What Did You Say?” (Conclusion)

A couple of decades ago the phrase, “weapons of mass destruction”, became ingrained in the American vocabulary. 

The weapons being talked about then, were weapons of war. Weapons designed to inflict mass casualty and maximum destruction on any enemy they might be unleashed upon.

Yet, each person on this planet possesses a weapon that has the potential to be far more deadly than any weapon created by man, that sits in any arsenal around the world.

It is called the tongue.

“The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences. Proverbs 18:21

Think about this for a moment. Everything that there is, all of Creation, started with a word.

“Then God said…”

Eight times in the first chapter of Genesis alone, God spoke. And each time He spoke, a piece of Creation was brought into reality.

Just two chapters later, Satan spoke to Eve, and all that God had deemed to be “very good”, wasn’t anymore.

Words had created perfection. Words had corrupted that perfection.

We are still engaged in that game of vocabulary build up and break down eons later.

However, it seems that some people love breaking others down rather than building them up.

A boss who neglects to share praise, but is quick to throw out criticisms.

A customer who is rude for no other reason than they can be.

A spouse who never speaks words of gratitude toward their partner, but simply assumes their significant other knows what they are thinking.

A parent who neglects words of encouragement, but is fixated on word that only breeds frustration.

The thing is, we don’t always see how much damage our words can do. Many times, we through them out in lopsided attempts to encourage, never stopping to consider whatadverse affects they might have on the one hearing them.

Here’s the thing though. We have total control over what comes out of mouth! If we just stop to THINK before SPEAKING, we will eliminate 95% of the negativity in both our lives, but in the lives of those around us.

We should never speak in anger. We should never be condescending in our speech. We should never repeat things we don’t know to be absolutely true. That is nothing but gossip. In fact, if our conversations doesn’t directly affect us, or if they can’t or won’t build up the mood , character, or reputation of another, we shouldn’t be having them anyway.

The thing is…we love to talk! But we need to weigh our words carefully! One day, we will have to answer for some of the things we have said.

“And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak.” Matthew 12:36

Remember when our mothers would tell usthis little nugget of wisdom?

“If you don’t have anything nice to say, then don’t say anything at all!”

Turns out…she was right!

As we saw yesterday, the words of a mad man named Hitler resulted in the near extermination of God’s Chosen People, and embroiled the world in a horrific war that killed millions.

Yet, on the opposite side of that coin, words of faith and love spoken by Evangelist Billy Graham gave the world hope, and brought millions to Christ and salvation.

Words create. Bad words create evil. Good words create harmony, peace, even love.

The way we speak to others can determine how our communications are perceived. Even the most positive of messages can be taken the wrong way if spoken in a negative way. Although we may not mean it, or even realizeit, but our tones, our expressions, even the way we order our words, all are observed when we talk. Even the slightest misconception by those we are talking with will change the entire context and make what we are saying come across negatively. Those of us who speak fluent sarcasm need to learn to control ourselves, and tone it down, or even suppress it, in certain conversations. Sometimes, sarcasm can be unnecessary, and a bit to much.

“Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” Ephesians 4:29

Bullying, what we called “picking on” in my day, is at an almost epidemic level in the here and now. The scope of bullying has changed far beyond of poking a little grief at the person who wasn’t following the the latest and greatest fashion trends. Bullying is also no longer just confined to the school playground, but has spread to universities, workplaces, and even into homes.

While bullying has never been done “just in fun”, it is now done with a level of viciousness that can, and has brought the recipient great, if not permanent, mental harm, physical consequences, and in a few case, resulted in suicidal deaths.

“But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.” Matthew 5:22

What we say, and how we say it, can make all the difference in someones life. As we touched on earlier, and it needs to be looked at again, Solomon once said that the power of life and death was in the tongue. (Proverbs 18:21) There is no greater truth.

Please, speak the words of life with yours.

LG&LG! (2.0)

“What Did You Say?” (1)

“Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me!”

When I was kid growing up in the elementary school playgrounds of the late 60’s and early 70’s, the above phrase was the mantra of every school age child.

Why? Because we kids were always brow beating, or picking on one another about something that really didn’t amount to hill of beans.

If you weren’t wearing the latest, or coolest clothes, or the shoes, you got picked on. If your hair was too long, or too short, you got picked on. If you liked to read more than play sports, you got by picked on. If you simply didn’t have a sports centered mentality, or possess any athletic ability, you got picked on.

But I digress.

The gist of the the matter is that our words CAN hurt others. And, sometimes, a verbal attack can be incredibly viscous, open deeper wounds, and leave more permanent scars than a physical altercation.

The Bible says as much.

“People can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and fish, but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison.” James 1:7-8

The Prophet Jeremiah once said that the heart was “desperately wicked”. By the words of James, the tongue gives life to the devious intentions of the heart.

Indeed, the tongue can reveal a persons true nature, betraying any facade they may be outwardly projecting.

Socrates once said; “Speak friend, so that I might see you.” What the famous Greek philosopher was saying was both simple and profound.

“Come and talk with me so I can discern who you really are.”

You see, Socrates, who was a pagan, understood this Biblical truth some 450 years before James wrote it down in his Epistle.

No matter how much you might try to suppress it, what is in your heart will eventually, but always, come out of your mouth.

If your heart is full of hate, you will speak words of discourse.

If your heart is full of conceit, you will only speak about the promotion of self.

If your heart is full of greed, you will only speak of what you have, and how much more you might need, or want.

But…

If you heart is full of Jesus, you will speak words of love.

If your heart is full of compassion, you will speak uplifting words of encouragement.

If your heart is full of faith, you will speak out the Truths of God.

And, that last one, my friends, is a very important lesson to remember.

Let’s go back to our friend James to see what he has to say about it.

“Dear brothers and sisters,[a] not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged more strictly. Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way.” James 3:1-2

We are all called to be ministers of Christ. ( 1st Peter 1:13-20) What that means for most, is that we are to be great witnesses of our faith, share our faith , to and with others. We are to share the “Good News” of what Jesus had done in, with, and for, our lives.

But I think this particular message was meant for those who choose to teach the Word of God to the masses in the public forum.

IF YOU ARE GOING TO TEACH THE WORD OF GOD, TEACH ONLY THE TRUTH!

Not your interpretation. Not your opinion. Not what you feel the Word should say, or what you want it to say. Teach it as IT IS WRITTEN!

But…it’s not always taught straight forwardly or even completely truthfully.

In just last few weeks, I have heard teachings that imply that there is no chance that a loving God would ever sentence anyone, anyone at all, to an eternal hell. THE BIBLE DOES NOT TEACH THIS !

Worse yet, I have heard that our merciful God will offer sinners a second chance once they are in hell. Likewise, THE BIBLE DOES NOT TEACH ANY SUCH A THING LIKE THIS!

Another teaching that came down the pike wasthat there was not going to be a Rapture, but rather Jesus’s Second Coming was a more personal experience taking place only at the moment when we die. Uhhh, that would be a hard NO!

So, here is a clear cut example of how words can indeed hurt you worse than any damage that a stick or stone could ever inflict.

The words of these “misguided” if not outright false teachers will send your eternal soul to everlasting torment should you believe them.

