The Fruits of Our Labor

1 Corinthians 15:58 ESV 

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of 

the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

As I sat in my home on Labor Day I thought about those that that don't always have Labor Day off, and today's scripture from 1 Corinthians came to mind. As we have a day to celebrate labor, we must remember that true labor never really takes a day off. Many of us know people that work jobs that have to work on holidays and weekends, because the labors of their chosen profession never stop.

But unstoppable labor is more then celebrating those that have to work on holidays. Unstoppable labor is when we do for others instead of ourselves, when it is done in the name of the Lord.

Could you imagine if the fire department refused to come to us when our home was on fire because it was their day off, or the police department refused to come when needed? Beloved, God does not take a day off and we as is people serving a suffering world do not take a day off from Christianity.

My prayer for you this day is that we all understand that laboring for God is an unending job, that pays eternal dividends.  

This is the day that the Lord has made.

Enduring Love and Enduring Relationship

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 ESV

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.

Recently I have watched a few news programs in which they spoke about how long marriages endure. In these news pieces the couples stated that friendship was the key to their long lasting relationships. The one thing missing from these programs was love, it was never mentioned.

Personally, the word endure makes me think of something that you have to put up with. The Webster’s dictionary defines enduring as:

·        To continue to exist in the same state or condition

·        To experience (pain or suffering) for a long time

·        To deal with or accept (something unpleasant)

Beloved, long lasting marriages take work, and yes, painful situations do occur in marriages. In marriage ceremonies the 1 Corinthians 13 passage is often used, because it describes what love is and what love isn’t. Yes, friendship is an essential key to long marriages, but that it only half of the long-term relationship equation.

The other half of the marriage relationship is based on loved in the relationship. For love to be present in lasting relationships; we must first have a relationship with God, the Creator of love. When we are in a loving relationship with God, we learn how to love God, ourselves and our spouses.

The 1 Corinthians passage tells us that love endures all things, not friendship. My friends, if we have love in our marriage relationships, then friendship will always be present.

My prayer for you today is that your marriage be in relationship with God, and each other. In this way the definition of endure will be:

To continue on in the condition of love

To experience love for a long time

To deal with our accept all things in love

May you endure in the love of God and one another in your marriages today my friends

This is the day that the Lord has made.

Keeping Our Sight

Matthew 24:30 ESV

Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

In the old days, ponies and mules were used to haul out the coal in the mining camps. A man asked a boy why there were so many ponies and mules out in the fields on Sunday. The little boy answered, “They work all week in the mines. We bring them up on Sunday’s so they won’t go blind.”

Beloved, God’s plan for us is communicated to us in prayer and in scripture. But when we fail to be in communication with God and God’s word, we begin to lose sight of God’s plan and after a while we become blind to God’s promise for this world.

When we decide not to spend time in worship and praise we lose sight of the words, as well as becoming blind to what other followers of Christ look like. When we remove God from our ever busy schedules, we are saying that our earthly sight is more important than our heavenly sight.

My prayer for you today is that you will take time out of your busy lives as to be in prayer, communication, and worship with God. Only by keeping your eyes open to God’s great plan of glory will we stop from going blind to the plan that is at work for we that call ourselves followers of Christ.

May your sight of God’s plan be 20/20 this week and always

This is the day that the Lord has made.

Beginning Again

85 Lord, thou hast been favorable unto thy land: thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob.

² Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people; thou hast covered all their sin.

Recently I was listening to a song called “Begin Again” in which a couple begins a brand new relationship together. I immediately began to think of Psalm 85 in which the Israelites were returning from Babylonian exile and asking God to find favor upon them again. The Israelites wanted to begin again and thus they turned back to God and asked for Him to be present with them again.

How many of us have at one time or another felt the absence of God in our lives? Beloved the question is not if God has been absent in our lives, but rather if we have been absent from God.

My friends my message for us all today is that God never leaves our side, it is we that turn our faces from God when we make decisions without Him or choose to separate ourselves from His love. The ancient Israelite's had not been abandoned; it was they who turned from God.

