BY FAITH 1

Romans 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

Most of us are aware that we are justified by our Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We have faith in the fact that Jesus is the Son of God. By faith we believe that He was born of a virgin and came to live among men. It is our faith that convinces us that He was worthy to pay the debt for our sins and by dying for us and overcoming that death by rising again. It is by faith that we trust Him to forgive our sins and save us.

Faith is a wonderful thing. There are a lot of definitions and a lot of explanations of faith. What I think is the most simple one is that faith is believing what God has said in His word.

It seems today that even some who call themselves Christian are denying that God's Word is true. I am of the opinion that if you can not believe all of the Bible there is no reason to presume that you can believe any of it. Faith is conforming to God's Word and not trying to make God's Word conform to our way of thinking.

Please feel free to contact me by email at

shilohkosciusko@gmail.com with questions, comments or even suggestions for further devotional studies.


If you know of someone new to the Kosciusko area and would like for our church to visit them please let us know. Our prayers are that this devotional ministry will be an outreach to bring people into a closer relationship with Jesus. I do appreciate you taking the time to read these devotionals and please keep us in your prayers.

LIFE STORIES 5

Psalms 90:9 For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: we spend our years as a tale that is told.

LIFE IS A GIFT

The greatest that God give us is life. He first gives us this physical life and then He gives us eternal life through His Son Jesus.

There are many gifts that God gives man but to all of us he gives us the three greatest.

He gives us hope. I am an incurable optimist. I look forward to each day with great excitement. A few time in my life my heart condition has been such that doctors have thought that I would not pull through and if I did I wouldn't last long. When you are faced with that kind of diagnosis it kind of makes you realize that every day is special and every day is a gift. I wish I had known that even as a child growing up. I have no idea when the Lord will come back or when I will die but I intend to get every bit of good I can out of every day He gives me. I do appreciate each day as a gift.

He give us faith. He has given me a small measure of faith and by exercising it I have found it to be enough. I only have a little faith, but it is in a Great God and I have found Him to be sufficient for my every need.

He gives us charity (Love). We must first love Him. Then I think it is important to love ourselves because He is in us and is our creator. We are then to love our family and our friends. The hardest part is to love our enemies and strangers but why should it be so hard to share it. It is a gift and it didn't cost us anything.

What kind of life story are you writing? It is my prayer that these past few devotionals have caused you to think about the obituary that you are writing for yourself. What you do now is what people remember.


Please feel free to contact me by email at

shilohkosciusko@gmail.com with questions, comments or even suggestions for further devotional studies.


If you know of someone new to the Kosciusko area and would like for our church to visit them please let us know. Our prayers are that this devotional ministry will be an outreach to bring people into a closer relationship with Jesus. I do appreciate you taking the time to read these devotionals and please keep us in your prayers.

LIFE STORIES 4

Psalms 90:9 For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: we spend our years as a tale that is told.

AN EMOTIONAL STORY

Our lives are filled with emotion. Sometimes they are an emotional roller coaster. I have heard people who say, "I'm really not an emotional person." We are all emotional people unless we are sociopaths (This is what serial killers are. They don't feel anything.) Some people may not show their emotions as much as other people.

I did a comic strip once where one character said that some people were easily overcome by emotion. The other responded by saying, "That's not so bad as long as they don't overcome everyone else with them." You all know the type I am talking about, those who are Drama Queens and Kings who overplay everything. In all honesty I don't know which is worse.

As a pastor I have had to be strong as I preached the funeral of some beloved saint that we would all miss but I confess, I have preached some teary eyed funerals. I am not ashamed for someone to see me cry with them or for them.
I am not ashamed to rejoice with them either. I just try to control my emotions as much as possible but I certainly don't want to stifle them completely.

Emotions are a part of our lives. What would life be without sadness, joy, happiness, excitement, and yes even fear sometimes. All of these things let you know that you are still very much alive.

Please feel free to contact me by email at

shilohkosciusko@gmail.com with questions, comments or even suggestions for further devotional studies.


If you know of someone new to the Kosciusko area and would like for our church to visit them please let us know. Our prayers are that this devotional ministry will be an outreach to bring people into a closer relationship with Jesus. I do appreciate you taking the time to read these devotionals and please keep us in your prayers.

LIFE STORIES 3

Psalms 90:9 For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: we spend our years as a tale that is told.

SOME LIVES ARE SAD STORIES INDEED

I am sometimes amazed at how many people go through their life searching for something to fill the void in their life and never find it. I see celebrities on the news (that I would not even know otherwise) that are continually in and out of rehab or some other trouble.