And, if history had proven anything, it’s that smooth talkers can make us believe just about anything.

“We can make a large horse go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth. And a small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot chooses to go, even though the winds are strong. In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches. But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire.”James 3:3-5

On February 10th, 1933, Adolf Hitler gave his very first speech to the German people after acquiringthe position of Chancellor. The speech, known as the “Regierungserklaerung”. It was the equivalent of America’s State of the Union address.

Here is the ending of Hitler’s opening address to the German people.

“True to the order of the Field Marshal, we shall begin. May Almighty God look mercifully upon our work, lead our will on the right path, bless our wisdom, and reward us with the confidence of our race.”

Forty days later, Hitler, despite his beseeching of God to look on him mercifully, to guide him, to lead him, to bless him with wisdom and reward him, opened Dachau Concentration Camp. In just six years, Dachau, and other camps like it would began the systematic extermination of the Jewish people resulting in over six million deaths.

This genocide all started with WORDS spoken bya maniacal madman, and carried out by those most loyal to him. The result was the near decimation of the race of God’s chosen people..

“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but some words can ,and will actually kill me!”

To be continued…

LG&LG! (2.0)

“Of Trials And Circumstances.” (Conclusion)

Over the last few posts we have been looking at reasons why God would allow His people to go through the fiery trials that Christians often find themselves entangled in, and are in no way immune from.

One reason He allows us to go through these tough times is to get our attention, when we publicly claiming to live for Him, but privately, well…not so much. In other words, God is giving us a wake up call.

There are times he allows Satan a season to oppress us. Now, it’s vital to understand that Satan doesn’t have free reign during these times. He can do no more than God allows him to do. And, even though to us these times may seem like they are more than we can bear, God allows Satan’s shenanigans so He cannot only build up and purify our faith, but to show us just how powerful our inner strength truly is. Our inner strength, as we should all know, is God Himself.

Finally, God will allow us to travel through these devastating valleys of despair to quench the inner fires that can inflict substantial damage to our faith. These fires are fueled by our own pride.

Did you know that the original sin was pride?

Yep! It wasn’t a murder. Or, a lie. Or, even an act of adultery. It was Lucifer, basically exalting himself within his own ego.

“For you said to yourself, ‘I will ascend to Heaven, and set my throne above God’s stars. I will preside on the mountain of the congregation far away in the North, I will climb to the highest heavens and be like the Most High.’” Isaiah 14:13-14

Notice, if you will, Satan never SAID anything thing out loud, at least at first. He thought it. He thought he could be more powerful than God. He purposed in his heart that He would be greater than God.

Satan, formerly Lucifer, once one of God’s most exalted Cherubs, sat in Heaven day dreaming of all the things he wanted to do, all the glory he wanted to receive. He kept thinking; “I will! I will! I will!” He seems to have forgotten that God is the great; “I AM! I AM! I AM!”

It’s a clear cut case of the creation wanting to mold the Creator into his image, instead of praising and proclaiming gratitude for the One that made him. How guilty are we of that in today’s world?

How often do we cry out to God when the seas of life are rough and the waves of despair are crashing over us? Yet, when we are sailing along through life on smooth, calm seas, how many times do we pound our own chests saying; “Look what I’ve done! How soon we seem to forget that every good thing in our lives comes from God! (James 1:17)

Once in the ancient city of Babylon, there was a king named Nebuchadnezzar. He was tyrannical, ruthless, and merciless, keeping Jerusalem under siege for what could have been up to two years or longer. Afterwards, he had King Zedekiah’s two young sons put to death, forcing the King to watch his own children’s slaughter, before gouging out Zedekiah’s eyes assuring that his children’s murder was the last thing he would ever see. (2 Kings 25:7)

He was also an egomaniac, if not a megalomaniac, building a 90 ft “golden” statue of himself on the Plain of Dura, and commanding that all should worship it under the penalty of death. (Daniel, Chapter 3)

But as evil as Nebuchadnezzar was, God kept revealing Himself to the Babylonian King, mainly through the Prophet Daniel. But perhaps his most personal encounter with God came as the result of his ordering the execution of three devout Jewish men.

Nebuchadnezzar had built this image of himself on the Plain of Dura and ordered the entire Babylonian Province to attend the opening dedication. The rules were simple. When the music started playing, everyone was to fall to the knees and worship this weird looking statue. Those who refused were to be thrown into the fiery furnace.

When the time came, Nebuchadnezzar counted down;,” Three , two, one, strike up the band!” In an instant, everyone was on there knees, except three lone figures that stood defiantly against the afternoon sun. To Nebuchadnezzar’s surprise though, it was three of his four most trusted advisers who were blatantly disobeying him!Their names were Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. We know them better as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

Nebuchadnezzar was furious! But because of their past loyalties to the King, he decided to give them another chance. The three young Jewish men again adamantly refused to comply to Nebuchadnezzar’s orders. Now enraged, the King ordered them to be thrown into the furnace that he had commanded to be heated seven times hotter than normal!

Moments later, Nebuchadnezzar would behold a sight that would shake him to his very core. Instead of three men roasting in the fire, there were now four!

“Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his ^[d]counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?”They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” “Look!” he answered, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.” Daniel 3:24-25

Nebuchadnezzar had seen Jesus in the flames with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednigo! Not only that, but moments later the three men walked out of the fire COMPLETELY unscathed!

Nebuchadnezzar was dumbfounded! From that moment, at least in his words, Nebuchadnezzar gave praise to God, and decreed that nothing bad could be said about, or against the God of Israel.

But while his words might have praised God, his actions were still centered on self. You see, anyone can acknowledge God with their mouth, and even mean the proclamation you are making. But acknowledging there is a God, and following Him in your heart, well, that’s an entirely different scenario.

So, while Nebuchadnezzar publicly proclaimed his belief in God, it’s doubtful at this point if he practiced any sort of worship and praise of Him. This seems to be evident by what happened to the Babylonian King next. About a year later, Nebuchadnezzar was walking the roof of his palace that overlooked Babylon, and he began talking to himself out loud.

“The King spoke say, “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?” Daniel 4:30

Nebuchadnezzar took ALL the credit for the wonders and riches of Babylon. He proclaimed that the great city was built by HIS might, and to immortalize His glory. Even the newest Christian, with the most immature faith, should have understood that this was a BIG no-no!

Within the hour, Nebuchadnezzar was struck with a form of mental illness that made him think he was a beast of the field, like say…an ox. For seven years Nebuchadnezzar would remain in this demented state. When recovered, he , once more and seemingly from the heart, gave glory and praise to God. And, for a season, God restored his kingdom back to him.

It’s ironic in a way. The three Jewish men went through a brief trial of real fire because of their obedience to God’s Law, and their faith.faith. But they also endured the flames to demonstrate the power of the one true God to a pagan king. The tyrant who threw them into the flames suffered through a trial of insanity that lasted seven years in order to build his own faith. Yet, the end result for both was that their perspective faiths were strengthened.

James said that we should count all of our trials with joy. I don’t think he meant that we should be happy about our sufferings. No. I think he was saying if your are going through a stretch of tough times, take heart that God loves you enough to let you go through them.

