Monthly Archives: October 2013

Are You Drifting? 5

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Hebrews 2:1, “Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.”

Today we will try to wrap up the series on “Are You Drifting?”  I want to look at the last truth.  Drifting ends in shipwreck.  We all know people that have let themselves drift and the effects are devastating.  We too often life life for the now and we don’t think past the end of our nose.  This leads to shipwreck.

Some signs of drifting are a diminishing desire for the things of God.

  • Diminished desire for God’s Word
  • Diminished desire for God’s Work
  • Diminished desire for God’s House
  • Diminished desire for God’s Help
  • Diminished desire for God’s People
  • Diminished desire for God’s Presence

These are just a few things that came to my mind.  The list is much longer actually.

Now that we have the signs and symptoms of drifting, how do we remedy it.

  • Keep growing in the LORD
  • Keep glowing in your testimony
  • Keep going for the glory of God
  • Keep an eye out for undercurrents
  • Keep going against the tide
  • Keep a hold on your Anchor, Jesus Christ
  • Keep a hope that is unshakeable

So, how are you doing?

 

 

Are You Drifting? 4

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Hebrews 2:1, “Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.”

Drifting not only effects you; but, it effects others also. You have heard me say that one of my favorite photographs that I have taken is of a fishing bobber that I lost.  As the waves from the lake came by it cause the bobber to move up and down.  This cause waves in different directions.

Why do we think that we can sin and not effect others.  God tells us in His Word that it will (Exodus 20:5).  We seem to think that we are different.  We can handle it.  It will not effect us like it effects other people.  We are “super people”.  Wrong!

Sin effects everyone around us.  God to a calm pond or pool of water and throw a rock into it.  What is the effect.  There are beautiful rings that form and move away from the strike zone in beautiful patterns.  Your sin and my sin is the same way.  When we commit sin it leaves aftereffects that go on and on.  Sin can be forgiven; but, there are still consequences.  It is high time that we stop sowing our wild oats and praying for crop failure.  It will not work.

So, how are you doing?

Drifting ends in shipwreck.

Are You Drifting? 3

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Hebrews 2:1, “Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.”

The next truth about drifting should scare the stuffing out of us all.  Here it is.  By the time you hear the waterfalls it is too late. How many times have you watched some movie and someone is drifting along and then you hear the sound of the falls.  I had the pleasure of going to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan at the beginning of the month.  We photographed many beautiful places.  The one place I remember the most was the Taquahmanan falls.  I took a video of the falls.  The water was cascading and unbelievable gallons per hour.  The thing I remember the most is the sound of those falls.  It sounded even more majestic and powerful then they truly were.  Many people were captivated by them.

In a tourist situation the sound of the falls is a beautiful and relaxing sound.  When you are in a boat on the water the sound is far different.  As I write this my heart sinks just thinking about it.  Life has seen many casualties because they drifted and when they heard the sound of the falls it was too late.

So, how are you doing?

Are You Drifting? 2

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Hebrews 2:1, “Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.”

The next thought about drifting is that drifting will increase your speed. A number of times in my life I have heard someone say, “Where has the time gone?”  Time seems to fly by.  Well, it seems that the speed of life increases with age.  It is the same with drifting.  One moment you are drifting along through life and the next moment you are caught in a life threatening current.  You are caught in a current that is moving too fast.

Now, you are not simply drifting down the river.  You are now moving very fast down the river.  You have exceeded your skill level.  You are in uncharted territory.  The scene goes by so fast that you cannot identify where you are any longer.  This is a dangerous and scary place to be.

All you can do is try to throw out some kind of anchor.  Maybe you can try to work your way over to the shore.  You are yearning for the shore now.  You are seeking terra firma.  You work and work to get to the shore.  You are moving still faster.

Well, you need to depend upon the One who calls Himself our Anchor.  You need to call out to the LORD and let Him rescue you before you capsize and you drown.

So, how are you doing?

Are You Drifting? 1

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Hebrews 2:1, “Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.”

The next truth about drifting is that you never drift upstream.  There is a current that will carry you if you do like we talked about yesterday.  If you do not paddle the boat then the current will carry you downstream.  This may be where you intend to go; but, the current is now in control.

Some people are so lazy that they do not like to be in control.  They are happy to just be in the boat and on the river.  Yet, this is a dangerous attitude to have in life.  One day you will look up and wonder how you got where you are at.  Guess what?  It is your fault.  You have drifted here.  We need to be like salmon and run upstream against the world, the flesh and the devil.  These are our enemies.  We must resist them.  We must resist drifting.

There is an old saying, “Good things come to those who wait.”  I understand the thought here about being long suffering about things.  However, when it comes to the Christian life we need to be yielded to the Holy Spirit and let Him lead and guide us.  This will keep us from drifting.

So, how are you doing?

Are You Drifting?

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On October 14, 2013 I shared a post on “The Dangers Of Drifting”.  I fully intended that to be the first post in a series on “Drifting”.  I learned a long time ago to not force things that will not go.  So, we will begin today a series on the thought “Are You Drifting?”

Look at Hebrews 2:1, “Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.”  The word “let” means to run out as leaking vessels.

First I would like to look at the truth if you are not paddling the boat then you are drifting. Far too many people in life just want to coast along.  This does not work in life.  You have to put forth effort.  If you do not put forth any effort then you are aimlessly drifting.  This is a bad thing.  Drifting is an unconscious process.

