Monthly Archives: October 2013

The Secret Place 2

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Today I would like to talk about “The Secret Place Of Safety”.  Look at I Samuel 19:2, “But Jonathan Saul’s son delighted much in David: and Jonathan told David, saying, Saul my father seeketh to kill thee: now therefore, I pray thee, take heed to thyself until the morning, and abide in a secret place, and hide thyself:”

The phrase “secret place” means to cover.  I think about when tornadoes are approaching we are instructed to go into an interior bathroom or closet and take a mattress with us to cover our head and body.  This is a secret place of safety.

You and I have the wrong view of trials.  We see them as “God is doing this to me.”  The way we really need to see it is that “God is doing this for me.”  Someone said, “What does not kill us makes us stronger.”  This statement is true.  Yet in the midst of trials we have a “secret place” where we can be covered.

In order to have access to this “secret place” we must be born again.  We must be a child of God.  If you trust Christ today He will not make all the bad things in your life stop.  What He will do is let you see things from His perspective and that will revolutionize your life.  I promise.

So, how are you doing?

Secret Place

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A little boy was talking to the 911 operator.  The operator asked, “Can I please speak to your mommy?”  The little boy replied, “No, she is busy.”  “Well, what is she doing?” asked the operator.  “She is talking to the policeman.”  The operator asked, “Then can I speak to your daddy?”  Again the boy replied, “No, he is busy too.”  “What is your daddy doing?” asked the operator.  “He is talking to the fireman” said the little boy.  “Is there anyone there that I can speak to?” asked the operator.  “No” replied the little boy.  “Why?” asked the operator.  “They are looking for me” the little boy said.

I love to hear The Booth Brothers sing their song “Secret Place”.  You can listen to it here.  The main thought of this song is that we have a “secret place” in our hearts that we put things that we don’t want to deal with.  We especially do not want God to deal with it.  I would call this “The Secret Place Of Sin”.

We have to be careful or we end up like a man named Achan who coveted a piece of clothing so much that he stole it and hid it in a hole in the floor of his tent.  The results were deadly.  His family lost their lives because of this man’s sin.

Maybe you and I need to consider the long lasting effects of our sin on our family and others around us.  It can be devastating to others.  Yet we just go on keeping our sin hidden in our “secret place” behind a locked door forbidding anyone entrance.  One day these sins will be made public either here or in Heaven.

So, how are you doing?

Where Are You Going?

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On a popular sit-com of my childhood a son looks at his father and says, “How do you know where I’m at if you ain’t been where I been you see where I’m comin’ from?”

Far too many people are just making it through life.  They are trying to tip toe safely through the tulips to the end of life and then move on to the next one whatever that may be.  This is sad at the very least.  Sadly, there are members of the Body of Christ in the same situation.  They are trying to safely tip toe through the tulips until the trumpet sounds.  This is not what Jesus had in mind when He told us that He came to give us the abundant life in John 10:10.

This kind of life makes a miserable life.  Oh we have moments of pleasure; but, deep down inside we are unfulfilled and just plain miserable.  The enemy runs rough shot over us or he runs around like a bull with a ring in it’s nose and we are powerless to do anything about it.  Notice what I said there.  We are powerless to do anything about it.  We are; but, Jesus is not.

When we realize that we are being led around we need to cry out to God for deliverance.  Then we need to run to the LORD like Moses tells us in Psalm 91:1, “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.”

So, how are you doing?

Don’t Let Your Dreams Die

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Every one of us have some dream or aspiration that one day we hope to achieve.  I know that dreams and vision are probably different; but, for the purpose of this post let’s use them interchangeably.

I still remember the day that it came home to me that I would probably never play baseball with our son and the big shocker for me was that I will never officiate his wedding.  This was a huge one for me being a Pastor.  You talk about the wind being knocked out of your sail.

I was thinking about the Apostle Paul.  Look at Acts 16:9-10, “And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us.  And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them.”  Here God gives him a vision to go to Macedonia and he is called there by a man.  He immediately made preparation to go.  There was no hesitation on his part.  He just went.

When Paul arrived he realized that he was there all because of a lady named Lydia from the city of Thyatira.  You might say, “No biggie.”  My point here is that God gave Paul a vision and he went without reservation.  Yet, when he arrived things had changed somewhat.  Paul did not let the dream or vision die.  He kept on doing what God had called him to do.

So, how are you doing?

 

 

All Because Of Another 3

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II Samuel 9:11, “Then said Ziba unto the king, According to all that my lord the king hath commanded his servant, so shall thy servant do. As for Mephibosheth, said the king, he shall eat at my table, as one of the king’s sons.”

Well, it was not my intent to stretch this one thought out into a mini series.  It seems that God has other plans and His plans are the best plans.  Tuesday evening as I was waiting on my wife to return home from work I had this strong desire to go back up to the hospital.  After my wife got home we talked for a few minutes and I just got dressed and went back.

When I got off the elevator I was met by what must have been twenty-five to thirty people in the waiting room.  They had multiple pans of food and all kinds of food.  I almost ran over three people just getting out of the elevator.  I made my way through the crowd and sitting in the corner was the lady and her son that I was looking for.  When her eyes met mine she jumped up and said three time, “God sent you back.”  It was all I could do not to cry.  her son gave me a hearty, firm handshake.  I could see the joy in their faces.

