February 2017 God s Love Volume 26 Issue 10 The Lord is continually dealing with our heart and its issues, because what is in the heart is what will come out of us in the form of attitudes, behavior and speech. We all need spiritual heart surgery from time to time. Matthew 5:43-48 (NKJV) is dealing with issues of the heart, You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. 44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? 48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect. The world s view is that it is okay to hate your enemies but the Lord God has a different standard and way. Hate here implies having intense ill-will both in conduct and speech. The Lord tells us we are to love; seeing others as valuable and precious, and be willing to lay down our lives. Not necessarily in death, put putting aside ourselves for others; a self-giving love. 1 Let s determine who the enemies are in this verse, to the Jews of the day, the enemy was any uncircumcised person or heathen. Who is our enemy, anyone that we believe has wronged us, does not have the same views as us, background, nationality, religion, education, or social status; the list could go on. The Lord is saying we need a heart change. We cannot pick and choose who we love. We are to love all people, not sometimes but all the time, not just when we feel like it. So, the Lord to get their attention and ours says you must love your enemies. Those who have not treated you properly or those we consider opposed to us. When our hearts are in line with the Lord, we love with God s love. When we walk in God s love, we are a blessing to others, we do good, and pray for others. Then the Lord can step in and work in the people s lives who hate us and are treating us unfavorably or harshly. We must remember the Lord has transforming power, just as He is transforming us by His Holy Spirit. He can transform the lives of those who treat us improperly. We need to let the Lord God defend us and take care of us. Are willing to bless those who wish evil or ruin on us? To bless here means to speak well of them. Usually when people are acting like that we want to talk bad about them to anyone who will listen. Are we willing to do good in every avenue, even when others abhor us and persecute us with their words and conduct? Our old nature desires to retaliate in some way. When people are treating us badly, being vindictive, wrongfully accusing us or trying to bring injury to us, we are to pray for them. We need desire good for them. When let our carnal nature rule instead of the Holy Spirit, we might pray but it is for the Lord to get them. All of these behaviors above indicate that we need our heart worked on. It is by the Holy Spirit that we are enabled to walk in love. We are able to bless instead of curse, and do good instead of evil. We are able to pray for those who have used us, bad mouthed us, and treated us improperly. It is easy to walk in love with individuals who are like minded and who love us, most people can operate like that. We really are not rewarded by just loving those who love us. Our hearts should be
Birthday Blessings Nuggets of Treasure Upcoming Events 2017 February 5th Celebrate Monthly Birthdays & Anniversaries I am ready to meet God face to face tonight and look into those eyes of infinite holiness, for all my sins are covered by the atoning blood. R. A. Torrey February 10th Valentine s Party 7 pm February 14th Valentine s Day March 5th Celebrate Monthly Birthdays & Anniversaries March 12th Daylight Saving Time Beginnings March 17th St. Patrick s Day 2/2 McKenzy McHenry 2/3 Matt Dibben 2/3 Roberto Sepulveda 2/9 Destinee Altamira 2/9 Santeena Altamira 2/12 Jacob McHenry 2/12 Tim Erskine 2/19 Tara Sepulveda 2/21 Sereena Pintado 2/23 Megan McHenry If we forgive other people, our hearts are made fit to receive forgiveness. Corrie Ten Boom Faith...needs to be matched with achappy Anniversary tion. Belief is not just brain cells in mo- 2/22 Pastors Royce & Carol tion. It demands a response. Do we do what we believe? If we believe in a seed, we plant it. Reinhard Bonnke March 19th Fellowship Dinner following Morning Service April 2nd Celebrate Monthly Birthdays & Anniversaries Christ is God's centrality and God's universality. All of God's plan is related to Christ. Watchman Nee April 9th Palm Sunday April 14th Good Friday April 16th Easter April 16th Easter Breakfast Help, Help We have remodeling, maintenance and cleaning at the church and food center on a regular basis. If you like to serve God in this way, please contact Pastor Royce. Church Offices The Administrative Office is not located at the church building. Ministry Office is at the church by appointment only: 13th & Fillmore, Caldwell, ID Phone 208-459-6000 FAX 208-459-6600 Wise leaders should have known that the human heart cannot exist in a vacuum. If Christians are forbidden to enjoy the wine of the Spirit they will turn to the wine of the flesh...christ died for our hearts and the Holy Spirit wants to come and satisfy them. A.W. Tozer Character is not a God-given gift; it is built by our choices. Amelia Gaillard The tendency of fire is to go out; watch the fire on the altar of your heart. Anyone who has tended a fireplace knows that it needs to be stirred up occasionally. William Booth 2 Our Helping Hands Show A Loving Heart Get involved, find a place to help. We all have something to give. We need greeters, ushers, maintenance, socials, visitations, children, youth, food center, music, driving etc. Oasis Food Center Update January 2017 (as of 1/25/17) Lunches: 350 Families: 945 New Families: 57 Total People: 3,363 Year to Date 2017 (as of 1/25/17) Lunches: 350 Families: 945 New Families: 57 Total People: 3,363 Year to Date 2016 Lunches: 5,836 Families: 18,408 New Families: 1,210 Total People: 65,094
Children s Corner Nuggets of Treasure Bring Your Friends and Join the Fun at Church! Sunday Morning 10:30 am 3
