Unwrap Your Gift!

1 Peter 4:10  “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms.”
 Like all of us and everyone created in the world, He had been chosen for a certain thing and event in time. His calling was specific for his day and his talents for his time, and was God given.
His gifts were placed in him for the part he would play in time he would live.
He was God qualified from birth.
He was God planned from his beginning.
He was placed on this earth by his Creator with a purpose.
He tried to jump start things on his own and it cost him dearly and now possibly some 40 years down the road he has quit. He has given up on being what he knew God planned on him becoming. He has walked away from his gifted direction, his created plan.

The Bible tells us that he has gone to another place and he was content to dwell there. He makes some major life decisions while away from God’s directing hand.  He gets married and has a child. He gets into the ranching business with his father in-law. Life is quietly going along and he is content to just be where he is, doing what he is doing and simply forgetting about what God built him to do. Everything is fine with him until God gets tired of waiting and gives him a wake-up call.
God finds Moses in his content place a long ways from where Jehovah planned on him being with his life full of stuff God didn’t plan on it being full of.
Then on a content day doing his own thing God shows up and asks Moses a question. When Moses tells God that he isn’t qualified and ready to do the call of God. God asks, “What is in your hand?”

The question has been asked of others throughout time. God, knowing the abilities and talents He has packed into each and every life, has continually ask and reminded people of what is in their hand. God seems to ask us, look at what I put in you. Look at what you are carrying around. What are you doing with what I have put in your hand?
God seems to asks, "Look what you have to offer my plan. Look what you were made to accomplish for my purpose.  Look at what I placed in your life.  What are you doing with what I put in your hand?"
What are you doing with what God has put in your hand? Your life is pack according to the desire and purpose of God. He put you together and shaped you the way He did for His plan.
Even though you may think that you personally developed your abilities and you are a self-made man or woman, nothing could be farther from the truth. God packed you the way you are packed. What are you doing with what is in your hand?
Moses must have been around 30 years old when he decided to forget about his gift. The Bible tells us, “When he was grown”. In the Bible times a man was consider mature enough to lead around 30 years old. The Bible tells us that he decide to push a door open that God was not ready to open. He, out of a zeal and passion, decides to make something happen. But one thing is for sure you don’t make God do anything. We need to be ready to walk through any door God opens but never force any doors.

Moses decision cost him dearly and adds a fear to his life so he quits. He walks away, finds a content place to live and changes his directions for life. If things hadn’t have gone wrong he tells himself he might have done something important. But he seems to be pouting over the fact he didn’t get to do it his way. So we find Moses in a content place, making decisions way outside the will of God and a long ways from his purpose.
While he is in his content place he marries outside of Israel, a decision that will cost him later in his leadership. He produces a child away from the children of God. He builds a business and settles down in a content place far from his purpose.
Moses is eighty years old when he is finally is used of God. More than a generation has passed and lives have no doubt been born, lived and died before Moses answers the question about what is in his hand.
What was missed while Moses was being content? What was lost while Moses was somewhere other than the will of God? What was missed while Moses was being satisfied away from his purpose? What was lost while Moses is doing nothing with what God put in his hand? But yes, finally at eighty years old Moses answers with what is in his hand.
Finally Moses unwraps his gift and hands it to God and God does a miracle like there had never been.

Just like Gideon, a seemingly no body from a no body family. A man who looks to everyone else to simply be grunt help but God built him with a purpose. God doesn’t care what others think about Gideon when the time called for, when history asks for it Gideon gave it. He unwraps his gift, gives it to God and does a great work for Lord.
Like David who unwraps his gift around the age 15 and conquers a giant. No one believed in David. Everyone thought he was too young and not qualified. People thought he didn’t have what it took. But at an early age, David unwraps his gift and hands it to God and the Lord does mighty things with his life.
What would happen in your life today if you unwrapped your gift and brought it to God?

In 2 Kings 7, in your Old Testament Bible, four seemingly unqualified men set out to get their needs met. Four leprous, sick men that no one believed in and with little ability but they decide to do what they could do.

When they did, when they started moving, God started a miracle. Really the only thing they could do was simply change their positions. Really all they could do was stop doing what they had always done and move their life in a fresh new direction.
They had never been where they decide to go, but their circumstance demanded if they wanted a chance they had to change their position. So four seemingly unqualified men did the only thing they knew to do, they started toward a new position and new place of possible hope. Their day was full of defeat. Their world was led and driven with unbelief. Their day was such that people where making fun of the words of God’s prophet. Yet, four unqualified people decided to stop doing what they had always done and said lets change it might work. God must have been ecstatic! I mean, God will move mountains over a sand-size grain of faith.
God must have gone nuts over four people changing their direction.
When the day is finished, God delivers a huge army into the hands of four unqualified men who simply decide to do the only thing they were qualified to do, “Move toward hope in faith!”

I wonder what would happen if your unwrapped your gift and gave it to God?

This Is Not My Grandmother's Church

The purpose of this lesson is not to be controversial or in any way belittle our beautiful history. The purpose is to shed light on the fact that we live in a totally different day than our grandparents. I want to challenge us to realize this is the day God has called us to, a fact we cannot change. Because our world is so different the church today is not the same church in action, evangelism and culture and we should never pretend it is or should be. I do not believe that this takes away from biblical doctrine and the need for repentance and the remitting of sins by baptism in the name of Jesus. This day also means we are in desperate need of being filled with the Holy Ghost, God’s spirit. Yet, we need to lose the spirit and attitude that causes us to waste time wishing for yesterday’s church environment and culture. This is not my grandmother’s church.

My grandmother’s church, when I was a little boy was also our church. As I thought back to my earliest memories of that church, I found it very different than the church I pastor in today. There was the lack of things in the early days at my grandmother’s church like no indoor plumbing. I can remember two outhouses on the back corner of the property. I don’t remember any air-conditioning or carpet. Just a green painted concrete floor. I remember the pews that were handmade and the nails that poked up out of them and if you slid down the pew on some, you might get a tear in your clothes. I remember a heater in the corner that we stood around before church.

But there were some other things that were not cosmetic but the simple demeanor of the people in that day.
It was a small country community and her church was one of two or three I remember in the town. Although the congregation was small there were days of the year when several would turn out for church. Days like Easter, Mother’s Day and Christmas services and even sometimes revival services. Then there were other times when people would come just to be in church that Sunday I guess. Maybe something stirred them, I’m not sure but for some reason they just showed up for a Sunday service. I can remember it sending a certain buzz throughout the congregation. So-in-so was in church today; it could be the day they were coming to God.

