The Big Frog

3 John 1:9-11

I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not. Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church. 

Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God.

The desire to be the biggest, best and popular seems to be inside of every human. Now some will tell you that they have no desire to be first in everything, and I understand this. But everyone, even you, love to be heard in their opinion. All people desire to be the best at something. The difference is that some desire to be the best in what they are called to do and there is no sin in this. While others desire to be the best in everything and over everyone. They love the preeminence. What is that? It is the desire to have supremacy over all people. 

The Bible describes these people in our scripture this morning. Look at it closely. 

  - They only receive those who do as they say

  - Tearing others down with their words is vital to their happiness

  - Never Satisfied

  - Will not receive the body of Christ

  - Target everyone who receives the brethren 

  - Kick out anyone who doesn't see things as they do

The best illustration I can come up with on the "Diotrephes" person is a frog. Not just any frog, but THE frog. The bullfrog to be more accurate. When their ways are yielded to, they seem to be the loudest in the pond. Always bossing and imposing their poison upon all in their path. "Croak, croak, croak..." Then when the truth is being preached, arms are folded and the famous "look like a blowed up bullfrog" statement comes to mind. 

Although the illustration is of a bullfrog. The truth of the matter is that they are false teachers and liars. If there is one big frog of the pond, it should be, and is, Jesus Christ. We should all sound off the Gospel which we have heard and received. Croaking the Gospel of Jesus until the day we croak in Jesus!

Cake Batter Christians

2 Peter 1:5-9

And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.

How many times have we been fooled by people you thought had it all together?  You know the ones...nice home, smiling faces, laughing children, helping hands. Only to find out that inside, they were full of turmoil and even sin. 

This morning take a good look at our scripture. He tells us that we, as Christians, need to add some things to our lives (walk). Now there is nothing that can be added unto salvation. Jesus completed all that on Calvary. Everything we need in salvation is found in Jesus. But after our salvation, new-birth, we must learn to walk in Jesus. Read over the list of things that we need added to our walk. Notice how He tells us, "if these things be in you...", they make you a fruitful Christian. 

I like to call these people, "Cake Batter Christians". Because they are first of all filled with the right ingredients. When making a cake you need eggs, milk, flour, etc... You would not make a cake out of 5W30 motor oil, sawdust, milk of magnesia, etc...  If you would, then please show it to me so I can give my piece to someone else. 

Are you filling your batter bowl with everything else except these things? Then you're not going to have a very tasty cake. I don't know about you but whenever I cook, I want people to love every bite of it. Sometimes when I cook things I go a little overboard with flavoring it and the taste is no good. Sometimes I under flavor it and the taste is bland and dull. That's the reason God has given us this recipe for a great cake batter Christian. So there is no guesswork. 

Last of all, consistency is key!  If you just throw things together and never measure them out, you will find that your consistency will be off. Nothing ruins a good cake batter than poor consistency.  We have a tendency to go overboard on some things and lack in others. We need a right balance of temperance, patience, virtue, kindness, love, etc... We need to walk in these everyday in every way. Christians are guilty of beating the doors down of the church one month and then the FBI can't find them the next month. They knock on doors and share Jesus one week and then they will not answer their door the next. Why is this?  The consistency of the cake batter. 

Lord Jesus, we cannot be a great sweet smelling or tasting cake unto you without your help. Thank you for the recipe this morning. Thank you for the model and guide that you are to us. Please help us to be consistent "Cake Batter Christians" for you and the Gospel. We love you Jesus. 

Soft and Sweet

Matthew 12:36-37

But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.

Someone once told me... "Make the words you speak today be sweet to the taste, because they may be the ones you eat tomorrow". 

How often do the words we say come back to us?  Seems like my words are way to often a size 12 1/2. I try to guard my mouth and keep my words calm and edible. I have found that sometimes it's best just to be quiet. But you and I both know that we can't always be quiet. We must speak. So we must learn how to speak. 

Before we speak we need to realize certain things...

  - These words are recorded!

God's word teaches us that He is recording every word, all the way down to even the idle word that you mumble under your breath. So before we speak, we need to remember that His perfect ears are listening and recording. 

  - These words will judge us!

He also tells us that we will give an account for the things we speak. These recorded words will try us. We will either be justified by them or condemned by them. 

Lord Jesus, please help guide the words of my mouth. Please let them honor you through every breath. Let my words be stern with love, bold with grace and saturated with mercy. Please help guard my speech. Let it be seasoned with your Amazing Grace!  In Jesus' name. 

Heart Melting Words

Joshua 14:8

Nevertheless my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt: but I wholly followed the Lord my God.

A man named Caleb in the Bible was strong and faithful. He and Joshua were two of the twelve spies that went into Canaan. They both saw things that God had promised the children of Israel. Their report of the land was true and with enthusiasm. I can see these two right now... Rejoicing and punching each other in the arm as they try to out do each others memory of what they saw. "Those clusters of grapes where huge... The soil of the land was so rich... Did you ever think we would see such beauty?"

In our scripture this morning, Caleb recalls his brethren and their response. He had just spoken about what God promised through the mouth of Moses. He said, "I was forty years old when I spied the land". He said, "I have wholly followed The Lord my God". Caleb knew that what God had promised, He would perform. 

But notice what he said about his brethren that went up with him. He said their words, "made the peoples heart melt". The words of these negative friends made the people disbelieve and melt. The power of a negative influence is very strong. 

Being negative requires no work, it can begin on its on through very little force or desire. Out of 12 spies, 2 were solid and believed, but the negative words spoken had spread and caused the encouragement from these two to fade out.

