“Look upon mine affliction and my pain; and forgive all my sins.” Psalm 25:18It is well for us when prayers about our sorrows are linked with pleas concerning our sins—when, being under God’s hand, we are not wholly taken up with our pain, but remember our offences against God. It is well, also, to take both sorrow and sin to the same place. It was to God that David carried his sorrow: it was to God that David confessed his sin. Observe, then, we must take our sorrows to God. Even your little sorrows you may roll upon God, for he counteth the hairs of your head; and your great sorrows you may commit to him, for he holdeth the ocean in the hollow of his hand. Go to him, whatever your present trouble may be, and you shall find him able and willing to relieve you. But we must take our sins to God too. We must carry them to the cross, that the blood may fall upon them, to purge away their guilt, and to destroy their defiling power. The special lesson of the text is this:—that we are to go to the Lord with sorrows and with sins in the right spirit. Note that all David asks concerning his sorrow is, “Look upon mine affliction and my pain;” but the next petition is vastly more express, definite, decided, plain—“Forgive all my sins.” Many sufferers would have put it, “Remove my affliction and my pain, and look at my sins.” But David does not say so; he cries, “Lord, as for my affliction and my pain, I will not dictate to thy wisdom. Lord, look at them, I will leave them to thee, I should be glad to have my pain removed, but do as thou wilt; but as for my sins, Lord, I know what I want with them; I must have them forgiven; I cannot endure to lie under their curse for a moment.” A Christian counts sorrow lighter in the scale than sin; he can bear that his troubles should continue, but he cannot support the burden of his transgressions.
One God, One Way As I was driving home yesterday I came upon this bumper sticker that said, coexist, each letter represented a different religion. To coexist means to come together as one, from those who believe in God to gods, to Jesus, to no god at all, coming together as one nation. The first thing that came to mind was the phrase, “Can't we all get along”. It would be nice if we could all get along, but the truth is, as long as we are on the earth we will not get along. God's people will never get along with false or non god people. Why? Because there is only One God and only one way to God and that is through Jesus Christ, unless we believe in that we will never coexist. Do you know how many problems occur when we try to combine religions? We think we are coming together as one, but all we are doing is falling right into the hands of Satan. Many problems occur when we combine religions, for one, the doctrine is not the same, but worse than that, it destroys our relationship with God. At one point in everyone's life we all come to the realization that there is only One God and One way to God. Sadly, God will not hear many pleas for help because they chose to coexist with the world instead of exist with God, through Jesus Christ. Saul, was the first anointed king of Israel, chosen by God Himself, shortly after his reign, Saul lost sight of God, he even ordered all the priests to be killed at one time. Now, he is in the battle for his life with the Philistines and since David is still in hiding he is left to fend for himself. With no prophets or priests to give him guidance, he seeks help from God. “And when Saul saw the host of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart greatly trembled. And when Saul enquired of the LORD, the LORD answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets. Then said Saul unto his servants, Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and enquire of her. And his servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at Endor. And Saul disguised himself, and put on other raiment, and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night: and he said, I pray thee, divine unto me by the familiar spirit, and bring me him up, whom I shall name unto thee. And the woman said unto him, Behold, thou knowest what Saul hath done, how he hath cut off those that have familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land: wherefore then layest thou a snare for my life, to cause me to die? And Saul sware to her by the LORD, saying, As the LORD liveth, there shall no punishment happen to thee for this thing.” - I Samuel 28:5-10. Saul's first mistake, he did not repent, had he went to God humbly, seeking forgiveness, He would gave listened.
