Following Him

I could sum up in one word why most of us have problems, why we depend on mood altering drugs more than any other generation in history. 23 million Americans battle with Addictions every day and lose, 2 Million people will begin abusing prescription drugs this year alone, 10 % of America’s youth abuse drugs on a Regular basis, 30% of youth under 21 have used alcohol in the last year, 31% of Fundamental Pastors admit to viewing internet pornography in the last year, 69% of Christian school students forsake their faith after graduation. That one word would be “FEAR!” Why are we afraid?  Are we afraid of catching the swine flu? Fear of being sued? The fear of going Broke? Are we afraid of that mole being cancerous? The sound of the clock as it ticks telling us our last day on earth is nearing?  Fear robs us of our happiness for you can’t be happy and afraid at the same time. You can’t think clear and be afraid and you can’t be confident and be afraid. In Matthew 8:1-4 The Disciples had just witnessed the healing of a Leper as he was made clean  Matthew 8:5-13  The Disciples had just witnessed the centurion putting great faith in the Lord Jesus. Matthew 8:14-18  The Disciples had just seen Peter’s mother-n-law healed of a fever by the touch from the Hand of the Lord Jesus.  Now that these disciples had heard and seen all of this did it do them any good? Let’s see!

Matthew 8:23  And when he (Jesus) was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him. The little phrase “follow me” is mentioned 22 times in the N.T. 20 out of those 22 times it is referring to following the Lord. You don’t follow after someone you don’t know. You don’t learn after someone you have no interest in.

Matthew 8:24  And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep. I am interested in that word “TEMPEST” Strong says the Greek word used is seismos sice-mos' From G4579; (seiō si'-o Apparently a primary verb; to rock (vibrate, properly sideways or to and fro), that is, (generally) to agitate (in any direction; cause to tremble); figuratively to throw into a tremor (of fear or concern): - move, quake, shake.) a commotion, that is, (of the air) a gale, (of the ground) an earthquake: - earthquake, tempest. Fourteen times that word sice-mos' is used in the N.T. In every other time the word is used as the word Earthquake. So out of fourteen times it is only used as tempest once. Webster says the word tempest means An extensive current of wind, rushing with great velocity and violence; a storm of extreme violence. I think Matthew was trying to get the message across to us that the storm was in earthquake proportions.

Matthew 8:24  And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep.  Too often the Christian life is made to sound that it is crisis free.  

Matthew 8:23  And when he(Jesus) was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him.  Now finally they are safe they have entered into the ship with Jesus; why you couldn’t be any saver could you? But as we read the next verse notice what it doesn’t say “and behold a great rainbow was seen in the sky, a flock of doves were in happy formation, the sea like glass calm as a cruise on the Caribbean. No, that’s not what we are told. That’s how many think, now that I am saved things will be great never another heart break, always money in the bank account never ever will there be unhappiness in my life. Wait, wait before you get too carried way thinking nothing ever again will go wrong in your life;

John 16:33  These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

James 1:2  My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Christians have heart attacks, Battle addictions, Bury their Children, we have incurable diseases and we face fears. Tomorrow we will look closer at this night aboard a ship with Jesus.

Follow Me

When I was a kid we use to play a game called follow the leader. We were to do what the leader did, but the leader’s job was to trick his followers into not doing just as he did and the one who did follow and do everything was the winner. There are many that are following others. They follow them because they admire them and look up to them. I remember when God called me to preach, there was this preacher that I looked up to. I watched how he preached and what he did when he preached, I watched his hand movements his facial features and I had him down to a tee. The big night came when my Pastor asked me to preach; boy was I excited. When my Pastor turned the service over to me I started to imitate this other preacher, but it just didn’t seem right; I was paying too much attention to being someone else instead of what God wanted me to be. Not long into the message God spoke to my heart and said I didn’t call you to be someone else I called you to be you. That night everything changed and from that day forward I have just been me; my wife sometimes shakes her head when I say or do something that is just me, but I have never tried to be anyone except me from that night forward.  Now there is one that I love and admire deeply and want to follow Him and be like Him. The little phrase “follow me” is mentioned 22 times in the N.T. 20 out of those 22 times it is referring to following the Lord. We are also told we are to learn of Him. We do this because we know Him; you don’t follow after anyone you don’t know. You don’t learn after someone you have no interest in. We follow Him because we love Him and we learn of Him for we want to better serve Him. If we follow and learn of Him then we are going to love Him and when you love someone you build a relationship with them. Who better to follow and learn after and build a loving relationship with than the Lord Jesus Christ? When I think about that I am reminded of a saying I heard years ago that I have never forgotten. It says “you can have as much as you want or as little as you are satisfied with.” That being said how far do we want to follow Him? How much do we want to learn about Him? How much do we want to love Him? 

