When The Devils Gone

7/21/09 / Keith McNeely 

            What do you do when the devil is gone?  The Bible says Jesus was led up into the wilderness and was tempted while there.  We further are told that after this temptation the devil “departed from him for a season” (Luke 4:13).  My question for you is what do you do when the devil is gone.

            Hopefully when you are tempted you follow James’ advice to “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).  The point is how do you use your time when the devil is not tempting you.  A great use of our time is to read, study and learn God’s Word, the Bible.  What better way to develop ourselves than to study the Bible.

            Great character building traits are found in God’s Word, for example we are told to do unto others as we would have them do to us, this is called the golden rule, and it is absolutely a great character trait.  Compliments to you when you battle the devil, but when he is gone be willing to build yourself up in God’s Word.

            The Curry St church of Christ endeavors to empower people to effectively battle the devil.  Bring your Bible and come visit.

They Were Astonished

7/21/09 / Keith McNeely 

            The Bible says regarding a group of individuals that had heard Jesus teach that they “were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with power.”, you can read this in Luke 4:32.

            The teachings of Jesus are effective, that is to say, they have effect on those that are willing to learn them right out of the Bible, the greatest book to ever have been written.  The dictionary says to be astonished is to be amazed to a great degree.  Jesus very words, His teachings amazed His hearers in His day, but yet we to can continue to study, learn and live by them even today.

            Further the teachings of Jesus were powerful.  Our verse says “for his word was with power”.  Think about Jesus word being powerful, His word certainly was authoritative, further His word had powerful effects on those that heard Him.

            Neighbor, are you allowing Jesus’ word to have powerful effect in your life?  At the Curry St church of Christ we are ever looking at the words of Jesus seeking their powerful effect, bring your Bible,, and come join us.

What Shall We Do?

John 6:28 / Keith McNeely

            They asked Jesus, “What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?” (John 6:28).  What a great question!  How wonderful I our world would be if more individuals would take pause and consider this powerful question. 

            Notice the question in detail, first “what shall we do”, they obviously took their responsibility to God in a personal way, further they realized living for God involved action.  Second notice they asked “that we might work the works of God” they illustrate the idea of being specific in life, specifically speaking they wanted to do God’s work.  When they specified God’s work they eliminated all others, now that is great news. 

            Neighbor are you ever adjusting and altering your life in ways so that you can be doing God’s work?  Jesus’ answer was short and to the point, He told them to believe on the one that God had sent-Jesus.  Neighbor to believe in Bible terms involves more than just mental ascent-it involves following the Lord whole heartedly.

BE WATCHFUL

Keith McNeely

Matthew 25:13

7/21/09

            Jesus said “Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.” (Matthew 25:13).  This verse of scripture gives us pause for thought on life matters.

 

            Life is indeed hectic, it seems the summers are the worst, but no the holiday seasons, no what about that week just before we go on vacation?  Get the point?  Life is certainly hectic, there is no denying that.  With that fact established how should we respond?  Jesus says “watch therefore”.  He is here encouraging us to be careful, observant, and alert.  We all know there is a difference in just sliding through life with no concern for serious matters verses being alert to our surroundings and situations.

 

            Sometimes when things get to going to fast we can have a tendency to let the important things slip.  Jesus taught a parable about ten people, He said that five of them are prepared and five of them are not.  Neighbor each and every one of us are just a few breaths or beats of our heart from going off into eternity therefore we need to be prepared.  Are you watchful over the eternal matters of life?

Stewards For The Lord

Keith McNeely

As a small boy I became aware that from time to time my father would loan money to an individual, and this individual would always secure the loan with a shotgun. Time after time that same gun would come into our house as collateral to secure the loan that was made. Early in life I learned the idea of something being entrusted to us (the gun) that was not ours, and that we would take care of it better than if it were ours. We were stewards of that property that did not belong to us.

The rule of stewards; There is a rule of stewards, it has been in our minds for years, but it also is set forth in the New Testament. Paul would state “Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.” (1 Corinthians 4:2). Albert Barnes comments that “Fidelity to the master” is required. Fidelity means being faithful to your obligations and duties. Thus the rule of stewards is that they be faithful.