How are you influencing people today?  Are you following God wholly? Or just being negative?

A Day I will Never Forget

John 8:36

If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

Yesterday I had the privilege to attend an old fashion Campmeeting. Oh what a time we had. There was singing and shouting. People in the altar praying unto God. Special music that would fill your hearts with the Spirit. Preachers declaring the Gospel of Jesus with passion and truth. 

I was praising God for the moment He saved me. I had just finished singing a song that says, "I'm free, so free... I'm in the Spirit and the Spirit's in me... I'm rejoicing because, I'm not what I was... Thanks to Calvary's tree, I'm free". My tears began to flow and my heart began to rejoice because of the freedom I now have in Jesus. For so many years I was lost without hope, but thanks to Jesus and what He did on Calvary I'm now saved. I'm free!  The scripture this morning says, "To whom the Son sets free, is free indeed"!  

As I was having a great time in The Lord, a man named Lloyd Thomas stood to preach. This man was older than any other preacher that had preached thus far. He began by introducing himself. Then he made this statement... "I've just been saved over 40 years ago". That caught my full attention. I started rejoicing even more. I thought, "How awesome! I've just been saved over 40 years ago". 

Don't you get it?  It's not that the man had been saved over 40 years. If he had been saved over 400 years ago, it wouldn't shock me, because God is faithful that promised. The Lord Jesus who saved us is also able to keep us. Don't get me wrong, I love the security of the believer but that is not the chord of my heart that God plucked. It was the beginning... "I've just been saved..."  

What makes me so excited this morning is that no matter if we've been saved 4 years, 40 years, or 400 years it changes us so much that it seems like it was just yesterday. Praise God!  Ask a prisoner the date they were released and they will tell you, probably along with the time. Ask a drug addict when they found freedom from those chains and they could probably tell you the last time they took a hit. Ask a drunkard about the day they got victory over the chains of alcohol and they could tell you about the last sip they had. 

Ask me about the day God saved me... I'll tell you how the sins rolled away.  I've just been saved over 22 years ago. 

Our Amazing God

Mark 6:51

And he went up unto them into the ship; and the wind ceased: and they were sore amazed in themselves beyond measure, and wondered.

Jesus had just blessed the lunch of a boy and fed five thousand people. He then left the disciples to go pray on a mountain alone while they crossed the waters of Galilee. At about three o'clock in the morning they see Jesus walking by and they cried out. Jesus says, "Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid". As Jesus steps into the boat, the winds ceased which also caused the waves to cease. The disciples looked at one another with amazement. The scripture says that they were "sore amazed in themselves beyond measure". 

These men had just seen two fish and five loaves of bread feed a multitude of people. What else could have amazed them?  The Lord Jesus had just made them wonder in their hearts. I can hear them say, "Wow! What an amazing God". 

You know, isn't it like that with us?  We may be starving and not know where the next meal may come from, but it comes and we are amazed. We may not know when the storms will cease, but it ceases and we are amazed. When God does these things in my life, my jaw still drops. I'm amazed at His grace, love and mercy. It amazes me that He could love me so much. It makes me want to shout! It makes me want to sing!

Amazing Grace how sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me

I once was lost but now I'm found

Was blind but now I see!

To explain the grace, love and mercy of God, what word could you use other than amazing?  It is the amazing saving power of Jesus. It is the amazing love of Jesus that sought me. It is the amazing blood of Jesus that bought me. It is the amazing grace of Jesus that will take me home. Lord, I'm amazed!

Call A Timeout

Romans 15:13

Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.

I love watching sporting events. Baseball, basketball, football, softball, etc...  It doesn't matter to me, I just love competition. One of the common grounds that all these sports share is a timeout. The football coach can call a timeout if the defense lines up in a way that's unexpected. The quarterback will call timeout in order to bring the players back and rethink the strategy. The softball coach will call a timeout in order to walk up to the mound and calm his pitcher down. A basketball coach will call a timeout with just seconds left on the clock in order to call that last miracle play. 

This morning will you do me a favor?  Call a timeout!  Even if you have to say it aloud, call a timeout. Don't wait until the enemy is lined up against you. Don't wait until your tired from pitching and there is nothing else to give. Don't wait until the clock has almost given up its last seconds. Call it right now. 

Look at this amazing scripture this morning. "The God of Hope..." When we are weak and the enemy is against us, take a timeout and realize that we serve the God of Hope. He is the anchor to our soul! Gather your families together and remind them in the huddle that Christ is our God of Hope. Tell them what the God of hope will do for us. 

THE GOD OF HOPE FILLS US... He fills us with His a Joy and Peace. The joy that is unspeakable and the peace that passes all understand. He tells us in the huddle that we must believe. Trust Him! It's through believing in Him. 

THE GOD OF HOPE FULFILLS US... He says we will abound in His hope. God completes us in every area of our lives. He desires that we are completed, perfected, through His hope, joy, peace and love. 

HE DOES THIS THOUGH THE HOLY GHOST... God will do this work through the working of the Holy Ghost. Remember what Jesus said?  I will not leave you comfortless. I will send you a comforter, which is the Holy Ghost. He will teach you all things. Jesus wants you to have joy, peace and fulfillment through the Holy Spirit. He is reminding you today that you are not alone. He says He will be there every step of the way. 

Now, get out of this huddle and go be what Jesus has called you to be. Go live in the joy He has given you. Go rest in the peace He has extended to you. Go and worship in the Spirit He has sent to us. When the timeout is over, take the field!