One thing I seem to remember, there was never a time that a “visitor” or a non member came that most of the congregation didn’t know who they were. When a couple walked in the door in my grandmother’s church you not only knew who they were but also where they worked, how long they had been married, about when their kids were born and where they lived. If on the one or two occasions someone did walk in that few if any knew you never questioned or even considered if a couple was married, who’s children they had with them, it was all simply a given. We knew they were married and the children with them were the couples children.

You didn’t ever consider what addictions might be going on to their life. If there were any addictions it was tobacco; and there were one or two in town that had a drinking problem, something that also was much known around town. Most who walked through the doors came looking for Jesus and life change. They came looking for the promise of heaven, to miss hell and have God to help them with their simple life. Yes, when they came to God they did bring baggage just like today, but as I look at what they left at the altar in my grandmother’s church I find it really different from what people bring to the altar and leave today. Both bring the baggage of life but the baggage today is definitely different.
No, I am in no way meaning to make a walk for God seem any less in my grandmother’s church. I have heard my grandmother sigh at the shape of this old world many times and she would tell me, “The Lord is about to come”. She would say, “It just can’t get any worse”. She so expected the coming of the Lord, that on many occasions I have seen her look at a sky with sunlight peering through clouds and she would say, “That looks like the Lord could come.” No, her day brought a seriousness to her walk and relationship with God. She lived for Jesus with a strong sincerity as she watched life shake people.
That was her day and she fought the good fight of faith in her hour.

Now, we could tell stories and get all nostalgic about the old days. Songs have been written and sung with a longing and with the quote, “Good old days”. But in case you haven’t noticed, we don’t live in that day. Try as you might, you will never be able to recreate that yesterday with its feelings and events. This also includes the church today. We are foolish to begin to think we can be and perform like the church did 70 years ago.
We can blame it on the lack of commitment, lack of prayer, and a long list of what we remember the church being. But in reality it is none of the above.
I would venture to say that there was lack of prayer in the church 70 years ago. I also would dare say there was a faithfulness problem in the church 70 years ago.
In reading the book, The Winds of God, about the church in the early 1900’s, I found there were people faking it then. No, I don’t believe the church is changing in that aspect, yet our world has degraded to such a place that the church is dealing with things it didn’t deal with 70 years ago.

The church today, is not my grandmother’s church, it can’t be and I don’t believe God intends on it being so.
If you still are not buying into what I am saying, I challenge any of you to look at your family just three generations back and you will find all the reason you need to understand this is not your grandmother’s church.
Does it mean that God is any less powerful? No! He is doing powerful things today in the lives of people. Greater things than I ever have seen in my life.
Does it mean that the preached Word of God is not important? No! We need the anointed Word greater than ever before and God’s Word is being pushed into society in greater fashion than ever before.
Does it mean that we have lost ground and the church is not as strong as before? No! If you believe that we are in the last days according to the Bible, then you must also believe what the Bible says about a growing powerful church. God is not coming after a sick weak Bride. Scripture promises the church is one that will have made herself ready for God. I do believe we can miss the chance of ministry and the purpose of God if we continue to long for yesterdays and criticize the Bride of Christ because it’s not our grandmother’s church.

I listened Monday to an interview with retired Florida State football coach, Bobby Bowden. In the interview he was asked what was the difference in the kids today from the kids when he started coaching over 50 years ago. He quickly said the boys are still just boys, there’s no difference.  The difference he said is in the fact that almost all the boys who come into division 1 college football programs today do not have a father at home. Not a few, not some, but almost all.  He went on to say that most don’t have a mother at home when they get home from school because she is at work. He said because they are boys and they don’t have a parent guiding them, they tend to get into more trouble today.
That statement would have never been made in my grandmother’s day and if we think times have not changed the thinking and actions of our world, we are fooling ourselves. Did we ever believe we would see the day when children raise themselves? I realize we can do little to change this trend outside of prayer and change the lives of those who we have influence on. But we need to realize what our day and culture are doing to the church. This is not your grandmother’s church.

Does this mean we don’t preach and lead away from sin? No!
Does this mean we give up and forget what we believe and desire in our lives? No!
Does this mean we stop trying for life-change in people? No!
Does this mean we don’t preach repentance and the need for lives to turn around? No!
What it does mean is the fact we are foolish if we begin to think that the church is and can be what it was 70 years ago. It can’t be. Life is nothing like it was 70 years ago, and people are nowhere near the same as they were 70 years ago. We can waste our days and moments wishing for yesterday but if we do, we will never make a difference in this day.  This is not an easy day and we don’t need to spend our living moments wishing for something that will never be. We don’t need to be spend precious time cursing the darkness. We need to take these blessed moments and shine a light with an anointed prayerful life and do what Jude in scripture tells us to do.
Jude 1:20-23 NKJV
20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,
21 Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
22 And on some have compassion, making a distinction;
23 But others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.

If you still are having problems buying into what I am saying read to this.
We Didn't See it Coming


By Dr. Tim Elmore
GrowingLeaders.com
Something is happing in our culture. There is a subtle but very real shift taking place. If you work with adults, you may not see it because adults often get stuck in steady routines. They won’t reveal the shift. If you work with students you may not see it because you are so close to the change you can become numb to it.
Let me explain it this way. For almost twenty years, I lived in San Diego, CA. While there, I learned rapidly about earthquakes. They cause a shift in the earth beneath me. What I didn’t realize was that following most every earthquake, there is an aftershock. It’s a second shift that occurs as a result of the first. It can cause about as much damage as the original quake.
I believe our American culture experienced a cultural quake between 1985 and 2000. Today, we are experiencing the aftershock of that quake, which includes unintended consequences to our culture and society. Most never saw it coming.
Generation iY
Just take a look at the emerging generation of students today. While they are part of what sociologists call Generation Y (born in the ‘80s and 90s), the latter half of their population is different than their earlier counterparts. The young adults born in the 80s are part of an amazing population. During their adolescence:
1. Teen pregnancy was down.
2. Drug abuse was lower than their parents.
3. Crime had dropped measurably nationwide.
4. Civic engagement was at a record high.
5. The prospects for changing the world had never been better.

The wave of kids born since 1990 is unique. I call them Generation iY, due to the impact of the “I” world. They have grown up on-line and are products of iPods, iPhones, iChat, iTunes, iMovies, iPads—and for many of them—life is pretty much about “I.” They are much more self-absorbed than the older Y population. Empathy has dropped 40% in college students over the last decade, according to a University of Michigan study. In a longitudinal study by Dr. Jean Twenge, students today are 70% more narcissistic (and less altruistic) than when I was a college student. Ten years ago, 90% of high school students laid plans to attend college. Today, 30% don’t even graduate high school. The bottom line? They’re getting stuck.
So, what has happened? This shift actually has been slowly evolving throughout the 20th century. There has been a perfect storm of elements that have contributed to the state of our current culture that we, as church leaders, must understand if we’re to respond well. Allow me to provide a handful of reasons why we see what we do today

1. The Invention of High School
By the 1920s, students were pressed into age-graded groups and began to interact mostly with peers. The church followed suit with her programming. Social silos. The downward spiral of EQ began. We get lazy when connecting only with others like us.

