Tired and weary?
Wednesday, July 7, 2010, 08:00 AM
Sometimes we are just too tired to have a dream. We are too tired to be creative. That happened to Elijah who wanted to kill himself. He crawled under the juniper bush even after being a highly successful prophet of God and he said, Lord, I am the only one you have left in all of Israel. And I am ready to throw in the towel. Take my life; I am fighting the battle all by myself. Take my life, it is enough, I can't live any longer. The Lord didn't take his life, the Lord put him to sleep and then the Lord sent provision, miraculously for him to eat. And the Lord awakened him through an angel of God and said, Elijah, rise up and eat. After he ate, he went back to sleep. The Lord sent more provision and said rise up and eat and he did. Then he went back to sleep. The answer to fatigue was to eat and sleep. Eat and sleep. Two of my favorite things in the order of priority, eat and then sleep! So fatigue can be a dream buster.
Some of you cannot have a dream because you are so tired and weary and under the burden and you are living under such stress that you can't be creative. You can't think ten days down the road much less ten years down the road about where you want to be because you are so weary and tired. And I want to tell you something about that, if you are tired and if you are weary, number one, never make a major decision when you are depressed. Never make a major decision when you are tired, when you are weary, when you are discouraged because you will make a decision based on emotion, and you will make a decision that you will probably later regret. And so never make a decision when you are fatigued.
And number two; never decide to quit when you are tired because we are always tempted when our energy is spent. And we are always tempted to want to find some easy way out and get out from under the pressure, but listen to me, wait until you have rested and refreshed. Then if God leads you to do something else, then do something else. But don't give up when you are weary and tired.
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( 2.9 / 7 )God Will Meet Your Needs
Tuesday, July 6, 2010, 12:57 PM
Many times we need things that we do not want. As hard as it may be for you to believe, growing up I used to need whippings. Now I can never remember a time in my life when my dad said to me, "Son, you need a whipping" and I replied to my dad, "You're absolutely right." As a matter of fact, I always violently disagreed and could think of any number of reasons why my dad should not whip me. But, that is the way life is. So many times we need things that we do not want.But the second reason is, often we want things that we do not need, I have read where Ruth Graham ,Billy Graham's wife, said "If it had not been for God,I would have married the wrong man-three times." You see, Mrs. Graham knew who she wanted, but God knew who she needed. Sometimes we want flattery, but what we need is honesty.
I heard about a woman on her 40th birthday who came to her husband in tears. She said, "Honey, you don't think I look 40 do you?!' He said, "No, I don't. But you used to."
Sometimes we want partiality, when what we really need is fairness. One lawyer reported to his Client in a divorce case, "Mrs. Blake, I have succeeded in making a settlement with your husband that is fair to both of you." She exploded! "Fair to both! I could have done that myself. What do you think I hired a lawyer for?"
Remember that God will not necessarily meet your wants, but he will always meet your needs. You do not have a need that God has not met, or that God will not meet. Now you may be saying, “Well I have a need God has not met." Well one of two things is true. Either it is really a want and not a need, or you are about to get a blessing from God.
God will meet all of your needs. I thank God that Paul said that God would meet our needs not out of his riches, but according to His riches. You see, there is a great difference between meeting someone's needs out of your riches, and according to your riches. Think about it!
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( 3 / 7 )Would You Pass This Test?
Friday, July 2, 2010, 10:00 AM
One of my favorite stories is the one about Lt. John Blanchard who goes to the library and picks up a little book and someone wrote notes in the margin with feminine handwriting. Because he got so much more out of the notes she wrote in the margins, he found the name of the lady in the cover – Miss Hollis Mayhall, New York City, New York. He finds her address. He is then shipped off to war for 3 years.During those 36 months he wrote to her. And she wrote to him. They began to experience feelings of love. He asked her to send him a picture. She wouldn’t. She told him she did not want his love based on her physical appearance.
Finally, the war was over. They agreed to meet at Grand Central Station in New York City. She would wear a red rose in her lapel. He would carry the book.
