Being Zealous in God Things

Try not to become a person of great success, but rather try to become a person of virtue. – Albert Einstein

We read often of men like Abraham, Joseph, and David who had great success in their lifetimes. Not because they pursued it, but because they pursued God, and he granted it. Hmm!

It’s true we live in a world that measures you by your professional title, wallet, possessions, education, etc., however it’s important to remember we are not ‘of the world’ but called of God to make a difference in the world. There is nothing inherently wrong with wanting to do well in our social endeavors, but NOTHING should impede our ability and opportunity to serve Almighty God. I pray we will be zealous in all our endeavors for Him.

Until tomorrow…

Pastor Botts

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these….But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” – Matthew 6:28-29, 33

Just Plant. Results Will Follow

Happy people plan actions, they don’t plan results. – D. Wholey

The little lad packed a lunch for the day. He just didn’t know it was enough for 5000 plus. AMEN!

It’s a true saying that if you plant tomatoes you will get tomatoes – not carrots or peas, etc. But the fact of the planting is you won’t know how many tomatoes you’ll get or what size they will be, or if they will be flavorful. You just plant and let God do the rest. Too often we begin with the end result or expectation in mind and grow frustrated when it doesn’t work out the way we planned. All we can be responsible for is what we do. It’s the only arena of life we can control. Now we may expect results, but we can’t demand them. We must leave room for God to operate in our lives to bring about His purposes. After all, any results He brings are always for our good.

Until tomorrow…

Pastor Botts

“And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there.” – Acts 20:22.”

Letting Go

Abundance is a process of letting go; that which is empty can receive. - B. McGill

We know Jacob wrestled with God - I'm quite sure he would have taken the blessing of God without the limp. Hmm!

We've all played it at one time or another. The old 'tug-o-war' game, trying to pull your opponents over the dividing line into the mud puddle. It was a lot of fun as kids, But I wonder if we realize we never left the basics of the game behind as we matured. When you think about those periods of restlessness, anxiety. edginess, and even selfishness in our lives, could it not be we are playing the game with God, trying to win Him to our way of thinking or our personal desires. We take our prayer requests and lay them before Him, but yet we kept hold of the rope ourselves (worry, impatience, gloom, etc.) trying to get the exact outcome we wanted. If we would just take a moment and look back we will see that God is true to His promises. Everything in the past He has worked out or is working out for our good. So why not just let go of the rope in this current crisis or situation and let God be God. It's much better this way and you won't get as muddy!

Until tomorrow...

Pastor Botts

"Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall." - Psalm 55:22

P.S. - If you have not signed up yet and plan to attend the Voter's Symposium this Sunday after services please let me know by close of day. Your name and the candidate/proposition you will speak on. Thanks!

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.

Lighten Your Load Today

There will always be enough for today, without taking on yesterday or tomorrow. – Richard Murray

God rained down manna on a daily basis for the Israelites to eat. In their craftiness they tried to save some of it for the next day. It only created other problems. Hmm!

It has often been said that “worry is the interest paid on tomorrow’s trouble - today.” Yet even knowing this we still have a habit of carrying this excess weight with us, and it impacts our lives and testimony for God. The truth of the matter is when we agonize over yesterday’s decisions or fret over tomorrow’s possibilities, we show a lack of trust and faith in our Heavenly Father. He is so willing to forgive us our past mistakes, and He is so willing to help us with tomorrow when it comes. What He wants though, is for us to just live for Him in the current moment. As 'His mercies, grace, provisions, are new every morning' today is our turn to represent Him as light and life in a dark world.

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

Don't Delay

Somebody said it couldn’t be done – it wasn’t God. – Anon

God was willing to work with Gideon and the ‘fleece’ in any fashion to show him the time was now. Hmm!

