Peniel Pentecostal Holiness Church

3239 Rosebud Road Walnut Cove NC 27052
Pastor: Dr. Tim Nelson -  Church Office 336-591-36112
A Place To Encounter God Face To Face. Gen. 32:3

A Word From The Pastor Archives 2021
January 2021
 

...but Christ is all and in all. Colossians 3:11b

Gospel singer and Evangelist Billy Fields wrote a song with a line in the chorus that says, "I didn't know Jesus was all that I needed until He was all that I had."  While this quotation has been attributed to everyone from early Christian theologian, St. Augustine to current Christian theologian and pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church, Tim Keller, the message describes a common condition of people everywhere.  We need Jesus, but we may not realize how much until He is all we have.

The reference also describes the people Jesus was speaking to in Revelation 3:17 (NIV) when He said, "You say, I am ricch:  I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing, but you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked."

Our Western modernism influence, encourages us to do things for ourselves.  We are told that we need to take care of ourselves as no one is going to take care of us.  We set goals.  We achieve.  We are rewarded when we accomplish and succeed.  While that may work for a while, it often produces a certain amount of pride.  It can also trigger a false sense of security.

The truth is we need our Savior.  We cannot do things on our own.  When we rely on our accomplishments and achievements, we forget that we are actually wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.  We need the one who is all and in all.

Adapted From:
https://www1.cbn.com/jesus-is-all-we-need 

Have you ever taken some time to think about the fact that you're blessed?  You are blessed by God in a major way.  It doesn't matter what you see, or what you feel, the Bible tells you that you're blessed, so you need to begin to believe it and see yourself that way.

Whenever you start to feel like you don't have enough, or that you just aren't enough, remember that you're blessed in a big way.  So start to see yourself as blessed.  In Christ, you have whatever you need to do what God has put on your heart to do.  So remind yourself that you are blessed!

When the demands of life hit you with emotional, physical, financial or any other demands, pause and declare, "I AM BLESSED!"  See yourself as blessed.  That is what the psalmist said in Psalm 23:1 - "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want," or we could paraphrase this verse to say, "The Lord is my shepherd, I AM BLESSED!  Declare today, tomorrow and every day you wake up, "I AM BLESSED!"

Adapted From:
https://studentdevos.com/daily-devotion-and-bible-verse-ephesians-1-3/

That the triall of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: 
1 Peter 1:7

Peter wrote this letter during Nero's reign.  He wrote to Christians who were going through suffering and were about to go through more.  The letter is about how to handle the troubles and trials of life.  And the image Peter uses in the letter to describe troubles, trials, sufferings is fire.

In the Christian life, sufferings and glory are bound up together because that was the pattern of our Lord's life.  Jesus Christ came to glory through suffering.  He was made perfect through suffering - as the book of Hebrews says.  We follow His pattern.  First the cross and then the resurrection.  That's the point of 1 Peter.  We have a God who through suffering came to glory.  As followers of Christ, each of us have our own path through suffering.  Only through that can we come to glory that is more precious than gold.

Adapted From:
jhttp://www.christcovenantcullman.org/sermonnotes/notes-04-24-11.html