Hello Everyone,
After you put your faith in Christ you will only want to do what pleases God. Anyone can receive this faith. How?

The answer can be found in the rest of verse 6 of Hebrews 11“because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”Number one thing I must come to Him.Notice what he is not saying. I must come to church. I must come to Christ.Secondly I must believe that He exists.I believe that He exists only in the moments I want to please Him.If I do not want to do what pleases Him I do not believe that He exists.
If you or I are deliberately doing something that does not please God and do not want to turn away from it then we don’t believe God exists.

You don’t believe a Holy God exists. You don’t believe in a God who says through the Apostle Paul in Galatians 5:19-21 “When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, your lives will produce these evil results: sexual immorality, impure thoughts, eagerness for lustful pleasure, idolatry, participation in demonic activities, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, divisions, the feeling that everyone is wrong except those in your own little group, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other kinds of sin. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Lastly I must earnestly seek Him.I must be serious about wanting to please God by receiving His Son Jesus Christ.

I must be more interested in pleasing God than in pleasing myself or others.

He only rewards those who earnestly seek Him.

Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Oh How HE Loves Us!
Pastor phil

Hello Everyone,

The phrase that we need to look at in Hebrews 11:6 is …and without faith…It is impossible to achieve my purpose in life which is to please God without faith.“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:1)Faith in what God does for me in Jesus.Jesus pleased God in everything that He did.

When anyone places their faith in Christ God credits that person as someone who also pleased God in everything they did. In Hebrews 11 the names of Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Rahab the prostitute, Gideon, Samson and David are listed.

Reading about them only in Hebrews 11 you would think they only did what pleases God. You never read about one thing they did wrong? Question: Did David ever do anything that displeased God? Did Moses? Did Abraham? God forgives and God forgets when we put our faith in Jesus.After you put your faith in Christ you will only want to do what pleases God. Anyone can receive this faith. How?

The answer can be found in the rest of verse 6 of Hebrews 11 and that will be our thought tomorrow.

Oh How HE Loves Us!
Pastor phil

Hello Everyone,

My e-votion is a few days late I have been running be hind for the last few days.

We left off last week looking at Hebrews 11:6 “How to please God”.

The only way into heaven is by pleasing God.Now we said this phrase “and without faith it is impossible to please God” contains some bad news in the middle…what is that bad news?...It is impossible to please God… “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” (Romans 3:10-11) The world and many even in the church have found an unbiblical way around this bad news in the middle of our phrase. How?

They say “If it is impossible to please God then let us just change god. Let’s change god into a nicer, kinder, gentler god. Let’s make this new god pleased with everything the old god wasn’t pleased with. Lets make this new god ok about sins the old god wasn’t ok about. The old god was all for our holiness but lets make this new god all for our happiness. And if anyone says to us you can’t do that lets make the argument that all we are doing is replacing the Old Testament God with the New Testament God. The problem with that argument is that our verse is not from the Old Testament but the New Testament. Paul said to Timothy (2 Timothy 4:3-4)“For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” Our purpose in life is to please God. If you want a purpose driven life that is it.

Unless you and I please God we will not go to heaven. But it is impossible to please God.
So unless there is another part to this phrase no one is going to heaven.

That is what we will look at tomorrow.

Oh How HE Loves Us!
Pastor phil

Hello Everyone,

I want to concentrate on the first part of Hebrews 11:6. The part that says “And without faith it is impossible to please God…” This phrase tells us three truths. 1. It tells us our purpose in life 2. It tells us how to reach our purpose in life.3. It tells us some very bad news in the middle The first truth that we see in this verse is our purpose in life.
Our purpose in life is to please God.“This is my Son whom I love with him I am well pleased.” (Matt 3:17, 17:5, Mark 1:11, Luke 3:22)Jesus said in John 8:29b “I always do what pleases him.”1 Thessalonians 4:1 “Finally, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more.”“By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one… who pleased God.” (Heb 1:5) Before you are taken from this life you must be commended as one who pleases God!

Why? No one who does not please God will be found in heaven.The majority of this age believes more in the Grandparent clause than The Word of God.” The Grandparent clause says…” God always sees the good in everyone.”
My question to them is how many Grandchildren does God have?
God does not have any grandchildren. God only has children.