Cover Up

A cover-up is an attempt, whether successful or not, to conceal evidence of wrong doing, error, incompetence or other embarrassing information. It matters not if it is hate, government, personal, crime, race, or some type of allegation that is trying to be covered up it all boils down to an attempt to conceal. The Bible warns us if we cover up wrong then we will not prosper.

Proverbs 28:13 He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh [them] shall have mercy. My definition: sin & mercy

Sin is that act or acts which is against God. Mercy an act of Divine compassion

Joseph refuse to sin against his master for he knew it would be a wrong. He also knew that it would be an act he would have to cover up from his master. But not only that Joseph knew that it was a sinful act against God’s law; therefore he refused.

Genesis 39:9 [There is] none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou [art] his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?

To cover something is to hide it. He that hides his sin will not succeed or achieve. But anyone that confesses and forsakes will be shown Divine compassion. When Adam and Eve sinned it caused them to first cover it up with fig leaves and all was well until God came walking into the garden, at that point they tried to not only cover up their sin but to hide it. But neither of those two acts worked they didn't achieve until they confessed and forsook; not until then was the Divine compassion shown to them. To cover or hide our sin from God only creates loss, and as long as it stays hid we will neither achieve or succeed, what God wants is a clean heart and that only comes when we get real with ourselves and uncover the sin or sins that is besetting us or holding us back.

1John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 

Every day needs to be Armed Forces Day, Memorial Day, and Veterans Day!

The Vietnam  war; most Americans were glued to their televisions every evening watching journalists cover the war, as our culture has "evolved" its neglected the American service member and the war effort. During Vietnam, at least our vets were either completely loved or hated. But never neglected. Today, years after the initiation of the Afghan War, I realized that our service members have been utterly neglected. We no longer see them on our televisions as we did throughout the Vietnam war or at the start of the Afghan War. In fact, we have conditioned ourselves to believe that a blind man from China, Facebook stocks, or an incredibly unprofessional teacher out of North Carolina should make today’s headlines before our own troops. We shouldn’t need a holiday to thank a vet. We shouldn’t need a designated time throughout the year to remember them. We shouldn’t allow pop culture to replace our history, traditions, and gratitude towards our past and present service members. We should be reminded of their sacrifices, daily. As Memorial Day approaches, let’s not forget our veterans. When May 28th ends, let’s continue to remember them throughout the year. Without our veterans we, as a nation, have nothing. Pick up the phone call a vet and thank him!

Gentlemen, prepare to defend yourselves!  

U. S. Army PFC Wayne J Stokes KIA 2 December 1967

PFC - E3 - Army - Selective Service
9th Infantry Division
Length of service 0 years
His tour began on Nov 22, 1967
Casualty was on Dec 2, 1967
In LONG AN, SOUTH VIETNAM
HOSTILE, GROUND CASUALTY
GUN, SMALL ARMS FIRE
Body was recovered
 Panel 31E - Line 26

U.S. Marine Thomas Craig Richard Jr. PFC KIA 8 February 1968

PFC - E2 - Marine Corps - Regular
Length of service 0 years
His tour began on Dec 27, 1967
Casualty was on Feb 8, 1968
In QUANG TRI, SOUTH VIETNAM
HOSTILE, GROUND CASUALTY
OTHER EXPLOSIVE DEVICE
Body was recovered
Panel 38E - Line 24

U.S. Army Neil Kroger KIA November 1965

2LT - O1 - Army - Reserve
Length of service 0 years
His tour began on Aug 18, 1965
Casualty was on Nov 15, 1965
In , SOUTH VIETNAM
HOSTILE, GROUND CASUALTY
MULTIPLE FRAGMENTATION WOUNDS
Body was recovered
Panel 03E - Line 59

U. S Army Tom Metsker KIA 14 November 1965

CAPT - O3 - Army - Reserve
Length of service 4 years
His tour began on Aug 6, 1965
Casualty was on Nov 14, 1965
In , SOUTH VIETNAM
HOSTILE, GROUND CASUALTY
GUN, SMALL ARMS FIRE
Body was recovered
 Panel 03E - Line 49