It’s amazing how we always want our turn when playing a game or receiving a blessing, but how we want to put our turn off when it comes to something unpleasant. We don’t seem to mind procrastinating then. When you really stop to think about it, the habit of procrastination takes a 2-fold toll on us. First, important work that needs to be done goes undone. Second, valuable energy we could use in doing the work gets wasted in activities we ‘drum up’ to avoid what we should be doing. So what results is delay, followed by anxiety, then a hurried, harried attempt to catch-up, leading to more anxiety or stress. The truth is we procrastinate out of fear, fear that we’re somehow inadequate at the time to do the job. But God gives us all we need beforehand, or will equip us with what we need ‘during’ the test so we need not fear, only ask His help to tackle the task. So if we meet the challenge head on we can avoid untold trouble, worry, and stress. Life doesn’t procrastinate – neither should we.

Until tomorrow...

Pastor Botts

“….Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself….” – Matthew 6:34

Out of Our Hands

If it's out of your hands, it deserves freedom from your mind too! - Anon

In exile, Daniel's desire to serve God was always stronger than his desire to return home. Amen!

WORRY! All too often it is the lubricant of our mind. We try to change what has happened, and try to project what will happen, playing the scenario over and over strategically like a game of chess. Many of us are mentally, spiritually, and emotionally fatigued and we often wonder why. Could it possibly be that though we've 'prayed' on it we have not really released it to God? There is nothing impossible or too hard for God, but He will NEVER do anything we think we can do ourselves. Worry keeps the issue on our realm. God made us and He alone knows how to bring relief to our soul, to revive our spirit, but it's only when we allow Him to work wholeheartedly on the matter. He's going to be up all night, why not trust Him with it.

Until tomorrow...

Pastor Botts

"Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall." - Psalm 55:22

If There Is a Problem God Can Solve It

You can tell the size of your God by looking at the length of your worry list. The longer the list the smaller your God. – Anon

David went before Goliath with no worries, he knew and trusted in the one to 'whom the battle belonged' – God. AMEN!

One of the great spirituals of old is ‘Lord Don’t Move The Mountain,’ indicating the individual knew major obstacles lay in their path. But the song also indicated they knew they could overcome the obstacles with God’s help. Life was meant by God to be lived, not fretted over. If the problems, cares, and trials of life seem like ‘giants’ to us, maybe we need to look away from them and refocus on our Creator. We have everything in us that scrawny little David had, and God still reigns, so today remains to be conquered!

Until Monday...

Pastor Botts

[Jeremiah prayed] “Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.” – Jeremiah 32:17

P.S. - Hope you can make it to our last Prayer Breakfast meeting of 2021 tomorrow morning at 9:30am. God loves to hear from His saints.

Trusting God's Care

The optimist says the cup is half full, the pessimist says its half empty, the child of God says, “my cup runneth over.” – Anon

Paul traveled all over the country on a tentmaker’s salary. How? He trusted in a God who had unlimited resources. Hmm!

So far as I know, no bird ever tried to build more nests than his neighbor, no fox ever fretted over having only 1 lair in which to lay, and no dog ever lost sleep over not having enough bones buried for retirement. Often, we as people of God put emphasis on the wrong things, and worry needlessly over things beyond our control. If God does truly care for the sparrow, will he not care for us? He’s asking us to trust Him and see!

Until tomorrow…

Pastor Botts

“Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet our heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?...But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” – Matthew 6:26, 33

No Nega-Prayers

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 tomorrow…

Pastor Botts

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

Precious Time

By labor we can find food and water, but all of our labor will not find for us another hour. – K. Patton

Genesis regales us of accounts of men living 600-900+ years. But in the end they all died at their appointed time. Hmm!

When we were little we wanted to stay up an extra hour or two. Now with our technology we try to stretch it more and more. But in reality we can never increase what God has set in proper order. And in truth, it is not so much how much time we have but how we use it that really matters. Though God’s Word does say to us there is a “time for every thing” it does not truly tell us we get to DO everything – so we must make wise choices. God has set today before us and left the decisions to us. Remember, that which you truly want to do you will make the time for.

Until tomorrow...

Pastor Botts

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

Much To Do About Today

Yesterday is experience. Tomorrow is hope. Today is getting from one to the other as best we can. – J. M. Henry

While they were in the fiery furnace, the three Hebrew boys reflected on where they came from and who they believed in, and barely noticed the consuming flames. Hmm!