You are not going to heaven because your parents had you baptized as a baby. My kids are not getting into heaven because their dad’s a pastor. Matter of fact I am not getting into to Heaven because I am a pastor. The only way into heaven is by pleasing God.
Oh How HE Loves Us!
Pastor phil

Hello Everyone,

The Fathers extends mercy by not making us pay for our sins.
He removes ours sins as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12) and frees us from both guilt and judgment.

In Christ, we do not get what we deserve. God’s mercy is not at the expense of His justice.

Because Christ has been judged in our place, we do not receive what we deserve—punishment, for our sins.

What hope-filled and amazing news! Mercy is a great gift.

BUT God’s love goes one step farther. God overflows with such AMAZING GRACE that He offers us far more He offers the life of His only Son.
He freely extends His love, friendship, and every spiritual blessing in the Heavenly realms (Eph. 1:3).
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:

The perfect, sinless life of Jesus, lived in obedience to the Father, has been credited to us. “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor.5:21).

We become living expressions of God’s goodness, grace, and glory! The grace of God is so extravagant that it almost appears reckless, defying any logical explanation.

As we reflect on the depth of our sin and remember the height of God’s love, our hearts will be powerfully captured by Amazing Grace.

Oh How HE Loves Us!
Pastor phil

Hello Everyone,

Justice - is getting what we deserve.
Mercy - is not getting what we deserve.
Grace - is getting what we don’t deserve.

Mercy does not make sense in a world filled with retaliation and compensation for any and all wrongs.
Mercy can seem foolish and over generous.

As extravagant and reckless as mercy appears, it is eclipsed by the sheer GLORY of GRACE.

Grace --- is getting what we do not deserve.
It is exorbitant, senseless, staggering. Grace takes our breath away and leaves us gasping in stunned amazement.

God deals with the need for justice through the work of Christ on the cross, He shows us mercy by forgiving our sins, and He showers us with grace when we trust Him by faith.

The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (KJV)

The price of sin must be paid. Because God is just, He cannot ignore the reality of our sin.

Jesus, the sinless son of God, died in the place of sinful people like you and me (1 Peter 2:24) to satisfy the just judgment of God.
Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. (KJV)

Oh How HE Loves Us!
Pastor phil

Hello Everyone,
Second part to having faith in God -By faith we undertake certain things. (Hebrews 11:4)“By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.”James said “what good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?”What is one thing we are all called to undertake by faith? “By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did.”We are all called by faith to undertake to offer God a better sacrifice.“Therefore I urge you brothers in view of God’s mercy to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God which is your spiritual act of worship.”(Romans 12:1)Faith is not about speaking something positive.
Faith is about sacrificing something positive. Quote: “There is no success without sacrifice. If I succeed without sacrifice it will be because someone before me made the sacrifice. If I sacrifice without success then someone coming after me will reap the success from my sacrifice”.What is success? Abel’s success was “he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offering. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.”Success is when God speaks well of you.Success always follows sacrifice! Success always follows sacrifice! Success always follows sacrifice!Abraham – sacrificed IsaacMoses – his position in EgyptPeter – his fishing businessPaul – his position in JudaismJesus – his place in heavenIf I want to have a successful Christian life I have to sacrifice some things by faith.•I wish I was better at understanding worship. •I wish I was better at understanding praying•I wish I was better at understanding the Word of God•I wish I was better at sharing my faithWhat would God want me to sacrifice by faith in order to get better at all of these things?Warning: I can either be like Cain or be like Abel. If I’m like Abel I’m going to do it. If I’m like Cain I’m not going to do it.If I am to reach my potential I must:Trust God (Abel trusted God)“Helen Keller said, “Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men, as a whole experience it. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.” Sacrifice for something bigger than todayI must give up for the moment in order to “go up” the ladder of God’s dream.Make Eternal ChoicesDr. Anthony Campolo tells of a study of fifty people over the age of 95 who were asked this question: “If you could live your life over again, what would you do differently?” Three answers were dominant. They were:1. If I had to do it over again. I would reflect more2. If I had to do it over again, I would risk more.3. If I had to do it over again, I would do more things that would live on after I am dead. Abel “By faith he still speaks even though he is dead.What are we sacrificing to show our faith is real?

Oh How HE Loves Us!
Pastor phil