WORD From The Woods 


1 Timothy 1:12-20
    “I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith, among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.”


    In this passage, Paul is encouraging Timothy to stand firm in his faith and serve Christ with boldness. I really love what you see in Paul’s heart here. He doesn’t elevate himself at all, he only points to the power of God working in and through his life. So many people today who claim to be Christians are so self-focused in their faith. You see this in so much of popular Christian teaching and music, self is the primary subject of the message. Paul never does that! He only points to the power and grace of Christ in his life. He says here that he was formerly a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent, and the foremost of sinners. But, so that God could demonstrate the incredible depths of His mercy and grace, Christ saved this wretched man Paul, and transformed him into one of the greatest Christian men who ever lived! Now we sit here 2000 years later still learning from the life and ministry of Paul. He mentions the prophecies made about Timothy, we see it mentioned again in chapter 4. We don’t have much information about the specifics of these prophecies, but apparently, the elders had laid their hands on Timothy and prayed and given a prophecy about God’s calling on Timothy’s life. This isn’t some kind of hocus pocus hyper spiritual craziness. These were mature Christian leaders who knew Timothy, probably discipled him, and saw God working in his young life. They must have spent much time in prayer and were led by the Holy Spirit to call Timothy into a life of service to Christ. This is one of the most important aspects of discipleship. As we teach and disciple younger brothers and sisters in Christ, we should always be lifting them up in prayer and seeking the Holy Spirit’s leading in how we should guide them as Paul was guiding Timothy. I experienced this in my life as a young man. I was probably 16 or 17, and my pastor had started discipling me, though I didn’t realize it at the time. He invited me to start meeting with him 2-3 times a week to lift weights and study scripture. I’m still learning today how much of an impact those times would have in my life. I believe that he spoke into my life in a prophetic way that was directed by the Holy Spirit, much like what Paul mentions about Timothy. It wasn’t something crazy, he simply said that he believed God was calling me into service and that he wanted me to start preaching. I had never spoken in front of people before, let alone prepared a sermon. In fact, I had told God that I would never do anything like that! But he said, in a couple weeks he had to be gone and he needed someone to preach at our local church and I was going to do it. He didn’t ask me, he just told me! I had no idea at the time what God was preparing me for, but as I look back I realize that was no accident, It was God speaking in and through Pastor Del, to call a young man to step outside of his comfort zone to serve Christ. As you seek to be faithful to Christ in discipleship, whether you are being discipled, or as you disciple others in Christ, I hope this is an encouragement to stand firm in the faith and trust the Holy Spirit that dwells within each of us as true followers of the Lord, Jesus Christ. 


God bless and have a great week! -Terry- 
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WORD From The Woods


Psalm 3
“O LORD, how many are my foes!
Many are rising against me;
many are saying of my soul,
“There is no salvation for him in God. Selah
But you, O LORD, are a shield about me,
my glory, and the lifter of my head.
I cried aloud to the LORD,
and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah
I lay down and slept;
I woke again, for the LORD sustained me.
I will not be afraid of many thousands of people
who have set themselves against me all around.
Arise, O LORD!
Save me, O my God!
For you strike all my enemies on the cheek;
you break the teeth of the wicked.
Salvation belongs to the LORD;
your blessing be on your people! Selah”


