Eyes On the REAL Prize

Gaze at God, glance at life. - Carlos Whittaker

After all his great feats, accomplishments, and life projects, Solomon set his eyes back firmly on God and His commands. Hmm!

In school we make a plan, we plot our courses, electives, and time such that we come out with our preferred degree objective BA, BS, MBA, Doctorate, etc. This is great for our earthly existence, but what about our spiritual growth? Do we ever make a plan, plot out prayer/study time, seek opportunities/classes to help us grow in our spiritual disciplines. It is a proven fact that the way to get better at anything is through study and application. The bible tells us the undisciplined life is the way of a fool. It's not that God is trying to force us into a structured way of ritual living, but more of a communal way of walking with Him more closely like Enoch. And hey, that had a great ending!

Until Monday...

Pastor Botts

"[Abraham] was looking forward to the city without foundations, whose architect and builder is God." - Hebrews 11:10

Immortal Acts of Sevice

What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal. – A. Pike

The folks in Hebrews 11 are mentioned not so much for themselves, but for what they did, why they did it, and WHO they believed in. AMEN!

Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Dr. King, Cesar Chavez – just a few names of ordinary people of our day who did extraordinary things that are not forgotten, because they did it to benefit mankind and others, not themselves. Their acts of sacrifice have opened many doors and paved many avenues for a host of others to benefit from, simply because they believed in the greater good of mankind. This world can be so demanding and cruel that we lose sight of our calling to help others, for it is in the helping of others that we help ourselves most. God designed us all the same way he designed those who have gone before us, so the potential lies within us. Today is a gift He has given that we may prove Him right.

Until tomorrow…

Pastor Botts

“By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did….he was commended as a righteous man…And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.” – Hebrews 11:4

Make Room for New Blessings

To grab hold of your blessings you must let go of your problems. - Anon

Mary took the angel Gabriel at his word, and the rest is His-story. AMEN!

Garage sales, flea markets. Great concepts and outlets for getting rid of things you no longer need. After all, it's been said "one person's trash is someone else's treasure!" But the idea behind these events is to get rid of stuff you no longer need and possibly make a little money to apply toward something else you want. In other words make room for something new. I wonder if we ever consider such logic in our faith walk. Many of us are seeking the blessings and favor of God, who is ready and willing to give it, but we so often don't want to release or give up the issue God points out to us that is standing in the way, or even the problem we brought before Him. Though God doesn't withhold any good thing from us He surely would like us to use it in a way that glorifies Him, therefore He often waits on us. If your blessing seems to be held up in transit, maybe you should check your heart.

Until tomorrow...

Pastor Botts

"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." - Hebrews 11:6

How Do You Want to Be Remembered?

Life is for one generation only. A good name is forever. – Japanese Proverb

Noah, Abraham, Job, Ruth. Mary, Lazarus, Peter. No matter the time period, each one only lived a short time, yet their names and life stories are never forgotten. HMM!

“What will it matter 100 years from now?” It’s a common refrain heard throughout our lives. It’s as if to say nothing we do has any eternal value or could possibly offer any one coming behind us anything of import. But the truth of the matter is everything we do has eternal significance. The circumstances and situations we deal with TODAY help determine our tomorrows and our eternal destiny, and will be remembered one way or another. Every action of ours has a rippling effect on our children, friends, acquaintances, and society. The question God leaves for us to answer is "how do we want to be remembered?"

Until tomorrow…….

Pastor Botts

“By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings." - Hebrews 11:4

Know Enough to Have Faith

Our intense need to understand will always be a powerful stumbling block in our attempts to reach God…. – Anon

The Athenians who had gods for everything wanted to ‘know more’ about the True God Paul presented before they would believe anything he said. Hmm!

By nature, we are knowledge-seeking people. We want to know how things work, how they came about, what happens when… Knowledge is wonderful, insightful, helpful, but it is just that – knowledge. Knowledge of itself tends to breed conceit and self-worth. Academia is wonderful, but when we have come to the point where it is often left up to the ‘scientist’ or ‘academician’ to determine real truth or what is noteworthy – this all too often casts God aside, which in turn leads to a derelict nation. And the gist of all the knowledge in the world could never explain, or purely define ‘love.’ Love is what it takes to live by faith, hope for a brighter tomorrow, and God alone holds the patent on love. In His word He just asks us try not to fully understand Him but to just ‘trust’ Him. As the day unfolds will you question or trust?

Until tomorrow…

Pastor Botts

“Without faith, it is impossible to please God…” – Hebrews 11:6

P.S. – Our fast begins at 8am and ends at 5pm, plus starting today you give up 1 electronic entertainment device (i.e. TV, gaming system, phone games, etc.)

