The Winter Olympics were held in Vancouver a few weeks ago.  I held my breath as snowboarders performed on the half-pipe. I groaned when Lindsey Vonn wiped out on the Giant Slalom and cheered the United States team as they scored to send the gold medal hockey game into overtime.  The grace and beauty of Women’s Figure Skating is always a big draw and this year was no exception.  I enjoyed watching the skating competition finals and was captured by the sparkling personality of gold-medalist Kim Yu-Na and the story of bronze-medalist Joannie Rochette, who skated despite losing her mother to cancer, the previous Monday.  In my opinion, the most inspirational moment is the Medal Awards Ceremony.  The top 3 finishers stand on platforms with the gold medal winner in the middle on the highest pedestal, the silver medalist stands on the right hand of the gold medalist and the bronze medal winner stands to the left.  In turn, each winner bows his/her head as the medal is placed around their neck, then the gold medalist stands at attention as the national anthem of his/her country is played in their honor.  With tear-filled eyes, the winner sings the words to his/her country’s song and then proudly raises a bouquet of flowers to acknowledge the accolades of the crowd.

We are running a race in Life’s Olympics.  It isn’t held just every four years but it is a lifelong pursuit.  The motivating factor, as it is to the Olympians, is the promise of a prize.  In 1 Corinthians 9:24, Paul reminds us, “Know you not that they which run in a race run all, but one receives the prize?  So run, that you may obtain.”   Not only does Paul tell us there is a prize to claim but he instructs us that the prize cannot be obtained if you don’t enter, run and finish the race.  There are many young people who watch the Olympics and dream of winning the gold medal but they will never stand on the platform to receive the prize.  The reasons may include a lack of talent but for the most part it is a lack of discipline.  We watch the “glory” of the Olympic Games and forget about the years of training, pain, failure, tears and frustration that each Olympian brings to the competition.  Paul continues in 1 Corinthians 9:25 & 27, ^“And every man that strives for the mastery is temperate in all things” and ^“But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection.”

Most Christians agree on the prize but have varying opinions when it comes to running the race.  For some it is a mental assent and a verbal declaration; I believe in my heart and accept Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.  This is a wonderful start but PLEASE DON’T STOP, you haven’t obtained the prize! An Olympic champion is not the person who watches the Olympics and states, “someday I want to win a gold medal!”  Others declare that there must be true repentance (sacrificing the old life on the altar) and baptism to wash the old away and become a new creation in Christ.  All biblical but PLEASE DON’T STOP, you are just entering the training facility!  To win the prize, you have to continue the training as you continue your pursuit.  Still others have embraced Peter’s message to the early church.  On the Day of Pentecost, when asked, “What must we do to be saved?” Peter declared that Repentance was necessary, each participant must be baptized in the Name of Jesus and go on to receive the Holy Spirit.  But PLEASE DON’T STOP, you are at the starting line and the race is about to begin.  Remember, Paul says that you have to “run to obtain.”

In Life’s Race, unlike the Olympic Games, everyone who finishes the race receives the prize.  In my mind I can visualize Heaven’s Award Ceremony. What a day that will be when I stand on the pedestal of Heaven and bow my head as Jesus places, not a gold medal around my neck, but a “Crown of Righteousness” on my head.  I’m sure tears of joy will spill over when I hear the angels begin to sing Heaven’s anthem. Then as all of Heaven cheers, I will cast my crown at the feet of my Savior in awe and worship.  “I Can Only Imagine!” 

I began the race over 43 years ago.  It hasn’t been the sprint I imagined but it has turned into a marathon.  There have been moments when I thought the grassy expanse might be an easier way then the straight and narrow path.  Many times I trip and fall, but with bruised legs and skinned knees, I keep pressing on.  Voices from the crowd try to distract me, I grow weary dealing with the “cares of life” and sometimes, it seems I don’t have the strength to take another step, that’s when my training takes over.  A still, small voice whispers, “You can make it, I am with you.”  I get a “second wind,” the end is in sight and the prize is waiting.  Paul sums up life’s race to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:7-8 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. 

