Category: Weekly Devotional

Dusty Roads and Strong Shoulders

At times, I get reminiscent about my youth and simpler times in my life.

When I was just a child, two or three times a year, my family would go to Fort Payne, Alabama, to visit my Grandmother and then up to Lookout Mountain to visit my step-grandparents there. My step-grandfather never showed any difference between me and his natural grandchildren, my brothers and my sister.

On every visit, we (the grandkids) would go for a walk up the old dusty dirt road he lived on and go to the local store at the end of the road.

As we ventured down that dusty, rocky road, I began to get tired, and the rocks were beginning to take their toll on my feet. So, Granddaddy threw me up on his shoulders. Granddaddy was one of the kindest and most humble people I had ever met. He was very trustworthy and highly respected, a great mentor and role model to emulate as much as possible.

I was just 5 or 6 years old, but I remember him carrying me on his shoulder, as if it were last week. I don’t recall ever saying anything about the walk, but he looked down and saw me struggling, and up on his shoulders I went.

I wonder how often in our struggles, without saying a word, God just grabs us up and places us on his mighty shoulders, and we go. The Bible says over and over how God guides and carries us:

Deuteronomy 33:12 Of Benjamin, he said:

“The beloved of the LORD shall dwell in safety by Him, Who shelters him all the day long; And he shall dwell between His shoulders.” NKJV

Psalms 17:5 Uphold my steps in Your paths, That my footsteps may not slip. NKJV

Psalms 119:117 Hold me up, and I shall be safe, And I shall observe Your statutes continually. NKJV

Psalms 139:10 Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me.

11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,” Even the night shall be light about me;

12 Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, But the night shines as the day; The darkness and the light are both alike to You.  NKJV

Again, that got me thinking about the nature of God.

There is a poem about footprints in the sand. How, when there was only one set of tracks that He carried us. I think that is what He wants to do the whole time. I truly believe that if there are ever two sets of tracks, it’s when we are trying to do things on our own.

Now if Jesus is in my heart in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and Jesus is in the Father, so how many tracks should we see?

Someone once likened God to a Father teaching a child how to ride a bike. He runs along behind holding the bike and making sure that it doesn’t fall over, then when the time is right, He lets go and off we go on our own.

However, the more I read the scriptures, the more I believe that God does not want to ever let go,

He never intends for us to make it on our own,

He is always there, and only when we try to do it on our own are we left to do just that, on our own.

Why would we want it on our own if we didn’t want to do something we shouldn’t be doing anyway?

I can make it on my own, but it is so much easier to do it God’s way and stop pulling away, because He will let you leave. In Luke 15:1-7, we see “The Parable of the Lost Sheep”, then in Luke 15:8-10 we see “The Parable of the Lost Coin.”

Then, Luke 15:11 The story of “The Parable of the Lost Son” reads:

Luke 15:11 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”.

 

The Father will let you go even though He knows that is not what is best for you, and as the saying goes:

“Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay.”

As we see in this story;

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.

“Keep you longer than you want to stay and cost you more than you want to pay.”

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.”

“But when he came to himself,” when he realized that things were better off at home, and the rules were not that bad after all,

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.”

See, the Father is looking for your return every day.

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.’

The sin is already forgiven!

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. NKJV

 

Treated the son as if he had never left. Understand that the fellowship may change with God, but the relationship never changes if you are his child.

I believe He always carries us, if we let Him. We have seen that in “The Parable of the Lost Sheep”.

Luke 15:4 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?  5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.  NKJV

There are those shoulders again. So, happily, He carries us.

Notice this, even though I was on my Granddaddy’s shoulders, I was still on the dusty rocky road.

The circumstance didn’t change,

where I was had not changed,

my destination did not alter.

What changed was that instead of me taking the steps, it was Granddaddy.

Instead of me facing the rocky road, he took it on himself.

Instead of my weight on my feet, they are on his.

Remember who is carrying you!

 

What Was Wrong with Cain’s Offering?

This question comes from Genesis 4:3-7, where Cain, the firstborn of Eve and Adam, takes an offering of his crops to the Lord, and Abel takes a firstborn lamb. God accepted Abel’s offering, but not Cain’s. In the course of the story, Cain becomes angry and is apparently saddened, but God offers no explanation of why the offering wasn’t accepted. Instead, God says to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted?” (Genesis 4:6-7). In the end, Cain’s anger and jealousy get the best of him, and he murders his brother Abel.

So, why was Cain’s offering not acceptable?

We turn to both the Old and the New Testaments to find our answer. Cain and his deed are mentioned three other times in the Bible, outside of the Genesis story. The writer of Hebrews attributes Cain’s lack of faith as the reason for God’s rejection of the offering (11.4).

John attributes Cain’s acts as a result of his evil disposition (1 John 3.12).

Finally, Jude implies the offering was rejected because Cain’s motivation was greed (1.11).

The complete answer is alluded to in the Genesis passage. In Genesis 4:3-4, we read, “In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel, for his part, brought of the firstlings of his flock, their fat portions.” Here, Abel brings an offering of what would later be called “first fruits,” while Cain brings a simple “offering of the fruit of the ground.” It is implied here that Abel obeyed the yet non-existent law, while Cain did not.

The laws of giving a first fruit offering are outlined in Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The essence of the law is that the first fruits of any harvest, whether it be grain, fruit, or animal, are to be offered to God and brought to the priests (Deuteronomy 18.4).

The law is clear that the first fruits are just that, the very first born, first harvested, etc. They are considered the best of the best (Numbers 18:8-14).

Apparently, Abel brought this sort of offering, since he brought the “firstlings of his flock”; however, Cain did not. This is likely what made Cain’s offering unacceptable he brought God the “left-overs” instead of the first and the best.

But wait, how was Cain to know what God required, since Moses hadn’t been born and there was no law yet?

Two answers. One: God deserves the best period. Cain should have known that, as should we all.

But there’s a second answer that takes into account the history of our scriptures. First, we need to recall that the majority of the books of the Old Testament weren’t put into writing until the Babylonian exile, some 400 years before Christ. During that time, the institution and the study of the Torah, the law, had become important, and many of our biblical stories were written to illustrate the importance and/or the origins of individual laws. These stories are called etiologies. It is likely the Cain and Abel story is an etiology illustrating the consequences of not giving God the required first-fruits offering. And though the laws of the Torah were not available to Cain, for the sake of the illustration, this point was irrelevant.

Perhaps Cain’s offering wasn’t accepted because he had a lack of faith (Hebrews 11.4), for certainly his “faith” wasn’t in full practice with his disregard for giving God the best. Perhaps his offering wasn’t accepted because he was filled with greed (Jude 1.11) or because he had evil intentions (1 John 3.12).

Whatever his motivations, the story of God’s rejection of Cain’s offering is probably written because the writer wanted to show the consequences for disregarding the laws of God, especially the law of offering to God what belongs to God (Matthew 22.21).

The Ultimate Answer

We don’t absolutely know that God required a blood sacrifice of Cain.

Can we even be clear that either Cain or Abel knew exactly what would be pleasing to God as a sacrifice ahead of time? Even with all this circumstantial evidence, we don’t absolutely know that God required a blood sacrifice of Cain. We can’t say for certain that the quality of Cain’s offering was inferior. And we can’t prove Cain’s heart was in the wrong during the sacrifice itself. Although the scriptural account does seem to point to each of these reasons, we can’t be emphatic about any of them. So, what’s the ultimate answer to God preferring Abel’s offering?

We must come to grips with one thing: God, as Creator, is sovereign over His creation. While there are proximate reasons for God’s decrees, what ultimately makes “right” right and “wrong” wrong? God’s sovereign choice. This does not mean God is unpredictable, or arbitrary; God is always reasonable because He is the creator of reason. If God’s actions seem to conflict with or transcend man’s sense of “reason,” that doesn’t mean God is wrong; it means His thoughts are not our thoughts, and His ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8).

