Covers Off

A man called home to talk to his wife; and got a serenade.  It wasn't from her but from a canary they had gotten a couple of weeks before. Man, did he sing up a storm!  The whole time he was talking on the phone to his wife, the Yellow Bird Symphony was going on in the background.  It was hard to hear that canary sing and stay gloomy for long!  Every night they would put this cloth over the cage and all the singing stopped.  The next morning, when they went into the living room, there was not a sound coming from under that cloth.  Had something happened to him? No, as soon as that cover came off, the canary started jumping all over the cage and singing his wake-up song.
Each day in the life of that canary it is as if life begins when the cover comes off the cage.  In a way, it's like that for you and I.  Your cage might be your painful memories; a broken heart or a broken dream.  Maybe you're caged in by an addiction or a habit, or some anger that's eating you up on the inside.  For some of us, it's depression, maybe even suicidal thoughts. That's the stuff that's held us in.  There's a cover on that cage, whatever it is.  Even as you read this today, it's dark in there, and maybe there's nothing to sing about.
There's some good news for you from the Word of God,

Psalms 40:1 King David said, "I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God:" Now David's imagery is a little different, but in canary terms, the cover came off his dark cage and gave him a reason to sing! The same Lord, who did that for King David years ago, wants to do that for you right now.  In fact, that is exactly why Jesus Christ came.  He said,

Luke 4:18 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, - Just like the little bird in the dark world that he cannot change - until someone bigger and more powerful comes along to remove the cover and release him from the darkness.
The Savior came to do that for you. He literally came to die for our darkness and our sin; to remove the death sentence that you and I have on our head because of our sin.  And when you tell Jesus you are trusting Him completely for a relationship with God, the cover comes off!  All the guilt; all the shame of the past is forgiven. So many people have told me right after they've trusted Christ, "I feel like a hundred pounds has just been lifted off my shoulders."  And the pain is suddenly lightened because God Himself has picked it up  the dark feelings and the power that may have kept you in the darkness are replaced by an unexplainable personal peace. That canary had no choice about when the cover came off his cage  but you do.  The release from darkness comes when you open your heart to Jesus Christ; which could be this very day.  If you're tired of the darkness  if you're ready to let Jesus come into your heart, let me encourage you to tell Him that today. "Jesus, I will run my life no more; You will from now on. I was made by you. I was made for you. You gave your life for my sin. I am yours."Oh bless the day you come to that conclusion and the cover comes off.

Abandon

Proverbs 28:4 They that forsake the law praise the wicked: but such as keep the law contend with them.

Proverbs 28:5 Evil men understand not judgment: but they that seek the LORD understand all [things].

Proverbs 28:7 Whoso keepeth the law [is] a wise son: but he that is a companion of riotous [men] shameth his father.

In any sport there is a playing field, there are rules to be played by, there is a team that plays, and there are umpires who make sure the game is played by the rules. When the rules or laws are broken there are penalties that must be enforced. In verse 4 we see the word "FORSAKE" Webster says it means; To quit or leave entirely; to desert; to abandon; to depart from. To forsake means that you had to first be apart before you could abandon. There’s always a reason why a person abandons. When one abandons then they will always do something else as in the case before us they start praising the wicked and they did so because they were not content with the law.

Content- To satisfy the mind; to make quiet, so as to stop complaint or opposition; to appease; to make easy in any situation; For whatever reason this person has departed from that which is right, that which was very satisfying and now wanting wickedness to satisfy by praising the wicked. Evil men do not understand judgement and the reason they don't is because they don't know the rules. They have never asked The Lord Jesus to forgive them of their sins and received the gift of salvation. If they do believe somewhat in heaven and hell they know that they are probably not going to heaven but hope they have done enough good that hell will not be as bad on them as someone who just didn't even try to play by some of the rules. No! That's not the way it works in football or any other sport you mess up on the playing field you're whole team suffers. Our sins not only affect us but they also affect those who follow us. Before deciding on who to praise the question that should be asked is who else will this affect? 

First Camouflage

Camouflage is a set of methods of concealment that allows otherwise visible animals, military vehicles, or other objects to remain unnoticed by blending with their environment or by resembling something else. Hunters use camouflage clothing as they hunt, we use camouflage clothing in the military. God created and put camouflage on animals so they could hide from their predator, but that camouflage also works for them to catch their prey. Did you know that was the first clothing that man made for himself?

