Galatians 5:22-23, " But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.  Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with it's passions and desires."

     Paul visited Galatia on his first journey and continued to visit every time he was near.  The problem was that every time he left, Judaizers would come and teach the people false doctrine which would take them back to the trying to do things on their own to please God, or, in other words, walking by the flesh instead of the spirit.  Paul contrasts the flesh verses the Spirit in this book.  The fruits are a sign to us whether we are walking by the Spirit or not.  These fruits are available to us but only through our efforts to cultivate them.  In other words the more we sow to the Spirit of God (Study of the word, prayer, relationship with Jesus Christ)  The more these fruits will be grown in our lives.  These fruits are strictly brought forth by our own efforts to walk in the Spirit.  In other words the amount of fruit we have in our life is directly proportional to the amount of time we spend in our relationship to the Lord.  The more time we sow into Him and His kingdom, the more these fruits will grow in our life.  If we continue to try to earn salvation any other way but through a relationship with Christ we are sowing to the flesh and these fruits are not going to grow.  This is why you might see someone who's been in church all their life but is as mean as a snake.  These people are in every church and, in fact, turn allot of people away from God instead of leading them towards Him.  On the other hand you might have some fairly young Christians who exhibit these fruits.  It all come down to our own efforts and in which direction those efforts are sown.  I know this to be true because I've always had anger problems in my life.  When I stay attached to Jesus they are not a problem to me.  But when I move away from Him one of the first things that raises it's ugly head is my anger.  If we don't exhibit fruit in our life the answer is very simple.  Go visit Jesus and cultivate the garden.  Dig up all the weeds that are there, fertilize the plants, water them, give them some light and sure enough you'll start to see fruit come forth in your life.  So, it's time for us to put on some working clothes and get to work.  Would you join us?      God Bless,  Rusty

     My brothers and sisters in Christ.  It's a blessing for me to do a devotional for you every day.  Unfortunately I'm going to be on vacation this week.  I don't know whether or not I'll have access to a computer while I'm gone so I'll probably not have another entry until 30 June, 2008.  If you are new to my blog you have plenty of archives that you could read and study.  

     I pray that God would keep each one of you safe and that you would be blessed beyond measure during this week.  I'll see you soon!!                 Pastor Rusty

Ephesians 2:4+5, " But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ."

     Our Father is rich in mercy and His mercies are new every morning.  If there's one thing in the word of God that gives me comfort more then anything else, it's this scripture.  I walk every day in this flesh suit which is, and always will be sinful.  The very nature of our flesh is sin which leads to death.  The word says that if we love God we will keep His commandments, but how is this possible?  Every day we do things we shouldn't do and we don't do things we should.  Every day we are wretched people.  Paul cried out in this state and said, "Who will set me free!!"  I wonder the same thing.  We all have things in our life that we have not been able to conquer.  These things continue, in my life, to knock me down every time I get up and start running the race.  It's a never ending battle and sometimes I wonder how God could love me like He does.  I certainly do not understand His grace and mercy, especially when it comes to me being the one to give it out on this earth.  I don't know how He loves me, much less some other people I know.  But, I know He does, and I want you to know today that He loves you just as much as anyone.  You are a beautiful diamond in the ruff and He has such great plans for you, no matter what you've done or what you're currently involved in.  His grace is still, and will always be, sufficient for me and you.  Don't try to understand it, just receive it.  Don't even think about the things that come up in your mind, just receive His love.  He loves you and has made you alive together in Christ.  We may not be able to see or understand that but He has already seen it and to Him it's already been completed in your life.  Not by anything we've done but by what He's done.  So, today just receive his grace and mercy.  His promise is that in the midst of your weakness He will make you strong, and that's good news.     God Bless You,   Rusty

John 3:20, " For everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds be exposed."

