Doubting God
Scripture Reading: Genesis 3:1-19
Focus Verse: Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, you must not eat from any tree in the garden?”
Satan’s main purpose is to get you to worship him, but if he is unable to do that, then he will try and get you to doubt God. He knows that your faith in God will be of little good if it is filled with doubt. As followers of Christ we all go through periods of doubt, but this should not be an on going pattern in your life. Thomas had some doubts for a short time about the resurrected Christ. Even John the Baptist had a moment of doubt (Matthew 11). Don’t underestimate the power Satan can have in getting you to doubt God. If Satan has planted seeds of doubt in your life, that needs to be removed as soon as possible. If weeds are left unattended in your garden they will choke out any fruit that tries to grow. If doubt is left unattended in your life you will not be able to bear fruit for Christ.
For some people it was easier to trust God when they first believed, but now they have gotten so familiar with the Christian life they have gotten relaxed and Satan has slipped doubt into their lives unnoticed. Doubt has begun to replace God’s promises. Did God really say that Jesus is the only way to heaven John 14:6? Did God really say if you reject Jesus you will go to hell Revelation 20:15? Did God really say I am to love my wife even when I don’t feel like it? Did God really say I am to forgive my friend for the wrong he did? Did God really say I am to trust Him even when I don’t understand what He’s doing? The answer to all these questions, no doubt, is YES, God did say that.
Satan will many times try to tell you that God is holding back something that is good for you. Just like he deceived Adam and Eve in the garden. There are no gray areas in God’s Word. If you are not sure if something is good or evil, confirm it in God’s Word. God can be trusted. He does not mix His words. We doubt Satan, and we trust God.
Bobby Johnson
Interlocking Ministries
Saturday, October 27, 2018
Friday, October 19, 2018
Jesus: He Is Enough
Jesus: He is Enough
Do you ever get the feeling that there is no such thing as having enough in our world?...
It would be wonderful if people saw the Bible and the Gospel in all its rich clarity and realized that Christ alone is sufficient for salvation and for every spiritual need of the human soul.
But unfortunately...the world has infiltrated the Church and has created a mindset and attitude that is an affront to God: People are bringing additives to the redemptive work of Christ on the cross.
Isn’t it true that many people want to add on to their faith in Jesus Christ? Jesus alone doesn’t seem to be enough for the world today—even for the Christian community! Whether it is incorporating good works for salvation or non-Christian practices from other religions into their faith, people frequently function as if Jesus is not enough in their lives. They may claim that He is their Savior, but their acts and attitudes toward Him reveal the truth—that they believe they must “add” something to His work on the cross.
But the Bible is very clear that Jesus was and is the “plan of enough” from God. First Corinthians 3:11 says, “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” And Jesus Himself declared in John 6:51, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.” There is no question about it—Jesus is enough!
I want to encourage you to live daily in light of His “sufficiency.” When you do, you will be surprised at how fulfilled and content you will be in your everyday life. And if you start to feel the urge to apply additives to your faith, just be reminded of these three things:
Jesus is Savior enough.
Jesus is Sufficient enough.
Jesus is Security enough.
He is enough!
Written by Dr. David Jeremiah is the founder of Turning Point for God, and serves as Senior Pastor of Shadow Mountain Community Church in El Cajon, California.
Do you ever get the feeling that there is no such thing as having enough in our world?...
It would be wonderful if people saw the Bible and the Gospel in all its rich clarity and realized that Christ alone is sufficient for salvation and for every spiritual need of the human soul.
But unfortunately...the world has infiltrated the Church and has created a mindset and attitude that is an affront to God: People are bringing additives to the redemptive work of Christ on the cross.
Isn’t it true that many people want to add on to their faith in Jesus Christ? Jesus alone doesn’t seem to be enough for the world today—even for the Christian community! Whether it is incorporating good works for salvation or non-Christian practices from other religions into their faith, people frequently function as if Jesus is not enough in their lives. They may claim that He is their Savior, but their acts and attitudes toward Him reveal the truth—that they believe they must “add” something to His work on the cross.
But the Bible is very clear that Jesus was and is the “plan of enough” from God. First Corinthians 3:11 says, “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” And Jesus Himself declared in John 6:51, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.” There is no question about it—Jesus is enough!
I want to encourage you to live daily in light of His “sufficiency.” When you do, you will be surprised at how fulfilled and content you will be in your everyday life. And if you start to feel the urge to apply additives to your faith, just be reminded of these three things:
Jesus is Savior enough.
