No TV for a Week

1 Thessalonians 2:13
13And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe.

You know when it comes to christianity we can feel like a lot of things are from God. We can claim God tells us a lot of things. We can experience things that we believe are from God. Unfortunately we are human and we can be wrong but there is one thing that is for certain and cannot be wrong and that is the Word of God. Paul said that it is not the words of men but the very words of God.

Everything we feel and experience and think must align with the word of God. I have seen Christians say that God told them to leave their spouse for another person in the church. Direct conflict with the word of God yet they allow their feelings to define what God is saying even though its wrong. Oh that we would evealuate every decision by the word of God with no justification. It would radically shape our lives.

Paul then says "which is at work in you who believe." Here is something that is so beutiful. The word of God is at work in us. It is more then words that we use to look up verses to win an argument. It is the word of God that speaks to our hearts and transforms and shapes our soul. Yet many rarely read it. If we read the bible half as much as we watched TV it would radically change our lives.

I was in a period a while back where I wasn't reading my bible and a friend told me, "I challenge you to read your bible for five minutes every day this week and if it doesn't make you life better than fine, but if it does you have to keep reading it." I did and I have been reading it almost every day since then. It has blessed my life more than I can explain. Sometimes I can't wait to read it and some times I have to force my self but it is always worth it.

I challenge you to turn off you tv for a week and replace it with reading the bible. It will rock your world. Be prepared , satan does not want you reading your bible. That is my challenge. One week of fasting from TV and when you desire to watch tv read the bible instead. It will be better than any show ever made.

God I pray that people would take this challenge this week and that Your word will change their lives. Reveal the things that they need to repent of and that don't align with your word. Bring transformation in our lives through Your Holy Word.

Join Me in Suffering

2 Tim 1:8-9

8So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, 9who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace.

In a society of health and wealth gospel where becoming a Christian means having a perfect life we some times need to be reminded that accepting Christ was about much more than feeling good.

Although accepting Christ changes our life in many good ways such as peace and joy, it also makes our life harder. We are called to a life of purpose, sacrifice, and working hard for the Lord. We are called to serve God with all of our hearts and take huge steps of faith. Although it is cool that God calls us to be on a mission with Him. The mision is often hard and involves being persecuted. Paul was in prison being persecuted for the gospel of Christ. He ask Timothy to join him in suffering for Christ.

We often forget that this earth is a temporary dwelling place. It is an extended camping trip that is often uncomfortable. Many have abandoned the faith to set up a home here and become comfortable rather than serve Christ with all of their hearts.

Although we have freedom in America to share our faith it is not a popular message as we preach Jesus Christ as the only way to Heaven. So stand firm in your faith serve Christ with all of your heart. You may suffer and be uncomfortable but do not be discouraged you treasure is in Heaven.

So Easily Distracted

I have spent a lot of time with the Lord today as I get ready to preach Sunday and dedicate my little man to the Lord. I have been so convicted today at my lack of faith in the Lord. Events in the last few years have dramatically hurt my faith and I have become so focussed on doing it on my own. I am so sick of thinking about my seld and how to make maoney in the future. The more I think about myself the more depreseed and stressed I become and the more I focus on praying for others and helping people the more I am filled with joy and the more things just works out and God provides. God reminded me today of so many things I already know but fail to live

SEEK YE FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS AND ALL THEESE THINGS WILL BE ADDED UNTO you

Wow how easy it is to forget this and give God our leftovers in every area of our life. Forgive me Lord.

FAITH


God will provide for my needs and will not leave me without. I my not get all of my wants but most of my wants are wordly garbage that will be eaten by moths and desinigrate. Why do I trust a green peice of paper and have trouble trusting the King who created the world out of nothing. I apologize Lord help me in my unbelief.

LOVE OF MONEY

You cannot serve both God and money. One or the other. As much as I would love to say I don't love money it sure takes up a lot of my thoght and I sure can think of a lot of thinks I want. Forgive me Lord.

I am sorry I am so easily distracted. Help me to daily take up my cross and follow You with al of my heart and soul and mind.

Question and Answer

A young lady had and issue with Christianity. In Chritianity it seems unfair that you can just kill some one and ask forgiveness and be saved. Why does it work like that?

