Forgiveness is the Key to Life

Posted on April 26, 2020 by Tim McAlpin

Like many other things God has for us, forgiveness is a benefit for you. Often we think when we are told to be obedient to God’s word our human side thinks we will miss out on something or that we don’t want anyone telling us what to do. But God’s word is designed to keep us free, not limit us.

In Matthew 18 we are told of the unmerciful servant:

The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant

21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.[g]
23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold[h] was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins.[i] He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’
30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.
32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured until he should pay back all he owed.
35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
______________________
This is what I call a sufficient motivator. If you don’t forgive, then your Heavenly Father will not forgive you.  Think of the damage people do to themselves when they don’t forgive what people have done to them? Years of people’s lives have been squandered with unforgiveness. You are in bondage when you don’t forgive. Plus, it is impossible for you to be in right standing with God if you don’t forgive. Think of the blessings you stop from God by unforgiveness. The flow of your own blessings is interrupted by unforgiveness. In this scripture, Jesus is teaching himself. He is telling us that we damage ourselves by unforgiveness, and sometimes if unforgiveness is left and not resolved it can prevent you from getting to Heaven. It also says that you will be turned over to the tormentors. It is torment to live in unforgiveness. You are allowing yourself to be tormented for no reason. You have been tricked and now you have been taken hostage by Satan. Often people will go and live for years harboring resentment and unforgiveness as though they have a ball and chain on their ankle. All the while the key to that ball and chain is in their back pocket.
Are you harboring unforgiveness today? Do you have resentment in your heart for anything? Certainly to live on the earth people can get involved in life circumstances where you can end up on the receiving end of unforgiveness. But Jesus offers us a way out of that bondage. Take the key out of your back pocket and free yourself today and forgive all those who have done you wrong. This will open the windows of Heaven and blessings will start to flow your way.
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WHEN GOD WANTS TO DRILL A MAN

Posted on April 24, 2020 by Tim McAlpin

When God Wants To Drill A Man

When God wants to drill a man,
And thrill a man,
And skill a man
When God wants to mold a man
To play the noblest part;

When He yearns with all His heart
To create so great and bold a man
That all the world shall be amazed,
Watch His methods, watch His ways!

How He ruthlessly perfects
Whom He royally elects!
How He hammers him and hurts him,
And with mighty blows converts him

Into trial shapes of clay which
Only God understands;
While his tortured heart is crying
And he lifts beseeching hands!

How He bends but never breaks
When his good He undertakes;
How He uses whom He chooses,
And which every purpose fuses him;
By every act induces him
To try His splendor out-
God knows what He’s about.

– Anonymous

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God’s Rewards for the Christian

Posted on April 10, 2020 by Tim McAlpin
It is true that eternal life cannot be earned. “For by grace are we saved and not our works,” Ephesians 2:8.
However, for the Christian, there are things that exist for us outside of salvation that we should reach for. Our eternal home in Heaven will be affected by whether or not we reach to earn these rewards that God offers to us. What are those rewards the Bible teaches about? Taking from the Open Bible study notes, I have compiled some benefits we can work for and to which God wants us to work for and gave us an incentive. Salvation is free, but the Crowns must be earned. Think of the wonderful blessing it will be that God would reward us beyond salvation. Let us all work to obtain the Crowns God has set in place for us to earn.
There are four Crowns and one Imperishable Wreath.
_______________________________
The Crown of Life.
James 1:12, ” Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the Crown of Life, which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.” This reward could be called the “lovers” crown.
Upon examination of the above verse, we discover that the believer finds the strength to overcome temptation and endures trails, through the love of God. Paul said we also exult in our tribulations. The question is: do we today exult in tribulations? We can only if the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit, Romans 5:3-5.   Without the love of God in the heart of the believer, trials can cause them to become bitter and critical and lose the Crown of Life. All believers have eternal life, John 3:15 – 16 but not all believers will be rewarded with a Crown of Life as this crown will be given to those who are faithful unto death, Revelations 2:10.  To receive the crown of life the believer must love the Lord more than his own life. “For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it but whoever loses his life for my sake and for the gospel shall save it,” Mark 8:35.  This reward will be given to those who live for Christ and endures temptations, in the power of the love of God, 1  Corinthians 10:13.
The Wreath Imperishable
1 Corinthians 9:24,  “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win and everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control and all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable wreath.” Ephesians 6:12.

