"Bitterness"

  Bitterness is a bad master! Bitterness is a life wrecker! Bitterness grows the fruit of death! Let's face it, bitterness has destroyed more homes, more relationships and split the church! Bitterness brought a railing judgment against Simon from the apostle Peter as his heart was not right before God and if possible the intention of his heart would be forgiven (Acts 8:20-23). That's a scarey thought. Simon pleads with Peter to pray for him. 

  "See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness sprining up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled; that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal." (Heb. 12:15-16)

  The grace of God is powerful that gives us the ability to live beyond us. God's grace strengthens and provides more than we can even imagine. Without the grace of God, salvation doesn't exist and our lives are reduced to living just like mere men. God's grace toward us in Christ Jesus simply put is the ingredient that causes us to live in Him and is always greater toward us than any sin.

  Bitterness cancels the grace of God! The results of bitterness in the heart of a person shuts out God's involvement with us. Bitterness satisfies the angry heart. Bitterness leads one to trying to let others know how they have been wronged and how upset they are to destroy the one with whom they are bitter. Bitterness that stays in the heart long enough, it will create such hardness and callouses beyond degree that you may never be reached by grace again. Bitterness is a deceiver making people think they are doing right with the Lord while their heart is fueled by its standard. Bitterness is a bad deal and worst of all, it does cancel the grace of God!

"It's About God"

  Too many take their relationship with the Lord so lightly, they think heaven is theirs no matter what attitudes they hold to, how they treat one another or what they say. They believe heaven is theirs simply because they grew up being taught about God, going to worship and Bible studies. They almost have an attitude as if God is their right! It goes as far as seeing the church as belonging to them because their parents or grandparents are the ones who were here from the beginning and that too is their right!

  When we look closely at the Tabernacle in the Old Testament, what do we see? There is an altar which the common person was allowed to come. No further. There was the first room where the priests went in daily ministering before the Lord. But they  had to look at a curtain, a veil that stood between them and the presence of the Almighty. What did all this mean? Sinful humans cannot just stroll into the presence of God or see Him as their inherent right! That's what the Jew's thought in the days of Jesus. Abraham was their father, the Law of the Lord was given to the Jew and the Tabernacle/Temple was the proof God resided among them. It lead them into arrogance, unloving attitudes that eventually killed Jesus. They saw nothing unloving and unholy about themselves. They saw the holiness of Jesus and His holiness caused them problems and exposed their unloving hearts.

  What are we to learn? God takes our sins much more serious than we. That's because our Lord understands the nature of sin more than us, He holier than us and He loves with this true, holy love. The more you and I become conformed into the image of Jesus (Rom. 8:29), the more you and I will grow in despising our sins, learning how to love (not just those who agree with us, as that's selective love and there's nothing holy or right about that) and going to greater depths of righteousness and purity.

  There is one thing in all this. God remembers that we are but dust (Psa. 103:14). He knows our limitations. The Lord realizes we are shaped by dust, invaded by sin and we are weak in the process. However, God does not allow us to just dismiss sin as trivial! God wants us to see the horror of our sins and speaks about unloving attitudes toward others, our unfaithfulness to our spouses or not training our children in His ways, our ungrateful hearts or selling our souls out for things that perish. Our sins are our sins!

  What does God want from us? What is He really desiring? It's not about us!!! IT'S NOT ABOUT US! Everything is about holiness, God's holiness. This love God extends to us is because He is holy. The love He expects us to live by is a holy love. Our deliverance from our sins was God's holiness reaching down. Our entrance into His presence, that's a holy priviledge. Worship as the body of Christ, that's a blessing because God is holy and nothing more!

"One Of Those Days"

  It's one of those days. You know the kind of speaking of. The mind isn't as sharp and you can't seem to put together any thoughts worth stating. That's my today! I went over early this morning recorded several radio programs and in the recordings, I do ad lib a lot and my ad lib was ab-sent! It was a tough morning. I'm just tired mentally this day.

