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Recent Comments
Aloha, I just wanted to thank you all, so much for the new way you are doing the Daily Devotionals, I love it and it has been such a blessing to me.. Have a blessed week !
Posted by Muriel Louise Williams on Jan 09, 2012, in response to the devotional on
Thursday, January 5, 2012
I' ve read all your messages from my arriving to Hawaii last November and I have been much blessed.Please, keep up the good job. I m sure there very many like me who appreciate it. Thank you pastor Wayne, thank you pastor Andy.
Posted by Carmen Teresa Coronado on Dec 27, 2011, in response to the devotional on
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
As you point out, Pastor Mike, today's passage is much deeper than most people think. It is a wonderful verse to take the time to ponder. Let us go to a quiet place with this verse, and invite our hearts and minds to reflect upon the deep meaning that the Holy Spirit wants us to learn. Thank you for giving us a nudge to do just that.
Posted by Ann Verblaauw on Dec 09, 2011, in response to the devotional on
Friday, December 9, 2011
We try to also use the "presence gauge" of Jesus Himself: "Would I do this thing if Jesus was visibly sitting right next to me?" His Spirit is, after all, right here inside of us believers. Another challenging gauge that helps us is: "Would I want to be doing this, if Jesus came back at this very moment to take us to Heaven?" We miss Hawaii and send everyone our aloha from Virginia
Posted by The Brzostowski Ohana on Dec 05, 2011, in response to the devotional on
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Thank you, Pastor Wayne.
Posted by Ann Verblaauw on Nov 19, 2011, in response to the devotional on
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Daily eMail Devotional
Saturday, April 17, 2010
I Peter 1:3-9 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.I grew up in California (Yes, I know – “The land of fruits and nuts”; “Shake and bake country”; I have heard all of the jokes). A part of our required courses growing up we had to study California history. An important period of California history is about the Gold Rush of 1849. We leaned all about the ‘49ers” and about gold; How to find it, how to retrieve it, and how to refine it. Much of what we learned in those classes will help us to understand this passage.
The Gold Rush started because a man named Sutter found some gold nuggets in a stream bed on his property, just sitting there waiting to be picked up. Soon the word got out and a whole lot of people came rushing into California to find their own gold. The problem was that for most of them it was not that easy. They would have to work at finding their gold and sometimes they never found it. A lot of people think that once you get saved, everything comes easy for the Christian. They soon find out that you have to work at being a Christian; “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” (Philippians 2:13) and that it does not always come easy. Soon they give up and quit.
There were also many hardships involved in going for the gold. Long periods away from family and friends, living in harsh conditions far away from civilization. Having to do without many of the luxuries of life. Working long hard hours with little or no immediate results. They would have to dig long and deep to reach pay-dirt, sometimes only finding an ounce of gold in a ton of dirt. The Christian life does not always bring immediate results either. You have to be willing to be faithful to the Lord, even when you do not see the results. Sometimes you have to dig deep to get anything back. It takes work to live the Christian life.
The final thing that I learned is that it takes fire and heat to refine the gold. The more heat, the purer the gold. The Bible tells us in Job 23:10 that “when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” God refines and purifies us through the heat of trials. We need to learn to accept those trials as a necessary part of God working in our lives.
Aloha in Christ,
Pastor Wayne
Don't Forget -
