Treasures

Treasures are not only in the form of money. The very gifts that God has created in us are more valuable than silver and gold. Our creativity comes straight from Him, for He is the great creator and we are made in His image. But to share in His treasures we must believe that Jesus died for us. And we must share that with others even if that means moving out of our comfort zone to do it. The fact that we believe, that we are saved, is not to be the world's best-kept secret. It is for all to know. ~ DickEvans.org

God Knows

God knows what He wants for us and what part we are to play in the bigger picture that He has planned out. It is His will that is the key to our prayer. We must ask in line with His will, otherwise, our asking could be fruitless. He did not tell us we could have anything we asked for. He told us that in the name of Jesus what lined up with the will of the Father we would see happen. ~ DickEvans.org

Hear His Voice

Many of us want to hear God clearly and more often. But are we going to obey what we hear Him tell us? It might be better not to get the message than to get it and not obey it. All of His messages to us are meant to be obeyed. We expect Him to respond immediately to our prayer. Perhaps He expects us to respond immediately to His response. ​~ DickEvans.org

Do Something

Many of us read good books. There are many great Christian authors that can fill our bookshelves with information about the revelation and the experiences they have had in their walk with God. We listen to many great messages from preacher after preacher that get us to seriously think about our walk or lack of with Him. We can even be hearing directly from God as He reveals himself to us. But as good as all the information is, if we don't act on it and obey God's word to us, it does nothing to propel us forward. It is like looking in the mirror and doing nothing about what we see. ~ DickEvans.org

Give Thanks

Many know God, but how many worship Him and give Him thanks for all the blessing He gives us? It is more than knowledge; it is a relationship that He seeks with us. God does not become what we think He is supposed to be like. He is who He is and it is up to us to get closer to Him to not only understand His nature but to grow up in Him and take on that very nature. The key to removing confusion is building relationships. If we stay close to Him by worshipping Him and giving Him thanks, our minds will stay focused and not become dark or confused. ~ DickEvans.org

Reach Out

Many believers work very hard using all the knowledge they have built up by attending seminar after seminar and listening to preacher after preacher. They do all the right things and yet it just doesn't seem to be getting them where they know they should be. They are in sheer panic mode. But the Lord is close by all the time. He is omnipresent. Yet He awaits our call. If we reach out and call on Him sincerely, He will respond. How do I know that? I know that because He tells us so. ~ DickEvans.org

He Forgave All

When we come to Jesus and ask to be forgiven of our sins; when we ask Christ into our lives, He removes all records of our sin all the way back through our ancestors including the sin of Adam. This occurred at the Cross; it occurred when Jesus died for all of our sins. We were guilty and He bore them for us. So nobody can throw those old sins back in our face because we are a new person in Christ. We can no longer be condemned for who we used to be and what we used to do. Or for our current or future transgressions. Thank God for Jesus who died for us at the cross and forgave all our sins, past, present, and future. Our sin debt has been paid in full. ~ DickEvans.org

Pursue Him

Richness does not always lead to happiness. It may appear to be happy to others as they look on from the outside, only seeing the material things that surround them. But the pursuit of money leads to the pursuit of that next thing, that next toy, that next vacation, and so on; all because of the desire to fill the void and to be happy. What I have discovered is that the only thing that can truly fill that void is God. It is in Christ that true happiness is found. This does not mean that you cannot have money to enjoy the things of this world if you have Him in your life. No, it means that you will no longer be pursuing money. And in your pursuit of Him, you will find your reward. ~ DickEvans.org

Free

Jesus died for us. He died so that we might be free from the evil powers of this world. Free from being dominated by satan and those under his power. Free from the penalty of our sins, past, present, and forever. Above all, I thank God for freeing me from the bondage I had to the prince of this world. That is the most important freedom of all. ~ DickEvans.org

Ask God

Ask God and He will develop His gifts in you. The condition here is that you must ask for those that will be of real help to the whole church, the body of Christ you are involved with. So be eager and ask, but ask with wisdom. ~ DickEvans.org

