Welcome To The Snack Shack!! God's Word is compared to food all throughout the Bible. The reason: as humans we need food to survive, and as Christians we need God's Word to survive. Not only do we need food, but it's something we desire. Right? Well, God's Word should be something we desire too. It is full of nutrients that we need and flavor that can be compared to the best of physical food that's out there! We're talking gourmet here! :) Now, along with the fried chicken and tri-tip...the ice cream and pie...and all those foods we put on our list of "favorites", are those vegetables like spinach and broccoli...or whatever it is that you eat only because you have to! It's the same way with our Spiritual food, God's Word. There are those verses and stories that we have no problem reading and applying them to our lives (you know, those ones that promise blessings...), and then there's those verses that don't taste quite as good, those ones that are hard to understand or make you feel convicted. Those "vegetables" are just as important to read and apply to your life. We need them to survive! So, take a few minutes and check out these "snacks" from God's Word. Remember, we don't live on bread alone...physical food is great, but we need God's Word, our spiritual food, too! Every word that comes from the mouth of God.... that's real food!

Snacks available in this issue... Devotionals Daily Bread Fruit Bowl

DEVOTIONALS Devotional 1 “Be merciful to those who doubt." ~Jude 1:22 Your friend has been soooo close to accepting Christ as Savior for soooo long, but for some reason she just won’t take that next step of faith. She still holds some doubt that God could (and would) become man to save the world. It’s almost exasperating, and though you try, it’s hard to understand why she’s holding back. The Truth has been presented to her, she *knows* deep down that it’s true, and she even admits it! But she still doubts just a little bit. “Doesn’t she realize this is extremely important? It’s a matter of spiritual life and death!!” you think to yourself. You want soooo much for her to just believe and accept salvation. And in desperation the thought crosses your mind that perhaps it really isn’t best that we have complete free-choice in the matter of accepting Christ. If only you could help her make the choice…but no, she has to do that on her own. Then there’s that Atheist kid in science class that drives you crazy! He scientifically “proves” the story of creation as something made-up and not worthy of being considered a theory, and makes you look like you don’t know what you’re talking about. You and him tend to get into a lot of debates/arguments, but he never listens to anything you say. He refuses to believe in God, in fact he considers the whole “God idea” as ridiculous and dumb. And he’s not afraid to say so! To him, something is only worthy of consideration if you have tangible proof to back up the idea. Faith in anything unknown is for “weak” people and little kids. These are only two examples of people who doubt. It’s easy to get frustrated with people like this who have trouble believing in God. But Jude tells us to have mercy on them. Mercy?? Yeah, that’s right. Don’t give up on them, miracles can happen! Just continue witnessing to these people, showing them Jesus in your own life. Don’t judge them, that’s not what Jesus did. When Thomas doubted, Jesus showed him proof. Pray for them, love them, show them the way. It’s likely that your example and witness will make an impact on their lives, and they just might stop doubting and believe after awhile if they see God real in your life! -HK Devotional 2 “So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.” ~Luke 5:11 I wonder how many of us would truly leave EVERYTHING without a moment’s notice to follow God. That’s definitely faith! These former fishermen didn’t ask questions, they didn’t look at Jesus as if He was crazy for suggesting that they leave all to follow Him. They just did it. They pulled their boats to shore, left everything right where it was at, and followed Christ. They had to trust that God would take care of their needs and that He would not lead them where He couldn’t keep them. After-all, they had just walked out while on the job. They had left all the securities that they had known. And all because Jesus said “Follow Me”. Jesus told His new disciples that they would become fishers of men from then on. I wonder if they understood what He was talking about. It is likely that they didn’t… All they knew was that the man who had just told them where to lower their nets for a big catch had also told them to follow Him. Nothing more needed to be explained…they knew instantly that they just had to follow this man, even if it meant leaving all else behind. Where were you when you first heard Jesus say “follow me” to you? This isn’t necessarily when you first accepted Him as Savior of your life, but when you really understood that He was calling you to follow Him… When He became Lord of your life, and you knew that you had to lay everything else down and follow Him. Did you automatically get up and follow Him right away? Or did you reason with yourself for awhile, deciding whether it was worth it or not? Maybe you haven’t answered God’s call to follow Him yet. If that is the case, I encourage you to put your trust fully in God and take that step of faith. Don’t hold back or reason or doubt. Just follow Him. You won’t regret it! -HK Devotional 3 “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. ~Romans 12:12 “Be joyful in hope…” As Christian we have a hope that the world does not have. We have the hope of salvation that Christ promised for those who believe in him. We have hope that we will spend eternity with our Lord in Heaven. We have hope that this world can’t even begin to imagine. This hope isn’t the same kind as many of us think of when hearing the word. It’s not like *wishing* for something, but rather it is something that we *know* we have. Well, the Bible tells us to be joyful in this hope. So many times, we fall into a routine and end up taking this hope for ranted. We need to be sure to rejoice in the hope that God gives, so that others can see the impact He’s made in our lives. ”…patient in affliction…” Oftentimes when going through a trial we start to whine and complain to God. This verse reminds us to be patient in affliction. We need to endure the troubles that we face…we need to be patient. Maybe God has a lesson or you to learn, or maybe God is allowing you to go through something so He can use you to help others who go through the same thing. Whatever the reason God has, it is important that we persevere and wait for God to lead us out of the valley in His own time. I know it’s hard, but trust God and His timing, He will is faithful and knows what He is doing. ”…faithful in prayer…” We need to faithfully talk to God ALL the time, and not just when we want something from Him. Through good times and bad, we need to pray with sincerity and devotion. There’s a verse in the Bible that says “pray without ceasing”. That means, don’t stop praying when things are going well, but continue to talk to God AND listen to Him too. You MUST be faithful in praying in order to have a relationship with Christ. You have to talk to God…how else are you gonna get to know Him? So anyways, these are three instructions for you to remember that will help in your Spiritual walk with Christ. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer! Have a great day, and God bless! -HK