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Earnestly Contend for the Faith Jude 1:3“Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” Jude 1:3 is probably one of the most misunderstood and neglected verses today. The attitude of the average preacher today is that they have no desire to contend for anything, but would rather have a large congregation than defend the faith. The focus in the verse above is on the faith. God commands us to “…earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” There are several key words and phrases in this verse that we must understand in order to properly defend the faith. First, we are to contend for the faith. The faith is the Word of God. I want you to notice that nowhere in this verse does God mention to only contend for the major things and not the minor. I say this because many people want to say that people need to focus on the major things of the Word of God and stop majoring on the minor issues. According to this verse, all of the Scriptures are major to God for they are the faith. You will never be able to show me which part of the Scriptures are minor and should not be defended. All Scripture is worthy of being defended. Second, notice the phrase, “...which was once delivered unto the saints.” I want you to notice this because the faith never changes. One of the greatest mistakes we make is thinking that both sides need to compromise in order to get along. What we have to understand is that if the faith is compromised in the slightest, it is no longer the faith. When you change the faith, then what we would call the faith is no longer the faith. The faith cannot change, for if it is changed then it is not the faith anymore. This leads me to the last statement I want you to notice when God says to “…earnestly contend for the faith...” Notice we are to earnestly, or zealously, contend for the faith. We are not to be passive about our defense of the faith, instead God commands us to be zealous or earnest about our defense of the faith. God uses the word “contend” to show us what we are to be zealous about. God wants us to be zealous about contending for the faith. When you contend for something you will strive for it. When you contend for something, you will debate over it. When you contend for something, you will sharply reprove those whom you are contending against. When you contend for something you will fiercely dispute and even quarrel with someone over the faith. This is what contending means. Remember the faith is what we are to defend. It is never to be changed or it is not the faith. In our defense of the faith there will be people with whom we will not get along, for that is what happens when you contend for something. But, this contention is worth it because the faith is at stake. Though people may get hurt in this process of contending for the faith, we must remember that God never tells us to stop contending for the faith because someone may get hurt. The faith is worthy of our zealous efforts to defend it. Are you defending the faith, or are you allowing the faith to be changed by your lack of involvement? Let's be sure that we as Christians zealously or earnestly defend the faith, for if we lose the faith we have lost everything. The faith was given to us by God; let's not let it be destroyed!
What to do When Going Through a Rough Time, part 4 of 4
9. Find someone strong whom you can unload on.
As you know, sometimes we need more than God to talk to about our problems. Sometimes we just need flesh and blood that we can see and hear. I know this sounds a little weak, but face it, God did give us people to help in rough times. Because of this, you need to find someone who is strong that you can unload on.
This person cannot be a negative person; instead they need to be someone who has a positive spirit all of the time. This person must be a wise counselor. You need this person to be wise, so they can give you the advice you need to help you in your rough times. This person must have a strong spirit themselves so that they can bear your load. If this person has a weak spirit, then when you unload on them you will end up bringing them down, which you don’t want to do. This person must spiritually be very strong so that they can help you. A spiritual person will tell you what you need to hear at the right time without ruining you. They may be rough at times when you need them to be rough, but they also may be gentle when you need them to be gentle. Only a spiritual person will know when to be the right thing at the right time.
Your pastor should be on this list of those whom you can unload on. He is there to help you in the rough times. Your pastor’s wife is another person whom you should talk to about your problems. Others whom you can go to could be your Sunday school teacher or some other spiritual lady in the church.
Everybody has tough times in life. When your time seems to be getting tough, take these steps and follow them. Though your problem is unique to you, the steps to go through the rough times are pretty much the same for everyone.
I want to encourage you to not let your rough times destroy you. Let the rough times you face make you a better and stronger person so you can be a greater help to others.
