The Bottom Line

In the business world the bottom line is increasing profits, sales, customer satisfaction, stockholders dividends...
Jesus has an entirely different set of economic values when it comes to increasing
"And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man."  Luke 2:52
How is our spiritual economic outlook?

Integrity Matters!

Integrity Matters To God

In a familiar account in Scripture, Abraham "lies" about his half sister wife.  (Gen 20)  Abimelech is on the receiving end of Abraham's lie but is protected by God because of his integrity. 
And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, "She is my sister." And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, "Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man's wife." Now Abimelech had not approached her. So he said, "Lord, will you kill an innocent people? Did he not himself say to me, 'She is my sister'? And she herself said, 'He is my brother.' In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this." Then God said to him in the dream, "Yes, I know that you have done this in the integrity of your heart, and it was I who kept you from sinning against me. Therefore I did not let you touch her. Genesis 20:2‭-‬6
INTEGRITY MATTERS!

No Excuses

"Yeah right, that will never happen!"  To old, not enough education, can't speak well, don't have enough strength...and the list goes on.  However, there is one enormous part of the equation we are leaving out....GOD!
Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. The Lord said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh and say, 'Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?' Is anything too hard for the Lord ? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son."  Genesis 18:11-14

Blameless

Don't give anyone a reason to point their finger at you in blame.  Oh that we would live our lives with such impeccable character so as to be called blameless. 
Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,
Philippians 2:14‭-‬15
When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless,
Genesis 17:1

Why Have You Forsaken Me?

He Will Never Forsake You!

God has promised He would never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5), yet He forsook His own Son on your behalf!  Would you turn your back on your own child allowing him to be beaten beyond recognition for the benefit of someone else who hates you?  That is exactly what God did for us through Christ.
And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Mark 15:34

Watch!

Be Watchful!

If you have lived in Ohio long you know to watch the sides of the roads where the deer are waiting for you to drive by so they can jump out in front of you.  If your not watchful and on alert you will miss the opportunity to slam on the  breaks or swerve over into oncoming traffic. 

Christ tells us to be watchful for his return.  What I say to you I say to everyone, watch ‘Be on the alert [stay awake and be continually cautious]!’”  MARK 13:37.   Don't miss it, He's coming!

Ready?

Are You Ready?

For the third time in 7 days I will be presiding over a funeral and standing graveside as a family grieves and mourns thier loss.  As a pastor unfortunately, not an uncommon occurrence.  In the midst of it all, we cannot escape questions about eternity.  What about life after death?  What's next?  I will leave you with a simple question...Are You Ready?
You can't ready yourself, only Christ has the power to deliver you from death to eternal life.

God of the Living

Who Is Our God?

Many have ask is there a  difference between gods?  To which I would respond with a resounding yes!  The one true God, creator and sustainer of the universe is the God of the living not of the dead!   He is my God, and He has redeemed me by His Son Jesus Christ!
In response to the Sadducees who did not believe in the resurrection Jesus said...
He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: ye therefore do greatly err.
Mark 12:27

Out Heavenly Bodies

What Will We Be Like In Heaven?

An age old question with a lot of speculation.  But scripture gives us an answer.
For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.  Matthew 22:30
It doesn't say we are angels, there is a difference between humanity and angels.  Christ came to redeem humanity not angels.  We will have some angel characteristics or qualities and there will be no marriage in heaven as a result. 

No More Confusion

No More Confusion

Wouldn't that be great, we all just speak the same language.  No barriers, open communication between countries and people's.  Just think how much better off we would be.  Well think again.  "And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech."
Genesis 11:1

Read the rest of the story in Genesis 11.  One language and guess what they wanted to do...disobey God and build a tower to heaven.  So language barriers are so bad after all, else we would try to build another tower and tell God  what to do.  Of coarse we tend to do that anyway, dont we? Only when sin is once and for all eradicated will we be able to communicate without barriers.  Looking forward to that day.

Not Noah!

Noah...From Righteousness to Drunkenness
It doesnt take long to go from the moutain top to the valley spiritually.  One foolish decision. Noah, yep that's Noah from the Bible.  He knew better, remember what it was like before the flood?  He just survived the historic flood and had honored God with an altar and sacrifices. And Noah began to farm and cultivate the ground and he planted a vineyard. He drank some of the wine and became drunk, and he was uncovered and lay exposed inside his tent.GENESIS 9:20‭-‬21. We are so often just like Noah, spiritual success than we fall to temptation. 

Always on my Mind

Have you ever made the statement, "I forgot about him or her"?  I am so glad that God doesn't forget us. A simple yet profound statement after the flood...."And God remembered Noah..." Genesis. 9:1.  Thank you Lord for having me constantly on your mind as your word says..."You will never leave us nor forsake us"!