Monthly Archives: November 2015

Before your head hits the pillow

He Giveth More Grace

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I love researching the great hymns and gospel songs. One thing is very evident, the writers of these amazing songs are very diverse. Some were written by people of wealth, some by people riddled by poverty, some by men and others by women, some by the intellectually superior and others by just plain ordinary people. But most were written by people who had experienced God’s grace in their darkest hours.

Tonight I wanted to post about a song written by Annie Johnson Flint. Annie lost her mother at a very tender age of 3. Her father felt he could not care for his two young daughters so he left them in the care of a friend, which turned out to be a less than positive experience for Annie. But the Lord interceded for the two young girls and they were taken in by Mr. and Mrs. Flint. Mrs. Flint, known as Aunt Susie was a kind school teacher who took the two girls in and raised them as her own. Mr. and Mrs. Flint were true Christians and raised the girls accordingly.

Annie, although cheerful and optimistic, had some faults. She was prone to quick temper flare ups and lacked patience (don’t we all!).

Shortly after she finished high school she suffered another huge loss when both of her adoptive parents died within months of each other and shortly thereafter she was diagnosed with debilitating arthritis.

She was an amazing writer but struggled to write as she gripped her pen through bent and hobbled fingers. But this did not dissuade her faith or her writing.

She wrote the song featured tonight from that horrible arthritic state. It was inspired by three Bible verses;

James 4:6 – But he giveth more grace; from Isaiah 40:29 – He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength; and from Jude 1:2 – Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied.

He giveth more grace as our burdens grow greater,
He sendeth more strength as our labors increase;
To added afflictions He addeth His mercy,
To multiplied trials He multiplies peace.

When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources
Our Father’s full giving is only begun.

Fear not that thy need shall exceed His provision,
Our God ever yearns His resources to share;
Lean hard on the arm everlasting, availing;
The Father both thee and thy load will upbear.

His love has no limits, His grace has no measure,
His power no boundary known unto men;
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus

He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again.

Her song is an inspiration to each of us. We must KNOW that when the burdens grow greater, the Lord’s grace grows. The more we have to labor, the more strength He gives and when we are afflicted by disease, suffering or even death our Lord adds increased mercy!

God’s grace has NO limits. The bigger our struggles, the more His grace! Jesus just keeps giving and giving and giving again!

And then she continues with those amazing assurances of our Lord. When we are at the end of our rope, when we are exhausted and just finished with it all, when we have not even half finished the day and we have nothing left in us, our heavenly Father’s giving has only begun! God WANTS to share His love and His mercy, we need only to lean of His loving arms. He will carry us through.

I posted a meme some time ago that indicated that it is more important to KNOW what God can do than FEEL what God can do.

We must KNOW that He is sufficient for all of our needs before we can FEEL that He is sufficient for all of our needs!

His love has no limit; His grace has no measure. His power has no boundary known unto men. For out of His infinite riches in Jesus, He giveth, and giveth, and giveth AGAIN!

Before your head hits the pillow

Is Sin Irrational?

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I think at first blush we might say, of course not.  Sin is not irrational.  We know that “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” Romans 3:23.

Psalm 51:5 says, “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.”

So is sin really irrational?  I don’t think that it is rational to believe that we can be sinless but I believe that sin itself is irrational.  The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines irrational this way: not thinking clearly: not able to use reason or good judgment: not based on reason, good judgment, or clear thinking

In this way I certainly believe that sin is irrational.  Being rational would tell us to DO things that are good and conducive for productive and healthy lives.  If we were totally rational we would steer clear of things that would harm us or would cause us distress.

But sin is irrational.  We lie even though we know we could be caught and cause ourselves and others great discomfort.  We gossip even though we know that it could hurt others and might even hurt our relationship with others.  Some drink too much even though they know that getting in their car after a night of drinking might result in an OWI or worse in an accident.  Others may cheat on their spouse even though they know that NOTHING good can come from this.

Sin is TOTALLY irrational.  Paul says in in Romans 7:19 – : For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.” Now that sounds irrational!

It would seem that we would keep ourselves from sinning because sinning ALWAYS hurts us.  Sinning hurts our relationship with others and it certainly hurts our relationship with God.