God loves you enough to put you in a situation where only He can bring you through unscathed. He loves you enough to show you where your life needs improving, or where your faith needs strengthening. He loves you enough that He wants to bring you into a Holier state where you will one day be welcomed into Heaven for all of eternity.

The bottom line is the fact that God loves you! Period!

Every single person in the Bible who ever made a difference in peoples lives, and in planting the seeds of faith, went through tough times. Some trials were more intense and lasted longer than others. But in every single instance, every one, they came out of their storms better than when they went in. Even if that “better” was going to be with the Lord Himself.

If you find yourself in a rough patch right now, don’t fret, panic, or give up. Steady yourself against the headwinds of the circumstance and put your faith solely in the hands of the One who loves you. The One who died for you, so you can be saved. Ask forgiveness if you need to. Worship if you want to. Praise because you need to. Just keep your eyes on God at all cost!

Take heart in the promise that He always has eyes on you! In the times of calm seas, and in mist violent of storms. He is always with you!

LG&LG! (2.0)

“Of Trials and Consequences” (4)

Last week we looked at why God lets His Children, go through trials. We came to understand that Christians go through the tough times of life for a couple of reasons. First, God may simply be trying to get our attention.

Sometimes, when we decide we want to go out and blaze our own paths, God will send us subtle, or even not so subtle, reminders that we are not walking in His path, or not doing what He wants us to do.

As Jonah learned, in experiencing his big fish story, we don’t get to to turn left when God wants us to turn right. We don’t get to negotiate the commands, or even the urgings of God. If we do, if we choose to do life our way, we should expect life to be a little less than comfortable. Or, even a lot less.

“Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.” Psalm 100:3

God will also occasionally allow Satan to tighten the screws on us just as He did in the case of Job.

These times of seeming mental, and even physical, torment are not meant to discourage or destroy us. They are meant to build and strengthen our faith.

And, yes, God will allow unpleasantries to befall us all, even Jesus went through a trial of the spirit on the night of His arrest. And, yes, these times of testing will certainly feel as if they are far more than we can bear. In and of ourselves, they almost always will be more than we can stand.

But that’s kinda the point.

You see, while these times of trial can feel uncomfortable, painful, even unbearable, we need to realize that God is there with us through every step of our most unpleasant journey. And, while it may be to much for us, it can never be to much for God. If we can control our emotions, listen to His still small voice, lean into the comfort found by prayer and time in His Word, He will bring us through each and and every storm we will ever face.

Oh, and if we put our faith in God, and not in ourselves, or if we refuse give into our fears during the times of turbulence, God will bring us out of our trials better off than when went into them, just as He did with Job.

However, there is another reason God allows us to wander through the Valley of Tough Times. Now though, our trial of the soul is not allowed, or brought on by God, but by ourselves.

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23

God is a merciful God, of this is no doubt. But He is also a Holy God, INCAPABLE of doing that which is contrary to His Word. So, when God says that the CONSEQUENCE of our sin is death, that’s exactly what He means. In other words, sin is going to cost us something

But, there are teachings floating around out there that want us to believe that once we are saved, we can live any old way we want!

“Once saved, always saved!”

This idea of perpetual salvation comes from John10:26-30

“I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of MyFather’s hand. I and the Father are One”

Yep! That sounds like once we pray that “sinners prayer” that we are Heaven bound no matter what!

We reason that bit of misunderstood information into the belief that if we give God a couple of hours a week, then we have six days and twenty two hours to dabble freely in the world! It doesn’t matter what we do! What experiences we take on! We’re saved and nothing is EVER going to change that!

Let me show you why that doctrine of devils is both misguided, and dangerous.

Let’s go back to that passage in John for just a moment. I want to draw your attention to what Jesus says BEFORE He says true believers cannot be snatched out of His hand.

“You do not believe because you are not My sheep. My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me.”

Jesus had been pressed by the Sanhedrin to answer once and for all if He was the Messiah, or if He was not. Instead of giving a simple yes or no, Jesus challenged them with some cold hard facts.

“I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about Me.” John 10:25

The Jews (in the Biblical narrative the title “The Jews” always refers to the religious elite) we’re forever trying to test and trap Jesus with their questions.

Here, they wanted Him to plainly state if He was the Messiah, or not. If Jesus would have said “no”, they could then discredit Him in front of the people. If He would have answered “yes”, they would have charged Him with blasphemy which carried a sentence of stoning.

With every ear straining to hear His response, Jesus, as He always did, turned the tables on His critics.

“I don’t need to tell you! You have seen what I can do! You have seen the lepers healed! The blindnow see! The lame are walking and running! Is this not because of the hand of God? He did all of this through Me! You have seen the prophecies fulfilled through Me! For those who see and understand, they don’t have to ask who I am, they know that the Scriptures have come alive through Me. Those who know Me follow My voice! Those who truly love Me know who I am, and I know who they are. We have a relationship! Because of that relationship, I will never let anyone, anything, take them away from Me!” ( John 10:25-30 Paraphrased)

Yes, there is a basis of truth to this “once saved always saved” idea. However, make sure before you claim yourself “once saved, always saved”, that you truly ARE saved.

Jesus said if we love Him, truly love Him, we will follow His commandments. In other words, we will want to do what is right in the eyes of God. We will want to worship. Want to praise. Want to pray. Being a Christian is not a part time job, it’s a complete lifestyle change. It literally means your life isn’t your own anymore. It belongs to Jesus now, and His light now needs to be reflected through you!

But we like to skirt the edges of sin. We like to lift up our robes of righteous and see how deep we can wade into the muck and mire of the world without getting them dirty.

We find out soon enough that we can’t even step into that pool with staining the hem of our glory garments.

Because of our disobedience, and disobedience is all we can call it, we will have to face consequences. These after effects will never be pleasant and will be as unbearable, if not more, than any trial we could ever imagine.

We shouldn’t be surprised, or angry when God chastises us. If He does, then it means He truly does love us. He thinks we are worth saving.

“For whom the LORD loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives.” Hebrews 12:6

Just like the trials we face, we won’t always stay in God’s perpetual punishment. Although it might feel like it as we are going through it.

We will finish our look at “Of Trials And Consequences” next time!

LG&LG! (2.0)

“Of Trials And Consequences” (3)

Sometimes “young” Christians can develop a somewhat jaded view of life after they pray the “sinners prayer”. 

They get up off of their knees and almost immediately develop this misguided conception of a utopian lifestyle begins to form within their minds.

“I follow Jesus now! My life is going to be a walk in the park from here on out! My days will be problem free Everyday will be perfect! My health will be perfect! My finances will be perfect, my cup will always be running over! My relationships will be perfect! I mean after all, the Word does tell me that “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want!” And, if I “delight myself in the Lord, and He will give me the desires of my heart!”

Anybody who has been a Christian for more than a minute will tell you that the only thing perfect about that way of thinking, is that it is perfectly wrong.

Why? Well, because of two words no one wants to even think about. Trials and tribulations“.

Trials and tribulations are best defined as tests of the spirit. They can be brought to us by God. By Satan, but only with God’s permission. Or, even by ourselves. They have one purpose, and one purpose alone. That is to test the health our faith, and to to show us where our weaknesses are, and where we need to strengthen our spiritual resolve.