Jesus never teaches in the Word of God to “go with the flow”.  As a matter of fact, He teaches quite the opposite.  To a lost and dying world we look odd or different.  We should look different, talk different, act different and we should be different.  Christianity is not a religion of being a chameleon.  We cannot just change our colors so to speak to blend in with the crowd.

The Christian life is a life of effort.  Drifting takes no effort.  It takes work to pray, to share the Gospel, to attend Church and the list goes on and on.  In no way do we work to be saved.  We work because we are saved.  So, if you are moving downstream in the Christian life and you are not paddling, you are dangerously drifting.

So, how are you doing?

 

Secret Place 6

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Today will be our last installment of our series on “The Secret Place”.  What I want to focus on today is “The Secret Place Of Sharing The Gospel”.  Look at Luke 11:33, “No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light.”

The phrase “secret place” in our text today can be translated a hidden place, i.e. cellar (“crypt”).  The word “crypt” jumped out at me.  I guess because it is where we put dead people.  Yet, when we suppress the Truth by not sharing the Gospel with others we are putting that truth in a “crypt” so to speak.  We put the Light out.

As we are living in such dark days we should find it easy to share the Gospel with others.  There is coming a day when it will be illegal to share your faith so you and I had better get busy sharing now.

When they come to take you to the stocks or to jail for sharing your faith are you prepared?  We need to be so full of Christ that when they come we can be like the Apostle Paul and just see it as another step in the ministry.  We cannot cower down in fear.  We must take the Light of the Gospel and go to the ends of the earth.

Don’t stand before God having put the Gospel in a “crypt” and not shared it with those around you.  We will give account one day and I think we will all be sorry that we could have done me for the cause of Christ.  I know that I could do more.  God help each and every one of us to do more.  Maybe it would be do something.

So, how are you doing?

Secret Place 5

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Today we will look at a subject that not many Christians care to talk about.  “The Secret Place Of Separation”.  You know that I do not compete in a popularity contest and so I do address the unpopular subjects from time to time.  Well, here is one.

Look at Ezekiel 7:22, “My face will I turn also from them, and they shall pollute my secret place: for the robbers shall enter into it, and defile it.”   The words “secret place” here means to hide (by covering over); by implication, to hoard or reserve; figuratively to deny; specifically (favorably) to protect, (unfavorably) to lurk.

You and I know that God is Holy and cannot look upon sin.  Even as Jesus was being crucified God had to turn His back on Christ and for the first and only time in time and eternity God was separated from His Son Jesus.  Sin is serious to our Holy God.  Yet, you and I treat it much differently.  We seem to coddle our sin.  We enjoy it; but, there will be payday some day.  It will not be so pleasant on that day.

The word “robbers” means burglers in our text today.  these “robbers” are like sin that sneaks in and “defile”.  So, why do we enjoy sin so much?  If I knew I would share that in hopes of eliminating it.  I know one thing.  The Bible tells us that sin is pleasurable for a time.  The Bible word is “season” (Hebrews 11:25).  We need to flee it.  Run from it.  Don’t embrace it like a welcomed friend.  This is dangerous.

Sin separates you and I from God.  Once we have trusted Christ as our Saviour we cannot be unsaved or lost again.  Sin puts a barrier between us and our God that can only be torn down by a prayer of confession.  Will you today pray this prayer of confession and allow God to come into your “secret place” and do some spiritual house cleaning?

So, how are you doing?

Secret Place 4

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Today I would like to continue our study on the “Secret Place”.  Lets look at “The Secret Place Of Security”.  A good place to start is Psalm 91:1, “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.”

Most of us have enough sense to get out of the rain and bad weather.  I think this is born into us.  Some people like me are drawn to storms; but, don’t follow us.  In our verse of Scripture today the word “abide” here mans lodge.  So, we have a place that we can go when the storms approach that will be a place of security.

Far too many people seem to do just the opposite when storms strike their lives.  They run as far and as fast as they can from God.  Ask Jonah how that worked for him.  You and I know that it was a disaster.

We need to quit trying to pull ourselves up by the boot straps and do things our own way in the storms of life.  God has orchestrated these storms to grow us spiritually.  We just delay what He is doing.  Notice I said “delay”.  He will get the job done one way or the other.  You can go through it or you can grown through it.  The choice is yours. You can live in the security of the will of God or you can live in the insecurity of running from God.  You will do one or the other.

So, how are you doing?

Secret Place 3

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Today we will look at the “Secret Place Of Spiritual Growth.”  Look at Psalm 18:11, “He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.”  Now, I know that you and I are probably a lot alike.  I don’t like the dark really.  I have grown up enough not to be afraid of the dark.  I own various flashlights to combat darkness.

Yet, it is in the darkness of life that we seem to learn some valuable life lessons.  We don’t have to love darkness.  If you do love darkness I would do a spiritual check up from God’s Word.  In the darkness of life we can see light shining so much more brightly.  Stand in a dark room and light a match (as long as there are no gas leaks).  That little match will give great light in the dark room.

Notice also in our scenario that when the light comes in the darkness leaves.  When we are experiencing darkness and we invite the light in the darkness fades and we become focused on the light and not the darkness.  At least we should be.  It is the painful process of spiritual growth that will bring this about.  We will learn to not love the darkness; but, rather see it’s usefulness in bringing us closer to Christ and growing us spiritually.

So, how are you doing?