Safeguarding Your Selfhood

Our parents may have named us but our life truly speaks who we are. – Anon

In the Garden of Eden, God asked Adam "where are you?" not for his location but for his attitude. Sin had somewhat changed his identity. Hmm!

You've seen the commercials - LIFELOCK! NORD VPN! And others. Protect your identity. They talk about online identity theft and fraud, and your need to protect your financial/medical/life identity from cyber criminals on the web/internet. Sadly, this is very true. But yet, our identity is being stolen every day - openly. The government chips away at it with legislation and liberal laws, often where we don't even a have a voice in the decision. Society or culture chips away at it with its "all about me" attitude and demands. At times even our own children make us question our rights as their parents. “Who are you?” It is a lot to deal with. And if we're not careful we give in and even start to 'adapt' to these changes as God-ordained/approved. Here's the question we need to truly consider when it comes to identity, and that is: Does God know who you are? Is your identity unquestionable before Him? Is our walk and talk a great witness to Him and for Him? Or will He have a 'where's Waldo' moment trying to identify us? Today is a good day to make sure!

Until tomorrow...

Pastor Botts

"Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things you will never fail, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." II Peter 2:10-11

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

From the Inside Out

We may be better than our reputation, but we are never better than our principles. – Anon

Biblically speaking, most people refer to Job as a man with a reputation for enduring great suffering. Actually he was a man of great principle – he never doubted God! Amen.

It happens every morning. It happens pretty much the same every morning. We get up, wash up, and spend time in the mirror preparing the external outlook of the person the world will see that day. We want to look our best for much is at stake. But no matter how good we look externally we can we can never be greater than what we have within. Life is lived from the inside out, which is why God is so adamant about transforming the heart of man, for it is the seat of all living. Man may know us by our reputation, but God would have us known by our principles.

Until tomorrow…..

Pastor Botts

“The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.” – Luke 6:45

To Benefit Mankind

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