Salt and Light

        When I worked on a farm as a youngster, I often watched the cattle as they would go up to the large  blocks of salt.  Their long tongues would come out and slide back and forth over the salt block, getting a big lick of salt.  That brings me to the former name of Roanoke, Virginia.  Years ago, it was called, Big Lick.  Apparently, the name came from the fact of deer coming to a certain place where they could find salt deposits which was in this area.  Historians tells us, "The town first called Big Lick was established in 1852 and chartered in 1874. It was named for a large outcropping of salt which drew the wildlife to the site near the Roanoke River. In 1882 it became the town of Roanoke.  Salt is attracting not only to animals but also to people.  There is, however, a different kind of salt than NaCl.   Matthew 5:13-14 says, "Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid."  
     The Lord Jesus Christ, in His sermon on the Mount of Olives told the listeners that they were salt and light to the world.  There are several lessons and facts about salt and light that help explain the purpose of believers in the world today.  Years ago, Howard Hendricks asked a question in a course, "Why are we on this earth instead of in heaven?"  You may ask the same question and wonder why when you came to know the Lord Jesus Christ, you were not ushered into heaven immediately.  You are a testimony to the rest of the world and God wants you to have the properties of both salt and light in your present life as you conduct your relationships with people all around you.  As has been said, for some people, you are the only epistle that some people may read.  Think on the words that Christ uttered in this section and see if you are salt and light to those around you.  Praise God today for placing you and I in a place of ministry

Who is the Wise Guy?

      Have you ever found yourself in a bad situation?  Our pastor often prays that he should say what should be said and not to say what shouldn't be said."  It is a very good prayer and one that is necessary for all of us.  There are those things that should remain unsaid but that is not always the case.  There are those times in our lives when we just seem to blurt something out and then wonder why we said that and also, how we can get out of the possible repercussions.  Our tongues often gets us into trouble.  It should have been refrained but it just wasn't and now we find ourselves in a heap of trouble.  More than once, I have gotten myself into trouble at a church dinner right after I have preached or taught in the morning hours.  I become relaxed and just don't think before I speak and that's where the problem begins.  Proverbs 5:1-4 says, "My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding: That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.  For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil  But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword." 
      The writer of Proverbs brings forth a number of separate proverbs that certainly apply to our daily lives.  In the beginning of the book, the writer speaks much about wisdom and falling prey to sinful activities.  It seems that the person lacks wisdom and proceeds as the ox does when it goes to slaughter.  It just keeps moving along not knowing what's coming.   Sad to say, but the illustration fits most of us rather well.  It was said of a leader who had a bit of a problem in the sin area, "Never was so much given up for so little."   Perhaps we should read the first 10 chapters of the Book of Proverbs every month.  We are all going to be involved with interacting with people today and in the days ahead.  As we converse and exchange thoughts with one another, may we all think about wisdom as it is mentioned in this passage.  We should praise God today for the wisdom that He supplies. 

Warning Signs

       Have you noticed that once you get accustomed to something, that it's significance begins to fade away?  Even signs that express danger can finally have no meaning if they are overused.  While working in a certain company years ago, we were plagued with an abundance of warning labels and signs on the equipment.  Soon, the meaning began to be lost.  Each time a new warning label came out, it had to either be bigger or bolder or in a different color than the one which preceded it.  It is possible to see something and not take notice of it.  At the same time, it is possible to hear something and also not take notice of it.  Over the years, the old siren has changed into a chorus of loud sounds in order to be heard and recognized.  God used a similar illustration when speaking of the rebellious people of the nation of Israel.  Ezekiel 12:2 says, "Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a rebellious house, which have eyes to see, and see not; they have ears to hear, and hear not: for they are a rebellious house." 
      The Israelites had eyes, ears and a mind, yet they ignored the warnings.  They no longer had any meaning to them and they figured that they knew best and that God wouldn't do anything anyway.  They soon found out that God does mean what He says and that judgment will come.  The same can be said of us.  How often we see warnings in the Scripture and still ignore them thinking that God is not going to do anything about them.  But, God is not mocked and the warnings will be heeded either now or later.  This does have a flip side.  Since God is faithful in His judgments, it brings assurance that He is also faithful in His blessings.  All of the blessings that He has promised to us will also come to pass just as He said.  So, don't become numb to the sights and sounds of the Scripture.  Rather rejoice in what God is doing in your life each day and look forward to more new and wonderful things.  Praise God today for His Word and for both the blessings and the cursings.

