NO MORE SLIPPERY SLOPES

 

Today’s Bible readings are Job 4:1-7:21, 1 Corinthians 14:18-40, Psalm 37:30-40, & Proverbs 21:27

Psalm 37:30-31

³⁰ The godly offer good counsel; they teach right from wrong. ³¹ They have made God’s law their own, so they will never slip from his path.

In a day in which there are so many things that we can’t be certain about, God offers us a beautiful promise in His Word. He promises us a way that will ensure that we never slip from His path. Think about that for a moment; to know that there is a way to make sure that we always stay in God’s will & on God’s path? That is an awesome thought.

Remember it is in His path that we find:

1.      Purpose

2.      Blessing

3.      Protection

4.      Joy

5.      Peace

6.      Hope

7.      Strength

These are things that we need on a regular basis. These are all things that we can have in abundance & without end if we stay connect to God. They are things that we can have if we stay on His path.

So what is the way that ensures we never leave His path? What is required to keep us safely moving on the path He has laid?

 

Making God’s law our own.

When we chose to make the law of God the guiding force in our lives we will always be safe on His path. His Word & His Spirit are always in agreement. They both, also, always agree with Him! One will always lead us to the other. They work together for the same purpose—KEEPING US ON GOD’S PATH!

Make it your aim to continue to learn God’s Word. Make it your aim to continue to meditate on it. Fill your mind & heart with God’s Word. It is life to those who find it. It is a light unto thy path!

Pastor Richard Schlotter

DOES THE MENTION OF YOUR NAME SILENCE THE ENEMY?

Today’s Bible readings are Job 1:1-3:26, 1 Corinthians 14:1-17, Psalm 37:12-29, & Proverbs 21:25-26

Job 2:1-3

One day the members of the heavenly court came again to present themselves before the Lord, and the Accuser, Satan, came with them. ² “Where have you come from?” the Lord asked Satan.

Satan answered the Lord, “I have been patrolling the earth, watching everything that’s going on.”

³ Then the Lord asked Satan, “Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless—a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil. And he has maintained his integrity, even though you urged me to harm him without cause.”

When we read the story of Job we often have thoughts like: “I hope I never have to go through anything like that.” Sometimes we may even think, “That guy really got a raw deal.” Many times we fail to recognize the positive things that are revealed in the story. We all know that it ends well for Job, but even in the beginning of the story we see some very honorable things to mention.

I want to discuss a point today that I think would do us all well to consider. In the beginning of the story we see satan accusing man before God. He was probably saying things like:

1.     People are failures.

2.     People hate good & love evil.

3.     Your creation is a messed up deal.

4.     Man is not worth saving.

This is the nature of satan. He always tries to magnify his half-truths to a place where they distort the truth. Yet notice what God said in reply to his accusations against man:

³ Then the Lord asked Satan, “Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless—a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil. And he has maintained his integrity, even though you urged me to harm him without cause.”

God had taken notice of Job. God had seen his heart. God knew of his integrity. God knew that he was a man of character. I am sure that there were days when Job wondered if his choices to obey in the small things were even noticed, yet he maintained integrity in all that he did.

Imagine all the times that he did right when nobody was looking. Imagine all the times that he could have done things different & gotten away with it, yet each time he chose to walk upright & in integrity.

I want you to know that God never misses anything. He sees everything that we do. It may seem like nobody takes notice of your hard work & faithfulness BUT THAT IS JUST PLAIN NOT TRUE. God sees & remembers!!!

In all the accusations that satan brought, God silenced them with the mention of one man—JOB. God had great confidence in this one man because God had noticed the pattern of his lifestyle. Job had made the right decisions before. God knew he would make them again.

To me, I have to say, it must have been an honor to Job, in the end, to know that God thought so highly of him. It challenges me in my faith to maintain integrity at a high level so that God will have confidence in me as well. When the enemy speaks evil against God’s people I want the mention of my name to silence Him. It is my desire that when Christians are being persecuted that someone might say, “Well what about Richard? He walks the walk. He lives what he believes.”

I know that this is your aim also. That is why it is so important for us to make sure of actions line up with our message. Remember that faith without works is dead. So let your faith be demonstrated through your actions so the mention of your name silences the enemy.

 

Pastor Richard Schlotter

THE GREATEST OF ALL

                                                                                                           

Today’s Bible readings are Esther 8:1-10:3, 1 Corinthians 12:27-13:13, Psalm 37:1-11, & Proverbs 21:23-24

1 Corinthians 12:29-31

²⁹ Are we all apostles? Are we all prophets? Are we all teachers? Do we all have the power to do miracles? ³⁰ Do we all have the gift of healing? Do we all have the ability to speak in unknown languages? Do we all have the ability to interpret unknown languages? Of course not! ³¹ So you should earnestly desire the most helpful gifts.

But now let me show you a way of life that is best of all.

We, as people, often desire the things that we see as the most important to be part of our lives. We desire things like:

1.     A nice house

2.     A good job

3.     A perfect spouse

4.     Money in the bank

5.     Influence with people

When it comes to spiritual gifts, we have some of the same mind sets. We tend to desire & covet the gifts that we see as being the most powerful, or most glorious. We all have our own ideas of the gifts that we think are the best. For some, it would be the gift of healing. For others, it would be working of miracles. I know for me, I have often sought after the power gifts; gift of healing, gift of faith, working of miracles.

