Isaiah 5:11-13
Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink;
that continue until night, till wine inflame them!
And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe,
and wine, are in their feasts:
but they regard not the work of the Lord,
neither consider the operation of his hands.
Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge:
and their honourable men are famished,
and their multitude dried up with thirst.
What happens when the party is over? The bill comes. If there is one thing that I can testify about is how much the bill of sin costs. Before Christ saved me I went to the extremes for parties. Hours of filling myself with the drink of the world, listening to the sounds of the music. I spent many nights inflamed as this scripture speaks of. Disregarding the word of God and never considering Him or His work.
This life was bondage. I thought that the answer was found in more and more of the things I was doing. When I felt down, one more party. When I needed and answer, I searched in a bottle. Only to find out these last verses to be true. Captivity overwhelmed me because I didn't know God. My honor was traded every time through my intoxicated state. By the end of the party I was still left thirsty. Although I had filled my life with drink after drink, I was still thirsty.
What I thought was the answer proved to be the problem. Thank you Jesus for living water and a thirst for you that is satisfied. Now that is the answer I looked for.
Tuesday, January 30, 2018
Monday, January 29, 2018
What’s Love Got To Do With It?
Matthew 5:46
For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
Some of you probably started singing the old Tina Turner song already. Do you remember the lyric, "it's just a second hand emotion"? Meaning that anyone can say or act like they love you. It travels from hand to hand or person to person. Leaving you with used goods or a used love.
Christ Jesus asked them in their day and us in our day "if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye?" If we only love those that love us then how could this seem good or rewarding? He takes it a step farther and says even the publicans do that. Wow, this is pretty harsh. He is telling us that if we only love those who love us then our love is as false as the tax collector.
If we only love those who love us then isn't our love motivated by what they offer us? I have seen children love people and other children only because of what they give them. I've seen adults follow suit with the same actions. Would you think a child would love me and show affection to me if I gave them a sucker? What about a teenager if I gave them an iPad? Or what about you as an adult if I bought you a new vehicle? Sure you would love me! But it would only be a temporal love because if I stopped showering you with gifts or didn't show you that I loved you then you would easily turn off your conversation, affection and love for me.
Why is there a reward for loving those that don't love us or hate us? Because there is labor involved! It's difficult to love those who refuse love. It is work. Lord, help me to be different and teach me to love those who don't love back or even hate me. I know that this help will come from looking at you and your sacrifice on the cross.
What's love got to do with it? Pretty much everything!
For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
Some of you probably started singing the old Tina Turner song already. Do you remember the lyric, "it's just a second hand emotion"? Meaning that anyone can say or act like they love you. It travels from hand to hand or person to person. Leaving you with used goods or a used love.
Christ Jesus asked them in their day and us in our day "if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye?" If we only love those that love us then how could this seem good or rewarding? He takes it a step farther and says even the publicans do that. Wow, this is pretty harsh. He is telling us that if we only love those who love us then our love is as false as the tax collector.
If we only love those who love us then isn't our love motivated by what they offer us? I have seen children love people and other children only because of what they give them. I've seen adults follow suit with the same actions. Would you think a child would love me and show affection to me if I gave them a sucker? What about a teenager if I gave them an iPad? Or what about you as an adult if I bought you a new vehicle? Sure you would love me! But it would only be a temporal love because if I stopped showering you with gifts or didn't show you that I loved you then you would easily turn off your conversation, affection and love for me.
Why is there a reward for loving those that don't love us or hate us? Because there is labor involved! It's difficult to love those who refuse love. It is work. Lord, help me to be different and teach me to love those who don't love back or even hate me. I know that this help will come from looking at you and your sacrifice on the cross.
What's love got to do with it? Pretty much everything!
Friday, January 26, 2018
Hand in Hand
Psalms 40:11
Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O Lord: let thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve me.
Would we say that we have truth in one hand and love in the other? If so, I believe that we are doing it wrong. You can't have love in one hand and offer it to the world apart from truth. You also can't have truth in one hand and offer it to the world without love. We should know that this will never work.
Let's say that we offer truth from the left hand to people of our society. Will they accept it? What do you think the percentage of those who listen to us versus those who turn us off would be? I'm going with a high percentage. Truth today is very much unacceptable. We are told by scholars and professors that truth is only truth if it relates to you. We want commandments removed. We want laws removed. Truth is healthy, but many times too bland to swallow.
Now let's say that you have love and offer it from the right hand. Will they accept it? Absolutely! Love is the candy of life. Everyone is looking for love (in all the wrong places...). We will feast on love. But does love address the issue of sin, hell, eternity? No.
Truth and Love must be in the same hand when speaking of the Gospel of Jesus. The truth of the Gospel is that Jesus suffered a horrible death while the love of the Gospel is that through His death He has offered you life. The truth is that without Christ we are lost forever, but the love is that He has made the way for you to be saved. Law without Grace is no good, just as Grace without Law is void.