Spark Of Hope

When we preach the Good News we never know to whom the words are being spoken. When that spark of hope reaches the person God intends it to reach, they reach forward with that seed of faith and turn to the Lord. The veil is removed from their eyes and for the first time they see what was hidden and are saved. ~ DickEvans.org

Obedient

As shaky as our legs might be, God will enable us to stand firm when His words are pouring forth from our obedient month. That is the key, being obedient to the Holy Spirit. When that happens, we touch those we are destined to touch. It has little to do with the amount of information we received in our education and has everything to do with the revelation that leads us into our transformation. ~ DickEvans.org

We Are The Example

When others hear us preach the Good News, they hear more than the words we say. We preach much louder with our lifestyle than with mere words. Sometimes our life speaks so loudly that they never hear the message we have to give. In everything we do, we must remember that we are an example to others. Good or bad, our life speaks volumes to them. May we listen to the words of Jesus and be the example He has set us out to be. ~ DickEvans.org

Guide us

There are only two who really know what is on the inside of any one of us; what is truly in our hearts. One of those is God himself who knows all and the other is ourselves. Sometimes our desire to be like Him is so strong that even we are unaware of the true conviction in our hearts. Only He knows it all. We need to step back and see how others see us. We need to look for the fruit in our lives. Does it line up with the fruit we profess? Then we need to ask Holy Spirit to guide us into all Truth. ~ DickEvans.org

Eternal Life

It is the Spirit who gives eternal life, not our day-to-day works, no matter how good they are. And the gift of eternal life is free. All we have to do to receive it is ask for it -- ask in faith and we will receive it. Once saved, our works take on a new dimension as Holy Spirit instructs and guides us. Recall that our accomplishments get us no closer to eternal life with Him; we already possess our salvation and His grace. ~ DickEvans.org

Wrong Is Not Right

It is very easy to be convinced that wrong is right because so many see it that way. We must be careful. We must have the courage to warn without criticism our fellow believers so they are not pulled down into the pit with their fellow workers in the world. And we must be willing to receive the same warnings ourselves. We must listen to the Holy Spirit and listen to our brothers and sisters in Christ as they too listen to the Holy Spirit. ~ DickEvans.org

God Never Stops

God never stops working, so why should we? God time is not a parsed out piece of our life; as a believer, it is our life. We may work and do family things in the world, but wherever we are we can praise Him and look to the Holy Spirit to guide us and teach us and use us. We must never, never stop doing what He has called us to do. ~ DickEvans.org

Saved, Healed, and Discipled

When we tell others about Jesus our typical method is to get them to come to a church meeting. Sometimes we even do this so that they can receive the Lord in that setting; we bring them in and let someone else do the saving part. Yet, even if we do lead them through salvation, we may steer them to others for discipleship. But you see, the words of Christ live in our hearts making us wise. And those words came from our digesting His Word and from the Holy Spirit through our relationship with Him. When He places someone in our path, He expects us to see them saved, healed, and discipled. He expects us to open our mouths and let His words speak to others to teach and to counsel them. ~ DickEvans.org

Preach It

The good news is not something to be whispered in closed rooms or only at church on Sunday. The Good News is for us to shout out just like we shout out our excitement about that last ballgame or movie we watched. We are to tell our story; the story of what a relationship with Jesus has done in our lives. We are to tell the story of Jesus; His birth, death, and resurrection. That is what preaching is all about. ~ DickEvans.org

Stick To His Word

We have to be careful false teachings don't pull us away from the Good News being careful they are not bringing us down a side path that is not fully truth. There is but one Gospel and we are not to add to it or take from it. It is not a smorgasbord where we pick and choose a few pieces and add to it some dessert from this book and that television series. It is easy to be fooled by those that twist the message a little here and a little there. We need to stick to His Word and listen to His voice letting Holy Spirit teach us and guide us in all that we do. ~ DickEvans.org

