The Memory

  What do you remember?  I might ask the question a different way, “How well do you remember what is going on in your life? People often talk about their memory and refer to as two different parts.  There is the long term memory and the short term memory.  The part of the memory that is labeled as "short term" involves such things as where you put your keys about 2 minutes ago.  This is the one that often fails and causes us much concern.  The long term memory seems to be there for the most part.  That is, we can remember things that stand out in our minds from many years ago.  I can remember things about my childhood, my days in school, even the one room school. I can remember my life in the Navy and with A. T. and T. Company. My short time memory however, seems to be fading at times as I forget those things that are taking place right now and it seems that I am easily distracted. The Scripture speaks about our memory when it challenges us to remember certain things.  Second Peter 1:12-15 says, "Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth.  Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance;  Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me.  Moreover I will endeavour that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance."  

          It does us good to remember certain spiritual things that have taken place in our lives.  Our short term memory will have a tendency to lose things if we do not purposely remember them.  It is good to remember every aspect of our salvation.  It is good to remember the Gospel message and how Christ died on the cross for our sins and it is good to remember how we came to know Him as our Lord and Savior.  It is good to remember how we were before we were saved and then how we came to hear the gospel message in the first place.  Then, it is good to remember how we were after our salvation experience and the changes that God made in our lives.  It is good to also remember how God has worked in our lives from the beginning of them all the way up to today.  You see, the remembering about your salvation becomes you own personal testimony that you can share with anyone that comes across your path. We will soon realize that God does have a wonderful plan for each and everyone of us and that He is actively working in our lives.  So, remember what God has done for you and then go on to Praise Him for His working in your life today.

The Unexplainable

      I have several containers in my basement that contains a lot of screws, washers, nuts and bolts of articles that have broken and have ended up in the trash can. Usually, when something comes up as not working anymore, I like to take it apart to see what happened. There is very little hope of me fixing it. It is more like a curiosity as to what is inside of it. It is amazing as to how many small screws, nuts and bolts are inside of the average computer. I doubt that I could even get it back together let alone fix the problem that caused its failure to work. When I end up with the little project, I still wonder as to how it operated in the first place. I am amazed to think about how many things are going through the air waves for radio, television and internet. Maybe I will understand it by and by. First Thessalonians 4:17-18 says, “ Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”

      The Second advent of the Lord Jesus Christ is one of the greatest mysteries to me. This is something that I don't have any idea how it is going to work. The Second Coming is often referred to in the Bible and even the Lord Jesus Christ reminded us of it in numerous passages in the New Testament. In John 14, Jesus mentions that He will come again. The Thessalonian passage describes what is going to take place even though many physical laws are broken. Jesus coming in the air seems impossible and my rising from the ground to meet Him in the air seems even more impossible since I find it difficult to even get out of the recliner, let alone rise any distance into the air to meet the Lord Jesus Christ. This particular passage is often referred to as the “rapture” passage even though the word itself is not used in the English language. The word, “rapture” is from a Latin word that was used for the “caught up” phrase in the verse, but how is it going to work? That will be another one of those things that I will understand perhaps by and by but certainly don't know how it will happen now. I don't understand how my TV works so that a picture can be transmitted thousands of miles and come up on a screen in my living room. I don't understand mother boards and central processing units, nor flash drives or SD cards but they all do what they are supposed to do and I accept them and use them on a daily basis. I also, don't understand how God does what He does which seems to violate physical laws, but He did what the Bible says and I accept it simply because God said it was so. I don't understand how God parts large bodies of water so people can walk through on dry ground, but He did. I don't understand how Enoch didn't die but just went to be with the Lord, but he did. I don't understand how Jesus walked on the water, but He did. I don't understand how Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, but He did. I don't know how the rapture is going to work, but it will according to God's Word. None of us may understand how God is going to answer our prayers, or how He is going to work in our lives today, but we have confidence in the Word of God that He will and it will always be amazing. Praise God today for the fact that He does what seems to be impossible to us but is common to Him.

