A smile, a chuckle or a laugh out loud is my usual response to my little furry dog friends Waylon and Willy when I walk out to the pen to let them out. When from the house I see them standing there wanting out, I will walk out there and open the gate to let them run around the place for a while. When they see me coming, those two little twelve-year old fur balls will go ballistic, jumping up on the fence, turning circles, growling at each other, grunting and squealing. They are so happy to see their “master” who they can have “communion” with in the freedom to run around the place and sniff out something new and exciting. The first place they usually head is the last place they saw the neighbor’s cat hanging out by the creek. Occasionally, if the cat is still on the property when they are released, a hot chase is ensued sending that dude quickly back across the creek. Willy in particular is so proud to walk with me. His little prancing gait with his head held high with a quick glance back to make sure I am right there with him is so cute. We’ve prayed them through a few health issues and sought to take care of them well, so they are both in apparent good health. The highlight of their day is to be with their master. They love the petting and attention, but they also just love my watchful oversight and presence while they go about their exploration of the place. Each day reveals new things—a good squirrel chase or a rabbit chase, sniffs of where a stray dog might have come through or whatever else might be interesting to them. But the bottom line of the delight is that they are in the presence of their master. Is not this the worthy goal for an upcoming new year—to start each day off in the presence of the Master, and go through each day with His love and provision right at hand? Is it not the one worthy goal to know you are under His watchful eye to guide you as you go through each day and to protect you from any impending danger? Yes! That is something to be excited about. What a privilege to have the King of kings and the Lord of lords to come to you each day to “let you out of the pen” to walk and run in the pleasures and responsibilities of daily life! It is by faith in the cleansing blood of Jesus that we have life, and by receiving the fullness of His Spirit we have release from the natural confines of life. By His abundant provisions, we can know Him and walk with Him and enjoy life, health and victory in every way. He comes to us to help us and take care of us. Let us start off each day of the year with Jesus.
Author: admin
preachJesus77
Good Things of Life
We had our annual Christmas function at the church. After the regular Sunday morning service, we had a pot-luck dinner and exchanged gifts. The men brought a man’s gift, and the women brought a woman’s gift, and the children did the same for each other, and, we had extra gifts for visitors. It was good to observe lots of people being delighted with and enjoying their gift. Afterwards some young ones and adults got on the mike and sang Christmas carols and other songs with piano accompaniment. My wife, Barbara, plays by just hearing music, so she can just pick up a tune and go with it in the key the people are singing. We all had just a good ole’ time. Concerning gifts, one of the gifts that I ended up with was a tin of butter cookies. I’ve never seen any butter cookies like these before, and boy are they good! They are kind of soft, and they crumble in your mouth with a good buttery flavor. It’s hard to quit eating them! But I’ve got to if I’m going to finish this article! We all enjoy lots of good things in life. God has purposed give us gifts to help us enjoy life. Jesus plainly said the thief (the devil) has come to steal, kill and destroy, but He said “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). Life in this world brings its challenges and “bad things.” God does not bring them, but you can know that when we face the challenges and go through the “bad things,” He is right there to help us and teach us how to overcome. It all started in the garden of Eden. “Eden” comes from a word meaning “pleasure.” God originally put man in a garden of pleasure. God’s intention was for man to enjoy life, so God’s gift to man was a garden filled with good things. Sin messed it up, but Jesus came and fixed it up. He gave Himself as the gift so we can have life. Life is being connected to Him in spirit. That is being born again. We are born again when we really see that our connection with God is by the righteous sacrifice that Jesus became for us. When we see that what Jesus did for us is what makes us right with God, we are connected to God by the Holy Spirit. With that connection of God’s life, we can yield our life to Him and be filled with His Spirit with that life more abundantly. In the Spirit there are good gifts that God wants to share with us to enable us to overcome all things. God’s season of gifts is year-round—the gift of Jesus, the gift of life in Christ and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. God’s peace on earth and good will toward men are year-round gifts to all who will believe and receive Jesus.