Speak the truth in love. There can be no other way. "O Lord: let thy LOVINGKINDNESS and thy TRUTH continually preserve me."
Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O Lord: let thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve me.
Would we say that we have truth in one hand and love in the other? If so, I believe that we are doing it wrong. You can't have love in one hand and offer it to the world apart from truth. You also can't have truth in one hand and offer it to the world without love. We should know that this will never work.
Let's say that we offer truth from the left hand to people of our society. Will they accept it? What do you think the percentage of those who listen to us versus those who turn us off would be? I'm going with a high percentage. Truth today is very much unacceptable. We are told by scholars and professors that truth is only truth if it relates to you. We want commandments removed. We want laws removed. Truth is healthy, but many times too bland to swallow.
Now let's say that you have love and offer it from the right hand. Will they accept it? Absolutely! Love is the candy of life. Everyone is looking for love (in all the wrong places...). We will feast on love. But does love address the issue of sin, hell, eternity? No.
Truth and Love must be in the same hand when speaking of the Gospel of Jesus. The truth of the Gospel is that Jesus suffered a horrible death while the love of the Gospel is that through His death He has offered you life. The truth is that without Christ we are lost forever, but the love is that He has made the way for you to be saved. Law without Grace is no good, just as Grace without Law is void.
Speak the truth in love. There can be no other way. "O Lord: let thy LOVINGKINDNESS and thy TRUTH continually preserve me."
Wednesday, January 24, 2018
Think About It
Ecclesiastes 7:13
Consider the work of God: for who can make that straight, which he hath made crooked?
When I consider the work of thy hands O Lord I praise your name! Have you ever held a newborn baby? I don't know what you saw when you held them but I will never forget holding my boys for the very first time. When the doctor delivered them and handed them off to me, there was a feeling of extreme joy and thankfulness that came over me.
I thought about them for months. What will they look like? How big will they be? But when I actually held them those questions faded into the background. The thoughts of what they would become or whet they looked like disappeared. The first thing I thought of when holding them was how awesome of a God I serve. He wonderfully and fearfully created these babies. He will grow them and take care of them as they become older.
Who can do such a thing? Is it the parents, nature or just a circle of life? No it is God! Think of the heart and its functions, can this just happen? Think of the brain and its work. In a split second I can think of moving my hand and my brain sends the impulses to all systems which cause me to move my hand. Is this just science? No it is God!
God, when I consider your work I constantly am amazed. I love you and thank you so much for your work. Especially your work of salvation on the cross of Calvary. Just as no one could create a life, no one could give their life on the cross.
Consider the work of God: for who can make that straight, which he hath made crooked?
When I consider the work of thy hands O Lord I praise your name! Have you ever held a newborn baby? I don't know what you saw when you held them but I will never forget holding my boys for the very first time. When the doctor delivered them and handed them off to me, there was a feeling of extreme joy and thankfulness that came over me.
I thought about them for months. What will they look like? How big will they be? But when I actually held them those questions faded into the background. The thoughts of what they would become or whet they looked like disappeared. The first thing I thought of when holding them was how awesome of a God I serve. He wonderfully and fearfully created these babies. He will grow them and take care of them as they become older.
Who can do such a thing? Is it the parents, nature or just a circle of life? No it is God! Think of the heart and its functions, can this just happen? Think of the brain and its work. In a split second I can think of moving my hand and my brain sends the impulses to all systems which cause me to move my hand. Is this just science? No it is God!
God, when I consider your work I constantly am amazed. I love you and thank you so much for your work. Especially your work of salvation on the cross of Calvary. Just as no one could create a life, no one could give their life on the cross.
I’ll Fix It
Luke 8:43-44
And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, which had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any, came behind him, and touched the border of his garment: and immediately her issue of blood stanched.
Have you tried everything that you know to do? GREAT! Now maybe God can move in your situation. Too often we try our best to figure out the solution to our problems or perils. We come up with a new strategy. We devise a new plan or search for a remedy instead of allowing God to move upon our need.
I am guilty! The man, or flesh, in me goes into fix it mode everytime something arises. All of my life I was taught that if we had a problem then we fix it. If a pipe burst because of the cold weather it was just second nature to fix it. If the car breaks down, fix it. If the storm damages the house, fix it. It is just something inside of me that goes into the "fix it" mode.
What about those things that you just can't fix? (Which are few in my mind...I think I can fix anything) What about a broken heart? A broken marriage? A home that has been devestated with death? These things, without Jesus, would be broken forever.
When I think of this woman touching His garment I imagine her saying to herself, "If I would have known that this was all I needed to do I would have done this twelve years ago." How much suffering could we avoid if we would only come to Christ when these situations arise? I guess a better question would be... How many years are you gonna try to fix it yourself before you take it to Jesus?
