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.

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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

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.

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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

Where Do We Stand?

I noticed that the movie The Golden Compass is out on DVD now. I've decided to post a letter I put in our church newsletter in February to remind everyone about this movie.

While we are on the subject of movies I want to mention that there is a movie out now that questions why scientist are punished when they question Darwin's theory of evolution. It's called Expelled.

Back in November I wrote a letter to the Jackson Sun encouraging Christians to avoid watching The Golden Compass. This is a movie based on the first book in a series by an atheist who said his purpose was to kill God in the minds of children. As expected the atheist in the community had fun insulting me, but what surprised me was a reply by a Christian.
In his letter he stated that he goes to movies for entertainment and as a Christian he was not offended by the content of this movie and that with God on our side we had nothing to worry about.
Since then I have heard that reply several times. All of them referring to ignoring sin. Okay I realize the Bible says “If God is for us, who can be against us?” Romans 8:31 Had the author of that letter read a little further he would have seen Romans 12:9 “Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.” The Lord expects us as Christians to lead an example that will bring others to Him. We as Christians should stand against what is evil and not be afraid of being persecuted. In the end we will all be judged. I make enough mistakes I’ll have to account for. I don’t want to be held accountable for not standing against a movie that could possibly send thousands of children to Hell.
I realize in this day and age nearly every movie has questionable material in it. I’m not saying we should stop watching any movie that has violence, language or other issues. But we should stand against a movie whose author proudly proclaims his purpose was to bring children to atheism.
And my last argument against ignoring sin because God is on our side is based on a story from the book of Joshua chapter 7 about Achan’s sin. Most probably know this is the story where after several successful battles, the nation of Israel was chased from Ai by the Amorites for the sin of one person. In verse twelve the Lord says “I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to sin.”
God is only with us, if we are truly with Him.

MSW

Parade of Sin

A Few Months ago, I was talking to someone who is a homosexual. They were angry that churches will not allow them to become members. I made the comment that the bible refers to homosexuality as an abomination to God. (Leviticus 18:22 KJV Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abonimation.)(also see Leviticus 20:13 , Romans 1:26-27 )Their response was “what makes my sin any different from anyone else’s.” This caused me to think, none of us are without sin (Romans 3:10 KJV As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one) even Paul had his weakness (2 Corinthians 12:7 And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.) I don’t believe the church should allow sin to enter in that way, but how is their sin any different from mine. God finally showed me their sin is that they are proud of their sin (Isaiah 3:9 NIV The look on their faces testifies against them; they parade their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to them! They have brought disaster upon themselves. Jeremiah 6:15 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the LORD.) Paul wrestled with his thorn (2 Corinthians 12:8-9 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."... )All Christians wrestle with some sort of sin. The difference is that they carry it to God, they ask for forgiveness, they ask him to take it from them, and they try to avoid whatever their weakness is. This homosexual does not feel bad about their sin they are proud and feel God and the church should accept them. I will not accept it. I refuse to watch any show that comes on my TV with the intent of making me think its okay. I hate the sin not the sinner. I pray continually God will touch their hearts so that I may see them for eternity in Heaven. I hope that eventually they will see what God wants to give them, bow their knees and say Lord forgive me. I know I’m a sinner. You through your grace sent your son Jesus to die for my sin. Lord I thank you and ask that you help me for I am too weak to do this on my own. Lord take this from me and shape me to be the Christian you would have me to be.

MSW

Letter from Hell

I reloaded this a different way since it seemed to stop working.