His Plan

I see believers of all ages today jumping from meeting to meeting, from church to church all seeking the pieces they want to have. How often we lean to our own understanding deciding what is from God and what is not based on our feelings. It is not about what feels good to us. No, the enemy makes many earthly ideas seem wonderful to us for he is an expert in the art of deception. We must rely on the Holy Spirit to lead us and not our own thoughts. We must follow His plan and not ours. ~ DickEvans.org

Our Choices

The fruit of our salvation is not the tribulations we go through. That trouble is the serendipity of living life in this world, a world that is controlled by the prince of this world. The fruit of our salvation is expressed in how we react to what the world system throws up in our faces. The enemy knows he has lost the battle, but that does not mean he has stopped fighting. He is on the defensive, constantly looking for ways to deceive us and pull our focus away from God. He places evil and temptation in our path. But it is our choices that determine our path and that is not always the path God has for us and He sticks with us and guides us through whatever trials and tribulations the enemy uses to block our journey. ~ DickEvans.org

Batteries Charged

Being in a group of unbelievers is not the same as partnering with them; partnering with their beliefs and causes. We are to be a light in dark places, but we are not be overcome by that darkness. We must be careful each day. We must charge our batteries fully and walk forth ready to spread His love wherever He sends us. ~ DickEvans.org

Tell Someone

People become believers in Christ because we tell others about our experiences. We tell others about what our relationship with the Lord has done in our lives. They know it not only because they hear about it; they know it because they can see the difference in us. They hear the Good News and it spreads rapidly. Isn't today a good day to tell someone? ~ DickEvans.org

Our Example

Others hear what we say and compare it to how we act. They take that one step further and compare our actions to their perception of how a believer should act. Not only are we not at perfection, but we also have no idea of what they perceive a Christian to act like. We are being watched all the time even by other believers looking to each of us as examples. As God's children, we are not to look to others as examples of what to do. We are to look to Jesus. He sets the example. ~ DickEvans.org

Desires Change

A while ago I had the opportunity to watch a couple of movies that I had really liked before I was walking with the Lord. I remembered how great they were and sat down ready to be entertained; ready to enjoy reliving that great experience. Instead of enjoying it, I was offended by the language and the graphic representations on the screen. It was quite a demonstration of what happens when you let God work in you. We are changed from the inside out; we take on more and more of His nature as we let Him in more and more. Our desires change as we walk closer to Him. ~ DickEvans.org

Never Stop Telling

We can get frustrated when sharing the Good News with others. They just don't get it. What God did in our lives is a nice story for them and nothing more. They have been blinded by the god of this world and don't see. They just don't understand the message. But, we mustn't give up. God will touch their hearts so that when they hear our words, they will believe. Never stop telling the story. ~ DickEvans.org

Free Gift

Jesus' free gift saved us. He paid the price for us. His divine power gives us all we need for living the godly life He called us to lead. He allows us to share in his divine nature. But it is up to us to apply what He makes available to us to our lives. By God’s grace, we are where we are. And by His grace, we can walk that life of moral excellence. We can step forth each day in faith knowing it is His nature that works in us. As we do we grow in our faith and in our knowledge of Him. ~ DickEvans.org

His Nature In Us

Where is our focus? If it were truly on God then we would be praying without ceasing and getting to know Him more each day. As that relationship grows, so does our self-control. What happens is our focus on self is moved to a focus on Him. Then self-control is not an issue. With self-control wrapped up, we can endure and press on. We can press on to the goal and the goal is to know Him more. The goal is to not only know His nature but to have His nature in us. Having His nature makes us holy and godly. ~ DickEvans.org

Top Of The List

As believers filled with the Holy Spirit, we have a desire within us to obey His voice. But we must be available to hear Him. We must not force that desire to the bottom of our things to do list each day. No, He should always be on top and never checked off. As we listen and obey, He will work through us with the same power that He used to raise Jesus from the dead doing what pleased Him through us. ~ DickEvans.org