Matthew 25:11+12, “And later the virgins also came, saying, ‘Lord, open up for us.’  But He answered and said,’ Truly I say to you, I do not know you."’”

     Jesus tells a parable about ten virgins.  If we were to take role call in Heaven we would find 5 of these 10 virgins.  If we were to take roll call in Hell, we’d find the other 5 virgins.  In other words there are at least 5 virgins in hell.  So, there are 5 girls who kept themselves chaste and still wound up in Hell.  Before you say anything, let me explain.  I’m not saying that abstinence isn’t right, or good.  May it never be!  I believe in abstinence.  I believe in men and women being virgins when they get married.  Purity is something that pleases God, but that’s not the way to heaven.  You see, remaining chaste is just another one of those things that people do or don’t do, or, the bible would call them works.  Works will not get us into heaven.  The only thing that can bring us in is God’s grace through our faith in Jesus Christ.  That’s the only thing.  That’s why good people that have done good things all there life don’t qualify for heaven, unless, of course, they’ve received Jesus.  “Salvation is not by works that any man should boast. (Eph 2:9)  The good things we do in life must be done through our Savior.  In other words they don’t bring us salvation, but once we are saved, they should flow from us on a regular basis.  As we develop the character of God we will do the things Jesus did.  Not because we are trying to get into heaven, but because we love our Savior so much we can’t help but do them.   So, if you don’t know Jesus as your Lord and Savior,  take the first step today.  Then, go forward and carry out good works.  He’s the Way.  Follow Him this very morning.  He’s waiting for you!      God Bless,  Rusty 

John 14:6, “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me.”

     There are a lot of different beliefs out there but there’s only one truth.  There’s only one way to the Father, and that is through Jesus.  There is no other way.  The word says that, “ if you do not come in through the gate, but you try to enter some other way, you are a thief and a robber.”  There’s only one way and He is Jesus Christ.  It’s such an easy gospel that we miss it so many times.  You can’t come in through any thing that you do, or don’t do.  No works of man can bring you in because no matter what we do,it will never fulfill the Holy requirements of a just God.  God had to deal with the sin issue.  Sin had to be dealt with.  Sin has to be brought to death.  Death of the flesh is the only answer, and there’s only one person who has died for that sin.  Therefore the way in is through that cross.  Through that death and destruction of sin we can enter into relationship with the Father.   There is no other way.  Receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior today and come into real life.  He alone is the way.  God Bless,  Rusty

Matthew 24:13, “ But the one who endures to the end, he shall be saved.”

     Someone was speaking to me the other day about the first “McDonalds” restaurant.  They wandered if there were drive throughs in the very beginning.  The answer, of course was, “no”.  But they evolved as new fast foods came out and each one tried to out do the other.  There was always a new scheme to try to get all the business and then become rich and famous overnight.  Because of the competition, there have been a lot of franchises over the years that have simply not held on.  They dropped out because they couldn’t keep up with the others, or maybe their funds ran out, or probably various other reasons.  The point is that McDonalds is still here!  Through all the changes and all the different things that the world can throw at them, they still exist and continue to go strong.  That’s what our Christian walk is.  It’s a walk that constantly moving and has to go through a lot of different changes.  As the world changes, we go through different phases of what God would have us to do.  Our walk with the Lord is never a constant. People tend to get tired after a season or two and drop out.  Maybe they had a vision and dream in the beginning but other things took their vision and a Christian life is no longer an option with them.  Maybe it’s just to hard.  Whatever the reasons, a lot of people go to church and love the Lord for a season until the road gets a little tough, and then they drop out.  We want a fast food Christianity.  But even the king of fast foods had to endure through it.  We as Christians must stay focused and not lose sight of the vision.  Some times things get tough.  Sometimes you think you’ll never make it and the road is impossible.  Some times you want to give up and get off the path of righteousness, but don’t.  Stay in the saddle and keep riding.  Keep your faith and know that God is there, no matter what.  Don’t give in!  Don’t give up!  Because only those that endure will be saved!  Only those that endure.  Are you still going or do you need recharged this morning.  Just don’t give in.  Go to God and get re fired with His Holy Spirit and continue to stand.  You’ll make it.  You’ll endure.   God loves you to much to leave you behind.  That’s truth!  Receive it today and be blessed.    Rusty

Matthew 24:35, “ Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”

