" WHERE'S YOUR FAITH ? "

It's wonderful for me to share with you each week. This week once again I have been lead to the subject of " Faith." Now our faith shouldn't be based on personal comfort. Many people think that believing in God protects them from trouble, so when calamity comes, they question God's goodness and justice. But the message of Job is that you should not give up on God because he allows you to have bad experiences. Faith in God does not guarantee personal prosperity and lack of faith does not guarantee troubles in this life. If this were so, people would believe in God simply to get rich. Now our God is certainly capable of rescuing us from suffering to come for reasons we cannot understand. It is satan's strategy to get us to doubt God at exactly this moment. Here Job shows a perspective broader than seeking his own personal comfort. If we always know why we were suffering, our faith would have no room to grow. Have you ever felt that God abandoned you? Do you ever feel stagnant in your faith, as though you are just going through the motions? Now another question: has sin ever driven a wedge between you and God, making him distant. David felt this way he had sinned with Bathsheba and had just been confronted by Nathan the Prophet. In his prayer he cried, " RESTORE TO ME THE JOY OF YOUR SALVATION." God wants us to be close to him and to experience his full and complete life. But sin that remains unconfessed makes such intimacy impossible. Confess your sin to God. You may still have to face some earthly consequences, as David did, but God will give back the joy of your relationship with him. LAST POINT: Our faith affects others, do you remember reading the accounting of when Jesus healed the paralytic man? Please read (Luke 5:18-20) now consider this it wasn't the paralytics faith but his friends. jesus responded to their faith and healed the man. For better or worse, our Faith affects others. We cannot make another person a Christian, but we can do much through our words, actions, and love to give him or her a chance to respond. Look for opportunities to bring your friends to the Living Christ. Until Next Time... Jim,

" RELATIONSHIP(S) "

" Relationship " is defined as the State of being related; Kinship. It is vital that we have A right relationship with God, and in turn we will have a right one with others. The Word Of God says " So Circumcise Your Heart." Now God required all male Israelites to be circumcised, but he wanted them to go beyond performing the surgery to understanding its meaning. They needed to submit to God inside, in their hearts, as well as outside, in their bodies. Then they could begin to imitate God's Love and Justice in their relationships with others. Now, if our hearts are right with God, then our relationships with other people can be made right too. When your heart has been cleansed and you have been reconciled to God, you will begin to see a difference in the way you treat others. Here's another issue Divorce, and the breaking a vow made in marriage. Now for some clarification, divorce is as hurtful and destructive today as in Jesus' day. God intends marriage to be a lifetime commitment (Genesis 2:24). Now Jesus said that divorce is not permissible except for unfaithfulness. This does not mean that divorce should automatically occur when a spouse commits adultery. The word translated " Unchastity " implies a sexually immoral life-style, not a confessed and repented act of adultery. Those who discover that their partner has been unfaithful should first make every effort to Forgive, Reconcile, and Restore their Relationship. We are always to look for reasons to restore the marriage relationship rather than excuses to leave it. LAST POINT: Relationships are built through complimenting others. People cannot know you appreciate them if you do not tell them they are important to you. Complimenting those who deserve it builds lasting relationships and helps people know they are valued. Now, think about those who have helped you this month. What can you do to let them know how much you need and appreciate them? Until Next Time... Jim,

" WE ALL MAKE CHOICES MULTIPLE TIMES A DAY "

Why do you think God gives us freedom to choose? Why would God place a tree in the garden and then forbid Adam to eat from it? God wanted Adam and us to obey, but God gave Adam and us a chance in other words the freedom to choose. Without choice, Adam would have been like a prisoner, and his obedience would have been hollow. Now I'm of the mind that the two trees provided an exercise in choice, with rewards for choosing to obey and sad consequences for choosing to disobey. When you are faced with the choice, always choose to obey God. Unbelief and its Consequences are seen very clearly in the Word Of God. Now we all have misbehaved at one time or another. Listen to this, the people of God referred to some who chose to reject God, and God allowed them to do it. God does not usually stop us from making choices that are against his Will. He allows us to declare our supposed independence from him, even though he knows that in time we will become slaves to our own rebellious choices - we will lose our freedom not to sin. Does life without God look like freedom to you? Look more closely. There is no worse slavery than slavery to sin. Disobedience a foolish choice, now to me it is amazing that God set before the Israelites a choice between blessings and curses. It is even more amazing that most of them, through their disobedience, chose the curses. We have the same fundamental choice today. We can live for ourselves or live in service to God. To choose our own way is to travel on a dead-end road, but to choose God's way is to receive Eternal Life (John 5:24). Last Point: Okay we are aware that God gave Adam responsibility for the garden and told him not to eat from the tree of Knowledge of Good And Evil rather than physically preventing him from eating, God gave Adam a Choice, and thus the possibility of choosing wrongly. God still gives us Choices, and we, too, often Choose wrongly. These wrong Choices may cause us pain, but they can help us learn and grow and make better Choices in the future. Living with the consequences of our Choices teaches us to think and Choose more carefully. Until Next Time... Jim,

" BEING INTENTIONAL ABOUT YOUR MARRIAGE "

This week we will be looking at " Marriage " once again. Prayerfully we will learn something new this time around. I believe that we must get married for the right reasons. I'm also of the mind that most folks don't truly know the person that they are about to say " I Do " Too. Now don't assume you married the Wrong Person. It's sad to say but I have heard folks say this very same thing in the past. Please put on/in any listening apparatus that you may need to truly hear. People should be Christians where they are. You can do God's work and demonstrate your faith anywhere. Now if you become a Christian after Marriage, and your spouse is not a believer, remember that you don't have to be married to a Christian to live for Christ. Don't assume that you are in the wrong place, or stuck with the wrong person. You may be just where God wants you. 1 Corinthians 7:20 says: " EACH MAN MUST REMAIN IN THAT CONDITION IN WHICH HE WAS CALLED." Often we are so concerned about what we could be doing for God somewhere else that we miss great opportunities right where we are. Paul says that when someone becomes a Christian, he or she should usually continue with the work he or she has previously been doing-provided it isn't immoral or unethical. Every job can become christian work when you realize that the purpose of your life is to Honor,Serve, and Speak out for Christ. Because God has placed you where you are, look carefully for opportunities to serve him there. Now let's turn the page, Sexual Temptations are difficult to withstand because they appeal to the normal and natural desires that God has given us. Marriage provides God's way to satisy these natural sexual desires and to strengthen the partners against temptation. Married couples have the responsibility to care for each other; therefore, husbands and wives should not withhold themselves sexually from one another but should fulfill each other's needs and desires. Until next Time... Jim,