Jesus is Sufficient enough.
Jesus is Security enough.
He is enough!
Written by Dr. David Jeremiah is the founder of Turning Point for God, and serves as Senior Pastor of Shadow Mountain Community Church in El Cajon, California.
Friday, October 12, 2018
Your Choice
Scripture Reading: Matthew 6:19-24
Focus Verse: Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.”
Joshua’s message to the Israelites was that they had to choose who they would serve. There is a worldly pull toward things of this world and a spiritual pull toward the Lord God. Joshua said, “as for me and my house, we will sere the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15) You must choose the master of your life. Many people serve themselves and are their own master. When you are serving yourself, you are not serving the Lord. Also, when you serve the Lord, you are not serving yourself. God, your Creator, wants to have the number one spot in your life. God gave you the freedom to choose who will be the master. Although the world will tell you otherwise, if you choose anything other than God, your life will become a mess. Satan decided that he wanted to be his own master and that he would be greater than God. We know that can't be true and he will end up in Hell forever. We can not deceive ourselves to think that we can be a better master than our Creator God. God will always do a better job at running your life than you will. So give Him full control of your life today and walk in obedience to Him. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.
Bobby Johnson
Interlocking Ministries
Focus Verse: Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.”
Joshua’s message to the Israelites was that they had to choose who they would serve. There is a worldly pull toward things of this world and a spiritual pull toward the Lord God. Joshua said, “as for me and my house, we will sere the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15) You must choose the master of your life. Many people serve themselves and are their own master. When you are serving yourself, you are not serving the Lord. Also, when you serve the Lord, you are not serving yourself. God, your Creator, wants to have the number one spot in your life. God gave you the freedom to choose who will be the master. Although the world will tell you otherwise, if you choose anything other than God, your life will become a mess. Satan decided that he wanted to be his own master and that he would be greater than God. We know that can't be true and he will end up in Hell forever. We can not deceive ourselves to think that we can be a better master than our Creator God. God will always do a better job at running your life than you will. So give Him full control of your life today and walk in obedience to Him. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.
Bobby Johnson
Interlocking Ministries
Friday, October 5, 2018
Prayer Changes
Bible Reading: Ephesians 6
Focus verse: "with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints" Ephesians 6:18
Do you ever wonder if prayer works? Does it really make a difference? Prayer is our connection to God! God has planned for and ordained prayer and that He will work through our prayers. The effective praying person will put on the armor of God before praying. (vs 10-17) Another effective way to pray is to use scripture as you pray. You can pray any time of day or night for as long or as short as you like. Pray in all trials and joys of your life. Pray for others. An effective praying person knows how to pray in agreement with the scriptures, in the Spirit, watchful, alert, perseverant, devoted and by submitting their life to God.
Do you use all parts of prayer? It is good in Kenya to start a conversation by a proper greeting of the other person and ask how is the day, the family, the parents and the cows. In the same way, you begin the prayer with greeting the heavenly father with some words of adoration and praise. Such as God's faithfulness, creation, power, love, forgiveness, holiness and more.
Second, you can confess humbly who we are in our failures to live up to God's standard. We remember our weakness, our sin, and we agree with God about it. We can not do this life without God and we acknowledge it.
Third, we are to remember our blessings and be thankful to God for them. Even in our trials, there are things to be thankful for. Can you be thankful for your salvation, your family, your friends, your church, your country, your relationship with God and even we can thank God for the trials in our lives because of the growth that it brings (James 1:2-4)
Fourth, we will be bringing our petitions, our requests, to God. This is prayer for others and for yourself. God has asked us to bring our requests to Him. (Philippians 4:6) There are three ways God can answer. God might say, "No" if it is not the best thing for us or if we didn't ask according to correct interpretation of scripture. God may say "Yes" if our petition is based on God's principles and we are praying in the Spirit. God may say, "Wait" when the timing isn't right. We are always learning more of God's ways and the way He answers our prayers. We can be sure that if we are in a right relationship with Him, that we are never alone and He always hears us.
Can you focus on prayer this week? What part of prayer can you strengthen in your life? Is it using all the parts? Is it learning more of the scriptures? Is it devoting more time to prayer? Is it praying for others more often and faithfully? Is it finding joy in your trials and having thankfulness?
