What Do You Do When It Stinks?

What Do I Do When It Stinks? Emotions of despair, those feelings that the situation that is being faced is hopeless and impossible. Realization dawns upon the consciousness bringing with it the certainty that all hope is gone and that I have arrived at the “Irr Home.” At the “Irr Home” everything living here is: Irreparable, Irremediable, Irretrievable, Irreclaimable and Irrevocable! With that realization comes a perception of impotence, which brings with it the awareness of powerlessness and weakness. Struggling with the conception of thoughts that leave one paralyzed with fear. Feeling totally ineffective to face another day of more of the same. These are the feelings of the real world. Products of a world that is determined to take the best we have to offer and to stomp on it until it is totally crushed beyond repair. We have tried our best and our best isn’t enough! We have offered all that is sacred and dear, and it has been rejected. We have gutted it our until we feel that our guts are exposed to be literally ripped from our bodies. The world looks at us with a look of contempt and scorn and says, “You made your bed, now sleep in it!” However, I have good news for you! The wonderful news of the Gospel of Christ! When the world says you made your bed now sleep in it, Jesus says, Take up your bed and walk!” It is just another day like any other day for the past thirty-eight years. Somehow he drags himself one more time down by the sheep market to the Pool of Bethesda. He isn’t even sure why he goes to all of the trouble. He knows that there is no possible way for him to get into the pool if the angel were to come today. With this acknowledgment comes a feeling of despair. His situation is hopeless. He is not only physically impotent. He is powerless to ever change his life. Life will always be this way! In the midst of this chaotic jumble of embroiled emotions came Jesus! Jesus came to this place which conveyed ideas of magical cures. A place where sometime during the year an angel would come and trouble the water and the infirm would hope to be the first into the water. The first person in the water, after the angel troubled it, was healed of their disease. This was a place that was close to the sheep market, and like is the case with large livestock sale barns, I am sure the emanation of the sheep gathered into that one small place would begin to attack the olfactory senses of those that came to the pool. In other words, it smelled! The bodies of men and women who were sick with all manner of diseases, impotent folk. The blind, the halt, the crippled. Many of them unkept and unwashed. It was a painful picture of the chief kind of human suffering and bodily disease. It was a place of hopelessness. A feeling which must have permeated the air. A cauldron of fear percolating out feelings that each situation was irremediable, irrevocable. Screaming there is no hope! Helpless and powerless! Individuals grasping at the illusive, fragile dream that they might be the first into the pool the next time the water was troubled. Struggling to hold on to that dream through year of failure. Hearing a constant bombardment of doubt and fear from those around them that had been at the pool for so many years. Spirits, once high with hope and promise, have now shrunken in distress as realization dawns on them, their situation is hopeless. That was the atmosphere of the Pool of Bethesda! Jesus looks on the man, knowing how hopeless his plight is, and without demanding from the man even faith, asks him, “Wilt thou be made whole?” This individual, who might have come to the place where he was doubtful of the blessing of healing because of the resulting responsibilities, is hearing a question he might have heard from others. He whines out, with a professional drawl, his oft told story, reflecting very much on his lovelessness, quarrelsomeness, and ugly temper. The melancholy recital of his frequent disappointment is given with an air of insolvent resignation. Maybe even a gloomy satisfaction with his lot in life can be heard in his voice. However, Jesus doesn’t even rebuke him for his lack of faith, as he has others. He doesn’t require anything special of him. All he simply says is, “Take up your bed and walk.” The Psalmist said, “Why am I discouraged? Why so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again — my Savior and my God! (Psalms 43:5 NLT) The Apostle Paul added to this, “And if we have hope in Christ only for this life, we are the most miserable people in the world.” (1 Cor 15:19 NLT) We are living in a time when life is filled with uncertainty. Men and women are living lives filled with fear and hopelessness. No matter what is tried to improve life it seems powerless to make the needed change. There is a high rate of burnout and certainly a deep level of cynicism. Dependency upon the world system has left many in despair, wondering where to turn and when it will all change. Our hopes in this life and what this life has to offer are bound to bring nothing but disappointment. This world, or the age in which we live, is ruled by the god of this world. As a result, it is doomed for failure. If we rely upon this world to meet our needs and to save us from our despair, we too are doomed for failure and disappointment. Jesus stood at the tomb of Lazarus. His heart was broken, not because his friend had died. He knew and had already said that Lazarus was just asleep. His heart hurt for those who were crushed with sorrow and wept as a result of all hope laying dead for four days. He told them to roll away the stone from in front of the tomb and their response was, “He has been dead for four days and it is going to stink!” So what do you do when it stinks? You roll the stone away! You take up your bed and walk! You refuse to let circumstances dictate to you your response to the blessings of God. Step out by faith. Do the opposite of what is natural and step into the world of the Supernatural! Let Jesus Christ have a chance to bring to live what the world says is dead! It is in the midst of turmoil and chaos that Jesus Christ is at his best. Whether it be in the midst of a crowd at the pool where hope has faded or at the tomb of one who has been buried too long, Jesus Christ is still the answer we need today. When life is nothing but a stinking mess, Jesus Christ is still our only hope. The choice is ours. We can continue to lay in a world of cynical unbelief or we can take up our bed and walk. We can continue to lay in that which has entombed us, or we can arise and come out of the tomb. Well, its just a thought! I refuse to be discouraged or sad, I will put my hope in Jesus Christ!

