My testimony

I was asked to write a few basic facts about myself and where I am spiritually right now by my Pastor for a project he is working on. As I started with the name rank and serial number routine, this came out....I have edited it a bit, but since it has been so long since I posted, I thought this might make a great way of kind of breaking the ice again. It is really long, but I hope you read it and I look forward to your comments...

I currently live near Charlotte, North Carolina, but I grew up near Parkersburg, West Virginia, and lived primarily with my father and younger brother. We lived with my paternal grandparents until their passing when I was 10 and 12 respectively. My father and mother were divorced when I was 2 or 3 and my mother did not play much of a role in my upbringing. My family did not regularly attend church, but my grandmother began going to an Apostolic church when I was 8 or so and I attended occasionally. After her passing, I do not recall being in a church except with a girlfriend when I was a teenager. I didn't have a very high opinion of "church" since most of the kids I knew that went to church were as bad or worse than I. They knew the rules to follow on Sunday, but that didn't affect them the rest of the week. I can think of a few, though, that seemed to actually live their faith the other 6 days and I respected them for that even then. I would probably have had to classify my self as agnostic, I believed that what we were taught in science class was true, that we came about through evolution over a long period of time. God didn't fit within those parameters. I was a very concrete person, I needed to see it to believe it or so I thought.

 

I attended college at Purdue University in Indiana and began to work part time. Ultimately through relationships from work I met some real, 24-7 Christians and attended a Baptist church a few times with these new friends. During this time I came to know Sheena and she had a church background. I honestly believe the Lord worked through our lives over the next few years and drew us together and back to North Carolina.

 

We attended church at Alexis Baptist, Sheena's home church, and the Spirit began to call me by revealing the inconsistencies in what I thought I believed. A book by Josh McDowell called "Evidence that Demands a Verdict" along with the book of John and Acts were essential in developing the faith that I needed to believe in Christ. I was saved about a week before my 25^th birthday and, not long after, my father went in the hospital in very serious condition; he was not expected to survive. At that time, I did not know anything about his spiritual condition. It was a major test of my faith. I prayed as earnestly as I knew how for my dad to survive so I could talk to him about Jesus. It took a long time, but eventually he did get out of the hospital. All of this occurred during a time when Sheena and I were planning for our wedding in June of 2000. Dad was supposed to be my best man, but he was still in the hospital on our wedding day. But, I was able to have that important conversation with my Dad about his salvation. He had been saved a few years prior, but had not been baptized. He eventually asked a Methodist chaplain in the hospital to baptize him there in his room. I believe Dad living was, at least partially, God teaching me to trust Him; He was there and loved me. This obviously was a huge spiritual milestone in my life.

 

Sheena and I were married on June 3, 2000 and marked a beginning of the real learning of my Christian walk. I was still very rough. I could play church, but how to walk the walk was a learning experience. God had miraculously cleaned my once salty speech when I was saved. Those filthy words no longer came to mind where they once flowed as smoothly as any ordinary word. Over the next few years God worked through many of my new brothers and sisters to show me how to do a better job being the 24-7 Christian that I saw so little of when I was young.

 

One of the first groups that we became a part of was the church choir. My wife is a good singer and we were driving almost an hour to church at the time, so I figured I might as well join as well. I really enjoyed getting to know the people in the Choir, the men especially. They were full of life and wisdom and although I was not a good singer, was blessed greatly by being a part of this group. We began being involved in other ministries in the church and were committed to being at Sunday school. It was not always smooth, but being a part of a group of believers was what I needed to keep on track.

 

Over the last 11 years, I have tried and sometimes failed in many different areas of ministry within the church. But as I take time to reflect on how I have served my Lord, there have been many peaks and many valleys. I have served with my own strength and with the strength of the Lord. I have been faithful and faithless. I have answered the call and ran from it. But, through great times and sorrowful times…the words of one of the men I hope to be like one day ring in my head. God is ALWAYS faithful. He, too, had experienced many of the same mistakes I have made, but his life prior to his death were an exhibition of generosity and servant hood. He made a difference in my life and in many others. I hope that is how I get to leave this world to be with the Father.

 

One of the calls that I have embraced, ignored and ran from is the call to preach. On several occasions, I have been given the great privilege and responsibility to open God's Word before his people and preach. At times it has been Him being what I am not, other times I have withered in my own strength. The most challenging aspects for me are to rely on the Spirit and to be careful to give God the glory in a genuine way.

 

No matter our calling, being a Christian is disciple making. Speaking God's truths to both the lost and the redeemed with the anticipation that the Spirit will use it to make changes in people is our essential function as believers. I feel inadequate at both. When I do manage to do it, I rely on scripture as my encourager. One of my favorite verses is 2 Timothy 1:6-7 "⁶For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, ⁷for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control." (ESV) I pray God will teach me to fan this little flame.

Blessings by Laura Story

As I was going through a challenging week, I heard this song and the Holy Spirit used it as a powerful reminder that we are only missionaries in this world. Our real homes are in Heaven, if we know the saving power of Christ.

We are blessed with many good songs to listen to, I think about the first time that I listened to "I Can Only Imagine" and in my mind, could see glimpses of what it may be like in our eternal home once our missionary work is done. We each need to practice good hospitality and invite our temporary neighbors here on earth to our real homes with our beautiful Saviour.

Read through this carefully and see what the Spirit shows you as this one helps us keep things in proper perspective. This life is but a vapor in view of eternity.

Laura Story - "Blessings"

We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love is way too much to give us lesser things

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
And we cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
All the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
And what if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know that pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home
It's not our home

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy
And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise

Manna from John

(ESV)John 5:8 Jesus said to him, "Get up, take up your bed, and walk." 9 And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.
Now that day was the Sabbath. 10 So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, "It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed." 11 But he answered them, "The man who healed me, that man said to me, 'Take up your bed, and walk.' " 12 They asked him, "Who is the man who said to you, 'Take up your bed and walk'?" 13 Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place. 14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, "See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you." 15 The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. 16 And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.

Jesus had completely transformed this man's life. He had been paralysed for nearly 40 years and out of many that were at the pool, Jesus chose him to heal. He just spoke and his impairment vanished and he instantly had the ability to walk. It takes us months to learn or relearn to walk and Jesus spoke it into this man. Kinda reminds me of the beginning of Genesis.

But as usual the Pharisees were more interested in having their traditions of legalism fulfilled than they were to celebrate this miracle. Their focus was on the outward appearance not the change that occured. We have whole denominations and many, many churches that are seeing no life change in their congregations. Their focus is on the conforming to tradition and following rules, but Jesus was about the gracious love of God.

Would Jesus be concerned about someone who wears flip flops to church? I don't think so. He would be more concerned about drawing them to a true understanding of sin and the eternal consequences of it. Let me make it simple, no one will go to hell for wearing flip flops to church. Maybe that's not your preference and I respect that, but those kind of rules are just religion, not rightousness. Christ's love, shown through the giving of Himself as a substitute for our debt of sinfulness, is the only thing that can unite people. Religion and traditions only divide people.

