I Know Her Best

On Monday and Tuesday of last week I wrote about worship and the more I look at this area I am finding out that this may be an area that we must look further into. I would like to look at what the meaning of worship is. First I would like to give an illustration that maybe will help us.

A building was on fire on the top story, a young woman was seen standing at the window crying for help; her case was hopeless. A young fireman sees and hears her cries mounted a ladder and at the risk of his own life, brought her to safety. In all the excitement the young lady forgot to thank her rescuer for his act of bravery. On the next day she called him to thank him for what he had done. Soon a friendship developed and ripened into love, to which an engagement followed and one day they both stood before a marriage altar and were married. Now this lady never allowed herself to forget that this fireman was her savior and that, not for him, she might have been burned to death; but he was now much more to her than a savior: he was her husband, her lover, her companion through all her troubles and her all in all.

In a way Worship is much similar to that of this young lady. One day we see our need for a Savior and we ask for forgiveness of our sin and He forgives us. But we need more than that and we get that by spending time in our Bibles and allowing the Lord to speak to us so we might get to know Him. That is what the Apostle Paul was saying in Philippians 3:10
That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; This is what David was saying in Psalm 119:9
Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to thy word.

Psalm 119:10
With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.

Psalm 119:11
Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

The better we know Him the better we understand. Think about it for a moment from a human stand point. I have been married to the same woman for almost 40 years. Let's say that you were introduced to her today for the first time; who do you think would know her best? You would say that I would of course. Well, why do you think that would be? It would be because I know her and over the last 39 years have been studying her and spending time with her. I know her favorite color, her favorite place to eat, what she likes to do and the places she enjoys going to just to name a few. The reason we don't know much about Jesus is that we just don't spend much time learning about Him. I have discovered that many are pretty sure that they are on their way to heaven but there still remains a small amount of doubt. That can't be we must know for sure and the Bible says we can 1John 5:12
He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.

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.

1John 5:14
And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: Do you understand? Do you have the Son? "ye may know that ye have eternal life" "and this is the confidence that we that we have in him." There is no room for any doubt, this you must be sure of. I enjoy knowing more about the one I love so I spend time in my Bible and Pray and I have learned how I might know Him better. How well do you know Him {Jesus}?

#1-Prayer -is the occupation of the soul with it needs. {Lord, save my soul}

#2-Praise- is the occupation of the soul with its blessings. {Thank you, Lord, for saving my soul}

#3-Worship- is the occupation of the soul with God Himself. {Thank you, Lord, for what Thou art}

Things Passed Away

Has anyone ever asked you this question "has there ever been a time in your life where you life changed completely?" I can tell you about the time and I can take you to the place when that happened in my life. The time was April 1973; the place was Eastland Heights Baptist Church in Atlanta, Ga. What happened on that day? Old Things passed away when I saw, I was guilty, when I knew that there was a judgment to come and I was far from being ready. My church membership was no good and I needed much more than that. I can and will give you a Bible Verse 2 Corinthians 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. The day will come and we do not know when, this life's race will be over and I can assure you the things you think are most important now will not be what is important then. Learn to spend time with Jesus and know Him.

Get excited, for we are rich in Christ Jesus and our Bibles are a Love letter from a Father to His children. If you and I are to know who Jesus is then we must listen to those who know Him; read with me what Paul has to say Galatians 2:20- I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

The new life is lived on the principle of faith in Christ rather than on that of legal obedience. Galatians 2:16- Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

Faith builds on the fact of a personal love of the Savior. Ephesians 5:2- And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour.

Righteousness cannot be obtained by the law if it could then there would have been no need for the death of Christ. Is the law useless to us? No! Let me show you why. Paul said in Romans 7:7- What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet

Paul said that he would have never known sin if it were not for the law. What law? Paul talked about a Law that said "Thou shalt not covet." Is there such a law?

Exodus 20:17-
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's

Deuteronomy 5:21- Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour's wife, neither shalt thou covet thy neighbour's house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or any thing that is thy neighbour's.

Paul later tells us that it was the law that was his teacher

Galatians 3:24- Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
Do you know Him or just about Him? May the Lord bless each and every one of you this weekend and please don't be a stranger at your Church.

 

Is Jesus Enough

I recently talked with a friend who told me they had just had a big day at their Church. He said it was all great except for one thing and that was that they ran out of food. It does not matter whether at Church or at home we seem to run out of things no matter what it is; food, money, time, luck…… As I was thinking about running out the Lord brought this fact to my mind. You will quickly remember the time where Jesus fed 5000 plus people with 2 small fish and 5 barley loaves and then had 12 baskets full left. Which brings to mind that Jesus is enough no matter what? But there are some interesting facts that you don't hear preached about. Have you ever stopped to realize that there are 4 versions of this event; one in each of the four Gospels. What is strange about that is that this is true of no other of our Savior's miracles. We have not four records of Christ's birth, or of His baptism, temptation, transfiguration, or ascension, or of a single one of His parables, prayers, or discourse. We do have four records of His agony in the garden, His trail and condemnation, His death, burial, and resurrection, and His Great Commission. What is so amazing is that Jesus takes so little and makes so much; beyond those disciples wildest imagination. Jesus did three things

#1- He Saw Mark 6:34
And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people,

When Jesus saw much people, He also saw their needs. Many things go on in our lives and we don't know how it will all work out and the natural thing is for us to work it out ourselves, and if we can't…well we can always ask God to. Is that the way it is supposed to be?
Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. Too many times we trust in self instead of our Savior.