     The older I get, the more I love the Psalms. The deep wisdom and truth found in them, are like comfort food for the soul in the midst of the broken and chaotic world we live in. King David wrote this Psalm when he was in hiding from his own son Absalom, who was seeking to kill David. Most of us will never face a situation quite as distressing as David’s, but there is so much we can learn from David’s response to these trials as he poured out his heart to God. As followers of Christ, we have many foes in the world around us. Even if we aren’t facing direct persecution, there are many people, movements and institutions that rise up against Christ and his people. Just look around at all the voices and influences that say there is no God, no such thing as Salvation in Christ. They mock the Lord and deny His existence, and many times they ridicule us for professing faith in Him. David’s words here in Psalm 3 are all we need at times like that. The Lord is our shield, He is our glory! We don’t need glory from men, even when we are ridiculed for our faith, Christ is still King! And, as believers in Him, we have redemption and all the glory we will ever need is in Him!  We can stand confidently in the salvation of the Lord and lift up our head, regardless of anything going on in the world around us, unashamed in the light of His Glory. Just ponder on that for a minute….. We can cry out to the Lord, and He will answer us. In the midst of trials and tribulation, we can lay down at night and sleep in peace and comfort, knowing with all confidence, that the Lord will sustain us tomorrow. No matter who and how many may set themselves against us, Christ is King, and if we trust in Him for salvation, we are safe in Him (see Psalm 2).  Salvation belongs to the Lord, His blessings are on His people, while He strikes down the wicked enemies. We might not always feel like the Lord is victorious in the midst of the battle, but we can rest in the truth of scripture, lift our head and press forward, confident in our glorious King!


God bless and have a great week! -Terry-

WORD from the woods


Philippians 2:12-18 
   "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me."


     In this passage, Paul is calling the Philippian church to become more obedient to Christ. This is really the central theme of most of Paul's letters. Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, doesn't want us to just play around with the Christian life. Paul says in this passage that we should work out our own salvation with "fear and trembling." This doesn't mean that we are supposed to be terrified of God or of the Christian life, but Paul is making an essential point, that we must take the Christian life seriously! After all, didn't the Creator of the universe come in human form and live among this sinful, broken, and rebellious world to bring us salvation, because he loved us so much? When I sit and ponder the incredible grace of God, it really causes me to take my faith seriously, just as Paul is calling his readers to do here.  He goes on to say that it is God who works in us both to will and to work for His good pleasure. God is working in us and changing us through the process of sanctification, to become the men and women that He has called us to be.  The Holy Spirit dwelling within us guides our will and our actions more and more as we become more like Christ. God takes great pleasure in this because it glorifies Him! This is all so that we are able to stand strong for Christ in this crooked and twisted world, as "lights in the world" shining brightly for all to see! Paul tells us to hold fast to the word of God until Christ returns, even if we are "poured out as a drink offering" our labor is not in vain if we are working to share the gospel with the world around us. Even when we face the hard trials of life, we should be glad and rejoice in what Christ has done and is continuing to do in us and in the world! 


God Bless and have a great week! -Terry-


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WORD From The Woods


Ephesians 1:15-23
    "For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all."


     The first thing that I want to point out in this passage is the way Paul prays, you see this example in all of Paul's writings. Paul always speaks of praying without ceasing, paying for others, giving thanks for them, lifting them up to the Lord and asking that He would bless them spiritually, with wisdom and knowledge of God.  Paul is constantly lifting others up to God, not that God would "fix" their problems, but that The Lord would bless them in the things of the Spirit. Paul's first thoughts when he goes to prayer is first to glorify the Lord God, Creator of all things and then to pray on behalf of his brothers and sisters in Christ. Rarely do we see Paul asking God to do something for himself, even though we know Paul had some very real struggles of his own, he still thinks of God and then others before himself in prayer. If we could learn just one thing from this passage, it would be to reevaluate the things we go to God with in prayer. God truly cares about the most minute detail of our daily lives, but I think we have become an extremely selfish culture in the way we pray to the God who spoke the limitless galaxies of this universe into existence. Paul then goes on to reiterate what he spoke of earlier in chapter 1. He wants the readers to really grasp what this "inheritance" really is. He is telling us that to be a Christian is not just to know that when we die we will go to be with The Lord, but that while we live in this life we have obtained an inheritance of spiritual blessing and growth in Christ Jesus by the Holy Spirit living in us as believers.  If we have truly been redeemed by the blood of Christ, then we have the Holy Spirit living in us and we are called to grow in the Spirit by seeking God in prayer and reading of His word. As we pray and read His word and allow the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts and minds we will grow in wisdom and knowledge of the things of God and our desire for such things will continue to increase. As we are told in God's word, "seek first the kingdom of God” and everything else will fall into place.