It's Not Just a Thought, It's a Fact!

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” These were words that Jesus read and personalized in the synagogue in Nazareth on that Sabbath day, so long ago. They are words that inspire hope and promise in our hearts! The knowledge, there is good news for the hopeless, gives us hope. The assurance that God can heal my broken heart again, gives me hope. Hearing that God can deliver me and my sight can be restored, gives me hope. Along with the promise of liberty, there springs up hope. Yes it is a message of hope for the hopeless. The beautiful part of the message is the reassurance that now is the time for this to happen. It isn’t just wishful thinking, but it is for us today. Just as it was for those in the times of Jesus, we have the assurance that today is the time that God has chosen this to happen. Life is unfair and in its passing leaves behind many witnesses of itself. People are left feeling hopeless. Where can we turn? To whom can we turn to for help? It leaves behind broken hearts. These are the results of sin, shame and the events of life. It holds in captivity many, with reminders of past failures, rejection, shame and addictions. Life blinds the eyes of faith, hope and charity. It leaves behind bruised victims that the unwanted, undeserved events of life have punched. Then life laughs and says there is no hope! It has to be this way and will always be this way! However, the good news is that Jesus said, I have come that you might have life and that you might have life that is superabundant and to the fullest extent. That is his purpose for us. He spoke of the results of life being as a thief that came to steal, kill and destroy. With that dark cloud and the realization of that truth, comes the assurance that all isn’t hopeless. Because of his care for us, he has brought life to be our blessing. A while back I received a call from a Pastor friend. While we were talking, he reminded me of a service where I had ministered in the Church he pastors. A young man had been in the service who had just recently begun attending his Church. God had touched the life of this young man and he had responded by seeking after God. In fact, in the service the Pastor was speaking of, the young man had testified of a great hunger he felt in his soul to have more of God. After the message that afternoon, many people had come to the front to pray and seek God desiring to renew and further their relationship with him. I began to work my way among the people praying with and for several. This young man approached me and asked us to pray for him. As we began to pray with him, I felt led to lay my hand on his chest and to pray for his broken heart. When I did so this young man physically reacted by doubling over and would have fallen to the floor if I hadn’t been holding him up. Tears flowed and sobs wracked his body as cleansing began to take place in his life and healing happened. This Pastor went on to share that the young man had told him that as the Spirit of the Lord washed over him he felt a physical change happen. All of the pressure, from the hurt that was inside him, was released. The pain that resulted from the hurt, rejection and scorn of a loved one was gone. Not only was there this instant healing, the young man went on to say that things that had held him captive for years were gone. Feelings, desires and fears that had held him in torment for years had not bothered him since that night. God had fulfilled his promise in this young mans life. Rest assured, there is hope! When the thief tries to tell you, there is no hope in life, the good news is, there is hope! The thief will break your heart with sin or the events of life but don’t despair because God heals the brokenhearted. As life tries to blind you to the hope that only Jesus Christ brings, he will reopen your eye of faith and help you to see there is hope. When the thief has bruised you, leaving you battered and hurt, the blood of Jesus Christ will restore liberty and healing, bringing with it hope! Well, this time it isn’t just a thought. It’s a fact! There is hope!