He respects one offering and rejects another, ultimately, for His own reasons and pleasure—and isn’t that the Creator’s prerogative? Again, this isn’t to say He is arbitrary; His Word gives us all the knowledge of Him and the reasoning we need to understand and obey.

And since the Bible doesn’t tell us exactly what was required of Cain and Abel (like we see clearly expressed in the Levitical laws), we can’t know for sure which of the reasons explain why God respected Abel’s offering and not Cain’s, or if this was just God’s way of informing them of what was acceptable. But, ultimately, does it matter? As Abraham rhetorically asks in Genesis 18:25, “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?”

And as God rhetorically asks Job, “Would you indeed annul My judgment? Would you condemn Me that you may be justified?” (Job 40:8).

Our duty is to make sure that our actions are right and that our hearts are in the right place. In the case of offerings, that includes humbly giving from the first fruits (does God deserve any less?) of our labor with a cheerful heart, understanding that such works themselves do not save us, and gladly accepting instruction, correction, and even rebuke from the hand of the Almighty. The lesson of Cain is that sin and rebellion run through our attitudes and our actions, and that the two ultimately cannot be divorced.

Finally, remember to start with Scripture when interpreting Scripture. That’s always the right answer!

In Christ,

Leviticus 2:14 “If you offer a grain offering of firstfruits to the Lord, you shall offer for the grain offering of your firstfruits fresh fears, roasted with fire, crushed new grain.

Deut 18:1-5 1 The priests the Levites, and all the tribe of Levi, shall have no part nor inheritance with Israel: they shall eat the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and his inheritance.

2 Therefore shall they have no inheritance among their brethren: the LORD is their inheritance, as he hath said unto them.

3 And this shall be the priest’s due from the people, from them that offer a sacrifice, whether it be ox or sheep; and they shall give unto the priest the shoulder, and the two cheeks, and the maw.

4 The firstfruit also of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the first of the fleece of thy sheep, shalt thou give him.

5 For the LORD thy God hath chosen him out of all thy tribes, to stand to minister in the name of the LORD, him and his sons for ever. KJV

OT:4503 minchah (min-khaw’); from an unused root meaning to apportion, i.e. bestow; a donation; euphemistically, tribute; specifically a sacrificial offering (usually bloodless and voluntary):

KJV – gift, oblation, (meat) offering, present, sacrifice.

(Biblesoft’s New Exhaustive Strong’s Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright (c) 1994, Biblesoft and International Bible Translators, Inc.)

First time used

Gen 4:3 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. KJV

OT:2077 zebach (zeh’-bakh); from OT:2076; properly, a slaughter, i.e. the flesh of an animal; by implication, a sacrifice (the victim or the act):

KJV – offer (-ing), sacrifice.

(Biblesoft’s New Exhaustive Strong’s Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright (c) 1994, Biblesoft and International Bible Translators, Inc.)

First time used

Gen 31:54 Then Jacob offered sacrifice upon the mount, and called his brethren to eat bread: and they did eat bread, and tarried all night in the mount.   KJV

OT:5930 `olah (o-law’); or `owlah (o-law’); feminine active participle of OT:5927; a step or (collectively, stairs, as ascending); usually a holocaust (as going up in smoke):

KJV – ascent, burnt offering (sacrifice), go up to. See also OT:5766.

(Biblesoft’s New Exhaustive Strong’s Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright (c) 1994, Biblesoft and International Bible Translators, Inc.)

First time

Gen 8:20 And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.  KJV

 

Waiting Training Part Two

1. We saw His Desperate Condition and now we see;
   II. His Determined Choice
   Notice David’s conclusion in verse ¹⁴Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD!

   It’s like David is saying, “Try this…it worked for me when I was in a desperate situation, and it will work for you.”

   Notice the process by which David came to this conclusion: we will approach the verse in reverse order.

   A. Seeing ¹³I would have lost heart, unless I had believed That I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.

   1. Seeing is believing…. believing is seeing. verse ⁴ One thing I have desired of the LORD, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD, And to inquire in His temple.

   2. David’s faith helped him to see past his present situation and look to his powerful Savior.

Michael Youssef said: Faith is not believing despite the evidence, but Faith is obeying despite the consequences.

3. To wait upon God means to expect from God. A real “waiting meeting” according to Scripture is an expectation meeting. It implies dependence.
4. “I would have quit if not for my faith…I believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.”
5. “Heaven is a long way off…. I need some help from God now.”
6. Psalms 62:5 – My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.

expectation = literally, a cord (as an attachment – expectation = hope,  thing that I long for.

1. Seeing,
   B. Supplication, ⁷Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice! Have mercy also upon me, and answer me.
   ⁸When You said, “Seek My face,” My heart said to You, “Your face, LORD, I will seek.”

   What to do when waiting? You pray, He prayed for three things:
   1.) Presence of God
   ⁹ Do not hide Your face from me; Do not turn Your servant away in anger; ¹⁰ When my father and my mother forsake me, Then the LORD will take care of me.

2.) Path Of God ¹¹ Teach me Your way, O LORD, And lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies.

3.) Protection Of God ¹² Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries; For false witnesses have risen against me, And such as breathe out violence.

Proverbs 20:22 (NKJV) Do not say, “I will recompense evil”; Wait for the LORD, and He will save you.

Psalm 37:34 (NKJV) Wait on the LORD, And keep His way, And He shall exalt you to inherit the land; When the wicked are cut off, you shall see it.

He prayed for the Presence of God, the Path of God, and the Protection of God.

Lamentations 3:25 (NKJV) ²⁵ The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, To the soul who seeks Him.

1. Seeing
   B. Supplication
   C. Singing, ⁶And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me; Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD.

   Acts 16:25-26 (NKJV) ²⁵But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.

Praise + Prayer = POWER

²⁶ Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed.

1. Our attitude is important as we wait on God.
   2. As we see His promised help and we seek His powerful hand…it should inspire us to sing praises to His holiness!
2. Seeing
   B. Supplication
   C. Singing,
   D. Silence, ⁵For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; In the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock.

   1. It is as if in some great trial or pressure, he had found great comfort in prayer and had encouraged his heart in the hope of God’s help; then in quiet faith, casts himself upon God.
   2. Prayer has been made, and now the soul is hushed and, bowing in silence (in faith), it waits before God.
   3. Prayers are needed. They are the winged messengers to carry the need to God. But it is in the silent hour before Him, quietly waiting in His presence, that the miracle is wrought.
   4. When you are hiding, you don’t make any noise…you are completely silent.
   5. We do the praying but not the waiting. Let us not be afraid to be silent before Him, thinking it is wasted time. He does not want us to be talking all the time talking–telling Him so many things about which He already knows more than we do. Time is needed today for proper adjustment to Him, our vision properly focused, our hearts hushed, and our minds subdued.

3. Lamentations 3:26 (NKJV) It is good that one should hope and wait quietly For the salvation of the LORD.

Lamentations 3:26 It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.

1. Seeing
   B. Supplication
   C. Singing
   D. Silence
   E. Serving, Psalm 27:4 (NKJV) One thing I have desired of the LORD, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD, And to inquire in His temple.

2. Another meaning of wait, is to serve, or minister…
   2. As we wait on God, He puts a desire in our hearts to serve Him.
   3. David’s desire was to just be in the house of God and serve the Lord.

3. Seeing
   B. Supplication
   C. Singing
   D. Silence
   E. Serving,
   F. Success
   1. His Triumph
   2 When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.