True acts of rightousness (Good works) are only accomplished with the help of the Holy Spirit. I do not ever recall the Disciples being full of the Spirit and putting on closed toe shoes, or long pants, or a white shirt or.... They just lifted up their Lord's name and people responded.

For Him,
Steve

Steve Amos

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Manna from John

(ESV) John 4:39 Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me all that I ever did." 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because of his word. 42 They said to the woman, "It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world."

Most true believers have witnesses to tell them about Jesus many times before they finally believe. Many times that transition from head knowledge, provided by either a person, TV or radio, to truly believing occurs when you personally open the Word and start asking questions. The Word and the Holy Spirit work together in your life to teach you those great truths of salvation and its only then that most people truly believe. It is not an easy thing for someone to let go of self sufficiency and trust in someone else.

Be patient with someone that knows all of the answers, but has had no life change, just point them to the Word. The good thing about quoting scripture is that they can't argue with your opinion, they need to wrestle with God. Maybe this person was even baptized and a Church member for years, but that doesn't mean they are saved. Send them to read through I John and the Holy Spirit will confirm their salvation if it is really there.

The stakes are high, be bold to ask someone if they truly know Jesus as Savior and Lord.

For His beautiful name,
Steve

Steve Amos

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Manna from John

(ESV) John 4:34 Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.
35 "Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest'? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest.

Jesus was telling the disciples that the work he was doing, witnessing to the Samaritans, was much better than any food He could eat. I have felt the same at times, when you are doing what God wants you to do, you don't worry about food and drink. It is a wonderful place to be. Jesus knew He would not parrish by waiting to eat, but some of these folks may never hear about God's grace again before they did.

He went on to tell the disciples that there was a harvest to be brought in. This would have meant far more to this agrarian culture than it means today to us. The urgency to bring in the crop meant live or death to them. It means the same today for those who die without truly believing. I pray that we each have that urgency.

For Him,
Steve

Steve Amos

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Manna from John

(ESV) John 4:23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth."

After the discussion that the place of worship was going to be irrelevant, Jesus is telling the Samaritan woman that there would be a higher standard for worship coming soon. As it was, if you went and sacrificed in Jerusalem for the Jews, you were ceremonially good. There was no spiritual necessity, because you can't measure spirituality or write a law for it, only on doing or not doing things and the Jews even added hundreds of additional rules that the Pharisees followed.

Worshiping in spirit and truth is not an option, Jesus told her "must". Humans tend to either do things mechanically, ie without spirit or out of tradition, ie no truth. We have to assess pur situation at every oportunity. I have worshiped traveling 80 miles per hour down the interstate and not worshiped while "worship" music was playing in church on Sunday. Worship is out of the overflow of out hearts, is your spiritual cup full or empty? Not emotional cup, spiritual cup. Do you realize what justice should have done for you? Yes, a date with the lake of fire. Do you know what grace is? It is getting something that you do not deserve, everlasting life with God in heaven. Not following rules, God loves us and provided Jesus for us. God had Jesus killed, not the Jews. Why?? He wants to walk with us in the garden, just like He did with Adam before the fall and fellowship with us....unbelievable!

Reflect on this gift and truely worship Him today,
Steve

Steve Amos

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Manna from John

(ESV) John 4:10 Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water." 11 The woman said to him, "Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock." 13 Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." 15 The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water."

Jesus was clearly offering her a spiritual gift, but the Samaritan woman was only looking to fulfil a physical need. Boy don't we do the same things today. We hear blessings from God's word and think beautiful houses, we hear about riches and think a big bank account....Jesus ministry was a gift of Himself for our failings and He deserved nothing that He received.

Why do we feel like we deserve the worlds comfort when we are no longer of this world? The only riches that we can amass are ones we will only receive in Heaven. I loose this perspective so often, I love stuff like everyone else. We forget that EVERYTHING that we have is a gift of God and we did nothing to deserve it. Whether we have much or little, God's real desire is to bless us spiritually and we did NOTHING to deserve that, either.

Praise Him for all of the good things and seek His spiritual blessings!
Steve

Steve Amos

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Manna from John

I had this ready to send yesterday morning and my Ipad had a technical issue (crashed) I didn't think that Apple products did that??? Anyway I have been thinking about the verses over the last day and have a little different angle.

 

(ESV) John 4:7　A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink." ⁸(For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) ⁹The Samaritan woman said to him, "How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?" (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)

 

Jesus was radical in every part of His ministry. First He was walking through Samaria, which Jews generally did not do. Many times they would walk miles out of the way in order to keep from walking through there. Secondly, Rabbis did not talk to women at all, whether Jew or Gentile. Jesus had also apparently sent His disciples into town to buy food, Samaritan food, which would have been unclean for Jews.

 

Jesus spend a lot of time ministering to people that contemporary religious leaders wouldn't even be seen with. I believe that we have lost that aspect in today's religious circles, to many times we are Pharisees instead of being little Christs. Let each of us look to minister to someone that a religious zealot would just ignore.

 

I pray you have a blessed Lord"s Day,

Steve

Manna from John

(ESV) John 4:6 Jacob's well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well.

I love these little glimpses of Christ's humanity. Too many times we see Jesus as being superhuman, but His flesh was made just like ours. When He walked a long distance, He got tired and thirsty. For me, that puts the cross in a much different light. Although he had the nature of God, his flesh was just as weak as ours. He had to be scared and no one wants to die, but He knew it was coming. His nature allowed Him to overcome the flesh to do what no one else could do.

One of my favorite verses is 2 Timothy 1:7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. 

We each need the Holy Spirit to overcome the weakness of our flesh. Jesus did to the point of allowing Himself to die, we only have to ask for help and yield to the Spirit.

I hope you have a Blessed weekend!

Steve

Manna from John

(ESV) John 3:31 He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all. 32 He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. 33 Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true. 34 For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. 35 The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. 

Do you notice how tightly believe and obey are correlated in in verse 36. Too many suppose that Jesus died for a fire insurance policy from Hell, that they can go through some process in a local church and magically, they get to go to Heaven. Even in the old testament, your belief affects your behavior. See this reference from Isaiah...

Isaiah 55:7      let the wicked forsake his way, 

      and the unrighteous man his thoughts; 

      let him return to the LORD, that he may

      have compassion on him, 

      and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. 

The wicked and unrighteous must change <repent> and return to the Lord. Notice who left, not the Lord, you and I. We all have instances of rebellion that lead us away from His perfect plan in our lives. He is gracious to pardon us and accept us back because He sees us washed clean through Christ's blood.

If you are not close to the Lord right now, He is right there waiting patiently for your return. He doesn't need you, He wants the best for you and in order to reach that pinnacle your must be working out His plan for you.

Many Blessings,

Steve

Manna from John for lunch or dinner or whatever you call it :)

(ESV) John 3:25 Now a discussion arose between some of John's disciples and a Jew over purification. 26 And they came to John and said to him, "Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him." 27 John answered, "A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. 28 You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, 'I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.' 29 The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. 30 He must increase, but I must decrease."

