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Faith Fuel - 1 Peter Chapter 3

 This past Sunday, I taught on the subject of releasing the power of God in our lives. As I was studying this out, God really emphasized the "being able to receive directly from Him" side of the message. I see this heart of God from the time of creating man through the present......God's desire is to have fellowship with us. He wants us to receive "everything" from Him to the point that Jesus even talked about being the ultimate friend, one who would give His life so that we could have a relationship. It's hard to imagine a love that deep or that personal, but it's this core of understanding that allows us to experience His power in our lives. I trust Him, I believe Him, I have faith in Him. Faith releases the Power of God in our lives. Enjoy your week and make sure you "practice" faith. It will make you stronger at it. :-)

Love ya!
-PT



Faith Fuel

May 13 - 19, 2012

Let’s Pray
Heavenly Father, open the Word to my understanding. Show me what it is You want me to see in Your Word today. Help me to apply it in my everyday life.In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Read 1 Peter Chapter 3

Points to Ponder:

-(vs 1) Wives…your husbands may become Christians by the life you live without you saying anything. When we show them how we love God and how our relationship with Him makes a difference in our lives, they can come to want what we have.

-(vs 3) True beauty isn’t something that comes only from the outside. Beauty should come mainly from the inside, it should come from the heart; this is the kind of beauty that lasts.

-(vs 7) Husbands… be understanding with your wives, honor them, and delight in them, treating them as a weaker vessel – this doesn’t mean that they are weak, or less, but that they are a precious, valuable treasure from the Lord and a gift to you from God.

-(vs 12) “For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous (those who are upright and in right standing with God), and His ears are attentive to their prayer.” If you are born again, you have full access to God, but understand that there is a right way to approach Him… When we reverentially fear and worship God, we stop going to Him with a list of demands and wants and instead we enter into prayer with thanksgiving and praise. God knows what we need before we ask for it… do we understand our need to worship Him?

-(vs 18-22) Anyone who wants to live radically for God will be persecuted. When we give God and His Word first place in our life, we can expect to offend those who haven’t. The Word of God doesn’t allow for anything less than a life that is radically sold out to God and those who aren’t sold out are offended by what God requires of them… They are offended at the Word, don’t take it as a personal attack, but as an opportunity to lovingly share why we are passionate about God.

Continue reading this chapter several times during the upcoming week.

Ponder the points…pray that God will open your mind to understand how His Word applies specifically to your life.

Faith Fuel - 1 Peter Chapter 2

 So here it is.....a May that isn't near as nice as March was. It rained all weekend and was cold and nasty. It ruined all my plans and made my life....................I just wanted to show you that it's never fun to be around a complainer. The cup is always half empty; there's never a silver lining, only clouds; life always gives them lemons.....the list goes on and on. Here is the point I want to make: I would never just take the punches of life. I will always fight back, but there are times where I have to win the mental battle before I will see the manifestation of the Spiritual Victory. To do this we must turn to the truth of the Word.

Phil 4:8-9
Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy — meditate on these things. 9 The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.
NKJV


I love the "peace of God will be with you" part. God really wants us to have a peaceful life and following the instruction of the Word will produce that.

Enjoy your day and have a "peaceful" one

-PT



Faith Fuel
May 6 - 12, 2012

Let’s Pray
Heavenly Father, open the Word to my understanding. Show me what it is You want me to see in Your Word today. Help me to apply it in my everyday life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Read 1 Peter Chapter 2

Points to Ponder:

-(vs 2) As believers, we should look forward to spending time reading the Bible out of pleasure for the Word itself. Take time to enjoy the Word, not approaching it to be “fixed” but for the love of it…

-(vs 5) “Spiritual sacrifices”… when we act out (through our actions) our worship in the physical realm, it becomes worship to God in the spiritual realm and it pleases Him.

-(vs 9) When we make Jesus Lord, we exchange one kingdom (kingdom of darkness) for another kingdom (the kingdom of light). In other words, though we are still in the world, our true citizenship is that of Heaven; we are royalty, holy, and God’s very own children. As representatives of God, we are called to do the work of God and speak on His behalf to a lost and dying world!

-(vs 11) Matt 5:16 AMP says, “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your moral excellence and your praiseworthy, noble, and good deeds and recognize and honor and praise and glorify your Father Who is in heaven.” As Christians, know that the world is watching us and looking for something that is genuine and true. We represent God; the world should see us and want what we have!

-(vs 13) Instead of complaining about those in authority over us, we should be praying for them; if we truly desire to see a change in our workplace, government, etc…, we need to be willing to do our part in bringing it about.

