Sunday, May 25, 2008

Jesus Lover of My Soul

My Daughter sang this morning. I thought I'd share it here.

Including God

Many times we have to make decisions that will change our lives. Some of these deal with our personal lives some deal with our church and spiritual lives. How often do we really consult and wait on God to tell us what to do. I heard a joke about a preacher who was offered a great job as pastor of a church. When he went home and told his wife he was going to go in his room and pray to find out what God wanted him to do. His wife asked if he wanted her to come and pray to. He told her she probably should start packing their bags. Many times we are like that preacher; our minds are made up long before we ask God what He wants us to do.
Nehemiah was cup bearer to the king. He held a position that allowed him daily contact with the king. When he found out his people were in trouble and disgrace, the first thing he did was pray. Before he made any decision, he talked it over with God. After “some” days” he asked God for success. When the king asked “What is it you want?” Nehemiah stopped and prayed before answering. Again before Nehemiah said anything he discussed it with God. God granted Nehemiah success that day and in the days to come as he led the rebuilding of the walls. God will grant us that same success. All we have to do is ask.
MSW

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Praise Through Silence

It’s funny how I’ll have an idea. I’ll have the verses in my head. Then I sit down with my pen and pad, bow my head and ask God to use me to get His message out and the next thing I know I’m writing something completely different from what I’ve intended. Luckily I’ve learned that that is God telling me He wants me to say something different and I should listen. So while I was going to write how we should be more alive with Christ. He wanted me to be silent. And while I do realize that we pray before a meal to give thanks, sometimes God uses our prayers to serve His purpose.

Praise Through Silence
There are some people who make great witnesses for Christ. They can start up a conversation with anyone and talk about anything. They also know exactly the right moment and right way to bring Jesus into the conversation. The Lord uses these people in such a wonderful way. Then there are the rest of us. Some people are not comfortable striking up a conversation with a stranger. I know I never know what to say. Then to start talking about Jesus to a stranger is just about enough to send me running for the hills. Yes I’ve learned prayer helps stifle that fear. Yet I worry what if they get angry (Yes, I’ve seen people get downright hostile because they hear the word Jesus). What if they think I’m some kind of Jesus freak (I believe they referred to me as a NeoChristian Zealot, by the way is that an insult)? Believe it or not one of the easiest ways I’ve seen to witness is through silent devotion. When I was going through my tough time several years back the thing that softened my heart the most was a woman who silently prayed before she would eat at work. The most moving display of getting the word of God out that I’ve seen was while out having dinner. A family sat down to eat. They all bowed their heads together and silently they prayed. When everyone in the family finished praying and looked up they started to eat. No big display. No one drew attention to themselves they just took a silent moment to worship and thank God. You never know when you take a moment to privately show your love for the Lord. Someone could be watching you. They could be struggling with something, and your silent display of faith could show them that there is someone who wants to help them.
MSW

Friday, May 16, 2008

Blessed are those

Psalms 1 TNIV
Blessed are those who do not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but who delight in the law of the LORD and meditate on His law day and night. They are like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers. Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will be destroyed.
When I slow down and think about what this wonderful Psalm is saying and what it means to me, I see so many wonderful things in it. The obvious things are the promises of blessings. Our blessings are that our leaf will never wither, we will prosper in everything we do, and the Lord watches over our path. I want to look at just one part of this Psalm. Blessed are those …who delight in the law of the Lord and meditate on his law day and night. To me The true blessing is the delight I find in studying the word of God. When I read a bible story and then go back and study it, I find so much hidden meaning. So many of the stories in the Old Testament point to Jesus as our salvation. Just last night my wife and I were discussing Daniel 3 and how Jesus rescued Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego from the Fiery furnace; just as Jesus rescues us from the fiery furnace of Hell. I believe so many Christians miss out on blessings because they don’t take time to study the word of God. The Lord stills talks to us today through the Holy Bible. The next time you feel down. Pick up your bible and ask the lord to give you understanding and guidance. Open it up and see what He has to say. All you need are eyes to see and ears to hear.
MSW

Sunday, May 4, 2008

God's Justice

Isn’t it interesting to study how God will often punish the sinner with something similar to what he did happening to him. There are many examples I’ve found of this. For example, Jacob wanted Esau’s blessing. Knowing Isaac was about to give it, Jacob put on goat skins to trick Isaac into giving it to him. (Genesis 27) Years later Jacob’s children showed him a coat dipped in goat’s blood to fool him into thinking Joseph had died(Genesis 37:31-34). Paul had a hand in the stoning of Stephen (Acts 22:20). Years later Paul was stoned and left for dead (Acts14:19). Both of these men committed their sin before meeting Jesus (Genesis 32:24-32, Acts 9:4-5). But while forgiven both were punished in a way that was similar to what they did. The third example I want to give is a little different. (Esther 5:9) Haman hated Mordecai. He planned (Esther 3:8-15) a way to have him killed but, when it didn’t happen fast enough to suit him he erected a pole to have Mordecai impaled on. As (Esther 5:14 & Esther 7:9-10) Haman went to request permission to have him impaled the king gave the order to have Haman impaled. When we plot to do evil to others God watches and He will see to it that we get the punishment we deserve. It’s interesting to note that when Jacob and Paul came to know Jesus they were still punished. It wasn’t more than they could take. Haman didn’t know God and he received death. Just as with us today if we know Jesus we will be punished and forgiven but if you don’t know Jesus you will receive death. These stories and many more in the bible offer us so many examples of our salvation.
MSW