I am a Facebook junkie!  I love being connected to friends and family, sharing amusing stories and pictures of our kids and grandkids.  Most amazing, however, is the insight into each person’s personality and philosophy that I’m given by the multiple updates posted each day.  Matthew 12:34 tells us that it is from the abundance of the heart that our mouth speaks.  If the Bible had been written in 2010, it might read from the abundance of the heart your Facebook update will read.  It has been said on many occasions that according to Facebook Updates, no one has a bad Sunday Service.  Everyone is blessed, excited about going to church, is looking for God to do great things in the midst of His people, heard an awesome sermon and was amazed at the presence of God in the service.  If you don’t believe me go to your Facebook page and read everyone’s update from Sunday.  Now read the updates beginning Monday morning.  The excitement has faded or disappeared, the awesome sermon is yesterday’s news, and the fact that you have a job seems more of a curse than a blessing.  What happened?  Is God only a Sunday God or is He God of the Mondays, too?

In 1 Kings 20, we read the story of Benhadad, King of Syria and Ahab, King of Israel.  The King of Syria amassed a large army and sent word to Ahab that he was coming to take his silver, gold, wives and children.  Ahab replied, “Oh king I am thine and all that I have.”  But that was not enough for Benhadad, his message to Ahab was, “besides your silver, gold, wives and children, I am going to let my soldiers search your house and that of your servants and take anything that pleases them.”  This went too far, even for Ahab, so he gathered his army together and went to fight the Syrians.  God had promised to deliver the Syrians into the hands of the Israelites and they won a great victory that day.  Benhadad was confused. His armies were larger, had better equipment and were led by seasoned commanders; why had they been defeated?  I Kings 20:23 And the servants of the king of Syria said unto him, Their gods are gods of the hills; therefore they were stronger than we; but let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they.

Their new strategy was, “Fight them in the valley.”  The god they serve can protect them in the hills but get them in the valley and victory is ours. Rule #1 – NEVER CATAGORIZE GOD!!!  Rule #2 – NEVER UNDERESTIMATE GOD!!!  The Syrians broke both rules and the consequences were swift and terrible. 1 Kings 20:28 “And there came a man of God, and spoke unto the king of Israel, and said, Thus saith the LORD, Because the Syrians have said, The LORD is God of the hills, but he is not God of the valleys, therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that I am the LORD.”   The Army of Israel believed what the man of God proclaimed and went into battle. 100,000 Syrian footmen were slain in one day, 27,000 soldiers escaped into the city and God caused a wall to fall on them.  God IS God of the Hills AND God of the Valley.

God will NOT be limited, therefore, I proclaim today, that God is the God of my Sunday but He is also the God of my Monday.  The same God that blessed me on Sunday will walk beside me on Monday.  The same power that thrilled me on Sunday is coursing through my veins on Monday.  The awesome sermon I heard on Sunday will be bread for my Monday.  I will walk in power and victory EVERY DAY.  Let us continue proclaiming the greatness of God on Sunday but don’t categorize and limit God the rest of the week.  HE’S GOD OF THE MONDAYS TOO!!!

Every one of us should have a desire to have more power with God and to come under His protection. Several years ago, God impressed upon my mind the importance of having this type of a relationship with Him. I want to have a relationship of protection and power with God. I called it “The Umbrella of Protection and Power.” This is the second blog in a series on this subject.

There is a relationship between pride and self-respect. Pride that leads to self-respect is controlled pride. We must have self-respect, which is a sense of self-value or self-esteem. This is seeing ourselves as God sees us. However, the pride that God hates is uncontrolled pride and it motivates the works of our flesh. This is the pride where the “I” is in control. “P-r-I-d-e” where the big “I” is in the center and dominates.

If I want protection from God, it will only come through my submission. Peter tells us in 1 Peter 5:5-7, “Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” (KJV) It is better to humble ourselves than to have God humble us!