Decisions

        As one might examine my personal life, they might say that I am not particularly good at making the right decision.  I seem to sometimes make the wrong choice.  Take for instance the man who drives up to my house and says that I am the last one to whom he will make this offer for a large container of meat.  He is supposedly on his way home and this is the last one he has to get rid of.  For this, he will cut the price in half.  The original price of $300.00 is cut down to $150.00.  Who could refuse a deal like that.  I should have, but eventually along with the story of his wife with a steel plate in her neck and thousands of dollars of hospital bills, I buy the meat.  They eventually come to around $18.99 a pound.  Yep, another stupid decision.  So, now, I have more decisions to make, some involving my future ministry and my track record is not encouraging.  Where do I turn for advice?  Proverbs 3:5-7 says, "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.  Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil."
         I have to say that I totally want to depend on the LORD for direction.  I like that phrase, "...and He shall direct thy paths."  Yes, I like that.  That's what I need and what I desire.   I want to trust God for His leading and not depend upon my own leading.  My own leading or where I think I should go often turns up with a big question mark on it.  That goes back to that phrase in the above passage that says, "..Be not wise in thine own eyes' and "lean not unto thine own understanding."  That's where the difficulty often comes.  We often endeavor to make our own evaluation of something and end up going in the wrong direction.  God has the perfect path.  All I need to do and all you need to do is to follow His instructions.  Is that something that is easier said than done?   May we all pray for one another that we would indeed take heed to God's instructions.  Not only this passage, but many other passages reveal our own stubbornness  and often, our failure to take heed to what God says.  So, beware the white van with a freezer in the back and follow God's advice at all times and in all things.  Praise God that He knows the way that we should go.

Grace

       Everyone has to deal with problems in their life.  There are not many days where things go exactly as you expected them to go.  Problems are those things that want to deviate from the desired course.  You just can't keep on doing what you planned to do without having to deal with those little disturbances in your life that we call, "problems."   Problems can exist  of an unexpected injury or sickness or even a piece of mail that says you owe something to the government, a hospital, or an insurance company.  I forgot to send in the correct amount on my declaration of 1099's forms and ended up with an unexpected bill, which I had to pay because I did make the mistake.  Our problems, which can momentarily change our course, are significant to us, but may not be as bad as the problems of some of the people of the rest of the world.  Problems can also pop up in the life of even the best of people who are really doing what God intended them to do.  Take the Apostle Paul for instance.   Second Corinthians 12:9 says, "And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."  
     Paul had a problem in his life and it was causing him considerable concern.  It was so big to him that he pleaded with God to remove it three times.  We would think that in the case of this great man of God, the problems would be solved as Paul wanted.  That's not what happened.  Instead, we find the above verse of Scripture.  In other words, Paul was going to have to forget that the problems was going to be removed.  Instead, he was going to have to  deal with it.  He was going to go on living his life with the problem still there.  Everyday was going to be the same.  The problem just wasn't going to go away.  Instead, God mentioned to Paul the greatness of God's grace.  God instructed Paul that God's grace was going to be sufficient to take care of the problem.  Yes, it was going to be uncomfortable but God's grace was going to be so great the sufficient, that life could go on just like the problem wasn't there.  When dealing with the problems in your life, have you considered that God's grace is indeed sufficient to take care of all of your needs?   John Newton wrote the hymn, "Amazing Grace" and one can see that John Newton was thankful for this wonderful grace.  How about you?  Praise God today for God's grace and how it is working in your life even today

Jeopardy Anyone?

       I was recently speaking to Cox Communications about my phone service and she asked me what I was using for television viewing.  I had cancelled my cable a long time ago and went with Direct TV for a period of time until they doubled my bill in the middle of a contract.  So, Good bye to them.  I replied that I was using the airwaves since we only watched the news, Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy.  Every now and then I get an answer right on Jeopardy and for the rest of them, I say, "So what."    I miss a few now and then and don't get the right answer.  It isn't any big problem for me since I'm not the one on the show and under the gun.  While the answer to literary and opera questions are beyond me, there are some questions that you had better get right as the consequences are a lot more serious than Jeopardy questions.    Ephesians 2:8-10 says, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." 
      I have a book by a famous person entitled, "Saved Without a Doubt."  The book takes you through the basic verses of eternal life and how to get there.  After all, you don't want to get this question wrong when asked, "How do you get to heaven?"  We know from the Gospel of Matthew that there are going to be many people who believe they are on the road to heaven who will eventually find out that Jesus will say, "Depart from Me, I never knew you."  That is going to be a very sad day.  They will try to argue the decision, but to no avail and will end up eternally lost.  We might well ask the question, "On what or whom are we depending for our salvation?"  For many, the answer will be that they are depending upon their good deeds and not the Lord Jesus Christ.  We have spent a lot of time these past few days speaking about thanks, thanks especially for the things that God has done in our lives.  John 14:6 reminds us that Jesus is the ONLY way for salvation.  This is one question that you don't want to miss and say, "So what!"  Praise God today that He is the Guarantor of our Great Salvation.

