Romans & I Corinthians

What a wonderful day at Church yesterday!  We had a great service in the morning with a great crowd and souls being saved and baptized, and a family joining the church as well.  Then, we had a phenomenal service on Sunday Night.  We had Dean Kirshner from Gospel Link speak to us and he shared the need to support national pastors who are winning people to Christ around the world and we had 75 of our people raise their hands that they would pray about supporting a national pastor to the tune of $35.00 a month.  It was so exciting!  The Spirit of God moved upon our hearts and it was very moving. Today, I finished up Romans and went seven chapters into I Corinthians.  Here are a few short thoughts I had today: 1) THERE IS A CALL ON YOUR LIFE- Romans 1:6 says:  "Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ."   We are the "called" of Jesus Christ.  There is a call upon our lives dear brother and we had best be aware of that.  Jesus has called us to fulfill His purposes, not ours! 2) GOD FORBID!  Ten times in the book of Romans, Paul uses the phrase:  "God forbid".  This means "may it never be thought of"; "may it never come to pass".  We might paraphrase it to mean:  "Don't even think that!"  or "Don't go there!"  We are prone to think of God in our human terms sometimes, and we should "not go there". 3) I MAGNIFY MINE OFFICE- Romans 11:13 says:  "For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:"  Paul never magnified himself, but he did magnify his office as the "apostle of the Gentiles".  The office of a pastor is not about the man, it is about the office of the man.  The office is to be magnified, not the man, but the man is to be shown honor because of the office he holds, given him by God.  4) LET'S CHANGE OUR GARMENTS-Romans 13:12  "The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light."  We need a spiritual change of garments.  Take off the garments of darkness, and put on the garments of light.  The church is a pretty good changing booth! 5) POWER!  I Corinthians 4:20 says:  "For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power."  It is not about talk... it is about our walk!  It is not about our show, it is about our substance!  It is not about perception, it is about reality.  Not words, but the power of the blessed Holy Spirit of God!  Oh, how we need to long for the power of the Holy Ghost of God in our lives so that when we serve God it is not with words that have no affect, but let it be with the blessed power of the Holy Spirit of God so that it not only moves, but transforms the listeners!  Dear God in Heaven, make it so!! Well, have a great day my friend!  God bless you and thanks for stopping by today.   Pastor Mike Mutchler