Daily Bible Reading: Psalm 85

Good Morning World!
We had a wonderful time with Bro. Billy Hughey.  This evangelist from Missouri is a very charismatic and outgoing person.  He believes very strongly in compelling visitors to come, and this is much appreciated in a world where complacency is rampant. Thank you Bro. Hughey for helping us meet 5 new people!


Psalm 85
This song of praise for the sons of Korah is another song about God's grace mercy and love, but it is also a song of warning and a challenge to God's people.  We love the mercy and grace of God!  However, it isn't so easy sometimes to not turn back to our old ways.  The purpose of God's grace and mercy isn't so we can continue in sin, but rather to show us that there is a way better than sin.  God loves us and brings us out of our captivity and bondage so we can be free and live in His kingdom of righteousness, not so we can turn around and run right back to our chains and put them on!

Too often people experience the mercy and grace of the Almighty, and they accept it.  Then, in a short time they turn around and give God his mercy and grace back as if it wasn't good enough!  We must learn to get over our petty lusts, and trust in the Holy Ghost; the spirit of Jesus Christ!  Life is too short to waste ones salvation on repeat grace fixes!

Yours for a relationship with Jesus after grace!

Pastor Fred

Daily Bible Reading -- Psalm 64 - 65

Good Morning World!

The snow is falling, and everything is white again for a moment.  I am so glad that Jesus covers us too, and makes us white.  However, Jesus is better than snow, because He doesn't melt in the sun, and spring will not wash Him away!

Psalm 64
A Psalm of victory!  Have you ever felt like everyone was against you?  Yeah, me too.  It isn't a very good feeling, but it doesn't mean the end of the world for you, because Jesus is on the throne in Heaven and He loves you and is on your side!  Our reading this morning describes a situation that looks hopeless.  A time when the wicked are attacking and because there is no retaliation they are bold and arrogant. Yet, no matter how dire the situation Jesus is still the ultimate hero, and He will rescue your soul from danger.  He will make the wicked eat their words, and pay for their indignities. Rest assured that you can put your trust in Jesus, and He will see you through!

Psalm 65
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be called to enter the throne room of a king or queen?  Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be the private guest of royalty?  Let me assure you that you have been called and you have the privilege to be royalties guest!  Jesus has sent out a call to come, and you are on the list!  You have been called to enter the throne room of heaven, and kneel and the throne of Jesus the creator of the universe!  Not only that, but Jesus is knocking on the door of your heart right now and asking to be invited in so He can be your guest of honor!  Why not try the Lord today.  Just ask Him in your heart to stay!

Yours for a victorious relationship with Jesus,
Pastor Fred

Daily Bible Reading -- Psalm 60 - 61

Good Morning World!

I find it amazing how much we as humans rely on a schedule of events for our day to run smoothly.  This amazes me because our days rarely go according to plan!  For example this morning I am at the computer blogging before 7 a.m. because I was up cleaning the college building before 6 a.m., which is my regular schedule for each morning.  I haven't blogged all last week because I had a friend cleaning for me so I could help my wife with the baby's schedule.  The moral of the story is -- because I broke some of  my daily routine certain parts of my day became undo-able!  May I suggest something before we move on to Psalms?  If you have a good schedule that is keeping you close to Jesus don't change it unless you will get closer to Jesus!

Psalm 60
This chapter seems to indicate a fight between family members.  It is never pleasant to wage war with a member of you family.  We must seek a peaceful solution as quickly as possible.  We must seek the wisdom of Jesus as much as possible.  Jesus declared that a house divided against itself will fall.  We must pray for peace in the family daily, and ever seek to keep the peace within the family so we call all serve Jesus to the best of our ability.

Psalm 61
I would call this a song of trust and relationship.  These are attributes we must have with Jesus in our life.  We must trust Jesus is our shelter, our covert in the time of storm.  We must have a relationship with Jesus so that we may abide with Him forever, and daily perform our vows.  There is something special about abiding in His tabernacle, and learning from Him daily.  However, we can only transform our tabernacle into His tabernacle when we have a relationship with Him, and have surrendered every part of our lives to Him.

We surrender to Jesus through repenting of our selfish, sinful ways giving our lives into His control through baptism in Jesus name, which gives us family access through His name.  Finally, we become a full tabernacle and family member when we allow the DNA of heaven to flow through us and over flow through the infilling of the Holy Ghost as we speak in a heavenly language.