Hearts and Minds

 

         I am flooded with emails in the each day from all kinds of groups, most of which I delete and do not even open. I can tell by the subject line that I have no interest in them. At the same time, a number of articles pop up that inform me of the current news and if I am interested, I can click on a link that will take me to additional information. From my standpoint, most of them relate the truth of the Scriptures in regard to the condition of mankind in general. The worst information seems to be coming from the political news of the world even down to the local governments. While it is generally bad we can rightly assume that it did not happen over night. It took some time and the events of today are the fruit of decisions that were made years ago. Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”

          Francis Schaeffer wrote about how we had, as a people, crossed the line of despair in art, music, philosophy and our religion. It began centuries ago from the 1500's onward. It has gathered steam through the years and the longer we go, we worse it gets. In the 1930's the humanist manifesto came out, signed by our so called educated leaders who endeavored to put man at the top of things and left God out of the picture. Soon after, Bible reading was removed from the schools. Laws about removing the ten commandments in government building were put forth. The value of the sea turtle egg was soon above that of the human baby that was not yet born. We might say, “How much worse can things get?” Only God knows that answer. The Apostle Paul exhorted us to be involved in “mind renewal” in Romans 12:1-2. There are even believers in the Lord Jesus Christ who have the need to have their minds renewed as to what is right and just in the their own world. Paul also mentioned in Philippians 4:8 the things that should be the center of our thinking. Everyone is quick to claim their “rights” in the world in which we live. We feel that we have the right for all that the world could ever give us. In reality, I have no rights, only responsibilities from God. It is only by the grace of God that I am where I am and possess the things that I possess. It seems that everyone desires to sit by the fire, a book in our lap, a dog at our side and a cup of hot cocoa next to us but that is not the way things turn out. The Lord spoke through Jeremiah and pointed out the problem and it is with the heart. Things were very bad in Jeremiah's day and when he writes Lamentations through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, you began to see the picture of total dismay that fell upon God's chosen people. What's the answer? Romans 12:1-2 exhort us after 11 chapters of doctrine, “ I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” That word “transformed” is the same one used in the Mount of Transfiguration and in 2 Corinthians 3:18. As always, the answer lies in the Bible, the Word of God. We may be surprised and angered by the heart decisions of those around us and while not doing anything about our own hearts. The motto of a church with whom I was associated was, “Scripture and Prayer to conform us to the image of Christ.” It is a good formula for us today. May we take care of our own hearts and then pray for others to do likewise. Praise God that He is still in the business of changing the desires of our hearts.

Getting Over the Blahs

          Most everyone has at one time or another, days that I might label as being “blah” days. These days are not so exciting and it is usually cloudy outside with a little drizzle. It just seems like things are not too exciting on a “blah” day. I remember Chuck Colson giving a lecture at our school and he talked about the “prison shuffle.” The men just walk along with their heads down and their feet barely getting off the floor just sort of shuffling along like a flock of sheep, only the sheep would probably be more exciting to watch. What does it take to get us out of the “blahs?” Psalm 119:164 says, “Seven times a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous judgments.”

