Welcome To The Christian Journeyman!

Welcome To The Christian Journeyman!
A CHRISTIAN TEACHING AND RESOURCE MINISTRY!

Friday, July 29, 2016

How To Really Make America Great Again

"Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!" (Psalm 33:12) 

I want to take the message of a slogan from from one of the presidential nominees, and ask this question: "How can we really make America great again?"

We find the answer to this question in our text. If a nation placed God as Lord, they would be greatly blessed. But were not doing that are we? I didn't hear God's name mentioned during either one of the national conventions. They talked about how they are going to fix things. They talked about how they must fix things together. But there was no mention on where God fits into all of this.

We are to be one nation under God, but do we know who God is, and what He can do for our nation? Why don't we realize that in submitting to the authority, and care of God, we are doing the greatest thing for our nation. God wants to bless us, but He won't until we obey His will for our lives.
We will not fix the issues we face, until we take care of the main issue, and that is: renewing a solid relationship with God.

It's time we live up to our position as a people of God. We are a people chosen as His heritage. It's time not only to mention it, but it's time to act on it GP

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Thursday, July 28, 2016

Oh How He Loves You And Me

 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16) "But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." 
(Romans 5:8)

 Not being loved as a child, and having people treat you wrongly as an adult, can cause one to feel very unloved by God. It causes one to ask the question: "If people haven't loved me, why in the world would God love me? Or to turn it around' "God must not love me, because if He did, He would have placed people in my life, who would have loved me, and cared about me?

It is hard to understand why some people have been treated so badly by parents, and family members, and people who are apart of their inner circle, and others have had good solid relationships.

But in spite of this unfairness, we can come to understand, and experience the deep love of God. In our submitting to Him in faith (for salvation & daily help) and in our fellowship with Him daily, we can experience the wonderful loving presence of God in our lives.

We should never forget that this awesome God, who gave His Son to die for our sins, wants to dwell with us, every moment of our lives. He wants us to know, without a doubt that He deeply and sincerely loves you and me. GP

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Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Seeing The Change

"I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea which were in Christ; but only, they kept hearing, “He who once persecuted us is now preaching the faith which he once tried to destroy.” And they were glorifying God because of me." (Galatians 1:22-24) 

I like what Warren Wiersbe said about the Apostle Paul, in his devotional commentary entitled: "With The Word" - "To Paul the gospel was much more than a message he preached; it was a miracle he had experienced." (Galatians 1:1-5) pp.766 

It is important that we stand up for the truth of the Word of God.
It is important that when opportunities come, we are to give a testimony of our faith and commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ. But the one thing that really catches the eyes of unbelievers, is the witness of a changed life.
People need to see evidence of the work of our Lord, making changes that are needed to glorify Him, and of course to benefit us in our lives.

To have people ask the question: "What happen to them, they are not the same people they were?" They used to talk the way of the world, live the way of the world, but now they are different. They are living a Christian lifestyle, and they have such peace and joy in their hearts, even when they are going through rough times.

People need to see the change the Lord can make. And if we are totally committed to the Lord, and His work in our lives, change will be an evident reality. But the question is, will we let Him? GP 

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No attribution required - www.pixabay.com

Tuesday, July 26, 2016

The Seriousness Of Selfishness

"Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others." (Philippians 2:4) 

An anthropologist was winding up several months of research in a small village, the story is told. While waiting for a ride to the airport for his return flight home, he decided to pass the time by making up a game for some children. His idea was to create a race for a basket of fruit and candy that he placed near a tree. But when he gave the signal to run, no one made a dash for the finish line. Instead the children joined hands and ran together to the tree. When asked why they chose to run as a group rather than each racing for the prize, a little girl spoke up and said: “How could one of us be happy when all of the others are sad?” Because these children cared about each other, they wanted all to share the basket of fruit and candy." (Our Daily Bread 7/29/2016) 

As Christians, why is it that we fail to ask ourselves "what would Jesus do?, 
in regard to our relationship with others. The answer is that Jesus always thought of the needs of others, over Himself. He defiantly showed this in His ministry, and extremely in His death on the cross.