Christians go through trials and tribulations just like everybody else. Sometimes, they face greater and more intense troubles than just about anybody else.

If you’re not facing, or haven’t faced any trials, that means you’re lucky! Right? Well…I once heard an evangelist put it like this once.

“If the devil ain’t chomping at the bit to get his hands on you, then you might want to take a another look at your relationship with the Lord.”

In other words, the only reason Satan wouldn’t want to concern himself with you, is if you are no threat to him at all.

Remember how we talked about how a person with strong faith was like a bitter drink to Satan? 

These are the witnessers. The prayer warriors. Those with the hearts of true servants.

These are the people who are the greatest threat to Satan. These are the people he asks God to be able to oppress the most. 

People with weaker, confused, or even those with “pretend” faith, are of no threat of disrupting Satan’s agenda. Therefore, they are not worth his concern, time, or effort. He has bigger fish to fry.

Wait, did I just say Satan has to ask God for permission before he can come against a Child of God?

Yes, in fact he does. As Jesus told Peter in Luke22:31…

“And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.”

Although at that particular moment Peter was still very much a spiritual diamond in the rough, in the matter of just a few weeks Peter would deliver a message that would lead three thousand into salvation!

It’s no wonder Satan was begging to dismantle Jesus’s chief disciple! He couldn’t just come against Peter on his own authority. He didn’t, and still doesn’t, have that type of self imposed power. The devil can’t do any more, to anyone, than God allows him.

This is clearly made evident in the Book of Job.

Job’s story begins when Satan enters into a Heavenly hierarchy meeting taking place in the Third Heaven. Now. From the narrative of the Scripture, it’s is not evident at this point, if Job had even come in range of Satan’s radar. Yet.

“Then the Lord asked Satan, “Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless—a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil.” Job 1:8

With that, Job came out if the shadows of relatively obscurity, and became Public Enemy Number One on the demonic Ten Most Wanted List.

From that moment, Satan salivated over getting a crack at breaking old Job. That should come as no real shock to anyone. But what might take you by surprise is that God readily agreed to let him.

Well, Satan wasted no time in cutting Job’s happy little life down to the quick.

In the matter of a few hours, Job lost his wealth, his servants, and livestock to bandits and thieves. Then, because of freak, and particularly strong wind, he lost his children who were gathered together at feast. Job had gone from being on top of the world, to laying crumpled at the bottom of the heap in a literal instant.

Through it all, he never once blamed God or sinned.

This must have infuriated Satan. He asked for God’s permission, to once again afflict Job. This time he wanted to come against the righteous man’s health. Once again, surprisingly, God agreed. In an instant, Job was covered in painful boils and sores.

Through it all, Job never sinned. Oh sure, he questioned why all this pain, both mental and physical, was being heaped upon him. Which one of us wouldn’t do the same thing? But Job never once faltered in his faith, never once blamed God for any of it, even after being berated to do so by his own wife.

Job was a man in love with God. He was so concerned that something in his life might offendThe Almighty, that he made sacrifices on behalf of any family members who may have unknowingly offended the Creator.

Job went through some of the most fiery trials ever allowed on a human in the history of mankind.

Why would God agree to let such calamities befall one of His most faithful servants?

King David gives us insight into this question in Psalm 66:10.

“You have tested us, O God;
you have purified us like silver…”

David’s son, King Solomon, confirms his father wisdom in Proverbs 17:3.

“ Fire tests the purity of silver and gold,
but the Lord tests the heart.”

God allows His faithful to go through trials not to weaken their resolve, but to strengthen, to purify, their faith. Faith is something that can never reach a state where it can’t be made any stronger.

And, no one is immune from feeling the sting of trials. Not even Jesus Himself.

In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus made a puzzling statement to His disciples in Matthew 26:38

“Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.”

This is an amazing statement to make. Jesus was sorrowful, grieved, about what was about to happen to Him! Was Jesus afraid of going to the cross? Was He having second thoughts?

I don’t think so.

You see, if Jesus was worried, or scared about His being crucified, it would have gone against the core of His teachings found in Matthew 6 which was …DO NOT WORRY!

No, I think what was troubling the Creator of everything that night, was that the time had come for Him to experience the most horrible feeling that a human being could ever feel.

We are told that Jesus had felt every temptation, experienced every emotion, known every sensation, that we feel.

Except one.

We have to understand here that He knew, and accepted, that the cross was the only bridge that could gap the void between man and God. He also knew that death would have no lasting hold over Him.

But… what He had never felt was the heavy, oppressive, weight of sin on His heart and in His spirit. Also, He had never experienced even a single second of total separation from God. What He did knew was that within the matter of just a few hours, that the crushing weight produced by sins of the world would be laid upon His outstretched arms, and it troubled Him. You see, God knows everything, except what it feels like to sin, and be separated from Himself.

He knew He would, for the first time, experience the shame, the guilt, the condemnation, that we feel when we sin.

Think about this. When we sin, those same oppressive feelings weigh on our spirit like a crushing weight. That misery is just for our sins! Jesus was about to shoulder the anguish of the sins of the world!

He knew that when He absorbed those sins, that His Holy Father would have to look away from Him, even if it was just a small period of time. That was something that He had never, ever, experienced. Not even for a single moment in time.

That, in my opinion, was the trial Jesus faced that night.

To be continued…

LG&LG! (2.0)

“Of Trials and Consequences.” (2)

“The good Lord won’t put anymore on you than you can stand!”

That is the Christian go-to Bible quote when a brother or sister is going through a rough spot in life.

It’s a verse that sounds good. It’s a verse that offers encouragement. It’s a verse that is often shared in hopes of striking a spark of hope in the hearts of those hurting.

Unfortunately though, it really can’t be any of those things. Why? Because no such verse exists within the pages of God’s Word.

Now, before you grab your Bibles in an attempt to prove me wrong, the idea of God not putting anymore on us than we can stand, is a misunderstanding of 1 Corinthians 10:13.

“No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to [a]bear it.”

Notice that Paul is talking about temptation here, not uncomfortable life situations. God will not put you in a situation where you have no choice but to SIN. We make that choice on our own often enough as it is. God will never allow us in a situation where our having to sin is inevitable.

The Bible however, says nothing about God not allowing you to experience uncomfortable, or even VERY uncomfortable experiences, otherwise known as trials and tribulations.

In fact, quite the opposite is true. God will always allow us to face more risks and tribulations than we can stand. Or, perhaps a better way of putting it is that God will always allow us to go through more than WE think we can stand.

Why? Sometimes He just wants to get our attention. But mainly, it’s the only way He can teach us to grow in our faith.

Think back to a particularly dark time in your life. Or, perhaps you are going through such a time at this very moment. Those feelings of hopelessness, discouragement, disappointment, they were ALMOST more than you could bear, weren’t they?

They key word in the above is…almost. Somehow…someway…God brought you through it. In the midst of the fire you may have felt like giving up. But, you didn’t!

Something wouldn’t let you. That something was God.

And, if you think about it long enough, you will realize that God has pulled your feet out of the fire many, many times.

Knowing not only that God can, but that God will be our ever present help in our times of trouble (Psalm 46:1) only works to build our faith.

