Author: Pastor Curt

Bible Verse of The Day – 7-12-14

Proverbs 27:20 (NKJV) Hell and Destruction are never full; So the eyes of man are never satisfied.

The eyes of man are never satisfied. How true this is!

As humans we have a very bad tendency to never be satisfied. We long and work for something. And when we obtain or achieve it, we are satisfied for a season. And then we start all over again.

This is evident in the number of material possessions we amass over the years.

We want a house. We buy a house. It’s OK for a while and then we begin to grow dissatisfied with it. We want it to be bigger, so we add on. Or we want it to be more modern, so we sell and buy another one.

We want a car. We buy a car. We’re satisfied with it for a season. And then it’s not fancy enough, big enough or fast enough. So we buy a new one. And the cycle begins all over again.

We want a spouse. We find someone, fall in love and marry them. But then we see their flaws and we begin to become discontent. We want something or someone more. So our eyes wander. And before we know it, we are in an adulterous affair and then we are divorced. Or we just grow tired of the one we’re with and move on, leaving them behind, thinking the grass will be greener on the other side.

And then we find out it’s not. It’s the same color as where we were.

As followers of Christ, we need to learn to be content and satisfied. Only when we learn this will we also learn to be thankful for what we have been blessed with and stop striving to always be collecting more stuff.

God is our source. He should be what our satisfaction is based on, not the things that we can buy or store up.

We encourage you today to ask God to teach you how to be satisfied and content with the things He blesses you with. This is a lesson we all need to learn to some degree.

Be blessed in all you do and stay strong in Him.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

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Bible Verse of The Day – 7-11-14

(Revelation 3:16 NKJV)  “So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.

Learning how to walk with God takes discipline and sacrifice. There might be things we enjoy that we will have to let go of.

When I was a child going to Sunday school, we sang this song, “be careful little eyes what you see, be careful little ears what you hear, and be careful little hands what you do…because there’s a Father up above And He’s looking down in love”. Not just as children, but as adults as well, we need to be careful.

The things we see, hear and do are the open doors to our heart. These are the doors we need to be protective of, only letting in those things that are good and will keep us on the right path.

Being lukewarm is when we are dabbling a little in things that we know aren’t good for us and also a little with God. We don’t commit to one or the other.

This kind of behavior can cause us to become desensitized to the things that are not good for us, and before we know it, we are heading down the wrong path and our relationship with our family, friends, and those that we were once close with, including God, begins to change.

Be careful and alert to the things we are not supposed to be watching, listening to and participating in. It does affect our walk with God and the protection on our lives as Christians.

(John 14:23 NKJV)  Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 7-10-14

1 Thessalonians 5:17 (NKJV) pray without ceasing…

Pray without ceasing. How can we ever live up to this command that we were given by God? How can we possibly pray non-stop?

Good question. Let’s talk about this for a minute or two.

It’s possible to pray without ceasing once we understand what prayer is and what it isn’t.

Praying is communicating with God. Plain and simple.

It means that we talk to God and we listen for Him to speak to us. It’s a conversation that goes both ways.

Sadly, prayer has been twisted and corrupted by people to the point of being misunderstood. Most people, when they think of praying, automatically think of folded hands, closed eyes and long discourses using flowery language and various tones of voice. Some people are complimented on how well they pray because they word things just so and use just the right tones and volume.

No offense intended, but this is not what prayer is about. We’re not saying that you can’t pray this way, but prayer doesn’t have to be done like this to be effective!

Talk to God. Tell Him what’s on your heart. Tell Him how you feel; what hurts, what makes you smile, what you’re disappointed about, what your hopes are. Just tell Him.

And then listen. Let Him speak back to you. Give Him your time, as He gives you His. Let Him share His heart with you and tell you about His plans and hopes for you.

Communication works both ways and this is exactly what prayer is at it’s most basic level.

Pray without ceasing. Watch your life change and see yourself grow as a child of God.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 7-9-14

(Proverbs 18:10 NKJV) The name of the LORD is a strong tower; The righteous run to it and are safe.

We were planning on doing some fishing last night. As we headed out to the lake, we had already checked the weather forecast and it said there was only a 20% chance of rain. That wasn’t enough for us to be concerned about.

