Some pain is hard to describe, and at times it is difficult to determine what is causing the pain. In the medical field there is a term used often times explaining the reason some pain is not able to be used in determining diagnosis through location alone. Referred pain is a phenomenon where pain is felt in a different location from where the underlying injury or disease process is occurring. The reason this happens has to do with the way God created our bodies.  When sensory signals from the affected area travel along shared nerve pathways, the brain can misinterpret where the pain is coming from. This is why medical personnel study common referred pain symptoms that frequently correlate with certain illnesses or injuries. For example a heart attack may not reveal itself showing discomfort over the chest area. Instead the pain may be in the left arm, jaw, or shoulder. Gallbladder disease may cause symptoms of pain in the right upper abdomen or back. Followers of Christ will experience a different kind of pain. There is a necessary pain the believer experiences through the sanctification process. Reading Philippians 2:3 may cause heart pain induced by the convicting of the Holy Spirit.

As followers of Christ we don't always know what God is doing in our lives. We pray frequently, "Lord make me more like you." There is pain that can come with those kind of prayers, but it is a different kind of pain. It is a necessary pain believers experience as God prunes the heart. Reading Philippians 2:3 can quickly take a spirit filled believer and transfer them from their present environment of comfort onto an operating table in the operating room of the Great Physician. If one really wants to become more like Christ one must experience pain. The pain of conviction and the pain of  the cutting away of the flesh. This is a different kind of pain. Referred pain originating from the soul and the target organ is the human nature. Diffuse pain is another medical term is used to describe pain that is felt all over the body. Diffuse pain can sometimes accurately describe the experience of discomfort when under the sanctification process. There is a good reason for this phenomenon. Jesus wants all of the believer not just some of the believer. We have heard it said Jesus loves you to much to leave you the way you are. More specifically it should be said, "Jesus loves you to much to not prune every part of you and this is why the conviction of the Holy Spirit can be so painful and diffuse.

Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself (Philippians 2:3).

Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit: This is a challenge to examine the motivations of the heart. When I think of what a conceited person acts like, it makes me cringe. I picture the valley girl in high school defaming a shy quiet student in front of a crowd while moving her head back and forth as if she is keeping the rhythm to a hip hop song. I picture a jock in the football locker room wearing a tank top, threatening to place a smaller intellectual student, who's parents made him join the football team, into a locker and leaving him their during practice. I have seen these things happen and I have many times intervened on behalf of the one that is being treated or regarded as less than. Yet when I am reading Gods word it is not for the cheerleader, or for the jock, it is for me. God is asking me if my ambitions are selfish, and out of conceit. I begin to realize what a complainer I can be and how moodiness is just an excuse I use to disguise my selfishness.I am at times the same as the cheerleader and the jock and this reality does more than make me cringe. I feel a deep pain all throughout my body because I am ashamed. I realize I am selfish and I put myself before others choosing to be selfish instead of loving. I at times place my desires and wants over another despite causing them discomfort and depriving them not of a want, but a need.

How can I act this way as a child of God?
How can I act this way as a pastor? 

These are the questions that surface when I feel the sharpness of Gods word cut through with truth beyond bone and the marrow. The word is a double edge sword. On the one side as the tissue separates I see my sinful nature and that causes pain. On the other side of the blade as the tissue is separating I see the underlining of Gods heart and His love for me. His ambition behind pruning me is out of love and His intention is to help me love and to practice humility. He loved me first while I was a sinner and while I wanted nothing to do with Him. He suffered and died a horrible painful death while experiencing separation from the Father on my behalf. This was referred pain in it's truest sense as the cause of Christ bodily diffuse pain originated not even inside His body. His pain is referred pain directly because of my sin. Considering the love I have for others and the love He has for me, the contrast is overwhelming and difficult to bear. It causes a different kind of pain, a necessary pain. It is a pain motivated by love and revealed through a sweet conviction that enlightens the dark areas of the heart.

Believer, it is time to wake up from the sedation. Not from surgical anesthesia, but from the inoculation of sin that has numbed the sensitivity of the Holy Spirit in this area of life. The pain of sweet conviction draws the believer to the Great Physicians scalpel. He is able, faithful, and willing to operate. Do you need to lay at His table and let Him operate?

In lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself: After the removal of selfishness and conceit the believer must follow the discharge instructions. When I hear the word "esteem", my mind automatically refers to the topic of self esteem. This world has indoctrinated generations into thinking many of our social problems stem from having low self esteem. Gods remedy is just the opposite of what the physicians of the mind today would prescribe. Post confession, repentance, and surgery, discharge instructions have to be followed. Christians must apply Philippians 2:3 into their life or the infection of sin will return. Once Jesus has made the heart right, through the power of the Holy Spirit He will equip the believer to cooperate with Himself. The word of God is the discharge instructions and they have to be not only read, but applied. The follower of Christ will either make decisions out of love for others or out of love for self. Repentance is to change one's direction. Humility is not thinking less of oneself, and it is not thinking too much of oneself. Humility is viewing oneself through the eyes of Christ and placing the eyes off of self and on Christ. The word "let" is used to describe the action involved in this cooperation with God. Once treated by the humbling grace of God, there will be a visual correction that takes place. If you have been convicted, confessed, and repent Let God's love flow through you and you will experience a new esteem that is not of self, but of others. When you regard God and yourself based off truth, then you will regard others as God intends you to regard them. You will consider others not as less or equal, but as better.  

The greatest recovery experience is a life becoming more like Christ post surgery. When you begin to prioritize others well-being, there is a fulfillment that can never be experienced through selfish ambition or conceit. Sweet conviction of the Holy Spirit through the reading of one verse can produce a different kind of pain, a necessary pain. The believer gets to experience some of the pain of the cross. The amount of pain we experience through sanctification is minute in comparison to what Jesus endured on the cross, but that doesn't reduce His desire for us to identify with Him in His sufferings.

Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself (Philippians 2:3).

A word for the day:
Are you considering what the Lords will is in your life?
Consider this, the Holy Spirit is God and He dwells in His church according to the scriptures. Is there anything living on this earth greater than that which God Himself dwells in?
The Holy Spirit draws together His people who have been made separate from the things of this world. When a few of them gather together, and worship their savior, it is there you will find the church. When the sheep get an opportunity they will gather to pray and graze upon Gods word because they want to know the shepherd more. They share the saving gospel with the world around them because the love of God wells up inside them and seeps out of every pore upon their skin. This is the body of Christ and God is fulfilling His will on the earth empowering them through the person of the Holy Spirit. If you want to be in Gods will come and gather with the sheep and be the church. Anyone who attempts to tear down the church is coming against the work God has chosen to accomplish through the Holy Spirit. Know this that, not even the gates of hell will prevail against it.

Amos and Hosea were prophets who preached in the North, this was when Israel was under the reign of king Jeroboam II. Amos and Hosea served the Lord during a time of increasing wealth and increasing wickedness.
Isaiah and Micah preached in the South; this was when Judah was under the reign of king Uzziah.  Isaiah and Micah served the Lord during a time of great prosperity as well.
But sadly enough, the sin and the shame were also greatly increasing. Both countries Israel and Judah had the same sin problems—immorality, injustice to the poor, abuse of alcohol, insincerity in worship and idolatry.
Amos predicted Assyria would destroy Israel and Isaiah would live to see it. We read of Israel being conquered by Assyria in 2 Ki. 15:29. Those living in Judah during the reign of king Ahaz were not destroyed but became servants of Assyria.
In 742 b.c. King Uzziah who was a great king had died. Everything Judah and a young man named Isaiah probably leaving the kings funeral service found himself seeking the Lord for comfort in the Temple of God. Right there in that place of brokenness a prophet was born and Isaiah was given his mission from the Lord. Isaiah came face to face with the Lord and his life was changed forever!
Isaiah in chapter 6 of his book we read he is in the presence of God and Isaiah is reduced to nothing with an understanding of his own sin, so he cries out, “Woe is me; for I am undone; for I am a man of unclean lips”
In that moment Isaiah was washed clean before the Holy God as he confessed his sinful state. The one of the seraphim took a coal flaming with fire from the altar of God and touched Isaia’s lips. This was a symbol that his sin had been forgiven and purged. Not only had Isaiah been called that day, but he had been cleansed and made ready for service.
Now in Isaiah 6:8 when God said, “Whom shall I send and who will go for us?” Isaiah was able to answer without hesitation, “Here am I send me!”
God sent Isaiah as a prophet to a people who witnessed the movement of Isaiahs lips, but they would not understand. They would look but not see (6:10). God had sent Isaiah to a nation that did not care what Gods prophet had to say. Isaiah wanted to know how long God would have wanted him preaching to a people that didn’t want to hear the message.
God answered, “Until cities lie waste without inhabitants, and houses without men and the land is utterly desolate”.
It wasn’t Isaiah’s job to make the people listen, that was up to them, and it wasn’t up to Isaiah how long he would preach, that was the Lord’s decision. Isaiah was to keep preaching until given further orders from the one who enlisted him.
If no one listened, Isaiah was to preach! If no one repented, Isaiah was to preach! Isaiah would never look back or consider quitting.
We are living in a time where prosperity has increased, but along with I has evil. God used the prophets to speak the truth. They spoke Gods words to the people in hopes that they would hear, and listen, and begin to see. The light was shining amidst the darkness as the prophets spoke Gods word. Today if you are in Christ, you are that light and are commanded to preach the gospel to the world living among you. Who is in your sphere of influence? Who needs to hear the word of God spoken through your lips? When is the last time you shared the gospel? Maybe you have been sharing the word of God and are in a place like Jeremiah not wanting to say another word because nobody seems to be listening. Maybe you are like Jonah and have bitterness because of the darkness that has consumed the land. Come into the Lord’s temple. Meet with God. You will find yourself undone in His presence, but He will touch your lips and cleanse you, and prepare you for service. If you haven’t been sharing the gospel, spend time with Jesus and you will soon be saying, “Lord, here I am, send me!”
For sixty years the Prophet Isaiah ministered, beginning at end of king Uzziah’s reign. The Northern Kingdom horribly fell, and king Hezekiah began his reign. Isaiah was faithfully prophesying during the reign of Manasseh, who was Judah’s most wicked king.
In chapter 12 Isaiah says, “Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid. This is the message I believe God has for us today living in the world as it is getting darker and darker as the Day of the Lord approaches. We like Isaiah can trust in God and not be afraid. When reading the book of Isaiah, you will notice the first thirty-nine chapters of Judgement and it appears to be complete darkness, but did you know Isaiah’s name, means the “salvation of Yahweh.” The book of Isaiah is about salvation. God is just and His judgment is coming, which is why He sent Jesus to be our salvation. People during Isaiahs day, who had turned their backs on the Lord, are examples for us. Those who persist in their rebellion will receive judgment. On the other hand, we also see God’s faithfulness to His promise. He preserved a small remnant of faithful believers, of those who would continue serving no matter how dark things got.
Isaiah's prophecy accurately foretold:

