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Spare Change - September 2023

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3 Benefits of God’s Word

This summer we have been in the Psalm 119: Word of God Speak sermon series.  I have enjoyed this series immensely.  It has challenged me in my walk with Christ and helped me to grow closer to God through His Word.  I have been encouraged to continue to look to God’s word to strengthen my relationship with Him.  I have seen how beneficial God’s Word is in helping me to not just endure but to enjoy my daily life.  The Bible has many benefits which are spoken of in Psalm 119.  Here I want to highlight three benefits of daily interaction with God’s Word.

  1. The Word Guides Our Steps - Psalm 119:105 - “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” It should not take long for a Christian to realize that he or she needs help navigating life. Temptations and trials come at us relentlessly.  Moral choices always need to be made.  Decisions on life's direction come at us fast and furiously.  The only place we can turn to find direction is God’s Word.  The Bible is a compass to help us navigate our path.  In Psalm 119:105, the psalmist
    compares God’s Word to a lamp.  We might think of a flashlight in our modern context.  Have you ever been walking down a dark path at night?  It is impossible to navigate without a flashlight.  The flashlight allows us to see a few yards in front of us.  We feel safe following the light because we can see a few steps ahead.  We cannot see the whole path, but as we keep moving forward in faith, we make it to our destination safe and sound.  In the same way, we must treat the Bible as a
    flashlight for our life.  We must trust it even though we may only be able to see a few steps ahead.  We must trust that God will direct our steps according to His will and we will arrive safely to where He wants us to be.
  2. The Word Protects us from Sin - Psalm 119:11 “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” The Christian’s fight against sin can often be weak and even non-existent. Many Christians walk regularly in sin because they are not regularly ingesting God’s Word.  The Lord tells us that His Word protects us from sin.  How does this happen?  When God’s word is taken into our hearts, it is used by the Holy Spirit to draw us close to God, to stand against temptation, and learn to love the Lord better.  However, as the psalmist points out, we are not only to be reading the Word, but we are also to be storing it up. How do we store God's Word in our hearts?  The only way is through memorization.  We must be memorizing God’s Word!  Do you have a plan to regularly memorize Bible verses?  This matters because temptations and trials rarely come when it is convenient. They do not wait until we are feeling strong or having a good day.  Often, they come when we are stressed, tired and at our weakest.  This is when the stored Word of God shines through.  However, it cannot help us if we don’t have it hidden in our heart.  We must be people that are committed to memorizing God’s Word.  It will help us deal with the onslaught of trials and temptations in our lives.
  3. The Word Makes Us Wise - Psalm 119:130 - “The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.” This point was made in a recent sermon by Pastor Alan -- we can be wise by simply reading God’s Word.  What a fabulous truth!  We don’t need to be super-genius Bible scholars.  We simply need to regularly spend time reading the Bible.  Wisdom is not the same as intelligence. The simplest person can be wiser than the most intelligent person.  Wisdom doesn’t tell us all we need to know about a certain subject, rather, it helps to discern the right way to go in a given situation.  There are many intelligent people that have very little wisdom.  This is because wisdom comes from God, and by extension, His Word.  The Lord is not concerned with our intelligence; He is concerned with our heart.  In our heart we learn God’s word and we learn how to be wise according to God’s way.  The world has its own way of thinking and many times it is contrary to God’s word. The only way to stand in this world is to be wise in the ways of the Lord.  This will be accomplished by regularly meditating on God’s word. Meditating means we read it, then we think over it for an extended period, then we study it, and finally, see how it applies to our lives.  When we meditate on God’s Word, we learn the wisdom of God. 

I am encouraging all of us to be in God's Word regularly!   Read it, study it, memorize it, meditate on it, believe it!  You must let the Word fill your heart and mind.  As Robby Gallaty said, “Get into the Word until the Word gets into you.”  If you don’t know how to get started, please email me at   I would love to help you on your journey of faith.

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Spare Change - August 2023

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The Mark of a True Believer

What is the mark of a true believer?  One of the marks is our eagerness to serve those in need. Jesus makes it clear in Matthew 25 that He is very concerned about the outworking of our faith, especially in how we serve others.  Jesus takes time in Matthew 24 and 25 to speak prophetically about the future. He gives straightforward teaching about the end times punctuated by parables.  As He wraps up this speech, Jesus speaks about the final judgment (Matthew 25:31-46).  

In this judgment, all people will be separated as one divides sheep and goats.  The sheep in this section refer to believers, and the goats to unbelievers.  The primary difference between these groups is whether they ministered to the Lord by serving others.  Each group seems surprised that this is the criteria the Lord is using to separate His followers.  They do not seem to understand at first that by helping others they were actually serving the Lord.

At first glance, one might think that Jesus is speaking about a works-based salvation, but as we consider the whole of scripture, we understand that salvation comes only by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-10).   Jesus is speaking about works in the same way that James does in James 2:18. Our works display our faith; they are products of true gospel transformation.  In other words, a true follower of Jesus will desire to serve others because they are saved. They don’t desire to do it for an earthly or heavenly reward.  The true believer’s heart is transformed, and the outworking is to look for opportunities to help others in hard circumstances.  The pure motive of a believer does not desire a reward for good works; however, as Jesus says, they will receive a great reward -- the kingdom of God.

The goats seem equally surprised when they are told to depart and go forever into the eternal fires of hell.  They are wondering, when did they see the Lord in these desperate circumstances?  It is implied that they surely would have helped had they known.  I am sure they were confused when it is clarified that by serving others, they would have been serving the Lord; however, they chose to ignore their fellow man.  Their selfishness proved that they had no gospel transformation. They would have only done good deeds to receive the reward and not be punished.  The goats were not repentant of their sin and most certainly were not redeemed by the blood of Jesus.

What both groups seemed to miss is that by serving others they are serving the Lord.  It did not matter for the sheep because the gospel had changed the priority of their hearts to that of Jesus.  What is Jesus's priority?  He told us plainly in Luke 19:10 that He came to seek and save the lost.  Jesus's priority was people!  It is so plain that He loved mankind, His whole mission revolved around helping others.  He helped with their physical needs, all the while driving at their greatest need: salvation for their eternal souls. The same love was transferred to His followers through the gospel.  True believers should have the same desire to help others.  That is why Jesus can identify His followers very easily. The criteria is simple: Jesus’s followers show their love for Him by how they love others through service.

A believer should be a willing, zealous servant.  They see the plight of others and seek to ease their suffering.  If you notice, these acts of love in Matthew 25 are not extravagant; it is things like offering a drink, welcoming a stranger, visiting a sick person, clothing someone, etc.  These are simple acts that don’t cost a lot of money; however, they do cost something that many of us deem more valuable than money – TIME!  To accomplish these simple acts of service you must take the time to notice others, then take the time to serve them.  In our modern, fast-paced, self-focused life, are we willing to give up our most precious commodity?

From this passage, a mark of a true believer is someone that serves others simply because they love Jesus.  Is this you?  Do you serve others?  Do you take the time to notice others around you that are hurting?  If not, and you call yourself a believer, you need to repent and ask God to help you have a love for Him that is displayed in serving others.  Then, just look around! There are hurting people all around us. Let's commit to do the simple acts of service which show that we belong to Jesus.

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