Generosity

Welcome back readers!! Today, we are going to talk about Generosity. Generosity can be described as “the quality of being kind and generous or the habit of giving without expecting anything in return”. I have found that when I help others, God will bless me and enrich my life. You don’t have to give monetary gifts. Just find a way to share your blessings. Some ways you can be generous are spending time with someone, sharing your talent with someone, encourage someone, volunteer to help your church, smile at someone, love others, and love God!

The Bible reminds us to be generous in the following scriptures:

Acts 20:35: “In every way I’ve shown you that by laboring like this, it is necessary to help the weak and to keep in mind the words of the Lord Jesus, for He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’.”

Galatians 6:10: “Therefore, as we have opportunity, we must work for the good of all, especially for those who belong to the household of faith.”

2 Corinthians 9:7: “Each person should do as he has decided in his heart—not out of regret or out of necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

Be a blessing to others,
~M

The Blessings of Faithfulness

Welcome back to our Fruit of Spirit Series.

Galatians 5:22-23
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

The Blessings of Faithfulness

Proverbs 3:3-4 (NIV)
3 Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. 
4 Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man.

Psalms 18:25 (NIV)
25 To the faithful you show yourself faithful, to the blameless you show yourself blameless,

Psalms 25:10 (NIV)
10 All the ways of the LORD are loving and faithful for those who keep the demands of his covenant.

Revelation 2:10 (NIV)
10 Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.

Mary….The Lord’s Servant

What comes to mind when you think of Mary? She was a young lady that was willing to carry Jesus! She could have easily said, “no, that’s too hard or I don’t want to be made fun of.” But, she didn’t. She was willing. She was willing to be subjected to embarrassment because she was pregnant and not yet married. It took a great deal of courage on her part. She chose to be The Lord’s Servant!

In Luke 1:46-55
Mary said, “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me — holy is his name! His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry and his dry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever,even as he said to our fathers.”

What is the Lord asking you to do? Are you willing? Do you care what other people may think? Or will you follow Christ wholeheartedly?

Be blessed and be a blessing,
~M

Mistakes

Hello Readers! Please excuse my previous mistake…I posted an unfinished blog post earlier. Sorry. 🙂

How many of you have ever had an “I can’t believe I just did that moment?” or “Oops” or “What was I thinking?” I know I personally have…especially when I look back at school pictures–the infamous perm hairstyle. But, I did learn something….no more perms for me!

Those kind of mistakes last a lifetime. People will remember our shortcomings and our mistakes. But, our Lord, Jesus Christ, doesn’t. As soon as we ask for forgiveness…it’s gone. The key is that we must ask and do our best not to make those mistakes/sins again.

So, are you holding on to something that you need The Lord to forgive you for? Just simply pray and tell Him what you did (confess) and He will forgive you.

His Word, The Bible, instructs us in 1 John 1:9 —
9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

Are you all confessed up and purified from your mistakes? If not….ask for it. Just always remember when you ask for God’s forgiveness, He gives it. He doesn’t hold grudges like mankind does.

Happy Wednesday! Be blessed and be a blessing,

~M

“Blessings God’s Way”

“Blessings God’s Way”
Luke 6:20-23 (NLT) from Biblegateway.com
20-Then Jesus turned to his disciples and said, “God blesses you who are poor, for the Kingdom of God is yours. 21-God blesses you who are hungry now, for you will be satisfied. God blesses you who weep now, for in due time you will laugh. 22-What blessings await you when people hate you and exclude you and mock you and curse you as evil because you follow the Son of Man. 23-When that happens, be happy! Yes, leap for joy! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, their ancestors treated the ancient prophets that same way.

These 4 verses are a reminder to all Believers that God will cherish you forever.

Notes from Verse 20:
Then Jesus turned to his disciples and said,“God blesses you who are poor for the Kingdom of God is yours.”

Wealth and riches mean nothing to God. After all He owns everything. He created mankind and He sees everything. He tells us that we are blessed not by our pocket book, but by Him and Him Alone. If you want to go to Heaven, then put God first and get saved.

Notes from Verse: 21:
God blesses you who are hungry now for you will be satisfied. God blesses you who weep now for in due time you will laugh.

Have you ever said this phrase: “I’m so hungry I could eat ___________?”
Just as God gave us the desire to eat physical food, He also implanted a desire within all Believers to want, crave, and hunger for Spiritual Food. The unbelievers want, crave, and hunger for physical food. In fact, everyone does (both believers and nonbelievers) want, crave, and hunger for physical food. We need food or we will die of starvation. It’s the same way with Christ. “If we Confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart that God raised Him from the dead, then we shall be saved.” (Romans 10:9). If you are TRULY saved, you will desire more than physical food. You, BELIEVERS, will desire Spiritual Food. You will crave the Word of God. You will hunger for the Word of God and want more of Him and less of yourselves. God even promises us that He will satisfy our hunger for Him. Now fill in the blank: I’m so hungry I could eat ___________?

