Pastor Curt

Bible Verse of The Day – 9-23-13

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1 Samuel 15:22 (NKJV) 22 So Samuel said: “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.

It can be easy to get fooled into thinking that making sacrifices is important in our walk with God. Somehow, we get our signals mixed up and it seems like we begin to get proud of how we give up this or that for God.

But in reality, we can sacrifice all we want and still not be pleasing God!

When push comes to shove, God would much prefer that we obey Him, rather than to get caught up in sacrifices.

Sometimes obeying Him will require sacrifices, but the obedience is much more important to our walk with Him than the sacrifice itself.

If we’re not obeying God’s voice and what He requires of us, the sacrifice is equal to idolatry and will only give us a false sense of righteousness.

Obey God’s voice first. Sacrifice only if He asks us to.

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 – 9-21-13

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Numbers 11:5-6 (NKJV) 5 We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; 6 but now our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes!”

While the Israelites were in the desert, God provided for their every need, including their food.

He caused something to rain down onto the ground each night, which they gathered in the morning and made meals from. This substance was called manna.

Every day the Israelites had plenty to eat. They had no worries whatsoever when it came to what they would eat each day.

After some time, though, they began to murmur and complain. They wire tired of eating manna, the food that God chose to provide them with.

Our question for everyone today is this “are we like the Israelites? Do we complain about what we have been blessed with, because we’re tired of it or bored with it?”

Whether we have been blessed with a lot or with a little, there isn’t a single person reading this who hasn’t complained about what they have or what they think they lack. We are as guilty as the Israelites.

As God’s people, we need to seek God’s forgiveness for our selfish ways and self-centeredness. It’s easy to fall into the trap of dissatisfaction, but it’s shameful in the eyes of God, and we all need to repent.

Take some time, right now, while you’re reading this, and thank God for what you have been blessed with.

It’s not wrong to want to better yourself, but it is wrong for us to be ungrateful for the things that we already have.

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 – 9-20-13

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(Psalm 92:4 NKJV)  For You, LORD, have made me glad through Your work; I will triumph in the works of Your hands.

When we awake each morning, we should think of Jesus and the life we have because of His death and resurrection. And think about how He has given us His Spirit, to live in each one of us, as we believed and received Him as our personal Savior.

Remember that we don’t have to face a single day alone.

Thank Him that we can conquer some of the hardest tasks and learn so many new things, as we walk close with Him throughout our day.

I love the fact that no matter what we go through in this life, He will stand with us; He is there to help us through and bring good out of it!

Our Lord is for us! Let’s give Him a big “shout out” today and tell Him how glad we are for the marvelous works He has done and for causing us to triumph over many situations!

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!

To have the Bible Verse of The Day delivered to your inbox each day, please enter your email address in the box near the upper right corner of this page!

Bible Verse of The Day – 9-19-13

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Luke 6:27-28 (NKJV) 27 “But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you.

Love your enemies. Hmmm. What does that really mean?

We had a reader write to ask us about this. Here’s what they wrote:

“I find it difficult to love everyone but I definitely don’t hate them. I dislike them!! Is that OK?”

This is something that every single one of us has thought about or asked about at one point or another. How can I love someone that I really don’t like?

Well, here’s the answer that we gave:

“As believers, we are taught to love our enemies. So what does that mean? Does it mean that we are to fall all over them and give them huge hugs, even though we don’t really like a person? Not necessarily.

We are to love people, not with a mushy, human kind of love, but with the love that God shows us all. This means that we care for that person as God does, and we have their best interests in mind at all times, but it doesn’t mean we have to hang out with them or spend time with them just for the sake of it.

As we draw closer to God and become more of who He wants us to become, this will become easier.

So if you’re having trouble liking people because of something they did to you, if they have a bad attitude, or even if they just irritate you, just remember to love them with the same love that God has for us, and that might make it a bit easier.”

We never know what makes people act the way they do. But if we see them with God’s love, we will see things differently!

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 – 9-18-13

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(1 Corinthians 11:3 NKJV)  But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.

God shows us in this verse that there is accountability for each one of us.

Jesus had God for His accountability, even though they were One, (John 10:30 NKJV) “I and My Father are one.” God the Father was still His accountability and Jesus went to Him.