Let's stop fighting family. Let the prince of peace come into your life and recreate your tabernacle into something of beauty, something of use to the kingdom of heaven!

Yours for trust and relationship with Jesus!
Pastor Fred

How often are you a Christian?

Another title could be:
"What are you doing about the Death, Burial and Resurrection of Jesus Christ?"


"And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch." Acts 11:26b
"...Follow in His Steps." 1 Peter 2:21-25

I have been on a quest. I have been seeking hidden treasure, but have only found questions. These questions need answers, and once answered will tell me if there is any treasure inside or not! I am referring to my own personal quest at self evaluation. This quest has lead to some very important findings about my inner person. (Once I've satisfactorily completed my quest I will share some of my findings.) For the purpose of this post I will focus on one particular question that arose:

"How Often Are You A Christian?"

We claim to be Christians, but how often does this fact show to those we meet everyday? How often are we actually practicing the character that Jesus displayed everyday? How often do we truly walk in Christ's footsteps?

"Do we think that we just are a Christian?"

Matthew 7:16-20

Do men gather grapes from thorn-bushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

Fruit must be found on only its kind of tree or bush. You will never find plums on a blueberry bush or vis versa.

"Does a piece of fruit just happen?" "No! Of course not!"

1. The tree must be watered and fertilized so that the proper nutrients are flowing.
2. There must be enough sunlight and an appropriate temperature.
3. This will help the tree to blossom beautiful flowers, but only if the above two options are met.
4. There must be a transference of pollen. A. By Insects B. By Wind or C. By Self Pollination.
5. There must be an adequate incubation time, which includes the right amount of water, fertilizer, sun and temperature!
6. Finally over the course of a couple months the fruit will grow into maturity. This fruit will contain everything needed to reproduce the process all over again, or nourish another creature.

Let's take a moment to translate this into our spiritual growth period.

1. Prayer and the Word of God are considered "spiritual water" in the scriptures.
2. Bible Study and listening to Preaching are considered "spiritual fertilizer".
3. The Light of the Holy Spirit of Jesus is "spiritual sunshine".
4. Your relationship with Jesus Christ our Saviour is the fragile "spiritual blossom".
5. The "spiritual pollen" is transfered by Christian fellowship and Training from the Pastor, Spiritual Leader or a Christian Friend. The Wind of the Holy Spirit, and Personal Devotions also play a very important role in this pollination process.
6. Through a consistent regiment of all the above we can let our relationship "blossom" grow into a truly amazing and beneficial "spiritual fruit of the Spirit"!

As you can deduct in your own mind, many of us "Christians" aren't the "Christians" we claim to be. It isn't that we don't care, or that we are hypocrites, or even backsliding from our beliefs. We just are not putting enough effort and thought into being everything that Jesus died for us to be!

"Let's look at some of Jesus Christs Character Traits!"

(Note: this is just a brief list as there are over 60 recorded traits...)

• Humble
• Compassionate
• Had righteous indignation
• Courageous
• Loved His Enemies
• Was Kind and Tender hearted
• Took care of people's needs, sickness and afflictions
• Healed ALL of the Sick
• Stood for Righteousness no matter the cost
• He could not be bribed
• He took time to pray
• He went to Church often
• He read the Bible (even though He was the Living WORD!)
• He took time for family and friends (and took care of their needs)
• He took a break (to relax and stay focused on His purpose)
• He fed the hungry
  
• He gave drink to the thirsty
• He gave to the needy
• He was a peace-maker
• He was passionate
• He was focused on the goal and purposes of His life
• He worked Hard
• He Obeyed (even to the cost of His own life!)

He Also taught us what the "Fruit of the Spirit" taste like:

• Love
• Joy / Gladness
• Peace / Calmness of spirit
• Patience / Long suffering
• Kindness / Gentleness
  
• Goodness / Giving
• Faithful
• Meekness / Humility
• Self-control / Temperate

Finally, "How can we have this in our own lives?"