The irrationality of our sin has consequences.  Wayne Jackson in “Have you Considered the Consequences of Sin?” states that our sins have MANY consequences. He says that sin can have national consequences. When nations move away from the moral standards that God expects and wickedness is all around, the Lord imposes judgment.  God severely judged Israel and Judah, His chosen people, but he also judged the Assyrians, the Babylonians and many other secular countries for this mistreatment of His people

Sin can also have physical consequences.  When Adam and Eve sinned, their physical consequence was death, a death that would then be imparted on all mankind. Adam and Eve were living in perfection, walking in the beautiful Garden of Eden with the Creator.  But then Eve decided that she would rather believe the snake than the God who had created her.  How irrational!  But this irrational sin had gargantuan physical consequences.

Sin can also have mental consequences.  Sin can cause someone so much guilt and grief that they find it hard to sleep at night.  2 Corinthians 7:10 tells us that,”Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.”  So that mental anguish caused by sin in the life of a Christian should bring about repentance but to a non-believer it will bring death.

Sin can also bring about societal consequences.  I believe the sin of abortion has taken a huge toll on society.  Have you ever wondered why social security is almost bankrupt?  Well think about the more than 50 million children who have been aborted.  Many of these same children would have been working and paying into the social security roles but instead, the number of people involved in this program has diminished so drastically because we have aborted generations of people, that his program is no longer sustainable.

Sin also has spiritual and eternal consequences.  If we continue in our sin, our relationship with the Lord is diminished.  If we fail to accept Jesus and repent of our sins, we should expect nothing less than eternal condemnation.

So if we believe that sin is irrational and that sin ALWAYS hurts us, then let’s pray that God places within us a rational heart, a heart that sees the consequences of sin before they are committed so that we can spare ourselves the pain of those consequences and instead of feeling pain, feel the blessings of God.  For not only do we hurt ourselves when we DO sin but we live in harmony and peace with God when we DON’T sin!  Pray for a rational heart!

Before your head hits the pillow

Pesky Prayer

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Jesus’ Teachings on Prayer

We all know the Lord’s Prayer. We find His teachings on this instructive prayer in Luke 11:2-4 “And He said to them, “When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.”’ (NASB)

But how often do we think about what Jesus said next. In Luke 11:5-8 Jesus tell us about a man who went to a friend’s house at midnight. The man began knocking on his friend’s door asking if he could borrow three loaves of bread. The man’s friend is likely irritated, he tells the man that his door is locked for the night and that his family is all in bed. He really didn’t want to get up to help his friend, not at this hour.

So what did Jesus say? He said that even if the friend didn’t want to help the man because of their friendship, if the man knocked for long enough, the friend would give up and give him whatever he wanted just because of the man’s shameless audacity. The King James Version uses the word “importunity.” Importunity as defined in the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia as – impudent insistence rising to the point of shamelessness.

This section of the lesson of prayer cannot be divorced from the first part of Luke 11. We must pray as Jesus taught us. We must worship and praise God in our prayers, we must ask God for our sustenance, relying only on Him for the things that we need, we must forgive others, just as Christ has forgiven us and we must pray that God keeps us from temptation.

But we must pray ALL of these things with importunity, with insistence rising to the point of shamelessness. We must go to God again and again and again. How often don’t we go to God with a concern in our lives, once or twice and then wonder why He hasn’t listened? God wants us to come to him with reckless abandonment. He wants us to come to Him over and over and over again!

If you think God is not listening, don’t give up. Keep knocking; keep asking, for he will answer you. And you can be assured that He will give you what is best for you. He is not going to give you a snake when you need a fish (vs. 11).

God is more loving than ANY earthly father. If an earthly father wants to provide for his children, think how much more our heavenly Father wants to provide for us!

When you pray, be the pesky friend. Pray again and again and again. Go to the Lord over and over, keep knocking. But then have faith that He will come to the door and give you what you need! He will give you what is best for your, what most blesses you. God is good that way. Begin your pesky prayer life tonight and watch and wait to see how God blesses you!

Before your head hits the pillow

The Devil’s Greatest Tool – Distraction

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Some time ago our pastor preached a sermon that really struck home.  His sermon was from Luke 10:38-42, the visit of Jesus to the home of Mary and Martha.  Only too often it feels like a sermon is being delivered straight at me.  This was one of those sermons, so I thought that some of the points he made might be important to some of our readers as well.

The devil’s primary goal is to distract us from Jesus.  To keep us so busy, so worried, so preoccupied that we forget about our walk with the Lord.  This happens to me only too often.  I don’t often get too worried, but I do get WAY too busy.  Most of the times I am busy with good things but they are things that often keep me from the Word or from my quiet time with Him.

I have been the President of Iowa Right to Life Committee and the co-chair of my local county Republican Party.  Both I am sure were good things, but both had the tendency to make me so busy, so preoccupied.

