The Well at Lewisburg

06/11/2026

Thought of the Day

God began a good work in you, and I am sure he will continue it until it is finished when Jesus Christ comes again. - Philippians 1:6 (NCV)

Do you ever feel like a failure? Have you ever wondered why it is that you try to plant seeds for Jesus but never see any fruit? Do you think you ever make a difference for God?

God created you. He began a good work in you. You might say that this means that we're a work in progress. Sometimes we will see how this work plays out. Other times we won't. But know that if you allow God to do so, He will build and strengthen you, as well as calling you and seeing that you produce for Him.

In the love of Christ,
greg

06/10/2026

Thought of the Day

Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me -- put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. - Philippians 4:9 (NIV)

Paul has taught the Philippians what he knows about Christ. He's been an example for them to follow. We are also called upon to be an example for others. I don't know about you, but there have been times when my example has not been the best. These are the times that I've not followed Christ's example.

If we all strove daily to be an example to others, we might find that some of the things we do that are not so Christlike will begin to disappear. Ask yourself if your lifestyle is the example that you would want others to follow. Is it the lifestyle that Christ would have you lead? What are the aspects of it that need to disappear so that others can follow your example of what a Christian should be?

In the love of Christ,
greg

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06/10/2026

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06/09/2026

Thought of the Day

“Is anyone thirsty?
Come and drink—
even if you have no money!
Come, take your choice of wine or milk—
it’s all free!
Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength?
Why pay for food that does you no good?
Listen to me, and you will eat what is good.
You will enjoy the finest food.
Isaiah 55:1-2 (NLT)

God is speaking through Isaiah here and inviting those then, and us now, to come to Him. Today we have the benefit of Jesus, whom we can go to directly, but God has always drawn sinners to Himself.

The world doesn’t like that word…sinners. We don’t like being told we’re wrong or bad in any way. But that’s just what we all are. We’re sinners…sinners saved by grace. And it’s that grace that calls out to us in the deepest parts of our hearts to come to Jesus.

God uses His living Word to call us to Him over and over again. Just like the prodigal son, we abandon God from time to time, or maybe even on a daily basis. But God still speaks to us, saying, “Come to Him.”

The invitation is right there in the 1st verse. "Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink...." Being thirsty in Old Testament times in the Middle East was something everyone understood. There were times when it didn't rain for long periods of time. So anyone with an abundance of water would be considered blessed indeed.

God says to come and take our pick of wine or milk. Wine and milk were staples of their diets, and to have this in abundance was another true blessing. To make things even better, it is all free. They/We don’t have to jump through hoops, sign all kinds of forms, make enough money, or be good enough to warrant this gift God has for each of us.

God is saying that what is most important to nourish people is readily available and never ends. Those who are thirsty and hungry can come to Him.

In the love of Christ,
greg

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06/08/2026

Thought of the Day

And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. - Romans 7:18-20 (NLT)

Does this sound familiar to anyone? I know I struggle to do the right things and not do things I shouldn’t. We still struggle with sin. Otherwise we could live perfectly sinless lives. Only Jesus was perfectly sinless, though. That’s why He was the only one who could be the sacrifice for all our sins.

Before accepting Christ, our sinful nature (aka human nature) dominated us. Our decisions were worldly, human, and selfish. There was no alternative. We were dead in our sinfulness. Those who’ve not accepted Christ through faith still are. They’re bound by their own desires and decisions that are based on those desires.

Now, though, we have a choice. It’s a choice between following the lead of our sinful nature in any given circumstance and following the will of God. The closer to God we get, the easier this decision is to make because God’s will and our own increasingly become one and the same. But because that sinful nature is not cut out of us, we will still struggle with its temptations.

Even Paul, an apostle and biblical hero, the one who’s responsible for writing the bulk of the New Testament, struggled. In 2 Cor., Paul alludes to the fact that he was tempted to become proud. He was saved. He was preaching the gospel. He was an apostle. But he still struggled with his sinful nature.

So why does God not just take this sinful nature away from us? The answer is because we are still living in this imperfect and sinful world. We’re still under the curse, as Paul puts it. The punishment for sin still remains. This isn’t an individual thing. The whole world, all of creation, is affected by sin. We’re a part of an elaborate web that touches so many lives and is touched by so many. But because of our faith in Jesus, this will one day come to an end. Then sin, its penalty, and all its effects will be gone.

So strive to live by your new nature in Christ instead of your old sinful nature. You will not always be successful, but thankfully, that's where grace comes in. We can bring our failures to God, and He will wipe the slate clean so we can begin again.

