Due to my illness, I can't sing very well. A few weeks ago my daughter asked me to sing Amazing Grace with her at church so I did. This was not very comfortable, but I did it anyway and it felt great!

Hey guys, last week was a little crazy and therefore we didn't have a devo. I appreciate all the emails about it. As we enter this Holy Week my prayer is that not a day goes by that we don't think about what Jesus endured during this week. I want to share a message that's been heavy on my heart this last week. I was reading in the book of Matthew 8:28-34. I have these versed probably a hundred times or more over the years and I recently noticed something...at the end of verse 34, the people ask him to "leave their region..." Why?
The people ask Jesus to leave because He made them uncomfortable. They were happy with their lives the way they were. They went to work, came home at the end of the day, and probably talked about what was going on in the marketplace. As Christians, we don't like to be uncomfortable. We don't like people to stir things up in our lives. We don't like to see homeless people, we don't our services changed, we don't like things out of the ordinary. We like to be in control of what's going on. This week I want to challenge you to do something uncomfortable. Don't ask Jesus to leave your region, instead, invite someone to church, call that someone you haven't talk to in a while, maybe go back to a church and visit...Just a thought!

Tony

John 3:30 I must decrease, Christ must Increase...

So many times throughout my life I enjoy hearing people telling me how great I am. A few weeks ago I preached a message that I was pretty proud of delivering. After the service I had several people approach me to let me know how much they had enjoyed my message. After about the third person came up, I started thinking, "how dare me to think that was my message!" That was not at all my message, that was God's message. God gave me that message, God delivered that message, and God let the people receive that message! All I did was to be a mouthpiece. I don't know how many of you have ever seen a mouthpiece, but a mouthpiece is usually pretty gross and stinks!
Over the last few weeks God has really been dealing with me about who He is and who I am. I am nothing without Him. The verse today is very simple...He must increase in my life and I must decrease! My prayer this week is that I become smaller so that Christ can become bigger in my life! God Bless you all during "spring break"!

Body of Christ...

We are the body of Christ...1 Corinthians 12:12

Have you ever been walking around late at night in the dark and accidentally hit your toe or your "funny bone"? Not so funny after all, huh? Scripture tells us that we are all a part of the body of Christ. When one of us is "injured" or not pulling our weight, then we are causing the body to limp. Day after day I watch my wife in amazement at how she is able to do things with one arm. My wife is not missing an arm or injured, but she has a very attached little girl that refuses to let her do anything with two hands. My wife loves our daughter so much that in order to please her, she is constantly learning to do things with one arm.
Sometimes I feel that maybe that's what I do to the body of Christ. I cause the body of Christ to limp because I'm not where I'm supposed to be with Christ. Maybe I'm not doing what I'm supposed to be doing. Throughout this week, let's ask ourselves, "am I causing the body to limp?" It's not easy doing things when we get hurt and limp. Let's not cause the body to be limping this week!

Tony

What's wrong with this picture? Some may say it's not the prettiest boat they have ever seen, or it's not the fastest boat. The thing that's most wrong with this picture is that the boat is not in water and is therefore useless. On Sunday mornings many of us get all dressed up and we look really nice, but we are not being used how God intended us to be used. A boat out of water is nothing more than a "lawn ornament", we tend to sit in "our" pew at church and listen to a message and sometimes we even hear a pretty good joke! Most of us sit at church, but we're nothing more than "church furniture".
Jeremiah 29:11 tells us that God has plans for all of us. Plans to make us prosper. How are you being used for God? A boat requires much upkeep, and so do we. We have to stay sharp and focused. We have to stay in the Word. I always worry about whether or not I am in God's will. Recently God showed me that as a Christian it's harder to be outside the will of God, than in His will. May our prayer this week be that we can constantly search for what God has for us so that we are not "useless".

Tony

Devotion for 2-22-10

Arise and Go...Matthew 9:5-7

We see in these verses that Jesus commands the sick man to "Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house." As a result of this man's obedience, he was healed. Great things can be accomplished if we are obedient. Let's look at some from the Bible who were ready to Arise!

