Pensacola Christian Watermen

11/03/2020

JUST IN: Florida has now reached 100% of 2016's voter turnout, according to https://bit.ly/34TDbqr

06/12/2020

What do you think about thi$ ?

MIAMI, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Friday that he is signing a bill that will allow college athletes in Florida to receive compensation for their likeness. The bill will go into effect July 1, 2021, according to DeSantis. It will allow athletesto sign paid endorsement deals and acquire....

04/15/2020

“And he said: ‘I cried out to the LORD because of my affliction, and He answered me.’”
Jonah 2:2

When someone asks me to pray for them, I like to include Scripture as part of my prayer. For example, if someone says they need prayer for wisdom, I’ll pray something along these lines: “Lord, you promised in Scripture that if anyone lacks wisdom, let them ask of You, and you will give it generously. So now, Lord, we pray for wisdom.”

Or maybe someone is battling fear. I’ll pray, “Lord, you promised in Philippians that we should not worry about anything but should pray about everything. You promised the peace of God that passes all human understanding will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. We lay hold of that promise and pray for that now.”

That is something Jonah did from inside the belly of the fish. He quoted Scripture. I don’t think he had scrolls to read from. But he carried God’s Word in his heart. In the second chapter of Jonah, we see that he quoted from the Book of Psalms, eight times.

When I quote Scripture in my prayers, I’m not doing it to remind God of what He said. Rather, it’s to remind those I’m praying for of what God said.

Jonah said, “When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord; and my prayer went up to You, into Your holy temple” (2:7 NKJV). Jonah began to lose hope. And his hope was restored in a relationship with God.

The same is true for us today.

So what do you put your hope in? Don’t put your hope in people. People will disappoint you. Parents will disappoint you. Children will disappoint you. Friends will disappoint you.

Don’t put your hope in money or in technology. They will disappoint you. Don’t put your hope in any human solutions. Put your hope in Jesus Christ.

04/14/2020

“Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from inside the fish.”
Jonah 2:1

After the crew tossed Jonah overboard in the middle of a storm, God sent a custom-designed watercraft Jonah’s way. In other words, He brought in a very large fish to swallow the prodigal prophet.

Now, did God do this because He hated Jonah? No. Was He angry at Jonah? Again, no. God did this because He loved Jonah and wanted to get his attention. He wanted to bring him back to Himself.

Jonah knew what was right, but he was running from it. But while he was inside of this fish, he called out to the Lord. Remarkably, this happened after he was there for three days and three nights.

I can just imagine him sitting there wrapped in seaweed, fish slapping him in the face, smelling who knows what with the fish’s gastric juices bubbling away.

Then he finally came to his senses and called out to the Lord. This reminds us that we can pray anywhere and anytime. We can pray while we’re kneeling. We can pray while we’re standing or sitting. And we can pray with our eyes open or closed.

God will hear your prayer in the ocean, and He will hear your prayer when you’re pacing around, stuck at home. God will hear your prayer wherever it is.

Ephesians 6:18 tells us, “Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion” (NLT). Even when things are bad, God is still good. So we can give praises to Him because of that. That is what Jonah did. And by the way, I think it was here that he experienced personal revival.

Maybe you feel like you’re wrapped up with problems right now. You can’t see any way out of your particular circumstances. Know this: Your situation isn’t hopeless. God can come into your life and change your entire story.

04/10/2020

“But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
1 Corinthians 15:57
During an interview with a magazine editor a few years ago, actor Bradley Cooper reflected on his father’s death and how it caused him to address his own mortality.
He said “All of a sudden I was like, ‘Oh, right, I’m going to die too.’ . . . I was like, ‘Okay. This is death. And this is going to happen to me one day.’”
It’s true. One out of every one person will die. Yet something significant happened when Jesus rose from the grave.
Easter was the day that death died, because Jesus died. When Jesus died on the cross, He conquered sin. When Jesus rose from the dead, He defeated death.
He said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying” (John 11:25 NLT). Death died when Christ rose.
Now I don’t have to fear death as a Christian.
I’m not denying the fact that our bodies will stop functioning one day. I’m not ignoring the dangers we face. I know that people die. I know it well.
But what I am saying is that our souls will live on in another place. That’s all because Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead.
He took upon Himself the judgment of the Father that we should have faced so that we can have the hope of eternal life.
If you were to die today, do you have complete confidence that you will go to Heaven? Do you know that your sins are forgiven? Have you asked Jesus to come into your life? He’s just waiting for your invitation. He is just a prayer away.

