The Bible stories that we learned as young children such as:

    David and Goliath

    Jesus born in a manger

    Daniel in the lion’s den

Are all good, but we need so much more. The Bible warns us about drifting away from the faith that has been revealed to us in the Lord Jesus. Hebrews chapter two asks "How can we escape if we neglect so great a salvation as this!?"

I've been there.  Saved (Yes, saved from Hell!) at age 6, learned about taking my faith (that is, my relationship with the Lord God) seriously as a teenager, and filled with (baptized in) the Holy Spirit as a young man, I still got so distracted that I let the Word of God (the Bible) slip.  I was drifting away from Christ, and I didn't even know it!  Oh, I was still going to church, but that means I only got a limited feeding once a week.  Not enough!

Well, I was fortunate that somebody confronted me about this, more than once.

I know other people are offended by church goers and cast off their relationship with the Lord God. They say the church is full of hypocrites.  Hey, I think everyone has been offended by church goers, and by believers even.  And I know some people have been offended by ME!  

Hey, the real question is: have you been offended by Jesus Christ? No, you haven't!

We need to continually read the scripture, the Bible, a few times weekly if not daily, to get through this life.

We need to read the Bible for ourselves!

Now don't you go saying you can't understand all those old English words.  There are SO MANY new translations.  In fact, I don't regularly read the old King James Version of the Bible.

And don't say you can't find a Bible, for if you have an Apple or Android phone, you can easily find an on-line Bible.  I'll suggest two: BibleGateway.com and BlueLetterBible.com.  These both have apps you can find in your phone's Apple App store or Google Play store.  I like BlueLetterBible since the BLB app has no ads.

But WHY read the Bible regularly?

Because:

1. It’s like no other book; it’s inspired by the Spirit of God.

2. Although all of these reasons are important, #2 is the most important reason:

It will lead us to Jesus, to know about Him, and then to know Him personally. Start in one of the first four books of the New Testament, called the Gospels. Start in any one of them.

3. It will comfort us when we are down. The Psalms are good for this, but this can take time. Pray the Psalms.

4. It will change us!  We will become, little by little, more and more like Jesus!  And that is Good!

This will keep us from drifting away from the Lord God.

I want you to read the Bible for yourself. Please!

Larry Carroll

Larry Carroll

This morning, I read an article (from BibleGateway.com) by A W Tozer, in which he decried the tendency of many believers to share only the good parts of living as a believer in Christ. He called it salesmanship.

It brought to mind an old song I heard almost 60 years ago, sung by a ladies trio, which said “It’s not an easy road“ living as a believer. Some people in the audience didn’t like that. I can see now that there are two sides to this issue:

1. As believers, we are encouraged to cast all our cares upon the Lord God, the Lord Jesus. This is wonderful, and such a blessing!  Yes, He is a Savior!

2. However, as believers, it truly is not easy having our faith tested, and having our faith mocked, even persecuted.

It was not easy for Abraham to obey God’s command to offer Isaac as a burnt offering, or for Daniel to continue praying to the Lord God, knowing he'd be thrown into the lions' den for doing it.

So I see that it truly is not an easy road; the cost of discipleship is heavy (but worth it!)

However, the cost of living without the Spirit of God within us, without the Spirit of God guiding us, without the Lord bringing us into His kingdom, without His peace now, is eternal ruin!

Larry Carroll

Larry Carroll

 A pilot in training has a goal: someday to fly solo, that is, to fly alone. This is as it should be.

In life it's the opposite, we start out flying alone, but our goal should be to fly with 'our instructor', our Shepherd, our Savior, our Maker, our God!

But why?  Because He loves us so very much and doesn't want us to end up crashing into a mountain, which we will surely do if we fly alone!

Blessings!

Larry Carroll

Covenants

    My marriage is a covenant relationship.  And hopefully, if you are married, yours is, too.

But what does that mean?  It means that my wife and I are fully committed to each other, "for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part."  Yes, fully committed even though there have been compromises and sacrifices that she made and that I made.  These go both ways.

This covenant is modeled after the covenant that the Lord Jesus makes with His bride, the body of Christ, a.k.a. His church, those who have embraced Him as Lord and Savior.  He said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."  He is fully committed to us!

Oh, but there is one thing: forgiveness.  In Matthew chapter 6, we read in verses 14 & 15: “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Does it really mean that? Doesn't Titus 3:5 say "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us."?  Yes, absolutely!  So isn't forgiving a work of righteousness?  If you think that through your own efforts you can forgive, tell me how successful you have been in the past.  We all can recall how past abuses have come up in our memory, especially when we are trying to fall asleep, and we find that "I just can't forgive!".

This is out of context I admit, but it is written in Mark 2, "Who can forgive sin, but God alone?"  I believe it.

Now this is really important.  Don't just skim over this: We need the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, to come into our "hearts", our innermost beings, to empower us to forgive.  Now when we know we need to forgive, but know we don't have the power in us to do it, we have to go after that power to forgive, earnestly.  We choose to forgive even though we hate it.  Keep choosing to forgive until you receive the power to forgive.

In Matthew chapter 18, Jesus told a parable that illustrates all of this, the parable of the unforgiving servant. This is from verses 21 through 35.

Servant #1 owed A LOT of money to the master. He begged for time, but instead, the master forgave him the whole thing! (So, yes, not by works of righteousness which we have done He saved us!)

Servant #2 owed servant #1 A LITTLE bit of money. He begged for time, but instead, servant #1 threw him into debtor's prison (ie, did not forgive him).

When the master heard this he was furious!

This is how Jesus ends the parable:32 Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. 33 Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ 34 And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. 35 “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.”

 

So you have to forgive, but you can't forgive.  What to do?  Choose to cry out to the LORD to fill you to overflowing with His Holy Spirit.  He alone has the power to forgive, and He wants you to have it!  Ask!  Ask for the filling (or baptism) of the Spirit, and ask for the ability to forgive now!

We serve a wonderful, loving God.  Expect a blessing.

Larry Carroll