What Does The Lord Require Of You

September 7, 2019 Pastor Stephen Dedman Salvation, Trust

What Does The Lord Require Of You

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
‭‭Micah‬ ‭6:8‬

It’s More Than Being Good

Some people think all you have to do is live a good and moral life and you will go to Heaven. That is far from the truth of God’s Word. That is a lie that Satan wants people to believe. There will be a lot of good people die and go to Hell because they believed this lie. Faith and belief in Jesus Christ is how you receive eternal life in Heaven. We live good and moral lives to glorify God for sending us His Son.

The prophet Micah gives us three ways to glorify God in our daily life. First, do justice. This means we should be fair to all people and don’t judge them. God is the judge so we must not judge others lest we be judged. Second, love kindness. We are not only to be kind to others but we are to love kindness. We are to show mercy to others even if they have wronged us. Third, walk humbly. As Believer’s we are to put others first. Just as Christ was a humble servant, so we are to be Christ-like.

But are these the only requirements?

When asked what was the greatest commandment of the law, Jesus replied, “you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:35-39) We will never fully satisfy the requirements of God but we can be justified through the works of Jesus Christ who did fulfill all His requirements.

Prayer

Thank God for His mercy and grace and then show others how thankful you are.

Are You The One

September 5, 2019 Pastor Stephen Dedman Trust

Are You The One

And John calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are You the One who is to come, or shall we look for another?”
‭‭Luke‬ ‭7:19‬

No Need To Doubt

In Luke 7:28 Jesus says, “there is none greater than John.” John the Baptist was the forerunner of Jesus who preached repentance of sin to prepare the way of the coming of the Messiah. When John baptized Jesus, he heard the audible voice of God and saw the Holy Spirit descend upon Jesus like a dove. There was no doubt that John knew that Jesus was the Messiah.

After John was arrested and held in prison for a long period of time, he began to question if Jesus was really the Coming One. There are three notable reasons that caused him to doubt and these can create doubt in our minds as well. First, the circumstances he faced made him question if Jesus cared. John was in prison because he stated the truth of Herod’s sin. Sometimes the circumstances we endure make us wonder if Jesus really cares for us. Second, listening to outsiders can cause doubt. While in prison, John heard a report about Jesus and obviously it was in contrast to what he believed. We must be careful to who and what we listen to. If it’s not the truth, it can cause us to doubt. Third, since we don’t have full knowledge, we question how things will work out. Jesus was just the opposite of what everyone expected. He was a humble servant instead of coming as one who would be treated like the king of the Jews. Limited information causes us to doubt if all things will work out in our favor or not.

When John doubted, he searched for truth from Jesus. We too should turn to Jesus when we start to doubt. He will give us what we need.

Prayer

Search the Lord through the Word of God and ask Him to reveal the truths that you need to know.

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.