DAD'S DAILY BREAD

16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. Gal 5:16–17

This verse is a great reminder that everything you do has the opportunity to feed the Spirit or you could be feeding your flesh. But it is never doing both at the same time. Because they are in opposition with each other. Every action has a reaction. Even something good like providing for your family can turn into motives under the surface that end up only feeding your flesh. Your flesh can disguise itself as something good. Something that feels good and feels right usually ends up feeding an idol you have in your heart. Feeding envious and jealous motives that are created when you live in a world that is constantly racing to have more and better things.

A big one for me is my pride. Sometimes after work I will return home and when I feel like I’m not appreciated or respected I can instantly have a bad attitude and start to be unloving and harsh towards my family. In my mind I feel like I have been serving them all day and I deserve to be treated a certain way. When I should be serving the Lord first in everything I do. Regardless of how I feel. How can I be serving the Lord and at the same time allowing my feelings to dictate how I treat my family? In reality I am making it all about me. Serving myself and feeding my flesh. Sometimes I cant even see it until the Lord breaks through and shows me what I’m doing. The more time I spend in God’s Word the easier it is for me to recognize when I’m feeding my flesh.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Gal 5:22–24

The Bible can show you your motives. The best way I have found to expose what side I’m feeding is by measuring it with scripture. Am I living and acting out the fruits of the spirit or am I selfishly, self absorbed and focusing on myself. All it takes is to read those few verses and you can see what side you’re feeding. Be honest with yourself and be quick to ask for forgiveness! I am at a time in my life where the Lord has helped to destroy most of the large life dominating sins but that doesn’t mean the battle is won. Envy, pride, anger, comfort, jealousy and dissensions are all sins that lead to death. It is a daily battle so never give up and never stop fighting to be more like Christ! Thank you Lord for everything You do, every second of my life, to help me fight against my flesh! May You give me the strength to be victorious and to bring You all the glory. You are God and i am not. Help me to serve Your Spirit at all times even when It doesn’t feel good.

APPLICATION:

Read my Bible. Morning and night. Don’t react to my feelings but go back to scripture every time I feel uneasy. Don’t let my feelings dictate anything I do. Trust the Lord and not myself! Be humble and thankful at all times. Stay in the Word and pray all day long!

IN HIS NAME

Sermon notes Pastor Kobe Orr

16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Col 3:16

The Word of God was never meant to visit our lives occasionally- it was meant to rule our lives completely. The Word of God first shapes our relationships. Teaching and admonishing each other in wisdom. Prov 2:6 It should control everything about every relationship. It is all about God’s principles and nothing about my opinion. We need to anchor our thoughts, actions and opinions in God’s Word. God uses us to refine each other. God’s Word should govern our entire life! Would someone conclude that God’s Word dwells in you richly??

The Word of God fuels our worship. Praise God for who He is and all the things that He has done. Praise God for His works and His grace and His love in our lives. When we are in God’s Word we are constantly confronted with our own sin and then instantly met with the love and grace and forgiveness that comes from Christ. Heaven will be roaring with praise to God! God’s grace drives us to physical affection for God. Does the Word of Christ dwell in me richly??

The Word of God fills us with gratitude. Be faithful by dwelling in God’s Word! Don’t lose sight of what Christ gives us everyday. Do not forget what we have been saved from. God does not take ungratefulness lightly. Your life must be rooted in God’s Word. It shapes all our relationships. Is Christ dwelling in me richly??

The Word of God governs our lives. When someone looks at me do they see Jesus? Are you living in a way consistent to God’s Word? Let the Word of God dwell in you richly! Wear God’s Word for the whole world to see. This is only possible with His help. Col 3 is our goal. Is my life ruled by God’s Word??

APPLICATION:

Read the Bible! Meditate on His Word. Always be memorizing scripture. 2 Peter Isa 41:10 Ps 116:7 Pray the scriptures. God has called us to allow His Word to dwell in us richly! Be obedient! Do the work! Let His wisdom transform my relationships!

