| ............ | A Word In Due Season May 2024 5/1/24 CHOOSING PRIORITIES Scripture: Psalms 32:8 "I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go." Are you busy and going in so many directions that you find yourself unproductive and unfruitful? When we spread ourselves too thin, we are unable to do justice to anything. That is the time we must eliminate things in our life in order to concentrate. We have to prioritize and let unnecessary things go. Good advice says, "Don't Be Everything - Be Something!" To be something, you must concentrate on the gifts and talents that God has given to you. Find the mold that fits your personality and fulfills the passions of your heart and then flow with it. Too many times we feel that we have to rescue every situation and we fail to wait upon God and listen for His instructions. As a result, we end up taking on every responsibility that comes our way and assuming burdens that God did not intend. "Being Everything" is like being a swamp. A swamp goes everywhere, yet it goes nowhere. It has no definite borders and is totally governed by the circumstances surrounding it. It is muddy, shallow, and breeds disease and mosquitoes. It is unproductive and unfruitful in every way. When you are overloaded and overwhelmed with tasks that are set before you, you may use the expression "I am swamped". God does not want you to be "swamped." Instead, He wants you to flow like a mighty river that produces fresh pure water and breeds good food. He wants you to "Be Something". A river has definite direction and is going somewhere. It has one main objective and goal, which is to get to the sea. It does not wander to the right or the left, but continues in a steady path. It may become wide or narrow at different points, but it remains steady, reaching out for its destiny. Reaching God's destiny for your life means that you must make a decision to "press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:14). You must persevere by setting priorities and making a determination that like the river, you will set boundaries and not be distracted. You must follow God's instructions and exercise your faith to complete His plan for your life. As you begin to flow, you will hear God's voice saying, "This is the way, walk in it" (Isaiah 30:21). When you feel swamped, remember, "God is not the author of confusion, but of peace" (I Corinthians 14:33). Allow Him to set your priorities. If you listen to the Lord, He will instruct you and teach you in the way that you should go. +++ 5/2/24 YOUR CHOICES Scripture: Joshua 24:15 "Choose you this day whom you will serve." This day with all of its uncertainties belongs to you. It is like a tapestry that is being woven with threads, some provided by you and others by a sovereign God. And although God is in total control, much of the pattern will be determined by your choices. The choices you make today will affect your future health, future wealth, and future relationship with God and man. Exercise today and you will be strong for tomorrow. Be a junk-food couch potato today and you will be physically weak tomorrow. Work hard and make the right investments today and you will be financially secure tomorrow. Be wasteful with your time and money and you will face future lack in both areas. Build strong relationships with friends and family today and they will sustain you through the difficult tomorrows of your life. Choose to serve God today and He will be there for you tomorrow and throughout Eternity. You have a choice today to choose whom you will serve. You can choose to serve the God of love, joy, and peace. Or you can give yourself to the enemy by allowing the irritations and vexations of others to intrude into your life and steal the fruits of God's Spirit from the garden of your heart. You must be sober and vigilantly watching for the enemy of your soul because he will entice you to choose to serve hate, bitterness, and sadness. Through your choices, the god of this world will cause you to be impatient, rude, and unfaithful, and at the end of your choices you will find yourself in confusion and out of control. Your destiny starts with one small choice and builds with each choice that follows. The devil gives you reasonable excuses for your choices and behavior. II Corinthians 11:14 says, "Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light." He makes everything look right, but eventually there are consequences for every choice, whether good or bad. You have a choice to live behind the sham of pretense or allow God to show you a reflection of your true self and reveal to you whom you really love and are serving. With each choice you make, you choose to serve the true and living God or the god of this world. This is the day that the Lord has made. It is a day of salvation and deliverance. Each moment in this day demands a choice. So be wise as to whom you choose to serve because you are the maker of your future and destiny. +++ 5/6/24 SUBMITTING ALL TO GOD Scripture: Luke 5:5 "Master, we have toiled all night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at Thy Word I will let down the net." Jesus led Peter, step by step, into a place of total surrender. As the people pressed in upon Jesus to hear the Word of God, He asked Peter if He could use his boat for a platform to teach the people. Peter and his men were very exhausted and discouraged. They had fished all night long and caught nothing. It is not an easy job to deal with the heavy fishing nets. They just wanted to finish washing their nets, go home, and rest so that they could go out again in a few hours. The last thing they may have wanted to do was to sit there and listen to Jesus teach. Peter could have told the Lord that he was too tired and too discouraged to let Him use his boat. How many of us would go to church the morning after we had worked all