Throw your hands in the air!

  In Acts 27 - Paul, other prisoners, and sailors find themselves in the midst of a great storm. There came a point when the winds were so strong that the sailors could only take their hands off of the wheel (v 15), lest the ship be tossed and broken. 

There are many lessons to be learned from this event in history. 

1.Listen to advice from Godly people to avoid the storm.

2. Don't follow the majority simply because they make logical sense.

3. Some storms can be avoided.

4. If you wind up in the storm, lighten the load - extra baggage does you no good in a storm.

5. Know whose you are. There is an abundance of knowledge, protection, relationships, opportunities, and blessings just from that knowledge alone.

The lessons that you can get from this scripture go on and on (The WORD is rich y'all)!

Primarily, but briefly, I want to focus on this one fact;  You cannot drive a ship well while in a storm. Even though smaller storms are easier to navigate through, and the repercussions are not as great, a small storm can seriously injure.  The size of the storm, and severity of the repercussions from the outcome, typically have a directly proportional relationship. In other words, the bigger the storm is, the more damage it can do... potentially. 

The ship in the scripture example represents your life. As with the ship, your life has a purpose, route, and a destination. They both have a captain, a crew, and passengers.You, your family and friends, and those folks that are just along for the ride. They both have luggage, and baggage. Some things you need, and some you do not. And, they both WILL encounter storms.  

Knowing that there are storms coming can be scary. But, knowing that they are coming also gives us the opportunity to prepare for the storms, and the opportunity to learn what to do while in the storm. Here the crew tried everything to make the situation better. Eventually it was realized that the best thing to do was take their hands away from the wheel, and allow the storm to drive them. We have to get to a point, sooner or later, when we realize that God is in control of everything, that includes the storm!  Prov 16:9  says that a man makes plans, but God makes the way. We must realize that the storm was designed by God to accomplish a purpose. Maybe to get your attention, maybe to warn you, maybe to begin or end a relationship, or maybe to call you home to glory. Regardless though, we have to take our hands off and let Him guide. Trusting Him while in the storm might be difficult, but it is vital. We tend to, just like the crew from the scripture, try everything first and eventually release the control. This surrendering is what God wants. It’s obedience. God honors this, and this is when we are in His divine will. Let go of the wheel!

By the way, while your hands are off the wheel go ahead and raise them a little bit higher and give God some praise.

We love you, and we are praying for you

~Pastor Erroyl and Sis Pinky

SALT

Sis Pinky's prayer

Father, 

Help me to take my hands off the wheel in every aspect of my life. Help me to surrender and praise You for being Alpha and Omega! 

In Jesus’s name we pray, 

Amen

Knowing My Purpose, Living Sacrifice

Recognizing who you are in God, and knowing what your purpose is. Two things that are super important, super provocative, and on the minds of many believers. I'll use two Scriptures to illustrate this point. The first, Romans 12:1-2. The second scripture is Matthew 16:15–23. 

Please read both of the Scriptures. The first is the roadmap, the second is an enactment of that roadmap. 

The first scripture basically says that in order to know the Will of God for you life, that you must present yourself as a living sacrifice to God. Holy and acceptable to God. We must give it all to God. In today's life we really do not understand complete and total surrender and sacrifice. We barely sacrifice any time to pray, read the Bible, and fellowship with other believers. Here we are told to give it all up. The worry, the hurt, the power, the control... Everything. 

Think about this; Peter had been walking with Jesus for around two years by the point of the second scripture. That was him being a living sacrifice. Peter following, learning from, living with, and for Jesus; a living sacrifice. 

Peter's constant striving to please Jesus was holy and pleasing to God. Notice that he was not perfect, and that he made mistakes. However, God saw fit to speak through Peter to answer Jesus' question. Peter did not conform to the world when Jesus asked the question, "Who do you say I am?”, but instead he was open to hearing from God the Father. After which, Jesus changed his name from Simon to Peter. This was a transformation, and a renewal of his mind. It was then that Peter understood that his purpose in life was to tell the world who Jesus was. After the living sacrifice. After two years of dedicated living, learning, and communing with Jesus. That is when his purpose was revealed to him. That's not to say that God will reveal your purpose after two years of that sort of dedication... It might come before then, or after then. But, understanding that your purpose is in and with Him is a great place to start.