You would think someone who has been given such great opportunity would also know how to find fulfilment in their lives but I guess they are all looking in the wrong places. They are always searching for the ultimate experience but they wind up with the same disappointing results.

John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

The saddest life story is one in which the person never finds The Way. He never learns The Truth, and he never learns knows The Life.

One of the saddest verses in the Bible to me is,

Jeremiah 8:20 The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.


Please feel free to contact me by email at

shilohkosciusko@gmail.com with questions, comments or even suggestions for further devotional studies.


If you know of someone new to the Kosciusko area and would like for our church to visit them please let us know. Our prayers are that this devotional ministry will be an outreach to bring people into a closer relationship with Jesus. I do appreciate you taking the time to read these devotionals and please keep us in your prayers.

LIFE STORIES 2

Psalms 90:9 For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: we spend our years as a tale that is told.

SOME LIVES ARE TRAGEDIES

So many lives these days seem to be filled with tragedy and sad situations. I know that many people bring things upon themselves but sometimes bad things also happen to good people.

Even in times of difficulty there is good to be found. We see in the lives of people dealing with disease and life changing accidents some great incidences of courage that can be a great inspiration to us all.

My brother had muscular dystrophy and his brief life lasted only 23 years. His life was not a tragedy though. I was devastated when he died. I was only 20 and it took me a long time to come to grips with losing him. As time passed and the pain became less I was able to remember many of the lessons I learned from having him in my life.

I learned that it is not all about me. You have to be there for other people who need you. I learned that you can laugh and enjoy life and be there for others even though you might not have all the abilities that everyone else has. I learned that when someone dies you never really lose them because part of them always remains in your heart and in your mind. Since then I have also come to believe that there is somewhere that is better than here and those who know Jesus are there waiting for the rest of us who know Jesus to come home.

Now that is not so tragic is it.


Please feel free to contact me by email at

shilohkosciusko@gmail.com with questions, comments or even suggestions for further devotional studies.


If you know of someone new to the Kosciusko area and would like for our church to visit them please let us know. Our prayers are that this devotional ministry will be an outreach to bring people into a closer relationship with Jesus. I do appreciate you taking the time to read these devotionals and please keep us in your prayers.

LIFE STORIES 1

Psalms 90:9 For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: we spend our years as a tale that is told.

WRITING YOUR LIFE STORY

In my years in the ministry I have preached more funerals than I can remember. More important, I doubt very seriously if very many people that heard me preach them remember anything I said at the funeral.

One thing I do try to stress at each funeral is that what I have to say is not all that important. What the person did while they were alive is what really matters. I think we actually preach our own funeral as we are still alive. It is not the songs, the poems or the nice words of the sermon that people remember.

It is the memories that we put in people's minds and hearts while we are still with them that will last until we to go on to our final destination.

Just some food for thought this week. How will people remember you? How are you affecting those around you? After you are gone and someone perchance mentions you in a conversation will it make them smile, laugh, grimace and frown or cause them to miss you and make them thankful that were a part of their life?


Please feel free to contact me by email at

shilohkosciusko@gmail.com with questions, comments or even suggestions for further devotional studies.


If you know of someone new to the Kosciusko area and would like for our church to visit them please let us know. Our prayers are that this devotional ministry will be an outreach to bring people into a closer relationship with Jesus. I do appreciate you taking the time to read these devotionals and please keep us in your prayers.

Broken Cisterns 2

Jeremiah 2:13 For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

INTRODUCTION: Water is a symbol of life, both carnal and eternal. In these verses of scriptures God speaks to Israel and declares that they have forsaken Him, the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns.

I can remember when people caught their water in cisterns. They would put gutters around the house and use them to direct the water from the house into the cistern. It was a big old concrete jug in buried in the ground.

Most people did it because they didn't have a choice. That was the only way they could store water. The problem is that everything on that roof would wash down into their drinking water. Anything that happened to climb or crawl in and fell in would stay right there in the water they drank.

Most people never thought of the impurities in their water. It is kind of the same with Spiritual water. Instead of getting spiritual refreshment directly from the Lord, all some people get is what comes from someone else that has caught something and stored it. They too have no idea of the impurities that might be in it.

It is important for us to know Jesus as our Lord and Savior and go directly to His Word. He is the living water and if we have Him we will never thirst.

Please feel free to contact me by email at

shilohkosciusko@gmail.com with questions, comments or even suggestions for further devotional studies.


If you know of someone new to the Kosciusko area and would like for our church to visit them please let us know. Our prayers are that this devotional ministry will be an outreach to bring people into a closer relationship with Jesus. I do appreciate you taking the time to read these devotionals and please keep us in your prayers.