 

Paul makes use of the Greek games to illustrate the spiritual race of the believer. They ran to win a perishable wreath. But we can win an imperishable wreath. No young man could contend in the games unless he was a Greek citizen, born of Greek parents. No unsaved person can participate in the service of the Lord for rewards; only the born of God are eligible. John 3:3.
Just as the athlete must deny himself many gratifications of the body, so the believer must say I  buffet my body and make it my slave or he will become disqualified.  He will not lose his salvation, but he will lose the Imperishable Wreath.
The Greek games had hard and fast rules for all participants. The New Testament contains the rules for the believers who would enter the spiritual race to win the Imperishable Wreath.
1. The believer must deny self of anything that would weigh them down and hold them back, Hebrews 12:1.
2. The believer must keep their eyes fixed on Jesus and not look to the right or the left,  Hebrews 12:2
3.  The believers must find his strength in the Lord,  Ephesians 6:10- 18.
4.  The believer must place all upon the altar of the Lord. Romans 12:1-2
 5. The believer must by faith refuse anything that would impede spiritual progress,  Hebrews 11:24-29.

Do not be a spiritual spectator enter the race and run to win the Imperishable Wreath.

The Crown of Exaltation

1  Thessalonians 2:19.

For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? 20 Indeed, you are our glory and joy.

 The Crown of Exaltation is the soul winner’s crown. The greatest work you are privileged to do for the Lord is to bring others into a knowledge of Christ as a personal savior. The degree of your joy in heaven will be determined by the souls you have had a part in bringing to Christ. Paul tells the Thessalonians believers that they are his hope or joy or Crown of Exultation now and when Jesus comes.

 1 It is wise to win souls to Christ, Proverbs 11:30.
2. It is a work against sin to win souls to Christ, James 5:20.
3. It is a cause for joy in heaven to win souls to Christ,  Luke 15:10. For every soul-winner will shine as the stars forever, Daniel 12:3. How you can win souls to Christ? Witness with your life, live that others may see Christ in you, 2 Corinthians 3:2. Witness with your mouth trusting the Holy Spirit to give power to the spoken word Acts 1:8.  Witness by tithes and offerings that others may preach Christ and you will have profits which increase to your account,  Philippians 4:15 -17. God has promised that all your toil will not be in vain in the Lord, 1 Corinthians 15:58. The soul winner will not rejoice alone, all of Heaven will rejoice with him when he receives the Crown of Exaltation, John 4:36
The Crown of Righteousness
2 Timothy 4:5 “But you be sober and in all things endure hardship to do the work of an evangelist fulfill your ministry.”
The Crown of Righteousness is a reward, and it is not to be confused with the Righteousness of God, which is what a believer receives when he or she becomes a Christian; “for at that The believer is to become the righteousness of God in Him,”  2 Corinthians 5:21. This saving righteousness is a gift to be accepted by the lost. The Crown of Righteousness is a reward to be earned by the saved. If the believer looks for and loves the doctrine of the second coming of Christ, it will affect his whole life. Look at the dynamic impact this truth had on the life of the apostle Paul. He could say:
1.  “I have fought the good fight.”  1 Corinthians 15:32. He fought a spiritual battle throughout his Christian life and won. He never surrendered to the enemies of righteousness. Ephesians 6:12.
2.  “I have finished the course,” he had a course to travel, and he did not detour the hard places; neither did he look back. Luke 9:61. He finished his course with his eyes fixed on Christ, Philippians 1:6.
3.”I have kept the faith.” He preached the… whole purpose of God- never betraying any of the great doctrines, Acts 20:24-31. The apostle looked ahead to the ” Judgment Seat of Christ”  where the Crown of Righteousness will be given to those who loved his appearing. How important it is for the believer to look with a heart of love for the second coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, that he may receive the Crown of Righteousness.
The Crown of Glory
1 Peter 5: 4 ” And when the chief Shepherd appears you will receive the unfading Crown of Glory.”
The crown of glory is a special reward for the faithful, obedient God-called pastor. He will receive this reward when the “chief Shepherd appears.” It is eternal; it is unfading. Every believer may share in the pastor’s Crown of Glory. “He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward” Matthew 10:41. Support your faithful, God- called Pastor by praying for him and encouraging him in the work of the Lord. Undergird his ministry with God’s tithes and offerings,  Malachi 3:10. Giving freely of your time to the service of the Lord. And God will reward you for supporting his chosen servant by allowing you to share in your pastor’s reward. The pastor will earn this “crown of glory” by the following:

