A Pastor in The Northwest

In a devotional thought I read this morning by Paul David Tripp, he speaks of the temptation to make Jesus into a 'suggestion box' teacher not the sovereign Lord of our lives.  Instead of seeing His Word and commandments as life-giving (see Psalm 119), we water His teaching into mere suggestions and decent advice.  The result of this?  Disaster.  Paul David Tripp writes, "Maybe you want the Suggestion Box Jesus, whose law is more advice than command. He will be nothing less than the sovereign Savior King." The author continues,  "One of the sad and destructive desires of the sinful nature is the desire for self-rule. One of the dark delusions of sin is that it causes us at times to buy into the insane thought that we might be smarter than God." May this never be! Lord, may we take in Your Words and the very 'words of life' today! -Paul David Tripp's New Morning Mercies, Sept 8th devotional  Photo by Kelli McClintock on Unsplash

We have entered September, folks, and wow, summer felt so quick to me - how about you? Days will get shorter and the weather will cool, and kids will be a learnin' in school. Also, we have college and professional football and soon baseball playoffs, but I digress... I like beginnings and starting new things. It feels fresh - like a new project or experience sharpens the senses, right? In Revelation, we get this 'new' statement from Messiah Jesus: And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.” -Revelation 21:5 NLT Jesus is actively making things new and will one day bring fulfillment of the new heavens and earth. He's also doing new & beautiful things in our lives every day. What NEW thing are you believing and praying for from the Lord today? This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has...