-(vs 24) Understand that when Jesus “took” our sin, He redeemed our body, soul, and spirit… by His stripes we were (past tense) healed. Today we don’t approach God in prayer trying to get healed; we receive and rest in the healing that He has already given us. Healing is a done deal!

Continue reading this chapter several times during the upcoming week.

Ponder the points…pray that God will open your mind to understand how His Word applies specifically to your life.

Faith Fuel - 1 Peter Chapter 1

 It was great to have a few days off last week. It's during those times of "shut down" that it seems God is the most vocal. Maybe it's because during those times I take the opportunity to "not" be vocal. As Christians we all seem to approach God with our list of requests, words of worship, saying this, saying that.......I realize the power of the spoken word, but I also realize the need for the inspiration of what to say. I remember a time in my life when it seemed like God was waking me up every night with a Word from Him. As time went on those awakenings seemed to be less and less. One day I questioned God on why He wasn't waking me up anymore. This was the answer I felt in my spirit...... "Its because you finally learned to be quiet and let me talk during the day". I love God :)




Faith Fuel
Apr 29 - May 5, 2012

Let’s Pray
Heavenly Father, open the Word to my understanding. Show me what it is You want me to see in Your Word today. Help me to apply it in my everyday life.In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Read 1 Peter Chapter 1

Points to Ponder:

-(vs 7) God’s purpose in testing our faith isn’t to see “how much” faith we have, it is to demonstrate and perfect the endurance of our faith.
In the case of Gold, the refining process separates the pure gold from the worthless parts burning away the unwanted elements. When the heat is applied the end product is vastly more valuable, purer than before… Faith is tested to bring out sincere or true faith and to make known the value of faith.

-Understand that “testing” from God does not involve suffering, pain, or torment… testing from God involves opportunity as revealed in James 1:4, “But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”

-(vs 13) “gird up the loins of your mind”…The “loins of your mind” is talking about the creative power that you have. Understand that the only way the devil can attack us is through deceptive thoughts. If he can get us to entertain a thought that he plants, we start creating in our minds and speaking forth a future based on a lie. We protect ourselves (gird up) by knowing what the Word says and casting down every thought that doesn’t line up with the Word of God. (2 Corinthians 10:5)

-(vs 15-16) “Be holy, for I am holy.” It’s talking about being set apart. Set apart means to be selected, created, used, or anointed for a purpose. In this sense, as Christians we should be “set apart” from the world in our belief system and our victorious everyday lives.

-(vs 23) “…the Word of God which lives and abides forever.” God’s Word never dies, God’s Word never changes; Period. There are a lot of false teachers in the world today teaching a counterfeit gospel. Don’t be deceived. Any “new philosophy” should be immediately compared to the Word to see if it lines up. Value the Word of God; read your Bible to know what God says and you won’t be misled.

Continue reading this chapter several times during the upcoming week.

Ponder the points…pray that God will open your mind to understand how His Word applies specifically to your life.

Faith Fuel - Hebrews Chapter 13

 This Sunday, I finished a two week teaching on "Mountains and Valleys". The whole concept is to create stability in our Christian walk. One of the things that I feel is most important is our "faith potential"; If faith comes by hearing the Word of God, then the more Word of God you read, hear, study.......the more "faith potential" you have. We must understand that if you don't have the Word to back your faith, you only have hope. Hope is good, but it doesn't release the Power of God in your life. If you're not involved in our weekly reading called "Faith Fuel" then please get involved. The study sheets are available online or at the Welcome Center in the foyer of the church. The purpose of this is to increase our "faith potential" together so that we can effectively touch the world from Big Rapids. Have a great week.

Love ya!
-PT


Faith Fuel
Apr 22 - 28, 2012

Let’s Pray
Heavenly Father, open the Word to my understanding. Show me what it is You want me to see in Your Word today. Help me to apply it in my everyday life.In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Read Hebrews Chapter 13

Points to Ponder:

-(vs 1-3) Abraham (Genesis 18:1-22) and Lot (Genesis 19:1-3) are examples of those who unwittingly entertained angels…but the gist of it is this: show hospitality to our brothers and sisters in Christ, demonstrating the love of God through our actions .

-(vs 4) The devil wants to do everything he can to encourage sex outside of the marriage bed, and he wants to do everything he can to discourage sex inside the marriage bed. We need to recognize this strategy and not give it a foothold.

-(vs 5-6) Real contentment comes only when we trust in God to meet our needs and to be our security. We are often more likely to put security and find contentment in things far less reliable and secure than God. God never fails! Choose to find your security in Him!

