The View From My Window Pastor's Weekly Blog

It’s not as easy to follow God’s lead as we make it sound. It takes focus and attention to piece together the Lord’s revelations to us in order to do what He’s created us to do. To ignore His directives always leads to disaster. Yet to figure out exactly what He’s directing us to do can be a really wild adventure.

In today’s text we find Israel once again following the world’s lead rather than that of the Lord. We always want to send someone else to figure out what God wants us to do rather than come to our own settled conclusion. Connecting with God is actually the point! Doing what He tells us to do is secondary. The Lord wants to connect with you more than He wants you to work for Him. God is more interested in winning all of you than He is with you winning all the world. Learn to connect with the Lord then seek Him out daily. That’s when life gets good.

-Pastor Joel Everhart

Very few people hear God speak to them audibly. When it happens, God is working to make an indelible impression on our soul. If you are married, you have probably experienced the difficulties with hearing clearly what your spouse has said, even if they are endeavoring to speak loud and clear. Some people seem to enjoy talking to their partner from another room or even while their head is buried in a closet. They go on to become frustrated when their message goes unheeded or misunderstood. Perhaps that’s why God rarely chooses to talk to us out loud. His preferred method seems to be revealing His will in layers. He begins with an impression. The Lord goes on to bolster that impression with a word from Scripture, counsel from a trusted friend, the way circumstances fall into place or all of the above. In our marital relationships, it’s not so much that we didn’t hear correctly that frustrates us as much as our impression that our partner wasn’t trying to hear what we’ve said. Don’t make it hard for God to direct your steps, pay attention.

-Pastor Joel Everhart

Today’s faith fact is, “God Provides for Me”. There are two types of people: those who recognize God as their provider and those who do not. The ones who trust God walk in the confidence that He will supply all of their needs according to His riches in glory, even if they can’t see how that provision could possibly be given under their circumstances. Those who do not trust God as their provider worry about everything, often stress out the people around them, and exhaust themselves trying to do what only God can do.

Relax, God’s got this. As much as praise is an affirmation that all our hope is in the Lord, fear is evidence that our faith is anemic. Hebrews tells us that those who come to God must believe that He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Don’t worry, pray, then trust God. Resist the temptation to allow fear or worry to have access to your mind. Fill your thoughts with the promises of God, then trust them.

-Pastor Joel Everhart

Sooner or later we all come to the realization that life is too big for us. We may be able to do many things well but no one can do everything. Obstacles come that we cannot navigate alone. Problems arise that are way above our pay grade. Enemies attack us with overwhelming force and unless another intervenes, we’re history.

God has a way of calling us into situations that we cannot survive without Him. However, as we cry out to Him, as He responds to us, we rise above the challenge to discover that the promises of God are true, and that He really does equip those He calls. Far too many believers have stopped listening for the voice of the Holy Spirit because He keeps bidding them to do things they’re uncomfortable doing. He wants them to share Jesus with a neighbor or teach a Sunday School class or whatever. They are afraid. But, IF it is God calling, they will experience the thrill of their life IF only they will obey. Fear is almost necessary in order for the result to be exhilarating!

Listen for God’s voice. Obey what you hear. Live an exciting life.-Pastor Joel Everhart

They could have been titled, “10 Great Suggestions for a Successful Society” or “10 Steps to a More Peaceful Existence”. No, they’re called “The 10 Commandments”. In other words, as far as God is concerned (and remember He is the Judge), these are nonnegotiable. This is the code, the standard, the essence upon which all other laws hang. Ignore them at your own peril.

Jesus comes along to tell us that hatred is a bad as murder & lust as sinful as adultery. Under that revelation the case can easily be made that all of us have violated all of these commands. So why don’t we just give up, why don’t we just stop trying if we are constantly failing? God has promised us that we won’t be condemned for our mistakes & the Holy Spirit will help us steadily improve our character, thought life, control of our emotions & our actions. In a way, our failures help us track our progress. Are you getting closer to the example Jesus left us to follow?

-Pastor Joel Everhart

Exodus 3 is the classic argument between Moses & God. God calls Moses but Moses prefers to remain an obscure shepherd on the backside of the wilderness. God promises to be with Moses but Moses would rather that the Lord go be with someone else! Only after Moses walked with God for quite some time did he change his mind and desire God’s presence more than anything else in life.

If you don’t care to have the Lord all up in your business, you just don’t know Him like you think you do. The problem is God doesn’t show up to enhance our lives, He shows up to take them over. Yet, it’s only when He takes control that we are truly free and enjoy the ride. God is with you and the sooner you embrace that fact, the sooner you’ll find what you were created to be.