Is there someone in your life that you pray for all the time and even cry for them to be saved? Do you long to be in the presence of God so bad that you weep? If you answered yes, then remember the promise from God that your weeping will turn to laughing. This life is only for a season. Eternal Life is unending. You can either choose Jesus and go to Heaven or simply do nothing and go to Hell. It’s your choice. I pray you accept Jesus as your Lord. I plead with you to not reject the Savior Jesus Christ.

Notes from Verse: 22
22-What blessings await you when people hate you and exclude you and mock you and curse you as evil because you follow the Son of Man.

As a Christian and a Pastor, I can relate heavily to this verse. In mylifetime, I’ve been yelled at, mocked, been excluded from things because “I am the Pastor”, and many more things. My sweet wife was belittled by one of her teachers in high school because of her belief in Christ.

Yet, I love being a Christian and a Pastor. Some of you are saying is this guy crazy. I mean who in their right mind would subject themselves to any of these daily experiences? I have only this to say: 22-What blessings await you when…

Notes from Verse 23:
23-When that happens, be happy! Yes, leap for joy! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, their ancestors treated the ancient prophets that same way.

This verse is without a doubt very hard for Believers to follow. Even seasoned Believers have trouble keeping this verse in check. Yet “Jesus said, be happy! Yes, leap for joy!” I don’t know about you, but it hurts when people are mean to me.

True Christianity and Blessings God’s Way is putting into practice verse 23. “Be happy and leap for joy. For a great reward awaits you in heaven.” Jesus gives us a promise that He will reward you for your Faithful Obedience. He also reminds us in the last few words that we are not alone. “And remember, their ancestors treated the ancient prophets that same way.”

What choice will you make today that will prove to others that God is REAL?

From my heart to yours,

Pastor G

(May you be encouraged today and be an encouragement to others)
As my wise grandpa said, it doesn’t cost you anything to SMILE.

Blessings Through the Storms…

This past year has been one of my hardest ever. I have struggled and struggled with countless illnesses, vehicle troubles (both vehicles having dead batteries on the same day…flat tire that had to be replaced and only the dealership could order and put a new one on…both kids having surgery (our son (age 5) had his 4th set of tubes, our daughter (age 6) had her tonsils out and her first set of tubes)…foundation on house had to be repaired…our dishwasher died, our air conditioner’s control board fried (had to get new one and was without central air in south Louisiana for almost a week)…my dad having a stroke (and not being able to go see him due to my illnesses)…and several more things.

There were times when I just wanted to throw my hands up and say, “Lord, I give up! I can’t take it anymore!” But, I kept enduring the storm because I knew that the Lord was growing me through this time. If you focus on the negatives, then you allow Satan to take your joy away. Now, some positives that I experienced…Our children aren’t near as sick as they were, foundation has been repaired, an anonymous donor purchased us a new dishwasher, our air conditioner could be fixed and we found a window unit to keep us cool as we spent extra quality time together as family, we grew closer to the Lord and closer as a family unit. God has sent people in our lives to encourage us and to hold us up when it felt like our world was crashing down. To those people, “Thank you! You will never know how much that meant to us. You are a blessing to our family and to the Kingdom of God!”

During this time of struggle, God led me to several scriptures and directed me towards this song called, “Blessings by Laura Story”, that just described what I was going through so well. It truly ministered to me. I even set this song to replay in my van for a year. I hope these scriptures and the lyrics to her song bless you as much as they me.

James 1:2-4 – “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

Ezekiel 36:26 —“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”

1 Peter 5:10 – “And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.”

Lyrics from Blessings by Laura Story

We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
And we cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
All the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we’d have faith to believe

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
And what if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know the pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy
And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise

Let your blessings rain down, Lord!! Be blessed and be a blessings to others!
~M

Love…

Hello readers! I am Pastor G’s wife, M. I will be sharing pieces of my heart with you on Mondays and Thursdays. Pastor G will be writing on the other days. We have been so very blessed to work in ministry together for the past eleven years!

I love this time of year. The season starts to change from summer to fall. The kids go back to school. (We have a kindergartner and a first grader!) Football season. But, mainly, this time of year reminds me of when I met my husband. I can’t help but just sit back and smile as precious memories come flooding back. I can still feel the butterflies in my stomach on the day we first met. It is quite a story. I think I will share a little of it, so you can get to know us a little better.

We were both attending college at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. I had just started my sophomore year. G had just transferred to OBU for his senior year. He was getting ready to graduate from Henderson State University, but felt the Lord call him across the street to OBU. 🙂 I was at cheer practice in the gym, when I heard an unfamiliar voice, “Hey M! You looking fine!” I was quite embarrassed. I had no clue who he was. Later that evening, I got a call from a friend asking me to come by their new apartment and watch movies. So, I went…..Yep, G was his new room mate! It was a set up! We have been pretty inseparable since. We met Fall 2001, feel head over heels in love, and married right after finals in May 2002.

What is love?! Love is best defined in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8:

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”

I have learned that love is not just a feeling, but it is an action. It requires effort from both parties. I love my husband deeply. My love for him grows daily. But, I must always remember to love God the most!

So, today, I challenge you to write a love letter to The One who made your heart–Jesus, and the one who holds your heart on Earth. Just remember to be blessed and be a blessing to others! God is Love!

~M.