Good question. The answer is the same problem she has with Christianity is the beuty of Christianity. In God's eyes ALL sin is disgusting so whether we told one little lie or killed someone we are dispicable and disgusting and unacceptable. God's love is bigger than our actions whether they seem big or small to us. They key to repentance is it has to be true heartfelt repentance. Its not sweet I will do wahtever I want and kill people because I know God will forgive me. It is realizing how filthy we are and then begging God to forgive us. Grace is not earned it is a gift and it is available to all that ask. That is the power of the cross. That power, love, extreeme forgiveness and extreeme grace is available to all that ask. That is beutiful.

Romans 3:23
For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God
Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life



We have all fallen short and all deserve death but God is wanting and willing to forgive us all.

Holy Spirit

I want to talk to you about the Holy Spirit today.

Romans 8:12 Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. 13For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, 14because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of son ship.[g] And by him we cry, "Abba,[h] Father." 16The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. 17Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

A lot of people have different beliefs on the Holy Spirit. Some people’s whole relationship with God is searching for and emotional experience in church. Others don’t experience the Holy Spirit in their life because they have been taught to be afraid of it. I will let you work your beliefs about the Holy Spirit out between you and God but there are some things you should believe or it will hurt your relationship with God:

1.The Holy Spirit is real.
2.It is still working among us today.
3.It was sent to help us in our walk with God.
4.We are given the Holy Spirit at salvation; you cannot know God and not have the Holy Spirit.
5.You make a choice to let the Holy Spirit live through you every day or to live life in the flesh.

You either do whatever you want and follow the temptations of the devil or you set your life aside and do whatever God wants.

The sinful nature brings destruction but the Holy Spirit brings life. They are two separate ways of life you cannot have both. You repent of your sins continually and make your self available to be used by God.

The cool part of this is the last part of these verses. The Spirit makes us heirs of God and co-heirs with Jesus. We share in the benefits and suffering of Jesus Christ. That’s right being a Christ follower is more than just sharing in the good stuff of God. We are also to suffer for Him and be willing to do whatever it takes to obey and follow Him. We are not made to have a perfect life but the best life and the best life comes by daily picking up your cross and following Him and letting Him use you to do great things.

Salvation

This week・s devotional is an easy but amazing point listed in Romans as we continue to look at the book of Romans.

6You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.9Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! 10For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Have you ever really thought about this? When Jesus left Heaven to come live as a human on earth He didn・t come to die for people who deserved it. He died for people who had sinned against Him and who deserved death.We have a lot of people in the military forces right now. I have two close friends in it right now. They all need our prayer. When a person signs up for the army they know that there is a chance they could die. It is the same with firemen and police officers. They are willing to take that risk to protect our country. What if they were told you will die. Do you think as many would still sign up? Jesus chose to take the mission and the mission was to die. He took our place because as sinners we deserved death. This is true love, that God chose to die for us knowing that we had sinned against Him and didn・t deserve forgiveness.

The rest of Romans 5 talks about how Adam brought sin and death into the world but Christ brought life and forgiveness into the world. I encourage you to read it.I want you to ponder on this great love today. If you know God I encourage you to be reminded that God was willing to die for you and give you the greatest life possible. If you do not know the Lord today you can accept this new life that He died to give you.Simply, Confess your sins, Ask for forgiveness, Give your life to Him asking Him to be Your Lord and Savior.I pray that God will lead each of you to be more and more like Jesus every day.

~Doug

Please email any questions you might have at dougsheppard@hotmail.com

Peace and Joy in Times of Suffering

Peace and Joy

1Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we[a]have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we[b] rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3Not only so, but we[c] also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

Hello everyone, I hope you had an amazing week. This week we are in Romans 5We are going to camp out here and look at several things the next few weeks The first thing I want to look at is the peace of God. If you are a Christ Follower and you have accepted Him you have experienced true peace. There is nothing like it. It is hard to explain unless you have experienced it but the best way I can describe it is to share things in my own life. We all have days where everything goes wrong. One thing after another goes wrong and just when you think the day couldn’t get any worse it does. I have lots of days like this. Sort of had one yesterday because of my computer.There have been so many times that I have one of these days and there is nothing left to do but scream or cry and then peace of God will overcome me. I should be devestated but for what ever reason I am sitting there smiling and I just have an overwhelming sense on happiness and God’s love. God gives us peace in a number of ways but this is the one way that I often experience it.