Fruit Salad
I like a good fruit salad. I like it with pecans, apples, bananas, blueberries and raspberries. Then you can throw in a little pineapple, orange and mango, but not much. That pineapple and orange is a little acidic for me. My mother used to put shredded coconut and marshmallows in it. Any kind of fruit and berries and nuts will make a good one. Just chop up what needs to be chopped up. The small stuff like nuts and berries don’t need to be cut up. Put a generous amount of whip cream on it, and you are in for a treat. I even dribbled a little caramel macchiato coffee creamer on my latest fruit creation and it was good! Well, that’s how you come up with good new things—do a little experimentation. That caramel creamer along with the whip cream was pretty good on my taste buds. Of course, I like milk and cream in most any form. When I was a kid growing up on the farm, we had a Jersey cow named Myrtle. She would give a gallon of milk a day and half of that gallon would be cream. That cream would rise to the top of the wide-mouth glass jar by the next morning. To dip some of that fresh cream off the top of the milk and mix some sugar with it and put it on fresh fruit—that’s what got me hooked for life. I would dip it off and take it straight! So, I still like milk and cream to this day. And I like it on my fruit salad. They say what you experience in your first five or six years or so is what you become for life. Must be true, because I sure enjoy my milk and creamy stuff. Good stuff! Now the only down side about eating my fruit salad is that those raspberries, or blackberries if you use blackberries, have little seeds that get stuck in your teeth. They are hard to get out. Rather that wearing your tongue out trying to get those seeds out of your teeth, the other good part of a fruit salad is when you can get hold of some Plackers or dental floss, and you can get to your tooth brush to get those pesky seeds out. It is a relief to get the annoying seeds out of your teeth. A lot of times in the good things in life, we sometimes pick up some pesky seeds that are annoying. They are faults and failures that we are dealing with. They are mis-steps and mistakes. They are harsh words or short attitudes. In the good things of life, whatever it is that is bugging us, it is always good to get it cleaned out. That’s why we have the Savior Jesus Christ given to us. We don’t have to carry the annoying things. We can take it to Him and He will cleanse and bring us into rest and peace.
Jesus Take the Wheel
As a caregiver, I have a client named Billy. He is quadriplegic. He has a wonderful positive outlook on life being a believer in the Lord. He was a truck driver. He told me the story yesterday how his brakes failed on a hill while delivering a liquid load around Harrison, Arkansas—a mountainous region. He told how the situation was such that it reached the point that all he could do was say, “Jesus! Take the wheel.” He told how the load rocked from side to side on a two-lane road with a long curve, and there was no emergency truck ramp on that hill. It was a scary situation, but the Lord delivered him through it. He gives all the glory to God. I can freely preach the Word of healing to Billy. That’s good, because faith comes by hearing the Word. I can freely lay hands on Billy and pray according to what Jesus said, “they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover” (Mark 16:18). I guess I have prayed for him every time I have been with him as a fill-in caregiver. After I prayed for him yesterday, he said he was able to do some things with his right hand that he was not able to do. He said it is getting better. My encouragement to him was, “Let’s keep believing the Lord and looking to Him.” One thing for certain, if we don’t believe the Lord, we can be sure we won’t get anything from Him. I was reading in the book of Acts this morning and Peter preached on the day of Pentecost with great power—some believed and some did not. Did they quit preaching because some did not believe? No. The lame man lying at the temple gate was healed and went walking and leaping and praising God through the temple—some believed and some did not. Did they quit ministering healing because some did not believe? No, in fact, later on we see how healing increased because they kept on preaching how Jesus suffered for us. All the people were getting healed (Acts 5:16). That happened after there was some cleansing done in the church from some people who were lying to the Holy Ghost (Acts 5:1-11). Maybe a little cleansing in the church today would be good. That means all of us who are believers. But the Lord would encourage us to keep believing, keep preaching the Word, keep doing what we know to do and trust God to be God in our lives. Maybe our truck has been on a hill out of control because our brakes failed. The prayer is simple, “Jesus! Take the wheel.” If we don’t look to Him, He certainly can’t help us, but if we look to Him and call upon Him, and keep looking to Him and keep trusting Him, we have His promise that He will help us. As we are changed, we become recipients of His blessing.