U. S Army Jack Geoghegan KIA

U. S Army Phillip Nixon

U.S. Army Stanley DeCastor

U.S. Army Jimmy Johnson

U.S. Army Jerry Barns

U.S. Army Ted Beck

U.S. Army Jerry Pinson

Joe Marion Morgan Sr. KOREA  1957-1959

U.S. Marine David Savage

USAF Richard Ford

USAF Thomas Burns

USAF Ronald Lamp

USAF Randy Fawn

USAF Steve Sparks

U.S. Army Clinton Ayers

U.S. Army Ted Taylor

U.S. Army Terry Booth

U. S. Army Bill Dowis

U.S. Marine Wayne Baker

U.S. Marine John Kerr

USAF Wayne S Sosebee  

Army Air Force John H Sosebee WII; Thanks Dad; Passed away December 27, 1986 age 65

U.S. Marine Thomas Henry Roberts I knew him well; we all thought he was strange when we were kids. Then I found out why! He was a Corporal in the Marine Corps, serving as a Rifle Sharpshooter and member of the Mortar Platoon, a survivor of Iwo Jima. He passed away July 14, 2007 at the age of 86. 

Robbed Future

The question “how old is planet earth?” I typed in that question in the Google tool bar and came up with the answer of 4.54 billion years old. There are a lot of questions on how much, how many, how long and on and on we could go with the how questions. How old this universe is man will probably never find out and if we did how will it help us? Excuse me there’s another how question! I want you to think about this, the question is not how long or where did I come from but what should be on our mind is where am I going? As we open our Bibles we notice that there is only one verse that describes the beginning of creation.

Genesis 1:1  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Two chapters are devoted to the populating of the earth. One chapter is devoted to man’s fall and his eternal ruin, and then all of the rest of the book of Genesis, as well as the rest of the Bible, looks to the future and the coming of the Redeemer. If we are not careful we will waste time trying to figuring out the past, how it all began. I would like to look at this a bit different; what if you and I spent most of our time thinking about the past. How we could have done better and if we could only do it over we would do this and that. That’s all well and fine and yes we should learn from our mistakes, as well as teach others to avoid the same pit falls if possible. What about our future? There is not a thing we can do about yesterday but there is much we can do about the on coming days ahead of us. As my Daddy always said “that’s water under the bridge.” Meaning that there is nothing that can be done to change or correct what has already been done. If our Bible is telling us more about the future than the past shouldn’t you and I be thinking and planning for the future. It’s a fact that we are all going to die, but what about after that? They made fun of Noah, they didn’t understand why in the world he was building such a monstrosity of a boat. It did look strange and was strange if everything was going to stay the same. But Noah was building for the future not the present; he saw something others didn’t want to see and refused to see. The day the rain fell was a day that they wished they had planned for the future but it was too late for the present stole their future. I hear a lot about the coming of the Lord these days. Some believe that the day will never come and that there is no such thing at all and time will continue as it always has. There are others who believe that the Lord is coming and it will not be long. We can say that those are people who are looking past the present to the future. Don’t be like those in Noah’s day believing in the present and being robbed of the future. As the Apostle Paul said:

2Corinthains 13:5  Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?

When a batter is called out because he watched the last pitch go right by him, you might hear the announcer say “he was caught looking.” Don’t you be caught looking when you should have put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior for that is letting the present rob you of the future. 

Names Given

I was in downtown Atlanta yesterday and there were some things I saw that I would like to briefly tell you about. I was working around a building when my eye caught a place where homeless people must spend the night. It was a bridge that went over a train track. I left there and went to a wealthier part of town and there I saw those who were making a nice living and looking at expensive automobiles. I saw a young woman that had tattoos and I thought to myself, why, would she want to put those meaningless tattoos on her; doesn’t she know they will never come off.  It is easy to see others and make a quick decision about them. But wait a minute is that what I really saw? Is that what Jesus wanted me to see; sorry no good homeless people; wealthier people who have made a good living and then that young lady that allows someone to put non removable ink on her; was she no good? Where did I come up with this kind of thinking? Did I not see people that didn’t have a home that Jesus loves. Did I not also see some important people that Jesus loves and then the young lady who I passed judgment on was she not also loved by Jesus.

John 3:16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

“ For God so loved the world” who is in this world that Jesus loves? Homeless, drug addicts, bankers, tattoo artist, educated as well as the uneducated, those who have homes, Jesus doesn’t see others the way that I do and I must confess I must see others the way Jesus does or else I will continue to put names on the ones Jesus cares about and loves.

Your Choice

Proverbs 22:1 A [good] name [is] rather to be chosen than great riches, [and] loving favour rather than silver and gold.