What an amazing thing for a human being to say...He must increase, but I must decrease... Those words do not just fall off of the tongue of a fleshly man, the Holy Spirit was at work in John. Whenever I am obedient to the Holy Spirit and do something and receive any sort of a compliment, it is hard to glorify the one who did the work through me, but you cannot own the work or the results. If you yield to the Spirit and witness to someone who curses you out, it is no less successful than when you have the priviledge to pray with someone to receive Christ as their savior. Always remember to yield the floor to the one who deserves the recognition for the work. John's disciples seemed a little upset with "all" going to Jesus instead of John.

I think that attitude is where the competition comes between our local churches. Some tend to downgrade another local body because they do or don't have drums, or they preach out of this Bible or that Bible. The only serious disagreements should come from critical theological issues concerning God, Jesus or the Word. At the end, we all have the same head coach and the same playbook, but we are all not playing the same game. With our finite minds, we can only sell out to one game at a time, just play hard, play disciplined and let God be glorified in everything we do and be joyful when God uses someone else mightily to bring more brothers and sisters into the family.

Have a blessed day,
Steve

Steve Amos

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Manna from John

(ESV) John 3:19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. ²⁰For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. ²¹But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God."

 

The non Christians in church are often easy to figure out, not that you know for sure, but as spiritual fruit inspectors, you don''t see much fruit. Of course you never really know, but that's not our job, to pass judgement.When people either don't do anything or don't do anything without seeking recognition, you have to wonder. People who won't do any "behind the scenes" work make you wonder. People who say the most beautiful prayers on Sunday then know all of the nasty jokes on Monday make you wonder. I am not at all saying that you distance yourself from anyone, God calls us to love everyone, but pray for them, talk to them about the Lord and his beautiful grace. Also talk to them about sin, because of where we live there are a lot of good religous folks who don't know Jesus from the man in the moon. Until someone sees their separation from God, they can't see their need for Jesus.

 

 

I pray you have a blessed Lords Day,

Steve

Manna from John

(ESV) John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

The word believe does not mean knowledge, the Devil knows about Jesus, he even tried to get Jesus to bow down to him. Believe means something so much more,it means to put your trust and faith in the original greek. Faith is trusting in someone or something, when you jump, you have faith that gravity will bring you back down. Believing in Jesus is trusting He will do what He said he will do, trusting that he will be faithful to the promises of being our provider and savior. Have you believed, I pray that you have.

For Him,
Steve

Steve Amos

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Manna from John

I have had this scripture in an email for 2 days.

(ESV) John 3:12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

This passage contains probably the most famous verse in the Bible, John 3:16, it is great news! But the rest of the verses surrounding it really show the need for verse 16. In verse 14 the serpent that Moses lifted up saved the Israelites that looked upon it from dying, Jesus had to die to save us, that was why He was here was to die. God will do anything including turning over His own son to godless pegans and religous zealots to be murdered. God wasn't surprised that Jesus died, or rather was killed, it was part of the plan, just like this email is. Someone either reading this or someone you know needs to read it. God loves you and has made provision for us to be together for eternity. His Spirit is probably already working in your life to show you that love. He is convicting you of your sin and has shown you in these verses that you will die just like those in the wilderness that would not look upon the serpent.

Tomorrow I will talk about what believing is and what one must do to be saved.

Many blessings,
Steve

Steve Amos

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Manna from John

(ESV) John 3:1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him." 3 Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." 4 Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" 5 Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Nicodemus knew that there was something different about Jesus, but he didn't want to ruin his rep with the other Pharisees by seeing him during the day. Some have said that coming at night might have meant that he just wanted to be able to talk with Jesus for a longer time, uninterupted. That is possible, but Jesus was not very popular with the Pharisees, he was taking their glory by not merely talking a good game and making the exterior look good, He impacted people's lives in love.

In order to enter the kingdom of God, be saved, we have to be born of water and born of the Spirit. There are a variety of possible interpretations of water, from ceremonial cleansing to natural birth, but the Spirit is clear. Unless you have the spiritual birth of the Holy Spirit dwelling within you, you are not born again or "begotten from above" as it may be translated and therefore will have no entrance into God's kingdom. This is God's work in your life.

Many Blessings,
Steve

Steve Amos

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Manna from John

(ESV) John 2:23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. 24 But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people 25 and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.

Jesus is not surprised by our behavior, He knows us better than we know ourselves. If we have that understanding, it will free us to confess our short comings (sins), sometimes many, many times to both God and brothers or sisters in Christ. It is foolish to put on airs with God, He knows you, He knows if you are genuinely saved or are just playing church.

It is easy to believe when we see miracles, but we start questioning when we don't keep seeing them. A miracle isn't necessary, the Bible and the Holy Spirit are adequate to witness the Gospel message, but sometims He uses us in the process. What a great priviledge, that work is mandated to everyone, but many are unwilling and miss out on seeing the miracle of a regenerated Spirit.

Let each of us who know the Lord actively seek the opportunity to brag on Jesus and watch for the Holy Spirit working in someone. But let me say, "success" in witnessing is you being submitted to God, not necessarily someone accepting Jesus. Saving is His grace and His work, we just get to play a role sometimes.

I pray each of you have a blessed weekend,
Steve

Steve Amos

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Manna from John

I fell asleep before I hit send last night....I shared this tonight at our prayer meeting, but for those that were not there, I spent most of Wednesday in the truck driving. I listened to someone who talked about being saved at a young age. My mind wondered wishing that I had been saved much earlier in my life. It was just a few days before my 25th birthday that I came to know Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I had the thought that I had wasted those years. But the Lord has showed me that He has used my whole life to write my unique testimony, but even more than that, I don't need to worry about past wasted time, I need to focus on tomorrow and not waste it and to actively serve the Lord.

(ESV) John 3:1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him." 3 Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." 4 Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" 5 Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

We often hear about "born again Christians", that is redundant, If you have not had a spiritual birth, you have not been saved and are not a Christian. There is not another path to cross the great divide of sin to reconcile ourselves to God.

Being in the south, we often encounter people who are strong in religous tradition, but are very weak on the understanding that Christianity is about a relationship with Christ through grace alone. We can't muster it up ourselves or do anything to earn it. It is a gift from God that we do not deserve. Christ's death on the cross is the only thing that will satisfy God's wrath against our sin. If there was another way, Jesus would not have had to leave Heaven to suffer here.

If you don't have a true saving relationship with Jesus, talk to someone about it, the Devil uses tradition and religion to pacify our needs for God, but we will only end up frustraited.

If you do have that saving relationship, its our duty to share the good news with others. You don't have to be a pastor or scholar to do it. It's a simple message of love.

Have a blessed day,
Steve

Steve Amos

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Manna from John

(ESV) John 2:13 The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. 15 And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. 16 And he told those who sold the pigeons, "Take these things away; do not make wmy Father's house a house of trade." 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for your house will consume me."

I am probably going out on a limb here, so let me know how your feelings...This is still the bain of the Church, I go to a very conservative church in the country, we do not have anything for sale. I'm not really saying that selling a cup of coffee or a book in a church building is necessarily bad. The temple was where Jews went to fellowship with God through sacrifice and held the very presence of God.