Thanksgiving

      Thanksgiving day was like a "marker" in years past.  It became the kickoff for the Christmas season.  It was also the day of a big feast in many homes throughout America.  After some years, a typical football game would come into the picture.  While the turkey would be cooking you would have time to sit down in front of the TV and watch the Macy's parade with reminders that Santa would be coming.  Our home wasn't one that centered on the religious time of the year, but more on the traditional with an emphasis on the meal itself.  It would take hours to prepare but was finished in about 15 minutes.  The bones would be picked clean and put aside for numerous meals in the days to follow.  Things are a little different in our present household.  We have chosen to move from the traditional to the religious in that the center of the days activities are upon what God has done for us and not what we have done for ourselves.   Psalm100:1-5 says,  " A Psalm of praise. Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.  Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.  Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.  For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations."  
     Thankfulness is more a manner of living throughout the entire year.  We soon realize that everything that we have is from the hand of God.  Bible accounts remind us of the situations where God blesses and where God takes away.  We can see the examples in Job and in the accounts of Joseph as he was sent by God to go ahead into Egypt and to prepare a way of providing food for the Israelites.  We see Moses leading a rebellious people out of Egypt and towards the "Promised Land."   We see the first advent of the Lord Jesus Christ as He came to live, minister, die, be placed in a tomb and then gloriously resurrected having made the payment for our sin.  At least, The American holiday becomes a reminder that it is God Who has blessed us and for that, we truly are thankful.  So, take a moment on Thanksgiving Day and pause to say, perhaps a special, Thanks be to God for so many blessings.  Praise God today and maybe you can say, "Thank you LORD for saving my soul."

God's Will

 

       Making decisions seem to always present problems of one sort or another.   My Mother and I were talking one day about my future and she plainly said, "You can do whatever you want to do, except be a truck driver."  You see, my Father was a truck driver in a tractor that beat his kidneys to death.  The job was dangerous back in the 40's and 50's.  Now, trucks are much different with comfortable seats, springs, automatic transmissions, computers, and even a kitchen sink.  I made a decision back then which was being a musician but things changed in the years that followed.   When you are young, you need to make decisions about what you plan to be when you get older.  It seems that every adult has a desire to ask a young child, "What are you going to be when you grow up?"  Their answer might change over the years but they still have to come up with a decision in regard to their future.  Then there are choices about schooling, vocation, finding the right mate and so on.  When a person becomes a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, some begin to think that the decision making process will become easier.  Now, all they have to do is be in the center of God's will in all that they do.  Finding God's will now becomes the top priority in the believer's eyes.  A number of books and seminars have been given on the topic, "Finding God's Will."  There is a simpler way to discover God's will.  Just turn to His Word.  First Thessalonians 5:18 says, "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." 

         This is only one of several different times in the New Testament that God makes it quite clear what His will is for you.  There are at least four Scripture references that speak of God's will for your life.  They are direct and certain.  You need no translator or mystical interpretation about what you read.  If you follow the command from those particular verses, you will find that you are doing God's will for your life.  This verse reminds us that we are to give thanks in every thing.  It was true for the church at Thessalonica and it is just as true for you.  No matter what the situation, the tragedy, the bewilderment or lack of understanding about the issue, you are to give thanks in every thing.  It means that you are giving God complete control of every area of your life and all that happens in it.  It means that you don't see the final chapter in your life that only God does.  It means that you won't be questioning God's judgment on any issue.  You simply need to bow in worship and say "Thank you." to God for what He is doing in your life.  Are you ready to give thanks in every situation.  Praise God and thank Him for the salvation that you now enjoy.  Also praise God today for His will revealed in His letter to us, the Bible.

One Lost Art

     Every now and then we will refer to something as being a "lost art."  It will usually be something that was done in the past but which is no longer done because it has been replaced.  Hence, we will say, "Well, that was a lost art."  There are some things in the Christian life that could fall under the same category.  Although, they shouldn't have been stopped, they just seem to fade away until they are no longer done.  I once did a sermon that I titled, "We Used to do That."   We used to pray all weekend, we used to witness more, we used to read the Bible daily, and the list goes on of things we used to do. One of the things in society that has changed is the simple courtesy of saying, "Thank you."  It seems to happen most when people think that certain acts of kindness are your responsibility, therefore, there is no need to say "thank you."  Second Corinthians 4:15 says, "For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God."   
      This verse reminds us that it should be a common practice for "thanksgiving" to redound to the glory of God.  This simply means that we should be "thanking" God for many, many things that go on in our lives.  It is an important part of what I call the "cycle of grace."  We can see it in this verse.  Grace is imparted to men and women from God and that causes joy in the heart of the believer.  Then, the natural thing to do, would be to over "thanksgiving" to God because of the grace and joy that we have already received.  A friend of mine and I were walking one day in a busy city.  We saw something that was not good in another person and the friend said, "There but by the grace of God, go I."  He wasn't the first person to have said it, but the impact was there.  Many times we see things going on that we could criticize and say, "I'm glad I'm not like that."  But, we should be saying, "There, but by the grace of God, go I."  The working of God's grace in our lives should cause us to naturally say, "Thank you" to God for what He has done.  Have you said, "Thank you" today?  While Thanksgiving is a one time a year day, the act of saying "thanks" should be going on every day and many times during that same day.  We recall that song that has a chorus that says, "Thank you Lord for saving my soul."  That is the first thing that we should be thanking God for.  Don't for get to say thank you to others, and certainly don't forget to thank God each and every day for His working in your  life.  Praise Him today for all of those things that He is doing for you even right now.

