Job 26:7, 14. He stretches out the north over empty space, and hangs the earth on nothing. His mig
In his third reply to his friend Bildad, the New American Standard Study Bible commentary informs us that Job offers a remarkable description of what we now know to be a scientifically accurate description of the earth! And on top of that, the mighty thunder of the Almighty, who can understand, indeed!
As I write these words, I am looking out at the bird feeder in my back yard, and I am marveling at all these things! From the little bird as he perches to eat, the earth upon which I live as it hangs in space, and the mighty thunder of which I personally heard last night! What a God I serve!
Oh the marvelous intricacies from the smallest of creatures to the most magnificent displays of His power and His glory. This God, the one true God, if fully capable of taking care of my family and me.
And you! Praise His Name! Enjoy His majesty!
Pastor Louie
Unable to Repay?
Luke 7:41-42 A certain money lender had two debtors: one owed five hundred denarii, and the other f
Jesus asked this question of Simon the Pharisee. Simon had invited Jesus to his home to share a meal with him and his other guests. During the meal, a lady from the city the Bible identifies as a sinner, entered in, and to the dismay of Simon and his guests, began to wet Jesus’ feet with her tears and wipe them with her hair. She also kept kissing his feet as she anointed them with a sweet fragrant perfume she poured over them from an alabaster vial in her possession.
By the Eastern custom of hospitality, Simon would have normally given Jesus the kiss of peace, poured water over his dusty feet, and bestowed a drop of perfume on his head or burned a pinch of incense upon his arrival, but he did not do any of these things.
Where do you find yourself in this event? Read the entire story in Luke 7:36-50 noting in particular verse 47. Jesus went on to ask Simon which of the two debtors will love his lender more? Simon answered, I suppose the one whom he forgave more, and Jesus said he had answered correctly.
Often we spend our days seeking to repay God by good works rather than accepting His unconditional love, His grace freely offered through the work of His Son, who paid our sin debt in full upon the Cross. For she loved much!
Pastor Louie
The Key to the Kingdom
Enter by the narrow gate, for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and
Harry Houdini the most famous magician of all time, is not so much remembered for performing magic tricks on stage as he is for escaping from locked handcuffs, prison cells, and trunks submerged underwater. The fact is, Houdini was a master of locks and keys which enabled him to pass from captivity to freedom. He was known as The Great Liberator during the early Twentieth Century, at a time when immigrants were coming to America seeking their freedom.
Jesus said the majority of people will choose deception over truth! They will choose to take to broad road which leads to destruction and they will choose the way of the world over the way of God and therefore, will one day find themselves eternally lost. However, Jesus proclaims that those who enter by the narrow gate, through His death on the cross via His blood, possess the key Christ holds that opens the door to eternal life. Jesus said, in John 14:6, I am the way, and the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father but through me. And Paul reminds the Colossian Christians that Jesus has delivered them from the domain of darkness, and transferred them to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom they have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Have you entered by the narrow gate? Do you know someone currently walking the broad road to destruction? Offer them the key!
Pastor Louie
An Old Country Well
Genesis 26:25 So he (Isaac) built an altar there, and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched
I loved my grandmother Iris! She was my maternal grandmother, and I could not wait to go to her house in the country for a visit when I was a little kid. Her back yard was filled with adventure and mystery. Especially the old well. I loved to slide the old metal lid over to one side and yell down the hole, and then draw up some of that good old cold well water to drink, especially on a hot summer day in Alabama!
In our passage for today, Abraham’s son Isaac and his family are living near the southern coast of the Mediterranean in the land of Abimelech, King of the Philistines. Isaac has become wealthy and Abimelech’s servants have grown jealous of this foreigner living in their land so they proceeded to fill up wells that had been dug by his father, 97 years earlier. And at a place named Beersheba, we read of Isaac digging a brand new well.
Sometimes God calls us to dig a new well even in the midst of an old problem. A new attitude, a new relationship. How can we do that? Note today’s Scripture. Build, call, pitch, and dig. Think of taking your problem to God in His Word. Build an altar (worship Him). Call on Him in prayer and claim promises in God’s Word that address your problem. Pitch your tent like Isaac did (abide in the Lord’s presence). And, dig (take action, keep drawing fresh water every day from the Bible)!
May Living Waters Overflow!
Pastor Louie
The Stairway to Heaven
Genesis 28:12 And he had a dream, and behold, a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to
Jacob was on his way from Beersheba to Haran when God caused him to stop off at Bethel. There, the Bible says he had a dream in which he envisioned a ladder (more like a stairway), extending from earth to heaven with the Lord seen standing above it (verse 13).
In speaking to one of his disciples named Nathanael in the New Testament, Jesus made a direct reference to Jacob’s ladder when he said, Truly, truly, I say to you, you shall see the heavens opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man (John 1:51). The Son of Man links Jesus to his earthly mission which was to go to a cross to die for our sin disease which has separated us from God. Then the Bible says Jesus was buried, but rose on the third day, and then after appearing for forty days to over 500 witnesses, he ascended into heaven and one day he will come back for his bride, the church!
Oh to think of the fulfillment of the covenant promise of Jacob’s Ladder in the presence of Jesus Christ. Do you know him as your Lord and Savior? When you put your trust in him, the Bible says your connection to the cross on earth reaches eternally into the heavens! (See John 10:7-11 and John 14:6)!
The hymn writer says we are climbing Jacob’s Ladder, as soldiers of the cross!
Pastor Louie