In the love of Christ,
greg

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06/03/2026

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06/01/2026

Thought of the Day

Today's Thought of the Day will be the only one this week. I will be attending our Annual Conference this week. Have a blessed week.

Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I have come to divide people against each other! From now own families will be split apart, three in favor of me, and two against – or two in favor and three against. – Luke 12:51-52 (NLT)

Did Jesus just say what I think he said? Isn’t Jesus the Prince of Peace? Didn’t he heal people and teach about love and unity? Isn’t it the devil who wants to divide us?

Yet here Jesus is talking about how he came to divide people. Did Jesus (or God the Father) ever say, “I think I’ll put people on this earth and divide them into groups of good and bad, or saved and unsaved?” No. But division is a consequence of free will. And Jesus came so that we could choose between Him and ourselves. This choice will have the natural effect of division. Jesus uses the example of a family who would split because two would accept him as Lord and three wouldn’t (or vice versa).

An even more concrete way we can understand the division that Jesus causes is to look at Christians in places like China or the Middle East who are persecuted and who lose their lives just for claiming Jesus’ name. Jesus didn’t come because he wanted division. He came with the understanding that choosing Him would bring about division as a natural consequence, given how controversial he is. His ways are different from the world’s ways. People will always be adamantly opposed to him because they prefer their ways to his.

The fact is that if you take Jesus at his word and do the things he teaches us to do all the time, you will be a different person from others. And there will be a division among many. Still, we must choose. We choose Jesus. Or we choose ourselves.

In the love of Christ,
greg

05/27/2026

Thought of the Day


When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” – Matthew 22:34-40 (NRSV)

The bulk of our lives are, I believe, driven by one or two basic emotions. They differ from person to person and might even change over the course of a person’s life. But there is something at any given point in our lives that determines how we think, feel, and act. This, of course, is a theory of mine, but just think about it.

Some people are fear-driven. They make their decisions based on fear or worry about what will or will not happen. Some are driven by greed or lust. They want more and more and do what they think is best to get everything that they want out of life. Some are driven by jealousy, anger, or rage. These people always seem to be mad at the world. At the extreme end of this, rage, some are led to do very callous things. Some are driven by sorrow, grief, or depression. I’ve seen where losing a loved one can take such a toll on a person’s life that they slide into a depression, which becomes their own little prison.

There are more emotions, I’m sure, that guide us at different points in our lives. The one that Jesus came to teach us to use is more than an emotion. It’s love. Love can be an emotion, but it extends far beyond that. It shows itself through caring actions that benefit others, even when they don’t benefit us.

Jesus tells us in this passage that love is the most important thing that can guide our lives. First of all is love of God. Putting Him first in our lives not only pleases Him but also makes our lives and the lives of those around us better. The love of neighbor, or anyone else we meet, comes directly out of this love of God. When we live our lives driven by love, the world becomes a much better place, and we make our Heavenly Father (as well as our Lord and Savior) proud.

May your day be driven by nothing if not by love.

In the love of Christ,
greg

05/27/2026

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05/26/2026

Thought of the Day


One day some parents brought their children to Jesus so he could touch and bless them. But the disciples scolded the parents for bothering him. When Jesus saw what was happening, he was angry with his disciples. He said to them, "Let the children come to me. Don't stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn't receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it."
Mark 10:13-15 (NLT)

Jesus was telling us that we must learn to be more like children in some areas. He doesn't want us to learn to be childish, which is selfish behavior. He wants us to learn to be more childlike. I take this to mean that to enter the Kingdom of God, we must regain some of that lost innocence that we once had as children.

Children can teach us unconditional love and unwavering trust. Have you ever noticed two kids who, one day, leave each other mad, claiming to "hate" each other, only to be playing again the next day? I remember that being me. I remember that having a friend to play ball with the next day was much more important than holding on to whatever had made me mad the day before.

You can also see complete trust in a small child's face who asks his/her daddy to throw them up in the air...higher...higher...higher. They may have much more faith in the ability of the daddy to catch them than even the daddy himself. This is because deep inside of them, they trust that nothing bad can happen to them when they're in their daddy's arms.

When Jesus tells his disciples (and us) that "the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children", he means that it belongs to those who can recapture, or learn the kind of innocent love and faith that sometimes it seems only a child can have.

Somewhere along the line, we were betrayed, the world brought about harsh realities, we were taught immoral or unethical ideals, or maybe we got bitter or untrusting for some other reason. It's time to let go of the problems of this world when it comes to our Father in Heaven and reach out to him like a child reaches out to a parent he/she trusts with his/her life. For God won't let go. He'll never leave. He'll always be right there. It's because He loves you so much. And Amen for that!

In the love of Christ,
greg