One of my mother’s favorite sayings, when I was growing up, was, “You can’t have your cake and eat it too.” To me this meant things weren’t always going to be the way I liked it. I would have to give up something to have something.
I recently came across an article that disturbed my spirit. In fact, I started to instantly reply to it but thought I should probably wait and calm down a bit first. This article is so typical of the spirit of the age in which we live. It is dangerous in that it sounds so kind and unoffensive. One thing, I do not want to be offensive, yet I want to be right before God! Let me share with you the quote and let’s go from there. This is from an interview with former President Jimmy Carter who has come out with his own study Bible.
When [HuffPos's Religion Editor] Raushenbush pressed him about whether he believed the Bible is God’s word, Carter answered, “the basic principles of the Bible are taught by God, but written down by human beings deprived of modern day knowledge. So there is some fallibility in the writings of the Bible. But the basic principles are applicable to my life and I don’t find any conflict among them.”
“There are many verses in the Bible that you could interpret very rigidly,” Carter said, “and that makes you ultimately into a fundamentalist.”
My questions are simply these, who decides what is fallible and what isn’t? Which part of the Bible can I believe to be relevant for modern day man? How do I know which part I need to live by which part I can throw out? Which verses should I interpret very rigidly which ones don’t matter? Last, but not least, is there anything wrong with being a fundamentalist?
Please understand that I am not a scholar of any type. I am just a really simple man from the mountains. I like things kept really simple and have learned a few things I can trust. Water runs down the hill. Bears run in the woods. I can trust my eternity to the Word of God! These are just simple things but they are facts nonetheless.
The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the young man Timothy stated, in 2 Tim 3:15-17, “And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
KJV”
If I want to be saved, I am going to have to rely on the scripture or the Word of God. I must understand scripture, or the Word of God, or the Bible, came by inspiration of God. Which simply means that God breathed on the writers or filled them with His Spirit and thoughts as they wrote. This lets me understand that God is part of every Word and used man to speak to my heart.
Several times we are assured that the Word of God is eternal. It doesn’t change. The Word will not pass away but will out last heaven and earth. However, the deception of the enemy is to have us believe, because we live a couple thousand years since they wrote the last word of the Bible, it can’t be accurate for today. That might be true except it wasn’t man writing because he got a bright idea and decided to write it out for later generations. Again, we are told it was written as the Holy Ghost, or God’s Spirit, moved upon man to write. (2 Peter 2:20-21)
The danger of the time in which we live is men are afraid to take a stand for what the Bible teaches. They want their cake and to eat it too, which is impossible. The scripture warns us several times that men would try to teach what they think will make people happy. The scripture alerts us to a time when people will, because of their lusts, look for teachers that will teach them things they want to hear. They want to feel good rather than do right. We must be aware and alert of the dangers of those who refuse to stand for the truth of the Word of God.
Nothing is wrong with being a “Fundamentalist.” This is actually a distinction you should be proud of, if it fits you. A “Fundamentalist” is simply someone who believes the Word of God to be true, every word of it.
Several years ago a man knocked on the door of the Church I pastored then. He told me he was there to let me know that his Church was the only Church in town the baptized for the remission of sins. I chuckled and informed him there must be two Churches in town that baptized for the remission of sins because ours did as well. I went on to tell him that I actually believed all of Acts 2:38. I believe you must repent of your sins, be water baptized in Jesus Name for the remission of your sins and receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost.
The man stuttered for a moment and then said that the Holy Ghost was just for the Apostles. However, it wasn’t for anyone else. I took my Bible and showed him where Peter preached in Acts 2 and three thousand received the Holy Ghost, after Peter assured them the promise was for them and who ever God called.
To this he assured me that this was only for those in the Book of Acts and the early Church. He said the Holy Ghost, evidenced by speaking in tongues, wasn’t for today nor was miracles, signs and wonders. To this I replied, “Sir, you are about forty years too late to tell me that. I know it is real because I have experienced it for myself. I have spoken in tongues as the Holy Spirit of God gave me the ability. I have been miraculously healed. More than once I have laid hands on the sick and they recovered. I have seen miracles, wonders and amazing things at the hand of God! I know the Bible is true because I did what it said to do and I got what it said I would get!”
Mr. Carter and all doubters, let me assure you that I will not only base my life on the Word of God being true and relevant today. I will base my eternity on it as well. For many years I have put the Bible to the test and found it to be true. Sir, you can’t have your cake and eat it too. You will either have to take a stand for truth or follow the fabrications of the enemy of your soul. Be careful who you listen to.
