Dear Father in Heaven: I love You, and I really appreciate all You do for all of us. Thanks for saving my very unworthy soul. Thanks for watching over Carry The Light Ministries. Thanks for trusting me to work for You. Please, dear Father in Heaven, be with all those working for You at Vacation Bible Schools, and may they all remember it is all about Salvation. Speaking, Dear Father of Salvation, this is Salvation Wednesday here and I pray You will lead we who are saved to those who are unsaved and need Your saving grace. Help us with the words to say to get them to Your feet. Help us to make good decisions after talking it over with You. Now, dear Father, help me please with a message, and then please help me to get it dispatched. In the name of Jesus, I pray and give thanks. Amen.
Brothers and sisters, it is Wednesday, and that means it is Salvation Wednesday on this line. The day when we really get to work to help others come to the Lord to be saved. I feel one hundred percent that the bottom line for a pastor and for all workers in the fields is to bring in the lost. This is my main concern on this line. If you do not have Jesus in your heart, you have nothing, nothing. The more we grow in Jesus, the more we have and the bigger burden I have to lead the lost to the Lord. Each day God will give you more than one chance to work with Him. No one should be unemployed when it comes to working for Jesus. Your rewards will be heavenly. Decisions, Decisions, Decisions ... let's get to it.
Salvation Wednesday: July 16, 2014, Decisions, Decisions, Decisions (Day Two)
James 1:2 - Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6 But when he asks he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord, 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does. (NIV)
James 1:12 - Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him. (NIV)
Brothers and sisters, the very first decision I made this morning was to get up out of my bed and go to the bathroom. Now why would I write that down on a message? We all make that decision each day, right? Yes, and I brought this up to show you that we make decisions daily that are automatic. I had an early morning appointment to get my car inspected, so it was an early up, and then we had our prayer time and did our morning Bible study using "Our Daily Bread" and "In Touch" by Dr. Stanley. Then off for a day of decisions about running for things. After my car was finished I was asked if I would take a customer home who was dropping her car for service. Yes, I would be happy to do that. She also had her Yorkshire Terrier with her so that brought up our Yorkshires. And then a good chance to explain the Three Crosses and the Statue of Liberty on our car. So I explained Reverend Neil Enloe's song to her and what it means to me. We also talked about the Horn of Plenty and The Bible across the hood of our car. God opened a door for me to talk about Jesus, so I had that decision to make. One step led to another from Yorkshires to the Cross of Calvary. Then to feeding others and then to Jesus. Now I will need to do a follow-up to see if she goes to church. From there it was off to get a few batteries and for that I went to Interstate Batteries in East Hanover Township. What a joy, as Wayne, who is the owner, is also a pastor, and most of his employees are also Christians, and they wear it on their hearts for all to see. We always have prayer together. From there it was off to the food store for a few things. And then back home. It seems I always get a chance to witness at the food store. God is so very good, and that is the good, good news we must get out.
In our scripture today it points out that e should find it PURE JOY when we face trials for they will make us stronger. When we face these trials we also must make a lot of decisions. This is when we must stand very, very firm in our faith and our walk with our Lord Jesus. The scripture also tells us that "Blessed is the man (woman) who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him. Now look at this scripture.
James 1:13 - When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone. 14 But each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. (NIV)
Our Lord Jesus was tested by evil, and He would not give in, and we must, if we truly love Jesus, stand firm when tested, and we must know and understand that it is not our Lord God testing us, but Satan and his forces of evil. Since we are protected by God and furnished with all we need to fight off the temptation, as we have Jesus, we have a way to talk to Him, and we have the inspired Word of God in our Bibles. The Bible tells us that if we do give in, it is because of our very own evil desires.
We have many decisions to make each day, many, many decisions. The most important decision we make each day is, in my opinion, this: Are we going to walk with Jesus full-time or are we going to be a "Part-Time Christian?" Now, brothers and sisters, you may use that statement, and use it as a quote from me. The statement question would be like this. Do you walk with Jesus daily or are you going to be a "Part-Time Christian?" That is a good way to wrap it up today. I pray you are a "full-timer." Let's pray to renew today, or if someone is coming to Jesus for the first time, let's clean the slate.
Dear Father in Heaven. I love You. Please forgive me of my sins this day, and help me to repent of those sins. Help me walk with You each day, and help me to work for Jesus by getting out the good, good news about Jesus. Thanks, dear Lord. I pray in Jesus' Name. Amen.
Now go forth and share your blessings. Love ya. Please share my love to your friends.
Pastor Dan
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