IN HIS NAME

13 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. Gal 5:13

This verse really does a good job at revealing my motives. All week I have been struggling with the word freedom. Because in my own life sometimes I don’t feel free at all. I feel like a slave to my job and a slave to my paycheck and at times I feel like a slave to my wife and kids… But when you really let this verse sink in you realize that Christ did not give us freedom to serve ourselves. He didn’t say be free so that you can be comfortable and happy. Just look at Jesus. He could have come down here and lived a perfectly comfortable life. He could have had anything He wanted and would have been perfectly justified in doing so. But instead He came to serve a bunch of people and love them when they were His enemy. When they didn’t deserve it, not even for a second. He served and loved to the point of shedding His own blood and dying a horrible death on a cross. Too many times I think being saved and a Christian means that my life will be easy and comfortable and I’ll be happy. But that’s just not what the bible says.

It says DO NOT use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh! Every time I feel like I’m a slave to something that is my flesh telling me you don’t need to do that. Go serve yourself, go do something you like and make yourself happy… How sneaky is that…? It comes out in so many different ways. Thank God for His Word and the truth that scripture brings into my life! Without it I would truly be lost! God loved me and served me before I even knew who He was. It had nothing to do with anything I have done or will ever do. I need to do the same thing with everyone in my life. Serve others and stop serving myself!

To my knowledge no where in scripture is God referred to as the “God of Happiness”. But I do see The God of Hope and Joy and Peace. Those are all things you get when you stop trying to serve yourself and, like Jesus, live your life to serve others! True freedom starts with surrender! True peace comes when you surrender all the things you think you need and start being obedient to God’s Word by serving others! Lord may you help me to be more like Jesus!!

APPLICATION:

Be honest with myself. Recognize when my flesh is controlling my thoughts and actions. Stay in the Word and read it every day. Stay connected to the vine and get involved by serving others. Pray more!

IN HIS NAME

Sermon notes Pastor Graydon Cress

14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. Col 3:14

As God has loved us, so we are to love others. Don’t confuse love with lust or attraction or feelings. Worldly love= self focused feelings. Biblical love= active self giving commitment to seek the good of another. It requires sacrifice and is about commitment and not circumstances. Sometimes love can be allowing someone to go through something difficult. As God has loved us… He is a perfect example. Look to God and see how He treats His people. God decided to love me because of Himself. Not because of anything I did. He chose to love me out of His abundance. He lavishly loves us even though we do not deserve it! God is committed to love me even when I make mistakes. Despite how I act. God still lovingly confronts our sin. When loving someone that is in sin you must love confrontation. When confronting sin you must first check your own motives. Eph 4:14 Is it for your good or the good of the person? God wants us to be just like Jesus and be free of sin. God’s love is not just a feeling, it is actively demonstrated. Every page of the Bible God is showing active love. 1 John 4:9,11,19 God shows us how to love others. God loved us first so we could spread that love to others.

So we are to love others… We decide to love others because of God’s love, not because they deserve it. Decisive love and not because anyone deserves it and it doesn’t matter how you feel. Choose to show God’s love. We get to love others because God loved us first. We commit to love others even when it is difficult. Just like God does with us. Be committed and unconditional for their good. Our love is not just a feeling, it is actively demonstrated. Active love from God the same way He loves us. Love is sacrificial and it is impossible to do apart from God. Love is the primary evidence that we belong to God.

Love binds the Christian life together. Love is the belt that holds all the other godly characteristics together. Do people close to you feel God’s love? You cannot muster up God’s love apart from the vine. Get into the community of God’s love.

APPLICATION:

Stay connected to the vine. Read God’s word everyday! Think about my words before they come out of my mouth. Love others the same way God loves me. Pray for God’s help to be more like Jesus. Pray more often! Don’t forget God’s truths and promises. Live for Him and put my flesh to death!

IN HIS NAME

5 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Gal 5:1

Freedom is a word that can have different meanings. Most people want freedom to be able to do whatever they want. Be free from restraints and be able to follow your desires and ultimately decide what you feel is right for you. What Paul is saying is that it is not real freedom and will eventually turn into a different kind of bondage. You can become driven by impulses and that turns into bad habits that turn into sin. Eventually your choices start to control you and you are once again a slave to your flesh. I have been experiencing that a lot lately. You can have healthy things in your life like wanting to provide for your family and take them on vacations and do fun things. But when it starts to take over your thoughts and you begin to let it affect the way you walk through life then it’s becoming an idol. You are serving your flesh and trying to fulfill something in your heart that is only going to be filled by God. Your flesh is competing with God all day long. Trying to pull you away and distract you with things that seem important but in the light of eternity are completely meaningless.