To humble myself requires self-discipline. It means that I must deny myself and bring myself under authority. However, by humbling myself to God I place myself under the “Umbrella of His Protection and Power.” Notice also that by humbling myself to God I am also now the recipient of a great benefit from God. The offer given to me is that I can cast my cares, my anxieties and worries upon Him. He cares about me. He will also take care of all my worries.

Submission does not know distinction. Peter tells us to submit ourselves to our Elders. We need to understand that Peter is writing to the Church and is not talking of age when he uses the terms younger and Elder. The word younger, as used here, speaks of one that is new or fresh. We would call them a Beginner, or Rookie. The word Elder speaks of those who would be the ministry and Spiritual Guides of the Church. He also directs us to submit to one another. We need to put humbleness on as a “cover-all!” By doing so we give ourselves protection from pride, arrogance and insolence. We must submit ourselves to God! This brings us under His protection. It makes us reliant on His power. It also allows God to exalt us.

I have noticed that when we read certain passages of the Bible, which have become familiar to us, we sometimes fail to read all the scriptures that pertain to the subject. For example, we often use 1 Peter 5:7 to say God wants us to give Him all of our cares. Yet we fail to include the condition to be able to cast our cares upon Him is our submission. We quote James 4:7 saying if we resist the devil he will flee from us. Yet we fail to include the first part of the verse that tells us to submit ourselves to God. By missing these key components, we set ourselves up for failure and frustration.

Paul gives us key instructions, in Ephesians 5:21-33, regarding our relationship as the Church with God. He likens the Church to the wife of Christ and likens Christ as the husband of the Church. In this instruction, he tells the wife to submit herself to her husband just as the Church submits to Christ. He instructs the husband to love his wife and give her the same sort of love that Christ gives the Church. We place emphasis upon the wife submitting herself to her husband. However, again, we often fail to read the first verse on this subject and here Paul tells us in verse 21, “Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.” (KJV) Paul tells us we need to submit ourselves to each other. That would be wives submit yourself to your husband. In addition, husbands submit yourselves unto your wife!

Paul is instructing us to submit ourselves unto each other because of our commitment to Christ. By doing so, we again bring ourselves under the “Umbrella of Protection.” Here is how the Protection works: Christ protects all under His “Umbrella of Protection.” Through submission to Christ and to his wife, the husband comes under the “Umbrella” of Christ and protects those under his own “Umbrella” which would be his wife and his children. Through submission to her husband and to Christ, the wife is under the “Umbrella” of her husband and the “Umbrella” of Christ. This submission protects those under her “Umbrella” her husband and her children.

Nothing can get to the submitted wife without passing through the “Umbrella of Protection” that her submitted husband has placed over her. Nothing can get to the husband without passing through the “Umbrella of Protection” that a submitted wife has placed over him. Nothing can get to their family without passing through these “Umbrellas” and the “Umbrella of Protection” that Christ places over those living in submission. He gave Himself for His bride!

The enemy of our soul would have us to live in fear of submission! This is a lie of the enemy. He refused submission choosing rather to rebel. When we hear the word “submit” he paints a picture of a mouse, a door mat, weakness and being timid. However, we find that true power comes to us as we submit ourselves to God. In fact, in Matthew 5 as Jesus is teaching what we call the “Beatitudes” His first one tells us they way to receive the Kingdom of God is to realize that we are nothing without Him. The third one tells us if we are meek, submitted, we will inherit the earth. We will be victorious! These are just the opposite of what we would naturally assume to be true.

God somehow help us to realize the power and protection that will come to our lives when we submit ourselves to you and to others. There is power in submission.

This is the second in the series “The Umbrella of Power and Protection.”

It’s Just a Thought…God Bless!

　

　

　

Every one of us should have a desire have more power with God and to come under His protection. Several years ago, God impressed upon my mind the importance of having this type of a relationship with Him. I want to have a relationship of protection and power with God. I called it “The Umbrella of Protection and Power.”

There is a relationship between pride and self-respect. Pride that leads to self-respect is controlled pride. We must have self-respect, which is a sense of self-value or self-esteem. This is seeing ourselves as God sees us. However, the pride that God hates is uncontrolled pride and it motivates the works of our flesh. This is the pride where the “I” is in control. “P-r-I-d-e” where the big “I” is in the center and dominates.

