Worldly vs ...

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March 29, 2013

"Worldly vs ..."

Scripture Reading:
1 John 2:15 (HCSB)   Do not love the world or anything in the world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

Devotional Reading:

Christians are easy prey to the temptations of our world today.  To look at some Christians, you would thing that their priorities are all wrong.  One of the greatest problems with the world today, is too many choices.  Our media (TV, Radio, Newspapers, Magazines) all glamorize lifestyles, and the message is;  go for all you can get.  What is not told is that likely you may achieve it, but you could be unhappy.  Unhappiness is a void created by our selfishness, and not putting God first in all things.  Some of the happiest people I know do not have a lot.  I also know a lot of Christians who have amply, and show gratitude and humbleness in their character.  Why is this?  It is because they recognize and give God the credit, and are good stewards of monies and possessions.  Foundationally, we own nothing in this world.  We are only the caretakers.  If we leave God out of the equation, our fortunes will easily slip away.  Take an inventory of how God has blessed you and your family, big or small.  Then as God would do, see how you can use and distribute blessings to others less fortunate.

Keep the Son in your eyes,
Pastor Ben J Lahay

Galatians 2:20

Comfort in Affliction

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March 28, 2013

"Comfort in Affliction"

Scripture Reading:
2 Corinthians 1:4 (HCSB)   He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God.

Devotional Reading:

We are all familiar with the cliche "when the going gets tough, the tough get going".  For many the phrase is incomplete.  It should continue, "the tough get going in the opposite direction".  So often we retreat from tough times and question the plan of God who would allow us to experience pain.  God is neither a wasteful Father nor a cruel one.  Suffering presents us with personal challenge:  we can either use our suffering as a bridge in building relationships with others, or we can view it as a wall that separates us from those around us.  The choice is ours.  The book of James tells us that suffering is actually productive.  It produces endurance by stretching our faith. You must remember that in the midst of your tribulation and discomfort, God is with you.  Maybe like Joseph, you are in a dark windowless place of suffering; a pit.  Perhaps like David you are traveling through the "valley of Baca".  The way is so deep and dark that it has you questioning the presence of God.  You do not have to consider the suffering itself joy...but joy will be the end of what God will do with it if you trust Him.

Keep the Son in your eyes,
Pastor Ben J Lahay

Galatians 2:20

solemn Assembly day #8

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March 27, 2013

"Solemn Assembly Day #8"

Scripture Reading:
Hebrews 8:10 (HCSB)   But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord:  I will put My laws into their minds and write them on their hearts.  I will be their God, and they will be My people.

Devotional Reading:

The writer of Hebrews explained that Jesus is the mediator of a new covenant between God and His people. This covenant agreement is based on a love relationship. As our Lord and King, God has given us His commands to obey so we can experience life abundantly.  But Jesus warned, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of My Father in heaven”. We enter a saving covenant relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ alone, not by works of our own. But our obedience to God’s will is one clear way we demonstrate that our love relationship with Him is genuine.  If you and your fellow church members have found that you have drifted away from your first love and from obedience to the Lord’s commands, God invites you to return to Him. Hear God’s invitation:  Let the wicked one abandon his way and the sinful one his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, so He may have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will freely forgive. -Isaiah 55:7

Return to Me ... and I will return to you, says the LORD of Hosts.  As I described in discussing consecration in day 2, Christ is seated on His throne with open hands waiting for the sacrifice of your life.  Pray about the life of love, obedience, and holiness you will bring to Christ. Return to Him with all your heart!

Keep the Son in your eyes,
Pastor Ben J Lahay

Galatians 2:20

Solemn Assembly Day #7

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March 26, 2013

"Solemn Assembly Day #7"

Scripture Reading:
John 17:23 (HCSB)   I am in them and You are in Me.  May they be made completely one, so the world may know You have sent Me and have loved them as You have loved Me.

Devotional Reading:

Our unity is the most convincing evidence  to the lost world that Jesus is the Savior sent from God. And our disunity is probably the greatest hindrance in leading others to faith in Christ.  If you have broken relationships with others, you must be reconciled. Consecrate yourself and reconcile your broken relationships.   On a separate sheet of paper, list the names of people with whom you have broken relationships. This would include those you have offended without seeking forgiveness and those who have offended you. Offenses can occur as a result of actions, words, or attitudes. Ask God to bring to mind all those you need to consider.  Your relationship with others has a direct correlation to your relationship with God. Jesus said:  If you are offering your gift on the altar, and there you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift.  Your offerings and even your worship are unacceptable to God if you have caused offenses and have not reconciled.   If you don’t receive a positive response, continue to pray for and seek reconciliation with the unforgiving person.