night? Yet, despite his tiredness, Peter responded to the Lord's request and allowed Him to use his boat. We see the results of Peter's submission as he forgot his own worries and fatigue and sowed his boat back into the Lord's work. After Jesus finished teaching from Peter’s boat, He told Peter to launch out into the deep waters and let down his nets for a catch of fish. As Peter obeyed Jesus’ instruction, God gave him a miraculous haul of fish in a very short time. Peter's boat was his business and the source of his income. His boat also represented his life. God requires no less from us. He wants us to show Him that He is first place in our lives by submitting all that we have to Him for His use. Most of us do not own a boat but we do have other assets that represent our lives such as our businesses, our homes, or our finances. Everything we have came to us because of the grace of God and belongs to Him. We are only the stewards of those blessings. We usually do not mind lending these things to the Lord when it is convenient. Yet, how would we respond if we had been out all night working and God decided that He wanted to use our home or business to minister to others? Would we tell the Lord that we were too tired and try to postpone His plan? Or would we refuse His request because we were discouraged as things were not going well for us? Jesus used Peter's business in a unique way and at a most inconvenient time for Peter and his men. God usually moves in our lives in the same way. When He calls us to do something for Him, it seems that His thoughts and His plans are never convenient. Yet, most of us have learned from experience that God's ways are always better than our ways, and His plans are higher than our plans. We must be ready at all times to submit everything that we are and everything that we have to God. As we do, we will discover that we are God's link to the world. Like Peter, we will find that when we seek to take care of God's business, God will take care of ours. +++ 5/7/24 WHO IS JESUS TO YOU? Scripture: Matthew 16:15 "But whom do you say that I am?" What a powerful challenge this question was to the disciples of Jesus, and it remains a powerful challenge to us today, as we must also identify who Jesus is to us personally. Jesus had first asked the disciples what other men thought about Him, but His main interest was their own personal revelation. This knowledge that Jesus is the Son of the Living God comes only as God the Father gives insight. It is a supernatural revelation by the Holy Spirit. When the disciples identified Jesus as the Christ, they were saying that He was the Messiah that the prophets had spoken about. He was the one who would be anointed to preach to the poor, heal the broken hearted, and do many other mighty miracles (Luke 4:18 & Isaiah 61). They were acknowledging that Jesus was not only the Savior, but that He was also their healer and deliverer, and in essence that He came to fulfill all scriptures pertaining to the Messiah. It was upon this personal revelation that Jesus said that He would build His church. Acts 2:21 says, "Whosoever shall call on the Name of the Lord shall be saved." There is a saying that sums it up, "Sitting on a pew will not make you a Christian any more than sitting in a garage will make you a car." Jesus is still in the process of building His church. Salvation comes only through a personal encounter with the Savior. And likewise the other things that Jesus came to fulfill as the Messiah only come through the personal realization and acceptance that He is willing and able to do those things. Many trust Him as Lord and Savior, but never release their faith to trust Him for physical healing, emotional restoration, or as the Shepherd that will lead them and meet their material needs. God wants us to live in the total revelation that His Son, Jesus, is the Messiah. He wants us to receive all that Jesus came to provide. He does not want us to ignore the thirty-nine stripes that were laid on His Son's back for our healing or to forget that the chastisement of our peace has been paid for by the crown of thorns He bore. God also wants us to understand that His Son was bruised for our iniquities and that Jesus has redeemed us from the curse of the law. Everything that we need has been paid for by the precious blood of Jesus. Yet, these blessings can only come to us as we receive a personal revelation of who Jesus is and embrace a personal relationship with Him. Our active response to these two things will dictate our answer to Jesus' direct and profound question, "Who do you say that I am?" +++ 5/9/24 IF WE FAINT NOT Scripture: Galatians 6:9 "And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." We all would like to be "well doers" who reap rewards. Yet rewards are only promised to those who do not faint in the middle of the season. Look at the farmer who plants his fields. From the very beginning, he has to cope with each challenge that comes his way. First, through much labor, the ground has to be cleared and turned with a plow. Then fertilizer has to be shoveled and mixed with the dirt, which is not the most pleasant project. This is just the beginning of his work, for the seeds have to be planted, continually watered, and the ground weeded. After this, the tender shoots and crops have to be protected from the frost and animals. The farmer cannot relax in any of his efforts or put off any project during this entire season. The farmer not only experiences a lot of hard work in the physical, but must also extend a lot of emotional effort. He begins his process in faith that his seeds will produce, that God will send rain from heaven, that the sun will shine, and that the harvest will come forth. He does not concentrate on the negative but believes for the best and understands the principal that he will reap only what he