No Cheat Days

The first and worst of all frauds is to cheat oneself. – G. Bailey

When Ananais and his wife Sapphira tried to 'cheat' the Holy Spirit with their offering, they realized too late they were actually cheating themselves as well. Hmm!

In this day and age we ought to be truly THANKFUL that God does not deal with us today as He directly dealt with them then. But the truth of the matter is still the same. When we cheat or defraud ourselves we are in essence defrauding the Spirit God has placed within each of us, and limiting its potential to do great things in our lives. God deserves our best, and just because we may not 'feel' like giving our best or think it's too much at the time, we are not God nor do we sit in His place. May our best shine forth today!

Until tomorrow…

Pastor Botts

“If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” –James 1:26-27

Are You Willing To Change?

To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly. - H. Bergson

Though Jesus was pronounced 'The Savior' at his birth, he actually grew into the role. Hmm!

The beautiful butterfly we see today was once an unappealing caterpillar. What happened - transformation or change. Transformation is what God is after in our lives as well. But there has to be a willingness on our part and that willingness has to be complete and total submission to God. When we skeptically enter the process with limitations already in place - lines we won't cross OR methods we won't accept - we've handicapped the process before it begins and shown we really aren't willing. The caterpillar has to completely surrender (die to self) in his cocoon to become the beautiful butterfly we later see. We should look on the cocoons of our life not with disgust, but with appreciation for what happens in them as God works to beautify and perfect us even more. More change is coming, and that's actually a good thing.

Until tomorrow...

Pastor Botts

"...The Twelve were with him, and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out." - Luke 8:1-2

The Trust Factor

It is impossible to go through life without trust. It leads to being imprisoned in the worst jail cell of all, ‘oneself.’ – G. Greene

God ‘trusted’ in man. Jesus ‘trusted’ in the apostles. There seems to be a pattern here. Hmm!

Were we to look back over our lives, each of us could see progress made in several areas, maybe not as much as we would have liked, but progress nonetheless. And if we look a little deeper we can see we did not do it alone, we had help. Help from God and help from others. But to receive help we had to trust the one giving the help. Trust is one of the foundational pillars of faith and love. If we had no faith we could not trust anyone in even the simplest things (doctors, cooks, drivers, spouses, etc.) for we could never be sure their intent was not to harm us. And if we have not faith in someone it would be impossible to love them. It’s a very refreshing thought to know that God loves us and has faith in us.

Until tomorrow…..

Pastor Botts

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” – Proverbs 3:5-6

Giving the Best

The first and worst of all frauds is to cheat oneself. – G. Bailey

When Ananais and his wife Sapphira tried to 'cheat' the Holy Spirit with their offering, they realized too late they were actually cheating themselves as well. Hmm!

In this day and age we ought to be truly THANKFUL that God does not deal with us today as He directly dealt with them then. But the truth of the matter is still the same. When we cheat or defraud ourselves we are in essence defrauding the Spirit God has placed within each of us, and limiting its potential to do great things in our lives. God deserves our best, and just because we may not 'feel' like giving our best or think it's too much at the time, we are not God nor do we sit in His place. May our best shine forth today!

Until tomorrow……

Pastor Botts

“If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” –James 1:26-27

Don't Cheat Yourself

The first and worst of all frauds is to cheat oneself. – G. Bailey

When Ananais and his wife Sapphira tried to 'cheat' the Holy Spirit with their offering, they realized too late they were actually cheating themselves as well. Hmm!

In this day and age we ought to be truly THANKFUL that God does not deal with us today as He directly dealt with them then. But the truth of the matter is still the same. When we cheat or defraud ourselves we are in essence defrauding the Spirit God has placed within each of us, and limiting its potential to do great things in our lives. God deserves our best, and just because we may not 'feel' like giving our best or think it's too much at the time, we are not God nor do we sit in His place. May our best shine forth today!

Until tomorrow……

Pastor Botts

“If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” –James 1:26-27

Trust Faith Love

It is impossible to go through life without trust. It leads to being imprisoned in the worst jail cell of all, ‘oneself.’ – G. Greene

God ‘trusted’ in man. Jesus ‘trusted’ in the apostles. There seems to be a pattern here. Hmm!

Were we to look back over our lives, each of us could see progress made in several areas, maybe not as much as we would have liked, but progress nonetheless. And if we look a little deeper we can see we did not do it alone, we had help. Help from God and help from others. But to receive help we had to trust the one giving the help. Trust is one of the foundational pillars of faith and love. If we had no faith we could not trust anyone in even the simplest things (doctors, cooks, drivers, spouses, etc.) for we could never be sure their intent was not to harm us. And if we have not faith in someone it would be impossible to love them. It’s a very refreshing thought to know that God loves us and has faith in us.

Until tomorrow…..

Pastor Botts

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” – Proverbs 3:5-6