OVC South

04/09/2024

02/09/2024

Hello, my friend, and welcome to this sacred moment. There are times when we just need God to show up strong for us!

A few weeks ago, I was swamped by a wave of funerals. As a pastor, one of my roles is to walk with people in grief. On top of loss, and after loss, many of my closest friends were in crisis as their lives spiraled out of control. On top of that chaos, there were many challenges at work that seemed to magnify my exhaustion. On top of that, some health concerns in our immediate family were pulling our hearts in many directions. Oh, and it happened to be Christmas!

As I prepared to walk onto the stage to officiate another memorial service, I remember crying out to God from my overwhelmed state, “God, I need you to show up strong for me right now!” And do you know what? He did!

Abraham, David and John all needed God to show up strong for them. Abram (who later became Abraham) needed God to show up strong as he and Sarai faced childlessness, God’s testing in the surrender of Isaac, and Abram’s pivotal role as the father of God’s chosen people. David needed God to show up strong as he faced the overwhelming obstacles of Goliath, the jealousy of Saul, and his future as a King. John needed God to show up strong in the face of the call of Jesus, the death of Jesus and the resurrection of Jesus.

Listen to the Bible speak of El Shaddai through the words of these men:

“When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, ‘ am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless…” (Genesis 17:1, NIV)

“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.” (Psalm 91:1, NIV)

“All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.” (John 1:3, NIV)

My friend, if you need God to show up strong for you today—He will! El Shaddai, God Almighty, is with you, and He is mighty to save! His strength is available to you right now, so instead of trying to get through this day in your own strength, call on His powerful name and allow His Almighty power to infuse you with strength from Heaven.

Let’s pray about that right now. “El Shaddai, we call on your power and might in this moment. Lord, we need your power to carry us through this day. We cannot do this on our own and we are grateful that we don’t have to! Jesus, be our strength. When we face obstacles and challenges today, help us to rely on You and Your powerful Name. Give us the strength we need to accomplish Your will for our lives! Amen.”

You are a miracle!

Hello, my friend, and welcome to this sacred moment. There are times when we just need God to show up strong for us!

A few weeks ago, I was swamped by a wave of funerals. As a pastor, one of my roles is to walk with people in grief. On top of loss, and after loss, many of my closest friends were in crisis as their lives spiraled out of control. On top of that chaos, there were many challenges at work that seemed to magnify my exhaustion. On top of that, some health concerns in our immediate family were pulling our hearts in many directions. Oh, and it happened to be Christmas!

As I prepared to walk onto the stage to officiate another memorial service, I remember crying out to God from my overwhelmed state, “God, I need you to show up strong for me right now!” And do you know what? He did!

Abraham, David and John all needed God to show up strong for them. Abram (who later became Abraham) needed God to show up strong as he and Sarai faced childlessness, God’s testing in the surrender of Isaac, and Abram’s pivotal role as the father of God’s chosen people. David needed God to show up strong as he faced the overwhelming obstacles of Goliath, the jealousy of Saul, and his future as a King. John needed God to show up strong in the face of the call of Jesus, the death of Jesus and the resurrection of Jesus.

Listen to the Bible speak of El Shaddai through the words of these men:

“When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, ‘ am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless…” (Genesis 17:1, NIV)

“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.” (Psalm 91:1, NIV)

“All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.” (John 1:3, NIV)

My friend, if you need God to show up strong for you today—He will! El Shaddai, God Almighty, is with you, and He is mighty to save! His strength is available to you right now, so instead of trying to get through this day in your own strength, call on His powerful name and allow His Almighty power to infuse you with strength from Heaven.

Let’s pray about that right now. “El Shaddai, we call on your power and might in this moment. Lord, we need your power to carry us through this day. We cannot do this on our own and we are grateful that we don’t have to! Jesus, be our strength. When we face obstacles and challenges today, help us to rely on You and Your powerful Name. Give us the strength we need to accomplish Your will for our lives! Amen.”

Your friend,

Grant Fishbook

02/07/2024

DON'T LET FEAR OVERWHELM YOU WHEN FAITH IS ONLY A HOPE & MIRACLE AWAY!!!