How can we be a help to others? How can we make a difference for others? These are the questions we should always ask, if we are to fulfill the law of Christ, in our lives. (John 13:34) GP

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Monday, July 25, 2016

A Refreshing Experience

"Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago." (Acts 3:19-21) 

Yesterday we had a break from the heat. The cool air was a welcoming gift. And now we look forward to cooler temperatures, that will be very encouraging.

It is a thrill at first to be involved in sinful activity. But it isn't long and the burden of sin, becomes a miserable experience, like the extreme heat.
The guilt of knowing that you participated in activities that were displeasing to the Lord, become overwhelming.

Yes, the Holy Spirit works to bring about a conviction of sin. He knows how to show us the error of our ways, and to cause us to feel bad about our sinful experiences. The way to find peace, and times of refreshing, is to repent of our sins, and submit to Jesus, who was sent to be our Savior.

He is in heaven now, but one day He is returning to restore all things, the prophets spoke about. But in the meantime, we have opportunity to receive the forgiveness of our sins, and the refreshment of our fellowship with the Lord. There is no better experience than to fellowship with the Lord, and to feel His loving, comforting presence, all around us. If it is a refreshing experience we need, there is no better person to provide it, than the Lord Jesus Christ! Why not give Him a try today! GP

 Photo - Christian_Birholz/36 images - CCO Public Domain - Free fro commercial use - No attribution required - www.pixabay.com

Thursday, July 21, 2016

Trusting In The SON

"The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises." (Ecclesiastes 1:5) 

Today the heat index is going to get to 115 degrees. It is going to be a very hot and humid day. When I go for a walk every morning, I am greeted by this faithful star, that God has set in position to support life on our planet. Even though the exact time of it's rising and setting is not the same everyday, it always shows up, to provide the light and heat we need, for our day to day survival.

How faithful is the sun. What would we do without it? That same question should be asked concerning Jesus Christ who is the "SON" of God, our Savior and Shepherd. He is faithful in His work to bring to us the blessings of God.
He is faithful to provide all that we need for this life, and life eternal.

The greatest blessing of all, is our gift of eternal life, that comes when we enter a relationship with Him. When we give our heart and life to the Savior, we are secure in His hands for eternity. Isn't that what we want? Shouldn't that be what everyone should want? Why is it that they don't?
Many today, do not even believe that this hope exists. They don't believe that Jesus has the key to heaven.

Solomon writes about the faithfulness of the sun, and we trust that every morning, we will see it in its position, to support life here on planet earth.
Why can't we have the same faith, in trusting the Son Of God to provide all that we need for our spiritual, as well as our physical well being, today, and forever? GP

 Archbob/319 Images - CCO Public Domain - Free for commercial use- No attribution required - www.pixabay.com

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

A Broken Fellowship

"And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works." (Hebrews 10:24) 

When we were serving the Christian Church in Cummings, Kansas, I remember watching a video of the demolition of the Atchison Hospital. When the detonation went off, I saw that huge building fall in pieces to the ground. The demolition took probably two weeks to complete. They built a new hospital just outside of Atchison, It took quite a few months to complete.

The point I want to make is: When it comes to our fellowship with the church, it doesn't take long to tear it down, and to have it broken. It takes a long time to heal and to restore a broken fellowship.

The Hebrew writer encourages us to do two things that will not only repair a broken fellowship, but will keep it maintained in the presence of the Lord.
First he writes that we are to "stir up love." How are we to do that? The key word in this instruction is "consider." We are to consider others, instead of just considering our thoughts, attitudes, and actions. We are to "stir up" or strongly encourage each other, to love one another unconditionally.

And then secondly, the Hebrew writer tell us to "stir up" "good works."
These are acts of ministry to one another. How can we minister to one another, instead of just being involved with only our selfish concerns?

A broken fellowship can be mended, in time. But only if we apply the love of our Savior, to the hurts, and the discouragement, that comes when we allow the enemy to break our fellowship. GP

 Photo - WenPhotos/94 Images - CCO Public Domain - Free for commercial use - No attribution required. www.pixabay.com

Friday, July 8, 2016

A Promise For Peace

"Violence shall no more be heard in your land, devastation or destruction within your borders; you shall call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise." (Isaiah 60:18) 

Our prayers go out to the families of the policemen who lost their lives in this senseless shooting in Dallas last night. (7/7/2016)

I am not going to spend time talking about the police shootings in other parts of the country, but I do want to address the problem of violence in our land.