     Let us first understand that darkness doesn't really exist, in a sense that God created it.  Darkness is simply the absence of light.  In the beginning, in Genesis 1, the earth was dark until God created the light.  He created light in verse 3 before He created the sun and moon and stars.  In other words He spoke His very essence, or His glory into the darkness and there was light. In John 1:4, " in Him was life, and the life was the light of men."  If we put all these things together we see that anything that has God in it has life and it is well illuminated.  So what about the things we do in the darkness? (Oh no! Do we have to go there!)  We must realize that everything we do in the darkness is of the devil.  The only reason we would think that's not true is to justify our sin.  You see, it doesn't matter what it is.  If it's done in secret then we are just like Adam in the garden hiding from God.  There is no light present in the darkness and if there is no light there is no life.  If there is no life there is only death.  The only reason it's done in the dark in the first place is that we know it's not what God would have us do.  We are wanting to do things the way we want to do them and not the way anyone else wants, especially if it's what God wants.  But if we don't do what God wants us to, or His will, then we are sinning.  Anything that is not in the light is darkness.  Anything that's in the darkness is sin.  Sin brings death.  There is no life outside of the darkness.  I don't have to say anything else because we all know it's exactly the truth. 

     I'll just end with what Paul said in Ephesians 5:11-14, "Do not participate in the deeds of darkness for it's disgraceful even to speak of these things.  Everything becomes visible when it is exposed so 'Wake up!' "       God Bless,  Rusty

Galatians 3:3, Colossians 1:22, " Are you so foolish?  Having begun by the Spirit, are you now perfected by the flesh? He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and without reproach."

     When we receive Christ, the Spirit of God moves in us and recreates our spirits.  He breathes on them and our dead spirits, which died from disobedience in the garden, become alive again, or, as Jesus said, "they are born again."  The Spirit of God inside of us becomes the means by which we are presented to God holy and blameless.  Jesus Himself starts to grow in us the same way He grew up in Mary, but instead of in the flesh, He is growing up in the spirit.  He won't grow in the flesh again because He put the fleshly body to death.  So we, as Christians,  must grow and go to new levels in God.  We are called to not only be a witness but to become sons and daughters of God.  We do that by letting Jesus grow up in side of us so that the whole world can see Him.  His glory needs to increase inside of the temple until people know that there is something different about us and see the glory of God on us.  This is what draws people to Him, not anything we do in our flesh.  If we would spend more time with Him and walk and talk with Him in the garden, we would find out that we wouldn't have to go looking for people to tell about Him.  We wouldn't have to come up with plans to win the lost.  We wouldn't have to keep trying (through our own knowledge) to figure out how to build our churches.  We would become like a lighthouse and everyone would see us through the darkness and come to us looking for safe harbor.  That's God's plan for us.  Today, spend some time with Him.  Read His word and fellowship with Him.  You'll see that what is begun by the Spirit is, in fact, sustained by the Spirit.  That's good news for all of us.  I challenge you today to go forth and be the light of the world that Jesus destined us to be.  The world needs you!!             God Bless,  Rusty

1 John 3:11, 4:20, " For this is the message that we have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.  If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen."

     These scriptures reveal the state of the church today more then any others.  When we are put together in the body our job is to love each other.  Now, we know that whenever any number of people are put together in a group, there will always be some personality differences.  This is something that should be expected.  The scriptures talk about us working out our relationships with each other.  This is key, and one of the means by which God brings us to maturity.  When someone has a difference of opinion we must learn to work things out so that we may not necessarily agree with each other, but we respect each other enough to still exist together in unity.  Our society has taught us to run as soon as we don't agree with someone else.  Therefore divorce is on a rampage among people and every church has people from other churches that disagreed with something so they just left and went to another church.  God wants us to work things out with each other.  That is the biggest part of our growth process.  How can we tell someone that God loves them and we love them when we can't get along with the people around us?  John is very specific and to the point.  He says that if you can't love each other here on this earth, people that you are around and see every day, how can you say you love Him.  You can't even see Him.  It's a cruel but basic truth in our lives.  If we constantly judge and put other people down or if we always have to be right we are not working out are sanctification.  We must love people right here, right now!  This is the only way to truly prove our love for the Father.  So, is there something you need to work out today?  Is there someone you need to talk to?  I know I have some work to do.  See you tomorrow and God Bless.   Rusty

Genesis 2:23, " And the man said, 'This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; She shall be called woman, because she was taken out of Man.'"

