Be The Movement

Today’s Bible readings are 2 Samuel 20:14-21:22, Acts 1:1-26, Psalms 121:1-8, & Proverbs 16:18

 

Acts 1:9-11

⁹ After saying this, he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him. ¹⁰ As they strained to see him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them. ¹¹ “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!”

How long do you think they would have stood there & stared had it not been for the angels telling them to move on? I have wondered this before & was wondering this today.

This particular day was unique to the disciples. They had seen so many incredible things happen over the last 40 days or so. They had seen Jesus die, rise from the dead, restore those who had walked away, & open their minds to the scriptures in new ways. It was very exciting. Now the moment has come for Him to leave them again.

I am sure that they were a little concerned that things were going to end up like they did last time He left. Maybe they were afraid that they were going to fail Him again. They surely didn’t know what to expect. They stood there & gazed into heaven as He ascended.

They were straining to see Him when these angels appeared & told them it was time to quit staring. I love this part of the story. Basically, the angels told the disciples that it was time to stop staring & start doing!

Remember, Jesus had just told them that He was going to send the Holy Spirit. He told them that the Holy Spirit would give them great power. He told them that the great power of the Spirit would cause them to be His witnesses. He told them that they would go to the ends of the earth for Him.

They were so intrigued by the presence of Jesus & the wonder of seeing Him that they stood there staring. The only problem with that is that they were about to miss their own move of God. In just a few short days heaven was going to be parted & the mighty Holy Spirit was going to be poured out on ALL flesh. So they needed to be reminded that it was time to go & be prepared.

This is what we need from time to time. We don’t need to be standing around watching God move in other people’s lives. We need to be prepared & ready for Him to move in our life. There are far too many believers sitting on the side line watching God use others but not offering themselves to Him for service. This is a great tragedy. God wants to pour His Spirit on ALL flesh so that ALL flesh can be part of His end time revival.

When I say “End Time Revival”, I am not talking about you & me sitting around experiencing God blessing us. What I mean is you & I out in the trenches reaching the lost for His glory. That is what the disciples went & did after they were filled with the Holy Spirit. They went out & made disciples. They built the kingdom of God. They didn’t leave it in the hands of the pastoral staff to reach people. They ALL went out empowered by the same Spirit & began to reach the lost & daily the Lord added to their number.

This is the great difference that the Holy Spirit makes in a person’s life. He causes us to be soul winners. We can’t just sit & watch. We become the player who followers the coach around saying: “Put me in this inning. I’m ready to go in coach.”

Remember, God has a plan for your life. He desires to use you to for Hs glory. He has called you to be a soul winner. He has anointed you to be a witness for Him. It is time to get off the sidelines & into the game. You are not a spectator. You are an allstar.

Start today by doing these simple things:

1.      Be kind & encouraging to people that you meet today.

2.      Tell people about what God has done in your life.

3.      Pray for those around you.

4.      Do something outside of yourself to express love to another person today.

5.      Invite somebody to church or small group.

6.      Ask a person if you can pray for them when they share their struggles with you.

7.      Tell somebody that God has a plan for their life.

It is not hard to be a witness. It only takes practice. I will say this, you will never be much of a witness if all you do is stand by & stare. Let’s make it a pint that we are not going to just stand by & stare. Let’s not just watch God move. Let’s be part of the move.

Pastor Richard Schlotter

How To Avoid A Traffic Jam

Today’s Bible readings are 2 Samuel 19:11-20:13, John 21:1-25, Psalm 120:1-7, & Proverbs 16:16-17

Proverbs 16:16-17

¹⁶ How much better to get wisdom than gold, and good judgment than silver! ¹⁷ The path of the virtuous leads away from evil; whoever follows that path is safe.

I use to be friends with a guy who was a big trapper. He trapped all different types of animals. One day he was showing me the traps & how they work. He showed me a particular trap that I was really intrigued by because it was a type of trap that I had heard mentioned in the bible. This particular trap was called a “snare”.

This type of trap is unique to others in that it uses the struggle of the animal to against itself. It is basically a large noose that the animal gets caught in. The more it tries to fight to get out of the snare the more trapped it gets.

These snares are placed in different spots on the paths that animals are known to travel. They are usually unnoticed by the prey they are intended to trap, yet, they are VERY effective at getting the job done.

Sometimes my friend would put bait in a certain place to get a prey to sniff it out. As the animal pursued what its hunger was desiring it would soon get entangled in the snares that had been placed in its path.

Psalm 38:12

¹² Those who want to kill me set their traps, those who would harm me talk of my ruin; all day long they scheme and lie.

There are traps being set up at all times. The enemy tries to lure us down certain traps just like my friend would try to lure animals down certain paths. He has placed snares of many sorts there to catch us up & choke the life out of us. We must learn to avoid his snares.