When he arrived, a beautiful woman in a pale green dress with beautiful long blonde hair said, “Going my way, sailor?” He was going to go but didn’t. Then he saw Hollis Mayhall, a woman well past 40, plump, gray hair tucked under her hat, a red rose on her suit. He thought about going after the girl in the green suit who was walking away. But he remembered the words they shared. He went up and said, “Hi, I’m John Blanchard. You must be Miss Mayhall. Can I take you to dinner?” She said, “I don’t know what this is about but that lady in the green dress said if you should ask me to dinner, she would be in the restaurant across the street waiting for you. She said it is some kind of a test. John and Hollis have celebrated 50 years of marriage.
Love is a choice.
Service is a choice.
What are we supposed to do?
Love and serve.
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( 3.2 / 12 )God's Word Makes the Difference
Thursday, July 1, 2010, 08:50 AM
So many times in our lives we allow ourselves to get discouraged thinking that there's no way that we can make a difference in the lives of the so many people that are hurting around us! We feel that we won't know what to say or how to act and so we become partially paralyzed in our thoughts and words! We so terribly want to be able to say something or do something that would make a lasting impression on their lives! What do they need to hear? What can I say that would help? They need to know the hope that you have in Christ Jesus! They need to know that there is One who loves them with a perfect love and they need to know that He came and died for their sins! We MUST share our faith with anyone and everyone...that is what will make a difference in their lives! The gospel of Christ will transform the old to new, the sick to well, the wicked to the righteous, the lost to the found! He told us in His Word, "I am THE way, THE truth, and THE life, no one comes to the Father but through Me!" We MUST share the gospel and yet so many times we don't! I believe we allow the devil to place those thoughts of, "I don't know what to say or do," into our heads and thus we become paralyzed with fear! We don't have to fear or doubt because the Word of God will never return void!Look at it like this:
Hebrews 4:12 & 13 tells us..."The word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account."
If I'm attacking you with a sword and you don't believe that what I have in my hands is a sword, does it really matter? If the sword is real it will slice. It will pierce. It will do its job. The same is true of God's Word. God is telling us that His Word will always do its job of cutting, convicting, and convincing the unbeliever, whether they believe the Bible is the Sword of the Lord or not. We can wield it with confidence because it is the Sword of the Lord and its words will not return void. It will accomplish its goal.
We don't have to worry about our words...allow God's Words to flow through you to touch the hearts and lives of those around you!
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( 2.9 / 14 )What Do You Say About Sin?
Wednesday, June 30, 2010, 09:22 AM
The late President Calvin Coolidge returned home from attending church early one Sunday afternoon. He met his wife, who was unable to attend with him, that morning; and, he sat down to eat dinner. His wife was interested in what the preacher spoke on in his sermon. Coolidge told her that he spoke on 'Sin.' She pressed him a little further, and asked, "Well, what did he say about sin?" And, being a man of few words, Coolidge responded, "I think he was against it!"In a day of soft diplomacy, and political correctness, straight talk is a rare commodity. Most statements are couched in diplomatic terms so as not to offend anyone. Words with sharp edges are rounded off and shaped to more easily fit the ears of the hearer. T. S. Eliot was correct when he said,
"We humans cannot bear very much reality!"
We live in a day when where we are more divided than at any time since the Reformation. We are divided over what is right and what is wrong. We are divided over what is good and what is bad. We are divided over what we should do and what we shouldn't do.
However, even more tragic is the fact that we have made the wrong thing the right thing, and the bad thing the good thing. No longer is there any thought of what we should do, our decisions are based on what we want to do. And, the modern day motto holds true, "If it feels good, do it!"
J. H. Jowett aptly summarized man and God's view of sin:
Man call is an accident; God calls it an abomination.
Man calls it a chance, God calls it a choice.
Man calls it a defect, God calls it a disease.
Man calls it an error, God calls it an enmity
Man calls it a fascination; God calls it a fatality.
Man calls it a luxury, God calls it a leprosy.
Man calls it a mistake, God calls it a madness.
Man calls it a trifle, God calls it a tragedy.
Man calls it a weakness, God calls it willfulness.
And, according to Proverbs 14: 9, God calls any man a 'fool' who looks at sin differently than He does. He is the fool who disgraces God.
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( 2.8 / 13 )