Chosen- select; Here we have, it's your choice; what would you rather have if you could have just one; good name or great riches. Did you notice what was said? Good- a favorable character Or Great- notable large in size; Loving favor- a friendly regard shown toward another especially by a superior; Rather than silver and gold. Would you choose a favorable character and a friendly regard shown toward you by your superiors over GREAT riches of silver and gold? What a choice. At first glance, and with little though one might say great riches and silver and gold. But if we were to give it some real though, we might not make that choice. We could all use some cash but what are we willing to give in exchange for that cash?

Mar 8:37  Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? You say “I’m not wanting to sell my soul; I just would like to have enough cash to be comfortable.” How much do you think you would have to be to be comfortable? For some, they can never get or have enough. Why are they trying to accumulate so much? They can’t take it with them. The best they could do is leave it behind for their family members to fight over. Money will consume our minds to the point of that’s all we are thinking about. If I move this stock will it make me more, who is trying to get my money and if you get to comfortable you might have to just leave and go find another place to live. Will people be your friends because of you or because of what you have? That’s not the case with a good name and loving favor. It’s not, here comes that rich tight wad; he more than likely robbed the poor and the old to have what he has; you don’t just get that kind of money being honest. It could be, look there’s your name here you’ll not find a better, more honest person than them. Why your name here has your sacrifice here  and on and on I could go but I think you should get to know them it’s just good being in their presents. We can have a good name or we can have great riches; the question is what do we have our sight set on? What’s more important to us at this time? How do others view us?

Heard

Has anyone ever said to you; “Did you hear what I said?” Have you ever been talking to someone and wonder if they heard what you were saying? We want others to hear us if we are talking to them, don’t we? Sure we do or we wouldn’t waste our time talking to them. We don’t mind voicing our opinion, telling of something that displeases us in other words we don’t mind complaining. When you and I pray we want the Lord to hear our prayers, don’t we? Sure we do!

Psalms 34:17  The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. You know what? Although we want God to hear our prayers and we want God to see our good deed; have we ever stopped to think that God may hear our complaining and see our evil works? Probably not! I’m afraid that God hears more than we want Him too.

Exodus 2:24  And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.

Exodus 6:5  And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant.

Oh no I don’t think they wanted God to hear all that; do you? Like you and I we want God to hear our prayers when we pray but we sure don’t want Him to hear our complaining, backstabbing, gossiping, running others down; you know the things we do that we really don’t want God to hear. You know what? He does! Now that will give us something to think about this week when we start to speak.  

Proverbs 15:3  The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good. 

Not Proud

 Humble- not proud or haughty : not arrogant or assertive. We see this word “humble” recorded 24 times in the Bible. The very first time we read the word humble is in the book of Exodus and this is what we read;

Exodus 10:3  And Moses and Aaron came in unto Pharaoh, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me? let my people go, that they may serve me.

Moses is standing before the leader of Egypt as he asks him this question “how long will you refuse to humble yourself before the Lord? It’s a how long question. My youngest son would ask me over and over how long Dad before we get to; I would have to just make up a time and that seemed to work for a little while. But in this question we find a King refusing to humble himself before God the great high King. Then I went to the last verse that had this word humble recorded and we find it in the New Testament in the book of 1Peter;

1Peter 5:6  Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Be ye humbled before God, and in his sight; quietly submit to his will; patiently bear every affliction without murmuring or complaining. He that is low in his pride and he that is down doesn’t need to fear of falling. Here, in this last verse we see that you and I should do what Moses was asking Pharaoh to do. It may not be a how long question but when will you! Not humbling ourselves could be a self problem; we like to say “I told you so, I knew that was going to happen, you should have asked me, yea, I was there I saw it all happen.” We get the pats on the back the good and kind words said about us and to us but in the process we really lose because we didn’t humble ourselves.

James 4:10  Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.   We need to come to the place in our life where we are giving praise to the Lord for all He has and is doing; don’t become proud but humble ourselves before the Lord; and He will lift you up. Now I don’t have to be the big I, I don’t have to let self be Mr. Big I just need to be humble before the Lord and He will lift me up if needs be. Have a blessed weekend and pray for your Pastor that God will speak to you through him.  