   2. His Testimony
   1 The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

“Wait”
Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried
Quietly, patiently, lovingly, God replied.
I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate,
And the Master so gently said,
“Child, you must wait.”
“Wait? You say, wait!” my indignant reply.
“Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!
Is Your hand shortened?
Or have You not heard?
By Faith, I have asked and am claiming Your Word.
My future and all to which I can relate
Hangs in the balance, and
YOU tell me to WAIT?
I’m needing a ’yes’,
A go-ahead sign,
Or even a ’no’ to which I can resign.
And Lord, I’ve been asking, and this is my cry:
“I’m weary of asking! I need a reply!”
Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate. As my Master replied once again,
“You must wait.”
So, I slumped in my chair,
Defeated and taut, and grumbled to God,
“So, I’m waiting… for what?”
He seemed, then, to kneel,
And His eyes wept with mine,
And He tenderly said,
“I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens,
And darken the sun.
I could raise the dead, and
Cause mountains to run.
All you seek, I could give, and pleased you would be.
You would have what you want –
But you would never know Me.
You would not know the depth of My love for a Saint;
You’d not know the power that I give to the Faint;
You’d not learn to see through the clouds of Despair;
You’d not learn to trust just by knowing I’m there;
You’d not know the joy of resting in Me
When darkness and silence were all you could see.
You’d never experience that fullness of Love
As the peace of My Spirit descends like a Dove;
You’d know that I give and I save… for a Start
But You’d not know the depth of the beat of My Heart.
The glow of My comfort late into the Night,
The faith that I give when you walk without Sight,
The depth that’s beyond getting just what you Asked
Of an infinite God, who makes what you have LAST.
You’d never know should your pain quickly Flee,
What it means that ’My Grace is sufficient for Thee.’
Yes, your dreams for your loved one overnight would come True,
But, Oh the loss! If I lost what I’m doing in You!
So, be silent, My Child, and in time you will See
The greatest of gifts is to get to know Me.
And though oft’ may My answers seem terribly Late,
My most precious answer of all is still, ’Wait. ’”

Such wonderful blessings hang upon this one condition–to wait. Do we wait?
Are we willing to trust God to work out our troubles or will we continue to trust ourselves and make a mess?

Tony Evans “storms in the night through the valley of death, when we get in his presence, the circumstances don’t change, but we do.

Perhaps today you find yourself waiting for God …ready to throw in the towel…don’t give up now!

After all that Job went through, we see him saying in the last chapter of his book,
Job 42:1-6 (NKJV) ¹ Then 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.”

If we wait, He (GOD) will show us things we could not have learned any other way. It is up to you to give up and walk away or WAIT on THE LORD and see what He wants to show you.

As a pastor and mentor once told me when I was in the middle of one of the hardest times of my life, “When you come through this, and you will come through this, God is going to use you like you never imagined!” and He did!

Waiting Training Part 1

Psalm 27:1-14 (NKJV) A Psalm of David.

¹ The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?
² When the wicked came against me To eat up my flesh, My enemies and foes, They stumbled and fell.
³ Though an army may encamp against me, My heart shall not fear; Though war should rise against me, In this I will be confident.
⁴ One thing I have desired of the LORD, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD, And to inquire in His temple.
⁵ For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; In the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock.
⁶ And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me; Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD.
⁷ Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice! Have mercy also upon me, and answer me.
⁸ When You said, “Seek My face,” My heart said to You, “Your face, LORD, I will seek.”
⁹ Do not hide Your face from me; Do not turn Your servant away in anger; You have been my help; Do not leave me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation.
¹⁰ When my father and my mother forsake me, Then the LORD will take care of me.
¹¹ Teach me Your way, O LORD, And lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies.
¹² Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries; For false witnesses have risen against me, And such as breathe out violence.
¹³ I would have lost heart, unless I had believed That I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living.
¹⁴ Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD!

The title of this Message is – Waiting for God

How are you with patience?

Is patience difficult for you?

We must learn the art of patience if we truly want to enjoy life. It seems that there is always something we are waiting for:
Is your prayer, Lord I need patience and I need them now?

We wait in traffic, and we wait in lines at stores, restaurants, and even to go to the restroom.

We wait to hear about a job.
We wait while an automated voice goes through 1,000 options on the phone.
We wait to complete school, then we wait to retire.
We wait to grow up.
We wait for a decision to be made.
Wait…wait…wait!
We cannot escape the web of waiting!

Because of this, Patience is an essential quality of a happy life.

“Patience is a virtue,
Possess it if you can.
Found seldom in a woman,
Never in a man.”

Every day presents plenty of opportunities for this.

Many of us can relate to the great New England preacher Phillips Brooks. He was noted for his poise and quiet manner. At times, however, even he suffered moments of frustration and irritability. One day, a friend saw him feverishly pacing the floor like a caged lion. “What’s the trouble, Mr. Brooks?” he asked. “The trouble is that I’m in a hurry, but God isn’t!”

The Bible speaks often about the importance of waiting on God:

Psalm 25:5 (NKJV) Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day.

Psalm 37:7-9 (NKJV) ⁷ Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.
⁸ Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; Do not fret–it only causes harm.
⁹ For evildoers shall be cut off; But those who wait on the LORD, They shall inherit the earth.

Psalm 40:1-2 (NKJV) ¹ I waited patiently for the LORD; And He inclined to me, And heard my cry.
² He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, Out of the miry clay, And set my feet upon a rock, And established my steps.

Psalm 62:1-2 (NKJV) ¹ Truly my soul silently waits for God; From Him comes my salvation.
² He only is my rock and my salvation; *He is my defense; I shall not be greatly moved.

Psalm 130:5-6 (NKJV) ⁵ I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, And in His word I do hope.
⁶ My soul waits for the Lord More than those who watch for the morning– Yes, more than those who watch for the morning.

Isaiah 40:31 (NKJV) But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.

Micah 7:7 (NKJV) Therefore I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation; My God will hear me.

2 Thessalonians 3:5 (NKJV) Now may the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patience of Christ.

What does it mean to wait on God?
G. Campbell Morgan;
“Waiting for God is not laziness. Waiting for God is not going to sleep. Waiting for God is not the abandonment of effort. Waiting for God means;

First, be active under command; second, be ready for any new command that may come; third, have the ability to do nothing until the command is given.
The Hebrew word translated “waiting”… has likeness with a word that means “to entrench.” God works for him that entrenches himself in Him. The idea of waiting for God here is that of digging ourselves into God.
Waiting for God, then, means power to do nothing save under command. This is not a lack of power to do anything. Waiting for God needs strength rather than weakness. It is the power to do nothing. It is the strength that holds strength in check. It is the strength that prevents the blundering activity, which is entirely false, and will make the true activity impossible when the definite command comes.
Waiting is far more difficult than working. Waiting requires strength. It demands absolute surrender of life to God, the confession that we are at the end of our own understanding of things, the confession that we really do not see our way and do not know the way. The waiting that says: “Until God shall speak, we dare not move and will not move, we will not be seduced from our resolution to wait”; requires strength (The Westminster Pulpit, vol. ix, pp. 318-323).

There are times when the only hope we have, the only solution to our situation, the only cure for our condition…is to wait on God.

In Psalm 27, David was facing a situation that we can identify with:

I. His Desperation Condition

1. Fear, ¹The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?
2. Foes, ²When the wicked came against me To eat up my flesh, My enemies and foes, They stumbled and fell. then 6 and 11. Thal about my enemies; ⁶And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me; Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD.
   ¹¹ Teach me Your way, O LORD, And lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies.
3. Fight, ³Though an army may encamp against me, My heart shall not fear; Though war should rise against me, In this I will be confident.
   ⁵For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; In the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock.

   D. Failure, ⁹ Do not hide Your face from me; Do not turn Your servant away in anger; You have been my help; Do not leave me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation.

