Wednesday Thoughts

Pastor's Entry

October 22, 2025

Luke 12:35-36 Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to Him at once when He comes and knocks!

So, every morning when I get up there are certain things that I do...I get dressed, wash, dry and style my hair, put on my make up so that I am ready just in case I would need to leave in a hurry. I know that at any time of the day I could get an emergency call, and I have learned to be ready when that call comes.
Jesus is telling us in this scripture to stay dressed for action!! To be ready for His coming!! To keep our lamps burning!! This is a spiritual challenge to His people!! What does He mean when He tells us to stay dressed for action?? We must be spiritually alive!! Living for Him, serving His purposes, seeking His guidance and keeping our eyes and ears open to His coming!! Keeping our hearts pure!!
How do we keep our lamps burning?? By the power of the Holy Spirit that will fan into flame our faith, our courage and our love for Jesus and His people!
We have to be ready to open the door to Him!! We must have the door of our hearts ready when He comes again!! Are we ready!!
Where will we be when Christ returns?? What will we be doing?? How will we be living??
The question for the day is...are we leaving a mark for Christ everywhere we go!? Are we telling others about our Lord, the One who saved us from sin and death?? Are we walking alongside our brothers and sisters, reaching out our hand to help them in their journey?? To pick them up when they fall??
Are we taking a stand for Truth?? No compromises!! No bowing down to the craziness of this world!!
Dear church, Luke 12:40 says, "You also must be ready for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect!!" Jesus, Himself is warning us...preparing us...alerting us to the fact that He is coming again and we must be ready!!
Jesus tells us, to repent, to turn from our sinful ways and follow Him!! This is an urgent message to the church!! Then as we wait on His return, we go out and make disciples, we spread the gospel, and we baptize all who want to follow Jesus in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit!!
Yes!! we are to take the gospel, the Truth to the world!!
So church, stay dressed, keep your lamps burning and be ready to see Jesus at any moment of any day...and be aware of the company we keep, be aware of things we are doing in the darkness that are not of Christ, be aware that Jesus Christ sees it all for there is no darkness in Him, only light!!
Be ready!!

Past Entry

October 15, 2025

2 Timothy 1: 6-7 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power, love and a sound mind.

This past week I officiated a funeral service for a lady who was ninety-six. She was a friend of our family, and I had the privilege of baptizing her in 2022 at the age of ninety-three. What an honor that was.
While at that funeral I met a lady named Karin that played the music for the services at the funeral home. She was lovely and full of life and little did I know the beautiful gift she had hidden inside of her. When she began to play the piano there was a hush over all who were there...I don't believe I have ever heard the piano being played with such passion and such an anointing of the Holy Spirit as she played. Her music ministered to my spirit, and I left there feeling so renewed and refreshed. She has allowed the Lord to fan into flame the gift He has given her!!
That experience made me think of the church...how so many never share the gift that God put inside them, possibly because they are afraid of rejection, of not succeeding, or fear of failure.
Our Lord Who has placed this gift within you wants you to remember He has given you a spirit of power!! Of love!! And of a sound mind!! Yes! He has given you everything you need to overcome fear!!!
Paul laid his hands on Timothy so he could encourage him to realize his destiny in Christ!! He prayed for him to rise up and be the disciple of Christ that he was called to be without fear!!
Dear church! Our Lord has placed so much within you!! As Paul reminded Timothy, I am reminding you today that you can walk in power, love and a sound mind!! You can trust your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to give you the strength to overcome fear and all obstacles in your life!! Our Lord has promised us life and life abundant!!
Hang onto His precious promises!! Hang onto His precious Word which is true!! Reach out and take His hand and let Him lead you and show you what He has put within you!!
What an incredible way to live!! Knowing that the gift within us is from our Lord and He will bring it out if only we allow Him to!!
My prayer today for all of New Beginnings and all who read this message is to let go and let God work His wonder working power in and through you!! I can guarantee you will never ever regret giving your life, your time and your talents and gifts to Him!!
Let Him fan into flame the gift He has given you!!
Blessings, Pastor Karen

Past Entry

October 8, 2025

Matthew 9:37 Then Jesus said to His disciples, " The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."

