When a baby is born, its basic need for food is soon recognized! An appetite is one of the fundamental proofs of life and growth. And, for that newborn baby, while the first meal is delicious, only a couple short hours later, he or she is ready for more nourishment. That nourishment must be provided on a very consistent basis in order for that baby to grow properly and maintain good health.
In a spiritual sense, a newborn believer will have an appetite for the Word of God, called the “bread of life” and the “water of life”. It is our source of nourishment for our spiritual growth. In Matthew 5:6 tell us, “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” God promises to fill our appetites for spiritual food through His Word.
Physically, irregular feeding or little food at all will cause us to suffer malnourishment, sickness, and sadly, death. Eating unhealthy foods will cause us to feel full, but will result in sickness and a general sense of poor health. We not live at our full potential if our diets are in need of a major overhaul. When we are weak physically, we are more susceptible to disease.
It is same for our spiritual man. Little time spent in the Word will result in spiritual sickness. If we spend time feeding our flesh, our spiritual man will suffer. If we’ve spent hours in various forms of distractions and entertainment and little or no time in the Bible, our flesh will certainly be controlling us, keeping us from walking in the Spirit. In addition, if we are weak spiritually from filling our appetites with our earthly pursuits, we are more susceptible to spiritual disease and attacks from Satan.
For example, if I neglect my personal devotion time with God, it will be very easy for me to succumb to the temptation to grumble, complain, or gossip. I’ve not equipped my heart to fight temptation that day. I’m fighting a battle without my God-given weapon, His Word. However, if I’ve spent time in the Word and time in prayer, asking God to guide my tongue and let every word I speak be in obedience to Him, I’ll be slower to complain, and quicker to make God-honoring decisions even in the mundane tasks of my day.
Even if you’re not filling your time with sinful activities, simply neglecting to read the Word consistently will have devastating consequences on your walk with God. You’ll find yourself powerless to live Spirit-filled.
George Mueller, a powerful man of God and a man of great spiritual discipline said, “Since God has taught me this point, it is as plain to me as anything, that the first thing the child of God has to do morning by morning is, to obtain food for his inner man. As the outward man is not fit for work for any length of time, except we take food; and as this is one of the first things we do in the morning; so it should be with the inner man. Now what is the food for the inner man? Not prayer, but the Word of God; and here again not the simple reading of the Word of God, so that it only passes through our minds, just as water runs through a pipe, but considering what we read, pondering over it, and applying it to our hearts…How different, when the soul is refreshed and made happy early in the morning, from what it is when, without spiritual preparation, the service, the trials, arid the temptations of the day come upon one!”
We wouldn’t think of going an entire day without feeding our physical body. We are painfully aware of our need and desire for food several times throughout the day. What if we regarded our spiritual appetite with the same intensity? What if we wouldn’t consider going several hours without communication with God through prayer and reading? What if personal devotions (a set time with God each day) were as much a habit in our lives as breakfast, lunch, and dinner? Imagine the spiritual growth you would experience if you made the Word of God a consistent and major part of your day, not just something you do occasionally or at church?
If daily time with God is a struggle for you, consider making a commitment to be in the Word for the next seven days. Research suggests that if you do something twenty-one days in a row, it will become a habit. Once you’ve established a routine, stick with it. Leave reminders for yourself throughout your home. Ask a friend or family member to keep you accountable. Eliminate distractions during your time with God. Put your cell-phone to the side and concentrate on gaining knowledge of God through His Word. God has given us the tools we need to live Spirit-filled lives of victory. If you are powerless and defeated in the area of personal devotions, determine now to commit to consistent, daily time in His Word.
“Pressing On”, the radio ministry of the Progress Baptist Church will expand to two new stations this coming week! We can now be heard on Mondays at 5:15 P.M. on 1230 (AM) WSKY in Asheville, NC, and on Tuesdays at 12:30 P.M. on 1360 (AM) WELP in the Easley/Greenville, SC, listening area. Both of these stations are part of the Wilkins Radio Network, and we are excited about adding them to our radio outreach. You can also hear “Pressing On” each Sunday at 12:30 P.M. on WKJV, 1380 (AM) in Asheville, NC.