Understanding that your body is now God's temple, not the church building, we need to be careful about the motivation in our hearts about which ministies we support and where we place our church membership. Too many times, especially in big churches, it becomes a business decision as to which body you join with in service to the Lord.

Do we hold the temple of God now in high esteem as Christ did? I do not think so, the local body that are Christ's hands and feet are 80% inactive. If you look at George Barna's numbers, that may be generous. We cannot reach the lost when we are chasing dimes around...God is our provider, not our career or our ability in salesmanship. I have seen it too many times, when we need work, we get it, a project just "falls out of the sky" for no reason. Prayer to the Father does more than becoming a member at "First Business" Church.

For Him,
Steve

Steve Amos

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Manna from John

(ESV) John 1:35 The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God!" 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38 Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, "What are you seeking?" And they said to him, "Rabbi" (which means Teacher), "where are you staying?" 39 He said to them, "Come and you will see." So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. 

This is almost a spiritual baton passing from John to Jesus. John had fulfilled his role in preparing the Jews through repentance, which is always the first step to Jesus. But the real interesting thing here is the immediate following of Jesus by John's disciples. They didn't merely just follow him, they went to stay with him for a time. I struggle with the immediate following sometimes. I think I know what I am supposed to be doing, but then I sometimes second guess it. I look for some confirmation, when I should just say yes to Him. I am not alone there, many people do the same thing and miss out on the Holy Spirit's enabling to do things that maybe we aren't good at. 

God has been working in interesting ways in my life. He has shown me that too often I chalk up any spiritual success to my own ability and steal God's glory. God wants to use my weaknesses to help others because I know that He had to enable me to do it and He will get the glory. That reliance on God to do His work is exactly where he wants all of us. We have to quit worrying about failing when its God doing the work through us. The only catch is to make sure that we are walking with Him enough to know the difference between last nights pizza and the Holy Spirit's prompting. Spending time with the Shepard is how the sheep learn his voice.

For Him,

Steve

Manna from John

(ESV) 29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is he of whom I said, 'After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.' 31 I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel." 32 And John bore witness: "I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33 I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' 34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God." 

Churches are filled with people who have only received the baptism of water and not the baptism of the Holy Spirit. That difference is the difference between religion, which gives more misery than comfort, and a saving faith in Jesus. Too many people have been baptised out of guilt or wanting to make someone else happy and never have met Jesus, they have merely gone through some form of religious rite which only resulted in wet clothes. 

Belief in Christ is not just head knowledge, the Devil knows everything about Jesus and even believes that He exists, but for a saving faith, the difference is the calling of the Holy Spirit, the feeling of intense sorrow that you have not followed God's standards (not that you got caught), believing that Jesus' death and resurrection was necessary to pay for your sins, mentally turning away from your past sins and committing your life to following Christ. That is a lot more complicated than coming forward after a service, saying a prayer and getting baptised. Being redeemed from death is more complicated, there isn't much outward evidence of that happening other than a huge smile after feeling the weight of sin fall off of your shoulders. 

If none of this makes sense, email me or message me and I will walk through it all with you, I can say pretty confidently that if you have never been convicted (felt overwhelming sorrow) of your sins and realized that there is nothing that you could do about your problem, you have NEVER been saved and your name is not yet in the Lambs Book of Life.

All for Him,

Steve

Manna from John

(ESV) John 1:25 They asked him, "Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?" 26 John answered them, "I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, 27 even whe who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie."

John had the proper view of where Jesus was in relation to him. Slaves took the sandles off of their Master's feet, which would be a detestible job for a Jew. John said he was unworthy to do even that menial task for Jesus. We need to taste that picture of holiness, He was absolutely blameless and deserved the respect that John was showing him here. The people questioning John were the ones later who would select a prisoner to be released and plead to have Jesus killed.

Sin blinds us. We need to pursue holiness, the renewing and transforming of our minds through bible study and prayer and fellowship with other believers. Without this we will look just like the world and be completely ineffective for doing God's work. This is the single biggest problem of the Church today, too many people try to absorb enough on Sunday morning every week or two from the preacher and never knock the dust off of their bibles. That would be like trying to eat enough on Sunday to last the week.

All believers need to be in the word often to allow us to see what God would like to change.

For Him,
Steve

Steve Amos

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Manna from John

(ESV) John 1:19 And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?" 20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ." 21 And they asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" And he answered, "No." 22 So they said to him, "Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?" 23 He said, "I am tthe voice of one crying out in the wilderness, 'Make straight the way of the Lord,' as the prophet Isaiah said."

The Pharasees knew their scripture. But it never entered their heart. John the Baptist ministry was not to replace Jesus, but to set the table for him. Many people did the same in my life. I had several people preach into my life well before I repented and believed in Jesus.

But my question for us is do you love Jesus enough to do this for someone else? God calls each Christian to be a witness to others. If youe love Jesus, you will care about the lost souls in this world. John's ministry, like ours, pointed to Christ.

For Him,
Steve

Steve Amos

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Manna from John

I appologize for missing the last couple of days, the recliner bit me! Hopefully I can make the transition to mornings again.

(ESV) John 1:17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.

The 10 Commandments and the rest of the law are impossible for us to follow perfectly and just one slip up separates us from God eternally just like in the Garden of Eden, after Adam and Eve disobeyed God, they were sent out of the Garden forever and separated from God.

The law was designed to show us our faults, not bring us closer to God. The Jews took following the law to the highest level, the most devout, still today will not do anything on the Sabbath (Saturday) to the extreme of paying Gentiles (that's us) to turn their light switches on for them. Absolutely ridiculous!! You are not more holy if you don't turn on a switch and notlove your neighbors.

The law works the same today. If there isn't a problem, there doesn't need to be a law, all a law does is make your flesh rebel from it. For instance if I say do not think of a pink polka dotted rhino, most people have never considered that before and everyone who reads this will think of a pink polka dotted rhino. But grace and truth came through Christ. He will teach us the application of Gods real teaching in the law not the letter of the law.

For instance, Jesus taught that the Sabbath is made for us, not us for the Sabbath, meaning if we choose to work on our Holy Day, whether Saturday or Sunday or whenever, it affects us negatively by being more tired and not being refreshed by a day of rest.

For a believer, the law is just a reminder that we have not arrived, for the unbeliever, it is a flashing warning light that you have a sin problem to deal with, both of us need grace.

For Him,
Steve

Steve Amos

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Manna from John

(ESV) John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.' ") 16 And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.

Jesus, being God, clothed himself in the flesh of a poor family's baby. He grew and began working with His earthly father Joseph in near obscurity. Apparently he nor his mother Mary related much about his younger years to the disciples, or it never entered their minds when writing scripture. But GOD in the flesh came and DWELT among US yet did not sin. He had all of the struggles that we have. He faced all of the temptation that we face. Yet He did not fall short of God's standards as we do.

We are still partaking in the truth and grace that Jesus revealed today through the Bible. God did not withhold ANYTHING that we would need to be reconciled to him. He loves us that much. But He doesn't just want us to be walking with Him in the future after we die. He wants us to be learning to walk with Him now day in and out. His grace is also for learning to walk with Him now, placing ourselves in the back a truly making Him our Lord.

