Archive for the ‘Best Life’ Category

19 Jan

It Will Be Worth it All

Posted by sandhillspastor in Assurance, Best Life, Eternal Life, Faith, Salvation, Trials, Trust.

Dear readers,

It is time for another edition of my attempts to encourage you in your spiritual journey. I have considered putting this project to an end, but after all these years, I wonder if that is possible. The Lord has been good to give me ideas of what to write, and I don’t expect Him to stop now. If He does, I am sure He will let me know when that time comes. As I have mentioned before, this project started in 1999 as a weekly newsletter charting my journey as a new Christian. It has become something far larger than I first envisioned. This week, I will share some thoughts that have encouraged me along the way.

There was a time I understood that I couldn’t make it without Jesus. Along came a word from the Lord that changed my life forever. Let’s look at some important things to remember from the Bible.

First, we have all sinned and need a Savior. (Romans 3:23). Second, there is a way to be saved. It is found in Romans chapter ten: “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ an believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (‘Romans 10:9) Verse 13 sums it up nicely: “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

It does not say life will be a bed of roses, only that we are saved by confessing Jesus as Lord. Difficulties still come but as the Scripture says, the righteous will live by faith.

In my experience troubles do come. From financial hardships, health issues, family tragedies and the trials of old age we must trust that the Lord is there. Along with the trials of life, He also blesses us in many ways and through it all, His plan for us is being worked out in our lives.

Jonah, as we read in the Bible, suffered great loss because God had allowed Satan to test Him. Jonah couldn’t see what brought on his trials, but he knew God was there with him. There is an old hymn that says it well.

It will be worth it all when we see Jesus!

Life’s trials will seem so small when we see Christ.

One glimpse of His dear face, all sorrow will erase.

So bravely run the race till we see Christ.

Simply His,

Pastor Jerry

12 Jan

Standing on the Rock

Posted by sandhillspastor in Assurance, Best Life, Culture, Hope, Peace, Trust.

Dear friends,

January continues to provide mild temperatures. We usually don’t see this, but I’m not going to complain. Facebook reminds me occasionally by way of those memory photos, that we could be experiencing deep snow. We have much to be thankful for, as we remember the recent holidays. We have another great-grandchild. The oldest great grand turned six last week, and we are in relatively good health. God is Good!

Unless you have been hiding under a rock, you know that the world is a mess. From demonstrations here at home to unrest in other parts of the world, one wonders who is in charge? I have the answer from the Word of God. Bear with me as I share some encouraging truths from the Bible.

“I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth” (Psalm 121: 1-2).

“Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from Him. Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him. Truly He is my rock and salvation; he is my fortress; I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God; He is my mighty rock, my refuge. Trust in Him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our refuge” (Psalm 62:1-2, 7-8).

He (God) will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart” (Psalm 91:4).

Then this, from Romans 8; “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword…? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height, nor depth nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:35, 37-39).

The person who trusts in the Lord for his salvation has nothing to fear from this world. It’s in the Bible; we are on God’s side and His side wins. Be blessed and encouraged with these words.

In His grip,

Pastor Jerry

29 Dec

Joy In Trials

Posted by sandhillspastor in Assurance, Best Life, Happiness, Joy, Peace, Trials, Trust.

Hello friends,

We had a good family Christmas. We gathered at Ryan’s house in Neligh. The boys fed us well with steak, lobster tail, and all kinds of other goodies. There were also home-made cinnamon rolls that were to die for. Needless to say, we are in fasting mode the day after.

We are about to enter a new year! 2026 is almost here. The greeting of the week will be “Happy New Year!” We always salute the turning of the calendar to January with those words, but for some it probably will not be happy every day of the year. There will be disappointments, sicknesses, deaths in families and other kinds of personal tragedies. The optimism we have will fade away to reality and we find it hard to be happy all the time.

The Bible speaks of joy. When the angels announced the birth of the Savior, the greeting was Joy to the World! I believe joy is separate from happiness, In the middle of unhappy times, we can still be joyful. The psalmist wrote, “When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy” (Psalm 94:19). In this sense, joy is based on the writer’s relationship with God.

In another psalm we read, “The Lord has done great things for us and we are filled with joy… Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy” (Psalm 126:3, 5). Paul, in his letter to the church at Philippi wrote, “Do not be anxious about anything but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Philippians 4:6).

The Lord Jesus told His disciples, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). We will not always be happy, but through our faith and trust in the Lord, we will have joy in our hearts.

 “Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy” (1 Peter 1:8).

Trials will come, but they are not unexpected. The good news is that the Lord is with us in those trials. Joy is knowing we have Him in our hearts in those times.

Have a blessed New Year,

Pastor Jerry

6 Oct

On Aging

Posted by sandhillspastor in Best Life, Blessings, Christian Living, On Aging, Reward, Salvation.

Dear friends,
Here we are at the beginning of a new month. Another reason I like October is that I get to observe another birthday. I have reached number 81 as of today. God has blessed me with more years than I could have imagined when I was younger.

