Wednesday, March 31, 2004
Much of what many people know about God and their Perspective of God is determined by what others say about the church they attend. Others often identify God in the attitude and behavior of believers. Considering this, we all should ask the questions, “What perspective of God do others get from me in my attitude and my statements about the church I attend?”
-Lyn Sahr
-Prov 12:18 NIV
Reckless words pierce like a sword,
but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
Tuesday, March 30, 2004
A man once told me that life is a series of base hits, not home runs. While most of us want to hit for the fences in life, it only takes base hits to make progress and eventually score. Consistency and patients usually describes a winning baseball team, likewise people.
-Lyn Sahr
-Eccl 7:8-9 NIV
The end of a matter is better than its beginning,
and patience is better than pride.
9 Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit,
for anger resides in the lap of fools.
Sunday, March 28, 2004
The other day, the doorbell rang at daybreak. I wondered if I pretended I didn’t hear, if they would just go away, but thought I had better get up. There at the door were a couple of police officers. They had seen that the metal door leading to the porch wasn’t completely shut and wanted to be sure I was ok. In spite of the sudden wake-up call, the fact that they were concerned if there was a problem gave me comfort.
In a much greater way, we can take comfort in the fact that our Heavenly Father never leaves us. He is watching over us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. He never stops watching out for us.
As much as the fact the police care that I am ok is comforting, I take much more comfort knowing that nothing can happen to me unless my Father allows it, and then it will be for my good and not to cause me harm.
-Ardis Rivera
-Matthew 28:20b
And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
-Psalm 34:15
The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous
and his ears are attentive to their cry;
Saturday March 27, 2004
While running errands this week I drove through an intersection, as the stoplight was turning yellow. A few seconds later another vehicle tried to do the same but hit another vehicle, which in turn caused two city buses to hit one another. The result, a four-vehicle pile-up. Had I been just a few seconds later going through the intersection, it could have been me.
Later I thought about how God has protected me throughout my lifetime through various “disasters.” The time my arm went through a glass window and the doctor said that the nerves and tendons were cut and I shouldn’t be able to move my arm or have feeling in it (but I can). Then a few years later I fell off an ATV and had a neck injury, and again a doctor told me that I should be paralyzed after the fall (which I’m not). There have been others as well.
Are these events coincidence? Non-Christians would think so, but I know that my God has plans for my life, and apparently has more work for me to do to. And I bet if you think about you’ll see he has more for you to do too!
-Garrett Novak
Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Friday, March 26, 2004
I am not impressed with church growth. What really impresses me is spiritual growth and one should not confuse the two. Many churches, in their effort to achieve church growth, are a mile wide but only an inch deep.
-Lyn Sahr
-1 Cor 2:10-15 NIV
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. 14 The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
Thursday, March 25, 2004
The failure of the church to preach against sin and moral standards is inexcusable. I believe that pastors and church leaders will one day have to answer for the souls of countless millions who sat in church Sunday after Sunday believing that immorality and prevailing sin was permissible because the pulpits were silent on the matter. Until we have pastors who are passionate, fearless Godly preachers our churches will continue to be places of resounding silence.
-Lyn Sahr
-2 Peter 2:4-10 NIV
For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment; 5 if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; 6 if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; 7 and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men 8(for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)- 9 if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment. 10 This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature and despise authority.
Wednesday, March 24, 2004
Change is never easy. It causes major disruption in the “normal way of doing things.” No wonder things have never been the same since Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the great divider of time and things would never be the same. Although parts of the world keep trying to go back, the church of Jesus Christ keeps marching forward. And yes, not even the gates of hell will prevail against it!
-Lyn Sahr
-Matt 16:17-19 NIV
Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
Tuesday, March 23, 2004
Many people wonder why the world doesn’t turn on their axis point. But God put the world in space and hung the stars in place, not us! Should we expect anything different? I guess it comes down to who is king of kings and lord of lords in our lives.
-Lyn Sahr
-Rev 19:11-16 NIV
I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. 13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. 14 The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:
KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
Monday, March 22, 2004
I marvel at the wisdom of the Lord. How He is able to give us what we need and how He is able to keep from us the things that are not good for us. However, people have a tendency not to accept God’s wisdom and they come up with their own. In other words, forcing things to happen even if God is not in it.
Accepting God’s wisdom may be one of the least talked about things for Christians and one of the most troubling. Our wisdom is not viable let alone reliable when it comes to charting our course in life. God always knows when to stop and start and He never misses a turn.
-Lyn Sahr
-Ps 25:8-9 NIV
Good and upright is the LORD;
therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.
9 He guides the humble in what is right
and teaches them his way.
