Different Lessons Daily

You can learn many things from children – like how much patience you have, for instance. – Franklin P. Jones

Peter vowed to ‘fight to the death’ for Jesus. When the pressure was on he learned his words were hollow. OUCH!

Most people in life don’t mind learning, they just don’t like to be taught. And many of us look for our lessons and learning to come from standardized routine methods, but God works in many diverse ways to show himself to us and teach us his ways. Pressure, blessings, adversity, friends, are just a few of the tools He may use to teach. No day is ever routine no matter how often we do the same thing day in and day out. God will engineer different people in our lives, different circumstances to the job, or even different resources to work with on a daily basis; all in an effort to get us to focus on Him. He will be at work in our lives TODAY hoping we learn more of Him and His ways. The key is to look expectantly at every situation that arises as an invitation.

Until tomorrow…

Pastor Botts

“Consider it pure joy my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know the testing of your faith develops perseverance.” – James 1:2-3

Curiously Defined

Curiosity in children is but an appetite for knowledge, and we are ALWAYS God’s children. - Anon

The heavens 'declaring God's glory' is a hard vision to imagine but it's no less true. WOW!

Awesome! Mighty! Magnificent! These words summon up some colossal thoughts and ideas in our minds, particularly when we try to apply them to our Great God and measure His vast nature. But in truth they are only our definitions to help us and our curious minds. God's nature and character go beyond any description we can come up with. He transcends all of life and its beauty because He Himself created it. And though we can have some vivid imaginations the scriptures tell us He is also able "to do more than we can imagine." If the highest heavens can't contain Him what makes us think we can truly define Him. We should just bask in the truth. He is both Great and Good all the time, and we should seek to know Him in a new and different way today. Now that's a thought worth pondering.

I will be away for a few days so this keyboard will be silent. Until then....

Pastor Botts

".....no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him...." - I Corinthians 2:9

Make the Necessary Adjustments

The best way to predict your future is to create it. – Anon

Through all of his setbacks and heartaches Joseph was successful not so much because God was with him, but more so because he stayed with God. Hmm!

The good thing about life is as God gives us each day we have opportunity to shape our future by what we do today. Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is by choice. Therefore, knowing the destiny we seek; it should help us in our decisions and actions today. No one is born a failure or destined a mediocre life, it’s all in the choices we make and the consequences they bring. God is not against us having a prosperous life, a comfortable lifestyle, or a sunny disposition; He’s only against us having a life without Him at the center of it. So if we’re not happy with where we are or where we’re headed, today is a great opportunity to begin making changes.

Until tomorrow…

Pastor Botts

“This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live..” – Deuteronomy 30:19

Know Your Worth

If you put a small value upon yourself, rest assured that the world will not raise your price. – Anon

Even in captivity, Daniel never forgot who he was nor whom he belonged to. Hmm!

One of the great parodied events of our country's storied history is the “purchase” of Manhattan from the Indians for some ‘trinkets and beads,’ the obvious point being the Indians had no idea of the value of the land they possessed. Often in life, we are somewhat like these fabled Indians, forgetting that we are of the greatest value to our Heavenly Father and His Son. Our worth to God is of much more value that pure gold. We are the children of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, we are royalty. Let no one sell you short today.

Until tomorrow…

Pastor Botts

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” – I Peter 2:9

The Gift of Children

A child's shoulders were not built to bear the weight of poor adult choices. - Anon

Jephthah's rash decision (vow) cost him and his daughter dearly. OUCH!

It's often said "the children are our future." If that be true and it is, it places a great burden on us to make it the best, brightest, and hopeful future it can be. It also means we need to bear in mind the future consequences of our current decisions and actions. Today, we are living in a world with an ever increasing foster kid population, an ever increasing governmental debt burden, an ever increasing adult population where no one wants or takes responsibility for their actions. The time is now for us to realize our children need us more than ever to be the adults they can trust and depend on for a BETTER future. The gift of children overall was that we might build a family heritage and godly offspring. It's not too late to do our part.

Until tomorrow...

Pastor Botts

"Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it." - Proverbs 22:6

Marks of Honor that Really Matter

A Note from God: “My kid saved your honor student.” – Anon

Paul stated he’d rather have Jesus more than anything, counting all his other worldly goods as ‘rubbish.’ WOW!

