First Friday Fellowship

Jesus is fully God, and He is also fully man. So, what would’ve caused Jesus to stall the beginning of His ministry? When turning water to wine, Jesus stated to His mother, “My time has not yet come.” What do you think He means by this? Additionally, how does Jesus turning “water into wine,” connect to the Garden of Gethsemane? Could it be that, as human as Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, He also knew that with the performance publicly of turning water to wine, the countdown to the cross had begun; that the INEVITABLE, brutal walk to Calvary had begun.He fully knew that He would soon experience stress and fatigue, maybe even fear, of facing unimaginable physical pain. He knew He would feel every cut, every tear of His flesh through the entire crucifixion. Yet, even though His painful, human path was set, He STILL chose to endure… for our sake.

Traditional roles have changed A LOT in our modern world, and in many households, these roles are reversed 180 degrees, and all variations in between. But one thing is beginning to show up a little too frequently, and that is we are becoming a lonelier and lonelier population, while ironically, at the same time, engaging with thousand of faceless names throughout the known universe, through all of our social media highways. We are becoming more and more isolated, while living under the illusion that we're not, because of our heavy tech dependance and involvement. The bottom line is… We need each other. We need REAL relationships, with REAL people.That's not a weakness! Relationships are strength, and Christians are not immune to this problem. Christians, are notorious for getting frustrated with all the world's changes, all the rapid breaking of tradition, and societal anchors and… and we end up leaving relationships behind. As Christians, we love to stay in our own bubbles, and surround ourselves with people that agree with us. And sometimes those bubbles get very small. BUT…We’ve been commanded, by Jesus himself, to bring THE GOOD NEWS to the world. And unfortunately for our comfort zone, the world is outside the walls of our home, and the safe church family. While tech is an amazing tool, , and instead of just sharing the love of God on social media, we can sit down across the table from someone, and show them what the love of Jesus looks like, in a real world engagement.We no longer live in our traditional world. Very few families just sit around the dinner table every night and talk about their day. People are tied to their phones, and they're tied to their devices, and and we all do it.A TikTok video, an IG video… It's not the same as a relationship. A follower on any of your social media platforms, is not relationship. We need to be face to face with people. Show them the love of Jesus face to face. 

God wants to strengthen our faith, and reveal to us that we can trust Him. This would be impossible if we had no needs, no worries, no stress. We're going to worry in this world about many things. And as the stress of this world hits, if we're wise, we'll humble ourselves before Him, and seek His hand for help. God uses the stressors of this world, to reveal Himself to those who love Him. And through it all, His timing is always perfect. He is never late, nor is He early. He arrives PRECISELY, when He intends to.

We’ve ALL done bad things. When we do, HOW is it that we feel bad? Where does that feeling come from? What is it inside of us, that provides that direction? Most would say, that it’s CONSCIENCE. It’s probably a combination of how we were raised, the influences that helped form us, the series of morals and values that we were taught through school and society, our parents. It formed this framework, or this value system that we grew to live by.However, I would also consider something else, something that would be even MORE significant to what we have believed framed us. When we have a better understanding of LEGITIMATE TRUTH, God’s Word in the Bible, then the better-calibrated our internal compass will be, and the better we will be at seeing what is real, in everything around us. It’s NOT what we believe that makes something true. It is in the testing of our understanding of the world, and everything in it, with the TRUTH of God’s Word.Once we test what we believe, with the truth of God's Word, then we have to calibrate our inner-compass. And when we spend a lot of our life calibrating that inner-compass with the truth of God's Word, then we’ll have a CONSCIENCE that can TRULY help us navigate this world.Calibrate your compass with God's Word, and you'll be able to navigate this world, and more importantly, find yourself in the right place, in the next world.

God tells us to be persistent in prayer. Sometimes it's going to look like the race is won. And sometimes it'll look like the race is completely lost. And in both cases, until the tape is broken, we don't know the outcome, so keep running!When you're winning, PRAY. When you're losing, PRAY! Run through the tape, and finish the race.If things are good for you, PRAY. If things look hopeless, PRAY!Never quit, until you see Jesus, and he tells you, “Well done, my good and faithful servant,” and he's welcoming you into His kingdom.God loves us. Run through the tape!! Keep praying. Whatever your goals are, whatever your desires are, whatever your heart is telling you, you need, just keep praying. Sometimes we just have to learn to persist, keep our eyes on the goal and trust God to deliver. He will deliver.