In this scripture Jesus challenges His followers to pray earnestly for more laborers!! This scripture tells me that there are many who need to hear the gospel and very few who are preaching the true gospel!!
The harvest is ready!! Where is the church?? I believe we are either asleep or we are distracted and fighting over who is in charge or what color we should paint the walls, or we are just plain comfortable where we are and really don't care as long as we are okay!
In Matthew 28:19 Jesus tells His disciple before He leaves to sit at the right hand of His Father that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him. He also tells them to go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you!!
This is called the "Great Commission!" This is the purpose for all of us!! Unfortunately, the gospel has been so watered down and so twisted that we have been fooled into thinking that once we are saved that is all there is to it! I believe that is why the laborers are few!
If everyone who professes Jesus as their Lord would tell one person, let's just say one person a month, think how many more people would know Jesus as their Savior! Think how many more laborers we would have!!
Today, my prayer for the church is for the Lord to give us a Holy Spirit filled boldness for Jesus!! That our hearts would grieve for the lost, for those who have no hope, for those who have lost their way and for those who are in darkness.
Jesus came to set captives free...His Word sets us free!! Do not be fearful of telling others about your Lord, do not be timid about His saving grace!!
2 Timothy 1:6-7 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift God gave you, which is in the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of timidity, but of power and love and of a sound mind!!
Yes church!! Let the Holy Spirit fan into flame a fire for those who need Jesus!! Be a laborer for His kingdom!! Be brave!! Be strong!! Walk in love, a love so strong and powerful for the lost that they will be drawn by that love!! Keep your mind on Christ and it will remain sound, and it will not be deceived!!
And may Christ bless your words, your life and your ministry and you look to the hills from where your help comes from!! Our help comes from the Lord the Maker of heaven and earth!!
Pray earnestly and without ceasing dear church for the time of harvest will one day end and Christ will return just as He promised He would!!
Blessings, Pastor Karen

Past Entry

October 1, 2025

Isaiah 5:20 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil. Who put darkness for light and light for darkness.

I don't usually do this, but I want to share the commentary in my ESV bible on this scripture.
It is common in an ungodly society for people to portray evil as good and wrong as right. Often this misguided thinking is done as an expression of freedom, compassion, understanding and "tolerance." Many people today consider God's laws and standards to be harsh, limiting or evil. They label Christ's followers ---those who resist immoral ideas and behavior--- as close-minded, judgmental and hateful. Those who choose to live by God's standards are said to be a danger to society. Followers of Christ must never compromise their commitment to God's standards of good and evil---right and wrong---as revealed in His Word. However, they must show a godly compassion to those who disagree with their beliefs and morality.

Wow! I couldn't have said it better! You must remember that Isaiah wrote this between 700-680 B.C! This was before Jesus came on the scene. There is a scripture in Ecclesiastes1:9 " What has been what will be and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.
Evil has always been. From the beginning evil has always tried to call good evil. The Pharisees were always condemning Jesus for spreading hate and unrest. They condemned Him for wanting the people to be set free from their oppression! From their captivity to sin! From the religious hierarchy that kept them from knowing their Lord for themselves!! So, they called Him evil!!
Nothing scares satan more than a bible believing Christian!! Nothing scares him more that those who will not compromise their beliefs and bow down to the prince of the power of the air!! Nothing scares him more than a Christian who knows who they are in Christ!!
So, the attack is on...satan tries to deceive us by twisting good and evil...he uses the airwaves...the TV, the computers, the phones to infiltrate society and the more often we hear the twisted truth the more apt we are to believe it!!
Be careful little ears what you hear!! Be careful little eyes what you see!! For the Father up above is looking down with love...Oh be careful dear followers of Jesus what and who you believe!!
I would challenge all those who read these thoughts to turn off the TV, use your phone only for phone calls, just do your work on the computer and then turn it off. We must learn to discern what is good and what is evil!! We must know what the true light of Christ looks like and recognize the darkness!! Our lives and the lives of those we love depend on it!! Isaiah says WOE to those who call evil good and good evil...
Definition of the word "WOE".... sorrow, affliction, a declaration of divine judgement and condemnation against sin of hypocrisy, a proclamation of doom or serious warning about the consequences of sin and rebellion against God."
This is a serious warning to all of us! Remember church, be very careful what we call good and what we call evil. Run from compromising the Word of God and stay clear of those who do and choose life and light as you run your race!!
Blessings, Pastor Karen

Past Entry

September 21, 2025

Psalm 16:1-2 Preserve me, O God, for in You I take refuge. I say to the Lord I have no good apart from you.
Psalm 16: 7-8 I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also, my heart instructs me. I have set the Lord always before me; because He is my right hand and I shall not be shaken.