     “Pass away,” is a phrase we use when some one leaves us in this world.  We say, “Joe or Sue, or whoever passed away.”  In other words their time on this earth has expired and the days of their lives were fulfilled.  It’s hard to believe that if we were standing right here watching, that one day we’d say, “oh, today the heavens passed away, or today the earth expired, “ but that’s exactly what’s going to take place.  One day everything that we know will return to the dust and then the dust its self will cease to exist.  There’s only one thing in eternity that will be here forever.  Only one thing will last throughout the ages and never pass away.  Wouldn’t you want to start collecting as much of that item as you could.  If it’s value never ceased and the market on it never fluctuated, wouldn’t that be a stock worth investing in?  Well you can start investing today.  It doesn’t even cost anything to you because it’s already bought and paid for.  It’s the word of God.  Every time you study and meditate on it, you are investing into your eternal life.  It’s the one thing that will never pass away.  It will endure forever, throughout the ages.  So why don’t you take some time right now and make an investment into your life that’s eternal?  And, by the way, you don’t even have to worry about whether it’s a bull or bear market because it’s an eternal market.  Invest now for your future.  You’ll be eternally rich!!     Amen!!    God Bless,  Rusty

John 3:17, “God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him.”

     I hear people say all the time that, “God is judging them, or someone else.”  Well, that’s not scriptural.  You see, when Jesus, our perfect high priest, took His blood and applied it to the judgment seat, that seat became the mercy seat.  Once, we had not received mercy, but now we have.  We can present ourselves to Him as a sacrifice every day, because of His great mercy.  Someone said, “I want justice!”  No, we don’t want justice.  We wouldn’t be around long if we received justice.  We need His mercy and His grace.  That’s what Jesus came for, to save us from this world.  So we must stop our constant judging of other people and start to love people with God’s eternal love that’s in our hearts.  That’s what wins people to the lost.  God’s love, not judgment.  People can get judgment anywhere, so why would they come to a church for it?  Today, stop judging people and extend the love of God to someone.  It works every time because, “God’s love never fails!”  God’s mercy will always prevail.  Jesus didn’t come to judge, but to save.  Do you know anyone who needs saved today?           God Bless,  Rusty 

Matthew 13:3, “Behold, the sower went out to sow.”

     You have probably heard much teaching about this parable.  You know, where the seeds fell and what they represented.  Seeds that the birds ate, seeds that had no depth, seeds that were scorched and finally good seeds.  The seeds have been interpreted as many different things, or many types of people.  We’ve heard the places they fall as hearts.  There are so many teachings out on this parable, and they’re all pretty much the same, give or take maybe a little bit.  But the point I want to make this morning is not about where the seeds land, it’s about throwing them.  You see, there would be no interpretation of this parable if seeds weren’t thrown in the first place.  There would be no different theological discussions on the outcome of the parable if it was never started.  The only way a congregation can experience this parable, and thereby, discuss the different realms of men’s hearts, is if they’re out there throwing the seeds.  That’s right!  It starts with us.  Are you telling people about Jesus?  Are you throwing seeds as you walk along the path of life every day?  That’s were it starts and ends, with us.  After all, the name of the parable is the sower isn’t it?  My point is this.  We can either sit back and try to interpret and discuss this parable, or, we can go out and make this parable real.  I’d rather have sowers in my church any day.  In fact, I think I’ll end this right now and go throw some seeds around.  What about you?       God Bless,  Rusty 

Matthew 6:27, “And which of you by being anxious can add a single cubit to his life span?

     A cubit is approx 18”, and the word span here actually means height.  In other words can you increase your height by worrying?  You might say, “impossible, “ and you would be right.  That’s exactly the point Jesus was trying to make.  There are some things that you have no control over in this life.  If there’s any thing I’ve learned over the last month or so it’s this lesson.  Being anxious about your problems or the things that you’re facing in this life will just destroy you.  There’s things on this earth that you just have no control over.  If we don’t learn to trust God with our whole life we will come to ruin.  What I mean is that if we worry about everything, and in this life there’s plenty to worry about, we’ll drive ourselves insane.  It doesn’t matter if you’re right or wrong.  It doesn’t even matter if you have the solution to the problem but no one will listen.  It doesn’t matter what the media tells us or all the gloom and doom that our friends lay on us.  The word says to just, “seek Him first and all these things will be added to you.” (Matt 6:33)  If we just love Jesus and concentrate on what He has for us, everything else will fall into place.  Everyone wants something and their willing to do what ever it takes to get it.  They will make it happen because no one else understands of agrees with them.  If the situation is not right, we just change it into what we want.  Notice all the we’s in the last couple statements.  If it’s to be God will make it happen.  That’s what His word says.  When we try to do it, things always get messed up and people and relationships get destroyed.  When are we just going to trust God to give us what we need?  When will we stop worrying about everything and just love Him?  When?  When?  When?   Why not right now!                              God Bless,  Rusty

Isaiah 10:27, “So it will be in that day, that his burden will be removed from your shoulders and his yoke from your neck, and the yoke will be broken because of fatness.”

