Monday 2/23/15 Working (2)

Dear Father in Heaven: I love You very much, and I really appreciate You more and more each day as I am learning more and more each day how You help me and all others who ask in faith for help. Please be with the family of Dale Whissler who we have learned to know as the toy man. Lord, we give You the honor and glory for Dale and his wife who made hundreds and hundreds of wooden toys for Carry The Light Ministries. Please be with Kyle Busch and heal his broken bones. Thanks for watching over this line and thanks for watching over families and friends. Please, Lord, watch over Matthew, wherever he may be. Thanks for safety when plowing, Lord. Please help me with the message and to get it dispatched. Lord, please be in our malls and keep them safe. In Jesus' Name, I pray. Amen.

Dear brothers and sisters. Please pray for the family of Dale Whissler. Dale was known as the Toy Maker to us and many of his friends. He had a crew of plain folks who would get together and make toys out of scrap lumber. Over the years we received hundreds and hundreds of them. They were so plain and so simple. Most kids who came to see Santa did not want them, they wanted expensive things. We sent a lot of ours to the mission fields and Dale and crew also gave many thousands to Mission Central to go to the poor countries. After Grant and Wanda painted up a few, we started giving them to kids to use as crafts, then the kids liked them. They painted some and put them Christmas Trees. We only have a few left, some we will keep with our treasured things in Santa's House. Well, let me get to the message on Working.

Monday: February 23, 2015: Working (Day Two)

Ephesians 2;8 - For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. (NIV)

This was our scripture from Saturday where I told you that you cannot work your way into heaven. You can only get to heaven through Jesus. However, once you are saved, once you are Born Again, you must go to work for Jesus. Did I get you confused? Am I talking out of both sides of my mouth? NO!!! So to the scriptures to prove my point.

Ephesians 2:10 - For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do GOOD works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (NIV)

So I used the example of working around the church will not get you into heaven. However, after you have taken Jesus as your Savior, He might well send you to a church to work and get your word out. You see, to find out exactly what God really wants you to work at for Him, you must come to Him first. Here is some scripture from James:

James 2:14 - What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to  have faith but has no deeds (works)? Can such faith save him? 15 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself is dead. 18 But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds. Show me your faith without deeds (works), and I will show you my faith by what I do." (NIV)

So what must you do to show your faith? Pray about it, God will put you where He wants you to be. I might as well use Dale Whissler as an example. He loved Jesus. So how do I know this? Well, those of you who know me know I come right out and ask. "Mr. Whissler, are you "Born Again?" I asked and he told me yes, he was. Making all those toys for the joy of the children all over the world was great, but without Jesus, he would not be with Jesus today. But because of his faith in God, God used him and even supplied him with the tools to get the job done. Brothers and sisters, that is one way of knowing you are working for Jesus for He will not send you out without giving you the tools to get the job done.

James 2:26 - As the body without the Spirit is dead, so faith without deeds (works) is dead. (NIV)

So brothers and sisters, if you want to get to heaven, you must be "Born Again" and then go to work for Him. Oh, and when does one retire from working for the Lord? Well, you don't, you work for Him until He calls you home. It is also not hard to work for our good Lord. Sometimes it is just a nice kind word or sharing your lunch with someone who forgot theirs. If you really love Jesus, people will see that love on your face. Yes, lots of people will hate you for that smile, for that love of Jesus and those outspoken things you might do, but please don't stop doing them. You know when you have a cold or fever, you try not to spread that. Yes, if you are contagious with disease, you do not want to spread it. However, as a Christian, one who follows Jesus, which is the only way to be a Christian, you need to be "contagious" and let others CATCH JESUS FROM YOU. Amen.

Dear Father in Heaven. I love You and I pray that I can be contagious in that love for You. One way on this line is to keep going forward with Your Word and asking people if it is their day to come to You. So, Lord, I am going to keep doing that. Dear Father in Heaven, I pray others will pray this prayer in faith with me. I do believe in You, Lord, and I confess I am a sinner and I confess that with my mouth and I believe that in my heart. Please save me and then put me to work for You. In Jesus' Name, I pray. Amen.

Now go forth and share your blessings and be contagious for Jesus. Let someone "catch Jesus from you." Love ya. Please share my love also.

Pastor Dan

Tomorrow, Work will take on a twist! Also coming soon, on how does a pilot work to keep safe.