God's Forgiveness

My daughter has a Barlow Girl’s CD with a song on it called I Need You To Love Me. It starts off “Why are You still here with me, didn't You see what I've done?” Wow that is so true. I know in my past I’ve asked God how can You still love me. I went through a rough time in my life were I was angry at God. After I got over my anger, I spent several years feeling that because I had abandoned God .He wouldn’t take me back. When I started back to church I had to fight the demons of my past. Just as Satan used Paul’s Guilt over the stoning of Stephen. Acts 7:54-68; 8:1 He used my guilt to keep me from going back to God. I prayed about it and asked God how could He feel I was worthy of the price His Son had paid. All he told me was to get ready. I didn’t understand what he meant. How am I supposed to get ready? What am I supposed to get ready for?
I picked up my Bible and started reading. I had heard the Bible stories as a child. I had even tried reading the Bible before. Like most people when they start begatting I begot bored. This time I prayed first. Lord I want to read your word. I want to understand it. I want answers. As I read I realized no matter what I had done God still loved me. He had been there all along waiting for me to return to him. My sin was washed as clean as snow. Isaiah 1:18 God gave me so many examples of His love and forgiveness. Jacob stealing his brother’s birth right.Genessis 27 how he wrestled with God. Genesis 32:24-29 and how he stood by and did nothing as his sons massacred a village.Genesis34:25-30(Old Jacob sure knows how to make someone feel good about theirself.) God still blessed him. God speaks of David with Pride. Acts 13:22( I give this example but God used David as the standard to measure all kings from this point on) Yet we know David committed adultery 2 samiuel 11:4 and arranged a murder 2 samuel 11:14-15 to hide the fact. But when we read Chronicles God has forgotten about it. Why did He forget? David went to Him in Sincere Prayer. Psalm 51 He confessed his sin and asked the Lord to blot out his transgressions. That’s all we have to do. The day I got down on my knees and told the Lord these are the things I’ve done please forgive me. Immediately I felt as if a bag of rocks had been taken off my back. A few years later I’m doing a church newsletter working with the children and youth of our Church, and now doing this blog in the hopes that I might help someone else.

MSW

Rapture Cartoon

Miracles

In March Nick Vujicic From http://www.lifewithoutlimbs.org/ was on 20/20. He mentioned as a child he would pray God would give him arms and legs. Near the end of the interview the interviewer tried tripping him up by asking do you still believe God could give you arms and legs. You could see the disbelief in his face when Nick said "I believe in a God who can do all things, but if He chooses not to give me arms and legs, I know it's for the better. And I may not understand it, but all I need to know is that He's going to carry me through, that there is a purpose for it." It’s typical for someone who isn’t a Christian to doubt miracles. What amazes me is how many Christians doubt miracles. I’ve heard Christians ask the question “Why doesn’t God speak to us today like he did in the Bible”. I believe he does but most people will not listen for the “gentle whisper” I Kings 19:12 Many times I have heard that whisper telling me to wait and when I listen a chance to witness will come.
Jesus tells us we can move a mountain Mark 11:23 We don’t have the faith to make it happen though. If a prophet showed up tomorrow and said Mt. Everest would sink into the ground. Seven days later it’s gone. The news media would be coming up with a million possible explanations, none of them including the word God. The truth be told we, being Christians, would look for a natural explanation. We would say God caused a sink hole to swallow it up. We can not believe because we lack the faith of a mustard seed Matthew 17:21
If God sent someone today to perform miracles as Jesus did, we would accuse them of blasphemy and Satanism just as the Sanhedrin did Jesus. Matthew 26:65 , Luke 11:18 God performs miracles everyday for those who truly believe. I’ve heard of many cases where someone was told they had cancer. Then they go back for surgery and the doctor says it’s gone. If I tried to name personal examples of things that were impossible that just suddenly worked out I could spend days writing. Recently a tornado hit the Campus at Union University. If you look at the pictures and think about how many people where inside, you can’t deny God had a hand in saving those students. Not one student died even though many were trapped in the rubble for several hours. Did the national media say God protected those students? I know many students said it but our news media will not acknowledge it. Dr. David Dockery, president of Union University spoke out saying this was a miracle. I read an opinion in the Memphis paper from someone who said “It is amazing that a seemingly intelligent man like David Dockery, president of Union University, says that he "can point to the overwhelming grace and goodness of our God"”. This writer said instead of praising God we should praise the sciences that went into designing the dorms. Sadly, I believe many people who sit in our churches feel this way.

MSW

Welcome

Welcome to my blog. I do a newsletter at my church. I started having to occasionally write articles to fill space. Well I enjoyed it and I got to where I was writing more than I could use. So at the encouragement of a friend I started this blog so I could post the ones I wasn't using. I really don't know what all I will be putting on here. I look forward to comments and I pray that God will use this blog to touch peoples hearts.

By the way I often criticize Christians in my writing. This is a general term, if I use it negatively I'm referring to the ones who feel they are being a good christian because they go to church every Sunday but Forget about God the rest of the week. I feel I go to a church filled with people who are genuine, but I've been to churches I didn't feel that way about. Matter of fact it kept me out of church for a long time.

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