-(vs 7) Godly leaders should be recognized (“remember those”) and followed. Yet understand that just as much as a church needs godly leaders, we also need to be godly followers.

-The nature of Jesus as it is revealed in the Bible is the same nature of Jesus that should be seen in the church today. The “great commission” given by Jesus in Mark 16 reads: “And these signs shall follow them that believe; In My name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues. They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” Jesus is the same, yesterday, today, and forever. These signs still follow those who believe.

-(vs 17) Because God has put Pastor Tony in a place of responsibility and accountability over us, we should submit to and obey our man of God. By doing this, it makes this role for him a joy.

Continue reading this chapter several times during the upcoming week.

Ponder the points…pray that God will open your mind to understand how His Word applies specifically to your life.

Faith Fuel - Hebrews Chapter 12

 This past Sunday, I was talking about "stability" in our Christian lives. Stability is that thing that comes with confidence. The only way that we will ever obtain that life of stability is to learn to totally trust in God. I mean in every aspect of our lives. God is so faithful, God is so merciful, God is so generous, but it takes us having faith in Him to release those attributes in our lives. Now, you must realize that I'm not saying we will never have trials, but I do agree with the Bible in James where it tells us to "...count it all joy when we fall into various trials". Just because we are going through stuff doesn't mean that we have to lose that stability in God, our faith in God. This week, take every trial you run into and find that place of faith that you can stand in. You will be amazed how constantly good your Christian life can be.

PT




Faith Fuel
Apr 15 - 21, 2012

Let’s Pray
Heavenly Father, open the Word to my understanding. Show me what it is You want me to see in Your Word today. Help me to apply it in my everyday life.In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Read Hebrews Chapter 12

Points to Ponder:

-(vs 1) Sin can hold us back; it is a “weight” that hinders us from running our race effectively and accomplishing everything that God has for us. We need to choose to “lay aside” everything that stands between us and our destiny.

-The race that God has set before us will involve effort and commitment; being passive never wins a race. God wants us to run the race, and finish it strong!

-(vs 2) Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith… we need to settle in our hearts who we are “in Christ”. When we look to Jesus, any argument that tries to challenge who we are should be settled. All of God’s promises have been given to us through Jesus; we need to look to Jesus and remember what He has purchased for us.

-(vs 5-10) God’s correction is never to punish us, never to make us pay for our sins. Payment for sin was done once and for all at the cross. His correction is motivated only by His love, not by His justice; He chastens us without anger. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

-(vs 25-29) Pastor Tony recently taught a series titled “The Lordship Issue”… When we understand that in our relationship with God we traded one kingdom for another and one master for another, the concept of Master/slave takes on a whole new meaning… we serve a loving God Who is for us and our response to that should be one of reverent fear and worship.

Continue reading this chapter several times during the upcoming week.

Ponder the points…pray that God will open your mind to understand how His Word applies specifically to your life.

Faith Fuel - Hebrews Chapter 12

 This past Sunday, I was talking about "stability" in our Christian lives. Stability is that thing that comes with confidence. The only way that we will ever obtain that life of stability is to learn to totally trust in God. I mean in every aspect of our lives. God is so faithful, God is so merciful, God is so generous, but it takes us having faith in Him to release those attributes in our lives. Now, you must realize that I'm not saying we will never have trials, but I do agree with the Bible in James where it tells us to "...count it all joy when we fall into various trials". Just because we are going through stuff doesn't mean that we have to lose that stability in God, our faith in God. This week, take every trial you run into and find that place of faith that you can stand in. You will be amazed how constantly good your Christian life can be.

PT




Faith Fuel
Apr 15 - 21, 2012

Let’s Pray
Heavenly Father, open the Word to my understanding. Show me what it is You want me to see in Your Word today. Help me to apply it in my everyday life.In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Read Hebrews Chapter 12

Points to Ponder:

-(vs 1) Sin can hold us back; it is a “weight” that hinders us from running our race effectively and accomplishing everything that God has for us. We need to choose to “lay aside” everything that stands between us and our destiny.

-The race that God has set before us will involve effort and commitment; being passive never wins a race. God wants us to run the race, and finish it strong!

-(vs 2) Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith… we need to settle in our hearts who we are “in Christ”. When we look to Jesus, any argument that tries to challenge who we are should be settled. All of God’s promises have been given to us through Jesus; we need to look to Jesus and remember what He has purchased for us.

-(vs 5-10) God’s correction is never to punish us, never to make us pay for our sins. Payment for sin was done once and for all at the cross. His correction is motivated only by His love, not by His justice; He chastens us without anger. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

-(vs 25-29) Pastor Tony recently taught a series titled “The Lordship Issue”… When we understand that in our relationship with God we traded one kingdom for another and one master for another, the concept of Master/slave takes on a whole new meaning… we serve a loving God Who is for us and our response to that should be one of reverent fear and worship.