Remember in those times of woe when would find encouragement when you needed it the most, and it often seemed to come from the least likely of places? Or, a ray of hope would break through just when the dark clouds of despair seemed to be at their thickest? Who do you think orchestrated all of that?

It was God!

No, God didn’t stop you from going through the storm, but whether you realized it or not, God was there riding out every crashing wave with you.

When the tempest finally passed, you found that you were still standing, battered and bruised maybe , but still upright nonetheless.

That was all all His doing!

If you look back that darker time in your life you will realize that despite the unpleasantries you went through, that somehow you came out just a little bit better than when you first went into the fiery furnace.

And, yes, there may have been times that you felt that the situation was more than you could bear. That the pain and hurt was more than you could handle. There may have been a time, or two, when you turned a teary eye, or even a clinched fist towards Heaven and cried out; “Why me Lord!”

There may have even been a brief moment when you made a snap decision to give up on God. Or, maybe even life. Many have.

The pressure of a particularly strong life storm even had a profound affect on Jesus Himself.

In the Garden of Gethsemane a few hours before His arrest, Jesus told His disciples.

“Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.” Matthew 26:38

Jesus very well knew what His purpose as the Messiah was. He fully realized what the end result of His mission as God on earth in the flesh was going to be.

Yet, here He is at the 11th hour asking God, with such intensity that He began to sweat blood, to remove the cup of the crucifixion from Him.

Was this weakness on Jesus’s part? He obviously knew that death would have no permanent hold over Him. He also knew that His death on the cross was the only bridge that would allow mankind to once more stand fully in God’s glory.

So why did Jesus seem hesitant about His mission that night in the Garden?

I think Paul gives us a clue in Hebrews 4:15.

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin”

Jesus, as we are all aware, was both fully God, and fully human. Being fully human, Jesus would have experienced every emotion (with the exception of fear and worry) that we feel. The Bible says as much.

He also would have felt hunger, fatigue, and pain.

He felt ALMOST everything that we do.

Almost…

The more I study the story of that night in the Gethsemane, the more I believe that Jesus never had any fears, worries or concerns about the cross.

Something was bothering the Creator of the universe that night though.

But what?

To be continued…

LG&LG! (2.0)

“Of Fear And Consequences.” (1)

**Just a word before we get started.**

I know it’s been a while since my last post, and I apologize for that. Life for me since March, has been running at breakneck speed both professionally and personally. Lots of highs, but lots of lows too. Lots of gains, but lots of setbacks.

A couple of weeks ago, I let it all get to me, and I began to feel more than a little overwhelmed. I began to take it things a little too personally.

I felt exhausted, confused, discouraged, even dejected at times.

It didn’t feel good! At all!

Even though I knew better, I never stopped to think that with all these negative emotions invading my thoughts and feelings, that I was actually giving Satan the ample opportunity he needed to bring everything crashing down around me. And, believe you me, he tried!

Yet, through it all, even when what seemed like the worst of it came, I kept hearing these words deep in my spirit.

“Count it all joy!”

I thought; “What! No!” How am I supposed to feel any joy when I’m struggling to just take an easy breath in this sudden steady flow of sludge that I found myself treading in.

Still, though, in the quiet times, especially in the morning; “Count it all joy!”

I couldn’t understand what it meant, until suddenly, I did.

It is those words; “Count it all joy”, written by James, the brother of Jesus, some two thousand years ago, is a most valuable nugget of wisdom that EVERY Christian needs to learn and understand. For in his words are the keys to peace, and contentment. And, joy.

This is a lesson I am still learning, daily, and one I want to share with you.

It’s not going to be an easy one, but it will, if you let it, change the way you think and feel about the challenges and struggles we all face on a daily basis.

Once we understand the power in those words,“Count it all joy”, they can literally change your life.

“Of Trials and Consequences.”

Life is hard.

For many, the dream of living in a harmonic existence with, and in this life, is a goal worth pursuing.

Yet, with every passing day, we disappointingly begin to believe that such a lofty aspersion may always be just beyond our grasp. .

Oh sure, we have good days where we are sailing along on calm and smooth seas. Everything seems to be going our way. Days were we could fall in a mud hole and come out cleaner than when we went in.

But those days often seem to be more of an exception we hope for, rather than the rule we live by.

More often than not, we are faced with problem after problem. Forced to confront one mounting situation after another. Some days as the sun sets in the Western sky, all we can do is little more than collapse in exhaustion, weakly trying giving thanks that the terrible day is finally over.

Why do Christians have these days? Where do these times of trials and tribulations come from?

The most obvious, and often most convenient, answer of course, is the devil. And while this is true in some instances, it’s not always Satan’s fault that we find our lives in disarray. Sometimes, the blame lies solely on us.

Over the next few posts, we are going to look at a few misconceptions that surround why life for Christians is not always a walk on the beach, and, who really deserves the blame when the bullet train we call our life seemingly derails.

However, sometimes , it IS the devils fault.

“Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.” James 1:2-4

James, the half brother of Jesus, wrote these wordsto Christians, let me repeat, TO CHRISTIANS, over two thousand years ago. Why? Because he,Paul, the remaining disciples, and every believerthere was in the risen Christ, were going through a literal hell on earth at this particular point in history.

Believer’s were scattered throughout the Middle Eastern/ Asia Minor regions of the world. They were forced to meet and worship in secret, or face persecution, imprisonment, or even death. They were forced to keep their inner lights hidden under the basket of anonymity in order to even be able to survive.

Many though, didn’t hide their faith! They boldly proclaimed the “good news” to anyone who cared to listen, and even to those who didn’t care to hear about it.

Peter, and the surviving disciples, Paul, Stephen, and many more Saints, proclaimed the Gospel openly and loudly to anyone who cared to listen, and all paid for their God given courage with their lives, except for John whose sentence was that he be exiled to the Island of Patmos.

Here’s some sobering news. In today’s world, Christians are still being persecuted for their beliefs. In a time that is approaching fast, believers will once again be killed for unwaveringly holding fast to their hope in Jesus, the Christ.

In fact, there countries in the world today were Christians are being imprisoned , tortured, even murdered for their faith.

In America, Christians don’t necessarily face the same atrocities that their brethren in other parts of the globe endure, but find that their faith is oppressed nevertheless.

Christian’s face scrutiny for praying in public. They often face government pushback for any public display of Christian symbolism. 

During the pandemic of 2020, churches were mandated to shut their doors along with every other “nonessential” business across the country.

And, although nearly every denominational house of worship quickly adapted and responded to the crisis with things like parking lot services, and online church, it struck a blow to “in pew”attendance which has not yet recovered in the nearly three years since.

Why would God allow, and we must always remember that nothing happens without God allowing it to happen, His house, His people, to go through such trials and tough times?

Sometimes, it’s to show us that we may not exactly be as strong in our faith as we might out to be. Or, that we may not exactly have the faith we think we do.

What do I mean?

Think tea.

Evangelist Greg Laurie once said, “Christians are a lot like teabags, you don’t know what they are made of until you drop them in hot water.”

There is a lot of truth in that statement.

A teabag, in itself, is really a useless item. Without tea inside of it, the bag is nothing but an empty vessel. It has no real purpose.

It doesn’t begin to realize it’s true value until it is filled with those tiny little tea leaves.

Even then though, a little teabags full potential can’t be fully realized.