Genesis 3:7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they [were] naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

Genesis 3: 8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.

Adam and Eve ran out and camouflaged themselves amongst leaves in the garden, and you know what? They thought they were camouflage extremely well for they heard God say "Where [art] thou?"

Genesis 3:9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where [art] thou?

Unfortunately their camouflage didn't work out for them; you can't camouflage yourself from God.

Genesis 3:10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I [was] naked; and I hid myself.

Do we not do the same things? As one lady told me and my wife she had church friends and worldly friends. What does that mean? Does it mean that she was like a chameleon lizard camouflaging herself in with her surroundings? I'm not sure for I didn't know her at all. It's easy to camouflage into the crowd.  We don't have to live wrong; just don't talk about The Lord. We can tell ourselves that it’s a personal choice anyways and what real difference could I make anyways? Good question! How about where you work? Have you made a difference there? Maybe a suggestion on how something could be done better. Someone listened and now a product is being produced more efficiently and better for others, and you're the reason. What if you would have just kept quiet? That is why we can't camouflage ourselves, we can't keep quiet. There was a man named Ken who didn't keep quiet about who he was and he told me about Christ and because of him my life is different. I just will not keep quiet about what The Lord has done and is doing in my life and because of that other lives have been and will be changed. We do affect others! Don't camouflage yourself amongst the crowd or in the crowd. I assure you it's not God's plan for you.

Dumb Decision

I read it in my Bible and found it hard to understand. I just couldn't believe what I was reading, how in the world could someone be so dumb. It was a plague, this plague included frogs. These frogs were everywhere, in the yard, in the ponds, in the creeks but they were also in the house. They were in the kitchen cabinets, in the oven, even in the bed in the bed rooms, these frogs were everywhere. Reading about the frogs isn't what I didn't understand it was when Moses asked Pharaoh when he would like the frogs to be gone and Pharaoh said tomorrow. I thought how could he or why would he want to spend another night with all those frogs, I just couldn't understand that. That had to be the dumbest decision of the year for a leader.

Would anyone really be that dumb, I had to ask myself? It was on yesterday that I must have met a man kin to Pharaoh. I do pest control to put bread on our table. I had just arrived at one of our accounts when a man ran to meet me. He then asked me about an ant problem he was having. He told me what all he had done to get rid of these ants with no avail. He told me they were everywhere in his closet all over his clothes, in his bed, in the kitchen in the drawers and cabinets and he just couldn't get rid of them. He asked how could he, I told him that I would be more than glad to get rid of them for $125.00; he had already spent around $200 00. He didn't want to go that route. I then told him of a product that he could purchase for about $85.00. That is when I began to notice the kinship with Pharaoh. He asked if I would sell him some of that product, I told him I didn't have any to sale. That is when he said he could wait until he saw me next month. Next month! Not one more night with the ants but 30 more nights with the ants. All pharaoh had to do was let the people of God go but he decided to have one plague after another until he made the decision to let them go. We all make dumb mistakes and some of them are costly like the man I talked with this week. He has cancer in his liver and doesn't know how much time he has left. I asked him what he thought would happen when he closed his eyes in death? His answer was I don't know it's scary. I will meet again with him this afternoon would you please help me pray that I can help him to know what's on the other side. We all must remember he that has the Son has life and he that has not the Son of God has not life.

1 John 5:12 He that hath the Son hath life; [and] he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.

1 John 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.

Dumb decisions are made when we decide to keep what we have instead of receiving something much better as in the case of the frogs and ants.

Losing Air

It was just a small leak in my tire, all the air wasn't rushing out just a small amount. Every morning I would put air back into the tire, you see I was busy, now I was going to get that tire fixed but not today maybe tomorrow. It wasn't forgotten I had considered doing something but not now. Webster says this about the word Consider -To fix the mind on, with a view to a careful examination; to think on with care; to ponder; to study; to meditate on.

That's what I was doing thinking, pondering, studying on getting that tire fixed. All that is fine except for one thing, nothing was being done about fixing the problem. You know what happened? That little bit of air turned into more and more until a small problem that I had considered fixing now was a large problem that wasn't easily fixed.

 Proverbs 24:32 Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction.

Here we read of a person who saw and fixed their mind on and viewed with careful examination. They looked and they received instructions.

Proverbs 24:30 I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding;

[31] And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down.

