Lion or Lamb?

March 2018

Message from Pastor Tom,

As we enter this month of March, I’m sure we all remember the old saying, “In like a Lion, out like a Lamb” or “In like a Lamb, out like a Lion” whichever the case may be. So I ask you this, are you perhaps wondering whether you will have to face that beast of a lion wanting to devour you at every turn, leaving you in the wake of his destruction? Hopefully not, but this can really be true any time since most of us fear the unknown. However, when we know our enemy and are prepared to go into combat wearing our full armor of God, then we have no worries because we will be prepared for the spiritual battle raging around us, and able to dispose of the beast.

In this month's devotion, I want to assure you God is with us no matter what the battle is in our lives. God is aware of everything we have ever done for Him. Sometimes when we’re faithfully and quietly laboring away for the Lord, we don’t receive any fanfare from others. People don’t recognize the sacrifices we make. They don’t see when we are up late, or wake in the middle of the night to pray for someone, or when we’re faithfully reaching out doing God's work. Others may not be aware of it, but Jesus Christ always sees it. Yet if we are faithfully doing it for the Lord, isn’t that what truly matters anyway? God will complete the work He has begun in our lives, and He has a future for all of us. Yes, this means we will get to Heaven with our Savior Jesus Christ one day, but it also means He will complete the work of making us more and more like Him.

Church, we all know God's teachings, not only by the Scriptures, but also by the messages our pastors deliver in order to equip us with the knowledge necessary to lift the scales from our eyes, and be able to see the love God has for each and every one of us. As Christians we all know our world today is full of followers who prefer to go with the flow and let the culture and world around them just happen and form their own belief system. Yet Christian truths are based on fundamental Christian principles learned through Scripture, and it is our moral and ethical duty to lay this foundation for our families. As Christians we do not have the luxury of compromising our morals and ethics, to be all-inclusive and believe anything goes. We are soldiers in God’s Army, and we are enlisted in His service when we accept Christ into our lives. We are engaged in spiritual warfare and the battle raging around us is very real and fierce. We need to hold our ground and be prepared, by dressing in our battle gear every day.

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Let's put on the full armor of God, so that you can take our stand against the devil’s schemes” Ephesians 6:10-11 (NIV). We all need to stand strong against the evil one who wants to destroy our relationship with Jesus Christ. God’s love is immense, extensive, and deep as He cares for us. There is no doubt we are in the war, and we need to be the voice of Jesus. We live in a world that forces us to walk a fine line between good and bad. Decisions must be made daily, decisions that will invariably be either wise or foolish. A foolish decision is one that is made with a firm resistance to any type of counseling or instruction (Proverbs 1:7). Fortunately, as Christians we have the book of Proverbs to follow, a Loving God, a loving church body, and Pastors with loving hearts, chosen by God to lead His flocks. We have everything we could possibly need to successfully guide us through any type of life situation.

As we ready ourselves for Passion Week at the end of the month, we all know Good Friday is the most difficult day of Holy Week. Christ’s journey turned treacherous and acutely painful in those final hours leading to His death. Jesus suffered betrayal by those who claimed to love Him. Roman soldiers scourged, humiliated and spit on Him, tormented and mocked Him, and then pierced Him with a crown of thorns. They had Jesus carry His own cross to Calvary where, again, He was mocked and insulted as Roman soldiers nailed Him to the wooden cross. The disciple Peter wrote, “For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver. He paid for you with the precious lifeblood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God” 1 Peter 1:18-19. The blood of Jesus Christ is absolutely the most precious thing God has offered us.

So let's end this month like a lamb, not taking for granted this blood the Lamb of God shed for us to cleanse us all from our sins, as He rescues us from this wicked and worldly grind. We must remember Christ's blood is able to cleanse us from every sin, any sin, we confess to the Lord. God not only forgives us our sins, He forgets them: “For I will be propitious to their unrighteousness, and their sins I shall by no means remember anymore” Hebrews 8:12 (NKJV).

Have you confessed your sins to God? Have you truly asked Him into your heart? Do not wait another second, as if your life did not depend on it, because it truly does. The Word of God implores us to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and bring everything to the foot of the cross, so through the most trying of times we will find the faith we need to keep pressing forward and to keep advancing the Kingdom of God.

Heidi and I pray the Lamb of God will richly bless and keep you safe from harm. Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope it spiritually enriches you. I look forward to reading any of your comments and messages you may wish to leave.

Blessings from a Pastor and his wife,

Tom and Heidi

I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith” (Romans 1 NIV).