#2- He felt and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things.

Not only did Jesus see He also felt what these people were experiencing, but He felt deeper because He knew they had no shepherd. What does a Shepherd do? He leads his sheep! Now why were these people here? John 6:2
And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased. These people were following Jesus in hopes they would see Him do something on a blind man or lame man or whatever but none the less Jesus loved them, for He knew what they needed. It was not to see Him perform another miracle but it was to have Him the great High Shepherd in their lives.

#3- He Acted Mark 6:37
He answered and said unto them, Give ye them to eat.
He gave them something to eat for He knew you can't teach hungry people spiritual things when all they are thinking is where and when we are going to eat. It would have been a miracle if each one of those people got just one bite; but Jesus went much further than that. These people had all they could eat John 6:12 When they were filled There was plenty he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.

John 6:13
Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten.
Can I tell you that Jesus is more than enough. The problem is not with Jesus but with you and I. Too many time we do like Philip and Andrew John 6:7
Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.

John 6:8
One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him,

John 6:9
There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?
We look at our resources {two hundred pennyworth and five barley loaves and two small fishes} and say it is just not enough. But what we fail to do is pray and watch God work. When we do that there will not only be plenty but there will be leftovers.

The Power of Anger

What is anger? Webster says it means "A violent passion of the mind excited by a real or supposed injury." So what can anger do? It can destroy long time friendships, destroy homes and distance family members. Anger can and will wreck our health because anger just doesn't stay anger it turns into unforgiveness and then bitterness sets in. Now we are not willing to even talk or even want to see that person we are angry with. I learned something that has been very helpful to me; I guess it would be fair to say we all get angry from time to time. Many times we will even convince ourselves that we know what the other person is thinking about us. That is where the word suppose comes in you see we assume we know, when we have no idea what the other person is thinking. So I use the three day rule which is when I get confused about the way something happens or feel I have been mistreated I wait three days. I don't talk to anyone about it, I don't ask for anyone else's opinion and I have found out that in three days things look a whole lot different and now without anger I am able to talk to the person if I need to. The Bible has much to say about anger; here are few verses that have helped me, may they help you too.

Proverbs 14:17
He that is soon angry dealeth foolishly:

Proverbs 15:1
A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger. {We all know how to defend ourselves}

Proverbs 15:2
The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright: but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness.

Proverbs 16:32
He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit {Better to be even-tempered} than he that taketh a city.

Ephesians 4:26
Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: {don't go to bed angry}

Too many husbands and wives go to bed angry at each other; they have a wrong attitude and hurt feelings. Why is it so important to make things right with your mate before you go to bed? You will sleep better that is for sure but the main reason is you don't want to give the devil any opportunity to work. Where do I get that? In the next verse Ephesians 4:27
Neither give place to the devil. You give him place and he will be like the camel that was so cold that he asked his master if he could just stick his nose in his warm tent. His master allowed him to and then the camel asked if he could stick one leg in his nice warm tent to which his master agreed. The camel kept asking and asking until he was in the tent completely and his master was out in the cold. Keep giving the enemy opportunity and before long your life will be wrecked. So learn today how to start controlling your anger before your anger controls you and leads to an unforgiving spirit to which many have never returned. It would be sad for your mother, dad, brother or sister to die and you still be holding on to a grudge from way back when; with no opportunity to give or ask for forgiveness ever. That's what the enemy wants; don't give him the privilege.

Worship #2

On yesterday I wrote about Worship and I would like today to write a bit more about Worship. We said on yesterday that Worship was the overflow of a grateful heart. Worship is also a heart that is overflowing and Glorifying God because of it. The word "Glorify" Webster tells us means to praise; to magnify and honor. I took a little time and looked up some verses about when a good time would be to Glorify God and here is what I found!

#1- Glorify God in the day of Trouble
Psalms 50:15
And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.

#2- As a Nation we should
Psalms 86:9
All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name.

#3- With all our hearts
Psalms 86:12
I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify thy name for evermore.

#4- Glorifying is a sign of Strength
Isaiah 25:3
Therefore shall the strong people glorify thee, the city of the terrible nations shall fear thee.

#5- What we do should Glorify Him Matthew 5:16
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

#6- We should Glorify Him with our bodies
1Corinthains 6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

What hinders us from all this? I think the answer is found in 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. I think these two young men give us a picture of how our Worship can be hindered. Just as Abraham did, so must you and I; we must say "abide ye here" business affairs, hobbies, home care, problems and anything else that will intrude my thoughts and divert my mind from time with God. By being Distracted we stay busy and keep our minds occupied with other things. We stay busy listening to the Radio, CD players, T.V., DVD's and our P.C.'s not to mention our cell phones. No time for Worship for we are Busy, Busy, Busy. Look what the word busy could mean.