[33] Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:

Here we read of a person going by the field of a lazy person (maybe too lazy to get their tire fixed) it was all grown over. How did this happen? Little by little; they were going to plow but not today tomorrow will be fine. They were going to plant, but not today tomorrow will be ok. They went to sleep and never got any of those things done. As my father-n-law always said "they must have fell asleep at the switch." They had the ability, the power was in reach but instead of applying themselves, committing themselves to the task set before them, they slept; can't do anything while sleeping. We have considered getting committed and doing something at the Church, in the Community, for the poor, for the addicted, for the homeless, for the hungry, and for the......... Being committed and considering are two different things one is doing the other is thinking about doing. How much air are you losing by not being committed to getting the tire fixed?

Amazing Facts

Proverbs 23:7,12,15,17,19,26,33

[7] For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.

[12] Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.

[15] My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.

[17] Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long.

[19] Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way.

[26] My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.

[33] Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.

Watch out for the heart. We sure want to do that in our fleshly life. Don't eat this or don't eat that for its not good for your heart. I was talking with a man this week when another man showed up. He was smoking a cigarette, the other man told him that it was bad for his heart; he responded I know, I need to quit. Needing and knowing but not taking action is useless. In these verses before us did you catch how important your heart is? The heart can think, it can apply instruction, it can rejoice, it can envy, it can guide, it can give, it can also utter perverse things. Just as we protect the heart that pumps blood throughout our bodies by what we take in we can also do the same thing with the heart that controls us. If we have envy in our heart; we allowed it in. ENVY painful or resentful awareness of an advantage enjoyed by another joined with a desire to possess the same advantage. We do and say things not by accident or a slip of the tongue we do because that is what’s in our heart.  

Matthew 12:34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.

It's like taking in the wrong things and expecting to have a healthy heart, no in order to have a healthy heart one must take in that which is right. Take the time to follow the word "heart" through your Bible and you will discover some amazing facts. I'll get you started. The first time we see the word heart it’s in;  Genesis 6:5 And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. We must be careful how we use our imagination;  

2 Corinthians 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

 Psalm 9:1 I will praise thee , O Lord , with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works.

Not part or even 99.9% but ALL or WHOLE heart we should praise The Lord . What's going on in our heart will come out in our walk, our talk and our actions.

Matthew 7:20  Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

 Take some time and see what The Lord will teach you about your heart. 


Wealth Untold

Proverbs 22:2 The rich and poor meet together: the Lord is the maker of them all

When you saw the word "rich" did it jump out at you? Wealth, we all want it. We hear of those who have wealth and we think to ourselves wish I had just half of that. The Church may listen to those who give large sums of money more than those who give little amounts. Wealth is power; the poor want it and the rich have it. While one is trying to get it the other is trying to keep it. To the Lord there is no such thing, He doesn't have more respect for the wealthy than the poor the same Lord is rich unto both.  If we allow our mind to think of wealth as money then we will miss the wealth we already have. Wealth; what is it really? If you got out of a bed this morning in your home; then you're a wealthy person. If you're able to look across the table and see a wife and children, you're wealthy. If someone said these words to you within the last 12 hours "I love you" you are wealthy. If you have just one friend you're wealthy; and we all have more than that. If you have grandchildren then you know you're wealthy. If you were able to see the sun rise this morning, you're wealthy for there are many who can't. How can one be poor while living in one of the wealthiest countries in the world? We become poor when we allow ourselves to think life would be better if. If I had more money so we race through each day and from town to town chasing the dollar only to find it to be a sand castle that will soon be washed away. We become poor when we think that someone else would make us happier than the one we chose to marry. The grass may look greener on the other side but once you decide to cross over it too becomes just as brown. Could it be you? You are wealthy; you just don't understand the word wealth. Wealth doesn’t mean having lots of money but it carries the meaning of external happiness. If one keeps looking for something better, they will always be on the run and never find the wealth they already have. Learn to count your blessing!

When upon life’s billows you are tempest-tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

Refrain:
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God hath done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
*Count your many blessings, see what God hath done.
[*And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.]

Are you ever burdened with a load of care?
Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?
Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly,
And you will keep singing as the days go by.

When you look at others with their lands and gold,
Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold;
Count your many blessings—*money cannot buy [*wealth can never buy]
Your reward in heaven, nor your home on high.

So, amid the conflict whether great or small,
Do not be discouraged, God is over all;
Count your many blessings, angels will attend,
Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end.