Friday 10/31/14 Equipment 2

Dear Father in Heaven:  I love You.  Thanks for a great day.  Please forgive me of my mistakes and shortcomings.  Please be with Allie and her brother Pastor Larry in time of decision.  Please be with Grant and Wanda and help them as they help others.  I pray, Lord, for Vicki this day.  Guide also the new families coming in for food tomorrow.  Lord, someplace out there is our son Matthew.  Please keep watch over him.  Please, Lord, watch over all families.  Watch over our friends at The Bridges and our online flock.  Please protect this line and also help me with the message and then to dispatch it.  Please, Lord, be with Governor Corbett.  And Lord, all honor and glory to You for the capture of the man who ambushed two Pennsylvania State Troopers, and I pray today for the shooter to come to You before he leaves this world.  I pray for the soul of our President also and pray that he comes to You with our nation's concerns.  Protect all those who serve You by serving others.  Lord, please bless those who make a living hanging on the back of those trash trucks.  In Jesus' Name, I pray.  Amen.

Dear sisters and brothers in Christ:  I want you all to know that we love you.  Thanks to all of you who read and follow the line.  Another new family coming for groceries tomorrow.  Please keep praying for the ministries of Carry The Light.  I forgot the joke at the end of the last message and a bunch of people said, "Praise God for that."  Here is a question and the answer is in the Bible.  "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?"  Now let me get to the message on Equipment.

Friday:  October 31, 2014:  Equipment (Day Two)

2 Timothy 2:20 - In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble.  21 If a man cleanses  himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, make holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.  22 Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of pure heart.  23 Don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they will produce quarrels.  24 And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead he must be kind to everyone able to teach, not resentful.  (NIV)

Dear brothers and sisters:  Once again we take a look at "Equipment" and there are other words for equipment, like tools, instruments, flatware, and many more.  Since I love to eat, and also to cook, I want to just point out some of the tools needed to fix the meal.  Gosh, we need a can opener, and a few pots and pans, some flatware (you use that to eat), and yes, some dishes.  That is just a start of what is needed.  We need some bigger things also.  How about a stove and a fridge?  I could get carried away, and say, we need a car to go and get the food.  But I do not want to just labor on about cooking or I will need to get up and get a snack.

Let's look at some of the equipment, tools, instruments, and things that can be used in our walk with Jesus.  First, our walk with Jesus should not just be Jesus and me, using me as an example.  Once I come to Jesus one on one and are saved, my walk with Him should also be to serve Him.  The best way to serve Him is of course to have faith in Him and to Love Him and share that love with others.  So I just pointed out two instruments in that last sentence, "Faith and Love."  I want you to see also that these tools, equipment, and instruments, are not all something you can hold in your hand, so to speak.  The Bible is the best tool, or piece of equipment or instrument, that I ever had, but we also have song books.  We use The Daily Bread and also get them for others.  There are also prayer books.  These you can hold in your hands.

In our scripture of today, it talks about articles not only of gold and silver but also of wood and clay.  It says some are used for noble things and other used for not noble things.  God has pointed out to me some of the same tools, the very same tools, could be used for either, for good or evil, for noble or non-noble.  Even those who worship Satan will try and use the Bible against you.  Gold and silver could be used for good and evil.  Yes, wealth could be used for good or evil.  The scripture tells us that we should "flee the evil desires of our youth."  Flee, run away from repent from those evil desires.  We are to pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, and we should also be with others who pursue those and call on the Lord.  Some of the most important tools that we have or should have are not something you hold in your hand,, but something you hold in your heart.  Think about it, folks, and the very greatest of all those tools that we cannot hold in our hands is LOVE.  And yes, love can be used for evil or good.  We need to use it for GOOD.  This scripture also tells us that we should not get into foolish and stupid arguments.  Are we not all guilty of that from time to time?  I have seen some of the most foolish and stupid arguments inside the walls of the "churches."  I  have seen the arguments in those churches be over who is cooking for the meal that is going to be served.  Christians often get caught up in these things.  A lot of times God is wanting to change our direction, giving us some new equipment to use and we do not want to give up the old.  One tool that we have been given is doors, they open and they shut.  When we work for God, sometimes a door gets closed, and then He opens another.  So this brings me to another really big tool that we cannot hold in our hands.  Prayer, and that is just talking to God, and we can do that anytime.  We need to know also that our number one tool, the one above all else, comes in three parts.  "God The Father, God The Son, and God The Holy Spirit."  Without that equipment, let me call it "Equipment of Life," we are nothing and the other tools will not work.  Think about it, what good is the Bible to you if you do not have the "Equipment of Life?"

What good is love if you do not have the "Equipment of Life?"  In fact, it is impossible to really love without the "Equipment of Life."

Tomorrow, using the "Equipment of Life" to help others to receive said "Equipment."

Now go forth and share your equipment, tools, and instruments that God has given unto you.  Love ya.  Please share my love with others.

Pastor Dan

P.S.  THE CHICKEN CAME FIRST.  God put adults in the garden, not babies.  What good would the egg be without someone to tend it?