James 1:2

My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into diverse temptations (various trials).
The grace of God gives us the power to experience the healing effects of being thankful. Count your blessings instead of your losses;
Ps 100 (The Worship) Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. ( The Privilege) 2 Serve the Lord with gladness: (The Expression) Come before his presence with singing. (The Supernatural) 3 Know ye that the Lord he is God: It is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; (The Followers) We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. (The Proclamation) 4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: Be thankful unto him and bless his name. (The Faithfulness Of God) 5 For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; And his truth endureth to all generations.

“I have held many things in my hands, and I have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God’s hands, that, I still possess.” – Corrie ten Boom

Fear

The presence of fear does not mean you have no faith. Fear visits everyone. But make your fear a visitor and not a resident. ~ Max Lucado
We could allow fear to control our will and emotions, or instead, let the peace of God rule our hearts and minds.

Col 3:15 And let the peace (soul harmony which comes) from Christ rule (act as umpire continually) in your hearts [deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in your minds, in that peaceful state] to which as [members of Christ's] one body you were also called [to live]. And be thankful (appreciative), [giving praise to God always].

Only he who can say, "The Lord is the strength of my life" can say, "Of whom shall I be afraid?" Alexander MacLaren
I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. Psalm 34:4

My righteousness for His righteousness, make the exchange today.

We shall never be clothed with the righteousness of Christ except we first know assuredly that we have no righteousness of our own.
John Calvin

1 Pet 2:24 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. The transformation from the old person to the new person is called the born-again experience. Christ nature is lived through us. Paul the apostle said it this way not I but Christ who lives in me Gal 2:20
“Righteousness” is a legal term. It means to have right standing before God. Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words defines righteousness as “that gracious gift of God to men whereby all who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ are brought into right relationship with God.”

Nothing can damn a man but his own righteousness; nothing can save him but the righteousness of Christ.
Charles Spurgeon

Fidelity In Parlous Times

Salvation is free, but discipleship will cost you your life Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Luk 9:57-62 And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.
People respond in various ways to the call for discipleship. Jesus emphasizes that His followers must be willing to face hardships and make sacrifices. This call to discipleship takes a singular focus. If the closest relationships of a disciple’s life conflict with the claims of Jesus Christ, then our Lord requires instant obedience to Himself. Discipleship means personal, passionate devotion to a Person — our Lord Jesus Christ. There is a vast difference between devotion to a person and devotion to principles or to a cause. Our Lord never proclaimed a cause— He proclaimed personal devotion to Himself. Oswald Chambers Luk 14:27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. Jesus encourages His followers—as well as those in the crowd to consider the great sacrifices involved in their decision to become His disciples.
“Only a disciple can make a disciple.” ― A. W. Tozer

Pastor Spada Devotional

My righteousness for His righteousness, make the exchange today.
1 Cor 1:30-31 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: 31 That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

My trust is not that I am holy, but that being unholy, he is my righteousness. Charles Spurgeon
Jesus Christ is our righteousness; all other righteousness is filthy rages Isa 64:6. You cannot be saved by your good works, because no matter how hard you try, your “good” is not good enough for the perfectly holy and completely righteous God who alone grants salvation. Nor can you be saved by your moral perfection—no matter how moral or how perfect you are. God sent his Son to die on the cross, to hang there as our sin, to pay the just punishment for sin that we deserved. That is our only hope that Jesus became sin—our sin—and in so doing, he likewise became our righteousness.
2 Cor 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

How can a man trust in his own righteousness? It is like seeking shelter under one's own shadow.
W. H. MEDHURST

Gen 3:1-7 The Power Of Compromise

Every sin starts with one seemingly small, harmless compromise. A decision to step barely over the line, telling ourselves we can handle it. The very first sin that separated us all from God, started with a tiny compromise. Eve didn’t immediately bite the apple when Satan brought it to her attention. She listened to him, she looked at the fruit, she touched it, then she ate it (Gen 3:4-6).
We weren’t made to be able to handle sin on our own. All sin leads to death (Rom 6:23), and since Jesus is the only one who has defeated death, He is the only one who can save us from our sin and the enemy who hungers for our pain (1 Pet 5:8).