In a world full of selfies, my way or no way, if you do not agree with me, you are wrong, in a world where right looks wrong and wrong looks right we have the Word of God. In Him we can take refuge from the world and its lies. Without Him we have nothing good in us. He is the good in us.
I am sure you have heard the saying " Well, I am a basically good person," what does that really mean?? I guess it makes us feel better about ourselves, but scripture specifically says that we have no good apart from our Lord...no good in us because only God is good!!
Without our God we are lost!! We are without purpose!! We lose our way!!
We are to seek the counsel of the Lord; we are to bless His Holy Name!! We are to listen to Him in the stillness of the night and wait for His instructions. Be still and know that He is GOD!! Know that He hears us!! And above all else turn our spiritual ears towards Him and Him alone!
We are to put our Lord and Savior first...put Him in front of everything and everyone!! Follow His lead and no one else!
And in all of this we will come to know that He is our right hand, and we will not be shaken!! The storms of life will not shake us!! The tests and trials will not shake us!! There will be nothing the enemy satan can do to shake us as long as we keep our eyes on Jesus, our ears tuned into His voice and our heart firmly set on His powerful Word!!
Dear church...Do you take refuge in our great and mighty Lord?? Do you understand that we are nothing without Him?? Do you wait for His counsel and instructions and bless His Name for it?? Do you put Him first in all of your decisions, all of your thoughts, all of your ways??
Are you allowing satan to mess with you?? To shake you?? To scare you?? To oppress you?? To depress you?? To cause you to stumble and compromise??
Matthew 16:18 says, " Jesus said to His disciples, Who do you say that I am?? Simon Peter replied, You are the Christ , the Son of the Living God! And Jesus answered him; Blessed are you Simon Bar Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father in heaven! And I tell you, you are Peter and, on this rock, I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it!!" Peters' confession to Jesus was that He Was the Christ, the Son of The Living God!! Flesh and blood had not told Peter this magnificent revelation, Peter had heard the voice of God, maybe even as he sat around the campfire at night in the quiet of the evening, and he knew who Jesus was!!
How about us?? Do we know who Jesus is?? Do we know His voice?? Are we listening for it??
Jesus the Christ has given us the path to life!! He teaches us in His Word how to stand and not be shaken!! It's time for the church...the true church to stand and be a force to be reckoned with!!
For we are more than conquerors through Jesus Christ our Lord!!

Past Entry

September 3, 2025

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

Priorities...what are our priorities?? Money, fame, prestige, possessions?? What or who do we think about the most?? When we stop and think on this very important question, it may surprise us as to what our priorities are!
The things of this world are transient; in other words, they are going to pass. They will not last, and we cannot take them with us. These tents we live in are dying away, but our spirits can be renewed every day if we do not lose heart and keep our eyes on Jesus!! Yes!! The glory that is waiting for us if we can get our priorities straight!!
I just heard a story of a pastor who was pastoring a church of over ten thousand people!! It was flourishing and the money was coming in!! He was famous!! He had everything money could buy and one day he gave it all up! One day he looked around and saw the futility of it all. He asked himself were there souls being saved?? As he looked around as he walked to work how many needed a helping hand, a place to live, someone to tell them about Jesus?? There was so much need physically and spiritually and where was he, where was the church??
He started to see what Jesus sees...he started to realize Jesus had no place to call His own...That Jesus' goal was to save the lost, the least and give hope to the perishing. What a revelation!!
What we live in right now is so very temporary! What we cannot see is eternal! Our spirit will live forever with Jesus or without Him, but we will live forever!! Heaven will be our home, or Hell will be our home.
Right now, right this moment we get to decide!! Will we find our strength, our peace and our joy in Jesus or will we find that money, fame, prestige and possessions are enough for us, not caring what is to come as long as we are comfortable here?
Dear church, turn your eyes to Jesus!! And let His eyes become yours. May we all see what he sees! May we all come to the realization of what is important. There is so much to do in our Lords Kingdom. There is so little time.
Do not lose heart! Do not compromise with the world!! Do not forget what we are here for!!
Jesus calls us to follow Him with all that we have and all that we are...my prayer is that the things of this world grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace and that we see clearly the path that He has laid out for us!! Our lives depend on it and so may the lives of many others as we learn to set our priorities on Christ!!
Blessings, Pastor Karen

Past Entry

August 27, 2025

James 3:7- 10 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.

