Green River Bible Church

03/18/2026

Joshua 1:9
New International Version
9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

This verse is not just an encouragement but a command from God for He also gives the assurance that He will be with us wherever we go. So when we are facing a challenging situation - a problem that seems unsolvable, a sickness that seems uncurable, a fear we don't seem brave to face, a loss we couldn't seem to accept, an emptiness we couldn't seem to fill in - whatever it is, God is faithful to see us, be with us whatever it is we are going through. Faith is not belief without proof but trust without reservation. So be strong and courageous.

06/15/2025

Beyond First Impressions
by Alan Smith

“Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.” (John 7:24)

A college art student once asked his friend Peter to model for a portrait assignment. After hours of careful work, he submitted the painting, only to receive a grade of C-minus.

Devastated, he confronted his professor. "What's wrong with it?" The professor critiqued the proportions. “The head is too big. The shoulders are too wide. And those feet — way too enormous.”
The next day, the student returned — not with a new painting, but with Peter himself.

The professor took one look at Peter and said, “Okay, I’ll change your grade to an A-minus.”

How often do we do the same thing? We see something — or someone — and immediately form conclusions based on incomplete information.

Jesus warned about this in John 7:24: “Do not judge by appearances.” At the time, people were judging him based on shallow impressions — they couldn't see past his humble background to recognize the truth of who he was.

We live in a world that encourages snap judgments based on looks, resumés, social media profiles, or one awkward interaction. But Jesus calls us to a different standard. “Right judgment” means slowing down, listening more, and remembering that every person has a story we can’t see on the surface.

This kind of seeing requires something our fast-paced world rarely offers: time. Time to listen, to learn. Time to look beyond the obvious and learn about the human being standing before us.
Consider the people in your life who initially rubbed you the wrong way but later became dear friends. Remember those times when you felt completely misunderstood — and how healing it was when someone finally saw you clearly.

“Right judgment” is about grace. It refuses to reduce people to their worst moments. It recognizes the possibility that there may be more to their story.

Maybe there’s someone in your life who needs a second look. Or maybe you have been judged unfairly. Either way, this story reminds us: appearances rarely tell the whole story. God sees clearly — and he invites us to see others through eyes of grace.

Prayer:

Father, forgive me for those times when I've judged others by mere appearances. Help me to slow down enough to truly see the people I meet and give me a heart of grace. Transform my quick judgments into patient understanding. In Jesus’ name, amen.

06/12/2025

When Blessings Sound Like Bagpipes
by Alan Smith

“If anyone loudly blesses their neighbor early in the morning, it will be taken as a curse.” (Proverbs 27:14, NIV)

There’s a humorous tale about a young Scotsman named Donald MacDonald who left the Isle of Skye to attend Oxford University. His family was proud but nervous — how would this Highland lad manage among the English? After a month, his mother came to visit. “What do you think of the English students, Donald?”

“Mother,” he said, “they’re dreadfully noisy. One bangs his head on the wall. The other screams all night.”

Shocked, she asked, “How do you cope with such awful neighbors?”

Donald grinned. “I just ignore them and sit here quietly, playing my bagpipes.”

This story serves as a reminder that the people we find irritating may find us irritating, too -- and perhaps for better reason! We may think we’re blessing people with our enthusiasm, our strongly-held opinions, our eagerness to help, or our early-morning inspiration. But our timing or our tone can easily turn a well-meant gesture into an unwelcome intrusion.

That’s exactly what Proverbs 27:14 warns against. This verse isn’t just about the volume of our voice or the time of the day — it’s about consideration. Thoughtfulness. Recognizing that not everyone lives on our schedule or shares our preferences.

It's often not what we do, but how and when we do it that makes all the difference between blessing people and bothering them.

Donald may have thought he was minding his own business, but his “quiet” bagpipes were part of the problem. This happens to us more than we like to admit. We need to take an honest look at how our words or actions are affecting those around us — not just from our well-intentioned perspective, but from theirs.