Triggers to watch for
• Anyone who tries to convince us sin is better than obedience
• Anything that tells us God is not who He says He is
• Anything that tells us we will gain more by disobeying God than by obeying Him
• Promises that sin can lead to anything but death
It does not matter whether you are a good or bad example of a Christian, to the unsaved your life may be their only example. Anonymous

If you don't make up your mind, your unmade mind will unmake you. Eli E. Stanley Jones

The Lord will not fail. He is the same yesterday today and forever, He knew us before we entered our mother's womb; if He takes care of the birds of the air, He will take care of us, If He arrays the Lilly of the valley, He will take care of us.

1 Pet 1:6-7 "In this, you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith — of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire — may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”

Why I know God will take care of us - God’s nature cannot change. God cannot lie (Tit 1:2; Heb 6:18; Num 23:19).
God cannot change His mind (Numbers 23:19).
God cannot sin or do wrong (Deuteronomy 32:4).
God cannot change (Malachi 3:6).

Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right. Abraham Lincoln

Running the Race

Heb 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.

This race represents contest and a conflict – Bringing our life into balance can be an agonizing process.
The Greek word for race is agon from which we get our word agony. The race is a conflict in that there is an internal struggle of the soul.

The Pain Of Moving Forward – It’s Like A Long-Distance Runner
What’s interesting about marathon runners is how in tune they are with their own abilities.

• They know their strengths and weaknesses – understanding your limitation
• They know how to pace themselves in order to conserve energy.
• They set small goals along the way.
• They do not focus on beating the person next to them –

2 Timothy 4:7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

Make the Exchange Today

My righteousness for His righteousness, make the exchange today.
We shall never be clothed with the righteousness of Christ except we first know assuredly that we have no righteousness of our own. - John Calvin

2 Cor 5:21 For he hath made him be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Through Christ’s death and resurrection, God demonstrated His righteousness. Here Paul refers to the idea of Christians becoming the righteousness of God.

God is none other than the Savior of our wretchedness. So, we can only know God well by knowing our iniquities... Those who have known God without knowing their wretchedness have not glorified Him but have glorified themselves. - Blaise Pascal

Make the excellent exchange today Jesus righteousness for our righteousness, Jesus I surrender save me.

What An Awesome God We Serve

1 Pet 4:1-13 “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.”

Serving the Lord is the most significant experience we will ever have in this life. We can learn about the Lord and ourselves during troubled times.

Trials – teach us this situation is more prominent than us, and we have to learn how to trust the Lord.
Trials – teach us we are not all-powerful, and we need the omnipotent Lord. Paul tells in II Cor 12 when I'm weak then I'm strong.
Trials – teach us sin brings pain, destruction, and deception. But Jesus came to save us from our sin.
Trials – teach us to take a look at our life, and our relationship with Jesus Christ. Rev 3:19 "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent."
Trials – teach us that pride brings us down to shame.
Trials – teach us that evil exists and that we're in a spiritual war.
My prayer today is that the Lord would give us the grace to bring glory to Him in these uncertain days.

Jam 1:2-4 "My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing."

It is of no use to say to men, "Let not your heart be troubled," unless you finish the verse and say, "Believe in God, believe also in Christ." Alexander MacLaren

Another Gospel or the Gospel of Jesus Christ - 2 Cor 11:4

Paul is speaking to those who undermine the importance of Jesus’ sacrificial death, burial, and resurrection. Only the message of the cross can lead to the salvation of mankind.
The good news of God’s redemption of sinful humanity through the life, death, and resurrection of his Son Jesus Christ.
Rom 1:16 Paul says, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation for those who believe, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”
Another Gospel – Good works gospel, permissive grace gospel, new age spirituality gospel, social justice gospel, my sexual preference gospel, self-help/self-esteem gospel, political gospel, all religions lead to heaven gospel, there is only one gospel: the gospel of Jesus Christ.
“There is nothing attractive about the gospel to the natural man; the only man who finds the gospel attractive is the man who is convicted of sin.” Oswald Chambers

“The gospel is not ‘God loves us,’ but ‘God loves us at the cost of his Son.'” Derek Thomas

Which gospel will you share?

Potter's House Church of God

500 Sandy Hollow Road
Mystic, CT 06355

860-303-5065
Pastor@Pottershousect.org