True Test of Legacy

What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others. – Pericles

Solomon realized all his building and creating were nothing but works of vanity. He said “knowing God is what counted most.” Hmm!

Drive by any cemetery and you will see them. Magnificent headstones, supposed monuments giving testimony to the one who is buried beneath. But the true test of a legacy is what is left behind in the lives of those we touch. The idea for this life God gifts to us is to make the present moment better for those around us and for those coming behind us. We’re not to take out of life but add joy and peace to it. And we need not a wide circle to influence, for just as a pebble creates an ever expanding ripple on a pond, a little influence can indeed go a long way in someone’s life. All we need do is just think where we would be without God.

Until Monday…

Pastor Botts

"By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did….when God spoke well of his offering. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.” – Hebrews 11:4

Reviving Our Faith through the Diagram

Faith is not a thing which one "loses," we merely cease to shape our lives by it. – G. Bernanos

When the Prodigal Son moved away from his father and his God, it wasn’t long before he realized what shape he was really in. Hmm!

Growing up one of the things we were taught was to ‘color in between’ the lines. No matter what the diagram or picture was we were instructed to color ‘inside’ the shape. This was not really just an object lesson on creativity but also an important life lesson on structure and discipline, for without structure or discipline life becomes meaningless and unfulfilling. Could you imagine trying to play hop-scotch, or basketball, or even checkers without a meaningful diagram to aid you? So it is with our faith, when we cease to live by it we become adrift in a world which does not care nor have our best interests at heart. And prolonged drifting begins to change or harden our hearts and ways towards God and others. The good news though is that we can revive our faith simply by coming back to God and allowing Him to reshape us.

Until tomorrow...

Pastor Botts

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.” – Hebrews 11:1-2

True Test of Faith

When you get to the end of all light and reason that you know, and it's time to step into the realm of the unknown, faith is knowing that 1 of 2 things will happen: Either you will be given something solid to stand on, or you will be taught how to fly. – E. Telle

Abram had no concrete reason to leave his family, country, and kindred; but because God said so he did. It worked out better than he imagined. Hmm!

Columbus sailed to prove the world was round, he wasn’t completely sure but had faith it was. The Wright brothers risked life and limb because they had faith that man could one day fly across the sky. Men and women like them have often come before us and with nothing but faith in God and faith in themselves, have made great lives for themselves and others. The true test of faith is not having everything in hand or life completely ordered before stepping out, it’s stepping out fully trusting God will make a way, and with whatever He provides it will be sufficient for the task. God can still do the impossible, but we have to have the faith to attempt it first.

Until tomorrow…

Pastor Botts

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.” – Hebrews 11:1-2

God IN The Blessing

Good vision consists of being able to see the trees and the forest. Great vision sees the maker. – O. Battista

When Jesus healed the blind man of Bethsaida, he was able to physically see, yet he missed out knowing WHO truly healed him. Hmm!

For the most part we are a grateful people. We often take time to thank God for our blessings and what He has done in our lives, but often we miss the very essence of God Himself within the blessings He gives, or even the understanding of what He is doing in our lives when He is doing it. Just as Jesus stood before Pilate who was so focused on tradition and man-made doctrines he ‘missed’ God before his very eyes; we sometimes get so caught up in the blessing God sends we fail to see the 'spirit of God' in the blessing. Hindsight is 20/20 vision, but we should pray that we will see God often face to face today.

Until tomorrow…

Pastor Botts

"By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went. Even though he did not know where he was going…For he was looking forward to the city with foundations whose architect and builder is God.” – Hebrews 11:8,10

Certain It Will All Work Out In The End

Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out. – V. Havel

The Hebrew children standing before the fiery furnace didn’t know what God would do, but they knew God. AMEN!

Too often we as Christians soft peddle the gospel. We often try to make it appear to everyone that God works everything out to our joy and satisfaction, there’s no pain or suffering, no down moments in life, and that all is hunky dory. That kind of faith and hope is shallow and unscriptural. The faith and hope God searches our hearts for is where we trust Him no m

atter what the outcome may bring because He’s secured us already through Christ. This understanding allows us to have joy no matter what circumstances we’re in because we know in the end it will work out. The reason it hasn’t worked out just yet for us is because this isn’t the end.

Until tomorrow….

Pastor Botts

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.” – Hebrews 11:1-2

"Because" Faith

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for…… - Hebrews 11:1

It took Nathaniel a minute when he first met Jesus, but after that he ‘believed.’ WOW!