After about five minutes of driving we looked up at the sky over the area where we were headed, only to see a huge cloud that was formed in the shape of a giant bear’s head. We were admiring it, thinking how cool that was!

After we realized that it was in the direction we were heading to, we felt prompted to check the forecast again. As we checked the weather forecast, it had changed from the previous 20% chance of rain to an 80% chance, with heavy storms, thunder and lightning! We were disappointed and knew we needed to turn back.

As we turned back and headed home, we couldn’t get over how that cloud looked so much like a bear. We chuckled to each other and thought how neat it was that seeing the cloud shaped like a bear prompted us to check the weather. And by doing so, it saved us from having to drive all the way to the lake, only to get caught in a dangerous storm.

We wondered if that could possibly have been God’s way of protecting us from wasting a lot of time, energy and gas, and also keeping us safe.

Sometimes it’s just as simple as that, paying attention to those little signs may help us stay safe in a big way! Amen.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 7-8-14

Luke 6:47-48 (NKJV) 47 Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: 48 He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock.

Have you ever known anyone who seemed like they had it all together? Their life just seemed like it was always good and things always went their way. Nothing ever seemed to go wrong.

And then one day it was as if the rug got pulled from under them and their whole world came crashing down. No matter what they tried to do, nothing could seem to make it better.

And when the heaviest part of the storm hit them, their whole world collapsed.. fell apart right before their very eyes, and in front of your eyes too. You saw it. That person who’s life seemed so perfect was in shambles and they didn’t know what to do about it.

Have you known someone like that? Or is that maybe a good description of you at some point in your life? Maybe even today…

You see, there are two possible endings to these kinds of scenarios. The first would be that the person simply loses everything and never recovers. The emotional trauma is more than they can handle and they simply fall apart, never to fully recover.

But the second possibility is that they (or you) had their life built on the rock, the solid foundation of Jesus Christ. And when the storm came, it shook the house. It rattled the windows a little and it might even have caused them to stagger a bit under the pressure.

But because this person had their life anchored in God and not in material possessions or earthly status, they recovered and became even stronger than they were before the storm hit them.

So if you’re facing trials today and it feels like your house is about to crumble and your world is about to get sucked up in a tornado, check yourself. Make sure your hope is in God and anchored on the rock of Jesus Christ.

You will come through the storm. And you will not just come through and be barely standing, but you will come through with victory. Oh, you may have some scars from the battle, but you will be stronger than ever and your faith will never be able to be shaken, no matter what you face.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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Bible Verse of The Day

(1 John 5:21 NKJV)  Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.

Checking ourselves periodically to make sure we are not putting anything or anyone on a pedestal is a good thing to do.

One of the hardest things Christians have to be careful of, when God uses a man or woman to do His work, is that we don’t look at the person more than we look at God Himself.

We always need to keep our eyes on God. It’s one thing to show respect and be thankful for the man or woman of God that has spoken into our lives, but we need to be careful to remain balanced in our thoughts, remembering they are mere humans and are not perfect people. We all make mistakes; we all sin, and fall down.

I got saved as a young child. I loved my Pastor and looked up to him. He was always there for me and my family. I looked at him as the greatest man ever; he had all the answers and could help me solve my problems. He was my safety net and I cherished him.

As I grew up, God was moving me on from his church for various reasons. When I explained this to my pastor, he didn’t like it and tried to keep me there. I explained my situation to him, hoping he would understand and be happy for me. But instead, it was the opposite. He got very upset with me and told me he would never come to visit me again.

I was a young adult at this time in my life and it hurt me terribly. I thought from the things he had taught me through the years that we would be able to continue our friendship, no matter where we served God. But apparently it wasn’t going to be that way.

As I stood at my door, with tears running down my cheeks, and watched this man walk away, I learned a big lesson that day and God was there to pick up the pieces and mend my broken heart. It was my own fault and I never blamed the pastor for any of my pain.

This is what happens when we put anyone or anything other than God on a pedestal. When we look more highly at someone than we should, we will be disappointed and sometimes our heart ends up hurt or broken.