Thanks be to God!

        I am reasonably sure that there are times in each of our lives when we need help doing one thing or another.  There are so many different situations that are not covered by auto insurance, home owners insurance, health insurance, and road side assistance.  I have these fancy compression stocking that I wear.  I get them on with the assistance of a device designed for that purpose.  It is, however, difficult to get them off and for that purpose, my wife, Diane becomes the "sock lady."  Each night, she pulls them off and I hope I always say "thanks" for the help.  How many times do you need help in one thing or another?    First Corinthians 15:57 says, " But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
      The word "thanks" is used about 70 times in the Bible.  A lot of them occur in Psalm 136 but many books find the word "thanks" in them.  Giving thanks to God is the supreme example of what we need to do in our Christian lives.  There is that debt for which we can never make any sort of payment.  The only thing we can do is to say "thanks."   It is sad, but there are many who fail to say thanks for what God has already done, is doing, and will do in the future.  We still have knowledge of what He is doing, yet we seem to figure that it is what God does, and so we don't have to say "thanks" to Him. Who am I to never raise my voice in thanks to Him Who saved me.  There is a song that begins the chorus with, "Thank you, Lord, for saving my soul."  That certainly is a good place to start.  We should be echoing those words  each and every day that goes by.  That, however, is not all.  We can say "Thanks" for the daily provisions of life that we take for granted.  We can say thanks for the ability to even think about God and to realize His goodness in our lives.  We can say "Thanks" for the greatest of all hopes that we have in eternal life in a place called "heaven."   We often describe a "thankless" person who is void of gratitude for anything that takes place in their life.  How about you?  Do you say "thanks" in those countless occasions where you need help?  Praise God and give Him thanks today for His workings in your life.

How Much Did It Cost?

       Is the cheapest thing around the best thing to purchase?  Well, it depends on what you want out of it.  Some things that I have purchased at a cheap price don't work and end up In the trash.  I saw a saxophone on the internet that was cheap.  In fact the price was less than $200 while the Selmer Mark VI was selling for over $6,000.  I bought the saxophone and it now sits in the basement.  It wasn't to bad on tuning but one of the keys was too close to another key causing them to stick together every time you played an E flat.  Well, it was cheap.  Some people say, "You get what you pay for."  I saw a Lexus on the road the other day and one tail light was a different color due to fading of the glass, or plastic.  Sometimes paying a lot doesn't guarantee that the product will be great.  The payment for our sin, however was something beyond what we can ever think.   Second Corinthians 5:21 says, " For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." 
       Erwin Lutzer made a comment which said,  "[Jesus] had to compress an eternity of hell into three hours. As best we can, we must grasp that this was infinite suffering for the infinite Son of God. There was no way to transfer sin without transferring its penalty. To put it plainly, He was receiving what was due us. The wrath of the Father burned toward the Son once the reckoning was made. Indescribable sin was in contact with infinite holiness and infinite justice."  We often read the account of the crucifixion and are through the verses in less than 5 minutes.  We often, however, fail to realize what we have just read and what took place during that time on the cross.  This was no cheap  payment that was made for us.  It was the most "expensive" of all payments ever made and mankind cannot come even close to matching the offer.  This was the price that was going to have to be made if we were to receive the "righteousness of God."   So, we can't even come close to paying for our own sin let alone the sin for the whole world.  Perhaps this is why men and women, boys and girls, have such a hard time "believing on the Son."  That, then is the wonder of grace.  You have the opportunity to get the best by the grace of God.  We should be in the business of praising God daily for this wonderful salvation.  Praise God today for the work of His Son on the cross at Calvary for sin.

ADHD?