God bless! Love truth! Remember that it’s just a thought.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Saturday, March 17, 2012
The Key to Success
The portion of this instruction, which we often ignore, is one key to our success as a Christian Soldier. It is found in this same passage, but is overlooked because we stop when we come to the end of the description of the armor. Here it is:
“Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints”; (Eph. 6:18 KJV)
The key, to making the whole armor effective, is prayer. A Christian soldier that doesn’t pray will have the same problems as the Roman soldier that didn’t drink water. Eventually both will become too weak to fight and will die. You cannot be a successful Spiritual Warrior without a consistent prayer life!
The Spiritual Warrior must be given to prayer. We are not talking about only praying when things are going bad and you are feeling overwhelmed. We are talking about praying always. This is praying in every season and on all occasions. Praying that builds up a reserve of strength and stamina to carry you through battle.
In James 5:16 the Apostle speaks of the “effectual fervent prayer” being of great force. The term, “effectual fervent,” means to be effective or to have power. It comes from the root word “energes” which we referred to with the sword of the Spirit. This word speaks of power, being active, and working. The word “availeth” speaks of being forceful and doing much work. We are not talking about “now I lay me down to sleep” type prayers. Nor are we talking about “God bless this mess” prayers. We are talking about prayers that are hot and powerful! These are the prayers that will make a difference.
Just putting on, the Whole Armor of God, will not be sufficient if prayer that is fervent and energized does not power the Warrior. He might as well be a statute in a museum for all of the effect he will have in spiritual warfare. His prayers must be Spirit driven! They must be prayers that he enters with the sole purpose of reaching the throne of heaven.
Jude encourages us to build ourselves up in our faith by praying in the Holy Ghost. Not only will, praying in the Holy Ghost, build us up in our faith, it will also keep us in the love of God. (Jude 20, 21) Again, this is speaking of prayer that is more than rhetorical prayer. This is prayer that enters the Spirit realm.
Paul, in Romans 8:26-27, tells us that as we pray in the Spirit we talk directly with God. To the point, when we don’t know how to pray or what we need to pray for, the Spirit of God will pray for us. Later, in 1Corinthians 14:4, Paul tells us that if we pray in the Spirit and speak in tongues we are building ourselves up or making ourselves stronger.
Accessing all of the resources that God has made available to us is incredibly important, for you and me, so we might be victorious. The promises to the overcomer are eternal. They go beyond relief and victory in this present life. These promises are eternal and include eating of the tree of life. Not being hurt by the second death. The overcomer will eat of the hidden manna and will receive a new name. He will receive power and rule with God. Overcomer, you will receive a white garment and your name will be in the Book of Life. To the one that overcomes is the promise to sit with God upon His throne. The overcomer will inherit all things and God promises to be his God and the overcomer will be His son.
So, Warrior, put on your breastplate of righteousness. Gird your loins with the belt of truth. Shod you feet with the preparation of the Gospel of peace. Put on the helmet of salvation. Pick up your shield of faith. Arm yourself with the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Strengthen yourself by praying in the Holy Ghost! Go into battle knowing that it isn’t our battle but the battle belongs to the Lord. Be victorious!
“Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints”; (Eph. 6:18 KJV)
The key, to making the whole armor effective, is prayer. A Christian soldier that doesn’t pray will have the same problems as the Roman soldier that didn’t drink water. Eventually both will become too weak to fight and will die. You cannot be a successful Spiritual Warrior without a consistent prayer life!
The Spiritual Warrior must be given to prayer. We are not talking about only praying when things are going bad and you are feeling overwhelmed. We are talking about praying always. This is praying in every season and on all occasions. Praying that builds up a reserve of strength and stamina to carry you through battle.
In James 5:16 the Apostle speaks of the “effectual fervent prayer” being of great force. The term, “effectual fervent,” means to be effective or to have power. It comes from the root word “energes” which we referred to with the sword of the Spirit. This word speaks of power, being active, and working. The word “availeth” speaks of being forceful and doing much work. We are not talking about “now I lay me down to sleep” type prayers. Nor are we talking about “God bless this mess” prayers. We are talking about prayers that are hot and powerful! These are the prayers that will make a difference.
Just putting on, the Whole Armor of God, will not be sufficient if prayer that is fervent and energized does not power the Warrior. He might as well be a statute in a museum for all of the effect he will have in spiritual warfare. His prayers must be Spirit driven! They must be prayers that he enters with the sole purpose of reaching the throne of heaven.
Jude encourages us to build ourselves up in our faith by praying in the Holy Ghost. Not only will, praying in the Holy Ghost, build us up in our faith, it will also keep us in the love of God. (Jude 20, 21) Again, this is speaking of prayer that is more than rhetorical prayer. This is prayer that enters the Spirit realm.