Broken Cisterns 1

Jeremiah 2:13 For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

INTRODUCTION: Water is a symbol of life, both carnal and eternal. In these verses of scriptures God speaks to Israel and declares that they have forsaken Him, the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns.

The first evil the people committed was forsaking God. We do that when we question the validity of the Bible. We do that when we decide we must become tolerant of ideas and cultures that are contrary to His Word.

God's Word is eternal and it is not going to change with the styles. I am afraid people have not only hewed out cisterns but they are broken cisterns.

Read tomorrows devotional for a lesson on cisterns.

Here is something to consider when we you begin to compromise the Word of God

NOTE:
We wallow in the mire of mediocrity, muck through the mud of moderation, and our sleepy souls slovenly slop through the superficial sloughs of self satisfaction. And then we wonder why we don't feel as close to God as we should.


Please feel free to contact me by email at

shilohkosciusko@gmail.com with questions, comments or even suggestions for further devotional studies.


If you know of someone new to the Kosciusko area and would like for our church to visit them please let us know. Our prayers are that this devotional ministry will be an outreach to bring people into a closer relationship with Jesus. I do appreciate you taking the time to read these devotionals and please keep us in your prayers.

ALWAYS SHOW MERCY

BY Jeremy Burkes

Matthew 5:1-2 And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: (2) And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,

Mt 5:7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.


Mercy is defined as the act of showing compassion. The world is lacking in that department. I'm sad to say, so are a lot of Christians. Throughout his ministry Jesus met different people and showed mercy on all of them. Christians are no different, we meet all kinds of different people everyday. We need to follow Jesus' example and always show mercy to a world that has forgotten how.

Please feel free to contact me by email at

shilohkosciusko@gmail.com with questions, comments or even suggestions for further devotional studies.


If you know of someone new to the Kosciusko area and would like for our church to visit them please let us know. Our prayers are that this devotional ministry will be an outreach to bring people into a closer relationship with Jesus. I do appreciate you taking the time to read these devotionals and please keep us in your prayers.

Come and Dine

By Jeremy Burkes

Matthew 5:1-2 And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: (2) And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,


Mt 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

Everywhere you look in restaurants and on television you see all you can eat. God wants to invite you to his all you can eat buffet, the Bible. God's word is filled with all the food for thought you can digest. The only thing is we are not eating like we should. We are quick to go to a buffet at a restaurant before we go feed upon God's Word. If we are to be filled in our walk with GOD we have to open up God's Word and eat all we can. There is a song we sing at church
called "Come and Dine". The open line says "Jesus has a table spread where the Saints of God are fed. So open your Bible and join Jesus at his table. Like the song says Come and Dine.

Please feel free to contact me by email at

shilohkosciusko@gmail.com with questions, comments or even suggestions for further devotional studies.


If you know of someone new to the Kosciusko area and would like for our church to visit them please let us know. Our prayers are that this devotional ministry will be an outreach to bring people into a closer relationship with Jesus. I do appreciate you taking the time to read these devotionals and please keep us in your prayers.

HEALING THE HURT

by Jeremy Burkes

And seeing the mutitudes,he went into a moutain: and when he was set, his diciples came unto him: And he opened his mouth and taught them saying,Matthew 5:1-2

Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. Matthew 5:5

We have all been hurt in one way or another. From getting our feelings hurt or we have had an injury of some kind.
How we handle the pain is what is important. Most people tend to get angry when someone hurts our feelings.

Anger is the Christians downfall. Some people have what I like to call buttons. Satan knows every button you have and he pushes everyone of them. Throughout Jesus' ministry he was hated and had a target on him everywhere he went. The same is true about us. The world hates everything we stand for. Some people make it their mission in life to hurt anyone they can. When we get hurt we need to depend on God for his help through it.The next time you
get hurt in any way allow God to use the Holy Ghost to comfort you.


Please feel free to contact me by email at

shilohkosciusko@gmail.com with questions, comments or even suggestions for further devotional studies.


If you know of someone new to the Kosciusko area and would like for our church to visit them please let us know. Our prayers are that this devotional ministry will be an outreach to bring people into a closer relationship with Jesus. I do appreciate you taking the time to read these devotionals and please keep us in your prayers.

LET'S GO DOWN TO THE POTTER'S HOUSE 5

Jeremiah 18:1-6
Jeremiah 18:4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

THE WILL
We must exercise our wills about the individual
decisions of life, but when it comes to DESTINIES it has been determined by what we do as individuals with JESUS CHRIST.

A dear friend of mine was preaching a sermon on the will one night and he gave the best definition of the will that I have ever heard. He explained that the will is your want to. God has given us a will that He will not violate. He will not make us be saved. He will send conviction and hope that we want too be saved.