02/07/2024

February 6th, 2024 Jesus Calling:
Come to Me and Rest.
I am all about you, to bless and restore. Breathe Me in with each breath. The way just ahead of you is very steep. Slow down and cling tightly to My hand. I am teaching you a difficult lesson, learned only by hardship.
Lift up empty hands of faith to receive My precious Presence. Light, Life, Joy, and Peace flow freely through this gift. When your focus turns away from Me, you grasp for other things. You drop the glowing gift of My Presence as you reach for lifeless ashes. Return to Me; regain My Presence.
RELATED SCRIPTURE:
Matthew 11:28-30 LITV
:28 Come to Me, all those laboring and being burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, because I am meek and lowly in heart, "and you will find rest to your souls.(REF" Jer. 6:16) 30 For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.
1st Timothy 2:8 RV
8 I desire therefore that the men pray in every place, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and disputing.

Jesus Calling: February 7th, 2024
Come to Me for Rest and refreshment.
The journey has been too much for you, and you are bone-weary. Do not be ashamed of your exhaustion. Instead, see it as an opportunity for Me to take charge of your life.
Remember that I can fit everything into a pattern for good, including the things you wish were different. Start with where you are at this point in time and space, accepting that this is where I intend you to be. You will get through today one step, one moment at a time. Your main responsibility is to remain attentive to Me, letting Me guide you through the many choices along your pathway.
This sounds like an easy assignment, but it is not. Your desire to live in My Presence goes against the grain of "the world, the flesh, and the devil." Much of your weariness results from your constant battle against these opponents. However, you are on the path of My choosing, so do not give up! Hope in Me, for you will again praise Me for the help of My Presence.
RELATED SCRIPTURE:
Romans 8:28 RV
And we know that to them that love God all things work together for good, even to them that are called according to his purpose.
Psalm 42:11 LITV
11 O my soul, why are you cast down? And why do you moan within me? Hope in God, for I yet thank Him for the salvation of my face and my God.

02/01/2024

February 1st,2024
Jesus Calling
Follow Me one step at a time. That is all I require of you. In fact, that is the only way to move through this space/time world. You see huge mountains looming, and you start wondering how you're going to scale those heights. Meanwhile, because you're not looking where you're going, you stumble on the easy path where I am leading you now. As I help you get back on your feet, you tell Me how worried you are about the cliffs up ahead. But you don't know what will happen today, much less tomorrow. Our path may take an abrupt turn, leading you away from those mountains. There may be an easier way up the mountains than is visible from this distance. If I do lead you up the cliffs, I will equip you thoroughly for that strenuous climb. I will even give My angels charge over you, to preserve you in all your ways.
Keep your mind on the present journey, enjoying My Presence. Walk by faith, not by sight, trusting Me to open up the way before you.

Psalm 18:29‭-‬30‬ ‭KJV‬‬
[29] For by thee I have run through a troop; And by my God have I leaped over a wall. [30] As for God, his way is perfect: The word of the LORD is tried: He is a buckler to all those that trust in him.

Psalm 91:11-12 KJV
[11]For he will order his angels
to protect you wherever you go.
[12] They will hold you up with their hands
so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.

2 Corinthians‬ ‭5:7‬ ‭KJV‬‬
[7] (for we walk by faith, not by sight:)

08/15/2018

Heart Of Stone or Heart Of Flesh

"And I will give you an heart of flesh." — Eze_36:26
A heart of flesh is known by its tenderness concerning sin. To have indulged a foul imagination, or to have allowed a wild desire to tarry even for a moment, is quite enough to make a heart of flesh grieve before the Lord. The heart of stone calls a great iniquity nothing, but not so the heart of flesh.
"If to the right or left I stray,
That moment, Lord, reprove;
And let me weep my life away,
For having grieved thy love"
The heart of flesh is tender of God's will. My Lord Will-be-will is a great blusterer, and it is hard to subject him to God's will; but when the heart of flesh is given, the will quivers like an aspen leaf in every breath of heaven, and bows like an osier in every breeze of God's Spirit. The natural will is cold, hard iron, which is not to be hammered into form, but the renewed will, like molten metal, is soon moulded by the hand of grace. In the fleshy heart there is a tenderness of the affections. The hard heart does not love the Redeemer, but the renewed heart burns with affection towards him. The hard heart is selfish and coldly demands, "Why should I weep for sin? Why should I love the Lord?" But the heart of flesh says; "Lord, thou knowest that I love thee; help me to love thee more!" Many are the privileges of this renewed heart; "'Tis here the Spirit dwells, 'tis here that Jesus rests." It is fitted to receive every spiritual blessing, and every blessing comes to it. It is prepared to yield every heavenly fruit to the honour and praise of God, and therefore the Lord delights in it. A tender heart is the best defence against sin, and the best preparation for heaven. A renewed heart stands on its watchtower looking for the coming of the Lord Jesus. Have you this heart of flesh?

