‘Christ’
(NLT) Matthew 11:28-30
Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. [29] Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. [30] For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”
I pushed the switch on the table lamp in our dark foyer. The darkness remained. So, I pulled my mobile phone from it’s holster and used the light from it’s screen to inspect the problem. The power cord lay on the floor right below it’s source of strength. Upon plugging the cord into the outlet the room filled with light and the darkness was dispelled.
Well, that’s just common sense, right? Do you ever find yourself void of spiritual light or strength? Are you weary in well doing? Unlike the lamp which has no ability to reach for the outlet, we can, at any time reach for Christ, or at the least cry out to Him for aid. Like that lamp we are not far from the source of our strength. He will not leave, nor forsake us.
The point is to be connected to Christ through prayer. Have you talked to Him today? Have you listened for His voice for direction? Have you looked to Him for real rest?
Today, talk to Christ, listen to Him and ask Him for His rest.
Love in Christ Jesus,
Steve Sherwood Sr.
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(NLT) James 5:16-18
Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. [17] Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years! [18] Then, when he prayed again, the sky sent down rain and the earth began to yield its crops.
Now I have no problem being earnest in prayer, but I struggle with the righteous person part.
Matthew 9:13 Then he added, “Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”
Okay, this I know all too well. I do not think I (Steve) am righteous.
(NLT) John 16:10 Righteousness is available because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more.
(NLT) Romans 3:24-26 Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. [25] For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, [26] for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.
(NLT) Romans 4:5-8 But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners. [6] David also spoke of this when he described the happiness of those who are declared righteous without working for it: [7] “Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sins are put out of sight. [8] Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of sin.”
Oh! So, it’s not about my righteousness, but about the righteousness of Jesus Christ imparted to me by faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Today, rejoice and pray with confidence in Christ’s righteousness, that your prayers will be heard and will produce wonderful results.
Love in Christ,
Steve Sherwood Sr
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Eph 6:17 Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Eph 6:17 Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
1Jn 4:8 But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
1Jn 4:10 This is real love—not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.
There is a comedian who uses the statement, “Put a helmet on!” as a way of poking fun at people who do or say silly things.” Truth is we all get silly if we listen to the lies of Satan and let them take control of our thoughts. So God has provided a Helmet of Salvation for us.
One of the biggest things Satan uses in his relentless attacks is a simple question, “Hath God Said?” Then he continues by trying to explain away what God “hath said”.
This is why the Helmet of Salvation is so very important. Rom 12:2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
The Helmet of Salvation is the truth that God is who He says He is and that He loves us and that we are His children if we have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation.
Some trial comes into our lives and Satan is right there saying, “If God really loved you…” That is when you had better have that Helmet of Salvation on. Here is a good and simple way to put it on right now if you haven’t already done so today.
Sing it with me…
Jesus loves me this I know
For the Bible tells me so
Little ones to Him belong
They are weak but He is strong
Yes Jesus loves me
Yes Jesus loves me
Yes Jesus loves me
The Bible tells me so
A child’s song? Really, Brother Steve? Yes a child’s song with the most precious and powerful message ever proclaimed. Sing it until you believe it so much that no matter what comes into your life you truly believe that God loves you and that He will work all things together for your good. Rom 8:28.
Today sing it, believe it and share it.
Love in Christ,
Steve Sherwood Sr.
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Colossians 3:9 Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. 10 Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him. 11 In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us. 12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
It turns out that kindness, like love is something we choose over other things. It’s like picking out your clothes for the day. In any given situation you can choose to be kind or you can choose to ignore, be rude, angry, bitter, hateful, etc. You get the idea.
Now Kindness from the Greek carries the idea of moral excellence with gentle goodness.
It has been my experience, that most people who think themselves morally excellent are generally not gentle in their dealings with those they deem morally destitute.
There are a few believers I know, who have high moral excellence, and in their day to day dealings with others show great gentleness, even when correction or instruction in righteousness must be brought. They are wearing the right clothes.
Today choose to put on Christ in all His excellence and you will not only look good, you will shine like the stars of Heaven.
Daniel 12:3 Those who are wise will shine as bright as the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever.
Love in Christ,
Steve Sherwood Sr
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Psalm 107:1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever. 2 Has the Lord redeemed you? Then speak out! Tell others he has redeemed you from your enemies. 3 For he has gathered the exiles from many lands, from east and west, from north and south. 4 Some wandered in the wilderness, lost and homeless. 5 Hungry and thirsty, they nearly died. 6 “Lord, help!” they cried in their trouble, and he rescued them from their distress. 7 He led them straight to safety, to a city where they could live. 8 Let them praise the Lord for his great love and for the wonderful things he has done for them.
Other translations have verse 2 as, “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.”
People holler out for their favorite sports team, for their political party and even brag about their sin. As the children of God Almighty, Creator, Lord and Master of the universe how can we keep silent. 2 Has the Lord redeemed you? Then speak out! Tell others he has redeemed you from your enemies.
Psalm 40:2 He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along. 3 He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what he has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the Lord.
2 Has the Lord redeemed you? Then speak out! Tell others he has redeemed you from your enemies.
Today, say SO!
Love in Christ,
Steve Sherwood Sr
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Col 1:3 We always pray for you, and we give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all of God’s people, 5 which come from your confident hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven. You have had this expectation ever since you first heard the truth of the Good News. 6 This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God’s wonderful grace. 7 You learned about the Good News from Epaphras, our beloved co-worker. He is Christ’s faithful servant, and he is helping us on your behalf. 8 He has told us about the love for others that the Holy Spirit has given you.
In verse 6 Paul encourages his readers that the good news of the Gospel is spreading over the whole earth. Think about this, on the day of Pentecost, in one place 3,000 souls were saved. Wouldn’t it be exciting to be in a service like that?