Tucked away in a box in the cupboard, or in a canister on the counter, they basically serve no useful purpose at all. They are just there, out of sight, out of mind.

Until you boil some water!

In that hot water, a teabag fulfills it’s purpose and proves it’s worth. In the boiling, rolling H2O, it holds the tea leaves together to allow them to transform that steaming liquid into an enjoyable, refreshing, drink.

The longer you let that teabag steep in that hot water, the stronger it becomes.

Christians can be a lot like that. They like to stay safe in the box, or in the canister. They like to think that as long as they simply profess belief, live life as a good person, then that will be enough to keep them both out of the sight, and out of the mind of the devil. They wrongly reason that be an “invisible” Christian is the the safest option that will allow them to skim through life relatively unscathed by Satan and his merry little band of demons.

Oh, these Christians who try and play it safe may walk around looking the part. They put off the right “aromatics”, praising God, acting all “religious” when everything is going their way, but when it’s time to be dunked in the boiling aqua, the true strength of their faith becomes all to apparent .

If you haven’t figured it out, we are the “tea bags”, the Holy Spirt within us is the “tea”.

The Bible says as much.

“But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.” 1st John 4:4

You see, we are the “teabags” that hold the “tea”, which is the Holy Spirit. If we can learn to control our fear, stand on faith, and lean heavily on His Word, and when troubles come, then He can, and will, turn out “hot water” situations into something that will refresh us.

And , just like a teabag, the longer we stay in that hot water, the stronger our faith will become. While strong tea may be a bitter drink for us, strong faith is an even more unpleasant drink for Satan to swallow.

If we let fear, negativity, or emotions rule our thoughts, then we will restrict the power of the Holy Spirt, allowing Satan to cause your situation to seem overwhelming, even crippling.

This almost happened to me. I allowed it to come closer to that outcome than I ever thought I would.

To be continued…

LG&LG! (2.0)

“The Three Most Important Relationships You Will Ever Have.” (A Sermon Series)

Jesus told the scribe in Matthew 7:21-23 that the greatest commandment was that we should love God with everything we have in us. Then the Lord added another commandment that He emphasized was just as important as loving God.

“Love your neighbor…”

But that’s not always easy to do, is it? Let’s face it. People are cantankerous. We tend to wear our emotions on our sleeves. Let our circumstances dictate our moods. Throw in our penchants for ego and pride, and it’s not always easy to show each other the love that Jesus commands us to do.

Sometimes, we just find it easier to keep to ourselves and do life alone, or with only a few select others we let into most personal space.

We decide it’s just better to live life as a “loner”rather than dealing with these fickle creatures known as human beings.

Yet, God never intended for any of us to go through this life alone!

In the Garden of Eden, God looked at Adam,who was going about his task of naming the animals and tending to God’s garden, and said…

“It is not good for man to be alone.” Genesis 2:18

So, He formed Adam a helpmate, a woman made from Adam’s own body. God gave him …Eve. And, with her creation, came the first relationship

And, it all went downhill from there.

One day in garden…

Adam and Eve were out, possibly gathering food for dinner, when that slick old serpent Satan appeared.

He draws Eve’s attention to the off limits tree, the one with that low hanging forbidden fruit.

You know that fruit had to be hanging low because sin seems to always be easily within our reach. Amen?

In his best velvety voice Satan begins to, as Paul put in 2 Corinthians 3:11, “beguile” Eve.

“Oh, look at! Doesn’t it look so good! You know you want it! Go ahead! God didn’t really mean you would die if you ate it! Go ahead! Live a little! You love yourself more in the morning if you do!”

So, Eve ate. Then, she handed the fruit to Adam, who apparently was standing right there watching everything unfold.

Have you ever wondered why Adam ate so willingly? Why didn’t he just grab that old snake by the throat and throw him right on out of the Garden? Or, why didn’t he knock the fruit out of Eve’s hand? Why didn’t he do anything but just stand there?

I once heard a Baptist preacher explain it this way.

“Adam didn’t do anything that any other well trained husband wouldn’t have done. He did exactly what his wife told him to do.” With a twinkle in his eye he added, “Besides, she did have any clothes on!”

But while in that moment when Adam was inadvertently inventing the “happy wife- happy life” formula for a successful marriage, he purposely did what God had commanded him not to do. With that conscious act of disobedience, Adam severed the once close relationship between the creator and the creation.

It would take many millennia for a permanent bridge to be built so we could once more be up close and personal with God.

During those centuries though, mankind almost stopped having any loving, or even meaningful relationships with each other.

In the pages of the Old Testament, hardly anyone got along! There was case after case of brother against brother. Husband against wives, and wives against husbands. Children against parents. Friends against friends. Kings against people, and people against kings. Nations against nations.

The world was like one big saloon fight, one big free for all. That fight still continues into today. It just seems that we couldn’t get along with one another no matter how hard we tried! We’re STILL having that same problem.

In His Ten Commandments, God had given us four commands on how to have the perfect relationship with Him, the remaining six of His commandments tells us how to get along with each other.

Before you can love someone, you have to respect them, and they have to respect you. That’s what commandments five through ten do. They teach us how to respect each other.

You don’t want to kill people you respect, or love , no matter how much they may annoy you. (Ladies, there is a lesson in that statement!)

You don’t steal from someone you respect.

You don’t lie to them, or on them.

You are not unfaithful to them in any way.

You don’t get jealous over any thing they do, achieve or, anything they might have.

Practice these things with a true and faithful heart, and you will see your relationships begin to soar! People will begin to love you for who you are, because they know BY YOUR ACTIONS that you truly love them.

But, despite God having written these very important instructions in stone for us, our ancient ancestors just couldn’t seem to get it right. We still aren’t doing a crackerjack job at it today.

Then, a man came into the world. But not just any man. A God man, a man who not only preached love , but He showed it.

He healed blind men He didn’t know.

He healed sick people He had never met, Irvin at least one case, would never meet.

He embraced the rejected lepers causing them to become clean.

He fed the hungry, caused the lame to walk, raised the dead, and forgave sins. And, He did it for all peoples, even the ones that the traditions of His day dictated that He really should not even speak to.

Oh, and He forgave those who rejected, who persecuted, who crucified Him.

Jesus just didn’t preach to us to love God, and love people, He lived it.

You see, Jesus understood one important piece of spiritual truth that we forget.

To have a true, personal, deep and intimate relationship with someone, anyone , even God, you have got to love them!

That goes for husband and wives. Brothers , sisters, even friends, both those of the garden, and best variety. There has to be unconditional love. The same love that God shows us. Love that overshadows everything. Love that is willing to forgive anything. Love that endures that which would kill anything else.

Now, I gotta ask you, do you love God with that “agape” type love?

Do you love him when times are tough? 

When the medical report is less than in your favor? 

When the bank account is overdrawn? 

Do you love Him when He doesn’t answer your prayers the way you want, or when you want?

Do you love him in the days when nothing seems to go right and you’re world is crumbling down around your ankles?

Do you love him when you are in your darkest place, and there is no light yet visible at the end of the tunnel, and you feel nothing but oppressing loneliness?

Do you love God, Jesus, no matter what?

You should, because He loves you that way. No matter how much we disappoint him, He loves us.