sows So regardless of how weary he becomes or how hot the season gets, he does not neglect his fields. He knows that for his crops to mature, he must endure and not faint in his labors. He also labors with patience; for there is no way that he can rush the season regardless of how much he needs the harvest. It is easy for us to get discouraged when we are sowing in God's fields. We often want immediate results as we witness and try to draw others into the kingdom of God. We also become frustrated because we cannot understand why those in the kingdom cannot see the light and change their attitudes. The enemy continually tries to steal our seeds, and we wonder if we will ever reap the promised harvest. Often, we become tired and begin to faint along the way and our purpose and conviction weakens. We begin to lose our spiritual strength and vigor and if we are not careful, we forfeit our harvest just before due season. Jesus gave us a clue as to how to keep from giving up and how to see the results through to the end. He told a parable concerning a widow who troubled a judge until she obtained results. She did not become weary, but instead she wearied the judge by her persistence until he finally gave in. Jesus said, "Men ought always to pray and not to faint" (Luke 18:1). Prayer brings strength and is Jesus' antidote to weariness and weakness. If you do not faint or become weary, you will eventually reap your harvest. Your loved ones will be saved, your relationships restored, your body healed, and your finances replenished. Today, begin to look to the Lord of the harvest and do not grow weary or faint as you pray. Be assured that the season of your harvest is near. +++ 5/10/24 BEING VIRTUOUS Scripture: Proverbs 31:29 "Many daughters have done virtuously, but you excel them all." There is a total difference in "doing" a virtuous act and "being" a virtuous person. Proverbs 31:10-31 list the things that make up the character of a virtuous woman. She is trustworthy with her marriage vows and does good for husband all the days of her life. She takes care of business needs and works willing with her hands. She rises early and prepares food for her family. She takes care of herself and strengthens her own body. She stays up late at night in order to get the necessary things done. She clothes her family and herself with comfortable and beautiful clothing and she also reaches out to the poor and needy. She causes her husband to be known in the city and to have honor in his workplace. Her mouth is filled with wisdom and in her tongue is the law of kindness. She is never idle but always energetic as she takes care of her entire household. Many are capable of doing some of these virtuous works, but it is quite a challenge to conquer the entire list and do it all with excellence. If you get up early before everyone in the house, fix the breakfast and the lunches for the day, it is hard to stay up and be the last one to go to bed at night. If you work all day with your hands and take care of business needs, it is difficult to find the time to exercise and strengthen yourself. With everything on your list, you must also factor in time to care for the poor and needy without neglecting your own family's needs. This is not to mention that at the end of the day you must prepare the meal while everyone else is resting from their day of labor. As you accomplish all of these things you must also be an encourager to those around you. Words of wisdom must continually be coming from your mouth and the law of kindness be on your lips. The list is longer than you want to look at and the energy is just not there to complete all of the task. That is why virtue is about "being" and not just about "doing". Even Jesus pulled away from the needs of the people to rest. He did not run to every battle or even make haste to reach Lazarus before Lazarus died. He waited for God. The virtuous woman always excels. She is not in pursuit of natural favor because she has discovered that it is deceitful. She does not seek beauty in itself, for she has found it to be vain (Vs. 30). The key to her life is spiritual. She has gained wisdom because she fears the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10). This aspect of her character makes the difference in her life. It governs her natural affairs of life and causes her to be stable in relationships. And because of the godly virtue that reigns in her heart, her husband is able to trust in her and openly praises her. Her children respect her and rise up and call her blessed. Her love and reverential fear of the Lord has created within her a servant's heart and even her works speak out in praise to her. This is a virtuous woman whose price is so far above rubies that she cannot be bought. She serves because she loves and does not love because she is served by others. If you want to be considered a virtuous woman, the conclusion is simple. Seek to be virtuous in your heart and then virtuous acts will follow what your virtuous heart demands and dictates. It is then you will excel above all. +++ 5/13/24 EXTREME DEMANDS Scripture: I Kings 17:13 "Make me a cake first ... and bring it to me." The Prophet Elijah made a hard request to a widow in the time of famine. When he first saw her, she was out gathering up a few sticks so that she could make a fire in order to cook the last meal for her and her son. Elijah asked her to give him a little water to drink. This was the same prophet who had brought the famine into existence by prophesying that no rain would come for years. He declared that rain would only come according to his word, so in essence, he could end the famine or produce water at any time by his words. Instead of ending the famine, he made an extreme demand upon the widow, and while she was going to get his water, he asked her to also bring him a cake of bread. The widow