God bless and have a great week! -Terry-
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WORD from the woods


Mark 4:1-20  
     “Again he began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. And he was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”  And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, so that
“they may indeed see but not perceive,
and may indeed hear but not understand,
lest they should turn and be forgiven.”
And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? The sower sows the word. And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”


     This is one of those passages that many of us are very familiar with, if you were raised in church like I was then you likely remember this parable as a Sunday school flannel graph. In the second half of this passage, Jesus clearly explains to the disciples that the seed is like the word of God and the ground is like the condition of a person's heart. When we look at this parable, we tend to think about the gospel being shared with unbelievers as the "word being sown" and I think that's part of what this parable is about, but I think it also refers to the word of God being sown among the hearts of believers as well. As followers of Christ, the word of God must constantly be sown in the ground of our hearts through reading and studying the scriptures, through teaching, prayer, and through fellowship with other believers. Just because we are followers of Christ doesn't mean that our hearts can't become like the hard ground, where the teaching of God's word isn't well rooted and persecution or tribulation arises on account of the word and the person falls away. I'm not saying that the person loses their salvation, but that they can become hard hearted and drift away from the vibrant, growing relationship that God desires to have with them. Sometimes a believer might hear the word of God and the desires and riches of this world are like thorns that choke out the word and it proves to be unfruitful. We must prepare our hearts like a farmer prepares the ground, we must constantly be in prayer, studying the word, confessing our sin to God, and working the ground of our hearts so that it doesn't become hard. When God sows His word on good soil, it will be abundantly fruitful. I'd like to say that as a follower of Christ, my heart is always prepared to hear from the Lord, but that would be a lie. I constantly struggle with temptation and the distractions of this world that satan uses to get ahold of my heart. I need to work the ground of my heart daily so that it doesn't become hard. One of the reasons that Jesus gave so many of His teachings in parables was to give us an easy way to remember them. I hope that this passage will stay on your mind this week and encourage you to cultivate a heart that will be fruitful. 


God bless and have a great week! -Terry-


     

WORD From The Woods 
Happy New Year friends!
    There’s just something special about starting a new year. I’ve never been one to make a big deal about New Year's resolutions, but the start of a new year has always made me evaluate my life over the past year and think forward about the year to come. This year, I’ll turn another year older. My kids are growing up way too fast and I’m starting to understand what the “old guys” are always talking about when they say “the years just fly by.” It seems like yesterday, my dad was the same age I am now, and I was riding behind the seat of his old log loader, dreaming of the day when I would be old enough to be just like him. With the new year dawning and thinking about the past and the future, it’s easy to feel disappointed in myself and feel like I’ve wasted a lot of time struggling with the same old sinful desires and somewhat stuck in my spiritual life. There is this constant war waging within me to do what I know God is calling me to do, but wanting to do what my flesh desires to do. We tend to think that we should come to a place in our spiritual life where we have it all figured out and don’t struggle anymore, but I don’t think that’s really how it works. We should definitely be growing and becoming more like Christ, that’s the process of sanctification. But as long as we are living life in this broken world, we will continue to battle against the desires of the flesh. When I feel disappointed in myself because of the constant struggle within between spirit and flesh, I have to remind myself that it’s not by my own power that I overcome the desires of the flesh. It’s only by the power of the Holy Spirit living in me that I can overcome my sinful desires. The disappointment and condemnation that I feel is not from God but from the enemy, trying to discourage me and turn my eyes away from Christ. God tells us in Romans that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus! Read Paul’s words, I hope that you will find strength and encouragement for the coming year, knowing that even the Apostle Paul faced the exact same struggles that you and I face today, and God used him to literally change the world for Christ!    


