Doses of Faith

Sunbeams are illuminating Through the stain glassed windows Giving wondrous, Devine beauty For the Members to behold. The royal blue and burgundy Fills the sanctuary with majesty As the Members sing proudly, Holy, Holy, Holy, Our God Almighty. The customary rituals of worship Transpire for each somber Member All dressed in their best On this beautiful day, And dressed in their best To impress or out dress. The preacher preaches eloquently, As to a great Heavenly Host. This place, called a sanctuary, Holds Member of different hearts. Mr. Terrier dominating the front With a mind for control. Mr. and Mrs. Thrash glaring With pride and gloating victory. Mrs. Wings' appearance on this day Is for desire of more news. Humbly and Praying sits Mr. Green With a regretful heart of sadness And disappointment for this scene. He is praying for God to bless. God's Blessing and Freedom to worship Were the humble desires of their fathers, Who lovingly built this...

       Christmas 2018 is behind us and before us is 2019.  We have spent weeks preparing for Christmas.  Preparations for parties, gift exchanges, Christmas programs, and the perfect Christmas morning.  My favorite is listening to my grandchildren singing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus.  Yes, in the middle of all the holiday rush, I hope you have made time for Jesus.  As we go into 2019, I hope you are placing your hope in Jesus Christ.       In 2019, we look forward to the new arrivals of grandchildren, the anticipation of weddings, the celebrations of graduations and milestones in our lives.   We all have friends battling cancer, heart problems, surgeries, or emotional issues.  With each new morning, we don't know what will come.  Will it be rejoicing or grief?  We don't know.  However, there is one constant, Jesus Christ.     As I write this, my thoughts go to New Year's Eve parties.  I k...

     When we worship, we come seeking to hear a message from God's Word.  Well, I hope.  We should.  The music and prayer prepares our hearts for the message.  And, as we come to worship, we need to be challenged from the scriptures.  Even, when we worship in the privacy of our prayer closet, we need to be seeking God's truth, so we can apply the lessons and message to our daily living.      However, first, before we open the Bible, we need to prepare our hearts for the message.  I like to think more of preparing the sanctuary.  Praying over the sanctuary that peoples' hearts will be open to the hearing of God's message.  Pray that hearts in certain pews will have no distractions.  Pray for the song leader and soloist. Praying for the pastor all week as he prepares.  Yes, do you pray for your pastor everyday?  The pastor or speaker is God's messenger to the congregation.  He needs our prayers da...

     As I entered my teen years, I had feelings of doubt about the leaders in our church.  My faith was strong, because I knew God and spent time in prayer and devotion.  Yet, when I heard a leader in the WMS justify her gossip as spreading prayer request, I wondered about her heart condition.  Then, when I heard a leading pastor in our denomination point out a very sexy dressed young lady to some ministerial students as a perfect spouse, I questioned his heart and advise.  I wondered about their faith.  Were they practicing religion only?  Where was God in this equation of gossip and lust?      Don't misunderstand me, my church had good men and women who taught us the way to God.  I had a father who worshipped in Spirit at church and at home.  However, as I look back, those feelings of disappointment remind me that just religion was not enough.  In my late teens, I wrote a poem, long poem, about my view of the ...

     From the manger Christ lived a humble life.  He healed the sick and fed thousands, but he had no pillow to rest his head at night.  From the beginning before he was the baby in the manger, Jesus knew that the cross would come.  The cross had to come, and through the cross and the resurrection Jesus comes to give salvation to all who believe.  Jesus is the Hope of the world.     While standing by the Jordan River, John the Baptist sees Jesus coming and he says. "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world." (John 1:29)  Jesus was the sacrificial Lamb who died on the cross for our sins.  He came for that purpose.  No more did the Jews need to sacrifice a lamb for their sins, because Jesus came for that purpose.     "Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection, and the life; he that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die.  D...

         This Christmas I've seen many views on Christmas on social media.  Is it good to tell your children that there is a Santa Claus?  Adults enjoy the Santa experience as much as children.  It is about the wonder and magic of giving your children gifts.  I've read views from both sides, and both sides make their case well.  Then, there is the "Elf on the Shelf."  Thanks to the beautiful book written by Carol Aebersold and her daughter Chanda Bell a new tradition in many homes started.  Santa's elf keeps an eye on all the children to see who is naughty or nice.  A fun way to remind children to be obedient and good.  Then, as I read the many views, I remember why Kevin and I chose the path we took with our own children, the truth.      Our plan was to teach the truth about Christmas to our children.  Yes, we did Santa until our oldest comes home from school asking if Santa Claus was real....