B    eing

U    under

S    atan's

Y    oke

We must come before God.

Hebrews 10:21
And having an high priest over the house of God;

Hebrews 10:22
Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.

Our Privilege "having an high priest "

Our Responsibility "Let us draw near "

What a Privilege we have that anyone of us can came boldly Hebrew 4:16
Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Have you taken the time to draw near? Don't allow the beeps, rings, buzzing and the sound of your favor group keep you from it, for it is a privilege we have, take full advantage of it.

 

Worship

Worship, what is it? Is it going to Church, singing songs, giving tithes & offerings, learning more of and about God through Sunday school and preaching of the Bible? Sure, we do Worship when we do these things. But, doing them does not mean we are worshiping the way God wants or as often as God wants. Worship must be experienced rather than described; if I were to tell you that this perfume smells like a rose or if I told you this food tasted much like honey you would have to have experienced them both before you would understand and know what I was talking about. Worship is the overflow of a grateful heart. Psalms 45:1
My heart is inditing (to gush) a good matter: (overflowing with good news) I speak of the things which I have made touching the king: my tongue is the pen of a ready (skillful) writer.
David said in Psalms 23:5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. How could David say that his cup was running over in the presence of his enemy? Could it be that David had more confidence in what God could do than what his enemies could do to him? If I were to ask you which attitude would be best, a pessimist attitude or an optimistic attitude, which would you say? Most would say an optimistic attitude; you may have even said that. Now read this and see if you would change your mind. James Stockdale was a prisoner of war for 8 years during the Vietnam War. After Stockdale's release he was asked how in the world he survived 8 years in a prisoner-of-war camp. He replied, "I never lost faith in the end of the story. I never doubted, not only that I would get out, but also that I would prevail in the end and turn the experience into the defining event of my life, which, in retrospect, I would not trade." He was then asked about those who didn't make it out and if he could tell them the reason why. Stockdale replied, that's easy; the optimists…they were the ones who said," We're going to be out by Christmas." And Christmas would come and go. Then they'd say, "We're going to be out by Easter." And Easter would come, and Easter would go. And then Thanksgiving, and then it too would come and go and then it would be Christmas again. And they died of a broken heart. Real courage embraces the twin realities of current difficulty and ultimate triumph. If you read Hebrews chapter 11 you will quickly see it's a chapter about faith; it starts off that way. Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Then we are introduced to 3-men Abel, Enoch and Noah. Notice

 

Abel
speaks of Worship by sacrifice Hebrews 11:4
By
faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. Worship will cost you some of your time; but who does time belong to anyways?

 

Enoch speaks of fellowship by a walk and Hebrews 11:5
By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. You get to know God by spending time with Him.

 

Noah speaks of Worship by Work by a revelation from God. From this we understand that Worship is more than going to Church and singing and hearing sermons. Hebrews 11:7 By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. By taking the time to spend time with God you will then want to do something for Him. Noah built an ark. If you and I take time to spend with God we too will have a desire to do something and God will bless it beyond your wildest dreams. That's why I write every day, for I want to share what God has shown me in the time I have spent with Him and He then uses it to bless you.; isn't God good!

Freedom

Commitment is an agreement or pledge to do something. Commitments can be easily made; but it takes more than words to make a commitment come true. It takes work. Many have stood at and altar and made commitments that they never kept. Many have made financial commitments that they never kept. Others have committed to doing things they never finished. I like what the Apostle Paul wrote in 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 1:16
Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting. Paul is telling us that he was an awful sinner but God still showed him mercy and because of what Christ had done for him that Paul was committed to serving the Lord Jesus. Paul's commitment would be seen by others, and others will see that Christ will save anyone. The pattern is seen in Paul and his love for his Lord and Savior and his commitment. I am afraid that there are too many half-hearted so called commitments. They fooled themselves about following Christ and as Paul wrote in 1Timothy 1:19
Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck: They put away their faith and by doing so they shipwrecked. There have always been half hearted commitments; Jesus had something to say about them. Luke 6:46
And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

Jesus challenged people to be wholehearted about their commitment, counting the cost of following him beforehand. Why is it important to walk wholehearted? It's too easy to end up committed to a Christian program or church rather than being committed to Christ. It's too easy to commit to following "rules" of Christianity rather than being committed to Christ. Following "rules" can become confining and confusing. Following Jesus is about relationship not rules. Following Jesus brings freedom and life. Following Jesus is a matter of choice made on a daily basis; but I must warn you that if you make that choice to follow it will not be the easiest road to take. Follow the life of Paul and you will see he spent a lot of time behind bars he was beaten and left for dead. It would have been easy for him to quit; he could tell himself this is more than I can bear, but he didn't and because he didn't we have a pattern. If someone were to look at my life what would they say? Would they say I was committed to Christ? Am I setting a pattern? What would others say about you?