His Word brings order to us and teaches us who we all should go to for this accountability. Man goes to Christ, woman goes to man, and Jesus went to God.

God does not give us this order so that people can try to control us and make us feel belittled. He does it so that it may bring safety and stability and help us to keep our lives, thoughts and emotions balanced, focused and moving forward!

Wherever there is no accountability, there is chaos and things get way out of hand. We all need to stay accountable to those that God leads us to, those that will speak up when we need to hear it and won’t be afraid to speak the truth with love.

With all the power and authority that Jesus had in Him, He still only did what the Father showed Him. Here, He shares how He can and will do nothing on His own. (John 5:19 NKJV)  Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.

Jesus was accountable to His Father, and in all of that accountability He did all that He needed to do while here on earth. There was no lack, no insufficiency and definitely no error in Him.

Accountability brings Victory!! 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!

To have the Bible Verse of The Day delivered to your inbox each day, please enter your email address in the box near the upper right corner of this page!

Bible Verse of The Day – 9-17-13

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Deuteronomy 6:5 (NKJV) You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

Of everything we’re taught in God’s word, this is the ultimate summation of it all.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart.

For all of the effort we put into so many other things that we, as believers and followers of God need to learn, if we could get this one right, every single other thing that we need to accomplish as a believer would fall into place so much more easily.

If we could just learn to love God with all our heart, we would know Him intimately. We would know His voice, His commandments, His desires. We would know Him so well we could hear His heart beat.

When we know Him like this, we will be able to love our neighbor as ourselves. We will love our spouse as Christ loved the church. We will love people in spite of what they have done. We will show mercy, not because people deserve it, but because they don’t deserve it.

So let’s stop fussing over so many other things and learn to love Him with all our heart, all our soul and all our strength and then watch as the other things all follow suit.

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!

To have the Bible Verse of The Day delivered to your inbox each day, please enter your email address in the box near the upper right corner of this page!

Bible Verse of The Day – 9-16-13

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(Matthew 5:44 NKJV)  “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you…

One of the things I had to learn and am still working on every day is learning how to love the person when I don’t like their actions.

Seriously… how many times do we look at a person, watch their actions, and look at their outward appearance before making our decision to accept them?

God does not tell us to love someone just because they look good, dress nice or act the same as us. He tells us to love our enemy…OUCH!

This kind of love takes a changing of our heart. It takes learning, discipline and action on our part to love and accept people for the person they are. We can’t do this on our own, but we can do this with God’s help!

If they are our enemy, if they curse us, if they hate us, if they spitefully use us and persecute us, we STILL need to love them. Not after they apologize or change their behavior, but in the state that they are in. It doesn’t mean we love the things they do, but we love the person.

As God’s children, we need to look beyond one’s errors, mistakes and disadvantages and love the person. How do we learn to love the person and look beyond their actions?

We have to surrender our feelings toward the person and let God’s Word change our heart. We have to follow His example. He loved us first and sent His Son for us in spite of our terrible, sinful nature. We too must love in this way.

We can’t just say we love someone; we have to show them we love them. It is by our actions that love conquers all!

Is there someone in your life today that you struggle with? Do you love them deeply but have a hard time showing them, because you’re afraid of the hurt you feel when you’re around them?

Let God teach us how to show our love for others without getting hurt by their actions.

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!

To have the Bible Verse of The Day delivered to your inbox each day, please enter your email address in the box near the upper right corner of this page!

Bible Verse of The Day – 9-14-13

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1 Samuel 17:49 (NKJV) Then David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone; and he slung it and struck the Philistine in his forehead, so that the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth.

 

When David faced Goliath, he was facing a man who stood much larger than any other man of that time. He was, for all intents and purposes, a giant.

There are varying estimates of how tall Goliath really was, ranging from just under 7 feet, to as big as 11 feet tall. While 11 feet is pretty unlikely, he was, without a doubt, a formidable foe who was wreaking havoc with the army of Israel.

David, on the other hand, was just a boy. He had not even finished growing yet. But his heart for God was big enough to give him the courage and strength to stand up to the very man who caused the entire Israeli army to cower in fear.

David proved to the entire nation of Israel that you don’t need to be large in stature to defeat your enemy. You just have to have a strong love for God and the heart to stand up and face your giant.

