WAKE UP

            For too much rest itself becomes a pain. -Homer

1 Corinthians 15:34, Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.

            Christian friend, it is time for us to get busy getting the Gospel out. It is time for us to share the difference between social Christianity and Biblical Christianity. To awake this lost and dying generation it will take sacrifice, sanctification, and service from us. There is no to be asleep or taking an extended rest. It is only time for us to uplift the name of Jesus so the Spirit will draw men, women, boys, and girls, unto salvation.

            Will we be awakened form the daze this world has put on God’s people? Will you share the Gospel with that co-worker? Will you do that which God has commanded us to do? Go ye therefore and preach the Gospel.

HE’S WITH YOU

He is here for you and I, Hallelujah!

Joshua 1:5, There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

            It comforts me when I read in Scripture that the God Who created the universe was with Joshua after Moses died. He was there when he felt alone and confused. He was there when he was given orders to march around Jericho. He was there when the walls fell down. He was there with Joshua but what is more amazing to me is when I read, He is there for me as well!

            Child of God, look to Christ while on the mountain tops and the valleys! He will be there and He can take care of whatever is going on in your life! No matter what, He is with you!

Enjoy a song this morning from West Coast Baptist College as you think about what is before you and what God can do about it!

https://youtu.be/EeS2uPIoqqo

GROW IN GOD’S GRACE

            This law tells me how crooked I am.  Grace comes along and straightens me out. -D.L. Moody

Proverbs 22:6, Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from

            Today we say, “Until we see you again.”, to our youngest daughter. We drop her off at college and we won’t be seeing her again until late November. It will be a little rough but not too bad for I am trusting the Lord to keep her and grow her in His grace.

            I got up this morning with this thought on my mind, “Lord, you entrusted me with a little girl some 20-1/2 years ago to love, teach, and point her to you. I’ve not always been right in the rearing but I have always attempted to raise all my kids up to love and serve you. She is now a young lady, following You in faith, and therefore I will support her in her desires to please You.”

            It is my prayer as I leave her over 2,000 miles away that she will take what she has learned, from a sinner such as I, and do what God wants her to do--to grow in God’s grace. Will you help me pray for her and for every student that is striving to be what God wants them to be?

BEGIN IN PRAYER

Before social media, before coffee, before getting out of bed, a season of prayer is in order.

Psalm 5:3, My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.

            A fresh, new day demands a fresh, new prayer! In the wilderness God gave the Children of Israel manna for every day. Come before Him this morning making your new request to Him and He will give you something new to chew on! He is still in the prayer answering business friend! Have you begun this new day off right? If not, stop right now and pray!

GET UP AND GO

           Church, the place to go when hurting, discouraged, discontented, helpless, hopeless, lost, and much, much more.

Psalm 26:8, LORD, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honour dwelleth.

            Many will not darken the door of a church because of pride, fear, and stubbornness. The very thing that will bring peace to their heart, mind, and soul, they leave out. For it is in church, that the Word of God is preached which brings about the calming comfort of a lost, dying, and hurting man’s life.

            Will you GET UP, GET READY, and GO TO CHURCH today? If not today, when? If not now, why? Do not neglect what tomorrow you may not have!

GOD’S BEAUTY

           No matter where you go, God’s beauty shines through the messes in this world.

Psalm 104:24, O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.

            Yesterday, I shared about the mess we see when we travel. Well, that was just the beginning of the story. You see, as much trash as there is in this world, we also see God’s creative hand shining through the Big Mess in this earth! No matter where you go, even in the middle of a desert, you can see God!

            Child of God, in the middle of a mess? A mess that you may have even gotten your self into? Let God shine through. Let Him shine through your testimony. Let Him shine through your works. Let Him shine through your service to Him. When He shines through, people don’t see you, they see God’s beauty and that’s what makes the difference! Psalm 27:4, One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.

JUST A BIG MESS

            Everyone’s life is a big mess! But by God’s grace, I’m not the man I use to be!

