Archives for 2017

Good morning,

This week we conclude our study of the book of Romans. Chapter 16 lists the names of many Christians from Rome who have ministered with or influenced Paul’s life. Paul warns his readers of the people who try to cause divisions in the Church. He ends by praising God.

It is sad that we must continue to deal with this issue 2000 years after Paul admonished the Church in Rome. We must be vigilant. Deceivers, those who cause division, and those who pervert the Word of God lurk unawares in our churches. They challenge the leadership, God’s word, and the character of other believers. As Paul states, “Mark them…” Then apply the principles of Matthew 18:15-17. Church discipline is the only way to remove them from corrupting God’s people.

Warnings about those who cause divisions (16:17-20)

¹⁷ Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.¹⁸ For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.¹⁹ For your obedience is come abroad unto all men. I am glad therefore on your behalf: but yet I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil.²⁰ And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Paul makes it clear that the Roman Christians obedience to God’s word was “…come abroad unto all men.”

Is the obedience of you individually, your church, and your church leaders, known among this community?

It should be!

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001

Good morning,

This week we conclude our study of the book of Romans. Chapter 16 lists the names of many Christians from Rome who have ministered with or influenced Paul’s life. Paul warns his readers of the people who try to cause divisions in the Church. He ends by praising God.

Ministry for Jesus Christ takes a team. The people Paul mentions, played a part in helping Paul be successful. Transportation, lodging, logistics, monetary gifts, and prayer are all part of ministry. Many times we see the Preacher or the Evangelist and are blessed by what they say. However, without the support team, there might not be a message.

Whatever you do in your local church is important to the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. People get saved because of what appears to be insignificant ministries. No one may ever know what you do, but God does. He is pleased that you serve.

This is what Paul is communicating to the Christians at Rome.

Greetings to fellow laborers in the Lord (16:1-16)

I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea:² That ye receive her in the Lord, as becometh saints, and that ye assist her in whatsoever business she hath need of you: for she hath been a succourer of many, and of myself also.³ Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ Jesus:⁴ Who have for my life laid down their own necks: unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles.⁵ Likewise greet the church that is in their house. Salute my well-beloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ.⁶ Greet Mary, who bestowed much labor on us.⁷ Salute Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen, and my fellow-prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me. ⁸ Greet Amplias my beloved in the Lord.⁹ Salute Urbane, our helper in Christ, and Stachys my beloved.¹⁰ Salute Apelles approved in Christ. Salute them which are of Aristobulus’ household.¹¹ Salute Herodion my kinsman. Greet them that be of the household of Narcissus, which are in the Lord.¹² Salute Tryphena and Tryphosa, who labor in the Lord. Salute the beloved Persis, which labored much in the Lord.¹³ Salute Rufus chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine.¹⁴ Salute Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermas, Patrobas, Hermes, and the brethren which are with them.¹⁵ Salute Philologus, and Julia, Nereus, and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints which are with them. ¹⁶ Salute one another with an holy kiss. The churches of Christ salute you.

Please ask God to show you how you might minister for Him. Then whatever He asks you to do, whether great or small, do it.

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001

Good morning,

Idols come in many forms. Anything that we hold higher than God is our idol. As we will learn today, it may be things, thoughts, or our heart attitude. We need to get rid of the idols in our lives.

Some thoughts on idolatry!

“These men have set up their idols in their hearts!” Ezekiel 14:3

“Their heart went after their idols!” Ezekiel 20:16

“We are all born idolaters!” Thomas Watson

“An idol is an idol–whether worshiped inwardly in heart, or adorned outwardly by the knee.” J.C. Philpot

“Every one of us is, from his mother’s womb, expert in inventing idols. Man’s nature, so to speak, is a perpetual idol factory!” John Calvin

“An idol of the mind is as offensive to God as an idol of the hand.” A.W. Tozer

“O wretched idol, MYSELF!” Samuel Rutherford

“If we are indeed Christians–we have broken a great many idols. We have still some more to break–and we must keep the hammer going until they are all broken!” Charles Spurgeon

“This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Repent! Turn from your idols and renounce all your detestable practices!” Ezekiel 14:6

“Dear children, keep yourselves from idols!” 1 John 5:21
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Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001

Good morning,

God wants us to pray. Prayer acknowledges our dependence on God. Today’s devotional tells us a real need of today’s local churches.

What the Church needs today!

(E.M. Bounds)

“They all joined together constantly in prayer” Acts 1:14

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” Acts 2:42

The church is looking for better methods—God is looking for holier men.

What the Church needs today is not more or better machinery, not new organizations or more and novel methods–but men mighty in prayer.

The Holy Spirit does not flow through methods–but through men.
He does not come on machinery–but on men.
He does not anoint plans–but men, men of prayer.

Prayer is our most formidable weapon, the thing which makes all else we do efficient.

“The prayer meeting is the gauge of the Church’s spiritual condition. You may always test your church’s prosperity–by the number who assemble to pray!” Charles Spurgeon

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Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001

Good morning,

Sin is bad. We need to avoid it at all costs. This devotion is a reminder why.

We are as moths near a burning candle!

(Charles Spurgeon)

“Turn away my eyes from looking at vanity!” Psalm 119:37

Dear friends, do not gaze upon any sin . . .
for looking breeds longing,
and longing begets lusting,
and lusting brings sinning!

Keep your eyes right–and you may keep your heart right.

If that first woman had not looked upon the forbidden tree and seen “that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise,” she would not have plucked and eaten the forbidden fruit–and we would not have been the children of sin and sorrow!