  But here's the good news when we have days like today. The Lord is our Lord. The blood of Jesus hasn't stopped being applied to my life. Blessings still flow. Our life in Christ Jesus hasn't stopped. If that's not words to encourage us, I don't know what else would. Sometimes we have bad days and here's what we need to remember: the worst your day will be is still in fellowship with the Lord. That's the worst I can expect in a day such as this. You know, come to think of it, I will take these worst days because in our weaknesses, the strength of the Lord still stands. That's worth a pray of thanksgiving and a heart of praise. What do you think?

"Where Is God?"

  It seems more and more people are wondering where is God. I'm not speaking of the agnostic or atheist. I'm speaking of Christian men and women, hiding behind masks of hurt, disappointment and bewilderment. It seems to be an endless parade that "God loves us" is placed before us and to some, they understand what that means. To others, they hear it but aren't sure. The love of God has been placed before many as a non-hurting, non-suffering God and people are looking around wondering where this is.

  God's love for us is placed before us to be shown in our love for one another. What do many do with this? Love is made into a 'hugging, touchy, feel-good' love that just warms our hearts with little fuzzies when we see one another. In the process, God is missed because that's not the love of God. God's love involves discipline when needed, siding with what is right in His eyes and correcting those when they are in sin.

  Take Paul who was imprisoned on numerous occasions, took beatings and stonings yet he knew the love of Christ was what controlled his life (II Cor. 5:14). What did Paul know and those other apostles that we are missing? Maybe we are really missing God and what His love for us stands for. We look at the pain and suffering, sometimes our very own and are left wondering is this what it means to walk with the Lord?

  A friend of mine said it best in a sermon I heard him preach. He said everything about God didn't start in the lights of a city, the hustle and bustle of mankind but God's love started in a lonely, deserted wilderness. It was in that wilderness God dwelt among His people, taught His people, took care of His people, disciplined His people and shaped His people. Some lost their lives in rebellion. But one thing was for sure, God used the wilderness to bring people to Himself. Maybe we need to realize not all our lives are going to set well, sometimes lonely, sometimes filled with goodness but whatever circumstance we find ourselves in, God loves and His love for us does not wain. It's our love and faith in Him and even when we show faithlessness, He remains faithful because He cannot deny Himself (II Tim. 2:13).

"God Will Be Revered"

  Sin is horrible and deplorable in the eyes of God. We live around sin so much daily that we take a softer, kinder approach to it. We are quick to dismiss it in our lives as just simply being "human", shrug our shoulders and move on. No big deal.

  There are times that sin is more costly than others. Ask Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5. God sent a message to the church that day by taking the life of two members of Christ's body. Just ask Uzzah in II Sam. 6. David was bringing the ark of God back. There was rejoicing as the ark traveled along and then suddenly it happened. An ox almost upset the cart and the ark tottered. Uzzah reached out, took hold and steadied it. Whew! What a close call and God struck him dead! Why? Because of his irreverence! He died right by the ark.You would have thought that God would have been pleased for someone helping and reward them. Does God think more of His furniture than the life of man?

  It was the Ark of the Covenant where God appeared enthroned above the cherubim and proclaimed the eternal truth of God's Majesty and Kingship. God had taught that His ark, when moved was to be carried by poles expressly made for that purpose (Ex. 25:10-22). From the beginning to the end, the whole situation was out of step with God's divine teachings. The final thrust was one man reaching up touching God's holiness giving little reverence. If one thinks about, they all should have died! One man died to show the rest, I am God and I will be honored and My words will be revered!  

  What are we to take from all this? We aren't talking about rituals here. We are speaking of seeing God for who He really is. We aren't to take Him for granted, do as we think He would want us to do but know that when He speaks through  His word, He can be trusted to do as He says. God has our best interest at heart and when we look at the cross, it's not something to be worn as jewelry or a sign, but the heart of God speaking to man, showing man the severity of their sins and He will not tolerate sin in us. Revere His name! Listen to Him and Him alone and beyond all, trust Him with our lives.

"Gaining God's Approval"

  Wouldn't it be great if we were like the men and women of Hebrews 11? These men and women of faith that was recorded by the Holy Spirit living by faith. I want to have a faith like theirs, don't you? But when we examine it closely, we find men and women of faith that were really flawed. Some were spiritual messes at times!