For Him,
Steve

Steve Amos

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Manna from John

(ESV) John 1:12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

To receive Jesus means you accept His claims of being God and more than that, like you receive a gift, take possession of His promises and more than that, take on his mission. He came only to glorify the Father, that must be our mission.

If it is good, it can only be from God. We have no capacity to do good without Him. We always have a motive, maybe it make us look like a nice person, maybe we feel guilty about something else we have done. In Christ, everything is done for the good of the person receiving the gift, as was evident on the cross. Whenever we seek recognition for our good works, we are stealing the glory from God. this is why He uses our weaknesses, if He used our strengths, we would take credit for the good works ourselves.

Have a blessed day,
Steve

Steve Amos

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Manna from John

(ESV) John 1:6 There came a man sent from God, whose name was John.
7 He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him.
8 He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light.
9 There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.
10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.
11 He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.

John the Baptist came into the world with a similar mission to modern Christians. Where John was witnessing about the coming Messiah, we must bear witness to the risen Lord, because the world still does not know him. Christ is the opposite of the world, we have to recognize that. The passions of Christ are to reconciole people from the clutches of the world to himself. Verse 9 talks about enlightening every man, Christ has revealed himself in many ways pointing to a creator, that revelation leads either to salvation or condemnation.

Our responsibility, like John the Baptist is merely obedience.

For Him,
Steve

Steve Amos

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Manna from John

(NASB) John 1:4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.
5 The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

It is clear that in this text that without Christ, we never really live and also that if you don't know Christ, what I just said will make no sense. When we believe in Christ, we have His life, light, in us and will be shining His light in this dark world. When you accept Christ, you will be changed, without a change then we have to question if the belief really occured. Light alwys impacts darkness.

For Him,
Steve

Steve Amos

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Manna from John

(NASB) John 1:2 He was in the beginning with God.
3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.

So Jesus was not only there when the world was made, He made it. But even more, everything that exists has come into being by Him. That is to say that there are no accidents out there. We were all created for a purpose by Jesus. Finding that purpose is one of the fundamental issues that we all feel the need to address. What is it that makes you get out of bed, but more so that makes you feel fulfilled. All of that exists in Christ who fulfills people as they enter into the purpose that he designed them for. What has He designed you for?

For Him,
Steve

Steve Amos

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Manna from John

I have been using a variety of devotionals and a lot from Timothy which we are studying in Sunday School, consequently, I have been jumping around like a 5 year old after 5 Sundrops... So I feel like I am being lead to start going through a book of the Bible and have settled on John. Its been a couple of years since I have read through all of it, so I am really looking forward to it.

(NASB) John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Ok, one whole verse...but there is a lot of good stuff in here. We'll see it later, but the Word is Christ Jesus and this is one of the most clear sections of the Bible showing the Trinity at least with the Father and Jesus. If you look back at Genesis, you will see that there are a lot of plaural pronouns in Chapter one. Jesus has always existed with God, distinctly different as we will later see, but the same. Its God math, frankly I struggle with it, but the Bible clearly teaches it.

Jesus will claim to be God Himself later, but as has been said, these claims eliminate the "Jesus was a good man" theory of lost people. He was either a lunatic, a liar or Lord. Thousands of people have submitted themselves to death with the belief that the latter is true, including almost all of the people that we will read about in this book who were closest to him.

That leaves us with a decision to make, is it truth or a lie. Wr must make a decision, we cannot ignore something so important.

For Him,
Steve

Steve Amos

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Manna

The past few days have been challenging, but the Lord has been good. Please continue to pray especially for my mom and her brothers and sisters.

(ESV) Romans 8:31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

Romans 8 contains so much good spiritual food, some of it a bit contraversial, but every verse is packed with nutrition for your soul. These verses magnify the freedom that we should feel in walking with the Lord. We are HIS! He withheld NOTHING in order to reach out to us, clean us and prepare us for an eternity with Him. If we are living our lives withu Him as our master, then His joy is all we need to worry about. Let us truely be His servants here in this World. Smetimes that means traveling around the world to share Christ, as a few who get this email will be doing today. Smetimes it means traveling hours from your home to reach ouit to young people, or special needs families or....

Sometimes it is as simple as helping your lost neighbor and having the opportunity to tell them about something great the Lord is doing in your life. The Lord will provide the prompting through the Holy Spirit, we merely have to say yes...easy enough right? No, we are good at justifying our disobedience. We are worried about everything except please Him who withheld nothing for us.

Let us each listen for His prompting today. If anyone would like to share something that the Lord used them to do today, email me and I'll share it sometime in future emails, no names of course.

For Him,
Steve

Steve Amos

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Manna

Thank you for your prayers, we had a nice service for my grandmother today, the preacher spoke about believing, the music was good and everyone played well together...not to be taken for granted, the Lord's grace was sweet as always and supplied the peace that passes all understanding.

(NET) 2 Pet 1:5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith excellence, to excellence, knowledge; 1:6 to knowledge, self-control; to self-control, perseverance; to perseverance, godliness; 1:7 to godliness, brotherly affection; to brotherly affection, unselfish love. 1:8 For if these things are really yours and are continually increasing, they will keep you from becoming ineffective and unproductive in your pursuit of knowing our Lord Jesus Christ more intimately.

These qualities depicted in these verses could represent a spiritual thermometer in the Christian walk here on earth. If you lack the former then the later things are impossible. The verse says make every effort...that's a tough saying. We have done those things that come natural, come easy and require some effort, but have we really made every effort to attain the really hard things.

I think about Jesus going to the desert for 40 days of fasting...y'all know I haven'y missed 40 meals, maybe ever, much less 40 days...that's "every effort"...I think about Paul, nearly beat to death, left for dead and then when he came to, went back into Lystra...that's every effort...Jesus giving his life as the ultimate sacrifice for our sins as a redeemer for us...that's every effort.

I don't know what the Holy Spirit has shown you in this little piece of scripture, but the list will show you your spiritual temperature. Few, if any of us walk in the unselfish love all of the time, but we are equipped to do so and the reward is great!

For Him,
Steve

Steve Amos

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Manna

(ESV) 1 Corinthians 1:25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord."

Many times we limit the things that "we will do" for God to what we are good at or what things are easy. I don't believe that is what the Bible teaches, Moses couldn't speak well, David was a very young man when he defeated Goliath and fell morally with Bathsheba, Guidian was far from a "mighty man of valor", Peter was a mere fisherman, etc, etc. We need to realize that whatever God needs us to do he will provide the grace and power through the Holy Spirit to accomplish it. We tend to steal God's glory by boasting about what we are good at doing, but as Paul taught here, God's glorified in our weakness. He used a Jew to reach the Gentiles (that's us) He used many others that were way out of their comfort zone, remember Jonah running from God's request to go to Nineveh?

We are His, accomplishing His work, with His power. The pressure is off of us, we just need to have the faith to say yes. As one of the folks who get this email said, "if your faith requires proof, you have no faith."