If you are the one who has been offended, Jesus has instructions for you also. He said, “Whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven will also forgive you  your wrongdoing”. Holding on to unforgiveness limits the way God will forgive you and hinders your prayers.  Even if the person doesn’t believe he is wrong, forgive. Jesus set the model for us on the cross when He prayed for those who were killing Him: “Father, forgive them".  In Mark 11:25 Jesus didn’t require you to go to the person to forgive. You can do that as you pray.

Keep the Son in your eyes,
Pastor Ben J Lahay

Galatians 2:20

Solemn Assembly #6

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March 25, 2013

"Solemn Assembly Day #6"

Scripture Reading:
1 Peter 1:15-16 (HCSB)   But as the One who called you  is holy, you also are to be holy in all your conduct; for it is written, Be holy, because I am holy.

Devotional Reading:

That’s what consecration is all about: becoming holy, clean, pure, and righteous like God. Paul said, “Those He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son”. God wants you to be holy as Christ is holy. Consecrate yourself by putting away everything that is unholy or even questionable.  Ask God’s Holy Spirit to convict you of any unholy or questionable activities or attitudes that need to change. If He reveals something, agree with Him about your sin and repent (quit doing it; change your ways).

Put away lust and impurities of the mind.

Put away all forms of sexual immorality.

Put away lying, filthy language, slander, or hurtful words.

Put away anger, rage, malice, prejudice, and racism.

Put away sinful attitudes and behaviors that are not like Christ.

Some of these sinful patterns may seem impossible to put away. But Jesus Christ won victory over sin by His death and resurrection. You can ask God to help you live in the reality of Romans 6, which teaches that we have died to sin. We have been set free from sin and the power of sin.   In Genesis 35 God invited Jacob to a time of worship. This would be a time of sacred assembly for Jacob’s family, so Jacob prepared them:  Jacob said to his family and all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods that are among you. Purify yourselves and change your clothes. We must get up and go to Bethel. I will build an altar there to the God who answered me in my day of distress. ...” If we are not very careful, we can be influenced by the standards of the people and culture around us just as Jacob’s family had been. We may tolerate or even embrace and endorse things that are impure, unholy, profane, unclean, or even wicked and evil. Over time our homes may be filled with such impurities. Take time to consecrate your home. 

Keep the Son in your eyes,
Pastor Ben J Lahay

Galatians 2:20

Solemn Assembly #2

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March 22, 2013

"Solemn Assembly Day #2"

Scripture Reading:
Romans 12:1 (HCSB) Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship.

Devotional Reading:

Have you experienced or observed a disaster or catastrophe that caused you to weep, mourn, wail, grieve, or despair—one so great that you will describe it to your children and grandchildren? Circle any you have experienced or observed up close or write another:

CRIME, DROUGHT, EARTHQUAKE, EPIDEMIC, FINANCIAL

COLLAPSE, FLOOD, HAILSTORM, HURRICANE, OIL SPILL,

PLAGUE, RIOTS, SHATTERED RELATIONSHIPS, TERRORIST

ATTACK, TORNADO, TSUNAMI, VOLCANO, WAR, WILDFIRE

Crises are appropriate times to gather with God’s people for sacred assemblies, just as they did in Joel’s day. But actually, God wants us to celebrate sacred assemblies in such a way that we never stray far away from Him. These assemblies can be times of renewal, worship, festival, and rejoicing. Any time we gather to meet with God is a sacred assembly. If we do the ongoing spiritual work required by the Lord, we will not need an emergency sacred assembly as the people did in Joel’s day.

God wanted the people to prepare themselves to meet with Him in Joel’s day, so He commanded, “Consecrate the assembly”. We see a similar command in Exodus 19 when God explained to Moses that He was coming down on Mount Sinai to give the Ten Commandments: “The LORD said to Moses, ‘Go to the people and consecrate them’”. Consecrating God’s people is an important action for a spiritual leader to undertake when preparing them to meet with God or to renew their covenant relationship with Him.

In both Joel and Exodus, the Hebrew word for consecrate means to make clean; to purify; to sanctify or to set apart from the common, profane, or unholy.

Keep the Son in your eyes,
Pastor Ben J Lahay

Galatians 2:20

Solemn Assembly Day #1

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March 21, 2013

"Solemn Assembly Day #1"

Scripture Reading:
Joel 1:1-3 (HCSB) Tell your children about it, and let your children tell their children, and their children the next generation.  What the devouring locust has left,
the swarming locust has eaten; what the swarming locust has left, the young locust has eaten; and what the young locust has left, the destroying locust has eaten.