We're living in a world where TRUTH is being watered down. Everywhere we look, lies are being redefined as truth, and simple truths that have always been understood to be true, are being called lies.The inputs that we receive are being controlled.But, we are called as believers, to be the salt of the earth. What happens when salt becomes unsalted? It's worthless. When the Christian becomes watered down, we becomes spiritually worthless. We have to be clear. Jesus is our hope. And if He didn't die, the SINLESS Lamb of God, and resurrect three days later, our hope is in vain.God's Word is inerrant. Our culture is… full of errors.God's Word is never wrong. Our culture is… frequently wrong.God's Word leads to LIFE and PEACE and SALVATION. Our culture leads to… DEATH and STRIFE and DAMNATION.You cannot be a friend to the world AND a true follower of Christ. They DO NOT not work together. The world needs Jesus. The world needs the AUTHENTIC Jesus. The world needs the Jesus that we learn about from a relationship with him, found in the Bible. Stand up for THE TRUTH… and it will set you free.

Being Christian is not about being popular. It's not about how many people think you're a good person.And, we’re in a culture war. Satan is always on the prowl, looking for those that he will devour. He preys on our weakness. He attacks at our flanks, and where we're most vulnerable. So, what does it mean to be a man or woman of Christ? What does it look like when we believe that the King of all creation, sent us a fighter for our souls, a personal Savior to save us, a personal warrior for our eternal lives?As believers, it's our job TO ENGAGE. Love is NOT PASSIVE… It's active. It's our job to deeply assess our own character, and work on that plank that's in our own eyes FIRST, and then also in love and humility, be a blessing to the people that God loves, which is all of us.The Bible says, “Claim me before man, and I will claim you before my father. Deny me before man, and I will deny you before my father.”It is time to stand up. It is time to be counted. We have to claim Him. THAT’s how we show strength. THAT’s how we engage.

When Moses was called, DIRECTLY by God, to lead His people out of Egypt, he resisted.The Lord was then going to kill the one HE JUST CHOSE to lead His people; We just went from a divine calling, to a divine condemnation, in a couple of chapters. Moses was required to follow the law, and to his wife Zipporah's credit, it was identified and fixed. TAKE GOD’S WORD SERIOUSLY, or someday all of us could find ourselves on the wrong side of being sick.

The world is hard right now for MANY people. Their health struggles, and money struggles, and what appears to be a changing of all the stuff that we used to call “Normal.” So, given that environment, what's a believer to do… Where should we focus?Well, we know we need to pray. We need to be in The Word. We need to teach whoever will listen.Also… Act justly, love mercy, forgive others and walk humbly with our God. We already know how this book ends and we need to JUST KEEP DOING GOOD, knowing that the harvest is coming… JUST KEEP DOING GOOD! God has an infinite well of resources. He can draw power in your lap when you LITERALLY have nothing left. Allow him to fulfill the plan that has been in place, since before the foundations of the world. Trust the Lord.Amen.

How do we pray? Ministers across the world are asked this question quite often.We should humble ourselves, and repent. We have to CLAIM JESUS as our SAVIOR. And then you have to make sure when you're praying, the words coming out of your mouth ARE THE TRUTH!God is perfectly good. We should always make sure that our hearts line up  with HIS purpose; When we have surrendered to the saving grace that ONLY His Son provides, and when the words coming out of our mouth are ANCHORED by that truth.Let God speak to you, and give you the wisdom that only he can provide.It's time to repent. It's time to reflect on our personal holiness, and it's time to pray with the type of urgency, that we might find ourselves in if we were facing an imminent threat. Because you know what? We are.

I'm not so sure it's easy to wrap our minds around the fact that Jesus was fully God, AND fully human. Clearly, from the Bible, he experienced true human emotion.When Satan attempted to temp Jesus, Jesus chose God's Word, to tell Satan, “NO!”, and rebuffed Satan’s temptations.Do we see ourselves selling-out to meet an immediate, physical, severe, pressing need like, not eating for 40 days?Would we sell out for the promise of riches, and power, and authority? Will we fold when our manhood, or womanhood, or sense of self is attacked directly? Do we have the wisdom and patience, to seek FIRST God's Word and His promises contained in the Bible, and developed in a relationship with HIM?Jesus didn't need to call down his angels to chase Satan away, or display his godhood. He only needed God's word to completely derail Satan's plan. Can we do the same? God's Word is ALL-POWERFUL! God's Word is THE SWORD. God's Word is what will, not only protect us, but will protect people we love. It will defend us in the most trying of times, and it provides the contract, the promise for what we will inherit. God's Word is how we fight Satan's temptations, just like Jesus did.

God can see through our motivations, and He will ultimately judge each and every action. Our job as brothers and sisters in Christ, is to speak the truth in love. We seem to be good at speaking the truth (as long as it is negative or critical), we might need a little help remembering the love part.

We need to take a moment and pray, and ask God if we are on the right side of Him. Because as we draw closer to Him, we begin to experience a purity and how we see things, our interpretation of events and how we see other people. Not that we see other people as perfect, but we start seeing them MORE as God sees them, and LESS as how Satan wants us to see them. But, we should make no mistake, God is FIRST interested in fixing us, BEFORE we can really be a blessing to the world around us. See things as they truly are… A beautiful creation, from a loving, and perfect Creator.

