I recently was given this quote, “Do not be afraid of being maligned, be afraid only of building on a false premise on quicksand for it shall not stand.” Our nation has positioned its self upon a false premise and in turn is sinking deep in quicksand.  War has been declared upon the Word of God within the border of our country.  Our communities are suffering the consequences of such foolishness.  Many churches have added to the spiritual decline with their lackadaisical approach to scripture.  Do not be afraid of being maligned for your love and your stand when it comes to the Word of God.

I want to give you four wonderful reminders that are taken straight from God’s Word.

God’s Word:
1.True- Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever. Psalm 119:160
2.Tried- Thy word is very pure therefore thy servant loveth it. Psalm 119:140
3.Timeless- Forever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven. Psalm 119:89
4.Teaches- The entrance of thy words giveth life; it giveth understanding unto the simple. Psalm 119:130

God’s Word is a firm and fixed foundation- Dear believer, stand firm when others doubt and degrade the Word and you will be a bright and shining light in a dark and lost world.

Would you pray for these men today? Would you take the time to call out to God on their behalf?  We have been afforded the glorious opportunity to come to God through our Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ- To bend our knees or bow our heads and lift up our voices.  Let’s take advantage today of such a powerful opportunity.

Pastor Darren McDonald- Providence Baptist 
Pastor Jimmy Banks- Lighthouse Baptist
Youth Pastor Joshua Banks- Lighthouse Baptist
Pastor John Harvey- Shining Light Baptist
Pastor James Raseberry- Lighthouse Baptist
Pastor Dave Vorhees- Millgrove Bible Baptist- Pastor Vorhees is going through a tough time with his health.
Pastor Isaiah Hill- Sebec Corner Baptist
Pastor Todd Bell- Calvary Baptist, Wings with "The Word"
Pastor Jim Steely- Little Country Missionary Baptist
Pastor Jim Lamb- Garth Road Baptist
Pastor Matthew Tucker- Gordon Heights Baptist
Preacher Brett Clayton- The Son Rise Baptist Church
Pastor Randy Barton- Anchor Baptist
Pastor Dr. Don Anderson- Sunlight Baptist
Missionary Johnny Leslie- Croatia
Missionary Sam Ward- Croatia

“My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.  For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.”
Proverbs 2:1-6
 
Isn’t it interesting the extremes that many will go to in pursuit of a goal or a dream?  Many say, “I am willing to do anything at any cost to achieve that which I have put my heart, mind and soul into.”  I am in no way saying as believers we should not give our best in all things that we do, that would run contrary to God’s Word.  The Bible says, “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men” (Colossians 3:23.)  Now- with that being said, what if we approached God’s Word with the same reckless abandon as we do for training for a marathon or a financial  plan we devise in hopes of making our selves richer or any other pursuit that we are willing to go to the extreme for.

Our desires will shape our priorities.  Those priorities will reveal where we place God’s Word at in our life. Where God’s Word is found in such a list, will be the difference in living a life given over to the Lord or to the world and our flesh.  We ultimately decide by the choice that we make.  Our Scripture admonishes us to receive and hide the Lord’s commandments within us, and to cry after knowledge and lift up our voice for understanding.  These are actions that we as believers must decide upon!

Many have spent countless hours that have led to years in pursuit of that which is fleeting.  Notice in our Scripture the intensity of seeking and searching after the understanding and knowledge found in the Word of God.  The wonderful truth is that God is willing to give wisdom if the believer will come.  What is your number one pursuit?  What is at the top of your list of priorities in your life?  Often times, within the writings on this blog and the website, I hammer over and over again the importance of our choices and decisions and how the choices and decisions that one makes will dictate the life that we’ll live and lead.  I spent the biggest chunk of my life dead in my trespasses and sins thus I was lost and hell bound, but now I desire and I thirst most of all for that which God desires in my life. My prayer for those who read this is that your desire and intensity will match the Words in our Scripture today when it comes to your pursuit of God and His powerful, precious and enduring Word.

Thanks for visiting and thanks for praying,
Bro. Tracy

And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are able to overcome it.  But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we. Numbers 13: 30-31
 
The nuts and bolts of Caleb’s courage are not found within himself, it was his trust and faith in God Almighty.  God had proven time and again that He could be trusted. God’s Word teaches us a sobering truth about faith and the consequences of not believing God, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Hebrews 11:6.) Caleb pleased God- by believing God.  I believe that it would have been exciting to have been around Caleb!  This man had a heavenly fire that burnt in him like a flame thrower. Caleb seemed to have lived life to its fullest. God was the source that fueled Caleb’s unction for everyday living no matter what the opposition looked like. The opposite of such a life as Caleb lived is when one allows fear to consume them and in doing so fear will burn off the memories of God’s past peace, provision and power that He has supplied again and again in any and every situation.

We, too often, like the children of Israel romanticize that which we have been delivered from when the going gets tough and we begin to long for our own Egypt (“They said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return to Egypt” (Numbers 14:4)- Captivity seemed better than Canaan). Fear often leads to foolish thinking and ultimately foolish words.  We sin against God with our murmuring and we miss out on an opportunity to bring glory to God with the work He has planned for us.  What is it that God has called you to do?  Why is it that all you see are the giants?  Caleb’s confidence was not in himself but in God.  Whom is your confidence in?
 