Having trouble understanding your purpose? Start by being dedicated, committed, and truly following Jesus. And if you still don't hear... Keep serving!!!

We love you, and we are praying for you.

~Pastor Erroyl and Sis. Pinky

SALT 

Sis. Pinky’s Prayer

Almighty God,

Maker of all things, we bless your name. Thank you for giving us Jesus as an example of living sacrificially for the Kingdom. Help us to truly give ourselves away so You can use us on this Earth and in turn our purposes will be revealed.

In Jesus' name we pray,

Amen

Why do evil doers prosper?

At times, we may have a hard time understanding why evildoers or atheists prosper. It just doesn't seem fair. They don't have a set of standards by which to govern themselves. At times they seem to have the best cars, houses, prosperity in their careers, health, etc. While many Christians, who are devout believers, find themselves almost struggling to maintain their livelihoods. It appears as though they rarely pay for their crimes or misdoings, and they live conscious-free in a life of comfort and sin. They even know what sin is, but do not care.

It's perspective.  
Firstly, this type of prosperity is the world’s definition. Our society, especially western civilizations, is corrupt. The things that are valued are material. If we focus on the things of God, His purpose for us, and have a Kingdom mentality then we see the fallacy in that sort of prosperity. Kingdom mindedness focuses on relationships... with God, family, and others. Prosperity in the health of relationships should be sough after, and valued.
Secondly, it is God’s desire that none be lost, so He extends grace to all. (See 2 Peter 3:8-9) In short, we all are given time to recognize who God is. God gives them time to recognize who they are, turn from their sins, and turn to Him. The same passage of scripture talks about the difference between being infinite and being finite. (A major difference between us and God) Because we cannot really understand what eternity means, Peter writes it as "a day is like 1000 years to the Lord and 1000 years are like one day".  Think about that for a moment... Once we get past the fact that we have no clue how God exists outside of, yet throughout time ...the conclusion that one comes to is that we have no clue how patient God is.

We find this written in Nahum 1:3 "The Lord is slow to anger and great in power; the Lord will not leave the guilty unpunished. His way is in the whirlwind and the storm…” God’s long-suffering is a result of His love for mankind.  He is certainly a loving God.  He is also a just God.  Because God even loves those we consider to be bad people, he affords them opportunities to be saved. When He determines their time is up He punishes them.  Sometimes he uses the whirlwind and the storm as tools. (Can anyone say amen to that?) Our goal as Christians should be to let our light shine as brightly as possible so that they become changed, attacked to that light, and not in that “guilty” number.

We love you and we are praying for you.

~SALT, pastor Erroyl and Sis Pinky

Sis. Pinky's Prayer:

Father, we pray for the lost. We ask that You would soften their hearts and get them to see the error of their ways. Please send us, your ambassadors, to the lost so that all will have an opportunity to repent and have a secure standing in eternity.

We thank you for being a patient and loving God with us all, and for the great reward we'll receive in glory.

In Jesus' Name we pray,

Amen

What God Requires

What God Requires

God never requires more than what you already have... In Genesis 4:7 He asks Cain,  "If you do your best, will not I accept you?" In other words, all He asks of us is the best from what we already have, not our leftovers.  The expectation is found earlier in chapter 4 of Genesis by the mentioning of Cain's vocation. He was a tiller of the soil: a farmer.  Our best is not that time we fit into our schedules, or the offering that we give after having paid our bills, and other expenses. Can we not plan to serve God with our time, talents, and treasure just as we plan parties, a guy’s night out, or to buy expensive items? Why is it that we can boast about work attendance and punctuality, we make sure our children go to school everyday, but we cannot seem to make it to church on time? Is that our best? Is that really what we give to God? 