James 4:6, “But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.” (KJV) James tells us that God resists or opposes the proud. This is because pride represents a direction that is opposing to God. It is like swimming against a strong current. God’s divine nature is not compatible with sin or pride. There is not enough room in the universe for God and the pride of man. God will eventually bring everything into submission to Him. (Romans 14:11 and Philippians 2:10)

You might ask, “Why does God resist and hate pride and why does He humble the proud?” This is a good question. The reason is that pride restrains the wicked from acknowledging God. Pride erects a temple; it constructs a throne and then places a person’s selfish ego upon the throne. Pride deifies the ego, making it God, and the ego demands that worship is given. God has commanded that we have no other God’s before Him.

God loves the person who is humble in their spirit. Pride creates a barrier that holds God distant from the proud. As gravity draws everything to it like a magnet, humility attracts God’s gracious attention. Humility brings the human spirit to the place where God can take our flaws and make something beautiful out of us. Where pride says “I am already perfect and do not need God to improve or help me!”

God elevates the humble. Luke 14:11 tells us that those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted. God always defeats the proud and He always promotes the humble.

Our attitude toward God should be to shun pride. 1 John 2:15-17 tells us, “15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For everything in the world — the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does — comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.” (NIV) Pride is labeled as an objectionable attitude toward God and our fellowman. Shunning pride is to say no to its daily overtures.

I want a right relationship with God and with my fellow man. I want God’s blessings to be upon my life. I want His protection and power to be in my life. I can realize this if I am willing to humble myself before God.

First of the Series “The Umbrella of Protection and Power.”

It’s Just a Thought! God Bless…

　

When the flood came and tore through the Earth raking it clean of all life except the 8 that were on board was and is still a increasingly important thing.  We have people today who want to preach the message of salvation to others through mental accenting and deceit of tradition taught by men.

The bible warns about that in Colossians 2: 7-8 because in them is nothing but folly and foolishness.  I heard a preacher one time say God is a specific God, and that is so true.  Just as he is one he always leaves one way for man to go for deliverance he never used more than one for salvation ever.  You know why?  I have no idea either that's just the kind of God he is.  All I know is that when God told Noah to build that Ark it was the will of God that the Ark be afloat and would save a remnent who were not tainted by the ways of the world they were in.

100 years it took for Noah to build that Ark and upon building it if you read the new testament it says that Noah was a preacher of righteousness.  The people in his time had 100 years to listen to a preacher (I'm getting at that specifically) and they denied that preacher access and denied God access to their hearts.  The salvation for them was in the form of a rigid, splintered boat that was a little bigger than a football field and was made of gopher wood so you know it didn't look classy and flashy.  Yet today it seems to be like that, but that's not the will of Jesus for his bride, because his bride is supposed to be only attractive to him and him alone.  The world looks at us and we look like a bunch of fools building up hope for life in the hereafter but what else is new.

The Ark was the only

boat that floated and was made to withstand the test of time and the rage of the waters as they beat against the sides and front of it and sure it may have been stinky inside with all those animals, but as my Pastor said, "It wasn't enough to drive those in the Ark outside into the water to drown".  No matter how bad it seems in the church its always better than the alternative.  The will of God was for there to be one way, one door, one life, one God, one Law, and one Ark.  The only thing God gave man choices in was either two ways, life or death, heaven or hell, blessed or damned.

My God is an awesome God who shed his blood for mine and your sins and to this day his will was for one way to be right.  Its through Jesus Christ and not by mere belief alone but that belief would lead you into repentance and baptism in the name of Jesus for the remission of sins and raised to life in his Holy Ghost infilling.  Jesus is the door and the salvation through repentance, baptism (in the name of Jesus) and recieving the Holy Ghost is the one doctrine that he ever gave his approval too.  Hear me on this one it is the will of God that those who are inside the Ark (Christ Church) stay inside the Ark because just as in the days of Noah, it said God closed the door behind Noah.  No different than today, the Lord Jesus is sending out his word and offer to those for eternal life but one day that door will be shut by him and all who are left behind will drown in their own misery and destruction.