Are you worried you will look like a fool by doing something that you are not good at? Moses fought God tooth and nail, but he did ultimately speak to Pharroh and lead millions of stiffnecked people to freedom, but didn't get to see his people enter the promised land because he didn't listen to God.

Let each of us be willing to use our weakness as well as our strengths for the glorious plan of our Master and be careful to glorify Him with the results.

In Christ,
Steve

Steve Amos

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Manna

My grandmother passed away yesterday, please keep my mom and her family in your prayers. I did my bible study last night, but nothing inspired me to write...so rather than forcing something I just didn't send anything.

(ESV) 1 Thess 4:9 Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, 10 for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more, 11 and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, 12 so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.

I remember when I was young, my dad had someone who was a Jehova's Witness begin to talk to him. It went on for several months. Including "bible study" for a while where they discussed the JW "bible" and many other things. In their cult, they teach works plus Jesus, kind of, for salvation. It made me think all the nice things that this guy did for our family were nothing more than a selfish attempt at earning his "salvation"

Brotherly love is the biggest testimony of Christ in our lives. When there is no reason for us to do something for someone other than the love that we have for them through Christ, we can speak LOUDLY to those lost family members of the recipient to our love. We have nothing to gain from our good works here on earth. If we repent, believe in Christ and commit our lives to Him, we have nothing more to earn, our jobs are simple, love everyone in His name, to be His hands and feet in is world before Christ's return.

Love on somebody today, in His name,

Steve

Steve Amos

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Manna

It has been a challenging week. At the last word, my grandmother is hanging on although her blood oxygen sats are in the 70s. Other challenges have presented themselves, but the Lord has worked them all out. Praise Him for His grace and mercy.

(ESV) Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

There is so much meat in this passage, I could write for days, but the central message God is in control and wants us to be with Him at any cost. He did not spare anything in our redemption, that's a fine church word....it means to set free, as in a slave, from sin...another wierd church word...sin is simply missing the mark, God's mark, of perfection. if you do something that God would never do, that's sin.

Back to the text...God wanted us to be with him so much that even after the fall of Man in the garden of Eden, even after he had to flood the world to start over, even after all of the miraculous things he did for Israel, we still chased after other gods. But through Christ, we are redeemed from our sinfulness and our relationship with God is restored for eternity and we will once again be able to walk with Him in the coolness of the morning as Adam and Eve did in the garden.

For Him,
Steve

Steve Amos

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Manna

(ESV) Proverbs 19:20 Listen to advice and accept instruction,
that you may gain wisdom in the future.
21 Many are the plans in the mind of a man,
but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.

We each think we have our stuff together, but we are surrounded by others that can help us if we will humble ourselves and listen. Putting good advise to use is wisdom. We plan and God just lovingly smiles at us and works His plan. Our limited wisdom is no match for His infinite wisdom. We need to look for Him working and join Him rather than ending up frustraited by doing our own thing.

For Him,
Steve

Steve Amos

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Manna

(ESV) 1Corinthians 2:1 And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. 2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, 4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

Trying to convince someone of anything spiritual using words is most frustraiting. Most have tried it and ultimately failed. What you can convince someone of can be easily turned around by someone more convincing. However, if the Lord has a hold of them, they will be wooed by their creator who knows every little crack and hiding place in their soul.

Paul, who was one of the most learned men in the New Testament, kept his message simple... Jesus came and was innocent, but was killed in the most shameful way in that time. Not for what he did wrong, but for what we would do wrong....truely amazing love...let us all focus on this simple message.

For Him,
Steve

Steve Amos

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Manna

(ESV)2 Timothy 2:20 Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. 21 Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.
22 So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. 23 Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels.

Have you ever done something and though I haven't done something that dumb in a while? I know I have. All Christians still have the same unholy flesh as they did before they were saved and it is a battle to keep from satisfying those youthful desires that bring dishonor to our Lord. They key in this passage is the "if anyone cleanses" part. Yoou need to keep confessed up, if you want to be used for good work. We also need time in prayer and Bible study to see the crud in our lives more clearly. Awareness of our sinning is the beginning of cleansing and Holiness!

In Christ's Love,
Steve

Steve Amos

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Manna

(ESV) Matthew 6:1 "Beware of rpracticing your righteousness before other people in order sto be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. 

2 t"Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may ube praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have vreceived their reward. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. wAnd your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 

Jesus talked about handling possessions a lot. Jesus talked about loving one another a lot. Putting the two together, we should all look for opportunities to be generous with our resources, both to Christians and non-Christians. But if we want eternal rewards, we don't need a press conference or press release to do it. Don't give your flesh an opportunity to boast in something that you didn't do anyway. According to scripture we are given everything that we have be our loving God. If we boast in charity, we are stealing God's glory! 

For His Glory,

Steve

Steve Amos

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Manna

(ESV) Matthew 7:24 "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it."

Jesus was nearing the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount, very early in his ministry. We've all heard sermons on this and many of them focused on the rock and the sand. But to me a great truth is that the storm hit both houses. Wisdom is preparing for the storm, not running away from it. We shall all have trials, but if we prepare, the storms will relent before we do...

Trust Him...even in the storm,
Steve

Steve Amos

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Manna

(ESV) I Peter 4:12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. 15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or fas a meddler. 16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.

Unlike popular teaching, the Christian walk is not a gold paved street on this side of physical death. We are still surrounded in a world of pain and suffering, trials are part of the gig. I do not understand how the health and wealth preachers can read any of the Bible and come to the conclusions the blessings and wealth are related. I grew up poor, but was blessed in many ways. Many others far poorer than I was and were still blessed....off the soapbox...now the text talks about trials. We wouldn't expect them at all if we sent in our "seed money" to some slick talking preacher on TV, but Peter expected them and ultimately was crucified upside down at the hands of Romans. We live in a worry free Christian environment, little direct persecution occurs, but our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world are far less fortnate. Many are KILLED every day. Follow @persecutionblog or @persecutionnews on Twitter to learn about some.

I think about Steven, the first martyr, he truely honored Christ until he breathed his last. We have not guarantee of the future remaining the same her in America and there are still many places in this world that hate the name of Jesus, but someone must go and tell them. Pray for our foreign missionaries today.

For Him,
Steve

Steve Amos

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Manna

(ESV) 2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

If, as Christians, were are only here to serve Him, then where do we need to go for training? We have Church were we are taught, but we don't retain most of what we hear. We have one another, but we are prone to change our minds, to seek after our own interests. Ultimately the best training tool ends up left in our vehicles after church for next week too many times. Been there done that. We have the answers for endless questions in our lives and we don't mke an effort to seek them.

As I have dove into the scriptures over the past few months, the peace in my life has grown. I think I have become a better dad and better brother in Christ. But it is God doing the work, not me. The old saying of dusty Bibles leading to dirty lives is dead on.

We need to make more time for the Word in our lives, most of us spend more time watching commercials than we do reading the Word.

Have a blessed Lord's day,
Steve

Steve Amos

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Manna

Please add my Grandmother to your prayer list. Yesterday, she had a very serious stroke and is still on a ventilator. With other health issues, she needs the Lord's intervention to get any better.