That’s not to say that we should tiptoe through life, afraid to say or do anything, but we ought to live with genuine awareness and care for others.

Whether it’s our words, our habits, our social media posts, or our “bagpipes,” may we always seek to bring joy and blessing to others’ lives, not just noise.

Prayer:

Father, help me to be more aware of how my actions and words affect others. Give me the wisdom to speak at the right time, in the right tone. Show me how to be a genuine blessing to those around me. In Jesus’ name, amen.

06/06/2025

Taste and See
by Alan Smith

“Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.” (Psalm 34:8, NIV)
It started like many evenings at home — John’s wife experimenting in the kitchen while he relaxed nearby. Then came her call from the other room:

“Bonito, surimi, and anchovies in a decadent, silky broth.”

“Sounds delicious!” he hollered back. “Is that what we’re having tonight?”

“No,” she replied. “I’m reading from this packet of cat food.”
It’s funny how a few well-chosen words can stir your appetite. Just the right description — rich, savory, smooth — and we’re instantly intrigued, ready to grab a fork. But sometimes what sounds delightful turns out to be... well, not meant for us.

That’s a perfect picture of how the world often works spiritually. We’re constantly surrounded by things that look and sound good — success, popularity, comfort, pleasure, wealth. On the surface, they sound satisfying. They’re served up with catchy phrases and tempting promises: “This will finally make you happy.” “This is what life is all about.” “This is the good stuff.” But often, when we finally taste what the world is offering, we’re left emptier than before.
That’s why David’s invitation in Psalm 34 is so refreshing: “Taste and see that the Lord is good.”

This isn’t a cleverly packaged sales pitch. There’s no hype, no gimmick. It’s a sincere call to experience something — someone — who is genuinely, deeply good. Not good in a temporary, feel-good-for-a-minute way, but in a soul-deep, life-renewing kind of way.

And notice how personal the invitation is: “Taste and see.” Not just hear about it, read about it, or watch someone else enjoy it — but experience it yourself. Come and see. Try it for yourself. Take a seat at God’s table, bring your hunger, and let him fill you with grace, peace, and love.

The best part? There’s no fine print. No bait and switch. No “just kidding — it’s just cat food!” God’s goodness is the real deal — nourishing, sustaining, and exactly what your heart needs right when you need it. His table is always open. You’re always welcome. And there’s always more than enough.

Prayer:

Father, thank you that you are always good and always satisfying. Help me to turn away from the distractions that only sound appealing but fail to nourish. Teach me to hunger for your Word, your presence, and your truth. In Jesus’ name, amen.

05/29/2025

SOURCE: Thought for the Day by Alan Smith

Don’t Dig Up the Bodies

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

It was a little boy’s first time attending a funeral — he was just four years old — and his parents wanted to make sure he understood how to behave, especially once they arrived at the cemetery. Wanting to prepare him, his father knelt down and asked, “What’s the most important rule to remember while we’re here?”

After a few seconds of serious consideration, he replied, “Don’t dig up the bodies?”

Spiritually speaking, many of us struggle with the same thing. We've buried things — guilt, shame, old sins, toxic habits, past wounds — and through Christ, we’ve been given new life. The “old self” was crucified with Him (Romans 6:6), and we’ve been raised to walk in newness of life. But for some reason, we keep going back to the graveyard with a shovel.

We want to dig up what God has buried. We replay past mistakes, rehearse old conversations, and relive failures that Jesus has already forgiven.

Why do we do this? Sometimes it's because grace feels too good to be true. Other times, it’s because the old stories are familiar, even if they’re painful. We find comfort in what we’ve always known. But God doesn’t want us living in a cemetery of regret.

Here’s the truth -- in Christ, you are no longer defined by your past. You are not the sum of your worst moments. You are not the labels others gave you — or the ones you gave yourself. You are a new creation. That graveyard is not your home, and that shovel isn’t your tool anymore.