only had a handful of meal and a little oil left in her provisions, but she obeyed Elijah’s word and believed the promise that he made to her. He told her that her barrel of meal and cruse of oil would not fail until the day that the Lord sent rain upon the earth. God often makes extreme demands upon us, but there are two facts to consider. First, God never asks us to give that which we do not have. Second, every request that He makes brings a blessing back to us. He exchanges the sacrifices that we make for the provisions that we need. Like the prophet, He says, "Make me a cake first and bring it to me, then I will sustain you throughout your particular famine." God tells us to forgive everyone for everything that they have done against us. This is for the benefit of our own soul as well as theirs, for it is only in forgiving that we can receive forgiveness for ourselves. When we feel that no one cares for us and that there is a famine of love within our lives, He tells us to start showing our love and to include the unlovely, for as we love, love will be bestowed upon us. The Lord tells us to give Him our past and all of its pain so that He can give us a future and a hope. Like the widow, He asks us to give when it seems that we have so little. The Lord’s demands may seem extreme and selfish. Yet, in time, we come to understand that God's ways are overwhelmingly simple and that it is only as we give that we will receive. You may be in extreme circumstances today in some area of your life and God may be telling you to give your all to Him. He may be telling you to forgive when it is not easy, to love the unlovely, to give Him the pieces of your broken heart, or to give what little you have materially to someone who needs it more than you do. God's purpose in asking you to give is not to take from you but to get you to a place where He can bless you more abundantly than you could ever imagine. God wants to exchange the small amount of meal and oil that you have in your hands for the bountiful blessing that He holds in His mighty hands. So trust God and give Him a chance to prove Himself. When you bring your all to the Lord, He will come through for you. +++ 5/14/24 SPREADING THE GOPSEL IN ADVERSITY Scripture: Philippians 1:12 (NRS) "I want you to know, beloved, that what has happened to me has actually helped to spread the gospel ..." The Apostle Paul was an amazing person. He was imprisoned when he wrote this letter to the church. It was as though nothing could discourage him. He allowed nothing to separate him from the love of God, nor did he allow anything to deter him from the call of God on his life. When he found himself in prison, instead of grumbling, complaining, and questioning God, he wrote letters to the churches. Even though he was facing hardships and death itself, he made an effort to encourage the saints and ministers. When Paul wrote to them in the first chapter of Philippians, he did not speak concerning his sad state of affairs or beg them for their sympathy. Instead, Paul told them, "Every time you cross my mind, I thank God for you. I commend you for your faithfulness, and I pray for you with joy in my heart." Paul could rejoice and be content in the place where he found himself because he had an assurance that God was in control of his life. He knew that God was still God whether he, himself, was in prison or living in freedom. Paul also knew that all things were going to work together for good for him because he loved God and was following after God's purpose. He stood in faith as he looked at his circumstances and chose to let his conflict become a blessing to others instead of a source of defeat. Paul forgot about his reputation and his own personal comfort, and as a result of his selflessness, the prison guards heard the message of Jesus Christ. The confidence of the Christians outside the prison walls was also increased because they saw Paul's all consuming desire to advance the gospel and witnessed his unwavering spirit of fearlessness. Paul teaches us a great life lesson in this chapter. Every hardship in our life presents us with an opportunity of response. In our hour of conflict, we can become discouraged that God has selected us to go through the fiery trial or we can become a witness as we pray for others and rejoice that God is using us to promote their spiritual growth. When adversity comes, we can face it with unwavering faith in the living God, or we can give in to our fears. When afflictions come, we can believe God's Word that says, "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but God delivers him out of them all" (Psalms 34:19), or we can lose faith in God's Word. In the midst of every heart-breaking situation, we can murmur and complain, or we can encourage our brothers by saying what Paul said, "What has happened to me has actually helped to spread the gospel." In other words, when we face difficult circumstances and adversities, we can either choose to imprison the message and life of Jesus Christ that is within us or we can choose to share Him freely and in so doing advance His kingdom on Earth. +++ 5/15/24 TIMES AND SEASONS Scripture: Daniel 2:21 "He changes the times and the seasons." In the area where I live, which is in Southeast Texas, the change of the seasons is often very confusing. We have a saying; "If you don't like the weather right now, just wait a few hours. It will change." We go from overcast skies to sunshine and from drought to flooding rains. In just three or four hours, the temperature can drop from the mid-seventies to the low forties. We have beautiful days and we have days that are filled with hurricanes and tornadoes. Our seasons follow this same pattern in that they are rarely strictly defined. We may have a couple of days of cool fall weather that requires the use of a furnace. Then the season will revert