No matter how much we run from him, He loves us.

No matter what, He loves us. He loves us so much, that He laid down his life to save us, when He could have just as easily thrown up his hands and said “to hell with all of you!” Literally.

That is truly what is called “agape” love. What we sometimes call unconditional love. A type of love you give to someone freely, with no strings attached, expecting nothing in return. Even if they choose to never return that love to you.

When we can learn to love others, like Jesus loves us, and we can with confidence truly say we know Jesus will one day look at us and say “well done my good and faithful servant.”

Now…the secret to life, the secret to salvation, the secret to peace is simple.

Love God, love others, and love them with a true and unconditional love.

But that doesn’t come naturally to us. We are used to giving and receiving love based on a merit system.

I’ll love you if…

Or, I’ll love you as long as…

Or, I’ll love you when…

When all we really have to say is the same thing God says to us. To quote Billy Joel, “I love you just the way you are.”

Why don’t we do that? Well, it could be Because we don’t truly love one of the most important people in our lives.

Who is that?

Jesus said, “ love you neighbor as yourself.

We don’t always love ourselves.

We are own worst enemy.

We are our sharpest critic.

Let me repeat, we don’t always love ourselves as we should.

Now, I’m not talking about conceit here. I’m not talking about accepting, or reinventing yourself in some way other than the way God made you. I’m talking about realizing you are an child of the living God, wonderfully and fearfully made in His image!

Stop fretting about who you aren’t, and begin embracing who you are.

Change only that which you know that needs changing to bring yourself into a better relationship with God, and others.

Understand that you are not perfect in every way, that your never going to be perfect in every way, and stop chasing after such an elusive goal. It’s like trying to catch smoke. You’re never going be able to grab hold of it.

Don’t worry about what others think of you, the only people in the universe you have to please are God and yourself.

Never compare yourself to anyone else. Never let anyone tell you you need to be like anyone else. This is your life! God  wrote it for you! Just like He told me that Charles’s message wasn’t mine to give, neither is anyone else’s life meant for you to live. The life He gave you is the only one you are supposed to live.

God doesn’t make junk! Don’t ever let anyone tell you that you aren’t special. That you need to change. That you need to act more like this person or that person. No! Kick that toxic person out of your life and right to the curb.

God loves you just the way he made you. Love yourself for who He created you to be.

The key to peace, the key to contentment, the key to life is to love God, love people, and to love yourself!

LG&LG! (2.0)

“The Three Most Important Relationships You Will Ever Have.” (A Sermon Series)

“Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’” Matthew 7:21-23

A friend of mine, who I know is a believer, came to me a few months and said that during his daily Bible reading he came this verse, in Matthew but didn’t quite understand it.

His reaction was; “Why would Jesus tell anyone who believes in Him to get away from Him, and that He never knew them?”

He then added, “ That has got to be the scariest verse in the whole Bible!”

It most definitely is!

Why? Because what the Word is saying countless people will one day stand before the Christ and THINK they are going to get into Heaven because they know who Jesus is. But they won’t, because the truth of the matter is they never really knew Him.

There is a distinction between knowing who someone is, and truly knowing someone. It’s the difference between just being acquainted with a person, and having a relationship with them.

Just knowing who sma person is simply means your familiar with them. You may know they exist, but you really don’t know much more than that about them. In other words, all you really know is things you have heard, or what someone else might tell you about them.

The problem is, how do you know what you’re being told is the truth?

On the other hand, when you truly want to get close to someone you get to know them personally, intimately. You understand the things they like, the way they think, the things they want. You know where they stand, and what they expect. And, you want to give them those things. Likewise, in return, they want to give you the desires of your heart.

Sort of like the qualities that make a strong marriage.

No wonder the church is often called the bride of Christ!

Then how can we get to know God/ Jesus on such a intimate level?

Well…there are a couple of ways.

First, by prayer.

Real prayer! Not some ritualistic uttering, or repeating moot phrases, but by simply talking to God. Just like you we’re talking to a good friend.

It worked pretty well for Moses!

“Inside the Tent of Meeting, the LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend.” Exodus 33:11

Because God loves you, every time you pray, you ARE talking to your best friend! The One who always has you on His mind and in His heart. The One who makes your concerns and needs, His concerns and needs. The One who loves you despite of all your rebellion and your shortcomings. The One who will always be with you through the thick and thin. The One who won’t leave your side no matter what. The One who wont forsake you, even when you turn away from Him.

But …most often when we pray, we’re really not talking to God, but crying out “help me, help me, help me!” Or, “I want, I want, I want”!

When was the last time we actually stopped and listened to God? Acted interested in something He had to say? Or, have any of us asked God what He wanted from us? Have we asked our Creator what we could do for Him lately?

The second way to get to know God/Jesus intimately, is by reading His Word. Not skimming over it, cherry-picking the high points and moving on, but by getting into it, really finding out what God has to say about EVERYTHING, and He has something to say about EVERYTHING, that has to do with our lives! Both in the here and now, and in the eternity to come.

How do we know what God expects from us to have an intimate, personal relationship? As it turns out, we don’t have to wonder or guess at all. He tells us in the plainest of terms.

In Exodus 20:3-11, God gives us four keys to having a fruitful relationship with Him.

Key one.

“You shall no other gods before me.”

Anything you place before God, can become a god to you.

It could be a thing.

A person.

A place.

Even yourself.

Anything in creation that you put between the light of God and yourself begins to become more important to you than the Creator.

Keep God FIRST your life!

Key two.

“You shall not bow down to any graven image.”

Nothing should be more important to you than God. No, we don’t bow down to little idols of wood and stone anymore, but there are plenty of other things in our lives that are vying to make themselves seem more important to us than God.

Always worship the Creator rather than the created.

Key three.

“You shall not take the name of the Lord in vain.”

While it is often associated with not using God’s name in conjunction with a swear word, which you shouldn’t, this isn’t what taking God’s name in vain actually means.

Jesus explains it best in Mark 7:6-9

“Jesus replied, “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote; “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.

When you make a statement, swear to an oath, teach a “new” doctrine, when you say ANYTHING, that is not of God, but attribute it to God, that is talking God’s name in vain.

Have you ever been trying to make a point that you are not quite 100% sure about, but added the phrase; “I swear to God”, to add validity to what you were saying? If you have, then you just might have something to repent about.

There are those who preach “doctrines” like prosperity, by promoting that God promises to bless you in ways that are not in line with what He says in His Word.

It was going on in Isaiah’s day, it happened during the time in which the Book of Acts was written, and it goes on today. Teachers who want to use the name of God, while teaching an ungodly message.

False teachers who invoke the name of God to give seeming validity to whatever swamp land they are selling. Oh, they can make it sound all good, and even sensible. The can make you think they are modern day prophets carrying a brand new message from God.

But they all have these catch words that will always expose the wolf in sheep’s clothing.

The word “Universe” is used more than the name of God.

“Manifesting” instead of receiving blessings.

“Higher self” replaces the Holy Spirt.

The “Law of attraction” is the way to better yourself and situation rather than waiting on God’s Grace and favor.

I know all to well how persuasive, these teachers can be. But let me tell you, a lie, is a lie, is a lie.