08/06/2018

August 6
More on God's Promises and God's Rest
There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. (Heb_4:9-10)
Included in God's promises is rest for His people. This rest not only begins with rest from the guilt and condemnation of sin, but it also can grow into rest from carnal striving and vain self-sufficiency. Our verses speak of this latter rest. "There remains therefore a rest for the people of God." Those who are God's people became such by entering into God's rest from sin and guilt. Yet, having tasted of this, there still " remains...a rest for the people of God."
The entrance into this additional spiritual rest necessitates a cessation from one's own works. "For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works." To rest in the Lord for a growing life of godliness, service, and fruitfulness, one must be willing to renounce himself as the source or cause of the working. Previously, we saw that the Apostle Paul walked with and lived unto God in this manner. "I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me" (1Co_15:10). Paul worked harder than any other leader in the early church. Yet, he acknowledged that the enabling reality was the grace of God, not himself. This fits perfectly with another confession from Paul that we have also considered in previous devotions. "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God" (2Co_3:5). Ultimately, such a life is explained as Christ Himself expressing His life in and through our lives. "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me" (Gal_2:20).
This cessation from our works is to be as complete as God's ceasing from His work at creation. "And God rested on the seventh day from all His works...For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His (Heb_4:4, Heb_4:10). God rested on the seventh day, because his "creation-work" was finished. We are to rest from our works, because we cannot add to the finished work of Christ for us. He completed our redemption upon the cross. "He said, 'It is finished!' And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit" (Joh_19:30). He has also fully prepared the works that He wants us to now enter into by faith. "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them" (Eph_2:10)
Lord, I see that I must rest in You for daily growth and service as fully as I rested in You for initial salvation. Help me to cease from my own vain striving, that I might trust in You to work in and through me, Amen.

08/05/2018

OVC South members sporting our new shirts .... let us know if you want one ... Sunday services 3pm ... contact us at 803-825-0106

07/06/2018

Preparing God's Holy People

All the billions of Christ followers over the last two-thousand years have this in common: “A spiritual gift is given to each of us” (1 Corinthians 12:7). God’s body has no nobodies. No exceptions…no exclusions. Our gifts make an eternal difference only in concert with the church. Apart from the body of Christ, we are like clipped fingernails or shaved whiskers and cut hair. Who needs them? He grants gifts so we can “prepare God’s holy people” (Ephesians 4:11-12).

Paul reached into a medical dictionary for this term. Doctors used it to describe the setting of a broken bone. Broken people come to churches. Not with broken bones, but broken hearts, broken homes, broken dreams, and broken lives. And if the church operates as the church, they find healing. All members help to heal brokenness, “to make the body of Christ stronger!”

06/23/2018

Ordinary Olive Trees

“A trusting response includes Me in your thoughts as you consider strategies to deal with a situation. Gently bring your attention back to Me, whenever it wanders away. I look for persistence- rather than perfection- in your walk with Me.” (182)
As I reflect, there are some ‘ordinary heroes of faith’ that have inspired me. It’s not been the ones who’ve lived perfectly but those who have lived persistently. They maintain a determined mindset and lifestyle of faithfulness. Their love for God, His Word, and the family of God are inspirational examples of positive persistence, strategically making God the priority of their lives. While others may be like spiritual super-novas that burst on the scene initially then quickly fade away in the daily disciplines of spiritual maturity. I want to be more like the ones who are “like a flourishing olive tree in the house of God… in the presence of (His) faithful people…” Ps. 51:8-9
Each ‘ordinary hero’ is needed in our midst. God uses the presence of ordinary individuals to inspire many others, often without them even knowing it! So, “Thank You” to all the ‘ordinary olive trees’ whose positive persistence deeply inspire me!
These “olive trees” tend to not “neglect meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encourage each other… (so as not to) grow weary and lose heart… maintaining a clear conscience… conducting themselves honorably.” (Heb. 10:25, 12:3, 13:18)
While being perfect seems impossible, being persistent can be inspirational. I want to be positively persistent not perfectly pathetic! It all springs out of a properly balanced, God-glorifying, healthy thought life!
Striving to be positively persistent….