"Seek the Lord while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near." Isaiah 55:6
~Page Johnson
Interlocking Ministries
Focus verse: "with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints" Ephesians 6:18
Do you ever wonder if prayer works? Does it really make a difference? Prayer is our connection to God! God has planned for and ordained prayer and that He will work through our prayers. The effective praying person will put on the armor of God before praying. (vs 10-17) Another effective way to pray is to use scripture as you pray. You can pray any time of day or night for as long or as short as you like. Pray in all trials and joys of your life. Pray for others. An effective praying person knows how to pray in agreement with the scriptures, in the Spirit, watchful, alert, perseverant, devoted and by submitting their life to God.
Do you use all parts of prayer? It is good in Kenya to start a conversation by a proper greeting of the other person and ask how is the day, the family, the parents and the cows. In the same way, you begin the prayer with greeting the heavenly father with some words of adoration and praise. Such as God's faithfulness, creation, power, love, forgiveness, holiness and more.
Second, you can confess humbly who we are in our failures to live up to God's standard. We remember our weakness, our sin, and we agree with God about it. We can not do this life without God and we acknowledge it.
Third, we are to remember our blessings and be thankful to God for them. Even in our trials, there are things to be thankful for. Can you be thankful for your salvation, your family, your friends, your church, your country, your relationship with God and even we can thank God for the trials in our lives because of the growth that it brings (James 1:2-4)
Fourth, we will be bringing our petitions, our requests, to God. This is prayer for others and for yourself. God has asked us to bring our requests to Him. (Philippians 4:6) There are three ways God can answer. God might say, "No" if it is not the best thing for us or if we didn't ask according to correct interpretation of scripture. God may say "Yes" if our petition is based on God's principles and we are praying in the Spirit. God may say, "Wait" when the timing isn't right. We are always learning more of God's ways and the way He answers our prayers. We can be sure that if we are in a right relationship with Him, that we are never alone and He always hears us.
Can you focus on prayer this week? What part of prayer can you strengthen in your life? Is it using all the parts? Is it learning more of the scriptures? Is it devoting more time to prayer? Is it praying for others more often and faithfully? Is it finding joy in your trials and having thankfulness?
"Seek the Lord while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near." Isaiah 55:6
~Page Johnson
Interlocking Ministries
Friday, September 28, 2018
Angels to Help Us
Scripture Reading: Acts 5:17-27
Focus Verse: Acts 5:19 "But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth."
God will not have His plan thwarted. There is a spiritual battle for the souls and we should make sure we are on the Lord's side.
Demonic activity is on the increase, because Satan knows that his time is short. I have seen the influence of evil on some lives in Kenya. Sometimes I think the enemy works extra hard on someone who has abandoned his old life and is working to spread the Gospel. The good news is that if you put your trust in God, He will not allow His plan to be ruined. He will work all things for the good. (Romans 8:28) He has sent His angels to help us and to watch over us. They work in obedience to God. In our passage in Acts we see that the angel of the Lord came to the apostles at night and released them from jail. God did this because He had a job for them to do, to take the message of life to the people at the temple.
As a believer in Christ, God has a job for you to do also. He will not allow Satan to stand in the way. So the next time Satan attempts to block your efforts, remember God's angels are all around you. God will make a way for you to obey.
Bobby Johnson
Interlocking Ministries
Read more about abandoning the old life: Ephesians 4
Focus Verse: Acts 5:19 "But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth."
God will not have His plan thwarted. There is a spiritual battle for the souls and we should make sure we are on the Lord's side.
Demonic activity is on the increase, because Satan knows that his time is short. I have seen the influence of evil on some lives in Kenya. Sometimes I think the enemy works extra hard on someone who has abandoned his old life and is working to spread the Gospel. The good news is that if you put your trust in God, He will not allow His plan to be ruined. He will work all things for the good. (Romans 8:28) He has sent His angels to help us and to watch over us. They work in obedience to God. In our passage in Acts we see that the angel of the Lord came to the apostles at night and released them from jail. God did this because He had a job for them to do, to take the message of life to the people at the temple.
As a believer in Christ, God has a job for you to do also. He will not allow Satan to stand in the way. So the next time Satan attempts to block your efforts, remember God's angels are all around you. God will make a way for you to obey.
Bobby Johnson
Interlocking Ministries
Read more about abandoning the old life: Ephesians 4
Friday, September 21, 2018
Christ, The Foundation for Reconciliation!