Sunday, March 21, 2004
The other day I found an old joke in some things and it made me think. The story goes that one day a zookeeper comes to work and finds the kangaroo outside his pen. He calls in workers and they raise the sides of the fence surrounding the kangaroo’s pen. The next day, again he finds the kangaroo outside the pen and again he calls in the workers to make the fence even higher. This continues for a few days and one day the animals in the next pen ask the kangaroo how high he thinks they will go with the fence. The kangaroo says, “Well, they will probably go as high as a hundred feet unless they first realize that they should shut the door to the pen.”
Sometimes we go to elaborate measures to fix something, but we overlook the obvious. There are wonderful rehabilitation programs for almost every problem, but few look to Jesus, the only One who can truly rehabilitate any person. And even in smaller problems, problems that arise daily in the process of living, sometimes we overlook the obvious solution. Perhaps we think it won’t work, or perhaps we don’t even see it. But, if you ask the Father to reveal the obvious to you, He will do it. And if might save lots of time and effort.
-Ardis Rivera
-Proverbs 2:6
For the LORD gives wisdom,
and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
-Matthew 11:28-30
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Saturday March 20, 2004
While standing on our deck earlier this week, my wife and I saw our first sign of Spring…a “robin sighting.” We sat and watched thinking about warmer weather and about the wonderful creator we serve.
The birds, the changing seasons, a beautiful sunset. In the hustle and bustle of life we miss so much that God has done for us. In fact, as Christians…we have many “God sightings” every day, the problem is, we don’t always notice them.
When was the last time you had a “God sighting?”
-Garrett Novak
-Genesis 1:20-23 (NIV)
And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.” So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” And there was evening, and there was morning-the fifth day.
Friday, March 19, 2004
Jesus wants something from people that seems nearly impossible for Him to get today. No matter how much He blesses us, we still don’t give it to Him. If we experience tragedy or other kinds of pain, we may give it to Him for a while but soon we take it away. What God wants from us does not cost us anything nor does it require sacrifice. He wants our attention.
-Lyn Sahr
-Isa 48:17-18 NIV
“I am the LORD your God,
who teaches you what is best for you,
who directs you in the way you should go.
18 If only you had paid attention to my commands,
your peace would have been like a river,
your righteousness like the waves of the sea.
Thursday, March 18, 2004
Perfection is often thought of, never obtained and probably not recognizable if it were. Yet, people still go to church Sunday after Sunday expecting it from the pastor, the church ministries and the people themselves. Pity, isn’t it, that we continue to expect from others what we cannot obtain ourselves.
-Lyn Sahr
-Rom 3:23 NIV
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Wednesday, March 17, 2004
Sometimes we forget how great God is. That’s why I love to go into the mountains and experience their majestic beauty. I also like to sit by the ocean and absorb the sound of the waves splashing on the beach as if they were arriving from another part of the world. It is good for us to see and experience things that are bigger than us. Too often people live in such a small world that God is really only the God of their little box.
Today we need people to not just step out of their box but to move out of their box into God’s box, which has no walls or cover in regard to his power.
-Lyn Sahr
-Isa 26:1-4 NIV
We have a strong city;
God makes salvation
its walls and ramparts.
2 Open the gates
that the righteous nation may enter,
the nation that keeps faith.
3 You will keep in perfect peace
him whose mind is steadfast,
because he trusts in you.
4 Trust in the LORD forever,
for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal.
Tuesday, March 16, 2004
Old friends are like antiques, the older they get and the longer you have them the more valuable they become. I have a number of old friends like that who are very dear and precious to me. But the old friend who is really close to me is Jesus. We have had a very special relationship for some fifty years. And that relationship is more dear and precious to me today than ever.
In the simplistic throw away world of today, one cannot afford to throw away old friends because the longer you have them the harder they are to replace. And in the case of Jesus, He is an old friend that is irreplaceable. Why? Because no one else is able to forgive our sins and no one else will ever love us they way He does.
-Lyn Sahr
-Prov 18:24 NIV
A man of many companions may come to ruin,
but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
Monday, March 15, 2004
Many counselors give people questions when they come to see them as they try to find help for their problems. When people go to God to find help for their problems, He gives people answers.
-Lyn Sahr
-Ps 17:6-8 NIV
I call on you, O God, for you will answer me;
give ear to me and hear my prayer.
7 Show the wonder of your great love,
you who save by your right hand
those who take refuge in you from their foes.
8 Keep me as the apple of your eye;
hide me in the shadow of your wings
Sunday, March 14, 2004
It rained the other day, and it doesn’t take much rain for the streets to flood. I couldn’t figure that out. How can the streets be flooded with so little rain? The answer is that many streets have no storm sewers. So the water has nowhere to go. The water needs to have a way to be diverted away from the streets so they don’t flood.
