“1. UNTO the angel of the church of Ephesus write: These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; 2. I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: 3. And haste borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast labored, and hast not fainted. 4. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. 5. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.

Have you made a commitment to do anything different or better this year? There is one focus every believer should have as we arrive into the new year, being a better soulwinner! The angel of the church in vs 1 is referring to the pastor at the church of Ephesus. God begins to address some positive things that the church is doing, but as you read 4 and 5 its evident that the most import focus of the church is being neglected. What exactly is the church? Its easy to drive by a nice building with a steeple and say to yourself, “that’s a church.” The church is not a structure, but the body of Christ. Acts 2:47 “…….And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.” The church is made up of saved and baptized believers, not the looks or structure of a building. Its easy to attend church Sunday after Sunday with an attitude that says its the pastors responsibility to tell others about Christ, you might even say the Sunday school teachers and deacons as well! Every pastor, preacher, and teacher of the church should be soulwinners, but when we look at the church of Ephesus, its the entire body of Christ that’s being addressed at this particular church. Are you saved? Have you been baptized? If you can say yes, you should be involved in a local independent fundamental Bible believing New Testament Church. The church at Ephesus was doing some great things and having a good stand for righteousness, but they were lacking in the most important thing, telling others about Jesus Christ. Have you been a soulwinner lately? Don’t look at what everyone else in the church is doing, look at what you are doing! Its the responsibility and calling to every believer to share the gospel with others. If your saved and baptized, its your responsibility! Mark 16:15 “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” What is the first love in the main passage of scripture? Soulwinning! Don’t forget your purpose! We encourage you to start this new year out with gospel tracts and soulwinning! Happy New Year!

Memory Verse Week 12/31/18

Mark 16:15

“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”

“21. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. 22. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet saying, 23. Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.”

Merry Christmas! There is a very important truth we can find in verse 23, Emmanuel means God with us. The devil has attacked the deity of Christ in many different religions today! Many want to say that Jesus was the son of God and nothing more. There are many other scriptures that proves Jesus Christ was God himself in fleshly form, but when we look at the birth of Christ in Matthew anyone can clearly see that the Bible says Jesus Christ was God. Emmanuel means God with us! What an amazing God. He came to this sin cursed earth and died for His creation(man) that He loved so much! Today, try to remember that Christmas is not about getting, but about giving! Jesus gave it all to pay for our sins!

“3. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. 4. Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength.”

Do you have peace in your life today? One thing to remember is that when Adam sinned in the garden of Eden he brought a great curse into the world. That curse is called sin! It’s easy to think that once your saved there will not be tragic and hard times in life, but sin is still ruling this world. Every day someone, somewhere, is dealing with a difficult situation in their life, whether it be losing a loved one, battling cancer, losing a job, backslidden children, persecution for the name of Christ, or any other difficult situation. I Peter 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:” The devil is always at work, he’s always trying to figure out a way to derail you in your walk for Christ. Again, do you have peace in your life today? Could it be that your mind is not stayed upon the Lord? The word stayed simply means fixed. A life change happens sometimes in a good way and sometimes in a bad way, but we quickly get angry at God because of the situations that arise in our lives. Jesus Christ didn’t die for us so we could be angry, He died for us to have victory. First for eternal life, but second, to have peace in this world. God already knows what will happen today, He knows what will happen tomorrow. You will need Him to deal with difficult situations! Is your mind fixed upon him? Don’t serve Him based off of circumstances, I John 4:19 “We love him, because he first loved us.” How is your walk with Christ today? If your mind is fixed upon Him, you can make it through any situation. Trust God in everything you do, serve Him and love Him with all your heart. The devil’s desire is to destroy you. Stay faithful in church, stay faithful to soul-winning, stay faithful to pass out tracts, Bible reading and your prayer life. You may say I am not doing these things. Don’t allow your self will and worldly influence destroy you. God is faithful! Keep your mind focused on Him!

Memory Verse Week 12/17/18

I Peter 5:8

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:”

“It is not good to eat much honey: so for men to search their own glory is not glory.”

This proverb is a great truth we need to apply to our own life. What is the Bible trying to tell us here? Honey is very sweet, if you consume too much of it, its not good for you. Just like too much honey is bad for you, searching your own glory is terrible for you. As people search to find glory in their success’ the only thing evident is pride and self will. Why are you trying to kill that big buck this year? Maybe you already killed him! Who has received the most glory for it? Was it your bow? Yourself? Your Property? Many people like to say Praise God, but if you have found your own glory in your success, its not been about God, but about your sinful heart! Don’t allow pride to destroy your life. God may have blessed you this season, but remember God can change your world when you begin to lift yourself up!

Memory Verse Week 12/10/18

James 4:2-3

“Ye ask, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.”

“1. FROM whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? 2. Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. 3. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. 4. Ye adulterers and adultresses, know ye not that the friendship with the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. 5. Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? 6. But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.”