Romans 7:15-8:11
     “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
    There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”


God bless, have a great week, and Happy New Year! -Terry-

WORD From The Woods 
Romans 6
    “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  


    This is one of the greatest passages in the book of Romans! Paul just finished talking about the awesome grace we experience in Christ. And, the temptation for us as sinful humans is to take advantage of that grace, to be cavalier with sin. On one hand, if we continue to live in sin, it would seem on the surface to highlight the power of grace. But, Paul’s answer to that is “by no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” This is where my personal favorite verse, Galatians 2:20 fits in “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” When we place our faith and trust in Christ for salvation, we’re placing our old life on the cross so it can be put to death. When we’re baptized as believers, we’re proclaiming what Christ did in the tomb, when we’re raised out of the water, it’s a picture of being raised to newness of life in Christ. At this time it’s a spiritual resurrection, but we look forward to a future bodily resurrection like that of Christ’s. A lot of people want to have salvation just for the death insurance that comes with the job. If you’ve ever hired or worked with someone who only hired on for the benefits, you know they’re not usually the most committed employee, and they can be a real hazard in the woods. They’re only there for themselves. There are a lot of people who approach Christ in the same way. God doesn’t just want our death, He wants our life, He wants our whole heart! Just like a great logger is one who is there not just for the benefits, but because he loves the job and has his heart invested in it! A lot of that can depend on the guy leading the crew……. If we truly have a God and Savior like Paul claims we have, then we should be compelled to live a life that is aligned with His will. This is what he’s talking about when he contrasts being a slave to sin or a slave to righteousness. Not that we strive to be self-righteous or holier than thou, we strive to be righteous because we love our Creator God, our Lord and Savior, the Master, who has given us the Holy Spirit to live in our hearts and guide us through this life! There is so much more I could say about this, the awesomeness of our Master is limitless! Friends, we must live a life according to the ways He has called us to. The folks we work around and interact with every day are watching us. What will they see? Will they see a life that’s enslaved to sin or a life that has been set free by Grace and exemplifies the fruits of the Spirit?
God bless and have a great week! -Terry-  


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WORD From The Woods


    This week, I want to look at my favorite Christmas passage, it’s one of the most familiar old testament prophecies from the prophet Isaiah that pointed forward to Immanuel, which means “God with us.”


Isaiah 7:14
“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”
Isaiah 9:1-7
“But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.
The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
on them has light shone.
You have multiplied the nation;
you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
as with joy at the harvest,
as they are glad when they divide the spoil.
For the yoke of his burden,
and the staff for his shoulder,
the rod of his oppressor,
you have broken as on the day of Midian.
For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult
and every garment rolled in blood
will be burned as fuel for the fire.
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.”


    Like I said, this passage is probably familiar to most of us and you’ve likely read it many times around Christmas. But, we usually stop at the birth story of Immanuel, and then we wait until Easter and talk about His resurrection, and then we put Jesus back in a box until Christmas rolls around again. I hope that as you prepare for Christmas, this helps to shift your focus to a higher and more glorious view of Christ and His Kingdom, than ever before. This passage points to the anguish and darkness the people of God were in under the Assyrians, but promised victory, deliverance and light in the coming King that would sit on the throne of David and establish a kingdom of justice and peace. A kingdom and government that would be established and grow without end. When would that kingdom be established? It would begin with the birth of a son, born of a virgin from Galilee. His name would be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Price of Peace!  This King would sit on the throne of David and over his kingdom, from this time forth and forevermore!  Mark 16:19 tells us exactly when this King sat down on that throne, “So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.” When Jesus of Nazareth, had finished His earthly ministry and the work of redemption, he ascended to heaven and took His rightful place on that throne. And over 2,000 Christmases later, He is still there. He is still the Prince of Peace, the Ruler of all creation, Mighty God, Wonderful Counselor, and our loving Savior! And His kingdom is still increasing every time He reaches down and saves a lost soul from darkness. Why does He do this? Love, it’s because he loves us! John 3:16-17 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” Christmas is just a few days away, as you gather with family and friends to celebrate the birth of the King, make sure you glorify Him and share His love found in the gospel with those around you.