Paul, in Romans 8:26-27, tells us that as we pray in the Spirit we talk directly with God. To the point, when we don’t know how to pray or what we need to pray for, the Spirit of God will pray for us. Later, in 1Corinthians 14:4, Paul tells us that if we pray in the Spirit and speak in tongues we are building ourselves up or making ourselves stronger.
Accessing all of the resources that God has made available to us is incredibly important, for you and me, so we might be victorious. The promises to the overcomer are eternal. They go beyond relief and victory in this present life. These promises are eternal and include eating of the tree of life. Not being hurt by the second death. The overcomer will eat of the hidden manna and will receive a new name. He will receive power and rule with God. Overcomer, you will receive a white garment and your name will be in the Book of Life. To the one that overcomes is the promise to sit with God upon His throne. The overcomer will inherit all things and God promises to be his God and the overcomer will be His son.
So, Warrior, put on your breastplate of righteousness. Gird your loins with the belt of truth. Shod you feet with the preparation of the Gospel of peace. Put on the helmet of salvation. Pick up your shield of faith. Arm yourself with the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Strengthen yourself by praying in the Holy Ghost! Go into battle knowing that it isn’t our battle but the battle belongs to the Lord. Be victorious!
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
A Personal God in an Impersonal World
A while back my wife went to the bank to make a deposit. The teller told her, after she had waited in line for several minutes; you know you should use the ATM instead of taking our time. We had four different accounts at the bank that we signed on. I went to another bank and asked them, “I want to open several accounts, but I have one question to ask first. Will it bother you if I come into your bank and stand in line and take up your time so that I can give you my money? I just want to know!”
Our world is very impersonal. We live in a very inhospitable world. Humanity has become cold and detached from each other. We have lost our sensitivity to our neighbor. We have become indifferent and unemotional toward mankind.
Call your utility company or any business and you will spend more time listening to a computer tell you that their menu has changed so listen closely than you will talking to a real human. Our world is impersonal.
On a daily basis you will get a call from a computer. It will tell you to stay on the line and wait for a very important call. The internet is set up for online shopping. It is designed so you will never have to leave you home for anything. We have lost the personal touch.
It is an impersonal world when women can scream for help while being raped or beaten. Nearby neighbors and passerby’s turn their heads. They shut their windows. They turn their music up louder. They don’t want to be involved. They want to remain detached and unemotional abut the world around them.
As time passes, the spirit of the age in which we live becomes more and more impersonal. It becomes more and more detached and distant. However, in the midst of an impersonal world we have a very personal God! He is a God that knows and loves each of us as individuals.
In John chapter one when Jesus first began to select His disciples, He called Philip. When Philip met Jesus, he was so excited that he went to tell a friend named Nathaniel all about Him. Nathaniel decided to come and meet Jesus for himself. Now, as he approaches, Jesus speaks to him before Nathaniel ever has a chance to say anything. What he says is so personal, “Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!”
Only someone who knew him intimately could make that statement. It catches Nathaniel off guard, by surprise. He asks, “Whence knowest thou me?” Have we ever met? How do you know me?
So Jesus makes it even more personal. “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you,” he said to Nathaniel. He was telling him I know you inside and out. I know all about you.
He is a personal God!
Jesus came down from teaching on the mountain and great multitudes followed Him. Suddenly the crowd which had been pressing against Him pulled back. At the feet of Jesus falls the ragged, tattered figure of a man.
His face is disfigured from the hideous disease that has ravaged his body. Rags are wrapped around his arms and hands to hide the effects of the leprosy that was destroying him.
Looking at Jesus, he begins to worship Him saying, “Lord, if you wanted to you could heal me.”
Most people would have been repulsed at the sight of the man. They would have averted their gaze. Their stomachs would have heaved. The stench would have caused them to retreat as discretely as possible. The thought of physical contact would have been abhorrent and would never have taken place. There would have been no concern about the feelings of this man. They would not have worried the least if he would have been offended or hurt by their reaction and rejection.
Jesus however is a personal God in an impersonal world. The man has recognized that Jesus had the power to heal him. He has prostrated himself before Jesus, desperately hoping and believing for a second chance at life. Jesus isn’t repulsed or revolted by the man and his condition. He is moved with compassion for the man. He feels for this man deeply enough that he reaches out and touches him.
We have to ask ourselves the question, “How long had it been since someone had touched this man? How long had this man lived without a personal touch of another human being?”
Lepers could not live with their families. They were not allowed to live in the cities of Israel. Rather, they were cast out of the communities when they were diagnosed with leprosy. They left their homes, their jobs, their communities behind. They walked away from their families, friends and loved ones. They were destined to live the life of an outcast in the caves and hills that surrounded the towns.
