What is more important, what we give or how we give?

There are several passages in scripture that answer that question.  The passage that I'd like to focus on today is from Acts.

Acts 5:1-10(NKJV)
1But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession. 
2And he kept back part of the proceeds, his wife also being aware of it, and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles’ feet. 
3But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself? 
4While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.”
5Then Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and breathed his last. So great fear came upon all those who heard these things. 
6And the young men arose and wrapped him up, carried him out, and buried him.
7Now it was about three hours later when his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 
8And Peter answered her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much?” She said, “Yes, for so much.”
9Then Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” 
10Then immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. And the young men came in and found her dead, and carrying her out, buried her by her husband. 

God only requires one thing from us to be saved.  That we believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that He died for our sins, and that God raised Him up.  That's it.  Now is it a good idea to tithe?  I think it is.  Is it a good thing to give over and above your tithe?  Absolutely.

If God let's you know through the Holy Spirit that He needs something of yours, give it to Him cheerfully, or don't give it at all.  But what ever you do, don't try to lie to God and convince Him that you don't have what He is asking for.  He knows you do and He wouldn't ask you for it unless it was necessary.

As Peter says "4While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.”

So the next time you feel God telling you that He needs something from you, give it to Him with joy or don't.  But if you don't, then at least be honest with yourself and God and admit that you have it, you're just not willing to give it up to God.  But don't try to pull the wool over His eyes.  From what I read above, He doesn’t much care for that!

Do Miracles Still Happen?

One of the things that distinguished Jesus' ministry was miracles.  From turning the water into wine to raising people from the dead, Jesus performed miracles.  So one question I often hear is "Can we still expect miracles today?

Well the first thing I would suggest in answering that question is to look back in your own life.  Can you see any miracles that God worked there?  The way He wove seemingly disconnected pieces together to form the fabric of your life?  That little coincidence where you happened to meet this person who introduced you to that person that lead to something cool happening in your life.

Or how about that seemingly coincidental thing that happened that kept you fro doing something that as you look back now you realize would have been a mistake? 

I don't know about you but I don't believe in coincidences.  I believe that all of those things are simply little miracles that God chose to perform  anonymously. 

But what does scripture say?

Acts 3:4-10(NKJV)

4And fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, “Look at us.” 

5So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. 

6Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” 

7And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. 

8So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them—walking, leaping, and praising God. 

9And all the people saw him walking and praising God. 

10Then they knew that it was he who sat begging alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

Here we have the first miracle performed by one of the apostles after Christ had ascended into heaven.  So based on that, plus the fact that I have witnessed miracles in my own life would lead me to believe the answer to that question is a resounding yes.  

Now take a look at this.

Acts 3:12-16(NKJV)

12So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people: “Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? 

13The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go. 

14But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 

15and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses. 

16And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.

"Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this?  Not only do they still happen but based on what Peter says here I think we can infer that we should EXPECT them to happen!  We shouldn't 't be surprised at all.   When we have faith in Jesus and call on His name, we can expect miracles to happen in our lives.  Why?  Because we are part of Jesus family.  We are heirs with Jesus.  We should live our lives expecting great things and great miracles in His name.  Would you like to be part of the family?  Then just ask Jesus to be the Lord of your life today.  An d then get ready to see miracles in your life too!

The 7 Basics

Pastor Beth has a new book out called the 7 Basics - Strong Roots for Every Christian.  One of the things that has always attracted me to Valley Family Church is the strong emphasis on "the basics".  Check out this video message from Pastor Beth.  (About 4 minutes)

http://vimeo.com/39171458

I'll bet you are wondering what the 7 Basics are aren't you?  Take a look.

7 BASICS

BASIC #1: Get To Know God

BASIC #2: Get Into The Bible

BASIC #3: Get Real In Prayer

BASIC #4: Get Into A Good Church

BASIC #5: Get Excited And Tell Somebody

BASIC #6: Get Your Head On Straight

BASIC #7: Get Ready For The Adventure

Pasted from <http://jeffandbethjones.com/7-basics>

I can't wait to read it!

If you'd like to learn more about her new book you can click here!

http://jeffandbethjones.com/7-basics

I also wanted to share a cool chart that I found that helps me understand the order of the Prophets.  I don't know about you but I find the way the Bible does the Prophets confusing.  They are all out of order.  I just finished Joel who lived in around 500 BC.  Now I move on to Amos who was the second prophet chronologically, back in around 760 BC.  So now I am reading about stuff that was happening 260 years before the stuff that the last guy was writing about. 

See why I find it confusing?  That is why I found this chart helpful.

 

Now I can look and see when they lived and who they were a prophet to.  See how helpful that is?  There is another good chart at this site that you might want to check out also.

http://spiritrestoration.org/Church/Timelines/TimelIne_of_Minor_and_Major_Prophets_in_the_Old_Testament.htm 

Well that's all for today folks.  Have a blessed day!

