Following the Right Path

Though hindsight is 20/20 vision, most people would prefer not to exercise it. – Anon

Proverbs 14:25 and 16:12, there has to be a reason God had this sentiment recorded twice. Hmm!

You see it almost daily. Little children being held by the hand of their parents. But yet they tug, squirm, and pull trying to break free. To exercise their independence, confident that they can navigate this world on their own. We smile knowingly, but in truth it's a picture of us with God. As He tries to lead us, we confidently break away -thinking this path/way is better. As He tries to instruct us - we refuse His teaching and foolishly say we know better, often thinking His ways are antiquated and out of touch with reality. But yet, He stands by and patiently waits for us to realize who's WHO! If life has taught us anything it's that 'God the Father Knows Best' and He will never lead us astray. Open arms are awaiting anyone wishing to return to Him.

Until tomorrow...

Pastor Botts

"He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake...." - Psalm 23:3

Getting Strong Now

To be physically fit, one has to actually get ‘physical.’ - Anon

David was a valiant warrior because he trained himself to be one, just ask Saul. OUCH!

Whether we want to believe it or not, this great God we serve has a plan for every aspect of our lives, and that actually includes provisions for our physical well-being. True, most of us work hard at work, but we seldom work hard on our health. But God expects us to do so “bodily exercise is of value.” (I Tim. 4:8). Our culture and society is one where leisure is glorified and mass consumption is worshiped. But God did not create us to live lives of gluttony or laziness. He created us to do far greater things. The truth is the more we exercise and learn to say ‘no’ to those times of temptation to just skip it or give in, the stronger we also grow in our battle to resist the enemy in his other deceptive tactics upon our lives, and in both cases we become better fit to serve.

Until tomorrow…

Pastor Botts

“….so, whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God…” – I Corinthians 10:31

Living in the Today

Best exercise for stress relief – release your grip on tomorrow. – M. Barroso

Jesus told his disciples he didn’t even know where he would lay his head to sleep. But you know, that didn’t bother him one bit. Hmm!

Tomorrow! A simple word meaning ‘the next day.’ Doesn’t sound ominous, overbearing, or threatening in any form of fashion. But yet it brings great anxiety to us. Why? Simply because we try to bring all of its anticipated cares, issues, and needs into today. We begin to worry if we’ll have enough strength, resources, ability, etc., to meet the needs of it, often forgetting that tomorrow is not even promised to us. We need to relax and remember that if indeed it does come we have a God who promised to meet our needs for the day. And He’s never failed us yet, for it’s an impossibility for God to fail. So, it’s far better for us to just live in the TODAY God has granted and do all we can leaving the rest up to Him.

Until tomorrow...

Pastor Botts

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:34

P.S. - Please join us on campus today at 5:30pm for our monthly prayer gathering.

THIS Is The Way

Though hindsight is 20/20 vision, most people would prefer not to exercise it. - Anon

Proverbs 14:12 and 16:25, there has to be a reason God had this sentiment recorded twice. Hmm! [There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.]

You see it almost daily. Little children being held by the hand of their parents. But yet they tug, squirm, and pull trying to break free. To exercise their independence, confident that they can navigate this world on their own. We smile knowingly, but in truth it's a picture of us with God. As He tries to lead us, we confidently break away -thinking this path/way is better. As He tries to instruct us - we refuse His teaching and foolishly say we know better, often thinking His ways are antiquated and out of touch with reality. But yet, He stands by and patiently waits for us to realize who's WHO! If life has taught us anything it's that 'God the Father Knows Best' and He will never lead us astray. Open arms are awaiting anyone wishing to return to Him.

Until tomorrow...

Pastor Botts

"He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake...." - Psalm 23:3

Let's Get Physical

Exercise does not take time

out of your life. It puts life in your time. – L. Maxwell

David's young warriors

would often play a round of 'spirited' games to keep their skills and bodies

ready. Hmm!

Though we are steadily

progressing via technology, automation, robotics, etc., we still live in busy

times and there will never enough hours in the day. Be that as it may, God has

so designed the human body to require some sort of physical exercise for

maintenance. Physical exercise helps the body spur on certain chemical processes

that aid in health, healing, stress reduction, and longevity, not to mention it

serves as an aid in spiritual and emotional development. And I think those are

all positives in this business of life and godly living. So we should all take

time to maintain “the temple’s” appearance. 

Until tomorrow……

Pastor Botts

“For physical training is of some value, but

godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present

life and the life to come.” - I Timothy 4:8

Pray Ahead

It’s good to believe in prayer, but what we believe about prayer is far greater. – Bill Pile

Daniel prayed 3 times a day. Jesus prayed before every decision, miracle, or move He made. Their results speak loudly! Hmm...

The average person will say they believe a healthy diet and exercise is good for the body, but rarely will they do it. They will say they know they need to save money before an emergency arises, but again, it’s rare if they do. We’re told to ‘pray without ceasing’ but….. Most of us as Christians do pray. However, if we were to look at our prayer life we would see we’re often praying ‘after the fact’ rather than before the storm; which shows our belief about prayer is somewhat lacking. If prayer is able to “change things” or “move God” should we not be asking ahead?