(ESV) Joshua 24:14 "Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

We need to be very careful applying God's promises to specific people or to the Nation of Israel to our walk, but we can learn a great deal from this, because people do not change...we need to have a healthy fear of the Lord. Israel had been in Egypt for generations and spent a lot of time serving other gods. We have the same struggles today, becoming distracted by things and people and obsession of self fulfillment, I pray each of our houses learn to serve the Lord and trust Him more completely.

For Him,

Steve

Steve Amos

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Manna

(NASB) I Corinthians 3:7 So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.
8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor.
9 For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building.
10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it.
11 For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

We all should have the assignment of planter, waterer or harvester, but always keep in mind as the text says, it isn't you doing the work. Are job is mearly to be a vessel of truth and love shining the bright beam of salvation into the dark corners of our community. Saving conviction only comes from the Father, guilt about the consequences of our action, although painful, isn't necessarily conviction of sin. Think about the prodigal son....Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. I do not deserve to be called your son...He didn't say, I'm starving to death and I need a piece of bread.

What an honor to be God's fellow workers, but before we build into someone else, we must make sure that the foundation of Christ is laid and carefully, by the wisdom off the Holy Spirit, build on it.

Praise Him for His mercy and grace,

Steve
www.joyjournal.net

Manna

Since I get to teach tonight at Alexis, I wanted to get in the Word early today and set my mind right.

(ESV) Luke 16:10 "One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. 11 If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? 12 And if you have not been faithful in sthat which is another's, who will give you that which is your own? 13 No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money."

This is a very good business practice, test someone on something small and give them more responsibility when they do those things well, nothing surprising there. A person's integrity will shine through during times of want and times of plenty. We all think that if I were rich, I would....well the truth is people who are generous with little are generous with much. People who watch thhe small details with little are faithful to continue that with much and vise versa. We each need to assess our ability with the small things.

Many Blessings to you this morning,
Steve

Manna

(ESV) Luke14:34 "Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? 35 It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

Jesus uses a similar parable a couple other times. The salt in the area came from the dead sea and much of it was mixed with other compounds other than salt and was actually a liability, what can you do with it...not preserve anything or use it as fertilizer. How could Jesus apply this to today? He might be talking about is watered down Christianity. No essential substance, it's worthless. The modern church has more Bibles than any Church in history, but a essentially illiterate....we need to protect our saltyness.

For Him,
Steve
www.joyjournal.net

Manna

(ESV)Proverbs 4:23 Keep your heart with all vigilance,
for from it flow the springs of life.
24 Put away from you crooked speech,
and put devious talk far from you.
25 Let your eyes look directly forward,
and your gaze be straight before you.
26 Ponder the path of your feet;
then all your ways will be sure.
27 Do not swerve to the right or to the left;
turn your foot away from evil.

Your heart is the fountain of life...protect it. What a great truth. If your heart is corrupt, your eyes, speach and the path of your life will be equally corrupt. But how do you protect it? Do not resist evil, but run from it...whether that is a person, a tv program, music, or the internet, do not play with filth, cut it out, make no provision for it. We are all weak in some area of our lifes, do not allow that weakness start to grow and affect us in a greater way, causing us to get off our spiritual path and making us inneffective for our beautiful Lord.

For Him,
Steve

www.joyjournal.net

Manna from Twiggs

(ESV) Proverbs 3:21 My son, do not lose sight of these—
keep sound wisdom and discretion,
22 and they will be life for your soul
and adornment for your neck.
23 Then you will walk on your way securely,
land your foot will not stumble.
24 If you lie down, you will not be afraid;
when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.

How many times do we toss and turn over either something that we have done or something that we think may affect us the next day. Many times wisdom and discretion would have kept us from being in those positions. That is why my blog is called Joyjournal.net. God's wisdom through the Word and through the Holy Spirit produces Joy, not only fleeting happiness. When you do the right things for the right reasons, you sleep well. This small piece of this great chapter of Proverbs would keep people from restless sleep, grinding teeth, overwhelming worry and would probably extend our lives. Time in the Word and time in prayer taps in to that wisdom. If you are not doing it, start with a chapter of Proverbs a day, there are 31, then after a month of that, I guarantee you will want more and more.

For Him,
Steve

Steve Amos

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Manna

(ESV) Luke 14:26 "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

These words of Jesus had to be a shock to hear for the family centered Jews. The word hate means to love less, not hate as we mean today. You have to place your devotion to Christ even above yourself and your family. A very difficult thing apart from the assistance of the Holy Spirit.

And the bearing the cross would have been shocking, crucifiction was a dispicable death in the minds of the Jews. Following Christ means not neccessarily giving up everything, but being willing to. Not too hard though if you truely trust Christ will take care of you and wants the best for you. Let us each give up more of our stuff and trust Him more today.

For Him,
Steve

Steve Amos
www.joyjournal.net
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Manna from the sticks

After an 8 hr, 6 hr trip we got to my mom's about an hour ago. Thank you Lord for the traveling mercies. We were on the other side of the interstate when a tire blew on an 18 wheeler and couldn't imagine if I had been behind it when it blew.

(ESV) Hebrews 13:5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." 6 So we can confidently say,
"The Lord is my helper;
I will not fear;
what can man do to me?"

The Christian walk is 99% attitude. Many of us cannot leave the perspective of the "old man" behind, we look for a Church where the creature comforts are right and have a good whatever program for the kids and they can't play piano, they have to have an organ or whatever....and then we have the audacity to sing "its all about you Jesus"

Hogwash....we have to fight back the old man every day we are on this side of death. We go to church and everyone is "fine" when the sky may be falling. If we want to have any impact on this generation, we have to stop playing the game the right way and start being genuine and transparent. That is radical.... If we truely trust that the Lord is our helper and we are not preforming for man, then it's easy to be transparent...you see Jesus already knows our struggles, our fears and our ambitions.

If we cast away what the world says is success and security and trust only in Christ for those things, we cannot fail. In fact that is about the only way not to fail. We have the Joy Journal written by God for us...we don't have to follow it, but if we do we will have peace and joy in our lives every day. That is how I came up with my blog address...happiness is fleeting, but Joy weathers all storms.

I'll shut up and go to sleep now. I pray you have a blessed weekend.

For Him,
Steve

Steve Amos

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Manna

(ESV) Hebrews 12:14 Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no "root of bitterness" springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled;

This is a great leadership lesson. It points to actively engaging with someone who is down hearted or feels stepped on, otherwise you will have to deal with many other issues. I have dealt with that situation and most of the time it deals with procrastination. No one wants to deal with a challenging issue with someone else, but it is just a matter of time before you will have more to deal with. The root of bitterness is infectious and it will reach much farther than you imagine.

For Him,
Steve

Steve Amos

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Manna...back to the morning

After consecutive days of dealing with a back issue and falling asleep in the recliner before I get my time in the Word, it's back to the morning...

(NASB) Matthew 5:29 "If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.
30 "If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.

This was Jesus speaking to the Crowds in the Sermon on the Mount. He had just gone through the Beatitudes which probably turned everyone on their ears. And then He said that just following the 10 Commandments to the letter was not good enough, it's really about the heart of the matter.