1. Feeding the church.  He is to proclaim the word of God without fear or favor and when necessary he will “reprove, rebuke, exhort, with Great patience and instructions.” Tim 4:2-5

2. Taking the spiritual oversight of the church. The pastor is responsible to God for the message preached to his people. No pastor should preach to please the people, he is to please God, Galatians 1:10.

 3. Being an example to the church. He is not to serve for the reward of money. Yet, the church is responsible to care for his every material need,  1 Timothy 5:18.   He is to be a spiritual leader and not a dictator. He is to walk with God by faith. “And when the Chief Shepherd appears you will receive the unfading Crown of Glory.”
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Jesus Learned Obedience through Suffering

Posted on April 6, 2020 by Tim McAlpin

I wrote a book on suffering. I believe I know something about suffering. But someone who has suffered more than me may feel I don’t know as much as they do. Suffering, God’s secret weapon. God is building souls in us and God exercises tough love for us to build those souls to prepare us for eternity. God understands the value of what suffering does to us. We, as humans, don’t want to suffer. We don’t want to be inconvenienced at all. But God is always looking at the larger picture.

But it’s always good to read about suffering for me. It helps understand why we have it in our lives. I used to say that the people who don’t suffer may not have the stuff in them God is looking for. But I have come to see that we all suffer to some degree. No one escapes it. Everyone in the world suffers. You might not know of their suffering or see it but it’s there. Some people see the suffering and fight against it and this brings more suffering. Some people see their own suffering and rest, yes they do all they can to aid themselves, but all the while they rest and trust God. This brings them through the suffering in the way God wants and brings them through a better person, with the gold refined.

Below is an excerpt from my friend Tom Adcox’s devotion condensed over the last couple days. This is similar to the testimony I give when speaking. Please enjoy this read:

For it was fitting for him, because of whom are all things and through whom are all things, having brought many sons to glory, to mature the originator of their salvation through sufferings. (Heb. 2.10) He, though being a Son, learned obedience from the things he suffered. (Heb. 5.8)
The Lord Jesus was God in the flesh during his days on earth, yet he had to be matured through suffering. He was sinless, but he had to learn obedience through suffering. How could God in the flesh and a sinless man need to be matured and to learn obedience? I would say that it is because he chose to become a human being and live as we do, and we have to be matured and to learn obedience through suffering. If God in the flesh had to be matured and to learn obedience through suffering, how much more do we? We all tend, I think, to try to wriggle out of our trials or to ask God the get us out of them. His answer is that he got us into the trial for a reason. He is trying to mature us and to teach us obedience so that we will be prepared for his kingdom. There are rewards beyond salvation, and those rewards can be lost. If you have trusted Christ as your Savior, you have eternal life and will never lose it, but you can forfeit rewards that you might have gained. See, for example, Rev. 3.11, written to the model church of Philadelphia.
We are living in a time of trial, all the way from minor inconvenience to losing income, being sick, or losing loved ones and facing death ourselves. In this time, realize that God is trying to mature you and teach you obedience, just as he did his Son, so that as he will reign eternally, so may you reign with him (Rom. 8.17, 2 Tim. 2.12).
For the momentary light burden of our affliction is working for us an eternal weight of glory from hyperbole to hyperbole, we not looking at the things being seen, but the things not being seen. For the things being seen are temporary, but the things not being seen are eternal. (2 Cor. 4.17-18)
It is human nature to have our eyes on the things we can see, and right now we can see a crisis that threatens life and financial security. It is easy to get wrapped up in that. But God is much more concerned with what is unseen, the spiritual world and the coming new age. He does want us to have a good life now, but there will be hardships in this world. We all suffer losses and grief because of this present evil age (Gal. 1.4) which has an end, and our lives here are temporary. God is concerned to prepare us for his millennial kingdom and eternity. One will last a thousand years and the other forever! While what we are dealing with now seems to be a very heavy burden, it is working for us who are the Lord’s and are trusting in him an eternal weight of glory to which this momentary light affliction has no comparison. That eternal weight of glory goes from hyperbole to hyperbole.
Do you know what hyperbole is? It is the same word in both Greek and English. It is often used in poetry. It is a gross exaggeration designed to make a point or emphasize something. We often use hyperbole in our everyday speech: I’m so hungry I could eat a horse. No I can’t! But I am trying to convey how hungry I am, or think I am. God is telling us that the eternal weight of glory awaiting us is a gross exaggeration of the hardships we go through now. Take comfort in knowing what awaits us, and in knowing that it will never end, as the difficulties of this age will.