Daniel 2:34 As you watched, a rock was cut from a mountain, but not by human hands. It struck the feet of iron and clay, smashing them to bits. 35 The whole statue was crushed into small pieces of iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold. Then the wind blew them away without a trace, like chaff on a threshing floor. But the rock that knocked the statue down became a great mountain that covered the whole earth.
Daniels interpretation of this is:
44 “During the reigns of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed or conquered. It will crush all these kingdoms into nothingness, and it will stand forever. 45 That is the meaning of the rock cut from the mountain, though not by human hands, that crushed to pieces the statue of iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold. The great God was showing the king what will happen in the future. The dream is true, and its meaning is certain.”
If there were only 1,000,000 believers on earth and only 10 percent of them share their faith with someone today and each leads one person to Christ that’s 100,000 souls saved. There are many more believers than that. It is often reported among Christians that a great awakening is taking place in China where it is illegal to proclaim the Gospel. Let that encourage you. God is still at work in big ways in our world right now. In the end we win. Let’s live like the battle truly is the Lord’s and be part of that 10 percent who share their faith, and I pray that God will lead you to those ready for harvesting for His kingdom.
Love in Christ,
Steve Sherwood Sr
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Col 1:3 We always pray for you, and we give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all of God’s people, 5 which come from your confident hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven. You have had this expectation ever since you first heard the truth of the Good News. 6 This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God’s wonderful grace. 7 You learned about the Good News from Epaphras, our beloved co-worker. He is Christ’s faithful servant, and he is helping us on your behalf. 8 He has told us about the love for others that the Holy Spirit has given you.
What captivates your thoughts today? In verse 5 above, Paul encourages his readers that the love and faith they exhibit is generated from their “confident hope” in what God has in store for them. Has it been a while since you thought about eternity? Peter puts it like this:
1Peter 1:3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, 4 and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay… Vs 8 You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy.
Are you living today with great expectation? Are you living with a confident hope in what Father God has in store for you in Heaven?
Today think about it and let that hope, that expectation drive you to more love and more faith in God above.
Love in Christ,
Steve Sherwood Sr
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Col 1:3 We always pray for you, and we give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all of God’s people, 5 which come from your confident hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven. You have had this expectation ever since you first heard the truth of the Good News. 6 This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God’s wonderful grace. 7 You learned about the Good News from Epaphras, our beloved co-worker. He is Christ’s faithful servant, and he is helping us on your behalf. 8 He has told us about the love for others that the Holy Spirit has given you.
As a pastor I’m always blessed when I hear a positive report about one of our church members. And I am blessed that this happens often. Someone goes out of their way to help a brother. Someone makes a visit or a phone call that encourages a sister. A saint offers a kind word or a helpnig hand. And then on top of that, people are giving praise for those in their lives who have ministered to them.
In Colossians 1 Paul is giving thanks for what He has heard about the Christians in Colosse. He has heard of their faith and love.
Today, think about the people in your life that have shown you love and faith. Think about those you’ve seen blessing others. Give praise to God for them, and if you must talk about people talk about these.
Love in Christ,
Steve Sherwood Sr
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John 17:20 “I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. 21 I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me. 22 “I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. 23 I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me. 24 Father, I want these whom you have given me to be with me where I am. Then they can see all the glory you gave me because you loved me even before the world began! 25 “O righteous Father, the world doesn’t know you, but I do; and these disciples know you sent me. 26 I have revealed you to them, and I will continue to do so. Then your love for me will be in them, and I will be in them.”
Heavenly Father,
Make us, Your children one in You and Jesus. Bring Your perfect unity to the body of Christ, His church. Shine truth on those things that divide us. Give all of us hearts to receive truth even when if it goes against things we’ve been taught all our lives. Tear down walls of division. Make us shine with Your love in this world that they may see You at work in us. Cause others to be drawn to You as You shine in and through us.
Father answer this prayer that Jesus prayed for His church.
Even so Lord Jesus, Come quickly.
In Christ our Lord, AMEN!
Love in Christ,
Steve Sherwood Sr
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Matthew 22:39 A second is equally important: `Love your neighbor as yourself.’
There is a subtle phrase in this verse that is often overlooked, “as yourself.” I can’t think of any specific commands telling us to love ourselves. I believe the reason for this is we have a built in desire, or instinct for survival. In short, I’m rather fond of mother’s youngest (That would be me) and I try to take good care of him… Me. I try to make myself comfortable and give myself a peaceful atmosphere. I feed me (too much sometimes). You get the point.
So what God is telling us is treat others how you wish to be treated. Someone asked, “How do I love mean people?” The instructions didn’t change based on the neighbor’s disposition. When you are in a position to love do it, show them the same love you would hope to receive were your roles reversed.
Note the neighbors in the parable of the good Samaritan were the man in need and the Samaritan. Jesus told His disciples if their message was rejected they were to wipe the dust from their feet and move on. Don’t purposely put yourself in the path of someone you know will not receive truth and will only try to hurt you.
Sometimes you can’t help but be in their path. Romans 12:18 says, “Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.” Sometimes, after you’ve done all you can they will still mistreat you. Pray for them. Vs 14 “Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them.”
Since all the law and the profits are wrapped in those two commands, the greatest love you can show for yourself is to love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself. Just do it.
Heavenly Father,
Thank You that You love us. Today remind us of that love before we open our mouths to speak an unkind word. Remind us before we turn our back on someone in need that we have the means to help. Remind us what we do for the least of these we do for You.
In Christ our Lord, AMEN!
Love in Christ,
Steve Sherwood Sr
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