God wants us to do want the same things that He wants. If we are to know the things that God wants we will have to read His Word and spend some time in prayer. Circumstances will sometimes come into play but in the end we become useful vessels when we learn to want what God wants.

Please feel free to contact me by email at

shilohkosciusko@gmail.com with questions, comments or even suggestions for further devotional studies.


If you know of someone new to the Kosciusko area and would like for our church to visit them please let us know. Our prayers are that this devotional ministry will be an outreach to bring people into a closer relationship with Jesus. I do appreciate you taking the time to read these devotionals and please keep us in your prayers.

LET'S GO DOWN TO THE POTTER'S HOUSE 4

Jeremiah 18:1-6
Jeremiah 18:4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

THE WASTE vs.4
You will notice that the waste material was reused. God throws nothing away. You may not be in God's perfect will but if you will submit and give Him what is left he will still make you a
usable vessel. "A vessel unto honor" .

Many lives are broken by things most of us can not even imagine. God can take that broken vessel and remake it into something beautiful. It is wonderful to hear the testimony of someone whose parents raised them in church and taught them to love God from their early childhood. People who have not strayed far from the path of God. On the other hand the testimony of those with broken lives who have been surrendered them to God are just as beautiful.

It doesn't matter where you are in your walk with God. God is still molding you into a more perfect vessel for His use.

Please feel free to contact me by email at

shilohkosciusko@gmail.com with questions, comments or even
suggestions for further devotional studies.


If you know of someone new to the Kosciusko area and would like for
our church to visit them please let us know. Our prayers are that
this devotional ministry will be an outreach to bring people into a
closer relationship with Jesus. I do appreciate you taking the time
to read these devotionals and please keep us in your prayers.

LET'S GO DOWN TO THE POTTER'S HOUSE 3

Jeremiah 18:1-6
Jeremiah 18:3 Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.

THE WORK vs.3

The potter wrought a work, not the clay but the potter.

Ephesians 2:8-10 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: the gift of God:{9} Not of works, lest any man should boast. {10} For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

There are so many that are trying to work their way into Heaven. That is where humility also comes into play, you are not now nor will you ever be worthy of Heaven. That is why God saves us by grace.

Don't struggle with spiritual matters and try to become something God has not called you to be. Just surrender yourself to His will and let Him mold you as He sees fit. Some He places in positions that might seem more attractive than others. There were times when I sort of envied the pastors of big fine churches and wished that I could be more like them. In looking back I realized that God always moved me where I could be used by Him. That is true even now and I must confess that If God hadn't did some remolding I would not have been serving Him where I am. That would be a shame because I have enjoyed 10 of my happiest years in the ministry. God always knows what the vessel should be. The clay does not.

Please feel free to contact me by email at

shilohkosciusko@gmail.com with questions, comments or even suggestions for further devotional studies.


If you know of someone new to the Kosciusko area and would like for our church to visit them please let us know. Our prayers are that this devotional ministry will be an outreach to bring people into a closer relationship with Jesus. I do appreciate you taking the time to read these devotionals and please keep us in your prayers.

LET'S GO DOWN TO THE POTTER'S HOUSE 2

Jeremiah 18:2 Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.

THE WAY
In this verse we see that if we are to be remade by the potter the way is down.."go down". Humility is always a key ingredient in regeneration. We must recognize that we need a vast improvement. It is the same with salvation, a person can not be saved until they realize that they are lost. If a person never realizes the
terribleness of sin it is hard for them to accept the fact that they need a Savior.

Even in the life of the believer there are times we need to examine ourselves and humble ourselves before a Holy God as he shapes us into vessels for His service.
Just accept the fact that He is God. We are not. He knows what is best for us that we might Glorify Him.

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

We must let God speak to us to show us the way.

Please feel free to contact me by email at shilohkosciusko@gmail.com with questions, comments or even suggestions for further devotional studies.

If you know of someone new to the Kosciusko area and would like for our church to visit them please let us know. Our prayers are that this devotional ministry will be an outreach to bring people into a closer relationship with Jesus. I do appreciate you taking the time to read these devotionals and please keep us in your prayers.

LET'S GO DOWN TO THE POTTER'S HOUSE 1

Jeremiah 18:1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, (2) Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. (3) Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. (4) And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.(5) Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, (6) O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.

Introduction:
I have always loved this passage of the bible. I once had the opportunity to see someone shaping a pot on the wheel and I really learned a lot from it. Just like people clay can be difficult to work with at times. It can be stubborn, to dry, not stiff enough, or it can have air bubbles in it that can cause it to fall apart just as it is beginning to look like the perfect shape.

