Hotmess Bible Club

15/09/2024

Pray
Pray for the Church
Pray for our Enemies
Pray for Family
Pray for Friends
Pray for Community
Pray for new Hearts
Pray

26/08/2024

Jesus loves me, but do I love Jesus? You see, I’ve come to realize that my life and peace goes as my relationship with God goes. I have to ask myself do I love Jesus?
God loves the whole world, including people who are not devoted to him like Hi**er and Genghis Khan or Jeffrey Dahmer. Most people do not return God’s love and seek his favor. These people will not spend eternity with God nor will they know the peace of God on earth.
Jesus said that those who love him will obey, and those who do not love him, do not obey. So what does my love for Jesus look like? Do I really just love myself and want Jesus to magically wash away my sin and then let me go my way. I know it doesn’t work that way, but that’s quite often what we act like … what I act like.

21/08/2024

Even a twenty dollar fiddle sounds like a Stradivarius in the hands of a master. Turn your heart over to the Master. Put your Soul in the hands of the Man from Nazareth. Seek God with all your heart and dance with the Angels. 

19/08/2024

Lord, whisper into my ear your sweet words of wisdom. Open my eyes to your glory and hide me from my enemies in the shadow of your wings.

05/07/2024

You would be amazed at the number of people that you’re close to that are quietly depressed and despondent. People are having trouble finding hope in this world. Pray that our God in heaven makes the unloved feel loved and the desperate to have hope.
As for us, let’s try to do more than getting a quick ‘OK’ confirmation from someone. I hope we can find the time to spend and sit down with loved ones and have the important conversations that we need to have.
Another friend lost a sibling to su***de today. We seem to ask the same questions, How could I not know? Why didn’t we see this coming?
It doesn’t do any good to assert blame on others or to assume blame for yourself. Let us all just try to be more in tune, honestly, with our loved ones. It’s so easy just to check in and get a quick OK. Don’t assume someone is OK because they smile at you and act positively.
People that spend a lot of time alone, tend to get lonely. People that are alone a lot also tend to feel unloved. Love is best spelled T-I-M-E. We need to have real conversations with each other that have substance and depth. Don’t forget to share and celebrate personal victories. God wants us to encourage each other. God can make a way when we see no reason for hope.
I love you.
Pray and seek God that he may guide you.

26/06/2024

Happy, happy, happy. Volumes of books have been written about how to be a happy person. It’s so sad that we have become so anxious and worry riddled, that we need books on how to be happy.
The simple things make us happy. Front porch sunsets, kissing, the joy of a child, a campfire, are all free and simple. We always seem to forget that happiness and joy are in the simple things, like a love note or a shared meal. We forget the simple things because we are busy making big deals or working extra to have the big house and the limited edition SUV humongous. Instead, we need to be taking kids fishing or playing paintball so that they can remind us to appreciate the right here, right now and stop putting so much pressure on tomorrow.
““Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
Matthew 6:34 ESV
Gather some sticks for a fire, dust off those fishing poles, sit on the front porch with a friend, buy a child an ice cream…. Smile, God loves you. Be happy

17/06/2024

“When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas. O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭8‬:‭3‬-‭9‬ ‭ESV‬‬

10/06/2024

Sin is crouching at your door.

A friend of mine made a hunting trip to Africa many years ago and tells the story of peeking out of his little shack thinking of stepping outside for a night air smoke and realizing that a lioness was laying on his front porch right next to his door.
Sin is crouching at your door. All the things that statement implies have haunted me terribly. We tend to think of sin as a list of does and don'ts from God, but that is not what sin is. Sin is an evil spirit, a being, working against us to put us in opposition to God which separates us from God. That means prayers don't get answered or even heard according to Isaiah.
God himself was talking to Cain (Genesis 4) when he made that statement. The whole statement is this, "sin is crouching at your door and it's desire is to have control over you. You must control it." Sin is represented by God as a spirit of rebellion that has a life of its own . Sin's desire is to separate us from God. In our modern church culture, we think that God is going to get rid of the sin but here we see that God is telling us we are responsible to overcome our temptation to sin.
Sin is crouching at our door. Jesus, as God, puts it this way, Satan roams about roaring like a lion who seeks to devour. Sin is a rebellious spirit that we must overcome the temptation to follow. As God says, we must control it and not let it control us.
To fight the temptation to sin we must put on the armor of God. We must stand firm in the Holy Spirit given gifts, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”
‭‭Galatians‬ ‭5‬:‭22‬-‭23‬ ‭ESV‬‬
I don't want anyone to be sin conscious but we need to be aware of these good gifts so that we can recognize when we are operating outside of them. When we are seeking revenge, when we gossip, when we are in unforgiveness, when we are allowing our anger to be out of control, when we are being harsh in rebuke. I struggle with all these as I'm sure you do.
My purpose is not too scare you but to empower you with the realization that you are fighting the spirit of sin. You are fighting a being and you can overcome it. Jesus can give you the strength that you need to overcome anything. But, you must submit to him and his authority and his Lordship. We have a tendency to want to know what we can get away with. We need to be more conscious of what we need to stay away from in our thoughts and in our physical bodies. God is precious and he says that we are precious to him. Let's not stain ourselves with the spirit that sits to put us against God and our fellow believers. Let's seek to love Christ more and stay on the path that he has for us instead of seeking to satisfy our own flesh which wars against us.

