Clever Free Methodist

Jesus was very clear on what one must do to not only follow Him, but to also be His Disciple. Luke 9:23 , “Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” The first critical step in discipleship is to get “self” out of the way. We must die to self. Galatians 5:24 , “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” This dying process is both a decision and life-long process (journey). This does not mean that when we “die to self” we become unproductive, inactive or unresponsive, nor do we feel ourselves to be dead to the world. Dying to self means that the things of the old life (before becoming a Christian) are put to death, most especially the sinful ways and lifestyles we once engaged in. We become transformed by replacing our past lifestyle with godly things. We find a good example of how to gain victory over “self” in the Old Testament. Here we find King Jo...

  When my family lived in Kansas, our home came with a “safe room.” This room was designed and built to withstand a tornado. This room was just big enough for our family to fit into along with food supplies. The door, nearly three-inches thick, had three “dead-bolt” locks in which to secure the door tightly. It was reassuring to know we had a convenient place in which to go for shelter and safety from horrific storms. The same is true for our spiritual lives. In this fallen world, we are always in need of shelter from the tempest of “spiritual storms” that are raging around us in the heavenly realms. Ephesians 6:12 , “For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.” The “shelter” is, none other than, God our Heavenly Father. Proverbs 18:10 , “The name of the Lord is a strong fortress; the godly run to him and are safe.”...

  Jesus, I Belong to You It is becoming more obvious that Satan is being less subtle, more open and aggressive with his plans of trying to destroy us, our faith, the church and the message of the Gospel. May we never forget the sobering reminder of 1 Peter 3:18 , to “stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. We must never let our guard down. We must never get so accustomed to our life-routines that we become complacent and begin “easing off” on our commitments to grow in our faith, deepen our relationship with God our Father, and represent Jesus to the world (2 Corinthians 5:20). It is my hope, by sharing this prayer of commitment with you, that you will consider the statements being made. The goal is to strive and commit to being able to pray each segment with all sincerity and to covenant with God to align your life to its truths. Will you at least read it now ….pray, and consider how to in...

We are still in the season of Easter as we await its culmination in what is known as Pentecost . There is another event in the Church which we commemorate at the forty-day mark of the Easter season where many denominations recall the “ Ascension ” of Jesus Christ. Mark 16:19-20 , “After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.” This event marked by the Church is also stated in the Apostles’ Creed: “…He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father.” When Jesus ascended to Heaven after rising from the dead, He promised us that we would never be left all alone here on earth to “fend for ourselves.” We have the Holy Spirit of God always with us. John 14:16 , “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever….” We w...

  One of the devotionals that I was reading this week expressed the meaning of the word “ joy ” in a way that I had never heard before. The writing was so powerful that it made me wish I had known to “say it this way” long ago when I preached this very subject. Philippians 3:1 says, “Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord!” What most readers don’t understand about this statement is that the Writer (Paul) was currently in prison! Probably not the most pleasant of circumstances to think about rejoicing. Paul transposes between “rejoice” and “joy” about sixteen times throughout this letter. He is stressing a very important concept for believers which is to live purposely in the joy of the Lord. Paul knew, first hand, that it was clearly possible regardless of any circumstance he found himself experiencing. The “Seedbed Daily Text” devotional, written by J.D. Walt had this to say about joy :   “We learn something very important about joy here. Joy is not ...

There is a powerful situation that takes place in the book of Acts.  It says in Acts 6:3-6 , “Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.” This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.” Did you notice that the leaders of the early Church placed the responsibility for finding leadership on the “community of the disciples”? (Acts 6:2) That’s you! That’s us! We need to be on the lookout for those who would make good leaders in the Church. Have you ever heard of such a thing? Well, in fairness, this task was new for the early Christians, too. Before they were Christians, most w...

  This past year has been one of deeper spiritual quests and discoveries. I think the pandemic and long-standing guidelines have many digging deeper for spiritual truth. I am intrigued by many who have asked me some very profound questions. One such inquiry involved the Disciple Judas and the meaning behind Luke 22:3 , “Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve.” They want to know if Satan literally entered Judas or if this is simply a figurative statement. Most scholars I’ve studied believed it wasn’t just a random satanic demon, but Satan, himself, who literally possessed Judas in order to use him for his dastardly plans. We need to remember how desperate Satan was in stopping Jesus from going to the cross. Think back to the very beginning when Jesus started his ministry by spending forty days and nights in the desert. Why? The answer is in Matthew 4:1 , “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” Satan threw e...