Matthew 2:11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.

Worship is worthship. Jesus was worth the journey. He was worth the gifts. He was worth the reverence because they recognized Him for who He was, is, and will be.

When we love anything or anyone we invest money and time there. When we love our spouse we will give money and gifts not because we have to but because we want to. It is an expression of our love.

I hope you believe that He is worthy. I hope you are giving of your time, your talents, and your treasure!

Tomorrow’s reading is Matthew 3

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Matthew 1:22 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,

All through the Bible and the life of Jesus things happen as the Bible said it would. The Bible is the infallible Word of God. It always comes true. Jesus will live His life and every prophecy about Him will come to pass.

When you read the Bible do you realize what you have in your hands. It is the Word of God and it is true.

Tomorrow’s reading Matthew 2

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Planting churches in Colombia

Why should we plant churches in Colombia?

The main reason that I see is that there are not that many Biblical churches in this great country of forty million inhabitants. In Bogotá that has nearly 6,000,000 the presence of Biblical churches is laughable, you can count them on your fingers.

There is a great need for churches that preach the gospel from a Biblical perspective with sound doctrine like those that have given their lives over the years. The last thing Bogotá needs is new and strange doctrines.

Due to violence like the problems between the paramilitary and procommunist factions the country has nearly been off limits for several years by foreign missionaries.

If there were at least 200 good Biblical churches in Bogotá then I could not ask you to help us open another but that is not the case!

Colombia is nearly virgin territory for the gospel.

Here are some advantages as to why we should go to Colombia:

Religious freedom

The people are very receptive to the gospel

The violence has caused people to want to seek another alternative for their lives

Family problems, drug addiction, etc. are causing parents to seek spiritual help

Migration from the rural areas to the cities

An enormous population that doesn’t know about salvation by faith and not by works

A Roman church that has lost much of its influence over the people due to the pedophile scandals

These are the words of Jaime explaining why he is returning to Colombia. Will you please pray about helping him on a monthly basis for at least two years.

You can contact him for more info at

Atentamente: Jaime, Margelis, Ray Andrés y Sara Sofía Benítez Betín.
E-mail. incacaribe@hotmail.com

http://jaimebenitezbenitez.wordpress.com/

Skype. Jaime.benitez2

Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.

Our joy is to be found in the Lord Jesus not in any other thing. Everything fails. Our health, finances, relationships, or what ever you name can fail but not the Lord Jesus. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is the source of our eternal joy and that started the moment we got saved.

When you think of things that give you joy think of the Lord Jesus. Think of your salvation. Think of His unconditional love. Rest in the fact that you are accepted and loved.

There is nothing you can do to make Him love you more and there is nothing you can do to make Him love you less!

Tomorrow’s reading Matthew 1

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Philippians 3:7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.

Paul lists many things that he might have used to gain merit in this world or before God but he realized that none of these things were of any value. He weighed what he had and what he had done and counted it as nothing.

The most important thing was his relationship with the Lord Jesus.

I hope that today we will take some time and realize that only Jesus matters.

Tomorrow’s reading Philippians 4

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I just finished reading Surprised by Grace by Tullian Tchividjian!

Here are several quotes that made the book well worth reading:

In seminary I had a professor who referred to the New Testament as the Bible’s footnotes. He meant no disrespect; he knew that the New Testament is just as inspired and trustworthy and infallible as the Old. He was simply saying in a different way what Augustine said centuries earlier-that the New Testament is contained in the Old, and the Old Testament is explained in the New.

God is more interested in the worker than he is in the work the worker does. He’s more interested in you than in what you can accomplish. If accomplishing Project Ninevah was all God cared about, he could have discarded Jonah and found a more reliable prophet. He knew Jonah would run; so why did he ask Jonah to go in the first place? It was because Jonah was God’s project. God comes after Jonah not because he needs Jonah, but because Jonah needs God.

But before we go to far in condemning Jonah’s self-righteousness, we need to be aware of another (prehaps more subtle) side to self-righteousness that “younger brother” types need to be careful of. There’s an equally dangerous form of self-righteousness that plaques the unconventional and the non-religious types. Anti-legalists can become just as guilty of legalism in the opposite direction. What do I mean? Those who are more like the younger brother -more irreligious-can easily take sinful pride in that fact.

Many younger evangelicals today are reacting to their parents’ conservative, buttoned-down, rule-keeping flavor of “older brother religion” with a type of liberal, untucked, rule-breaking flavor of “younger brother irreligion” It screams out, “That’s right! I know I don’t have it all together, and you think you do; I know I am not good, and you think you are. And that makes me better than you!” See the irony? We become self-righteous against the self-rightesous.

God is in the business of relentlessly pursuing rebels like us and that he comes after us not to angrily strip away our freedom but to affectionately strip away our slavery so we might become truly free.

We learn about the danger we experience when we run from God’s will, the deliverance we experience when we submit to God’s will, the deliverance others experience when we fulfill God’s will, and the depression we experience when we question God’s will.