2. Video Games
All the legitimate research shows the more time spent with a video game the poorer kids do in school. Male teens spend 13.5 hours a week in gaming; this delays their readiness for life. The adult world ambushes them. Stanford will no longer accept “gamers” into their med school.

3. Prescription Drugs
The U.S. represents 5% of the world’s population, but we consume 90% of the prescription drugs given to kids (ADHD, depression). Sadly, long after the meds are gone, the personalities of these kids have been altered. They’re artificially lethargic. Adults have become lazy when dealing with energetic kids.

4. Parenting Styles
Along with a new generation of kids, we have a new generation of parents today. They’ve made their kids their trophies—they hover, emulate, serve and erupt over them. They don’t mother, they smother. Kids have a difficult time growing up if their parents have not done so first.

5. Endocrine Disruptors
BPA and other chemicals in plastics have entered our human systems. BPA mimics estrogen, the female hormone. It wreaks havoc on student’s bodies and delays a clear sense of identity. It’s a gender bender. Testosterone levels are dropping in boys as 90% of our kids today have BPA inside them.

6. Teaching Methods
Students today are right-brained, upload kids forced to attend left-brained, download schools. The gap between adult and students styles causes a disconnect; adults are not teaching the way kids learn best. They’re passing but not learning. Most teachers are heroes, but the school systems are failing.

7. Niche Marketing
Decades ago, retailers and marketers picked up on youth as a target market. Success came as they preyed on adolescent insecurities and desires, creating hunger to look and stay young. Marketers are better at this than ever—prolonging adolescence. 60% of students move back home after college. (Fewer and fewer are wanting to grow up and parents are allowing it.)*

8. Media and Technology
We all love them, but television, YouTube, Google, Twitter, Facebook, iPhones and Second Life provide instant gratification and results. If it takes too long or isn’t fun students can delete, stop, block or log off. This is nothing like the real world. (But these are a greater teacher than most parents thus setting life action that cannot deal with a real world. This no doubt in turn leads to more addictions)*
* My added thoughts
Now do you believe this is not your grandmother’s church? If you would be honest with me you would agree there is no way it could be.

So, do we simply give up and not try? No! God would not have called us into this day if He didn’t believe we could be used by Him to change and make a difference in this type of world. The Lord has promised He would never leave us or forsake us. One of the conditions of His promises is the fact that we must stop wishing for the past and stop cursing the darkness. We need to ask God to give us the gift and spirit of the children of Issachar so that we know what we should do.

1 Chronicles 12:32 NKJV
Of the sons of Issachar who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, their chiefs were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their command;
If we lack understanding of our times we need to be able to hear those who do and tell us what we ought to do, because this is not your grandmother’s church.

Now God just didn’t leave us here without direction. We are not left hung out to dry. Neither do we need to become an emerging church that is nothing more than a religious society of the world. We desperately need to understand our day and take the whole gospel to them just as the scripture says.
One thing we need to understand is the fact that the early church prospered and had revival in a very evil day. Most of the epistles or letters written to the church in the New Testament are to churches in actual cities. These letters address evangelizing and living the Christ-like life in the middle of a dark evil immoral days.
One example is the letter to the Ephesians’ church. This is the church at Ephesus.
A quick study of this city and you will find that the center of their worship was not some church on the corner or several different religions across the city. The center of this city’s worship was a goddess call Diana. Now this worship was not just centered in a temple. The worship to this god was found in any store where the owner was a follower of this cult. The worship of this god centered on morality. She was supposed to have been the off spring of a virgin goddess and lustful god. It is said that many immoral acts took place at the base of her statue. The church people going to the two large open markets, no doubt saw things that no doubt caused them to shield their children’s eyes. There was the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes which God said He hated. This was worship similar to that of the doctrine of Balaam and Jezebel which taught people to commit immoral acts in the name of religion. (Revelations 2:6, 14-15, 20)
The church at Ephesus was evangelizing their world in the middle of such sinfulness. You can read in Acts 19 of your New Testament Bible of a great revival that caused the new converts to burn their books and curious art. (Verse 18-19) No matter how sinful a world becomes, the grace and power of God is always greater.
So what do we do in our world?
Turn your Bible to Paul’s letter to the Ephesians’ church and read some of his instructions.
Chapter 5 is called a chapter of general exhortation. In this chapter alone are given many directions for one’s daily living. He tells the church to flee from immorality and other filthiness of the flesh.
Paul warns us not to be deceived and that the fruit of the Spirit which Jesus said must be in our life and remain, must be seen through the window of goodness, righteousness and truth. (Verse 10)
Paul tell us not to have friendships with people, so-call-Christians, who have barren works of shadiness but rather admonish them to change. (Verse 11) On and on Paul goes with instructions on how to live.
In verse 14-17 the apostle tells how we need to respond in our world.

Ephesians 5:14-21 NKJV
14 Therefore He says: "Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light."
15 See then that you walk circumspectly (diligently looking around where you are going), not as fools (unwise fools) but as wise,
16 Redeeming (buying up, rescuing) the time (occasion or season), because the days are evil.
17 Therefore do not be unwise (stupid, ignorant, rash), but understand what the will of the Lord is.
18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,
19 Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord,
20 Giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
21 Submitting to one another in the fear of God.

Yes, this world is a different place than it was 70 years ago. Yes, it doesn’t even feel the same at all. It has a lot of sinful practices and actions. Yes, some of which find themselves into the church at times and have to be dealt with. But this is not a reason to give up and stop living for God and making a difference in the world around us. It is also not a reason to just go with the flow and be like the world.

Jesus gave us the promise that in this world we will have trying times and trouble, but He said, “be of good cheer He has already conquered the world.” John 16:33
We need to ask God to give us the spirit of the children of Issachar so that we know what we should do.
We need to walk alert and diligently watching; don’t be foolish, wake up and realize what the will of God is in this day we live in.

Because this is not my grandmother’s church. It is a whole new day with a whole new set of challenges. If we want to be part of the Bride of Christ, the last day church, then we will have to handle those challenges and stop longing for yesterday. God has placed us in this day He has made; it is here we will have to give an account on how we handled it and grew what He placed in us as we live in this day. This is not my grandmother’s church.