So, what is cursing?? What is James trying to tell us in this particular verse?? Often times we think of cursing as using our Lords name in vain, of which it is. This type of cursing is usually used by those who do not truly know Jesus...they may say they are a follower of Christ but if they are still using His Holy Name in vain, I would say they cannot belong to Him, they cannot know Him and they cannot truly love Him as their Lord.
But the cursing I want to talk about today is the cursing we do in the church. This is what James was addressing and apparently it has gone on in the church since it began. James tells us the tongue cannot be tamed!! He tells us that it is a restless evil, full of deadly poison!! WOW!
How serious is it to control your tongue? How evil it can be when we allow our thoughts and feelings to control what we say. One of the fruits of the Spirit is self-control.... need I say more??
What I want to speak to the people of God today is to be very very careful what you say...watch every word that comes out of your mouth, for we bless the Lord, our Father in heaven with our words and we curse those who are made in our Lords image our words. Whether we like it or not, our Lord made us and everyone we know and see in His image, and He does not want any to perish!! Sadly, there will be those who perish, but that is not up to us.
I also want to say that we must be very careful what we say about the church...our church...the church the Lord has placed us in. Scripture tells us there will be tests and trials, there will be times when we cannot see Gods hand moving as fast as we want it to...but our God is faithful! Our God keeps His promises!! Our God sees everything we go through, and He listens to what we say!! What does He hear from us?? Is our speech PURE?? Is what we say TRUE? Are our conversations full of FAITH?? In these next few months we must speak life over our church!! We must be willing to look to our Mighty God and believe He has us in the palm of His Hand!! WE MUST NOT FRET OR BE ANXIOUS!! Our Lord owns the cattle on a thousand hills!! He is King!! He has the plan for us; all He asks is that we follow Him!!
So, when we are tempted to speak death instead of life...when we are tempted to curse instead of bless, remember what He has done for us this far!! Remember the miracle of our New Beginning!! Remember church!! Keep your eyes turned towards your Savior!! After all what is your testimony without a test?? How can we walk on water through the winds and the waves without a storm??
Remember to turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face. And the things of this earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.
Blessings to you dear church and may Christ truly abide in your hearts and give you peace.
Pastor Karen

Past Entry

July 28, 2025

Proverbs 15: 31-33 The ear that listens to life giving reproof will dwell among the wise. Whoever ignores instruction despises himself, but he who listens to reproof gains intelligence. The fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom, and humility comes before honor.

Tuesday, I went to the Westminster Ag Fair with my children and grandchildren! It was full of young moms and children wanting to enjoy the animals, the food, the activities and most of all the ice cream!!
As we entered the grounds, I became a little nervous about how we were going to keep all these little kids in check in such a big crowd. All of us adults were on high alert for the safety of our children.
As I thought about the day after I returned home, I relived some of the moments when we realized we didn't have eyes on one of the children and immediately we called out their name and the amazing thing was as soon as that child would hear his or her name they would call back "Here I am!"
They would immediately answer and wait where they were until we spotted them.
I also heard a lot of children talking back to their moms when they were told "no". And I watched as frantic mothers tried to keep their children from trying to escape the stroller or their hands being held.
Talk about chaos!!
How important it was for my grandchildren to listen, to stay where they were supposed to stay, to be obedient. One never knows the dangers of a place like that and as parents and grandparents it is up to us to teach our children how to listen before we go out into crowded places.
These scriptures in Proverbs are giving us, God's children, some lifesaving advice. We must have an ear that will listen to instruction, reproof and wisdom! We must be humble enough that when our Lord speaks, we listen! That when He calls our name we immediately answer back!! Then we wait on Him!
When we listen and are obedient, we gain knowledge and intelligence!! Yes, we get smarter!! We are not to be without wisdom!! We learn from our Father in heaven ...we grow into mature adulthood as we learn!
When we have a healthy fear of the Lord, our great and mighty God...when we humble ourselves and lay down our own ways and our stubbornness we are on our way to carrying the presence of God within us.
Obedience... dear church is the answer to a lot of our troubles, trusting that our Lord knows best in all our situations can keep us from the evil one.
In the book of Revelation as the seven churches are being addressed the one thing that is said to every church is this, " He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches!
Does Christ have your ear?? Can you hear Him?? And if you hear Him, will you listen and obey??
The choice is yours!! Every day our gracious Lord sets before us LIFE and DEATH!! Choose life and listen for His reproof, His instruction, His wisdom and He will honor you and call you by name dear ones. Yes, He will!
Blessings, Pastor Karen

Past Entry

July 16, 2025

2 Corinthians 5: 6-7

So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight.

