This is important reminder for us all. God is way more powerful than our limited expectations.

We need to remember Ephesians 3:20 that says, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us”.

Whatever you are facing today, believe God can do amazing things in and through you!

God Bless,

Dave

Prayer notes is a simple app I use on my iPhone to keep track of prayer requests. Usually when I am talking with people they might mention something they need prayer for. I tend to put it straight in the app and when I am sitting alone I pray through the list.

Here is some information about it from their website…

Prayer Notes – PRO

Prayer Notes is an application to help you keep track of your prayers requests and answers. It is designed with simplicity in mind, to allow you to quickly write, review, and share your requests with others.

Now with Apple Watch Support!

Highlights

• Simple and intuitive user interface.
• Category groupings for prayers.
• Organize prayers into days of the week.
• Today widget.
• Password privacy protection.
• Share requests via E-mail and SMS*.
• Archive prayers in the answers section.
• Horizontal and vertical rotation supported.
• Daily prayer time reminder.
• Available for both iPhone and iPad.
• Now with Apple Watch support!

I have found it quite useful in my role to keep track of the things people ask me to pray for. If you are interested, you can find out more at their website.

God Bless,
Dave

Hello all, here is my sermon from today. It was the last in our series from James. The title was, “James’ last warning and encouragements”. It was from James 5:1-20.

The message had four main points…

1. A warning the to wicked rich
2. A call to patience and endurance until the Lord returns
3. The power of prayer
4. A call to go after wandering believers

You can find the full text here.

God Bless,

Dave 

https://odb.org/2017/07/15/prepared/

I thought this Our Daily Bread was good. It talks about how God often uses our previous jobs to prepare us for the next tasks.

In the example God used working in a fast food chain to help the writer learn to deal with people. They went on to their dream job knowing how to deal with customers.

In my own experience God helped me learn to build websites and then I got a job as a webmaster. This even helps me today in my role as Pastor in maintaining our church website.

All of our experiences in the workforce are not wasted when we look at them through the eyes of God. What may seem like a small job on our resume may turn out to be more important than we think years later.

What things have you done in the past that God used to prepare you for today? I think this is worth reflecting on today.

God Bless,

Dave

In 2 Thessalonians 3:6-10 Paul writes to the believers as a “Warning against idleness” as the NIV puts it or “An exhortation to proper living” as we see it headed in the NLT.

Here is the passage from the NLT…

^“6 And now, dear brothers and sisters, we give you this command in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ: Stay away from all believers who live idle lives and don’t follow the tradition they received from us. ⁷ For you know that you ought to imitate us. We were not idle when we were with you. ⁸ We never accepted food from anyone without paying for it. We worked hard day and night so we would not be a burden to any of you. ⁹ We certainly had the right to ask you to feed us, but we wanted to give you an example to follow. ¹⁰ Even while we were with you, we gave you this command: “Those unwilling to work will not get to eat.”

In this passage Paul tells the believers that they need to be busy. They need to be working to provide for themselves and also be about the Lord’s work.

Paul says that while he was with them he did not eat for free. He did this for two reasons.

1. He paid his way so as not to be a burden, even though he had the right to as he said in 1 Corinthians 9:13-15.
2. He wanted to be an example for the others to follow.

Paul warns the believers not to be idle. Not only is it a bad example, it is not acting in the way we are created to be. All of us are created in the image of God and need to reflect God’s image.

God worked six days in the creation of the world and on the seventh He rested. For us we need to have a Sabbath and rest, but it needs to be after working.

I believe working is actually a gift from God. When we work we use the gifts God has given us. It also gives us a sense of accomplishment for a job well done and working keeps us from being idle.

The last verse in the passage above seems harsh at first glance. “Those unwilling to work will not get to eat.” But when we think about it in light of the above, it makes sense. It really is for our long term good.

So today whatever you do, work hard at it and remember it is not man you are serving, but God (Colossians 3:23).

God Bless,
Dave