People of the one true God Jesus our Christ and Saviour, stay inside because the days are growing darker and the clouds are rolling in, but this time it won't be by water but by fire.  One bad day in the church or several bad days in the church are better than just one second in the world.  May Jesus bless you all.

Matt 24:7,8  7. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes in divers places.
 
8. All these are the beginning of sorrows.

I cannot think of a time when we God has seemed closer than he does right now.  Tell you the truth its exciting as well as scary because I know what its going to take, but for those who are not ready for the Lord to come will perish likewise with their readiness.

Everybody is Christian now, nobody is a sinner and everybody is looking for the coming of Jesus.  Where are they looking though?  While the denominal world continues with their antics and watch a television instead of really for the coming of the Lord what will be our excuse?
We are Apostolic (Apostles Doctrine) and a lot of what we do is true enough in line with what the Apostles have done and taught through the power of the Holy Ghost, but we lack in an area.  The drums are being banged, the guitars played, the people dance, but we are still not shaken nor stirred or even awaken from our slumber.  God is closing in on us my people, and he has his eye on his bride who when he calls will be taken out of this world of pain into eternity.

Many are deceived because of this rapture deal.  What am I saying?  Do I not believe in the rapture?  No that's not what I'm saying I know and believe it because its biblical but many deceive themselves because they think that the rapture will happen for them and they refuse to get beyond shouting and dancing and into the deep things of God.  He said he's coming for those that are looking for his appearing.  I'm gonna put it the best way I can that I heard a Preacher put it.  Everyday we have a chance to be raptured, when Jesus appears in our services and the Spirit moves and those who claim the rapture they're ready for don't feel the Spirit move them or they are unmoved by it is the Holy Ghost saying, "You are not rapture ready".  God gives us a chance to be rapture ready only difference is on the final rapture we will be eternally with Christ.

Am I saying two raptures?  No but I am saying we have to be ready to let God "rap" us up in his power even while we are in the flesh.  The world stumbles about in the dark looking for new ways to try and reach the Lord Jesus but he only left one way and we are the Church so therefore with that being said, God uses us to move others into the position where he can move upon them.  The things described above has already began to happen and God says its only the beginning of sorrows.  That means the pain has just begun.

Its time for us to make a change Church and become the church we are suppose to be because a great revival is coming and I intend to be apart of it.  We are his people we can do it, Jesus is coming back again and we don't know when but he is.  He said, for us to be watchful to watch and pray so that means be vigilant and keep on looking.  Please people of God take to heart its time for us to awaken from our slumber and hearken to the cry of the Men of God and not just them but the signs of the times.

Gr’ma, Gr’ma, Gr’ma, GR’MA!!!! Caleb’s impatience was coming through.  I had promised him that we would go downstairs and play after I put Baby Nathan down for his morning nap.  Caleb has the patience of a 3 year old and although he may understand the word “later,” later occurs to him much sooner than it does to Grandma.  He did not want to wait until I had given Nathan his bath and bottle and snuggled him into bed for a couple hour nap.  Caleb’s experience tells him that Grandma has never broken a promise and in just a little while he will enjoy all the fun and personal attention that Grandma wants to bestow upon him, but there is one minor detail missing, Grandma is still upstairs. His little mind reasons, Grandma has promised to play with me downstairs maybe I can help make her promise a reality.  Caleb has a plan.  He will open the basement door, turn on the light, go down the stairs and then he will receive the promise.

PROBLEM!!! Caleb has birthed an Ishmael!!  By taking matters into his own hands, he has what he perceives to be the most important ingredient;”being in the basement.”  Caleb is downstairs in the play room but the JOY of the promise was spending time, playing with Grandma and she is still upstairs.  The predictable response of a 3-year old is a loud cry for Grandma to join him, which I did after Nathan was soundly asleep.  Have you ever become focused on the “missing ingredient” of a promise and birthed an Ishmael?  You are not unique; faithful Abraham tried to assist God before “natural circumstances” would prevent even God from performing what He had promised.

