"No Other" 

Isaiah 45:22 "Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the Earth, for I am God, and there is no other."

Let me reflect phrase by phrase....

"Turn to Me"... We tend not to, even though we always should sooner and far more often.

"and be saved"... We should never forget the process of salvation... I was saved, I am being saved and I will be saved. I am a finished work in process and progress.

"all the ends of the earth" .... everybody, everywhere, for all time. No hiding from this truth.

"for I am God" ... He is that He is and all that He says that He is, and that is the end of that.

"and there is no other." .... period, exclamation point. One God, no others. HE is the only God who exists." 

Hope this little Bible verse analysis process encourages you to try it sometime. Phrase by phrase. Personal reflection.

In Him,
Pastor Fred 

 "Grumbling About Sinners" 

Luke 19:7 "When they saw it, they all began to grumble, saying, 'He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.'"

I think we all have certain types of sinners who especially cause us to grumble. Your least favorite sinner may not be mine. This passage in Luke is about Zaccheus. He was a tax collector. Not exactly a popular profession. On top of that, he was a rich tax collector. Uh oh, strike two. Plus, the Bible says he was small in stature. When you have two strikes, people often start looking for strike three. Anything will do.

We live in a culture that loves to pile on. But Jesus loved Zaccheus. Had lunch with Him. Shared salvation with him, changed his life. Zaccheus was transformed. Maybe it is easier to change a short, selfish tax collector than to change a short-sighted, self-righteous, judgemental grumbler. Lord, change our hearts today about who we categorize, minimize and want to chastise. Help us realize that everybody needs Jesus more than they need to hear us grumble about our opinions about sinners. After all, this grumbling process should probably start and end in a mirror.

Lord, may we be merciful with ourselves too.
Pastor Fred

"Steadfast Love" By: Jacqueline J. Overpeck

Lamentations 3:22-23*, NIV Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

When was the last time you thought about the Old Testament prophet, Jeremiah? He’s the one who cried out that God’s mercy is new every morning even as destruction surrounded him.

The name Jeremiah is from Hebrew origin. It means “the Lord exalts.” Jeremiah is the author of the book of Lamentations. To lament is to express sadness with weeping. It is to mourn. The opposite is to celebrate---yet that’s precisely what Jeremiah does!

In the middle of his sorrow, He finds hope and comfort in his God. Jeremiah said, “Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him" (Lamentations 3:22-23*, NIV).

Babylon had plundered Jerusalem. Yet even as smoke was still rising from the ashes, Jeremiah understood these tremendous keys:

1. God’s compassion never fails.
2. His mercy is new every morning.
3. Great is God’s faithfulness.

How could anyone cry out, “Great is your faithfulness!” in the middle of loss? The answer is that Jeremiah knew God could turn tragedy into triumph. He had a revelation of God’s steadfast love. A love that is resolute despite surrounding circumstances.

Have a Blessed Day Grace Harbor Church Family,

Made In His Image  David L. Cunningham <><

"Seek Him"

Proverbs 9:35 "For he who finds Me finds life and finds favor from the Lord."

I think all of us want favor from the Lord. We want to be blessed. When we seek the Lord, we not only find life, we find His favor. The initiation point of a deepening relationship with Him requires us to seek Him. Matthew 6:33 says, "Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." Seek and you will find. Seek Him and you will find that His favor will follow. The life "in Him" is so favorable. It is real life. Life that satisfies and fulfills. Life with meaning and purpose. When we seek Him, we will desire His kingdom and His righteousness. When that happens, His blessing and favor will be easier to see. What are we waiting for? Earnestly seek Him. When you do, life is so much fuller and favorable.

Living for Him,
Pastor Fred 

"I Believe In Free Will"

Exodus 3:8 "If they will not believe you or heed the witness of the first sign, they may believe the witness of the last sign."

No doubt in my mind that humans have free will. I think I may have just proved it again with that simple statement. I can choose whether to doubt or not. The two signs of Moses were the stick turning into a snake and then turning back into a stick again, and his hand turning leprous and being restored again. Pretty miraculous. But in this verse are two phrases that substantiate the concept of free will. If they "will not believe you" infers they can choose not to believe. Later in the verse, they "may believe" certainly indicates they can still choose not to believe. People must choose to believe or reject God. Even with miracles. Our free will is strong. We must freely choose to surrender our wills to God. Or not. We have free will. We are free to choose. Choose today. I choose to surrender to God. I do believe both signs.

In His Word,
Pastor Fred

"The Road to Perfect and Complete" by Bayless Conley

I want us to focus our attention today on James 1:2-4, My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. What I want to look at today is how God seeks to bring us to maturity by building patience into our lives.  If there is one thing I have learned in my Christian walk, it is that God is not in as much of a hurry as I am! Now, what is patience? Patience is the long-lasting quality of your faith. If you let go of your patience, your faith falls to the floor. The end result God is looking for is that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. The word perfect here means mature. God is developing maturity in us by working on our patience. I have a dear friend who has a great church. They endeavored to build another building on their property and it ended up being a major undertaking. In fact, it turned out to be the most difficult thing he had ever done. I mean, it took a strip out of his hide. Eventually it got built, but you know what my friend says about it? He says, “You see that building?  I didn’t build that building. It built me.” Going through those trials, facing those difficulties, having his faith tested, having to trust God when it seemed like there was a lack of finances, having to hold onto God’s Word when he was a laughing stock with some people, all of that built character in him as he stood the test. I have a question for you: Has anything been building you lately? If so, rejoice, because God is working maturity in you!

"How to Treat Others"  

Luke 6:31 "Treat others the same way you want them to treat you."

I do not need to say much to convict all of us that we ought to read, study and know His Word better. Our Bibles can get pretty dusty pretty fast. Not only should you know where your Bible is, you should know what you read recently, such as in today or yesterday, not last week. There is a lot of misquoting of the Bible, probably spread around by ignorance or misquoted from misquotes or misapplied even unwittingly.

This verse is referred to as the golden rule. Although the words "golden rule" are not in the Bible, these words are. But if you say "Treat others like they treat you", that is different. Not in the Bible. Worst misquote is to say "Mistreat others before they mistreat you." Also, this verse has nothing to do with trick or treat.

So read the Bible. Learn what is in there and not. Check out "cleanliness is next to godliness". Some stuff we quote is close. But close is not accurate or necessarily true. Be careful not to quote the Bible to impress. After all "Treat others the same way you want them to treat you", are the words of Jesus. The Bible is not a club. It is a sword, but not for attacking each other. Just some food for thought. Please don't choke on it or spit it out. Chew it a little. Swallow it if you should.

In His Word,
Pastor Fred