     The yoke will be utterly destroyed because of fatness.  What does that really mean?  In the days of Isaiah they used wooden yokes on the cattle.  These yokes would automatically break and fall off of cattle if the cattle became to fat.  If the yokes wouldn’t have broke the cattle would have choked themselves.  This is a picture of the anointing, which interpreted properly, destroys every yoke of bondage.  In other words the way to get rid of the bondage in your life is to become full of God.  After you get full enough, which only comes with an intense desire to feed constantly on the word of God, the bondages in our life will start falling away from us.  So, we don’t need deliverance counseling.  I’m not saying that deliverance counseling is not much needed in the body of Christ, but we can use it for a crutch sometimes.  The fullness of God will take care of all of our problems.  “God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.”  We need to be pigs when we sit down and feed at God’s table.  We must continue to feed until we’re so full that it hurts.  Then, as soon as that food settles we need to eat more and more and more.  The yokes will be destroyed if you will become a hog for God, that’s right!  So all of you guys and girls that love food, just change your diet a little and your lives will start changing.  Be fat in the Lord!!                    God Bless,  Rusty  

Exodus 27:20, “ And you shall charge the sons of Israel, that they bring you clear oil of beaten olives for the light, to make a lamp burn continually,”

     The lamp is supposed to burn continually.  That is the message that God gave to His people.  We were never supposed to allow the lamp to go out.  The trouble with this is that, with the exception of Sundays, most Christians don’t even use the light.  The church today has gotten people to a point where we come on Sundays to get our fix, and then we turn around and just hope it lasts till the next week.  We’ve become what I call spiritual junkies.  We get a fix on Sunday and then we just hang on until the next fix comes.  Sometimes we go to church on Wednesday to get another fix, but if we consider taking the very essence of God, and keeping our lights burning every day of our life, the concept is not something we grasp onto.  We don’t realize that God’s people went to the synagogue every week on the Sabbath, but that was not it.  They also went to the temple every day to pray and worship God.  If God's very own nation of chosen people went to the church every day and they still disobeyed Him, they still crucified Him on Friday, what do we do by the end of the week?  It’s not pretty in most cases.  The church, and we as individuals, must wake up.  We must arise and shine.  The light of Jesus Christ must be illuminated now, more then ever before.  So the question for us all today is, “Are we keeping the light burning every day or are we just junkies looking for our next fix?”  It’s not to late to change, but let’s do it right now, Amen!   God Bless,  Rusty

Luke 12:34, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

     What are our priorities in life?  You may have to stop and think about that question for awhile.  But if you just look at your life, it won’t be hard to figure them out.  We may have a job, but is our job our priority?  In others words, do we just go to work because it’s a job, or are we concerned about the company we work for?  Do we really care about whether they succeed or not, other then the fact that if they don’t, we are out a job.  You might ask the question, “What’s that got to do with anything?”  Well, it has everything to do with it.  For instance, if you just work there because you need a job, you’re just going to work there.  But if you care about the place and want to help the company to be the best it can be, then you are going to do the best job you can.  In other words, your heart is in it.  That illustration can be taken to numerous things in life.  What about your marriage?  What about your friends? What about your church?  What about Jesus?  You see I used to have friends, but the reason I had friends was always different with each one, depending on my needs.  As I grow older, I have learned the importance of friends and the value that they bring to one’s life.  It’s different now.  Well, what about the Lord.  Is He your Lord just because your spouse goes to church and you think it’s probably a good thing for your kids?  Maybe you go because it gives you a better status in the community.  You know, everyone goes to a particular church.  So if I want to be someone in the community I better go there.  Is Jesus your Lord because it’s convenient or because you love Him.  Does He have your heart, or is He just a friend because of a need you have in your life?  Where is your heart?  One thing is for sure.  Wherever your heart is, there your treasure will be also.  Where is your treasure today?           God Bless,  Rusty   

Romans 8:31, “What shall we say to these things?  If God is for us, who is against us?”