Training to be Blessed of the Lord

“Blessed is the man that walketh no in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law doth he meditate day and night.” Ps 1:1-2. I love this passage of scripture. In fact, every time I read it I think of my father. However, a different thought caught my attention as I meditated upon this passage today. I have the responsibility as a parent to put my children in the position to be blessed of the Lord. This is more than just taking them to Sunday School and to Church. It also involves helping or training them to have a lifestyle that can be blessed of God. The Psalmist gives us some pointers on what is involved in having a blessed lifestyle or character. To be blessed, a person will not do some things. 1) This person will avoid the ways of the wicked. It is that plain and simple. 2) This person will not support the way of the sinful 3) This person will not join those who have no use for God. To be blessed, a person will do some things. 1) He will find joy in the Word of God. 2) He will meditate on the Word of God day and night. In our busy world there is so much noise and confusion and just busyness that we have lost the ability to meditate. This word, as used in the Psalms, simply means to ponder by talking to oneself. In other words, what the Psalmist is telling us we need to do is to stop, read the Word of God and then think about it. While we are thinking about it, we need to talk to ourselves about what we have read. Roll it around in our minds. Or, like the old cowboy said, “Just chew on it for a while.” Mom and Dad it is important that we teach our children how to do this. I know that we might need to learn to do it ourselves first. Would that be so bad? Maybe a blessing is awaiting us that we have missed. Let me encourage you to take sometime with you children, on a daily basis. They are never too young to start learning the Word of God. Sit with them and your Bible. Teach them His Word. Help them to think about what they have read and how to apply it to their lives. A little quiet time, which isn’t associated with being in trouble, will be a blessing to both you and your child. Simultaneously, you are “training up your child in the way he should go” so that they can be blessed of the Lord. Well, it’s just a thought! God Bless!

A Song and a Sword!

The Psalmist tells us to resist our enemy with a Sword and a Song. “Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a twoedged sword in their hand; 7 To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people; 8 To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; 9 To execute upon them the judgment written: this honour have all his saints. Praise ye the LORD.” (Ps.149: 6-9 KJV) I have found, when reading the Psalms, that references to the enemies of the Psalmist should be applied to the enemy of my soul. The methods that the Psalmist used to overcome those moments of despair in his life, I can use to overcome the attacks of the enemy in my life. Many battles fought by the Psalmist were physical but mine will be spiritual. So, what is the remedy? What can I do to have victory in my life? The Psalmist tells me to have the high praises of God in my mouth. When I looked this up, to see if I understood what they were saying, the high praises of God simply mean to “exalt!” Exalt means to raise in rank or position. It is to honor or give more power. To exalt is to praise. When I have the “high praises” in my mouth, I am then exalting God in every way. I am declaring God to be the highest in rank or position in my life! By exalting God I am giving great honor to Him. The high praise recognizes God’s power and opens my life for His power to work. With the “high praises” of God in my mouth I am no longer putting the emphasis on the power and authority of my enemy. I am now putting the emphasis on the power and authority of my God! It is at this time that I need to continue to extol His greatness. I need to sing of His power, His love and His mercy which endure forever. Now is the time to give Him the most honored and authoritative position in my life. When I have the “high praises” of God in my mouth, I should say them aloud. To often we say our praises in our mind unless we are in a worship service or prayer meeting. However, let me again remind you. The enemy cannot hear what you think. He can only hear what you say aloud. To have an effect upon him he must hear you say the “high praises” aloud. The second part of the instruction is to have a “two-edged sword” in our hand. Take the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, in your hand and use it against your enemy. Pick up your Bible and read it aloud. Sing the words! Pray the scripture! Make it personal and direct it at your enemy! Hebrews tells us it is sharper than any two-edged sword but it is only effective when we use it. Many are the times in prayer that I like to speak the Word of God, to God, as a reminder of His promises. For example, I have used Proverbs 18:10 this way: “Lord you said that your name was a strong tower that the righteous can run into and be saved. I am trusting you for salvation! I am calling upon your name in my time of need!” Many are the times when I have used the Word of God, in prayer, to address my enemy. I have used 2 Timothy 1:7 this way: “Satan, God hasn’t given me the spirit of fear, but He has given me the Spirit of Power and of Love and of a Sound Mind! I am claiming that promise. I will no longer be open to your spirit of fear! I take authority over you and the spirit of fear, in the name of Jesus! I curse it and command it to leave! I loose the Spirit of Power, and of Love and of a Sound Mind upon my life right now, in Jesus Name!” The Psalmist tells us that when we use the high praises of God and the two-edged sword we are in authority. We can execute judgment upon our enemy. We can bind them and put them in chains of bondage. The enemy is rendered helpless, without power and authority! This is an honor or privilege that is given to all of the saints of God. I call it using the Song and the Sword! Too often we fail to use the authority that God has placed in our lives. We allow the enemy of our soul to torment us and make our lives miserable. If we are not careful, we begin to feel this is our lot in life. This is all we will ever know! However, this is not the will of God for our lives. It is the will or desire of God for us to be victorious over sin and the enemy of our souls. It is God’s desire that we know life to the fullest. “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10 KJV)