       We hear much these days about both children and adults who have a difficulty concentrating on something for any length of time.  It is usually referred to as an attention disorder.  As one adult advertisement stated, "It is as if someone else has the remote and keeps flipping the channel."  Anyone can be plagued with this problem.  I sometimes think that I had this problem while in school but back then, I just got the ruler across the knuckles and my attention was focused until the next rap.  It is probably not a new problem since there are several references in the Bible to problems of the mind.  Both Paul and Peter spoke about the mind and how it should be renewed and brought under control.  Sometimes, it is referred to having your mind renewed.   First Peter 1:13 says, "Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;"   
       Peter here mentions that we are to gird up the loins of our mind.  The picture here is the one who would wear a long flowing robe and then, when needing to move quickly, would gather up the edges of the robe in order for them to move.  The robe would be gathered up allowing them more freedom.  The idea is more of control over one's thoughts and understanding.  Paul, in Romans 12:1-2 spoke of the renewing of our minds which was the only logical thing that we should do as a result of what God had done for us in the preceding 11 chapters of the Book of Romans.   In fact, in these verses, Paul speaks about the metamorphosis that takes place in the life of the believer when we are "transformed" by the renewing of our minds.  So, the Scriptures speak of the wandering minds or those that are out of control.  There are those minds that are off thinking about other things when they should be thinking about the things of God.  It is time for us to take control of the remote, as it were, and to focus our attention upon the things of God.  As Peter has said, "...gird up the loins of your mind..."  Praise God today that He has addressed this issue and that He has the answer.

Holiness

      Some things in life are resistant to change.  We always remark about our senior population and how they don't like change to come into their lives.  I have a routine that has been around for the past 50 years and so any attempt to change it makes me feel uncomfortable.  I am retired, so to speak, but still get up at around 5:00 AM.  Now, my body begins to ache if I remain in bed any longer than 6 hours.  I like my coffee a certain way, I like my food cooked a certain way and the list goes on of how I like to do things and how I like things to be in my  environment.  There is however, one thing that should be changing from day to day and that is our personal holiness.  Leviticus 11:44 says, "For I am the LORD your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy: neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth."  Peter also reminds us of this same verse in his quote, in 1:16  "Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy." 
     Holiness has a lot to do with our separation, but it is a two way street.  We should be separated from the things of the world and separated towards God.  This means that there are going to be certain things in my life that should  be changing, even though I am resistant to change.  I should be spending more time in my reading of God's Word and I should be spending more time in my private prayer life with Him.  It is when I endeavor to take a giant leap and choke on the amount that I tried to consume.  I can't go from 10 minutes a day to 3 hours a day.  I once heard of a devout believer who is an apologist who remarked how much time he spent in Bible reading and prayer.  It would take a giant leap for me to ever get close to that.  I should, however, be making some progress if only by minutes to be more holy.  We are not going to come to the end of our holiness in that we are going to be perfect, but we should be making some progress.  The word, "holy" is used around 611 times in the King James Bible.  That's a lot to say about being holy.  God has gone to great lengths to explain what holiness is and so we should be at least concerned with it in a greater way than we are.  Remember the basic definition of holiness and strive to be closer to God today than you were yesterday.  When six months passes, you may find that you are just a tad more holy now than you were before.  This is one change that should be taking place in your life.  Praise God today that He desires our fellowship with Him.

Pass It On?

       In years past, I recall a couple of times when my parents received an anonymous letter promising certain things if they would send it on to a specified number of people.  It was the dreaded "chain letter."  To fail to send it on, would result in "bad luck" or some other such thing.  Mom would make sure that she sent the letters out to keep the bad luck away from our home.  We do the same thing today especially on "Facebook."  If you are on this type of social media, you will sometimes notice an article that insists that you forward it on if you are a true believer, or a true friend, a disciple of Christ, and the list goes on and on.  No matter how great the article is and most of them I doubt their authenticity, I do not pass anything on.  My faith, my patriotism, my love for Christian values, will never depend upon "passing on an article" just to see how many "likes" we can get.  I had a professor that used the expression, "The proof is in the pudding."  The phrase means, "he idiom is usually stated the proof is in the pudding and means that the end result is the mark of the success or failure of one's efforts or planning. The phrase may also be used in the past and future tenses: the proof will be/was in the pudding."   John 14:21 says, "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him."  
      Whether you are a Christian will be measured by the above verse of Scripture.  It reminds me of the passage of Scripture in Ephesians 2:8-10 where we are reminded that salvation is a gift of God, but works will follow afterwards, because of our salvation and not "for" our salvation.  My salvation will not be dependent upon "sharing" a poem or picture or story on a social media, but the "proof in the pudding" is going to be how I live my life in the world today.  If I fail to love the brethren, pray for others, be concerned about the lives of others, offer praise to God, don't read my Bible, then there is probably cause to say that I probably don't love the Lord Jesus Christ.  My Christianity at that point, would just be "convenient".  the proof would not be in the pudding, so to speak.  I once heard a preacher say, "If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?"  Praise God that we have A Word from Him in the Bible and that we are not dependent upon sharing something on social media.