God knows our tendencies to gravitate toward the gifts that we view as the most spectacular. He understands how we are as humans. We can get so focused on pursuing a certain spiritual gift that we fail to walk in the most excellent way of all.

I want to take a moment to clarify what I’m saying. First, it is not wrong, or sinful, for you to desire, & even pursue, spiritual gifts. We are told to pursue spiritual gifts.

³¹ So you should earnestly desire the most helpful gifts.

But what happens to us is that we get so focused on operating in a certain gift that we fail to realize God has so much more to offer than just that particular gift. We can get what I call—tunnel vision. I have seen this happen in churches on a regular basis. For instance, many spirit-filled churches only recognize prophecy if it comes after someone operates in the gift of tongues. They wait in a service for someone to speak in tongues, so that, someone else can prophesy. This is the only way they think it can happen.

I have been in a church like this before. I have even prophesied in a church like this before. The people didn’t receive the word that came forth. It was as if they thought it was just me talking, or sharing a thought. In the same church, after the gift of tongues was in manifestation, I would give the interpretation; which is equal to prophesying; & everybody applaud & connect with God in reverence & holy fear.  Why does this happen?

Well, really for 2 reasons—IGNORANCE & ABUSE. People have never been taught full & accurate teaching on the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The second reason is because certain things have been abused & misused. They have been over-emphasized while other gifts have been under-emphasized.

God is speaking to us in today’s passage about the danger in making these mistakes. In our pursuit for spiritual gifts we are exhorted to ALWAYS PURSUE FIRST THE MOST EXCELLENT WAY. What is the most excellent way?

1 Corinthians 13:1-7, 13

If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. ³ If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.

⁴ Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud ⁵ or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. ⁶ It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. ⁷ Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

¹³ Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.

Of all the spiritual gifts that the Holy Spirit makes available, the greatest is the love of God that He sheds abroad in our hearts when we make Jesus the Lord of our lives.

It is that love that we need more than anything else. It is that love that the world is supposed to recognize us by, not the power gifts, the utterance gifts, or the revelation gifts. Jesus said the world will know you are my disciples BY YOUR LOVE!!!

Love is the first thing to be neglected in our pursuit for spiritual gifts. Yet, love is the catalyst that makes them all work in effectiveness & power. Love holds them all together. Love keeps us from misusing them. Love compels us to extend them to others. Love makes them complete.

I, like Paul, encourage you to earnestly desire spiritual gifts. But never forget that the greatest gift is the gift of love. It is the one gift that ALL of us should aim to operate in at ALL times. To Christ be the glory for now & forever more!!!

Pastor Richard Schlotter

SUPERNATURAL BEINGS

Today’s Bible readings are Esther 4:1-7:10, 1 Corinthians 12:1-26, Psalm 36:1-12, & Proverbs 21:21-22

1 Corinthians 12:4-1

⁴ There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. ⁵ There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. ⁶ God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us.

⁷ A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. ⁸ To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. ⁹ The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. ¹⁰ He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. ¹¹ It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.

Did you know that you are gifted? So many times we think about ourselves in such lowly manners. It is good for us to be humble BUT it is detrimental to us to be ignorant about who we are in Christ. There is a big difference.

So many times I hear people talk about how they are no good at anything. I hear them talk about how they have no gifts of abilities. That is not humility. That is ignorance! The truth is that you have the AWESOME HOLY SPIRIT in you. He has supernatural gifts that He makes available for you & me, as He sees the need for them to be used.

Many people wonder what gift is the one that they have. The answer to the question is ALL OF THEM; AS THE SPIRIT WILLS. In other words, if you are in a place & there is a need for the gift of faith the Holy Spirit can manifest that gift in your life. Maybe that is not something that happens every day, but if you are open to it, if there is a need for it, & if the Spirit wills it, then that gift is available. You may be used to prophesy one day. Another day you may be used to give a word of knowledge. At another time you may operate in the gift of discerning spirits. These all come from the same Spirit & are available to the church.

The key is for us to be open to be used in any way that the Spirit would decide. That is my position on spiritual gifts. I want to be open to all of them, so that I can be used in all of them. It is important that we be open to them all because they are all needed. They each serve a purpose.

Somebody always asks the question, “Which spiritual gift is the most important?” The answer to that question is very obvious—WHICH EVER ONE IS NEEDED    AT THAT PARTICULAR MOMENT!

I want to suggest some extra reading material for your personal time that will greatly increase your understanding of spiritual gifts. Kenneth Hagin wrote a study book called “The Gifts of the Holy Spirit”. This is a great study book. It was required reading in the bible college that I attended. It is the best book that I have seen on the topic. It would bless you to order it.

I want to close by saying that God wants you to be aware & open to His gifts that He makes available through His Spirit. Be open to them. You are a supernatural being. Let His supernatural gifts be a part of your life!

 

Pastor Richard Schlotter