Paul is talking about a freedom that can only be achieved when it starts with surrender. When Jesus exposes you to His love and forgiveness and His grace only then can you truly be free. When you realize that you no longer have to earn your place with God and you are freed from condemnation and guilt of your sin then you can truly live free. You are no longer held captive to sin and all the standards set by this sinful world. You are no longer controlled by what used to own you and you can really start to live life how God intended you to live. You begin to live a spirit filled life and God begins changing you from the inside out. But that’s just the beginning because your flesh is always there and will always be pulling you away. That is what Paul is reminding us of in this verse. Don’t forget why and how God has set you free and don’t allow yourself to return to the yoke of your sin. Don’t trade the free gift of grace from Christ for a checklist of things you think will make you happy! Believe me when I say it is a struggle. Your whole life has been driven by lies. Things you’re told and things you see that you think will make you successful and happy but they couldn’t be more wrong. The only thing you need is Jesus! Follow Him to achieve true freedom!

True freedom begins with surrender so surrender today! Lord please give me the strength to surrender it all! I want to live life for You. To stop chasing all the things I feel will make me happy! You are the true source of freedom! Set me free from the sin that is constantly wrecking me! Help me to fix my eyes on you and to never look back! Thank You for Your Word and the truth that puts me back in my place when I start to wander! You are God and I am not! Thank you for those truths! Paul isn’t saying to try harder but he is reminding us that we don’t have to prove ourselves to God or to anyone else. But to stay at the foot of the cross and surrender it all to Christ. Only then will you have true freedom.

APPLICATION:

Remember that life is not all about me. Don’t be selfish and self centered. Stay buried in God’s Word. Allow His truths to influence my thoughts and actions in every situation. Put others first and serve them. Remember that Christ gave me mercy when I deserved judgement. So be merciful to others even when they don’t deserve it. Be humble and thankful! Pray Pray Pray!

IN HIS NAME

15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Col 3:15

Sermon notes Pastor Dave Morgan

Disciples of Jesus must live in peace. What makes me anxious? Worry, fear and anxiety will choke out peace. This happens when we take on things that are not for us to handle. There for God! Peace starts with Jesus! Rom 5:1 It is a gift that comes from God. Jesus paid the price for our sin. Isa 53:5 All peace starts with Jesus. Rom 3:23 We all need a savior. Rom 6:23 God’s love sent His son for us. Peace starts with the blood of Jesus. Peace= the war between God and us is over. No Jesus means no peace. To know Jesus means we know peace.

Peace is given to us by Jesus. He gives us His peace for today. John 14:27 It is better than anything we will find in the world. We have to let the peace of God rule in our hearts. We have been given God’s peace by Christ and we need to let it control our lives.

Peace is accessed through prayer. Phil 4:6-7 Memorize scripture and use it as a tool to help you release your heart and help you to feel and live in His peace. Prayer breaks the cycle of fear and anxiety. God never intended for us to face life alone. Ps 34:17 Ps 50:15 Ps 55:22 ** 1 Pet 5:7 ** If it is big enough for you to worry about then it is definitely big enough for you to pray about. Do we give into temptation to worry and get angry or do we turn to God and let His peace rule in our hearts and minds? Carry everything to God in prayer. I am completely insufficient without Christ. He is completely sufficient!

Peace is to be shared. We are called to live in peace. Keep short accounts. Rom 12:18 Be at peace with all men! Do everything you can to make peace. Matt 5:9 Make peace! Be humble! Confess sin! Reconcile all relationships. Do everything you can to be a peace maker.

Peace is thankful. Be thankful at all times. Thank God in all circumstances. ALL!! God’s ways are not man’s ways. God is God and I am not. 1 Thes 5:18 Let Christ change me. Disciples of Jesus must have peace! Pursue peace. It all starts with Jesus and is accessed through prayer. Pray more! Cast it all on Him. Be a peace maker and always be thankful!

APPLICATION:

Stay inside God’s Word. When things start to overwhelm my thoughts be quick to turn back to scripture and prayer. Stop being selfish and stop making everything about me! Life is not about me ever again! Stay humbled and always remember to be thankful! Be holy because God deserves my obedience! Though Christ I can access peace at anytime of the day! Don’t get lazy and forgetful. Be quick to return to the Lord. Thank You Jesus!

