. 

 

The foolish man is the man who puts all his hope and trust in the corruptible things of this world.  The wise man put his hope and trust in Jesus Christ and the things of eternal importance.  We all are building our lives on something, and that is the foundation of our lives.  1 Corinthians 3:11 “For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have in Jesus Christ.”  Ask yourself, "What is the foundation of my life?  Where do I place my trust?" 

Bobby Johnson

Interlocking Ministries

Living in the Light

Bible Reading: Ephesians 5:1-20

Focus verse: "For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light!  For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true." Ephesians 5:8-9

This scripture is for those who are followers of Christ.  It tells us in our reading that we are to be like God in everything we do because we are His dear children.  Jesus Christ loved us, offered himself as a sacrifice for us and it was pleasing to the Father.  He lived a life of love and was our example.  We are not to live or talk in an obscene way with sexual immorality, impurity or greed.  We are not to worship or revere highly the things of this world or we become idolators. 

 Do you know those who are excusing sin?  Maybe they are saying that it isn't really a sin because of this or that.  Maybe they are saying that it is how God made them to be.  Maybe they are saying that it's natural and not really a big deal. Maybe they have said that God didn't really mean it in the scriptures the way that most people think.   That is the oldest lie in the book.  Remember how the serpent talked to Eve in Genesis 3 when he said, "Did God really say ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” and then continued with his twisted lies.  This is still done today.  Did God really say this was wrong?  Maybe not this time or maybe not for me.  Lies and deception are upon us quickly.

There's a warning to be cautious of those who may try to fool you with excuses for their sins, but don't fall for it and participate in these deeds of darkness.  There is a light inside you that is of the Lord.  Be careful to determine what pleases the Lord and do those things.  Expose the deeds of darkness and their evil intentions will be seen when light shines on them.

Live in the Light and follow the example of Christ.

Page Johnson

Interlocking Ministries

Made Different Within a Minute

Made Different Within a Minute

Scripture: Mark 5:25-33
Focus verse Mark 5:28-29 – "because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering."

 The story of the woman with bleeding disease not only tells about the power of Jesus to heal diseases  but also how a minute spent with Jesus can change one’s life. The woman had spent all her time and money looking for solutions to her problem but all ended in vain. She decides to touch the cloak of Jesus and instantly He heals of her bleeding disease. Her life turns around instantly as she notices that blood has stopped and that she is not bleeding anymore. The minute she spent with the Lord changed her health condition.

How many times do we desire to see a change in our lives or our situations? We want to grow in the Lord but we don’t want to spend even a minute with Him. We at times become so busy looking for solutions yet God has offered a solution, Jesus Christ the Son God to us. Every minute spent with Jesus doesn’t leave our lives the same way. We may not see him physically or touch him physically as the woman did but there are other ways we can touch today. Reading His word (The Bible) and praying to Him are sure ways of getting connected to God. How often do we spend time in prayer and reading the word of God? Every minute spent in prayer or reading God’s word doesn’t leave one the same. We need to have the attitude that says, “if only I can spend some little time praying and reading the word of God, my life will never remain the same.” 

David says in Psalm 84:10 – "Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked." Faithful service to God does not leave our lives the same no matter how small the service may look. We don't spend a whole day working in the church in order to be called servants of God but the little time faithfully spent together with God can create a very big difference in our lives. 

God bless you,

Pastor/Director Eliazar Wambo, 

Bethesda Faith Ministries & Makira Baptist Church

Preaching Through a Misfortune

Preaching Through a Misfortune

Scripture reading Acts 28:1-10
Focus verse: Acts 28:3-6 - "Paul gathered a pile of brushwood and, as he put it on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand. When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, “This man must be a murderer; for though he escaped from the sea, justice has not allowed him to live.” But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects. The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead, but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happened to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god."

Did you ever become a topic of discussion because of your misfortune? It’s true, people will always try to find a reason to explain why you are going through such misfortunes. You may be accused falsely when you pass through some troubles of life. Paul gets bitten by a very dangerous viper snake which fastened itself on his hand and hung on it. The people observe this and branded him a murderer who is getting justice for his killings. But Paul instead of arguing with them, shook the snake into the fire. They wait to see him swell up or fall dead but their waiting goes in vain. When the waiting went beyond, they changed their minds and called Paul a god. 

Paul knew that whatever accusations put on him were wrong, and that he had done nothing wrong to deserve such punishment. He knew that the snake bite was nothing to do with his character so He didn’t waste time arguing with them but looked upon God to do His will. God showed himself through this tragedy by not allowing Paul to swell or die. Later, after the people had waited for long and nothing was happening to Paul, they changed their language and called Paul a god! This incident later gave Paul the opportunity to preach to the gospel and heal their sick. God used the snake bite to introduce Paul to the island of Malta. Sometimes our misfortunes are God’s planned platforms for His gospel to be preached through us.

John 9:3 – “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.” God is always at work in our lives even when the worst happens to us. He does cause or plan evil to our lives but can allow evil upon our lives and work through it for our good.  He allowed Joseph’s brothers to plot evil against his life but later worked through that evil to save the same brothers and their father. Genesis 50:20-21 – You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children. And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them. 