The adjective used to describe the fruit that Cain gave to God was "some". Is that what we give God "some" fruit? Nothing special, not the best, just "some" fruit. 

God required a calf from Abel, because Abel raised animals. He required fruits from Cain, because Cain was a tiller of the ground. Notice that He did not require Abel to give fruit, nor Cain to give from a flock. If you want to know what God requires of you, look within. He’s already placed it in your care. Be it your writings, cooking, or singing, your listening ear to hurting persons, event organizing, praying, or serving. God did not place that gift in you simply so that you could sustain an Earthly life. Whatever it is remember that you should give a portion to God, and when you give God His portion, it must be your best--in order for it and you, to be accepted by the Lord. Look again at what Abel gave to God. It was the first born from his flock, and the fattest of the firstborn. He gave God the best of the best. And that's what we should do with who we are, and what we give to God.

Another part of that scripture (Gen 4) tells how Cain was feeling after this offering. His countenance had fallen. In other words he felt rejected, and miserable because of it. Don't we feel the same way after we give God less than our best? When we present God with a version of ourselves that is not the best we can be, don't we feel our countenance has fallen? Hmmmm. 

We love you, and we are praying for you.

~SALT, Pastor Erroyl and Sis. Pinky

Sis. Pinky's prayer:

Almighty God, maker of heaven and earth, we thank you for placing spiritual gifts in us. Help us to give you our best at all times, especially when it's sacrificial. Let us not allow worldly things to get us distracted nor self created idols to take the place of You. We thank you for being patient, loving, merciful, and full of grace. 

In Jesus' name we pray,

Amen

Circle of Influence

There are many important things that a Christian must consider in regards to living our daily lives. Among the vast array of things that bid for a high spot on our priority lists is our circle of influence. There is not much to consider that is more important than our circle of influence. We must be aware of our circle of influence. Most of the time when this is spoken of we consider the people who have influenced us, the impact that they have had in our lives and in our character development, etc. 

     But this time I would like to discuss the people that we influence. God has given each of us particular dominion, and that dominion includes those persons that we are responsible for. Those persons can be in our family, our friends, coworkers, and sometimes just persons with whom we are briefly associated. 

     These two scriptures illustrate this point. The first is the story of Jonah. With Jonah we see how his negative actions affected all of the people who were sailing on the ship with him. All of those mariners were in danger of losing their lives, because Jonah decided to run from the Lord. We must understand that when we decide to sin, that the repercussions go beyond just us. The repercussions affect those people within the sphere of our influence.   Think about how your negative actions or poor decisions have affected those persons around you.

     In the book of Acts chapter 27, we see how Paul, while on his way to prison, was on a ship that was going to crash. There's a visit from an angel of the Lord, and the angel told Paul that because of who he was, and whose he was, despite the impending danger of the ships crashing, that no one would lose their life. Now, understand that he was on the ship with a boatload of criminals. These criminals may have deserved to die during the ship's crashing. But, because of how Paul had decided to live his life, they all would benefit from his decisions. They were in his circle of influence. 

   Now, think about how people close to you have benefited because of the good choices and behaviors that you have exhibited. 

   We must try to be more selfless, and make decisions based upon not only how it will affect us, but how it will affect those who are within our circle of influence. We must consider our actions not only for us, but for those over whom we have dominion. The same way that Jesus made a decision to go to Calvary. He thought more about you and me than the pain that He Himself would endure.

– We love you, and we are praying for you. Pastor Erroyl and Sister Pinky

Father,

Thank you for reminding me that my actions affect those around me, be them good or bad. Help me to be cognizant of my actions and to be led by the Holy Spirit in every area of my life.

In Jesus' name we pray,

Amen

Relationships Are Hard

Relationships are difficult, to say the least; be it a spouse, parent, child, sibling, friend, coworker, and of course our relationship with God. Each has its' own challenges. Each relationship, if it is to be fruitful, has to be nurtured. Those whom we love most, seem to hurt us the most easily, and the most deeply. Sometimes even trying to get them to understand how they have hurt us is difficult.

