IT NEVER GETS OLD!

I believe a man may be as vile as hell itself one moment and be saved the next. - D.L. Moody

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17

I awoke this morning with this wonderful truth that never gets old; I am saved and on my way to Heaven! Hallelujah, what a joy to wake up with this thought on my mind! When I wake up with thoughts like this, my mind automatically thinks of family and friends that don’t have this peace, this joy, and this “so great a salvation.”

Do you have this great salvation? The salvation that puts your soul at peace, gives you joy unspeakable, and redeems your lost soul? All you have to do is ask! That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Romans 10:9-10

WORK, WORK, WHY DO WE HAVE TO WORK?

Blessed is the man who has some congenial work, some occupation in which he can put his heart, and which affords a complete outlet to all the forces there are in him. -Burroughs

And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it. Psalm 90:17

Many people complain about the work they get to do. They find themselves bemoaning the thought of going back to their job as if they are going to get a root canal. What a miserable way to live!

We have an awesome opportunity to bring honor and glory to Him in the place where He has given us to work. The way we look and view this place in which we work will be expressed to everyone. While we may not like every aspect of our work place, we can still exalt our Saviour when we discuss it with others. What a privilege to work while we can, where we can, and when we can so we can proclaim the Gospel! Take advantage of the opportunities God gives us and stop complaining about them!

HOW WICKED CAN ONE BE?

Our outward act is prompted from within, and from the sinner's mind proceeds the sin. -Prior

In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not. Matthew 2:18

After the Wise men had departed visiting with Jesus, the angel of the Lord came and warned Joseph about the wickedness of Herod. Herod’s wickedness was being manifested before everyone in his actions. In an attempt to kill Jesus, He had every child two years old and younger killed. Do you think he knew how wicked he could be? Do you think he knew he would go as far as he did? Do you think he woke up one day and become such a terrorist?

Before we begin to think of Herod’s wickedness as above and beyond our own wickedness let me remind you what scripture says, “…There is none righteous, no, not one:” Romans 3:10 What does that mean? Well, any “good” we may think we have done is as filthy rags; all of the giving to the homeless, all of the volunteer work down at the local food pantry, all of the giving to the kids in third world countries, all of it is as filthy rags. In God’s eyes, all of our good works is as filthy rags. Left to ourselves we would still be capable and as wicked Herod. But praise the Lord He sent His Son to die on Calvary to redeem our wicked sin sick souls!

Have you been saved from the potential of your own wickedness? Have you repented and turned your life over to the Lord? If not now, when?

How wicked can you be… don’t give your life to the Lord and you may find out.

FEAR NOT!

The angel of the Lord told Mary, “Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.”

The angel of the Lord told Joseph, “Fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.”

The angel of the Lord told the Shepherds, “Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.”

In a life of uncertainties, God says, Fear Not! Don’t fear those that would discourage you from serving the Lord. Don’t fear when God sends a trial your way. Don’t fear when you don’t know the how, when, or where God is going to move in your favor. Just trust the Lord when He doesn’t make sense. That’s what Mary did! That’s what Joseph did! That’s what the Shepherds did! That’s what you should do! Trust and obey!

JUST TRUST GOD!

If we trust God we will toil for God!

Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: Matthew 1:24

Joseph had just been told his betrothed wife was with child. He hadn’t had any intimate relations with her so he knew the child was not his. I can only imagine how he felt; fear, disbelief, anger, helpless, hopeless, shattered dreams, etc. But in just two Words all of that started to drift away. “Fear not”, was the beginning of a message Joseph need to hear. After he heard the message, Joseph did what the angel of the Lord told him.

Friend, fear not! God has made the way of salvation! He has provided the only means of escaping eternal damnation in Hell! He said in Acts 16:31, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” If you believe then do something about it! GET UP, GET READY, and GO TO CHURCH this morning!

JUST TRUST JESUS!