To follow these modern day false prophets means we truly will stand in front of Jesus one day and hear, “Depart from Me I never knew you.”

Look, there are those who will try and tell you that you can take Christ of “Christian” and still enjoy the afterlife basking in the Glory of Heaven. But…if you take “Christ” out of Christian, all your left with us “Ian”. My friends, on judgement day, “Ian” isn’t going to help you!

Trust only in God/Jesus and His Holy, perfect, and true Word.

Key four.

“Remember the Sabbath Day and keep it Holy.”

Take the time to remember God, and all He has done. Rest. Relax. Worship. Praise. Take the day, this day , any day, that the Lord has made and rejoice in it!

God took one day to sit back and reflect on all that He had made. When He did that, He saw, and declared that all He had made was “very good”.

If we would follow God’s lead, and take one day to leave our troubles outside the gate, rest, relax and renew, we would begin to see all the goodness that God places in our lives that we might tend to overlook when we get caught up in that maddening avalanche of life. Then, maybe, just maybe, we would take the time to praise, worship, and give thanks to God, our Creator, and Jesus, our Savior. Make this weekly rest a habit, and before we know it, we will find the other six days becoming more peaceful and prosperous than we might ever imagine they could be!

To be continued…

LG&LG! (2.0)

“The Three Most Important Relationships You Will Ever Have.” ( A Sermon Series)

Here is the message that I was privileged to be able to give at GracePointe Baptist Church on Sunday, July 2nd.

A few weeks ago, I was asked by my Pastor, Greg Tyree, to give the message this past Sunday morning, so he and his family could enjoy some well deserved rest and relaxation.

I agreed, and almost immediately went into search mode to find the topic that would be come to be the message.

As luck would have it, a week later my friend, Charles Billingsley, gave a stirring message over at Thomas Road Baptist Church.

Now, most of you know that Charles is an exceptional singer and a talented performer. What you may not know, is that he is an even better preacher! If you have never heard him give a message, you owe to yourself to hear him preach!

That being said, there are some messages that just need to be heard, and Charles gave just such a sermon on Memorial Day weekend. When I heard it, I knew that I needed to share that message.

Before I go any further, please understand something here.

Every pastor and teacher has passion . A topic they love to talk about at length, and they seem to know just a little bit more about that subject than anybody else.

Pastor Greg ‘s passion is getting you into Heaven! He is all about teaching you about salvation, the rapture, and end time events.

Charles’s passion is worship. He is excited about it! I mean if you get him talking about the topic of worship, you had better pack a lunch because he just ain’t gonna shut up about it. That morning, his message was on , believe it or not, worship! It was good! Uplifting! Exciting! It needed to be heard! And, I decided that I was going to share at GracePointe on the morning I was allowed in pulpit!

So, I went to Charles…

I asked him could I borrow his mess, he agreed, and even graciously gave me his sermon notes, I thought I was good to go!

Then last Sunday morning, I was settling in with that first cup of coffee on the couch when I “heard” an old familiar “audible” voice that came from my heart.

“I don’t want you to give that message.”

I was like…”What?”

The “voice” came again.

That was his message, not yours!”

Since I started writing LG&LG!, I’ve heard that voice many times.

When I first started, I would begin each morning by asking a simple question.

“OK, God, What do you want me to know today?”

He has never failed me, always telling me what He wants me to write about.

But…on occasion… I will saddle up my wild pony, and start writing down my own thoughts and ideas.

In those moments of my temporary insanity, God has shown His sense of humor in making sure my ideas and interpretations didn’t get published.

Some of the ways God has pulled the plug on my musings include…

Power surges, and power outages at the exact moment that I type the very last period in finishing an article.

One day, I left the room for a restroom break before publishing, when I came back, the article had simply vanished, never to be seen again.

One morning, I thought I HAD published the piece. The problem is, no one ever saw it. It simply disappeared without a trace. Even today, nobody has ever seen it. It may, or may not, still be floating around in the Twilight Zone world of the World Wide Web.

I have learned that strange things happen when I ignore that voice! I wasn’t going tempt God’s good graces by giving a Sunday morning service that He did want me to give! I don’t even want to imagine what might have happened if I hadn’t listened!

So there I was sitting there, smug in the idea that I was fully prepared, ready to go for Sunday morning, and suddenly, I have nothing at all!

So, I said; OK God, then what am I supposed to talk about?”

God was strangely quiet in the moment.

As I was driving to church that morning, I was talking to the steering wheel. I do a fair amount of steering wheel preaching to pass the time. When suddenly a question popped into my head.

“What do you like to talk about more than anything.”

That topics would be our relationships.

During our life’s span, we will experience three very important, even vital, types of relationships.

And, we will spend a lifetime working on these relationships.

The first, and most important of these relationships is the one we have with God.

It can’t be a communal relation. It has to be personal.

Jesus said it like this.

”One-day an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: “Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus replied, “What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?” The man answered, “‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.” Luke 10:25-27

Love God with all YOUR heart, all YOUR soul, and all YOUR strength.

There is nothing in the words of Jesus that even implies a collective relationship.

You can’t get into Heaven if the only God you know is the one that I write and talk about. Nor, will you walk through those Pearly Gates just by knowing the name of the Jesus Pastor Greg, or Charles Billingsley, or even David Jeremiah preaches about.

It ain’t gonna work for you.

The core job of any pastor, preacher, or teacher is only to introduce you to Jesus. The relationship you establish with the Savior has to come from your heart, your mind, and your spirit.

If this personal relationship doesn’t form, then all you can ever hope to know is who Jesus is. You will never really know Jesus.

Only knowing who Jesus is won’t save you.

Wait! Doesn’t the Bible say all I have to do to be saved is believe in Jesus?

Yes, but it’s vitally important that you believe in Jesus as the truth, the way and the life. Just knowing His name doesn’t give you an inside track to His power.

This is evident in Acts, Chapter 19, in the account of the seven sons of Sceva.

Once, there was a man named Sceva. (That’s a name isn’t it?!) He had seven sons who were self proclaimed exorcists. The traveled about casting out “demons” from people who were supposedly suffering from possession.

Somewhere, they must have heard Paul give a particularly stirring sermon because they sought out a man know to be possessed by a demon.

They barge into where he was living, grabbed him and announced… “We cast you out in the name of the Jesus that Paul preaches!”

That old demon rubbed his chin whiskers for a moment, and then with a grin said…

“I know Jesus, I know Paul, but I don’t know you!”

With that, the demon grabbed the seven men, beat the stuffings out them, then threw them bleeding and naked into the street!

What happened?

The sons of Sceva tried to engage a demonic spirit in the name of Jesus, but it didn’t end well for them.

Why?

Because they only knew the name of Jesus, not the Savior behind the name.

They thought the influence was in the name, they didn’t realize that the true might cones from a true heart to heart relationship with the Messiah.

The same goes for many who claim to be Christian today. They may truly believe it. They might have have the deepest faith that they are home free and Heaven bound! But they are not. There will be many “good” people who will be denied entry through Paradise’s Pearly Gates.

Don’t just take my word for it! Jesus gives us a very similar message in Matthew 7:21-23

“Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter.Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’”

Scary statement by Jesus there, huh?

To be continued…

LG&LG! (2.0)