My older daughter Brittany was married this weekend.  My job was to give her away.  How do you do that and what does that mean?  I really don't have the answer to that question, just feelings.  How can a father give away a young lady that He has invested his whole life in.  I can't begin to tell you or even to explain all the things that go through my mind.  All the experiences that we've shared over the last 24 years.  And now I just give her away?  Life is strange.  Now she is to leave us and become one flesh with him.  I know what Adam must have felt when He had something physical, a rib, ripped out of Him.  In this case I would rather have had something physical ripped out because that would have hurt a lot less.  Her husband is a great man.  Everything I would have wanted for her and, in fact, everything I have spent so many hours praying for.  He comes from a good family and they seem to be a perfect couple.  So why does it hurt so much?  I never realized man's plight in life.  We spend our whole life raising children to be the best that they can be.  We give them our undivided love and devotion and spend everything we've earned to give them what they need.  Then we give them an education.  When they finally come to a place that you've been grooming them for their whole lives, you lose them.  Someone else rips them away from you.  Your whole life is brought to this moment and then everything is gone.  You and your wife do not have the ability to have any more children, so you just sit at home and look at pictures and remember all the past things.  Life is cruel, but yet, beautiful.  I wonder if this is how our Father felt when Jesus had to leave Him for the earth?  I wonder if He had the same feelings?  All I know is that there is an ache in my heart and all I have to look forward to giving another daughter away before long.  Maybe this is what it felt like to have a rib ripped out only next time, Lord, let me fall into a deep sleep during surgery so it doesn't hurt so much!    God Bless,  Rusty

Luke 18:22, " One thing you still lack; sell all that you possess, and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven, and come follow me."

     One of the biggest tests to our walk with the Lord is whether or not we truly follow Him.  Every one of us has things in our life which we have a strong desire to do.  We have things we lust after.  Things that we like to do and some things that please God and some that don't.  We also have a tendency to bring all of our gifts and talents before the Lord and let Him have them if they will help Him, and in most cases we even help Him out by telling Him how our talents can help Him.  We even show Him in case He doesn't understand.  The only thing He really wants from us is the total surrender of our life.  He wants us to lay down the right to ourselves.  The true mark of a saint is the inner creativity that comes when they totally lay down their life down and let Him have it.  When we do that we find that there is an eternal well that starts to flow from deep within.  The power of the Holy Spirit makes us into a Holy experiment in which the power of God is yielding us and shaping us by His own hand.  As God uses us and takes us on a wonderful journey, we should never make our experience a principle for others, but allow each one to be shaped and molded into what God wants them to be.  Then as we truly come to the Lord we can be an example to every one around us to just come as they are.  Are we following Christ?  If we are, then our example will be one that others can follow right into Jesus' arms.  As we follow, all those around us will follow.  Let each one of us totally surrender to Him today, so that everything we lack can be filled by the Master planner and builder.  The world needs to come to the Lord, but how can they come unless we do it first.  One thing we still lack is total surrender to Him.  Start the process today.  The world needs you!!            God Bless,  Rusty

Romans 8:35, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?"