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." Luke 2:14      Can you imagine that night, the night of Jesus' birth?        After traveling for days among a noisy caravan to Bethlehem which was full to capacity with no room for Mary and Joseph to sleep.  Finding only a room in a shelter for animals, Mary delivers Jesus.  As baby Jesus falls asleep, Bethlehem is finally quiet under the stars shining bright.  Finally, there is silence and they can rest.       Outside of Bethlehem, shepherds are watching their flock of sheep.  With a campfire fading as the stars shine brightly, the shepherds are startled by a visitor, a heavenly visitor.  The sight of the angel frightens them.       The  angel see their fear and says, "Don't be afraid.  Behold, I bring you good news of great joy which is for all people.  Because today, a child is born in the city of ...

     Christmas is about love.  A love that started at creation by our creator.  God accepts each of us just as we are.  Why not?  He created each of us, just as we are.  Yes, just as we are with all our faults and imperfections, God loves us.  God's love is great.  He sent his son to be born of human flesh for you and me.  So, here we are, preparing for Christmas, a season of love and sharing.      Families will gather and enjoy fellowship, food, and laughter.  Homes will be filled with love.  Gifts will be shared.  Hopefully, gifts will be shared because we care.  Because, we love one another.  Friends will party and exchange gifts, because these are the friends they love.  Homes will be filled with laughter, good food, and love for each other.  Christmas is a wonderful season.      However, does everyone think of Christmas as a wonderful season?  Does everyone...

     It is amusing how we notice words only after reading a few times.  How is it that we miss certain words or details in a story or book?  Is it because our mind is on something else as we read?  Or, do we see only our own perspective and not the writers?  Do you think it could be that our heart is not open to the writer's perspective?      I read Romans a few times, but never stopped to ponder the first verses of chapters nine and ten.  Then, it hit me!  This man has great passion to tell everyone about Jesus!  Read these words of Paul. "I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart .  For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh."  Romans 9:1-3 "Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved ."...

"Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice."  Philippians 4:4      Rejoice, be joyful, we sing about joy at Christmas.  We rejoice in the birth of Jesus.  Shouldn't we rejoice all year.  Rejoice for every sunrise!  Rejoice each time someone kneels at alter and each time someone steps out in faith to serve.  Rejoice for salvation and God's love.  Never, never stop singing the beautiful Christmas songs we all love.      "Joy to the World," written by Isaac Watts, is a song about rejoicing, rejoicing because the "Lord is come."  However, it does say more.  it speaks of the heart, sin, and blessings,          'Let earth receive her King,       Let every heart prepare Him room.' Do you have room in your heart for God? How do you prepare Him room?  Believe.  Just believe. "If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that...

    As I awake this morning, I can rejoice and be glad because I know Christ lives in me.  The Christmas season is a reminder of how God the Son came to live in the flesh.  He had the same temptations as all of us, but he did not sin.  His advantage was that he is our righteous Savior.  He lived among man.  He came to teach us how to live, humbly full of the Holy Spirit. "But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwell in you.  Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh to live after the flesh.  For if you live after the flesh, you shall die, but if you through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live.  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.  For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but you have received the Spirit of adop...

  As I was reading John 3 this morning, I was reminded of a silly rhyme a Sunday School teacher taught our class.  It was something like this.                          Happy Birthday to you,                          Happy Birthday to you,                          I've been born again,                          So I have two.                          How about you? I know.  It is corny.  But, at age nine, we loved singing the rhyme and were sincere since we understood what it meant to have two birthdays.  Today, I know there are many people who will ask the same question that Nicodemus asked Jesus, "How can a man be born when he...

    I love the Christmas season.  I believe it comes from my childhood.  It started with the live tree Daddy cut and brought into the living room.  Oh!  The smell of evergreen filling the room.  The tree was placed in the corner by the fireplace.  My mother decorated the tree with lights and ornaments.  I remember the homemade ornaments and big colorful lights.  The smell of fruitcake and cookies, singing Christmas carols, having the house filled with family, and the excitement of Christmas morning.  Then, we moved to the "new house" where the tree was no longer real.  In 1961, the thing was a shiny silver tree with no lights, but a large light with circling wheel with red and green which reflected off the tree.  By then, I was playing the piano and worked at playing Christmas carols.  The smell of my mother's baking was still there and family continued to fill the house.  The excitement of Christmas morning was ...