One might wonder how to become wise as our years advance. We all can remember when we were young and unwise, sometimes getting into trouble because of the lack of wisdom. Scripture has good advice on achieving wisdom. Psalm 111:10 reminds us, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow His instructions have good understanding.” In Proverbs we read, “Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding” (Proverbs 3:13).

We are encouraged to persevere in our faith as we advance in years, knowing the Lord will be with us: Even to your old age and gray hairs I am He, I am He who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you” (Isaiah 46:4). Moses asked this of God, “Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

As we age, we remember the lessons we learned in our early years. Wisdom is using those lessons in a practical way. As it says, the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord, not that we are afraid of Him but we respect and acknowledge God as our creator, giving Him all the honor and glory that is due Him. When we do that, He gives us wisdom to apply what His word teaches us.

Someone once said, “I became old and wise because God protected me when I was young and stupid.” I might add this observation; we are still here because there is more God wants us to do for Him. It begins with this: “For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life” ( John 6:40

I leave you with this from Solomon. “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. 14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.” Ecclesiastes 12:13-14.

Living for Him,
Pastor Jerry

22 Sep

My Story

Posted by sandhillspastor in Best Life, Calling, Change, Obedience, Salvation, Witness.

Hello friends,
We are drawing nearer to the fall season. I have noticed the leaves beginning to turn from green to red and gold. I continue to enjoy this season as I have for most of my life. I have many memories of hunting seasons from years ago.

You have heard it said that everyone has a story. Some stories tell of struggles with life, and others relate successes and victories in and through those experiences. Christians are encouraged to share the stories of their lives before and after coming to faith in Jesus Christ. Each one of us has a testimony to the changes He has made in us. A witness tells what he has seen and done. There is no one who can tell us we did not experience what we have seen with our own eyes. Please permit me to share a bit of my own story.

I grew up in a family with good morals, but we only rarely attended church. Sometimes Mom would take us kids to the little country church down the road, but Dad thought he had to stay home and care for the livestock on Sunday morning,

I was nearsighted, so from early I loved to read. I read everything I could get my hands on. I read the newspaper for myself when there were stories my parent thought I was too young to understand. When there were no books, I read the Bible and the dictionary. I enjoyed the Bible stories and read about Jesus, but that is as far as I went.

As I got older and went to town for high school, I became somewhat antagonistic to Christianity. I was one of those who looked down on Christians as being weak and out of tune with life. I developed some bad habits that led to wrong decisions.

After getting married and having a family, I started attending that little church down the road “for my boys.” Little did I know God had me where He wanted me. One Sunday morning in early 1982 I gave my life to Christ and my life changed dramatically. In time, the Lord called me into pastoral ministry. He took an agnostic rancher and made him a preacher… and that is my story in short form.

I heard the voice of the Lord… And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” (Isaiah 6:8).

Blessings,
Pastor Jerry

28 Jul

Faith, Not Works

Posted by sandhillspastor in Best Life, Calling, Christian Living, Faith, Salvation.

Hello friends,
Warmer weather has returned. After a relatively cool week, we are back to summer heat. County fairs are in full swing around the area, and we are reminded that schools will be starting up soon.

There was a question in our Sunday school lesson this morning on setting goals in life. We all have had goals we hoped to attain. Sometimes they come to pass, and other times we end up far from where we had intended to be. As we reach one goal, we are off in search of the next one. Each time we believe we will find contentment. Why is that?

Pastor Greg Laurie has some thoughts on this subject. “From the day we are born, we have been searching. We were created in the image of God, so we are aware that there is more to life than mere existence. There is purpose. There is meaning. But they are not always apparent, so we search for them in moments big and small.

The apostle Paul give us invaluable insight into these ideas of purpose, meaning, and fulfillment in Ephesians 2:10. ‘For we are God’s workmanship.’ We have a very high ceiling—the potential to accomplish some amazing things and experience soul-deep fulfillment.

Finding our meaning and purpose begins with the decision to accept Jesus as Savior and Lord. When we do that, God creates ‘us in Christ to do good works. He unlocks our potential to ‘do the good things he planned in advance for us to do. He unleashed us to be change agents in a world desperate for them.

Some people try to find purpose in doing good deeds to earn God’s favor. But that is a dead end. In the two verses that precede Ephesians 2:10, Paul says, ‘For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.’ Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done. It is only when we acknowledge that we can never do enough to earn God’s favor that we start to find purpose.

The more closely we align our daily lives with what God created us to be, the more we will experience the sense of adventure, purpose, fulfillment and joy that comes from our walk with Christ.”

In Him,
Pastor Jerry

19 May

Awaiting the Day

Posted by sandhillspastor in Best Life, Creation, Eternal Life, Faith, God's Word, Heaven.

Hello friends,
If all goes according to the forecast, we may get some rain early this week. We can only pray for it to happen. Relating to the weather, we extend our prayers and sympathy to those who lost homes and loved ones last week in the tornadoes. Nature can be violent and deadly at times. Christians understand this to be a direct result of Adam’s sin in the garden of Eden.