Learning To Be Happy About Being Chosen

You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.
John 15:16-17 NKJV

Do you believe in Creation?
Do you really believe God Almighty, Jehovah created you?
If you believe that God created you, then why did He create you?
Do you know for what reason and purpose God made you?

First I firmly believe we were created in the image of God by God and second I firmly believe we were created with purpose and reason. I do not believe we are an oops on God’s chart, any of us.
No one else may have wanted you or no one may have wanted me, but God does and has a plan, a purpose and a reason for me and you to walk through this life.
The sooner I realize this and also get a direction of His purpose, the sooner I can enjoy life and living for God in a way I never have.

I am afraid too many people spend too many of their days bemoaning the fact that they are not what they wish they were. Yes, all of us can and need to do a better job being all of what God wants us to be but we also need to find the trail of that direction and with joy, grow the abilities God has placed in our life. (Matthew 25:14-15)
If you want to enjoy living for God, zero in on what He designed you for and be excited being what He made you to be. When I say people spend too many of their days bemoaning the fact that they are not what they wished they were, I am talking about people who are not happy to be chosen. They are not happy being what God designed them to be. They want to be someone else.

Too many people in the church are blowing precious time pouting over the fact that they are not getting to do what someone else is getting to do.
This is like a Gazelle trying to be a Cheetah. Both are designed by God to be very fast runners. Both were created to live and perform in the same country or environment. But the moment a Gazelle tries to fill the role of a Cheetah is the day it will stop living. The same is true for the Cheetah. The Gazelle can fret and bemoan the actuality it is not a Cheetah but that will never change the fact it is not and can never be. Every moment spent crying over this fact is lost time being what God made it to be.

Every day you and I spend crying over the fact we are not getting to be and do what we would rather be and do is time lost, and time without production. God called you to be who you are and what you should be. The sooner we learn this the quicker we can enjoy being all God designed us to be.
God put us in our position to fill a purpose. If we want to enjoy being all we can be for God we desperately need to learn to be happy in the fact we were chosen and chosen for a reason. Then we need to fulfill that reason.

“Value of life lies not in the length of days, but in the uses we make of our days. One may live long yet live very little.” M. DeMontaigne

God has a great plan He put together for you and only you. No one else has a DNA chain like you. You were made on purpose and with a purpose. Its time you and I stop wasting ours and God’s time fretting over the fact we are not getting to do what someone else is getting to do.

The sooner we find our lane of purpose the sooner we will get to live with a smile on our face.
We cannot be intimidated and dismayed over the fact that we are not someone else.

Read the list of diciples in Matthew 10:1-4
1 He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.
2 These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John;
3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;
4 Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. NIV

 The book of Mark, Luke and also Acts give us this list again.

Four of the guys are never mentioned again outside these lists. Two of them, Thomas because of his doubting and Matthew because of the dinner he had to introduce Jesus to his friends, are only mentioned a couple of more times. There is a lengthy story of Philip coming to Jesus and then he is most know for his worry over how much money it was going to take to feed the 5000 and he also ask Jesus to show them the Father. This is all we read of him. Judas is known for betraying Jesus. Andrew’s is only claim to fame was the fact he brought Peter to meet Jesus.

Outside this we only read and hear about how many great things Peter, James and John did.
It was always Peter James and John. Peter preached here and healed this one and wrote this or saw this vision. On and on the list goes of the great things these three did.
We never get to read the book of Thaddaeus or we are never told how great a preacher Bartholomew was. Over half of the twelve disciples are never heard of again by name.

Where they important to the early church? YES!
Did they have a purpose and was used of God? YES!
Did they matter to the kingdom of the Lord? YES!
It is evident that they knew their purpose and they understood the reason God saved them and they were happy to do just that.

As you read the book of Acts you find other’s who are written about and greatly used of God. Men like another Philip and Stephen, men like Barnabas and Paul. You never read where Bartholomew and James the son of Alphaeus ever complained and pouted over the fact they didn’t get the breaks that Peter got and how that jonnie-come-lately, Paul wrote over 75% of the New Testament and went on two mission trips.
Each of these men knew their purpose, they understood their abilities and the talents God had handed them and they grew them and were happy doing the plan of God.

Yes, there are several others mentioned in the book of Acts, that seems to get bend out of shape but their end is horrible and unfulfilled. People like Ananias and Sapphira, and Simon the sorcerer, he became a believer the Bible says and followed Philip and was wowed by the anointing of God. But when Peter and John show up to lay hands on people he saddled up to them with intentions of wanting to be able to do something that Philip had not been able to do. Open the door to the Samaritans. Peter opened his mail for him and told him he was acting out of a bitter heart and in the bonds of iniquity. Acts 8:9-24

Jealousy and pouting over what you are not will give you a very bitter heart and you will never be able to be what God meant you to be. We have to learn to be happy about being chosen to do what we were purposed to do.
Look at a man named Ananias who steps onto the pages of scripture long enough to wittiness to Paul and baptize him in Jesus name. Ananias seems to ride off into the sunset of the scriptures and we never hear of him again.
Was he important to the kingdom of God?
Was his abilities needed in the church? Yes!
Just because we never hear of him again, does he lose his importance to God’s purpose? No!
Somewhere in the early church doing day to day things for God, no doubt was a man named Ananias working for God with a smile on his face.

You may say or think, you are not getting to do what you feel you should be doing. There are a few things I want you to think about that I personally keep applying to my life along this line. I know what it is like to be looked over, not seeming to get the breaks. Matter-a-fact I get it pushed in my face still to this day. There are some questions I ask myself then about my purpose.

Am I preparing daily for what I feel God wants me to do?

You may say I don’t have to prepare I am ready. Be careful, you are getting close to taking the spirit of the one talented servant. Remember the Lord requires the enlarging of one’s gifts. If you are not enlarging your gifts then you have taken the spirit of the know-it-all one talented servant. (Matthew 25:14-30) You will not have a good end if you keep this spirit. I cannot just sit and wait I have to prepare myself, grow my abilities.

Has God opened a door of opportunity for my purpose?

A phrase I have lived by for years is that I can walk through any door God opens but I am not going to force any doors. I have found when I force doors I step into rooms of opportunity that I am not ready to perform in and/or are not ready to be evangelized. Rooms not ready for me to be there. I personally know what it is like to be in a place I had no business being. Because of that I experienced a set-back that cost me time. I have seen people force doors and find themselves so defeated that they lost hope and faith. Some never became what they were intended to become because of it. I have learned I don’t want to be any place that my gifts and God’s purpose for me hasn’t taken me there.

Am I comfortable enough being what God has planned on me being?