04/07/2020

“But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.”
1 John 1:9
There was a time when pet stores sold bunnies and little fuzzy chicks at Easter. And as I recall, some of the chicks were even dyed different colors. People apparently thought these were cute gifts to get for a child.
And while it seemed like a great idea at the time, what about nine months later when full-grown rabbits and chicks were roaming around the house? Little, cute things turned into big things.
We can do the same thing spiritually. Sometimes we’ll let little sins into our lives. We’ll say, “I’ll get to it later,” and then we let a few more things in as well. Then the next thing we know, it’s a huge problem that we don’t even know how to approach.
That’s why we want to go to the Lord on a regular basis and ask Him to cleanse us of our sins. Because we sin more than we think we do.

04/04/2020

“But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.”
Acts 16:25

The world watches with great interest when a Christian faces adversity. Every one of us faces hardship. Every one of us loses loved ones. Every one of us faces sickness. Every one of us encounters difficulties and hardships in life. But when it happens to Christians, nonbelievers watch to see if our faith is genuine. That is the time to show them what Christ can do, even in hard times.

Acts 16 tells the story of Paul and Silas, who were thrown into prison for preaching the gospel. Their backs had been ripped open with a whip, and at midnight, in the most unsanitary of conditions, in a filthy environment, with their legs stretched apart in shackles causing excruciating pain, Paul and Silas held a worship service. The Bible tells us that “at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God” (verse 25 NKJV). Suddenly an earthquake shook the prison, their shackles fell off, the walls came down, and they were free to go.

The Philippian jailer, assuming they were free, knew he would be tortured and then put to death. He took out his own sword and was ready to kill himself. But Paul said, “Do yourself no harm, for we are all here” (verse 28 NKJV).

Then the jailer said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” (verse 30 NKJV). Paul and Silas made an impact on him.

In the same way, there are people watching you right now. They’re developing an opinion about God on the basis of your life. It has been said that a Christian is an epistle, written by God and read by man. You are the only Bible that some people ever will read. They will be looking at you, and that may determine the course their lives will take.

04/03/2020

“Though a thousand fall at your side, though ten thousand are dying around you, these evils will not touch you.”
Psalm 91:7
There are so many things we can be afraid of in life. With around-the-clock news coverage of the coronavirus, our fears only seem to get affirmed. After all, we don’t know what is coming next.
But in Psalm 91, we find this promise for believers: “Though a thousand fall at your side, though ten thousand are dying around you, these evils will not touch you” (Psalm 91:7 NLT).
Know that God is in control of our very lives. Isn’t that great to know? It isn’t over until it’s over. Until that time, we can live with boldness.
I read the story of a courageous Christian who was standing before a king who wanted him to deny Christ. The king threatened, “If you don’t do it, I will banish you.”
The Christian replied, “You can’t banish me from Christ. He says He will never leave me nor forsake me.”
The king said, “I will confiscate your property and take it all from you.”

The Christian said, “My treasures are laid up on high; you cannot get them.”

“I will kill you,” the king told him.

“I have been dead forty years,” the Christian answered. “I have been dead with Christ; dead to the world. My life is hid with Christ in God, and you cannot touch it.”

The king said, “What can you do with such a fanatic?”

May God give us more Christians who know something of God’s protection like this believer did. However, there is a difference between trusting the Lord and testing the Lord. Don’t take unnecessary risks and expect Him to bail you out. Yes, He will keep us in all of our ways—but our ways should be His ways.

04/01/2020

“And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

—2 Corinthians 12:9

I didn’t have an easy childhood. I came from a home that was broken many, many times over. But I can look back on my past today and instead of moaning about it, I can say, “I went through that, and now I can comfort others.” It has become a tool to help others.

I wouldn’t want to go through that again, of course. Nor would I want anyone else to go through the same thing. But I’m thankful that God can take my past, that hardship, and use it for His glory today. He can do the same for you.