My prayer for you today is that you involve God in every aspect of your lives. If you have separated yourself from God I pray that you begin again your relationship today, this very second. Only a relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ can free us from our feeling of captivity and being alone in fractured and troubled world.

Beloved, turn your faces back to God today, I guarantee that He is still looking at you and looking out for you. Forgive yourselves and begin again.

This is the day that the Lord has made.   

Trust and Loyalty the True Keys to Relationship

Proverbs 21:21 ESV

Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness will find life, righteousness, and honor.

Once I was walking down a hill at our local county park while walking my dog pal Tuffy. As I proceeded down this hill pathway I twisted my ankle and fell into the grass next to the pathway.  As I tripped and fell I let go of Tuffy’s leash. While on the ground holding my painful twisted ankle, the thought came across my mind that Tuffy had probably ran off when I dropped his leash.  Instead to my surprise Tuffy was sitting right next to me with his whole attention fixed on me. My wife caught up to us and went to get the car to come and get me and during this whole time my dog pal Tuffy never left my side.

On this day I knew that my dog cared for me and was loyal to his human friend by refusing not to leave his side. This day sealed the day that Tuffy became not only a pet but rather a family member that had tightened his bond to us.

The same goes for our human relationships in knowing who we can trust not to leave us during our deepest and darkest nights. Yes, loyalty and trust are the keys to any human and need I say animal relationship. More importantly as followers of Christ loyalty and trust are everything. Beloved, Christ promised his disciples and us as well that he will never leave us alone. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be by our sides in good times and bad times.

Trust and loyalty in our relationship with God works both ways in the fact that God desires our relationship with him. Knowing that we have a loyal and trust worthy relationship with God is the key to living lives in which we pursue righteousness and kindness, and honor.When we are loyal to our God, there is no way that we cannot be loyal to those around us, those that need and desire someone that will never leave them when the times get hard. 

My prayer for you this day is that you will place all of your trust in God, and take that feeling of trust into all of your human (and pet) relationships. By doing this you will find the true life and relationships that God hopes and promises for all of us. Walk in trust that God will never leave our side when we walk, and when we stumble.

This is the day that the Lord has made

Pastor Tim.

We are the Lost and Found Department for God!

Jeremiah 29:13 ESV

You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.

There is a story of a man that was watching his young son play on his Speak – and- Spell computer. He was concentrating intensively, typing words into the computer so the computer would repeat back the words.

The young boy punched in the word God. To his surprise, the computer said, “Word not found.” The young boy tried again with the same result, and with great disgust, he stared back at his computer and told it in no uncertain terms, “Jesus is not going to like this!”

Brothers and Sisters, in today’s world there are many places where God is not mentioned and many people that don’t know what you are talking about when you mention God’s name.  My good news for you today is in the fact that for those who know God, God is already present and at work.

For people that need to know who God is, we are needed to make the introductions and assist that person at looking towards God who has been looking at them the whole time. It is not God who is lost, but rather those that have never heard the name of Jesus Christ, that are lost.

My prayer for you all today is that you will go out naming and proclaiming the name of God through His Son Jesus Christ. Help others this day and every day to seek out God with all their hearts and minds, so when they shout out his name they will never hear back: “God not found!”

This is the day that the Lord has made.

The Lifestyle of Following Jesus

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever. John 14:16 (ESV)


Recently I had an opportunity to do ministry with a family that revolves around the charity of that persons work. When I asked the family about their work and doing things on their supposed days off, I was told that the career of the husband is not just a job but a lifestyle change and commitment for the whole family.

The same goes for us that have accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior in the fact that our relationship with Christ is not just from 9-5 or on Sunday mornings. When we accept Christ into our lives we are forever changed and everything that we do in this life must revolve around Jesus Christ, in the fact that the old is gone and our lives are made anew in Him.

What Lifestyle are you leading? Is Jesus a part of your life from waking till sleeping, from day begin to day end, from sunrise to sunset? Beloved, my prayer for you this day is that you remember that it is not you that live in Jesus, but rather the fact that Jesus lives in you. Jesus is not to be turned on and off like a light switch, but rather always kept in the on position. Only is this way can you truly be Christ's shining light to the world for all to see.

This is the day that the Lord has made.