Month: May 2017

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Are You Seeking Him? Loving God, part II

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Seeking the Lord is not just for Sundays

Last week we discussed what God desires more than anything else and that is to love Him and to love others…

Matthew 22: 36“Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” 37 Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

The problem I’ve always had with this is how do you love someone that is invisible? Someone that you cannot see, interact with, or “hang out” with, right?

I mean, naturally speaking, the idea of knowing someone that is invisible, much less loving them, seems a little weird or just downright wacko. Just ask any atheist. 🙂 

Since I was little I believed that Jesus came to earth to pay the price for our sins and was resurrected. So for me at least I think there was a disconnect. Although I believed in the Gospel message, I did not know how to relate to God in any way. This explains why I did not know how to love Him.

Start seeking the Lord today!

All this changed when I started to seek Him. I made a serious effort, a commitment, if you will, to not only start reading the Bible regularly but to get to know Him. Remember Hosea 6:6 and that Jesus referred to it twice?

Hosea 6: 6 I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings.

What God has shown me is that getting to know Him is the key to loving Him. Which is why I think the concept of seeking God is found all throughout the Old and New Testaments:

2 Chron. 15: …The Lord will stay with you as long as you stay with him! Whenever you seek him, you will find him. 

1 Chronicles 16: 11 Search for the Lord and for his strength; continually seek him.

This verse shows that seeking God is not something that you finish and check off, but one that is perpetual. 

1 Chronicles 22: 19 Now seek the Lord your God with all your heart and soul. 

1 Chronicles 28: 9 “And Solomon, my son, learn to know the God of your ancestors intimately. Worship and serve him with your whole heart and a willing mind. For the Lord sees every heart and knows every plan and thought. If you seek him, you will find him. But if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.

Psalm 14: 2 The Lord looks down from heaven on the entire human race; he looks to see if anyone is truly wise, if anyone seeks God.

Speaking of atheists:

Psalm 10: 4 The wicked are too proud to seek God.They seem to think that God is dead.

And now for the New Testament

Matt. 7: 7 “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find.

And here’s my favorite:

Matthew 6: 33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

In summary, I believe that seeking God leads to knowing God (as promised) and knowing God leads to loving God, and this is just the beginning.

I’ll conclude with this verse:

John 17: 3 And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth.

Will you seek Him?



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If you desire a closer walk with Jesus, just want more fellowship or "Bible Time" come join us at TheBibleTeam.com. We have weekly calls where our sole focus is spending time in God's Word.
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

King David got it, how about you? Loving God, part I

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I want to share with you a revelation that has totally changed my understanding of God and what He wants from us.

Did you ever read a verse that got under your skin? I mean a verse that really bothered you. A verse that you felt you could never live up to and if only you could cut it out of the Bible, then things would be OK?

This particular verse was one of those for me:

John 14: 23 Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching…” (NIV)

What bothered me about this was my inability to obey Him. I thought, “If I could only obey more, or be more righteous, I could be a better Christian”. I actually thought “I must not love God because I can’t obey Him”. Of course, I lacked understanding.

So, I knew that I should love God, but I really didn’t know how. This was something that I did not want to share with anyone. I did not understand how to love God. I thought I loved Him, but to be honest… I didn’t have a clue. I was really a Christian in name only. I might’ve had salvation, but I’m not certain about that.

My point is that I focused on obeying Him, rather than loving Him. Trying to obey God without loving Him is pointless. Now I get it.

John 14: 24  He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.

Keep in mind that I was not regularly reading the Word, was not being discipled, and did not know how to have a relationship with God.

Now that I have been regularly reading the Word, this concept of how to love God becomes increasingly clear as He reveals Himself to me. Prayer is most helpful in this as well as spending time with mature believers and those who genuinely love Jesus.

I also understand the two greatest commandments more than ever:

Matthew 22: 36“Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” 37 Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

Furthermore, while reading Hosea I found this verse:

Hosea 6: 6 I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings.

Little did I know that this was no ordinary Old Testament verse, but one that Jesus quotes Himself, not just once, but twice.

Matthew 9: 13 Then, he added, “Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”

Matthew 12: 7 But you would not have condemned my innocent disciples if you knew the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’

Just what did King David understand?

Psalm 69: 30 Then I will praise God’s name with singing, and I will honor him with thanksgiving.
31 For this will please the Lord more than sacrificing cattle, more than presenting a bull with its horns and hooves.

Doesn’t this make things simple? Just focus on loving and knowing God. Spend time with Him by reading His Word daily, be in prayer and intimate fellowship with others who love God and you can’t go wrong.