In Genesis 12:2-3, at the age of 75 years, God promised Abraham that he would make of him a great nation and that in him all the nations of the earth would be blessed. In verse 7, God promises to give all the land to Abraham’s descendants. In Genesis 13:16, the promise expands from a great nation to so many descendants that they could only be numbered if one could number the dust of the earth.  A few years pass and Abraham becomes a little anxious.  In Genesis 15, he reminds God that he still has no offspring.  God replies by showing him the stars and assuring Abraham that his offspring will be in number as the stars. The years continued to roll by until finally Abraham and Sarah, at the age of 85 and 75, decided to help God out with the missing ingredient and Ishmael was birthed.

I have heard it preached that Abraham sinned, but sin is rebellion against the Word of God and it was not out of rebellion that Abraham acted.  We read where God bestowed a blessing on Ishmael and God will NEVER bless sin.  I believe that Abraham was so full of faith in the promise of God that he convinced himself that God had just opened the door of opportunity to the fulfillment of that promise. The missing ingredient was not a son, as Abraham supposed, but a much more important detail.  Abraham had forgotten who “I” was!!! Ten years prior to the birth of Ishmael, God had promised, “I will make you a great nation; I will bless you; I will make your name great.”  The only input God required from Abraham to fulfill His promise was Abraham’s faithfulness.

Many times, I have impatiently or impulsively attempted to fill in a few details that seemed to be missing in the plan God was working in my life. I convinced myself that the action I was about to take was a door of opportunity that only God could have opened.  Every time I have forgotten that while it may be MY life, it is GOD’s plan, an Ishmael has been birthed.  My life has been blessed and often God continues with the plan to bring the promise to fruition, but not without negative consequences to my actions.  Like Caleb waiting in the basement, I have felt the frustration of having all my plans in place only to realize God didn’t have His plan in place yet.  As Abraham and his descendants have lived with the consequence of Ishmael’s birth, I have lived with regret over the results of my impatient actions.  Oh, I was still saved, I was still blessed, the promise would still come to pass but I had to carry all the baggage of my Ishmael along the journey toward the promise.  When God makes you a promise, learn to wait patiently for Isaac, you will not only have the blessing of God birthed in you but you won’t have an Ishmael to deal with before you achieve victory.  

Tim Tebow was born Aug 14, 1987 and is the Heisman-winning quarterback for the Florida Gators.  His parents were missionaries to the Philippines when Tim was conceived.  His mother suffered a life-threatening infection while pregnant and her unborn baby suffered a severe placental abruption. Doctors recommended that his mother abort the baby to save her life but she refused.  Tim was carried to term and both he and his mother survived.  This is the subject of a controversial commercial produced by Focus on the Family that will be aired once during the Super bowl pregame and once during the actual game.  The protests are from Pro-Choice groups who argue that this commercial is trying to take from women the choice to have an abortion.  Once again they have ignored Mrs. Tebow’s CHOICE to give her son life because the only valid choice to this Liberal group is TERMINATION!!!

Famous pro-abortionists such as Richard Dawkins will argue that Tim Tebow is on this earth by chance and a stupid decision by his mother to risk her own life that her son’s life might be preserved.  Dawkins argues that Tim’s life occurred because his parents just happened to come together on a specific night at a specific time and that specific sperm was the one that survived to fertilize the egg.  While the facts, as Mr. Dawkins state them, may be true, a new life is so much greater than scientific fact.  God may have set the scientific order of reproduction in place and left it up to mankind’s emotions and actions to start the process, but our life comes from the breath of God.  Jeremiah 1:5 says, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou came forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.”  We are all born for a specific purpose and God has a plan for each precious life.  We are all “BORN TO SERVE THE LORD.”