Saturday, April 10, 2010 Satan's Greatest Trick John 20:17 Let me tell you about one of the sneakiest and most diabolical tricks Satan has ever pulled. As a master of confusion and deceit, he has tried many times to destroy the work of our Lord at Calvary—the redemption of God’s people. It began with Cain slaying Abel, and continued throughout the Old and New Testaments, and right on to the time of Christ and His ministry. If successful in his endeavors, the devil could have destroyed the holy line that God had planned for the Messiah to come through. We don’t have time to list all of them, and may not even realize some of them, but in John 20, verse 17, we see a plot, one last-ditch effort, to destroy the Holy sacrifice, and ironically to use a grace as great as love to do it! If Mary Magdalene would have touched Jesus, in an affectionate caress, or a hug, or in any manner at all, it would have polluted the Blood sacrifice that had not yet been sprinkled on the mercy seat of God. The sacrifice would have been unacceptable and man would not have had a Savior. With the words “Touch me not” Jesus again defeated the wiles of the devil, and was thoughtful enough to explain to us why He did not want Mary to touch Him. Sinful hands could not touch a perfect, and Holy sacrifice without corrupting it. It had to be without spot or blemish. The devil used an innocent gesture, and act of love in hopes of defeating the great work that was done at Calvary. A simple, loving touch could have made the difference between life and death for us, for all of eternity. It was written “there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins” ( Heb. 10:26), than the atoning blood of Christ, so it could not have been done again. It is scary how close the devil came to condemning us all to hell—forever. What Mary was about to do was a normal thing for a woman, so glad to have seen her Beloved after all she had heard and seen, but it was not to be done at that time. Sometimes timing makes a big difference in the things we do. It surely did here. After this, the disciples could hug Jesus’ feet, and shake His hand, and feel the scar in His side, and all those things they did, but this was after He had ascended, and presented the sacrificial blood of the Lamb to the Father, and completed the final stage of atoning for the sins of the world. If we will listen to the Lord, and stay by His side, we will not be offended at his commands, as Mary could have been in this passage. She could have thought “Is He too good for me to even touch Him?” (and He is, actually), but she could have taken offense, as we might, under the circumstances. You see, Mary knew what she was, and that she was a sinner, but she knew the freedom in Christ too, and after all, “what would be wrong with a simple, loving touch?” Do you see my point? Let us all be open to the simplest commands, and have an ear for His voice, and a heart of obedience, without hesitation or questioning what we don’t understand. Praise the Lord that Jesus was wise to Satan’s tricks, and completed the redemption plan for us. One other rather amazing point that I need to make here is that Jesus delayed going to the Father until He had taken time to comfort a troubled woman. Jesus cares about individuals. Mary was obviously very upset that the One who had changed her life so drastically, the One who she had known as “Master” seems to have faded off the scene forever. I’m sure many thoughts were going through her head, much fear, anxiety, doubt and confusion pervaded her mind, but Jesus paused in His important task, delayed long enough to show her that everything will be all right. What a Savior! He could have went and presented the blood before the Mercy Seat, and had it all settled before He approached anyone, but Jesus wanted to comfort her troubled soul without causing her any further distress, and who was this lady? She was said to be a prostitute; she had had seven devils in her, and had been cleansed by the loving hand of Christ, but Jesus tarried to show Himself alive to her, and comfort her. Jesus cared about her, and He cares about you too, no matter what your background might be. Do you care enough to serve Him?
Making a Difference through Faith Joshua 3:1-8 The average person judges ability by what seems logical, but the difference maker judges ability by faith. The winter of 1777 was bitterly cold in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. While snow was scarce, freezing rain and cold winds swept through the valley. Washington's army of exhausted soldiers filed into the valley and made camp for what would be six long months of waiting. Washington's selection of Valley Forge to make camp for the winter was a strategic one as it kept nearby British troops from pillaging American towns in Pennsylvania. As the men waited out the winter, conditions began deteriorating. Food was in short supply, clothing was tattered and worn out, quarters were close, and disease spread quickly. Washington begged Congress to send reinforcements and supplies, yet Congress was unable to provide help. For six months Washington's men stayed in Valley Forge, waging a mental battle of wills against the British who wished to drive through to Philadelphia. Eventually, the British gave up and re-routed their men toward New York. Washington's group of exhausted soldiers had won the battle. The average historian would point to the fortitude and determination of the soldiers at Valley Forge to explain