The Pastor's Pocket

  Do you know that “fear not” is the command most often repeated in the Bible? It’s true! Fear and timidity are never God’s will for His people. They are never an option for children of the living God. Fear and faith are opposites. When fear walks in, faith walks out. Yet we know without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). If we want to please God, we must conquer fear and walk in faith. Oh I know there are a hundred reasons to be afraid; high energy prices, home foreclosures, wars, civil unrest, sickness and disease. The list goes on and on. Yet the Lord would have us trust Him with our fears and not worry. I love Psalm 46:1-2a, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear...” A choice is involved here. Either we worry all day, or we trust God. To live in fear is as much a disobedience to God as stealing or lying. Most of us haven’t thought of worry like this. Instead of living in fear, why not pray instead. Give your...

  Let’s face it; people often let us down Some of life’s greatest disappointments stem from someone we know and trust leaving a wound on our soul. All of us, at some time or another, have been seriously disappointed in other people (even Christian brothers and sisters) by their behavior, their attitude, their words, or they responded to us in a way that we felt was inappropriate. Knowing ahead of time that offences will come is a hard lesson, but it must be learned. Someone said, “the best of men is a man at best”. We must accept the reality that every person is a human being, subject to multiple failures and mistakes in their relationship with others. If we are prepared for disappointment, it will lessen the level of pain we feel, or at least lessen the frustration and help us heal and overcome our attitude toward them. Here are a few “words of wisdom” to consider: (1) Your immediate family is a “classroom”. They are often the last to understand what you’re all about. Don’t be sur...

  When God does something wonderful for you, you have a right to be happy about it! In Acts 3:1-10, consider the incredible miracle that this poor crippled man experienced. His whole life up until that moment was filled with misery, humiliation, pain and frustration, but by the power of God, his humiliation turned into jubilation! For the first time in his life, he was overwhelmed with pure joy. He was so happy that he just couldn’t hold it in! He entered the temple with Peter and John “walking and leaping and praising God”. In most churches today, there is not enough rejoicing. The sounds of happy Christians, clapping, shouting, singing and testimonies of praise are too often absent in our services. It’s no wonder we don’t attract the lost! We’ve given the unsaved the impression that our salvation has made us miserable. May I remind you dear friend that the gospel is still “good news”. God loves us, in spite of ourselves, and He still offers eternal life, forgiveness, peace and jo...

  It’s been said that we learn two ways; mentors or mistakes. Think about that. We can learn from some-one or some-thing. We can be instructed, coached, motivated, helped, or guided by someone with more wisdom, more knowledge, more skill, more talent or more strength than we have ourselves. Or, we can do things our own way, in our own limited understanding, with our own limited skills or resources. When we allow ourselves to be mentored, we can avoid many mistakes that we would make otherwise. Over many years of pastoring, I’ve watched people make a lot of mistakes in their marriage, their parenting, their finances, and their health. They made poor decisions because they refused to learn from someone who could help them. Did they learn from their mistakes? Proably so, but those are hard lessons that led to a lot of frustration and heartache. I’ve preached a lot of sermons through the years that would have helped some people with problems they are facing, but they never showed up to...

  Most of us live close enough to the ocean that we have been there and watched the waves crashing in on the shoreline. They just keep coming, don’t they? Wave after wave. The process never ceases. That to me is a picture of God’s grace. Yes, the grace of God. His undeserved favor poured out upon our lives, wave after wave, day by day, even minute by minute, His grace keeps coming. God spoke to the Apostle Paul with these words, “My grace is sufficient for thee…” (2 Corinthians 12:9). Sufficient: meaning always enough. Just like the waves of the ocean, grace keeps coming. It never runs out. It never ceases to flow into our lives, in our crisis moments, the dark seasons of our lives. Just when we need God’s touch, He will provide His grace for whatever we face. Thank God for waves! From the Pastor’s Pocket Pastor Bruce Freeman

Have you ever felt trapped by your circumstances? Have you ever thought, “Lord, when will my breakthrough come?” I’m always amazed when I read the story of Rahab. Here is a woman facing a crisis. She is living in a city that is about to be destroyed and she knew it. Her situation, from a human perspective, looked hopeless. A crisis is a situation in which your future will take one direction or another. It will get better or it will get worse. But God can make a way! Even though Rahab was a prostitute, faith rose up in her soul (read Joshua 2:9-11). She cried out for deliverance and God heard her cry. Let’s note three amazing things: (1) God hears the cry of every person who calls to Him and declares that He is the true and living God (John 3:16, Romans 10:13). (2) God doesn’t determine your future based on your past. No matter where you’ve been, what you’ve done, or what you are, God will set you free and give you a future filled with the best He has to offer. (3) Your faith is what mo...

  “Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for Thee” Psalm 25:21 Wait? Oh my Preacher, that is so hard to do! I hear you. Waiting seems difficult, useless, and even impossible to do. But, it does have a significant role to play in our development and growth process. This generation is one of rush, rush; hurry, hurry. I believe one of Satan’s tactics is to speed us up, bypassing the blessing that comes with lingering in the presence of God. We must learn to enjoy the now, to savor the present moment. After all, it has taken us a lifetime to get here! Yesterday is in the tomb, tomorrow is in the womb. Today, this moment, is all we have. So why do we find it so hard to wait on the Lord if that’s what He instructs us to do? I have made many a blunder by failing to wait on God. Pushing though my agenda seldom works out. Here are some tips to help you and I wait when necessary: (1) Waiting is hurry’s enemy. Patience brings power, vision, motivation and perseverance. All are...