We live in a broken world, but God is still in control, and He has a plan to restore everything to perfection. There is coming a time when there will be no more storms or illness or anything to bring about pain or suffering or tears.

Paul tells us of this promise of God: I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God,
We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. (Romans 8:18-23).

In the book of Revelation, we read: Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God.
He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Revelation 21:1-4).

Looking for that day,
Pastor Jerry

12 May

No Worries

Posted by sandhillspastor in Assurance, Best Life, Faith, Peace, Prayer, Trust.

Hello friends,
Another week has gone by with no rain. As I write this, we are experiencing another windy day with high fire danger. Concerns are being raised about whether there will be enough grass in the pastures. It is certainly a time for fervent prayer to the Lord who makes the rain fall.

In times of drought and in many other situations where we are prone to worry, or as Christians would say, “be concerned” (because worry is a sin), we would do well to remember Romans 8:32; He who did not spare His own son, but gave Him up for all—how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?”

There is nothing more God could do to prove His commitment to you. Surely if he cares enough for you to send His Son to the cross to die for you, then He will do even more than keep you fed. You can trust Him with your bills, your career, the future of your family and yes provide the needed rain.

“Fear not” is the most repeated command in the Bible, with 366 mentions. The only way those commands make sense is if God is thereby promising He will take care of the things you are worried about.

So, He says, instead of being anxious, “in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7)

The key words there are “with thanksgiving.” It is impossible to thank God for His answer if you’re still worried about it.

The kind of prayer Paul is talking about in Philippians 4 means laying your problems before Jesus and leaving the burden of them with Him. You cannot say thanks if you do not trust Him to answer.

The God who stands outside of eternity can manage the days of your life. He is always good, all the time, and you can leave your worries (and concerns) at His feet. [Credit to Pastor J.D. Greear].

Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart (Psalm 37:4).

Fully trusting Him,
Pastor Jerry

5 May

GPS

Posted by sandhillspastor in Best Life, Bible, Faith, God's Word, Planning, Truth.

Dear friends,
We have goslings at the lake. These, along with fresh blooms of daffodils and tulips, are a sure sign that spring is here. Our weather the last few days is nothing less than delightful.

Another sign of spring is all the field work that is being done. As we returned from an errand late in the day, we observed a farmer in the field. Since it was after sundown, my bride asked how do they do that? My reply was, GPS. She said isn’t it interesting that people will depend on some satellite they can’t see for guidance, yet refuse to follow God? That was a profound observation.

For the Christian, there is another GPS. It is God’s Plan for Salvation, and it is called the Bible. From beginning to end, the Bible gives us guidance for life. From Genesis to Revelation, God’s plan for humanity is made plain. From the garden of Eden to the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, that plan was carried out.

It is one thing to follow an unseen satellite at planting time, yet another to follow God, who has made himself known through His creation. The God who created the universe also holds that GPS satellite in its orbit.

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature—have clearly been seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse (Romans 1:20).

For by Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him and for Him (Colossians 1:16).

The psalmist wrote, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path” Psalm 119:105). This sounds like GPS to me, but infinitely more dependable. Many of us have stories of the man-made GPS leading us astray, not so with God’s directions.

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.
But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night (Psalm 1:1-2).

Come to Jesus and let Him be your guide. He will not let you stray, nor will He lead you down a wrong path.

For Him,
Pastor Jerry

10 Mar

Getting There

Posted by sandhillspastor in Best Life, Contentment, Happiness, Planning, Righteousness, Temptation.

Hello friends,
Winter is still hanging around. Our storm last week left us with about four inches of heavy, wet snow. Some areas got less, and others more. it was all welcome moisture and with warmer temperatures it won’t be here long.

In life we are often tempted to take shortcuts to achieve a particular goal. In scripture we read of Jesus being tempted by Satan to short cut God’s plan for Him.

“The devil led Him to a high place and showed Him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to Him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. So, if you worship me, it will all be yours.”
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only,’” (Luke 4:5-8).

Pastor J.D. Greear has some thoughts on this topic: “Satan’s offer is Jesus’ chance to avoid the pain of the cross and get there through a shortcut, to walk on a path parallel to the will of God, but not in it.

It’s the temptation to compromise, and we all have had a taste of it in our own lives.

You really, really want to get somewhere, and you think that’s what God wants, but God doesn’t seem to be getting you there fast enough. And so, you are tempted to take a shortcut to get what you think you are entitled to—to pursue a good thing in the wrong way.

When we think this way, we are being tempted by a lie from Satan. This lie starts in the moment when you are frustrated with life, and you think the issue is your circumstance. You think, ‘If I could just get this other thing, then I would be happy,’

At the end of His life, Jesus got all the kingdoms of the earth—because He sought unbroken fellowship with the Father first.

Joy doesn’t come in getting wherever “there” is but in knowing, wherever you are, you are exactly where God wants you to be, doing exactly what God wants you to do. You get there by pursuing God, His Word, and the things He loves.”

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you. (Matthew 6:33).

For Him,
Pastor Jerry

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