God bless, have a great week and merry CHRISTmas!! -Terry-  ​

WORD From The Woods
     As Christmas draws near, I want to look at one of my favorite passages that the old testament jews had pointing forward to the coming Messiah. It might even be God’s favorite Psalm since it’s the most quoted Psalm in the New Testament. We know it was a prophetic Psalm about the coming Messianic King because of how it’s applied by the New Testament authors.   
Psalm 110
“The LORD says to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand,
until I make your enemies your footstool.”
The LORD sends forth from Zion
your mighty scepter.
Rule in the midst of your enemies!
Your people will offer themselves freely
on the day of your power,
in holy garments;
from the womb of the morning,
the dew of your youth will be yours.
The LORD has sworn
and will not change his mind,
“You are a priest forever
after the order of Melchizedek.”
The Lord is at your right hand;
he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath.
He will execute judgment among the nations,
filling them with corpses;
he will shatter chiefs
over the wide earth.
He will drink from the brook by the way;
therefore he will lift up his head.”


   To understand how powerful and awesome this Psalm really is I want to look at a couple of New Testament passages. The first is Mark 16:19. This is right after Jesus gave His disciples the great commission to take the gospel to the world and ascended to heaven. “So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.” Another important passage is, 1 Corinthians 15:25-26 “For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” I point to these passages to remind us of where Christ is this Christmas season! So that, when we sing “joy to the world, the Lord is come, let earth receive her King,” We are mindful of what that really means. After His earthly ministry, Christ ascended to heaven, where He sat down at the right hand of the Father and was given authority over all things to rule and reign over His kingdom! With that in mind read Psalm 110 again. This might seem like an odd passage for Christmas, but it’s why the baby in the manger came to earth. Because without a savior, as enemies of God, we would all face the wrath of God spoken of in Psalm 110, and He will rule and reign until all of His enemies are defeated! But, in Christ, we will stand before God dressed in the Holy garments of the righteousness of King Jesus! We can be sure of this because the Lord has sworn it and will not change His mind. Think about that for a minute or two, the Lord God, Creator of everything, has sworn this, He has made a covenant, and He will not change His mind. And that is something worth celebrating this Christmas!


God Bless, have a great week and Merry CHRISTmas! -Terry- 

WORD From The Woods


Galatians 5:1-15 
   "For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love. You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion is not from him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view, and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is. But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed. I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves! For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another."


    I just love how Paul puts it in this passage, "for freedom Christ had set you free!"  He tells us to stand firm in the fact that Christ has set us free from the yoke of slavery. The picture of a heavy yoke and being enslaved is something we should think carefully about and understand the true weight communicated by this metaphor. The burden that Paul is talking about is the burden of trying to obtain righteousness through doing good things.  Paul is addressing the issue of circumcision which was a part of Old Testament law, men were required to be circumcised in order to be a part of the nation of Israel. This was a picture of how we are "circumcised" of our old fleshly nature when we are born again as a new creation in Christ, thus becoming a part of "true Israel" the kingdom of God. There were people in the Galatian church who were falling into the teaching that they could obtain righteousness by being circumcised and trying to keep the law. He says that if we try to work our way to righteousness we are severed from Christ! We can't do it on our own! As Paul says "through the spirit, by faith, we eagerly await for the hope of righteousness." This has already been accomplished by Christ crucified! We will fully realize this incredible truth at the resurrection, when we who believe in Christ will be raised immortal, imperishable and incorruptible!!  Paul warns in verse 13 not to take our freedom in Christ for granted though. We should never use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh and be cavalier about sin.  Praise and glory be to our God and King for this great freedom in Christ! It’s not what we do that makes us acceptable to God, It’s what Christ has already done for us on the cross that covers our sin and makes us righteous before a Holy God!


God bless and have a great week! -Terry-