My friends, this is HUGE. It is my prayer that if you did not already understand this, that this will hit home for you.

Do you get it?



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If you desire a closer walk with Jesus, just want more fellowship or "Bible Time" come join us at TheBibleTeam.com. We have weekly calls where our sole focus is spending time in God's Word.
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Love Jesus, Love the Church

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First I’d like to give credit to author, speaker, blogger, and a mentor of mine, Frank Viola. He has been instrumental in getting me started with this blog. Thank you, Frank!

Recently I read one of his blog posts titled “You Can’t Love Christ and Despise His Bride”

He cites three reasons to make his point and the message really hit home with me. I can relate to people that say they love God yet never want to go to church.

Churches can be difficult and “going to church” is not always as pleasant as it should be. The problem isn’t always the church we go to, however, sometimes it’s our heart.

I confess that I used to be like that. I’d call myself a Christian, yet I didn’t make much effort to find a church, much less go to one. That didn’t work out very well because I kept myself isolated from the very people that I needed to spend time with. This was detrimental to my spiritual health.

“There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” Proverbs 16:25 (ESV)

Frank hit it on the head when he said: “Knowing Jesus Christ will eventually lead a person to desire the ekklesia in their experience.”

This is exactly what I discovered first hand.

What changed my heart and what gave me a better attitude was seeking Jesus and digging into the Word of God like I never have before. He led me to know how to love Him in return and I haven’t been the same since. As a result of my God-given repentance and yielding to His will, He gave me a heart for the Church (the Body of Christ) that I hadn’t had before. A true desire to be in fellowship with others that have a genuine love for Jesus. Now I’m no longer isolated and I spend much time with the Church.

Not all churches are the same, however, so seek Jesus and the Holy Spirit to lead you back to His family, a group of people that will love you just as Jesus does, although don’t expect a “perfect” place because, as you know we all fall short.

If you say you love Jesus but are not spending time with His Body I encourage you to seek Jesus for yourself, read His word diligently and ask Him to help you find others that will love you and encourage you to grow in Him.

I’ll leave you with this:

1 John 4: 20 If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see?



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If you desire a closer walk with Jesus, just want more fellowship or "Bible Time" come join us at TheBibleTeam.com. We have weekly calls where our sole focus is spending time in God's Word.
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

There’s a First Time for Everything

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Before I share something very personal with you. I’d like to highlight some notable “firsts” that we find in the Bible…

There are so many “firsts” in the Bible which made this difficult to narrow down, but here are three popular ones:

The first time a donkey talks:

Numbers 22:28 Then the Lord gave the donkey the ability to speak. “What have I done to you that deserves your beating me three times?” it asked Balaam.

(Keep reading and you’ll read about the first time someone talks back to their donkey!)

The first time a man walks on water:

Mark 6: 48 He saw that they were in serious trouble, rowing hard and struggling against the wind and waves. About three o’clock in the morning Jesus came toward them, walking on the water.

The first time Peter preaches:

Acts 2: 14 Then Peter stepped forward with the eleven other apostles and shouted to the crowd, “Listen carefully, all of you, fellow Jews and residents of Jerusalem!

Really, Larry, Peter preaches? Along with talking donkey and Jesus walking on the water?

Absolutely. You see, Peter wasn’t a preacher, remember, he was a fisherman.

Matthew 4: 18 One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers—Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew—throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living.

As if this isn’t enough, he is the one best known for denying even knowing Jesus.

Matthew 26: 74 Peter swore, “A curse on me if I’m lying—I don’t know the man!” And immediately the rooster crowed.

A fisherman, known for lacking courage and is notably ordinary (Acts 4:13).

He was a fisherman, however, that dropped his net and followed Jesus.

This is another great example of God being true to His Word and transforming the ordinary into doing things that are not ordinary, at least for them.

As it was for Peter, it is for me today!

Not preaching, but writing.

You see, I was never a writer. The only time I wrote was for class projects when I had to. My writing started in 2009 and it was like it came out of nowhere. God started giving me ideas and I wrote them down and felt led to share those ideas with others. This started a 3 year run of weekly messages that will be revised and some rewritten so that they are fresh. They are all filled with lessons God has taught me from His Word.

God has done something special in my life and I am convinced that He wants to do something special in everyone’s life, should they repent and seek Him diligently.

Are you seeking God? Are you doing the work He wants you to do? Because He will give you more to do if you continue to serve Him.

Luke 16: 10 “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities.”



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If you desire a closer walk with Jesus, just want more fellowship or "Bible Time" come join us at TheBibleTeam.com. We have weekly calls where our sole focus is spending time in God's Word.
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.