   E. Forsaken, ¹⁰ When my father and my mother forsake me, Then the LORD will take care of me.
   [When my father and my mother forsake me] Or, more literally, “For my father and my mother have forsaken me; but the Lord hath gathered me up.” My parents were my protectors for a time, but the Lord has been my Protector always. There is no time in which I do not fall under his merciful regard.

4. False Statements, ¹²Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries; For false witnesses have risen against me, And such as breathe out violence.

   G. Faint, ¹³I would have lost heart, unless I had believed That I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living.

   We find here a man at the end of his rope…he is giving out and almost ready to give up.

The answer is in next week’s final of “Wait Training.”

Getting Caught in the Rough.

In early 1997, I was running the sound for my Church and our choir. We would often go on appointments to Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee, and all over the metro Atlanta area. As the “sound man,” I was obligated to go and mix their sound.

We had a drummer, bass player, organist, and pianist. Mark, the drummer, and I shared a room for most of those appointments.

He is a golfer and was watching a new young player named Tiger Woods playing in a tournament.  Mark told me I needed to watch this guy play because he was amazing. So, I sat down and watched, and finally they got back around to him teeing off.

Whhhhisssh.  He sliced the ball, and the ball went alright, straight into the rough. I burst out laughing and said, “Yep, he’s the one to watch, alright.”

Then Mark said, “Wait.”

So, I waited, and when he got down to the ball in the thick high grass, I said, “Well, let’s see how he handles this.”

He lined up the ball with the flag, took a swing, and wow. The ball flew up and out of the rough, right onto the green and just inches from the hole. Tiger then walked up to the green and just tapped it in. Mark said something that day that has stayed with me all these years. He said,

“We all end up in the rough sometimes, but it’s how we handle it that makes us what we are.”

Sometimes we are doing the best we can do, we are doing everything right, and it looks as if God is answering every prayer we pray for others, but not hearing the ones for ourselves. Then we shank the ball, and in the rough, we sit.

Paul told the Church in Corinth:

2 Corinthians 4:17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, NKJV

Paul called it “light afflictions” check out Paul’s “light afflictions” in

2 Corinthians 11:22-29 “He said, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. From the Jews 5 times he received 39 stripes, 3 times he was beaten with rods; 1 time he was stoned; 3 times he was shipwrecked; often he said in hunger and thirst, in fasting often, in cold and nakedness… and this is “light affliction” And then he added his responsibility that comes upon him daily: “my deep concern for all the churches”. He sounds like he was in the rough. However, he kept his eyes on what was important, so how did he handle it. Look at the next verse.

2 Corinthians 4:18 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

It is not about what we get here but what we send there.

The temporary things are the things that we face here and now, and Paul said Do not let those things keep you pulled down, but look at the eternal things as he said in:

Colossians 3:2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.

Or in other words, don’t let yesterday rob you of what you can do today, and as far as tomorrow goes, keep your eyes on the goal (or flag on the green) and keep pressing toward that goal. The eternal things.

Sometimes we end up in the rough to be taught.

Peter put it this way:

1 Peter 4:12-14 Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; 13 but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.  NKJV

We all end up in the rough sometimes, but it’s how we handle it that makes us what we are. Don’t just stay there, knock that ball out, and if you don’t make it to the green, hit again, and again, and again, and again, whatever it takes. You just don’t give up.

Psalms 30:5b: …weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.

Joy is coming, and it just may be sooner than you think. Please don’t give up on God, because I promise He hasn’t given up on you!

So how are YOU going to handle the rough?

“We all end up in the rough sometimes, but it’s how we handle it, that makes us what we are.”

Sitting at the Table

I grew up in a family of hunters and fishermen (and fisherwomen, 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, and 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, as I grew older, more and more stories including me were added. My Dad would say, “Me and Dink were at Flying S, or Pine Valley, or Big Canoe fishing,” and the story would start; I started hunting, 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) 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, 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 love.

 

On July 4^th, 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 before 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 said, “When you run out of soap, get out of the tub.” In other words, when you’ve 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 John 12 after Lazarus was raised from the dead. Lazarus 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 lie 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 lying there dying that everything would turn out 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 though them being four days late, that He (Jesus) knew just what had to happen. But look what happened.

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.

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 you through them. There is a reason for them, so you can also have a story to share.

The very purpose of my book is to share a few of the stories I have.

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.”

Give Me A Man

1 Samuel 17:10 (NKJV) And the Philistine (Goliath) said, “I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.”

From day one in the Garden of Eden after man was introduced, to today, Satan has been trying to do away with God’s design of what man is to be. That is the leader and head as Christ is the Head of the Church.

Ephesians 1:20-23 (HCSB) ²⁰ He demonstrated this ⌊power⌋ in the Messiah by raising Him from the dead and seating Him at His right hand in the heavens— ²¹ far above every ruler and authority, power and dominion, and every title given, not only in this age but also in the one to come. ²² And He put everything under His feet and appointed Him as head over everything for the church, ²³ which is His body, the fullness of the One who fills all things in every way.

1 Corinthians 11:3 (HCSB)  But I want you to know that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of the woman, and God is the head of Christ.

This does not take away from the women in any way. God designed it that way, not making women less but equal with men to assist him.

From “Deep Rooted Truth,” off Instagram

Genesis 2:18 (KJV) And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.

Or as the New King James says;

Genesis 2:18 (NKJV) And the LORD God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.”

What does it mean for a wife to be a help meet?

As I looked through the lens of scripture, not the culture norms of today. Where does this word come from?

Help meet comes from the verse in Genesis 2:18, which says “it is not good that a man should be alone. I will make him help meet for him”

What is a help meet?

A help meet as a helper. In the context of Genesis 2:18 it means suitable. God acknowledges that it was not good. That man should be alone and so he created Eve as a suitable helper for him.

Origin of the word in Hebrew the word means EZER /AYZER KE-NEGDO which means helper, aid or strength. Your strengthening in someone in a way they cannot for themselves. This is not a secondary or Suv Servient role to fill.

Examples in scripture: The word EZER is used 21 times in the Old Testament. Twice in the New Testament to refer to Eve three times in reference to powerful nation of Israel called on for help when in trouble. The 16 remaining times we see the words used to describe God as our help.

God is our help. We know that God is not subordinate to his creation. He is, however, our strength, our help, and our aid in times of trouble. So the idea of an EZER – helper being inferior is baseless.

A beautiful harmony, God created woman to complement man; they fit together and work in harmony. The F-sharp key is not the same as the D, but together they work to create beautiful harmony.

Our assignment wives in the same way work together with the husband to complement him, strengthen him and his weakness and work together to bring harmony in the relationship.

The Same way the Holy Spirit is our helper not less than Jesus but the same!

John 14:26 (NKJV) But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.

So, this is not putting women down in any way, but on the contrary, it lifts them up to God’s design.

As we look at the world today, we quickly see how they are trying to do away with masculine men, telling young men to be in touch with their feminine side. We are being bombarded with television shows that are taking the lead masculine role and filling it with women. They are emasculating the men. They whip them down and will not allow them to be the leaders. The police programs now show little tiny girls taking down a big bad man. I stand six feet and weigh over 350 pounds and I doubt that I would even know if one of those little women hit me, other the less than whip me down, throw me over, and cuff me. I do not see that happening.

In the 1960s and 70’s my Uncle Dee would often visit us, I remember his after-shave lotion smell to this day. It was “Old Spice,” and the advertisements at that time made me want to wear “Old Spice” too.

The scene was a manly man returning home from the sea, walking along the coastline town, and all the women running to the doors, and windows to get a look at him. The man always had somewhat of a smile on his face. He would throw a bottle of “Old Spice” to their husbands and boyfriends.  In the 80’s their ad even said “Nothing say masculine like “Old Spice”.

