Monthly Archives: January 2024

January 29, 2024 · 9:00 am

Prayer Thoughts

What should we do while praying? Consider the following

**Thank God

Pray without ceasing.

 1 Thessalonians 5:17

**Praise the Lord

Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.

Hebrews 13:15

**Confess Your Sins

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

1 John 1:9

**Make Requests

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

Matthew 7:7

**Intercede for Others

Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men.

1 Timothy 2:1

**Meditate on God’s Word

Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night.

Psalm 1:1-2

**Listen to the Holy Spirit

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.

John 14:26

Tony French

2 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , ,

January 25, 2024 · 10:00 pm

Love Your Neighbor

8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well; 9 but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors.10 For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.11 For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.

James 2:8-11

The Apostle continues to preach against partiality by taking the reader back to the “royal law”—“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:27)  Love for others requires the practice of justice and fairness. One cannot be a Christ-honoring Believer and practice favoritism. To do so would cause one to disobey and eschew the law of Christ.

James teaches another powerful truth in verses 10 and 11. In those stanzas, Christians are taught that breaking one commandment makes them guilty of breaking the whole law. The one, true God who commands against adultery also commands against murder. The same Law-Giver who prohibits idolatry also prohibits covetousness. Breaking one command of God’s Word makes humans guilty of ignoring all the precepts in the sight of the Almighty.

Thankfully, there was one who kept the Law of God perfectly. Christ Jesus kept the Law, fulfilled the Law, and was perfectly obedient to the Father. The Spotless Lamb died in the place of sinful humans and paid the debt of sin and the price of sin in His atoning work on the cross. He was raised to life the third day so that all who believe may be forgiven and receive the imputed righteousness of Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

Believe in Jesus today. He is your only hope of salvation. (Acts 4:32) Christ saves without partiality. Call upon Him today. 

Tony French

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , ,

January 22, 2024 · 9:00 am

Humility

Humility is an interesting concept. It has been said by many that “once you think you have humility, that’s about the time you lost it.” Perhaps there is some truth to that claim. Humility requires constant investments of time and introspection.

The Webster’s dictionary defines humility as “a modest opinion or estimate of one’s importance or rank.” Humility is keeping yourself in proper perspective. It is not thinking less of ourselves, it is merely thinking of ourselves less.

The word humble appears over 80 times in Scripture. Let’s examine what the Bible has to say about humility. For the sake of our purposes, I will limit this discussion to three New Testament occurrences. What does the Bible teach about this subject?

*We must humble ourselves. As Believers, we are called to rightly evaluate ourselves and be subservient under the purview of God. Christians are instructed to realize their dependence on Christ alone. We humble ourselves by growing in dependence on Him and not ourselves.

Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.  James 4:10 

*God humbles us as well. While we are called to submit ourselves to God, we are also taught that God does humble us from time to time. He does so through circumstances that come upon us that are out of our control. God humbles us and helps us realize that we do not control much in our lives. This humbling is not always pleasant, but, it is always necessary.

“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Luke 14:11

*Jesus is the ultimate example of humility. He is our example and what He revealed to us through the cross is what we should aim for each day. We are never more like Jesus than when we humble ourselves. 

Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  Philippians 2:8

Humility is not valued by our world today. It is always valued in the kingdom of God. Be humble and realize your dependence upon God. It will make a huge difference in your life with Christ!

Tony French

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

January 18, 2024 · 6:00 pm

Thankfulness

Let’s examine a few thoughts about thankfulness today…..

**Be thankful to the Lord

Sing praise to the LORD, you His godly ones, And give thanks to His holy name. 

Psalm 30:4

**Give thanks to God for His goodness

Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
Psalm 136:1

**God’s people are commanded to be thankful

In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 

1 Thessalonians 5:18

**Heaven is filled with thankfulness to the Lord

And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying, “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed , and were created.”  Revelation 4:9-11

Christians should seek to grow in thanksgiving every day. I am making the commitment to become more thankful at every opportunity.  Will you join me?