Whether it be honor student, perfect attendance, club awards, etc., we sometimes do tend to get carried away with notoriety for our children, and oftentimes even with titles for ourselves. Awards and titles have their place in our lives, but we must keep the main thing the main thing. None of this would be possible if it had not been for what Jesus did for us, and secondly and of even more import; none of this means anything if Jesus is not our personal Savior and Lord. Besides, when we get to heaven God is not going to check our credentials for awards or titles, He’s going to check our hearts and bodies for battle scars (the marks of Jesus).

Until Monday…

Pastor Botts

“I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.” – Jude 3

P.S. - Don't forget to turn in your 'Policy & Procedure' sign-off document.

Learn the Language of God

Teach your child to PRAY! You won't be around all their life but God will. - Anon

Jesus loved to see the little children at the temple and often used them as examples. Hmm!

It's a human phenomenon. In every culture children don't come into the world knowing the language of their people. But by continually hearing it spoken by their parents and siblings they learn it's meaning and how to speak and converse with one another. And many go on to learn other languages becoming bi-lingual marvels. It gives rise to a question as to why I think many of us don't pray. We've never really been taught or learned the 'language' of God. Even Jesus' disciples pled with Him to teach them how to pray. And Jesus taught them it was not a formula, order form, or monologue, but a heartfelt conversation with the Father. And what better way to have such a conversation than to know something about how the other person thinks or feels. We need to learn the Word of God in order to better converse with Him in prayer. God's Word is written from His heart and fully wrapped up in His love for us. He's never said prayer has to have a minimum word count nor contain certain phraseology, just recognition of Who He is and who we are AND that we are welcome in His presence.

Until tomorrow...

Pastor Botts

"Train up a child in the way they should go, and when they are old they will not turn from it." - Proverbs 22:6

More In Us

Remember, amateurs built the ark. Professionals built the Titanic. - Anon

Gideon and his rag-tag band of 300 untrained men put to flight a mighty horde of Midianite warriors. Hmm!

We often marvel at great works of art, items of complexity, or models of amazing stature, sometimes wishing we had the ‘know-how’ to do such things. But as grand as these things are, they are just that – things. Too often, when God is seeking action or activity from us directly we wait, trust, or depend on others. But truthfully, there is much more to us than meets the eye, more in us than we give ourselves credit for, if the Spirit of God is present and active in our lives. God never looks at our ability but our availability. He works through people. The thing we need to remember is that God can do anything, with anybody, who is willing to be used of Him. And often it will not be a grand display to be ‘fawned’ over, but a small act that will change a life forever and bring glory to God. Are you ready to be used?

Until tomorrow…

Pastor Botts

“You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” – I John 4:4

Hope you can join us for prayer tonight at 5:30 pm.

Change Is Here

The future has a way of arriving unannounced. – G. Will

Shortly before leaving them for good, Jesus told his disciples The Comforter would come and ‘remind’ them of all He taught them. They were never the same afterward. Hmm!

We are impatient people by nature. We don’t deal well with uncertainty or loose ends. We want concrete answers and timetables. We want to know when things will be done. But our asking God ‘when’ He will do a certain work in our life or the lives of others presupposes what He will do, or to put it in other words ‘what we expect Him to do.’ We often expect God to do something miraculous to mark the change we seek so that we may attribute it to Him vs. coincidence. In reality, God is always at His work in our lives, therefore the ‘when’ is up to us, not Him. He gives us everything we need to defeat every sin we encounter and unlimited access to Him for strength to overcome all spiritual wickedness. The real question we have to answer for ourselves is do we believe God has given us what it takes, and do we have the desire to do it?

Until tomorrow…

Pastor Botts

“Dear friends, now we are the children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him….” – I John 3:2

What We Will Be

True, we were made in God’s image, but rest assured He’s not finished with us yet. – W. Wiersbe

God told Jeremiah that He formed him in his mother’s womb. But he still shaped him for his ministry. AMEN!