So, when the past comes knocking, when shame comes calling, when you’re tempted to pick up that old shovel again — remember the wisdom of that 4-year-old: Don’t dig up what God has buried!
Walk away from the grave. The tomb is empty, and so is your old identity. Christ has made all things new — including you.

Prayer:
Father, thank you for making me new. Forgive me when I return to the graveyard of my past and try to carry what you’ve already buried. Give me the courage to lay down the shovel, step away from the past, and live fully in the new life you have given me. In Jesus’ name, amen.

09/04/2024

As I contemplate on God's words, I realized that the very first sin was committed in heaven.
First sin - PRIDE. Lucifer, who was once an angel, became proud to the point of wanting to be like the Most High.
Bible verse: For you have said in your heart: 'I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High”' (Isaiah 14:12-14).
So he was cast out from heaven and wreaked havoc on earth and he is still doing that up to now.

The first sin we read in the first chapter of the Bible is LYING. It was still committed by the angel Lucifer, which name was changed to Satan when he was cast out from heaven.

Satan manipulated Eve by lying about the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil.
Bible verse: Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” 4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:1-4)

When God created Adam out of the dust of the earth, he was sinless. But God gave him free will because God doesn't like men to be loving Him forcefully. Then out of Adam's rib, He created Eve. When they both sinned, God cursed the ground. Why?

Because Adam was created from the dirt, remember?
Bible verse: To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’
“Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat food from it
all the days of your life.
18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return.” (Genesis 3:17-19)
So are we having some understanding now why we have to work hard as farmers? ☺️

With Eve, He has a different judgment.
Bible verse: To the woman he said,
“I will make your pains in childbearing very severe;
with painful labor you will give birth to children.
Your desire will be for your husband,
and he will rule over you.” (Genesis 3:16)
So women, do we understand now why we labor during child birth? Thanks to modern science, those who can afford painless birth can pay for it. But to those who cannot (like me), we have to experience that searing pain. So men, be patient with us. You just don't know what hormonal changes can do to our body, both physical and emotional. Thus, it affects our mental condition as well.

First game recorded in the history of mankind - BLAME GAME.
Bible verse: 8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
11 And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”
12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” (Genesis 3:8-13)

Woh! The audacity of Adam to blame God by saying "The woman you put here with me..." So brave huh?! What does it tell us? That we have free will. We have free speech even then. So freedom of speech is not new after all.
Adam could have just said, "I am sorry, Father God, I have eaten the fruit that You forbade me to eat." But no, he has to point to somebody as the cause of his sin. He has to blame somebody. He doesn't want to admit that it was his CHOICE that made him sinned.

Then Eve did the same by saying the serpent deceived me. Which is more acceptable reasoning, if you were to ask me, yet it was still wrong. Why? Because Eve also made a CHOICE.

So folks, it is all about choices in this life. We can choose to trust God or blame Him for all the mishaps, bad stuff, misfortunes and whatever negative things happening in this world - particularly the ones that we cannot explain or find answers for.

We ask why because we want to find answers and reasons.
We ask why because doubt is a natural thing.

But if we are asking why just because we are in doubt and want to blame someone, that is different.

I ask why all the time not because I am in doubt. After all, God has already told me that His ways are not my ways nor His thoughts my thoughts. And that's where my faith comes in as well.
Bible verse: Isaiah 55:8 says, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord".

God didn't choose for earth to be contaminated. Adam was created sinless. And so was Eve. But through Adam, sin entered the earth. Or we can blame Satan who manipulated Eve.

Why do you think Lucifer sinned in heaven? He is an angel after all. What does that tell us?

BAM! God also created the angels with FREE WILL.

Why? Because, again, He doesn't like forced love.

So after rebelling against God to be just an angel, it started the rebellion in heaven so 1/3 of the angels did just that.
Bible verse: 4 Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born. (Revelation 12:4)
The third of the stars being mentioned here are the 1/3 of angels who chose to rebel against with God.