God bless you,

Pastor/Director Eliazar Wambo, 

Bethesda Faith Ministries & Makira Baptist Church

Called into Storms

Scripture reading: Matthew 14:22-36
Focus verse: Matthew 14:28-29 “Lord, if it is you, “tell me to come to you on the water.” “Come,” He said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 

The phrase, “out of the frying pan into the fire can best describe the situation with Peter.” Peter and the other disciples are getting tossed by the strong opposing winds as they get to cross over to the other side of the lake. From late evening to early dawn the boat is buffeted with strong winds and they all get terrified. Jesus comes to them walking on the same opposing storms and this even terrifies some of the disciples. Peter observes this and asks Jesus to command him to come to Him. Jesus permitted him and he began to walk over the stormy and terrifying wind towards Jesus. This he does for some distance before he gets afraid and begins to sink.

It would be right to say that by logic, it was a little safer for Peter to stay in the boat than to jump out into the raging waters. Jesus did not call Peter to a calm lake but to a stormy and life threatening storm, neither did he calm the lake first before He commanded Peter to come. He called him into the storms! Believers need to understand that Jesus has not called us to a life of calmness. We must be ready to face storms of life as we move towards Jesus. There will be sicknesses, rejections, persecutions, pain, death, marital challenges among other storms. We must prepare our mind with the same attitude and be ready to face life storms. Some storms may be worse than before but our motivation is that Jesus is right with us in that storm. He didn’t call Peter and leave Peter on the storm alone, He was right there with Him. We may fail as we walk on the storms but let’s be consoled that He is there to restore us when we fail.  

Paul’s words to the church as recorded in Ephesians 6:13 – "Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand." Paul prepares the believers that there are days of evil ahead and so they should not be lazy but get ready for it. The days of evil may come like a thief, when you don’t know so you must get ready all the time. Peter would later tell the church to consider it pure joy when they face many trials since through the trials our faith produces perseverance which makes a believer to be mature and complete and not lacking in anything – 1 Peter 1:2-4. 

God bless you,

Pastor/Director Eliazar Wambo, 

Bethesda Faith Ministries & Makira Baptist Church

Portrayal of God’s Grace

Scripture Reading:  Genesis 43:19-34

Focus Verses: Genesis 43:33-34  "Joseph told each of his brothers where to sit, and to their amazement, he seated them according to age, from oldest to youngest. And Joseph filled their plates with food from his own table, giving Benjamin five times as much as he gave the others. So they feasted and drank freely with him."

You probably know the story of Joseph well.  He was a young man who was hated by his brothers because they were jealous of him.  So they planned to kill Joseph, but then decided to sell him as a slave to some travelers headed to Egypt.  Once Joseph got to Egypt he was hired for a job in the house of Potiphar.  Potiphar’s wife had lust for Joseph and accused Joseph of rape even though he did nothing wrong.  So then he spent years in prison for something he didn’t do.  But God was with Joseph, and God was working out His plan in Joseph’s life.  

Twenty years after Joseph was sold by his brothers he was second in command in all the land of Egypt under Pharaoh.  There was a great famine in all the land and Joseph’s brothers came to Egypt for food.  Now Joseph was in charge of all the food.  How do you think Joseph would treat his brothers after the way they treated him?  He treated them kindly, he even gave them grain free of charge.  Then he prepared a big feast for his brothers at his home.  And at this point the brothers still did not know this was Joseph, the brother they sold into slavery many years before.  Joseph loved his brothers in spite of what they did to him.

Joseph’s life is a great example of how Jesus came to our rescue.  Joseph had the power to have his brothers killed, but instead he extended incredible generosity and mercy.  Instead of blaming them, he forgave them.  instead of being punished they were seated at his table for a feast.

This is a beautiful picture of what Christ did for us at the cross.  He took all our sins and forgave them all.  Isaiah 30:18 says, “Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you, and therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you.”  Do you long for Him?  He longs to be gracious to you.  That’s great news.  These brothers deserved none of this.  What God is offering to us in His Son Jesus, we deserve none of it.  But it is a gift.  And like any gift, if we want to enjoy it we must receive it.

Bobby Johnson

Interlocking Ministries

God Knows Everything

Scripture Reading: Psalm 139

Focus Verse: Psalm 139:1-2  “O Lord, you have searched me and known me!  You know when I sit down and when I rise up, you discern my thoughts from afar.”

It’s comforting to know that God knows everything about us as David has shown us in Psalm 139.  Maybe it’s not so comforting to know that God even knows when you and I have sinned.  God even knows what sin we are going to commit in the future.  But it’s comforting to know He loves us anyway, and wants us to be more like His Son Jesus.

There is nothing that God does not know.  Nothing escapes the knowledge of God.  He created billions and trillions of stars in the universe.  The Bible tells us that God “counts the stars” and calls each one by name  Psalm 147:4.  God has created everything for a purpose.  Could it be that God made the universe so big so that we would know that God is big?  God made you for a purpose.  God made you so that you would glorify Him.

Romans 11:33 says, “Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand His decisions and His ways!”  What do you do when things are not going your way.  Sometimes I get upset when things don’t go the way I planned.  Let’s remember God is in control of everything.  Could it be that God allows something to not go our way so that something worse would not happen to us?  When the attacks happened in America in 2001 I remember hearing stories of some people being late to go to work that day.  If they had been on time for work they would have been in the twin tower buildings and would have been killed when they collapsed.  God caused them to be late for a reason, to save their lives.

Let’s live our lives today is such a way that we would not be embarrassed for God to know what we are doing or thinking so that we can bring Him honor.

Bobby Johnson

Interlocking Ministries