How is our walk with the Lord?? How often do we take the time to get to know Him? How often are we grateful for all He has done for us??
I have found that we "Christians" really love the Lord, we praise Him, we worship Him, we profess to trust Him until the "rubber meets the road." When the bad report comes, when things don't work out the way we want them to, when we lose one that we have loved that is when we start to question the wisdom of God...we cry out to Him with no real understanding of Who He is.
Dear church we are to be of good courage! We are to walk by faith and not what we see with our natural eyes! We must keep our eyes on Jesus and be a witness and a testimony to all we know of God's goodness and grace!
Psalm 103:13-14 says The Lord is like a father to His children, tender, and compassionate to those who fear Him. For he knows how weak we are; He remembers we are only dust. In other words, our Lord is tender and compassionate to all that have a reverential fear of Him...who know the power and the might in His Name!! Who know without Him they are nothing. And in our Lords great compassion He knows our weaknesses and that is why it is so important to walk by faith!!
We must know that we know that we know that our God is with us!! For when we know this TRUTH we cannot be shaken!! Nothing that comes our way can stumble us, can make us turn form our Lord, can keep us from believing that our Lords Word is true!! NOTHING!!
As we see many events happening in our nation, as we see the signs of Christs return becoming evident we must look to the hills from whence our help comes from!! Knowing our help comes from the Lord the maker of heaven and earth!!
Yes church!! Today make the choice to walk by faith and not by sight!! Keeping your eyes fixed on Jesus the author and finisher of our faith!! Hang on to His promises and walk through the valley with a peace and assurance that the world cannot give you...only Jesus Christ the risen Savior has what we need...Blessed Assurance, Jesus is Mine!!
Blessings, Pastor Karen

Past Entry

July 9, 2025

Philippians 2: 12-13 therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so not only in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

What does work out our salvation mean?
Let's say I started an exercise program that I worked at every day, and I was doing really well! I was able to overcome the pain of stiff muscles, the sweat and the tears and I started to see improvement! Then I decided that every other day would be enough and pretty soon once a week was all I could find time for...our Christian walk and our spiritual growth are like this. We start out with a bang but eventually we grow weary of the study, we get distracted, we don't have time for a daily devotion or bible study anymore. As with exercise we start to lose our endurance, and we fall back into the mundane...the feeling of being out of shape again and losing our direction in life.
Salvation happens when we repent of our sins, accept Christ as our Savior and Lord...but the working out our salvation has just begun at that point. That is when our Lord starts to refine us, to mold us and help us to grow us into a spiritually mature follower of Jesus. This is when the work begins!!
Now... the fear and trembling part...we must understand the awesomeness of Who our God is!! He deserves our reverence, our trust and a deep sober awareness of His power, holiness and judgement against sin. Our God is a Mighty God!! He has the supreme power over all of us and all of His magnificent creation! He is the ultimate authority over all things, and we are accountable to Him!! He is not accountable to us!!
God works in us so that we can abide by His will and so that our lives will be dedicated to Him to bring Him pleasure! How do we bring the Most High God pleasure?? By living a life of obedience, by living a life of moral purity, by living a life where we are completely sold out to Him!! Where He is our Father and we are His children...to bring Him blessing and honor and glory in everything we do!!
Yes church! This salvation business is not for the faint of heart! There is a reverential fear we need to have of a God Who spoke the universe into being...of a God Who with His Words created the heavens and the earth... of a God Who saw us in our mother's womb and has called us by name...
This is the God we serve, this is the God we praise and adore, this is the God Who calls us His beloved and this is the God Who works all things out for good to those who are called according to HIS PURPOSE!!
Are you called?? Are you working out your salvation?? The time is now church!! The time is now!!
Blessings, Pastor Karen

