NO PRAYER SERVICE RECORDING TONIGHT! The doctor wants me to get 2 full days of rest to avoid painful consequences!
Thanks for praying for my mouth & tooth extraction! Everything went well! I felt a little like Paul when the Ephesians prayed for his mouth.
Ephesians 6:19, “And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,”
Keep praying for my mouth everyday that I will speak with boldness!!!!
Daily Beat from your Pastor’s Heart:
Some people come to me with comments like, I DON’T UNDERSTAND WHAT I READ IN THE BIBLE!
THE BIBLE IS OVER MY HEAD!
I CAN’T PRONOUNCE THE HARD NAMES AND OLD ENGLISH WORDS!
You have heard me say many times, what you do the Bible determines what God does with you.
Today, I want to share how to make your Bible reading be spiritual food for your daily life.
Some readers come to the Bible to gain insight or to learn truths and principles.
However, coming to the Bible with your head can leave your heart untouched.
There is so much more to gain from the Scriptures than truth about God.
You can gain God Himself!
The true riches are to be found in beholding and knowing the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Pharisees made a deadly error in how they approached the Scriptures.
They dissected Scripture cognitively, but they didn’t seek the heart behind the truths revealed, and thus they came to know the Book but not the Author.
This is what Jesus meant when He said to them, John 5:39-40, “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.”
Everything in the Scriptures was screaming at the Pharisees, “See Jesus as you read, see Jesus!”, but they missed it.
The Scriptures have always been intended to direct our hearts to a Person.
Paul said that “the purpose of the commandment is love” (1 Timothy 1:5); that is, the entire purpose of the Old Testament was to enflame the hearts of God’s people for the beauty of His face.
They got hung up, however, on dogma and creed and missed the living relationship that God longed to have with them.
Jesus’ words to the Pharisees raise a frightening possibility: We can read the Bible faithfully and never get to know the Lord.
Even though Jesus is pointed to on almost every single page, it’s possible to read the words and never develop a burning-heart relationship with Him.
Jesus was saying we ought not come to the Scriptures to gain knowledge about a Book; rather, we ought to come to the Scriptures to gain knowledge about a Person.
The Living Word desires to meet us in the Written Word, if we will but come to Him in the reading.
Here’s the secret: Your reading in the word can be a dynamic and living encounter with the person of the Lord Jesus Christ!
Don’t come to the word out of a sense of rote duty to knock off your daily quota of chapters; don’t come merely to master spiritual principles or to glean clever insights; come to gaze upon the majesty and mystery of the altogether Lovely One, the One who has captured your heart!
He waits for you behind the veil, watching to reward those who pant and yearn for Him as for springs of living water.
Come with a cry in your heart to see Him and know Him.
With a tiny breath of His Spirit on a single word of Scripture, He can set your heart racing with fresh revelation of His power and glory.
When Jesus joined up with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus after His resurrection, He began to explain to them how He was the central theme of the Scriptures.
Imagine the glory of this encounter—Jesus revealing Jesus to the human spirit from the written word!
Little wonder that those disciples later recalled, Luke 24:32, “Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?”
It’s the opening of the Scriptures concerning Christ to the thirsty soul, through the power of the Holy Spirit, that gives the burning heart.
This is the great pursuit of the secret place!
Jesus chided the Sadducees with this indictment, Matthew 22:29, “Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.”
This suggestions three sad possibilities:
• We can know the Scriptures but not the power of God.
• We can know the power of God but not the Scriptures.
•We can know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.
My heart cries out, “I want to know You, Lord! I want to behold You in Your Scriptures. I want to know You and the fullness of Your power! Manifest Yourself to me in Your word, O my Lord!”
It is because of this heart-cry that I run into the secret place.
I long for Him so much that I am lovesick with unfulfilled desires. “Oh, when will You come to me?”
My experience has been that I don’t get to know Jesus better in prayer.
Prayer is where I express my love according to how I have come to know Him.
Prayer is love exchanged.
But if I am to come to know Him better, I must approach His word and behold Him there.
To know more of Christ requires revelation, and revelation usually requires meditation in the word.
2 Corinthians 3:18, “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”
Oh, how we long to behold Him!
I consider, with a certain kind of envy, the living creatures who do not turn from facing straight ahead no matter where they go (Ezekiel 1:12-17).
Whether they go up or down, left or right, forward or backwards, their faces are constantly facing straight forward—at the throne!
They have the glorious privilege of ever gazing upon the beauty of the King.
Lord, this is how I want to live my life, too.
That no matter where I go and what I do, my face might be fastened upon the throne and beholding the radiance of my beloved Lord.
The more I see of Jesus in His word, the more I realize that He is nothing like me.
But when I see Him in His uniqueness, this is the very thing that draws me most passionately into His heart.
I’ve discovered that I am naturally attracted to that which is different from me (as the saying goes, opposites attract).
Jesus is stunning in His singular beauty and matchless majesty.
And oh, what a privilege I have—to come to the secret place and gaze upon Him in the Scriptures, forever fascinated with the adventure of growing in the knowledge of Him who died for me!
Until Tomorrow,
With A Shepherd’s Love
Pastor
TODAY’S ? LIST:
Amy Garner’s Mother – better – ?
Andria Carter -Ashley’s Sister – ?
Barbara Shed’s Family – ?
Bill Lawhead – ?
Bill Moody -?
Brandy Dean – Ashley’s Sister – ?
Charlie Sessom -Waiting – ?
Cheri/Barry Hill -?
Colby/Connor – Allison’s G’sons-?
Debra Roberts – Please Please ?
Denise Stubbs – Kim Allison’s Mom ?
Don Slate – Angela Bryan’s Dad – hospice?
Doug Fritzel – ?
Hanna Hall ?
James Parsons – Mae’s Brother ?
Joyceann – James Garner’s Daughter ?
Kimberly- Dustin’s Sister- ?
Larry Barker ?
Lavona Davis -?
Linda Breedlove’s Sister – Sarah ?
Lisa Land’s Family – ?
Lynn -Nancy Brown’s Daughter – ?
Mary Sims – ?
Michael Stanley – ?
Nancy Brown’s G’Daughter – ?
Nora Allison – Dustin’s Mom
Pastor Stucke- Nikki’s Dad?
Paula Ferus’ Missionary friend ?
Ricky Stubbs – ?
Roseleigh Osborn – ?
Sarah Parker – ?
Sharon Blalock- ?
Shaelyn – Jill’s friend?
Shannon Golden – ?
Sheila Simmons Cousin – ?
Susan Bryan – Mike’s Mom – ?
Susie Grant & Family – ?
Su Rocker – Shingles – ?
Terrell Loyd – ?
Tim McCollum – ?
Todd Bailey – ?
Todd Roberts -?
Tom Witcher -?
Tommy/Gayle Harris- ?
Tracie Ballard -?
Wanda Galanti – ?