Closet Time With Jesus

A holy life is not lived in the closet, but it cannot survive without one. - Anon

Paul's letters mention how he 'often' prayed for those who came to faith. I'm sure that's not all he prayed for. Hmm!

We wash them in 'Woolite'! We get them professionally dry-cleaned! We hang them properly, sometimes in plastic bags in the closet. What are they, our clothes or garments. Those pieces we always want to look good in, in public. Whether it be clothes, cars, jewelry, etc., we all have things we give much more attention and protection to, ensuring their presentation always draws attention. That should ever be the case with our faith walk with God. It deserves the utmost of care in terms of preparation (study, prayer, fasting) and presentation (avoiding the appearance of sin). It's true that life has a frenetic pace, but it's equally true that we don't have to participate in everything that makes it that way. If our lives are starting to get frayed around the ends, maybe some closet time with Jesus is just what we need.

Until Monday...

Pastor Botts

"......But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father who is unseen....." - Matthew 6:6

Broad Shoulders to Carry Closet Prayers

The closet of prayer is where burdens change shoulders. – Anon

Jesus was constantly in prayer with His Father. The results were clearly evident to all.

Though we are “God’s Children” when facing everyday life, for most of us it seems sometimes we are always overwhelmed, under-prepared, and under a great deal of pressure or stress. It’s true we sometimes get perplexed, persecuted and troubled, etc., but not all the time. We serve a God who is stronger than any situation or circumstance this world can conjure up, and He’s always waiting to hear from us. Whatever we face today we should let the one with broader shoulders (GOD) take care of it for us. He’s waiting in the closet!

Until Monday…

Pastor Botts

“But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret will reward you.” – Matthew 6:6

Spring Clean Up

A trip to nostalgia now and then is good for the spirit, so long as you don’t set up housekeeping. – D. Bartolovic

After witnessing Jesus' transfiguration, Peter wanted to stay there and build altars. God said no, follow My Son. AMEN!

Closets, attics, trunks, garages, refrigerators. What do they all have in common - they are storage spaces. But the other thing they have in common is every so often they need to be cleaned, purged of old useless, spoiled, outdated items. True, some of these items carry great memories, but yet and still they must go to make room for new ones. Even God told His people "forget the past, behold I'm doing a new thing...." All too often our holding on to items, relics, etc., make us complacent and unable to move forward. But move on we must, and the truth is we will experience even greater marvels of God's glory in our lives. So maybe it's time we do a little housecleaning in eager expectation that something good is on the way.

Until tomorrow.....

Pastor Botts

"....But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me......" - Philippians 3:13-14

Closet Time

A holy life is not lived in the closet, but it cannot survive without one. - Anon

Paul's letters mention how he 'often' prayed for those who came to faith. I'm sure that's not all he prayed for. Hmm!

We wash them in 'Woolite'! We get them professionally dry-cleaned! We hang them properly, sometimes in plastic bags in the closet. What are they, our clothes or garments. Those pieces we always want to look good in, in public. Whether it be clothes, cars, jewelry, etc., we all have things we give much more attention and protection to, ensuring their presentation always draws attention. That should ever be the case with our faith walk with God. It deserves the utmost of care in terms of preparation (study, prayer, fasting) and presentation (avoiding the appearance of sin). It's true that life has a frenetic pace, but it's equally true that we don't have to participate in everything that makes it that way. If our lives are starting to get frayed around the ends, maybe some closet time with Jesus is just what we need.

Until tomorrow.....

Pastor Botts

"......But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father who is unseen....." - Matthew 6:6

Nega Prayer

Why worry when you can pray for free? – Anon

Though Sanballat and Tobiah were openly hostile to Nehemiah, he left it in God’s hands and continued to work on rebuilding the wall. He had great success. AMEN!

As long as we live there will always be something going on that begs to get our attention, that seeks to get our focus and energies diverted there – to worry about. When you think about it, worry is really just a negative way of praying. Worry really is just ‘you’ talking to yourself in your head, and allowing the doubts, fears, and unknowns to escape and impact your health. This leads to stress, anxiety, restlessness, lack of focus, and distrust. God invites us to come freely before Him to make our pleas and petitions known, tell Him the desires of our heart; and He will gladly bear our burdens. If your life seems heavy, anxiety filled, or unfocused, maybe you need some ‘closet’ time.

Until Monday…..

Pastor Botts

“…..Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life….” – Matthew 6:27

NOTE: We will not be having Vesper Services this Sunday evening, therefore the Men's Bible Study Group will meet Sunday morning at 9:15am.

Prayer Overcomes Sin

You can't keep praying and sinning at the same time! - Anon

The priest Eli died an inglorious death because of his failure to heed God's commands regarding his sons in the priesthood. Hmm!

This life is full of absolutes like: "What goes up must come down!" or "Everyone may not grow up, but they do grow older..." Absolutes are those tried, tested, never failing rules that we are governed by. And in our attempt to live a godly life there is this absolute: 'You can't keep praying and sinning at the same time! You will soon give one of them up, but not both. As we look at our lives the question we have to answer is which one? And in truth, the answer will be totally obvious, not only to ourselves but to those around us. God is able to change our heart, attitude, tame our tongue, control our temper, and even our primal urges. So if we're not changing in any of these areas maybe it's because we've stopped going into our prayer closet. The good thing is God is still waiting.

Until Monday....

Pastor Botts

"No one who lives in Him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen Him or known Him." - I John 3:6

P.S. - Don't forget this Sunday at 9AM. Exciting stuff happening at our Roundtable Discussions.

P.S.S. - I would like to invite all Auxiliary Heads/Ministry Leaders to our monthly business meeting tomorrow at 10AM in Parmes Hall.

Prayer Closet

The closet of prayer is where burdens change shoulders. – Anon

Jesus was constantly in prayer with His Father. The results were clearly evident to all.

Though we are “God’s Children” when facing everyday life, for most of us it seems sometimes we are always overwhelmed, under-prepared, and under a great deal of pressure or stress. It’s true we sometimes get perplexed, persecuted and troubled, etc., but not all the time. We serve a God who is stronger than any situation or circumstance this world can conjure up, and He’s always waiting to hear from us. Whatever we face today we should let the one with broader shoulders (GOD) take care of it for us. He’s waiting in the closet!

Until Monday…..

Pastor Botts

“But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret will reward you.” – Matthew 6:6