We need our Daily Bread!

I wonder how often Christians go to church & leave feeling encouraged/strengthened after having been fed the Word; then go out into the sea of people, resuming their daily routines & soon find themselves scared & discouraged? These days, most of us live paycheck to paycheck, worrying about having enough money to pay bills, etc. How quickly we forget about the power that Jesus has to meet our every need.

Oh Christians, if you're serious about your salvation walk, worry that you don't have enough Jesus in you to make it into heaven! Even though I'm a Pastor, I know I need more of Him; I can never have enough of the Holy Spirit; and definitely I know I'm not strong enough to make it without a daily renewal & refilling of God's Word.

But there are some Christians who've been running on "empty" for so long, they've forgotten what it's like to be filled with the power & Spirit of God. They've stopped looking for spiritual food because they've forgotten about God & have gone back to fulfilling the desires of the flesh. Bros/Sis I don't care how much of the Bible you think you know, don't let your gauge run low...you still need to feed daily upon God's Word! After all, we don't forget to feed our bodies or else we'll starve to death, yet many Christians neglect to feed the Spirit within that's starving!

Yes, life is a daily struggle so don't be overly concerned about tomorrow & what it holds for you. My advice to you is whenever you feel empty, go to the Word (Jesus); whenever you feel discouraged, go to the Word (Jesus); and whenever there are no answers in sight, look to the Word (Jesus)!

Jesus is the Bread of Life and we all need to feed upon Him each & every day!

Are You a Faultfinder?

Have you ever heard of Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous or Gamblers Anonymous? Well there's another club of the same order and I'm calling it Faultfinders Anonymous. If I were to attend a club meeting I'd probably introduce myself in this manner: Hi, I'm Tim Hicks & I'm a faultfinder; there's really nothing wrong with me but if you think I have problems, no matter how bad I am, you're no better than me! Am I delusional or what? Talk about self-deception!

Faultfinders find fault with successful people because of their own insecurities. They're just jealous and think they'll feel better about themselves if they find flaws in others & put down their success. Is that you?

Faultfinders also operate like Racists. They look at their own failures but can't admit they messed up, so they find someone else to blame. That Black man got the job I should have had; oh they just hired that Hispanic girl just for show; Asians always stick together come hell or high water; Blondes always have more fun & manage to get the easy office assignments! I know you've heard people say these things, yet they seem to think it's alright to put people down!
Are you guilty?

The fact is that hurting people become faultfinders because they need somebody to fix them. Hurting people build up unrealistic expectations for their doctors, spouses, friends, even their pastors. And when these people don't have the magic answer to their problems, anxiety makes them turn on those who've tried to help them.

If you realize by now that you're a member of faultfinders anonymous, I want to point you to Jesus, who was the ultimate victim of hostility; Jesus, the one on whose shoulders all of humanity's sin & shame was poured; Jesus the one who still loves us unconditionally! So if you're hurting today, seeking answers to your problems or wondering if you're going to make it through your present situation...take it to the Lord in prayer.

For in Him we can find no fault & in Him there is no failure!!!

Awesome Fathers

Yesterday I attended a birthday celebration for one of my friends who is in the ministry. What was most gratifying were the expressions of love heaped upon him by his wife & especially his children. I saw a man being celebrated by a loving wife who shares with him the pride of having successfully reared fine children. Now ladies, if you are a loving mother, I applaude you as you deserve the recognition heaped upon you by society & more! But at the same time, I must acknowledge the fact that our society has failed to adequately recognize us fathers who work hard to establish a right relationship with our families.

Being a father has an awesome responsibility. As one who has been "tried by the fire" of three sons & a daughter, I want to share with the male readers some things that fathers do which can discourage & damage children: 1) Ignore them-if you have no time for your children, this soon creates within them a deep-seated resentment & they grow up feeling unloved/unaccepted; 2) Indulge them-if you give them everything they want, you spoil them & they always end up wanting more because they are never satisfied;
3) Insult/Intimidate them-be careful not to continuously criticize them. Sarcasm, riddiculing, threatening & unfair expectations can kill a child's self-esteem quicker than anything...sometimes scarring them for life!

God wants us to be engaging & encouraging to our children...after all they are a gift from Him.

P.S. Every now & then, take each child individually & reaffirm your love for him, yet be careful never to show favoritism. Happy Parenting!

God doesn't need our Help

I was just sitting here thinking that the sin of judging another person is as big a sin as any other. Be on guard for when we Christians become convinced that we're walking according to God's will, that's when we become dangerous in our attitude, developing

a self-righteous spirit!