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How to be Saved and Have a Redeemer

Posted on March 30, 2020 by Tim McAlpin
If you are like me you love to tell others about Jesus. I always come away perplexed when I tell them about Jesus and they don’t want to be a part of His offer of redemption. This used to bother me until I read up on it and saw that some people “cannot” see it. That’s right, they “cannot” see it. They cannot see it because God has placed them under a powerful delusion. 2 Thessalonians 2: 9- 12 “9 The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, 10 and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 For this reason, God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie 12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.”
Wow, that should get your attention. So it appears that being a “truth seeker” is a prerequisite for knowing God and seeing the way to enter the Kingdom of God. So when you witness to others and they cannot seem to see the way to disagree with you to the point of hostility don’t let it bother you, as not everyone wants to know the truth.
When Paul and Silas were jailed the jailer saw the men praising God after they were beaten. Acts 16 is a beautiful chapter to read. The jailer saw how that even though Paul and Silas were beaten and shackled they praised God. Shackles and jail could not stop Paul and Silas from the joy of the Lord. How many of us lose the Joy of the Lord when you can’t find a parking place? Never forget Joy is a spiritual force! Nevertheless, through all of this when the earthquake came at midnight the shackles fell off and the prison doors opened. The jailer knew he’d be killed by their escape and stated to kill himself out of fear. But Paul said to him not to do that because they would not leave.
The jailer was overwhelmed with all this and had never been around these kinds of Godly men before, and so he was desperate to know God and asked, “what must I do to be saved?” I always thought it noteworthy that Paul didn’t go into some long convoluted theology. No, he just said, in verse 31 “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. 33 At that hour of the night, the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized. 34 The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household.
How are you saved? “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.” It’s that simple.

 

 

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A Memory

Posted on March 28, 2020 by Tim McAlpin
I am fortunate to have this memory. When I was 11 years old Donald Adcox came to our church. He was with the Lay Witness Team that a group of businessmen went to churches for a Wednesday through Sunday revival. Donald stayed at our house and he and I made lifelong friends. We often fell into long discussions about God. This 1968 revival at our church wasn’t going so well and I, as a young boy, had a front-row seat watching those men in action. They included me as though I was much older, and I never forgot that. Finley Beard a doctor in Louisville. Frank Dorato the Asheville NC Dodge dealer. Sam Hargett a Rutherton, NC businessman. And then Donald, who covered the market on polyester in the 70′s. The revival was not going well and the men said they had never been in a more cold church than ours. The people were made of granite they said. Not one person had come down to accept Jesus or rededicate their life and it was Sunday morning now. I heard their concerns and I watched them very closely. We met in Brother Tayor’s office before the Sunday service. The men desperately prayed and they felt defeated I could tell. They felt they had failed. They went around a big circle of men to pray and then it got to me. I felt way too intimidated but Donald urged me to pray and treated me with more respect than I had ever known before, so I prayed and knowing these men’s frustration I said, ” God these men have done their job now you do yours.” Some of the men raised an eyebrow. But there, I had said it. After the service that morning 100 people came down and the service lasted until 1:00 PM.
I never will forget and this is a cherished memory I carry with me, and after the service, the men all came up to me and said, ” It was the child’s prayer.”
Donald invited me to go home with him and I stayed for the rest of the summer with him. I would go back many times and we were best of friends until he passed in 2009. I sure do miss him and am very grateful for all the years with him and our deep discussion about God, the Bible, and Heaven. God placed him in my life and his influence has stayed with me and always will.
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Learn Psalms 23