Many people who believe in God think that He is a distant watcher of the drama that is His creation. They picture Him... He sits atop an awe-inspiring, jewel encrusted throne peering through space at the goings-on of man. Never interfering... A cosmic bystander.

But, nothing can be further from the truth, God is all about relationships. Have you ever noticed that people seem to gravitate towards and focus on the wrath of God, or the overhyped depiction of God as vengeful/jealous? Throughout the Old Testament you will come across phrases like, "They will be MY people, and I will be their God".  Those sort of statements are even made after God had been rejected and disobeyed by those who claimed to love him... for centuries! So why would He make those sort of statements? We also see the answer to the question of, "why do we see the vengeful side of God." Deuteronomy 8:5 Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you... and, Job 5:17 Blessed is the one whom God corrects, so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.",

Jesus was all about relationships while here on Earth... and even He was hurt by the relationships of those close to him.  (See John 7:5 and Matthew 13:57–58). His family rejected Him. The people of His own hometown rejected Him. His reply was the equivalent of saying that the people closest to you find it harder to see the great in you than do total strangers. No doubt that His feelings were hurt by the response of those closest to Him about His ministry. The whole purpose that Jesus came to earth was to save us from sin. It was all about relationship.

Now, if Jesus himself had to endure the difficulty of relationships, then so must we. We are made in His likeness after all. So don’t be surprised that those trials come. Be patient and kind. Try to see an alternative point of view in order to make peace. Do not repeatedly bring up past failures (Theirs nor yours). Above all else have compassion on them, and love on them. Like God, relationships have to remain paramount to us.

We Love you and We’re praying for you.

~Pastor Erroyl, and Sis Pinky

Sis Pinky's prayer:

Almighty Father,

We are in awe that You desire to have relationship with us despite our sins and shortcomings. Help us to desire You more than anything on this earth and to be appreciative of the love you have for us.

In the mighty name of Jesus we pray,

Amen

Trust God for the Transition

When it's time for a change, trusting in the Lord is absolutely paramount to the success of the transition. The story of Abram (Gen. 12) remains remarkable to me. God told him to go. Get out of your country and your father's house, depart from your family, and go. But, He gives Abram no direction in which to travel. Not "Go in the direction of your

grandfather's village", nor, "go to the east as far as the sun rises."  Nothing like that was given him. God simply said go, and Abram gathered his immediate family, possessions, and went... Where? Wow, that's trusting in God. 

It can be difficult for us on a daily basis to trust God with something simple. It might be hard for me to change my normal route to the grocery store. Let alone, something as big as moving my family, changing jobs, returning to school, getting married, etc. What about you? Are you facing a change? A new home, car, business, city, or relationship?

We must learn to trust God for and through transitions. And, trust that He has prepared the destination for our arrival. For Abram, everything was already in place for his descendants (Gen 12:7), but he still had to go through the transition. He had to be molded, prepared by God through experiences. And it's the same way for us as well. He prepares us while on the journey, to be ready for the destination. 

A huge part that many people miss about a journey, is the fact there are lessons to be learned while on it. There will be bumps in the roads, and we will make mistakes, as Abram did (Gen. 12:13). There may be unscheduled layovers in Egypt and Bethel before reaching the promised land of Canaan. But, guess what... Our mistakes do not cancel the promises of God. You might delay, or slow the process, but God's promises are revocable only by Him. 

God prepares us for our destination while we are on the journey to the destination, AND He prepares the destination for us and our arrival!  Trust God for the transition. 

We love you, and we are praying for you.

~Pastor Erroyl and Sis. Pinky

SALT

Sis. Pinky's Prayer:

Father, let us rejoice in You knowing that You have our best interests at heart. Help us to lean and rely on You in every single aspect of our lives and to trust You as You lead and guide us.

We love and praise you and we bless your Holy Name!

Amen!

Life Interrupted

How do you respond when you are interrupted; when things are not going as planned? 

