Author: E. DeWayne Swann

Don’t You Care? Part 4

And then the question, “What manner of man is this?”

Rev. Ben Turner, my mentor and Pastor, said in his message “What Manner of Man Is This”??

Everybody sees Him differently

3 Hebrew boys would see Jesus as the 4th man in the fire

Ezekiel saw Him as the wheel inside a wheel

Noah saw Him as an arc of safety

Solomon saw Him as the rose of Sharon

Jacob saw Him as a golden ladder top in haven and the base on the earth.

Israel saw Him as a star out of Jacob

David saw Him as the great Shepard

Daniel saw Him as a Stone cut out of a Mountain

Abraham saw Him as the great and mighty builder

Ruth saw Him the provider of hands full on purpose

Moses saw Him as the smitten rock

Church saw Him as the foundation of the rock on which it was built

Sad sees Him as the comforter

Leper sees Him as the healer (great Physician)

Lost sees Him as the way

Hungry sees Him as the bread

Thirsty sees Him as the water

Pilgrim sees Him as the faithful guide

Accused sees Him as the faithful witness

Disciple sees Him as the teacher

Weary sees Him as the rest

Pilot or boat captain sees Him as a compass

Weak sees Him as the strength

Sheep sees Him as the Shepard

Astronomer sees Him as the bright and morning star

Bride sees Him as the fairest among 10,000

Gentiles sees Him as a light to lighten the way

Merchant man see him as the purchaser

Ship of Zion see him as the captain

Preacher sees Him as the energizer

Tired sees Him as the strength

Troubled sees Him as builder of mansion

Captive sees Him as the deliver

Unhappy see Him as joy without end

Dead see Him as the resurrection and the life

The sinner I hope they would see him as the pleading savior caring for their soul.

Everybody sees him different!!!

How do you see Him?

John 1

The Eternal Word

(Gen 1:1-2:3)

1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. NKJV

 

What Jesus called Himself 7 I am’s of John

1 John 6:35-36 And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.

2 John 8:12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

3 John 10:7-10 Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.  8 All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.  9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.

4 John 10:14-16 I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.  15 As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.

5 John 15:5-6 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

6 John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

7 John 11:25-26 Jesus talking to Mary on the way to Lazarus’ grave: 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.  26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

back to “Intense Moments with the Savior”

But learning to feel carries with it both a blessing and a curse: a blessing because those feelings are what lead us out of ourselves; a curse, because once out we can never again go back and enjoy the simple pleasures of a self-absorbed life.

(Field of dreams when the doc steps off the field he can’t go back)

Suffering sensitizes us not only to the world around us, which is needy, but to the world within us, which is needier still, and ultimately to the world beyond us, which we long for in so many ways. Yet in so few ways do we ever fully realize it. Until we suffer.

When He was on the Cross…

Matt 27:40 And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.

Matt 27:42 He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him.

Matt 27:54 Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God.

He will put you in whatever you need to go through to get you to a point to say “Truly this is the Son of God”

His Cross where God Himself would die.

Why did He come to earth the way He did? Cause He could not die in heaven, so He came here…

Intense Moments with the Savior

Then we realize that this is not our home, that our home is with him who suffered and died and left this earth to prepare a place for us. Once we understand that and who it is that keeps a candle burning for us in the window, then the road ahead, however long, however difficult, is infinitely easier to travel.

When the storm is past and it will pass there will be work to do.

Then we see in Mark 5:1 A Demon-Possessed Man Healed and in Mark 5:21 A Girl Restored to Life and a Woman Healed. All after going through the storm.

Now the question is do you care?

Pray

Don’t You Care? Part 3

Does He care?

3 Hebrews was being burned, and He got in the fire. …

Dan 3:22 Therefore, because the king’s command was urgent, and the furnace exceedingly hot, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. 23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.

24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?”

They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.”

25 “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.”

Oh, King God can deliver “but if not”   you lose oh King

Nevertheless

Sometimes we must get the old stuff tying us down burned off.

The fire freed them of their binding. And He was with them through it all.

When we are in the fire He is there with us.!

We never never never go through the fire alone.

He is there with us in the fire.

Does He care?

Job …

Job’s Repentance and Restoration

Job 42:1Then Job answered the LORD and said:

2 “I know that You can do everything,

And that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You.

3 You asked, ‘Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?’

Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,

Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.

4 Listen, please, and let me speak;

You said, ‘I will question you, and you shall answer Me.’

5 “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear,

But now my eye sees You.

6 Therefore I abhor myself,

And repent in dust and ashes.”  NKJV

It comes with a price but look what you learn, you learn more about God through the trials

Charles Spurgeon “God is too good to be unkind, to wise to be mistaken, And when you can’t trace His hand, trust His heart.”

Does He care?  How much dose God care???

John 3:16-17

16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

The most important question you must ask yourself is what Brennan Manning said in the book “Ragamuffin Gospel,” “Do you believe that God loves You?” 

 Does He Care????

John 11:23 Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again.

24 Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.

25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:

26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?

27 She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.    KJV

I think God allows us to go through stuff just to ask, “Do you really trust Me.?”

He was in the Ship with them. They were never alone.

Heb 13:5-6

5 Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”   6 So we may boldly say: “The LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”   NKJV

 

Even Jesus was in the middle of the Storm. Listen they were never alone.

“Intense Moments” with the Savior by Ken Gire

INTRODUCTION

Our Savior’s life was not an unbroken succession of intimate moments that changed people’s lives, or incredible moments that captured their attention, or instructive moments that challenged their thinking. There were intense moments too. Moments when he overturned the tables of moneychangers and moments when money changed hands, and his enemies turned the tables on him.

As we focus on these intense moments, we see the Savior as a son who learned obedience through the things he suffered. But through this apprenticeship of suffering,

Jesus learned something else.

He learned to feel…?

He learned the feeling of hunger from his forty days in the wilderness and thirst from his feverish hours on the cross. But he learned to feel a greater hunger in the wilderness than bread alone could satisfy and a greater thirst on the cross than mere water could relieve. He learned the pain of rejection and the sorrow of unrequited love.

We learn to feel in much the same way. We learn to feel when our faith is tested in some wilderness. When our best-laid plans go awry, and our bravest prayers go unanswered. When we’re belittled by a crowd or betrayed by a colleague. When we’re deserted by our friends or done in by our enemies.

Whether it is a single thorn in the flesh or a crown of them mashed on our heads, suffering teaches us to feel

We learn from the storms!!!…. from the fire   from the disappointments      from the rejections   from the heartaches .

This is why.

2 Corinthians 4:7-18

Cast Down but Unconquered

7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. 8 We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed — 10 always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. 11 For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12 So then death is working in us, but life in you.

13 And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore speak, 14 knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you. 15 For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.