Continue reading this chapter several times during the upcoming week.

Ponder the points…pray that God will open your mind to understand how His Word applies specifically to your life.

Faith Fuel - Hebrews Chapter 11

 Well its over, done, finished......My favorite holiday is a day in the past. Now I have to wait another year to celebrate it again :( but wait :-)....................... All that drama to make this point: If we only celebrate Easter one day a year, we are totally missing the point. What Jesus did for us on the cross and in the resurrection is something that we should 'live" everyday of our life. The power that was delivered to us through the event that we call Easter, is life changing power. The resurrection made us victors so that we never have to be victims. Don't ever settle for anything less than God's best!

Love ya
PT


Faith Fuel
Apr 8 - 14 , 2012

Let’s Pray
Heavenly Father, open the Word to my understanding. Show me what it is You want me to see in Your Word today. Help me to apply it in my everyday life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Read Hebrews Chapter 11

Points to Ponder:

-(vs 1) Faith is simply believing God. There aren’t “levels” of faith where we aspire to reach a certain height of faith and then we can believe God more. Faith works like a switch, it’s either on or it’s off; we either believe God or we don’t. The way to turn the faith switch on is by spending time in the Word of God and getting it to move from our head to our heart!

-(vs 3) Everything was created by the spoken word of God…The Bible says in Proverbs 18:21 that “death and life are in the power of the tongue”, yet we underestimate the power of our words. When we speak God’s Word in faith, we are speaking “life” over ourselves. The same applies when we speak something contrary to God’s Word, we speak “death” over our lives. Understand that we are creating our future by what we speak.

-When we’re in faith, we think different, talk different, and act different because we know that what we are believing God for is a done deal. Faith receives the answer in the spiritual realm before it sees the answer in the natural.

-(vs 6) Faith doesn’t look to the natural to confirm what is true; faith looks to the Word of God and believes that what God has said is true. It doesn’t matter what we think or feel, what matters is that we believe God and give His Word final authority! Pastor Tony has said this before, “If God says it, I believe it.” Case closed!

-(vs 17-32) Over and over in these verses those who have trusted God have demonstrated the validity of their faith by the way they live their lives… their example of committed trust and obedience to God should encourage us and motivate devotion in our relationship and walk with God.

-God isn’t moved by our need; He’s moved by our faith. “Without faith it is impossible to please God”...This is why it is so important that we press in and know who we are “In Him”, know what belongs to us, know our authority, and know what promises we can believe God for!

-*A great resource for knowing who we are in Christ is Kenneth Hagin’s mini booklet “In Him” available in the bookstore.

Continue reading this chapter several times during the upcoming week.

Ponder the points…pray that God will open your mind to understand how His Word applies specifically to your life.

Faith Fuel - Hebrews Chapter 10

 So how was your "April Fools'" day? Did you catch anyone in an April Fools' prank? Sometimes it can seem like life is one big April Fools' prank. I know, I could almost feel the air pressure drop as some of you gasped at the thought that I would even say something like that, but it's true. If you have never questioned if God was real, If faith worked, If joy and peace were even possible, then you have never really pressed into God. Jesus Himself questioned God on if He really had to go through with this whole crucifixion thing, so I can understand how my flesh could be tempted to doubt. Here's where I'm going with this: There will be many times in our lives, as we push ahead in faith, that we may have to go to Father and ask for a confidence builder. That is why the Bible says that we can go boldly into the presence of God to receive Grace and Mercy....because sometimes we need to. I don't know what battle you are in right now, but I do know that God has the answer and everything is yes and amen through Christ. Don't give in and don't give up. Go to God for encouragement and receive what He has for you and keep pressing in. I like being a victor.


PT




Faith Fuel
Apr 1 - 7 , 2012

Let’s Pray
Heavenly Father, open the Word to my understanding. Show me what it is You want me to see in Your Word today. Help me to apply it in my everyday life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Read Hebrews Chapter 10

Points to Ponder:

-(vs 23) Confession means to speak the same thing as, or to agree with. God said, “I watch over My Word to perform it” (Jer. 1:12). Whatever God has said, He will do because “God is not a man, that he should lie” (Num. 23:19). God is faithful, but notice that He requires something out of us: faith and action. For instance, we believe that by Jesus' stripes, we were healed. My body may feel sick, look sick and act sick, but, my faith switch is on, God says I’m healed, so I line up my mouth with what I believe, and I confess “Thank God, I'm healed!”