29/05/2024

Life and love are treasures that defy the physics of our world. Life and love can be lost, but not forever, because it will always live in our hearts. Love gracefully surpasses this physical world and reaches into the next❤️ Luvya'

20/05/2024

My Cross

We wear crosses around our necks. We put them on our cars and hang them on our walls. They remind us that as brothers and sisters in Christ, we are united in the Kingdom of God. Crosses remind us that Jesus loves us and that is a good thing.
I am afraid the most important message the Cross gives us is often forgotten; obedience. Jesus prayed to not have to suffer through the horrible beatings, spitting, mocking, humiliation, pain, and suffering
Luke 22:42 ESV
saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” .
Jesus, in obedience to God the Father, submitted to God's way. To wash our filthy sins away His precious life had to be sacrificed. The blood of the innocent lamb had to be spilled for us to wash away our sins. Jesus obeyed and walked towards His suffering Cross.
Obedience to the Father and love for each one of us is what the Cross symbolizes. It is not a point of pride, but humility, that we are also called to be obedient to the Father, just as Christ was. To not strike back, to not complain in suffering, but to love and sacrifice, is our calling. Our flesh despises such thoughts and our pride certainly hates them, but our Spirit is set free when we realize the Cross, is for us, an example of obedience to the Father and we are to love each other as He loved us.
:)

20/05/2024

People understand love and kindness. People understand demons and losing control. People understand rejection and betrayal. People of the world are not impressed by your or my ability to spit out Bible chapter and verse. That talk really does not mean any more to them than NASA rocket fuel formulas or a statistical probabilities speech of an insurance company convention. Stop talking over people and start loving them. Tell them about how Jesus was a friend of sinners and was betrayed by his best friends but loved us anyway.
The preacher presiding over the memorial service was a kind man and spoke well. The problem was his audience could not understand him because he was speaking Christianese. Looking around, I saw some of them rolling their eyes or even giggling a little bit. He talked about John 316 and he talked about first Corinthians this or that, Leviticus this or that chapter and verse. I knew a lot of these people that were in his audience. Good people, but definitely worldly people. They didn't care for church hypocrites or being beat over the head with the Bible. But they do love, they understand love. They were there for their friend who had passed. They had showed up. That's always good people.
We don't get many opportunities with many of the unsaved. How often do we panic and turn to chapter and verse, reciting a memorized verse that is precious to us, when all we need to do is reach out and hold somebody and ask if we can pray for them? People understand the love of Jesus that seeks to heal and comfort. People understand the destruction the demons bring because they have experienced it firsthand and they know the pain of loss. People also realize when they're being looked down upon as you tell them how they are unclean and unsaved and how they need to understand the Bible like you do. That giant book that is so unfamiliar to them, so daunting.
Preachers, stop talking to peoples heads and start talking to their hearts. Everybody doesn't have a good head but everybody has a good heart somewhere deep down inside.
Know your audience. If you are in the sanctuary of your church and your preaching to teach the word of God to the people of God, by all means, quote the Bible repeatedly and teach them from the Bible because it is God's word. But, if you find yourself in the company of worldly people who come in battered, beaten and bruised, don't beat them over the head with the Bible but rather lighten their load.
Tell them what you have come to know, that might could help them in their walk. Tell them about how Jesus was a friend of sinners. Tell them about how Jesus loves them and he is the God who formed them in their mothers womb and knew them before he even formed them. Tell them about how Jesus wants to lighten their load and take the burdens from their shoulders. Jesus wants to walk with you step-by-step. He is the friend who wants to know your problem and help you out of the ditch. Jesus is the one who can soften hearts and open doors for you. Let's tell them about our Jesus that we love. Let's don't beat them over the head with our heavy Bibles. I have been guilty of that for most of my life. Certainly, the word of God is filled with the spirit of God and has a power on its own. But before we can give them the word of God we need to give them the love of God so that they know we care and are not just another person trying to get something from them.
Luvya'