Abide in Jesus the Tree of Life! John 15:4, 5

Follow the steps to abundance that Peter pointed out should be in every follower of Christ's life:
2 Peter 1:5-12

1. Faith / Assurance
2. Virtue / Moral excellence
3. Knowledge / Understanding
4. Temperate / Self Restraint
5. Patience / Stead Fast / Faithful
6. Godliness / Devotion / Passion
7. Brotherly Kindness
8. Charity / Love

Keep these on the top of your vine and you will be full of tasty fruit!

Conclusion:
To give you a couple of starting tips here are some questions to ask yourself everyday, and whenever you have to make a decision in life:

• What Would Jesus Do?
• Is It Good For Me?
• Does It Glorify Jesus?
• Is It Profitable or Uplifting?
• Is It a Stumbling Block to my relationship or someone else?
• Will this become a weight and weigh me down?

Stick to Jesus and He will Stick to You!

Yours for a glorious relationship with Jesus,
Pastor Fred Grothe
PS> Enjoy this youtube Easter video. Let its message change your life!

To my wife

Love is tender and kind
Love is a decision to be blind
Love is a once in a life time find
Love will get you out of a bind

I am glad that I found you in time
So I can keep my life in rhyme
Without you my life would be in ruin
You make my life a perfect tune

Thanks for taking time to be with me
And soon you will see
That we will grow old
And will be together and be bold

I Love You!

copyright February 2008 Frederick J Gothe

The Value of a Personal Relationship

Greetings in Jesus Name again!
Just a quick note before I start this post. I've decided that my life will probably not get any less busy, and so I determined the other day that I just need to make time for this ministry, rather than wait for time to do this. And that goes for anything in our lives. We must Make time of reading the Bible. We must Make time for prayer. We must Make time for Jesus. We must Make time for family. We must Make time for friends. Time isn't our friend, so you must make time do what you want him to do!
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The Value of a Personal Relationship

All too often when a Preacher or Christ like person speaks of 'Personal Relationships' we automatically assume and understand that they are trying to convince us to get to know Jesus. And in most cases that is true. However, I'd like to add to that stereotype and note that pretty much every personal relationship in your life is valuable!

True I'd like every man, woman, youth, and child to experience a true, powerful relationship with Jesus Christ, but it is also true that if you can develop personal, close relationships with people in your life it will also be a great asset!

In particular David in the Old Testament, during his time before he was king of Israel, used his personal relationships and experiences to keep strong and make it through many struggles and trials.

1 Samuel 16 - 1 Samuel 30
You'll notice that king Saul's men understood the value of David's skill as a musician and warrior to Saul in his depressed and oppressed condition. However, that value didn't start over night. That value came from years of instruction from his parents and personal contact with the Almighty God in the time before we knew about David! Not only was David's personal relationship with God beneficial to him, but it was also beneficial to someone else! You'll be able to help others because of your personal relationships! (Especially one with Jesus)

Next in Chapter 17 David used his personal relationship with Jonathan, Saul's son, to overcome a great trial in his life. The two young men had become fast friends, and this relationship help get him away from Saul's sharp Javelin's, with which Saul had tried to kill David numerous times! A personal relationship with someone will also benefit you. You will undoubtedly need someone to help you in the future, or maybe right now. Those with whom you have personal relationships, I mean good, close, true personal relationships will be the ones who will really help you in your times of need!

I could mention a couple more, but for the sake of time lets go right to the last example. In Chapter 30 David goes home to Ziklag, and finds it burning, his family, and the families of his men along with every possession are gone! The Amalekites had come and destroyed and taken everything! This distressed and upset David and his men so much that they cried until there wasn't any strength in them to cry! (Have you ever done that before? Then you will understand.) It quickly turned into a stand off because the men's emotions turned to anger and they were getting ready to stone David. So, once more David called upon a personal relationship, and used it to strength himself, and figure out which way to go! This time David "Encouraged Himself In the LORD!" He strengthened himself in the presence of the Almighty, and this helped him get his head on. He then called for the priest, and inquired of God, which way to go. God said GO! They went and destroyed the Amalekites and brought their families back and many more possessions than they had before!

Personal Relationship are very important and valuable! You must have them to make it through this life. I do encourage you and everyone to find Jesus and get to know Him as your friend. However, while on your journey to find Jesus make some earthly personal relationships, and you will soon see that there is great value in being interdependent!

Yours for a Personal Relationship with Jesus
Pastor Fred