Tony French

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , ,

January 15, 2024 · 9:00 am

Beware

False teaching is prevalent in our society. We shouldn’t be surprised as false doctrine has always been front and center since the time of Christ. How are we to respond to this as Christians? Let us ruminate on three thoughts about false teaching today. Let us think on these three sayings that fall from the lips of our Savior.

*Jesus predicted that this would happen. Throughout His ministry Jesus warned His followers often that there would be false teaching and false messiahs. Knowing this fact should help us to be wary and test everything we hear.

“For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.   Matthew 24:24

*We need to be prepared to deal with false teaching as Believers. We will not be able to hide from false doctrine forever. Eventually, we must confront it in love and shine for the truth.

“Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.  Matthew 7:15

*We must know the truth of Scripture. The only way to be able to identify the false is to know the truth. When we know the truth, we can then call out the counterfeit gospels that are so rampant in our society.

So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.

John 8:31-32

May God bless you all as you pursue the truth that will last for all eternity!

Tony French

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , ,

January 11, 2024 · 9:00 pm

Act Justly

4 Have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives? 5 Listen, my beloved brethren: did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you and personally drag you into court? 7 Do they not blaspheme the fair name by which you have been called?

James 2:4-7

Discrimination against the poor is in view in James 2:4-7. Two main condemnations are expressed by the Apostle as he teaches us to avoid distinctions and treat all with justice.

First, discriminating against the less fortunate reveals evil motives. Judging others based on their poverty results in a heart that is motivated not by the truths of God. Rather, a heart of greed and avarice is put on full display when Christians dishonor the poor.

Also, Christians blaspheme (to make little of) the name of Christ when they favor the rich over the poor. Jesus came to this planet for the disadvantaged whether they were poor in spirit or few in possessions. Even Christ had no place to lay His head. (Luke 9:58) The Believer brings judgement upon themselves if they act in favoritism.

It is far better to treat all with kindness and dignity. Such actions honor the Scriptures and give an example of Christ’s love to others.

Tony French

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , ,

January 8, 2024 · 9:59 am

The Invitation

The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.

Revelation 22:17

The final call of Scripture is poignant to everyone today. The calling of Revelation 22:17 is a gospel invitation to repent and trust in Christ. The metaphor of thirst and water come into play as the “Living Water” (John 4:11) issues three invitations in this verse.

**Come—Don’t wait, believe in Jesus today. Folks always think they have more time. Don’t delay, my friend. It could be too late.

**Drink—Trust in Christ through faith. Believe in Christ’s death and resurrection and confess the Lord Jesus today. (Romans 10:9-10) Jesus is the only one who can quench you thirst eternally.

**Live—Water is vital for life and without it we die. In the same way, all need the living water of Christ in order to have eternal life. Jesus offers salvation as a free gift. Believe in Him today and your spiritual thirst will be over. Christ will not give a perfect life. But, He will be with you and you will have His peace. Live in Christ today!

Tony French

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , ,

January 4, 2024 · 9:00 pm

No Favoritism

1 My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism. 2 For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes, 3 and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, “You sit here in a good place,” and you say to the poor man, “You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,”

James 2:1-3

The Apostle moves to the subject of favoritism in chapter 2. James condemns favoritism in all its forms in these verses. The particular emphasis seems to be on class and financial status in verses 2-3.

This Scripture teaches us to treat others justly and equally. Everyone is to be treated with dignity and grace no matter the differences in societal class, money, or position. In the church, everyone is a part of the body and no one is more important or less important.

Christ is the head of the church and all who make up that body are saved and sanctified forevermore. Even our guests who are not a part of the church should be treated with dignity and love. No one is favored above the others. The ground is level at the foot of the cross.  

Tony French

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , ,

January 1, 2024 · 9:00 am

New Years Prayers

Prayers for the New Year………………………………

**That I would know God’s Will

3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, 5 not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God; 6 and that no man transgress and defraud his brother in the matter because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you.

1 Thessalonians 4:3-6

**That I would grow in faith

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

Romans 10:17

**That I would love God more

And he answered, ” You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself .”

**That I would share the gospel message

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

Acts 1:8

Have wonderful New Year and may God bless you all in 2024!

Tony French

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , ,