Pastor H. Gene Allen

~ Good Morning!

Our Bible passage, today, is found in …

• Romans 12:1-2 •

“Dear friends, God is good. So I beg you to offer your bodies to Him as a living sacrifice, pure and pleasing. That’s the most sensible way to serve God. (2)Don’t be like the people of this world, but let God change the way you think. Then you will know how to do everything that is good and pleasing to Him.” (CEV‬‬)

✝️ The above passage of scripture really captures so much of the meaning of life.

• Like how God’s great mercy opens the way for us to give our lives to Him.

• Like how the Christian life is not just about religious activities or keeping rules.

• And how real life, the Christian life, is about having an intimate relationship with Him that is loaded with implications that play out in every area of our lives.

✝️ True Christianity begins in having an intimate relationship with Jesus.

That’s God’s desire for every one of us. He wants us to learn to live out the grace and favor we’ve already been given, and He wants us to become more like His Son, Jesus, so we can enjoy and love Him — and love others the way He loves them.

✝️ It’s a total reorientation of life.

Many Christians aren’t experiencing the fullness of their Christian relationship, but Romans 12 assures us that we can.

True spirituality, or Christianity, is the fruit of you and I responding to God’s invitation to an intimate relationship with Him, and His Son, Jesus.

⁉️ Are you willing to respond, by faith, to God’s instructions ⁉️

When you do, your hearts and lives sync with Him, and you will be filled with His Love, Life, Passion, and Purpose, and live a life of true spirituality, Christianity and love.

‼️ God Is So Good To Us ~ So Let’s Live For Him Forever‼️

Sincerely,

— Pastor Gene

FamilyChurchAG.com

~ Good Morning and Happy Tuesday!

Today’s Bible verse, and Devotion, comes to us from …

• Galatians‬ ‭6:2 •

“Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” (ESV‬)

1.) Christians should always help

others who are carrying heavy

burdens.

2.) Every believer should be

involved in lifting other’s

burdens by prayer and

encouragement. When you

do this, you are doing the

work of the Lord.

3.) Though the principle of, “Bear

one another’s burdens,

should apply to all burdens,

this context has special

reference to helping to bear

the heaviest, and most

oppressive burdens, and

weights, such as temptation,

spiritual warfare and ultimate

spiritual failure.

4.) The word, “burdens,” here, in

the Greek, literally means,

“heaviest weights” or

“heaviest burdens.” — These

heavy weights usually always

exceed the strength of those

who are under them.

‼️ Galatians 6:2 is saying that every believer should be about the business of helping others carry their heaviest burdens — especially those burdens/weights associated with spiritual temptation, and spiritual warfare, in which satan is trying to crush them. ‼️

I dare you, today, to ask Jesus to lead you to someone whom you can help carry a heavy load. You might just see a miracle happen today!

Remember, while you’re helping others with Their issues, the Lord is working on Your issues.

The Lord bless you as you serve Him, and others, while in this world.

Sincerely,

— Pastor Gene

FamilyChurchAG.com

~ Good Morning!

I’ve got a fantastic passage of scripture for you this morning. It’s three verses that include a Command, a Warning and a Promise. Let’s examine it together.

• ‭‭1 John‬ ‭2:15-17 •

“Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (16)For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. (17)The world is passing away and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God continues to live forever.” (NASB2020‬‬)

✝️ COMMAND — V. 15: “Do not love the world nor the things in the world.”

• This does not mean, do not love the natural part of the world, like creation, nor the human side of the world, which God said that He loved, in John 3:16.

• This verse means for us not to lean toward, flirt with, or love the part of the world that is antagonistic, hostile towards, or those things which oppose God. These things are evil and we should have nothing to do with them.

• 1 Peter‬ ‭1:14-16‬ ‭

“As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”” (ESV‬‬)

✝️ WARNING — V. 15b, 16, 17a: “If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (16)For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. (17)The world is passing away and also its lusts…”

• If you love the part of the world that is sinful, and that opposes God, then you can’t love God. We can’t love evil and good, and/or Godliness and ungodliness.

• Matthew‬ ‭6:24

““No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon [money, possessions, fame, status, or whatever is valued more than the Lord].” (AMP‬‬)

• One commentator wrote, “Those who put their trust in earthly possessions commit their energies and selves to a sphere whose end has already been assured.”

✝️ PROMISE — V. 17: “but the one who does the will of God continues to live forever.”

• To love the world is to lose everything, including the thing that you loved; however, to love God is to gain Him, plus His kingdom.

• Romans‬ ‭6:23

“Sin pays off with death. But God’s gift is eternal life given by Jesus Christ our Lord.” (CEV‬‬)

The Conclusion?

It’s Simple.

Place the Lord first, and foremost, in your life and be committed to serving Him everyday of your life. I promise you, the Lord will never fail you!

Sincerely,

— Pastor Gene

~ Good Morning:

Do I have a reminder for you today! It’s found in …

• Psalms‬ ‭24:1 •

“The earth and everything on it, including its people, belong to the Lord. The world and its people belong to him.” ‭(CEV‬)

✝️ The entire earth, and everything that it is comprised of …

✝️ The contents of the earth, the people and the living things that fill the earth …

✝️ All of it belongs to the Lord!

Conclusion …

If everything of the earth, and in the earth is the Lord’s, then it’s His responsibility to care for and repair it all.

If I rent a house, and something goes wrong, I call the landlord and they fix the problem; I don’t worry about it, right?!

The Lord owns me and everything that I have is His. So, if something goes wrong, what do I do? I turn to the Lord! I place my faith in Him to fix whatever is His!

Grab hold of this concept and worry no more. Place everything you have, own and are responsible for, in the Lord’s care. Trust Him to take care of your problems, and He will!

‼️ TRUST • JESUS ‼️

Sincerely,

— Pastor Gene

~ Good morning!

Here is our Bible verse for today. It’s found in …

• Hosea‬ ‭6:6 •

“I’d rather for you to be faithful and to know Me than to offer sacrifices.” (CEV‬‬)

Here, we see the two great requirements of Hosea’s writing. God spoke through Hosea and said, “What I really want from you is your love, and for you to really know Me.” From creation, Father God has wanted to have a relationship with His people.

There are many Christian’s who have a “token” relationship with the Lord. They attend church occasionally, they serve only when they are asked, they give a few bucks if they’re at church. There’s not really a commitment to the Lord, and faithfulness to Him is thought, but not lived out.

Then there are other believers who do attend church faithfully, they do give financially, they do serve more than occasionally, but they are habitual and not relational. They simply go through the motions without any real consideration for a deeper relationship with the Lord.

In today’s verbiage, in Hosea 6:6, Father God is saying to His Church — “Rather than your church attendance, your hymn-singing, your offering giving and your sermon listening, I want you to love Me, I want you to be faithful to Me, I want you to be committed to Me, I want you to have a relationship with Me, I want you to be fully devoted to Me.”

• Our Church attendance is Biblical and of most importance for successful Christian living.

• Our financial giving is Biblical and blessed by God. It’s God’s Word, that when we give financially to the Lord, and His church, we are rewarded and blessed by God.

• Our volunteerism is vitally important to the operation, and continuation, of the local church. The church needs your involvement.

However, more important than all of that, is your salvation, your sins forgiven and your sincere, committed relationship with Jesus.

Jesus wants you more than what you can give Him. — He wants you to be in a right relationship with Him so that He can pour into your life and bless you.

Let’s stop just going through the motions. Let’s be Fully Devoted to Jesus, and let’s start now!

I love you, I believe in you and I’m committed to helping you live out a fully devoted life lived for Jesus.

Sincerely,

— Pastor Gene

~ Good Morning and Happy SUNDAY:

“This is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it!”

On this beautiful Sunday morning, I have a wonderful scripture passage for you to read and be encouraged, and motivated, by.

• Hebrews‬ ‭10:22-25 •

“So let’s come near God with pure hearts and a confidence that comes from having faith. Let’s keep our hearts pure, our consciences free from evil, and our bodies washed with clean water. (23)We must hold tightly to the hope we say is ours. After all, we can trust the one who made the agreement with us. (24)We should keep on encouraging each other to be thoughtful and to do helpful things. (25)Some people have given up the habit of meeting for worship, but we must not do that. We should keep on encouraging each other (to regularly attend Worship Experience’s), especially since you know that the day of the Lord’s coming is getting closer.” (CEV‬‬)

Let’s read these verses and commit to begin following their instructions right now.

✝️ “let’s come near God with pure hearts and a (sincere) confidence…”

✝️ “let’s keep our hearts pure…”

✝️ (Let’s keep) “our consciences free from evil…”

✝️ (Let’s keep) “our bodies washed with clean water.”

• This could mean through Water Baptism, and/or it could mean a changed life, not only on the inside, but the outside, as well. I personally believe that after we are saved on the inside, that there should be a change on the outside.

✝️ “We must hold tightly to the hope we say is ours” (that comes from the Lord)

• Meaning that Christians are to hold unswervingly is their profession of faith (your testimony of saving grace through Jesus). This profession/confession is the essence of the Christian faith.

✝️ “keep on encouraging each other to be thoughtful (of each other) and to do helpful things” (for one another).

✝️ (We must not give) “up the habit of meeting for worship…”

• The idea here is Corporate Worship, or the Church worshipping together as the local body of Jesus.

✝️ “We should keep on encouraging each other to regularly attend Worship Experience’s, especially since you know that the day of the Lord’s coming is getting closer.

• “encouraging” here means to stimulate, stir up, provoke to excitement, one another.

The Lord has spoken, so let’s Obey Right Away and Do what the Lord has Said To Do!

‼️ Don’t Miss Your Worship Experience This Morning ‼️

Family Life Church begins at 10:30 AM 🕥 and we’d love for you to join us for worship this morning. Consider this your invitation.

May the Lord richly bless you as you follow Him with your testimony of faith and your obedience to His Word.

Sincerely,

— Pastor Gene

~ Good Morning and Happy Saturday!

Here are Two Powerful Verses of Scripture that you really need to read, and carefully adhere to, this morning.

• ‭‭1 Timothy‬ ‭6:11-12 •

“But as for you, O man of God, flee these things (the negative things listed in the above verses). Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. (12)Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” ‭(ESV‬‬)

✝️ “But as for you, O man of God…” — The Apostle Paul is directly speaking to young Timothy, whom he is grooming to be a pastor and Christian leader.

However, these instructions, which Paul is sharing with young Timothy, are also relevant for you, and I, and every believer, today.

Read Carefully.

“Pursue…”

✝️ “righteousness”

• Constantly strive for doing

what is right.

✝️ “godliness”

• Constantly strive for doing

your very best to be godly,

and holy, as God is holy.

(1 Peter 1:15-16)

✝️ “faith”

• Constantly strive for building

your faith in Father God.

(Mark 11:22)

✝️ “love”

• Constantly strive for

deepening your love for

Father God, “and your

neighbor as yourself.”

(Luke 10:27)

✝️ “steadfastness”

• Constantly strive for

endurance that keeps you

going in the right direction.

(Luke 21:19)

✝️ “gentleness”

• Constantly strive to be

gentle so that you will be

able to deal with all types of

people. (Ephesians 4:2)

✝️ “Fight the good fight of the faith”

• Fight, with all perseverance,

to hold tightly to your faith in

God and Christ Jesus.

✝️ “Take hold of the eternal life”

• Fight, constantly strive, to

hold on to your salvation,

and your promise of eternal

life. (John 3:16; Romans

6:23; John 5:24)

• Don’t let anything rip your

salvation away from you!

• Watch it, and guard it,

carefully!

Timothy had been called to a life of witnessing for Jesus, and so have you! (Matthew 28:19-20)

‼️Let’s Take Our Calling Seriously And Pursue It Every Moment Of Our Lives‼️

The Lord bless you today with many opportunities to share Jesus with others.

Sincerely,

— Pastor Gene

~ Good Morning & Happy SUNDAY!

Following is our scripture passage for today. It’s found in …

• 2 Timothy‬ ‭3:16-17 •

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, (17)that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” ‭(ESV‬‬)

✝️ “All Scripture…”

• Referred to the complete work

of the Old Testament.

✝️ “is breathed out by God…”

• The idea that this phrase

presents is that God has

breathed His character into

Scripture so that it is inherently

inspired and holy.

✝️ “and profitable for teaching…”

• Scripture is the only source of

sound Christian doctrine.

✝️ “for reproof (rebuking)…”

• This can refer to a rebuke that

exposes the errors of false

teachers.