Until tomorrow……

Pastor Botts

“[Uzziah] did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Amaziah had done. He sought God during the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God. As long as he sought the Lord, God gave him success.” – II Chronicles 26:4-5

Stretched Thin

Stretching may be good for exercise, but not so for life. – Anon

Elijah was ready to give up on life because he thought ‘he’ was the only priest of God left doing the work, but God told him otherwise. Hmm!

Life and all its gifts and opportunities given to us by God was never meant to leave us feeling overworked, over-committed, and completely overwhelmed. But in truth many of us are, we are simply stretched thin. God’s gifts of family, careers, and even pleasure were never meant to supplant Him, but to be enjoyed in a way that brings glory to Him, and being stretched thin does not allow us to give our best to Him. God’s plan has always been that we take time to slow down, enjoy His presence, company, and conversation. If we’re short on time today may be a good time to take a serious look at ‘our priorities.’

Until tomorrow……

Pastor Botts

“Jesus} said to them, ‘Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest…” – Mark 6:31

Nothing at All

Doing nothing gets exactly that:  nothing. – Anon

Ruth refused to just sit idly by and do nothing for herself and Naomi. God rewarded her greatly. Hmm!

Today is here. What do you expect from it? Are you expecting God to do some wonderful things, or are you living with doubt, apprehension, or anxiety. Well, the return of the day will depend on precisely how much faith, energy, and activity we put into the situations God brings our way. For us as believers every day should begin and end with God and His promises.  If we’ve greeted the day in God’s presence and asked Him to do great things, then we should be doing all we can to bring those things to fruition. This is not to say we can force God’s hand, because we can’t; but after our prayers we need to work like we believe God is going to answer. Remember, diligently exercised faith gets rewarded.

Until tomorrow…….

Pastor Botts

“….Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you…” – Matthew 7:7

Do

To be physically fit, one has to actually get ‘physical.’ - Anon

David was a valiant warrior because he trained himself to be one, just ask Saul. OUCH!

Whether we want to believe it or not, this great God we serve has a plan for every aspect of our lives, and that actually includes provisions for our physical well-being. True, most of us work hard at work, but we seldom work hard on our health. But God expects us to do so “bodily exercise is of value.” (I Tim. 4:8). Our culture and society is one where leisure is glorified and mass consumption is worshiped. But God did not create us to live lives of gluttony or laziness. He created us to do far greater things. The truth is the more we exercise and learn to say ‘no’ to those times of temptation to just skip it or give in, the stronger we also grow in our battle to resist the enemy in his other deceptive tactics upon our lives, and in both cases we become better fit to serve.

Until Monday…..

Pastor Botts

“….so, whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God…” – I Corinthians 10:31

Lose some weight

The quickest surefire way to lose excess weight is to stop carrying a grudge. – B. Myers

David said when he 'confessed his sin' to the Lord a great weight had been lifted off of him. Whew!

Most if not all of us always want to look our best. We work out when we can, try to eat healthy when we can, and try to keep ourselves looking as fit as possible. It’s true the bible does say “bodily exercise” is of some value. But we often neglect our ‘inner man” or heart and force it to carry around a lot of unnecessary weight, and that in turn has a heavy toll on our physical well being. I think this is why Jesus gave Peter the great discourse on forgiveness, it was for his own health and eternal benefit. I pray all of our hearts will become a bit leaner and fit today.

Until tomorrow……..

Pastor Botts

“Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, ‘Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?’ Jesus answered, ‘I tell you, not seven times, but seventy seven times.’” – Matthew 18:21-22

Work it!

It’s not the job you work, but how you work the job! – Anon

Paul’s vocation was a tentmaker. Whether he was making them for sale or building one for the Lord (a church) it was all the same to him. Hmm!

Dream Jobs! Everybody seems to have one in mind, which usually includes a tropical locale or no stress or strain; and would let them reach their fullest potential and make a great contribution to society and the world. But often, the dream job we have in mind is not the one God has in mind for us. He knows exactly what he made us for and where we need to be. Whatever the job we have, it is important if it is what God gave us to do. Sometimes it may be a short stint to maybe reach one or two people, other times it may be a long stay to teach us patience or trust. The key is to make any job a work of the heart, not just an exercise of ‘muscle.’

Until tomorrow…..

Pastor Botts

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.” – Colossians 3:23

Take time to work it out!

Exercise does not take time out of your life. It puts life in your time. – L. Maxwell

David's young warriors would often play a round of 'spirited' games to keep their skills and bodies ready. Hmm!

Though we are steadily progressing via technology, automation, robotics, etc., we still live in busy times and there will never enough hours in the day. Be that as it may, God has so designed the human body to require some sort of physical exercise for maintenance. Physical exercise helps the body spur on certain chemical processes that aid in health, healing, stress reduction, and longevity, not to mention it serves as an aid in spiritual and emotional development. And I think those are all positives in this business of life and godly living. So we should all take time to maintain “the temple’s” appearance.

Until tomorrow……

Pastor Botts

“For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” - I Timothy 4:8