Tim Tebow and his family understand the great responsibility each life is given by God.  Tim isn’t just a good football player or a popular quarterback; he believes in living his faith.  Antonya English, a staff writer for the St. Petersburg Times reports that on his rare time off, Tim works in prison ministries, travels to foreign countries to give his testimony, holds Bible studies and volunteers to help those less fortunate.  Tim states, “For me, every day includes four things: God, family, academics, and football, in that order.”  Tim Tebow gets it; “HE WAS BORN TO SERVE THE LORD.”

I love the song, “Born to Serve the Lord” by Evangelist Bud Chambers, which has been recorded by several musical groups.  It captures the very purpose of life.  Here are the lyrics of that God-inspired song:

 From the dust of the earth my God created man- His breath made man a living soul; And God so loved the world He gave His only Son, And that is why I love Him so!

My hands were made to help my neighbor; my eyes were made to read God's word. My feet were made to walk in His footsteps; my body is the temple of the Lord.

I was made in His likeness, Created in his image, for I was born to serve the Lord. I will not deny Him; I will always walk beside Him, for I was born to the serve the Lord.        

You may not be called to be a missionary, a preacher or a great football player.  Maybe God’s plan for your life is ministering to your family.  Let God make you the best wife or husband, mother or father the world has ever known.  There is nothing more important to God than raising children who love and honor God with their lives and pass that heritage to the next generation.  Perhaps you are single and God’s plan for you is to be a Godly employee, a “missionary” in your workplace or a loving friend to someone who feels unloved. If God has called you to sing; sing praises unto Him; write; write something to glorify His Name; pray; pray with fervor for those who don’t know God; if it is to show kindness, you will have plenty of opportunity every day.  Whatever plan God has laid down for you from the moment you were formed, embrace it and move into your destiny because “YOU WERE BORN TO SERVE THE LORD!!!”

God wants you to succeed!!! Many Holy Ghost filled people live their lives in fear that God is just waiting to pull the rug out from under them or slap them upside the head at the slightest provocation.  Lip service is given to God’s amazing grace and His infinite mercy but we seem to think those attributes only apply to salvation and do not include our continuing faith journey.  Is it because we don’t really know God or don’t believe God?  2 Peter 3:9 tells us, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” If we believe this verse, perhaps we just have a hard time substituting “I” for “any” and “all”. 

I am the oldest child in a family of six children.  My dad was a hard worker and provided all the necessities of life and as many extras as possible for his family.  I enjoyed a wonderful childhood and never felt poor or underprivileged.  I always felt loved and had built-in playmates; something was always happening at our house.  Many of my friends, however, enjoyed some of the luxuries that I was well aware were not available to “people like us.”  My best friend in high school would spend weekends at her cottage in Baraboo, WI and she had a beautiful brick fireplace in her living room.  We lived in a 3 bedroom, 1 bath ranch, 4 bedrooms, counting the one dad fixed up in the basement.  If I ever attained that status, I thought, I would have made it because “people like us” lived in 1200 sq. ft. ranch homes with 1 bathroom and gravel driveways.  Many times, I have needed God to reassure me that, because of His grace, I am “one of those people.” God wants ME to succeed!

The book of Exodus relates the saga of the deliverance of the Children of Israel by the hand of God.  The Israelites had come to Egypt during the days of Joseph to escape a great famine.  They had lived in the land of Goshen for 430 years and were now enslaved to the Egyptians.  Their tasks became more and more burdensome until they began to cry unto the Lord for deliverance.  God raised up Moses to lead them to freedom and deal with Pharaoh. It was God’s desire to deliver his people then just as it is today.  This verse in Exodus illustrates how far God will go to deliver and protect us even when our hearts aren’t exactly true.  Exodus 13:17 says, “And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt.”  God wanted freedom for His people so badly that he led them in a way that would not tempt them to return to a foreign land and live as slaves.  God wanted them to succeed!

You are one of God’s people and He will go to any length necessary for you to be successful in your journey with Him.  When He filled you with the Holy Spirit, He endowed you with the necessary power to walk into liberty.  If you will follow the path God has laid for you, He will lead you out of the reach of the pull of Egypt and into freedom.  You can live a wonderful, fulfilled life today and be assured of eternal life tomorrow.  God wants YOU to succeed!