Seeing the Invisible

16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.   NKJV

Back to our text:

He never answered their question!!!   “Don’t, you care?” it’s to ask questions but pay close attention how He answers.

39 Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.

Could you imagine what that was like? Jesus got up and the winds lay down, then He got up and the storm sat down!

Winds listen (His deity)

40 But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?”  

Look at what you have been through before and now this is what it takes to lose your faith?

We often doubt what God will do because we have forgotten what God has done!

Why are you so fearful and have no faith?   365 times the Bible says to fear not.

Back to our text:

41 And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be,

(What manner of man is this,) that even the wind and the sea obey Him!”

Here is the whole reason for the story. Fear God more than circumstances.

After Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection they feared very little.

Hebrews 13:6 So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.  KJV

Next week: What manner of man is this?

Don’t You Care? Part 2

 

We see Jesus in his humanity sleeping.

He laid down (His humanity)

Laid His head on a pillow, likely a sandbag used as a ballast

They forgot who was on the boat with them. We seem to forget way too often!

Can you sleep on a stormy night????

How to Sleep on a Stormy Night

Matt 7:24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:

Matt 7:25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

Matt 7:26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:

Matt 7:27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

Matt 7:28 And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:

Matt 7:29 For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

 

Been there not just read about it.

What is your spiritual life built on????

Ps 11 if the foundation be destroyed what will the righteous do?

What kind of foundation are you built on, and can you sleep on a stormy night?

38 But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?”

Ever feel like God is asleep and not there?  He is not asleep!!!

Ps 121

God the Help of Those Who Seek Him

A Song of Ascents.

121:1 I will lift up my eyes to the hills —

From whence comes my help?

2 My help comes from the LORD,

Who made heaven and earth.

3 He will not allow your foot to be moved;

He who keeps you will not slumber.

4 Behold, He who keeps Israel

Shall neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The LORD is your keeper;

The LORD is your shade at your right hand.

6 The sun shall not strike you by day,

Nor the moon by night.

7 The LORD shall preserve you from all evil;

He shall preserve your soul.

8 The LORD shall preserve your going out and your coming in

From this time forth, and even forevermore. NKJV

Back to our text:

38 And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?

 

Then the question.

“Master, Master, carest thou not that we perish ?”

Don’t you Care???

38 But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?”

Alistair Begg said, “Notice what they ask, this is the worst of all questions. This is a terrible question. Teacher (didaskala) don’t you care If we drown, oh ask Jesus something else don’t ask him this. don’t you care if we drown, Jesus must have looked up into the eyes of the questioner and thought to himself hey I called you into my band, didn’t I? I wouldn’t have called you if I wasn’t gonna take care of you, don’t I care, the reason I’m in the boat is because I care, the reason I’m in the world is because I care, the reason that I’m going to go to the cross and die for you guys is because I care.”

Have you ever felt that way? Ever wonder if you were all alone and God didn’t care? I have, that all-alone feeling… when your ears fill up with tears.

When I stood in the pulpit and helped with a funeral for a 17-year-old girl, I wanted to ask it.

When I fell through a ceiling and messed up my back up, I wanted to ask it.

When cousin Ricky Harper passed, I wanted to ask it.

When every time my family got smaller here, we have had right over 30 family members pass away since my Dad died. And every time I wanted to ask it.

When I held my Dad’s hand as he took his last breath, I wanted to ask it.

But I did not because I KNOW HE CARES.  And you can too.

Does He care?

John 11:35 Jesus wept. 36 Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!”

Jesus in his humanity crying.  

John 11:35 he wept because He hurt when the ones He loves hurt.

He loves you just the same.

Jesus in His deity Raising the dead

He cries when we hurt

Does He care?

Acts 6:1 Seven Chosen to Serve

Acts 6:2-7

2 Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables. 3 Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business; 4 but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”

5 And the saying pleased the whole multitude. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch, 6 whom they set before the apostles; and when they had prayed, they laid hands on them.

7 Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.

NKJV

Stephen Accused of Blasphemy

Acts 6:8 And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people.

Acts 7:1 Stephen’s Address: The Call of Abraham

Acts 7:9 The Patriarchs in Egypt

Acts 7:17 God Delivers Israel by Moses

Acts 7:37 Israel Rebels Against God

Acts 7:44 God’s True Tabernacle

Acts 7:51 Israel Resists the Holy Spirit

We need more preaching like this. Of course, you see at what cost.

Acts 7:51 “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. 52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, 53 who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.”

Stephen the Martyr

54 When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. 55 But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, 56 and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”

57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; 58 and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.  NKJV

Stephen being stoned stood

 

When you are in trials he stands and takes notice.

He stands at Gods right hand interceding for you.

Does He care? Ray Botz, …  Who nailed Him there this child of peace and mercy who nailed Him there come face me like a man who nailed Him there. Then I turned and saw the hammer in my hand.

I nailed Him there with my sins and my transgressions.

A Love of Life, or A Life of Love

Rev. Chuck E. Sprayberry

Luke 12:13-25 (NKJV) ¹³ Then one from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” ¹⁴ But He said to him, “Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?” ¹⁵ And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.” ¹⁶ Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. ¹⁷ And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ ¹⁸ So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. ¹⁹ And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.” ‘ ²⁰ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ ²¹ So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” ²² Then He said to His disciples, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. ²³ Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing.
²⁴ Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds? ²⁵ And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

 

We can make four observations from the parable of this rich man:

1. Man can never be satisfied with possessions – he will always seek after more or better riches in order to add to that which he already possesses.
2. Success often “dooms” men to needless worry and anxiety – the more a man has, the more he worries about keeping it and protecting it.
3. Success may result in an unreachable desire for peace and rest. – They hope one day to be at peace and rest as a result of the riches they have accumulated. However, you cannot buy peace and rest with worldly possessions.
4. Death, when it arrives, cuts the soul off from all worldly possessions immediately and irreversibly.

By all the criteria of his time and ours, this man would have been considered successful. However, he did not recognize there was a more pressing spiritual need in his life.

He loved life and the things of this world, which are at best temporary, more than anything else.

Jesus comments in Matthew on how difficult it will be for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven because of their love for this life and the comforts and possessions they can acquire in their lifetime.

We are specifically warned against allowing the love of the world to become the most important thing in our life.

1 John 2:15-17 – “Love not the world, neither the things [that are] in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (The love of the Father is not the driving principle of his life – Author’s note) For all that [is] in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof; but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.”

If the love of the world is the driving principle in your life, then the love of the Father cannot manifest itself in your life as fully as he would like.

What will having a life of love bring about in your life?

1. Sorrow over sin in our life
2. Compassion for lost souls
3. A desire to help those in need

Jesus commands us not to have a love of life, but a life of love.

Matthew 22:30-40 – “Love, the greatest commandment.”