To Carry the King
Barbara keeps a collection of DVD movies for the grand kids. One of the year-round favorites is the animated movie entitled “The Star.” It tells the story of how a little donkey named “Bo” became the vehicle to carry the pregnant Mary to Bethlehem to have baby Jesus. I was sitting in the living room reading the other day while the movie was playing, and a statement in the movie caught my attention. “Look kid, we’re mill donkeys, we grind grain, we don’t carry kings.” This is what the older mill donkey said to Bo as they slowly walked in a monotonous circle. They were one behind the other attached to the turnstile going around and around grinding grain. Bo had peeked out of the barn through a knot hole and had gotten a glimpse of a star indicating something special. His bird friend, Dave told him of the king’s carriage passing nearby. By seeing this, Bo had high hopes that one day he would have the great privilege of pulling the king’s carriage. When he shared his dreams with his nay-sayer donkey companion, his aspirations were quickly and matter-of-factly squelched. Bo received no encouragement to fulfill his dream, and in time he lost all hope. However, what Bo had seen was planted deep within his heart. As circumstances would have it, Bo ended up a free donkey in a whole new world. Through much adversity things worked out so that which was in his heart began to unfold in his life. Bo chose to carry pregnant Mary rather than the caravan. He did not know until later that he was carrying Jesus, the King of Kings, to the place in which He would be born into this world. Some people have received a glimpse of more to be experienced in Christ. They have seen it through the portal of the Word of God. It is not presently happening. However, when the seed of the Word of God in our hearts is watered and given time, things in us and in our circumstances start changing. God works with His Word and Spirit to bring about that which He has for us. When doors open, and we see new opportunities for new experiences in the Lord, even in adversity, we are to prayerfully proceed forward. God has ordained that we carry Jesus, the King of Kings into this world for all to see, know and be blessed. He is the Christ, the Spirit-anointed Messiah-Deliverer for the salvation of all people in every way. As we live in Him, in His Spirit and in His anointing, we are the lowly “donkeys” who have the privilege of carrying the royalty of Jesus into the lives of those around us. This is God’s design for every believer. Allow God to work in your life that which He has placed in your heart. There is no greater honor and joy than to live in and share the presence of King Jesus with the whole world.
Receive All that God Has for Us
It is exciting to hear how students are yielding their lives to the Lord on various college campuses around the nation. They are repenting from sin and committing their lives to the Lord and being water baptized to show that commitment. Christian students are getting right with God and re-committing their lives to the Lord. This is wonderful. When I was enrolled at HSU in the late 60’s and early 70’s, I also took some courses at OBU on the credit exchange program. I had friends at both schools and I participated in activities at both schools, including the chapel services at OBU. In a small way, we experienced the same type thing as what is happening on some school campuses today. I know people today whose lives were influenced for the greater good from those meetings. Years later, in the 90’s, my wife and I were having home meetings for the students in our home in Arkadelphia. There was a revival of similar operation in a nearby town that drew the students from the two schools. They went there and experienced the presence of God leading them to repent and re-commit their lives to the Lord. As the students continued to attend the meetings, in time some were coming back and asking, “Okay, I’ve repented and repented. I have committed my life to the Lord and re-committed my life to the Lord. Now, where do we go from here?” We ministered the Word to those students, showing them from the Word how the early believers who repented and committed their lives to the Lord, being baptized in water, went on to receive the Holy Spirit with miraculous power upon their lives. In that power, they began taking the gospel to all people with signs and wonders following the preaching of the Word. Some of the students received that Word and some did not. Last Thursday, October 24, I received a facetime call with three of those young men who were in those meetings back in the 90’s. Two of them received the Word of “the way of God more perfectly,” the fulness of the Holy Spirit, at that time (Acts 18:26). For the other one, it was made real five years later. They have all been through “fire” and through “water,” but through it all, God has brought them to a wealthy place in Him (Psalms 66:12). They all are walking with the Lord and are still excited about the things of God, and they are guiding their children in the ways of God. For the students today, and for every person: If we stop short of receiving all that God has for us, then that is exactly where we are with the Lord—we are short of all He has for us. He wants us filled and running over with His power and His presence. It is plainly and simply stated in the Word of God. Read it. Receive it. Walk in it and be blessed in it.