     When we’re going through things in our life that we just don’t understand, God is for us!  When we don’t understand why something has happened to us, we must always and forever remember, God is for us!  When it looks like the bills aren’t going to be paid, we must always remember, God is for us!  When we lose our strength in the battle, and the walls are closing in on us, God is for us!  When the tribulation of the world seems to be over whelming and there doesn’t seem to be any answers, God is for us!  When the doctor gives us a bad report, do we trust in the doctor or continue to shout, God is for me!  No matter what the situation, or what happens to us, we must shout from the highest mountain, “God is for me!”  Because if God is for me, If He loves me and never forsakes me, if He’s true and His word can never fail then who can stand against me!  No one can!  We will make it because God is on our side.  It’s simple, it’s straight forward, and it’s true!  So stand strong in it today and you will make it through!  You won’t make it because of anything in this world, but because God is for you, and that’s enough!    God Bless,  Rusty

Lord, I pray for myself and all my brothers and sisters in Christ.  It’s such a hard time out there.  Money is tight and every day there is another tragedy.  Sometimes we feel like we’re in the desert and there is no water in sight.  Some days we read our bibles and pray and we still can’t hear you, or feel that presence we long for.  You are such a good God, we know that, and you love us with an everlasting love.  But Lord, some days, and today is one of those days, we need to feel your arms lifting us.  We need your strength to carry us through.  I just sense that today is one of those days for my friends and I stand in the gap for each one of them today.  I claim your strength would overtake each one of us and we would stand in your grace, just like we experienced a sweet spring shower falling from the heavens above.  Help each one of us to walk in a new certainty that the God of the universe cares for all of us, yes, but that He specifically cares for each and every one of us.  I pray strength and peace into each person’s life and I thank you in advance for bringing each one to an oasis of life this very day.  I thank you for it in the name of Jesus Christ, the strong Son of God, Amen!    God Bless You,  Rusty

1 John 5: 11, “And the witness is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in the Son.”

     The life is in the Son.  It really sounds simple enough, doesn’t it?  His life is in the Son, not in us, so the only way we can experience life is if the Son is in us.  It’s kind of like scuba gear.  The air is in the tanks.  What’s inside the tanks will keep you alive under water, where man can’t survive.  Man can’t breathe on his own under the water because he brings in air through his lungs, which can’t pull air out of water.  Gills can pull air out of water, so fish, who live in water, have gills.  But man doesn’t have gills.  So how can we go under the water and survive, or, have life?  We put on the air tanks and breathe what’s in them.  And so we have life, but not on our own, we breathe and survive by what’s in the tanks.  It’s the same way with our Lord.  We will never survive and have true life in this world on our own.  We must put on spiritual air tanks which will give us life.  So we put on Christ and breathe the breath of life through Him.  He is our breath and the very air that we breathe.  So if you don’t feel any life today just get out your spiritual air tanks and get some Godly air to breathe.  Let Him wake up your spirit with His breath.  Be filled with the  very breath of God and live life abundantly today.  Put on Jesus and have a blessed day.   Hallelujah!    God Bless,  Rusty

Galatians 5:1, “It was for freedom that Christ set us free.”

     Many Christians have minds filled with so much confusion that their walk with Christ is totally unfulfilling.  When they try to pray, they can’t concentrate or read the bible only to forget everything they just read.  A lot have thoughts of self doubt, “I don’t know enough, I’m not strong enough, I’m not good enough.”  Instead of being victorious Christians and winning people to the Lord, they’re confused and not even able to function properly.  They are deceived and need to be released form their torment.  Christ has died so that we could have freedom.  I pray that if you’re not experiencing that freedom, you start praying and asking God for deliverance.  It’s Independence Day!  What a great day to start!  You are smart enough and you are strong enough.  All you have to do is get Christ working for you in the areas of your life that are messed up and you will have your own 4th of July.  I’ve been there and done it.  It’s wonderful being free, so why don’t you start the process.  It’s time, don’t you think?  God Bless,  Rusty

Matthew 25:40, “ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of mine, even the least of them, you did it to me.”’”