Simple, Hearty White Chili Ingredients: Recipe Corner 1 whole Fryer Chicken, Cut Up (or 3 Cups Cooked Chicken) 1 whole Medium Onion, Diced 4 cloves Garlic, Minced 2 whole Cans Green Chilies, Chopped 1 pound Dried Great Northern Beans, Rinsed 8 cups Chicken Broth 1 whole Jalapeno, Sliced 1-1/2 Tablespoon Ground Cumin 1/2 teaspoon Paprika 1/2 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper Salt To Taste White Pepper, To Taste 1 cup Whole Milk 2 Tablespoons Masa (corn Flour) OR Cornmeal Grated Monterey Jack, To Taste Sour Cream For Garnish Cilantro For Garnish Guacamole (optional) Pico De Gallo (optional) Corn Tortillas, Warmed Directions: Cover chicken and cook for 20 to 30 minutes or until done. Remove meat from bones. Set aside. In a dutch oven over medium-high heat, saute onions and garlic for 2 minutes. Add chopped green chilies, then rinsed beans. Pour chicken broth into the pan. Add sliced jalapenos. Season with salt, pepper, and cumin. Place lid on pot and reduce heat to low. Nuggets of Treasure in line with the Lord God s standards, principles ways and methods, as we are citizens of His kingdom. Our behavior and speech reveals our heart. We should be different than the character seen in the world. As believers, we are claiming that we have been redeemed by Jesus Christ. We are saying that we are a new person in Christ Jesus old things are passed away, the old man. We have the Holy Spirit dwelling on the inside us to give us grace, God s enabling ability to walk in His ways, to walk in love. We need to live in the fullness of the Holy Spirit and walk in the Spirit. Love is from the heart and not a mere outward observance. Ephesians 5:2 (NKJV) And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. We are to walk in love. It is a love that goes beyond affection to that of self-sacrificing. We are to love like Jesus loved us, motivated and enabled by the power of the Holy Spirit. Cook for 2 hours or until beans are done. Halfway through the cooking process, add 3 cups of cooked chicken. When beans are tender, mix milk with masa (or cornmeal) and pour into the chili. Cook for an additional ten minutes to thicken. Check seasoning and adjust, adding cayenne pepper and paprika if desired. Add some Monterey Jack cheese to the pot and stir to melt. Serve chili in a bowl. Garnish with cilantro, sour cream, extra cheese---even pico de gallo and guacamole, if you have some on hand. Roll up warm corn tortillas and serve on the side of the bowl. 4
Nuggets of Treasure It is vital as believers to hear the voice of the Spirit, and be instantly obedient. We need to be ever so conscious of His presence and His voice. The Holy Spirit will warn of things in the present and of things to come. We should not ignore or shrug off His promptings because it could be a matter of life and death in all areas of our life. His voice and promptings are our guidance system in our daily affairs, both spiritually and in the natural. We should never judge His promptings by our own understanding or by the worlds standards and ways. If we try to mix His voice with our own understanding or with what the world, indicating what is the right thing, we will be confused. We vacillate between what we desire and what the Spirit desires for us. We will find ourselves in turmoil or trouble. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to be with us always, part of His role in our life, is to guide us. It is extremely difficult to follow His guidance, when we do not recognize when He is speaking to us. We probably all desire to be sure that we are hearing His voice and not our own but we often question it. At other times, we think we are hearing His voice when in reality, we are listening to the voice of others or our own desires and understanding which drown out the voice of the Holy Spirit. There are many distractions in our life which inundate us and amplify their voice, so we do not hear the Holy Spirit. Everyday Godly Living To hear the voice of the Spirit, we must make time to be in His presence and allow Him to talk to us; as we quiet ourselves before Him. Too often we want a dramatic manifestation. Elijah in I King 19-12-13 is spoken to by a still small voice. Remember this not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord. The Lord actually met Elijah in the quiet voice, instead of something earthshaking. Sometimes, we are so busy with our life, we do not get quiet enough to hear the still, small voice. It is listening and not telling the Lord what we need in prayer. We should not say, I need answer about this situation and then expect Him to answer. Too often we get impatient and make up an answer ourselves and decide that it's the Lord s answer. Based on our own understanding we head out in a direction, then question why things are not going well. We need to ask the Holy Spirit to help us be sensitive to His voice. He often guides in small things to see if we will listen and obey. Every day in life, we encounter situations where we need to know what to do. It is vital that we listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit and let Him direct our steps. We need to always be open to hear. We must learn to take His path for us. Whether it is a small change or something major, we need to listen closely. We need to have an open heart and mind and He will direct our steps, as we wait in His presence. As we begin to listen to His voice and obey, each time to His voice it will be clearer. As we spend time with Him. Proverbs 3 tells us to acknowledge Him in all our ways and He will direct our paths. Hearing the Holy Spirit throughout the day should become a natural way of life. We cannot be only willing to hear what we want to hear; in children, we call that selective hearing. If we have selective hearing, we might not be able to hear the Spirit. Hearing His voice and being obedient there will always be peace. Colossians 3:15a (KJV) Let the peace of God rule in your heart Peace is the measurement of knowing we have heard the voice of the Spirit and His direction for us, God s will. The Amplified bible states let peace act as umpire. An umpire in a ballgame governs the game. Peace should govern our hearts. In peace, we will know we are hearing the voice the Spirit and following His guidance. 5
FEBRUARY 2017 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 2 3 4 Noon 2 pm 5 Celebrate Monthly birthdays, following morning service Evening Service 6 7 8 Noon 2 pm 9 10 Valentine s Dinner 7 pm 11 12 13 14 Valentine s Day 15 Noon 2 pm 16 17 18 Evening Service 19 Evening Service 20 21 22 11:30 2:30 pm 23 24 25 26 27 28 Evening Service 6