Fight! Fight! Fight!
I quote from our President, who with fist raised after being grazed by a would-be assassin’s bullet, shouted: “Fight! Fight! Fight!” We need to fight for our nation with prayer and active involvement. First, we need to fight the fight of faith in prayer and action, that the true and powerful love of God be known in churches and in society as a whole. False concepts of God that shroud who He is and what He wants to accomplish, need to be pulled down. Any religious doctrine or practice that impedes His working in our midst is to be laid aside so God can be the unlimited, powerful God who He is in our lives. We live in a predicted time in which there would be a “form of godliness, but denying the power thereof” (2 Timothy 3:5). From this we need deliverance. We need the Holy Spirit power found in the Bible operating in our lives today that reveals the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ. It’s not religion. It is a life-changing encounter with the Living God that imparts the power of God to us to bring about healing and real, godly change in our lives and in the lives of people around us. Next, we need to fight with prayer and action for liberty to be maintained. All the social, religious, political, and military ramifications involved in our nation having and maintaining liberty are to be addressed. Open doors (borders) are to be shut, and closed doors of subversive political ideologies that are established and working to undermine our liberty are to be exposed and their power dismantled. Thirdly, we need to fight with prayer and action for our children and young people. The children are the future of our nation. In Moses’ day, there was an attack to kill the children. In the time of Jesus’ birth and the first years of His life, there was an attack to kill the children. Today, there is an attack on the children. Mental and emotional disorders abound, no discipline, drugs, abortion, divided and dysfunctional families, identity crises, perverse instruction and influence in schools and in society as a whole, and on and on it goes. There is an all-out war against the welfare of our children at every level. “Fight, fight, fight!” Fight to walk in the true love of God. Fight to obtain and maintain liberty in the Lord and in our nation. Fight for our precious children to give them the inheritance they are designed for and that they deserve. It all starts with believing prayer. It then unfolds in our hearts as instruction and understanding. Then it graduates to obedience to take action as the Lord leads. As we each walk with the Lord in this way, we will see change in our own lives and in the lives of those around us. And this is what it is all about. Being changed into His likeness and fighting the good fight of faith. That is our solution.
Menu
By the Authority of the Contract
A friend of mine is the recording secretary for the United Steel Workers Union. He related a conversation he had with another official who was questioning him on why he did certain things as he carried out the responsibilities of his office. He explained to the questioning party that he simply read and studied the contract and did things according to the agreed terms. If there were any questions about why or how things are done, all that had to be done was to go back to the written agreement to see what is already established, and that would settle any questions. The agreements that had already been negotiated and put into writing served as the final authority for the guidelines to follow, the procedures to be taken and the benefits provided. As my friend shared this with us, we saw that it was a clear illustration of what God has done for us for our benefit. Man messed up. Man can’t get out of the mess he got himself into. Man is headed for eternal separation from the goodness and presence of God. God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit have negotiated among themselves. They came to an agreement to defeat sin, self, sickness, death and the devil for the benefit of man. Jesus agreed to come to earth to be in total identification with man. By His total identification with man, He totally reversed the plight man got himself into. He totally defeated the forces working against man. God, who cannot lie, swore by Himself and put it in a written contract, that this is what he would do. We have that written contract that covers the unveiling of God’s negotiations and provisions and benefits. It is the Holy Bible. If there are questions about what God has provided and the guidelines and procedures that are required to obtain the benefits He has provided, we can read about it right there in the Bible. Plus, He promised to provide His Spirit to be our Helper to assist us in understanding and carrying out the terms of the contract. As we turn from our sin and from our way of doing things, we receive His way of life by faith. The Spirit of Jesus the Spirit-anointed Savior, comes into us. By yielding our life completely to Him, His contract works with supernatural power to help us to live in victory. This is clearly stated and demonstrated in the contract. As we give ourselves to meet the terms and conditions of the contract, we receive the benefits. If we fail to meet the terms and conditions, and we fail to carry out the stipulations and procedures outlined in the contract, then we miss the benefits. We experience less than what has already been provided for us. Jesus has secured abundant life for us in every way. If we will live our life by the contract, by God’s authority we can live freely now and forever.
