Fill 'Er Up!

There is no substitute for memorizing God’s Word. In the words of Ron Phillips, “Satan tries tirelessly to steal the Word.” So here are a few key verses to start your week.

1. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” — Psalm 119:105

2. “…being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” — Philippians 1:6

3. “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 1:16-17

4. “For nothing is impossible with God.” — Luke 1:37

5. “ ‘Come now, let us reason together,’ says the Lord. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.’ ” — Isaiah 1:18

6. “I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against You.” — Psalm 119:11

7. "...so is My word that goes out from My mouth: It will not return to Me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." — Isaiah 55:11

God’s Word never comes back empty.

Priorities

Only two earthly entities will be found in God’s eternal kingdom. They are God’s Word and God’s people. The simplicity seems obvious: Spend time learning the Word and loving people into God’s Kingdom. Here are a few key verses for reflection and memorization:

Deuteronomy 8:3
He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.

Psalm 19:7-8
The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple.The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.

2 Samuel 22:31
As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in him.

Psalm 119:11
I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.

2 Timothy 3:16-17
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Colossians 3:16
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.

Act 1:8
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

There is no substitute for the Word, however there are some great reference materials available to help you learn the Word. Here are a few of my favorites:

Archaeology Study Bible
NIV Study Bible
Thompson Chain Reference Bible (supplements in the back are fantastic)
www.e-Sword.net
www.biblegateway.com
www.CBD.com

Words of gratitude

Below is a thoughtful note I received from the Torres family of Tomoka Christian. They are planning to move out of state.

Dear Pastor Joe and our Tomoka Church Family,

As our time here in Ormond Beach comes to an end, we wanted to express our sincere gratitude and admiration for all that you are doing to spread the word of God locally, statewide, and across international boundaries.

It is not often one finds a place that not only "talks the talk" but actually "walks the walk" of spreading the will of Christ. From the moment that we joined this church, we have been dreading when the time would come to leave ... and, unfortunately, that time is now. Although we will surely join a church in Mobile, we know that it will be difficult to find a place of worship with such influence and, more importantly, influential action.

As a person who worked hard for years at pushing Him away, it was Tomoka that finally opened up my heart. I often tell the story of when Tomoka sent us a generous check to help us with the adoption costs, all with absolutely no strings attached. To me (to us) that meant so much and truly showed us that awesome things are truly impacting the world — all from our little church in Ormond Beach. God, through your church, has made a believer out of a skeptic, and for that, I cannot thank you enough.

May God continue to bless this remarkable church,

Roberto & Jennifer Torres
(Ariana, Mateo, David)

God can do it!

Below is a note we received from a member of the Tomoka Christian family that shows how God can make things happen just as we read in Ephesians 3:20

"I just wanted to share with you how incredible our God is. He is able to do more than we can imagine. After listening to Lindsey and Rob talk about going to Egypt with Joe, I knew I wanted to go on that trip.

Well, the reality was that I had to raise $2,000 by the end of March. After talking to Joe, he said we would not have time to do any fund-raising work and asked that each person going send 10 letters out for prayer/donations. So I remember going home worried about whom to send letters to. I have gone on many trips and have exhausted my resources.

All I could do was pray and ask for some kind of miracle if He really wanted me to go on this trip. So after much prayer, I came up with a list of people that I would send my letters out to. I prayed over my letters and sent them.

I went to work the next morning and my boss asked me about my hours at work. With so many budget cuts at school, I thought they were going to cut my hours. But to my amazement, my boss said payroll made a mistake and didn’t pay me all year for some hours I worked in the morning at school. I was skeptical about the whole thing. I told them that if it was wrong, I would not be able to pay them back later. But then I received a letter from payroll showing a breakdown of what I would be getting and also an increase in my paycheck for the remainder of the school year. Again I prayed and asked God that if this money was to be used for my trip, show me by letting it be the exact amount that I would need.

The week after, I was told two more people supported me. A third person I sent a letter to decided to go on the trip, and yet he is supporting me. Later, a lady came up to me and said she’d be praying for me, then told me “I just felt like I needed to give you this” and handed me an envelope with money! I was just amazed how God was working.

After adding it all up, my trip is paid in full, with the exact amount I am getting from my job! God even left me an additional $3.02 — probably to cover the cost for postage and printing my letters! I am learning that truly we are not able to, but He can.”

Increase Your Knowledge

The Almighty tells Daniel that the end times will be characterized by an increase of knowledge.

But you, Daniel, close up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end. Many will go here and there to increase knowledge. Daniel 12:4

While all of this knowledge causes pride that spreads sin at an unprecedented pace, there is a positive side. The church is able to:

• Share Jesus with unreached and closed people groups
• Grow in faith through an avalanche of Biblical material
• Provide private Biblical counsel to those in need

Here are a few websites that may be helpful to you, your family, or a friend:

E-Sword – free Bible program
Christian Classics Ethereal Library – Great Biblical Resources
Focus on the Family – marriage and parenting resources
Family Life – family resources
Exodus International – deliverance from homosexuality
XXXchurch– deliverance from pornography, sex addiction, masturbation addiction
World Prayer Team – submit prayer requests and pray for others
Celebrate Recovery – freedom from your hurts, habits, and hang-ups
Care Net - unplanned pregnancy
Abortion Recovery
Embraced by Grace - adoption agency
Bible Gateway – online Bible search
Resources for Women - South Daytona pregnancy center
St. Louis Cardinals

Paul penned these immortal words: “But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!” – 1 Corinthians 15:57

Recognize this Sight?