     I have concluded that Paul, writer of most of the New Testament, is the most read writer in the world.  His craft with words is brilliant.  An example is Romans 5:1-11.  He starts with faith binding justified, peace, grace, hope, glory, love, reconciliation, salvation, Holy Ghost and blood to joy.  Open your Bible with me and see how faith leads to joy.     In the first sentence, we are justified by faith which gives us "peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."  Don't ever forget, it is all about the son, Jesus Christ.  Jesus was there in Genesis with "In the Beginning" and is still with us today.  Yes!  "We have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God." (2)   With faith we have hope.  However, we can find joy in the knowledge that in all things we can find glory with God.      When we speak of joy, rejoicing, and glory, we think of eas...

"I have set the Lord always before me, because he is my right hand, I shall not be moved.  Therefore, my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; my flesh shall rest in hope."  Psalms 16:8,9      Closing my eyes with the words "I shall not be moved" on my mind, I see an old large oak with large limbs stretching over a stream and shading the banks for the tired and weary animals to find comfort and protection in the shade of the tree and refreshment from the water giving life to the old oak tree standing with deep roots holding it firmly in place.  The old oak can stand firm because it was planted (most likely by a squirrel stopping for a drink of water) on fertile ground by a stream which never ran dry, and the weary who find rest in the shade comes with hope to find a place of comfort.      As my thoughts wonder, I remember a short old man with a Bible in his coat pocket.  He sits on the porch of the whitewashed house with children runn...

"This shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; after those days, says the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts and will be their God, and they shall be my people." Jeremiah 31:33 The church at Corinth was a challenge for Paul.  Take time to read the two letters from Paul to the Corinthians.  They lived in a city of sin and it was very difficult for many to keep their eyes on God.  As you read, you will see that the church at Corinth will remind you of many churches of today.  They were easily lead down the wrong path by false teachers pretending to be sent by Paul.  So, Paul defends his ministry and letters in 2 Corinthians chapters 2 and 3.  "For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God, but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ." 2 Cor. 2:17 Men "corrupting" the word of God, and this still happens today.  I'm not going into detail but looking ...

     With Christmas just weeks away, we all have our hopes for Christmas.  Recently, I have seen posts on social media with hope for a cure for cancer.  Yes, we all have been touched by cancer in some way and know how deadly it can be, and we do hope for miracles.  Then, there are mothers and fathers hoping that Christmas will be special for all their children, and children are making lists hoping for something on their lists to be under the tree Christmas morning.  Oh! The expectation as we wait and hope this Christmas season!      As we hope, we have to have faith in something.  As the cancer patient waits for the results of last round of tests, they have hope in the treatment and doctors.  As parents hope for a joyous Christmas with family, they place their hope on love; a love that will bring them all together to celebrate the season.  Children place their hope on their parents to place that special gift under the tre...

     Christmas is here, and what are our first thoughts?  Do we greet people with how we love Jesus?  You do know that Christmas is the celebration of Jesus coming to earth to be born in a stable.  Hundreds of years before Jesus was born, prophets wrote about his birth.  So, I'm challenging myself this holiday season to share the story of Jesus.      Paul, the first missionary, boldly shared the gospel of Jesus.  Take a look at Romans.  He starts the letter, "Greetings, I'm Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of Jesus Christ.  This gospel was promised by God a long, long, time ago by God's prophets in the holy scriptures.  Now, concerning God's Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh.  Jesus was declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead."  (fro...

     When I was young, I despised judgmental people.  During my teen years, I prayed, "Lord, don't let me become judgmental like my Granny."  As I got older, I prayed, "Lord, help me not to judge others, but to love as you love."  I still pray that prayer, because there are times I slip into a judgmental state of mind.  It isn't good.  I realize that as we age we see people differently and tend to be judgmental without realizing it.  God did not call us to judge but to love, show God's grace, and share the gospel.      "You are inexcusable, yes you, whoever you are who judges.  Whenever you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you judge others but do the same things."       These are not my words but my interpretation of Paul's words in Romans 2:1.  God sees us all in all our sin and not one of us is better than the other.  Paul reminds us in Romans 2: 12 & 13, "as many as have...

     By the time Paul wrote the letter to the Roman church, he had seen the idols and alters in Athens, Corinth, and other places in his travels.  He witnessed the life style of those who worshipped gods made by the hands of man.  So, he writes to Rome, "Professing themselves to be wise, they become fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four footed beasts, and creeping thing.  Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves; who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.  (Romans 1:22-25)      When we turn our hearts from God, Satan moves into our minds and changes the way we see the world.  We change and choose to see the world as one with no faith in God.  Gradually, we see the ...

