Devotion

Devotion

Pastor Jim Rugg

Hi Friends!  I know that life has had its challenges in the last few months but I want to reassure you that God loves you and so do I.  I’ve been keeping all of you in my thoughts and prayers.

I thought of the question from the Bible – “Am I my brother’s keeper?”  I believe with all my heart that you and I are!!   I want to encourage you to be attached to your Creator God!  Don’t be driven by mass media.  God’s greatest command is to love the LORD our God with all our heart, with all our mind, and with all our soul and the second is to love our neighbor as ourselves.   Men can change for a moment; but God can change man for a lifetime if man will call out to HIM!  We need God!  We need to be the church!!  In Acts 5:12 we see that the apostles were willing to be what God wanted them to be….they were doing what God wanted ~ they were doing the work of ministry ~ they were reaching out, they were encouraging, they were helping, they were providing, they were performing signs and wonders ~ they were willing to meet and learn together!   God wants to work through each one of us ~ we all need to be His hands, we all need to be using the gifts that HE has given to us!   Our attitude about who we are in Christ always needs to line us the Scripture.  So I encourage you to seek out Christ in the Scriptures (Some Scripture for you to look up ~Ephesians 2:8,9; Luke 1:37; John 14:12,13; Philippians 2:5;  Romans 12

1 John 2:6  says Whoever claims to live in HIM must live as JESUS did.  Jesus lived in holiness, power, and authority!   That right relationship with God through Jesus Christ comes with proper attitudes about HIM!!  I want to encourage all of us to draw close to God !  Let’s be who God wants us to be!!   Stay in the Word, Stay in Prayer, Stay Connected!!

Blessings

Pastor Jim

Pastor Dorothy Rugg

Guard Your Life

For God has not called us to impurity, but to holiness [to be dedicated, and set apart by behavior that pleases Him, whether in public or in private]. 1 Thessalonians 4:7 Amplified version

I’m sure I will date myself now, but how many remember learning “Oh be careful little eyes what you see, Oh be careful little ears what you hear, Oh be careful little hands what you do, Oh be careful little feet where you go, for the Father up above is looking down in love so be careful……”

Truthfully my heart is saddened by all the hate, by all the disrespect, by all the put downs, by all the filthy language that you see displayed in our world.   The Holy Spirit inside of me wants to wrap arms of love around everyone, especially the children, and protect them from seeing and hearing all that is going on.  I want to encourage and say to people that there is a better way, there is a better road to walk on, there is a way that leads to peace and wholeness and that way is JESUS CHRIST.

I am a simple woman of Faith and I believe with all my heart that when I asked Jesus to come and live in my life that I’ve been on a journey of learning and growing in the LORD.   The Holy Spirit inside of me would ask me questions like “Is what you are doing building up your Spirit man?”  the Holy Spirit would encourage me to be more kind, to watch how I talk and what I watched and what I listened to.  I would ask the Holy Spirit to help me to live the Scripture that I read, to help apply it to my life.

My prayer is that the noise of the world would lesson and that people would cry out to the LORD for healing and truth!  I believe with all my heart that we would all do so much better if we would love the LORD with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves.   Just as Romans 12:1,2 states Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.