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Philippians 2:4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.

Philippians 2 is about the humility of the Lord Jesus Christ. He had every right to be worshipped because of who He is, but He humbled Himself to become a man and then to die the death of the cross. He teaches us by His example how we are to act as we serve together.

We are not to think about ourselves but others. We are to surrender our rights to be honored and respected and to honor and respect others.

Why not consider this today as you go about your service to the Lord Jesus and to other believers.

If we have His attitude there will be a sweet spirit in the church. It is not the responsibility of others or the pastor to insure this but everyone of us!

Tomorrow’s reading Philippians 3

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Here are some quotes that will make you want to read this book:

Followers don’t do what leaders say as much as they do what leaders do.

The author wrote an article entitled “Seven Habits of Highly Ineffective Leaders,” a satire based on Stephen Covey’s book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Here’s the list:

1. They spend too much time managing and not enough time leading.
2. They spend too much time counseling the hurting people and not enough time developing the people with potential.
3. They spend too much time putting out fires and not enough time lighting fires.
4. They spend too much time doing and not enough time planning.
5. They spend too much time teaching the crowd and not enough time training the core.
6. They spend too much time doing it themselves and not enough time doing it through others.
7. They make too many decisions based on organizational politics and too few decisions based on biblical principles.

A Christian leader is humble, God-dependent, team playing servant of God who is called by God to shepherd, develop, equip, and empower a specific group of believers to accomplish an agreed-upon vision from God.

Author Dallas Willard observed that “grace is not opposed to effort, but to earning.” That means that it is not wrong to expend energy and effort to get to know the Lord, but it is unbiblical to do so with the thoughts of earning God’s love, favor, and acceptance through the effort.

This is my favorite of the book!

Some people come into our lives and quietly go. Others stay awhile, and leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never the same.

A purpose statement is, in essence, a written-down reason for being. Jesus’ mission helped Him decide how to act, what to do, and even what to say when challenging situations arose. Clarity is power; Once you are clear about what you were put here to do then ‘jobs’ become only a means toward accomplishing your mission, not an end in themselves.

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Philippians 1:24 Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.

Paul wanted to go to Heaven but he knew that he was busy serving God in ways that the church needed. I read this verse and always ask myself if I am needed.

Do I work at being needed? Do I try to serve others selflessly so that my ministry really counts?

What are you doing that is needful to the kingdom of God and His church. If you can’t think of anything right now maybe you would like to take a few minutes to consider just that!

Tomorrow’s reading Philippians 2

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Redemptive Divorce: A Biblical Process That Offers Guidance for the Suffering Partner, Healing for the Offending Spouse, and the Best Catalyst for Restoration [Kindle Edition] Mark W. Gaither (Author)

One of the good men in our church asked me to read this book. It is a good book well worth your time reading. You will see some great quotes as you read the following:

Forgiveness is agreeing to live with the consequences of another person’s sin. Forgiveness is costly; we pay the price of the evil we forgive. Yet you’re going to live with those consequences whether you want to or not; your only choice is whether you will do so in the bitterness of unforgiveness or the freedom of forgiveness. That’s how Jesus forgave you–He took the consequences of your sin upon Himself. All true forgiveness is substitutional, because no one really forgives without bearing the penalty of the other person’s sin.

This is quoted in the book but is actually a quote by Neil Anderson in his book the Bondage Breaker.

Here are some more quotes on forgiveness and the process of healing and restoration and the three distinct stages involved:

1. Forgiveness has to do with the past. Forgiveness is not holding something someone has done against her. It is letting go. It only take one to offer forgiveness. And just as God has offered forgiveness to everyone, we are expected to do the same. Matthew 6:12. 18:35
2. Reconciliation has to do with the present. It occurs when the other person apologizes and accepts forgiveness. It takes two to reconcile.
3. Trust has to do with the future. It deals with both what you will risk happening again and what you  will open yourself up to. A person must show through his actions that he is trustworthy before you trust him again, Matthew 3:8, Proverbs 4:23

This quote comes from Henry Cloud and John Townsend in How to have that Difficult Conversation You’ve Been Avoiding

The author states:

Restoration will not be easy for anyone. The upright partner must open himself or herself to the possibility of re injury. The repentant partner must endure the excruciating process of self-examination and reformation. The rebuilding of the marriage will be fraught with danger and marked by setbacks. And, truth be told, few couples make it. Nevertheless, redemption is possible, not only for individuals but for couples. Given the right environment and expert guidance, God can raise a temple of extraordinary grace from the ashes of sin. But it won’t happen automatically. Reconciliation and restoration must be intentional. Redemption requires tough love backed by consequences and actions that have genuine impact.

This book was worth it for the quotes on forgiveness alone. It certainly also has some questions and answers for those who are in horrible marriages where one of the partners is consumed with drunkenness or adultery!

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