Pastor Entry

July 2, 2025

How often are we still? How often do we sit and just listen to our Lord? If you are like me, not nearly as often as we should.
In these past few weeks, I have asked my Lord many questions...why this and not that, why does this happen and why doesn't that happen? Oh God, do You hear me?? Do you see what is going on?? So much loss, so much pain, so much anger and hurt in the lives of those who follow You!! So many lost and cannot find their way! Why??
Often the answer is in the stillness and the peace of turning away from the world and looking towards God Who is the author and the finisher of our faith.
He is the HOLY ONE!! The ONE with all the answers, the ONE Who sees and knows all things. the One Who owns the cattle on a thousand hills. He is the owner of it all!!
In the song "Amazing Grace" there is a verse that says, "the earth shall soon dissolve like snow, the sun forbear to shine but God Who called me here below will be forever mine.
The only thing that will be ours forever is our Lord!! All the chaos of this world will soon be gone, and we will be in eternity with Jesus forever...forever His!
So, in the stillness I believe that is what our Lord wants to tell us, that all the tests and trials of this world are temporary. I believe that He wants to tell us how precious we are, how He does see and know where we are and what is going on in our lives! For He is a faithful God and a good good Father to us.
One day we will all see Jesus! And if we have believed Him, called Him our own, followed Him, worshipped Him in Spirit and in Truth we will recognize His voice because we have been still in His presence and we know what His voice sounds like.
One day when He Is Exalted among the nations!! One day when He is exalted in the earth, we will be thankful that we know Him...we will be thankful we spent time listening to His voice.
For we must listen to the voice of the good shepherd and not to the voice of a stranger, but how will we know if we are not still?? How will we know that HE IS GOD??
Dear church, listen...wait...BE STILL and then you will know that HE IS GOD!!
Blessings, Pastor Karen

Past Entry

June 18, 2025

Colossians 1:2 Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.

Prayer...the most powerful tool in our tool belt. For God's people to be continually in prayer is one of the things satan fears the most. He knows the power in prayer...and he counts on us not knowing the power of prayer.
Evil will flourish when God's people get lazy about prayer, when we get busy and distracted, when we lose our passion for prayer...yes evil will flourish, evil will destroy, evil will steal from us and eventually kill our spirit.
In the day and age we live in, it's hard to find anyone who is steadfast in anything! Many do not want to work, many find it hard to get up for church, many do not set aside time for prayer... which is the key to life and life abundant.
Steadfast prayer...to be determined, to be passionate, to be watchful, to be devoted to the God who created you.
Satan loves to create a fog in our brains, he loves to keep us under delusion, he loves to keep us weary and exhausted with all of life's busyness for then we have no strength to pray.
We MUST learn to discipline ourselves to develop the kind of prayer life necessary for spiritual maturity and when we do, we will begin to see victory in all of our life's situations!!
Prayer should be the heart of the church!! Prayer should be the first thing we turn to when tests and trials come...yes, prayer is the KEY!
When the church began in Acts 2:42 "they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of the bread and the PRAYERS."
Then in verse 43 it says " and awe came upon every soul and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles, and all who believed were together and had all things in common!"
Teaching, Fellowship, Breaking of Bread, Prayer!!
DEVOTION!! STEADFASTNESS!! WATCHFULNESS!! THANKSGIVING!!
The church wants the signs and wonders without the awe and reverence of the MOST HOLY GOD! We are too busy for prayer and the time it takes!
But what if, God's people prayed...what if we prayed in one accord...what if we gathered together more than once a week to humbly come before the Living God who hears our prayers??
I believe we would see miracles; I believe we would see this nation turn back to "One Nation Under God!" I believe we would see the turning of the tide as the light would reveal the darkness and overcome it!!
What do you say church?? Are you willing to pray?? Are you willing to take the time to work on your prayer life and see what God will do??Are you tired of living with no power, no hope, no joy?? Prayer is the key to unlock all the doors...it is the key to living life to its fullest, it is the key to knowing our Father in heaven, for it is His will that must be done. How will we know the will of our Father if we do not take time for prayer? Let's wake up people of God and PRAY!!
Blessings, Pastor Karen

Past Entry

June 11, 2025

Galatians 5: 1 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
Years ago, I had a friend who took in a neighbor's dog because they were moving. This little dog was a cross between a beagle and a dachshund and he had been tied to a doghouse with a five-foot chain for most of his adult life. When my friend decided to give him a home, she decided to take the chain off of the poor little fellow and let him go free. He still had his doghouse to stay in, and she figured he would be very happy to roam the fields behind her house.
But the strangest thing happened, when she took off the chain, this little dog would only go five feet away from his doghouse! He was free and didn't even know it! He had been chained for so long that he still felt the weight of it even though it wasn't there!
Paul was telling the people in Galatia that Christ had set them free!! They were to stand firm in the knowledge of that freedom!! And they were never again to submit to the yoke of slavery!! They were never to go back to their days of slavery; they were never to go back to the chains that bound them!
THEY WERE FREE!!
Christ has paid our debt! He has set us free!! That is what He came for!! To deliver us from the evil one!!
When we turn to Jesus, when we repent, when we give our lives to Him....WE ARE A NEW CREATURE!! WE ARE BORN AGAIN!! WE ARE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN OUR LIVES TRULY ALIVE AND FREE!!
How glorious is that!! How wonderful it is to live life abundantly!! Knowing that satan can never bind us again!! He has no power, no dominion, no claim on us any longer!! WE ARE FREE!!
So dear church, once Christ has set you free stand firm in that knowledge and never ever let satan take you back to the yoke of slavery!! He will try, that is why Paul says stand firm!!
Christ wants us free, satan wants us to believe we are bound even after Christ has freed us!
Stand firm in Christ for He will sustain you through all the storms of life...for He truly is our deliverer, He truly did come to set us, the captives free!!
Praise the Lord for our freedom is in Him!!
Blessings, Pastor Karen