Jesus then showed what it means to live a life of love.

John 19:17.18 – “they crucified him” – the greatest act of love.

Jesus showed us that he loved us more than life itself when he willingly went to the cross to pay the price for our sins. As God, he could have lived a life as comfortable as any king that ever walked the earth. However, he chose to live a hard and difficult life ending the most cruel death man has ever devised. He did this so we would have the opportunity to clearly see exactly how much he loves us.

If you honestly asked yourself today, “Do I have a love of life or a life of love?” what would your answer be?

October 21, 2012 · 1:36 am

The Gift of Grace

By: Rev. Chuck E. Sprayberry

Scripture: Luke 15:11-24; Ephesians 2:8,9

Luke 15:11-24 (NKJV) ¹¹ Then He said: “A certain man had two sons. ¹² And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.’ So he divided to them his livelihood. ¹³ And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. ¹⁴ But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. ¹⁵ Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. ¹⁶ And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything. ¹⁷ But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! ¹⁸ I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, ¹⁹ and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.” ‘ ²⁰ And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. ²¹ And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ ²² But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. ²³ And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; ²⁴ for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.

We are going to examine the parable of the Prodigal Son in order to see an example of grace being bestowed from the Father to the Son.

The son leaving the father was a conscious decision.

• He requested his part of the inheritance.
• He waited several days before leaving. (He had an opportunity to change his mind.)
• He had a plan laid out to support his decision.

He gathered ALL together when he left:

• There was no intention of returning

He spent ALL he had while he was in the foreign country:

• There was no provision to support his return.

When he “came to himself,” he was at the end of his rope.

• No means of support
• No means of improving his condition
• No source of comfort or happiness

The journey back to the father began with the recognition of where he was.

For every step he took in leaving the father, he had to take the same number of steps to return. The return was without any of the comforts or pleasures his wealth had provided during his departure.

The son was receiving justice for his actions. It did not come immediately, but it did come.

He intended to return home and throw himself on the mercy of his father.

The father extended grace to his son and went further than the son had hoped.

• Justice – Getting what you deserve
• Mercy – not getting what you deserve
• Grace – getting what you do not deserve, unmerited favor.

The Robe: A symbol of provision.

• Justice – you deserve to be wearing your rags.
• Mercy – you can have that which I no longer want or need.
• Grace – you can have the best.

Shoes: A symbol of family position.

• Justice – you don’t deserve to be part of this family – you left.
• Mercy – You can stay, but do not get too close.
• Grace – You are welcomed back in full fellowship.

Ring: A symbol of trust.

• Justice – You can never be trusted.
• Mercy – You can have limited trust once you earn it.
• Grace – Your rust is fully restored.

Feast: A symbol of joy and gladness.

• Justice – You do not deserve your return to be celebrated. Who cares?
• Mercy – You may get a party, but people are just there for the food, not you.
• Grace – Your return is truly joyous and celebrated.

The father is the perfect picture of grace in this parable.

• Justice has no concern for you at all.
• Mercy may be there if you come and get it.
• Grace will come running to you.

When mankind was expelled from the garden and fell under the curse of his sin, he was receiving the justice due him.

God had mercy on us and made it possible for man to have knowledge of him and a relationship with him through the Old Testament covenant.

Christ took us one step further, and by grace made it possible for us to have our relationship with God perfected.

Ephesians 2:8-9 (NKJV) ⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not of works, lest anyone should boast.

October 21, 2012, · 9:19 pm

Sitting at the Table

I grew up in a family of hunters and fishermen, (and fisher’s women my sister and Mother really love fishing too) and when uncles and cousins would drop by, we would sit at the table with my Dad, My Mother would usually prepare a meal or at least a snack and some coffee, and then the stories would start.

My Dad told the best stories, and he really had a way of telling them. You would feel as if you could almost step into the adventure as it unfolded. There was always a lot of laughing, and at times, the others involved in the story would jump right in and add some more parts of the story. Some sounded unbelievable, and when it looked like we were not buying the story you would hear, “Isn’t that right Jimmy, or Charles, or Dee, or Glenn” or whoever was part of the adventure. They all had a chance at telling their stories too. And again, when they needed affirmation, you would hear “Isn’t that right whoever?” usually they would turn to my Dad to confirm the story. Sometimes he would say “It didn’t happen that way,” just to get a rise, but then he would agree and say, “That’s just how it happened.”

Over the years a lot of the stories about how many fish were caught, or how big that Deer was, were told over and over. They never grew old and as the years went on more and newer stories were added on, one of the greatest days for me was when my Dad was telling one of his adventures, and he said, “Isn’t that right Dink?” (I am Dink) Now I’m part of the story, not just a listener, but someone in the story.

Over time and as I grew older more and more stories including me were added. My Dad would say, “Me and Dink we were at Flying S, or Pine Valley, or Big Canoe fishing,” and the story would start, and then as I started hunting and again more stories with me in them were told, like, “we were at the hunting camp, or over at the “he did church”. (that’s what we call one of our hunting spots and that’s another story for another day) See the more time I spent with my Dad, the more stories we had to tell.

 

I was taught not to just go kill something to be killing it, I was taught to hunt for what you would eat, I hunted for 23 years before dropping my first (and only) deer. The main reason I hunted was to spend time with my Dad, and brothers, nephews and friends. I just love getting away and some of my best prayer times are and were in the deer woods hunting. Some of the best bible discussions and witnessing to friends and family is on the lake or in a boat. They have to listen in the boat they have nowhere to go.

My Dad taught me that every hunt and every fishing outing can be an adventure, and a possible story, it’s up to us.

While we sat at the table with my Dad, and others, we would get comfortable and know this is going to be a good night of adventures with people we that love.

 

On July 4th, 1990, I took the pulpit for the very first time. I brought my very first sermon. The title of that sermon was “Sitting at the table with Jesus.”

In the course of the weeks prior to that Wednesday Night, I received all kinds of advice, some solicited, some not so much, for instance a preacher friend named Tiny called and gave me some verses to read and then ask “if I had butterflies in my stomach,” my reply was “yes, very much so,” and he added “don’t worry they will turn to alligators before it was over.”

Another piece of advice was from one of my greatest friends Margie Sprayberry, she told me “When you run out of soap, get out of the tub” other words when you said what needs to be said, shut up and sit down.

That should tell you a lot about my support system at that time.

My sermon was based on the text in John12 after Lazarus was raised from the dead, he had a chance to just sit down with Jesus and tell him about his adventure.

I thought that was very cool, sitting with the very creator of the universe. Having a meal with the Gentle Shepherd and listening to His stories.

John 12:1 Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead. 2 There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him.  NKJV

In another translation it is rendered “reclining at the table with Him.”