Let’s face it, not one of us is the person we used to be – Thank God! But going a little further, hopefully not one of us is the person we truly want to be either. If we were, it would mean God was indeed through with us, our purpose completed. But each new day is another opportunity for Him to work more perfection into our lives. It is easy to get enamored with oneself and our accomplishments, etc., thinking nothing else is necessary, but if we truly think about God’s glory and nature, we soon realize He has a long way to go on each of us. And, unless we’re afraid of hard work; that should really excite us.

Until tomorrow…

Pastor Botts

“Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” – I John 3:2

Seeking Silence

"Stop children, what's that sound? Everybody look what's going round..." -The Muppets "For What It's Worth" 

On the mount, God showed Elijah a lot of noisy events before He spoke to him in a whisper. Whoa!

Shhh! Be quiet! Hush! Familiar words to us all. It's the request for silence. Generally, the only time we seek it is when we want to be heard or we want to go to sleep. From the moment we wake our days are filled with noise. From early morning TV/Radio checks for news or weather, to cell phones ringing or pinging, even to gospel music filling our ears, we're taking in some input. Then it's off to work/school, etc., with the noises of the day. We're on the go until we return home late, tired and worn out, our minds still trying to sort through all the days noisy inputs. Maybe we need to add more silence to our day - not for speaking or sleeping - but listening for God. The psalmist wrote "Be still and know that I am God!" a reminder that we should willfully and intentionally seek quiet moments with God throughout the day. Thinking along these lines I can see why Daniel did it at least 3 times a day. It's a reminder of who we are and WHO GOD IS, but it is also very refreshing. Pray on!

Until tomorrow...

Pastor Botts

"But the Lord is in his holy temple, let all the earth be silent before him." - Habakkuk 2:20

Personally Known

God has no grandchildren; either you know Him personally or you don't know Him at all. - J. Ray

Hannah dedicated her son Samuel to the faith, but God 'called' him to the ministry. And CALLED he was. WOW!

It's both sad and true, but for many of us going to church is something we do because mom and/or dad dragged us there while we were growing up and now we've become 'accustomed' to it. We have inherited our parents religion and we're comfortable with it. But if we must stand before God one day and give an account of ourselves, it is highly apparent we must know God and what He requires of us apart from our relationship to our parents. In other words we must know God for ourselves. Mother and father can do great things but getting us into heaven is not one of them.

Until tomorrow...

Pastor Botts

"...Yet, to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God." - John 1:12

Meet You In The Morning

The best things you can give children, next to good habits, are good memories. - Sydney Harris

The bible says the "parents often brought their children to Jesus and he blessed them." REALLY!

I remember them well, the trips to grandma's house as a child. The moment you approached it your demeanor or attitude changed. Even though it was nestled among other houses on the street hers seemed to project an aura or glow of someone revered, worthy of great respect. As you entered you could sense the love, you spoke in hushed tones, and put on your best manners. If grandma and her house were worthy of such high regard, what about the God we serve? I'm not talking about going to church, we're good at that, but it means little. I'm talking about going to God's house. Preparing our hearts to go. Meeting with Him personally, praising Him passionately, worshiping Him penitently, receiving Him powerfully. And just as we always left grandma's with a full stomach or some other goody, when we worship God completely He will ensure we leave His presence victoriously. Anyone up for this? Sunday's comin'.

Until Monday...

Pastor Botts

"...The memory of the righteous shall be a blessing..." - Proverbs 10:7

Imitating Christ

Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them. – James Baldwin

Isaac, like his father Abraham, was willing to call his wife his sister when it was convenient. Oh, thank God for grace!

Were we all to take a moment and look back over our life, I’m sure we’d find a high percentage of truth in the above statement. In a lot of instances good, bad, or indifferent we have become ‘like parent, like child.’ The phrase “don’t do as I do, do as I say,” carried very little weight, if any at all. I think that is why the Word of God continually commands us to be "light," or "examples" of righteousness not only for our children but for the world, as many will not hear our testimony but they will see it if we live it. May we all imitate Christ today.

Until Monday…

Pastor Botts

“Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” – Ephesians 5:1-2

Read, Meditate and Meet God

The world is a spiritual kindergarten, where thousands of bewildered children are trying to spell ‘GOD’ with all the wrong blocks. – E.A. Robinson

King Solomon. He spared himself no expense nor pleasure to find the true meaning and purpose of life, only to conclude it’s God and His word. Hmm!

