SHORTCUTS

My wife and I have some long time friends who have two grown daughters. Each of the girls has request of their mother that they have the tableware which they grew up using at each meal. It is a sentimental thing, nothing fancy or of great monetary value, just both just want to remember their childhood.

So our friend, Sandy by name, has been scanning the internet to find pieces of the same pattern to provide a full set of tableware for each girl. This particular pattern has wooden handles for the knives, forks and spoons. In her search she has been successful in finding matching pieces, but some of them are in very poor condition, mainly in that the wooden handles are split. Sandy asked her mother why were was her set still in fairly good shape while so many others she had found were in such poor condition. Sandy's mother replied, "Think about it, dear. For the thirty five years you have had your set, how did you wash it?" Of course, Sandy had washed her tableware by hand. The split pieces she had found on the internet were washed in a dish washer, causing the wooden handles to break down.

When my wife told me this story, my first thought was that shortcuts are not always the best way to go. I would say, especially in spiritual matters. The very thing that we seek to obtain or achieve in our spiritual lives and our walk with the Lord Jesus Christ, may be damaged or lost due to a shortcut. In short, you just can't shortcut God.

Jesus didn't shortcut the woman at the well in John 4. She wanted the water that would satisfy her thirst forever, but Jesus made sure that she saw her most important need. "Go call thy husband, and come hither." There are no shortcuts when dealing with people about salvation.

Our Children Are Not Safe

"Is the young man Absalom safe?" The prodical returned home "safe and sound," but not so with David's son or Adam's son Cain. Our children are not prone to be prodicals. They seem far more stubborn in their rebellion today. And there are too many outside resources to run to away from God, parents and other authorities. In short, they are in harm's way because they think they do not need anyone else.
Sorry, we can not blame this on society or government. We have fallen short of our God given responsibility of raising and training these children. We need to invade their space and violate their privacy enough to find out what they are mixed up in and take charge before it is too late. Perhaps we can keep them from swinging from a limb by their hair until they die.

The Prayers of the Saints

Today we had our annual 4th of July picnic for our church. Since it fell upon Wednesday, which is our mid-week service night, we combined the two and had our service at the park. Now Baptist people will assemble for just about anything if it involves food and we had plenty of it as usual. But I was so please to see a very good crowd there for the prayer service. Currently we are in one of the greatest battles our church has ever fought. The saints came not just to fellowship, but to pray.

Jeremiah 33:3 is one of my favorite passages that commands us to pray. "Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and might things, thou knowest not." We need to see great and might things.

Declaration of Dependence

Colossians 3
17And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

We are never to be dependent upon governments or churches or parents or friends to sustain us. But there is One to Whom we owe everything, all praise and glory, for upon Him we are most dependent. As we approach another celebration of our nation's birth, let us remember that we need Jesus Christ. I love America, but if America forsakes God, I'm going with Him.

The Advantage

Psalm 91
1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.
3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.

It is always good to go into battle with an advantage. Students of military tactics learn quickly that one of the greatest advantages is the element of surprise. Simply put, that is when the enemy never sees "it" coming. David went to face Goliath with an advantage. It didn't show on the surface, but it was there. Gideon had an advantage even though he fought thousands with only three hundred. Regardless of whether others saw it coming, the advantage was there.

As believers we, too, have an advantage. He is Jesus Christ. No matter how vehement the storms of life may become, we have One in the ship that gives us the security of advantage.

He Owns It All

Colossians 1
16For 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: 17And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

When human government forgets their place and purpose, it begins to think that it has ownership of this planet. We do not own a thing. If we get to the place we start believing we do then we falsely believe we are in control. The truth is that man can neither supercede God nor match Him.
Beloved, if God wants to dissolve His creation, He has ever right to do so...and He will.

The Missing Ingredient

Modern fundamental believers are missing a key component to their faith. For the most part we are replacing worship with religious acts and service. NOTHING replaces the adoration and worship of God. The Almighty will accept nothing in the place of our being overwhelmed with the person of our Saviour.
I know the Lord Jesus taught the people. He sat them down in fifties and hundreds, taught them and fed them, both spiritually and physically. But the most profound portions of Scripture in the Gospel books to me are those that tell of the worship people had for Jesus. Mary the sister of Lazarus, the many others Jesus helped, healed and restored are certain examples of individuals overwhelmed to a state of outpouring.
We are not as demonstrative about our worship as we used to be. If there is actual worship going on, we do not seem to be as vocal about it. Tomorrow I will stand in the pulpit God has placed me in, and once again try to preach a message from God's Word to exalt and glorify Jesus Christ amidst the distractions of unruly children and complacent adults.