Most of us are familiar with a story called "The Woman with the Issue of Blood... It comes from all three of the synoptic gospels (Matthew 9, Mark 5, and Luke 8).  In Matthew's telling Jesus is speaking, literally in the middle of what might be considered a sermon when He's interrupted by a father seeking healing for his daughter. Jesus' reaction was to stop preaching and go to the young girl…on the way there, He's interrupted again. This time by the 'woman with the issue of blood'. How does He react.. the bible illustrates that He looked on her with compassion.

I don't know about you, but that's stepping on my toes, driving down my street, and parking in my garage. I tend to closely guard my time, and may not always respond as kindly as our Lord Jesus does. Jesus was interrupted, while already attending to an interruption.. He left one engagement to help and while on the way to the other he paused, looked on her with compassion and sent her away in peace.  

Church, believers, followers... are we looking like Jesus? Acting like Jesus? An interruption is a great way to ascertain where we are in our walk with Christ because it is unexpected; a change in the regularly scheduled program- a curve ball. 

We love you, and we are praying for you,

~Pastor Erroyl and Sis. Pinky

SALT

Sis. Pinky's Prayer:

Lord, thank you for reminding me that I am an ambassador for you. Help me to be a willing vessel and to give myself away! Forgive me when I haven't had a mind to serve and have had a selfish mindset.

We love you Jesus and thank you for loving us!

In Jesus' name,

Amen

It’s About Time

My wife's favorite color is blue, her favorite movie (God bless her) is 'Coming to America", her favorite song changes with the season of life that she's in, but she has a special affinity for "He's Able", Her favorite scripture? "I will look to the hills from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord." I could go on and on with her dress size, shoe size, (and because I'm smart) her ring size. That knowledge comes from putting in time with her; consistently. 

Can you really say that you love someone if you do not spend time with them? If other things steal your attention, focus, and commitment from the one you say you love, is that really love? Guess what? This applies for God too.

We say we love Him, but do we spend time with Him? Do we log hours watching Scandal, Real Housewives, SportsCenter, sporting events, but yet can't seem to find the 30 minutes to read the bible? Is the 20 second grace prior to eating a meal our only daily prayer? Do we check Facebook more than the bible? Be honest... You know that's a problem. 

So how then can we justify saying that we love Him? We've got to step our game up, and put in the time with Him. We must read more, pray more, praise and worship more, and LOVE more (and more consistently also).

Are there too many distractors and detractors in our lives vieing for HIS time? Are we putting time in with our Lord and Savior? Or, are we giving His time away to gods that we've made?

Jesus said that we should love God with everything that we have, are, AND above all else (Matt 22:37). Do our actions show that? Or, do we simply talk a good game?  1 John 3:18 says that we should love with ACTION and NOT with words!  Show God with your actions just how much you love Him. It's about time, that we give Him, His time.

I love you, and I am praying from you.
~Pastor Erroyl

SALT

Jesus is Real!

People want God to work like magic in their lives. It's funny how people think. Jesus is real, Jesus is NOT magic. He is not a mythical, man-created god. Most of the time, God chooses to work in your life through the experiences that you have. He chooses to show himself to you through movements within your circumstances. 

I've had people to ask me why doesn't God do miracles the "same" way He did in the days of the Bible. That is a valid question. And here's the answer... 1) He does...  Ask/Look around you'll see them. They are literally everywhere.   2) If you don't give honor to God when He does a small miracle in your life, like stretching your money til the end of the month-the next payday, why would you give him glory for something big (here's your biblical reference: read the story of Lazarus and the rich man. Luke 16:19-31). 

For some people, it wouldn't matter what miracle they saw, they have purposed in their hearts to be unconvinced, and unbelievers.

Sis Pinky's Prayer:

God, We know that You are omnipotent and sovereign. Forgive us for taking the small miracles You bless us with daily for granted. Help us to be grateful for all that You do for us.

In Jesus' name we pray,

Amen

Forgiveness: Accept it, Give It, Apply it.