Wherever we are in life, be it tolerable, comfortable, or even grand; it is probably not the best it could be, which is why tomorrow beckons. There is hope for a turnaround, improvement, come-back, step-up or whatever we desire, and we should use all of yesterday’s and life's past experiences to make the best moves possible TODAY. Today, with all of its possibilities is all we have to work with right now, and depending on how we spend/invest it, we will either welcome tomorrow with open arms or try to hide from it. God has done His part by giving us all we need this day to make it, the rest is up to us, but He is willing to assist in the decisions we make if we are willing to ask. It couldn’t hurt.

Until tomorrow…

Pastor Botts

“So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” – Matthew 6:34 (NLT)

Living In The Current Moment

There will always be enough for today, without taking on yesterday or tomorrow. – Richard Murray

 

God rained down manna on a daily basis for the Israelites to eat. In their craftiness they tried to save some of it for the next day. It only created other problems. Hmm!

 

It is often been said that “worry is the interest paid on tomorrow’s trouble - today.” Yet even knowing this we still have a habit of carrying this excess weight with us, and it impacts our lives and testimony for God. The truth of the matter is when we agonize over yesterday’s decisions or fret over tomorrow’s possibilities we show a lack of trust and faith in our Heavenly Father. He is so willing to forgive us our past mistakes, and He is so willing to help us with tomorrow when it comes. What He wants though, is for us to just live for Him in the current moment. As 'His mercies, grace, provisions, are new every morning' today is our turn to represent Him as light and life in a dark world.

 

Until Monday……

 

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

Hope for the Future

Hope does not depend on having a blueprint
for the future. – R.M. Pippert

Joseph, Abram, Moses, Mary the mother of Jesus, the 12 disciples; none of them knew exactly what was their next move – for they realized they were not in charge – God was. Hmm!

Did you ever notice a weekly TV sitcom – all the problems are solved within each 30 minute episode and everyone goes home happy (Happy Days, Leave it To Beaver, The Cosby Show). Life would be simple if it came with directions, and followed a script, but it doesn’t. But the absence of a script does not mean it has to be hard and cumbersome. It’s really only made that way by our incessant demand to be in the know on when and how everything will happen. We serve a God who asks us to trust Him to make everything alright though we can’t see it. If we cannot trust God we really have no hope for only He knows the future. Though everyone would like to know their future, the only promise for the future we have is a GOD that will love us – and that should be sufficient!

Until Monday…..

Pastor Botts

“Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.” – Matthew 6:34

Why Worry?!

The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith. – G. Muellar 

   

The moment Peter took his eyes off Jesus he started sinking in the water. Hmm! 

   

Well, its here – Morning! Today is that tomorrow you worried about so incessantly yesterday. It came anyway. If you don’t have an action plan yet, I would suggest you give it over to God right now! We shouldn’t live life so worried about future events that we can’t enjoy the present, that’s why God wants us to ‘cast our cares on Him.’ The more we lean on Him and learn to trust in Him, the less we’ll have to worry or fret about. True, in this game of life we’ll win some and lose some, but when we look back over our life we can see in all things God has been completely trustworthy, and stuck with us through it all, making the best of every situation. And He’ll do the same with our current worries or fears if we give them over to Him. As the day unfolds, I hope we don’t take to long to make up our minds. 

   

Until Monday…. 

   

Pastor Botts 

   

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

P.S. - We will be meeting for Prayer Breakfast tomorrow morning at 9am.

Church Clean-up Day is pushed back a week to 11/23 at 8am.

Pray for Your Enemies

Worrying about your enemies is wasted time. Praying for them is a sound investment. – Anon

In the Psalms it seems

David was sometimes almost hostile toward his enemies in his prayer time with

God. But, God heard him. Hmm!

It’s a fact of life that

anyone who tries to live a righteous, holy life will have enemies. We have an

adversary who is wise and knows how to manipulate the hearts and minds of those

we interact with – so we will have enemies. But giving them all our attention

by continual worrying is not wise. Just as the bible tells us that not one of

us can make ourselves grow another inch or add another hour to the day by

worry, the same is true of our enemies. We cannot make them do anything by

worrying about them, but we can put our heart at ease by praying for them. It’s

an amazing truth but you really can’t grow to love someone until you begin to

pray for them, asking God’s blessing in their lives. Be prepared to pray and

pray often today!