When they approached people, they had to cry in a loud voice, “Unclean, unclean!” This allowed people to stay back or change their course of travel and not be exposed to this highly contagious disease.
One must wonder how long it had been since this man had received a pat on the back from a friend. You have to ask how long since he had received a hug from his parents. How many days and weeks, maybe months or years, since his child had ran to meet him and jumped in his arms. How long had it been since his sweetheart had put her arms around him and kissed him telling him how handsome he was and that she loved him.
These are things that we experience on a daily basis. These are happenings in our everyday lives, so we often just expect them to always be there. This man had not enjoyed the feel of another persons touch in a while.
We all need to be touched. A touch releases endorphins which are healing agents in our blood stream. Medical doctors say that ten meaningful touches, showing value, a day can add two years to a person’s life.
He needed healing. He was a desperate man in a hopeless situation. A healing would have changed his life forever. Yet Jesus recognized this man needed more than just healing. This man needed a touch and being the personal God that He is, He touched Him! Then He healed Him!
When he came to Jesus, this man would have been elated to receive his healing, but Jesus said there is more that you need than just healing. You need to know that some one finds you to be important. You need the reassurance that someone loves you, despite your condition. So Jesus touched him.
The people were all around. People were pressing, calling, pulling, and shoving. Suddenly, Jesus stops and looks around and asks, “Who touched me?”
The disciples are bewildered at the question. People are touching him from every side. Everybody wants to get his attention. They are all there because they want to get close to Him. How can He ask, “Who touched me?”
The reply they get from Jesus is unexpected. He knows that someone with a special need has touched Him. He says they have been healed because He felt virtue leave His body. However, there is more that is needed and He needs to know who touched Him.
For twelve years this woman had a disease that caused her to be considered unclean. For twelve years she had suffered not only the effects of this disease, the weakness. But also, for twelve years she had also known shame, and the rejection, of being a castaway.
When she touched Jesus, she was immediately healed. Yet Jesus didn’t let her just walk away. He stopped her, had her tell her story, letting everyone in the crowd know that she was unclean. Then he announced to the world that she was not just healed but also restored.
Yes, he is a personal God even when the world is cold and detached. He was even personal to a jailer in a Philippian jail. He sent two preachers to preach a gospel message to him. He dispatched an earthquake to get his attention so he would realize that he was important to God. He is a personal God.
He was sitting on the curb of a well on a hot, dry afternoon when she walked up; thinking no one else would be there. She came thinking she was going to take care of a natural need. Yet Jesus saw that deep thirst that was in her heart and gave her what she needed to have that need met. A need she didn’t even realize that she had. He is an individual God. He is your own God, he belongs to you.
Our God is a personal God. He knows you as an individual. He is the God of the universe. In spite of that he is your personal, individual God. He cares for your needs while he is caring for my needs. He is a personal individual God.
You don’t know me, but he knows me. If you had known me before I knew him, you would understand why I love him the way that I love him. Who am I that the great God of heaven would bleed and die for? Yet he did just that. He died just for me.
We know that he made the worlds. He made earth. He made you and me. We know that there is great demand for his attention. We know that we can bring all of our cares to him and he will care. But the beautiful thing about God is that he is so personal he cares for the small things.
In September of 1999, after several months of terminal illness, my father passed away. We had spent weeks at his bedside. There were very few nights during that time when the phone didn’t ring calling us to his bedside. Not only were we physically exhausted, we were emotionally and spiritually exhausted also.
My father had pastored the church for 25 years and then had been Pastor Emeritus for the past 10 years. So the church was also exhausted.
A few weeks after his passing, my wife and I took a night off and went to the “big city” to spend the night and have a day of goofing off. That morning at the restaurant when I went to pay for my breakfast, someone had already paid for our meal. I was in a strange town. I didn’t see anyone I recognized.
While in town I took a gift back that I was unable to use. I received much more money than I thought I would. Initially I was told I could not have my money back.
The day continued in the same manner. There were just a lot of little things that day that went right. Driving down the road that evening I realized that God had just used several small things, unimportant to anyone else, to let me know he cared. He is a personal God.
Several months later, on Fathers Day, I was in Mississippi. My wife and I were preaching a revival in a small church. I was sitting in my motel room that morning waiting on my wife to finish getting ready for church. Suddenly it dawned on me that I could not call my father and wish him a Happy Fathers Day.
For the first time in forty-three years I would not be able to tell the most important man in my life how much I loved and appreciated him. It seemed like all of the emotions that I had dealt with flooded back to the surface and I began to weep. I felt lost and alone. Dad had been my friend and confidant. I could always call Dad and he would listen. I could always count on him to be there, but suddenly it had changed and reality had set in.
