“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.” (Proverbs 3:5-6 KJV)
Years ago there used to be a game show on TV called “Who Do You Trust?” This seems to be the game folks are playing today. “Should we trust God and what He says in His Word, or should we trust our own heart and instincts?” From the tragedies that we see in society today, most folks would do better by the flip of a coin than to live by the decisions they have made for themselves.
The world is an uncertain place. We do not know what each day holds. As the song says: Many things about tomorrow, I don’t seem to understand; But I know Who holds tomorrow, And I know He holds my hand.
A football coach wants the ball in the hands of the best ball carrier, the best receiver, the strongest and most capable hands. The NASCAR team wants to put a driver behind the wheel who believes he can win the race and knows how to do it. The best hands we can place our lives in are the hands of the One: Who flung the stars into space; Who hung the moon; Who breathed life into our being; Who triumphed over death, hell and the grave! Our Lord never fumbles the ball, He never kicks the ball short of the goal, He never goes out of bounds, He never loses a race.
Our Scripture for today reminds us that our relationship with God is dual-sided. Our side is to trust in the Lord, not ourselves, and acknowledge Him in all we do. His side is to direct our path. The problem lies with us trying to do His part. We do not seem content with the Lord directing our life. Remember, God’s will is not a road map – it is a relationship.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Eat Dirt!
“Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” (2Timothy 2:3 KJV)
I get a bit discussed with 21st century Christians. Everything has to be so sterile we can not even be totally honest with one another for fear that we may offend each other. Now, I do not desire to be abusive to anyone, especially a brother in Christ, but we need to toughen up a bit when it comes to spiritual maturity, quit walking on egg shells around each other. Pampering and codling a brother when offenses come along will not produce a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
We need to eat dirt! When I was a kid we picked food up off the floor, blew on it and ate it. We played in the dirt with worms and bugs. We shared a coke out of a glass bottle, yep, passed it around and every kid took a sip. No one got sick, we were tough because we built up a resistance to the germs. No one had tubes in their ears or used inhalers. We got the mumps and got over it.
Bottom line…Christians need to endure hardness, without a bunch of crying and complaining. The few, the saved, the redeemed.
I get a bit discussed with 21st century Christians. Everything has to be so sterile we can not even be totally honest with one another for fear that we may offend each other. Now, I do not desire to be abusive to anyone, especially a brother in Christ, but we need to toughen up a bit when it comes to spiritual maturity, quit walking on egg shells around each other. Pampering and codling a brother when offenses come along will not produce a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
We need to eat dirt! When I was a kid we picked food up off the floor, blew on it and ate it. We played in the dirt with worms and bugs. We shared a coke out of a glass bottle, yep, passed it around and every kid took a sip. No one got sick, we were tough because we built up a resistance to the germs. No one had tubes in their ears or used inhalers. We got the mumps and got over it.
Bottom line…Christians need to endure hardness, without a bunch of crying and complaining. The few, the saved, the redeemed.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Ugly!
“But what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them which desire occasion; that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we. For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.” (2Corinthians 11:12-15 KJV)
As believers, we want sin to be ugly. It is rarely so, at least not until its end. (“Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” James 1:15 KJV).
We desire to view the adulterers and whoremongers of Hollywood to be ugly. To us, the lying politicians and bureaucrats ought to be ugly. The false apostles and deceitful workers of today ought to be viewed with distain. But it is not so.
But then it goes a step farther. That which should be ugly is considered to be something of beauty to be admired. The Hollywood star is idolized, the athlete is copied, the self-serving politician is elected, and the false prophets are praised, angels of light, blessings!
The undiscerning spiritual eye is incapable of seeing the horror and deceit. It is frustrating from time to time, but always remember…we all will stand before the same Jesus. It is He Who is the righteous Judge.
As believers, we want sin to be ugly. It is rarely so, at least not until its end. (“Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” James 1:15 KJV).
We desire to view the adulterers and whoremongers of Hollywood to be ugly. To us, the lying politicians and bureaucrats ought to be ugly. The false apostles and deceitful workers of today ought to be viewed with distain. But it is not so.
But then it goes a step farther. That which should be ugly is considered to be something of beauty to be admired. The Hollywood star is idolized, the athlete is copied, the self-serving politician is elected, and the false prophets are praised, angels of light, blessings!
The undiscerning spiritual eye is incapable of seeing the horror and deceit. It is frustrating from time to time, but always remember…we all will stand before the same Jesus. It is He Who is the righteous Judge.