What or who is your giant today? Does your giant have you cowering in a corner or hiding from it, day after day?

Today is your day. It’s the day that you can rise up, in the name of Jesus, and slay your giant, no matter how big it is.

Don’t let fear push you around any longer. Stand up, claim your victory and walk it out in faith.

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!

To have the Bible Verse of The Day delivered to your inbox each day, please enter your email address in the box near the upper right corner of this page!

Bible Verse of The Day – 9-13-13

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(Psalm 27:1 NKJV)  The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?

Let us not be afraid of anyone or anything in this world today.

There is nothing too big for God to help us overcome as long as we have faith in Him. We are not saying that it is not difficult to go through trials. But if we stay strong and we don’t fear our situation, but rather know that the Lord gives us all that we need to get through it, we shall come through!

Because we are human, we need to pay attention to one thing that tries to get the best of us; that is our own emotions.

That’s right!  We have to fight against our own emotions and not let them win!

For instance, if our emotions are making us feel that we are not cut out for a specific task that’s in front of us, then we might say “maybe that’s right… maybe I can’t do this”. But with Christ, we can do all things!!

(Philippians 4:13 NKJV)  I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

We need to speak God’s truth to our emotions and calm them down.

Today we will say to this MOUNTAIN, “be moved” and it shall be done! No fear involved, just faith in God working through us!

(Matthew 21:21 NKJV)  So Jesus answered and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ it will be done.

Take action and don’t be afraid. Say to your mountain, “MOVE” and it shall be done, as you speak it in faith, not in fear. 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!

To have the Bible Verse of The Day delivered to your inbox each day, please enter your email address in the box near the upper right corner of this page!

Bible Verse of The Day – 9-12-13

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Matthew 11:28 (NKJV) – Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Each of us can relate to this verse. Every single one of us has been through a battle recently, and may even still be in the midst of a battle… and we’re tired.

Jesus offers us a rest that nothing here on earth can match. Not the spa, not a vacation and not a good night’s sleep. These things are all nice, but they can’t give us the rest that Jesus offers us.

So if you’re tired and weary today, give it to Jesus. Surrender your life and your cares to Him and get the kind of rest that nothing in this world can offer you.

You might think that it’s not easy to do this, and you’re right. It’s not always easy. But it’s imperative that we do it if we want to move beyond our problems and have victory in our battles.

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!

To have the Bible Verse of The Day delivered to your inbox each day, please enter your email address in the box near the upper right corner of this page!

Bible Verse of The Day – 9-11-13

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Mark 5:25-30 (NKJV) 25 Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years, 26 and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse. 27 When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment. 28 For she said, “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.” 29 Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction.

During the past few days we have had some questions asked of us about faith and healing. Specifically, we have been asked why some people get healed when they are prayed for and why some people don’t.

As we replied to one person, we don’t always know or understand why these things happen and none of us ever has all of the answers. But we do want to share something that God has taught us about this phenomenon.

In the scripture above, the woman who came to Jesus knew that if she could just touch Him, she would be healed. Why was this so? How did she know that she would be healed, simply by touching him or his robe?

It was by her faith. God showed us that this woman’s faith had been ignited… lit on fire. She had an absolute knowing in her spirit that left no room for doubt, whatsoever.

We see many other instances of this in God’s word where people had an ignition (sudden boost) of their faith and they absolutely knew beyond any doubt that if they could just get to Jesus they would be healed (Matthew 8:5-13, Matthew 9:2-8).

In all of these examples, Jesus told them “your faith has made you whole”. You see, it was their faith that made them whole. Their faith had been ignited and raised to new levels, and with this elevated faith, they absolutely knew that they would be healed and delivered from their affliction.

This was the case in my own life, when God healed me of asthma after being under its curse for 30 years. The story is too long to share here, but let me just say that I had asked God to heal me many, many times. It wasn’t until I got a revelation from God and my faith was ignited that I actually received complete healing and deliverance from this terrible curse.

We all need to let God teach us how to allow Him to ignite our faith. It’s all right there in His word. We just need to see it for what it is and get it in us.

Then He can perform miracles in our lives and the lives of those around 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!

To have the Bible Verse of The Day delivered to your inbox each day, please enter your email address in the box near the upper right corner of this page!