One of the things I learned was that when the vessel was marred and the potter had to start over one of the things that had to be done was that the clay had to be pounded and worked until it became the right texture for the potter to mold. Whenever you are going through something difficult it might be good to ask yourself if you are being prepared to be molded into a vessel of service.


Please feel free to contact me by email at

shilohkosciusko@gmail.com with questions, comments or even suggestions for further devotional studies.


If you know of someone new to the Kosciusko area and would like for our church to visit them please let us know. Our prayers are that this devotional ministry will be an outreach to bring people into a closer relationship with Jesus. I do appreciate you taking the time to read these devotionals and please keep us in your prayers.

THOU SHALT NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS AGAINST THY NEIGHBOR

by Jeremy Burkes

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. Exodus 20:17

Words are the one thing that cannot be taken back once they are out. Whether it is to our family or our friends when we say something to hurt them it takes a long time to repair the damage. Damage to anything can take a lot of time and patience to replace or rebuild. The one thing we need to realize is that the only one who can replace or repair any damage is God. But we need to go to the person or persons that we have hurt and apologize.. After we make it right with them then we take it before the throne of God. There we can leave the damage with him and forget about it and never bring it up again.

RESCUE THE PERISHING

RESCUE THE PERISHING

An artist, seeking to depict on canvas the meaning of evangelism, painted a storm at sea. Black clouds filled the sky. Illuminated by a flash of lightning, a little boat could be seen disintegrating under the pounding of the ocean. Men were struggling in the swirling waters, their anguished faces crying out for help. The only glimmer of hope appeared in the foreground of the painting, where a large rock protruded out of the water. There, clutching desperately with both hands, was one lone seaman.

It was a moving scene. Looking at the painting, one could see in the tempest a symbol of mankind's hopeless condition. And, true to the Gospel, the only hope of salvation was "the Rock of Ages", a shelter in the time of storm.

But as the artist reflected upon his work, he realized that the painting did not accurately portray his subject. So he discarded the canvas, and painted another. It was very similar to the first: the black clouds, the flashing lightning, the angry waters, the little boat crushed by the pounding waves, and the crew vainly struggling in the water. In the foreground the seaman was clutching the large rock for salvation. But the artist made one change: the survivor was holding on with only one hand, and with the other hand he was reaching down to pull up a drowning friend.

That is the New Testament picture of evangelism--that hand reaching down to rescue the perishing. Until that hand is extended, there is no Gospel--and there is no hope for the world. (Copied)

We should take some of our Christian Hymns seriously. "Rescue the perishing, care for the dying, Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save."

DELIVERED ME FROM FEARS

Psalms 34:4 I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.

I can remember that as a young boy I used to fear going to sleep at night and dying in my sleep. The child's prayer that had the line "If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take" was a frightening choice of words to me. Because of sin somehow I realized that if God took my soul in my sleep that it would be so rotten that he would cast it away.

I never shared those fears with anyone. I didn't want anyone to know how worthless I really was. I was the only one in the world who really knew me and I think I even fooled myself sometimes.

When I finally realized that there was nothing I could do about it on my own I gave my worthless soul to Jesus and trusted Him to do what I could not. "He washed it white as snow."

At that time God delivered me from the terrible fear of what He would do with my soul. He cleaned it up and made it worthy of spending eternity with Him. That is something I could have never done myself. Only Jesus can do that.

NOTE: There was supposed to be a devotional from Jeremy Burkes posted today and I seem to have misplaced it on the computer. I will try to find it and post it Friday. If I can't there will be no devotional for Friday.

Godly Attitude 2

Comfort with a Godly attitude
by Jeremy Burkes

And seeing the multitudes,he went into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: And he opened his mouth and taught them saying,Matthew 5:1-2.

Blessed are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted. Matthew 5:4

Death is a part of life. Mourning is a part of death. Mourning is the way to show grief. The wife and husband mourns when one or the other passes away. Mourning is the time we take to remember all the memories that we made with the ones that have passed away. We are all going to die one day. Some one will mourn for us. When Jesus ascended up to heaven he left the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is there to comfort Christians. When we loose a loved one to death we
don't always understand it. But with the comfort of the Holy Ghost God will allow us to.

Please feel free to contact me by email at

shilohkosciusko@gmail.com with questions, comments or even suggestions for further devotional studies.


If you know of someone new to the Kosciusko area and would like for our church to visit them please let us know. Our prayers are that this devotional ministry will be an outreach to bring people into a closer relationship with Jesus. I do appreciate you taking the time to read these devotionals and please keep us in your prayers.