It’s easy to complain but the moment I realize that I can be everything God has planned for me is the moment I can be content. Philippians 4:11 I can be comfortable in what my God designed purpose is. Yet sometimes we do run low on patients.
There are two scripture my father would quote to me almost every time I complained about not getting what I felt I should have.

Psalm 37:3-8 NKJV

3 Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
4 Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.
6 He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.
7 Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him; do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.
8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; do not fret — it only causes harm.

Proverbs 18:16 NIV
A gift opens the way for the giver and ushers him into the presence of the great.

God will do His part if I do my part with a right spirit. I have to keep reminding myself it’s not my kingdom, it’s not my church. It belongs to God who will do with it as He sees fit.
Learn to dream about what God is dreaming about for you.

Stop day dreaming about things God doesn’t have in your purpose and learn to dream and catch a vision that God has planned for you. Its how we become happy being chosen.

Pray, seek God and listen to His Word, find His purpose for your life. Take a spiritual gifts test if you need be to understand your talents. Then ask yourself:

What does God really have for me? (Grow in that purpose)
What will I have to change about me to do what God wants me to do? (Lose hindering attitudes)
What am I doing daily to grow the abilities God gave me? (Study and prepare to not be ashamed. 2nd Timothy 2:15)

If you will get your life in His purpose that He designed for your life, you will find the greatest joy you ever knew living for Him. Stop wasting your days and learn to be happy being chosen to do His purpose.

Continuing Hope

Hebrews 6:17-19 NKJV 17 Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath,
18 That by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.
19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil,

When we respond to life from simply the emotions of our heart we often take steps that can cause us to lose all hope and even give up sometimes. We cannot live without hope, we must have hope to survive.
This hope is not some packaged remedy that this world hands us but it is an everlasting hope that comes from the very presence of God. Hope is something we must have to live. Hope is that promise that even though we may not see the end or understand the reasons of life we hope against everything that we will get an answer and there will be life beyond where we are at the moment. The New Testament word hope, means; anticipate usually with pleasure, expectation and confidence.
We must have this hope to live for God and also to walk through this world. Hope is that unseen something that lets me smile anyway, that lets me sleep in spite of situations, that causes me to keep trying no matter the odds.
Hope! It causes me to reach beyond the failures and live a full life today and still dream about a better tomorrow. Hope! We will not last without it!

The writer of Hebrews says, “Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear… God did this… we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, Hebrews 6:17-19 NIV
We who have run for our very lives to God have every reason to grab the promised hope with both hands and never let go. It's an unbreakable spiritual lifeline, reaching past all appearances right to the very presence of God (The Message)

My hope is in God! That is where my trust must find solid ground! It is a lifeline that goes into the very presence of God, a line that I can hold to with confidence; this is where I find my hopes. That is where I can rest my soul. In this hope is where I can put all my marbles. In God everlasting arms is where I can stop and breathe deep knowing that if I stay there the promise for me and my days is that He will do the right thing. It’s where my faith is. Hope, is where my life must be lived out and ordered. I can cast my cares on Him because He cares for me. That is a promise, an order, a vowed promise of God that it is impossible for Him to lie about.
This is the only real and sure Hope, God does all things well.
When my emotions tell me to quit and give up hope, it is like saying I don’t believe in the promise of God. When I follow my feelings and lose hope, I am letting go of the lifeline enough to say God didn’t really mean the promises for me or I really don’t count to God .  And in doing so I lose my belief, my faith, and have little hope that God is really there. Even though I know in my understanding there is an all powerful God, my time of pain or struggle takes my understanding from me and a then I choose not to believe. I then lose Hope. I look to myself for direction and fail to do the wise thing because I have become hopeless.

Yes, life attacks us, and the enemy comes. Even the Bibles says the enemy would show up. Scripture says, “When the enemy shall come in like a flood,… But the verse didn’t stop there. We are not left without hope! …the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him!”

A standard here is a flag or a pennant that represents the Lord is in charge, or the one who is leading. The word also means to cause to flee away.
During the Middle Ages, when the lord of the house was home his standard was flown out front. It told everyone in the country that the leader, the strong man of the house, was there.

Even though I can’t stop the assault of the cares of this world and the pain life sends my way, my hope is in the fact that God lives in my life and He has His standard flying over me. The Lord of my life is home.
Does this mean the enemy will not come? NO!
What it does mean is that strength for tomorrow is there and there is nothing that the Lord cannot handle in my life. There is hope in knowing I have the King of kings and  the Lord of lords directing the ways of my life. I have hope there. I have hope that He will do all things well!
Realizing the importance of Hope we must keep hope and continue hope.
We live in a day that continually bombards us with pressure, so it is of utmost importance that we keep hope alive. That we hold tight to the lifeline that reaches into the throne room of heaven.

Over 25 years ago my wife gave me some printed notes from her pastor’s wife Vesta Mangun. They were notes from a lesson that was taught by her. They were entitled Seven Ways to Continue my Hope. Through the years I have studied these and taught them and passed them on to others. These seven points are from Vesta Mangun and some of the following lines. I have added my own thoughts over the years and borrowed thoughts from others that are also written in the line following the points. Please don’t blame any of the not so good thoughts on Sister Mangun. I am sure her  lesson years ago was powerful and clear. But I hope you will find help in the thoughts written out here. I don’t believe they are the only ways but simply seven things we can do to continue our hope.

Seven Ways to Continue my Hope

1. God accepts us where we are and will help us there!
15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:15-16 NKJV

This knowledge will have to get in us or we will go under! My righteousness is as dirty rags but I can bring my hopeless life to God and He covers my life because of the blood of Jesus. I don’t have to accomplish some daring feat, I can simply go to Him, the Lord will touch me where I am and help me there. The Lord can be touched! Whatever the need, I belong to the Lord of the house and He will help me where I am at. The psalmist of the 46 Psalm sings a song here about troubles in life but keeps adding to the song that God will help. In verse 5 he declares God will help and that right early or the breaking of a new day. That is hope!

2. Sometimes resting is better than reaching, trusting better than trying.
1 I waited and waited and waited for God. At last he looked; finally he listened.
2 He lifted me out of the ditch, pulled me from deep mud. He stood me up on a solid rock to make sure I wouldn't slip.
3 He taught me how to sing the latest God-song, a praise-song to our God. More and more people are seeing this: they enter the mystery, abandoning themselves to God.
4 Blessed are you who give yourselves over to God, turn your backs on the world's "sure thing," ignore what the world worships; Psalm 40:1-4 The Message

After we have done all we can do, after praying, after fasting, the next move is God’s move to make. We can’t do the impossible only He can. So we call on Him and rest in the fact that The Lord of the House is in control.