     The hardest thing for most of us to comprehend is that God's love is eternal and unconditional.  We know that God loves us but when we do things that we think offend Him we withdraw from Him and hide, just like Adam did.  We think that He hates us because we can't get through certain things in our life and we keep making the same mistakes over and over.  This belief has been ground into us by people who believe that the law, or works is what makes you a good enough person for God to love.  This is a lie.  God created us and loves us just the way we are.  You might wonder how He could love us at certain times in our lives and especially when we sin.  That is because we don't understand God's love.  We've not received God's love from any one on this earth.  That's why it's so hard to try to understand.  "Rusty are you telling me that God loves me when I sin?"  "Yes, and again I say yes!"  God never stops loving us.  "Does He like sin?  Doesn't He want us to stop sinning?"  Yes He does.  The point is that, please catch this, He hates sin but He loves us.  In other words when we sin He hates the sin in our lives but that does not in any form or fashion take away His love for us.  He never leaves us or forsakes us.  Even in the worst of moments He's there with us encouraging us and helping us to stop the things in our lives which we can't seem to stop.  He wants to bless us, and as soon as we fall He picks us back up.  He'll carry us if we can't make it.  What makes us hide from God is shame and guilt over our actions.  God is not the one who condemns us for our actions because Jesus already paid the price for our sin.  Romans 8:1, " There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."  God will never condemn us.  He loves us.  The world, your brother and sister in Christ, the church, society, your family.  All of these plus many more will condemn you but God will never.  He loves you and wants to bless you.  What is it in your life that has separated you and caused you to hide from God?  Whatever it is just confess it to Him and get it right and let His love overtake you.  You'll find that no matter how far away you've gone and no matter how well you've hidden, He's still there and loves you the same as always.  That's the truth.  Receive it and walk in it today.  You'll receive new strength and peace that will take you forward.  Our God is a good God.  His love is everlasting and His mercy is new every morning.  Receive Him back in your heart today.  You'll be glad you did!     God Bless,  Rusty

John 1:14," And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us"

     The bible says that we are to be conformed into the image of Jesus.  In order for us to do that, the Father starts our redemptive process the very same way that He did with His Son.  In Luke, Mary told the Angel, "Let it be done to me according to your word."  The angel had told her how the Holy Spirit would over shadow her and she would be with child.  When she spoke her faith to receive God's plan the very word that was spoken to her became the seed that the spirit of God breathed inside of her.  This seed birthed the physical baby Jesus, and the Word became flesh.  In Romans 10:8 the same process starts in us, "The word is near you, in your mouth and your heart, that if you confess."  When we are born again we have the same faith as Mary.  We speak our faith in the word and the Holy Spirit comes and lives in our hearts.  He breathes life unto the word and Jesus is born again, but not in His own person but in us.  The word again becomes flesh and dwells among us.  As we walk in the process of sanctification we are actually allowing the baby to grow in wisdom and stature.  We walk like Jesus and eventually the world will see Him again, through us.  When the world sees Him through us we are conformed into His image and we become the word of God made flesh and He again dwells among us.  What a wonderful plan for our salvation.  I pray that today you would take the word inside of you and spread it in whatever situation you find yourself in.  The world is better with you in it because the word is in you.  Hallelujah!                        God Bless, Rusty

Genesis 2:17, " but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day you shall eat from it you shall surely die."

     It seems like we've heard this story over and over in our lives, but we think it happened back in the garden, in some time beyond our comprehension.  One of those stories we've heard about in Sunday school and in church, but it's hard to really put our imagination around it.  The thing that we don't see is that it's still happening today, right in front of us.  You see God gave us choices in Deuteronomy 28.  Based on these choices in our life we receive either blessings or curses.  The choices we make help us to develop the character of God.  You see, God created us in His image, but not His character.  We have to choose His character.   Every day and every decision we make throughout our life brings us either life or death, blessings or curses.  God has given us His word and told us the good and the bad and then He gave us free choice.  It's really up to us.  Let me explain it this way.  If you're cooking with hot grease on the stove and a little one tries to touch the pan you would say to them, "honey don't touch that pan, it will burn you!"  Then you turn your back.  What happens next is up to the child.  If they touch the pan they will get the curse instead of the blessing.  Did you permit them to touch the pan?  Yes, you did.  You permitted them by telling them the truth, which is God's word and then permitting them to eat either off the tree of life, or the tree that brings death.  You can't stop someone from doing something because God gave us free choice.  If He took our free choice away, He would cease to be a just God.  God is love and love never harms.  Love stands by you and coaches you and encourages you every day of your life to walk in the blessings of God and not the curses.  It's your choice.  What will you choose?    God Bless, Rusty

Ephesians 5:2, "walk in love, just as Christ loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma."