Today’s ad has a big burly man sitting on a sofa with his wife, girlfriend, or significant other, whatever the case may be. And we see the wimp sitting there crying because the girl has used his body wash and bragged about how it makes him smooth and soft and she was using it up. How right he is SOFT. I do not want anything that is going to make me a blubbering idiot because I do not feel smooth like a little girl. Give me a break.

They even have one commercial in which he comes into a hotel restaurant and wants to know who used his body wash. When all three of the women sitting at the table start saying how good it is and passing it around, he grabs it from the last one takes some of her food, and storms off. Does this make me want some of that sissy stuff, I think not!

We are seeing the demise of masculinity daily, at first little by little. But now with boldness. The world today is doing its best to remove the man and his role in the workplace, the home, and even the local Church.

We need men. Men of God, and to be a Man of God, one must be a Man of prayer. E.M. Bounds, in his book “Power Through Prayer,” one section says this;

Men of Prayer Are Needed

“WE are constantly on a stretch, if not on a strain, to devise new methods, new plans, new organizations to advance the church and secure enlargement and efficiency for the gospel. This trend of the day tends to lose sight of the man or sink the man in the plan or organization. God’s plan is to make much of the man, far more of him than of anything else. Men are God’s method. The church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men. “There was a man sent from God whose name was John.” The dispensation that heralded and prepared the way for Christ was bound up in that man John. “Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given.” The world’s salvation comes out of that cradled son…. This vital, urgent truth is one that this age of machinery is apt to for-get. The forgetting of it is as baneful on the work of God as would be the striking of the sun from his sphere. Darkness, confusion, and death would ensue.

What the church needs today is not more machinery or better, not new organizations or more and novel methods, but men whom the Holy Spirit can use, men of prayer, men mighty in prayer. The Holy Spirit does not flow through methods, but through men. He does not come on machinery, but on men. He does not anoint plans, but men, men of prayer.”

We need not just Men but Men of God!

What does it mean to be a man of God? This term is common in the Old Testament, but very rare in the New Testament. In the Old Testament, it is used to refer to prophets’ examples such as Samuel, 1 Sam. 9:6: Shemaiah of l Kings 12:22; Elijah in 1King 17;18; then we see Elisha, 2 Kings 4, Next Igdaliah, in Jeremiah 35:4. We also see the writers of Scripture such as Moses: Deuteronomy 33:1; David, in Nehemiah 12:24,36); We also see angelic messengers (Judg. 13:6,7). In all these cases, “man of God” refers to someone who is sent by God to speak for Him.

In the New Testament, “man of God” is used once to refer to Old Testament prophets 2 Peter 1:21, once in a general sense 2 Timothy 3:16, 17, and only once specifically to an individual. This individual is Timothy. In 1 Timothy 6:11-16, Paul addresses Timothy as a “Man of God.” 1 Timothy 6:11-16 (NKJV) ¹¹ But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. ¹² Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. ¹³ I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate, ¹⁴ that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing, ¹⁵ which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, ¹⁶ who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.

I believe it was John MacArthur who said:

Why should Timothy be singled out as the only man in the New Testament to be called a man of God?

First, in the tradition of the Old Testament men of God, he was one: Who was called by God to proclaim His word (2 Tim. 1:6).

Second, Timothy had been sent by Paul through the Holy Spirit to minister in Ephesus, in a very difficult and challenging situation: Paul called Timothy a “man, of God” – in order to remind him of the awesome responsibility he bore to safeguard the truth against the false teachers in Ephesus, and also to encourage him with the reminder that he belonged to God, and therefore God was standing with him in his trials.

(1) A man of God is known by what he flees from. Verse 11, “But you, O man of God, flee these things…” What things?

1 Timothy 6:9-10 (NKJV) ⁹ But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. ¹⁰ For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

(2). A man of God is known by what he follows after. Verse 11 “…pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness

(3)  A man of God is known for what he fights for. Verse 12 “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”

(4) A man of God is known by what he is faithful to. Verse 13 and 14. “¹³ I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate, ¹⁴ that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing,”

This is an excellent practical outline for every man of God who is called to speak divine truth.

The problem is we do not even have “The Man of God” in the modern Church today, now we are seeing even in the Churches a falling away of masculinity all in the name of getting along and coexisting with this failing world system. The Church now has Pastors who wear pink and purple pastels, and have man buns and ponytails and makeup. They are more concerned with the paint colors of the interior and exterior building rather than the fact that the Church is dying under their so-called leadership. And we as Christians are called to do the very opposite of that.

2 Corinthians 6:16-18 (NKJV)
¹⁶ And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people.” ¹⁷ Therefore “Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.” ¹⁸ “I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the LORD Almighty.”

We are to set the example, not play “follow the leader” if the leader is the world.

We need to choose the right path and be the manly man that people will follow. I remember a Pastor in a weekend retreat I was working at saying. “If you are the leader and you turn around and no one is following, then you are just a man going for a walk.” Not a leader.

The Former Pastor of the Church that I was raised in, Pastor Ben Turner, was a Man’s Man. A real leader. If he asked you to do something like stucco the wall outside the foyer. He was there plastering the wall with my Dad while I, a 15-year-old kid, mixed the cement and brought it up for him as they did the work. The leader gets his hands dirty.  I saw him day after day nailing up stain-grade oak with my Dad. Or putting up the ceiling grid and the tiles again with my Dad, as I was cutting the tiles as they installed them. Not sitting high and mighty in the pulpit, just telling people what to do and never doing anything but spending the money that he did not sacrifice for. We did not hire the work out; we did the work with our own hands. I would have followed Ben Turner anywhere he asked. I would have fought and died for him. Pastor Ben Turner was a leader; the other guys who do not measure up to the standard of being a “Man of God” are just a “man going for a walk.”

Charlie Kirk @charliekirk11 on Instagram says:

“The Church has become too feminine.

We need stronger men who fear God and have the courage to do what’s right, even when the media and their peers criticize and attack them, especially then.

Nearly every societal ill in our era is connected to this single issue.”

My Home Church in the late 1980s and into the 1990s had middle school and up classes, all of which were taught by Men of God. Every class from middle school and up had Preachers as the teachers. No quarterly, no prewritten lesson, each man sought God for guidance just as if they were pastoring their own little Church. And it worked extremely well. When I was asked to be an assistant teacher, it was under a minister in the college career and young married class. The teacher was a firefighter and was gone every three weeks. I had to prepare a lesson then, as I do to this day. By searching out God’s leadership. The best seminary I could have received.

The Church had men as ushers, men ran the sound system, men played the instruments, and men did whatever repairs and upkeep on the Church as it was needed. We built the very building from the flooring to the Sheetrock ceilings. Me and my business partner painted the foyer, sanctuary, and baptistry with two coats in one evening. Now they must pay a person to take a week to just paint one hallway. Oh, how we need men to step up and get in the fight.

Men have a choice to make, either we will be the Man that Goliath is calling for and prepared for the battle against Satan. That is the man God wants us to be, or we can be what is being sold by the world today as a wimpy, watered-down version of a man.

Without the Men in the Church leading, the Church will fall; it has been proven over and over. The same is true for the family. Without the Godly influence of the Man in a family, in most cases, it will fall. And in all cases, it makes a difference. We see across America, 2022 data indicate there are approximately 18.3 million children who live without a father in the home, comprising about 1 in 4 US children.

About 80% of single-parent homes are led by single mothers.

Children from single-parent families are twice as likely to suffer from mental health and behavioral problems as those living with married parents.

Children with an actively engaged father perform much better in school, some data shows that they are 33% less likely to repeat a class and 43% more likely to get A’s in school.

In a study of 56 school shootings, only 10 of the shooters (18%) were raised in a stable home with both biological parents. Eighty-two percent grew up in either an unstable family environment or grew up without both biological parents together.