It was in this desolate lonely moment that God spoke to me. It was in this time of feeling so small and insignificant that God reached down and gave me that touch that I couldn’t get from my Dad. It was in that moment that God told me, “I am a personal God in an impersonal world and I love you!”
I have been dealing with a situation for a long period of time, several years. Important things in my life have not worked out the way I had hoped and prayed they would. There have been many times that I have called on God and asked, “Where are you in all of this?”
There have been times when I felt like Job, I see the evidence of God everywhere, but I can’t feel it for my self. You are blessing people all around me, but I can’t feel anything. I have given it my all, but my all hasn’t been good enough!
I was recently in a service where God spoke to me and told me, “I am working on you because I love you.”
It wasn’t just a thought or a feeling that went through my mind. I wasn’’t just an impression that I had. It was a Word from the Lord sent by a special messenger, just for me. A man who didn’t know me from Adam, but he had a personal message just for me. You may be skeptical, but I know I serve a very personal God.
No matter what it is you might be dealing with. Whatever you might be feeling let me reassure you that God cares. If you are feeling rejection, He cares! If live has overwhelmed you, He cares! If you lie on your bed at night, afraid to close you eyes because of the pressures that are there, He cares!
He is a personal God in an impersonal world. He cares when no one else cares. In fact Peter gives us this reassurance in I Peter 5:7, “Casting all your cares upon Him, for He careth for you.”
Take them to Jesus, He cares!
Remember...it's just a thought!
Our world is very impersonal. We live in a very inhospitable world. Humanity has become cold and detached from each other. We have lost our sensitivity to our neighbor. We have become indifferent and unemotional toward mankind.
Call your utility company or any business and you will spend more time listening to a computer tell you that their menu has changed so listen closely than you will talking to a real human. Our world is impersonal.
On a daily basis you will get a call from a computer. It will tell you to stay on the line and wait for a very important call. The internet is set up for online shopping. It is designed so you will never have to leave you home for anything. We have lost the personal touch.
It is an impersonal world when women can scream for help while being raped or beaten. Nearby neighbors and passerby’s turn their heads. They shut their windows. They turn their music up louder. They don’t want to be involved. They want to remain detached and unemotional abut the world around them.
As time passes, the spirit of the age in which we live becomes more and more impersonal. It becomes more and more detached and distant. However, in the midst of an impersonal world we have a very personal God! He is a God that knows and loves each of us as individuals.
In John chapter one when Jesus first began to select His disciples, He called Philip. When Philip met Jesus, he was so excited that he went to tell a friend named Nathaniel all about Him. Nathaniel decided to come and meet Jesus for himself. Now, as he approaches, Jesus speaks to him before Nathaniel ever has a chance to say anything. What he says is so personal, “Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!”
Only someone who knew him intimately could make that statement. It catches Nathaniel off guard, by surprise. He asks, “Whence knowest thou me?” Have we ever met? How do you know me?
So Jesus makes it even more personal. “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you,” he said to Nathaniel. He was telling him I know you inside and out. I know all about you.
He is a personal God!
Jesus came down from teaching on the mountain and great multitudes followed Him. Suddenly the crowd which had been pressing against Him pulled back. At the feet of Jesus falls the ragged, tattered figure of a man.
His face is disfigured from the hideous disease that has ravaged his body. Rags are wrapped around his arms and hands to hide the effects of the leprosy that was destroying him.
Looking at Jesus, he begins to worship Him saying, “Lord, if you wanted to you could heal me.”
Most people would have been repulsed at the sight of the man. They would have averted their gaze. Their stomachs would have heaved. The stench would have caused them to retreat as discretely as possible. The thought of physical contact would have been abhorrent and would never have taken place. There would have been no concern about the feelings of this man. They would not have worried the least if he would have been offended or hurt by their reaction and rejection.
Jesus however is a personal God in an impersonal world. The man has recognized that Jesus had the power to heal him. He has prostrated himself before Jesus, desperately hoping and believing for a second chance at life. Jesus isn’t repulsed or revolted by the man and his condition. He is moved with compassion for the man. He feels for this man deeply enough that he reaches out and touches him.
We have to ask ourselves the question, “How long had it been since someone had touched this man? How long had this man lived without a personal touch of another human being?”
Lepers could not live with their families. They were not allowed to live in the cities of Israel. Rather, they were cast out of the communities when they were diagnosed with leprosy. They left their homes, their jobs, their communities behind. They walked away from their families, friends and loved ones. They were destined to live the life of an outcast in the caves and hills that surrounded the towns.
When they approached people, they had to cry in a loud voice, “Unclean, unclean!” This allowed people to stay back or change their course of travel and not be exposed to this highly contagious disease.