-Pastor Joel Everhart

When I asked my wife to marry me, I had mononucleosis. I was so tired I could curl up and sleep anywhere at any time. My presentation of the ring was so matter of fact, so devoid of emotion it was a crying shame. We couldn’t even seal it with a kiss lest I pass my virus onto her. However, I was on Christmas break from college and would soon be returning to school some 900 miles away. It was either get engaged or wait until I felt like getting engaged.

Some things are better done with an appropriate amount of emotion. They have a greater impact. They leave a stronger impression.

Offering thanks is one of those things that requires more than words. One should look thankful, sound thankful, and actually be thankful in order for their offering to touch the heart of God. Otherwise, don’t bother.

Let me urge you to take the time, consider your options, choose your words then send appropriate praises to the Lord. Use good words then add feelings of love and appreciation to them before you offer them up to God.

-Pastor Joel Everhart

Often when we are recounting the story of Joseph forgiving his brothers, we neglect to mention that he had all of them thrown into prison at one point and put them through a series of stressful trials. True, he could have had them all killed or imprisoned for life, but still he didn’t let them off scot-free. BTW, if you are wondering where the term, “scot free” came from, it’s believed to have come from Middle Ages England meaning that a person was exempt from paying a particular tax. Scot was a word used for tax.

The person we set free when we forgive someone is ourselves. Just because we forgive someone does not mean they will not face consequences for their sin against us. Nor does it mean that we are required to fully trust them again. When their abuse of our person is so significant, we find it hard to even be cordial toward them, God will help us. God will help us to forgive so that we can walk away unencumbered by the weight of their guilt.

-Pastor Joel Everhart

As my brother worked toward his degree first at a branch campus of Penn State then later at Pitt, he spent his summers on a construction crew on the PA turnpike. He got that job thanks to a friend in our church that held a high position in the turnpike administration. Being on the summer labor force, he was often assigned to do the dirty jobs the regular workers didn’t want to do. It was hot, hard work but it paid really well. John got married before his senior year in college so he went to work as a lab tech while finishing up his chemistry degree at night.

I was there when John busted on my dad one evening as the pressures and stresses of working full time, going to night school and being newly married squeezed in on him. He yelled, “If it wasn’t for you, I’d still be working on the turnpike bringing home good money instead of slaving away day & night…” I remember the hurt look on my dad’s face. All he ever wanted was for his kids to be successful; had he pushed too hard?

John finished his degree and went on to have a stellar career. His positions enabled him to travel the world, attend super bowls in VIP lounges, and make lots of money. To his credit, I think he spent a great deal of the rest of his life trying to pay Dad back for the inspiration to stay the course rather than settle for a decent paycheck when so much more was at stake.

When we talk about the will of God for our life, it may well require more of us than we can imagine. There will be “easier” paths available to us, but there will never be a better path for us to follow. Pay the price, find God’s will and spend your life pursuing it.

-Pastor Joel Everhart

If I were to ask people if they trust God, I suspect I’d get a very high percentage of people who would say that they do. Yet, if I were to try and discern if they trust God by the way they live, I think I’d find that a relatively few actually do anything that would indicate they trust the Lord at all. Now, my definition of trusting Him and their’s may be quite different. In my opinion, in order to trust God, you would first of all need to know Him. I also think it would require reading things He’s written or inspired to be written. It would further require an effort on the part of the person to follow God’s commands, trusting that what He has said is a solid guide for their life.

If, however, a person was deliberately disobeying God I’d have to say they didn’t trust Him. If a person passively disobeyed God, I’d come to the same conclusion. What is passively disobeying God? Ignoring Him, His Word & all other forms of communication that come from Him. Playing dumb.

Trusting God requires action on our part. Read His Word, pray, fellowship with others who are seeking His will. Listen to what others who are trying to obey Him have to say. Challenge yourself to know the Lord better and be more like Him every day. Saying we trust God is good but living like we trust Him is far better.

-Pastor Joel Everhart

If I were to ask people if they trust God, I suspect I’d get a very high percentage of people who would say that they do. Yet, if I were to try and discern if they trust God by the way they live, I think I’d find that a relatively few actually do anything that would indicate they trust the Lord at all. Now, my definition of trusting Him and their’s may be quite different. In my opinion, in order to trust God, you would first of all need to know Him. I also think it would require reading things He’s written or inspired to be written. It would further require an effort on the part of the person to follow God’s commands, trusting that what He has said is a solid guide for their life.

If, however, a person was deliberately disobeying God I’d have to say they didn’t trust Him. If a person passively disobeyed God, I’d come to the same conclusion. What is passively disobeying God? Ignoring Him, His Word & all other forms of communication that come from Him. Playing dumb.

Trusting God requires action on our part. Read His Word, pray, fellowship with others who are seeking His will. Listen to what others who are trying to obey Him have to say. Challenge yourself to know the Lord better and be more like Him every day. Saying we trust God is good but living like we trust Him is far better.

-Pastor Joel Everhart