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
July 2021
 

For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty... Galatians 5:13

It seems appropriate to share a verse on freedom during the week of July 4th.  Galatians 5:13 says "You, my brothers and sisters were called to be free.  But do not use you freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love."

July 4th is a day where America celebrates a day of freedom, but let's consider a more important freedom, our freedom in Christ, because that is the freedom that matters the most.  Christ didn't just pay for your salvation and forgiveness, but He paid for your freedom too.  Freedom is given to every person who is a believer in Jesus Christ.  Paul wrote to the believers in Galatia, you were "called to be free."  God desires for every person to live in his freedom.

Paul discusses our freedom over and over throughout scripture because ultimately, Jesus came to set the captives free (Luke 4:18), which means he paid for your freedom on the cross.  You don't have to live in bondage anymore, not to sickness, not to your past, not to lies, not to our diagnosis, nothing.  Jesus desires freedom for every area of your life no matter what your past or current situation looks like.

The freedom Jesus paid for wasn't so you could live a self-fulfilled life, doing what you want, when you want.  Jesus paid for your freedom so that you could serve Him and this is most obviously done by loving others.  So are you living in bondage or are you living in freedom?  Are you living for yourself or are you serving others, humbly in love?

Adapted from:  https://www.in-due-time.com/faith/galatians-513-freedom-christ-189/

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus; Ephesians 1:1

In Revelation2:12-17, Jesus encouraged the church at Pergamos to remain faithful in the face of life's challenges.  Throughout God's Word we find words to encourage us to continue to remain faithful.  He who has called us to freedom in Christ has also called us to be faithful to Christ.

May you live faithful in the face of uncertainty, resisting temptation and remain uncompromised.  In a culture that allures and entangles, may you be steadfast and sure, be faithful.  In Christ, you will discover strength and courage to remain faithful, whatever you encounter in life.

Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.  1 Tim 6:12

Many believers have the misconception that walking by faith means they should be able to effortlessly glide all the way to God's destination for their lives with no struggles along the way.  But the Bible teaches quite the opposite in First Timothy 6:12.  The apostle Paul wrote, "Fight the good fight of faith..."  According to this verse, the path of faith often requires a fight, a struggle to see it through to completion as often depicted in athletic competitions.  This good fight throws the follower of Christ into some type of agony, anguish, conflict, pain, distress or a struggle.

It isn't that God wants us to struggle, instead, this is a fight that results from the flesh that resists the will of God.
The mind that struggles to understand what God has told us to do.
Circumstances that seem to stand in the way.
People who oppose us.
The devil who throws his weight against each step of faith we take.

Paul recognized when we step out in faith we don't just effortlessly glide to the destination God is directing us toward.  Therefore, we must fight the good fight of faith to reach the victorious position that allows us to one day hear those cherished words, "Well done!"

Adapted from:  https://renner.org/article/fight-the -good-fight-of-faith/

Eternity, to Old Testament people, was not timelessness or absence of time, but rather the extension of time, endless time.  It was the idea that time went beyond past and future, as far back and as far forward as one could imagine.  Even though Solomon was talking about temporal life, he recognized that God had placed this sense of eternity within the heart of every person.  It is the sense that there is something beyond us, beyond just life "under the sun."

We all desire to know the eternal significance of what we do.  And this God given desire to understand is the drive behind all science, philosophy and human knowledge.  But none of us can fully grasp or understand all that God has done or is doing.  Oxford professor C. S. Lewis said, "Our Heavenly Father has provided many delightful inns for us along our journey, but he takes great care to see that we do not mistake any of them for home."  Forever is calling.  Do you hear the call?  This world is not our home, we are just passing through.

Adapted From:
https://packinghouseredlands.org/devotional/?p=8748.htm