When you understand that God loves you regardless of who you have become, you can forgive yourself, and begin working on who you are supposed to be. Too many times we allow our past failures to keep us in a perpetual state of failing. Or, our past successes to keep us in a perpetual state of disillusionment. Either way, we are not where God wants us to be. He loves you, despite what you've done. Forgive yourself, and turn away from the sin. 

I love you, and I am praying for you.

~Pastor Erroyl

Sis Pinky's Prayer:

I love you Jesus and thank you for taking my place on the cross. Your Word says, " whom the Son sets free is truly free indeed", so I stand in agreement with Your Word and declare that I am free! Thank you God for molding me into who You want me to be. Enable me with the ability to walk boldly in Your freedom.

In Jesus' name I pray,

Amen

Knowing God

Knowing who God is, and knowing God are two different things. There is going to come a time when Jesus will be separating people the way a shepherd separates goats from sheep.
Matthew 25:31-46And what that means is those who "know" Him will be with Him forever, and those who only know of Him, who only know about Him, will not. You have got to have a personal relationship with Him in order to know Him. 

So, do you "know" Him?

I love you, and I am praying for you. 

~Pastor Erroyl

SALT

Sis Pinky's Prayer,

Thank you God for placing a desire to know You intimately within me. I pray that our relationship will continue to blossom so I can tell others about my friend. Thank you for being my shepherd, and leading me in the path of righteousness.

In Jesus' name I pray, 

Amen

Do you know Him?

Knowing who God is, and knowing God are two different things. There is going to come a time when Jesus will be separating people the way a shepherd separates goats from sheep (Matthew 25:32-34).  And what that means is those who "know" Him will be with Him forever, and those who only know of Him, who only know about Him, will not. You can think of that word "know" in the same sense as "Adam knew Eve".  It is all about intimacy. You have got to have a personal, intimate  relationship with Him in order to know Him. Get beyond knowing who He is, and beyond just knowing about Him.

So, do you "know" Him?

I love you, and I am praying for you. 

~Pastor Erroyl

SALT

Sis Pinky's Prayer:

Thank you God for placing a desire to know You intimately within me. I pray that our relationship will continue to blossom so I can tell others about my friend. Thank you for being my shepherd, and leading me in the path of righteousness.

In Jesus' name I pray, 

Amen

I give myself away?

I love the song, "I give myself away" by William McDowell. A few years ago, my wife and I really started to think on the lyrics. Man... to live totally for God and accept His will over ours is NOT an easy thing. But, it is essential and totally worth it.

True, if you delight yourself in Him, God will grant you the desires of your heart (Psalm 37:4). Yes, you can even name it and claim it... IF.. (and that's a BIG IF) it is in the will of the Father for you to have what you've claimed. Understand that you can claim any and everything you want, but don't be mad if God's answer is no. Remember, you sang/said, "my life is not my own..."

God is the perfect father. I will under no circumstances allow my 14 year-old to drive a car.. no matter how much she cries, begs, or pleads with me... If I want the best for my children, then of course God wants the best for His children (Matthew 7:11), even if we don't understand His ways. God may not give you something that you are not mentally, emotionally, financially, physically, and/or spiritually ready for. He is not going to promote you before it's time. He may not heal you of your affliction when, and how, you think is most prudent. HIS will be done… "So, You can use me".

If we say we belong to Him, but we do not honor His timing, His wishes, His will, and His commands.. do we really belong to Him? Or, are we merely putting a check in a box? Only singing a song?

Give your life, your skill, your talent, your treasure, your intelligence, and your time to Him...  I can't wait to see what He does with it!.."Lord I'm longing to see Your desires revealed in me."

I love you, and I am praying for you.
~Pastor Erroyl

SALT

Sis Pinky’s Prayer:

Almighty Father,

We thank you for giving us free will, but ask that you would continue to increase our desire to want to submit freely to You. Your Word says that You would give us the desires of our hearts once we delight ourselves in You. Help us to delight ourselves, as well as, submit to You.

In Jesus' name we pray,

Amen!