Until tomorrow……

Pastor Botts

“But I say to you, love your enemies, bless

those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you…” – Matthew 5:44

Hope For Tomorrow

Yesterday is experience. Tomorrow is hope. Today is getting from one to the other as best we can. – J. M. Henry

While they were in the fiery furnace, the three Hebrew boys reflected on where they came from and who they believed in, and barely noticed the consuming flames. Hmm!

Wherever we are in life, be it tolerable, comfortable, or even grand; it is probably not the best it could be, which is why tomorrow beckons. There is hope for a turnaround, improvement, come-back, step-up or whatever we desire, and we should use all of yesterday’s and yesteryear’s experiences to make the best moves possible TODAY. Today, with all of its possibilities is all we have to work with right now, and depending on how we spend/invest it, we will either welcome tomorrow with open arms or try to hide from it. God has done His part by giving us all we need this day to make it, the rest is up to us, but He is willing to assist in the decisions we make if we are willing to ask. It couldn’t hurt.

Until tomorrow…..

Pastor Botts

“So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” – Matthew 6:34 (NLT)

Worry Made Them Grow

Troubles are like babies, nurse them and they’ll grow. – W. C. Brumby

Saul’s insecurity led to jealousy. His jealousy led to attempted murder. Thank God David was a God-fearing man. AMEN!

Whether real or imagined all of us face troubles at times. It was a promise of our Lord. And though we often say we’re not affected by them, the time we spend worrying about them says otherwise, and only multiplies their size and impacts our actions and decisions. We serve a God who is bigger and stronger than anything we can come across, and He is expecting us to trust the matter to Him. Depression, stress, anxiety, fear, and bondage all come upon us when we keep God out of our lives. Remember, don’t tell people how large your troubles are, tell your troubles how great your GOD is.

Until tomorrow…..

Pastor Botts

“Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall. But you, O God, will bring down the wicked into the pit of corruption….” – Psalm 55:22-23

Life Doesn't Procrastinate

Somebody said it couldn’t be done – it wasn’t God. – Anon

God was willing to work with Gideon and the ‘fleece’ in any fashion to show him the time was now. Hmm!

It’s amazing how we always want our turn when playing a game or receiving a blessing, but how we want to put our turn off when it comes to something unpleasant. We don’t seem to mind procrastinating then. When you really stop to think about it, the habit of procrastination takes a 2-fold toll on us. First, important work that needs to be done goes undone. Second, valuable energy we could use in doing the work gets wasted in activities we ‘drum up’ to avoid what we should be doing. So what results is delay, followed by anxiety, then a hurried, harried attempt to catch-up, leading to more anxiety or stress. The truth is we procrastinate out of fear, fear that we’re somehow inadequate at the time to do the job. But God gives us all we need beforehand, or will equip us with what we need ‘during’ the test so we need not fear, only ask His help to tackle the task. So if we meet the challenge head on we can avoid untold trouble, worry, and stress. Life doesn’t procrastinate – neither should we.

Until tomorrow….

Pastor Botts

“….Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself….” – Matthew 6:34

Confidence in God

Blessed is the person who is too busy to worry in the daytime and too sleepy to worry at night. - L. Aikman

Though Paul expressed 'concern' for all the churches, he was a very 'content' man. Hmm!

WORRY, FRET, ANXIETY! Words no one really likes in their daily lives, and neither does God want them there. Why does God tell us not to worry? Well, if you think it through, worry is the opposite of faith. To worry is to practice 'negative' meditation (going over and over things in your mind/heart). Instead of thinking on the goodness, grace, favor, and mercies of God, when we worry we're saying "I can't trust the Creator of the Universe with this." In truth, this is an actual insult to God when we act as if He isn't big enough, strong enough, resourceful enough, or close enough to meet or overcome the challenges we face in life. If scripture reveals quite the opposite, maybe we ought to begin believing it. As life arises today will we be completely confident in the God we serve?

Until tomorrow.....

Pastor Botts

"....was my arm too short to ransom you? Do I lack the strength to rescue you? By a mere rebuke I dry up the sea, I turn rivers into a desert....." - Isaiah 50:2