That "Can Do" Attitude

A true victor sees himself winning even before the race or battle begins. - Anon

Gideon was the scrawniest kid in his family line but God somehow made him a fierce warrior. Hmm!

The Little Engine That Could! A childhood favorite, tells the story of a little blue train engine that has to overcome a 'rough passage' to get a load of toys to its final destination. The moral is the engine has to go from an 'I think I can' attitude to an 'I know I can' mindset. Truth be known it has a biblical concept that many of us actually know but don't fully adopt. The scripture says "I can do all things through Christ...." It doesn't say attempt or try and give up. It says we can accomplish or overcome. That means anything in our lives that we know hinders our relationship with Christ and God the Father, there is power within the Holy Spirit given us to help us be victorious. To know we can change it. Our only need is to surrender ourselves - flesh and all - to that power within and watch God 'work it out' for our good and His glory.

Until tomorrow...

Pastor Botts

"For we live by faith, not by sight." - II Corinthians 5:7

Ambassadors On Duty

We misrepresent God when we wear His name but not His character. - Anon

Jesus' main antagonists actually wore the clothes of holy men. Go Figure!

In sports it's "you play for the name on the front of the jersey, not the back!" In law enforcement and the military, it's "you respect the uniform!" The bottom line is you are a representative of the organization, its values, morals, and goals. You promise to uphold and promote them whenever and wherever. It's actually a biblical concept. We are Christ's 'ambassadors' in the world. Our aim is to uphold and promote the values, morals, and building of His kingdom whenever, and wherever we are. Living for God is not a some of the time life, nor a 'when it appeals to me life. It is a completely 'surrendered' life, where others should see/hear the Christ in us at all times. Why not start today.

Until Monday...

Pastor Botts

"Make the tree good and its fruit will be good or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit." - Matthew 12:33

Yielding to Love

Christianity is not the act of man finally submitting to the power of God, but rather man fully surrendering to the love of God. – W. Barclay

Peter thought he loved Jesus until that fateful night. After that he really learned what love meant. AMEN!

“Stubborn! Obstinate! Hard-headed!” All adjectives that have possibly been applied to us sometime in our life. Those situations where we were unwilling to bend or submit for another. It’s actually a carryover from our infancy when we were shaping our personality. Unfortunately, this type of thinking is often what keeps us separated from God. We think He wants us to ‘knuckle under’ His all encompassing power and we refuse to give ourselves up. Actually, all God wants to do is love us, but for that it takes surrender or a bit of vulnerability. God never forces himself on anyone, but anyone who has truly found Him often wonders what took them so long to surrender.

Until tomorrow…

Pastor Botts

“If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” – Revelation 3:20

Real Change

Wherever you go in life you always, always take yourself. – J. Graham

Though he was in a foreign land, Daniel refused to defile himself even with the king’s food. AMEN!

People travel to far-away locales, attend extreme makeover camps, or even suffer through intensive ritualistic regimens thinking such activities will change them. A change of scenery may excite the senses, a makeover may make you look better, and a ritual may make you think you are doing better, but true change of who we are can only take place in the heart. It’s God’s domain, and unless we surrender it completely to Him, much of what we do will be lost at the first sign of distress. Joseph had many ‘distresses’ in his life but because of his heart he prospered through every one of them. His God is the same one we serve today.

Until tomorrow...

Pastor Botts

“'How do you know me?' Nathanel asked. Jesus answered, 'I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.'" - John 1:48

Get Those Hands Up

Submission or surrender? God's asking! - Anon

In the battle with the Amalekites as long as Aaron and Hur held up Moses' hands in prayer Joshua and the Israelites were winning the battle. Hmm!

"Come out with your hands up!" A command or order we hope to never hear issued to us. It's usually barked at someone projected to be on the wrong side of the law and is now cornered and subject to arrest. But, how did an act so beautiful become so negative. When you think of worship before God it's often a 'hands up' in the air experience. When you think of prayer it's often a 'stretching forth' of the hands, and then there's surrender or a 'throwing up of the hands' to release the issue to Almighty God. Times may have changed but the way we come before God has not. And actually, when you think it through, it really doesn't matter what reason we stand before God with our hands raised for we stand to gain. Amen!

Until tomorrow...

Pastor Botts

"I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands." - Psalm 63:4

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

Truth: Friend or Foe?

Truth is either the greatest of friends or an unbeatable foe. – Anon

As Jesus stood before him, Pilate had a major decision to make about the truth. We know how it ended with him. WOW!

TRUTH – Courts of law search for it; we demand it in our daily interactions. Yes, truth is something we are to seek after, embrace, and affirm. Yet it is not so much a matter of us finding the truth as it is us surrendering to it. Jesus said “You shall know the truth and it will set you free.” To know means to understand, accept, and abide in. Our surrender to ‘truth’ is what establishes our foundation for a life of integrity, honesty, and righteousness before God and others. The point we often overlook is that when we find the truth and refuse to surrender it no longer remains our friend but actually becomes the foe that condemns us. God leaves the choice to us.

Until Monday…

Pastor Botts

“To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice…” – Proverbs 21:3

Where true change happens

Wherever you go in life you always, always take yourself. – J. Graham

Though he was in a foreign land, Daniel refused to defile himself even with the king’s food. AMEN!

People travel to far-away locales, attend extreme makeover camps, or even suffer through intensive ritualistic regimens thinking such activities will change them. A change of scenery may excite the senses, a makeover may make you look better, and a ritual may make you think you are doing better, but true change of who we are can only take place in the heart. It’s God’s domain, and unless we surrender it completely to Him, much of what we do will be lost at the first sign of distress. Joseph had many ‘distresses’ in his life but because of his heart he prospered through every one of them. His God is the same one we serve today.

Until Monday…….

Pastor Botts

“'How do you know me?' Nathanel asked. Jesus answered, 'I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.'" - John 1:48