Posted on March 25, 2020 by Tim McAlpin

With all the worry in the world, it reminds me of when I got horses. When it got tough sometimes caring for them, I said I knew I couldn’t save the world but I could take care of three horses. All this fear around and the threat of the coronavirus reminds me when my son was killed Patti and I would walk three miles a day. During that three-mile walk each morning before I would go to work I started to memorize the 23rd Psalms. I said I can’t learn the entire Bible but I can learn the 23rd Psalms. So each and every morning I’d go out for my morning walk before going into my office and Patti and I would recite the 23rd Psalms until we could easily say it from memory.

You never know when you might need to say the 23rd Psalms and during this coronavirus pandemic, it’s a good thing to say and dwell on. It’s a good thing to listen to and ponder in your heart. The words are soothing and they will stimulate faith in your soul and cause fear to subside and dissipate. Knowing that we have no reason to fear is a good thing to dwell on. Listening to David’s words and knowing that regardless of what happens to us, nothing can separate us from God and His big far-reaching love. Nothing that can happen to us in this life is bigger than our God. And in the end, we will live in Heaven with Him forever. “We will dwell in the house of the Lord forever!”

During this time in my life as I learned the 23rd Psalms, I recalled that when I was about 21 years old my great grandmother died. We called her Granny. She died in the really bad winter and we could not bury her in the Richmond, KY Cemetery until the ground thawed some so we had to go there a week or so after he funeral and bury her. My Grandmother, in all the confusion, didn’t think to call her minister to go with us for the burial. There at the cemetery all of us together, I suggested we all say the 23rd Psalms. It didn’t go over too well because we messed it up. Nobody there could say it without making a mistake. We simply couldn’t get through it completely. This was in 1977.

So while I was learning this 23rd Psalms on my walks with God, I decided I needed to go back to Granny’s grave and make it right. I called a couple friends and Patti and I drove over to the Richmond Cemetery in 2012, some 35 years later after Granny died, and did Granny right. I could recall 35 years ago the day we buried Granny and I told Granny I had come back to honor her properly. We prayed and said the 23rd Psalm. I felt like we had completed Granny’s service the right way this time, albeit late.

You never know when you might need to say the 23rd Psalms.

Psalm 23 Amplified Bible (AMP)
The Lord, the Psalmist’s Shepherd.
A Psalm of David.
23 The Lord is my Shepherd [to feed, to guide and to shield me],
I shall not want.
2
He lets me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still and quiet waters.
3
He refreshes and restores my soul (life);
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
for His name’s sake.

4
Even though I walk through the [sunless] [a]valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil, for You are with me;
Your rod [to protect] and Your staff [to guide], they comfort and console me.
5
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You have anointed and refreshed my head with [b]oil;
My cup overflows.
6
Surely goodness and mercy and unfailing love shall follow me all the days of my life,
And I shall dwell forever [throughout all my days] in the house and in the presence of the Lord.

 

 