Walking in love has to accompany everything we do for Jesus.  In fact in 1 John 4 the word says that, "God is love."  So if we are to do anything for God it has to be done in love.  In others words, if God is in it, and God is love, then love has to be the driving force.  This is probably the hardest lesson to learn as Christians.  We live in a society were everything has become so competitive.  It's a dog eat dog type of world out there and we're taught to do anything to get ahead in life.  We compare everything we do to other people and so we are always doing things out of a competitive attitude.  I truly don't want to offend anyone today, because there are times and there are some very special people reading this that do have a very loving heart.  I just have to look at my own life and say that I try to do the best I can in all situations but inside of me there's always this struggle over what my real motives are.    I struggle over why I'm really a pastor.  I struggle over why I do most of the things I do.  It's a dilemma that constantly plays on my mind.  I know that God's love is shed abroad in my heart by the Holy Spirit, so I know I can live and act out of God's love.  The only question is whether or not I do.  It's a constant check in my spirit and a question I have to continually ponder.  I guess that the good news is that at least if we're thinking about it, that love inside of us is working things out and is alive and active.  If it wasn't we wouldn't care about such things.  We need to all search our hearts for the answer in our lives.  Is God's love the driving force in our lives or not?  I pray that we all learn to allow God to lead us and guide us in this area in everything we do.  It's what the world truly needs today.     God Bless!

     Psalm 107:20, " He sent His word and healed them and delivered them from their destructions. " 

     People ask me all the time, "How do I get healed of all this pain I have inside?"    The word of God is the only true way.  You see doctors work on our physical body, and psychologists work on your mind.  Neither of these can work deep inside of you.  They can not heal the deep wounds that are deep in your heart.  There is no doctor on earth that can reach there.  The only one that call heal you deep within is God and only through His life giving word.  People that will start studying the word and meditating on it will start to feel better and as time goes on they will absolutely see all the pains melted away from them.  There are things inside that drive us that only we know.  In a lot of cases there are things that we are not even aware of.  The only one that knows truth about what is causing the pain is God Himself.  As His word becomes unveiled inside of you and His Holy Spirit breathes life on it, the pains start rising to the surface out of the abyss of your hidden places.  When these things come to the light they can be totally cleansed.  The real answer to emotional problems is to meditate and study the word of God every day of our life.  This is where we'll find love, joy and peace.  This is where God will be revealed to us.  The word is a medicine just like all the other medicines of this world.  It is taken every day and through it all the problems and pains that we have in this life are taken care of.  God's word is alive and active.  Commit your life to getting to know your savior and every part of you will change.  I know!  I've been there and done that.  There were times in my life when I wanted to give up, but God always, and I mean always came through and He continues to this day to always be there when I need Him.  He'll be there for you too.  Just trust in His word and you will see your life completely changed.  So, if you want the pain to go away, start today.  He's waiting for you.                   God Bless!!

     Matthew 8:2+3, " a leper came to Him and bowed down to Him  saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean."  And He stretched out His hand and touched him saying, "I am willing, be cleansed."'

     We must believe that God wants us to be healed.  In fact He not only wants us to be healed but it is His will for us. In James 1: 18 He tells us that God's will is to birth us, or to bring us life.  God's will for us is always life, not death.  God's will for us is always light, not darkness.  God's will for us is always health and wholeness, not sickness.  I rebuke all the teachers that would tell you, "Oh, it's just God's will that you are sick and diseased.  He's just trying to teach you something and He put this on you for a reason."  That is all false teaching.  The bible doesn't teach it.  There is no where in God's word where He puts sickness on anyone.  Most of us are like the leper in the fact that we have heard the wonderful stories of healing in the bible,  and sometimes even from people we around us.  We understand and acknowledge that God heals.  The problem is we don't believe He will heal us.  After all if He put the sickness on us or gave us the disease for a reason then who are we.  We'll just bear it out and accept our lot in life.  The leper was the same way.  He knew Jesus could heal Him, he just didn't think he was worthy enough to be healed.  Christ answered that question very emphatically when He said, "I am willing! "    I want you to know today that Jesus came to give us, " life and life abundantly." (John 10:10)  Now how can we live an abundant life if we're sick and diseased?  The answer is obvious, we can't.    No matter what you have wrong with you today, physically or emotionally, God not only has the power, but it's His will to heal, not just someone else, but you!!!   If you will just believe and let Him touch you His power will flow into your body, even now as you're reading this.  You can feel God's presence.  Just let His will be done in your body.                          If you would like me to pray for you just respond to this teaching and I will pray and believe with you for God's miraculous power in your life.  God bless you today.        