Turn.. 180° -Repent

Being penitent, or having repentance means to turn away from one thing and, subsequently, toward another. Envision your sin on one end of the road of your life, and the Lord at the other end.

Notice that on this road, if you are walking towards your sin, you are walking away from God... According to Genesis 4:7, "sin is crouching at your door, it desires to have you."  Doesn't that word "crouching" bring to mind the image of predation? Perhaps you envision a lioness on the savannah hiding in the tall grasses waiting for a careless wildebeest to wander too far away from the herd. Well, guess what? You are the carelessly, wandering wildebeest. The best thing that you can do is - stop heading towards sin, turn around 180°, and rejoin the herd (Body of Christ).

As with the lion and wildebeest, sin ends with death (Romans 6:23). The sin binds you. Constricting every part of your life, it chokes the liberty out of you, then it kills you. Make no mistake about it; you die!

The wages of sin is death, but Jesus gives life everlasting. That’s forever! Go on and turn towards HIM, away from those things that are keeping you from all that He is for you, has for you, and wants for you!

I love you, and I am praying for you!

~Pastor Erroyl

SALT

Sis Pinky’s Prayer: Heavenly Father,

Thank you for Jesus! Thank you for the precious blood that saved us from eternal damnation. Now Father we pray that You would endow us with the power to resist the devil, turn from our wicked nature, and master those things that are trying to entangle us in bondage again!

Please God reveal to us not only the sins that we are cognizant of, but those hidden things that hinder us from having a fuller, deeper relationship with you.

We love you, and we praise you.

In Jesus' name we pray,

Amen.

Learning from the Storm

Storms can teach us a lot if we are willing to learn from them. The lessons can be wide and varied. We can learn about ourselves, others, and our walk with Christ. 

For us, we see our shortcomings clearly, our areas of fortitude, and we are forced to acknowledge endogenous weaknesses as well- if we are honest with ourselves.

It's not really until there's a leak in the roof, or a crack in the foundation that you get your home inspected. In other words, the turmoil caused by the storm can be a great indicator of who we really are. If a branch is blown through a window during a storm, you get it fixed right? So, when a storm uncovers hidden issues, faults, shortcomings, and character flaws in your life... fix it. Do the work. If you don't the next storm will wreak havoc in your life.

We can also learn about others. Their ideology, theology, politics, morals, standards, strengths and weaknesses are on display when the winds begin to blow. You don't really know the character of a person until your relationship is tested. Storms do that very well.
We can see our relationship (or lack thereof) with Christ in our response to the looming clouds. Our reaction to the storm can tell us how much, or little, we've grown in Christ. Our focus mustn't be on the storm; but on He who can calm it. So if you response is to panic, worry, or run away then maybe there is some growth that needs to happen. Your belief, or unbelief,  that God is really in control shows through during storms.
We should look to Jesus to see how to act in a storm. You know what Jesus was doing during a storm? Sleeping. (Mark 4:35-40) That's right, He was resting. And, sleeping 'good' too ;-)
I'm not going to worry, I'm going to rest in Him. How about you?
I love you, and I'm praying for you.
~Pastor Erroyl
SALT

Sis. Pinky's Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father,

We thank you for giving us a new perspective about the storms that come into our lives. Help us to rest in You and to look to the hills from where our help comes from when the typhoons of trials beat upon us. We love and thank you Jesus for being our model and for leaving us Your peace.

In Jesus' name we pray,

Amen!

What are you carrying?

Have you ever felt like the weight of the world is on your shoulders? Have you experienced pressure that makes you feel like your knees will literally buckle, or that you might lose your mind? Due to the pressures of home, work, relationships, lifestyle, debts, choices, etc., many of us live with these sorts of burdens for years. 

The Bible teaches us that we can exchange with our Lord and our God. My wife often quotes the scripture from Isaiah 61:3 that says "[God will] bestow on them [that grieve] a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair." This scripture teaches us that God loves us, and does not want us to remain in states of prolonged strain. Notice there cannot be an exchange if you have nothing to give. So, there will be times of carrying a heavy load. There will be times when you require rest due to the heavy-lifting of life. But those times may not have to last long. 

