“You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him” (Deut. 13.4, ESV)

_____________

To walk indicates ongoing action. Therefore, walking after God demands ongoing worship toward Him and a willing heart to obey His commandments. Moses taught the Israelites that they were to continuously walk in service to God. They did not always do this and God ultimately punished those who chose not to keep Moses’ words. Let this be a lesson to us (Rom. 15.4).

Those who do not hold fast to Him walk in a direction contrary to His word. They are walking after this world. Sadly, their focus is on serving self rather than serving God. Christ said, “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it” (Mark 8.35, ESV). Until we abandon the practice of living for self and walking after the desires of the world (losing ourselves for Christ), we cannot please our Heavenly Father.

Are we seeking to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deut. 13.3) or are we seeking to satisfy ourselves? The latter is not walking after the Lord your God!

Fear God. Obey Him. Serve Him. Can we help learn His will for your life? Contact Bryan Garlock | Message us on Facebook | Call/text 903.308.4905

“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.” (Galatians 1.6-7, ESV)¹

_____________________________________

¹This writer recently went to a funeral where the speaker claimed that “it does not matter what faith you are as long as Jesus is your Savior” (paraphrased). However, the Bible teaches us the complete opposite. It is sad that this man claims to speak for God and yet he spoke something that God did not say.

Paul, an inspired apostle of Jesus told the 1^st century Christians that there was no other gospel. In fact, he even taught that there is only “one faith” (Eph. 4.5) whereas the gentlemen above spoke as if there are many faiths. Admittedly, while there are many “faiths” as seen in the religious world, God only approves of one. [Note: “the faith” is the same thing in Scripture as the gospel. If there are many faiths, there are many gospels. For a study of this, please contact us.]

Paul continued, “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed” (Gal. 1.8-9, ESV). Notice that he repeated himself and that his words bring serious consequences! It matters what we believe! We cannot just claim to believe one thing either not taught in Scripture or contrary to Scripture and then claim to be a follower of Jesus! If we are following Jesus it is because we are listening to Him and obeying His will on His terms.

Please understand that the world and false teachers will tell you that you can religiously believe and practice whatever you want, but the Bible teaches otherwise. The question is, “Will you accept what the Bible says or will you be like those who believe a lie?” (See 2 Thess. 2.10-12)

If you’re interested in learning more about the kind of faith we are to have to be pleasing to God please e-mail Bryan Garlock, message us on Facebook, or text 903.308.4905.

Judges 13:2-21; 2 Peter 2:10-11; Jude 8-9; Zech. 3:1-2¹

_____________________________

¹Angels are greater in might and power than we are, yet in the accounts above, we can learn a valuable lesson from their actions.

Even though we are people created by God, and then as Christians, a people for God’s own possession, we frequently make an unnatural separation between ourselves and our God.  We put off our “selves” to put on Christ, yet that old man continues to creep back into our lives and make decisions and take actions that are not from our Savior.

This is where the angels above provide an example for us to follow.

Samson’s father wanted to pay respect and honor to the heavenly messenger who foretold his son’s birth.  The angel knew his place.  He knew his position.  He knew he was simply a servant and messenger of God and refused such an offer.  He redirected Samson’s father to the only One worthy of honor, Jehovah God.

Peter’s warnings about false teachers who carelessly revile is contracted to angels who, though mightier and more powerful, do not bring a reviling judgment before the Lord.

And even Michael, the archangel, in his dispute with the Devil would only state, “The Lord rebuke thee!”

We too are subject to God and only servants and messengers of our Heavenly Father and our Savior.  We must be careful not to separate and exalt ourselves and assume too much power or authority.  When someone wished to honor us, is it not God who rightly deserves the glory?  Is it not He who is the source of all our successes and accomplishments?  Is it not proper to redirect that honor to Him?

When we are filled with “righteous indignation”, do we revile against others?  Do we take it upon ourselves to make a personal rebuke?  Our do we, like Michael, in matters that clearly belong in His realm, defer the condemnation to the true judge?

Let us remember who we are.  Let us keep our proper place.  Let us remember we are simply men, servants of the Almighty God, and insure the One who is our judge is given everything that is properly His.

We want to study with you! Message us on Facebook, e-mail Bryan Garlock or text 903.308.4905.

The above was written by one of our members, Bill Brittenham.

“Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.” (Matthew 22.21, ESV)¹

______________________________

¹The Pharisees were constantly seeking to trap Jesus and have something to use against Him.

On one occasion, they sought to entangle Jesus in His words by sending men “who pretended to be sincere, that they might catch him in something he said, so as to deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of the governor” (Luke 20.20, ESV).

They asked, “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” to which Jesus replied, “…render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's” (Matt. 22.17, 21).

They were unable to catch Him “messing up” because He validated paying taxes and obeying the civil law. Therefore, they were silenced by the truth that He spoke.

Two things we can take from our Lord:

What are we to render to Caesar (in other words, the government)? Taxes. That’s all part of obeying the law which is ultimately obeying God (Rom. 13.1-2).

What are we to render to God? That which belongs to Him: His children, us. God wants our love, obedience, and worship. We render to God the things that belong to Him by seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matt. 6.33).

If you’re interested in learning more about serving God, please e-mail Bryan Garlock or text 903.308.4905.

“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.” (Colossians 3.16, ESV)¹

_____________________________

¹The Bible teaches us in Colossians chapter three to sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. In a parallel verse, the Bible says, “speaking [addressing, ESV] to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” (Eph. 5.19, NKJV).

Notice that God wants us to sing (see also Matt. 26.30; Acts 16.25; James 5.13, etc.). Further, He wants us to teach while singing. While some songs are designed to praise God, other songs are designed to encourage us to obey the gospel or to remain faithful. This can only be done through A cappella music, for no mechanical instrument ever taught any man the gospel.

Since God wants us to sing, the melody is to be made in our hearts. While melody can certainly be made mechanically, the melody that pleases our Father and is commanded by Him is the melody produced in the heart and from the fruit of our lips.

If you’re interested in learning more about singing and praising God according to His word, e-mail Bryan Garlock or text 903.308.4905. Also, you’re welcome to come to our gospel singing tonight (March 31st, 2017) at 7pm.