Maybe you’re going through some hard times right now, and you’re wondering why. God will use it. It’s hard to believe now, but just remember that it won’t last forever.

As 1 Peter 1:6–7 says, “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (NKJV). Trials don’t last forever.

Keep moving. Don’t give up. Don't abandon hope. You are going to get through that valley in your life. There will be an even greater mountaintop beyond it, with great lessons you have learned as God demonstrated His strength in your weakness.

03/31/2020

I’m glad that when we go through fiery trials as believers, God doesn’t get distracted, forget about us, and leave us there.

David wrote in Psalm 23, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me” (verse 4).

We must remember to cast our problems on the Lord, turning them over to Him in times of need.

When the people were griping and complaining about Moses, the Bible tells us that Moses cried out to the Lord. When Hezekiah received an intimidating letter from a king who was threatening to destroy him, he spread the letter out before the Lord. When Mary and Martha saw that their beloved brother Lazarus was sick, they sent word to the Lord.

When trouble comes your way, cast it on Him. Spread it out before Him. Call on Him. As the Scriptures say, “Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7).

Most of us would like to avoid the valleys of life, so to speak, but there are some lessons we learn there that we cannot learn anywhere else.

God doesn’t promise to keep us out of all trouble. But He does promise to be with us in the midst of it. It’s a great thing to know that when the Lord lets His children go through a fiery trial, He always keeps an eye on them and an eye on the thermostat.

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you.”
Isaiah 43:2

03/30/2020

“For He Himself has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.'”
Hebrews 13:5

I remember one of the first times, as a young believer, that I didn’t feel God’s presence. I woke up one morning and just didn’t have the great feeling I had before. And being new in the faith and not knowing the Bible very well, I thought, “I think God left me last night. What happened?”

When I talked to a Christian friend about it, he told me, “You’re going through a trial.”

“What? I’m on trial?”

“No, you’re going through a trial.”

“What’s a trial?”

My friend explained there are times in our lives when we don’t feel the presence of God, but He is still there. And in time, I came to realize that God will allow us to go through trials.

For instance, you might walk outside tomorrow, and it’s an overcast day. So, you say, “The sun was here yesterday, but I don’t see the sun today. I don't feel its warmth. I guess the sun must have gone away last night.”

No, the sun hasn’t gone away. It has been merely obscured by a cloud covering. And if you don’t believe that, then try going to the beach without wearing any sunscreen. When you return home resembling a ripe tomato, you will realize the sun was out.

In the same way, some people falsely conclude that when they don’t feel God, He is gone. He has disappeared. But He is there even when you don’t feel Him. The Bible tells us in Hebrews, “For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you’” (Hebrews 13:5 NKJV).

It is during these times that we must walk by faith, not by feeling because God has promised in His Word that He will be with us. That is how we know He is there.

03/28/2020

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”
Psalm 23:4

Have you ever gone through a spiritual valley in your life? Perhaps it was a time when unexpected circumstances suddenly came crashing down on you. Perhaps it was a time when it seemed as though even God himself had abandoned you.

In Psalm 23, David speaks of how God is with us, even when we go through valleys in our lives: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me” (verse 4 NKJV).

David was no stranger to calamity and hardship. This was a man who knew what it was like to suffer. He knew what it was like to face difficulties. He had been hunted like a wild animal by the paranoid King Saul, even after being anointed as the next king of Israel by the prophet Samuel.

When David brings us this and other psalms, which he penned under the direction of the Holy Spirit, he candidly speaks of his own shortcomings, weaknesses, and questions he faced in life. Psalm 23 came from the school of hard knocks, from a man who knew what it was like to need God’s help.

But we might say, “A valley? I don’t like valleys, Lord. I prefer mountaintops, okay? I like the sun to be shining and the birds singing. I like good times. I don’t want friction. I don’t want hardship.”

Yet the Lord is saying, “You see that mountaintop in the distance? The way to that mountaintop is through this valley. You come with Me now through the valley.”

We all go through those valleys in life, those hard times. Whatever valley it is, remember this: You are not alone. That is God’s great promise to the believer.