Elijah-I Kings 17:8-10
Elijah was told to go to the home of a widow, in a city made up of mostly heathens. He was to look for a widow and take the last of her food! It didn't make sense to Elijah, but he was obedient. The reward was great...her barrel of meal and her cruse of oil never ran out. She fed herself, her son, and Elijah. Her son falls sick and dies, Elijah revives him! All because Elijah "Arose to the occassion!"

Jonah- Jonah 3:1-10...It didn't make sense to Jonah to go the first time. He tried it his way first, but in the end God gave him a second chance. He took the second chance and "Arose" and went. Great things happened because he went...he preaches to the Ninevites and a whole nation of heathens got right with God...

These are just two examples of people who "arose and went". The Bible is full of people who didn't know what God wanted them to do, but they were ready. Have you asked God what He wants you to do? Are you ready to "Arise and Go" or are you gonna "Sit and Stay"? The choice is yours...

Faith

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1

What is faith? Faith is the confident assurance that something we want is going to happen. Often when I'm fishing I'm hungry, cold, tired, or after consuming a gallon of coffee and 2 pecan loafs before 7am maybe I'm not feeling so good. I may not be feeling so well, but I keep on fishing because I know that the next cast could be the one that brings in the "big one".
When I wake up in the mornings, especially mondays, I really don't want to go to work, but then I look at my family and realize it's not all about me. I go to work to provide a living for my family. I have faith that the more I work the easier it will be to pay the bills. If I study, the tests will be easier. If I pray I will have a better understanding. If I ask God, then I will receive.
Where have you put your faith today? You had faith in that chair you're sitting in to hold you up to read this...Do you have more faith in a chair than in a loving Jesus, who died for us?

Let's be aware this week of how our faith will be put to the test...

(Not our wedding picture!) Selah was almost here!

Hey Guys and Gals...Just wanted to share a neat little story about Valentine's Day...I don't mean to sound like the Cliff Claven of the bunch but I found this interesting:

I wonder how many of you remember the story behind the origins of Valentine’s Day. You know, it is called Saint Valentine’s Day for a reason.

Approximately 250 years after Jesus was born in Bethlehem, there was a priest by the name of Valentine. He lived in Rome during the reign of Emperor Claudius, who was committed to rebuilding the once-great Roman army. However, he believed it was important for men to volunteer for armed service, rather than drafting men into service against their will. But, given a choice, most young men in the Roman Empire refused to serve. They’d rather stay at home with their wives and children that go off into battle.

Claudius came to believe that only single men would volunteer for service, so he issued a royal edict that banned all further marriages. He actually outlawed weddings in the Roman Empire, earning himself the nick-name Claudius the Cruel.

Valentine thought it was ridiculous! One of his favorite duties as a priest was to marry people. So after Emperor Claudius passed his law, Valentine secretly continued performing marriage ceremonies. He would whisper the words of the ceremony, while listening for soldiers on the steps outside.

One night, Valentine did hear footsteps at his door. The couple he was marrying escaped, but he was caught. He was thrown in jail and sentenced to death. Valentine tried to stay cheerful. Many of the young couples he had married came to visit him in jail. They threw flowers and notes up to his window. They wanted him to know that they, too, believed in love.

One day, he received a visit from the daughter of one of the prison guards. Her father allowed her to visit him in his cell and they often sat and talked for hours. She believed he did the right thing by ignoring the Emperor and performing weddings. On the day Valentine was to die, he left her a note thanking her for her friendship and loyalty. He signed it, “Love from your Valentine.” That note started the custom of exchanging love notes on Valentine’s Day. It was written on the day he died, February 14, 269 A.D.—a day that was set aside in honor of a man who gave his life for God and for love. Now, every year on this day, people remember Saint Valentine, but most importantly, they think about love.

On a side note, Mindy and I will be celebrating 12 years of marriage this Sunday. God Bless...Tony