Past Entry

May 28, 2025

Psalm 34: 8-22 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him. Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints, for those who fear Him have no lack! the young lions suffer want and hunger but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing! come, Oh children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. what man is there who desires life and many days, that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Turn away from evil and do good, seek peace and pursue it, the eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and His ears toward their cry. The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off their memory of them from the earth. when the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord delivers him out of them all. he keeps all his bones, not one of them is broken. Affliction will slay the wicked and those who hate the righteous will be condemned. The Lord redeems the life of His servants; none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned.

The Lord is good. Fear the Lord. The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous. The ears of the Lord hear our cry. The face of the Lord is against those who do evil. The Lord delivers us out of our troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted. The Lord saves the crushed in spirit. The Lord delivers us out of all our afflictions. The Lord guards and keeps us. The Lord deals with the wicked. The Lord redeems the life of His servants. The Lord will not condemn those who take refuge in Him.

Talk about the promises and character of God!! Why do we worry, why do we fret? Why do we wonder what God is like when His Word tells us exactly Who He is!! There is freedom in knowing our Lord and Father. There is power in knowing who we are in Him. There is strength in knowing He is with us, no matter what. There is peace in the stillness of our time with Him, learning His character, learning His love for us, realizing His faithfulness to His children, His beloved. Take heart dear children of the most high God!! All it takes is one taste of His goodness and we will be forever indebted to a Lord who loved us so much that He gave His only begotten Son, Jesus!! To save us!! To set us free from sin and death!! To give us a hope and a future!! Jeremiah 29:11-14
For I know the plans I have for you, plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with your whole heart. I WILL be found by you, declares the Lord!
How exciting, how wonderful to serve a God Who is true to His Word, Who reveals His character and His love through His Word! Who showed us His love through Jesus the Christ!
Yes, taste and see that the Lord is good and we will never be disappointed by His grace, His mercy and His love that He has shown us in His powerful Word.
Blessings, Pastor Karen

Past Entry

May 19, 2025

Psalm 118:24 This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it!

Yes, this is the day the Lord has made...even though bad things may be happening, even though we get up in the morning and still feel the pain of sorrow, a worn-out body or just plain aches and pains. Yes, this is the day the Lord has made!! It's so hard to think sometimes that our Lord made this day let alone to ask us to rejoice in it! How do we do that??
It is an act of our will, plain and simple. Every morning we get up we make a choice...to choose life for the day or death. We can speak life into situations, or we can speak death. We can brighten someone's day, or we can demolish it. We get to decide how we are going to live!
Deuteronomy 30:15-16 tells us that God has set before us life and good, death and evil and if we obey His commandments that He commands us today by loving our God, by walking in His ways and by keeping His commandments, His statutes and His rules then we shall live and multiply and the Lord our God will bless us in the land we are entering and we will take possession of it!
This is one of the secrets to living life rejoicing in every day!! When we get under the circumstances of our lives, we go down hard and fast. When we choose to only think of ourselves, when we choose to see only the negative, when we choose death and evil our enemy the devil will see to it that we will eventually die spiritually and physically also.
We must remember that the JOY OF THE LORD is our strength and without it we have nothing. Every day we are alive we need to remember that our Lord...our AMAZING, OMNIPOTENT, MIGHTY LORD MADE THIS DAY!! That each day we get to choose how we will live! That each day we get to choose to make a difference in our corner of the world for good and not for evil.
Notice that death and evil are used in Deuteronomy as one. Evil leads to death...evil ways, evil thoughts, selfishness, pride, arrogance, you can bunch them all together. Also notice that life and good are put together as one...good brings life, thinking of others before ourselves, humility, pure and lovely thoughts. What a difference between them!
Deuteronomy 30:19 says that God calls heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death blessing and curse. Therefore, choose life that you and your offspring may live!!
Dear church, the choice is yours! To live in willful disobedience which brings death or live in complete obedience to the One Who gives you life?? I pray you choose life!! I pray that you remember that this is the day the Lord has made, and I pray that you choose to rejoice in it!! And that the life and light of Christ shines brighter each day in us as we make a choice to follow our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ!!
Blessings, Pastor Karen

Past Entry

April 23, 2025

Philippians 4:8-9 Finally brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me---practice these things and the God of peace will be with you.