• The destruction of Judah
• The captivity of the people in a foreign land
• The eventual restoration of the people from their captivity and return to Jerusalem

Isaiah also predicted the rise of Cyrus, who would unite the Medes and the Persians, and these under Cyrus would conquer the Babylonians in 539 BC (Isaiah 41).
The decree of Cyrus in 528 B.C. would eventually allow the Jews to return home to rebuild their city, wall and temple. In Isaiahs prophecy, he foretold of deliverance that would come. This prophesy is 2-fold as there was another deliverance, only this deliverance would be from sin. There is still time for the believer to share this deliverance, and there is still time for the lost to receive the “salvation of Yahweh.”
Pastor Kolby Kreidel

1Sa 16:11 And Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all the young men here?” Then he said, “There remains yet the youngest, and there he is, keeping the sheep.” 

David was overlooked by his family. Samuel the prophet came to anoint the new king of Israel. This must have been seen as an undercover operation to the family because Israel already had a king at the time (King Saul). Nevertheless, Samuel was going to anoint one of Jesse's sons as the new king before he would leave.
David was not overlooked by God. David was off with his sheep one day and a bear had taken one of his sheep. David ran after it and trusting the Lord was able to punch the bear in the face and take back his sheep. God was with David and God was using the years he spent in the fields with his sheep preparing him for what God had planned before David was even born. Another time a lion took one of the sheep and Daivid trusted the Lord again and killed the lion by grabbing its beard and knocking it out. Despite being considered as capable of nothing by his older brothers David would take the lowliest of duty's tending to the sheep, and he would do it as unto the Lord. Imagine David coming in for dinner after killing the bear or the lion and his brothers asking how his day went babysitting the sheep. They probably told on David to their father Jesse, for telling stories again. "Dad last time it was a bear, and this time David killed a lion protecting the sheep!" They probably really laughed at David when they asked him how he killed them. "I punched them out", David would say.

God got David through the times he fought with his brothers, and God got David through the times he had to fight the bear or the lion. David was learning he could trust the Lord no matter what situation he was in.

1Sa 17:33
And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.” But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep his father’s sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, “I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it. “Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.” Moreover, David said, “The LORD, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the LORD be with you!”

David trusted that God would get him through when he stepped out in front and challenged Goliath. Despite what the situation looked like to Davids eye's; he chose to see with his faith. David didn't focus on the problem in front of him, instead he focused on the God that was with him. This time Davids older brothers watched in awe as David took down the beast.

David at one time was requested to play music for King Saul. Another time David was hiding in a cave from Saul as he wanted to kill David. Another time David was in Ziklag acting crazy while in a prison and his plan worked as he was released. Another time David killed and circumcised 200 Philistines as a bride price as Saul had requested thinking David would be killed. Another time Saul threw his spear at David while he was playing his instrument and David escaped. David had learned that God would get him through. God was faithful through all these events and much more we can read about in the scriptures.

