May's Thought: A Good Desire

What do you desire? A house, a car, a husband, a wife, riches, fame or all of the above and then some? David said in Psalm 27:4 One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I might dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple. In this passage of scripture, David had his mind made up and settles as to what he wanted and desired. He desired one thing of the Lord. He just did get what he wanted because he desired it (you know that "name it, claim it" religion), as some preachers teach. He had to seek after it. How did he seek after it? He had to obey, trust, fast, pray, adn be about his Father's business. He had to go through his test and trials victoriously. David had to have a burning desire to accomplish what he wanted, which is essential to success or winning. His burning desire caused him to seek after his request. He knew what his main goal was. He wanted to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of his life. He knew that if he could dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of his life, God would grant his request and add other things. He wanted to behold the beauty of the Lord and enquire in his temple.

Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

What is your desire? May I give you a little advice? Do as David did above, and reap the benefits.

Psalm 91:14-16 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I [will be] with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.

May God bless you!
Pastor Hodges

April's Thought: Have You Dissembled in Your Heart?

To paraphrase Jeremiah chapter 42 - the children of Judah asked Jeremiah to inquire of the Lord, and all that the Lord told them to do, they would do - whether it be good or evil. They promised they would obey the word of the Lord. They wanted God to show them the way wherein they must walk, and the thing that they should do. God promised them that if they would obey, He would build them up, and not pull them down, and He would plant them and not pluck them up: God repented of the evil that He did to them. God told them that He would be with them to save them and to deliver them. God told them that He would show mercies unto them. However, if the children of Judah did not obey the voice of the Lord, God told them the consequences: they were going to die. They were going to die by the sword, famine and by the pestilence, and none of them would remain or escape from the evil that God was going to bring upon the land.

But in verse 20, God explained that he knew the people had dissembled in their hearts. (Dissembled: false appearance in order to conceal facts, feelings or intentions; to put on the appearance of something not actually felt or true; to hide real beliefs, feelings or intentions through misleading speech or behavior.)

God told them what He would do for them if they would obey, and He told them what He was going to do if they did not obey. They still dissembled in their hearts. They didn't plan on obeying God. Notice how they did not say they weren't going to obey, but their actions spoke louder than their words. In Jeremiah 43:2, the children of Judah told Jeremiah he spoke falsely. Now here comes the action. They were determined to do things their way in spite of what Jeremiah (the voice of the Lord) told them to do. In Jeremiah 44:16-17, they told Jeremiah as for the word that he spoke to them in the name of the Lord, that they were not going to hearken to it. They were going to certainly do whatsoever thing that goeth forth out of their own mouth and so forth and so on.

Saints, how are we doing? Are we dissembling things in our hearts? Are we saying, "I'm going to obey this, but I'm not going to obey that - it doesn’t matter if God told me to do or not to do - I'm going to do whatever I want to do!" Watch our now! We had better be careful. What about our love for one another, being in unity with one another, our church attendance, the dress standard, gossiping, etc.? We need to repent of such things and get down to business with God before He allows evil to come upon us and afterwards destruction.

Whatever God has checked or corrected us on, we need to obey God and the ministry (the voice of the Lord). If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land.

Be blessed!
Pastor Eddie Hodges, Jr.

March's Thought: To What Are You Devoted?

It is a sad truth in our lives that we sometimes become more devoted to other things than God and His glory. Devotion is all around us in the world. Some of it is good and some of it is not. Good examples of devotion can be found in the love of a mother for her children and a father for his family. Bad examples can be found in extreme devotion to cars, houses, appearance, money, movie stars, sports teams and possessions. It is in our nature to become obsessed with things. Now, there is nothing wrong with being devoted to something -- unless that devotion becomes an obsession.

If it does, it pushes out proper behavior and proper admiration of God. This then becomes sinful. There should be nothing that holds more devotion in our lives than the Lord. Everything else must follow far behind. When you look at your own heart and look at what is most important to you, what you devote the most time to -- what will you find? To what are you most devoted? Though there are things that require greater amounts of time than worship and adoration of God (i.e. work, sleep), what is the most critical? What is the most important? We must evaluate what is most important to us and once again look to the cross of Christ where his love and patience abound.

The Scripture says, "If we believe not, yet He abideth faithful: He cannot deny Himself." 2 Timothy 2:13. Another scripture states: "For what if some did not believe? Shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?" Romans 3:3. Lastly, another scripture states: "God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord." 1 Corinthians 1:9.

The priority of our devotion should always be God first. Notice the last verse above where it states that God desires we have fellowship with Jesus Christ. This fellowship is the Greek word "koinonia." It means "intimacy and communion." God wants this intimacy and this communion with us. He wants our devotion to Him because it is only in this intimacy with the Lord Jesus that we can truly know what proper devotion really is and thereby experience the wonderful joy of the Lord's grace in a great way.

We need to look to the cross where we see the wonderful demonstration of God's loving devotion to us. It is there that we see a perfect devotion, a perfect devotion combined with perfect love -- that brings glory to God.

Are you seeking God? Are you devotion yourself to Him? It is high time to seek the Lord and be devoted and dedicated to Him.

Pastor Eddie Hodges, Jr.

February's Thought

I would like to thank God for blessing and honoring us with His presence in the play The Great White Throne. The director, assistant directors, cast and stage crew did an excellent job! We truly appreciate all of you for your hard work, dedication and sacrifice. It paid off tremendously! We have been getting calls from so many people telling us how they enjoyed it and how God manifested himself in every aspect of the play. We thank God for saving about 5 souls. The play had a great impact on their lives. We're praying that God would continue to do his office work and counsel the heart of each soul that attended.

Saints, it behooves us to give the most earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest at any time we let them slip. Let us be watchful, prayerful and mindful of our daily walk with God because we, too, must stand before the judgment seat of Christ to give an account of every deed done in our bodies, whether good or evil.

Ephesians 5:15-16: See then that ye walk circumspectly (prudent - taking into consideration all possible circumstances and consequences before acting), not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

Pastor Eddie Hodges, Jr.

January's Thought

Happy New Year!

We truly appreciate God for all He has done for us in 2009. He kept us saved, sanctified and encouraged to live for Him in spite of all the things we’ve been through. He has delivered our soul from death, our eyes from tears, and our feet from falling. He did not leave us nor forsake us.

Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful. So, what can we render unto the Lord for all of His benefits toward us. Let’s take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord.

God was faithful to us to bring us through another year with victory. Let’s not be weary in well doing for we shall reap if we faint not. As we enter 2010, let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) Heb. 10:23.

Each one of us should have a determination down in our souls to be more for God than ever before.

Isaiah 26:9, “With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

We should dedicate and consecrate ourselves to God in such a way that the world has no effect on us. When the world has no effect on us, God can use us any way He desires. Jesus said, in John 14:30, “..........the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me. Let’s make sure that the enemy of our souls has nothing in us, so that God can use us mightily. We must continue to fight the good fight of faith and lay hold on eternal life.

Isaiah 64:4, “For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what He hath prepared for him that waiteth for Him.”

God has great things in store for us if we don’t tire or give the o’er. Let’s stay free from sin and self to accomplish our Master’s will.


Praying you’ll have a Happy, Victorious New Year!


Pastor Eddie Hodges, Jr.