Monday, March 17, 2008
My Daddy Told Me
“The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, saying, Go unto the house of the Rechabites, and speak unto them, and bring them into the house of the LORD, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink. Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habaziniah, and his brethren, and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites; And I brought them into the house of the LORD, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, a man of God, which was by the chamber of the princes, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the door: And I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites pots full of wine, and cups, and I said unto them, Drink ye wine. But they said, We will drink no wine: for Jonadab the son of Rechab our father commanded us, saying, Ye shall drink no wine, neither ye, nor your sons for ever: Neither shall ye build house, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyard, nor have any: but all your days ye shall dwell in tents; that ye may live many days in the land where ye be strangers. Thus have we obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab our father in all that he hath charged us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, nor our daughters; Nor to build houses for us to dwell in: neither have we vineyard, nor field, nor seed: But we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed, and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us. But it came to pass, when Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came up into the land, that we said, Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans, and for fear of the army of the Syrians: so we dwell at Jerusalem. Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Go and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will ye not receive instruction to hearken to my words? saith the LORD. The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are performed; for unto this day they drink none, but obey their father’s commandment: notwithstanding I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye hearkened not unto me. I have sent also unto you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, Return ye now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and go not after other gods to serve them, and ye shall dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers: but ye have not inclined your ear, nor hearkened unto me. Because the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their father, which he commanded them; but this people hath not hearkened unto me: Therefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon Judah and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them: because I have spoken unto them, but they have not heard; and I have called unto them, but they have not answered. And Jeremiah said unto the house of the Rechabites, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Because ye have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according unto all that he hath commanded you: Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me for ever.” (Jeremiah 35:1-19 KJV)
Of the two kingdoms of Israel divided, the northern kingdom called “Israel” and the southern kingdom called “Judah,” the southern kingdom was the last to apostatize, but it did apostatize. And this is a good example of why. In the next chapter (Jeremiah 36) is an interesting story of not only ignoring the word of God but trying to destroy it.
What is going on in our text?
• God tells the prophet Jeremiah to give wine to the Rechabites. So he tries to do so, but when he offers it to them they refuse.
• The Rechabites were told by their father, Jonadab, that they were never to drink wine, build houses, have vineyards, or plant seed.
• This may seem odd but they were taught that if they would do this their days would be long in the land. Let me give you some history about this family:
o This Rechab went into Samaria with Jehu and destroyed the temple of Baal where Ahab and Jezebel worshipped.
o One of Rechab’s sons, Malchiah, repaired the dung gate in the restoration of Jerusalem under Nehemiah.
o Because they obeyed their Godly father’s words, when all others were taken into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar, this family remained in the land.
• God was upset with Judah because here was a family who obeyed their father’s words, but Judah would not obey the Almighty, but ignored and questioned Him.
• Knowing human nature, I am sure there were times when the children of Rechab must have questioned the reasoning behind their family restrictions. They may not have liked what they heard. But what saved them from captivity was that they said, “We may not understand why, we may not like what we hear, but Daddy told us not to do these things and we are not going to do them.”
o They may have been laughed at.
o They may have been ostracized.
o They may have been misunderstood.
But they were not going to disobey Daddy.
Parents, may I say to you that within the Old Testament law and reiterated in the New Testament is this principle: Honor and obey thy parents. Why? That thy days may be long in the land, or upon the earth. Listen! If children are not taught to obey their parents, they will have a mighty hard time learning to obey God.
There are things in this life we need to just take God at His word and obey. It doesn’t matter if we understand at the time, we should just do them. It doesn’t matter if anyone agrees with us, we should just do them. It doesn’t matter if the whole world is going the opposite direction, we should just do them.
Of the two kingdoms of Israel divided, the northern kingdom called “Israel” and the southern kingdom called “Judah,” the southern kingdom was the last to apostatize, but it did apostatize. And this is a good example of why. In the next chapter (Jeremiah 36) is an interesting story of not only ignoring the word of God but trying to destroy it.
What is going on in our text?
• God tells the prophet Jeremiah to give wine to the Rechabites. So he tries to do so, but when he offers it to them they refuse.
• The Rechabites were told by their father, Jonadab, that they were never to drink wine, build houses, have vineyards, or plant seed.
• This may seem odd but they were taught that if they would do this their days would be long in the land. Let me give you some history about this family:
o This Rechab went into Samaria with Jehu and destroyed the temple of Baal where Ahab and Jezebel worshipped.
o One of Rechab’s sons, Malchiah, repaired the dung gate in the restoration of Jerusalem under Nehemiah.
o Because they obeyed their Godly father’s words, when all others were taken into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar, this family remained in the land.