-If all of God’s promises are “Yes” and “Amen” in Jesus, meaning, there isn’t a single promise that God has made in the Bible that He won’t fulfill for those who receive them by faith, then we should be the most joyful, powerful, and influential people on earth! How are we doing in that?

-(vs 26-30) If Jesus’ sacrifice is rejected, then all hope for salvation is gone. This isn’t talking about a Christian who back-slides…it’s talking about a person who knowingly and willfully rejects Jesus, turns from Him and walks away. To turn willfully from His sacrifice only leaves sin and judgment.

-(vs 35-39) We are too quick to judge by what we see instead of placing our confidence in what God has said. The toughest trials are when we need to continue to do God’s will when the fulfillment of His promise seems so far away… but this is where we learn endurance. Here’s the deal…We are called to live by faith, trusting in the faithfulness of our God!

-Here’s our confession: I will be a person who endures and gains the promises of God!

Continue reading this chapter several times during the upcoming week.

Ponder the points…pray that God will open your mind to understand how His Word applies specifically to your life.

Faith Fuel - Hebrews Chapter 9

 After the message on Sunday I had several requests for the attributes of Satan that I referred to in my message so here they are.

The devil is a liar, cunning, a tempter, deceitful, totally evil, a thief, an
adversary, wicked, cowardly, a murderer, without principles, rebellious,
Fierce, cruel, a sower of discord, a destroyer and proud.


Whenever you see these things, you can be sure you're dealing with the devil.

God is never in any way involved in these things.

These were given so that we never get deceived and blame God for what the devil is trying to do...


I hope this helps!


PT



Faith Fuel
Mar 25 - 31 , 2012

Let’s Pray
Heavenly Father, open the Word to my understanding. Show me what it is You want me to see in Your Word today. Help me to apply it in my everyday life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Read Hebrews Chapter 9

Points to Ponder:

-(vs 6-7) As sons and daughters of God we can enter into the Holy of Holies and be in His presence to worship and fellowship as often as we want! How often are we utilizing this “better covenant”?

-(vs 11-12) Jesus is the perfect sacrifice Who alone brings perfect and permanent forgiveness to those who receive Him as their “Lord”. Permanent means that our sins are forgiven: past, present, and future. Once we’ve been forgiven through a relationship with Jesus Christ, we no longer need to go to God over and over to receive forgiveness. We go to God with a repentant heart over our sin, ready to receive His mercy and His grace to deal with getting the sin out of our lives.

-(vs 15-22) A testament (in the sense of a “last will and testament”) only takes effect when the person making the testament dies. Therefore Jesus had to die for the testament - the covenant - to take effect. Remember that the “testament” was dictated by God, not something that we can negotiate. We either accept His terms or we reject them.

-The law could not pardon our sin, or give us power over it. Sin would still have dominion over us except that Jesus Christ, by one sacrifice, has destroyed the works of the devil, and made “believers” righteous, holy, accepted, and in a position of authority over the devil.

Continue reading this chapter several times during the upcoming week.

Ponder the points…pray that God will open your mind to understand how His Word applies specifically to your life

Faith Fuel - Hebrews Chapter 8

 It's always very interesting that when the weather starts warming up you get all this ambition to accomplish the things outside that you didn't accomplish last fall. Then you get outside and get discouraged at the enormacy of the tasks at hand. Now remember, just a few minutes ago you were excited about them....what changed?! Sometimes we look at the projects as a whole and it's overwhelming, where if we would take it slice by slice we wouldn't be overwhelmed. It is much the same in our Christian walk. If you look at "everything" you would like to do, or change, or improve, it can be overwhelming, but if you allow the Holy Spirit to break it down slice by slice, it can actually be an enjoyable process.

Have fun with life, it's the only one you will have. :)

PT



Faith Fuel
Mar 18 - 24, 2012

Let’s Pray
Heavenly Father, open the Word to my understanding. Show me what it is You want me to see in Your Word today. Help me to apply it in my everyday life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Read Hebrews Chapter 8

Points to Ponder:

After seven chapters, here is what we should have firmly in mind: We have a High Priest who is able to save us completely. We need to rest in our salvation, rest in who we are “in Christ”, and focus on the kingdom of God and His righteousness. When we do that, we begin to experience all the benefits of the “better covenant” and possess the abundant life that Jesus died to give us.

-(vs 10) “I will put My laws on their minds and write them on their hearts” … Unlike the old covenant which was all about following laws and rituals, the new covenant has to do with internal transformation. God gives us a new heart that desires to live a holy and obedient life; we want to do what’s right and pleasing to God.