         The Psalmist here praises God seven times a day because of God's righteous judgments. The words “righteous judgments” is one of the terms that the Psalmist uses to describe the Word of God. There are several terms that are used throughout this particular Psalm. There are 176 verses and all but 5 of those verses speak about the Word in one way or another. In all of the Psalm we soon learn about the Psalmist and his love for the Word of God. It is always amazing how the Word of God lifts you up when you are in a “blah” day. In this passage, the Psalmist says that he praises God seven times a day. Have you ever had that experience? How many times a day do you here yourself praising God? Something might take place that shows God's handiwork and we reply, “Praise the Lord.” A person might share what God has done in their life and we might answer, “Praise the Lord!” This Psalm also speaks about the fact that the person that loves the Word of God has great peace or how the Word of God is a light unto our path or how the Word of God can cleanse our own ways and that it is the Word of God that is instrumental in keeping us on God's path in our lives. The average believer today has no real reason for having a “blah” day as we have access to the Word of God in ways that were never before possible. We do have our personal, hard copy of the Word of God. It might be in our brief case or on the corner table filled with papers or other mementos of things that we don't want to forget. We can also have a copy of God's Word on our computers and not only that, we can have and probably do have a copy of the Bible on our precious telephone. Thousands of smart phones, tablets, lap tops and other electronic devices such as CD's all give us access to God's Word in a way that is unparalleled in other time period in history. Many of them sit dormant. Computers are resting in social media programs, phones are set to calendars and directions and sports events while we continue to have our “blah” day. There is no reason for it to be that way when the Word is so accessible to us. Assess however does not make it happen. Now, you don't have to wait for a “blah” day to discover what God is doing and what He is going to be doing in the future or even what He did years ago. The Psalmist said he praised God seven times a day. You might as well say that He was always praising God. You try to praise God seven times today and see if it doesn't chase away he “blahs.” You soon find yourself praising God for His love as seen in John 3:16 or for the fact you can do all things through Christ as seen in Philippians 4:13 or that God will supply your need as seen in Philippians 4:19 or that Jesus is coming again as sen in John 14:1-6 or that God's Word will accomplish what it was meant to accomplish as seen in Isaiah 55:11 You will find that God's Word will chase away the “blahs” before you even know it is happening. It might be that you will open your leather Bible or turn on your phone app that has the Bible in it or the verse that came to you in an email, but God's Word will excite you beyond your wildest imaginations. Praise God indeed for His Word and how it is working in your life today.

The Battle of the Thoughts

         Have you ever found yourself going through a battle with sin in your life? I think that most of us deal with that very thing very often. I get a little newsletter called, “Bible and Life” and this issue is dealing with that topic. It is interesting and applicable to my life even though I am 81 years old. I don't think you ever get passed an age where you don't deal with the sin that goes on and is a constant temptation in our lives. Anyway, I am in total agreement with the article and in it the writer shares 5 disciplines that are needed in overcoming sin in our lives. Second Corinthians 10:5 says, “ 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;”

        I have this verse of Scripture printed out and placed in the folder where I put my sermons. Any time that I preach, this is the last thing I see before I go to the first page of the sermon. It is also the last thing I see when I close the folder after finishing the message. David Dunlap mentions that the first discipline is to have your heart fixed on Christ. That is sometimes easy to say but hard to do. The above verse speaks about casting down imaginations. I really associate with this verse because my imaginations run wild almost all of the time. The word is used only twice in the Bible and the other time is in Romans 2:15 where it is translated as “thoughts.” I won't say that I have a vivid imagination, but I can imagine all kinds of things that won't take place, haven't taken place and probably won't take place in the future. Nevertheless, I imagine them. Someone may be asked to do something. My thought is, “I wonder why they didn't ask me?” “Couldn't I have done it just as well?” “Am I not qualified to do it?” “Why am I being shunned in this area?” You can soon see that my imagination has taken me to the point of despair. The above verse exhorts us to cast down our imaginations, our thoughts that take us away from Christ and put ourselves in the in the forefront of the issue. Rather, we should be casting down the imaginations and bring into captivity all of our thoughts to the obedience of Christ. I think of the hymn, “Turn you eyes upon Jesus Look full in His wonderful face And the things of earth will grow strangely dim In the light of His glory and grace.” The religious people of the world try to come up with things that you can do to alleviate the feeling of guilt as the result of sin but they are only temporary salves that come off in the wash and in the end do absolutely nothing. Paul reminded us to indeed fix our attention totally on the Lord Jesus Christ in all that we do. Remember to bring every thought into captivity. Praise God today for the victory that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Shortcuts