Personal responsibility; Peter mentions receiving a gift and reminds us of our personal duties to “minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” (1 Peter 4:10). Two points, first it is a fact that everyone has different talents, and second that we each have opportunity and even obligation to utilize our talents in God’s service. Thus we each have personal responsibility to be stewards of our talents.

Elders as stewards; Paul would write to Titus “a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God;” (Titus 1:7). Vine writes under “steward” that the original word oikonomos means “the manager of a household or estate” (Vines Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words p 1097). The point to learn is that the steward is not the owner but rather the “manager” of the household of another, in this case it refers to elders as managers of the “household of God” (Ephesians 2:19) which is the church. A question dear reader, is it not the case that the church is made up of souls? Then it seems we could accurately reason that the eldership of local congregations is indeed to be considered as stewards of the souls that make up that local congregation?

We must then recognize that we as Christians, all of us, not just elders, preachers or deacons, but rather all of us are stewards for the Lord. We further must recognize our responsibility to be faithful (to the Lord) in our stewardship.

God's Word-Benefits Our Life

What Is God's Book? That is the question for a few minutes. Some might answer that God’s Book is the Bible, or that God’s Book is inspired, or that God’s Book is encouraging, or motivational. All good answers, but for a few minutes notice that God’s Book is...

For Meditation “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night” (Joshua 1:8). To meditate is to think deeply or carefully about something, the idea is that we should meditate upon the Bible, God’s Book. Before we can meditate on the Bible we must first read it, thus let me encourage you to “get cracking” read a paragraph or two right away and then meditate upon it. [Why not read Joshua chapter one?]
For Our Guidance “That thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein” (Joshua 1:8). The Bible is full of great advisements that work into all walks of life. Note just a few examples of advisements for our relationships with our families (spouses, children and parents); with our neighbors and fellow citizens (“do unto others”); and finally on what kind of employees we should be.

A Book Of Prosperity “For then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.” (Joshua 1:8). Two immediate contexts come to mind, the prosperity of those in the Old and New Testament era’s. For example (and this is not always the case) but we tend to think of physical prosperity to the Old Testament characters. God was regularly helping Israel win physical battles and the like. In the New Testament we tend to make spiritual applications (again each testament is not mutually and exclusively divided into physical and spiritual categories). The Bible is a book for all ages, bringing prosperity to all that follow it’s guidance.

Perhaps even today, you could begin to challenge yourself and your friends to read and study a chapter or two a week, following it as a life guide. Prosperity awaits you.

Keith McNeely
Preaches for the Curry St church of Christ

The Angel And...

Keith McNeely
Preaches for the Curry St church of Christ
West Plains Missouri

Angels are popular. We see angels mentioned in several places, one town is called “the city of angels”, television shows and sports teams have taken up the angel theme Perhaps one of the most famous of modern times would be Clarence in the 1946 movie “It’s A Wonderful Life”. For a few minutes lets think about two angels that are mentioned in the Bible.

The angel and Philip in Acts 8:26 is available to teach us a lesson that is usable in our religious life. “And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise and go” (Acts 8:26). Philip had been successfully preaching in the region of Samaria was here summoned by “the angel of the Lord” to go south and eventually join himself to a man that was returning from worship in Jerusalem. This man, known as the Ethiopian eunuch was reading his Bible as he traveled along, and Philip after joining him began to preach Jesus unto the man. The eunuch having learned the full gospel story is baptized, and he goes on his way rejoicing, giving evidence that his sins were washed away by the blood
of Jesus.

The angel and Cornelius in Acts 10 saw an angel in a vision and the angel advised Cornelius to send to Joppa for Peter, another preacher of the Gospel. To summarize the gospel was brought to Cornelius house were several heard and obeyed the command of baptism (Acts 10:48).

The simple, and concise point of these two accounts is that even after the angel made visit to the humble walk of humanity those in question (the eunuch and Cornelius) were still lost until they heard the Gospel preached from the mouth of God’s faithful preachers.

It is no different today friend, for you and I to come to Christ we must come via the Gospel truths found in the New Testament. Angels, claimed visions, or religious “experiences” do not save, but rather the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16).