PASTOR JACK'S THOUGHTS     JANUARY 4, 2009

GOD'S GIFT OF RENEWAL THROUGH OBEDIENCE 
Please remember that the theme for, at least,  this month is "God's Gift of Renewal."  I took a break from the Ten Commandment series in my messages but plan to start back with the last six commandments.  You will remember that the first four commandments emphasis our relationship to God and the last six commandments emphasis our relationship to other people.  So, I feel it is fitting to suggest that this week we think about our obedience in following God direction as given to us in His commandments.

Obedience is stressed throughout God's Word. Many of God's promises to us are dependent on our obedience to Him.  The fifth commandment is the first commandment with a promise attached to it.  Read Ephesians 6:1-4.  God requires obedience of his children. He knows that when we obey Him, without reservation, we will benefit from it.  Sometime, we are prone to question obedience because we think we can not do it or we question if it will be profitable to us. These are both wrong.  God says that He knows the best way for us and if we follow Him through obedience to His Word He will surely bless us.

In this fifth commandment God says that we must obey our parents.  Some might say, "My parents aren't godly people or my parents don't understand me."  God did not make an exception here.  God did not say, "You should obey your parents,  only if they are good people or only if they understand you." He simply said, "Obey and honor your parents."  I will talk more about this on Sunday.

Remember that we can only obey God's Word when we know God's Word.  Pastor John asked us to commit to reading through the entire Bible in 2010.  What a great suggestion! It is only by knowing God's Word that we can become obedient to it.  Let me urge you to begin now to make a plan to read God's Word.  You might choose to read straight though the Bible from Genesis to Revelation.  Let me suggest another method.  You might read one chapter in Genesis, one Psalm and one chapter in Matthew each day and follow straight through until you finish it.  This method will give you a chapter of history in the Old Testament, a Psalm of praise and prayer to lift your day and a chapter of inspiration of Jesus and His church in the New Testament.  The important thing is that we do it.  As you read God's Word through, let me challenge you to mark down on paper the ways that God requires your obedience this year and put those into place in your life.  I promise you that you will have a blessed year if you do it.

Let God renew your walk with Him through your obedience in reading His Word.
Pastor Jack