Arm Yourselves

By May 14, 1940 the news from the front was uniformly bad. The Germans had broken through the French defenses at Sedan, and everywhere the French forces were reeling under a devastating barrage from land and air. "At almost all points where the armies had come in contact," Churchill later wrote, "the weight and fury of the German attack was overwhelming." Holland fell on May 15, and Churchill flew to Paris on the same day to confer with the French leaders. It was evident that the military situation was near to catastrophic, and that the military commanders and political leaders were resigned to overwhelming defeat. Our task is not only to win the battle - but to win the war. After this battle in France abates its force, there will come the battle for our Island -- for all that Britain is, and all the Britain means. “Arm yourselves, and be ye men of valor, and be in readiness for the conflict; for it is better for us to perish in battle than to look upon the outrage of our nation and our altar.”—Winston Churchill

That was 72 years ago that Winston Churchill spoke those words but I wonder are there any Christian soldiers reading this blog today? As Christians our task is not only to win the battle but to also win the war. Peter wrote this;

1Peter 4:1  Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;

We are told to arm ourselves with the same mind. Paul put it like this;

Philippians 2:5  Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

Isaiah said it like this;

Isaiah 26:3  Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

In order for you and I to be armed we must understand it’s not with artillery of the flesh but artillery of and with the mind. When you and I asked ourselves what would Jesus do or how would Jesus handle this, or what would Jesus say. When we began to use our mind in that fashion we are arming ourselves with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and because of that we are overcoming the sin that so easily distracts us and we do that by learning to look unto Jesus. Fight the battle today my friend, remembering Jesus who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despised the shame and is now set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Today we fight the battles of this life we may not win every battle but just remember the war is already won and we are on the winning side my friend.

Heb 12:1  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. 

Exam

When in school and the classes were coming to an end the students have what is called final exams; they always gave a larger percentage to the final grade. It was important that you pass that final exam. On this test you didn’t want to just get by, you wanted to make a high grade. In

2 Corinthians 13 and verse 5 we read these words

2Corinthains 13:5  Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?

Here we are asked not to take an exam but instead to examine ourselves for the sole purpose of knowing if we are in the faith. Then we are asked not only to examine but also to prove ourselves. In other words test yourselves make sure you are not failing the test. An exam has question on it that we are supposed to know the answers to. On a history exam one of the questions might be, on what date was the attacking of Pearl Harbor?  If you fail to write December 7, 1941 then whatever answer you wrote down would be wrong. Here, we are asked to examine ourselves; in other words why do you think that when you die you are going to heaven? If you said because I have been fairly good, or I have good feelings about it or a host of other answers that’s not going to be the right answer. The reason being is the next question the proof; proof is something that will give without doubt the reason.  Jesus said this in Matthew; 

Matthew 11:28  Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Examine, has there ever been a time in your life that you came unto Jesus?

Matthew 11:29  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. Are you learning about the Lord Jesus?

2Corinthains 5:17  Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. Has there ever been a real change in your life where you just didn’t want to do the things that you had always loved doing anymore and your life was completely changed.  Let me give you an example; In the book of Exodus chapter 12 we read where the Lord speaks unto Moses and Aaron telling them to tell the congregation of Israel that every man was to take a lamb. They are to keep it up until the 14^th day and then they are to kill it in the evening. Then they are to take the blood and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the house. For the Lord said that He will pass through the land of Egypt and He will kill all the firstborn in the land of Egypt where there is no blood on the doorpost. On that night it didn’t matter if anyone inside the house was a good person; it didn’t matter how they felt. You see the Lord was only looking for one thing; the blood on the doorpost? No blood and the firstborn died; if the blood was on the door post then the firstborn lived; God’s people were to do what God’s word told them to do? The same is true today, have we done what we were told to do in God’s word? Or are we basing our salvation on how we feel, or our thinking in our good works? How much money we have given to our Church, our Church membership? That’s why we must examine and prove ourselves because when the death angel comes it will be too late. If it doesn’t line up in God’s Word then it’s not going to be any proof. The proof will be in the way we live our lives.

Save Yourselves

Acts 2:40  And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation.

Philippians 2:12  Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

Two interesting verses; can we save ourselves and can we really work out our own salvation? Let me give you an illustration. A man who cannot swim falls into a pool of water and he finds himself in imminent danger of drowning. He does not drown, he is saved. Why? Because a friend threw him a life preserver; did his friend save him? Yes, but he also saved himself by taking hold of the life preserver. The life preserver came into the water to save sinkers. Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners.

1Timothy 1:15  This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

1Timothy 6:12  Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.

The man who falls into the pool of water that cannot swim is every one of us that has been born into this world of sin and we are drowning. Someone who we may or may not know tell us about the Lord Jesus and what He has done for each of us. That is like the man throwing the other man the life preserver. Now the question is do we take hold of the life preserver and live or do we drown?  Now, if we reach out and take hold of what has been given to us we have eternal life and if we don’t then we have eternal death. What are you holding on to? Good works? Not good enough. I hope you have laid hold of eternal life and that can only be found in the Lord Jesus Christ. May the Lord richly bless as you start into this week and throw someone a life line.

