The Cost

Salvation is free……but discipleship will cost you your life. - D. Bonhoeffer  

Peter said he was willing to die for Jesus, until that fateful night and the cock “crowed.” Hmm!  

The average person likes a bargain in any deal, where you get more for less; but if we’re not careful we begin to apply that type of mentality to God and His church. Salvation is free but God expects whole-hearted devotion. Whole-heartedness shows itself in perseverance, there may be a failure or two at first, but the earnest devotee thinks, “it is the Lord’s work, and it must be done; I signed up for it, My Lord has bidden ME to do it, and in His strength I will do it.” I pray there is no “crowing” in our inner chamber.  
Until tomorrow…..  

Pastor Botts  

“As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’ Jesus replied, ‘Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head’….Still another said, ‘I will follow you Lord, but first let me go back and say good by to my family.’ Jesus replied, ‘No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.’” – Luke 9:57-58, 61-62

Greater than your Past

Though the past is unchangeable, it does not have to be re-lived today. - Anon

For the woman brought to Jesus because of adultery, he didn’t change what she had done, he gave her freedom, and a command to leave it behind. AMEN!

There is a mathematic phrase that states ‘the whole is equal to the sum of its parts,’ meaning that the end result will never be greater than what the numbers add up to, no matter how you arrange them. For example, you can slice a pizza in quarters, eighths, sixteenths – but it is still one pizza. It can never be greater than one pizza. That may be true in math but not so in life.  We can be greater than our past. Though we can’t change it, we don’t have to let it limit us or hold us hostage, fearing we can never overcome any limitations it may try to place on us. One of the greatest examples of this is our salvation in Christ. We can never change our past sinful life, but God blots it out, forgets  it, wipes our slate clean and tells us to go forth and prosper in His name.  So we no longer have to be ‘weighed’ down by yesterday, or think we can’t start anew, that’s why He’s given us today – to start anew.  Well, what are you waiting for…..

Until tomorrow…..

Pastor Botts

“……No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God…” – Luke 9:62

It Works if You do

None of the secrets of success will work unless you do. – Anon

Naaman didn't understand why he had to 'dip' in the muddy Jordan, but he remained a leper until he did. Hmm! 

Rafael Nadal. Morgan Freeman. Bill Gates. All highly successful people not because of luck but because of applying themselves to their profession. The same application holds true for us as children of God if we expect to be successful. The secret to prayer is secret prayer. The secret to walking with God is walking with God. The secret to knowing His Word is reading and obeying His word. It works this way every time. There are no magic tricks or formulas; it just requires discipline and action. Good intentions count for nothing; results only come to those who willingly put forth the effort. God will grant us all we need for success today, the rest is up to us!

Until tomorrow…..

Pastor Botts

“Jesus replied, ‘No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God’.” – Luke 9:62