     James 2:14+17, "What use is it my brethren, if a man says that he has faith, but he has no works?  Can that faith save him?  Even so, faith without works is dead."

     Our salvation is free, at least to us.  We know that Christ paid the price for us.  Salvation has been paid for , then, by Jesus' sacrifice for us and we don't have to do anything to obtain it.  It is true.  There is no work that's required in our life to receive salvation because it is a free gift.  Everlasting life is a free gift.  All we have to do is receive it and it's ours.  I don't necessarily understand it all but that's the truth.  God's grace ushers in the gift and all we do is open our present and receive it.  But what we do after that is the issue that Paul is talking about.  We now have this faith and God desires for us to do something with it.  We study the word and build a relationship with Him and He really wants us to go out and use it to help bring in the harvest, in what ever area you have a measure of faith.  You may ask the question, "What happens to my salvation if I don't do anything (no works) with it? Do I lose it?"  No! May it never be!!  Salvation is free, get that.  It doesn't have to do with anything you do or don't do.  The gifts God gives us are to build His kingdom here on the earth.  Let's make it real practical, shall we.  God did not create us to go to church on Sunday and occupy a seat.  God's work is not done in the church.  It's done outside the church.  Jesus always sent people out. Why?  Because the truth is that there aren't to many old sinner boys knocking on the church door trying to get in.  Most that need Christ are outside hiding from Him.  Church is for the building up and equipping of the saints.  The real work is done individually, outside the church, in the pits of humanity.  That, my brother and sister is what Paul was trying to get across.  "I take the faith that's in me and put it to work all the time wherever I go.  Going to church is simply to get refreshed and rebuild our strength after working for God and using the talents He gave us to win a lost world to Him.  Our faith is alive and if we will just trust God He will use us.  Take a step out of the boat today just like Peter did and don't worry.  If the winds start blowing and the waves frighten you and you start sinking,  Jesus will be there to pull you out of trouble, and that's good news!!    I pray that the living word would change your heart and lives forever.  God Bless!

Jude 3, "Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints."

     The book of Jude is the last book of the new testament before the Revelation of John.  It was being written to a church that was full of apostasy, which I believe was being written for the church of Jesus Christ today.  The church operating in the earth during the last season before Christ's return.                                     The church Jude was writing to was full of false teachers and all kind of freedoms and false doctrines.  People who deny Jesus and revile things they do not understand.  Ones who are void of the Spirit and go around causing divisions.  Ones who are worldly minded.  Jude wanted to write about salvation, which was something in which he could find a common ground, so to speak.  But he couldn't do it.  No matter how much he prayed or sought the Lord he was compelled to write to the saints about the faith, or lack of it.  This is what we need to hear about today because our churches are in the same situation.  We have seen miracles over the years but they are few and far between.  We have heard testimonies of peoples lives but most of them are past tense. We need to stand up in faith.  Where is the faith that brought us out of bondage and spurred the great revivals of the past?  Where is the faith that anchors itself on God's word and takes it at what God said?  We're so busy fighting about doctrines and trying to get people to come to our churches that we have failed to contend for the faith.  God is waiting for a people that would stand up and take Him at His word.  God is looking all over the earth for a people that would believe Him instead of everybody else.  The church is in sad shape.  When is the last time that blind eyes were opening in your church?  When is the last time anyone even prayed for a cripple to be healed?  I could go on and on but I think you get the point.  We must wake up!  Arise from our sleep and stand in faith.  That is our only hope in these final hours.  Contend for the faith that you once walked in.  Stand up and trust Him at His word.  There's never been a time when the world needs God like today.  Are you ready to contend for the faith?  That's my challenge for today.  Go forth and trust God to do what He said He would, before it's to late.        I pray that the living word would change your heart and your life forever.  God Bless!!