Violent Anger

 In Proverbs 27:4  Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?  there a few words “wrath, cruel, anger, outrageous and envy. I took the time to look up a few of their meanings and then asked myself do I ever let these things happen to me? I learned when I am angry and I allow it to get violent it causes pain to others and those others are usually the ones that I love the most.

#1- Wrath=[Violent anger]

#2-  Cruel [to give pain to others] 

#3- Anger [ A violent passion of the mind excited by a real or supposed injury]  

#4- Outrageous; [Violent; furious; exorbitant; exceeding all bounds of moderation] 

#5- Envy? [ To feel uneasiness, mortification or discontent, at the sight of superior excellence, reputation or happiness enjoyed by another]

Violent anger gives pain to others when we give in to the violent passions of our mind, it will become furious beyond moderation. This may be because we have given way to our feelings of uneasiness or discontentment. We see others being happy and we are not or their reputation and at the sight of them we just become violently angry. We want to cause them pain by words or other methods because we have let our minds become furious. Let me ask do we have a violent anger problem?  How are we going to correct it?  Here are some Biblical points that works for me. Remember “the truth makes free” so what is truth?  Answer 

John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.  So the truth is Jesus  and Jesus said 

John 8:31  Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed [ that is past tense ] on him, If ye continue [to be permanent] in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;

John 8:32  And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.   Here it is, no Jesus know truth and Jesus makes FREE! So on this issue of knowing our heart we need to do as King David did of long ago

Psalms 139:23   Search me,[ not some one else but me ] O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: Are we willing to let God search our heart?

Psalms 139:1  O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. Psa 139:2  Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.

Psalms 139:3  Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.  I would say that the Lord knew David very well. Guess what! The Lord also knows you very well He knows about your violent anger and wants to help you correct it and set you free. But working the back ground is the thief of John 10 who want and will steal your desire and happiness and will destroy all he can in our life. But we are told 

1John 4:4  Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, [Jesus] than he that is in the world.[The thief is satan, devil] If you are dealing with an anger issue you may be letting the wrong one run your mind. We must do as we are instructed

Philippians 2:5  Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: So whose mind do you have? What did God share with you this week?  

Exercise

In the day that you and I live in we are told we are to exercise so we can be in better physical condition. There's not a day that goes by that we don't see someone running, walking, hiking, biking, going to the gym, or working out with trainers. The purpose of the exercise is to lose weight and build up our weak bodies which in turn will help with the stress in our life. It will help us mentally, improve our looks and make us a better person to be around. There is nothing wrong with doing all that exercising, it will not hurt us, matter of fact it will do us good. But then here’s a verse that would cause us to maybe question why are we doing all this exercising?

  1 Timothy 4:8  For bodily exercise profiteth little: What! Exercise profit little; if exercise does us no good then why waste our time. Wait, wait, that's not what is being said. It says that exercise has little profit. You might say oh no I have lost 40, 60 even 100 lbs or my mind is clearer than it’s ever been because of my commitment to my exercise program. Without doubt all those things are true; we are not being told not to exercise I assure you. We could all use some exercise. When we read the rest of the verse it becomes very clear what we are being taught, but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.

In comparison godliness verses bodily exercise godliness is much more profitable because it has the promise of life now and for eternity. We need to exercise, but we need to read and study our bibles so that our relationship with our heavenly Father will be built up, for it will give us daily strength how to handle our day to day struggles. If we want to be able to endure the race of life, then knowing God is a must.

Pay Attention

I was looking at Mark chapter 4 and how it starts off with Jesus teaching the multitudes. What caught my attention was the very first teaching; it was about receiving God’s Word. You’ll not think much about it unless you put the whole chapter together. Jesus made this statement “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” Jesus said to His disciples;

Mark 4:9  And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. Throughout this chapter Jesus does much teaching and the disciples were there but did they hear? Oh, I know they heard the words that came from the lips of Jesus but did they really hear? I’m not sure they did; let me explain. Jesus teaches about the seed and the  different types of soil; was the disciple learning? Later in this chapter Jesus makes this statement. “Pay attention to what you're listening to!”

Mark 4:24  And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given.

Pay attention for knowledge will be measured out to you by the measure of attention you give.  Did these disciples really pay attention? Then Jesus makes a simple statement “let us pass over unto the other side.”

Mark 4:35  And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. Simple enough so they all jumped into the ship and off they sail to the other side. Jesus may have said “it’s been a long day boys and I’m going to the back and get some rest.” Jesus goes to the rear of the ship finds a pillow and goes to sleep. All seem to be fine but then something unplanned happen; a great storm.

Mark 4:37  And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. This is bad; the water is coming down, the wind is blowing, the waves are coming in on these disciples and the ship is almost full of water. They may have said what are we going to do? Then one speaks up, go wake up Jesus. That is what they did but it’s what they said that caught my attention “don't you care that we're going to die?"