Second thing this passage talks about is the fact that Paul says that we rejoice in our sufferings. When you get to this place you know that you are maturing in your faith because you see the big picture. My aunt sent me a think about Rick Warren and in it He talks about life going from one challenge to another to help prepare us for Heaven. He says life is a series of events that prepare our Character for eternity. I will attach that article in case you want to read it. When we go through struggles and suffer we often look to the Heavens and say “WHY GOD WHY? Or we even get mad at God. God doesn’t create the struggles, sin and the evil one does but God does allow them so that we can grow. Have you seen the kids whose parents give them whatever they want? They may have been happy for the moment but when they grow up they are not going to be able to cope with life because in life you don’t get everything you want. It is the same with God. He cares more about preparing us to be who we need to be than He does about making us happy all the time. So you have a choice, you can cross your arms and frown at God or you can say this isn’t fun but thank you for whatever you teaching me and help me learn something through this. And through this attitude we can rejoice in our suffering because we know that it produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

Love you all, May God’s Spirit cover you with true Peace. Doug

Godly Love

Many of us remember the hit song that began, Hello, I love you, won't you tell me your name?? But have you ever thought about the meaning of the words? In particular, what kind of love does the singer have for the one he beholds? Given the fact that he does not even know her name, and given the rest of the lyrics, it becomes very clear that his love is little more than a feeling based upon physical attraction and nothing else.

Naturally, it is easy to recognize that this type of love is very shallow. In fact, we probably can even really call it love. But it does lead us to an important question: what do we mean when we use the word love? When you tell your spouse, I love you, what is it that you truly mean? Often we are referring to a feeling that we have for our spouse. Naturally, there is nothing wrong with this! But something is very wrong if we think of love only as a feeling. God understanding of love is very different.

God'a Definition of Love
God provides us with a definition of love in 1 Corinthians 13. As you read through these verses, note that godly love is not just a warm feeling for someone.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.? (1 Corinthians 13:4-8a).

This puts a whole new perspective on the meaning of the words, I love you?! Consider for a moment what this type of love looks like. Honey, I love you. What I mean is I am patient and kind with you. I do not envy you, I do not boast in front of you, I am not proud before you. I am not rude to you, I seek your good and not my own, I am not easily angered by you, and I keep no record of your wrongs. Wow! If only we could love like this all the time!

The Challenge of Godly Love
If we are honest, however, most of us will admit that this type of love is not always easy. Part of the reason for this is that we find it easier to be selfish than to be selfless. It is far easier for us to think about ourselves and our needs rather than the needs of those around us. When we live life in this way, however, those around us do not feel as though we truly love them. This is especially true when it comes to our spouses.

One of the primary characteristics of godly love, however, is that it is focused more upon others than upon ourselves. Did you notice verse 5 above? It says that love is not self-seeking. Indeed, Jesus said, Greater love has no one than this: that he lay down his life for his friends?(John 15:13). Of course, this is exactly the type of love that Jesus showed for us! And this is the type of love that we need to show to our spouses as well. How do we learn to love like this in our marriage?

Learning to Grow in Godly Love
There are no quick fixes to growing in godly love. Spiritual growth is much like physical growth: it's a process that takes time. But just as physical growth is helped by solid nourishment, so too is spiritual growth. Here are two avenues that will provide some solid nourishment for our spiritual growth in love in marriage:
1) Getting to know Jesus -Jesus is the perfect model of selfless love. In Ephesians 5:25, husbands in particular are commanded to follow Jesus' example as they seek to love their wives. If we would seek to love like Jesus, we need to be serious about getting to know Jesus more intimately. This happens through good fellowship with other Christians, reading God's Word, and prayer. Again, this is not a quick fix. It is a process that takes time. But it will aid us greatly in learning to love with a godly love.
2)Relying upon the Holy Spirit- love is explicitly called a fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22). As a result, godly love is not something that we muster up in our own strength. Instead, it is something that God Himself empowers us to do by His Holy Spirit. This means that we need to look to God in repentance and faith on a day-by-day basis for the strength of His Holy Spirit.