Often we can not see what God has for us in the future. It can be frustrating at times, we know that we need to be trusting in him, and we do, yet at the same time we just want to know!!

I imagine Moses was quite the same way. Prince of Egypt, now cast to the back side of the desert. What a change in scenery. Can you imagine what must have been going through his head. He knew that he was an Israelite and he had even tried to help (in a completely wrong way), and now he was somewhere that would have no affect upon his people, or so he might have thought.

Moses’ Job was to tend a flock of sheep, lead them to water, guide them through the wilderness, making sure that they were taken care of. Does this sound familiar? This is exactly the task that Moses had to fulfill once the children of Israel left Egypt. Moses lead them to water (or better, through him water was provided by God), lead them through the wilderness, he had to make sure that they were taken care of!

Remember this lesson. Often times in life we may not understand why God has us where we are. Remember that we don’t know the completion of God’s plan, but God does. God may have you doing something now that you see no point for, yet in the future you may realize that he was training you for something very specific!

~ Nate

I am preparing my lesson for youth group tomorrow night, in my preparation I have have been studying Gal 2:17.  I have not “found” anything “new”, but I have been greatly impressed by what Paul is saying!

Gal 2:17 But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid.

Paul is addressing the issue of Peter moving away from the Gentiles because they were not following the Mosaic Law. Paul speaks this verse as a great challenge and accusation against Peter! He is saying: If while you are saying you are justified by grace, yet you are still seeking to be justified by the Law, you are saying that the grace of God was not good enough to justify you. In fact you are saying that even after the grace of God you are still a sinner! This is not true because Christ is NOT the minster of sin! If you are looking to the Law to justify you, you are saying Christ what you did wasn’t good enough!!!!

What a strong accusation!

There are two applications from this verse:

One, if you are unsaved, Christ’s grace is more than you need to be justified, there is NOTHING you can do! Following the Law will not justify you. Christ is not the minister of sin, but if justification and if you are seeking to be justified any other way you will not be justified!

Two, if you are saved, you are already justified! And as Paul says in verse 18, if you seek to go back to works to justify yourself you are make yourself a transgressor and not justifying yourself. The Law was NEVER meant to justify, but to show that one was a sinner and needed a savior!

I hope that you have been challenged as I have been! Not to look to the Law to make me a better person, but to look towards Christ! The Law is there to help teach us what is wrong so that we look to Christ for what if right!

~ Nate

This morning (8/20) I gave a devotional at our men’s prayer breakfast. I know it was practical in my life and wanted to share it here as well.

Hebrews 4:16

“Let Us” – Prayer is not one person praying, while everyone else is thinking about everything else in life. When one person leads in prayer we need to all be praying with them, they are “leading” in prayer, not praying on behalf.We need to pray individually. Prayer is not just a collective event, but is something that each one of us need to be doing individually as well. Last under this phrase, prayer is something that we need to teach our families, and to those around us. It is an us factor, therefore we should help others to be part of the us, and not just someone who listens to others pray.

“therefore come boldly” – We do not have to fear God. I am not saying that we don’t reverence God, I am saying that we don’t come timidly. “Boldly” means “openly” or “confidently” we are joint heirs with Christ, we don’t have to be timid before God. It is not “proudly” though, there is still a reverence.

“unto the throne” - We come before the King of kings. He is not just another man. He is not one of many gods, he is the supreme being of all the universe. He has no equal. We don’t have to wonder if he can do it, we don’t have to wonder if he has the authority. He is on the throne!

“of grace” - The character of the one sitting on the throne. He is graceful to us. He sent his son to die for us on the cross, what more grace is there than that. Who in this world would sacrifice their son for you. Some may be willing to sacrifice themselves for someone who loved them, but who would be willing to sacrifice themself for one who hated them, and was in outright rebellion against them? Yet this is what God did for us. Grace!

“that we may obtain mercy” - Not getting what we deserve. How often does this happen to you on a daily basis? You have done something wrong that deserves punishment, and you pray to God and in his mercy he doesn’t give you the punishment that you deserve? When he died on the cross he provided a way to obtain mercy and not face the death that we deserve for being a sinful people.