Bible verse: 12 How you have fallen from heaven,
morning star, son of the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! (Isaiah 14:12)
Lucifer was described as a morning star In Isaiah 14:12 that's why in Revelation 12:4, the 1/3 of the angels were described as a third (1/3) of the stars being cast out of heaven and flung onto the earth.

I used to say that Lucifer manipulated the other angels. But I couldn't find any Bible verse to support that. So I need to read more. I found this though...
Bible verse: 6 And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. (Jude 1:6)

These angels rebelled against God, whether through Lucifer's manipulation or not, I don't know yet. So this is another question I will ask God when I see Him in the after life. ☺

So now we know why we all sin(ned). We have the DNA of our first parents on earth.

I am not asking any of you to believe what I wrote here. But at least think for yourself. Do they make sense?

You have a choice. I cannot make you believe in God. But if you do believe in God, just take Him at His words. He never created human beings to be His puppets. He gave us all free will. So it's your choice whether to believe in Jesus or not as your Lord and Savior. As sin entered earth through Adam, God provided a way out through Jesus.

I will leave you all with that thought. God bless!

Glory, thanks and praise be to God for the inspiration! 🙏🙌

09/03/2024

Let’s pray for our country and for faith to flourish. We need to keep sanity intact. We cannot save the world but one soul at a time is a start.
God bless us all! 🙏🏻
Glory, thanks and praise be to God! 🙌🏻

07/31/2024

Source: YouVersion

Immeasurably More

What’s the boldest prayer you can think to pray? Or the most incredible thing you can dare to imagine?

Did you know that God can top it?

Paul said it like this:

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us…”
‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭3‬:‭20‬ ‭NIV‬‬

You know those quiet dreams in your heart? God put them there. You know that ache for something better than this broken world? God gave you that desire. You know the deepest longings of your soul? God knows how to fulfill them.

Like Paul said, God can do more than we ask or imagine, but we also must remember the second part of his words: according to his power at work within us.

It’s all God’s power and His plan. But He has invited us into it.

So what’s our part in this process?

We can give glory to Him—knowing that it’s Him who gives us the desire and power to do what pleases Him (Philippians 2:13). He created us, loves us, and has entrusted us with sharing His message with the world.

We can submit ourselves to His plan—knowing that it’s all God, but He chooses to work in and through His people to accomplish His purposes. He doesn’t need us to be perfect, He just wants us to be willing.

We can trust Him with the process—knowing that He is good, righteous, worthy, strong, and eternal. We don’t have to know all the answers because we already have Him, and He can do more than we can ask or imagine.

07/25/2024

06/20/2024

Source: YouVersion

True Religion

What do you think about when you hear the word religion?

Maybe you picture a church building. Maybe you envision a cross. Maybe you imagine statues or cathedrals or altars or pews. Maybe the thought of religion brings you comfort, or it makes you want to run in the opposite direction.

Here's what the Bible says religion truly is:

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”
‭‭James‬ ‭1‬:‭27‬ ‭NIV

True religion in God’s eyes is looking after the hurting and most vulnerable, as well as honoring Him with your life.

You can do this in countless ways. Here are just a few:

Physically: You could deliver groceries to a widow, teach a kid to read or play catch, help a friend in need, or foster or adopt a child (or support those who foster or adopt children).

Financially: You can give generously to ease the financial burden to those who don’t have much support. You could find a local church or charity to donate to, or offer to help with utility bills, kids’ extracurricular activities, or even pay off debt.

Emotionally: You can be the hands and feet of God—by showing up, listening, encouraging, and simply being present.

Spiritually: You can offer spiritual support or prayer to those who could use guidance, direction, or even reminders of what they already know to be true.

James writes that true religion in God’s eyes also involves keeping yourself “from being polluted by the world.” How can you do that? You can trust God’s heart. You can surrender to His ways. You can keep your eyes on Him.

Being “religious” isn’t about a showy facade or a spiritual checklist, but loving God and serving others—which, ultimately, makes us more like Him.