So, we see not only Goliath’s call for a man but also every fatherless child.

63% of youth suicides come from a fatherless home,

90% of all homeless and runaway children come from a fatherless home,

85% of all children exhibiting behavioral disorders come from a fatherless home,

80% of rapists motivated by displaced anger come from a fatherless home,

71% of all high school dropouts come from a fatherless home,

70% of juveniles in state-operated institutions come from a fatherless home,

85% of all youths sitting in prisons come from a fatherless home.

Do men matter? YES, now more than ever.

I saw the following stats on Facebook and it makes the point of how important the masculine Fathers is in converting the family to following Christ. When you convert the dad in most cases you get the whole family. With the dad first a 93% chance of the whole family. With the mom, it drops to 17%, and with the children first, it is down to 3.5%.

Not only does the Church need men, real men. The family needs them just as much. As Tony Evans says, “The Church is made up of families.”

Children raised without a dad at home;

Black Families:     64%

Latino Families:    42%

White Families:     24%

Asian Families:     16%

Instead of whining 24/7 about imaginary racism, this is the real crisis that needs addressing.

And without the dads, the family is NOT a God-designed family.

We have a choice to make, one of the most masculine men in movies is Clint Eastwood. And one of my favorite films is “The Outlaw Josey Wales,” in one of the later scenes, Josey (Clint Eastwood) meets up with the Comanche Chief Ten Bears (Will Sampson). We see Josey as he meets with Ten Bears to negotiate a truce:

Josey Wales:
You’ll be Ten Bears?

Ten Bears:
I AM Ten Bears.

Josey Wales:
I’m Josey Wales.

Ten Bears:
I have heard. You are the Grey Rider. You would not make peace with the Bluecoats. You may go in peace.

Josey Wales:
I reckon not. Got no place else to go

Ten Bears:
Then you will die.

Josey Wales:
I came here to die with you. Or live with you. Dying ain’t so hard for men like you and me. It’s living that’s hard when all you’ve ever cared about has been butchered or raped. Governments don’t live together–people live together. With governments, you don’t always get a fair word or a fair fight. Well, I’ve come here to give you either one or get either one from you. I came here like this so you’ll know my word of death is true, and my word of life is then true. The bear lives here, the wolf, the antelope, the Comanche. And so will we. Now we’ll only hunt what we need to live on, same as the Comanche does. And every spring, when the grass turns green, and the Comanche moves north, you can rest here in peace, butcher some of our cattle, and jerk beef for the journey. The sign of the Comanche, that will be on our lodge. That’s my word of life.

Ten Bears:
And your word of death?

Josey Wales:
It’s here in my pistols and there in your rifles. I’m here for either one.

Ten Bears:
These things you say we will have, we already have.

Josey Wales:
That’s true. I ain’t promising you nothing extra. I’m just giving you life and you’re giving me life. And I’m saying that men can live together without butchering one another.

Ten Bears:
It’s sad that governments are chiefed by the double tongues. There is iron in your words of death for all Comanche to see, and so there is iron in your words of life. No signed paper can hold the iron. It must come from men. The words of Ten Bears carries the same iron of life and death. It is good that warriors such as we meet in the struggle of life… or death. It shall be life. [Draws his knife and cuts his palm, and Josey does likewise. They then grasp hands with each other, becoming blood brothers] So will it be.

Josey Wales:
I reckon so.

What choice do you make as a man? Do you choose life or death?

Alistair Begg. Says it this way: “God’s word is the key by way of the invitation that comes. “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever.” The instrument that God uses is His word so that we might come with faith, you see, because when I teach the Bible to you, it either becomes an instrument of life or becomes an instrument of death. Either we receive it and then enter life, or we reject and we continue perishing.”

Hebrews 4:12 (NKJV) For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

I chose Life!

So now, Men, you have a choice to make: you either will choose “Life” to be a “Man of God” or you can choose “death”, the way of the world. And that is the way Satan is leading the man to go.

For me;

“It shall be life.”

From “More to Ponder.” my next book

“How To Pop the Top”

I finished this chapter exactly 36 years to the day after I prayed a Prayer, something like those listed here.

Last time, we looked at “Pop the Top.” Now I want to show you how to do just that. The Word of God tells us, through the Apostle John, that this is undoubtedly the most quoted verse in the Bible. But I am asking you to personalize the verse, because it was recorded in Scripture for you.

John 3:15-18 That if I believe in Him (Jesus), I should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved me that He gave His only begotten Son, that if I believe in Him, I should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son to me to condemn me, but that I through Him might be saved. If I believe in Him (Jesus), I am not condemned; but if I do not believe, I am already condemned, because I have not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

These verses are part of a conversation with a man named Nicodemus. We read in the writings of John the Apostle;

John 3:1-21 (NKJV) ¹ There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. ² This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” ³ Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” ⁴ Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” ⁵ Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. ⁶ That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. ⁷ Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ ⁸ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” ⁹ Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?” ¹⁰ Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? ¹¹ Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. ¹² If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? ¹³ No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. ¹⁴ And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 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. ¹⁸ He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. ¹⁹ And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. ²⁰ For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.
²¹ But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

As Jesus said, ‘You must be born again.’ Have a new life! Pop the Top and drink the contents.

There is no other way, Jesus is the only way;

John 14:6 “I am the way, the truth, and the life:
no man comes to the Father but by me.”

 

The way to heaven is through Jesus Christ

What must you do to be saved?

We must believe that Jesus died for our sins. We must accept Jesus, that He forgave our sins. He lived a sinless life, died on Calvary’s cross, rose from the dead three days later, and then some days later He ascended into heaven and sits at God the Father’s right hand interceding for us.

When Jesus is your Lord, you seek to make decisions based on the Bible
which is God’s Word.

Here are some examples of what is called the Sinner’s Prayer, saying these words WILL NOT SAVE YOU!!! But “Pop the Top” and make Christ Jesus your Savior will.
Here is the way to “Pop the Top.” And once you “Pop the Top,” drink it in and make it a part of your life. Again, these are just examples of what you might want to try to say.

The Sinner’s Prayer in Scripture

The Sinner’s Prayer is a prayer that is said when someone seeks to repent of their sin, accept God’s forgiveness, and state their belief in the life, death, and saving resurrection of Jesus Christ. The sinner’s prayer is sometimes also known as the “salvation prayer” or “Consecration Prayer.” In scripture, there is a reference to a process of repentance, faith, and salvation in the book of Romans. And we will see the “Roman Road.” In just a moment.

A Prayer for Salvation
A Prayer to Accept Jesus as Savior

Dear Heavenly Father,

I believe that Jesus died for me.

I believe that Jesus paid for my sins on the cross.

I believe that Jesus rose from the dead.

I ask you to forgive me of my sins. I ask you to wash me clean of all sin.

I put my faith and trust in Jesus as my only hope for living eternally with you in heaven.

I ask Jesus to be my Savior and my Lord. I want to live my life for Christ.

I understand that my salvation is not based on my works but on the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.

Thank you for saving me!

Amen!

 

Father God, I am a sinner, and I ask you to forgive me, and I accept that all sins are already forgiven. I believe your Son, Christ Jesus, died and then rose to live again so I might be forgiven. I now receive and confess him as my Lord and Savior. Amen

1 John 3:5 (NIV)
⁵ But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin.

1 John 3:5 (HCSB)
⁵ You know that He was revealed so that He might take away sins, and there is no sin in Him.

1 John 3:5 (NKJV)
⁵ And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin.

PRAYER

Three ways that we Pray, I believe every prayer falls into one of these categories

• Prayer of Penance and acceptance; (Salvation) Repent, turn 180 degrees. Confession (acknowledge you have sinned) = verb: feel or express sincere regret or remorse about one’s wrongdoing or sin.
• Prayer of Petition: Asking for something.
• Prayer of Praise. Adoration (Thanking Him for who He is), Thanksgiving (Thanking Him for what He has done)

 

• Prayer of Penance and acceptance; (Salvation)

This is what we have to start with, without the “Prayer of Penance,” we don’t get through to God in Christ Jesus.

pen·ance /ˈpenəns/ noun. = A voluntary outward expression of repentance for having done wrong:

Again, “The Sinner’s Prayer” is a Christian name relating to any prayer of repentance, prayed by individuals who believe convicted of the presence of sin in their lives and have the desire to establish or renew a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul wrote in the book of Romans in the Bible what is called the Romans Road. Going down this road will lead you to Christ.

