Fall Creek Christian Church

"Jesus answered him,'Simon, I have something to tell you.' 'Tell me teacher,' he said. 'Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred danarii, and the other owed him fifty. Neither had the money to pay him back, so he cancelled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?' Simon replied, 'I suppose the one who had the bigger debt cancelled.' 'You have judged correctly,' Jesus said." Luke 7:40-43 I was dreading the day. An inescapable obligation, to which I had no desire to go, was getting closer and closer. I was literally feeling sick about it. All my emotions kept escalating. Frustration gave way to anger. "Clearly, this situation is completely ridiculous," I would tell anyone who would listen. Mercifully, I received a call telling me all was cancelled, done, over and out. Thankfulness flooded my soul.  Jesus had an audience made up of self-righteous religious types, those who we

"Simon Peter asked, 'Lord, where are you going?' And Jesus replied, 'You can't go with me now, but you will follow me later.' 'But why can't I come now, Lord?' he asked. 'I'm ready to die for you.' Jesus answered, 'Die for me? I tell you the truth, Peter -- before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny three times that you even know me." John 13:36-38 So, when was the last time your mouth ran ahead of your reality? I won't go into specific details here, but my last one is a very fresh memory. My over confidence set me up for a humbling conversation with Jesus that I would very much prefer to not have to experience again. The minefields in this world set to derail us from being a faithful follower of Jesus are plentiful and painfully effective. The devil is very good at what he does ... deceive and devour. Mr. Simon Peter really took one on the chin here in our verses for today. "I'll die for you

"I cry out to God Most High, to God who will fulfill his purpose for me." Psalm 57:2 While fishing with a guide recently, I saw a tool on his boat that I hadn't seen before. It had an 18 inch handle with an "s" shaped metal end attached to the top. Once the fish started to fill the cooler, I saw him take the tool run it down the line to the hook and give it a little flip with his wrist. Immediately, the hook was dislodged and the fish flopped into the cooler. It was a perfectly designed tool to accomplish the purpose for which he made it. Today's verse speaks to purpose as well. Specifically, mine and yours. I don't know about you, but I for one am extremely thankful that we were both made on purpose as well as to fulfill purposes. Accidents? Nope. Random chance? Nope. Dreams and destinies? Yep. It's important to note that the confidence of having God fulfill his purposes for us is found in the one who is crying out to him. Him being "