-(vs 11-12) This isn’t something for the select few; all people have equal access to God through a relationship with Jesus. The new covenant provides complete forgiveness based on God's grace, without earthly priests or rituals involved.

Here’s the bottom line: When Jesus said eternal life is knowing God (John 17:3), He was speaking of having an intimate, personal relationship with Him.Jesus took care of the sin problem that was standing between us and God and our being able to have a personal intimate relationship with Him.Eternal life is not just going to Heaven after we die. With the sin issue solved, we don’t have to wait until we go to heaven to experience the kingdom of heaven… we can live the kingdom life now! (Check out PT’s series: “Living in the Kingdom”.)

Continue reading this chapter several times during the upcoming week.

Ponder the points…pray that God will open your mind to understand how His Word applies specifically to your life.

Faith Fuel - Hebrews Chapter 7

 We have seen a glimpse of spring, so like any warm-blooded American that has been cooped up in the cold, I hit the golf course. Thirty mile an hour winds, 46 degrees, stocking cap, long johns and a great big smile. I didn't play well, but I played. I couldn't help but think how this should parallel our Christian lives. We should be looking for every opportunity to get better. Even when conditions aren't ideal, we should be the ones the world looks at and says, "wow, what die hards". Another similarity between my golf game and my Christian life is the fact that neither is perfect. I realize that I will make mistakes, but I keep "pressing toward the prize" as the Apostle Paul encourages us to do. Keep pressing in, keep improving, be the die hard that everybody is talking about........and of course I'm talking about in your Christian life. You can do whatever you want with your golf game. :-O Enjoy the week!


PT



Faith Fuel
Mar 11 - 17, 2012

Let’s Pray
Heavenly Father, open the Word to my understanding. Show me what it is You want me to see in Your Word today. Help me to apply it in my everyday life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Read Hebrews Chapter 7

Points to Ponder:

-(vs 1-2) Abraham honored and reverenced Melchizedek by giving him a tithe of ten percent and Melchizedek blessed him. When we give our tithe to God, we are honoring and reverencing Him and He has said that He will open the windows of heaven and pour out such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it. Obedience always produces blessing!

-(vs 18-19) In Jesus, we have a better hope through which we draw near to God, we are wrong to go back to building our Christian walk on the law. In Galatians, Paul shows the law as being a “tutor” that brings us to Jesus; in Hebrews, the law is associated with a priesthood which has been made obsolete by a superior priesthood. We have a better hope, and draw near to God through a better priesthood and High Priest. Our hope is in Jesus, not in “keeping” the Law of Moses!

-(vs 22) Covenant: While a covenant might be thought of as an agreement that two equal parties arrive at, the covenant under which we meet with God through Jesus is not something we have negotiated with Him but rather, God has dictated the terms to us and we will either accept or reject the terms.

-(vs 25) Jesus’ intercession means He continually represents us before the Father, so that we can draw near God through Jesus. “Save to the uttermost” means that Jesus is able through His sacrifice, to once and for all make all who put their trust in Him holy, righteous, justified, and forgiven…now with that, understand that the “kingdom life” is available to us because we are completely redeemed by the blood of Jesus.

Continue reading this chapter several times during the upcoming week.

Ponder the points…pray that God will open your mind to understand how His Word applies specifically to your life.

Faith Fuel - Hebrews Chapter 6

 Hey!
Be praying for Pastor Tony this week as he's away at a Pastor's conference for a couple of days. While he's away, he wanted to encourage everyone to read this week's Faith Fuel out of Hebrews chapter 6.
If you missed PT's teaching this week, check it out on the website, rlcbigrapids.org, and download the podcast. It ties right in with this week's reading about our covenant with God. God wants us to live "Heaven on Earth", but now we need to understand how to live in, function in, and get the benefits of the kingdom of heaven right here on earth. Are we going to settle for less than God's best for our lives or are we going to press in and "take the kingdom by force"? Be encouraged that everyone of us can have heaven on earth, it all comes down to the value we put on Lordship!

You guys rock!


Kris McLachlan
Pastor Tony's assistant




Faith Fuel
Mar 4 - 11, 2012

Let’s Pray
Heavenly Father, open the Word to my understanding. Show me what it is You want me to see in Your Word today. Help me to apply it in my everyday life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Read Hebrews Chapter 6

Points to Ponder:

-(vs 1) The “elementary” principles are the foundation or starting place of our faith. We need to get beyond the basics so we can reach a place of maturity where we are positioned to be used by God to help others grow in their Christian walk. God’s desire is for us to grow up spiritually and become “skilled” in the Word of God and able to carry out the ministry He’s called us to.

-(vs 4-8) The bottom line is this: settle the elementary principles. We can’t be double-minded in what we believe about the very basics of Christianity. When we are questioning the things we should have settled at the beginning of our walk with God, we are “crucifying the Son of God and putting Him to open shame” through our unbelief. At one time having repented, do we now doubt the validity of God’s Word? If our time runs out before we have the basics of our faith settled, our opportunity to repent for this unbelief is over!

-(vs 10-12) Don’t back off from doing what we know to do! Keep pressing in to God’s Word and laying hold of God’s promises. We lay hold of the promises of God through faith and patience and by keeping up the intensity of our fire for God till the finish. We need to follow the example of those in the Bible (like Abraham) who stayed the course with committed faith and then got everything promised to them!

-(vs 13-20) Because God is faithful and it is impossible for Him to lie, we can have full assurance that God will fulfill everything He has promised us through Jesus. This “anchor for the soul” is what produces joy and peace and gives us steadfastness until the end.

Continue reading this chapter several times during the upcoming week.

Ponder the points…pray that God will open your mind to understand how His Word applies specifically to your life.

Faith Fuel - Hebrews Chapter 5

 Here it is Tuesday afternoon and I'm just getting to the blog I normally do on Monday. I could sit here and give you a hundred excuses why. Meetings, people, pressure...etc..... but the truth is, I didn't take the time. How often in our lives do we allow our schedule to dictate us instead of us dictating our schedule. I often have to refer back to my list of "What Matters Most" in my life. After a review of the list, I have to put into effect the changes to make the most important things the first priorities. Don't ever allow the junk of life to take the place of the treasure. Consult Father God on what matters most and then dictate your schedule to accommodate those things. I guarantee it will add a sense of value to your life that is priceless. I'll see you on Sunday and blog to you on Monday. :)



Faith Fuel

Feb 26 - Mar 4, 2012

Let’s Pray
Heavenly Father, open the Word to my understanding. Show me what it is You want me to see in Your Word today. Help me to apply it in my everyday life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Read Hebrews Chapter 5

Points to Ponder:

-(vs 7-10) Have we purposed it in our hearts to be obedient to God no matter the cost to us? We “learn obedience” by choosing to do things God’s way even when our flesh wants to do something different. Choosing to be obedient to God is where we learn through experience that God is faithful and that He always provides us the way out of temptation. Also know that when we submit to God, we shut the door on the devil having access to our life.

-(vs 10) Being dull of hearing is not a problem with the ears, but a problem with the heart - we aren’t really interested in what God has to say to us. Not wanting to hear the Word of God points to a genuine spiritual problem.

-(vs 13) If we do not know we are in right standing with God because of our relationship with Jesus Christ, we are “unskilled in the word of righteousness”; we don’t believe the elementary truth that righteousness comes through faith in Jesus and making Him “Lord”. Just as children outgrow their primary dependence on milk, so too should maturing Christians move on to more solid food.

-(vs 14) 2 Timothy 2:15 says, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the Word of Truth.” To “rightly handle” the Word is to be “skilled in the Word”. We become “skilled” in the Word by putting in the time to read the Bible, learning correct doctrine, and applying it to our lives. Each week Pastor Tony teaches us what the Word of God says, but if we aren’t receiving it in our hearts and applying it to our lives, we will remain “unskilled” in the Word - “babes”- unable to teach others and be used by God in the way that He desires.

Continue reading this chapter several times during the upcoming week.

Ponder the points…pray that God will open your mind to understand how His Word applies specifically to your life.

Faith Fuel - Hebrews Chapter 4

 The past couple of weeks have been amazing as I have been studying what God has to say about how we use our money. I, like many of you, have a driving desire to surrender every area of my life over to God because I know it will produce great things in my life. Here's the interesting part: God keeps showing me areas to surrender that I didn't even know were there. When I started studying about money, I realized how it affects every area of our lives. We dream about it, worry about it, work for it, cry over it, compromise for it, etc.. etc.. etc.. Now think about this.... If we could truly learn to surrender this huge area of our lives over to God, what would that do in us having the faith to surrender the smaller areas? I believe this revelation, followed by obedience to the Bible will produce an enormous Holy Spirit power release in our lives. If you weren't able to attend our services over the past two weeks, please get the podcasts off our web site at www.rlcbigrapids.org. God is setting us up for a tremendous blessing, don't miss it!

See ya Sunday

PT




Faith Fuel
Feb 19 - 25, 2012

Let’s Pray
Heavenly Father, open the Word to my understanding. Show me what it is You want me to see in Your Word today. Help me to apply it in my everyday life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Read Hebrews Chapter 4

Points to Ponder:

-(vs 1) When we have yielded to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, we rest in a deep, persevering and unshakable trust in His love, care, protection, and provision over our life. The first step to entering this “rest” is to make Jesus “Lord” (Master) of our life; anything short of that is to miss it entirely.

-(vs 1) “Rest” applies to all the promises of God. We believe God for healing. We are not trying to get healed; we are resting in what Jesus has already provided. The same goes for our provision; the tithe belongs to God. Because we settle that concept in our hearts and are obedient to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; we rest in His promise to provide for our needs.

-(vs 10) “He who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works”: Entering this “rest” means we are no longer “working” to be in right standing with God. The idea is that we cease from self-justifying “works” or acts of obedience as a way to obtain our righteousness and we “rest” completely in the fact that we were made righteous through our relationship with Jesus Christ.

-(vs 12) Often people wonder how Pastor Tony’s messages can be so relevant to their life… That’s the “sharpness” of the Word of God and PT’s delivering the message at just the right time! God’s Word can hit us with amazing precision, and the Holy Spirit gives revelation of the Word to do deep work in our hearts and reveal what is hidden. The Bible is not just another “book”, it is alive and active meaning, it exposes, corrects, rebukes, enlightens, encourages, produces faith...

-(vs 16) Here’s the misconception: we run to God to get forgiven. Wrong! We were (past tense) “forgiven” the moment we made Jesus “Lord” of our life. We run to God boldly (without fear, fully confident of His acceptance) to receive His help and His grace in our time of need.

Continue reading this chapter several times during the upcoming week.

Ponder the points…pray that God will open your mind to understand how His Word applies specifically to your life.

Faith Fuel - Hebrews Chapter 3

 On Sunday, I started a series talking about how to handle our money in a way that is pleasing to God. This is always a touchy subject because it is dealing with something that is dear to people's hearts. In fact sometimes it is more dear than God Himself.........so I really encouraged everyone to guard their thoughts. To take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. The Bible tells us that as soon as the seed of the Word is planted that the enemy will immediately try to steal the Word out of our hearts. Since I finalized this message on Thursday, it's been a constant battery of thoughts that I needed to bring into obedience. I'm not talking like I had the thought of stealing something, or hurting someone....I'm talking about thoughts like.. "This runny nose is going to hang on for a while yet".......or "this project is going to be really hard"......or "nobody ever listens to you". I'm talking little things that if I allowed them to continue, would grow into big things. Bottom Line.....Guard your hearts by guarding your thoughts. Tenacity in these little things will produce great things in you life!




Faith Fuel

Feb 12 - 18, 2012

Let’s Pray
Heavenly Father, open the Word to my understanding. Show me what it is You want me to see in Your Word today. Help me to apply it in my everyday life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Read Hebrews Chapter 3

Points to Ponder:
-(vs 1-5) We are told to consider Jesus’ faithfulness to God… The word “consider” means to regard, think about, mull over. Understand that a faithful walk with God doesn’t just happen; we must choose that we are going to surrender, trust and persevere in following God.

-(vs 7- 8) The Word of God is the voice of God. When God is speaking to us through His Word and we are disbelieving or choosing to ignore it, God calls that rebellion.

-(vs 8-10) God’s anger was kindled against “that generation” on account of their unbelief. Don’t be like that generation who died in the wilderness!

-(vs 10) The word “know” isn’t talking about having head knowledge, but heart revelation. God said the Israelites strayed and didn’t know His ways… Head knowledge doesn’t stand a chance when trials come, but heart revelation knows and trusts and can count it all joy when trials show up, knowing the outcome will be just as God has promised in His Word!

-(vs 12) An “evil heart of unbelief” is a heart that doesn’t agree with God. Unbelief isn’t weakness of faith; it’s opposition to faith. We need to read the Bible to find out what we believe, not to see if we agree with what it says. Our hearts lead us away from God when we elevate our “opinion” above the Word of God. It isn’t about what we think or feel; it’s about trusting God’s Word and letting it have the final say on all matters.

-(vs 15) “Take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ”. This verse tells us how to keep from being “tricked” by sin… compare your thoughts against the Word of God to see if what you’re thinking lines up with it. Unbelief causes deception. When we don't believe God, we choose to believe a deception.

-(vs 18-19) Unbelief kept the Israelites from entering the place that God had prepared for them. Unbelief is not inability to understand but unwillingness to trust.

Continue reading this chapter several times during the upcoming week.

Ponder the points…pray that God will open your mind to understand how His Word applies specifically to your life.