The self-righteous person begins to place albatrosses around the necks of other believers, creating boundaries for what he/she believes is righteous living (no make-up, must wear long dresses/skirts to church, only listen to gospel music, no dancing or going to the movies, etc.). This is the kind of stuff the Pharisees did to the people & by the time Christ came along, they had produced a heartless, cold & arrogant brand of righteousness.

When we place religious restrictions on people, we're holding them accountable to man while accountability to God is lost! This kind of attitude creates a judgmental spirit in the church and a false standard of righteousness which burdens the believer so much that there's no room for joy in their salvation!

God judges what we do according to the attitude of our heart when we do it. and He shows no favoritism amongst believers. So let's be careful not to become judgmental. We can inspect the fruit that our Bros/Sis in Christ bear & encourage each other to live for God by genuinely showing love, compassion & patience when they mess up. In this process we allow God to do His work without interference from us. After all, He doesn't need our help!

Get Committed

As a pastor, I'm concerned about the church's impact upon society...or lack thereof. I finally came to grips with the fact that many church members made a decision about Christ, but haven't made a commitment to Him!

Humor me a moment; close your eyes & think of what God has done in your life. When we begin to reflect on God's goodness we see that we owe Him our commitment. My Bible tells me that we are to be living sacrifices which is our reasonable service to Him. We can't be sort of committed...you either are or you're not!

Now for those of you who are just a little bit dilusional about your commitment to God & your church, I'll leave you with this illustration for you to ponder:

A chicken & a pig talked about donating ham & eggs to feed the hungry. Now for the chicken to give eggs would be considered a donation on his part. On the other hand, for the pig to give ham would be an act of total commitment.

Are you getting the picture? When you professed Jesus Christ as your Lord & Savior and joined a church, you were not supposed to become just a spectator. You were to commit yourself to the ministry of the church & use the spiritual gift(s) that God has given you.

I want to challenge you to get fully committed to the Lord for it's not too late. Then look for opportunities to put your talents & abilities to work. Stop waiting for someone in the church to ask you...volunteer! And remember the greatest ability is your availability!

Do you live the life you speak about?

Today has been very busy for me. And, although I'm tired and feeling the effects of this heat...I still feel good!

When I think about it, Christians should be the most joyous people on earth! It should show through our eyes, on our faces, through our expressions and in our body language. In fact, everything about us should speak to others about our relationship with God.

I must pause and give Him praise because God is sooo good!!!!!!!

I want you to remember that when you witness to others, the words which come from your mouth are useless if you aren't real...your words must match your life, for that's the only way to be an effective witness for Christ.

"Get Up---God's got your Back!"

As I get older I find myself reminiscing more often. I remember how I first learned to ride my Bike (A shiny red Western Flyer complete w/handlebar streamers). Sometimes my foot slipped off the pedal... I fell; if I wobbled...I fell; when I hit something...I fell; it seems that at the beginning I fell more than I rode! The point is each time I fell, I got up & tried again until I learned...that's life!

In this life we all fall, get knocked/pushed down by something or find ourselves in circumstances over which we have no control (loss of a job/spouse or other loved one/sickness). If you're reading this & it hasn't happened to you yet, oh it's coming!

If you're in a season of lingering despair the devil will tempt you to turn back to your old ways of handling problems...he'll try to hook you back up w/people who were no good for you (the very ones you said you'll never have anything else to do with). And before you realize it, you've gone back to drinking/smoking/drugs or indulging in other vices trying to forget about your problems. The devil is a trickster and he'll even tell you to compromise yourself to get what you want/need because you've waited long enough so you need to take matters into your own hands. Am I right?

I encourage you to wait just a little while longer for God is aware when you're trying to live right yet things are happening to you that don't make sense. He allows these things to happen so that you learn to walk by faith. And in time you'll see that He was moving on your behalf even in your trials.

Remember, just because you're down, you don't have to stay there. Get up knowing that---

God's got your back!!!!

Let's learn to Forgive

In today's world retaliation is a common thing but believers are called to be different. We must pray for those who do us wrong, forgive them & minister to them.

Why should we forgive? Because if we forgive others, God will forgive us (Matthew 6:14-15).
Who should we forgive? Those who sin against us (Luke 17: 3-4)
How can we forgive? Live by the Holy Spirit's power/let Him take control of our lives (Galatians 5:22-25)

Do yourself a favor & say, "Lord help me to stop holding grudges, resentment or anything else against my Bro/Sis so I won't hinder fellowship w/You".

Then take it a step further by saying, "Lord heal me emotionally, mentally, relationally, and spiritually from past hurts; help me to be less critical, judgmental & harsh w/people as I remember how much You overlook my faults".

And, finally say, "Lord help me to take full responsibility for my own faults, failures & bad attitude". For when we experience the wonder of God's forgiveness, we'll forgive others as He has forgiven us through His Son, Jesus Christ.