There is only One that we can idolize and worship. The pedestal was made for ONLY One. One that is worthy! That is our Lord God and Savoir, the perfect ONE! Amen.  

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 7-5-14

1 Peter 4:8 (NKJV) And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.”

Oh, if only we could get this one right!

Loving each other can seem to be so hard to do at times. We are all so diverse. We have different opinions, different personalities, different cultures, different ways of expressing ourselves. The list of differences can be quite lengthy.

But just because we’re different doesn’t mean that we can’t love each other.

God has commanded us to love each other fervently. That’s a pretty strong word.

To do something fervently means to do it with great intensity. So this means that we shouldn’t love each other halfheartedly!

So in light of our differences, how can we love each other fervently, overlooking those differences and pleasing God?

By letting Him teach us how to love. Only God can show us how to love someone fervently if there are vast differences and even things about a person that we don’t like.

As we let God show us how to love, we will have no problems loving someone we don’t know, don’t agree with or just plain don’t want to be around.

It won’t always be easy, but it can be done if we let God’s Spirit lead us!

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 7-4-14

Romans 6:9-11 (NKJV) 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Reckon yourselves to be dead to sin.

That there is a tall order if we attempt to be dead to sin under our own power. Thankfully, we don’t have to do it under our own power!

When we put our faith in God through Christ, He makes us new. We are made a new creation in Christ and the old person dies. This is tough for our minds to comprehend and, in fact, probably impossible for us to completely understand.

But the instant that we put our faith and trust in Him as our Savior and Redeemer, something happens in the spiritual realm and the person that we were is no more. We are given a brand new lease on life as a child of the King.

The tricky part is “staying new” and not slipping back into our old ways. This can be harder for some than for others. But God equips us with some serious tools to do this; His Spirit and His Word!

With the direction and leading of the Holy Spirit and the truth of His word, we have everything we need to overcome sin in our lives and drive the enemy back when he tempts us. It’s not always easy, but we are never left alone or without help.

We encourage you to press in to God. Let Him sharpen your discernment and teach you how to hear His voice and yield to it when temptation comes your way. As you learn to hear Him better and trust Him more, your troubles with sin will decrease and your desire and ability to please Him will increase.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 7-3-14

(1 Thessalonians 5:17 NKJV) pray without ceasing,

I was on the phone with my son-in-law the other day.

As he was talking to me, his seven year old son (my grandson) came out of his bedroom. He had been in there with the door closed.

His dad asked him what he was doing. His son replied nonchalantly, “Just talking to God.”

That is all prayer is; just talking to God.

Spend some time with Him today. Amen

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 7-2-14

Hebrews 3:13 (NKJV) but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

Did you know that we are to exhort each other daily?

Exhort: to incite by argument or advice : urge strongly : to give warnings or advice : make urgent appeals

We are instructed to give each other warnings, make urgent appeals to each other, advise each other and urge each other to do the right thing.

We are to hold each other accountable and help each other stay on track.

This doesn’t mean that we are to go around judging each other, accusing each other or stirring up trouble.

But it does mean that we need to hold each other accountable when one of us gets off track. We need to urge our wayward brothers and sisters in Christ, lovingly but firmly, to do the right thing, to get back on track and to honor God with their lives.

It might not always be easy to do this and sometimes there is a fine line between exhorting and meddling, but if we let God speak to us and show us when to speak and when to pull back, He will be able to use us to help many people.

So be prepared to exhort others and be prepared to be exhorted by others. It works both ways and we all need a little adjustment once in a while.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 7-1-14

(Revelation 2:4 NKJV) “Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.

God comes first. He is our first love, and we can not let anything come before our personal relationship with Him. We have to keep Him first in all that we do.

God comes before the church. God comes before our spouse. He comes before our children. God comes before our job and He comes before our money, etc. He needs to be first, and then everything else will be added.

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

If we’ve pushed Him aside, maybe we’ve gotten caught up in some things that we felt pressured to do, or we just lost sight of our time and before we knew it He was squeezed out of our day.

One day turns into two, then three and before we know it it’s been a month or more since we left Him behind or put Him after so many other things. But He hasn’t given up on us; He’s waiting patiently.

It’s time we stop today and let Him back into our life.

Come home to your first love today.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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