Perfect Instructions

       English composition was without a doubt one of my worst subjects in college.  Grammar was difficult in my lower education, but the college course in English Composition, was one of the worst ones ever.  I was struggling, and the assignment was to write a set of instructions on anything that we wanted.  I chose what I thought was going to be an instant "A" in the course.  I chose, "How to make a bassoon reed.'  It was something that  I knew how to do and I would go through the step by step process.  I started out, "First you take a piece of cane..."  The paper came back with a "D" on it.  The first comment on the page was, "Where do I get the piece of cane?"  Everything went downhill from there.  Instructions, however, are very important in our lives.  There are many things that take place periodically that demand to have some instructions attached.  Sometimes, the one who wrote the instructions, is from a different country and words or phrases are left out that would be helpful if they were in the text.  There is, however, a set of instructions that is needed by everyone and those instructions give us the way to live our lives.   Psalm 32:8 says,"I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye."
       This verse includes two words that remind of of the process.  God says that He will "instruct" and then to "teach" us in our daily lives.  Both words give the same idea but the words are slightly different.  The word "instruct" has the idea of, "to be prudent, be circumspect, wisely understand, prosper."  To walk "circumspectly" is to have wisdom and to walk carefully taking great care in each and every situation.  God gives us that through His Word.  The Bible is probably the only book ever written with a perfect set of instructions for life.  When one considers that it was penned by around 40 different people, but guided by One Spirit, you have to come to the conclusion that God provided you with the perfect set of instructions.  There is no guess work, nor is there any detail left out.  There would be no question, where did God get the cane?  The Bible begins with the answer to that question,  "In the Beginning, God..."  From that point on, God gives you all the instruction that you need to receive eternal life in the end.  You have the instruction manual.  Now, the question is, "Are you going to read it and follow the instructions?  Praise God today that He is the Perfect Instructor.

Possessions

   One issue that seems to dominate our thinking is that of ownership.  Even young children begin to separate their toys and usually exclaim that all of them are theirs.  I can recall the peg board, two trains, one electric one and one wind up train, a Red Ryder BB gun, a Hawthorne Bicycle with lights and horn and the list goes on and on.    There seems to be  something within them that says that if someone else touches them, we will lose them forever.  The quest for things doesn't stop with children.  We also find that adults are concerned about accumulating things.  There was a bumper sticker that read, "He who dies with the most toys wins."  So, the thinking has gone from childhood through adulthood.  It does seem that with people, with human beings, ownership is important.  However, many of them do not realize that they do not even own themselves.  For the believer, they soon find out that ownership has been transferred to God.   First Corinthians 6:19-20 says, "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?  For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's."   
     These verses teach us much but one thing that is important today are those words that say, "...ye are not your own..."  We do not even own ourselves.  We have been purchased and it was done by the Lord Jesus Christ when He died on the cross for our sins.  Since we are not our own, then it would seem logical that we would see what the real owner desires of us.  Of course, we are heading back to God's Word and there we find God's instructions for the believer.  We learn those things that we are to do and we also learn about those things that we should avoid.  We find our purposes for living and how we can prepare for dying.  Everything that is important for this life is found in God's Word.  God has made the instructions very clear.  So, the next time you begin to think about personal possessions just remember that you are the possession of another.  You are the possession of God.  Praise Him today for His goodness and His plan for your life.  We can praise God today that we are a possession of God.  Praise Him today.

Consider Joy

     I have recently had the honor of sharing a course by Howard Hendricks entitled, "Living By The Book."  Many of have probably already gone through the course or know something about it.  The final part of the course deals with the area of application.  It is concerned with the applying of what you have learned from the observation and interpretation sections into your life.  In other studies, especially in the Book of Ephesians, I have emphasized the number of imperatives that are mentioned in Ephesians, 4, 5 and 6.  Imperatives are those things that we might otherwise term as "commands."  James 1:2 says, " My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;"
       Professor Hendricks mentioned several times that there were over 50 different commands in the Book of James.  When you begin looking at the book, it doesn't take long to begin finding the commands.  The above verse is one of them.  Commands are not easy to do and this is probably why God has given them to us.  The above verse reminds us we have many different temptations going on in our lives each and every day.  What are we supposed to do?  James reminds us that we are to "count it all joy."  In light of the temptation, we are to consider joy as our alternative.  Some temptations, such as discouragement, depression, fear and grief, all weight in heavily in our lives.  It may seem a bit cruel to consider joy during these times, but the temptation suddenly loses strength and gives way to a singing heart instead of a heavy heart.  Now, remember that there are over 50 different commands and the considering joy is but one of them.  Application of the Bible passages into our lives means that the Word of God is in the process of changing us and that we are growing in the Lord each and every day.  If you are going through some heavy trial at the moment, refocus your attention on the joy of the Lord.  You may even want to quote this verse back to God as you meditate on this passage of Scripture.  Remember that you got through yesterday and the day before yesterday, and you will get through today.  Praise God that He answers when we call out to Him.