their supernatural survival in extreme conditions, yet that wasn't what got them through. The famous picture of George Washington kneeling in prayer next to his horse in the valley tells of his faith and dependence upon God to sustain him and his men. Washington's faith in God made the difference at Valley Forge. Like George Washington, Joshua's faith made a difference early on in his days as Israel's leader. Not long after God set him as head of the Israelites, Joshua was given the task of crossing the Jordan River. While nothing like the Red Sea, the Jordan River was still difficult to cross. Joshua knew that God would have to provide a miracle to help with the crossing, yet He obeyed God and trusted His provision. Joshua knew what God wanted him to do, but he saw the physical limitations of crossing the river. Rather than giving in to the fears he probably felt, Joshua commanded the people to cross the river through faith. Joshua's faith made the difference at the Jordan River, and he watched as God stopped the river's waters so His people could cross. Faith makes a difference. The average person judges ability by what seems logical, but the difference maker judges ability by faith. If you wish to make a difference for the cause of Christ, you must rely on God's power, and choose to step out by faith. What Jordan River are you facing today? What circumstance seems insurmountable according to logic? Don't give in to fear, but step out by faith. God promises to provide for you as you trust Him, and He has never broken one of His promises, become a difference maker by taking that step of faith today. Daily Bible Reading 1 Samuel 15-16 | Luke 10:25-42
“My things about me.” Just a snippit from my all-time-favorite-move “The Quiet Man.” But a song this morning gave it a whole new meaning. All of those meaningful things about us – the ones we’ve moved from room to room or house to house – aren’t really ours. They, along with everything else in the world, belong to God. Doesn’t matter whether or not we acknowledge it, All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. (John 1:3 KJV)
The best of life here comes, however, when we do acknowledge God’s sovereignty in our own lives. We become both stewards ( As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. (1 Peter 4:10 KJVKJV)) of His creation and joint heirs with Christ ( And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. (Romans 8:17 KJVKJV)) Talk about the best of both worlds, as children of God, that is what we’ve chosen. And, as shown above in I Peter 4:10, we are called to minister to each other. No matter what God has in mind for the whole of your life, there is always room to minister to each other. Check out teaching in Sunday School. Move from singing in the shower to singing in the choir. Lead an AWANA class on Wednesday nights. Drive one of the vans that bring the little children to Jesus’ house. Visit shut ins, or witness to the unsaved. Accompany a youth group to camp. Join the children at Vacation Bible School. And that’s just the top of the list – there are many more opportunities such as participating in prayer teams, assist the church library, spend time in the nursery. Yep, the rest of this page could be filled with opportunities within His church. Here’s your promise of reward: He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me. He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward. And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward. (Matthew 10:40-42 KJV)
Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. (Matthew 25:34-40 KJV)
“What Thank Have Ye?”
When I read the verses below, I got to thinking about my own walk with the Lord. The question I asked myself was, “Do I walk to be merciful like my Lord, or do I walk for gain?” I have said from the pulpit, “The only difference between us as Christians and those without the Lord is our eternal, everlasting, forever and ever destination.”
I cannot relate to you how merciful God has been to me. His mercy allowed this wretched old sinner a clean white robe, and a place in heaven. Neither His mercy, nor the white robe, nor the spot in Heaven is deserved. Yet, He hung His only begotten Son on that “Old Rugged Cross” so I could set myself, through Him, onto that road which leads me to the strait gate. He is the one who showed me the exit ramp off the old broad way.
(Matthew 7:13-14) Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat 14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
Yet, when I think about my walk, I know I have not walked as I should have. I can always go to:
(Romans 3:23) For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
But that is just an excuse, and I certainly do not want to ignore God’s direction. We as Christians need to look different from those of the world, not just our dress, and our appearance, but it must be Christ seen in us that is being seen by the world.
I pray as I work to better myself before the lost, that we all will seek to show Christ in us. I am certain some who read this short dissertation might have one foot in sin and the other foot claiming Christianity. (We are told we cannot straddle the fence. Either we are saved or we are not saved.)
(Luke 16:13) No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Mammon is the world. It is the broad way. If we cannot serve both, we need to determine whom we want to serve. We must choose whether it is God and His Son, or Satan and his world. Which do we choose?
