Posts by courtnut02 (Page 24)
Do you ever feel like just giving up? You feel like you just want to throw in the towel and walk away. I am sure you have at one point or another. Sometimes it seems like no matter how hard we try we just are not having the impact we want in our life and those around us. It is at these times when I have to remind myself that I cannot change anyone. God has instructed me to live…
Lost and Found
I have preached that before we ever seek God…He seeks us. In our lostness…God seeks us and wants a personal relationship with us. John 3:16 says “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” God is love…He personifies it. God loves…He demonstrates it. God cares for and loves all of us…even those who are lost and separated from Him. If you have…
Living our Lives for Christ
This passage from Romans 14:22-23 reads as follows: The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. When I have read this passage in the past my first thought has been the literal one with regard to…
Our Throw Away Society
In our society today, when a cheap appliance breaks, we just throw it away and buy another one. It’s not worth fixing. On the other hand, when an expensive item is damaged or needs repair, we don’t discard it or throw it away. No, we repair it…we restore it. Have you thought about the fact that’s what God does for us? When we mess up his lives, God doesn’t throw us away. No, He desires to restore us. This reminds…
The Message
The Message paraphrase for Romans 12:1-2 reads as follows: So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the…
Racial Issues
It seems like we cannot go a day without seeing a newspaper headline, a Facebook post, a tweet on Twitter, or a newscast on TV that doesn’t deal with racial issues. Our country continues to be divided, not only politically, but racially. Juan Sanchez of Lifeway recently wrote “racial divide is a sin problem…I don’t believe reconciliation will occur apart from the gospel.” Epheisans 1 tells us that God’s plan is to exalt Jesus and to unite all things under…
Situations
Have you ever thought you had the right answer? Have you been convinced that your way was not just the best way, but also the only way to get things done? Maybe you have come upon a situation that has you torn apart and you can’t make sense of it. Life is full of situations like this and if we are free to admit it we have had these thoughts, feelings and sensations before. Our question is even in times…
Great Needs
We don’t like to admit this…but we are needy. We are a needy people. There are four great needs for mankind. They are forgiveness, truth, love, and strength. In addition, we each have physical, emotional and spiritual needs. The richest people typically have no problems with physical needs. They’re physical needs are often met by their wealth. However, they like us often have emotional and spiritual needs that can’t be met by wealth. We all need things money cannot buy.…
Good news! God is still in control! Though the storms in our life may seem overwhelming, God is walking on the water towards us. When the hurts of our bodies brings, us to despair God’s hand is reaching out for us. He is there watching over us in each and every circumstance. As we live our lives for Christ, there may be times when we not only feel isolated, we are isolated from those we love, from our church, from…
Worry Wart
I have a natural tendency to worry. An old expression for a person who worries a lot is… “you’re a worry wart.” I have to fight it with prayer and faith. My Mom is a worrier and I suspect I got it naturally from her. The Bible tells us not to worry. In Matthew 6, Jesus says “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your…