Standish Bible Church

"Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men who cannot save." Psalm 146:3

Happy New Year, As I type rain is crashing down outside. It is a great blessing as we have just ended a very dry year. I cut down six of the pines on our property and need to drop a few more. The combination of insects and drought killed them. It’s interesting to watch. They will look fine and one day start to turn light green. Within another three to four weeks they are brown. In a similar way, believers can be like that. In Gal 5:16-23 we are given a description... of spiritual fruit. Starting in verse 16 we are presented with a choice: We can walk (live) in the Spirit or we can walk in the flesh. Stated another way, we can live seeking God or we can live ignoring God. Verses 19-23 show the results stemming from either choice. I read somewhere years ago that many professing Christians live unbelieving lives. What is meant is that when we do our own thing, neglecting the word, prayer, fellowship and service, we wither up spiritually. Additionally, because our Lord has better things planned for us than we do for ourselves, He will use the consequences of our spiritual neglect to instruct us. Trials and discipline are very often a direct result of our spiritual sloth. We set things in motion that adversely affect us and He uses the consequences to teach and grow us. Just as pines need water, we as believers need Him. It seems even more important to me as I age. At 66 I’m likely starting my 4th Quarter in the game of life. So be it. Bring it. Lots of good things happen in ball games in the 4th quarter. In the words of a friend who is now with the Lord, I don’t know how much time I have left but I want whatever time I have to count. In reality, no one knows, no matter their age! We tend to assume a lot. That is great advice for all of us, irrespective of age. Feast on the word, pray, abide in Christ our Vine, serve. Be fruitful in the best possible way. From Him we draw our inner nourishment, our beneficial fruitfulness is the result. A friend (Bud Herndon) once shared these verses with me from Psalm 92:12-15. The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, ‘The LORD is upright; He is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in Him.’ Whatever your age, seek Him. Grow strong and be fruitful. I’m looking forward to seeing Him work in our lives in the coming year. Pastor Tony See more

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope." Thus the words of the prophet (Jeremiah 29:11) to exiles whom God had sent far from their homeland. Even in judgment, God kept His covenant with them. He had a plan and future for them. In the year we just completed, we experienced a lot of things that most of us never anticipated. Normal living went "off the rails" for us. Yet, God neith...er slumbers or sleeps. He doesn't leave or forsake His own. Friends, if He choses not to deliver us FROM the trials that we face, He will deliver us THROUGH them! As we begin a new year I want to encourage you to seek Him in and through all things. He is faithful. In my own life, I grow far more as I seek Him through adversity than I do when everything's "fine." May His blessings be abundant in our lives throughout the coming year. Although we do not know the road ahead, He does. He loved us to the cross and will not fail us now. In Jesus, Tony See more