God's Discipline

August 2019

Message from Pastor Tom:

I hope all of you had a great Fourth of July! I truly hope you are still praying and thankful for our godly, wise leaders, our military and first responders who have stood courageously through many difficult times in our history, and for the principles for which our nation was founded. The lives lost and the pain they endured has not been in vain. Our time and mindset in history may have changed over the years, however one thing time has not erased, 'God's Discipline, Painful Now, Fruitful Later'.

Just as in the in the past, all of mankind has one thing in common, we all experience God's holiness, which is sometimes expressed in suffering and pain. God uses it to draw the lost, as well as you and I to Him. In addition, God uses it as a tool for eliminating hindrances to our sanctity, helping us to grow in faith and make us increasingly like Christ. Apostle Paul testified about how his persistent thorn taught him reliance upon the Lord’s grace and strength (2 Corinthians 12:7-10). Instead of us believing we can handle things on our own, we should learn as Paul, to depend more fully on God when our circumstances leave us powerless. Believe me I am preaching to myself. Last month I was reading Charles Stanley devotion where he stated, "God wants us to be a living example of the conduct and character of Jesus Christ. For this reason, He uses suffering to sift, sand, and prune whatever doesn’t belong in our life.” Yet in those hard seasons of change, He not only sustains us, God's goodness is shown by providing all we need in order to carry on.

Bare in mind God's goodness is a great barrier against yielding to temptation, helping us resist the devil’s attempts to lead us astray. We need look no further than our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who meets our needs in every way. The big question, are you meeting His needs?? Once we start to doubt God's goodness or ignore His teachings, we will be attracted to the evil one's ways. A good example is when Moses warned Israel not to forget God's goodness when they started to enjoy the blessings of the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 6:10-15). We all really need this warning today. God's love for us has shown, He gives only good gifts, and the way God gives is good. He gives continuously and God never changes. The next time you are tempted, please meditate on the goodness of God in your life. If you have needs, wait on the Lord. Through His Word, God has entrusted to us the knowledge of who He is, what He is doing, and how the future will unfold for mankind. The Scriptures were intended to lead us into a growing personal relationship with our heavenly Father and to empower us for productive service as Christ’s ambassadors. In this position, we are called to follow Jesus’ example in glorifying God our Savior focused not on ourselves, but on the heavenly Father, whose plan is to reach the entire world with His saving grace.

Remember what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, the pure in heart are blessed, for they will see God (Matthew 5:8). The purification of our heart is an ongoing process. Sometimes it takes difficult situations to identify the things that keep us from happiness in our relationship with God.
Heidi and I pray for the Lamb of God to richly bless and keep you safe from harm. Thank you for taking the time to read this. I hope as always it spiritually enriches you.

Blessings from a pastor and his wife

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. James 1:2-3