The “Romans” Road to the Gospel of Jesus Christ

The Problem of Sin

Romans 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…”

The Wages of Sin

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

Romans 6:23a “For the wages of sin is death…”

The Love of God

Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

The Free Gift of Salvation

Romans 6:23b “But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Accepting the Free Gift

Romans 10:9 & 13 “That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

For whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.

Millions, if not billions, have established a saving relationship with Jesus Christ through Church services, friends, and family guiding them in a prayer for salvation. However, it is not solely the words in a prayer that save us eternally. We are “justified by faith” in Jesus and saved by our genuine belief in Him.

It is what we examined in the last installment. “Pop The Top.”

Far more than just saying words, it is making Jesus a part of us with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

James David “J.D.” Greear is an American Baptist pastor. He is the pastor of The Summit Church in Durham, North Carolina. He describes it well –

“It’s not the prayer that saves; it’s the repentance and faith behind the prayer that lays hold of salvation. My concern is that over-emphasizing the prayer has often (though unintentionally) obscured the primary instruments for laying hold of salvation: repentance and faith.”

Here are some more “Sinner’s Prayer” Examples

A Simple Sinner’s Prayer

Dear God in heaven, I come to you in the name of Jesus. I acknowledge to You that I am a sinner, and I am sorry for my sins and the life that I have lived; I need your forgiveness.

I believe that your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, shed His precious blood on the cross at Calvary and died for my sins, and I am now willing to turn from my sin.

You said in the bible that if we confess the Lord our God and believe in our hearts that God raised Jesus from the dead, we shall be saved.

Right now, I confess Jesus as my Lord. With my heart, I believe that God raised Jesus from the dead. This very moment I accept Jesus Christ as my own personal Savior and according to His Word, right now I am saved. Amen.

Prayer of Salvation

Dear Lord, I admit that I am a sinner and have done many things that do not please you. I have lived my life for myself only. I am sorry, and I repent. I ask you to forgive me.

I believe that you died on the cross for me, to save me. You did what I could not do for myself. I come to you now and ask you to take control of my life; I give it to you. From this day forward, help me to live every day for you and in a way that pleases you.

I love you, Lord, and I thank you that I will spend all eternity with you. Amen.

Sinner’s Prayer for Children

Jesus – I know that you made me and want me to obey you with all my heart. I know I have disobeyed and wanted to be my boss. I have thought and done things against your directions. For this, I am sorry. I know that you gave up your life to save me from these sins and make me your child again. I accept your promises and ask you to please save me now and forever. Amen.

Or

All you must do is Pray and say something like this, but in your own words.

“God, thank you for sending Jesus to take my place and forgiving me of my wrong doings, so please I accept that forgiveness and help me to live a better life, so He won’t have so much more to pay for, and come and live in my heart, so I can be with you in Heaven someday, Amen””.

Sinner’s Prayer from Scripture

“Have mercy on me, O God,
according to Your unfailing love;
according to Your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.
For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
Against You, You only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in Your sight,
so that You are proved right when You speak
and justified when You judge.
Surely I have been a sinner from birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me…
Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me and I will be whiter than snow…
Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me from Your presence
or take Your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of Your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me.
Then will I teach transgressors Your ways,
and sinners will turn back to You.”

– (Psalm 51, King David)

 

The Sinner’s Prayer (by Dr. Ray Pritchard)

Lord Jesus, for too long I’ve kept you out of my life. I know that I am a sinner and that I cannot save myself. No longer will I close the door when I hear you knocking. By faith, I gratefully receive your gift of salvation. I am ready to trust you as my Lord and Savior. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for coming to earth. I believe you are the Son of God who died on the cross for my sins and rose from the dead on the third day. Thank you for bearing my sins and giving me the gift of eternal life. I believe your words are true. Come into my heart, Lord Jesus, and be my Savior. Amen.

I pray that the one reading this does as the scripture says and follows after

Christ Jesus and Pops the Top, and just drinks it in.

It is just that simple.

 

Pop the Top

Years ago, while visiting my Grandmother in Cobb Hospital, and watched her mentally and physically slowly leave us through Alzheimer’s over the years. One particular time, as she was there and the news got out, we saw different family members gathered to visit her and comfort her through this one of many stays.

As I arrived, I saw that my Mother was already there with several cousins and other family members. My Grandmother was having a pretty good day, so as I entered the room, she looked at me and asked who I was. I replied, DeWayne, and I could see the look of confusion on her face, so I added what most of my close and immediate family referred to me as, and that was Dinky.  She then smiled and said You are one of Littlelynn’s boys, right? Littlelynn (Little-one) is what she called my mother, and that is another story for another day.  I told her she was right and just sat and listened as different people came and went that day.

As I observed the counteraction with different people, I saw that she was enjoying the attention, and then someone asked her how she was doing. The answer was “I am doing great; I don’t understand why I am in here, I want to go home”. I asked her if she wanted to go fishing with me, and her reply was “Let’s go!” after a few moments of hearing how good she was doing my cousin Ricky came in and joined in on telling her we were going to get her up and take her with us to the lake. She was all for it, and she was as sprite and active as could be.

Then just like that, things changed, the Doctor walked in and said, “How are you doing today, Mrs. Jarrell’s?” and then her response was, in a weak, sad voice, “I’m not doing good at all. I feel terrible.” As she lay back and closed her eyes, as if she had no strength to even speak. And then, I tried to encourage her and play with her. I said, “Awe, that’s not what you were saying a moment ago, you said you didn’t see any reason why you are in here and you felt good enough to go fishing with me and Rick.” In which that didn’t go over to well with her, she sat up in that bed and said in an angry voice, “You ain’t purdy (pretty) you ain’t purdy at all, if I could get out of this bed I would…,” and at that time my Mother said get out and get out now! Rick was laughing, and she didn’t seem to care for that either, so he said Hold up, Cuz I’m going with you.

So, down we went to the break room.

After standing in a pulpit in several Churches for over 30 years, you get where you can detect conviction on people’s faces. I remember when I was in Church as a child. Usually bored to tears and ready to go home or anywhere except sitting in that Church. That the preacher would finally wind down, and the song leader would come up and start the invitation. Sometimes I wanted out because I had other things I would rather be doing, and other times it was because I was under so much conviction that I wanted out, and I wanted NOW!

When a preacher says Let us sing just one more verse, there is a reason and usually an excellent reason, and that is that they see something that you don’t. What we see is someone standing there holding the seat in front of them so tightly that their knuckles are white. They are hoping to get out of that Church, and to get out NOW. The Holy Spirit has come down, and the spirit of conviction is on their face. We as preachers, see this, and we want to give them every chance we can for them to move. This could be the last time for them to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior. So, just one more verse. When you hear that, I ask you to please start praying for the ones hearing that invitation.

Back to the elevator ride down to the break room. I am extremely claustrophobic, and so when I get on an elevator and the doors close, I usually start talking to get my mind off the fact that I am in a little room and the doors just closed and everyone is breathing up all my oxygen. The thing that I normally start talking about is the Bible and what Jesus means to me. That day was no different. It works as a fantastic evangelistic tool because the ones in there with you have nowhere to go, so you have only a few seconds to present the gospel.