          Have you ever had the desire to take a short cut? While coming home from Northern Virginia a couple of years ago, my GPS alerted me to a shortcut and kept urging me to take that route. I left the three lane highway and set out on this short cut. The road was paved and two lanes. After a couple of miles it narrowed and the lines disappeared and then it became a gravel road. We came to a small creek and the bridge was nothing more than a slab of concrete with holes in it laying in the middle of the creek. We passed by small farms with goats, llamas and other assorted animals. We were going up and down hills in wooded areas and soon the GPS prompted me to take a right turn on this small road. The sign on the road said, “This road not for motorized vehicles” and had grass growing in the middle of the road. I stopped, turned around and endeavored to find my way back to my comfortable three lane highway. In the future, I will not be tempted to take shortcuts that have the word “hollow” in the road name. Hebrews 12:1-2 says, “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

         God often describes our journey in this life as a race and He describes many things that will occur on this race. Even in spiritual matters, we are tempted to try to take shortcuts. We would like to take a nap and wake up more spiritual than before because we put our Bible under the pillow. We know that it won't work but we try to come up with something that will speed us along so that we end up being a mature, loving, forgiving person in a matter of hours instead of the years of chipping away on a petrified character. My race and probably the races of many others are filled with uncomfortable obstacles and at some point or another, we have the desire to take a shortcut. In a real race, if you take a shortcut, you are disqualified and it will do you no good so you persevere with the aches and pains that comes with each step keeping your eyes on the finish line. Spiritually speaking, we do the same thing. Our eyes are focused on the finish line which in this case is heaven itself and so we persevere knowing full well that the outcome will be “worth it all.” We also notice that our focused is not on the aches and pains of the race but on the Lord Jesus Christ Who is the Author and Finisher of our faith. Because He completed the “race” that was set before Him, we, too, can finish the race that is set before us. If someone seems to offer you a shortcut in order to achieve spiritual maturity, don't waste your time on it as there is no shortcut. Praise god today that He is our Guide in all areas of our lives.

Keeping On, Keeping On

            Many of us have routines that we go through each and almost every day. There are some things in that routine that affect other people, but most of them do not. Occasionally, we find something that if ye skipped it there would be some consequences. When I joined up with the U. S. Navy, I soon learned about shining shoes. The shoes that they gave you were about as dull as dull could get. Your first job was to get those shoes shining so much that you could see your face in them. That was when I learned about “spit” shining a shoe. You kept spitting on the shoe and rubbing it with polish with one finger until your finger hurt. It was not easy thing to do. In the end, you could see your face in your shoes. The thing was, you had to keep on doing it as the shine wouldn't last long if you missed a day or so. You keep on shining your shoes each and every day because there is going to be someone who is going to look at your shoes and it usually took place in the first morning inspection of the troops. Spiritually speaking, there are many things that we keep on doing time after time after time. We may sometimes wonder if it is worth it all but then we come to a verse like the following one and realize that it is worth it all. First Corinthians 15:58 says, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”

            We soon find out in the work of the Lord that we are not doing it to please men. We are not doing it to please the church body of believers, or the ones with whom you have fellowship or your friends or your new acquaintances. Your work for the Lord consists of doing it because of One and that One is the Lord Jesus Christ. As my granddaughter once said, “It is for an audience of ONE.” Each and every day you might find yourself getting up, going through your routine, opening your Bible, reading your devotion, spending some time in prayer and then go out to start your day in the world. There might be that thought that crosses your mind now and then as to whether it is worth it all. Would it make any difference if you just quit doing it? Would anyone notice if you didn't do what you are doing? Well, right at the beginning, we realize that the Lord knows and He knows the moment you slack off. He knows the moment your work is not up to par or when you think you need a vacation from it all and just stop doing it altogether. The world may not jump up and say, “Hey! Where is my thought for the day?” They might miss eventually the work that you may be doing and may come up and say, “Didn't you use to do such and such?” You might reply, “Yep. I quit doing it a month ago.” While it may be true that the world will not care if you stop. They won't care if you stop praying. They won't care if you stop trying to do acts of kindness. They won't care if you stop reading your Bible and they won't care when you stop going to church. They won't care when you stop singing. In all of the things mentioned and much more, God knows and He cares. So, in affect, it is to an audience of ONE and that ONE is God Himself. As Paul said, “...Your labor is not in vain in the LORD.” Praise God today that we can work for Him each and every day.