Now go on, you know you need to forgive someone for something they did or said to you.

Do it today!!!

When was the last time you made God smile?

Have you ever noticed how a person in love always talks about the object of his/her affection? I'm not just talking about relationships; the guy who loves football will gravitate to others who share his passion for the game & talk about it constantly. The same holds true about politics, fishing, hunting, or any number of other loves. Well, God's special treasure, His segula, are those who love to get together to share of His goodness & mercy!

I believe that the world is looking to see if those of us who call ourselves Christians are for real. They look to see if we're really different, especially during this time of recession. Bros/Sis, it's during the dark times that we should talk about the Lord & at every given opportunity we should speak to others about God's Blessings and how He answers prayer.

In the Book of Malachi, God looked down on this sinful earth, saw man's heatheness/idolatry & He probably said, "I didn't make them for that, I made them to love me & to fellowship with me. No one seemed to care much about knowing Him...except His remnant (segula). God eavesdropped on them & He enjoyed what He heard so much that He had it written down in the Book of Remembrance.

That's what God does, He listens to our conversation/prayers/testimonies about Him & He calls on an angel to take notes so He can have a permanent record of what was said/who said it.
Even today the Lord still eavedrops; He continues to listen to us talking about Him in our churches, in our homes, at school, in the workplace & in our private conversations...and it brings a smile to His face!

When was the last time you made God smile?

It's For Your Good!

Too often we go to church to sit at God's dinner table, yet refuse to eat what He has set before us because we don't like the taste of it. As I thought about this, I realize that our attitude towards God's table & His Word reminds me of children who refuse to eat their vegetables, because they prefer sweet tasting desserts & junk foods. We tend to refuse to accept that part of God's Word that makes us feel bad/leave a bad taste in our mouths even though that part of His Word is often the spiritual food we need most to make us strong & healthy in our relationship with Jesus Christ.



Sunday after Sunday many Christians sit in church listening to the Word of God preached but it makes very little difference in their lives simply because they refuse to accept it. Consequently that's why many of you still do the things you've always done, go to places you've always gone & continue to live the lifestyle you've always lived. It's obvious that you come to church but you really don't want to hear the truth! If you're being checked by the Holy Spirit as you read this message, you know that there are some things in your life that need correcting and God is saying, "now is the time to get things right!"



Be honest with yourself...is everything right between you & Jesus? Are you living for Him & learning more of Him each day? Praise the Lord if you are, because that's where we all need to be!



Understand that some things which are written in God's Word are bitter to our spirit but they are meant to cleanse us from sin. Oftentimes, responsible parents must force-feed green vegetables to their children to ensure proper growth & health. Though they are initially resistant to the taste, children (especially boys) continue to eat them because their parents sucessfully conveyed the message that eating vegetables is necessary for them to grow up big & strong. Consequently, the vegetables begin to taste better because the child wants to be bigger & stronger.



By the same token, God's messages and warnings to believers may be bitter to the taste, if we're not living right, but it's exactly what we need to become stronger & to get right with God!
So, from now on, when you hear the Word, learn to take the bitter with the sweet...

It's for your good!

"Clean up your Temple"

Everyone knows the importance of removing the trash from our homes, especially from the kitchen area. Why? Because if we keep it inside the house too long, it begins to stink! After all, we don't want to live in a dwelling that's not clean. Well my Bros/Sis, God says that we are the temple where He chooses to dwell but in order to do so we need to open the doors of our temple & take out the trash!



Many people today have closed the doors of their temple where the Gospel of Jesus Christ is concerned and have become like old cellars that's closed up from the light, i.e., they've become cold, dark beings with ugly things crawling around in their hearts & minds. The Good News that I want to share with you today is that by opening the doors of your temple (your ears & eyes) and allowing the truth of God's Word to enter in, Its disinfecting power is so strong that Clorox & Oxyclean can't touch it!



It's time that you clean up your temple by taking out the trash including fear, loneliness, grief & disappointment (believe it or not, these keep us from maintaining a right relationship with God as much as the "sinful" things we do!). If you've allowed the cares of this world to get you down just say Lord, in Jesus' name, please take despair, hopelessness, bitterness & depression out of my temple. And God will give you a clean heart, renew a right spirit in you & restore the joy of you salvation!



So, what are you waiting for? Today is trash day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It starts tomorrow...

Good Evening to all my eager followers,

Starting Thursday, July 15, 2010 I will be posting daily thoughts which will speak to your spirit to help address personal issues that we all deal with from time to time. So adjust your schedules to include time for daily reading and feel free to post any questions, comments or concerns.

Blessings,
Pastor Tim~