Many Christians sit in church week after week, receiving God’s word. But they never try sharing what they have learned. They just keep it inside.
God created us to share His word with those around us. Just as the water sitting in the streets can’t irrigate the dry land, a Christian who won’t share his or her faith cannot impact a world that is dying from spiritual thirst.
Today is a good day to start sharing your faith with someone. The world is dying to hear the message you have a message that brings life.
-Ardis Rivera
-Isaiah 55:1
“Come, all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost.
-Isaiah 52:7
How beautiful on the mountains
are the feet of those who bring good news,
who proclaim peace,
who bring good tidings,
who proclaim salvation,
who say to Zion,
“Your God reigns!”
Saturday March 13, 2004
God has good and sweet things in store for his children.
I am reminded of this truth this week as my nearly 18-month old daughter Kathryn decided that the “sweet” treat my wife had left on the counter was to be hers right now, and not after dinner like my wife told her when she put it up there. So when my wife left the kitchen to attend to our newborn, my little girl pulled a garbage can up to the counter, shut the lid, climbed on top, and up on the counter where she began eating her candy bar treat. My wife thought there was too much silence in our dining room (a sure sign that your child is doing something), and found our “chocolate-covered” daughter enjoying her treat. Now, had Kathryn waited until her mother was going to help her with the candy bar she still would have had the treat, just not gotten into trouble along the way.
Isn’t that how our heavenly father is? He promises us that he has a plan for our lives, we just need to wait on him. Instead we push ahead “knowing” that this is where God wants us but we can get into “traps” along the way. We just have to have the “latest” thing that our neighbors have, even though we don’t need it, and get into a “financial” trap along the way. God knows what’s best for his children; we just don’t always “listen.” What is your heavenly father telling you today?
-Garrett Novak
-James 1:17-18 NIV
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
-John 14:2-3 NIV
In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
Friday, March 12, 2004
When people fall in love it is no wonder that they get hurt. People usually get hurt when they fall. That’s why love is not determined by the fall but rather the future!
Many people fall in love only to end their relationship in a few months or years. The future, therefore, is the determining factor of lasting love, not the fall. Love is supposed to grow through the years to be richer and better.
God would have marriages grow in all ways. But marriages grow richer based up their relationship and involvement with Jesus Christ. Few marriages fail when Christ is the focus of their relationship.
Bottom line is that marriages grow richer as our relationship with Christ grows richer!
-Lyn Sahr
-Ps 85:10 NIV
Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other.
Thursday, March 11, 2004
Where does God draw the line when it comes to sin? He drew it on Calvary with his own blood!
-Lyn Sahr
-1 John 1:7 NIV
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
Wednesday, March 10, 2004
In recent months there is a craze for television shows where people are having extreme makeovers. That’s nothing new. God has been doing extreme makeovers for thousands of years. He just hasn’t been selling commercials and doing it for profit!
-Lyn Sahr
-Ps 51:10 NIV
Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Tuesday, March 9, 2004
In the world of big business, the law still prevails. In the world of big sin, grace still prevails.
In the legal arena, the law can be wrong. In the grace arena, Jesus is never wrong!
-Lyn Sahr
-Eph 2:8-9 NIV
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-
Monday, March 08, 2004
We just finished out nineteenth month of holding services in our church. And what a blessing it has been. On one of the first Sundays, perhaps the first Sunday, we sang a song “Look What The Lord Has Done.” Nineteen months later I stand in awe of what the Lord has done! Not that we compare in numbers with a Mega church or that we even try. But rather we have built our congregation on the concept of being faithful everyday and doing the part that God has for us that day.
Perhaps we could call it “Faith 101.” In the day of thirty-year mortgages and seven-year car loans, many people cannot muster up enough faith to trust God day by day. If we can’t trust God for our day to day lives, who are we trusting for those thirty-year loans? This perhaps is the greatest challenge for the modern day believer, the life of simple day-to-day faith.
-Lyn Sahr
-Prov 28:20 NIV
A faithful man will be richly blessed,
but one eager to get rich will not go unpunished.
Sunday, March 7, 2004
The other day I decided to take a break and was playing a game on the computer that I had never played before. At one point I thought that I didn’t like the rules and that it would be so much better if I could play it a different way. But the computer doesn’t allow for changing rules midstream. Can you imagine playing a game with others if everyone changes the rules according to his or her liking? It would be chaos
Many people decide that God’s “rules” for this life aren’t good and that they have a better idea. God does allow us to “change the rules”, or at least we think we change the rules. The fact is, the rules don’t change and when we try to change them, we end up paying a price later.