John 12:2 So they made Him a supper there, and Martha was serving; but Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with Him. NASU

 

Now that is when it really got me thinking, reclining with Him, Wow just sitting back and taking it easy with Jesus. Being that comfortable around Jesus that you would just lay back and take in what is being said. Listening to His adventures and telling of the things to come.

They may have heard of the meal that Martha worked so hard on, and Mary just sat and listened to the stories as in Luke.

Luke 10:38 Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore, tell her to help me.”

41 And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things.  42 But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”  NKJV

Or how Peter got out of the boat, or the feeding of thousands with a kid’s sack lunch, I am sure there were stories after stories.

 

We don’t meet Lazarus until John 11. And as that story goes, he gets sick, and the sisters send for their friend and healer Jesus. Now four days later Jesus shows up and well just read it for yourself.

John 11:17 So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days. NKJV

We look at our guy Lazarus, God didn’t let him know when he was laying there dying that everything would turnout okay. Or that it was, so he could be in one of the greatest stories in the bible. God didn’t let him know what kind of witness he was going to become because of what happened to him. He and his sisters just had to trust Jesus, even to them being four days late, that He (Jesus) knew just what had to happen. But look what did happen.

John 11:40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?”  41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.  42 And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.”  43 Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!”

I heard a preacher say one time He had to call Lazarus by name or that whole graveyard would have emptied out.

44 And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”  NKJV

“Loose him and let him go.”  Now that is one great ending.

 

While sitting at the table with Jesus in John 12 we meet Mary the Worshiper and Martha the Worker. But now Jesus adds Lazarus name to his list of stories, and Lazarus is now in the story, as I was with my Dad.

Not only does Lazarus get to hear Jesus tell his story, he gets to put some personal input in the story as well, and people come to hear Lazarus’ take on the story and how Jesus raised him from the dead.

John 12:9 Now a great many of the Jews knew that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead. NKJV

So, we see the Worshiper and the Worker but now we meet the Witness.

I believe that God wants the same for us, and it’s up to us, if we sit at the table with Him.

In Revelation Jesus said to the church, us Christians.

Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.  21 To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.

22 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”  NKJV

 

The more time you spend with The Heavenly Father the more stories you will have to tell as well. And that is our responsibility, to share the Gospel with the world.

 

Are you telling your friends and family the stories of what Christ has done for you? Even in the hard times that we go through, share how God brought us through them. There is a reason for them so you too can have a story to share.

 

The very purpose of the book “Something To Pounder” and this webpage is to share a few of my stories.

So, if you will, pull up a chair and sit with me as we,

 Ponder over what God has to say.

As “We sit at the table with Jesus”.

 

Friend Part 2

 As Christians, we should know that Jesus is our friend, but we also need to make sure that we introduce the surrounding people to Him. One of the talks in a Christian weekend retreat that I work with on occasion, says “Make a friend, be a friend, and bring that friend to Jesus.”

I have this penned in the back of my Bible

“If I just do my thing and you do yours, we stand in danger of losing each other and ourselves, we are fully ourselves only in relation to each other, and the “I” detached from the “thou,” is disintegrating. I do not find you by chance, I find you by an active life of reaching out” by Walter Tubbs

Did Jesus not say in Mark 16:15 …” Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. NKJV

All the world and let everyone as you come in contact with them know about Jesus. As it has been said, “No one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.”

I love the Randy Newman song for “Toy Story”:

“You’ve Got A Friend in Me”.

You’ve got a friend in me, You’ve got a friend in me,

When the road looks rough ahead, And you’re miles and miles,

From your nice warm bed, You just remember what your old pal said,

Boy, you’ve got a friend in me, Yeah, you’ve got a friend in me.

You’ve got a friend in me, You’ve got a friend in me,

You’ve got troubles, I’ve got ’em too, There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you,

We stick together and we see it through, Cause you’ve got a friend in me,

You’ve got a friend in me.

Some other folks might be A little bit smarter than I am,

Bigger and stronger too, Maybe,

But none of them will ever love you, The way I do,

It’s me and you, boy.

And as the years go by, Our friendship will never die,

You’re gonna see it’s our destiny, You’ve got a friend in me,

You’ve got a friend in me, You’ve got a friend in me.

 

The word friend is found some 58 times in the NKJV, 22 of those are in the New Testament. Jesus used the word 14 of those 22 times.

Why does one need a friend, Solomon said in Ecclesiastes that two is better than one, and we need to make sure the one with our one is the one that God desires for us to have in our lives.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 (NKJV) 9 Two are better than one, Because they have a good reward for their labor. 10 For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, For he has no one to help him up. 11 Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; But how can one be warm alone? 12 Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

 

I saw this and was compelled to add it to this chapter;

“It occurred to Pooh and Piglet that they hadn’t heard from Eeyore for several days, so they put on their hats and coats and trotted across the Hundred Acre Wood to Eeyore’s stick house. Inside the house was Eeyore.

“Hello Eeyore,” said Pooh.

“Hello, Pooh. Hello Piglet,” said Eeyore, in a Glum Sounding Voice.

“We just thought we’d check in on you,” said Piglet, “because we hadn’t heard from you, and so we wanted to know if you were okay.”

Eeyore was silent for a moment. “Am I okay?” he asked, eventually. “Well, I don’t know, to be honest. Are any of us really okay? That’s what I ask myself. All I can tell you, Pooh and Piglet, is that right now I feel really rather Sad, and Alone, and Not Much Fun To Be Around At All. Which is why I haven’t bothered you. Because you wouldn’t want to waste your time hanging out with someone who is Sad, and Alone, and Not Much Fun To Be Around At All, would you now.”

Pooh looked at Piglet, and Piglet looked at Pooh, and they both sat down, one on either side of Eeyore in his stick house.

Eeyore looked at them in surprise. “What are you doing?”

“We’re sitting here with you,” said Pooh, “because we are your friends. And true friends don’t care if someone is feeling Sad, or Alone, or Not Much Fun to Be Around At All. True friends are there for you anyway. And so here we are.”

“Oh,” said Eeyore. “Oh.” And the three of them sat there in silence, and while Pooh and Piglet said nothing at all; somehow, almost imperceptibly, Eeyore started to feel a very tiny little bit better.

Because Pooh and Piglet were There.

No more; no less.”

(A.A. Milne, E.H. Shepard)

 

We must be very careful not only to whom we call friends but to whom we let in our life as a friend.

I like what a young preacher in our Church once said in one of his first sermons, and that is if you take a white glove and put it on your hand and then submerge that hand in mud, the glove gets muddy. It is never said that the mud got glovie. (I know that glovie is not a word, but do you get the point.)