As we celebrate our Risen Saviour, our prayer is that this excerpt from a sermon by Andrew Murray will be a blessing to you in your walk with Christ.
Are you ready to use this resurrection life for the purpose for which God gave it Him, and gives it to you, as a power of blessing to the lost? All desires after the resurrection life will fail, if we are only seeking our own perfection and happiness. God raised up and exalted Jesus to give repentance and remission of sins. He ever lives to pray for sinners. Yield yourself to receive His resurrection life with the same aim. Give yourself wholly to working and praying for the perishing: then will you become a fit vessel and instrument in which the resurrection life can dwell and work out its glorious purposes.
Brother! thy calling is to live like Christ. To this end thou hast already been made one with Him in the likeness of His resurrection. The only question is now, whether thou art desirous after the full experience of His resurrection life, whether thou art willing to surrender thy whole life that He Himself may manifest resurrection power in every part of it. I pray thee, do not draw back. Offer thyself unreservedly to Him, with all thy weakness and unfaithfulness. Believe that as His resurrection was a wonder above all thought and expectation, so He as the Risen One will still work in thee exceeding abundantly above all thou couldst think or desire.
What a difference there was in the life of the disciples before Jesus’ death and after His resurrection! Then all was weakness and fear, self and sin: with the resurrection all was power and joy, life and love, and glory. Just as great will the change be, when a believer, who has known Jesus’ resurrection only as the ground of his justification, but has not known of the likeness of His resurrection, discovers how the Risen One will Himself be his life, and in very deed take on Himself the responsibility for the whole of that life. Oh, brother, who hast not yet experienced this, who art troubled and weary because thou art called to walk like Christ, and canst not do it, come and taste the blessedness of giving thy whole life to the Risen Saviour in the assurance that He will live it for thee.
O Lord! my soul adores Thee as the Prince of life! On the cross Thou didst conquer each one of my enemies, the devil, the flesh, the world, and sin. As Conquerer thou didst rise to manifest and maintain the power of Thy risen life in Thy people. Thou hast made them one with Thyself in the likeness of Thy resurrection; now Thou wilt live in them, and show forth in their earthly life the power of Thy heavenly life.
Each year in early spring, we enjoy a great time of preaching and worship that refreshes our spirits and brings glory to God! We are praying that this year will be no exception. The final two weeks of March extending into early April will be a special time for the Progress Baptist Church family.
On Tuesday night, March 25, we’re hosting a “Jubilee Countdown” service. Evangelist Larry Raynes will be our preacher for the evening, and the Union Bible College choir will provide special music. The service begins at 7:00 P.M.
On Saturday evening, March 29, we’ll enjoy an old-fashioned cottage prayer meeting as we seek God’s face for the upcoming jubilee services. We’ll meet at our pastor’s home that evening at 7:00 for singing, preaching, and a good time of prayer. If you live in the western NC or upstate SC area, we’d love to have you join us for this prayer meeting.
Then, on Sunday, March 30, we’ll kick-off Spring Jubilee 2014! We’ll have good preaching and singing all day Sunday at our normal service times, then special services Monday through Wednesday beginning at 7:00 P.M. each evening. Toney Finney, Larry Raynes, Joey Wampler, Bruce Robinson, and other great men of God will be preaching throughout the week.
Please join with us in prayer for these special services, and we hope you’ll be able to join us as well!
Each year during February, Progress Baptist partners with Bearing Precious Seed to take a special offering for Bible publishing. All year long, we receive a coin offering, then on the last Sunday of February, we receive a free-will love offering. God has blessed our church with a burden to spread the gospel around the world, and Bible-publishing is a vital part of fulfilling the Great Commission! We are praying and asking God to allow us to increase our offering again this year!
