Pro 11:14 Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety. ESV

I don’t need to go to church, I don’t need to read the Bible, I don’t need anyone to help, I can do anything all by myself. Do you know anyone like that? Maybe to some degree you are like that…actually if we are honest with ourselves I think we can say that on some level we all are guilty of feeling this way. We have Jesus, and that is all we need. Get out of my way because here I come.

While it is true the with Christ in your life there is nothing that you need that He will not provide………but read that statement again, there is nothing that you need that He will not provide. One of the things that we overlook is the fact the Christ is constantly working in our lives. HE works out in the open where we can see, but He also works behind the curtain, where we have no idea what is...

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Isaiah 45:2 "I will go before you and level the exalted places, I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron,

The KJV reads “I will make the crooked places straight” to read this passages it is easy to see that the Lord is promising to make the high places reachable, the crooked places straight, break down barriers, and cut through excuses. Many people read this and think, “oh yeah, I am in!” I follow the Lord, and the Lord will make my life easy……..sorry to be the one to break it to those people, but that is not what was just promised in this passage. Another idea taken out of context is the idea that the Lord just promised me to take me where I want to go on this easy new road…….yeah…..here again….no so much!

There is no doubt that the Lord will make the way clear by leveling and straightening the road, but He did not promise that He was going to remove all of the obs...

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1Thessalonians 5: 16-1816Rejoice always,17pray without ceasing, 18give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Give thanks, and rejoice? Pray without ceasing? I know I can hear some of you now….really Brian? Do you know the year I have had? Do you know the struggles, the disappointments, the tragedy, and the fix I am in right now? You are saying that I should still give thanks? I should still rejoice? I am telling you unequivocally, yes give thanks. At the moment when you think you have nothing to give thanks, is the moment you should realize there is someone (most likely in the same town, if not neighborhood) who would love to trade places with you. In all things, at all times, give thanks and rejoice. Think of the years that Joseph spent in jail (for a crime he did not really commit no less), think of Noah and the doves that came back with nothing to...

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1Johnn 3:1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

We are all called children of God, we are assured of that throughout the Bible. Let us not confuse being children of God, with being perfect like the Son of God. AS we surface form the Christmas season, and embark on a new year, we should take time to really look at where we want to go this year. It is the time of the resolutions that will last all year…or maybe a month…or maybe a week…..or maybe they have already died. When we look at things we want to change about ourselves, and the world around us this year let us make it a point to resolve things that we see to be imperfections, not necessarily what the world tell us are imperfections. We would do well to remember this verse. We are children of God, and the world does not know us....

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Luke 2:10 -11 10And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

The gift, the miracle, the undeserved answer to our prayers. The Christmas season is here, and 5 days from now we will join in unison to give thanks for the gift of life that was given to us by God. I have to share with you…..it happened today…..it happens every year, and I never know when it will show up…….but this morning there it was. Today I find myself filled with the Christmas spirit. I feel the overwhelming undeniable feeling of joy, and the need to tell people in my life how thankful I am for God, For His Son, and for having them in my life. It is truly a season of JOY!

Each and every year I promise myself that I am going to hang on to this feeling. I am determined to be thi...

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Romans 8:32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

I know that we hear all of the time from our friends, our loved ones, our co-workers, “hey, I am here for you” . “whatever you need, just let me know” “whatever I have is yours”….however most of the time this old saying holds true. We will be friends through thick and thin……but when it gets thick….I am going to thin out! That is the way most of our relationships go. As a result we become jaded, we become untrusting, we start to think that the only person that is willing to give 100% for us….is us. It is no surprise that we take those feelings and throw them right on to the Lord.

The Lord will not help me, I am all alone, God does not care. All of these feelings have little to do with what the Lord is doing in our life, and a lot to do with the fact that this is the e...

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Romans 8:32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

I know that we hear all of the time from our friends, our loved ones, our co-workers, “hey, I am here for you” . “whatever you need, just let me know” “whatever I have is yours”….however most of the time this old saying holds true. We will be friends through thick and thin……but when it gets thick….I am going to thin out! That is the way most of our relationships go. As a result we become jaded, we become untrusting, we start to think that the only person that is willing to give 100% for us….is us. It is no surprise that we take those feelings and throw them right on to the Lord.

The Lord will not help me, I am all alone, God does not care. All of these feelings have little to do with what the Lord is doing in our life, and a lot to do with the fact that this is the e...

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John 15:7-8 7If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.

This is a tricky verse, that is why I included the verse after it for clarity. So often we read the first verse, and when I say read, I mean skim over. The problem with doing that is many people read this verse, and are left with a feeling of less than more. We tend to miss the first part (if you abide in me, and my words abide in you) and really hone in on the second (ask whatever you wish, and it will be done).

I bring this up because I believe this Christmas season there will be many disappointed “Christians” . When we take care of the first verse, the next verse takes care of itself. Am I not making sense? Let me point to it this way. Could you imagine Christ during prayer bargaining...

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Isaiah 48:10 Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction.

Times are tough, there is little doubt about that. People are hurting, and they are feeling alone. I hear, now more than ever, the one question that resonates. Why? Why me, why now, why does it have to be hard, why can’t it just come easy? When I hear that question, I often think of this verse. I talked to a fella that works with various metals, and I asked him just what it means to “purify” silver. He told me that if you purify it, you have taken all of the slag out. The junk, the stuff that is just filler, and fluff, but not silver. When you get all of that out, then you have purified the silver. I asked him just how he goes about doing that. He told me that you put the silver in a smelter, and crank up the heat, as the silver gets hotter, it pushes out the impurities, and they rise to the top. He then takes a tool and pulls the slag off the ...

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1 John 4:12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

Did you read the paper today? Maybe you listened to the radio on the way in, or you caught the news on the T.V. before you started your day. Pretty amazing stuff. We have people rallying against people who make too much money, we have people going to individuals houses, and calling them out. We have Politicians picking the personal life of their opponents apart, trying everything, and every angle to tear down the person. It is a pretty amazing sight. I am sure with a little thought you can come up with countless other instances in the news….maybe in your own life, where you see one person attacking another. What does any of that have to do with this scripture? Well first many of these people will be found in a Church this Sunday, and second I have yet to see an act of love generated from any of the actions listed above.