“God is too good to be unkind and He is too wise to be mistaken. And when we cannot trace His hand, we must trust His heart.”― Charles Spurgeon

 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

Can you imagine what went through Mary’s mind when she heard the angel say, “Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.” No wonder the angel started off his address with, “Fear not”. The emotional roller coaster didn’t start off in slow motion; it was rolling off in high speed in a matter of split seconds! Doubt, fear, shame, hope, joy, expectation, excitement, back to fear, questions, uncertainty, disbelief. She ended up in a state of complete obedience to what the angel had said and God’s Will!

Where are you at in this life? Do you know Him as your Saviour? No… Repent, Confess, Admit, Just Trust Jesus!

WHO ARE YOU LIVING FOR?

Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.—C.T Studd

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20

During the Christmas season we can see who some people are living for in the way they respond to kind gestures, gifts, and time they spend with loved ones. A simple thank you for the help provided with a Christmas Party, a word of gratitude for the “unwanted” present, and a few extra minutes spent with the family get together; all magnifies the purposes of one’s heart. Is it for them self or is it for others?

Christian friend, the way you respond when Jesus came as a babe in a manger, how you respond to the gift He gave us when He got up on the Cross, and the amount of time we spend with Him displays what our motives are.

Do you love Him? Do you serve Him? Do you know Him? Who are you living for?

SAVE A BIT FOR THE LORD!

Money is an amoral instrument, and like science serves good and evil alike.  There's no such thing as dirty money; the stain is only on the hand that holds it as giver or taker. –Sullivan

No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Luke 16:13

During the Christmas Season it seems people are less likely to give unto the Lord as they normally would. What do they spend their money on? I’m not sure but maybe Christmas gifts, end of the year taxes, or maybe they finish paying of a business expense for another tax right off.

No matter what they spend it on, if they don’t give the Lord His tithe, it doesn’t please Him. We are still to give the tithe and if we don’t give it willingly, He will get it somehow. Maybe a trip to the Dr, the auto mechanic, or a phone call to your local HVAC Company could be a way He might get our attention.

I am reminded of this verse this morning: “Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.” 2 Corinthians 9:7

REPENTANCE IS THE KEY!

Christ and we will never be one until we and our sin are two. -Spurgeon

            You have probably heard the message of David and Bathsheba before. David wasn’t where he was supposed to be, with his body or his heart. He ended up with a child by another man’s wife, had him killed, and married Bathsheba to cover it all up. David had one problem, God saw it all!

            When confronted with his sin, David repented. When He did, He was restored to the fellowship he once had with the Lord. He went on and served God faithfully! He ruled faithfully.

            I believe many people are walking around with sin in their life. They are so overcome with it they can’t become what God wants them to be. They are living with shame, guilt, and the deadly consequences of not repenting.

            Are you one of those people? Do you need to confess and repent? Let me remind you of what it says in Proverbs 28:13, He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.

SO YOU SAY YOU’RE SAVED…?

So this is now the mark by which we all shall certainly know whether the birth of the Lord Jesus is effective in us: if we take upon ourselves the needs of our neighbor. --Martin Luther 

For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. James 2:26

Many proclaim with their mouths, they’re saved and on their way to Heaven. However, you never see them in church. You never see them on visitation. You never see them giving of their time, talents, much less their treasures. Makes you wonder if they are truly saved.

It would do you and I good to get in the Bible seeing what it says about Biblical salvation.

DON’T LOSE HOPE; THERE IS COMING A DAY…

Keep looking up, your redemption draweth nigh!

 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Titus 2:13

After the fall of man, men and women began looking for the Messiah because of the promise in Genesis 3:15, “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” It was this promise and the prophesies of Old Testament Prophets that would keep hope alive in the lives of the Children of God. Prophets such as Isaiah and Micah would fuel the excitement of the coming Messiah until one day, He came.

Just before Jesus ascended into Heaven, He told us He was coming again. He said in John 14:1-3, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” I am holding on to the promise of His imminent return. Why? Because every other one of His promises have come to pass! He has been faithful to His Word! It gives me hope! It gives me help! It gives me a peace! It gives me joy!