How is your prayer life today? A great weakness most believers have is dealing with their pride on a day to day. Sometimes it may seem like prayers go unanswered or even get an answer of no. Looking at James chapter 1, it is evident that our prayer life can easily consist of our lustful desires. Verse 2 tells us “yet ye have not, because ye ask not.” We don’t see the great things God wants to give us because all we ever do is pray for things that will bring glory to ourselves rather than God. Hunting is a great example; God has blessed with an amazing creation concerning wild animals. The Sixth Day is so special to us because this is when God created the beast of the field(whitetails, elk, moose, rabbits, squirrels, etc.), but next he created man, and then gave man rule over all these wonderful animals. Why do you strive so hard to kill a big buck? For some, it for meat and a little excitement in the woods, but for many its become more of a god to them. There is nothing sinful in praying for a big buck or a filled tag, but why are you praying for it? Too many times, before the big buck even hits the ground, the hunter is already dreaming about all of his buddies he will show the deer to. We live in a hunting society today where its no longer about the blessing of God, but the pride of man. If you get lifted within your heart about your success, just know, God doesn’t want you to be successful. James tells us He wants us to be humble, not prideful! Where are you at in your hunting season this year? Have you already been boasting about the deer you’ve killed? Maybe God doesn’t want you to kill a deer this year because he knows what it will do to you! Is your prayer to consume it upon your own lusts? Trying to be better than everyone else in your pursuit of whitetails is evidence of a worldly desire, rather than a godly desire. Be careful what you pray for, if you have a true desire to serve God, your prayer life should be what will glorify God and not yourself. Its amazing the power in the Word of God, if you feel like you don’t know how to pray sometimes, spend more time reading your Bible. God will show you how to pray and how not to be so full of yourself in your prayer life! God want to give you some great things, but you have to get out of the way and let God be God!

Memory Verse Week 12/10/18

James 4:2-3

“Ye lust, and have not: ye kill and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.”

Amiss means wrong: God does not want our prayer life to glorify ourselves, God wont always give us what we pray for because we are asking for it for the wrong reasons.

“He that is soon angry dealeth foolishly: and a man of wicked devices is hated.”

One day a young teenage boy was beginning to have an interest in the mechanical things of gas powered equipment. The weed eater needed some work and his dad thought it would be good for him to tear it apart and learn some things about power equipment. As he began to disassemble the weed eater he quickly became upset because he couldn’t figure something out. He became so angry he grabbed the shaft of the weed eater and began  to slam the engine against a trailer breaking it into pieces. That’s a true story! What a fool! Any one with a little bit of sense would look at the young man and say, “whats wrong with you?” Its unfortunate that a lot of Christians act the same way when they cant figure things out or even deal with someone they don’t like. They get angry very quickly and then everyone around them is thinking “whats up with that guy?” There was another instance when a crew was out pheasant hunting with some brand new hunters. As the pheasant flew up the new hunter missed the first shot and the experienced hunter killed the bird on the next shot. The new hunter was instantly angry because someone else shot his bird and also the fact that he missed the bird on his first shot. It didn’t stop there! A short time later there was another pheasant that flushed and the experienced hunter shot it as it flew up. The new hunter wasn’t even close enough to shoot the bird and his anger began to climb higher and higher. The rest of the day and the rest of the week he became an unpleasant person to be around. That seems silly, but that is how a lot of people handle situations in life!  Pride will destroy your life! If you didn’t have so much pride in your life, you wouldn’t deal with situations out of anger all the time. Matthew 12:34-35 “O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.” In this context of scripture Jesus is dealing with the Pharisee’s, which are lost. There are a lot of Christians today who resemble the lost Pharisee more than Jesus Christ. The reason people are soon angry is because they carry anger in their heart. God hates sin, but He is a longsuffering God! If He was quickly angry with our decisions, we would all be dead, but He is a God of longsuffering. Try to remember how much God forgives you of your constant failures! Getting angry with others will make you look like a fool! Be patient, give your anger to the Lord and He will strengthen you in dealing with situations in life!

Memory Verse Week 11/26/18

Proverbs 14:17

“He that is soon angry dealeth foolishly: and a man of wicked devices is hated.”

Watch this VLOG devotional about Proverbs 11:30 and II Timothy 1:7

“15. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. 16. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 17. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.”

Happy Thanksgiving! Where has God brought you today? For many, it will be around a table with family, friends, and good fellowship, but for others in may be overseas away from home, or it could even be your first holiday without a close loved one. Does the peace of God rule in your heart today? If it were not for Jesus Christ this world would be hopeless. If you are reading this today we just want you to know you have a lot to be thankful for today. Jesus Christ came to this world because he loved mankind more than anyone could ever love us. He suffered and died to pay for our sins. If your not saved today we would invite you to watch some of our hunts concerning salvation or even visit the lost page. If you are a born again believer, you have everything to be thankful for! Your saved and bound for heaven, but you also have a perfect Book that will guide you through everything in life; the happy times and the sad times. Take  a look at vs 17 again: “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.” Does your life reflect Jesus Christ? Are you truly thankful for the greatness of God? Be thankful! Not because of who we are, but because of who He is!