  We look at Abraham, a man of great conviction and faith. In his servanthood to the Lord, he made great blunders. Abraham lied about his wife being his wife...twice! He was trying to spare his own life. If someone did that today we would call them a liar and many would have such an attitude toward them. "They are nothing but a liar!" would be the attitude of some. It took an out-sider to rebuke him for his actions.

  And what of David? A man after God's own heart yet his life was anything but faithful at times. We know of his immorality, to deception, to cover-up and murder. What would we do with such a man today if he were in the church? What would your attitude be toward someone such as this? Let's be honest here.

  We come to us. Well intended in our service, striving to seek the Lord's will and do it. We are people of integrity and uprightness, or that's what we see ourselves as. But reading through the list of men and women of faith, we find ourselves not being able to put us in their line of faith! Here they are in all their weaknesses and failures yet we regard them as faithful because God regarded them as faithful. It concerns me how easily we throw away an eldership because of mistakes made and they are attacked as if they are the most ungodly men on earth. Yet here is Sampson in the list of faith and he sold out God's promise yet we don't see him as unfaithful. Or what about Rahab the harlot? Many look at preachers and if a preacher makes a serious blunder, attitudes are taken toward him and attacks made.

  Let's face it. Sometimes we, all of us, are spiritual messes!!! Abraham held to God. David held to God. Sampson held to God. Rahab held to God. And God said of them: "And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect." (Heb. 11:39-40) They gained approval of God! God wouldn't let them go because their faith always brought them to God! When you look in the mirror and see who is looking back at you, we can acknowledge we need some serious tune-ups spiritually. Just because of failure doesn't mean we are unholy. We are God's work, all the way to the end! Yep, I have to admit, we are just like those men and women of faith that gained God's approval.

"As You Go"

  We hear over and over, teaching/preaching on the evils of the world. It is true there is so much evil around us and that evil can impact our attitudes and thinking. But there is something more. We don't need to shell up and avoid the lost world. How are we to go about converting people to Jesus if we never have contact with them? I'm afraid that we are losing the mind-set of conversion. We are unsure of what to say or do around those lost. We work with people, live by people and shop with people daily that are separated from Jesus and headed to an eternal doom. We have family that is headed to an eternal ruin. They need to hear a message of hope and salvation. But how do we do this? God doesn't really say. Everyone seems to have their 'formula' for outreach. There is no certain way. Here is what the apostle Paul taught on outreach: "Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity." (Col. 4:5) Right there we read it. A wise conduct looking for opportunities. A word spoken. An interest shown in someone's life or family. A prayer offered for an illness or someone who experienced a death in their family. These are all opportunities if only we would use wisdom and see them. 

  There are no 'programs' that one can formulate on out-reach that are more effective than others. Have you ever thought why the Scriptures never spoke of an organized program? There's nothing wrong with an organized program but people get so comfortable with them, when there is nothing organized they feel as if nothing is being done. They feel the church is not fulfilling its mission and along with that attitudes start turning, and not for the better. Programs come and go by the way-side. Its always been like that. I can't tell you the number of programs I have been a part of over the years and today, they are dead in the water. I'm glad I worked them but it makes one be honest and think why is it this way.

  Then if we would listen closely to Jesus, as He spoke His last words to His apostles: "Go, therefore and make disciples of all the nations..." (Matt. 28:19) What did Jesus mean? Some say this is a command for us. Is it really? The term 'go' is not an imperative in the Greek which means its not a command. It literally says, "As you go..." There is the tool for outreach. "As you go" is what we need to do. When the persecution arose against the church that began in Jerusalem on Pentecost, the brethren were scattered and they simply went about teaching (Acts 8:4). "As you go" to work, to play, to home, to eat, to visit, to whatever it is you go do, use wisdom and make the most of an opportunity presented. That's how we have an out-reach. That's what makes the church so unique and different. We have a message and that message needs to be taught. People need a Savior from their sins. It's just plain and simple. "As you go" is about as natural of evangelism that one can have and that's what Jesus still wants today .Maybe if we would stop reading everyone's formulas and programs and start reading the word in its simplicity we would reach more of the lost. When Jesus reached out to help someone, He always taught a message of truth to save, not just simply offered help!