Why not?  There is Jesus who, in Matthew 11:29-30, says that we can exchange our burdens with him if we WORK and need rest and are heavy burdened. 28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”  Just for the record- I think he's a tad bit stronger than we are. ;-) Even here we see that Jesus expects us to work, even after the exchange. But, the expectation is that He will do the heavy work. We get His burden and His yoke. We still have to carry something, but there must be dependance on His strength.

So, why then do we Christians walk around with such heavy hearts? Why are we permitting ourselves to be so heavily burdened? I think that waiting on, and waiting of God's plans to be revealed to us is why we continue to carry the burdens. We don't seem to want to rely on Him. We want to carry the burdens ourselves. It's not until our knees, backs, and psyches are nearly broken that we turn to Him. 

I have no magical insight into how to prevent this. But, what I can tell you is that at the bottom of this issue is trust. Trusting in the Lord. Trusting that His plans are better than your plans. Trusting that His power is supreme. Trusting that His timing is perfect.  And, trusting that He has your best interest at heart.

Do you trust Him? Do you believe Him when He says He will give you beauty for your ashes? Do you trust that He will come through for you? Do you believe Him when He says you can exchange burdens with Him? Do you believe Him when He says that He will supply all of your needs according to His riches in glory? Do you believe Him? Do you trust Him?

If you believe Him, stop carrying that weight around and give it to Him. He can handle it. I'd much rather have a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. How about you?

Sis. Pinky's Prayer: Father, forgive us for taking upon yokes unnecessarily and allowing them to burden us. Forgive us for lacking faith and trust in your Supremacy. Help us to release those things that so easily weighs us down into Your hands. Thank you for the exchange that we can do with You; beauty for ashes,
oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. We love you, and we say this prayer in the magnificent name of Jesus. Amen!

We love you, and we are praying for you.

~Pastor Erroyl

SALT

Words from the cross

Every year around Resurrection Day, churches all across the world have programs and preachers have sermons that center on the last seven words of Jesus. This year I am going to focus on John 19:25-27. 25 but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!”27 Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.
Have you ever thought about why Jesus did this? When you think about the scene it's really quite remarkable. Jesus, while on the cross makes arrangements for his mother and a close friend. He was in pain, His body was broken, His head bloodied, His body tired from the stress of being on the cross, and He was thinking of others!? Why? Let's not even think about the "how".  How do you muster up the strength to be anything but selfish at that moment... let alone selfless. But, why? Why did He do it?

Why did He do this for John? John was most likely the youngest of the disciples. Some estimate his age to be 13-15 years old. He refers to himself as "the disciple whom Jesus loved" indicating, I believe, a closeness that would surely cause a young boy to hurt to the point of needing a motherly figure to comfort him at the loss of Jesus. He had an emotional need. 

His mother? You may not realize that Jesus was not an only child. He had at least 6 siblings, four of whom were male. Any of them should have been qualified to care for their mother. Financially, I have little doubt that they could have cared for her. But, at the moment they appear to be disconnected from Jesus' plight. (See Matt 13:55-57). I believe that Jesus did not wish His mother to live in traditions that He was trying to save her (and the world) from. Due to their belief system, their lifestyles would have been in direct opposition to Jesus. So she would have needed a person who understood what Jesus was really about to care for her. 

Why did He do it? He was doing what He always does, and what He had always done; He was meeting the need. 

Think about your life, your needs, and your savior. In your life are their needs that you have not allowed Jesus to meet? Are you stopping the savior from saving you? Are you the inadvertent cause of unhappiness by an unwillingness to surrender or simply move?
On another train of thought, while in the middle of your situation are you selfish, or selfless?  
We should strive to be like Jesus. We should try being selfless in the midst of our trials. And by all means, allow Jesus to make provisions for you. His work on the cross made provisions for your soul, but relationship with Him gives even more.

I love you, and I am praying for you.
~Pastor Erroyl
SALT