Memory Verse Week 11/19/18

Colossians 3:17

“And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.”

“1. The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 2. Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. 3. Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. 4. And the vessel that he made of the clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. 5. Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 6. O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.

Sin is an awful disease that destroys Christians every day that it can. Israel, God’s chosen people, who have inherited God’s promise, a land flowing with milk and honey, is going to be judged for their constant sin and rebellion. Jeremiah is being given a physical illustration of what God can do with a marred vessel! The word mar means to be disformed or disfigured. There was a day when Israel was a wonderful nation, the reign of King David, the reign of King Saul! In the beginning Israel was very blessed, but as time passes to the place of Jeremiah we can see that the chosen vessel, Judah, is about to be disformed in a bad way. Other scriptures show that the judgement coming will be 70 years of captivity to Babylon. There is one thing that is certain about God, He has always hated sin and still does today. Jeremiah the prophet is being used to warn Judah about the judgement that is coming, if they don’t repent of their sin and turn from their wicked ways. Verse four of the context shows that Judah was once a vessel, but their current state is being disformed, due to sin. I John 1:9 says “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” God’s desire for Judah is to repent of their sin so he can make them a new vessel again. Sometimes Christians start out strong, a great zeal for the Lord, but as sin begins to weaken them, their life turns out to be more like Judah, a rebellious house. God knew that Judah wouldn’t repent, but yet he still sends the preacher to warn them! If your saved today, you cant hide from God, He knows right where your at and He knows what it will take to get your attention. Proverbs 28:13 “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.” If God allowed the temple in Jerusalem to be burned and His people carried away into captivity; what would He do today to a wayward child? The Bible says God chastens his children because he loves them. Chastening is never fun, in fact, its painful. What sins are you allowing to destroy your life and relationship with God? Its November, there are many born again hunters that treat hunting as a false idle in their life. Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night is a time for self enjoyment, rather than worshipping the King of kings, and the Lord of lords. Do yo read your Bible during deer season? That would require getting up even earlier than just getting to the stand in time. James 4:17 “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” There is still time for change, don’t let sin destroy you! Just like in Jeremiah, there is still time for repentance, but if you don’t stop now; how will God judge you! Praise the Lord that He is a God of forgiveness and longsuffering, He will forgive and He will make you to be a new vessel that He can actually use!

Memory Verse Week 11/5/18

Proverbs 28:13

“He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.”

“15. And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the Lord unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s. 16. To morrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel. 17. Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed: to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.”

One of the worse feelings a deer hunter has is when they’re sitting in the stand for a while, and all of the sudden realize, there is a deer staring them down! What causes a deer to see you before you see them? Sometimes its because your not hidden very well, but many times its because you moved at the wrong time. Moving at the wrong time can cause a great heartache to a hunter as the deer begins to alert every other deer in the area, along with a white tail or two. Staying still in the stand will help you accomplish your success. If you see the deer before it see’s you, it will give you an opportunity to move at the right time and not mess everything up. Take a look at verse 17 again, there are three little words that have great application, to our spiritual journey, in dealing with everything; “stand ye still.” Moving before God is ready to move will always cost you. Sometimes the enemy, sometimes the job, sometimes a church. There are many problems we can bring into our life if we try to figure things out our own way. Jehoshaphat is the king of Judah, the children of Moab and the children of the Ammonites are moving in to lay siege on Judah and Jerusalem. It was amazing what God did for His people! King Jehoshaphat proclaims a fast to all the land and God begins to work in a way that only He can. Fasting still works! Fasting will allow you to see God move in ways beyond what you can imagine and sometimes sooner than later. Stand ye still; What does that mean? To plainly put it, it means, DO NOT MOVE! God controls all things, don’t doubt what He is doing, don’t fear, don’t worry! Philippians 4:6 “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” Verse 18 from the main text shows us that Jehoshaphat did exactly that! “And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the LORD, worshipping the LORD.” If you go back and read all of chapter 20 you will see a great victory. As the enemy approaches, the Bible says, God set ambushments against them. The inhabitants of mount Seir was also connected with Moab and Ammon, but at the ambushments, they all started killing each other. As Judah approaches a watchtower in the wilderness they come to find that all the enemies were laying dead. Talk about a move of God! For three days they gathered the spoil(goods or possesions) from the enemies. They never had to fight the battle, God did it all! Whatever situation your in today, try to remember that God controls it all, don’t take matters into your hands, stand still, and let God move!

Memory Verse Week 10/29/18

Philippians 4:6

“Be careful for nothing: but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”