O friends, if we begin to look upon iniquity, we shall almost certainly fall! There are some sins that we poor, frail creatures cannot endure to look at. We are as moths near a burning candle–the only safety for us is to get out of the room and fly into the open air. But if we go near the candle–we shall certainly burn our wings and, perhaps, even destroy ourselves!

Just so, we must take care that we do not get used to sin. I believe that even the common reading in the newspapers of accounts of evil things is defiling to us. If we habitually read such things, we shall come, at last, to think less and less of the coarser forms of vice than we ought to do.

Nothing can keep us away from the fangs of sin, like falling into the embraces of Christ. Looking unto Jesus, is the great remedy against looking unto sin!

Turn away my eyes from vanity, my Lord, by filling them full with a vision of Yourself and holding me spellbound with that grandest spectacle that eyes of men, or angels, or even of God, Himself ever saw–the spectacle of God Incarnate bearing our sin in His own body on the Cross!

Keep your eyes fixed there–and all will be well.

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Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001

 

Good morning,

Each new year brings a fresh batch of challenges, growth, and spiritual renewal. May our focus be on Jesus, the cross, and our heavenly home. This could be the year He takes us home.

Are we ready?

This year I may be in Heaven!

(Octavius Winslow, “Morning Thoughts”)

“You have not traveled this way before!” Joshua 3:4

How solemn is the reflection that each traveler to Zion is commencing a new and untrodden path!
New events in his history will transpire;
new scenes in the panorama of life will unfold;
new phases of character will develop;
new temptations will assail;
new duties will devolve;
new trials will be experienced;
new sorrows will be felt;
new friendships will be formed
new mercies will be bestowed.

How truly may it be said of the pilgrim journeying through the wilderness to his eternal home, as he stands upon the threshold of this untried period of his existence, pondering the unknown and uncertain future: “You have not traveled this way before!”

Reader! if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus, you will enter upon a new stage of your journey by a renewed surrender of yourself to the Lord. You will make the cross the starting-point of a fresh setting out in the Heavenly race.

Oh, to begin the year with a broken heart for sin, beneath the cross of Immanuel–looking through that cross to the heart of a loving, forgiving Father!

Do not be anxious about the future–all that future God has provided for:
“All my times are in Your hands.”
“Casting all your cares upon Him, for He cares for you.”
“Cast your burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain you.”

Let it be a year of more spiritual advance: “Speak to the children of Israel that they go forward.”
Forward in the path of duty;
forward in the path of suffering;
forward in the path of conflict;
forward in the path of labor; and
forward in the path to eternal rest and glory!

Soon will that rest be reached, and that glory appear! This new year may be the jubilee year of your soul–the year of your release. Oh spirit-stirring, ecstatic thought–this year I may be in Heaven!

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Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001

Good morning,

Read and be encouraged.

Holy ground!

(Alexander Smellie, “The Secret Place” 1907)

“Do not come any closer! Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground!” Exodus 3:5

I have no need to go to the loneliness of Sinai to meet with God. I find holy ground much nearer home. But I wonder whether I take my sandals off of my feet.

God reveals Himself to me in His written Word. It is His sanctuary. By its agency, my deepest life is created, quickened, sustained. Listening to it, the saints have heard the very voice of their Lord. But do I reverence God by my frivolous use of the words of Scripture? And, whenever I open the Book, do I remember that God has breathed the Spirit of Life into its chapters and verses? Mine is culpable levity.

He reveals Himself in my history, as truly as ever He did in the history of Israel. In it, the devout heart will trace . . .
His perfect providence,
His power,
His wisdom,
His stern hatred of sin,
His overflowing goodness.

Best of all, He reveals Himself in Christ. But if Christ brings Him close to me, He teaches me fresh reasons for standing in awe of Him.

His life shows me what God is–spotless, righteous, faithful, unflinchingly holy.

And His Cross has a more impressive message still. Here are God’s infinite gentleness and shoreless mercy. Side by side with these are God’s abhorrence of my iniquity, and His unconquerable justice. He is holy, holy, holy–even in the brightest and sweetest manifestation of His grace. Yet I do not always worship Him “with trembling hope and penitential tears.”

Not a day passes, that I am not standing in the courts of His house. Not a place can I visit, where the Spirit of glory and of God may not overshadow me. I pray for tenfold more thoughtfulness and adoration and humility.

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Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001

Good morning,

Happy New Year.

Many people make resolutions each year. Generally speaking, most are broken before January has expired. Sunday I preached a message on Spiritual Conduct. The Introduction began with a suggestion to dump the resolutions in place of OBEDIENCE to God’s word. Further I asked how many had even read the complete Bible. How can you be obedient to something you know nothing about? So, the challenge was to begin to read the Bible this year. Three chapters a day should do it.

This is an important message for all believers. God expects us to act in accordance to His word. I have printed the outline and references below. Please look up the references and ask God whether these are areas where work is needed. Then allow the Holy Spirit to convict and work.

Obedience to God and His word should be what we strive for in 2017.

1) SPIRITUAL BATTLE (EPHESIANS 6:10-12)

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

2) SPIRITUAL MIND (PHILIPPIANS 2:1-3, 4:8-9) KEY VERSES 2 AND 8

 If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, Fulfill ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.

3) SPIRITUAL CONVERSATION (JAMES 3:1-18) KEY VERSES 10, 17-18

Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.

4) SPIRITUAL FRUIT (GALATIANS 5:22-3)

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

5) SPIRITUAL CONDUCT (2 PETER 1:1-12) KEY VERSES 3-9

According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.

6) SPIRITUAL TRUST (PROVERBS 3:5-6)

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

7) SPIRITUAL CLEANSING (1 JOHN 1:9)

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

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Remember, people are looking at you every day. Christians should be presenting themselves as the Scriptures above state.

Are we?

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001