One must wonder how long it had been since this man had received a pat on the back from a friend. You have to ask how long since he had received a hug from his parents. How many days and weeks, maybe months or years, since his child had ran to meet him and jumped in his arms. How long had it been since his sweetheart had put her arms around him and kissed him telling him how handsome he was and that she loved him.
These are things that we experience on a daily basis. These are happenings in our everyday lives, so we often just expect them to always be there. This man had not enjoyed the feel of another persons touch in a while.
We all need to be touched. A touch releases endorphins which are healing agents in our blood stream. Medical doctors say that ten meaningful touches, showing value, a day can add two years to a person’s life.
He needed healing. He was a desperate man in a hopeless situation. A healing would have changed his life forever. Yet Jesus recognized this man needed more than just healing. This man needed a touch and being the personal God that He is, He touched Him! Then He healed Him!
When he came to Jesus, this man would have been elated to receive his healing, but Jesus said there is more that you need than just healing. You need to know that some one finds you to be important. You need the reassurance that someone loves you, despite your condition. So Jesus touched him.
The people were all around. People were pressing, calling, pulling, and shoving. Suddenly, Jesus stops and looks around and asks, “Who touched me?”
The disciples are bewildered at the question. People are touching him from every side. Everybody wants to get his attention. They are all there because they want to get close to Him. How can He ask, “Who touched me?”
The reply they get from Jesus is unexpected. He knows that someone with a special need has touched Him. He says they have been healed because He felt virtue leave His body. However, there is more that is needed and He needs to know who touched Him.
For twelve years this woman had a disease that caused her to be considered unclean. For twelve years she had suffered not only the effects of this disease, the weakness. But also, for twelve years she had also known shame, and the rejection, of being a castaway.
When she touched Jesus, she was immediately healed. Yet Jesus didn’t let her just walk away. He stopped her, had her tell her story, letting everyone in the crowd know that she was unclean. Then he announced to the world that she was not just healed but also restored.
Yes, he is a personal God even when the world is cold and detached. He was even personal to a jailer in a Philippian jail. He sent two preachers to preach a gospel message to him. He dispatched an earthquake to get his attention so he would realize that he was important to God. He is a personal God.
He was sitting on the curb of a well on a hot, dry afternoon when she walked up; thinking no one else would be there. She came thinking she was going to take care of a natural need. Yet Jesus saw that deep thirst that was in her heart and gave her what she needed to have that need met. A need she didn’t even realize that she had. He is an individual God. He is your own God, he belongs to you.
Our God is a personal God. He knows you as an individual. He is the God of the universe. In spite of that he is your personal, individual God. He cares for your needs while he is caring for my needs. He is a personal individual God.
You don’t know me, but he knows me. If you had known me before I knew him, you would understand why I love him the way that I love him. Who am I that the great God of heaven would bleed and die for? Yet he did just that. He died just for me.
We know that he made the worlds. He made earth. He made you and me. We know that there is great demand for his attention. We know that we can bring all of our cares to him and he will care. But the beautiful thing about God is that he is so personal he cares for the small things.
In September of 1999, after several months of terminal illness, my father passed away. We had spent weeks at his bedside. There were very few nights during that time when the phone didn’t ring calling us to his bedside. Not only were we physically exhausted, we were emotionally and spiritually exhausted also.
My father had pastored the church for 25 years and then had been Pastor Emeritus for the past 10 years. So the church was also exhausted.
A few weeks after his passing, my wife and I took a night off and went to the “big city” to spend the night and have a day of goofing off. That morning at the restaurant when I went to pay for my breakfast, someone had already paid for our meal. I was in a strange town. I didn’t see anyone I recognized.
While in town I took a gift back that I was unable to use. I received much more money than I thought I would. Initially I was told I could not have my money back.
The day continued in the same manner. There were just a lot of little things that day that went right. Driving down the road that evening I realized that God had just used several small things, unimportant to anyone else, to let me know he cared. He is a personal God.
Several months later, on Fathers Day, I was in Mississippi. My wife and I were preaching a revival in a small church. I was sitting in my motel room that morning waiting on my wife to finish getting ready for church. Suddenly it dawned on me that I could not call my father and wish him a Happy Fathers Day.
For the first time in forty-three years I would not be able to tell the most important man in my life how much I loved and appreciated him. It seemed like all of the emotions that I had dealt with flooded back to the surface and I began to weep. I felt lost and alone. Dad had been my friend and confidant. I could always call Dad and he would listen. I could always count on him to be there, but suddenly it had changed and reality had set in.
It was in this desolate lonely moment that God spoke to me. It was in this time of feeling so small and insignificant that God reached down and gave me that touch that I couldn’t get from my Dad. It was in that moment that God told me, “I am a personal God in an impersonal world and I love you!”
