"Real Life"

"Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?" Matthew 6:25 

I woke up this morning with a chorus I haven't heard in a long time repeating over and over in my thoughts. Let me share it with you. "Oh, my Jesus, rock of my salvation. Who bore the weight of Calvary's wood and shame. And cleansed my sin in the crimson flow of mercy. Precious Jesus, rock of my salvation"

 

I would like to remind you this morning that out of all that we think life is about- what to eat, what to drink, what to wear, where to live, what job to have, etc.- life really boils down to this one thing-- what you do with what God has done for you. God loved you so much that He sent His one and only Son Jesus to die on the cross to bear your sins in order that you might have salvation and eternal life. 

 

God purchased salvation for you, then He extended it to you as a free gift. What are you going to do with it? I said life really boils down to this one thing because this is the most important thing. Without salvation nothing else matters- "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" (Mark 8:36) All our hard work, all our worldly accomplishments, all the wealth we may acquire, are like treasures that moth and rust corrupt and thieves' steal. It is all temporary in the end. 

 

Sadly, we live our lives seeking after and working for the temporary and we neglect the eternal. We go about our business giving no thought to it. We are so busy with working on "life" that we miss out on "life" (real life, abundant life, eternal life that comes through Jesus Christ). 

 

So, I ask you- what will you do with what God has done for you? What will you do with this free gift of salvation? What will you do with Jesus; will you make Him your Savior? What will you do with your life? Will you spend it on temporary things and miss out on the eternal? Or will you receive God's free gift of salvation and enjoy real living?

 

Have a great day. What will you do with what God has done for you?

 

For further reading:

John 3:16; 10:10

Romans 5:8; 6:23

Matthew 6:19

2 Corinthians 4:18 

"Run To, Not From God"

"Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded." James 4:8 

What do you do when you fail the Lord? What do you do when you know you sinned? What do you do when you know you messed up or disobeyed the Lord? If you are not careful you tend to want to run. I am not talking about trying to run from the consequences of your actions, I am talking about running from God. Adam and Eve did that. They tried to run and hide from God after they had sinned. 

 

During the times I asked you about you can either make the choice to run from God or run to God. When you fail, shame and guilt will try to get you to run from Him. When you sinned, the guilt will try to make you run from Him. When you disobey, the condemnation will take to make you run from Him. 

 

Running from God is the worst thing you can do. It will only take you further down the road of guilt, shame, pain, etc. The enemy wants you to run from God. The last thing he wants you to do is run to Him. He knows it is when we run to God that we find peace, help, strength and forgiveness. As we draw near to the Lord, He draws near to us. The Bible says that God is ready to forgive. He longs to pour out forgiveness, grace, mercy and restoration on us.

 

Are you running from Him or to Him this morning? Are you letting what you have done take you further away from Him, or will you let it take you closer to Him and His forgiving embrace of grace? His desire is that you run to Him. Don't let anything stop you.

 

Have a great day. Don't run from God, no matter what you have done. Run to Him and let Him help you.

 

For further reading:

Genesis 3:8-10

Psalm 73:28; 86:5

Hebrews 10:30

1 John 1:9

"The Anchor"

"That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil." Hebrews 6:18,19 

There are times when we feel our faith slipping, when we are overwhelmed by the situation, and when we are bombarded by the cares of this life. During those times it often feels as though God is a million miles away. You can't feel His presence, you aren't hearing His voice, you don't sense that He is there, and you certainly can't see Him. Darkness shrouds any glimpse of Him. Fear shouts so loudly that it drowns out His voice. You see no end to the tunnel much less any light. You feel as though you are not going to make it but are going to drown instead. These times hit all of us- some are because we have opened the door to them, some are through no fault of our own, some are just a natural result of life, others are an attack of the enemy.

 

What do we do in those times? How do we "stay afloat"? How do we keep from going under? What can we do in order to not give up and throw in the towel? You hold fast your profession of faith without wavering. How do we do that? Faith comes by hearing the Word of God. You hold on to God's Word. 

 

Let me paint you a picture. There is a ship in the sea, there are waves and there is the shoreline. The shoreline is rocky. It has jagged rocks that are exposed on the shore and some that are hidden underneath. As the waves come the ship can be pushed into the shoreline. If it is, it can run aground, it can have its hull damaged, it can wreck on the rocks. 