Once I learned how to read there was no stopping me.  The library was only a couple of blocks from our house and in the summer, my brother and I would walk to it almost every day.  I would check out a pile of books in the morning and bring them back that afternoon.  This was before computers, so a very irate librarian would sift through unfiled cards to check in the books. She finally made a rule that we could not return books on the same day; I just checked out a bigger stack.  When my babies were little, I would read at least one romance novel while they were taking an afternoon nap.  My reading list has matured somewhat, but my love for the written word has not diminished. 

While not exactly a speed reader, I am a fast reader.  I have trained my eyes and brain to pick out all the key words on the page so that I don’t have to read every word.  If something suddenly just doesn’t make sense I reread the last paragraph.  Consequently, I miss some of the insignificant details but I can always tell you the plot and conclusion of the book.   This is usually the way I watch television also.  I can watch TV, read a magazine and carry on a conversation with my husband at the same time.  I’m not sure if Steve is listening but he has learned to nod at the appropriate times.  Again, if I miss a key element, the DVR allows me to replay the scene or I just ask Steve.  I may miss a few details but the movie always ends with the good guy winning.

As you can guess, I am not the most patient person in the world and I am usually anxious to move on to the next book, task or project.  Sometimes, I fear that this character flaw shows up in my walk with God.  Many times God has put a desire or a dream in my heart and immediately, I am off my knees and ready to “get the show on the road.”  I may miss a few details but if God gave the dream to me, it will turn out ok because He always wins.  And God says, “Yes, I always win, but you, on the other hand, need a little perfecting.”

Abraham was given a promise if he would follow God to an unknown land.  God promised Abraham that he would be a father of a great nation.  Now Abraham was a very detail-oriented person and God had forgotten one very important detail or so he thought.  Abraham and Sarah were approaching old age and not one child had been born.  Being a man of superior intelligence, Abraham reasoned you can’t exactly have a nation if you can’t even have a child.  Abraham decided to help God with this very important detail and fathered Ishmael by Sarah’s maidservant.  God had not forgotten His promise or any of the details and although God blessed Ishmael and made a great nation of him, Ishmael’s descendants continue to cause Isaac, the true son of promise, all kind of problems to this very day.  How much smoother life would have been for his children if Abraham had only waited until God was ready to fulfill the promise.

As a young man, Joseph dreamed two dreams.  God revealed the meanings of the dream to Joseph but kept the time frame of fulfillment a secret.  Joseph, being the favorite son, suffered much teasing and torment from his 10 older brothers.  Now he saw his chance to get even.  “God has shown me in a dream that one day all of you will have to bow down to me,” Joseph told his brothers.  Once his tongue began “flapping” it wouldn’t stop, he included his father and mother in those that would one day bow to his superiority.  Yes, God had given him the dream but Joseph needed a little perfecting before he could rise to the place of service to his people.  It included being betrayed by his brothers, sold into slavery, falsely accused, spending some time in prison, forgotten for a time and finally having a “do or die” moment in front of Pharaoh.  Joseph had been perfected!  This is reflected in his words to the butler and baker regarding their dreams; “Do not all interpretations belong to God?”  And again when his brothers did in fact bow at his feet; “So now it was not you that sent me here, but God.”  It had taken more years than Joseph would have thought necessary, but God had perfected him and brought him to the point where he was able to handle the realization of the dream.  Joseph realized the dream was not about him but about the great God that not only held the interpretation of dreams but had guided his every step.

Like Abraham and Joseph, God has made me some promises and given me some dreams.  As I look back to the starting point, I see some of the perfecting that God has worked in my life.  Sometimes, I have wearied in the waiting and thought I would help God out with a few of the details.  With gentleness and great mercy, He takes me by the hand and continues the perfecting process.   1 Peter 5:10 reminds me, “But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.”  Once again, I am encouraged; God is not slack concerning his promise.  He hasn’t forgotten me or neglected any of the details; I just need a little more perfecting.