Bro. John Chastain
Luke 6:32-36 For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them. (33) And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same. (34) And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again. (35) But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. (36) Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.
What to do When Going Through a Rough Time, part 3 of 4
6. Don’t dwell on the situation all of the time.
Be careful about constantly thinking about your situation all day long. You may have to face your problem daily, but you don’t have to think about it all of the time. When you dwell on the negative, you will destroy your spirit. You may not be able to get away from your problem, but you can not dwell on your problem.
7. Purposely spend time with people who will lift your spirit.
There are some people who are good people, but they are not people with whom you need to spend time. You need to find people who are happy and cheerful people. Happy and cheerful people have a way of picking you up just by getting around them.
Don’t spend time with people who always feel sorry for you. You don’t need that. You are already having a tough time without someone feeling sorry for you. What you need is a spiritual vitamin B12 shot to your spirit. People who feel sorry for you all the time will only bring you lower.
You must also be careful about spending time with negative people. Negative people are not the encouragement you need. Negative people will drag you down. So be careful about spending time with those who are negative.
8. Be slow to respond to stressful situations.
Here is where you must really be careful or else you will end up ruining your testimony with others. At times, though you may not realize it, the stress you are under will cause you to be sharp with people. People will feel sorry for you for so long, but if you are sharp with them every time you are around them, eventually you will succeed in running them off. You don’t want to do this.
To avoid this from happening, you need to always think before you say anything or do anything. Most of the time we know when we are a little grumpy or short with people. When you know that you are going through one of “those days,” then be slower that day in responding to people and situations. That last thing you need is to make your life more stressful because of how you treat people. If you treat them bad too many times, then you will find yourself in a worse situation than what you are now.
Have You Lost Your Hope? 1 John 3:3“And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.” When I was a boy, there were times that my parents would leave to go somewhere and would give me a list of things to do before they returned. I remember how I would ask them what time they were going to get back for the purpose of knowing when to have these chores done. Every time I would ask when they would return, they always replied that if I would immediately start doing my chores that I would have plenty of time to get my chores done. My purpose of wanting to know the time they returned was so I could play for awhile, and then quickly get the chores done before their return. The knowledge of their return motivated me to get my chores done. One of the common messages preached years ago was the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. This type of message was always very convicting as a Christian because a Christian would never want to meet Jesus Christ doing some of the sins they were routinely committing. The hope of the Second Coming always causes a person to clean up their life. The verse above says that those who still have the hope of Jesus' return will purify themselves. My fear today is that many Christians have lost this hope. Whether this hope is lost because preachers don't preach on this subject anymore, or that Christians have become so wrapped up in worldly lifestyles that they have forgotten this hope, I don't know. One thing I am sure of, if we would not lose the hope of Jesus' return, we would live cleaner lives. Have you lost the hope that Jesus is coming again? Christian, let me assure you that Jesus is coming again. No, we don't know when Jesus is going to return, we simply know that He promised He is coming again, and He will. With the reminder of Jesus’ eminent return, are you ready to meet Him if He were to come today? Are you saved? Has their been a time in your life when you accepted Christ as your personal Saviour? I'm not asking what others have told you, I am asking you what you know. If you don't know 100% sure that you would go to Heaven if Jesus returned today, then you need to take care of this right now. Christian, if Jesus were to return today, would you want Him to catch you doing the things you have done in the past month? Think about your actions and thoughts for the past month and ask yourself if you would want Jesus to catch you doing those things. If Jesus returned while you looked at the things you saw in the past month, would you be ashamed? What about the things you have or have not done, would you want Jesus to catch you doing or not doing those things? Clean up your life today realizing that Jesus could return today. If you have lost the hope that would cause you to purify yourself, then you need to get that hope back for Jesus may come today. Live your life daily with the thought that Jesus could come today. With that thought in mind, only do what you would want Jesus to catch you doing, and you will find yourself cleaning your life up from those things that would embarrass you. The thought of Jesus’ return will cause you to clean up your life.
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