BECAUSE! What a word. Usually it is followed by a rational or logical reason as to why something occurred, “this happened because this or that…..” That’s how we as adults understand its use. But it wasn’t always that way. As children we took it purely by faith. We’d ask our parents or someone we trusted a question, and often the answer was the single word ‘because’ and we were completely satisfied. This is the kind of faith God is searching for in our hearts today: childlike, unpretentious, trusting faith. He doesn’t mind us asking or even testing Him at times, but eventually we should get to a point where “‘because’ God said it, it’s settled and I’ll trust Him in it". The when, where, how, etc., is His business, ours is just to trust and believe it will come to pass.

Until tomorrow…

Pastor Botts

“….[Jesus said]…I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” – Matthew 18:3

Sunglasses of Faith

Some things have to be believed to be seen. – A. Hodgson

Noah had never seen rain in his life, but that didn’t stop him from building the ark. It came in handy later on. WOW!

We readily “ooh” and “aah” and applaud thunderously at magicians with their sleight of hand, smoke and mirrors, and trick angle presentations to amuse us, though we know its trickery. But everyday God presents an incomparable array of natural beauty, windows of great opportunity, and unconditional love; yet He barely gets a raised eyebrow from most. We often miss it because of our self-centered focus. God does reward those who truly seek after Him, for it is only through the eyes of faith that we can actually see Him at work, and when we do it is a most beautiful sight. If we’ve been missing God, it’s not because He’s not there, it’s because we have too much glare (distractions) in our lives. Maybe we need to put on the sunglasses of faith to see a bit more clearly.

Until tomorrow…..

Pastor Botts

“By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice….Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.” – Hebrews 11:17,19

P.S. - Hello Southside Family. Today is the National Day of Prayer. I'm asking, if you're able, for us to fast and pray until NOON today. Using Luke 18:1 as a guide pray that this world crisis will begin to turn our hearts back to God.

The Shape of Your Faith

Faith is not a thing which one "loses," we merely cease to shape our lives by it. – G. Bernanos

When the Prodigal Son moved away from his father and his God, it wasn’t long before he realized what shape he was really in. Hmm!

Growing up one of the things we were taught was to ‘color in between’ the lines. No matter what the diagram or picture was we were instructed to color ‘inside’ the shape. This was not really just an object lesson on creativity but also an important life lesson on structure and discipline, for without structure or discipline life becomes meaningless and unfulfilling. Could you imagine trying to play hop-scotch, or basketball, or even checkers without a meaningful diagram to aid you? So it is with our faith, when we cease to live by it we become adrift in world which does not care nor have our best interests at heart. And prolonged drifting begins to change or harden our hearts and ways towards God and others. The good news though is that we can revive our faith simply by coming back to God and allowing Him to reshape us.

Until tomorrow…..

Pastor Botts

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.” – Hebrews 11:1-2

P.S. - We will be holding Bible Study tonight for those who would like to come out. Your prayers are always appreciated!

Faith or Certainty?

Faith sometimes has to travel under sealed orders. – Oswald Sanders

Abram left his country, his people, and his father’s house without a clue as to where God was sending him. He TRUSTED that God knew. Amen!

In certain hierarchical situations information is only given when completely necessary. The lack of vital information however does not in any way relieve any of the subordinates of their duty, they are to trust that the commanding officers know what is best. God is the same with us at times asking us to trust Him and go forth without fully understanding it all, but trusting He knows best. If we are to be contagious we must first be courageous. If we need to see and understand everything before we do anything for God, that’s not faith, it’s certainty. The question we must answer is: are we willing to go, not knowing where or why?

Until tomorrow……

Pastor Botts

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.” – Hebrews 11:1-2

Today's scripture reading: Proverbs 23

Today's scripture reading question: reflecting on verse 23 How does one 'buy' the truth of God?

Spiritual Discipline

Gaze at God, glance at life. - C. Whitaker

After all his great feats, accomplishments, and life projects, Solomon set his eyes back firmly on God and His commands. Hmm!

In school we make a plan, we plot our courses, electives, and time such that we  come out with our preferred degree objective BA, BS, MBA, Doctorate, etc. This is great for our earthly existence, but what about our spiritual growth? Do we ever make a plan, plot out prayer/study time, seek opportunities/classes to help us grow in our spiritual disciplines. It is a proven fact that the way to get better at anything is through study and application. The bible tells us the undisciplined life is the way of a fool. It's not that God is trying to force us into a structured way of ritual living, but more of  a communal way of walking with Him more closely like Enoch. And hey, that had a great ending!

Until tomorrow.....