We all know what we like and dislike, and we're pretty quick and adamant to let our family, friends, and associates know, so that we'll get the respect, treatment, and cooperation we want. That's just part of our nature, it's what helps to make us who we are. Interestingly enough though, we rarely seem to give that same type of thinking to God and His desires. Often, we just wear ourselves out looking under every rock or behind every tree for the latest fad to draw closer to Him. He's given us His Word that we might know Him deeply, but somehow, we think an open book test is all too easy. Maybe it’s just time for us to read and believe the bible. After all, what have we got to lose?

Until Monday…

Pastor Botts

“Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.” – Psalm 1:1-2

Whose Child Are You?

We honor God’s name when we call Him Father, and actually live like we’re his children. – Anon

Before he started his ministry Jesus was actually known as ‘the carpenter’s’ son. Hmm!

In every family there’s at least one, if not all; of the children, who, when outsiders see or hear them they immediately know this is so and so's child. Every parent loves to hear good things about their children, whether it be about their attitude, appearance, dependability or even their thoughtfulness. It makes their heart joyful. God as our Father is no different. He takes great pride in us when we reflect His character, His nature, and His spirit in such a way others might notice. As the day unfolds before us may we remember to whom we belong!

Until Monday…

Pastor Botts

“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” – Luke 6:46

A Gift Through Sacrifice

"What is man that you are mindful of him....?" - King David

Even after much prayer, it wasn't an easy decision for Hannah, but she kept her promise to God. Hmm!

Years ago there was great public debate about a couple who had another child specifically to take bone marrow from to aid in the health/recovery of their older child. It matters not which way you weighed in on the issue, for the truth is most of us would give ourselves or try and move heaven and earth to save our children. They are our creation and we believe in them and want what's best for them. But along those lines here's the question: would we be willing to sacrifice our children for anyone else, possibly someone we don't even know, or doesn't look like us? The answer is what gives God's gift of His Son such weight and magnitude. He willingly offered up His own Son's blood and life for someone the likes of you/me. Oh, the worst and vilest offenders of the earth - yeah, them too!

Until tomorrow...

Pastor Botts

"...but God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." -Romans 5:8

Child-Like Imagination

Your imagination is your preview of life's coming attractions. - Albert Einstein

Though Joseph’s family didn’t believe in his ‘dreams’ he did, and God brought them to fruition for all their benefit. Hmm!

Child-like faith and understanding is so precious. In such pure circumstances there is nothing ‘too hard’ or ‘impossible’ to do. The present conditions don’t limit the possibilities or potential for things to change. It’s true as we grow older the world becomes smaller and somewhat a bit limited, but that’s the world, not the God we serve. And what’s really sad but true is that most people just really cannot picture themselves or their lives getting any better. They feel they are destined for continual heartache, failure, sub-standard happiness or little joy as it is their ‘cross to bear.’ Jesus did not die to sentence us to gloom and despair and hopelessness, but to set us free to rejoice in all that God has prepared for us here in this life and the next. So, if we’re in a rut it’s only because we’ve imagined ourselves here, we can change the outcome anytime, and today is just as good a starting point as any.

Until tomorrow…

Pastor Botts

“…Jesus said to them, ‘I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” – Matthew 18:2

"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

Child Like Wonder of the Indescribable

Curiosity in children is but an appetite for knowledge. - J. Locke

The heavens 'declaring God's glory' is a hard vision to imagine but it's no less true. WOW!

Awesome! Mighty! Magnificent! These words summon up some colossal thoughts and ideas in our minds, particularly when we try to apply them to our Great God and measure His vast nature. But in truth they are only our definitions to help us and our curious minds. God's nature and character go beyond any description we can come up with. He transcends all of life and its beauty because He Himself created it. And though we can have some vivid imaginations the scriptures tell us He is also able "to do more than we can imagine." If the highest heavens can't contain Him what makes us think we can truly define Him. We should just bask in the truth He is both Great and Good all the time, and seek to know Him in a new and different way today. Now that's a thought worth pondering.

Until tomorrow....

Pastor Botts

".....no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him...." - I Corinthians 2:9