“and find grace to help in time of need” - Getting what we do not deserve. Does this not also happen on a daily basis? I can think of countless times when God has given me many things that I do not deserve. The greatest of these was salvation. We do not deserve the salvation that he provided for us, but because of his grace, we have that which we don’t deserve. I think one of the most interesting things about this phrase is “in time of need”. Those good things that happen to us daily that we don’t deserve, often happen when we need them to. There are times that God is just gracious and does something for us out of the blue, but often it is in our time of need that we see him giving us what we do not deserve to get.

So remember first of all that it is our individual privilege/duty to pray. That we come before the King of kings who has the power and the authority to do what we ask. We are joint heirs with Christ and therefore we come before God as sons and daughters. His character is one of grace, and from him we can find deliverance from what we deserve and be given what we don’t deserve.

~ Nate

James 1:22 “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”

I have been in a class the last week or so, dealing with the Divided monarchy of Israel (Israel and Judah). It is interesting to look at the prophets ministry during that time period. They were continually warning the kingdoms of their impending doom if they did not get right with God. For the most part the kings didn’t heed their warnings and there were many judgments because of that. The times when the kings did listen to God, when they trusted and obeyed him there was miraculous provision and protection. Yet, even after they had seen the hand of God working for them, they would still turn back to their idols and forsake God.

(There is MUCH more that can be studied with Israel and the prophets, but this is enough for what we are considering today.)

I want to ask you a simple question: Are you heeding the prophets in your life? By this I mean, when you read the Bible and it tells you that you need to stop doing something in your life, or you need to start doing something, do you do it? When your teacher, pastor, parents, Bible study leader, points something out from the Bible and you see that you need to change, do you do it? Looking at our verse in James, are you a “hearer” or “a hearer and a doer”? Do you do it?

~ Nate

So this is more of a personal info post, just wanted to keep everyone up on what was going on in my and my wife’s life.

First, we have some great news! My wife is expecting and we are looking forward our first child. He is a boy, Jackson Carter Kinsey.

Second, we are moving the end of this week to Estill Springs Tennessee. I will be filling the position of Youth Pastor and working with a great group of teens. We will be at Faith Baptist Church, under the leadership of Pastor Randy Jackson.

I am my last class for my Master of Divinity, which is extremely exciting! Graduation is this Thursday, and we leave Friday morning for Tennessee.

So this is just a brief post, and update! I hope to be posting semi-regularly in the near future.

~ Nate

Galatians 6:2,5 “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ…For every man shall bear his own burdens.”

Those who would criticize the Bible and who try to find fault with it might see a contradiction in these two verses. This is not the case though, and with just a little study one can see the great truth that God has written here for us.

First, so that we can fully understand what Paul is say, we must take a closer look at the word burden in both verses. It will be noticed that the word in the original language for the word burden is different in both verses. In the first verse the word for burden carries with it the idea of “oppressive suffering” or “great weight” this is something that is too much for one person to bear. In the second verse the word for burden is a diminutive form of another word meaning “cargo” or burden”. Since it is the diminutive form, it carries the idea of a “small burden” or a “small cargo”.

Now that we have a better understanding of these two words what can we learn from these two verses, and how can we apply it to our lives?

There are burdens and pressures that come into a Christian’s life that are too much for one person to bear. These can come in all shapes and sizes and can range from financial to persecution to the death of a loved one. This would be a great weight to them, and might even be a weight that would “crush” them emotionally or spiritually. It is the duty of fellow Christians to come along side this burdened Christian during this time in their life and to bear their burden with them so that it is not too much for them.

There are burdens that come into a Christian’s life that are just the normal day to day things of life. These can be things like chores, work, fulfilling one’s responsibilities, and other things of this manner. It is the individual responsibility of the Christian to attend to their own tasks, and the normal issues of life, and to not try to get others to carry his work for him.

Let’s apply this to our lives starting today. If you see someone who is going through a hard time, and dealing with some big issues, come along side them and help them carry this heavy weight. Take responsibility for the tasks of your life and the day to day responsibilities you must fulfill.

~ Nate

(I am in the middle of classes right now. They are going quite well. I wanted to take a brief minute to share a word of encouragement)

John 10:26 “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:”

Do you know the Shepherd’s voice? Often we are so busy with the hustle and bustle of life that we are too busy, or there is too much noise and we do not hear the Shepherd’s voice. I think of the prophet who heard the “still small voice” of God. He was away from all the commotion of life. Do you ever take a minute to listen for God? Do you have a time when you “get away” so that God can speak to you? Take time today and every day to spend some time “away” with God in your devotions and prayer.

