Month: September 2018

GET TOGETHER- LOVE AS MUCH AS YOU HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN

Lu 7:40 -50 “And Jesus answered and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” So he said, “Teacher, say it.” “There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. “And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?”Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.” And He said to him, “You have rightly judged.” Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. “You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. “Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little. “Then He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” And those who sat at the table with Him began to say to themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” Then He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”

Does the enemy often remind you of your sinful past? I wonder how much before she met Jesus had this woman often thought that there was no place for forgiveness for her sins. I wonder how many times that she had heard the voice of condemnation tell her that her sins were to many and to bad to be forgiven from.

She must have been desperate and hurting pretty bad to crash this dinner at the home of Simon the Pharisee. He and some other Pharisees were testing Jesus about His theology over dinner on this occasion. Well he and his friends are about to get a real good theology lesson that they most likely were not expecting from Jesus.

Let’s go back in the story and see what the woman does when she comes busting uninvited into Simon’s house. Lu 7:37,38 And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil.

Most commentators believe that she was a woman that either could have been a prostitute or was known as one who had a reputation for committing sexual sin. She pours out oil on the feet of Jesus. This would have been something that would have been very expensive. She also kisses His feet. This would have been considered outrageous for a woman to do that. And yet her motive is pure. Somewhere she has heard about Jesus. Somewhere she has heard of the mercy and compassion of Jesus.

Jesus had basically been insulted by Simon. When He came to his house there was no kiss of greeting that was customary in that part of the world in Jesus day when a guest visited someone in their home. There was no water to wash His feet that had trod upon dirty streets often littered with animal dung. However, there was a desperate sinner that would come on the scene and give Him the honor that He was due.

There are many key points in this passage. Today I am not going to expound on all of them. But what I want to focus on is when Jesus tells Simon that those who have been forgiven much love much.

She knew that her sins were many. He pronounces those sins as forgiven. Have you ever thought about how many of your sins that He has forgiven? Is your response like her response one of total abandonment in worship and not being concerned about what the self-righteous religious may be thinking?

Or perhaps you are like I was at one time. You may be thinking that your sins are too many and too bad to be forgiven. I can remember when I thought that. But someone told me that one drop of His precious blood was enough to wipe mine and anyone else’s slate clean that would repent and put their faith in Him to save us from our sins.

If you have never been forgiven of your sins I urge you today to do as this woman and come to the feet of Jesus and give Him everything about your life. You can then here those precious words that He spoke to her: “Then He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”

For those of us that have been forgiven may we never forget just what He has done for us. And may we just as this woman did pour ourselves out in worship with everything that we have. Certainly, if she could do it in the house of a Pharisee how much more can we do it in the House of God and everywhere else that we are. Love Him as much as you have been forgiven!

Let us Pray

Lord Jesus this woman was desperate. To be honest we all are desperate without you. Today may our worship and our praise be as a desperate people that have been snatched from the pits of Hell and have been redeemed, forgiven and given life abundant, and life eternal.

In Jesus Name

Amen

We love you all. May God bless you!

Your Friend/Kinfolk

Preston

GET TOGETHER – BE AN INSTRUMENT OF LIFE

Eze 37:10-12 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army. Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, ‘Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!’ “Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. Joh 6:63 “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.

We live in a time where there is much bad news. Every night if you watch the news you will see some bad news. There are murders, hurricanes, nation against nation. Lawlessness abounds in many places. We see political leaders that can’t have civil discourse to talk about their differences. Discouragement can come at us often in waves.

Certainly, we are not to be in denial and certainly it is not wrong for us as Christians to voice our objections in a godly manner to things that we believe are unbiblical and that are a detriment to society. On the other hand, we are the people that are called to be instruments of good news and of blessings. Re 1:5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, 6 and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

This morning as I was prayer walking the church parking lot. I walked over the spaces and in some cases where the spaces were fading out I began to speak life over those places. I began to speak that the parking places would be filled with people having a life changing experience with Jesus Christ. That they would be filled with people who needed physical, emotional, and spiritual healing.

Wherever you work, go to school, or spend your time in retirement there most likely will be someone around you that their tongue is releasing death rather than life. You and I have the wonderful opportunity of speaking and releasing life everywhere that we go. Jesus was releasing life when He came into the synagogue at Nazareth: Lu 4:18 “The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed.” As His chosen instruments He is calling us to do the same.

When we release life, we are being used to advance His Kingdom upon the earth. He told the disciples, Mt 10:7,8 “And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ “Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.” All of us are called to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ! When we do that we are releasing life where there had previously been death. God wants to use us to bring life where relationships have been dead and broken by sin. God wants to use us to speak life where it looks as there is no hope.

When Ezekiel was told to prophesy to the dry bones it didn’t look good for the Jewish people. They were captive in a foreign pagan land. Their capital city and the temple where they worshipped had been destroyed. In the natural it didn’t look so good. But the Spirit of the Lord was on Ezekiel. As Jesus said the Spirit gives life so he begins to speak to the dry bones. Hope is now given to a people who have been put in a hopeless situation.

Today as followers of Christ we can speak life into hopeless situations. The Apostle Paul spoke about this in Ro 4:17 ¶ (as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed–God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did.” God desires to use us as followers of Jesus Christ to impart life where there appears to be death.