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Fear Not

Posted on March 23, 2020 by Tim McAlpin
It has been said that the only constant is change, that everything flows and nothing stands still, just like the universe. We look around us and that seems to be true. Seasons change. People age. Civilizations rise and fall. Threats everywhere as we live. Is there anything truly consistent? Is there any firm Truth we can hold on to in a world that is always shifting? Yes! God Himself tells us that He does not change (Malachi 3:6: 6 For I am the Lord, I change not; ) and will always do what He says He will do (Numbers 23:19: God is not human, that he should lie,
not a human being, that he should change his mind.
Does he speak and then not act?
Does he promise and not fulfill?). God is the great constant in our lives whether we acknowledge Him or not. He’s still active in your life whether you have a relationship with Him or not. Time does not affect God. God lives outside of time. All we have ever known is being in a place and a time. Earth is the only reality we know, though it is certainly not the only reality there is. We know there is the reality of the spirit world and we also know there is the reality of Heaven and Hell. God is still the same holy, amazing, kind God He was when He created the world. No matter how uncertain your life looks, you can trust in God’s constant love and faithfulness (Psalm 100:5 For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.). He has always been here and He always will be. He gives us wonderful assurances to this fact: Deuteronomy 31:6 New International Version (NIV)
“6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Matthew 10:28-30 Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC)
28 And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; but rather be afraid of Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell (Gehenna).
29 Are not two [a]little sparrows sold for a penny? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father’s leave (consent) and notice.
30 But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
Jesus gave us insight into His concern for us as he said that not one sparrow falls to the ground outside of the will of your father. Jesus wants us to trust Him in the face of fear. The faith we have in Jesus should be greater than the fear the world can bring. Often we will be shaken to our core in this life. We can suffer the loss of a loved one and be stunned. People get diagnosis all the time and have to come to terms to the threat that has on their lives. Now, we live in a world where we are being bombarded with news every day where we see the count of the deaths and cases of the coronavirus. The bad things that happen to us are not an indication of God’s love for us nor or His ability to deliver us out of a thing. Again, we will often be shaken to our core and our faith tested. This is part of the path we walk as Christians, as we know that God will be with us through the fiery ordeal of whatever the circumstances may be we are walking through on any given day. One day we will stand with God and Hid angels and see the plan of our lives. Until then we must trust.
We are faced with a choice. Do we believe God or give in to fear? The worst that can happen to us here on this earth is to die. We are all going to die and there is nothing that can stop that. Hebrews 9:27 King James Version (KJV)
27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” But for the people of God who have chosen Jesus Christ as their savior, there will be no judgment for us. Our lives are a gift from God and we should live our lives realizing each day is a gift. One day we will leave here and be taken to our eternal home. The threats of today about the coronavirus serve to wake us up to see this reality of death. But it also serves to wake us up to the reality of God’s promises that He will never leave or forsake us. If death should come today, as it will one day, we have the assurance of eternal life and having a place to live with God forever. John 14:1-3 English Standard Version (ESV)
I Am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life
14 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God;[a] believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?[b] 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”
We can be joyful in the face of trials, challenges and adversity because our God loves us and provided a way back home. Fear not! Isaiah 43:1 “Don’t fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine.”
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God Can Get our Attention

Posted on March 20, 2020 by Tim McAlpin

2 Chronicles 7:14 King James Version (KJV)
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

When you have a society that rages with the slaughter of unborn babies, who New York State recently has now allowed late-term abortions all the way up to birth, and the people of the land didn’t cry out for those lives, and revolt and show a disdain for this murderous sin by protest in the streets, then maybe God has moved in a way to get the attention of this slaughter. Next, it could rain fire and brimstone as in the day of Sodom and Gomorrah. A perfectly healthy baby who could survive outside the womb if delivered can be murdered in New York state. Killed, chopped up and removed from the womb. Who got livid and outraged over that?

If God wants to get our attention He sure can and fast. It’s like having the Holocaust in our backyards and us not saying anything about it. Only the numbers are far greater than the Holocaust.

The people of God should begin to wake up and make a stand for justice for those unborn children. Don’t let the few unbelievers set a standard of justice for us all. Maybe it’s time to speak up as Christians. Maybe that’s all God wants from us at this time?

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Choose Life

Posted on March 19, 2020 by Tim McAlpin
John 3: 5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit[b] gives birth to spirit.
Notice how Jesus phrases that. The flesh gives birth to the flesh; but the spirit gives birth to the spirit. What does the flesh give? Well. you can hear the flesh loudly right now. The flesh worries, frets, fears and has anxiety. The Spirit gives peace, calm, confidence, faith and love. The Bible says, “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”
If the heart is full of fear and unbelief the mouth will speak worry. If the heart is full of faith the mouth will speak peace and will remain calm though the world around them is in turmoil. If we are born again in the spirit of God we will have the fruits of the spirit and be at peace whilst in the midst of the threat. It is also noteworthy to say that the word says this is a “choice” for us to make.
The Bible says in Deuteronomy 30: 19 “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.”
Let us all choose life and walk in the spirit.
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