How hard it is to think on the things in this scripture. Why is it our minds tend to sway to the negative things that happen or could happen? Why is it that we dwell on the bad traits of those we love rather than the good ones?? Why do we often complain about everything?? Nothing or no one suits us...nothing makes us happy...and so the bad attitude begins...and it affects everyone you come in contact with...you had better believe it does!

Paul was speaking to the church in Phillipi...he was reminding them what to think on. He showed them by his way of living, what they had heard and seen in him. He tells them to PRACTICE THESE THINGS!! Isn't there an old saying that "Practice Makes Perfect??" Paul knew how easy it was to fall into the trap of discouragement and despair and how easy it was to let our tongues control us! Wherever our mind goes our mouth will soon follow and then we start to slide down the slippery slope of a joyless existence, where it is hard to find joy in anything!
So, whatever is true...whatever is honorable...whatever is just...whatever is pure...whatever is lovely...whatever is commendable, if there is anything worthy of praise...THINK ON THESE THINGS! Paul knew the secret to joy!! He knew how easily satan can rob us of our peace, our hope and our joy! He knew that we must practice, practice, practice thinking on these qualities and not allow our minds to wander into the pit of destruction. Yes, destruction! Satan will destroy you, your marriage, your family and all you come in contact with if you do not keep your mind stayed on these things from above.
So, if we want peace in our lives, in our homes, in our marriage, in our family...this is where we start! This is the key to living life abundant as Christ calls us to live!!
Yes, it is a battle because our old sin nature is constantly trying to rule over us...but WE CAN OVERCOME BY THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB AND THE WORD OF OUR TESTIMONY!!
I would challenge all of us today that the first thing we do when our feet hit the floor in the morning is to remember this scripture and speak it out all through the day!! Put it on your mirror, put it on your dashboard in the car, put it wherever you can see it during the day to remind you when the negative thoughts start to invade your mind that our God is a GOD OF PEACE!! Peace in the storms of life, peace in the valleys of life and HE IS PEACE FOR OUR MINDS!! He will give us peace that passes all our understanding, but we must remember to THINK ON THESE THINGS!!
Blessings, Pastor Karen

Past Entry

April 16, 2025

Mark 16: 4-7 And looking up, they saw the stone had been rolled away--it was very large. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe and they were alarmed. and he said to them " Do not be alarmed. you seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified, HE IS RISEN; HE IS NOT HERE!

HE IS RISEN!!! How glorious are these three words!! With those words prophecy was fulfilled!!! With those words life would never be the same for those who followed Jesus!!
HE IS NOT HERE!! He was no longer in the tomb!! Death was defeated!! And Jesus had conquered sin, and He rose from the dead to set us free!!

As I thought about this promise, this miracle, this Jesus, I thought of all those I have known and loved. I thought how much the words "He Is Risen" meant to them, the comfort they bring, the blessed assurance that Jesus paid for our sins and all those who call upon His name. I have been privileged to know those who have walked with Him until death and this promise of a Resurrected Christ is what has seen them through the valley. " He Is Risen!" This is what holds us in the storms, this is what holds us when all seems lost, this is what holds us when we get to the end of our days, for without it we have no hope.
Our hope is in the MIGHTY POWER OF OUR RISEN LORD!! The One Who conquered sin and death for us!! The One who knew that His purpose was to save the world! He never backed down; He never turned tail and ran...He stayed the course and set us free!!
Oh, what hope there is in Jesus!! Oh, what power there is in His Name!! Oh, what a Savior He is!!
Dear church, as we remember what Christ did for us on the cross in the next few days...let this not be the only time we remember! Each day we need to remember the price He paid so we could live life and live it in abundance! Each day we need to be grateful and praise His Holy Name for all that He has done!! And Remember.....

CHRIST THE LORD HAS RISEN TODAY!! HALLELUJAH!! WHAT A SAVIOR!!

Blessings, Pastor Karen

New Beginnings Covenant Brethren Church