I had to ask myself this morning am I being used to impart life where there is death and hopelessness, or am I imparting death. We need to all ask ourselves that question. And then we need to be available to God to impart life in those circumstances and situations. God desires to use us to make the dry bones come alive again. Now that is life giving good news!

Let Us Pray

Lord today we know that if we are not careful that we can become so overwhelmed by a culture that often speaks death to the place that we begin to sound like the culture. Help us today to be a people that speaks life and imparts life by the power of the Holy Spirit where ever that you send us.

In Jesus Name

Amen

We love you all. May God use us all to make the dry bones come alive!

Your Friend/Kinfolk

Preston

GET TOGETHER-    Worship In Spirit and In Truth

 

Joh 4:19-24 The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. “Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. “You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

 

 

In Jesus encounter with the woman at Jacob’s Well she is fishing for some theological information. Most of us have done something similar at some time in our lives.  Well she couldn’t be fishing in any better place to get the correct answer than where she was fishing.  She had the Master theologian right in front of her. She had already perceived that He was a prophet. She would also find out that He was the Messiah before this encounter was finished.

Jews and Samaritans didn’t associate with each other. The Jews believed that the worship of the Samaritans was polluted. The Samaritans believed that Mt Gerizim was the place for worship. The Jews believed that Jerusalem was.   Jesus gives her an answer that she did not expect. He tells her that the time is coming where the attitude of the heart is going to be more important than the place.

Sometimes we in the Body of Christ may put questions out there like which style of worship is the best style.  I have had the blessings of ministering in different congregations across denominational lines and in at least six different countries. 

There were times in some of the services that the only words that I could understand were when I was preaching or ministering, and the translator was either translating what I was saying, or what those that I was ministering to were saying.  And yet the Holy Spirit’s presence was very strong in most of these services. There were different styles of worship, and different types of music, but the common thread was that these were worshipping in spirit and in truth.

The Greek term for worship in this passage is   proskuneo,  pros-koo-neh’-o.  It means to express by attitude and possibly by one’s position one’s allegiance and one’s regard for deity.  I understand that worship isn’t just about the service that we are in. It includes how we live our lives as well.  On the other hand, when we gather with other Christians we do in most cases call it a worship service and we come together corporately to worship Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

What will best prepare each of us to worship when we gather together corporately  is to be a worshipping people the rest of  the week. When we have a strong prayer life. When we spend time in prayer. When we ask the Lord to help us to worship Him in spirit and in truth then we will be the type of worshippers that the Father is looking for.

 

Let Us Pray

Lord Jesus we pray for all of us that You will so work in our lives that we become the type of worshippers that the Father is looking for. Help us to know that it isn’t the style, or what type music, but the condition of our hearts that is most important. Lord help us to know that you can move in any setting where the hearts are worshipping you in spirit and in truth.

In Jesus Name

Amen

 

 

Now make it a point to tell more people about Jesus this week than you tell them about your favorite football team.

 

Your Friend/Kinfolk

Preston

 

 

GET TOGETHER- A Friend In The Highest Place

 

Joh 15:15 “No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. (NKJV)

 

 

            Most of us are familiar with what it means when we hear that someone has friends in high places. It usually means a reference to someone with some clout in government.  It could mean possibly having the right connection within a company, a school, or some other type organization.

When we think about Kings we don’t think about them having servants as friends. In most early monarchies there would be a great gulf between the King, or Queen and most of their servants. As servants of the Lord Jesus we have an invitation to friendship with the King of the Universe.  A friend is someone who really cares for another person and has a deep regard for them. 

            Jesus is a friend that loved us enough to die for us on the cross. 1Jo 3:16 By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. (NKJV) He calls us as His friends to love one another as He has loved us. Joh 15:12-14 “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.  “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.  “You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.” We will confirm our friendship with Him when we love others as He has loved us.

            This means loving those that don’t always like the same type of worship music that we do. This means loving those who may be of a different part of the Body of Christ than we are.   It means loving people like He loves us.

            There was an old country song I’ve Got Friend’s In Low Places.  Many of us have been down that road. We felt like we had no future and the only way that we could get relief was to either drink or drug our pain away. The Lord wants all of us to know today that we can have a friend in the Highest Place. His Name is Jesus! He is a friend that loves closer than a brother. He is a friend that there is no situation, or circumstance that we cannot talk to Him about. And more than that He is a friend that is going to work in some way in the situation or circumstance for our good.

            If you have not got to know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior He is ready to not only save you from your sins and to give you eternal life, but He is ready to be your closest and most dependable friend here on this earth.    And for some of us that know Him as Lord we may from time to time forget that He has called us friends as well. We may be carrying some heavy loads that He wants to remove from us. I pray for all that are reading this and for myself that we will come to a greater understanding of what a friend that we have in the highest place.

 

Let Us Pray

Lord we thank You that we your children can call You not only our Lord and our Savior, but we can call you friend and call upon You as a friend. Today may all who read this not only make You the Lord of our lives, but also experience the joy of an eternal friendship with You.

In Jesus Name

Amen

 

That makes me want to sing

What a friend we have in Jesus,

All our sins and griefs to bear!

What a privilege to carry

Everything to God in prayer!

Oh, what peace we often forfeit,

Oh, what needless pain we bear,

All because we do not carry

Everything to God in prayer

 

Your Friend/Kinfolk

Preston