So, we need to be very careful who we accept as a real friend, if the person brings you down, and takes you away from the ones that once lifted you. If that person takes you places that you once would not go it would hurt your testimony. If that person uses language that brings dishonor to God and makes you look cheap. So, if that person has more influence on you. Then you start emulating them instead of representing Christ. There should be warning horns going off big time in your heart and mind. You should step back and look and see if you are getting muddy or if they are getting “glovie.” My bet is the mud is winning, if you step back from real friends and start following this kind of people you are not doing them any good, and you are not doing you any good either.

Well, Jesus hung out with sinners and bad people. Yes, He did, and he showed them love and brought them around to His way, by the example that He led. Not by acting like them. I am not saying you cannot have bad people in your life as friends, I am saying do not let them lead you away from the witness that took you years to build up. Satan would have nothing better than to tear you down.

Remember “Make a friend, be a friend, and bring that friend to Jesus.” Not make a friend, be a friend, and let that friend take you away from Jesus.

So, here is the question, are you getting muddy, or are the ones you are hanging with getting “glovie?” If you are a Christian and you allow someone to take you down the wrong road, and you are allowing them to tear down the witness that God had in you then I say it is time to do as Joshua said in the book that carries his name:

Joshua 24:15 (NKJV) 15 And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

You must choose whether to follow God or follow the world! Sometimes the one that is leading you down the wrong road may be waiting for you to make a stand and say NO, I’m going to follow God. Just so they can see if this Christian stuff is real in your life and if, so then they may want to follow Christ themselves.

James 4:4 (NKJV) … Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

As I have said in the past and am sure I will say again and again. When God is talking about neighbors and friends, I don’t think he is talking about what kind of friend you have but what kind of friend your friend has namely YOU.  Are you loving that friend enough to say to them, I will serve the LORD! Do you love them enough to let them leave, because Jesus did? He gives us a choice, to love them and live for Him and lead them out of hell. Or watch them go on their way while destroying your testimony and your witness.

I beg you to love them enough to bring them to Christ. “Make a friend, be a friend, and bring that friend to Jesus.” That is real love.  They are worth your love, but not at the expense of taking away the love you once had for God and his word.

Let them see the Love of the Lord in you and they may just want it too. It has been my experience that most people living a Godless life are looking for something or someone and I promise you that something is God himself and that someone is you showing them the Love of God.

I heard a preacher say once that he could tell the ones not as close to God as they once were. They were in the Church down front, then about halfway back in the Church, and then in the back, and then in the overflow, and then they were gone. It is always gradual. One small step at a time away from Christ and for every step you take away it is one more step closer to Satan and his way of life, which leads to destruction.

I once had a great quiet time and now my time is quiet. I once went to Church religiously (did you see what I did there?) now my religion is anything except Christ. I once went to Sunday School or Small Group and now I am in places that I know that God is heartbroken over. Does He stop loving you? NEVER!!! But there will come a time when someone who once watched how much you loved God and how you would not compromise your belief in Him. They are seeing something different, and they may say if that is Christianity, I want no part of it. Is your moment of enjoyment worthy of their soul?

As I stated at the beginning, I have several people that I know, but I only have a few people that I call Friends.

The classic 1993 Western Tombstone is full of memorable quotes from Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, and the infamous Cowboys of Southern Arizona. After a major shootout at the river, our heroes are regathering themselves, and Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer) walks over to the side of the river leans over, and coughs, and Cactus Jack Johnson (Buck Taylor) Says, “Doc what are you doing out here, you should be in bed,” in which Doc’s reply was, “Wyatt Earp is my friend.” Then Cactus Jack said, “I got lots of friends,” here is where I can relate to Doc because he said, “I don’t.”

God calls everyone his friend. Are you in need of a friend let me tell you where to get a friend.

Proverbs 18:24 (NKJV) A man who has friends must himself be friendly, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Can we find a friend so faithful? Whom will all our sorrows share?

Jesus knows our every weakness; Are we weak and heavy-laden? Cumbered with a load of care? Precious Savior, still our refuge—Do thy friends despise, forsake thee? Take it to the Lord in prayer! In His arms, He’ll take and shield thee. Thou wilt find a solace there. Blessed Savior. Thou hast promised Thou wilt all our burdens bear; May we ever, Lord, be bringing All to Thee in earnest prayer.

Can we find a friend so faithful? Yes, His name is Jesus!!

I hope and pray that the ones who call me a friend and that I live up to their expectation. I hope that when my name is spoken people can say he is my friend.

I hope that I follow the example set before me in Christ Jesus.

I hope if you ever have called me a friend you still can.

But I know me, I know that I have let people down, and I know that I probably have said or done something that I shouldn’t have said or done. And hope and pray that my friends can forgive me and that I can forgive my friends who have let me down.

I was recently removed from a post and blocked from adding anything to the page on Facebook. The post was my home Church that I have been a part of since I was five years old, at the time of this writing I was sixty-one. So, I was not happy, it wasn’t anything bad I posted it was just an old picture of the Church and I said I miss that, Church. After I put a rebuttal on my personal Facebook page and about 50 people commented on my post, I received a message apologizing and said the block was removed and ended by saying “God bless my friend.” I do not know who misinformed the person writing me that we were friends, because we are not. I have never talked to the man who messaged me. We are not friends, not my definition of a friend. We think because we add the word friend that makes us friends. But in my book, it does not.

The example that is set before us is Jesus himself. He forgave us even before we let him down and keeps loving us anyway. Let us try to live that way and remember:

“Make a friend, be a friend, and bring that friend to Jesus.”

Friend Part 1

Friend, is a word that we throw around a lot, but the question is do you know what a friend is? My computer program definition goes as follows:

Friend [frend] Noun plural noun: friends, plural noun: Friends

1. a person whom one knows and with whom one has a bond of mutual affection, typically exclusive of sexual or family relations. “she’s a friend of mine”

synonyms companion, bosom friend, best friend, close friend, intimate, confidante, confidant, familiar, soul mate, alter ego, second self, shadow, playmate, playfellow, classmate, schoolmate, workmate, ally, comrade, associate, sister, brother, pal, bosom pal, buddy, bosom buddy, chum, spar, sidekick, crony, main man…  antonyms enemy

2. a member of the Religious Society of Friends; a Quaker.

Verb; third person present: friends, present participle: friending, past tense: friended, past participle: friended

1. add (someone) to a list of contacts associated with a social networking website.

“I am friended by 29 people who I have not friended back”

2. befriend (someone).

origin

Old English frēond, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch vriend and German Freund, from an Indo-European root meaning ‘to love’, shared by free.

 

Jordan Peterson said this on Instagram:

“Here’s how you know that you have a true friend, there’s a simple way to know if you got a true friend in your corner,

Isabella Lundy said it best “True friendship with stance time distance and silence.”

If you got these three things you got to ride or die.