The Progress Voice, our Bible quiz team finished the regular season in the Piedmont Quizzing Association with a 10-2 record and ranked fourth in the league. We are thankful for these young people and their hard work. The league is made up of 32 teams from four states, and the quizzing is very challenging; this year’s books were I and II Corinthians. On February 1, they’ll compete in the end-of-season tournament. “Thy Word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee.” (Psalm 119:11)
Each Monday night at PBC, we meet at 7:00 P.M. for Bible study, testimonies, prayer, preaching, and fellowship. The service is called, “Freedom That Lasts” and its purpose is to point folks; saved/lost, new believers/mature Christians, stable/struggling, confused/convinced, to GOD’S WORD for the answers to all of life’s questions. Come and join us! We’d love to have you. We offer a children’s class as well, and we call it, “Mountain Climbers.” Several children in our church as well as guests are learning at an early age that the Word of God can change their life. Join us, and experience, “Freedom That Lasts!”
December is always an exciting month at PBC! Along with the normal joy we experience as we remember the birth of our Saviour, we use this month to focus our attention on the privilege and blessing it is to share the gospel in our community, across our country and around the world.
Evangelist Randy Sutherland will preach for us on Sunday, December 1, to help us kick-off our missions month. Then throughout the month, we’ll hear from missionaries; some will preach for us, others will present their burden and call from God to carry the gospel to the uttermost parts of the world.
We’re praying as a church for God to enable us to do more for the spread of the good news that Christ has paid the sin debt! We want to do more in our own community, and we want to give more to support those who are carrying the gospel around the world. Our theme, “Making HIM Known,” is based on Luke 2:17. The passage is so simple and so clear! When the shepherds met Jesus, they couldn’t help themselves – they just HAD to tell someone else what they had seen and heard!
May God do a GREAT work in the heart of PBC this coming month!
Progress Baptist Church is looking forward to special revival services, Sunday, September 29 – Wednesday, October 2 with Pastor Johnny Jones from Oceana, WV. God has used Brother Jones the past two years during our Fall Revival, and the PBC family loves and appreciates Brother Johnny and Mrs. Cathy! His passionate preaching of the Word of God has been greatly used of God to strengthen this body of believers.
In preparation for the special services, we are focusing special attention our prayer during the month of September. Each day of the month, a member of the church family is setting aside extra time to pray, and we are trusting God to burden other hearts to pray for revival in our church as well. God is working in the hearts and lives of the PBC family, and we want to see Him do more! We want to grow in grace, and as a local body of believers, we long to hear Him say, “Well done!” one day. Will you join with us in prayer and trust God to do great things?
Each year during the month of December we remind ourselves of the wonderful privilege we have a sharing the gospel with a lost world. Jesus’s last words before He ascended were that we should be witnesses. Along with that awesome privilege comes a great responsibility. For that reason, we use this month to challenge our own hearts with the needs of our community, our region, our country, and the world.
On Sunday, December 2, Missionary Jerry Sexton and his family were with us. Brother Sexton is a missionary with Bearing Precious Seed – a Bible publishing ministry headquartered in Milford, OH. His family provided special music, and Brother Sexton brought a tremendous message on the topic of not settling for less than God intends for us to have in our Christian walk. In addition, he challenged our hearts with an update about this year’s Bible-Publishing Offering as well as next year’s. In 2013, Bible-believing churches will have the blessing of partnering with Bearing Precious Seed to publish and distribute the Word of God in the country of Myanmar (formerly Burma). This translation is the one that Adoniram Judson first translated for the Burmese people in 1835! What an amazing blessing to be a part in making God’s Word available to the 32 million people who speak Burmese as their first language.
Sunday, December 16 will be a special day at PBC! We will have two veteran missionaries as our guests for the day. Sunday morning, Missionary David Edens who has spent over 40 years sharing the gospel in the town of Agadez in the country of Niger will be our guest preacher. He has translated the Scriptures into the native tongue of these nomadic people, and he is a man with a passion for God and for souls. On Sunday night, Missionary Bob Garrett will be preaching. Brother Garrett has served the Lord in Spanish-language missions for over thirty years. His dedication to God is evident, and his preaching has been used of God to help many people; both English and Spanish speakers.
We are praying that God will enable us to do even more for world evangelism during 2013; and our prayer is that He will use these special services during the month of December to burden our hearts as well as stir our hearts about the blessing of being co-laborers in the gospel!