And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, which had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any, came behind him, and touched the border of his garment: and immediately her issue of blood stanched.
Have you tried everything that you know to do? GREAT! Now maybe God can move in your situation. Too often we try our best to figure out the solution to our problems or perils. We come up with a new strategy. We devise a new plan or search for a remedy instead of allowing God to move upon our need.
I am guilty! The man, or flesh, in me goes into fix it mode everytime something arises. All of my life I was taught that if we had a problem then we fix it. If a pipe burst because of the cold weather it was just second nature to fix it. If the car breaks down, fix it. If the storm damages the house, fix it. It is just something inside of me that goes into the "fix it" mode.
What about those things that you just can't fix? (Which are few in my mind...I think I can fix anything) What about a broken heart? A broken marriage? A home that has been devestated with death? These things, without Jesus, would be broken forever.
When I think of this woman touching His garment I imagine her saying to herself, "If I would have known that this was all I needed to do I would have done this twelve years ago." How much suffering could we avoid if we would only come to Christ when these situations arise? I guess a better question would be... How many years are you gonna try to fix it yourself before you take it to Jesus?
Tuesday, January 23, 2018
Burdened and Broken
Proverbs 11:30
The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life;
and he that winneth souls is wise.
"I remember, when I have preached at different times in the country, and sometimes here, that my whole soul has agonized over men, every nerve of my body has been strained and I could have wept my very being out of my eyes and carried my whole frame away in a flood of tears, if I could but win souls" - Charles H. Spurgeon
How broken were you this past year for the salvation of others? Study is a great asset to our witness. Prayer is a great asset to our witness. But weeping may be the greatest asset to our soul winning. Jerry Vines said, "I've seen tears do what wisdom could not".
Let us pray today that we would be burdened and broken for lost people. So broken that we couldn't focus on their sin, but their need for salvation only found in Jesus Christ.
Monday, January 22, 2018
M.Y.O.B.
Proverbs 26:17
He who passes by and meddles in a quarrel not his own
Is like one who takes a dog by the ears.
How many times has your momma told you to mind your own business? Hundreds or thousands for me. When you’re a nosey little boy you will be told this many times. What is so funny to me now is I often yell this phrase out on my bus. I don’t say it like my momma used to tell me though. I just yell, “M.Y.O.B!” Then my kids on the bus say, “What does that mean?” Mind. Your. Own. Business.
Daily you can ride with me and hear, “She’s talking about me, He’s staring at me, They won’t stay out of my conversation!” Then I usually have someone jump in and try to solve to problem. You know that person that sticks in their two foot long nose... I always tell them to M.Y.O.B. You don’t know what you are talking about and you don’t want to get involved.
God’s Word explains it much better than I can. He says a “person that walks by and meddles in a quarrel not his own...” First of all this isn’t talking about a person who walks by and sees an argument or fight and tells them to just keep walking. No, He says that a person that sees a quarrel and wants to “meddle” in it. In the south I hope that I don’t have to explain what meddling means.
Last of all, God says the person who passes by and meddles in a quarrel that’s “not his own is like a person who takes a dog by the ears.” I don’t know about you but I don’t think grabbing a dog by its ears would end well. It may just come back to bite you. So, what is the conclusion we should come to? Let me spell it out like our scripture teaches us this morning... M.Y.O.B.
He who passes by and meddles in a quarrel not his own
Is like one who takes a dog by the ears.
How many times has your momma told you to mind your own business? Hundreds or thousands for me. When you’re a nosey little boy you will be told this many times. What is so funny to me now is I often yell this phrase out on my bus. I don’t say it like my momma used to tell me though. I just yell, “M.Y.O.B!” Then my kids on the bus say, “What does that mean?” Mind. Your. Own. Business.
Daily you can ride with me and hear, “She’s talking about me, He’s staring at me, They won’t stay out of my conversation!” Then I usually have someone jump in and try to solve to problem. You know that person that sticks in their two foot long nose... I always tell them to M.Y.O.B. You don’t know what you are talking about and you don’t want to get involved.
God’s Word explains it much better than I can. He says a “person that walks by and meddles in a quarrel not his own...” First of all this isn’t talking about a person who walks by and sees an argument or fight and tells them to just keep walking. No, He says that a person that sees a quarrel and wants to “meddle” in it. In the south I hope that I don’t have to explain what meddling means.
Last of all, God says the person who passes by and meddles in a quarrel that’s “not his own is like a person who takes a dog by the ears.” I don’t know about you but I don’t think grabbing a dog by its ears would end well. It may just come back to bite you. So, what is the conclusion we should come to? Let me spell it out like our scripture teaches us this morning... M.Y.O.B.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)