This was one of those occasions, except the conviction I saw this day in that elevator was on my cousin’s face. Ricky was more like a brother to me than a cousin. Years ago, when his mother was pregnant with Ricky’s little brother Steve, and he was born, they brought him home and showed him to Ricky, and said Here is your little brother. Rick told him he didn’t want him; he wanted Dinky for a brother. As I said, we are close.

Now we have made it to the break room, and Rick started asking questions about being “Saved.” So, I told him all he had to do was ask the Lord to come into his heart in the form of The Holy Spirit, Accept the forgiveness of his sins, and Believe that God has giving him the gift of Salvation through Jesus Christ, who paid the price for the forgiveness of those sins. He said that he wasn’t sure about all this stuff. He, like me, was raised in church, he has seen how some people are on fire one week and gone the next, and he said he didn’t want to be like that. I said I didn’t want him to be like that either. I wanted him to be like Jesus, not people. He then asked How do you do that? How do you accept salvation?

We were standing in front of a Coke machine, and I had just dropped two quarters in and asked what he wanted. He said a Coke, I pressed the Coke button, and down it came. And the Spirit of God did also. At that moment, God gave me an example to share with Rick. I reached and got the Coke and said This is Salvation, this is a gift from me to you, I paid the price and it cost you nothing, all you have to do is reach out and take it. I held it out to him, and he reached out and took the Coke from my hand. Then he said Is that all there is to Salvation? I just have to take it?

He like most would think that I would have said yes and all would be well. But I didn’t, instead I reached and snatched the can back from him and said, Nope, see I took it back, this is where God showed up, and I said a lot of people think just saying words gets them Saved, but there is more to it than that. I then popped the top of the drink and handed it back to him and said Now drink that. He took a few swallows, and I said, “That is Salvation.” You have to make Christ a part of you, you have to invite Him into your life.

When he was just holding the can of Coke, anyone could do as I did and take it away from him, but now that he drank the Coke, it is now and forever a part of him, and there is nothing I or anyone else could do to get that out of him. That is Salvation, making Jesus Christ a part of you by Believing in the price that was paid by the Father, through the Son, by indwelling you with the Holy Spirit. That is “SALVATION.”

We need to do as Christ said for us to do, after feeding the thousands with a kid’s sack lunch of two pieces of fish and five little biscuits. And then miraculously walked on water, and then tells the ones that followed after another meal that they have to take Him in them through the eating of His flesh and drinking His blood. Take His character, take His Love, take what he is holding out and giving to you freely, all you have to do is accept it. It is not about asking for forgiveness, it’s about accepting the fact that you are already forgiven.

Feeding the Five Thousand

John 6:1 After these things Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. 2 Then a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His signs which He performed on those who were diseased.  3 And Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat with His disciples.

4 Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near. 5 Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?”  6 But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do.

7 Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little.”

8 One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, 9 “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?”

10 Then Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. 11 And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted. 12 So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost.”  13 Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten. 14 Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.” NKJV

Then we see Jesus Walks on the Sea and then He speaks about being The Bread from Heaven

John 6:22 On the following day, when the people who were standing on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, except that one which His disciples had entered, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with His disciples, but His disciples had gone away alone —  23 however, other boats came from Tiberias, near the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks —  24 when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they also got into boats and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. 25 And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi, when did You come here?”

26 Jesus answered them and said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.  27 Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.”

28 Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?”

29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”

30 Therefore they said to Him, “What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do? 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'”

32 Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven.  33 For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

But we saw in this story that Jesus is foretelling the last supper, and then we can see that in Matthew:

Jesus Institutes the Lord’s Supper

Matthew 26:26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”

27 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you.  28 For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.  29 But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”

30 And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. NKJV

It is reemphasized in First Corinthians:

Institution of the Lord’s Supper

1 Corinthians 11:23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”  25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”

26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.  NKJV

 

I believe that many of the people who are sitting in the “Church” building today have taken the can and never popped the top. We, the preachers and teachers, sometimes do a poor job of letting them know that just saying words are not the same as having a drawing of the Holy Spirit of God.

We sometimes just say to repeat after me, and they say words, and there is no repentance and confession of being a sinner. We have a gift of salvation given to us, but we have to accept the gift of forgiveness. We don’t have to ask for it, it is already ours, all we have to do is Believe!!! The Bible is clear that all sins were and are, and are going to be forgiven. It is not about forgiveness, again, it’s about accepting that forgiveness, or popping the top and drinking it in.

We must take the Bread and eat, “His Body.” Taking the “Bread of Life” and letting it nourish us;

John 6:35-59 (NKJV) 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…
⁴⁰ And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”…
⁴⁷ Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. ⁴⁸ I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹ Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. ⁵⁰ This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die.
⁵¹ I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.” ⁵² The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?” ⁵³ Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. ⁵⁴ Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. ⁵⁵ For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. ⁵⁶ He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. ⁵⁷ As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. ⁵⁸ This is the bread which came down from heaven–not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.”
⁵⁹ These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.

We also see that Jesus said we must take the Cup and drink, “His Blood.” Take the “Cup,” The Living Water, and quench the everlasting thirst. As we see when Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman at the well, He said;

John 4:10 (NKJV) Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”…John 4:14 (NKJV) “but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”

Accept that “Forgiveness,” like when I offered Ricky the Can of Coke, is like saying the words, but when you pop the top and take it in, no one, and I mean no one, can take it away from you then. That is accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior. And then you will see that there is nowhere else to go, as Peter said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also, we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And if not, then we see as the students of Jesus did.

Many Disciples Turn Away

John 6:60 Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, “This is a hard saying; who can understand it?”

61 When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, “Does this offend you?  62 What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before?  63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.  64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him. 65 And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.”

66 From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. 67 Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?”

68 But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

70 Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?”  71 He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve.   NKJV

I always find it amazing that our Lord lets those wanting to leave, leave. He offered the can and all they had to do was pop the top, but they chose to leave, they chose to walk away, and He let them walk away, and then He even asked His disciples if they too were going to leave. It was so freeing as a minister to see 1 out of the 12 that walked with Jesus, knowing that he saw the same thing as the others, but that one chose not to pop the top. It took me years to understand that you will not reach them all. The bottom line is the hearer’s choice to accept or walk away. And Jesus let him do just that, walk away, and even betray him.

Never does the scripture after the Death, Burial, and Resurrection say that we have to ask for forgiveness; it says that we need to accept His forgiveness.

Confession, admitting that we are sinners and need to accept the forgiveness.

1 John 1:7-10 (NKJV)
⁷ But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. ⁸ If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.

And then we need repentance, to turn from the way that we were living and follow Christ and Him crucified for the remission of our wrong doings, “sin”.

Luke 5:31 Jesus answered and said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”  NKJV

Luke 24:47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. NKJV

Acts 26:20 but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance. NKJV

2 Cor 7:9 Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. 10 For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. NKJV

God is giving everyone more time to come to repentance.

2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. NKJV

Rick later accepted Christ and even went on to be a minister of the same Gospel I tried to share with him that day. Because he not only took the can, He popped the top, drank it down, and tried to get as many as he could to also “Pop the Top.”

The gift has been given. The can is in your hand.

All you must do is.

Pop the Top.

Up next week: “How to Pop the Top.”

“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 am the one who has control. I am the one digging up bones. And I am the one exhuming things that are 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 heartfelt burdens and your petitions or requests) 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” comes from, the “God of peace.”

June 15, 1989, at my home Church in Powder Springs, Georgia, around 7:00 pm, 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 had said I was raised in Church, we were usually the first ones there and the last to leave and I had helped build the very building we were sitting in.

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

The day before this, I felt as if 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 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.