     In Romans, Paul writes about his desire to visit Rome.  However, he did visit Athens on his second missionary journey.  The Greek and Roman gods were similar.  While in Athens, Paul preached the gospel of Jesus Christ, a living God.  He used the idols on Mars Hill to compare the difference between gods made by the hands of man to the one and true living God.      When Paul was in Athens, 'his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols.' (Acts 17:16 KJV)  Paul did not disrespect the people of Athens, but he 'reasoned' with them daily. (17)  To reason is a process of logical thought.  Paul was an educated man.  Before he was a missionary, he was a religious leader, a Pharisee.  He was a man of intellect who knew the laws of the Bible and discussed the meaning of the laws in Jewish synagogues.  So, while in Athens, he reasoned with the Jews and Gentile believers in th...

     Paul's letter to the Christians at Rome opens declaring Jesus, the son of God.  "Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God. (Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures), concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; and declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead: by whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name: among whom are you also the called of Jesus Christ."  Romans 1:1-7 KJV      Next, Paul writes about faith and the gospel of Jesus Christ.  The faith of the church at Rome is "spoken of throughout the whole world."  Paul declares, "I serve God with my spirit in the gospel of his Son."  He addresses his desire to visit them in Rome, to "impart unto them some spiritual ...

On Tuesday, 20 November, I sat in waiting room at Stokes Regional Eye Center reading an article by Joni Erickson.  As I read the article, memories of my mother flooded my mind and soul.  As I read 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, I could see my mother serving others and using her final days searching for ways to help her grandchildren.  She always told us, "Everyday God gives me has a purpose, so I search for that purpose."  She had a reason to live, because God gave her new mornings, and she filled those days with purpose. You see, it was my mother's birthday.  It would have been her 86th birthday, but she died young.  At 59, her body gave up the fight against scleroderma and heart problems in January 1991, but she never, never complained.  She lived!  She lived with purpose.  In February 1971, she went to Houston, Texas for open heart surgery.  Leaving us home, six children, Mama and Daddy boarded a plane in Columbia, SC for the trip to Housto...

     My Granny was a very judging person.  I saw this and promised myself that I will never be judgmental.  However, "sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me."  Paul's words from Romans 7:11 speaks to my heart, because I let sin deceive me and corrupt my mind.  This sin is judging others. With the Spirit of God and God's loving grace and forgiveness, this sin will no longer deceive me and slay my spirit.      As a teenager, I prayed, "Don't let me judge as Granny judges people."  Even as I grew in the Lord, this continued to be my prayer.  Then, I was hurt.  Anyone who obeys God's call to serve knows how the devil works to destroy the ministry God lays before us.  This hurt and pain came from fellow church members, and I stayed focused on my ministry with my Sunday School Class, teaching Epworth League, leading activities for the youth, and supporting missions through the Woman's Missi...

“For if the truth of God has more abounded through my lie unto his glory, why yet am I also judged as a sinner?   And not rather, (as we be slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say), Let us do evil, that good may come? Whose damnation is just.”   Romans 3:7-8 (KJV)   Can truth prosper out of a lie?   Let’s stop and think about it.   A few good men feel it is their obligation to create a lie so they can stop someone from taking a position in the community, because they feel it is for the best interest of the people.   What kind of person will lie and say it is for the good?   If the lie is about a person, it is hurting the person who is the target, and doesn’t it degrade the character of the person who is out to destroy another person?   The conclusion is that if it is a lie, it isn’t good and truth will not prosper.      This is one of many of Paul’s questions in Romans.   I counted forty four questions, ...

     Are we all good?   Yes, we are in our own eyes.   We have our check list of things Christians do: pray, follow the laws in the Bible, tithe, go to church, and the list of laws continue.   This is what Paul is addressing with the Jews in Rome.   Their ancestry does not give them salvation nor does living righteously.   He has already told them that salvation comes with faith in chapter one verses 5, 16, and 17.   It is not the righteous attempt of living Biblically that justifies salvation, but it “is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.” (2:29)    Salvation comes “by the law of faith” concluding “that a man is justified by faith.” (3:27, 28)      Paul backs up this claim with “As it is written.” (3:10)    Since the Jews live by the law, he quotes the law.    Romans 3:10-18  “THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NO...