 

The ship is us floating through life. At times the waves come (all the things we mentioned earlier). They try to push us into the shoreline on the rocks- the place of destruction.

 

Look back at the picture again with me. The ship doesn't seem to be moving closer to the shore. The waves are beating on it. It looks like it is swaying some, but it is not moving into the rocky area. It seems to be just "standing still" on the water. Why? The ship is strong and large, but the waves are equally as strong and fierce, so the ship's own strength is not holding it secure. It is because underneath the ship is an anchor. The anchor holds it in place. It keeps it from moving any closer to danger. It holds it save in a certain location. 

 

When the waves of life beat upon us, when we "feel" nothing, when we doubt and question, we too can hold steady, we don't have to be destroyed, we have an anchor that will hold us firm, secure and safe-- that anchor is God's Word. 

 

I know I have been lengthy this morning. But you can always count on God's Word when you can't see, hear, or feel anything else. God's Word will always be there, it is forever settled, it is quick, sharp and powerful, it is an invincible weapon, you can stand upon it and even though you may sway a little or be rocked somewhat by the waves, the anchor of God's Word holds firm and tight. So cast the "anchor" down today and let His Word hold you safely in place.

 

Have a great day. God's Word is the anchor that holds us in place when everything is beating upon us. 

 

For further reading:

Psalm 119:105;89

Hebrews 4:12; 10:23

Romans 10:17

"Guilt Free"

"There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Romans 8:1 

None of us are perfect. We have all made mistakes. We have all done things we should not have done, said things we shouldn't have said, and acted in ways we should not have acted. We have all been guilty of hurting someone else, making wrong choices, or having a bad attitude. We have all done things we wish we had done differently or could change. There are things we have said that we wish we had not said or could take back. The truth is that no matter how much we regret some things said or done, no matter how much we wish we had not done them, no matter how much we wish we could go back and do it over again, or how hard we try to correct them, what was done was done and what was said was said- you can't change it. 

 

While we can't change some things that we did or said, there is one thing that we can do about it and that is not allow the guilt of what was done to affect us now. Are you holding on to the guilt of past mistakes? Are you feeling guilty for not handling a situation in a different way? Are you being beat up by guilt over something you did last year, ten years ago, thirty years ago? Well, if you are then it is time to let it go. It is time to come out from under the guilt. It is time to release yourself and stop carrying it around. It is time you leave it back there in the past where it happened. 

 

Jesus gives you an invitation to come to Him and give Him your burdens. "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28) This invitation includes those who are laboring under guilt. It includes those who are bearing the burden of guilt. It includes those who are "loaded down" by guilt. Will you acknowledge His invitation today in the affirmative by giving the guilt to Him once and for all? Will you stop beating yourself up, stop blaming yourself, stop letting it rob you of peace and joy and receive His rest from the burden of guilt? 

 

Have a great day. We are all guilty of some offense, but we don't have to be guilty of holding on to guilt because of it. 

 

For further reading:

1 Peter 5:7

Psalm 51:2

John 8:36

"No Surprise"

"And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side." Mark 4:35 

Our scripture text is taken from the story of Jesus and the disciples when they were in the boat and a storm came up. The disciples were afraid for their lives but Jesus was asleep in the boat. When Jesus told them to get into the boat and go to the other side, He knew they would encounter a storm. When the Lord delivered the Israelites out of Egypt, He knew Pharaoh would pursue and they would be trapped between the sea and the army. When Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, the Spirit knew there would be temptations. When we walk with the Lord, we too will face these same kinds of trying times. But nothing that we face takes God by surprise. He doesn't back up and say, "Oh, no, where did that come from?" He is never blindsided, caught off guard or unaware of the surroundings. He always sees, He always knows, He always knows ahead of time even before we know it. 

 

In each instance above, we see God making a way through the trial. We see His presence on the scene. We see that He has the whole situation under control. If you are in a storm, if you are facing an enemy, if you are in a hopeless situation, if you are being sorely tempted, don't lose sight of the fact that the Lord is in the "boat" with you. Never forget that He is going ahead of you to make a way so that you can "cross over" safely. Don't forget that He is with you empowering you for what you are facing. 

 

Have a great day. God is never surprised by the things we face, and He is right there making a way for us. 

 

For further reading:

Mark 4:35-40

Matthew 4:1-11

Exodus 14