Procrastination

        Have you ever put things off?  Some people have a tendency to just wait until tomorrow to get something accomplished.  Some people wait until the last minute to do their taxes and others will wait until the end of the month to get their car inspected.  It may be something else around the house or it may be something that you have to do next month.  The tendency in some is just to put it off.  There are a number of problems with that.  Things seem to have a tendency to accumulate.  Whereas you had only one thing to do today, by putting it off until tomorrow, you suddenly find that you now have two or maybe even three things to do.  After a while, the list grows to the point that things are just scratched off without being done at all.  There are enough things in each do to keep you busy and they are things that should be done.  Matthew 6:34 says, "Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." 

       This verse reminds us that each day has sufficient troubles of its own and therefore worry should not be a part of our lifestyle.  In this section of scripture, the verse just before it, Matthew 6:33, tells us to not be concerned about the worries of the day and that God shall take care of all of your needs.  We find that the word "diligence" is found 7 times in the Book of Proverbs.  In almost all of the references, it is contrasted with the sluggard or the lazy person.  The sluggard just rolls over in the bed and says let me just sleep a little bit longer.  Hence, the sluggard gets nothing done.  It is the person who is diligent, the one who keeps getting things checked off of his "to do" list that gets things done.  You can notice the people in the church who are not sluggards.  They are the ones who are doing the work.  They are the ones getting things done.  If you want to get a job done and be sure that it will be accomplished, you need to ask a busy person.  They will see that it gets done.  The person who is doing nothing but sitting back and relaxing may accept the job, but probably won't get it done.  So, don't put off for tomorrow what you can accomplish today.  Tomorrow has enough worries of its own and you will need all of your strength and time for tomorrow's concerns.  Praise God that He sees us through each day's troubles and joys.  Oh and by the way, don't put off salvation.  When that deadline passes you will find yourself in a very bad situation that you can no longer do anything about.  Praise God that He is always ready to hear your prayers.

Its Time To Pray

 

        How often do you speak to God?  We often talk about prayer and the fact that we all need to be involved in prayer, but it seems that the amount of time that is spent in actual prayer gets smaller and smaller.  There are numerous verses in the Scripture that speak of prayer and praying.  The word "prayer" is used over 100 times in the Bible and the word "praying" is used over 300 times.  The point is that we need to be involved in prayer that we might communicate with the One who has saved us, God Himself.  Psalm 5:3 says,"My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up." 

      The Psalmist was saying to LORD that He would hear his voice in the morning.  However, as we look through the Scriptures, we can find numerous references to praying being done at other times during the day.  Some people prayed seven times a day as it says in Psalm 119:164.  We also find various times of the day when praying was conducted.  Some may have prayed at night, in the morning, throughout the day, in times of distress or whatever the occasion.  The problem today is that we have run out of time with our busy schedules.  Now that I am older, you would think that we would have more time but that is not the case.  Schedules are just crammed with different things than before.  The result has left us with a minimal amount of time to tack on a quick prayer here and there.  Prayer needs to become a constant attitude where we are spending more time in prayer than in anything else.  We sometimes think that we need to have a specific formula for the putting together of our prayers.  Formulas are not necessary.  We can speak to God at any time.  I would say that the One to whom we are addressing our prayers should be worthy of reverence and respect and that we should not make request to Him with flippant attitudes.  The amazing thing for us is that the creator of the universe has made Himself available to hear and to answer our prayers.  The thing for us to do is to make sure that we do communicate with Him and that we should do it often.  We can look to the Apostle Paul and see a great example of praying.  He prayed often and he prayed for many different people.  Almost every church to which he penned an epistle is reminded about his prayers for them.  So, are you in prayer?  Do you spend time speaking to God?  Echo the words of the Psalmist and say to the LORD, "...My voice shalt thou hear in the morning..."  Praise God today that you can come to Him in prayer any time of the day or night.  He is always there.