When Jesus told Martha that He was coming to their home for dinner, Martha must have been thrilled.  She planned, she baked and she cooked.  No doubt, she spent the day cleaning the house so that everything would be just right when the Master arrived.  After he arrived, He began talking and Martha’s sister Mary was so taken by His words that she sat at his feet and listened.

This was not typical for a woman of her time.  Women were not to be scholarly, this was the thing of manhood.  But that didn’t distract Mary, she wanted to learn and there was no better place to do this than at the feet of Jesus.  Well this really irritated Martha.  She thought that her sister should be helping her prepare the food.  So Martha went to her friend Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.”

Jesus didn’t tell Martha that what she was doing was wrong, because it wasn’t.  Someone needed to prepare the meal, but what He did tell her was that, “There is really only one thing worth being concerned about.  Mary has discovered it – and I won’t take it away from her.”

Martha had become distracted by the things that she needed to “do.”  Mary decided on the other hand to sit back and listen to her Lord.

The devil is the master of distractions.  The devil wants to distract us for he knows that if we become closer to our Lord, he loses.  He loses his grip on our lives.  As the grip of Christ gets stronger, the grip of the devil gets weaker.

I Peter 5:8 says, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.”  James 4:7 tells us, “Submit yourselves therefor to God.  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

Our pastor said that distractions lead to drifting away from Christ and drifting leads to agitation in our daily lives.  The more distracted we become, the less time we spend with God, the less our bond is with God.  When we drift from Him our day to day lives show it.  We become less patient.  We are more irritable, our language may revert to the days before we knew the Lord, and worry and despair can set it.

So tonight, think of the things that distract you from spending time with your Lord.  Are you the woman who insists that EVERYTHING in your house needs to be just perfect so you don’t have enough time to spend in your nightly devotions?  Are you the guy who needs to have the yard perfectly manicured so you work until dark and by the time you come in you are just too tired to spend time with the Master? Are you the person who works so hard all day at work that you just need your time to decompress?  Do you just have to watch that favorite show on television or get into that new book you just picked up?

None of those things are innately wrong, but each can be a distraction.  Figure out what is distracting you from your time with God and then resist the devil and he will flee from you.  The closer you become to God, the fewer distraction you allow to interrupt your spiritual walk, the more joy you will feel and the more joy you will impart.

Remember – God knows you, He made you, and He loves you.  Now love Him back!!

 

Before your head hits the pillow

Don’t Be Deceived Part 2

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…Before your head hits the pillow…

Don’t Be Deceived Part 2

Last night I wrote about not being deceived about where our salvation comes from.  There is NO salvation apart from believing faith in Jesus Christ. NONE!  We cannot be deceived by the world who wants to say that as long as we live a “good” life we will go to heaven.

Our salvation does not come from anything we do, it only comes from the grace of God.  But let’s not be deceived about this either.  Once we come to the Lord, we do not have credence to live in any way we wish.  We cannot merely say, “I am saved and nothing can separate me from God so I can live any way that I wish.”  When we come to know Christ our lives and our actions must show that transformation.

The book of James is very convicting.  It says in James 2:14-17 that our faith cannot be divorced from good works, “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?  If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food,  and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”

If your life is not showing good works then is your faith real?  That is a question each person must ask.

James 1:26 says, “If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.”  A person who professes belief in Christ but continues in his ungodly ways deceives his heart about his true conversion.

In Matthew 12:33-37 Jesus warns with these words, “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

God expects transformation when He gives grace.  He expects action. He expects compassion for those in need and He expects us to alter our sinful ways.  James 3:11 tells us, “Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water?”

If you are truly saved you will WANT to do good works.  You will want to bridle your tongue!  Your life must be a testament of your redemption.  Your life must become each day more and more like Christ.

If you believe you are saved but continue in unrepentant sin, you are deceiving yourself.  How can you be thankful for the sacrifice of Christ and continue using profane language?  How can you be overjoyed about your redemption and continue doing things that you know are wrong?

Let’s not be deceived.  Good works will not save us, but a lack of good works testifies to our salvation or our attitude about our salvation.  This does not mean that we will not slip, because we will.  This does not mean that sin might creep into a corner of our life, because it could.  But this does mean that every day we must work to become more and more like Jesus.

We must desire to care for those who are less fortunate than ourselves.  We must look for opportunities to put our faith into action.

“And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Colossians 3:17

“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”  James 1:27.

So don’t be deceived in this either.  A true believing faith will be followed by good works.  A true believing faith will be followed by a transformed life.  Don’t be deceived.