Number 1

A true friend is a friend for life, you both grow, evolve, and hit different stages but you still rock with each other through it all. It’s not about always being on the same wave it’s about respecting each other’s journey.

Number 2

You don’t got to be in the same place, real friends, they support you even from a distance. Maybe you move away, maybe they start chasing different dreams,

that’s all good, you want them to win just as much as you want to win yourself.

Number 3

Probably The most important one, is you don’t need to be talking every day sometimes you will go weeks, or months without chopping it up. But when you do it’s like you never missed a beat, that’s how you know it’s real.

If you got people like that in your life hold onto them. That’s rare.”

 

I was told: “A friend is someone you call if you are in jail and need bail to get you out.” And a best friend is: Someone you can’t call because he is sitting in jail with you.”

 

My Story about a friend.

In the late 1990s, I had the pleasure of being our Church sound coordinator, this also meant that I was responsible for running the sound for our choir. Running the sound for the choir also came the responsibility of going with them to singing appointments. I enjoyed and loved mixing the sound for the Church and the choir as long as we were at our Church, or close to home where I could drive. The Church choir had gotten a pretty good reputation at that time for being anointed. God seemed to use us a lot at that time.

The problem was we were invited to do the Smoky Mountain Jubilee in Gatlinburg Tennessee, which wasn’t too bad because I would ride up with the drummer who is a dear friend, and help him set up his kit. Tennessee wasn’t too bad of a ride and the Evangelist that ran the Jubilee also was a Pastor of a Church in Virginia, and he invited us to go to his annual Church Jubilee. So, now, we are going to go to Virginia and minister there.

There is one of many reasons that I do not want to go, the main reason is the same reason I don’t like to fly, the same reason I don’t like to be in an elevator, the same reason that I don’t like being in the back of a large crowd. I am and have always been claustrophobic. I don’t like closed-in places and I don’t like being anywhere that I can’t control when and where I can stop and get out of the room or the vehicle. With that known our pastor, Snyder, came to me and asked me to go with them and that I could have any seat on the bus that they chartered. I asked any and he assured me any. So, I insisted that I drive, knowing that that was not going to happen and knowing that I didn’t trust my little S 10 truck to make the trip at the time, I thought that I would get out of going, but I did not.

Now I am on a bus that I don’t want to be on and going somewhere that I didn’t want to go. As I have stated I love my Church and the choir and mixing the music and singers, I went not to please God but to please man, which is never the reason to minister, but God had me where he wanted me for a reason.

I love good preaching and I truly love anointed preachers, such as Tony Evans, Ike Reighard, Dr. Charles Stanley, Andy Stanley, and on and on. A few weeks before we headed out on this outing, I had the chance to go to the Bailey Smith Real Evangelism Conference, in Marietta, Georgia at Roswell Street Baptist Church, Pastored by Nelson Price. After attending there for a week, I had an opportunity to purchase many cassette tapes. (I said that this was in the 90s didn’t I) There were some great sermons and testimonies on these tapes and some would just break your heart.  So, I decided that I would bring all my tapes and my little tape player, some headphones, and enough batteries to make the trip and back, with batteries to spare. Now I was hoping that I could just submerge myself in preaching and never contemplate being on a bus full of people and having little to no control over the situation.

Now I am set, hoping, and praying that no one would bother me and remind me of my surroundings. I was sitting alone and I liked it that way, everyone else was talking and getting ready for a great time together, and as the bus was loading up to go. I made sure that I got a seat next to a window and not too far from the front so that if I had a meltdown, I could be drugged off the bus rather easily. People already knew who they wanted to be with and where they wanted to sit. So, all was going just the way I wanted it to go, Until, (I have said in the past “until” is hardly ever a good word to hear in a story). She said may I sit with you? And everything inside me was screaming NO! But I tried to conjure up a smile and said sure.

I spent most of my time in that Church at that time either in the sound room or in the pulpit. I am sorry to say that I am not much of a social person, don’t get me wrong, I love people and I care deeply for their souls. But, because of certain circumstances, I got to a point in my life where I was really careful who I let get close to me. Way too many people have come into my life and I have gotten close to them and now they are gone. I was not on that bus but for one reason and one reason only and that was to get to our destination and do my responsibility. Not to socialize and definitely, not to make any new friends. But I believe that God had other plans.

As I recall I told her she could sit with me if she left me alone, her name is Dianne, and she seemed to be okay with that because she had a book she wanted to read and acted as if she didn’t want to be bothered either. Boy, was I wrong about not wanting to talk with me? Her son is our drummer and a great friend of mine, so I thought she would be okay to be around because I always enjoy being around Mark.

As the trip progressed, she started asking me questions, and I thought why not talk maybe it would get my mind off the fact that I was still on a bus. It didn’t work, so to get her quiet I offered for her to listen to some of my tapes, and she took me up on the offer. As she sat there listening, I saw her starting to tear up and then I remembered that I had just given her the tape of Ike Reighard testimony. It is a great sermon and testimony, and it broke her heart. After listening to it, she got yet another tape, and then after completing it, she said you sure listen to some tear-jerkers. We then started talking about what she had been listening to. If you want a preacher to be your friend, just ask him a spiritual question about the Word of God and sit back and enjoy the ride.

That happened well almost thirty years ago, and to this day I consider her one of the few friends I call close. She later came to work as my company office manager and was by far my best employee. She was encouraging when I needed encouragement and never worried about my feelings when it came to setting me straight when I started to drift. We all need people like that in our life. She and her husband were in the Journey Group that I have the honor of teaching and is someone I love dearly. You just never know who God is going to put in your life and for what reason.

 

Oswald Chambers said, “Friendship is rare on earth. It means identity in Thought and Heart and Spirit.”

C. S. Lewis said friendships are discovered when you say, “What, you too?! I thought I was the only one” (Four Loves, 248).

 

Hanya Yanagihara @deadpoetswilde says; “Friendship is the most underrated relationship in our lives. It remains the one relation not bound by law, blood, or money – but an unspoken agreement of love.”

 

Very few people have met those criteria in my life and I bet the same can be said for most of us. We claim hundreds or even thousands of friends on Facebook and other social media outlets, and have never met many of them, how can they be friends?

 

In the Book of John, it says:

“Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” … and then Jesus continues “No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.”  NKJV

 

As of the writing of this we as a nation just remembered the 75th anniversary of “D Day” and how these men of the greatest generation of Americans

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

“What a Friend We Have in Jesus” is a Christian hymn originally written by preacher Joseph M. Scriven as a poem in 1855 to comfort his mother who was living in Ireland while he was in Canada. Scriven originally published the poem anonymously and only received full credit for it in the 1880s. The tune to the hymn was composed by Charles Crozat Converse in 1868. William Bolcom composed a setting of the hymn.