     That’s quite a comparison.  Jesus is telling us that every time that we reach out to someone in need, we are actually reaching out to Him.  He’s actually telling us to adjust our vision. Who do we see on the street in need?  Who do we see laying on the corner in a drunken stupor?  Who do we see in our church, sitting next to us?  If the person is in need, we need to focus our eyes on Jesus.  We need to see that person as one who was despised and forsaken of men.  Look at people down on their luck as people who are full of sorrow and acquainted with grief, one who is despised.  That’s the one who looks like Jesus.  If we help just the ones that need help, we’re missing the whole story.  Jesus didn’t even have an appearance that would have attracted us unto Him.  He was just a man who had worked hard His whole life in the carpentry business.  His skin was dark and wind burnt.  His hair was dark black and He probably did not shampoo and crème rinse every day.  He probably looked like someone we’d tell to go home and clean up before they came to church.  He probably didn’t have a chance to stop and have His nails or feet done at the local shop.  He probably looked like someone who you’d stay away from to avoid trouble.  Oh Yeah, He was just like so many people we avoid today.  But He would never avoid us.  In fact, the smell of this earth on us would probably draw Him to us.  That’s what He’s talking about.  He’s saying, in my terms of course, “Let’s get real.”  If we can’t take care of the people around us and in our cities what good is the church.  What good is He if everyone is hurting and in need?  Wait a minute, I have the solution to take care of everyone.  It’s a way that we can take care of them and not really have to come close to them or do our job.  I got a great name for it to.  Let’s call it the Welfare system.  Yea, that will work.  Okay now let’s just not worry anymore about those people because, after all, the government is going to take care of them.  Problem solved!              God Bless,  Rusty  

Joshua 24: 15, “And if it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

     Bob Dylan wrote a song called, “You’re gonna have to serve somebody.”  In it he says that you’re either going to serve the devil or the Lord.  His lyrics probably echoed what Joshua told the people so many years ago.  We all do, in fact, serve someone.  The truth is that we serve someone regardless of whether we make a choice to or not.  In other words, if we decide to serve the Lord, we make a conscience decision to do so.  Some people also make a conscience decision not to serve the Lord.  The ones in limbo, so to speak, are the ones who don’t really make any decision at all.  They’re just not concerned one way or another.  These people are the ones who make a choice without knowing it, and that’s what Dylan tried to tell us.  You see, to not choose to serve the lord is automatically, whether we choose it or not, making a choice to serve the god of this world.  We can no longer sit on the fence, rotating between two ways of life.  Neither can we not choose to serve the Lord.  The lines are being drawn and we are going to have to take a stand.  The days are short and the times are becoming darker then ever.  Joshua is crying out across eternity today and the choose is right in front of us.  It’s something that can’t be put off, “Choose this day who you will serve; but as for me and my house, we shall serve the Lord.”                       God Bless,  Rusty

Jeremiah 31:25, “For I satisfy the weary ones and refresh everyone who languishes.”

     The topic is inner, or emotional healing.  Yesterday we looked into the Lord binding up our wounds and today I want to talk about another way that we can receive healing.  The word says that He satisfies the weary ones.  How does He do that?  Very simply, His word does.  The more that we get into the word, the more refreshed we will be.  You know, instead of reading Christian books all the time.  Now, there is nothing wrong with most Christian reading material but if we spend more time reading about the bible then reading the bible itself, we’re missing it.  God’s word is the only thing that can heal.  I didn’t even mention TV or other books or hobbies, which we know we all spend to much time with.  The point is that the only thing that can refresh us is the word of God, period.  That’s why God gave us His word, to reveal Himself to us.  The more we know Him, the more we will be able to receive His healing power inside.  The other part of this scripture plays right along with this, “He refreshes everyone who languishes.”  The word refresh actually is the word fills.  His presence in us, which is revealed by the word, allows Him to grow up and fill us.  There is no better way to be refreshed and to have pain in your life disappear then to be full of Him every second of your life.  Staying in His presence is vital!!!  Staying filled up with His presence, or being filled with the Holy Spirit every day and every waking second is the key to receiving and walking in our healing.  God is good.  There is no sickness or disease in His presence.  It’s that simple.  There is no sickness or disease in Heaven.  God doesn’t have sickness and disease for us, just, “life and life abundantly.”  So today I pray that you would become so full of Him that He becomes real to you.  More real then ever before.  I promise that you’ll feel better then you’ve felt in years, and your healing process will start, it’s really that simple!      God Bless,  Rusty