Mark 4:38  And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? Jesus gets up calms the storm and asked why are you so afraid?

Mark 4:40  And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?

It’s easy to get down on these disciple but we do the same thing because we think that the storms of life are going to pass us by. The winds of discomfort are never to come our way; but they do. When they do we must remember it’s not what we are going to do it’s the trust we have in the Lord Jesus that will get us through. Ok you say, what would you have done had you been on that ship that night? More than likely I would have been the one to wake Jesus up. The reason I say that is there have been storms that came into my life and I didn’t handle them very well. Here is the answer;

Proverbs 3:5  Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

Proverbs 3:6  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Trust in the Lord! I wonder how the disciples felt!

Mark 5:1  And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes.

Just like Jesus said!

Almost Everyone Has One

The other day as I was stopped at a red light I glanced over at the car beside me and noticed a lady tapping away on her cell phone. Then I noticed a man with his cell phone up to his ear talking to someone. As I went through the day I began to notice how many were using their cell phone either talking, texting, playing games, reading emails, messages or just viewing there phone. Then I noticed 4 people in one car and everyone was talking on their cell phone to someone else. Then I got to thinking most people have a cell phone, they have it with them at all times, if they forget it most will go back just to get it. Cell phones consume a lot of our time and I hear few if any complaints. What if we were to spend half that time with the Lord as we do with our cell phone? What if we left our Bible at home and turned around to go get it because we knew we would be using it all through the day? What if there were four people in one car and they were all praying for someone else? What if we were always looking at our Bible? What if we listened to messages being preached by Godly Pastors every day? I think if we were to spend that kind of time with the Lord I know our lives would be happier, fuller and I am sure we would be more excited. Our homes would be blessed, we would be a more loving person to be around, we would care more about each other and we would love and spend more time with our families. Just a thought!

Losing Not Winning

About 14 years ago my family took a trip to see the Grand Canyon. We flew into Las Vegas and used it for a hub to see some things around there. While there in Las Vegas I noticed that the hotels were really nice, most people were gambling; notice I said gambling not winning. My youngest son was watching all these happy looking people giving their money away to slot machines and all kinds of other gambling devices in hopes of the big win. I began to look at the nice carpet, light fixtures and all the other nice furnishings. I then told my son if he had noticed how nice everything was? I asked him if everyone is winning how in the world do you think they could afford all this luxury?  I read some facts yesterday and read this fact about the revenue generated from gambling. “The revenue that is generated from gambling is more than the revenue that comes from movies, cruise ships, recorded music, theme parks, and spectator sports combined.” Wow! Now that’s a lot of revenue. I then got to thinking about how inviting it is. Now I don’t know anything about gambling casino’s all I know is what I saw in Las Vegas. I must say it was inviting and the thoughts of walking away with 1000’s in your pocket was; well, only wishful thinking. As I was thinking about that trip I also thought about these verses.

Matthew 7:13  Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:

 Anyone that was of age could have played there in Las Vegas and many were, so the gate was broad. But as I said everybody was not winning so that means many were losing and losing big. Now this broad way has led many to destruction instead of the wealth. The life which you and I are living at this present time is like that. There is a broad way and so many are doing wrong that it may appear that nothing will ever change but there is another verse.

Mattew 7:14  Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

There is another gate and this gate is narrow and instead of many going in it tells us that there are few that find it. Here we have only two gates or ways, one leads to destruction and one leads to life. We can take our chances and go through the wide gate but we have already been warned that if we do that it will lead to destruction. Now if we go thought the narrow gate it will lead to life. I have decided that the narrow gate is the one I want; no, not want but the one that I went through. As for you, if you have found yourself in the fast lane with many and you are not winning like you thought, then why not change and become part of the few, the ones that have real life. Not just a hope and a dream and a few dollars in the bank to live out the rest of your days in ease but more than a dream, eternal life. For you can know that you have eternal life for sure!

1John 5:13  These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. 

Do You See What

Do you see what others see or do you see something totally different?

Abraham takes his only son to the top of a mountain; the purpose, sacrifice his only son but Abraham refused to see that. How do I know you may ask? Read it yourself!

Genesis 22:5 And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.

Genesis 22:6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid [it] upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.

Genesis 22:7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here [am] I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where [is] the lamb for a burnt offering?

Genesis 22:8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.