Our reading for today gives us some very good instruction on how to stay out of the snares that have been set.

Proverbs 16:16-17

¹⁶ How much better to get wisdom than gold, and good judgment than silver! ¹⁷ The path of the virtuous leads away from evil; whoever follows that path is safe.

As we turn from evil & pursue the right things, we will find a path that is virtually snare free. It is when we drift from the virtuous path that we become subjected to the snares of satan. Our reading makes it clear that if follow the right path we will be safe. When we get off on the wrong paths we will find danger.

We must make sure that we don’t get off the path of righteousness & onto the path of:

1.      Greed

2.      Love for money

3.      Lust for pleasure

4.      Cravings of the flesh

5.      Pride of life

6.      Resentment

7.      Party Spirit

These are all places that the enemy will try to lure us to. He will put bait out that appeals to our 5 senses. If we let those senses direct us they will direct us down the path that will lead us to being trapped. There is a BETTER option however.

Galatians 5:16

¹⁶ So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

The answer truly is walking in the Spirit. He will lead us down paths of righteousness for His names sake. He will illuminate our path so that we can see clearly. He is still the cloud by day & fire by night for us too.

Jesus said it best:

Matthew 7:13-14

¹³ “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. ¹⁴ But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

Seek out the right path & stay on it. You will find that, in the end, it is much easier to walk this path than the path that leads to destruction. By the way, there is a lot less traffic jams along the way.

Pastor Richard Schlotter

 

He rose

Today’s readings are 2 Samuel 18:1-19:10, John 20 1:31, Psalm 119:153-176, and Proverbs 16:14-15

John 20:9

For until then they still hadn’t understood the Scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead.

The resurrection of Jesus is one of the central truths of the gospel.  Why did Jesus have to rise from the dead?

It proves he is the Son of God.

It shows the truth of scripture.

It is proof of the judgment on the wicked.

It is the foundation of Jesus gift of the Holy Spirit.

Also it is foundation for his interceding for the believer.

It proves that believers will have a heavenly home.

 This is not an exhausted list of what happened when Jesus rose from the dead.  Let us not take for granted what Jesus did for us when he rose from the dead.  What honor he deserves for all that he has done for us.

Kelly Schlotter

You are near O Lord

Today’s readings are 2 Samuel 17:1-29, John 19:23-42, Psalm 119:129-152 and Proverbs 16:12-13

You are near O Lord

Psalm 119:151 

Yet you are near, O Lord, and all your commands are true.

The psalmist experiences God’s nearness in times of trouble because he loves the Lord and is devoted to meditating on his word.  The Lord is near to all who love him and his Word.  If you have trouble in your life, take your Bible and in God’s presence use it to revitalize your relationship with him.

Start to experience God’s nearness in your life today by meditating on God’s word. 

 

Pray before you start to read.

Ask God to lead you in what he wants you to read.  

Look for answers to your life’s questions.

You will be amazed at the change that will occur when you give God a chance to teach you and guide you.

Kelly Schlotter

How To Increase Your Insight

Today’s Bible readings are 2 Samuel 15:23-16:23, John 18:25-19:22, Psalm 119:113-128, & Proverbs 16:10-11

Psalm 119:97-99

⁹⁷ Oh, how I love your instructions! I think about them all day long. ⁹⁸ Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are my constant guide. ⁹⁹ Yes, I have more insight than my teachers, for I am always thinking of your laws.

What fills your mind during the day? What do you spend your day thinking about? Our thoughts mold our lives. Our thoughts produce actions. Our actions have consequences.

What would be the outcome of us filling our minds with the Word of God? What would be different in our lives if we spent more time meditating on the Word? Here are some things that would be much different:

1.      We would know the will of God.

2.      We would be strong in our faith.

3.      We would not fall for the same temptations.

4.      We would have a much more positive outlook.

5.      We would have different conversations.

6.      Our words would be different.

7.      Our activities would be different.

I love that the psalmist reminds us that when we fill our minds with the Word of God we are wiser than our enemies. The Holy Spirit will reveal things to us as we spend time thinking on the Word.

1.      He will show us things that the enemy does to trip us up.

2.      He will help us see things for what they really are so we don’t fall for the rock of offense.

3.      He will reveal the wiles of satan to us.

4.      We will notice snares on the path that have been laid to destroy us.

5.      We will be prepared in the Word so we will be able to say—“It is also written…”

I want to challenge each of the readers today to spend quality time thinking on the Word. Just rehearse it in your mind throughout the day. Work at memorizing portions of scripture. Let God’s Word be a centerpiece in your life so your insight will increase.

 

Pastor Richard Schlotter