Little did I know; but, I arrived just two hours after her beloved husband came back to his room after open heart surgery.  God is seldom early. He is never late. He is always right on time.  The hug from this sweet wife and the handshake from her son was more than payment enough for the miniscule sacrifice I made in driving thirty minutes to the hospital.

I went to the patient’s room and prayed with him just prior to finding the family.  Since I knew it would be a comfort to them I took them back to see him and had prayer with him again.  Please don’t mistake what I am writing about today.  This is not about me.  This is about making sacrifices “All Because Of Another”.

So, how are you doing?

All Because Of Another 2

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II Samuel 9:11, “Then said Ziba unto the king, According to all that my lord the king hath commanded his servant, so shall thy servant do. As for Mephibosheth, said the king, he shall eat at my table, as one of the king’s sons.”

As we saw yesterday about this passage of Scripture that king David was motivated by love to care for Mephibosheth.  Monday evening I went to the hospital to visit my cousin who was taken in because of serious chest pains.  At just over thirty years old this is a frightening situation to say the least.

My family and I went to get dinner together and I was stopped in the hallway by a sweet lady with pretty gray hair.  She asked me if I was a Preacher.  I said that I was.  With tears running down her cheeks she gave me a room number on another floor and asked me if I would go have prayer with her husband who was a patient in the hospital.  I agreed.  I did not ask her name nor his name.

When I showed up at the room the man was somewhat puzzled at my introduction.  Then with tears streaming down his face he told me he would love to have me pray for him.  I did as I had promised.

Here is my point.  Maybe my cousin was there just so I would go visit her.  This visit led to the opportunity for me to minister to a hurting couple who give testimony of knowing Christ as Saviour.  It was a huge testimony to my family as they saw me give hope and comfort to this sweet wife.

What is your motivation?  I beg of you not to miss the opportunities in life to minister for Jesus Christ “All Because Of Another”.

How are you doing?

 

All Because Of Another

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I was thinking as I was driving home from the hospital about a sermon that I heard probably fifteen to twenty years ago by Evangelist Bob Carrico.  The title was the same as today’s blog post.

His text was II Samuel 9:11, “Then said Ziba unto the king, According to all that my lord the king hath commanded his servant, so shall thy servant do. As for Mephibosheth, said the king, he shall eat at my table, as one of the king’s sons.”  Then I thought about what I would do for someone else.  Do I care enough for others to share the gospel with them?  I hope so.

King David cared enough for his friend Jonathan that he brought his handicapped son into his own house and made him like on of the king’s own sons.  When I read this I usually weep and today is no different.  This pictures you and I who have received the salvation provided by Jesus Christ.  You see, Jesus went to the cross and died “All Because Of Another”.  He did not need to be crucified; but, we needed Him to provide Himself as a Sacrifice to pay the sin debt each one of us owe.  He gladly went to the cross on our behalf despising the shame of it.   Jesus said, “Father, I’ll go.”  All because of another.

So, how are you doing?

The Dangers Of Drifting

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DSC_2770Yesterday our Pastor Al Ray had a fantastic message on drifting.  It made me think about this picture that I took a little while back of the Tahquamenon Falls in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

If we are not careful we will begin drifting and before we know it we will be going over the falls to our destruction.  Pastor Ray said, “When you hear the sound of the falls it is too late.”  He is correct.

If we are not anchored on the ROCK of our salvation then we can drift into the falls of life and be destroyed.  All it takes is for you and I to do nothing.  If you want to drift then just simply do nothing.  Don’t throw out an anchor and make sure it is steadfast.  Don’t pay any attention to what is going on around you.  You will for sure begin to drift and then you will be sorry as you go over the falls and crash on the rocks beneath.

A long time ago, my step-father and another man went on a canoe trip down the White River in Indiana.  Their canoe capsized and began to fill with water.  It lodged against a tree with the bottom of the canoe against the tree.  Both men survived.  The only two casualties were the canoe and a shotgun that was promised to me.  Such is life.  Thankfully the men were safe.

So, how are you doing?

The Beauty Of It

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DSC_2606A week or so ago I had the opportunity to go to the upper peninsula of Michigan to photograph fall foliage.  It was a wonderful experience to say the least.  The colors were beautiful.

As I was out in the field photographing in the rain many thoughts came to my mind.  The main thought was that of Psalm 19:1, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.”

I mean seriously.  When you look at such a beautiful creation does it not scream of a Creator?  It does to me for sure.  Yet, there are those who believe there is no creator and that this just happened.  This is so sad because it takes far more faith to believe that some bang took place or blobs came together to  make what we see today.

Take a look around this fall and see the beautiful colors and see it as a gift from God.  See it as His loving smile and receive encouragement from it.

So, how are you doing?

 

Keeper Of The Light

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In the above picture you see a man portraying a lighthouse keeper at the Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse in northern Michigan.  This was an amazing trip to say the least; but, what made it more memorable was stopping at the lighthouse and taking some pictures.

I thought about the job of a lighthouse keeper.  My mind went to Psalm 43:3, “O send out   It is high time to ge busy about our Father’s businessthy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles.”  This led me to the idea that we who know Jesus Christ as our Saviour are all keepers of the Light.

We sing “This Little Light of Mine”; but,  we live with out light under a bushel basket.  We need to make sure that our light is shining so brightly that the lost world is blinded by this light because of the dark day we live in.  It is not difficult to like a life of light in this dark world.

We all want to stand before God and hear Him procliam, “Well done thou good and faithful servant”.  What are we doing about that?  It is high time that we get busy being about our Father’s business.

So, how are you doing?