Did you see it? Verse 25 Abraham tells his young men just wait here I and the lad will come back. Verse 27 Isaac speaks and says "I see the fire and the wood but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"  Abraham tells his son God will provide Himself a lamb. Abraham saw what others didn't and refused to see what looked obvious. Abraham saw a savior not a sacrifice; Abraham didn’t have all the answers he just put his trust in God. The word “trust” means confidence! Abraham did not place trust in himself nor his abilities. Abraham placed confidence in God and therefore he was able to see what others didn’t. In the book of Proverbs chapter 3 and in the first 6 verses we learn how to put confidence in God. In verse 1 we see a father talking to his son telling him not to forget what he’s been taught. The reason being, if he wants long life then he is to bind and write God’s commandments upon his heart. By doing this it is much easier to place confidence in the Lord therefore allowing Him to direct your path. Some paths are easy and it doesn’t take much Bible knowledge for instance; do not steal, don’t commit adultery, or don’t lie. Then there are other things that will take more trust. Like, who should I spend the rest of my life with? What should I spend the rest of my life doing? It is then we are to put trust in the Lord and the confidence will come because of the hiding and binding of God’s Word in our heart and the relationship we have with the Lord. Are you spending your time seeing what everyone else is seeing or are refusing to see what the obvious is? When we are trusting in the Lord we will see what others don’t! Have a great weekend see you in Church Sunday!

Ever Thought

Have you ever thought about what it would have been like to have walked the dusty roads with Jesus? Jesus knew where He was going and who He would come In contact with as He traveled. He told Peter to watch out and be careful, He told him that the devil desired to sift him as wheat.

Luke 22:31 And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired [to have] you, that he may sift [you] as wheat:

Luke 22:32 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. You would think that Peter would have been grateful and said thank you Lord for warning me of the danger that I'm headed for. That's not what happened at all; Peter told the Lord how he was prepared to go to prison and if need be he would die.

Luke 22:33 And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death. The Lord said, “No Peter, that’s not the way it will be; this is what you will do.

Luke 22:34 And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me. And that is exactly what happened. Peter, instead of going to prison says I don’t even know who Jesus is. You and I were not living back in those days and we didn’t walk side by side with Jesus like Peter did. If you have asked the Lord Jesus to forgive you of your sins then the Holy Spirit is living within your heart. His job is to tell us, guide us and teach us of things to avoid as we go through life.

John 14:16  And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever;

John 14:17  Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

John 16:13  Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. Sure it’s easy to look back at Peter and say “if that had been me and I had seen all that Peter had seen I would have avoided all that he did.” It’s always easy to look back, know the truth and then tell what we would have done. What about the here and now? The Holy Spirit living within the Child of God and we still act and do as Peter did. Have you ever said this “I’ll never _____!” and then you did what you said you would never do. That’s what happened that day when Peter voiced his thoughts. He never intended do or say what he did and he meant what he said at the time. There just wasn’t any pressure on him at the time. Be careful because Satan wants you too.

Joh 10: 10  The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: 

When

 We hear this word all the time “when.” It’s a simple word that means “at what time.” I have said that word many time as I would say to a friend “when are you coming” I have said it to my children “when will you be home.” All I wanted to know was at what time you will be coming by or at what time can your mother and I expect you to be home. That word also has changed many lives; I weighted 280 lbs but when I changed my diet I lost down to 225 lbs. My life was a wreck and it seemed all was lost but when I walked into that Church I was introduced to the Lord Jesus Christ. When I asked Him to forgive me of my sins my life changed for eternity. On yesterday as we were learning some things about what was going on with Israel; how they did evil and their evil leads them into 7-years of loss. They would plant, work the fields and when harvest time would come here comes their enemy and takes away what they had worked so hard for. Now what amazes me is they let this go on for 7 long years and year after year they came up short after working so hard. This reminds me of someone with an addiction. hey work so hard at finding a job they finally go to work start getting a pay check and then decide to go use the money they had worked so hard for you indulge in their addiction. Because of that they lose their job and they like the Israelites keep doing the same thing over and over again. Need to write this phrase down somewhere so that you can remember it; “If you keep doing the same things you have been doing, you’re going to keep getting the same results.” Now think for a moment, why would anything change? Keep painting the picture black and it will never be white for if you want it white you’re going to have to use white paint. In other words change what you have been doing. This is just what the Israelites did.

Judges 6:7  And it came to pass, when( at what time)the children of Israel cried unto the LORD because of the Midianites, When the children of Israel cried or prayed unto the Lord things started to change. When we allow addictions to rule our lives we lose everything but when we realize that the problem is not with our addiction but with us then we, like the children of Israel can and should cry unto the Lord for help. At what time one does that they will be surprised whom God will send their way to help them. But nothing happens until the when!