Christ, The Foundation for Reconciliation!
Bible Reading: Mathew 5: 21-24
Focus verse: "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin." 1 John 1:7
We all make friendships which at times break when we get tired with putting up with one another. Good friends have many at times feel like great enemies for different reasons.
We all try to make parties where we can discuss our differences in attempts to reconcile with friends; some people may spend huge amounts of money or wealth in this attempt. Many communities in Africa believe in doing rituals which must involve shedding of the blood of an animal for reconciliation to happen. These and many others attempts that we make many at times have not yielded the true and lasting reconciliation that we needed.
Many fail to identify Jesus to be the foundation and author of reconciliation. They want bloodshed of animals but fail to recognize the unstained, perfect, holy, blameless blood of the Lamb that God has offered for their enmity. Jesus knows your differences and He understands how to mend.
Our sins have separated us from God and we live as his enemies. God does not want us to stay as enemies with him or with other human beings/creatures. He has offered Christ so that we don’t live again as enemies but be reconciled back to him and then to othes. Christ is today standing at each ones door, wanting to help make their relationship with our God and others, which has not worked despite our attempts. He does not want us to continue to stay far from him or our other friends. He wants us back to Him and as well want our loved friends back to us. He wants to save us from spending our wealth and time in building reconciliations by offering the perfect Reconciler at a free cost. Each time we are faced with differences we need to let Christ be the reason for our reconciliation, he is able to bring true repentance of forgiveness from the heart.
Eliazar Wambo
Pastor Makira Baptist Church, Mfangano
Additional verses:
Romans 5:10
Matthew 18:15
Bible Reading: Mathew 5: 21-24
Focus verse: "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin." 1 John 1:7
We all make friendships which at times break when we get tired with putting up with one another. Good friends have many at times feel like great enemies for different reasons.
We all try to make parties where we can discuss our differences in attempts to reconcile with friends; some people may spend huge amounts of money or wealth in this attempt. Many communities in Africa believe in doing rituals which must involve shedding of the blood of an animal for reconciliation to happen. These and many others attempts that we make many at times have not yielded the true and lasting reconciliation that we needed.
Many fail to identify Jesus to be the foundation and author of reconciliation. They want bloodshed of animals but fail to recognize the unstained, perfect, holy, blameless blood of the Lamb that God has offered for their enmity. Jesus knows your differences and He understands how to mend.
Our sins have separated us from God and we live as his enemies. God does not want us to stay as enemies with him or with other human beings/creatures. He has offered Christ so that we don’t live again as enemies but be reconciled back to him and then to othes. Christ is today standing at each ones door, wanting to help make their relationship with our God and others, which has not worked despite our attempts. He does not want us to continue to stay far from him or our other friends. He wants us back to Him and as well want our loved friends back to us. He wants to save us from spending our wealth and time in building reconciliations by offering the perfect Reconciler at a free cost. Each time we are faced with differences we need to let Christ be the reason for our reconciliation, he is able to bring true repentance of forgiveness from the heart.
Eliazar Wambo
Pastor Makira Baptist Church, Mfangano
Additional verses:
Romans 5:10
Matthew 18:15
Friday, September 14, 2018
Love a Neighbor
Bible Reading: Matthew 25:31-46
Focus Verse: "“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’" Matthew 25: 37-40
Jesus was clear in his teaching to care for others who are struggling with sickness and physical needs. We may find that the needs are great around us and feel like we can't do much. Jesus didn't say that we should solve all of their problems, but that there is something, even something small, that we can do. Anyone can give a drink to someone or visit someone who is sick. How difficult is it to give a shirt or dress to someone whose clothes are torn and tattered. If you don't have something, maybe you can ask some friends to help you to get some clothes for someone in need.
Today I went to visit a sick friend. I was able to help her with a few things at her home, care for her, and then shared a Bible reading and prayer with her. She was so encouraged and thanked me many times for coming. When you help someone, the Holy Spirit confirms in your heart that you are doing something good. You know that is a good feeling. It is good to join others in their time of suffering and need. When you join together as a community to help others, then it strengthens the community.
My prayer is that God will show me where to help someone each day. May God be glorified in any effort of care that I show to someone today. May we work together showing the care that would cause Jesus to be pleased.
Page Johnson
Interlocking Ministries
Extra reading: portrayals of many good Samaritans in Luke 17:11-19; Acts 8:5-7; 15:3, as well as John 4:4-42
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