Tear Apart!

 My Dad used to cry when my brother and I fought. He would always say "you guys are brothers, why are you fighting each other?" We're like, "because that's what brothers do." "We fight, punch each other and then make up." The vicious cycle continued for many, many years. Until one day we stopped. We grew up and matured. We get along famously now.

I can't imagine how God feels when He sees His children fighting and tearing each other apart. All the hatred and dividing. He wants us to love one another and get along with each other.

1 Corinthians 1:10 Amplified Bible

10 But I urge you, believers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in full agreement in what you say, and that there be no divisions or factions among you, but that you be perfectly united in your way of thinking and in your judgment.

How did this world get so ugly and tearing people apart? It started with the rejection of Jesus & His love for us.

1 John 4:16 Living Bible

16 We know how much God loves us because we have felt his love and because we believe him when he tells us that he loves us dearly. God is love, and anyone who lives in love is living with God and God is living in him.

God wants us love one another. Lift each other up and not to tear each other down. I myself always seek to encourage others. Not that I am greater than anyone else. It just seems that there already is so much negativity in the world. I want to pass along positivity. I want to show Jesus and his love to others. Sometimes I excel, other times I fall flat on my face. But Jesus is always there to pick me up and get me going again.

John 13:34 Living Bible

34 “And so I am giving a new commandment to you now—love each other just as much as I love you.

I encourage you tonight. Be vessels of positivity. Let Jesus shine through you to others. Let His love light reflect off of you. Lift each other up. To many people out there are ready to tear you down.

God bless.
Rev. Kev.

Through All Of It.

 Have you ever had something happen in your life that in hindsight, you knew it was God? Can't be any other explanation for it. Even before I became a believer and a Christian I knew that God had pulled me and guided me through some of the situations I found myself in. 

There are many instances where I should have died. Car accidents, stupid stunts, hold my beer type of stunts. 

But God.

 He was with me through all of it. He had His hand upon me when I didn't even realize it. He has saved me & protected me from so much, I can't even begin to thank Him enough.

Sure there have been times when I suffered the consequences of my actions. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. Totaled cars, broken bones, broken relationships. 

Again, God was with me through all of it.

Like the song says, I have had joy and I've had regrets. Many, many regrets. Some of the choices I've made, I look back and can't believe that I chose that. I've lived a good portion of my life outside of God. Far from God if you will. I didn't accept Jesus until I was forty. I joke around that I was like the Israelites, wandering in the wilderness for my first forty years, before entering the Promise Land!

Jeremiah 29:11 New Living Translation

11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

When I look back at the things that I've done over the course of my life, I can see Gods hand on my life even before I knew Him personally. Hindsight is 20/20 right? He had a plan for my life. He knew that I would eventually choose Him. He knew that I would straighten my life out. Not that I was a bad person or got in a lot of trouble. Just not living for God!

John 10:10 The Message

10  A thief is only there to steal and kill and destroy. I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.

I lived a self destructive life. It was stealing, killing and destroying the life that God wanted for me. It didn't work out. I am living my best life ever since Jesus has entered it. I have an awesome and beautiful wife and daughter. A nice home and car to drive. A good job, that appreciates me and what I do. None of this would have been possible if God wasn't with me through all of it. The ups and downs!

So I want to encourage you tonight. God is with you. No matter what you are going through, He is there and He cares about you and what happens to you.

God bless.

Rev. Kev.

Is God "Reckless?"

 Okay, I'm sure by now most of you have heard the song by Cory Asbury "Reckless Love." It was released a few years ago and has become quite popular. It is even being played during church worship services. It is a catchy little tune but, is it true? Do people really think that God is reckless? If you know me, I have had issues with this song from the beginning.

I fail to believe that God is reckless. He is the God of order & peace. 

1 Corinthians 14:33 Amplified Bible

33 for God is not a God of confusion and disorder but of peace and order.

The Webster dictionary defines reckless as marked by lack of proper caution : careless of consequences. By this definition reckless means incautious, careless, and irresponsible. 

This song is supposed to be about God's love for us. It seems like the song is advocating that God's love is careless, thoughtless and irresponsible.

I don't believe that the singer has any ill intentions while singing this song. I just think that the wrong word was used while writing the song. 

God's love for us is a passionate one. He cares for us and about us. He cares what happens to each person. His love is faithful, dependable and true!

The song is based on the parable about Jesus leaving the ninety nine to go and look for the one. God loves every person, He doesn't want to lose even one. The Lord wants us to come to Him and be saved. That is why He went after the one that wandered away.

God's love is not reckless, haphazard or thoughtless. His love is intentional and thoughtful. He never wavers. His love is constant. It never changes.

Romans 5:8 Amplified Bible

8 But God clearly shows and proves His own love for us, by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

That my friends is not reckless. He loves us. Me, you, everybody!

So I encourage you tonight. If you are the one that wandered away, God will come after you. Not recklessly but with mercy & grace!

He wants you. 

John 10:28 Amplified Bible

28 And I give them eternal life, and they will never, ever [by any means] perish; and no one will ever snatch them out of My hand.

God's love for us is passionate, not reckless!

God bless.

Rev. Kev.

Thirst. Thirsty. Thirsting.

 I've been thinking a lot lately of the story of the Samaritan woman meeting Jesus at the well. Not the part of her being a Samaritan and Him a Jew. That is a different story for a different time. I was thinking about how she was there to retrieve water. She would fill her bucket and take it back to her household. Eventually it would run out and she would be back to fill it again. Endless cycle of filling and emptying. Jesus was offering her a different kind of water. Water, that if she or anyone else were to accept it, they would never thirst again. Spiritual water that only Jesus could provide.

John 4:13-14 Amplified Bible

13 Jesus answered her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again. 14 But whoever drinks the water that I give him will never be thirsty again. But the water that I give him will become in him a spring of water [satisfying his thirst for God] welling up [continually flowing, bubbling within him] to eternal life.”

I started to think back to when I got divorced. When I divorced, it left a huge void in my life. I started  thirsting after things of the world. I thought that dating would fill the void. I was wrong! I went from relationship to relationship. Looking for a woman to fill the void. Each one ended after a few months, and then I was on to the next one. Girl after girl came into my life. I was trying desperately to fill that void. None of them satisfied me. Just like the water that the Samaritan women was gathering, I was continuously thirsty. This went on for almost four years.

Then I met a woman (my wife now) who not only talked the Christian life, she also walked it. We started dating and after about a month or so I went to church with her. That same day I accepted Jesus into my life. Instantly the void in my life was filled. It was a relationship with Jesus I was thirsting for. Once accepting Him and His life giving water, I was no longer thirsty for any other kind of meaningless relationship. His was/is the most important!

How many of us do the same thing? We thirst for what the world offers. Sex, drugs, alcohol, money, power, prestige. When we get all of those things, it still doesn't quench our thirst. When one thing doesn't work, we try something else. Then when that doesn't work, we try something else. On and on the endless cycle of trying to satisfy ourselves. Only to be left parched! 

Jesus changes all of that. 

John 7:37 New Living Translation

37 On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! 38 Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! 

So I encourage you tonight. Stop chasing the things of the world that will only leave you thirsting for more. Accept Jesus and you will never thirst again!

God bless.

Rev. Kev.