To Catch a Lizard
We recently enjoyed a beautiful fall day playing Putt-Putt Golf. Barb won the first round a couple of weeks back. I won this round. We have one more round awaiting us in the future for the play-off. Then we will determine who is the grand champion—until the next three rounds. We had a man and his son playing behind us. The boy was about ten years old. We would make our shots then watch their shots. It was fun seeing the “skill level” of each person. While waiting on our next move forward to the next hole, I noticed a little green lizard crawling up a fence rail. Barb and I brought the young boy’s attention to it. I calmly said, “I will catch it.” Barb, the boy and his father watched, perhaps with a little skepticism, as to my ability to catch the lizard. But they all stood there and watched as I wiggled my right-hand fingers a little distance in front of the little green reptile. I knew I had his attention focused on my wiggling fingers, so I brought my left hand from a distance around to his back side and quickly and gently pinned him against the fence rail. I think our new friends marveled a little bit at the adroit move that captured fella. The dad verbally re-played the move, taking note on exactly how I did it. I just said, “I’ve had lots of experience,” which I have. As a kid in the country, I learned how to do this and have caught countless little critters. When you get their attention on what is in front of them, you can make your move. King David got his attention on Bathsheba, and wham! He was caught in sin and murder. He paid dearly for allowing himself to be distracted from his mission. That is the operation of our flesh man, and it is the operation of the enemy of our soul. The devil does not want us to have a successful life in the Lord. Flesh is easily distracted and the devil is cunning and persistent. He will make sure something is set before us and our weakness that he can use to get our attention so he can ensnare us. That is not hocus-pocus; that is just a fact of life. This is why we as believers must be filled with the Spirit and wisdom of God. We must be wise to how our flesh operates, and we must be wise to how there are spiritual entities who work against God’s work in our life. Jesus paid the price to take our sins away and fill us with His Spirit and wisdom. In this way we have power over our flesh and over the devil. We don’t have to be distracted and ensnared by the lusts of the flesh and the devices of the devil. The good news of Jesus includes the power of God to live a successful life in the Lord.
Punch the Right Button
We have been engaged in a plethora of hospital visits for others. Navigating in hospitals requires elevator rides, unless you decide to get your daily stairs work out. Elevator rides require pushing the buttons that will take you to the desired floor. Perhaps I am the only one who has this challenge, but when I am looking at a panel of buttons in an elevator, I have to really look to push the right button. Most of the time I get there and push the colored button that has a number on it. I guess the stainless-steel button just blends in to me on the stainless-steel panel. My attention is drawn to the colored indicator button, so without thinking, I often push the indicator button. More than once, I have done that and just stood there for a moment waiting for something to happen. If my mind is busy thinking about something else and I wait long enough, finally the door will close and I am still just standing there. By then my attention is drawn to the fact the elevator is just sitting there and not going anywhere. Then, I purposely search for the right button and punch it, getting my journey underway. In a busy time, the door will close and you will go somewhere, but not the floor of choice. So, when I get to the elevator, I study the panel of buttons and pull my attention away from the colorful buttons and punch the stainless-steel button of the floor of choice. That gets me where I want to go. That probably does not apply to every elevator at every hospital, but I know it does apply to some. I have embarrassed myself before, laughing at myself, by punching the wrong button and just standing there waiting for something to happen. If we want to get to our desired location in life, we’ve got to punch the right buttons. Sometimes we are attracted to the brightly colored buttons that don’t take us toward our destination. That’s when we need to back up and study the panel board to choose the button that is hooked to our desired floor. It might not be colorful. It might just blend with the daily grind and discipline of life, but it is connected to where we want to go. That’s the button to punch. It is the same with the things of God. We might have punched a button that is taking us nowhere, while we are desiring more. Study the panel board. Study the Word. What does the Word say in plain language? Punch in with God what the Word says. God is faithful to his Word. The Holy Spirit works with the Word. Jesus is the anointed Word who is come in the flesh. By the same operation of God through faith, the Spirit-anointed Jesus can come into your spirit man who lives in your flesh man. Christ living in you will take you where you want to go.