Are you starting to lose hope? Get your eyes off of your situation, look up, and keep on looking! He’s coming back and He’s coming back for you child of God!  

SORRY, NO ROOM HERE!

Let him in or lose out forever!

And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. Luke 2:7

As the Inn Keeper stood there that first Christmas Day, he told Mary and Joseph there was no room in the inn. Here we are two-thousand years later and much of mankind still says, THERE’S NO ROOM HERE! Only thing is, we are not any better! As a matter of fact, we are much worse!

If you haven’t, It would do you good to say, “Move out devil, Jesus is coming in and He is here to stay!” Don’t know what to say or how to say it? GET UP, GET READY, and HEAD ON OUT TO A BIBLE BELIEVING CHURCH! Someone will be glad to share the Good News of the Gospel with you, leading you to the Saviour!

WHO IS THIS BABE IN THE MANGER?

In Jesus I see the picture of the kind of man I know I ought to be. -Brown

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6

In this one verse see a beautiful picture of our Saviour; pictures of leadership, honor, humility, service, strength, and sacrifice to name a few. How does this all play factor in our life? In every way Jesus is described we ought to strive to be the same. As we are transformed into the men and women God wants us to be, He will be honored! As He is honored and we share the hope of the Gospel, others will be saved as well!

So, who is this Babe in a manger? He is our great example of who we ought to be!

WE NEEDED A SAVIOUR

God gives exactly what we need, when we need it, right in the place we are at. He gave us The Saviour of the world!

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:11

Jesus’ greatest title is Saviour. Even though He is the greatest teacher to ever live, even though He is the greatest physician to ever live, even though He is the wisest person to ever live, He didn’t come to be or do any of those things. Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost—He came to save!

What do you know about Jesus? Do you know He came to redeem His creation? Do you know He offers salvation to every man, woman, boy and girl in the world… including you and me? Archibald Alexander said, “All my theology is reduced to this narrow compass-Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.”

Have you accepted Jesus as your Saviour? Have you repented, trusting Him for salvation? He will save you right now if you ask Him! For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16

IS GOD GUIDING YOUR LIFE?

            Give us clear vision that we may know where to stand and what to stand for, because unless we stand for something, we shall fall for anything. --Peter Marshall

But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting Micah 5:2

            Around 700 years prior to Jesus’ birth Micah prophesied about His place of birth. So as God was guiding Mary and Joseph exactly where they needed to be, they still had a choice to follow. God did not make them go to Bethlehem but He did give them reason to go. It was their own choice that got them there.

Friend, if God is guiding your life you have a choice to follow Him or not. He will point you in the direction you should go and give you plenty of good reasons to go but He will not make you go anywhere. You have to choose! However, if you chose not to, the consequences that follow will be on you. Just ask Jonah!

ARE YOU DROWNING?

It would be easier to find a man that had not done any one sin that to find a man who had done it only once. Sin multiplies. We must either overcome sin, or it will overcome us. -D.L. Moody

For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me. Psalm 38:4

When I was about four, my brother and I went across the road to the local swimming hole. He was on the bank and I went to get in. I took a step, then another, and bam; I slipped in over my head.

When I was about four, my brother and I went across the road to the local swimming hole. He was on the bank and I went to get in. I took a step, then another, and bam; I slipped in over my head. Sure am glad he was there to save me!

That is exactly what sin does to you. It lures you in. Everything is looking great, feeling great, tasting great, and then bam; you’re in over your head, drowning in your sin!

Praise God He reached way down into the depths of our sin to lift us up and out! He saved us! If He had not, we would still be there drowning in the muck and mire of our sin!

HOW ABOUT A BUDGET?

When we budget our (time, talents, and treasures) we can give more.

A faithful man shall abound with blessings: but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent. Proverbs 28:20

I often wonder about the man or woman who sets a priority on making a buck rather than making it to church. I believe they have their desires set in the wrong place, mainly on their bank account, material wealth, or pride in having a wallet full of cash to show friends.