Devotional Reading:

During the days of the prophet Joel,a great swarm of locusts brought devastation on the nation. This was a time to weep, mourn, wail, grieve,

and despair. Joel asked, “Has anything like this ever happened in your days or in the days of your ancestors?” (Joel 1:2, HCSB). This was such

a great catastrophe, future generations would talk about it with their children and grandchildren (see Joel1:3). This time of great national

disaster caused the prophet Joel to shout out.  Desperate times called for desperate measures. In their distress the people were ready to cry out to the Lord for help. The prophet knew a sacred assembly was the appropriate time and way to turn to the Lord.  Many sense our nation is at a desperate time that calls for desperate measures. How many disasters have we experienced lately that have been some of the worst in history—the kind we will describe to our children and grandchildren? At times like this, God’s call to us is “Return to Me.” On the occasion of one sacred assembly during King Solomon’s reign, God made the following promise.  If I close the sky so there is no rain, or if I command the grasshopper to consume the land, or if I send pestilence on My people, and My people who are called by My name humblethemselves, pray and seek My face, and turn from their evil ways, then I willhear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land (2 Chronicles 7:13-14,HCSB).

The healing of our land is waiting on the repentance of God’s people. So is the healing of our marriages,families, churches, and cities.

Sacred assemblies are appropriate times and ways for people, families, churches, cities, and nations to return to the Lord. Now is the right time

for us to declare a holy fast, sound the alarm, and call a sacred assembly. Now is the time for us to return to aright relationship with God.

Now is the time to renew our covenant commitments to Jesus Christ. We dare not rush into the presence of a holy God unprepared. God

commanded Joel to consecrate the people. 

Ask the Lord to help you prepare this week to enter His presence.

Keep the Son in your eyes,
Pastor Ben J Lahay

Galatians 2:20

How and When

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March 20, 2013

"How and When"

Scripture Reading:
Esther 4:14 (HCSB) ...Who knows, perhaps you have come to your royal position for such a time as this.

Devotional Reading:

Who truly knows the mind of the Lord God?  Paul says we can have a mind like Christ and that indeed having a mind like Christ should be our attitude, but who really knows?  I believe one of the most underrated verses of Scripture is found in the book of Esther.  She is struggling with going to the king, facing death or just letting her people die.  The above verse comes from Mordecai, "for a time such as this".  He says, "who knows"?  How are we to know how and when the Lord God will use us.  Seasons come and go, the weather changes, time changes and the Word of God tells us for every time there is a season..."There is an occasion for everything, and a time for every activity under heaven:".  Life regardless of our hurdles goes on.  Therefore, as life goes on, we have to go on.  There is no right nor wrong just obedience.  Our race is not won by the swiftest, but rather the one who can persevere.  The Lord does as He pleases.  His plan is simple, "to make you prosper".  For some that is not so simple because you get in His way.  You want to stay put, fight change, argue, blame but the word of the day is obedience.  When the Lord is moving, the choice is simple go along or get run over.  Mordecai nails it, "who knows"; but then adds for a time such as this.  We have had a season, but the season is over.  The Lord's direction is a new journey.  Look at the words from PCD song, "For a time such as this , we've been born, we've been blessed.  Long before time began we were in the father's plan.  By His blood, by His will, He would see the dream fulfilled.  Yesterday I wrote about "wet blankets" and the saddest thing about that attitude is you are never walking in the will of the Lord, but against it when your attitude is bitter.

Keep the Son in your eyes,
Pastor Ben J Lahay

Galatians 2:20

Wet Blankets

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March 19, 2013

"Wet Blankets"

Scripture Reading:
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (HCSB) Rejoice always!  Pray constantly.  Give thanks in everything, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Devotional Reading:

We've got too many "wet blanket" Christians who need to lighten up a bit.  Are there serious concerns in today's culture?  Of course there are, but we've gotta make sure we're dying on the right hills.  As we journey through life, there are up's and down's, but far to many Christians live their life as one big down swing.  They are not happy unless they are miserable and complaining.  Friends that is a gossip and the Bible speaks clearly about those individuals.  Do circumstances get the best of you? Of course, at times the circumstances of the world around us certainly get the best of us.  The question I have for you is, "Do you wallow in the despair and disappointment looking for fault or who to blame, or do you lean on the everlasting promises of a Holy God.  Paul tells us to rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances.  No matter how much our immediate circumstances may disappoint or cause hardship, we are able to rejoice. Our hope is not rooted in the things offered by this world but in the unfailing promises of our unchanging God. Hebrews says, "keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith...so that you won’t grow weary and lose heart."  We give thanks no matter what is going on around us. We are not surprised when the world lets us down – did you really think your current circumstances would make you truly happy?  Rejoice always, pray constantly, notice this is not a suggestion and the suggestion does not say complain or stir up strife.  The command is to give thanks in all everything, that includes things you do not like.  Stop trying to figure out why and spread malice, hate and strife rather give thanks and align yourself with the will of God!  When you are not in agreement with the will of God, then you are a wet blanket, extinguishing the flames and power of the Holy Spirit.

