What does Jesus mean to you?  As I consider this question, I find that there are three categories of people who represent three possible answers.  First, there are those to whom Jesus means nothing.  As hard as it is to believe, when Jesus walked this earth there were those who never bothered to go see Him.  They never took the time to listen to Him.  They went about their business totally oblivious to the fact that God had come in the flesh and walked among them.  

And then there are those to whom Jesus means something.  There are many who followed Jesus, but not necessarily for the right reasons.  John told about people who followed Jesus because they saw His miracles (John 6:2).  This was exciting stuff!  Plus, you never knew when Jesus might multiply loaves and fish and provide a free lunch.  But when pressed for a personal commitment to the person of Christ, these fickle followers quickly backed off (see John 6:66).

And then there are those to whom Jesus means everything.  After the fair-weather followers had turned back, Jesus looked at His remaining disciples and asked, “Do you also want to go away?” Simon Peter answered for all believers to whom Jesus means everything.  He said, “Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.  Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (John 6:68-69).

So, what does Jesus mean to you?  To some Jesus means nothing.  To others He means something.  May be we numbered with those to whom Jesus means everything!

Pastor Todd Weston

Options; don’t you love them?  

Last week we met a friend at Royal Scoop for ice cream.  The delightful dilemma facing an ice cream connoisseur at Royal Scoop is that of choosing from their umpteen million flavors.  Will it be Royal Fudge Swirl, Orange Pineapple, Chocolate Tri-scrumptious, Southern Pecan Cinnamon Delight, or Mocha Caramel Crunch (just to name a few)?

After numerous samples and several minutes of carefully weighing our options, we all made our orders.  Sitting around the table a few minutes later, I observed the various ice cream flavors that had been ordered by our group.  Do you want to guess what our friend ordered?  Vanilla!  Not Vanilla Bean, or Homemade Vanilla, or French Vanilla.  Having considered all the options, she went with the flavor she liked best; just plain vanilla.

Life is full of choices, and the options are many.  As Christians, we must first choose the right over the wrong.  That’s obvious.  But it doesn’t end there.  In the realm of the right you may still have many options from which to choose.  That is where we must carefully and prayerfully choose not just that which is good, but that which is best.  

In order to do this we must establish godly priorities.  When ordering ice cream I can go with personal preference, but in life I must live by biblical priorities.  In the month of August we are going to be talking about priorities.  My prayer for the RLA family as we go through this series is that we will prioritize our lives according to biblical values and then live accordingly.  It will take commitment, but the end result is blessing.  As Jesus said, ”But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).

Pastor Todd Weston

“The just shall live by faith.”  Those words were first spoken by the Old Testament prophet with the funny name (Habakkuk).  Two New Testament writers considered the statement worth repeating:  Paul (Romans 1:17; Gal. 3:11), and the Hebrew writer (Heb. 10:38).  It is a fundamental principle of the Christian life that believers live by faith.

Habakkuk was having a hard time of it.  Things were happening he didn’t understand.  His book that appears in the Minor Prophets section of the Old Testament because of its brevity seems to be one big “why?” question.  But as the late J. Vernon McGee observed concerning the book of Habakkuk, “It begins with a question mark and closes with an exclamation point.”  The lesson learned amid all the questions is simply this, “The just shall live by faith.”  Period!

The problem for most people is that they tend to live by feelings, not faith.  That is a dangerous thing to do because feelings can be so volatile.  Feelings can be easily affected by many things – circumstances, people, health, the weather, you name it!  Faith, on the other hand, is based on the certainty of God’s Word which is forever established in heaven.  The one is shifting sand.  The other is solid rock.

Here is the rule to remember:  Feelings follow faith, not the other way around.  Faith is the root; feelings are the fruit.  The question isn’t, “How do I feel about something.”  The question must always be, “What does the Bible say about it?”  That is where faith takes its stand.

If like Habakkuk you find yourself in a tough spot asking a lot of “why?” questions, remember the outcome of the prophet’s journey, “The just shall live by faith.”  Live the life of faith.  You may never have all the answers in this life.  Just rest assured in faith that God does, and that He does all things well.

Pastor Todd Weston

The human brain is the most complex mechanism in the world and the most influential organ of your body.  It accounts for your ability to think, remember, reason, imagine, feel, and analyze.  Your brain supervises everything you do from the involuntary beat of your heart to the conscious decisions of life.  It controls hearing, sight, smell, speech, movement, eating, sleeping, learning, and everything else that makes you behave the way you do.

The average brain weighs about 3 pounds and contains 12 billion cells, each of which is connected to 10,000 other brain cells, totaling 120 trillion brain connections.  Truly, we are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14).

The two primary means of communicating to your brain are through your eyes and ears.  Everything you see and hear goes into your mind and will influence how you think.  How you think determines how you live, and how you live determines where you will spend eternity.  That is why we must be very discriminating concerning what we allow to enter our minds.

In old times gangs of thieves would often put a small boy through a tiny window so he could unlock and open the door from within, allowing the thieves to enter. 

Likewise, the enemy of our souls uses small things to gain entrance into our minds.  It might be improper reading material.  It might be television programs or movies that plant unhealthy and unholy images in our minds.  It might be music that either delivers a wrong message, or stirs up wrong emotions and desires.  It might be an ungodly attitude that seeks to gain entrance into our thinking.  Or it might be the impure sites visited when surfing the internet.  While all these things may seem to be small and insignificant, they can unlock the door to a host of other evils.

Don’t let that happen!  Diligently guard the door of your mind by putting into practice what Paul talked about in Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.”

 
Pastor Todd Weston