Holman says of verse one, “In waiting I waited!” And of the pit in verse 2 he calls it, “a pit of noise.” I waited and waited and God lifted me from a noisy ditch.

T.F. Tenny said, “We praise God for open doors, but we don’t praise Him for closed doors. A closed door can be as much the will of God as an opened one.” I challenge you to wait and see what God will do. The Shepherd will hear the voice of the sheep. So take a deep breath and watch God work, wait patiently. Don’t cast away your confidence, there is a great reward that comes in being confident. Hebrews 10:35-39

3. Whatever your trial is, God will use it for good, if we will let Him.
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28 KJV

A.D. Urshan said, “Thank God for anything that makes you pray.”
God will not leave us there to wallow in our valley; He will deliver us but in doing so the Lord will do a great thing with the ones whose hope is in Him. It’s God’s way of putting something in our hands to fight with! Cut the devil’s head off with your circumstance. Use your circumstances for the Glory of God; use them to come at the devil with a second wind.

The song “All is Well With My Soul,” was written while Mr. Spafford hung over the rail of a ship weeping because his children had drowned.

Thomas A. Dorsey wrote the hymn “Precious Lord, Take My Hand” while mourning the death of his young wife and son who died during the child’s birth. While sitting in the music room of a friend on a Sunday, he thought he was through with God, he said, “As my fingers began to manipulate over the keys, words began to fall in place like water drops falling from a crevice of rock.”
Take your valley and dig a well there, build a bridge there. (Psalm 84:6)

4. Remember every trial is only temporary.
6 I know how great this makes you feel, even though you have to put up with every kind of aggravation in the meantime.
7 Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine. When Jesus wraps this all up, it's your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of his victory. 1 Peter 1:6-7 The Message

The storm can’t last forever! A season is only an area in life. The sun will rise and will set but it will rise again. The winter will not last forever. Spring will come again with it fresh growth and start you towards a new harvest and production.
It is a hot oven that produces fresh bread. God is a God of all seasons and the season will change!

5. Look at hard times as discipline, not condemnation.
1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.
2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. John 15:1-2 NIV

A fruit tree bears fruit on new branches. Pruning or cutting will produce more new branches, thus giving more  fruit. It is the will of God that we produce much fruit. Discipline causes us to do a better job. Don’t allow your circumstances to make you bitter. Allow tough times to cause you to grow.
Remember clay is shaped under pressure, hardened in fire, then used in honor.

6. Keep your sense of humor; laughter is the best medicine.
A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. Proverbs 17:22 NIV

What happens to us is not nearly as important as how we respond. Dried bones are lifeless and only a miracle from God ever changed them. We can become so bitter and crushed that we dry up and become a bitter life void of anything productive. Dried bones are only a reminder of what used to be, they are skeletons of past greatness. We can’t allow our life to go down that road. There are many reasons and blessings to still smile about. If laughter is internal jogging, take a few laps and you will feel better.- T.F. Tenny


7. Count your blessing; rejoice greatly!
A remedy that will work! Cling to all your past blessings and answered prayers. Don’t forget to remind the devil, this world, and yourself of what God has done for you in the past, and the prayers that the Lord has answered before. If He did it once, He will do it again. If God has touched me before, He will put His hand on me again!

Remember to praise and worship, shout and sing before the wall falls, because it will fall again.
Hope, it is in the Lord. I can’t lose hope because if I do it is as if God doesn’t matter to me and I could easily step across that line of an unbeliever. Yes, life will take the living out of you, so for that reason alone we can’t lose the hope God has promised us. We must hold with both hands the promises of God that is where my hope is, the lifeline into the presence of Jehovah.

Thoughts on Hebrews 6:17-19 The oath of God
What are the two immutable things which the oath of God, swearing by Himself, brings upon the field! What can they be but the Divine word and the Divine name or nature? Take first the Divine word. That is an immutable thing. The word or promise of God is always sure and trustworthy. But take in now the second of the two immutable things wherein it is impossible for God to lie; His name, His character, His nature, His being and continuing to be such as He is. What new security is thus given? Is it not in substance this: -- That God discovers to us a ground or reason of what He designs to do farther back than the mere sovereign and discretionary fiat of His absolute will; deeply fixed and rooted in the very essence of His being? Is it not that He puts the certainty of that to which He swears, not only on the ground of His having intimated it beforehand, but on the ground of a stronger necessity, in the very nature of things, and in His own nature; lying far back and far down, in His being God, and being the God He is? The thing is to he so. not merely because God has said it shall be so, but also because it cannot but be so, God continuing to be, and to be the God He is. This is what, in swearing by Himself, He means to tell us.

(From The Biblical Illustrator Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2006 Ages Software, Inc. and Biblesoft, Inc.)

Life, It Can't Stop at a Rubble Heap

Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me. Micah 7:8 KJV

On September 11, 2001 terrorist took control of two air planes and flew them into the twin towers of the World Trade Center. Hundreds died in this attack as the two mighty structures crumbled to the ground. All that was left that day was a pile of rubble to remind us of what had happened. There twisted on the ground were the remains of these two mighty buildings. Tons of steel, concrete and wood lay without purpose and seemingly usefulness. All that was left was a memory and bitterness of what had been. But it didn’t end there that day. As America looked at her day, purpose and the need to rise above the terror of the moment began to get up. Purpose to go beyond the pain of the day griped the hearts of most. Plans were put into action as people begin to make up their mind that life was not going to stop at a pile of rubble. America would not be known as a people that threw in the towel and quit at a terrible event in her life.

One of those places where purpose decided not to stop at the rubble heap is seen in what was done with the steel from the two towers. The steel that lay twisted and seemingly unusable down town New York City was gathered and a cry seems to go out of the lips of those with purpose that we will not stop and finish as a rubble heap.

Thus the USS New York
It was built with 24 tons of scrap steel from the World Trade Center. It is the fifth in a new class of warship - designed for missions that include special operations against terrorists. It will carry a crew of 360 sailors and 700 combat-ready Marines to be delivered ashore by helicopters and assault craft.
Steel from the World Trade Center was melted down in a foundry in Amite, LA to cast the ship's bow section. When it was poured into the molds on Sept. 9, 2003, "those big rough steelworkers treated it with total reverence," recalled Navy Capt. Kevin Wensing, who was there. "It was a spiritual moment for everybody there."
Junior Chavers, foundry operations manager, said that when the trade center steel first arrived, he touched it with his hand and the "hair on my neck stood up." "It had a big meaning to it for all of us," he said. "They knocked us down. They can't keep us down. We're going to be back."
The ship's motto? "Never Forget"

In short we will not end in a rubble heap.
Life, it can’t stop at a wreckage pile!