IN HIS NAME

Sermon notes Pastor Kobe Orr

12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Col 3:12–13

Disciples of Jesus must put on meekness. Meekness: Strength under God’s control, trusting Him fully, therefore treating others gently. Meekness is strength under God’s control. Jesus was God in the flesh. He has full control over natural, spiritual and physical reality. He had all the power He needed but chose to be obedient! True power with meekness. Matt 26:53 He did not use His power independently from God and neither should we. We are not our own. We are His! 1 Peter 1

Trust Him fully. Our strength is submitted to God because we know He is worthy of our obedience. Christ knew God’s plan and He trusted it. Luke 22:42 Christ trusted the love of the Father. Do you know that God loves you and that He wants the absolute best for you? How you respond in suffering shows what you trust and believe in. Meekness is not a weakness. It needs to be rooted in Rom 8:28 Not for temporary good but for our eternal good. None of our hardships are ever wasted or ever accidental. Submit to God out of trust knowing He has our best outcome in mind.

Treating others gently. Gentleness is evidence of meekness. Christ’s strength was fully committed to God’s authority. On the cross He was still gentle and forgiving! Christ is the perfect example of how we should live and treat others. Clothe ourselves in meekness.

Meekness does not avoid conflict. It transforms how we respond and engage in it. Not a peace keeper but a peace maker! Is this conflict for my own good or for their good? What is our motivation? Meekness gets angry about the right things. Jesus never contended for Himself in anger. But He did clean out the church standing for His Father. It was always for God and for His people. What is the source of my anger? Apply Christ’s meekness in my marriage! Always put my wife first and reserve all my power for her. Fight for her honor and her good above my own. Put on God’s character! Meekness is not vengeful. There is no room for vengeance in meekness. Vengeance is selfish and self serving. Justice belongs to the Lord. Rom 12:19 God is the ultimate judge of the entire world. WE ARE NOT! We do not need to worry about getting justice for ourselves. God did not show us justice but He gave us mercy! Be merciful to others!

APPLICATION:

Is there any conflict I need to engage in? Is there any anger I need to repent of? Is there any vengeance I need to release? Clothe myself in meekness. Matt 11:28-30 Rest in Him! Matt 5:5 Pray about these questions and be obedient to what the Lord says. Stay in His Word! Stay humble and thankful! Let the Lord judge and apply justice. Give others the same thing He gave me! MERCY! Pray Pray Pray.

IN HIS NAME

9 But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?Gal 4:9

Paul is visibly upset with what He is seeing done by the Galatians! He is asking why, why would you take the free gift of salvation and start adding human tasks and essentially deny God’s free gift of grace? Why attribute human limitations to the divine and holy work accomplished by Christ? Why trade the divine sufficiency of Christ for weak, human substitutes? At first I think how could they do this but then God’s Word starts to shine on my life and I can see how I am doing the same thing. I have been reading this verse for awhile and it is showing me that I am no different than the Galatians and that I am falling into the exact same trap.

As a follower of Christ I am constantly trying to remove the things that separate me from Him. But once I removed all the so called “big sins” I felt the victory and started to get comfortable and complacent. I forget that Christ didn’t just go to the cross for the sins I think are really bad. He went to the cross to smash and destroy ALL sin! So I cannot be OK with allowing any of it to remain in my life! This is pushing me to really examine myself and be honest with myself about what I’m allowing in my life. What am I still clinging to and where am I relying on my own strength instead of surrendering? Where am I drifting back into self reliance instead of resting in what God has already accomplished? God freely gives salvation by His grace, and in return He calls us to be holy as He is holy. That is the pursuit I will continue until the day He calls me home!

APPLICATION:

Stay in His Word. Allow it to filter everything I say, think and do. Don’t be OK with anything in my life that takes the place of Christ. Really examine myself daily and be honest when I need to change. Be holy in everything! Stay humble and allow God to fight my battles! Talk about Jesus especially at work. Be thankful at all times! Lord please forgive me for all the ways I still try to control my life. Help me surrender it all to You! You deserve obedience in all things! Give me your Spirit and help me to be better! Give me Your power and Your strength and the courage to change! Thank You for everything I have and do not let me forget that it all comes from You!

IN HIS NAME!