The Bible tells us that we don't battle against flesh and blood, but the principalities of the spirit world. But how should we handle the world we live in day to day, when the battlefield isn't isn't so obvious? And for those that follow Jesus and claim him as their personal Savior, your future is completely secured. But it's still our job to work as scouts on this earthly battlefield. It is our job to provide forward position intel to those trusting in us, and those they're looking to us, to help them discern.Therefore, we should wake up every morning, and put on the whole armor of God. Because, from the moment we get out of bed, to the moment we lay down again to rest, there is a VERY REAL ENEMY that is watching, plotting, and attempting to implement our utter, and complete destruction. Forward scouts in God's army must recognize the role we have been given, and engage the enemy, fully protected by His hand, and fully trusting in His salvation. And ONLY by God's grace through Jesus Christ, will we succeed.

700 years before the birth of Christ, the Book of Isaiah was written. The Book of Isaiah is very popular among religious scholars, because it contains many of what we call “Messianic Prophecies” - Many, many promises of what the Messiah will look like, what He'll be like, and what to look for.Jewish scholars call these particular scriptures, “The Scriptures of the Suffering Servant.” The words have not changed in almost 3000 years. They're well known, they're well traveled, and religious scholars, as I said, historians and kings have poured over these words since they were first pressed to a scroll, long before Mary carried Jesus in her in her womb. Let's revisit some of these words now, as we remember the death and resurrection of Jesus the Savior, Jesus the Christ, and our personal Messiah.During this Easter Season, I'm praying that each of us that hears and reads this, will surrender our hearts to the ONLY ONE WHO SAVES, the ONLY ONE WHO RESTORES US, the ONLY ONE WHO REDEEMS, and OUR TRUE KING, in the name of The Father, The Soon, and The HOLY SPIRIT, be His, and be saved.

We don't have the right to define God. We don't have the right to build a god in an image that we're comfortable with. And His ways are higher than our ways, and we can't possibly understand them all.But, would it be possible for God to blind me in such a way, that I could no longer see the truth of Him, or come to His salvation? 

So many of us on the journey to coming to Christ, have resisted or stalled for many reasons, but, mostly because Satan has an amazing way of reminding us of just how unworthy we truly are. Every sin we have ever committed, we allow to come flooding back into our minds. We become acutely aware of how undeserving we are of a Savior.The truth is, there’s not one of us that deserves salvation. There's not one of us that deserves to be forgiven. BUT… because of the price that Jesus paid, WE CAN HAVE IT.If God can do what He chose through someone like Rahab, then what do you think He can do with us?

The Bible tells us that that all have fallen short of the glory of God, and ALL need a Savior.  We're sick. We're broken. We need someone to mend those wounds. And those wounds… Those deep wounds… can only be mended by one… And that is JESUS himself.  If we have not yet come to Christ, we need to recognize that we are sick. We will die in our sins, and we will be condemned forever.  Unless, we get to the ONLY doctor that can truly heal.  Come to the doctor who heals and saves, and be truly released from the eternal sickness that plagues all of mankind.  In Jesus’ name. AMEN!

What does it mean to, “Work out our salvation with fear and trembling”? Jesus was/is patient and loving and kind, but also, and maybe even more importantly, ZEALOUS, and STRONG, and FIRM. Jesus IS NOT our homeboy. He probably had a pretty big dose of what the world today might call, “Toxic Masculinity.”  As the modern Christian Church, at least in our rush to embrace a Doctrine of Grace, we have become really comfortable attempting to making Christ like us, and a lot less comfortable making US LIKE CHRIST! God is not interested in a social club that we call church. God is interested in real change that occurs in the deepest, deepest parts of our hearts. Jesus is the one who loved us so much, that in spite of our love of darkness and sin, He still chose to die in the most horrible way possible, to be the perfect sacrificial lamb, to atone for our sin, and to deflect God's righteous wrath, so that I can be saved, and you can be saved.  When we recognize that THAT perfect man, God incarnate, chose a horrible death, chose to be the perfect sacrifice, that a perfect and righteous God demanded so that we could be saved, when we understand that, THEN we will get on our knees, and work out our salvation with fear and trembling. 

When you've been in a relationship with God for a long time, you've most likely experienced some amazing examples of His presence. He's answered prayers for you. You've watched Him move into people's lives, and people literally have become different people, and you've been amazed to witness it. But, what happens when the answer is “NO!”? What happens when we pray and fast and beg… When we know our motives are right, and our heart is right, and the answer is still “NO!”? God knows everything that must happen to fulfill His perfect will. And lots of the time, some of these things might end up being extremely painful, in the short term. But always, our delivery and salvation is coming, and the pain of this life is quite temporary. Even when He says “NO!”, He is saying “YES!” to the joy that He is bringing with Him, for each and every one of us that believe. We must trust Him in the pain, as we trust Him in the joy. #jesus #love #truth #truth #obedience