We each know the feeling of failure. That depressing feeling that says we have made a wrong choice and we feel it’s over. Though it may not have taken our life or even caused us to be with God in our life we still understand the fact that we wish we could go back and re-do some things and make different choices. To some life and its decisions have kelp you up at night and caused you to lose the productivity of many days. We have second guessed our living and we wish we would have done some things differently. We understand the power of forgiveness and know God has and can wipe the page clean but in the back of our mind screams the words of Satan or the phrases of simply life, “You’re a failure, all that is left is a heap of what should have been, look at the mess you produced.”

But today I want to challenge you no matter how big the crash was, no matter how final the fall seems, you can’t finish your life at a rubble heap. You can’t stop at a place with no hope connected to it. No, it may never look like it once did. Yes, life may have to take a new turn.
But whatever you do don’t allow your life to stop at a rubble heap. Pick up the parts and make a new run from a fresh direction. Get up and build something out of what has been beaten down.

It was a woman named Corrie Ten Boom that survived a Nazi Concentration Camp and wrote a book about her faith in God that touched the world. It was she who said, “It gets dark under the wings of God.”
No she never planned on writing such a book. Her day dreams never included such a story. But her life took a turn that left her at a rubble heap and Corrie Ten Boom decided that life is not going to stop here and she wrote a story that touched a world. Her dreams had to be re-dreamed, her plans had to be reshaped, and her life was never the same. But her life didn’t stop at a rubble heap.

In your life, it may have been a sin, it may have been a bad choice, it may have been a wrong decision, it may have been a bad hand dealt to you, it may have been simply the way life turned, but you need to make up your mind today I will not finish here. Life is not going to stop at a rubble heap. Your dreams may have to be reshaped, your goals may need a fresh start, your direction will have to change but you can’t stop at a rubble heap.

Psalm 84 is a hymn that was given to the chief musician to be sung with a harp from Gath. It was to be a joyful and pleasant hymn.
Yet it was written during a time of a rubble heap.

The sons of Korah sang this psalm, as from the soul of David. They reminded him of the foundation of his hope, communion with God remaining with him though now fleeing from Absalom. The song tells a story of Israel making their way up to Jerusalem for the feast days. As they make their way across the country they had to go through places that were often hard to get through. In the dry places there were no place to stop and be refreshed. In the wet and marsh places they could hardly cross.

So according to what we read in this Psalm Israel dug pools and wells in the dry places so that when they came that way again there would be a cool refreshing place to stop. And in the wet places the place of Baca they built a bridge so that their next crossing would be easier.
They refused to allow the circumstances of their day to stop them and keep them from getting to the place of the Lord.
David may have passed some of these places as he is running from Absalom and sang this song.

4 Blessed are those who dwell in Your house; they will still be praising You. Selah
5 Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, whose heart is set on pilgrimage.
6 As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a spring; the rain also covers it with pools.7 They go from strength to strength; Each one appears before God in Zion. Psalm 84:4-7 NKJV

You can’t stop at a rubble heap. This life is a pilgrimage. Go through the dry places, get across the flooded places. Life just can’t end at a rubble heap.
Yes, you may have to re-dream your dreams.
Yes, you may have to re-set some of your goals.
Yes, you may have to make some life change and find a new direction. Yes, you may have to deal with some sin that is shadowing your life.
But if we would but take the spirit of the prophet Micah as we stand there looking at what seems to be all that is left and purpose in our heart, Life it can’t stop at a rubble heap.

Don't, enemy, crow over me. I'm down, but I'm not out. I'm sitting in the dark right now, but GOD is my light.
It goes on and says  …it's not forever. He's on my side and is going to get me out of this. He'll turn on the lights and show me his ways. I'll see the whole picture and how right he is. Micah 7:8-9 The Message Translation

Pick up the pieces and build a ship, write a book, dream a new dream, pray a fresh prayer, repent of your sin and make a Life Change.

Life can’t stop at a rubble heap.

When Hopes Don't Happen

This first thought is taken from one of my devotions this week. It was the inspiration for the direction of my Wednesday evening Bible class that I teach at FPB.

"In the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion." Psalm 27:5 NKJV

What do we do with our disappointments? We could do what Miss Haversham did. Remember her in Charles Dickens's Great Expectations? Jilted by her fiance just prior to the wedding, ... she closed all the blinds in the house, stopped every clock, left the wedding cake on the table to gather cobwebs, and wore her wedding dress until it hung in yellow decay around her shrunken form. Her wounded heart consumed her life.
We can follow the same course!

Or we can follow the example of the apostle Paul. His goal was to be a missionary in Spain... however God sent him to prison. Sitting in a Roman jail, Paul could have made the same choice as Miss Haversham, but he didn't. Instead he said, " As long as I'm here, I might as well write some letters." Hence your Bible has the Epistles to Philemon, the Philippians, the Colossians, and the Ephesians. (Taken from Grace for the Moment, by Max Lucado)

We each have not so good days and events we wish hadn't happened. We can chose to drag the disappointments around for the rest of our life or we can drop the baggage and allow God to carry what we can do nothing about. What we choose will say much about how we respond to others that walk through our life. I challenge you to not allow life's bitter moments to order the rest of your life.

What if the woman in the story below would have had you as her cab driver on that fateful last ride of her life. How would she have been greeted and cared for? The answer is in what you are lugging around everyday and if it is causing you  to view life and living through furrowed brows.

The Cab Ride

I arrived at the address and honked the horn. After waiting a few minutes I walked to the door and knocked... 'Just a minute', answered a frail, elderly voice. I could hear something being dragged across the floor.

After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 90's stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, like somebody out of a 1940's movie.
By her side was a small nylon suitcase. The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the furniture was covered with sheets.There were no clocks on the walls, no knickknacks or utensils on the counters. In the corner was a cardboard box filled with photos and glassware.

'Would you carry my bag out to the car?' she said. I took the suitcase to the cab, then returned to assist the woman.She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the curb.
She kept thanking me for my kindness. 'It's nothing', I told her.. 'I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother treated'.

'Oh, you're such a good boy', she said. When we got in the cab, she gave Me an address and then asked, 'Could you drive through downtown?' 'It's not the shortest way,' I answered quickly.. 'Oh, I don't mind,' she said. 'I'm in no hurry. I'm on my way to a hospice'. I looked in the rear-view mirror. Her eyes were glistening. 'I don't have any family left,' she continued in a soft voice.. 'The doctor says I don't have very long.' I quietly reached over and shut off the meter.
'What route would you like me to take?' I asked.

For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator. We drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived when they were newlyweds. She had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl. Sometimes she'd ask me to slow in front of a particular building or corner and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing. As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, 'I'm tired. Let's go now'. We drove in silence to the address she had given me. It was a low building, like a small convalescent home, with a driveway that passed under a portico.

Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up. They were solicitous and intent, watching her every move. They must have been expecting her. I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to the door. The woman was already seated in a wheelchair.

'How much do I owe you?' she asked, reaching into her purse. 'Nothing,' I said 'You have to make a living,' she answered. 'There are other passengers,' I responded. Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug. She held onto me tightly. 'You gave an old woman a little moment of joy,' she said. 'Thank you.' I squeezed her hand, and then walked into the dim morning light.. Behind me, a door shut. It was the sound of the closing of a life..

I didn't pick up any more passengers that shift. I drove aimlessly lost in thought. For the rest of that day, I could hardly talk. What if that woman had gotten an angry driver, or one who was impatient to end his shift? What if I had refused to take the run, or had honked once, then driven away?

On a quick review, I don't think that I have done anything more important in my life. We're conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments. But great moments often catch us unaware-beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small one.

PEOPLE MAY NOT REMEMBER EXACTLY WHAT YOU DID, OR WHAT YOU SAID ~BUT~THEY WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER HOW YOU MADE THEM FEEL.

My Thoughts

I am so happy to go to church here at FPB and get to lead some wonderful people. I have a great job and am blessed in the fact that I get to fulfill my purpose every day. There is just a great peace in knowing you are doing what you were designed by God to do. It makes life seem really right. I heard a short interview today on the radio where the DJ asked a man what he did for a living. He remarked he was retired and how that every day was a Saturday. I must admit I thought yes, someday maybe that will be me. The DJ then asks the man what he did for a living. He replied he worked for a moving and storage company for 47 years. Yes, I know what you are thinking. Not a big time important job. But to the people who he moved and stored there furniture everyday for 47 years, he was a very important man. No his job doesn’t seem like a top of the company position but the fact that he got up every day and did what he was designed to do positioned him in the place where he can say, I have enjoyed life and still am. Do I think he ever had any bad days? Do I think he ever had any moments he just wanted to quit? Do I think he had any days he didn’t want to get up and move heavy stuff? Of course! No matter what you do in life, life sometimes weighs heavy and you just don’t want to get up and go at it again. But the fact is he must have got up anyway because one doesn’t get to say he retired after 47 years if you don’t get up every day and do what you are intended to do.


I love what I do. I don’t think I could be happy doing anything else. Is it all easy and no problems? No, not by any means! I have Mondays when I just want to resign and walk away. I have had days and weeks when I just wanted to get on a box car and become a drifter. (I know some of you think your Pastor needs therapy, I no doubt do.) Honestly, everyday may be a bed of roses but sometimes all I can seem to see and feel are the thorns. Anyone who tells you they have never wanted to quit and walk away is not being honest with you. (Really they need therapy) Life has a way of just getting heavy at times. If you and I want to be able to look back and see that our purpose really did matter we will have to get up and stay after it every day no matter how we feel. Then one day you can say that you worked at something and were a success after 47 years or longer. (In case you haven’t noticed years only pile up daily)

As I attended the funeral of G.A. Mangun, a man you lived for God faithfully for over 70 years and pastored and led in the same church for over 60, I was reminded again of the importance of living out everyday right. The only way one can have a legacy is to keep living everyday right. Get up every day and do the right thing. G.A. Mangun got up every day for 70 plus years and did the right thing. He worked and worked hard at his purpose, what God put him together to be and I might add he did it well. I know there will be people who will use the excuse that they are not G.A. Mangun. I agree God didn’t design you to be someone else; He designed you to be you. But God didn’t not make you, you so you could quit, not try, and simply make excuses everyday as to why you are not being a success in God’s design of you. The reason any of us don’t have the years piling up and us becoming all God planned on us being, is we are living with the mindset of the One Talented Servant. The story is found in Matthew 25. Let’s look at that story.

Several things stand out about this story that Jesus preached about.

• Remember this is a last day story, an end of time event. What we do with what we have been given is a Heaven or Hell issue. Read verse 30.

• The One Talented Servant was given one talent because the Lord knew and believed that was all he was capable of doing. It was given because of their abilities. Verse 15

• The Lord was the one who gave the talents. It was His and not the servants but He expected the servants to handle what was His well. What we have been given is not ours but we are stewards of the gifts and purpose of God. We will have to give an account one day as to how we did.

• The One Talented Servant hid his in an unproductive place. Why? Two reason I can think of.

 He must have been some-what lazy and didn’t want to commit daily to the task of production.

 He tells the Lord when he was asks to give an account that he was afraid. They only reason he would be afraid of his Lord was he lacked a relationship with Him. We know the Lord was not an abusive leader because the other two didn’t deal with the fear. The simple reason the one talented servant was fearful was he didn’t have a relationship with his Lord that would give him faith in what the Lord had entrusted him with. When we don’t remain faithful it’s because we lack a relationship. Again relationships are an everyday thing. One doesn’t just try to be faithful a day or two and see how it works out, they get up every day and are faithful because they have a relationship.

 Another reason he might have been afraid was because of his lack of production. Yes, on the day you and I have to give an account this is a good reason to be afraid.

• One last thing that stands out to me is the fact that the One Talented Servant could have grown his talents to the place of the other two’s beginning if he would have worked at it every day. I have heard people say they are a one talented person. If this is true there must not be any growth. Time and being faithful to ones purpose daily will cause growth. The One Talented Servant could have easily become a two talented servant or more if he would have gotten up every day and went after his purpose and was faithful.

If we want to be a success we have to understand it’s an everyday event. Get up and be faithful every day. Then the next thing you know the years have started to pile up.

 Let me end by saying how great the week end was. Sunday evening’s Kid’s Church was something else. WOW! The altars were full of kids praying to Jesus at the end of the sermon. James’ message was great! I have never seen someone fly a live bumble bee on a string while they preached. Brad and Heather, you and your team did a wonderful job, I love the way the children’s team works together and all they accomplish. Way to go to all you. I am so happy you go to church here at FPB!

 The top of the excitement list goes to AJ Hennigan and Braden Morrow who received the Holy Ghost at Crusaders Camp. Way to go guys!

I hope all this didn’t sound like a ramble today. It just was my thoughts and what’s on my mind today and the last several days. I plan on living everyday faithfully and doing the right thing. If I do one day when God is finished with me here on this earth I can stand before Him and give an account of how I lived out every day for Him and doing His purpose that He tucked in my life.

I challenge you not to just lay there and hope for the best. It will not happen. Get up, walk for God, be faithful and take care of the wonderful talents God has put in your life. Do it every day, the next thing you know there are years of doing the right thing piling up.