Romans 5:12, Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

            My wife and I have been able to visit a lot of places in our life. Currently, we are out west dropping my youngest off for college. One thing I have noticed is no matter where we have had the privilege to travel to, you can always see trash. I have seen trash in back allies, on the streets, dumped in the fields, piled up inside vehicles, and yesterday we saw trash piled up for people’s homes.

            With all that trash, the Lord reminded me of how much of a mess I was in before Jesus came into my life. I had so much trash there was no way I could clean it all up. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m still a mess, just not as big of one anymore! The only way all the trash (sin) got cleaned up was that the Lord so graciously saved my wretched soul when I called out to Him in repentance!

            Have you called out to Him? No matter how big of a mess your life is, He can clean it up, washing your sin away, making you fit for Heaven! If you call out to Him, He will save you! Romans 10:9, 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.

OH, WHAT A SAVIOUR!

         My memory is almost gone, but I remember one thing: that I am a great sinner and Christ is a great Saviour. --John Newton, author of "Amazing Grace"

1 John 4:14, And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.

            I want to take this morning to praise the Lord for my salvation! A little over 28 years ago, on a kitchen floor, I believed on the Lord Jesus Christ as my Saviour! I have not always been what He has wanted me to be but He has been all that I have ever needed and more! He’s my rock, my shield, my deliverer, my Lord, my Saviour, my friend, my advocate, my defense, my all in all! That’s my Jesus! Is He yours? Do you know Him? You can! Ask Him to be your Saviour today!

A LITTLE MORE LIGHT

            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

Psalm 119:105, Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

            Have you ever been in your living room and lost electricity? Normally you can turn the lights out and the room is still lit up by the flashing lights form the router, TV, and the clock on the DVR. But when you lose the juice, it’s pitch-black! You can’t see anything! All you want is a little light to get you to the bedroom so you can make it under the covers!

            Hey friend, in this very dark world we live in, we need the Light of God’s Word to guide us! When we open the Word of God, we get Light. Light for Salvation, Light for where to Serve, and Light for Sanctification! Every time you open it up, you get a little more Light! Will you open it today, so that you will have a little light to make it through?

MISSED BLESSINGS

While you’re messing around with temporal things today, you’re missing out on eternal blessings from the Lord.

Psalm 103:1-2, Blessed is the man who is busy doing the Lord’s work during the day and too tired at night to follow mischief. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:

            Last night, I was able to attend a meeting in which the message was centered on 2 Samuel 12:8. Brother Mike Qualls brought out how David had it all; He was King, He had been delivered from Saul, He had strength from the Lord, and more. Yet, David was not content with what God had blessed Him with and he committed adultery with Uriah’s wife.

            The Word of God says that David would have had more blessings if he had trusted in the Lord. But David didn’t and it cost him big time! He lost some of his family to the world. He lost a son. He suffered from his choice!

            How many blessings are you willing to miss out on while you mettle in the temporal things of this world? Child of God, God has blessings for you but if you continue to mettle in sin, you will miss out on some of the blessings God had just for you!

TROUBLESOME TIMES ARE HERE

            Troubles, like babies, grow larger by nursing. -Holland

2 Timothy 3:1, This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.

           Paul gives young Timothy some very specific instructions before he left this earth. He warned him against the times he will be facing in the future. There will be difficult and dangerous times. They will be deep and wide. The troubles will attempt to keep him from following God’s will.

           Friend, God gave us His Word that is very specific. We are living right slap dab in the middle of these perilous times! But that’s okay because we have God who is always with up! He never sleeps or slumbers! We can trust Him to help us!          

TIMING MAKES THE DIFFERENCE

           Bow now or bow later, one thing is for sure, we shall all bow.

Romans 14:11, For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.

            I remember when I was in Bible college, there was a professor that always said, “Before you graduate, you will come see me.” It was a joke because his classes were not that tough. However, he was right, if we wanted to graduate, we had to take the classes he taught. There wasn’t any getting around it.

            He friend, if you want to get to Heaven, you must be born again! You must trust Jesus Christ as your Saviour. You must repent of your sins. You must bow the knee and acknowledge Jesus Christ is Who He said He is; Lord and Saviour of the world.