Christian, I am often reminded of Matthew 6:33, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” You want to be able to send your kids to college, budget your tithe first and God will provide. You want to be debt free, budget your talents for God first and He will supply! You want to have the abundant life of peace; seek God first budgeting your time, talents, and treasures all for Him! If you do, you’ll have more to give to your kids, to the poor, to the Lord!

DO YOU HAVE AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE?

Constant complaint is the poorest sort of pay for all the comforts we enjoy. –Franklin

Even to day is my complaint bitter: my stroke is heavier than my groaning. Job 23:2

Comforts we enjoy; heated homes, indoor plumbing, vehicles, electricity, and instant grits are some of the comforts the Lord has blessed us with. Why is it when the car doesn’t crank, the toilet doesn’t flush or the power goes out, we whine and complain like these are rights of ours? I’ll tell yah why…WE ARE SPOILED! Most of the folks reading my post live in the United States and have been blessed to the hilt compared to 44% of the world living on less than $20 a day. Yes, $20 a day!

Let me remind you of this great truth this morning: Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful. Psalm 116:5 Not only has the Lord given us salvation, He has blessed us with every comfort of life we have as well! Do you thank Him for them? How about when the water is frozen? How about when we have to replace the well pump? How about when the battery is dead? Do you have an attitude of gratitude? Praise the Lord— even in the valleys of life!

I’M THIRSTY FOR CHRISTMAS!!

Drink from the world’s well and be parched. Drink from the Living Waters God offers and never thirst again!

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Matthew 5:6

             In 2 Samuel 23, David longed for a drink of water from the well at Bethlehem. Three of David’s valiant men risked their lives to get David a drink. They broke through some of the Philistines and brought a drink to David. They risked their lives for Him but he would not drink it, but why not?

 Two thoughts here:

            One; David did not want to send a message it was okay for the men to risk their lives for such a commodity. He didn’t want them to lose any men due to someone wanting something trivial as water from a certain well. He valued their lives more than a drink of water. While that sounds noble, it may be even a deeper thought here.

            Secondly, maybe David wasn’t talking about physical water. Maybe he wanted the spiritual water from the Lord Jesus. You see Jesus was born in Bethlehem; The Living Well was given to all men. Everyone who drinks from this well will find that their thirst is quenched for all eternity, John 6:35 says, “And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.”

            Are you thirsty for Christmas? If you are then GET UP, GET READY and GO TO CHURCH! Get filled up on His righteousness!

GEARING UP FOR A PARADE!

One day we will all be brought before Jesus, bowing down before Him, and confessing Him to be God.

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 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. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17

We are gearing up at Calvary to be in our first Christmas parade in Kinston, NC. Many people have pitched in and helped make it go well. We have a manger scene with Mary, Joseph, some Wise Men, and of course, Baby Jesus. We will be heading down the street shortly with hundreds if not thousands of people smiling, waving, and saying Merry Christmas. Oh I am anticipating a great time!

We are also gearing up for another day in our future in which no one knows except the Lord Himself. It is the day when all of mankind will kneel before Jesus’ feet giving account of their life. For those who did not bow in life, will bow that day, confessing Jesus as God, and then to be cast into hell forever. For those, it will be simply too late. For the others, we geared up to live forever in Heaven by repenting and making Jesus the Lord of our life!

What will it take for you to believe? What will it take for you to make Jesus the Lord of your life now? You say, “Preacher, I am saved and on my way to Heaven?” My respond is, “What evidence is shown in your life, right now, that you are?” Is it the way you dress? Is it the way you talk? Is it the places you go on the computer? Is it the love you show the world? Matthew 7:20 says, “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” What kind of fruit are you producing? The very next verse says, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 7:21

So with those thoughts in mind, how about making sure you are geared up to go! “…give diligence to make your calling and election sure:..” 2 Peter 1:10