Keep the Son in your eyes,
Pastor Ben J Lahay

Galatians 2:20

Joy & Peace

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March 18, 2013

"Joy & Peace"

Scripture Reading:
Philippians 4:9 (HCSB) The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things; and the God of peace shall be with you.

Devotional Reading:

We are inclined to think "that works," for God is the price we pay to have God. The truth is, we are to strive to be Christ-like, and our works are the result of that relationship. This verse speaks of God being inside us as being the most important. The "things you have learned" was not for the purpose of knowledge but was conditioning us to receive God. We "receive" God by being open to Him.  All of these things, including what we have seen and heard, is the process of being more like Him. This is the formula for peace instead of the futility of searching for peace in an empty world. Being born again and having the Holy Spirit resident in our lives is the first step. The second step is to accept God's ways for our lives, learn from the Bible and surrender to God and the Holy Spirit.  Heavenly Father, I thank You for the joy and peace I receive when I am willing to put Your teaching into practice, and for the full assurance that You shall be with me. This I pray in the precious name of Jesus.....Amen

Keep the Son in your eyes,
Pastor Ben J Lahay

Galatians 2:20

Knowledge is Power

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March 15, 2013

"Knowledge is Power"

Scripture Reading:
John 15:15 (HCSB)  I do not call you slaves anymore, because a slave doesn’t know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have heard from My Father.

Devotional Reading:
Have you ever thought what it means when the Bible says, "For who has known the Lord’s mind, that he may instruct Him?  But we have the mind of Christ."  That friend is a staggering reality.  We have the ability to think God's thoughts after Him.  Not only can we see through the eyes of our Lord, but we can think as Jesus would think.  Paul called it having the same attitude in Philippians 2:5.  Since we have the mind of Christ, there is no longer any need to think the way we used to think.  We do not have to approach life with the same attitudes or short-coming as we did in our old self.  Can you imagine if we began to think as Christ; our world today would have men and women of the Word who are bold and true.  Those who will not compromise nor tolerate sin, but call it for what it is, "sin".  Even with the mind of Christ at our disposal, we are very imperfect creatures.  We lapse back into the old ways.  We allow the old kings of the past to influence our future.  We still walk daily in bondage to sin, rather than hold our head up high as a child of the Most High God.  There are some things we need to do which will encourage our walk in Christ:  meditate upon the word, seek to do God's will, resist the devil, learn to control our mental focus, look for God's purpose, stop struggling in the silence, but embrace the quiet, seek His strength in our weakness and lastly we need to pray, "More of Him and less of me."  This is the knowledge that conquers the world!

Keep the Son in your eyes,
Pastor Ben J Lahay

Galatians 2:20

Communicate from the Heart

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March 14, 2013

"Communicate from the Heart"

Scripture Reading:
Romans 8:27 (HCSB)  And He who searches the hearts knows the Spirit’s mind-set, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

Devotional Reading:
We are in the middle of a prayer iniative at our church.  As a matter of fact, I am gathering my notes for a new book, "Creating a  Bunker of Prayers".  So let me tell you something you need to know about prayer.  This knowledge will cancel out many of the prayers you offer to God every day.  Many prayers hit the ceiling because they are not from the heart.  The only prayers the Holy Spirit delivers to the Father are heart prayers, not word or ritual prayers.  I am not saying we have to have lofty complicated prayers, but if you are merely repeating words or mouthing a prayer there is no heart in that.  If there is nothing in the heart when you pray then the Holy Spirit has nothing to deliver for the Father searches the heart.  Do you realize that God will respond to a confused, inarticulate prayer when it is uttered from the heart?  Sometimes, are prayer life is nothing more than a word or two; "save me", words uttered by Peter in despair.  Not much of a prayer, but it moved the heart of the Lord to reach out and save Peter.

The application of prayer can also be applied to marriage.  Most spouses can tell when their mate is speaking from the heart or rather just mouthing the words.  So if you want to deepen your marriage, learn to speak or rather communicate from the heart.  Remember your love story is not written by screen writers or playwrights, your love story is written by the hand of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Friend in marriage as well as in prayer it is the heart that counts not the words.  Try a few words with your spouse and with the Lord tonight...I LOVE YOU.  See what a difference it makes when your heart speaks!  Selah...

Keep the Son in your eyes,
Pastor Ben J Lahay

Galatians 2:20