We Have Our Marching Orders

Acts 1:6-8(NKJV)

6Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 

7And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 

8But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be £witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Do you have the Holy spirit?  If so, then here is what those of us that have the Holy Spirit are called to do.  Pretty simple isn't it?

Love it when God keeps it simple.  Looks like 4 main things to me.  How hard is it to do four things?  What are they?  Accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior.  Love God with all your heart.  Love your neighbor as yourself, and witness about Jesus locally, regionally, and indeed around the world. 

Notice that it starts with accepting Jesus.  Have you done that yet?  If not why not ask Jesus to come into your life right now.  Just close your eyes and pray something like this.  "Dear Jesus, I don't get all of this but what I do get is that I somehow need you in my life.  Please come into my life and guide me through the rest of this stuff.  Thank you Jesus.  Amen."

Once you have Jesus and through Jesus you receive the Holy Spirit, He will indeed guide you.  And one of the biggest areas that He promises to guide us in is witnessing about Him.  So as we go forth to fulfill our marching orders just let the Holy Spirit be your guide as you witness about Jesus in all you do!

Rend Your Heart, Not Your Garments

Joel 2:13(NKJV)

13    So rend your heart, and not your garments;     Return to the Lord your God,     For He is gracious and merciful,     Slow to anger, and of great kindness;     And He relents from doing harm.

What a great passage!

As scripture says "we have all fallen short of the glory of God".  Even those of us who are saved still fall short.  The Apostle Paul told us that would happen. 

So what are we to do?   

Return to the Lord.  Over and over and over again.  We serve a great God who has the following characteristics: He is gracious, merciful, slow to anger, very kind, and he relents (cuts us a break).

God knows the struggles we face on a day to day basis.  Having come to earth in the form of Jesus, He knows first hand, not theoretically, but first hand.  Therefore as long as we continue to return to Him we can expect to continue to benefit from His grace and mercy.  We can expect Him to continue to cut us a break, IF……..

We accept Jesus Christ as the Lord of our life and we "rend our hearts, and not our garments".  OK, got the accept Jesus part but what the heck does "rend out hearts" mean?

Think about in the Gospels.  So many times the Pharisees would "rend their garments".  It was all show.  I think this verse simply means be genuine in your surrender to Jesus, genuine in your repentance each time you fall short. 

God's grace, mercy, and continual renewal are there for the asking.  Just rend your heart for Jesus and experience all the rest that God has to offer!

Who does your soul long for?

Genesis 34:8(NKJV)

8But Hamor spoke with them, saying, “The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter. Please give her to him as a wife. 

What a great way to describe being in love isn't it?  My soul longs for……

For any of us that have ever been in love, you can immediately understand the authors meaning when he describes it this way.  That depth of emotional feeling, especially early on, that was almost overwhelming. 

The relationship that Jesus has with those who believe in Him is described in marriage terms many places in scripture.  Jesus as the bridegroom, the church as the bride.

Just think, as the bridegroom, Jesus' soul longs for us to be saved.  That depth of feeling that we all are familiar with, that is how deeply Jesus loves each and every one of us and wants to see us saved.  Wow!

If you want to experience all that God has to offer then ask Jesus to be the Lord of your life.  Jesus' soul longs to receive you, all you have to do is ask.

And if you are as fortunate as I am to still have the person in your life who your soul longs for….let them know.  Sure they already know it but it is always nice to give them a reminder!

The Voice of the Turtle Is Heard In Our Land

The weather hear in Michigan has been gorgeous this week.  High 70's to mid 80's for the last week.  Sleeping with the windows open each night.  I got in about 50 miles on my bicycle last week and I've had a couple of good rides already this week.  Very cool!

For me spring is one of those times that I just marvel at God's creation.  Riding down the trails and seeing all of the plants coming to life.  And the smells, oh the smells!  To be riding along and smelling the most wonderful fragrances floating on the breeze.  Incredible!

I hope you will indulge me in a trip down memory lane.  Ernie Harwell was a famous baseball announcer for the Detroit Tigers.  Every year he would start the first broadcast of the year with the following verse from the Song of Solomon.

Song of Songs 2:11-12(KJV)

11For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; 

12The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land; 

You can hear Ernie himself right here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gr0T9c8SEUk&feature=player_embedded

To hear Ernie say that each year meant the spring was really here!

Whether today or some other day this spring, as you watch God's creations blossom again, take the time to thank Him for making you part of the family and sharing this with you.

What if you aren't part of the family?  Then look around at the beauty of spring.  Does that stir your heart?  Does that help you believe that God exists?  If so then take God at His word when He says that He sent Jesus to be the Lord and Savior of your life.  Simply ask Jesus to come into your life.  If you do that then get ready to see your life blossom in unbelievable ways even as you watch the rest of God's creation blossom this year!