            You can do it anywhere. At the house. In the car. On the lawn mower. At work. On lunch break. It doesn’t matter where you call out to the Lord for salvation. What does matter is when you bow the knee to do it. If you wait to bow the knee after you die, it’s too late. All you will hear is depart from me, ye that work iniquity, I never knew you.

            Have you trusted Jesus as your Saviour? You better do it before it’s too late because timing makes the difference in where you will spend eternity. Will you GET UP, GET READY, and GO TO CHURCH today?  

FEELINGS ARE NOT IN PLAY

            When lead by feelings, they will lead you astray. When lead by God, He will lead you all the way to victory.

Proverbs 3:5-7, 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.

            We have heard many times, “Follow your heart or follow your gut.” It’s the same thing as a Redneck saying, “Hey watch this!”, someone is going to get hurt!

            Child of God, you should never follow your heart. Never follow your gut. Never let your feelings guide you. Feelings cloud the way of what the true will of God is for your life.

            What and or who is driving your life? What and or who are you following? Is it or they driving you closer to the Lord or pulling you away from Him? Is there a wedge driven between you and what God’s will for your life is? If so, follow the plan in Proverbs for victory!

            What matters is what God wants for your life. It is only when your feelings are not in play, following His will for your life, that you will live a victorious life.   

JESUS, JESUS, THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT THAT NAME

The name of Christ-the one great word-well worth all the languages in earth or heaven. –Bailey

Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. Acts 4:12

Have you ever heard someone say, “Oh Buddha? What about “Oh My Muhammad!?” Probably neither and you probably won’t. Why, it’s not the same. Those don’t have the same affect. Their names mean nothing because they are the little g- god. However, people take the name of the Lord and curse it all over this planet! Why? Some do it because they hate God and anything to do with Him. Some do it because they think they are cool. Most do it out of ignorance—they just don’t know the Lord and the power in His name.

Reminded this morning,
“Jesus, Jesus there’s just something about that name!
Master, Saviour, Jesus
Like the fragrance after the rain

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus
Let all heaven and earth proclaim
Kings and kingdoms shall all pass away
But there's something about that name.”

I sure am glad I know His name and even more that HE knows mine!

LOSE IT

            Getting rid of the old things will pave the way to a better life.

Ephesians 4:21-22, If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;

            Since December, my wife and I have been getting rid of somethings. We have lost some weight, given old things away, and we had one of America’s favorite things to do—a yard sale! How has this made us have a better life; We feel better because of the weight loss and we have removed the clutter from closets, the attic, and my workshop making our home a better place to live.

            In Ephesians, Paul is exhorting the church in Ephesus to put off the old things. Put off the things which are corrupt, so that we will not sin against a thrice holy God. Put off the things which are corrupt, desiring the next generation will follow His righteousness. Put off the things which put Jesus on the Cross to begin with.

            Friend, I like the next two verses of Ephesians; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Lose it, put on the new man, and let Him have His way with thee!

CHECK LIST CHRISTIANS

       Look at who He is, and what He has done; not at what you are or what you have done.

1 Corinthians 10:31, Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.

            I tithe- check. I attend church- check. I sing in the choir, help with the youth ministry, and teach Sunday School- check, check, CHECK! Some Christians literally think that serving God is all about the check list of what they need to do in order to be accepted by God. However, the Bible says, “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;” It’s not about a check list. Whatever we do should be out of the love we have for Him. No other reason is sufficient.

FORGIVEN TO FORGIVE

Every person should have a special cemetery lot in which to bury the faults of friends and loved ones. –Anonymous

Ephesians 4:32, And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

Forgiving someone when they do us wrong is definitely one of the hardest things we do as a people. They leave us with many different thoughts in our minds such as; They broke our trust, disrespected us in the greatest way, stabbed us in the back, caused us to question if we have wasted years, made us to wonder what we did wrong, and left us feeling empty on the inside. Don’t they know I loved them, I cared for them, I invested many years in them? Why did they do this to me?