Pastor Botts 

"[Abraham] was looking forward to the city without foundations, whose architect and builder is God." - Hebrews 11:10

Monumental Effect

What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others. – Pericles

Solomon realized all his building and creating were nothing but works of vanity. He said “knowing God is what counted most.” Hmm!

Drive by any cemetery and you will see them. Magnificent headstones, supposed monuments giving testimony to the one who is buried beneath. But the true test of a legacy is what is left behind in the lives of those we touch. The idea for this life God gifts to us is to make the present moment better for those around us and for those coming behind us. We’re not to take out of life but add joy and peace to it. And we need not a wide circle to influence, for just as a pebble creates an ever expanding ripple on a pond, a little influence can indeed go a long way in someone’s life. All we need do is just think where we would be without God.

Until tomorrow….

Pastor Botts

“By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did….when God spoke well of his offering. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.” – Hebrews 11:4

Faith to Heal the Nations

Our intense need to understand will always be a powerful stumbling block in our attempts to reach God…. –  Anon

The Athenians who had gods for everything wanted to ‘know more’ about the True God Paul presented before they would believe anything he said. Hmm!

By nature we are a knowledge seeking people. We want to know how things work, how they came about, what happens when… Knowledge is wonderful, insightful, helpful, but it is just that – knowledge. Knowledge of itself tends to breed conceit and self-worth. Academia is wonderful, but when we have come to the point where it is often left up to the ‘scientist’  or ‘academician’ to determine real truth or what is noteworthy – this all too often casts God aside, which in turn leads to a derelict nation. And the gist of all the knowledge in the world could never explain, or purely define ‘love.’ Love is what it takes to live by faith, hope for a brighter tomorrow, and God alone holds the patent on love. In His word He just asks us try not to fully understand Him but to just ‘trust’ Him. As the day unfolds will you question or trust?

Until tomorrow….

Pastor Botts

“Without faith, it is impossible to please God…” – Hebrews 11:6

Trust the Guide

If faith can see every step of the way, it is not faith. – W. Barclay

At the wedding feast of Cana, Jesus’ mother told the servants to do whatever he asked of them. She didn’t know what he would do, but she knew he would do something. Hmm!

Pin the tail on the donkey – now that was a game we all relished. First they blindfold you, then spin you around and let you loose with a sharp object. And we trusted them to guide us with their shouts of “you’re getting warmer/colder” and generally it worked. As kids we never saw it as a game of faith, but that’s exactly what it was, trusting others to lead you. God asks the same of us as adults, to trust Him to lead and guide the way. But the difference is God is not asking us to go blindly into something, but to go trusting that He will get us there. He’s been there and knows the path. It may not always be safe, secure, and without apprehension, but just as we had no fear from those we played ‘pin the tail on’ with, we should have no fear God will not keep us by His grace. To walk with God is not to see where He’s leading us but to see Him.

Until tomorrow…..

Pastor Botts

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see….” – Hebrews 11:1

Making it Happen

If opportunity isn’t knocking, maybe you need to build a door! – Anon

Zacchaeus had much more on his mind than just ‘seeing’ Jesus when he climbed that tree. Hmm!

So often we wonder why it seems others are prospering, getting invitations, answers, and results when it seems we’re in the midst of the most arid desert around. Sadly, the answer may be us. Could we be unapproachable, where our demeanor or attitude turns people off? Could we be unavailable, where our time or our rank in life is so valuable that those we deem of no help to us we shun? Or could we just be lazy, missing out on wave after wave of opportunity God sends our way because it might require us getting out of our comfort zone. The good news is that to turn it around all we need to do is look within, and then fall on our knees. God has ample work to be done, and as we offer ourselves to Him and His kingdom building purposes, we’ll soon find out that the harder we work the ‘luckier’(more blessed) we seem to become.

Until tomorrow…..

Pastor Botts

“….and that He rewards those who earnestly seek after Him…” – Hebrews 11:6

A Good Lasting Mark

Life is for one generation only. A good name is forever. – Japanese Proverb

Noah, Abraham, Job, Ruth.  Mary, Lazarus, Peter. No matter the time period, each one only lived a short time, yet their names and life stories are never forgotten. HMM!

“What will it matter 100 years from now?” It’s a common refrain heard throughout our lives. It’s as if to say nothing we do has any eternal value or could possibly offer any one coming behind us anything of import. But the truth of the matter is everything we do has eternal significance. The circumstances and situations we deal with TODAY help determine our tomorrows and our eternal destiny, and will be remembered one way or another. Every action of ours has a rippling effect on our children, friends, acquaintances, and society. The question God leaves for us to answer is "how do we want to be remembered?"

Until tomorrow…….

Pastor Botts

“By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings." - Hebrews 11:4