John 5:2-6Notes From the Pastor's Desk #notesfromthepastorsdesk
📖John 5:2-6 (ESV) 2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. 3 In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. 5 One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” 📘Pastor's Note: Here in John 5, Jesus is in Jerusalem, and He goes to a pool called Bethesda, a pool of water where people with disabilities/infirmities would go and await for the waters to stir so they can get in in the hope of being healed. Jesus comes across this one man in particular who had been an invalid for 38 years. The man was too slow to get to the waters and had been there a long time. Jesus sees him and knows this. He approaches the man and asks him a simple question: “Do you want to be healed?” Here, you have God in the flesh personally engaging a man who obviously is in a dire condition. He can’t heal himself. He has no hope of reaching the stirred water. Yet Jesus comes to him and offers him a question filled with hope! What a beautiful picture of the Gospel. In our sin, we are without hope of being healed. We need divine intervention. We are incapable of healing ourselves. We have no hope of reaching the pool of salvation. But praise God! He sees us, He engages us, and He asks us, “Do you want to be healed?” A very important question. That’s the question of the Gospel. We are desperately sick and diseased with sin. But there is healing available. God offers that healing through His One and Only Son! The question is, “Do we WANT to be healed?” That’s a question for every single person. Do they recognize that they are lame and that Jesus can heal them? Oh, the glory of God in His Gospel! He engages man and freely offers healing from our desperate condition with sin. Pray for me as I pray for you. 🙏I'm praying for you always. ❤️ Pastor Jamie 📖Read the Chapter: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%205&version=ESV Click here to learn more about The Grace Place Church James 1:12Notes From the Pastor's Desk #notesfromthepastorsdesk
📖James 1:12 (ESV) Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. 📘Pastor's Note: Trials in life will come. We should expect them, not be surprised by them. God sovereignly allows trials to perfect us in the faith. Understanding that, we can look at them as the gracious refinement of God. We are to remain steadfast in them knowing that the crown of life awaits the refined saint just as He promised. Are trials easy? No. Does that mean we endure it with a smile on our face? Not necessarily. But we are to approach it with a steadfast attitude knowing we are like gold heated by fire and being made more pure. In other words, God has a purpose for allowing us to experience trials and if He allows it, it is to our benefit. Be blessed. Endure. Be refined. Stay steadfast. And await the crown of life! 🙏I'm praying for you always. ❤️ Pastor Jamie 📖Read the Chapter: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James%201&version=ESV Click here to learn more about The Grace Place Church Hebrews 13:20-21Notes From the Pastor's Desk #notesfromthepastorsdesk
📖Hebrews 13:20-21 (ESV)20 Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, 21 equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. 📘Pastor's Note: Isn't this a beautiful benediction from the writer of Hebrews? The God of peace, who sacrificed His only Son, the Great Shepherd, whose blood has brought us into a redeemed relationship with Him, equips us with everything good to do His will. "Equip" here means to prepare, to complete, to restore. He provides all things necessary for us to carry out His divine purposes. He chooses to use and equip us as clay vessels to make known Christ, the only Hope of salvation, to lost, sinful man. What a privilege and honor we have to serve the Redeemer of man's souls. And that He doesn't leave us to figure it out on our own, that He personally prepares each of us to carry out His divine plan, speaks volumes of our purpose as Christians. Praise Him, honor Him, glorify Him with your life as He uses you to shine His greatness to the lost world. Praying that we are fulfilling our God-given purposes to further the Kingdom of God. 🙏I'm praying for you always. ❤️ Pastor Jamie 📖Read the Chapter: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews%2013&version=ESV Click here to learn more about The Grace Place Church Psalm 143:5-6 (ESV)Notes From the Pastor's Desk #notesfromthepastorsdesk
📖Psalm 143:5-6 (ESV) 5 I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands. 6 I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Selah 📘Pastor's Note: How thirsty are we for God? Do we realize our souls are like drought-stricken lands yearning for life-giving water. That’s how King David longed for his life-giving Deliverer. That’s how his thirst was quenched. He meditated and pondered on all God had done. Do we do the same? Far too often, we attempt to quench our thirst through other means instead of drinking from the eternal spring that truly satisfies our greatest needs. That’s a good prayer, “Lord, teach us to recognize that the only thing that can satisfy the thirst of our souls is You!” 🙏I'm praying for you always. ❤️ Pastor Jamie 📖Read the Chapter: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%20143&version=ESV Click here to learn more about The Grace Place Church James 1:2-4Notes From the Pastor's Desk