 

Before your head hits the pillow

Don’t Be Deceived

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…Before your head hits the pillow…

Don’t Be Deceived

We live in a world thheaven6at is controlled by emotion. We have talk show hosts who talk about feeling good about ourselves. We buy things to make us feel good. We hang out with people who make us feel like we are good people. Many attend what I would call feel good churches.

I cannot tell you how many times I have had a “Christian” tell me that a loving God would not allow someone to go to hell. They want to believe that Jesus died for everyone no matter what decisions people have made about following Him. Their emotions tell them that God is good, so therefore He would not punish a person who denies Him, He would just forgive and accept.

Jesus Christ said this in John 14:6, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” What He didn’t say is I am A way. He said I am THE way. Jesus is the ONLY way to the Father. Jesus is the ONLY way to redemption. Jesus is the ONLY way to be saved from our sins. Jesus is the ONLY way to redemption.

Jesus was and IS God and the only way to be confident that you will live an eternity with Him is by acknowledging you are a sinner worthy of death and condemnation, accepting His sacrifice on the cross, and knowing that He was raised from the dead and now sits at the right hand of God the Father.

C.S. Lewis once wrote this about Jesus, “”A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher; he’d either be a lunatic — on a level with a man who says he’s a poached egg — or else he’d be the devil of hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God; or else a madman or something worse.”

“You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come up with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”

Yes, Jesus was and IS God. He is the ONLY way! Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us this about salvation. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” And who is our faith to be in? Acts 16:31 says, Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved–you and your household.”

Jesus again says in John 11:25 he says, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,”

Acts 4:12 instructs us with these words, “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

So don’t be deceived by the emotions and things of this world. No one is good enough to gain their own salvation. That can only be accomplished through belief in the redemptive power of Christ. If a person does not believe in Jesus, they cannot spend eternity in heaven no matter how much our emotions want to think otherwise.

Just as we believe that Jesus was and IS God, we must also believe His words and the inspired words of the Bible. There is only ONE way to the Father. There is only ONE way to live eternally with God in heaven, and that is by proclaiming the name of Jesus as our Savior. Don’t be deceived.

Before your head hits the pillow

I Wonder

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…Before your head hits the pillow…

I Wonder

I wonder what it wbreadould have been like to hear Jesus preaching in the temple. I wonder what it would have been like to hear him deliver the Sermon on the Mount.

I wonder what it would have been like being a part of that massive crowd who followed Jesus to the Sea of Galilee in hopes of witnessing one of His great miracles. As this throng of people approached Jesus, He said to His disciples, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?”  He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do.  Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.”  One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?”  John 6:5-9

Two hundred denarii was about a half year’s wage and that would only give the people each just a little bit of food.  But Jesus knew what He was going to do.  That little boy came over and gave Jesus his five barley loaves and his two fish and Jesus gave thanks for the food.  Then the disciples began their distribution.  How they must have wondered what it was all worth, distributing such a little bit of food to such a big crowd, but they did as Jesus told them.

It must have amazed them as they fed more and more and then even more people until all 5000 men were fed.  Not only were they all well fed but the disciples collected twelve baskets of uneaten bread.  Oh how I wonder what that must have been like to witness.

I wonder what it would have been like to see the woman crawling through the crowd convinced that if she just touched the hem of Jesus garment she would be healed.  Oh how I would have loved to see her joy.  She had been ill for twelve years and now she was healed. Luke 8:43-45

I wonder what it would have been like to have been with Jesus when the centurion pleaded for the life of his dear servant. And what faith was seen when he told Jesus that He need not come to his home to heal the servant but just say the word and the servant would be healed. Even Jesus remarked on this man’s great faith!  Luke 7:1-10.

But this is what I really wonder.  I wonder what God could do with us if we freely gave to him all that we had, just as the young boy willfully gave Jesus his five loaves and two fish. We know nothing about this boy, but what we do know is that he gave his fish and bread to the Master. I wonder how God could multiply our gifts if we freely gave.

I wonder what it would be like if we had faith like the centurion or the woman fighting through the crowd to touch the hem of Jesus.  I wonder what it would be like if we shared their faith in the power of Jesus.

Jesus acknowledged the faith of the centurion and He felt the touch of this helpless woman.  Jesus wants us to come to Him with our problems.  He wants us to bring Him our burdens.  Just as He felt the single touch of the woman as dozens of others pressed up against Him, He feels our touch as well.  When we reach out our hands to Jesus, He feels the touch of each of us.  No matter how many people are reaching out to Jesus at the same time as we are, He feels OUR touch!

So I wonder how much better our lives could be if we just trusted Him.  I wonder.