Creation and Humanism

     While preparing a Sunday School lesson recently, I spent some time looking up the humanist manifesto that came out around 1935.  A revision of the manifest came out in the early 70's and now there is a third version.  It basically says there is no God at all and mankind is just a product of evolution.  The first manifest has 15 claims, or articles, which refute God and exalt mankind.  It is signed by a long list of college presidents, a large number of Unitarian preachers and a few others.  They all claim to be "free thinkers" and atheists, and agnostics.  They make it clear that they don't believe in God at all.  By its very name, it exalts mankind.  Naturally, they don't believe in the Bible and so they have no way of even coming close to understanding Who God is.    Colossians 1:16-17 says, " For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:   And he is before all things, and by him all things consist."  
      You would think that the humanist people could open their eyes and take a look at the universe from the smallest of things to the largest of things.  Some scientists, and believers in chemical evolution, came together and pondered these very questions.  One of them, an author of a textbook for chemical evolution, finally came to the conclusion that there had to be "First Cause" in order for things to develop as they have.  Whether you are looking at the Flagella motor in the human cell or a field of  flowers, or the Grand Canyon or Mount St. Helen or even your own hand, you should be able to come up to the conclusion that there had to be a First Cause and that First Cause is God, not a pool of primitive goop.  It seems quite clear that it takes much more faith to believe in evolution than it does in the two verses above.  God created the universe and everything in it.  Further examination spells out that it was Christ Himself Who was involved in the process.  It plainly and flatly says, "all things were created by Him and for Him..."  I do feel sorry for the mass of so called educated people who simply believe that they will just disappear into nothingness at the time of death, with no hope while they are living on this earth.  How sad that is.  The discovery of DNA should move people to see God's hand in things and not just chance.  I choose to be the Biblical account of creation and to give God credit for the wonders of the universe.  Praise God for all that He has made.

Unfinished Projects

     The lives of many are littered with abandoned projects.  When I started a project, I always wanted to finish it as soon as possible.  I would even skip stages which later came to haunt me in making the project more difficult.  In some cases, the project would be shelved for awhile and maybe even stopped altogether.    People sometimes have a hard time getting things finished.  It seems easy to begin a project, but soon they come upon a stumbling point and the work stops.  Many of the projects are unimportant while some are very important.  Nevertheless, they all remain unfinished.  This pattern could carry  over into our Christian lives.  We may, for example, begin the year with the desire to read through the Bible only to find that somewhere between May and August, we were so far behind that we figure we will start again next year.  There may also have been that goal to meet with God everyday for a period of refreshment only to find that so many emergencies came up that we couldn't do it.  There is at least one truth that should grasp our attention.  It is never too late to start over.  Isaiah 43:2 says, "When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee."  
     This verse of Scripture reminds us that God will be with us even in the severest of times.  So, it stands to reason, that He will be with us if we decide to continue one or more of those projects that have been put on hold for the past 3 months.  Yes, it is never too late to start over.  We don't have to wait until the first day of the year to begin reading through the Bible.  You could even start your program today.  We don't have to wait until the next mission conference or the next revival in order to revamp our lives and get where God wants us to be.  We don't have to wait for the snow to begin falling to curl up with a good book by the fire.  Ideal conditions will rarely exist in most circumstances.  So, decide to begin now to complete some of those spiritual goals that you have logged down in your journal or on those blank pages of your Bible.  God has reminded us that He will always be with us and that He will be our guide and our source of strength.  It's never too late to start over.  There is that expression that today is the first day of the rest of your life.  Praise God that has He is always there to help us to begin a new project or to finish an old one.

Locked in Tight!

     Are you ready for the thief in the night?  We once had an apartment that had a number of locks on the front door.  The locks would send steel bars into the floor and the and the upper part of the door.  It would seem to be extremely secure and would protect one from anyone just trying to get in without a key.  We were protected against the thieves of the night or any other time of the day.   We sometimes thought that the building could fall down, but the door would still be standing.   Are you protected spiritually?  Second Peter 3:10-11 says, "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.  Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness," 
      The Apostle Peter says that the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night.  The funny thing is that we know the thief is coming but we just don't know when it is going to be.  Peter has used this illustration because no one knows when the thief is going to come.  it will be unexpected and when we don't expect it.  The same is true about the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.  It will be when we don't expect it.  The coming will be compared to that of a thief coming in the night.  We often make a lot of preparations to protect us from physical harm but often we neglect to take the necessary spiritual steps.  Having one's house in order is important.  We sometimes put things off thinking that we have all the time in the world to make necessary changes.  The result is that we often end up not being prepared.  Almost everyone carries around a spare tire in the trunk of the car just in case they have one go flat.  If you don't have a spare, you are just tempting fate.  Sooner or later, you are going to need it.  Salvation is the most critical of decisions that one needs to make.  Putting it off can be like running around without a spare tire or having a break in by a thief when you least expect it.  So, look to the Lord in all things, trust in God for your spiritual life and have your house in order.  Remember!  The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night."  Praise God today for His plan for your life.