Mohawk Missionary Baptist Church

How many of you believe that you can pick and choose what you believe and follow from GOD'S WORD? As a believer in CHRIST, we need to follow every letter of HIS Word which is recorded in HIS Bible. 2 Samuel 22:31 says "As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all them that trust in him."... Take note that HIS WAY is PERFECT and the WORD IF THE LORD is TRIED. The Bible contains the perfect Word of GOD and is valuable to everyone who uses its complete council in the guidance of their lives. These words are repeated in Psalms 18:30 "As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him." When we listen to this counsel we find that we are shielded from the harms of the world against our souls when we take the full counsel of GOD. And we can trust this shield because it is tried and perfect. But also look at 1 John 2:5 "But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.: When we keep HIS Word as the center of our lives, we are perfected through HIS Word and HIS Love. As we continued to listen to HIS full counsel in HIS Word, our lives will be perfected as we walk closer and closer to GOD. Part of that is putting away our sins and turning from those things that the Bible calls sin. The other part is that we embrace the things that point people to GOD and encourage people to follow GOD and HIS Word. As you give GOD thanks this Thanksgiving, do so by vowing to following the entire counsel of GOD'S WORD even when it is hard to do. If you are living in sin, depart from it. If you have relationships that need to be mended, seek reconciliation humbly. Do all that you can to live out GOD'S Word and show those that are around you that GOD is the guide to your life.

I know is not often that we update on this and we need to work on that. Currently, in Maine fellowshipping with other local New Testament churches. Good fellowship with friends and family. Pray for our ten hour ride home. We'll all be in church tomorrow, how about you?

1 John 4:20-21 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.

Tuesday, March 5 Differences Between the First and Second Temples Haggai 2:2-5... Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? and how do ye see it now? is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing? Haggai 2:3. We love to live in the glory days, do we not? Sometimes, a fond remembrance of things past is not necessarily a bad thing; sometimes it is. After sixteen years of no work, the Temple reconstruction had gotten back into the swing of things. God’s people were doing His work, and now God had an encouraging word for them. Obviously, this new Temple was not going to be a repeat of the Temple Solomon had built, and some of those who may have remembered it were perhaps a bit discouraged by this. There was no rebuke at this time, only encouragement from God. In our own work, we often fall into the trap of too much remembrance or even too much reliance on the things that may have been accomplished in the past. Sometimes, this keeps us stagnant as we want to do things just as we always have. Since we can be so fixated on the highlights of the past, we become convinced we can never reach those heights again. We can become discouraged and give up. The past is the past; we cannot relive it, and we cannot change it. If we are believers, the future is bright beyond description. Despite these two things, we should not be constantly living in either the past or the future. Just like the ones rebuilding the Temple, God has a work for us now, and we should be about it. JUST A THOUGHT: Doing God’s work on His time schedule always brings Him glory and brings us blessings. Wally Fry

Monday, March 4 The Timing of Resumption of the Work Haggai 1:1, 15... In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, saying, Haggai 1:1. Some eighteen years before this passage, fifty thousand Jews had returned to Jerusalem under the leadership of Zerubbabel and Joshua the high priest to rebuild the Temple. First, they had come under opposition from the neighbors; then, they had fallen under their own apathy. Because of this, the work had ceased for sixteen years. The people were making excuses by saying that perhaps the time simply was not right yet for this project to take place. The prophet Haggai was sent by God to get this work reenergized. Some things never changetoday opposition to the faith is intense, and apathy runs rampant. God was quick with a rebuke to the people and was quick to point out that they were living fine while His house went untended to. This time sounds much like our own today. Not many among us are living in privation or real need; yet, God’s house and God’s work are largely abandoned by His people. God also, later in Haggai chapter 1, was quick to have His man proclaim the simple fact that there are consequences to indifference to God’s Word and His plans. Many are just like this today. We enjoy the great blessings our Lord has given; yet, we allow His work to go undone. God’s plan will always come to be. The only question is who will do it? He is calling us. Are we listening and responding with will-ing hearts? JUST A THOUGHT: Monday, MarGod’s plan will come to be with us or without us. Wally Fry

Sunday, March 3 Jeremiah's Prophecy of the Duration of the Captivity Jeremiah 29:8-13... For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place, Jeremiah 29:10. The Prophet Jeremiah spent much time preaching to the nation of Israel to repent and return to the Lord. He even preached and wrote concerning the actual fall of Jerusalem in his Lamentations. It would be hard to find a man who knew the terribleness of those times better than Jeremiah. Yet, the prophet also revealed an amazing and wonderful message from Godin seventy years God would rescue and restore the people from their captivity. We know that this happened exactly as God inspired Jeremiah to relay to the people. God makes promises, He keeps promises, and He has not broken one yet. We know that we do not have the same covenant relationship with God that He had with His chosen people. We know this promise was to them for a particular time and purpose. His promises now are for each of us, as we see in Romans 8:28, And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Now as then God has a plan, He will accomplish His plan, and His plan is the best one for us. As we move and witness in this ever increasingly hostile world, we can rest on these facts just as the nation of Israel could rest on their promises. God will do His part. Will we do ours? JUST A THOUGHT: God’s plans are always best. Will you be a willing participant in them? Wally Fry