• God was upset with Judah because here was a family who obeyed their father’s words, but Judah would not obey the Almighty, but ignored and questioned Him.
• Knowing human nature, I am sure there were times when the children of Rechab must have questioned the reasoning behind their family restrictions. They may not have liked what they heard. But what saved them from captivity was that they said, “We may not understand why, we may not like what we hear, but Daddy told us not to do these things and we are not going to do them.”
o They may have been laughed at.
o They may have been ostracized.
o They may have been misunderstood.
But they were not going to disobey Daddy.
Parents, may I say to you that within the Old Testament law and reiterated in the New Testament is this principle: Honor and obey thy parents. Why? That thy days may be long in the land, or upon the earth. Listen! If children are not taught to obey their parents, they will have a mighty hard time learning to obey God.
There are things in this life we need to just take God at His word and obey. It doesn’t matter if we understand at the time, we should just do them. It doesn’t matter if anyone agrees with us, we should just do them. It doesn’t matter if the whole world is going the opposite direction, we should just do them.
Friday, March 7, 2008
Faith for the Family in the Final Days
“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.” (Hebrews 11:6-7 KJV)
“But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” (Matthew 24:37-39 KJV)
“And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.” (Luke 17:26-27 KJV)
There is going to be a repeat of Noah’s day just preceding the return of Jesus Christ. In other words, Jesus is saying that just before I come again, you are going to see the characteristics of that age repeated again.
When we think of Noah’s day and all that went on, we usually think of world-wide violence, youthful rebellion and sexual perversion. But very few folks think when Jesus says, “as it was in the days of Noe,” about a family that lived by faith; that is what I want to center our thoughts on today.
In the Word of God, it speaks of there being just a few who live by faith in the final days. For example, (Luke 18:8 “…nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” Not very many really live by faith today. It is usually, “Oh, God, what are we going to do? How are we going to pay our bills? What will we do if Obama or Hillary gets elected (or for that matter, McCain)? What if the bottom falls out of the economy?” One has never seen such agonizing and insecurity among God’s people as we see today. It is no wonder why our kids are the way they are. Laodicean Christians live by job, instead of like Job…by checking account instead of by a settled account…by Social Security instead of eternal security. I am not against those things as long as we are willing to turn all matters over to God.
But here in Scripture is a family that God says they lived by faith. That includes Noah, his wife and sons and daughters-in-law. May I say, they are not going to get on that ark unless they have faith. I heard another preacher say once, “They sure were a mess of a family.” Well, they may have been a mess, but they had faith enough to get on that boat. I am just saying that according to the Scriptures, this is going to be repeated in the last days.
Therefore, there are going to be a few families on this earth before Jesus comes that will be families of faith like Noah’s family, who will condemn this rotten world and look to God for redemption and trust Him to get them through this life into the next.
Will yours be one of the few?
“But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” (Matthew 24:37-39 KJV)
“And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.” (Luke 17:26-27 KJV)
There is going to be a repeat of Noah’s day just preceding the return of Jesus Christ. In other words, Jesus is saying that just before I come again, you are going to see the characteristics of that age repeated again.
When we think of Noah’s day and all that went on, we usually think of world-wide violence, youthful rebellion and sexual perversion. But very few folks think when Jesus says, “as it was in the days of Noe,” about a family that lived by faith; that is what I want to center our thoughts on today.
In the Word of God, it speaks of there being just a few who live by faith in the final days. For example, (Luke 18:8 “…nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” Not very many really live by faith today. It is usually, “Oh, God, what are we going to do? How are we going to pay our bills? What will we do if Obama or Hillary gets elected (or for that matter, McCain)? What if the bottom falls out of the economy?” One has never seen such agonizing and insecurity among God’s people as we see today. It is no wonder why our kids are the way they are. Laodicean Christians live by job, instead of like Job…by checking account instead of by a settled account…by Social Security instead of eternal security. I am not against those things as long as we are willing to turn all matters over to God.
But here in Scripture is a family that God says they lived by faith. That includes Noah, his wife and sons and daughters-in-law. May I say, they are not going to get on that ark unless they have faith. I heard another preacher say once, “They sure were a mess of a family.” Well, they may have been a mess, but they had faith enough to get on that boat. I am just saying that according to the Scriptures, this is going to be repeated in the last days.
Therefore, there are going to be a few families on this earth before Jesus comes that will be families of faith like Noah’s family, who will condemn this rotten world and look to God for redemption and trust Him to get them through this life into the next.
Will yours be one of the few?
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