#notesfromthepastorsdesk 📖James 1:2-4 (ESV) 2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 📘Pastor's Note: We all encounter various trials/challenges in life. How do we respond to the difficult ones? Do we embrace them and grow, or do we wallow in self-pity? James, the half-brother of Jesus, says count it all joy. How are we to find joy in those difficulties? The answer: knowing the Lord is at work even in the darkest storms, perfecting us in the faith. Trials have a pruning effect. They humble us. They grow our roots stronger. Though we may not initially see it, it makes us healthier, more effective, more useful to the Lord in our walk to glorify Him. Difficulties have a wonderful way of showing us where our dependency lies. Christians turn to and are comforted in their Savior. And as those difficult storms pass, we find ourselves better equipped with a deeper understanding and a relationship with Christ. So, if you're going through a difficult time in your life, know that there is work going on within it. "I am no longer my own, but Yours. Put me to what You will, rank me with whom You will; put me to doing, put me to suffering; let me be employed for You or laid aside for You, exalted for You or brought low for You; let me be full, let me be empty; let me have all things, let me have nothing; I freely and wholeheartedly yield all things to Your pleasure and disposal." John Wesley 🙏I'm praying for you always. ❤️ Pastor Jamie Read the Chapter: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James%201&version=ESV Learn more about us www.mygpchurch.com John 8:12Notes From the Pastor's Desk
#notesfromthepastorsdesk 📖John 8:12 (ESV) Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” 📘Pastor's Note: Light is the brightness that allows humans to see. Jesus said, “He is that light!” It is only in Him and through Him that the scales fall from our eyes. Only through Him can we go from blind guides to seeing fisherman capable of leading others rightly. The old saying, “seeing is believing,” is not true. We first believe then we see. Are your eyes capable of seeing? 🙏I'm praying for you always. ❤️ Pastor Jamie Read the Chapter: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%208&version=ESV Learn more about us www.mygpchurch.com Matthew 19:26 (ESV)Notes From the Pastor's Desk
#notesfromthepastorsdesk 📖Matthew 19:26 (ESV) But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” 📘Pastor's Note: This verse comes on the tail end of a rich young man asking Jesus about what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus starts off by asking him some questions about the law. In which the young guy said, “I’ve done all those things.” Jesus, knowing his heart, tells him, “sell everything you have, give it to the poor, then come follow me.’ The young man went away sad because he had much wealth. Jesus revealed where this young man’s affections truly laid. His wealth, his possessions. Those things were his god. When the disciples experienced this, their question was, who then can be saved?” They attached material blessing as God’s favor upon someone. They thought that because this man was rich that he had God’s favor. That’s why they asked that question, “who then could be saved?” See, God always looks at the hearts of men. Money, possessions, and temporary wealth can be unhealthy if emotional attachment to those things are out of place. But praise the Lord, that He is the God of doing the impossible. He can take a man who rightly understands that everything he is given is a blessing and resource God has given him to steward. How do you view your wealth and resources? And make no assumption that we aren’t blessed materially. We, in America, are among the richest people in the world regardless of being lower, middle, or upper class of this society. Do we keep our “things” in the right perspective? Or do we idolize them? Good question for us to always evaluate in our lives. 🙏I'm praying for you always. Have a blessed week in your surrender to the King of Glory, Jesus Christ❤️ Pastor Jamie Read the Chapter: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2019&version=ESV Learn more about us www.mygpchurch.com Genesis 3:4-5📖4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 📘Pastor's Note:
That crafty snake, Satan, will do whatever he can to get us to question God’s word. He is cunning. He knows just how to twist the words in order to get us to focus upon self and the desires of our eyes and flesh. His tactics have not changed since the garden. Why change something that is so effective? Brethren, that’s why we must know God’s word. We can not be satisfied with inch deep knowledge and understanding. We must study to show ourselves approved. Only when we do that will we be able to discern right from wrong, right from almost right. The Scriptures, God’s breathed-out words, have been given us for our good. Do not forsake the wisdom, the comfort, the life, the absolute truth found within its pages. Satan rejoices when a believer doesn’t feed regularly upon God’s word. Let’s make a stand. Let’s give that snake no reason to smile. Study, then study some more. ❤️Have a blessed day in your walk with Christ. I'm praying for you always🙏 Pastor Jamie Read the Chapter: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%203&version=ESV 📖James 1:2-42 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 📘Pastor's Note:As we walk out our lives of faith in Christ, we will encounter trials of various kinds. And James, Jesus’ half brother, tells us that we should count it all joy. Why are we told this? Verse 4 is the answer. Because we are being perfected in the faith. God sovereignly allows us to go through various trials because He uses them to make us more like Christ. Trials, therefore, are opportunities to grow closer to Him and be transformed more and more to His likeness. When we encounter trials, do we recognize this? Because by recognizing a trial as such will greatly help us on how we respond to it. Instead of responding with pride, we can respond in humility. Instead of responding with anger, we have the opportunity to respond with grace. It’s all about perspective. So, today, let’s ask ourselves that question: “how do I respond when trials come?” Respond in faith, respond in humility, and then praise God for loving us so much that He isn’t interested in leaving us where we are. Praise Him for actively growing us closer to Him and changing us into the likeness of Christ! Praying for you always. Have a blessed weekend! 🙏Pray for me as I pray for you. God bless❤ Pastor Jamie Read the Chapter:
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James%201&version=ESV Hebrews 10:26-27 (ESV) |
AuthorPastor Jamie Payton Archives
March 2024
Categories |