“My son despise not the chastening of the Lord; neither be weary of his correction: For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.”- Proverbs 3:11-12

When one is chastened (disciplined) and corrected by God they should never think of it as mean spirited or hateful.  These ways are not the motives of All Mighty God when He is dealing with His children. It is not a power trip or an opportunity for the God of the universe to have a little fun at the expense of a weak and powerless human in His presence. NO!  When one understands the motive behind the correction they will not despise or be weary in it.  Yes, it will be uncomfortable and certainly not a pleasant experience, but it will in the end be a worthwhile and enriching season of one’s life.
Love is found in the heart of correction when the motive is to teach and to change the direction or path that one has chosen that ultimately would have led them down a road of heartache and pain and even dire consequences in some cases.  This is the motive of God the Father.

The writer of the Hebrews epistle refers to our verses in Proverbs as a reminder to the redeemed at that time and I hope that it will be a reminder to the redeemed today as well.  Let’s consider this rich section of God’s Word and include it in our study of Proverbs.  The two walk in unison.

I. Remember to Remember

And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, Nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him: For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, wherefore all are partakers, then ye are bastards, and not sons. Hebrews 12:5-8

God will deal with His wayward children.  That is a fact.  It is a birth mark of a believer that when we sin God will chasten and rebuke us.  I once heard these words, “God doesn’t make it so that we can’t sin, but He makes it so that we can’t sin and enjoy it.”  If we don’t want to endure such correction we need to be quick to confess our sins, (1 John 1:9). But thank God that when we do sin we know the love and feel the heaviness of His dealing with us. If there is no chastening or conviction I would put a question mark after that thing called salvation.  Remember these words, “Wherefore all are partakers” (of chastisement)

II. Remember the Reason Why

Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.  Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. Hebrews 12:9-11

The reason for the discipline:
A. To be partakers of His holiness.
B. To yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness.

It is for our own good and for God’s glory.  At the end of the day God is more interested in us becoming more Christ like than anything else.  There is love found in the correction that we endure.  God loves us too much to allow us to continue on a wayward path that will lead us in a direction away from Him.  The psalmist writes, “Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word” (Psalm 119:67). Many good things have come from the discipline of my Dad.  Spiritually speaking many great things will come when we allow our heavenly Father to discipline us.  That is the love found in correction.

I will be Preaching, Teaching Sunday School and singing two specials this coming Resurrection Day at Mt.Olivet Baptist Church.  I am blessed to be able to serve the King of kings. I have never been the same since I called on Jesus Name!! Glory to God!!

Please pray for me- I desire that the Lord will be lifted up and glorified.  I thirst for more and more of God.  To have a heavenly anointing and unction as I preach, teach and sing in the Matchless Name of Jesus.  Oh that folks will be saved and the Saints stirred!

I cannot thank those of you who pray for and those who support our ministry enough. You are a blessing!

Thanks for visiting and thanks for praying,
Bro. Tracy

For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.  Romans 5:6-10

Hey! Do you want a heaven born fire kindled in your heart! Do you want to step up out of the ditch and upon a heaven blazed path? Do you want a life that is filled with a joy and a hope that the devil, a bad day, a rough day, the newspaper, a politician, the internet, a friend or a foe can't stamp out? Than feast your eyes upon Romans 5:6-10! I mean jump down in to it and get into the thick of it. If any of you have ever been berry picking you know that to get to those berries you have got to get into the thick of it. Don't come out of our verses until they have saturated and soaked your heart with the blessed truth of where you once were and where you now stand in Christ Jesus!

That will turn your pouting into shouting!

Thanks for visiting and thanks for praying,
Bro. Tracy

"For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich."

 II Corinthians 8:9


 It is well past time for Christians to approach each and every day with an excitement. It seems most believers live far too often in the land of frustration instead of in the courts of anticipation. Instead of living empowered lives we walk around as a punching bag for the devil and the world to pound on. Dear believer, you should be living in victory in Christ Jesus. You should be anticipating what God will be saying to you through His Word. You should be expecting the Holy Spirit to do a powerful work in and through you today for God's glory and for the good of those around you. 

You are spiritually rich in Christ Jesus! You were once poor being dead in your trespasses and sins. You have been born again! You are a child of the most High God! Your sins are forgiven and you are heaven born and heaven bound! Get your eyes upon Jesus and live and walk in His victory that he has made possible for you.

“For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.”
I Corinthians 1: 18
 
I recently read, “Winston Churchill paid a great tribute to the young men in the Royal Air Force who guarded England during the war, saying, “Never in the history of mankind have so many owed so much too so few.”
I also read that the Battle of Bastogne represents one of the bloodiest actions in World War II.  A monument there pays tribute to the heroism of the US 101st Airborne Division:  “Seldom has so much American blood been shed in the course of a single action.  Oh, Lord, help us to remember!”  Now- When thinking of the cross of Christ, we can say: “Never in the history of the universe has mankind owed so much to One.”

Upon the cross was won the greatest victory ever.  The power of God, through the blood of Christ, is still sufficient to save the most violent, vile and sinful person at this very moment.  There is no sin that is out of reach of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.  The Bible says these glorious words, “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1).  Those words should ring through our hearts forever more, as a reminder of who we once were and who we are and where we stand today in Christ Jesus. Praise His matchless name!

There are times when tears of joy flood my face when I think of being saved. I celebrate the Saviour!  O the preciousness and the power of the One!  I am certain there will be many who will read this that have been saved many more years than me.  With that said, it has never gotten old to me!  The joy is like a candle that never finds its end! The joy is as a fire that cannot be extinguished. I praise God and lift His Mighty name!

Many good men and women have done many wonderful things for their fellow man that has been celebrated down through the ages and I am in no way minimizing those wonderful things, but there has never been such an act of sacrifice and obedience as that which our precious Saviour accomplished in His finished work on the cross.  So much is truly owed to "The One"!

What a Saviour!

Thanks for visiting and thanks for praying,
Bro. Tracy