1 Sa 18:1
1 Then the LORD sent Nathan to David. And he came to him, and said to him: “There were two men in one city, one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds. 3 But the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb which he had bought and nourished; and it grew up together with him and with his children. It ate of his own food and drank from his own cup and lay in his bosom; and it was like a daughter to him. 4 And a traveler came to the rich man, who refused to take from his own flock and from his own herd to prepare one for the wayfaring man who had come to him; but he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.”5 So David’s anger was greatly aroused against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the LORD lives, the man who has done this shall surely die! 6 And he shall restore fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing and because he had no pity.”7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your keeping and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more! 9 Why have you despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in His sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon.

Many events in Davids's life would occur before receiving this visit from Nathan. David was one night not with his soldiers in battle as he had always led them before. He was out on his rooftop and the moon was shining bright. David was set up by the enemy to be tempted, sin, fall, and never get back up!
David was tempted as he saw Bathsheba naked taking a bath in the moonlight. He sinned taking the second look, and then sending for her. He fell as he slept with her and got her pregnant while her husband Uriah was fighting in battle for king David. David had Uriah brought home and tried to get him to sleep with Bathsheba in order to make the baby to be as it was his own. Uriah refused to be with his bride while his men were fighting in battle. David sent Uriah to the front lines with a letter to give the commander. The letter was orders to leave Uriah in a situation that he would be killed. David knew Uriah would not open the letter because he had such integrity. Uriah was killed on the battlefield by Davids orders. David then marries Bathsheba, and a year goes by with David probably thinking he finally put all that behind him. He thought he had got away with murder, and adultery.

God sent Nathan and David had a choice. How would he respond? God had given David so much and had been with him through everything. David sinned against God, and not just a little sin. Yes, we all fall short of the glory of God, but this was more than just falling short. There would be great consequences to face. Facing the lion, the bear, Saul Davids's brothers, the Philistines, and even Goliath were nothing like David having to face his Lord with all he had done.

Saul had disobeyed God and David disobeyed God, why does David remain King?

In 1 Sa 13:14 Saul is told by Samuel that, "The LORD has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be commander over His people..."

David had a choice when he was convicted by the Nathan's message which was sent from the Lord. David chose to trust God again in the hardest situation ha had been in throughout his life. He trusted that if he truly repented that God's grace would be enough to forgive him. David instead of running from God when the condemnation came in his mind via the fiery darts, ran to God. Instead of David coming up with excuses why he did what he did he took responsibility for his actions. Instead of blaming Bathsheba for bathing on her rooftop or justifying his sin. David confessed his sin, and accepted the consequences knowing his God would get him through as he had in the past.

2 Sam 12:20
20 So David arose from the ground, washed and anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he went into the house of the LORD and worshiped. 

Everything God got David through would not be as easy as surviving the sting of death that comes from sin. David is our example for today. There is a greater king that sat on the throne of David and He still reigns. No matter what you have been through. No matter the sins you have committed. You can choose to respond like Saul, or you can choose to respond like David. You can respond with sorrow for your sin without repentance or you can respond as a man or woman after Gods own heart. You can trust that God will get you through! Get up, wash, be anointed, change, go before the Lord and continue worshipping Him!

Pastor Kolby

When God blessed Noah and his sons after the global flood, he told them to “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth” (Genesis 9:1). But only about a century later, we see that man seems to have no interest in obeying the command to fill the earth.
Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” (Genesis 11:1–4)
Fueled by pride, the people preferred to “make a name” for themselves and build a city with a high tower, enabling them to remain together in defiance of God’s command. The proposed construction began. Composed of brick and mortar, this city was intended to be permanent and impressive—a fortress against any natural or supernatural attempt to disperse mankind throughout the earth.
But God was neither unaware of their actions nor powerless against their plans. In his mercy, he intervened—not by destruction as he had during the flood, nor by directly driving them out to be fugitives and wanderers (as in the record of Cain’s judgment; see Genesis 4:12). Instead, God divided their single language into multiple language families.
And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.” (Genesis 11:5–7)
For the first time in earth’s history, there was a language barrier. Without a common language, the people who had been so adamant about staying together were now unable to even understand each other. Construction of the city ceased—whether because they lost interest in the city due to the futility of attempting to coordinate such a massive project without a means of communication (not to mention losing the appeal of living together as one people) or because they recognized God’s judgment and feared a worse sentence should they attempt to continue in their rebellion.
Whatever the case, God’s judgment was effective. The attempted “one-world kingdom” fractured. Smaller groups formed from those sharing each of the new languages, and people began scattering from the city.
So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth. (Genesis 11:8–9)
Then there was the day of Pentecost, when God brought the gospel and understanding to different cultures and languages. Not just that day, but the Holy Spirit continues to speak to every person individually no matter where or who they are. God has brought the answer to the confusion. He has brought unity between nations. Everything is summed up in Jesus Christ.
Is the Holy Spirit speaking to you today?

Romans 10:9-10
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.