What a Friend We Have in Jesus

By, Alan Jackson

What a friend we have in Jesus. All our sins and griefs to bear!

What a privilege to carry Everything to God in prayer!

Oh, what peace we often forfeit, Oh, what needless pain we bear,

All because we do not carry Everything to God in prayer!

Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere?

We should never be discouraged— Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Can we find a friend so faithful? Who will all our sorrows share?

Jesus knows our every weakness; Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Are we weak and heavy-laden? Cumbered with a load of care?

Precious Savior, still our refuge—Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Do thy friends despise, forsake thee? Take it to the Lord in prayer!

In His arms He’ll take and shield thee. Thou wilt find a solace there.

Blessed Savior. Thou hast promised Thou wilt all our burdens bear;

May we ever, Lord, be bringing All to Thee in earnest prayer.

Soon in glory bright, unclouded. There will be no need for prayer—

Rapture, praise, and endless worship Will be our sweet portion there.

“Sometimes, I Guess There Just Aren’t Enough Rocks”

In the movie “Forrest Gump”, Forrest and Jenny are walking down the road that Jenny was raised on, and they come upon her old home place, then all of a sudden Jenny starts throwing rocks at the house, all the bad memories of her youth caught up with her all at once and the rocks start flying. She threw and threw until she couldn’t find another rock and falls to the ground exhausted.

That’s when Forrest says. “Sometimes, I Guess There Just Aren’t Enough Rocks”.

And that’s the way it is at times everything seems to hit you all at once. All the emotion of the past comes down on us.

Nothing we can do to erase the heartache and hurt that is long behind us.

Sometimes objects in the rear-view mirror may appear closer than they really are, and we let yesterday destroy our today and control our steps for tomorrow.

So, the things of yesterday sneak up, and before we know it, we are knocked down, we have thrown every rock we could find, every excuse why the things happened and wondering why they had to happen to me?

But the problem is that the past is still there. The memories are still there, the money is gone, the love is gone, and all that I thought I would have, is now gone.

And as the song says:

“I’m diggin’ up bones, I’m diggin’ up bones,

Exhuming things that’s better left alone”

Paul said to the Church of Philippi:

Philippians 3:13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.  NKJV

 

We can’t continue onward always looking back, you can’t go too yesterday; you can only live for today with hopes for tomorrow.

Luke 9:62 But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” NKJV

The song “The Anchor Holds” says:

I’ve had visions, I’ve had dreams; I’ve even held them in my hand.

But I never knew they would slip right through, like they were only grains of sand.

Slipping through our fingers as sand, until it is gone, and then we sit and think what might have been, or why couldn’t it have been different?

Then it hits me.

I’m the one that has control. I’m the one digging up bones. And I’m the one exhuming thing’s that’s better left alone.

So how do I not let this get me down yet again?

Again, Paul said to the Church of Philippi:

Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say, rejoice!

 

Praise God for whom He is and what He has done, Paul said. “Rejoice in the Lord” When?  “Always” that means all the time.

5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.

6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication,

(that means your heart felt burdens and your petitions or request) with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

 

So, where does this peace of God come from? Keep reading.

Ponder on these things:

8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy — meditate on these things. 9 The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.

So, the “peace of God”, come from, the “God of peace”.

June 15, 1989, at my home Church in Powder Springs Georgia around 7:00pm I knelt down in Pastor Ben Turner’s office as Pastor Snyder went over the plan of salvation.

He said, “you know this, you know what to do” and I did know, as I have said I was raised in church, we were usually the first ones there and the last to leave, I had helped build the very building we were sitting in.

I had worked in ministries and even myself lead people to the Lord. I was and I would like to think I still am a pretty good guy, but because I myself had never accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior, I WAS HELL BOUND.

The day before this I felt as my world was coming to an end and as far as I cared my life could have ended right then.

But (don’t you just love conjunctions? I do; it means the story is not over yet.) I did bow my head, and I did ask Jesus to save me, and He DID SAVE ME.

Over the last 30 something years He (Jesus) has NOT walked away and left me alone, and he never not once stopped Loving me that I can count on, He said:

Deuteronomy 31:6 Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.” NKJV

Josh 1:5 No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you. NKJV

Philippians 4:10 But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last your care for me has flourished again; though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity. 11 Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: 12 I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

And here it is this is how we face tomorrow and not let yesterday control us:

13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

 

The song “The Anchor Holds” says:

But it was in the night,

Through the storms of my life,

Oh, that’s where God proved, His love to me,

The anchor holds, Though the ship is battered,

The anchor holds, Though the sails are torn,

I have fallen on my knees,

As I faced the raging seas,

The anchor holds,

In spite of the storm.

 

So just drop anchor and hold on, God’s not done with you yet.

From: “Something to Ponder.” Chapter 6

 

” FORGETTING THE PAST AND GOING FORWARD “

Part 2

(3) FUNCTIONING IN THE PRESENT!

Please notice v.13 again ….
13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,

A) Paul said, “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do,”
Notice that Paul did not say, “One thing I will do.”

He did not say, “One thing I’m going to do,”
Or “one thing I will get around to someday.”

He said, “One thing I do.”

B) Paul was living and acting in the present!

Many people today try to live in the future.

Do you know what the busiest day in the world is going to be?
It’s not Christmas … It’s not the day after Thanksgiving … It is “someday.”
Everyone in the world has something scheduled to do “someday.”
You hear people all the time saying, “Someday, I’m going to do this or that …”
The problem is that “someday” is not on any calendar.
I’m sure that we’ve all made plans for “someday,” but the fact is, “someday” will never come!

C) Paul is the ultimate example of living each day to the fullest … Living each day as if it were your last!

For example ….

When he was imprisoned in Rome, he did not sit there stewing, thinking about all the things he would do when he got out of jail.
He wrote letters to churches, sang praises to God, and even converted some of the people who had imprisoned him!

Paul used every day to the uttermost.

D) Benjamin Franklin once said, “Do you love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff that life is made of.”

It was Abraham Lincoln who first said, “The leading rule for a man of every calling is diligence; never put off until tomorrow what you can do today.”

That’s not what I think all the time!

E) Perhaps, the saddest example of procrastination is found in the life of the Roman Governor Felix, who listened to Paul “speak about faith in Christ Jesus.”

Acts 24:24-27

24 And after some days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ. 25 Now as he reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and answered, “Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I will call for you.” 26 Meanwhile he also hoped that money would be given him by Paul, that he might release him. Therefore he sent for him more often and conversed with him.

27 But after two years Porcius Festus succeeded Felix; and Felix, wanting to do the Jews a favor, left Paul bound. NKJV

But as he was discussing “righteousness, temperance and judgment to come,” Felix became frightened and said,

“Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient …”

F) Never again did Felix listen to God’s Word!