• It can also refer to the fact that

the Holy Scriptures can rebuke

the behavior in our personal

lives as well.

• Whether the rebuke is personal

or doctrinal, Scripture can show

sinners their failures, clarify the

point of their mistake, and lead

them to a new sense of peace

and wholeness in the Lord.

✝️ “for correction…”

• The term “correcting,” which is

used only here, in the New

Testament, tells us that

Scripture helps individuals to

restore, and correct, their

wrong behavior, or beliefs, and

bring them into a right state

before God.

• Correction is one means God

uses in order to restore people

to spiritual positions they have

previously forfeited.

✝️ “and for training in

righteousness…”

• “Training” describes a system

of discipline, in the Scriptures,

that leads to a holy life-style.

✝️ “that the man of God may be

complete, equipped for every

good work.”

• “Complete, equipped”

describes someone who is in fit

shape or condition.

• It describes a person, who has

learned the Holy Scriptures,

and who has been called, and

furnished, completely, to do

whatever God has called him to

perform.

‼️ Read The Bible ‼️

When you read the Bible, Father God is speaking directly to you.

Reading the Bible will clarify God’s call on your life, and will help train you to carry out that call.

The Lord bless you as you seek out truths in the Holy Scriptures!

Sincerely,

— Pastor Gene

~ Good Saturday Morning:

Our Bible Verse, this morning, comes to us from …

• Proverbs 29:25 •

“The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.”

‭‭(ESV‬‬)

✝️ “The fear of man”

• This could mean “a man’s own

fear” or “being afraid of men.”

• Either way, it refers to being a

coward.

✝️ “Lays a snare”

• This literally means “brings a

snare” or “causes trouble for a

person.”

• Ultimately, it’s a trap laid by an

enemy that can cause you to

stumble, or fall into, and bring

you harm.

✝️ “But whoever trusts in the Lord is

safe.”

• The person who trusts in the

Lord is literally “set on high” or

“made to be safe.”

• The idea of being “set on high”

is that of being protected by

the Lord and out of danger’s

reach.

Gideon (Judges 6) cowardly hid from the Midianite Army, in a barn, processing wheat to have a little food for his family. He was afraid, for his life, and what the Midianites might do to him if he was found.

But an angel appeared to him. He had got a call from God to not fear, but fight; and God promised that His presence would go with Gideon.

Gideon obeyed God, he trusted God and he followed God’s instructions. I believe that he might of even went afraid, but he still followed God’s plan. The end result? Gideon, his men and the powerful presence of God won the battle! Gideon and his men were safe! The enemy was defeated!

The author of Hebrews penned, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?” —

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭13:6‬ ‭(ESV‬‬)

Even if you have to go afraid — Go With God!

Going the way of the Lord will keep you out of the “snares/traps” of the enemy of your soul. Doing things God’s way will always lead you to a safe, and secure, place.

Now this doesn’t mean that there won’t be any tough times, or “afraid” times in your life; it just means that when you go with God, and trust in him, you can be assured of being safe and in the center of His will.

“Whoever trust in the Lord is safe.”

The Lord bless you is all you endeavor to accomplish for Him.

Sincerely,

— Pastor Gene

~ Good Morning and Happy Resurrection Day‼️

This morning, our scripture reading comes to us from…

• Matthew‬ ‭28:1-10 •

“Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. (2)And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. (3)His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. (4)And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. (5)But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. (6)He is not here, for He has risen, as He said. Come, see the place where He lay. (7)Then go quickly and tell his disciples that He has risen from the dead, and behold, He is going before you to Galilee; there you will see Him. See, I have told you.” (8)So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell His disciples. (9)And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him. (10)Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell My brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me.””‬ ‭(ESV‬)

‼️”Do Not Be Afraid…He Is Not Here, for HE HAS RISEN…”‼️

Today, we Celebrate our Risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

• Our Sins are Forgiven!

• Our Bodies are Healed!

• Our Promise of Abundant Life,

and Eternal Life, is now Real

and True!

“Oh happy day, Oh happy day,

When Jesus washed, Oh when he He washed, my sins away (Oh happy day!)”

I encourage you to rededicate your life to Jesus today. Broadcast it loudly, that He is the Savior of your soul.

The Lord bless you, today, with the abundance that only our Lord can give you.

Sincerely,

— Pastor Gene