This is the sight venerated since the 4th century as the spot where our Lord Jesus was born. Exact spot or not, it is an emotional place to stand and imagine. It is an incredible place to pray and remember.

Strip away all of the marble, silver, gold and art work and you find yourself in a simple cave under the “Church of the Nativity” in Bethlehem. Sometimes we let the trappings of life prevent us from seeing Jesus and ourselves as we should. Perhaps we should all take some time away from our worldliness and see Jesus and His Word the way He intended.

Remember Paul’s words to Timothy, “Jesus came to SAVE sinners.”

What's wrong with God's people?

When we read the first three verses of Deuteronomy 3, we see that Israel conquered a kingdom that was led by a giant name Og. There have been times, like in this story, when God's people talked to giants. Other times it’s just the opposite. It seems we sometimes hide from the giants in our life.

Being a giant slayer appeals to me! But what are our giants? They are unbelief, addiction, or unrepented sin. We need to recapture the spirit of God when Israel defeated Og, or when David conquered Goliath, or when the Church took on the known world. It is high time that we put our faith to the test!

Jesus told us in John 10:10 that He came to give us abundant life. Many are missing the abundant spiritual life because they will not face down and defeat the giants of their life.

Do you have giants in your life that you need to tackle? Well, what are you waiting for? They grow bigger with each day!

God means business

When Mom starts counting, “One, two . . .” children know that “three” will bring about some kind of response that is unwanted.

We need to understand that God is counting. He is slow to anger, but unrepented sin will be judged. God's jealous nature reflects His desire to protect us and keep us as His own.

The text in Nahum 1:2-3a is a great reminder for each of us not to play at our faith. Our decisions have eternal implications. Jesus said if you’re not for me, you are against me.

Why do we at times fail to take God's word seriously? What steps can we take to ensure our obedience?"

Prayer Challenge

Chances are, right now if I asked whether or not you have a single, overwhelming prayer need — a deep concern that keeps your mind coming back to it — you'd say yes. Each need is, without a doubt, a serious one.

But that gripping prayer need for most of us likely is focused close to home, and not focused, say, on starving children in Ethiopia. It's probably not about AIDS victims in Kenya or about lost souls in Egypt who will die without hearing of God's love for them.

Here's a challenge. Next time your present need surfaces in your mind, try turning your attention to someone you don't know facing a different, serious need. Pray for them and their situation.

When we begin to do this, we turn our focus away from ourselves and our own problems, something our “me-first” culture doesn’t teach us to do. As we tune into others' needs, lifting them up in prayer, pretty soon we're dealing serious blows to Satan, each time driving a nail into his plans to make us feel frustrated or defeated.

Try it and let me know how it goes.

The Power of Prayer

If we’re praying on a regular basis, we are as ready as we can be for anything that can come our way in life. My friend, Steve, reminded me of this fact with the following lesson based on the One Year Bible.

Mark 9:28-29 reads, “… When Jesus was alone in the house with his disciples, they asked him, “Why couldn’t we cast out that evil spirit?” Jesus replied. “This kind can be cast out only by prayer.”

The odd thing is, Jesus didn’t pray before casting out this demon. So what did he mean saying, “This kind can be cast out only by prayer”? I believe he meant, “cast out by a man who has prepared himself for the day of testing through daily times devoted to prayer.” Jesus was such a man. Are we?

Mark 1:35: “Very early in the morning while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.”

Mark 6:36: “After leaving them, he (Jesus) went up on a mountainside to pray.”

If we’re praying daily, we’re ready to kick some demonic butt. If we’re not praying daily, we’re not ready. It’s that simple.

Power In God's Word

I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. - Psalm 119:11

There is power in God's Word. Here are a few key verses to memorize for our strength, protection, and spiritual growth.

Psalm 19:14 - May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

Micah 6:8 - He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Habakkuk 2:20 - But the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him.

Ezekiel 22:30 - I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none.

Romans 1:16 & 17 - 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."

John 3:16 & 17 - "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

Proverbs 3:5 & 6 - Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

Acts 1:8 - But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

2 Peter 3:9 - The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

Jude 3 - Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.

Temptation

In Matthew 4:5-6 we read:Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written: 'He will command his angels concerning you,and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'

This picture is one of the two possible sites of this event. The temple would have been built above the top of this wall and much of what is below is modern development. Therefore, it would have been several hundred feet from temple top to valley floor.

We often face the same temptation that Jesus faced: to misappropriate God's Word. Satan's knowledge of Scripture should motivate us to know it better for our own defense and obedience.

Remember, before we can claim a promise we usually have to obey a command. Here are some Scriptures to ponder:

Proverbs 3:5-6
Proverbs 22:6
John 3:3
John 6:29
Matthew 28:18-20
Romans 12:3-8

Hungry Yet?

A few verses worth pondering:

Esther 9:22
Psalm 23:1
Psalm 24:1
Psalm 27:1
Nehemiah 4:14
John 6:53-58
Hebrews 12:27
Isaiah 17:1
Isaiah 19:25
Isaiah 26:3
Isaiah 47:8
Psalm 19:1
Proverbs 4:23
Lamentations 3:22-23
Judges 21:25
Deuteronomy 27:26
Leviticus 16:20-22
Romans 15:13

Be hungry for God's Word.