Today the Lord has laid something on my heart to spread to each of you. It comes from the Psalms Chapter 37. It speaks to me of waiting on the Lord, resting in the land, and being still. It speaks of worrying not about the evildoers who may have more than we, and to avoid false teachings, becoming frustrated with our present condition and avoiding wrathful temptations. I want to speak about 3 things tonight that I feel we have to do if we are to live full Christian lives for our savior.
#1. Trust in the Lord.
We must learn to disregard our own selfish will and give our troubles over to the Lord. This means to trust someone we must first regard their authority as true and right. If you can't give your life over to the Lord, how can you expect him to ever work in yours? It is like going on a deep sea fishing trip and then taking along our own GPS system, telling the Captain of the boat where you feel the best fishing spots would be based on your own cordinates. Might luch up and catch a few fish who happened to be swiminning in that area at the time, but I wouldnt bet my whole day on catching a boat load. Of course not, we listen to the captains experienced recomendations for rods, line and bait, along with location and best fishing patterns.
Christians, especially those who have just discovered a relationship with the Lord, must trust in him. He has given us the Holy Spirit as a guide, just like he helped Paul in the book of Acts avoid danger and reach others for Christ. Trust cannot be half way, the Bible says in Psalms Chapter 2 Blessed are all who "Trust" in Him.
What does this meen? Proverbs Chapter 3 says to "TRUST in the Lord with all our heart, sould and mind and lean not upon our own understanding, but in all things, Acknowledge him and he will show us the way."
To Acknowledge means
- To admit the existence, reality, or truth of.
- To recognize as being valid or having force or power.
- To express recognition of: acknowledge a friend's smile.
- To express thanks or gratitude for.
In Hebrew it reads:
עברית (Hebrew)
v. tr. - הכיר ב-, הודה ב-, הודה על, אישר קבלת-, נופף לשלום
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We must realize that everything we have and we are is because of God. All that we do, and all we acomplish came from creative ideas, strengths,and wills given to us by the Lord. When we place ourselves above Jehovah God, and believe it is our own wills that makes us a success, the Blessing will not follow. I know alot of people who give all credit when something is accomplished, to their team, their coach, their boss, their teachers, never once acknowledging the Lord had any hand in it at all. Folks, America once was a proud, sovereign nation under God, but slowly it has pushed all acknowledgment of his handiwork out of our schools, out of our public offices, out of our houses of law, and soon from the very Congress we supposedly elect to serve us. In the Bible when a leader failed to acknowledge God for a victory or an accomplishment, hailing their own prideful hands, what happened? Think back to Saul, Soloman, even Moses. God removed his hand from them, and their blessing was changed to a curse. Do you think America will stand as a pagan nation? Do you think it a coincidence that at the very moment when the word of God is seen as a mockery, that the economy fails, and it's people suffer. We must realize that we are servants, not kings, we are humble, not prideful people. We have converted 180 degrees from where began, and until we realize it, which unfortunately, it will take bringing everyone down on their knees on the brink of starvation and ruin before most Americans see it. I hear those once wealthy, landowners, with their pride torn from them, praying before a camp stove setting outside their tents where large mansions once stood. I hear people reading the Bible where once business journals were opened, resting on their family tables where not one single family member sat, far too busy to take the time. Now they have time, been off work from their 100k jobs for six months, with ten dollars in their pocket between starvation and their next meal. The Lord must come first in your life and in your relationships. We must learn to develop a living relationship with him, and realize that our time here is short, life is but a rain drop on a rooftop. Just like the Garden of Eden, we have a choice, our will, which leads to death, or his will which leads to life. Let us forsake our pride and in all we do ACKNOWLEDGE him.
Even the Lord himself said in the Book of Matthew, those who wish to be first let them first become servants to our fellow man. He said himself, "The son of man did not come to be serve but to serve and give his blood as a ramson for man." We are not accustomed to hearing the word servant in our culture, it is a nasty ugly word, taken from the days of African Slavery which led to a Civil war. However we must realize that to be a servant, the Lord is talking about a Bond Servant, someone who serves willingly and openly and does so with honor. The Apostle Paul tells us in the book of Romans, that we are currently a servant of sin, outside of a relationship with the Lord. Sin dominates and orders us about, leading us further into destruction. To develop a relationship with the Lord and giving out lives to him, takes us from a servant of sin to a slave of righteousness Paul tells us. This however is not a negative transformation but one of personal deliverence and everlasting life. Serving the Lord means to change our way of thinking and acting, it means to serves others and to place their needs above our own. To humble ourselves and listen to what God has in store for us. To me, I have become a vessell, in which the Lord would shape and form as his directives requests. Serving him is something I no longer think about, it's a part of me and something I just do without question. Service means blessing from the Lord in ways I never knew existed before. Each day, I just ask him to use me as a tool for his service. I have become a Bond Servant, willing and able to place his needs and wants ahead of my own. By doing so, he provides for me and my family, and gives us the things we need, perhaps not the things we always want, but we feel it's a service that leads to a life after this one is long over. So humble yourselves, and devote your lives in the service of our Lord and Savior. He was willing to do the same for you once, and does so every day. Your lives will change as ours has, no longer clinging to my impoerfect will, but his perfect rightousness.
Tonight we touched briefly on 3 factors that every Christian must perform in the services of our Lord Jesus. To recieve his blessing, his peace, the light of life promised in the scriptures. We must turn our "Self Do" dials off and turn the God Can Do dials on. Trusting in his will to guide and direct our daily lives. We must give credit where credit is due, Acknowledge that this world is much larger than man, and man's wisdom thought sometimes great, doesn't amount to a hill of beans in the afterlife where God will test our true measure and worth. I can only do so much, and I am far from Brilliant, but I know that all I have, is his, all my wisdom and all my strength to accomplish each task came from him, not me. Without his love I would be just a shell, so to must each of you if you are to truly walk with him, and have a wonderful relationship with our Lord, is to turn over our deeds to him. And lastly must certainly not least, we must offer ourselves as Paul said in Romans, as a living sacrifice, daily serving him and devoting our time to discovering his will. Anything less isn't good enough. If we place God down the ladder of importance in our lives, so will he place us in his. Daily study of his word, daily prayer with your family or in secret, daily worship and meditation on his word, sharing his love with others, all these things are but a few ways to serve him. I find delight in learning how better to serve him each day. It never grows old.
Well Folks that about wraps it up with our disccusion tonight. I do see that no one ever writes a comment beneath these articles. Perhaps tonight you will share one.
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