Make the commitment to learn God’s “rulebook” by studying the Bible and then to stick by the rules. The game of life will be much smoother if you do.
-Ardis Rivera
-Psalm 119:11
I have hidden your word in my heart
that I might not sin against you.
-Psalm 119:105
Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light for my path.
Saturday, March 6, 2004
To say that “The Passion of The Christ” is a “good” movie is an understatement! My wife and I had a chance to see the film the day after it opened in our town, and we attended it with a group of 20 Christian friends.
How did it affect me? Like no other film I have ever seen. I felt every scourge as Christ received it. I walked each step with him through the streets to Golgotha. I felt like I was standing in the crowd watching the Bible come to life on the big screen. There wasn’t a dry eye in my row at the theater that night, and as the screen faded to black, not a sound could be heard but soft sobbing from a few rows away.
Several in our group “left” in a hurry when the lights came up, others of us stayed and talked to people. Several of the teens with the group headed for a restroom with tears streaming down their faces. I watched others leave the theater with the same scowl that they wore in at the beginning of the night. I wondered it they “got” what the movie was about?
Others I’ve talked with about the movie in the past week have been deeply affected, while others didn’t feel any more emotion watching the film than when watching another “tear jerker” movie. Yet others won’t attend the film, as they don’t want it to “ruin their day.”
Secular columnists still cry anti-Semitism about the content, while Christians take their teenaged children to see the film. One thing is for sure, ”The Passion of the Christ” is getting people talking about Jesus life and resurrection once more and is causing controversy in certain circles.
Just like Jesus’ death and resurrection for us did over 2,000 years ago, people need to decide for themselves who Jesus is? As for me, I will continue to invite my unsaved friends and neighbors to the “Passion of the Christ” and share the story of how God loves us with so much “passion” that he sent his son to earth to die for us.
-Garrett Novak
-1 Peter 3:18
For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit,
Friday, March 5, 2004
There was an advertisement on television the other night for something that featured a surfer riding a fifty-foot wave. Actually, the wave seemed to be coming from behind him and was a big wall that was racing to overtake him. He appeared to be desperately trying to keep ahead of the wave to avoid totally being swallowed up by it. As I watched, I thought of the comparison of how so many people live moments ahead of being swallowed up by the great wall of life.
So how do we avoid such everyday turmoil and pressure? We can’t get out of the ocean of life but we can swim in quieter waters. Pick a new beach!
-Lyn Sahr
-Ps 23 NIV
The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
3 he restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.
Thursday, March 4, 2004
It is amazing how many people place their hope in things they hang on the wall or on the mirror in their car. Still others place their hope in rocks or gems. Although these things may give people some physiological comfort, they are nonetheless the objects of misplaced worship.
Our hope is in Jesus Christ, the author and finisher of out faith, the Son of the Living God! As in the words of the old hymn, “Our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness.” Objects of worship, regardless of what they are, certainly are less than the shed blood of Christ on Calvary.
-Lyn Sahr
-Jer 13:24-27 NIV
“I will scatter you like chaff
driven by the desert wind.
25 This is your lot,
the portion I have decreed for you,”
declares the LORD,
“because you have forgotten me
and trusted in false gods.
26 I will pull up your skirts over your face
that your shame may be seen–
27 your adulteries and lustful neighings,
your shameless prostitution!
I have seen your detestable acts
on the hills and in the fields.
Woe to you, O Jerusalem!
How long will you be unclean?”
Wednesday, March 3, 2004
Many people think God is the problem in their lives when in reality, He is the solution.
-Lyn Sahr
-Ps 103:2-5 NIV
Praise the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits–
3 who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
Tuesday, March 2, 2004
I walked into a Christian bookstore this morning looking for a special gift for someone and walked out with a special gift for myself.
When I was a boy I received a Bible from my grandmother and she had written Proverbs 3:13 inside the cover. The verse never made much sense to me then but has become especially close to my heart in recent years. Yesterday I was thinking about my grandmother and I thought how much I would enjoy it if I were able to sit down and share with her about the ministries I am involved in and my heart.
On the shelf in the bookstore was a piece of a shattered rock with Proverbs 3:13 engraved on it. I smiled and picked it up thinking, “Grandma, you just keep on touching my life with your undying love.” Then I purchased it to set on my desk. Perhaps this verse will speak to you today.
-Lyn Sahr
-Prov 3:13 NIV
Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding.
Monday, March 1, 2004
The cross, a common symbol of Christianity, will never be thought of as “common” again by those who attend Mel Gibson’s movie, “The Passion of Christ.” This movie will turn many “common” Christians into “passionate” Christians. Then perhaps the “passion for Christ” will become the “passion of man.”
-Lyn Sahr
-Heb 1:3 NIV
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