The Shepherd knows you! Even when we aren’t listening to the Shepherd he know us. Though we might not be listening to his instruction, and we might fall into some problems because of not listening to him, he is still there and knows us. What a comfort that God knows you and me on a personal level, he know the hairs on our head!

As mentioned above, we need to be listening for the voice of God. Only listening though won’t do us any good. Once God has given you instruction, you need to follow him! I have seen this with my own eyes. My dad was a “shepherd” and there was an instance when some people who didn’t work with the sheep every day were trying to move them from one place to another, they were having no success. My dad came over, who worked with the sheep everyday, and just started talking to them, they followed him, without any herding, because they knew his voice and trusted him. Do you know God’s voice? Do you follow him where he leads?

Listen for the voice of the Shepherd? He knows you better than you know yourself. Follow the voice of the Shepherd!

~ Nate

1 Cor 10:11 “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.”

In this passage, Paul has just finished listing many of the sins of the Children of Israel while they wandered in the wilderness. He rehearses not only their sins, but also the consequences of their sin! These judgments of their sins were meant to be an “ensample” to their fellow Israelites. (Note: difference between “example” and “ensample”: These words are built by adding either the prefix “ex-” or “en-” to the root word of “sample”. The word “sample” has the idea of something that is representative. If you look at that idea, combined with these prefixes, you get the ideas of: something that is representative outward; and, something that is representative inward.) God executed these judgments upon the Israelites that sinned, so that they would be an “ensample” to those that weren’t judged to show them what happens when you sin against God. This was to instruct them not to disobey God.

After pointing out the “ensample” of the sinful Israelites to their fellow Israelites, Paul tells us that their record was written to admonish us, Christians. Merriam-Webster defines “admonish” as “counsel or warning against fault or oversight”. We don’t have to make the same mistakes, and sin the same sins as others to know they are wrong, to realize that there are consequences for them. God has providentially written down the experiences of those that have gone before us, so that we can be warned by them.

This leads to a question of application. Are you learning for the experiences of others in your Bible? This can only happen if you are spending time reading and studying your Bible. How are your devotions? Are you spending time in your Bible, so that God can admonish/counsel you from the experiences of others?

~ Nate

Jeremiah 18:4 “And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.”

When we receive Christ as Savior we become a new person. 2 Cor 5:17 ”Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” Our sins are washed away, our mistakes are forgotten, we are a clean, fresh newborn in Christ.

After being a Christian for only a short period of time, the new Christian will realize that just because they got saved, doesn’t mean they are perfect. Though we endeavor to be holy, we still have the flesh. If we do not avoid temptation, if we do not have self-control we will fall into sin. Often when someone falls into sin, small or big, they think, or are told, that they can no longer be used of God. This is not true!

When you fall into sin, it does not mean that you are no longer useful to God. Though there are consequences for sin, and sometimes because of sin there are limitations to your future ministry, you are never useless to God. “So he made it again another vessel,” after we sin and get right with God, he can take your life and re-form your life into a model Christian life, and make you useful to his ministry. “As seemed good to the potter to make it,” God is not just making you a generic vessel, God has a specific design for your life, and though sin can limit what we can be used for sometimes, he still has a specific plan for you. He has a specific plan for you and he will form our life to work for that plan.

Whether or not you have fallen into “major” sin, you have sinned, and you need to allow God to re-form those mars, allow God to remake you. You are never useless before God if you get your life right with God and allow him to make you as it “seems good” to him to make you!

~ Nate

Eph 4:3 “Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

It is not uncommon for there to be “disagreements”, “grudges”, and even out right “fights” among fellow Christians in churches. This is something that is addressed in multiple New Testament books. These can programs and break the unity of Christian fellowship. Broken unity leads to a less effective ministry

This is just a quick thought. “What are you doing to keep the unity?” We no there are problems, are we contributing to them, or are you “Endeavouring” to put out the fires? Are you “Endeavouring” to keep Christians unified or are you breaking them apart?

What are you doing to keep the unity?

~ Nate