Daily Bread An apple a day might keep the doctor away, but what about a Proverb a day? What's the importance of reading scripture daily, you might ask. Well, daily reading of God's Word is like eating daily. Do you like to eat daily? I sure do! When you starve yourself of God's Word and don't take the time to read and study it every day, it's kind of like starving your physical body: you become a little weaker...you get kind of irritated and angry easily...you lose out on nutrients that you need...it's just not very comfortable, and besides, it's not very much fun! Proverbs is a good book to read a chapter of of every day. It has 31 chapters, and can be read in a month. The wisdom that is offered in these proverbs are written by Soloman, the wisest person (well, except for Jesus) who ever lived. But they are inspired by God. I guarantee that they will help you! But of course, you can't just read them, you have to actually use them for them to work. :) (Note: Proverbs are good...but they aren't the only thing you should read each day. Pick a verse or section of verses from another book of the Bible to read also for best results.) Day 1 Proverbs 1 Day 2 Proverbs 2 Day 3 Proverbs 3 Day 4 Proverbs 4 Day 5 Proverbs 5 Day 6 Proverbs 6 Day 7 Proverbs 7 Day 8 Proverbs 8 Day 9 Proverbs 9 Day 10 Proverbs 10 Day 11 Proverbs 11 Day 12 Proverbs 12 Day 13 Proverbs 13 Day 14 Proverbs 14 Day 15 Proverbs 15 Day 16 Proverbs 16 Day 17 Proverbs 17 Day 18 Proverbs 18 Day 19 Proverbs 19 Day 20 Proverbs 20 Day 21 Proverbs 21 Day 22 Proverbs 22 Day 23 Proverbs 23 Day 24 Proverbs 24 Day 25 Proverbs 25 Day 26 Proverbs 26 Day 27 Proverbs 27 Day 28 Proverbs 28 Day 29 Proverbs 29 Day 30 Proverbs 30 Day 31 Proverbs 31

The Fruit Bowl In Galations 5:22,23 we find a listing of the Fruit of the Spirit: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control. We're told in God's Word that people will know us by our fruit. That's how they will be able to tell if we are followers and servants of Christ. The Bible also tells us that God will cut off the branches that don't bear good fruit! Yikes! This fruit thing is pretty important, isn't it?! Well, here we will feature one of these "fruits" in each issue, starting with the first fruit mentioned: Love. Do you think that the "fruit" you bear is good? Do you think that people are able to tell that you are a Christian by the way that you act or respond in different situations? Let's take a look at this issue's featured fruit... JOY With Christmas coming up soon, I think this is the perfect time to study the second fruit of the Spirit: Joy. The Angels who appeared to the shepherds on that first Christmas night brought “glad tiding of great joy”. But of course, joy is open to all people all the time! Lets start out by defining what joy is. The dictionary says that “joy” is: experiencing great pleasure or delight…cheer, gaiety, or great happiness. I guess that one of the most important things we need to know about joy is that it is very different from being “happy”. Happiness is an emotion…a feeling. Joy is much more than that. Joy is not relative to circumstances like happiness is. We too often think that one must be happy to have joy….that one must experience good things to experience joy. But it’s not true. Let me give you an example from the Bible. While Paul and Silas were in prison for spreading the Gospel, they experienced the joy of praising God. You can bet they weren’t “happy” to be in jail…but they still experienced joy. Even in the middle of trials and tough situations, you can experience pure joy given by God. Do you see the difference now? Joy comes from God; it’s a very special gift that He has for those who follow Him. Joy comes from knowing that you have salvation and forgiveness from all your repented sins. 1 Peter tells us that we can be “filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy” by believing in God, even though we don’t see Him. (1 Peter 1:8) Acts 2:28 says that God fills us with joy in His presence. Several scriptures refer to “complete joy” or “fullness of joy” or “full measure of joy”. From these scriptures we can conclude that God wants us to have FULL joy in Him, and not just a little bit here and there. Nehemiah 8:10 tells us that the joy of the Lord is our strength! It’s what holds us up when we are weak. The joy that God gives keeps you strong even when you don’t *feel* strong. So if you feel weak, alone, unimportant…etc, try shifting your attention to God. He will give you HIS joy, and that will be your strength. I should point out that oftentimes joy is something you experience and have when you are thinking about others and not yourself. Joy, much stronger than temporary happiness, is that feeling you get when you’ve helped someone else succeed, when you’ve shared with others, or when you’ve considered someone else’s needs before your own. You feel proud of yourself…no, you feel joy! Most of all, joy is something you experience when in God’s presence. Studying God’s Word, obeying His commands, witnessing to others…these all will bring you joy. Praising God, listening for His voice, waiting for His will in your life…it’s joy, so intense that you sometimes feel you could shout to the whole world that Jesus lives! When you are overcome with joy, it suddenly doesn’t matter what others think of you. King David danced before God when He was filled with joy. One lady in the New Testament was so filled with joy upon seeing the Savior, that she washed His feet with her tears, dried them with her hair, kissed them, and poured extremely expensive perfume on them. So now, as Christmas time nears, remember what we’ve learned about joy. Joy was offered as a free gift to all people when God sent His son, Jesus, to save the world. Rejoice, celebrate, have fun, but don’t forget the reason for the season. And also remember that though we hear a lot more about it during Christmas time, joy is a year-round thing. Let others see the joy that you have in Jesus ALL the time…don’t keep this gift to yourself! :) Return To Main Page Return To Cover Page