29/04/2024

Smile and be nice ... it might be all the Jesus that someone gets in their day

26/04/2024

Jesus doesn't leave anyone who calls on Him unloved or unchanged. When one submits to Jesus as Lord, the change is obvious, both inside and out. How has He changed you? Sometimes our people relationships have to be ended or altered radically. Music that prompts us to sin becomes distasteful to the new Spirit God indwells us with ... everything changes. We still want to play with the world, but when we do it is not quite as "fun" as it used to be. One does not become prudish but one is now Holy, set apart for God.
Jesus made it clear that this world is not friendly to His people.
Is Jesus your Lord or just acknowledged by you? Demons recognize Jesus and tremble at His authority but they do not follow Jesus as Lord. Do you crave His Word and His presence? Have you been truly changed?
Disconnect from the world often, be still and know that He is God. If you have wandered off and the wolves are at your heels and the birds are pecking you, run to the shepherd. Talk to Jesus

17/04/2024

There's a quiet revolution going on in golf and hopefully our culture. I believe that people are tired of shock and awe, cursing and vulgarity. Scottie Scheffler is a breath of fresh air. People keep asking what the next big thing is, who's the next great player in golf? He's been here the whole time. He's quiet and he is understated, but man can he play!
What impresses me the most about Mr. Scheffler is that as much as he loves golf, he loves Jesus much more and he shows it. He shares his faith and his love of his wife and family publicly. After he wins the greatest prize in golf, which includes several million dollars, all he wants to talk about is Jesus and how much he loves his wife and is looking forward to his new baby. 
Thank you Scottie for having the courage to be a christian in our messed up culture. Thank you for showing me that you can play golf just to have fun and not throw your clubs in the pond when things aren't perfect.😳 I pray that we can all share our faith with the people around us as passionately and courageously as you do. God bless and Godspeed, Mr Scheffler.

05/04/2024

Remembering the Forgotten
A. W. Tozer

Gospel churches which mostly begin with the lowly are usually not content till they attain some degree of wealth and social acceptance. Then they gradually fall into classes, determined largely by the wealth and education of the members. The individuals that comprise the top layer of these various classes go on to become pillars of the religious society and are soon entrenched in places of leadership and influence. It is then that their great temptation comes upon them, the temptation to cater to their own class and to neglect the poor and the ignorant that make up the swarming population around them. They soon become hardened to every appeal of the Holy Spirit toward meekness and humility. Their homes are spotless, their clothes the most expensive, their friends the most exclusive. Apart from some tremendous moral upheaval, they are beyond help. And yet they may be among the most vocal exponents of Bible Christianity and heavy givers to the cause of the church.
Let us not become indignant at this blunt portrayal of facts. Let us rather humble ourselves to serve God's poor. Let us seek to be like Jesus in our devotion to the forgotten of the earth who have nothing to recommend them but their poverty and their heart-hunger and their tears.

02/04/2024

Homeless seems like an inappropriate word to describe him, but He was homeless. Yet here we are, over two thousand years after His burial, and He is easily the most influential person to ever walk on the earth. The book that is centered around Him is by far the best selling book of all time. He shunned fame and fortune but favored sharing and forgiveness for good and loving relationships. The ruling elite hated Him. They wanted him dead and out of the way. His words and His supernatural healing abilities threatened their sense of self importance. He mocked them for their nepotism and false worship, which neglected the poor and weak. They raised themselves up but He came and pulled the proverbial rug out from under their feet. They thought that they had killed Him and stopped Him, and appeared that they had stopped Him. But alas, the grave couldn’t hold the son of the God of all creation. After three days, He walked out of the tomb that they put Him in and set the world on fire. No one had ever walked away from death and the grave. This homeless carpenter overcame death and struck a final blow to the evil spiritual and physical powers that rule the world.
His name is Jesus. His defied convention. He would not be labeled and stored away in a box. The grave could not hold Him. He healed the sick, opened blind eyes, made the lame to walk and mute tongues to speak. He performed miracles openly so that even those who opposed Him did not deny His supernatural powers but yet they hated Him. Jesus' entire ministry centered around true sacrificial love for God and others. Those who opposed him depended on an established social order that they were of the highest stratum. They expected to be first. They expected to be served and honored. But rather Jesus came as a servant. He taught us to sacrifice for others and serve their needs. He taught that in the Kingdom of God, to be great you have to make yourself a servant to others and to lead, you first must humble yourself and learn to follow God.

10/03/2024

Hotmess Dictionary:

Word of the day is Fixintoo

Fixintoo definition;
one's self recognizes a personal high-level of procrastination that has resulted in being spiritually in the ditch. About to do something  that you know you should do but probably won't do

Example:
Bubba was fixintoo get right with the Lord but his ex-girlfriend came back and his truck broke down on the same day which resulted in a tumultuous storm landing him right at the front door of the liquor store again. 

02/03/2024

17/02/2024

Church of God and the horse named Satan

06/02/2024

Eve chooses

01/02/2024

31/01/2024