Hidden With Christ

September 10, 2019 Pastor Stephen Dedman Encouragement, Faith, Salvation, Trust

Hidden With Christ

For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
‭‭Colossians‬ ‭3:3‬ ‭

New Life

Before we were saved by the grace of God, we lived for ourselves. It was self-merit and self-righteousness that brought us what we thought was justifiable. As long as we were good people and as long as we did good things, we were ok. But that was not the truth.

When our eyes were spiritually opened to the things of God, we were changed. As Scripture says, “For you have died.” When we come to Christ we die to our old ways and to our old self. No longer do we live for ourselves but we live for Christ. He is our Lord and Master and we submit to Him in all of our ways. Our actions and words reflect who we belong to. You may be thinking… “But sometimes I say and do things that are not aligned with Christ-likeness.” Just because we are Christians does not mean that we will never sin again. We all sin and come short of God’s glory.

The difference is in the next part of the verse… “and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” What this means is we are justified by the blood of Christ. When we come to Jesus through faith, we die to ourselves. We take up our cross and follow Him. We are born again. We are reborn into the likeness of Christ. When God looks at us He sees the righteousness of Christ and not the righteousness of ourselves. When we believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior we take on a new life and new characteristics. The Holy Spirit comes to our rescue and gives us power to live as Christ would have us to live. In other words we require the Holy Spirit to live holy and acceptable to God. Romans 12:1-2 gives us great insight of how we should live everyday. As we live holy lives we no longer live according to the world but according to the Word of God.

Prayer

Lord, I submit to you and live today for You. Show me what You want me to do for You today.

The House Of The Lord

September 6, 2019 Pastor Stephen Dedman Encouragement, Trust

The House Of The Lord

The house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.
‭‭2 Chronicles‬ ‭5:14‬ ‭

The Glory Of God

What would it take for you to fall to your knees in reverent worship before God Almighty? Would fire need to fall from Heaven? Would someone need to be instantaneously and miraculously healed?

On the day of dedication of the temple, the Lord showed up and showed out. This verse speaks of the glory of God as a cloud that filled the entire temple driving men to their knees in reverent worship. Basically the Lord showed up and took over and everyone knew it. In the New Testament we read about a day when the people gathered together and prayed and the building shook and everyone was filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 4:31). It’s clear to see that the presence of God and the touch of God makes all the difference.

We don’t need more intellectual sermons or more inspirational music in our worship services, what we need is for God to show up. If the Lord is truly our focal point in time of worship then we can come together in the house of God and even before the preaching begins we can feel the convicting power of the Holy Spirit. The key is to focus on the Lord and nothing else. James 4:8 says to draw close to God and He will draw close to you. God wants to show up and show out in your church. If the focus is not on the Lord we cannot expect anything else but another ordinary worship service.

Prayer

Lord, I desire to see you show up and show out in my life today. My focus is on You alone.

Into A Pit

August 23, 2019 Pastor Stephen Dedman Encouragement, Faith, Trust

Into A Pit

So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the robe of many colors that he wore. And they took him and threw him into a pit.
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭37:23-24‬a

No Way Out

Joseph was a victim of circumstances. He told his family about the dreams he had of them all bowing down before him. His brothers were jealous and his father showed him favoritism by giving him a special colorful robe to wear. He was eleventh in line of inheritance but the first son of Jacob’s favorite wife, Rachel. No doubt Joseph was hated by his brothers and getting rid of him was their choice of action. Instead of killing him they all agreed to throw him into a waterless pit. He didn’t stay in the pit long though before he was sold to a passing caravan of Ishmaelites and then sold into Egyptian slavery.

God had a special plan and purpose for Joseph. He was treated harshly for simply sharing about the dreams he was given. Sometimes we find ourselves in a pit just like Joseph. We simply mind our own business and evil things happen to us while we don’t deserve them. This is the reality of life. As we live in an evil world, evil things will happen to good people. The most important thing we can do is keep our head up and our minds on Christ. Even though we cannot control some of our circumstances, we can control our attitude and behavior. We can keep shining the light of Jesus as we suffer so others will see Jesus in us.

God might have you in pit right now for a reason. If you find yourself in a bad situation make sure to make the best of the situation by keeping a positive attitude and pointing others to Christ.

Prayer

Lord, I pray my life will be an example for others to see who You are and to show Your glory and grace.