The verse of our text is taken from a passage of Scripture that prophesies of a future time when God will set up a kingdom on earth, and it's capital will be Jerusalem. Because of the captivities the nation of Israel went through, there would be much despair. But the people are told in Isaiah 60:4 to "Lift up their eyes, and look around them." and see that the former things, such as violence in the land will be gone." (v.18)

This should be our prayer, and our priority pursuit, that we strive to treat one another with love and respect. Why are we treating one another with such anger, and violence? Is this the will of God for us in this nation? If we truly submit our lives to the Word and Will of God, this violence, and senseless loss of life, will not dominate our society.

It is a choice we must make, and one that we must determine to keep with all of our hearts! GP

 Photo - Merkure/10 Images - CCO Public Domain - Free for commercial use - No attribution required - www.pixabay.com

Thursday, July 7, 2016

The Things We Should Really Want

"As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life." (1 Timothy 6:17-19) 

Is it our goal to be rich? To have a great amount of material goods, and success? I believe that many people have that goal. And do we feel like failures if we don't accomplish this pursuit?

It seems that the Apostle Paul, in his words to Timothy, addresses the attitudes that rich people develop, when they reach this goal.
They become haughty (high minded) and they depend on their wealth for everything.

But riches are uncertain. What you have today, could be gone tomorrow, if life takes a turn for the worse.

It is better to enjoy what God provides for us. What He provides for us today, and in the future, cannot compare to what the world offers. It is truly, as Paul tells Timothy, "a good foundation for the future." And when we wrap ourselves in the riches of God, those spiritual blessings will help us to "take hold of that which is truly life."  GP

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Wednesday, July 6, 2016

What Divides A Family?

"Then He said: "A certain man had two sons, and the younger of them said to his father, "father give me the portion of goods that falls to me" So he divided to them his livelihood" (Luke 15:11-12)

There are many things that can divide a family; but one of the main divisive and destructive attitudes is that of selfishness.

The youngest son in the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15) had one thing on his mind, and that was how he might take care of number one--himself.
I know I may be reading between the lines, but I don't think I am too off course, to the lesson that Jesus was trying to get across.

This young selfish boy, didn't think about how, this taking of his inheritance, and leaving the family, would affect his father. Jesus doesn't mention a mother, but if there was a mother, she would have been devastated as well. He didn't think about his older brother, who was left to take care of his brother's part of the work load. No he only thought of himself.

The thing that we forget in a family, and that includes the church, (because the church is a family) is that everyone is important, and you have to take into consideration how your thoughts and actions will affect the lives of your loved ones.

It's not just about us, and we don't have to get our own way all the time.
If there are problems, we can work them out, so that the family as a whole will be the beneficiary of our efforts, not just us.

The Apostle Paul encourages us to "Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others." (Philippians 2:4) 
Our families will be blessed, when we do just that! GP

 Photo ID 42495337 © Leerodney Avison | Dreamstime.com

Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Our Place & Purpose

"...from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.." 
(Ephesians 4:16) 


Do you know what your place and purpose is in the church?

The Apostle Paul in our text, instructs us concerning our place and purpose in the church, by using the illustration of the human body. We are like bones and muscles that have different functions but are fitted together to help the body to function, and to be productive. All of us as Christians are to find our place in the church, and function to help the church to fulfill the purpose God has
for it.

One of the purposes, that members of the body of Christ forget at times, is that the body of Christ is to be built up in love. We are quite quick to point out the deficiencies, and inadequacies of others, instead of looking at what we ourselves ought to be working on, and doing.

If there is one thing that our enemy Satan is hoping will happen is; that we spread negativity, and severe criticism, instead of loving encouragement.
He loves it when we turn on ourselves, instead of on him. So it is important that we are patience with one another.

Even though, there are those who are used by the enemy to accomplish his negative schemes. "Speaking the truth in love" (v.15) will help remind us all,
of how we are to treat one another, and how we are to unify, to accomplish God's purpose for His church! GP

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