I have been dealing with a situation for a long period of time, several years. Important things in my life have not worked out the way I had hoped and prayed they would. There have been many times that I have called on God and asked, “Where are you in all of this?”
There have been times when I felt like Job, I see the evidence of God everywhere, but I can’t feel it for my self. You are blessing people all around me, but I can’t feel anything. I have given it my all, but my all hasn’t been good enough!
I was recently in a service where God spoke to me and told me, “I am working on you because I love you.”
It wasn’t just a thought or a feeling that went through my mind. I wasn’’t just an impression that I had. It was a Word from the Lord sent by a special messenger, just for me. A man who didn’t know me from Adam, but he had a personal message just for me. You may be skeptical, but I know I serve a very personal God.
No matter what it is you might be dealing with. Whatever you might be feeling let me reassure you that God cares. If you are feeling rejection, He cares! If live has overwhelmed you, He cares! If you lie on your bed at night, afraid to close you eyes because of the pressures that are there, He cares!
He is a personal God in an impersonal world. He cares when no one else cares. In fact Peter gives us this reassurance in I Peter 5:7, “Casting all your cares upon Him, for He careth for you.”
Take them to Jesus, He cares!
Remember...it's just a thought!
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Living Life!
Rain fell in sheets as inside the Church the father of the bride said, in an emotion choked voice, “What’s that Parson, who gives this woman away? Her mother and I.” The young man took the hand of the young lady and they together turned to face the preacher as he began to speak.
Someone sung another song that talked about God teaching us to love. Still they sung another song about the Tie that Binds. The two preachers shared more words. The couple exchanged vows. A Bible was given as a symbol of the foundation the marriage was to be built on.
Finally, the long awaited moment, they pronounce the couple husband and wife. A kiss is given! The couple makes the long walk down the aisle, while the miniature bride and groom jump off the stage and run behind them.
They enjoy cake and fellowship, as people wish the newlyweds’ good luck. A container is passed and many bless the couple with a love offering to help them enjoy a few days together.
Finally it is time for the couple to leave. Many have already left the Church to drive home but a few remain behind to see the couple off. The rain has stopped but the night is still very dark and wet. The couple climbs into the 1969 Mercury Montego Coupe and pull out of the parking lot heading into “a life together.”
No one could predict what the future would hold. There was no way to see all of the thrills and spills. How could anyone know the triumphs and disappointments that would come during the years to follow. That night there wasn’t a mountain that they couldn’t climb or a river that couldn’t be crossed. All that lay ahead, it seemed, was easy victories and great promises.
For life to be lived to its fullest, there will be victories and there will be defeats. A definition of life could be emotional. Like our emotions, which go up and down, so goes life. The key is to have a firm foundation, something to build on. Build life together on something that never changes. The Word of God is forever and unchanging. It is the perfect foundation on which to build a life.
Children came to the young family. First a son was born. Oh the magic of the moment when life is first recognized to have come from you and the one you love. Nothing can compare to that moment. Next a daughter is born. Daddy looks into her dark eyes and he is lost forever. Then, there is the night when she stops breathing and high speed trips are made to the hospital. Hours spent waiting for doctors to discover what is wrong. The two stands together in the hallway listening to their baby scream as the doctors run more tests. A trial! A wilderness! It is a time of learning to lean on the mercy of God.
Life is being lived! A father suddenly becomes ill and passes from life. He is so very young and so is his daughter. Again, a time of learning to lean on God and draw strength from His well. Lessons are learned from the late night times of prayer. Lessons that say that God orders the steps of a righteous man and He takes joy in those steps. You might weep during the night, but the sun will come up and with it will be joy.
Another son is born. So different from his brother and sister in so many ways. He is born during another wilderness time. It is a reminder that the blessings of the Lord come even when you don’t know where God is.
What is life? It is but a wisp of steam, a vapor. You get up every day and live life until one day you look back and realize that thirty-four years have passed since that rainy night when you said, “We will!” Years of blessings!
Children have become teenagers and then adults. They have left the nest and now have their own families. There are moments when you wish you could roll back the years and again enjoy those precious moments of yesteryear. You would go a little slower this time and spend a little more time enjoying those things that are so important. You would recognize things so important now. If you could do it again, you would make sure you emphasized how crucial a love for the Word of God is to a life. You would spend more time kneeling beside your family in prayer. Make sure they realized the importance of a personal relationship with God.
There is no going back! You’ve done the best you could do. Now you have entered another chapter of life. The foundation is still firm because the Word of God is sure. Prayers are made for your children. Precious hours are spent with them and their children. Oh the glorious times of family gathered. Listening to the laughter as precious memories are shared. Watching the grandsons as they play.