Let’s look at it this way for a moment: How much have we done against the Lord? Have we not disobeyed, disrespected, and at one time or another denied the Lord? Do you know He loves you? Do you know He cared enough for you that He sent His Son to die on the Cross for your sin? Do you know how much He has invested in you?

To sum these thoughts up….. How could we expect the Lord forgive us when we are not willing to forgive? Don’t you know, you were forgiven to forgive? Mark 11:25-26, And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.

LEAVING A MARK

          No revolution that has ever taken place in society can be compared to that which has been produced by the words of Jesus Christ. --Mark Hopkins

Luke 19:10, “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

           Not only by His words did Jesus impact this world but without His actions we would still be dead in sin. When Jesus came upon this earth, clothed in flesh, He set forth a revolution upon this earth had been yearning for since Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden. The prophecy in Genesis 3:15 gave hope of future redemption of mankind and when Jesus came, He fulfilled that prophecy.

            Do you doubt the authenticity of God’s Word? Do you doubt Jesus is who He says He is? A former atheist by the name of Lee Strobel (Author of “A Case for Christ, A Case for Faith, and other books.”) had the same opinion. After receiving a degree in journalism from University of Missouri and a Master of Studies in Law degree from Yale Law School, Lee worked for the Chicago Tribune and other newspapers for 14 years. However, when his wife got saved, he set out to prove Christianity was FALSE. With all of his investigating, his finding was that Jesus IS who He said He is.

            You have seen the bumper stickers and license plates that say, “When all else fails read the book” I have come up with a better saying, “Before all else fails---pray and ask God to save you--- pray and give your problems over to the Saviour---pray and pray and pray!”

            Are we being a revolution? How much of an impact are we leaving on this world for the cause of Christ? Leave a mark on this world for the glory of God today!

DON’T GIVE UP

            The man who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones. -Chinese Proverb

Romans 8:37-39, Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

            Over the past week, we have been troubleshooting an air conditioning unit that hasn’t been working up to par at work. It started last Wednesday when we got an email from the facility administrator saying that it seemed to be getting hot further into the day they went. The next day we checked the system out and found what we thought was the problem. A couple of days later, the same thing happened. I was off that day but the guys I work with found a wiring issue, made the correction, and the unit was cooling again. This past Wednesday afternoon, we got another email- “HOT AGAIN, PLEASE HELP!” The fellas got to the sight and began troubleshooting the system. WOW! A blower motor was off. Got it going. A condenser fan motor wasn’t coming on. Bypassed a switch—got it going. All four compressors running, refrigerant level okay, and cold air is pumping- so we thought. We get back to the shop and pull up the system to view how low the temp has gotten… nope, a 72-degree supply air temp isn’t good! We decided to go in early on Friday. We got there, started taking panels off to inspect some fire dampers. We couldn’t see very well so I grabbed my flashlight and exposed the problem; a building pressure control damper was closed causing the unit to malfunction, causing all of the other problems. Temporarily disconnected the control for the damper, system reset, and all is working like it should with a 55-degree supply air temp.

            Why did I tell you all of that? Well, you may not see you have a problem. Those around you do. God does too and He is going to have to remove a few panels and shine the light of His Word on the problem. Then and only then can you have victory over sin and shame.

Don’t give up on God. Let Him work in and through your life so you can work like He designed you to. So GET UP, GET READY, and GO TO CHURCH and let the Holy Spirit work on your life with the Word of God. 

LOOK TO HIM AND NOT THEM

            When I consider my crosses, tribulations, and temptations, I shame myself almost to death, thinking what are they in comparison to the suffering of my blessed Savior Jesus Christ. --Martin Luther

Philippians 2:8, And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

            How often do we neglect what Christ has called us to do because we are too busy dealing with life? We get all wrapped up in current events, social issues, and minor inconveniences, forgetting the Great Commission. They may be real problems that we are dealing with; health issues, financial responsibilities, or future concerns. But does the Lord give us any reasons not to give the Gospel out?

No? Then look to Jesus and not to the problems in this life!