Once he had put it off for a time, as with so many things in life, that time never came.
We all ought to be more like the psalmist, who wrote in

Ps 119:57-64

57 You are my portion, O LORD; I have said that I would keep Your words.

58 I entreated Your favor with my whole heart; Be merciful to me according to Your word.

59 I thought about my ways, And turned my feet to Your testimonies.

60 I made haste, and did not delay To keep Your commandments.

61 The cords of the wicked have bound me, But I have not forgotten Your law.

62 At midnight I will rise to give thanks to You, Because of Your righteous judgments.

63 I am a companion of all who fear You, And of those who keep Your precepts.

64 The earth, O LORD, is full of Your mercy; Teach me Your statutes. NKJV

The Room by Joshua Harris

In that place between wakefulness and dreams, I found myself in the room. There were no distinguishing features save for the one wall covered with small index-card files. They were like the ones in libraries that list titles by author or subject in alphabetical order. But these files, which stretched from floor to ceiling and seemingly endlessly in either direction, had very different headings. As I drew near the wall of files, the first to catch my attention was one that read “Girls I Have Liked.” I opened it and began flipping through the cards. I quickly shut it, shocked to realize that I recognized the names written on each one.

And then without being told, I knew exactly where I was. This lifeless room with its small files was a crude catalog system for my life. Here were written the actions of my every moment, big and small, in a detail my memory couldn’t match.

A sense of wonder and curiosity, coupled with horror, stirred within me as I began randomly opening files and exploring their content. Some brought joy and sweet memories; others a sense of shame and regret so intense that I would look over my shoulder to see if anyone was watching. A file named “Friends” was next to one marked “Friends I Have Betrayed.”

The titles ranged from the mundane to the outright weird. “Books I Have Read,” “Lies I Have Told,” “Comfort I Have Given,” “Jokes I Have Laughed At.” Some were almost hilarious in their exactness: “Things I’ve Yelled at My Brothers.” Others I couldn’t laugh at: “Things I Have Done in My Anger,” “Things I Have Muttered Under My Breath at My Parents.” I never ceased to be surprised by the contents. Often there were many more cards than I expected. Sometimes fewer than I hoped.

I was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of the life I had lived. Could it be possible that I had the time in my 20 years to write each of these thousands or even millions of cards? But each card confirmed this truth. Each was written in my own handwriting. Each signed with my signature.

When I pulled out the file marked “Songs I Have Listened To,” I realized the files grew to contain their contents. The cards were packed tightly, and yet after two or three yards, I hadn’t found the end of the file. I shut it, shamed, not so much by the quality of music, but more by the vast amount of time I knew that file represented.

When I came to a file marked “Lustful Thoughts,” I felt a chill run through my body. I pulled the file out only an inch, not willing to test its size, and drew out a card. I shuddered at its detailed content. I felt sick to think that such a moment had been recorded.

An almost animal rage broke on me. One thought dominated my mind: “No one must ever see these cards! No one must ever see this room! I have to destroy them!” In an insane frenzy I yanked the file out. Its size didn’t matter now. I had to empty it and burn the cards. But as I took it at one end and began pounding it on the floor, I could not dislodge a single card. I became desperate and pulled out a card, only to find it as strong as steel when I tried to tear it

Defeated and utterly helpless, I returned the file to its slot. Leaning my forehead against the wall, I let out a long, self-pitying sigh. And then I saw it. The title bore “People I Have Shared the Gospel With.” The handle was brighter than those around it, newer, almost unused. I pulled on its handle and a small box not more than three inches long fell into my hands. I could count the cards it contained on one hand.

And then the tears came. I began to weep. Sobs so deep that they hurt started in my stomach and shook through me. I fell on my knees and cried. I cried out of shame, from the overwhelming shame of it all. The rows of file shelves swirled in my tear-filled eyes. No one must ever, ever know of this room. I must lock it up and hide the key.

But then as I pushed away the tears, I saw Him. No, please not Him. Not here. Oh, anyone but Jesus.

I watched helplessly as He began to open the files and read the cards. I couldn’t bear to watch His response. And in the moments I could bring myself to look at His face, I saw a sorrow deeper than my own. He seemed to intuitively go to the worst boxes. Why did He have to read every one?

Finally He turned and looked at me from across the room. He looked at me with pity in His eyes. But this was a pity that didn’t anger me. I dropped my head, covered my face with my hands and began to cry again. He walked over and put His arm around me. He could have said so many things. But He didn’t say a word. He just cried with me.

Then He got up and walked back to the wall of files. Starting at one end of the room, He took out a file and, one by one, began to sign His name over mine on each card.

“No!” I shouted rushing to Him. All I could find to say was “No, no,” as I pulled the card from Him. His name shouldn’t be on these cards. But there it was, written in red so rich, so dark, so alive. The name of Jesus covered mine. It was written with His blood.

He gently took the card back. He smiled a sad smile and began to sign the cards. I don’t think I’ll ever understand how He did it so quickly, but the next instant it seemed I heard Him close the last file and walk back to my side.

He placed His hand on my shoulder and said, “It is finished.”

I stood up, and He led me out of the room. There was no lock on its door. There were still cards to be written.

By Joshua Harris. Originally published in New Attitude Magazine. Copyright New Attitude, 1995. You have permission to reprint this in any form. We only ask that you include the appropriate copyright byline and do not alter the content.

CLOSE

A) What if there were no church tomorrow because we were too busy to worship God today?

What if God could not hear your prayers tomorrow because you were too busy to pray today?
What if there were no Bible tomorrow because you would not read His Word today?
What if there were no forgiveness tomorrow because you did not stop sinning today?
What if there were no invitations tomorrow because you did not respond today?

B) As we embark on the journeys of this New Year, let us determine ahead of time that it will be a year of victory!

Let us choose our attitudes and follow the advice of the Apostle Paul.
Resolve to … Forget your Past: Look beyond the sins and failures of yesterday; learn from them, repent of them, and then move forward.

C) Focus on your Priorities: Place God at the top of your “to-do” list every day!

Worship Him … Study His Word … Put His Kingdom first in your life and everything else will fall into place!

D) Function in the Present: Stop living in the future!

Do not put off until tomorrow what you can do today.
Invitation: Would you bow your heads and close your eyes for a moment?

E) This morning, the absolute best way to start this year is to become a part of God’s eternal Kingdom!

Focus your priorities by making Jesus the Lord of your life … Allow the cleansing power of His blood to wash away your past sins, and start living your life for Christ everyday!

The Bible says in

2 Cor 6:1-2

We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain. 2 For He says:

“In an acceptable time, I have heard you,

And in the day of salvation, I have helped you.”

Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.  NKJV

The invitation is open to all!
If you are ready to begin your life anew today … Or if you are already a Christian, but need a fresh start … The Lord invites you to please come!