Life has a different look now. You are thinking about life from a different perspective. There was a time when it was about building and conquering. Now life is about influencing and teaching. It is about what you will leave someone else someday.
The old Mercury is gone. Other cars have been used to travel the hundreds of thousands of miles since that night thirty-four years ago. Three children have been raised. Three grandsons have been enjoyed. Five churches have been pastored through those years. Many songs have been sung and many messages have been preached. Tears have been shed, but laughter has been there all along the way. A couple, started life together and continuing on. Trusting in each other. Depending upon God. Standing on the Word of God. Blessed beyond measure. No one knows what tomorrow holds, but we do know who holds our hand.
Remember, it’s just a thought!
Dedicated to my wonderful wife Melinda! I love you . . .
Someone sung another song that talked about God teaching us to love. Still they sung another song about the Tie that Binds. The two preachers shared more words. The couple exchanged vows. A Bible was given as a symbol of the foundation the marriage was to be built on.
Finally, the long awaited moment, they pronounce the couple husband and wife. A kiss is given! The couple makes the long walk down the aisle, while the miniature bride and groom jump off the stage and run behind them.
They enjoy cake and fellowship, as people wish the newlyweds’ good luck. A container is passed and many bless the couple with a love offering to help them enjoy a few days together.
Finally it is time for the couple to leave. Many have already left the Church to drive home but a few remain behind to see the couple off. The rain has stopped but the night is still very dark and wet. The couple climbs into the 1969 Mercury Montego Coupe and pull out of the parking lot heading into “a life together.”
No one could predict what the future would hold. There was no way to see all of the thrills and spills. How could anyone know the triumphs and disappointments that would come during the years to follow. That night there wasn’t a mountain that they couldn’t climb or a river that couldn’t be crossed. All that lay ahead, it seemed, was easy victories and great promises.
For life to be lived to its fullest, there will be victories and there will be defeats. A definition of life could be emotional. Like our emotions, which go up and down, so goes life. The key is to have a firm foundation, something to build on. Build life together on something that never changes. The Word of God is forever and unchanging. It is the perfect foundation on which to build a life.
Children came to the young family. First a son was born. Oh the magic of the moment when life is first recognized to have come from you and the one you love. Nothing can compare to that moment. Next a daughter is born. Daddy looks into her dark eyes and he is lost forever. Then, there is the night when she stops breathing and high speed trips are made to the hospital. Hours spent waiting for doctors to discover what is wrong. The two stands together in the hallway listening to their baby scream as the doctors run more tests. A trial! A wilderness! It is a time of learning to lean on the mercy of God.
Life is being lived! A father suddenly becomes ill and passes from life. He is so very young and so is his daughter. Again, a time of learning to lean on God and draw strength from His well. Lessons are learned from the late night times of prayer. Lessons that say that God orders the steps of a righteous man and He takes joy in those steps. You might weep during the night, but the sun will come up and with it will be joy.
Another son is born. So different from his brother and sister in so many ways. He is born during another wilderness time. It is a reminder that the blessings of the Lord come even when you don’t know where God is.
What is life? It is but a wisp of steam, a vapor. You get up every day and live life until one day you look back and realize that thirty-four years have passed since that rainy night when you said, “We will!” Years of blessings!
Children have become teenagers and then adults. They have left the nest and now have their own families. There are moments when you wish you could roll back the years and again enjoy those precious moments of yesteryear. You would go a little slower this time and spend a little more time enjoying those things that are so important. You would recognize things so important now. If you could do it again, you would make sure you emphasized how crucial a love for the Word of God is to a life. You would spend more time kneeling beside your family in prayer. Make sure they realized the importance of a personal relationship with God.
There is no going back! You’ve done the best you could do. Now you have entered another chapter of life. The foundation is still firm because the Word of God is sure. Prayers are made for your children. Precious hours are spent with them and their children. Oh the glorious times of family gathered. Listening to the laughter as precious memories are shared. Watching the grandsons as they play.
Life has a different look now. You are thinking about life from a different perspective. There was a time when it was about building and conquering. Now life is about influencing and teaching. It is about what you will leave someone else someday.
The old Mercury is gone. Other cars have been used to travel the hundreds of thousands of miles since that night thirty-four years ago. Three children have been raised. Three grandsons have been enjoyed. Five churches have been pastored through those years. Many songs have been sung and many messages have been preached. Tears have been shed, but laughter has been there all along the way. A couple, started life together and continuing on. Trusting in each other. Depending upon God. Standing on the Word of God. Blessed beyond measure. No one knows what tomorrow holds, but we do know who holds our hand.
Remember, it’s just a thought!
Dedicated to my wonderful wife Melinda! I love you . . .
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