Now Jesus tells us that it is better to live this life mamed than to go to Hell. That makes sense to me, Hell for eternity sounds like a bad deal in comparison with blindness or a disability. But Jesus had more meeting there, I think. I believe that if anything is holding you back from ministry, you need to do away with it. We are here as servants to the Most High God. There is nothing more important than that. Abraham, by faith, had Isaac on the alter ready to sacrifice him because God told him to. What do you need to get rid of today for God's glory?

For Him,
Steve

Steve Amos

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Manna

(ESV) I John 1:5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

This is some powerful text from 1 John, it really highlites the need for self assessment. The walk in darkness indicates a continuous walking in sin and disobedience to God's word. Someone that calls themselves a Christian and goes through their lives always lying and cheating and completely consumed with themselves will probably be very surprised come judgement time.

We will not be perfect on this side of Heaven, but if we are believers we should feel remorse and guilt whenever we do something that God has told us is sin. The forgiven sinner is fast to confess, agree with God, that they messed up in order to restore fellowship with God and one another.

I pray you have a great week,
Steve

Steve Amos

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Manna

(NKJV) 2Corrinthias 6:1 We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain. 

God's grace, just like His Manna was for the Israelites, has no shelf life. We can store up food in our bodies, but we can't store much of anything else. God has a purpose for his grace, it needs to flow out as quickly as it comes in, that brings God glory.

Many blessings,
Steve

Steve Amos

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Manna

(ESV) Ephesians 1:11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,
12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.
13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

Kind of a parallel verse to yesterday's...this is so clear, we were SEALED by God! That's not sealed like a ziplock. We know those break....instead it means marked or set apart, maybe branded...and are given the Spirit as a partial payment, an earnest deposit of the final sum, which is redemption. I believe many who call themselves Christians are just being decieved. Without the Spirit, there is no seal, if no seal, judgement will follow based on our works not Christ's. That won't turn out well, no matter what we claim we did for Christ.

In His Love,
Steve

Steve Amos

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Manna

(ESV) Romans 8:18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation thas been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

As we better understand what it means to be a believer, we are given the perspective that this time of suffering is short and the eternal peace that we are given is going to be overshadowed by the joy of being with the Father again, as it was intended from the beginning in the Garden of Eden. Imagine a leasurely stroll with God and all is at peace....

Then the times, like today, when I say dumb things, do dumb things and seek my own glorification, will not bog me down any longer. I will stop caring about "I".

Believers are given the Holy Spirit as a down payment of what is to come, what a gift! But when we are birthed in our new bodies and revealed as adopted sons of God, the richness of the relationship with our Heavenly Daddy will be so good.

Press onward toward the goal as the time comes nearer,
Steve

Steve Amos

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Manna

It's been a struggle this past week, with meetings and travel...never the less, I press onward. Last night I got home at 9:00 and made the mistake of setting down. I woke at 6:20 this morning. Really needed the rest, but missed my time in the Word.

(NASB) Romans 6:1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? 2 May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been a baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we have been a buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our a old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; 7 for he who has died is freed from sin.

There are many theories of what Heaven will consist of, but as verse 5 says, we will be like Him in his resurrection. Think about Thomas touching the Lord's scared hands...makes me wonder if the scares were left just for Thomas or do I have to be reminded all of the dumb insidents that left my body scared for eternity. 

The biggest thing that sticks out to me from the time after the resurrection was that Jesus spent time fellowshipping with people, He spent time ministering and He spent time encouraging and rebuking the disciples. It seems very likely that we will do those things as well. 

But the very best thing will be the freedom from sin. It is the downfall of our lives, we fight the Spirit to serve ourselves rather than others...we always want what serves us first and unless we war with that urge we will be completely ineffective spiritually. Grace shall not increase if we walk in the flesh day by day. Our sin put to death on the cross at Calvary, walk in the newness of life.

In Him,

Steve

Manna...on the Road

(ESV) 1 Corinthians15 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

It seems that we are so eager to pull some new "truth" about God out of scripture, that we sometimes forget the basics of we're sinners, hopelessly lost and heading for Hell at 100 mph, we are called by the Lord and he shows us our eternal state, we must believe that Jesus graciously came from heaven, lived a perfect, sinless life, died for our sins and rose again, defeating death and we repent of our sins and make Him the Lord of our lives, then we get the Holy Spirit as our help til we are united with Jesus again in Heaven.

Maybe you believe a little diffently, but that's scripturally the path to salvation and eternal life, as opposed to eternal punishment for our sins.

How do we know that it is true? Well, the guys that are closest to Him all died terrible deaths, mostly involving torture, and would not deny Him. All of the writings of the New Testament were written during a time when they could have been contested by the people that were there witnessing the miracles.

The faith that it takes to believe is not a challenge all you need to do is open the door a crack to say maybe there is something to this. He will reveal the truth to you. He did it for me over 11 years ago now.

Many blessings,
Steve

Steve Amos

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Manna on the Bayou2

Tonight we watched Swamp People with people from the bayou...kinda like watching a scary movie in a haunted house! Love it here, but wish the humidity was under 90%, at least by a little.

(NASB) 2 Timothy 4:17 But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that all the Gentiles might hear; and I was rescued out of the lion's mouth.
18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

As Paul was finishing his race, his confidence was overwhelming. No matter the situation, God had his back. He knew that God's mission would be accomplished and Paul considered himself blessed to be a part of the mission to the Gentiles. He had been single minded in his focus on reaching the Gentiles...that's us. He said that he would be all things to all people so that He might save some....this highly educated Jew emptied himself of everything and let Christ fill it up.

Our spiritual lives must add up to more than showing up to church every Sunday, or every other Sunday, or at least on Easter and Christmas...we need to encounter the world where it is however God has blessed us. If at work, at the gym, in line at Walmart, we are in the Harvest field. We must see that as our mission, like Paul wanted to reach ALL of us Gentiles. If we are used up in our efforts as Paul was, it will only be possible if we really get that God's got our back all the time.

Many Blessings,
Steve

Steve Amos

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Manna on the Bayou

(NASB) Luke 10:2 And He was saying to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.

As I am going to sleep tonight, I am just winding down from 6 hours of driving, an encounter with 7000 Alabama ants, having just attended one of the shortest(best) weddings that I have attended and been catching up with some beloved brothers and sisters in Christ.

The wedding was a reminder for me of the future wedding of a loving Saviour and His bride that is made up of the Church body. That wedding will be much longer and the honeymoon will never end for those who are in the Book of Life. But I feel like we are called to continue preaching and teaching and witnessing until that day arrives. There are too many who think church is just coming to watch a bunch of professionals do their craft on significant holidays. Hogwash!!! we who are saved are all pieces of the pie of how to do church on Sunday, Jesus didn't go everwhere himself, he had disciples to help him reach out to all of the towns. The harvest is plentiful today as well. We need to stop talking and start moving forward withe the Great Commission.

I pray we each try to disciple another, but also to find someone to disciple you....none of us are truely mature.

Steve Amos

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