and in mid November, we must turn on the air conditioner. Occasionally, we use the furnace and the air conditioner on the same day. Without a calendar, this changing back and forth would make it difficult to discern the season. Many times the seasons of our lives are like this. It may seem like a new season is about to come into our lives and we may take faith in that hope. We sense a change and trust that it is for the better. For a short period, our finances improve, relationships strengthen, our health is restored, and all is well with our family. We rejoice in the peace that we feel, as it seems that the springtime of our life is on the horizon. Yet about the time we become comfortable in this season, circumstances revert and we find ourselves back in a season that is uncomfortable and very discouraging. Our situation is marked by extreme spiritual drought or times where it seems the raging storms and floods are going to take us under. Everything about us seems mixed up and out of sync. We must remember that our seasons are held in God's hands. Acts 1:7 says, "It is not for you to know the times or the season, which the Father has put in His own power." The Lord controls the seasons of our life just as He controls the seasons of nature. Everything that happens is in His sovereign design and all the events that take place in our lives are divinely appointed. Ecclesiastes chapter three tells us that there is a time to be born and a time to die, a time to weep and a time to laugh, and a time to get and a time to lose. Each season has a purpose and no man can fully understand its meaning because God is working. His ways and thoughts are higher than ours could ever be. We just have to trust Him as He changes the times and the seasons. In God's perfect timing, all will come to pass as He planned and as He purposed. +++ 5/16/24 FAITH TO RETURN HOME Scripture: Luke 15:18 "I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee." The prodigal son took his inheritance, separated himself from his father and family, and went to a country far away. After he had wasted everything that he had on a lavish and sinful lifestyle, he found himself wanting and in need. He refused to return to his father's home and provisions, and instead, he chose to secure a job with a citizen of the country. In time, he realized that he was in a place that was lower than his own father's hired servants. As he worked, feeding the swine, he became so hungry that he could have eaten the food that he was feeding to them. His desperation finally brought him to his senses and with a repentant heart he decided to return home. The prodigal son left his father's home saying, "Give me my inheritance," but he returned saying, "Make me your servant." His heart and values had been changed through the misery of his experience. Yet, it took much faith for the son to humble himself and make his way back home. His self-worth had been destroyed and in his own mind, there was always the chance that forgiveness and restoration would not be extended to him. He surely found this to be true concerning his brother's attitude toward him, for he found no forgiveness there. It has been said: "Sin will take you further than you wanted to go, Keep you longer than you wanted to stay, Teach you things that you wished you never learned, And charge you more than you wanted to pay." We may not find ourselves in the exact situation as the prodigal son, but often our choices lead us away from God's best, and in due time, we must face the consequences. When we end up in a dilemma and away from God's blessings, we must remember that redemption only comes through repentance. We must come to the realization that we have missed God and we must be humble enough to acknowledge our faults and failures. We can only return home when we are truly honest with ourselves and with our Heavenly Father. It takes faith to return, but God is full of mercy and grace. When we confess our sins and acknowledge our bad decisions, God is faithful to forgive us and restore our lives. Like the prodigal son, as we draw closer to our Heavenly Father's presence, we will find that He has been waiting patiently and faithfully for our return. +++ 5/17/24 BLESSINGS OF THE LORD Scripture: Proverbs 10:22 (Amplified) "The blessings of the Lord, it makes (truly) rich, and He adds no sorrow with it." There is a tremendous difference in the blessings that come from God and chance that just happens in our lives. Without exception, blessings that come from the Lord are good and they make us truly rich, for He knows exactly what to give us and what to hold back. He knows our needs better than we do and His plans for us are for good and not evil to give us a good future and a hope. There is never any grief or sorrow that comes with God's blessings and for that reason you never hear the expression "bad blessing." With luck, it is different, for we do use the term “bad luck.” It is like the pendulum of a clock that swings back and forth, for it can go either way. If you choose to believe that your life is governed by luck, you can have good luck or you can experience bad luck. A man in our local community won thirteen million dollars a few years back. Some of my close friends knew him personally. At first glance, we would have called this win a blessing and the world would have labeled him a lucky man. Yet, at the end of the matter, things did not turn out good for this individual, for there were no blessings attached for him personally. In fact there was only devastation. Within two years of winning this enormous amount of money, he was divorced, lost his home and family, and ended up taking his own life because of the grief and sorrow that surrounded him. A blessing is supernatural and comes from the heart and hands of God. It is not something that we can produce ourselves. In I Chronicles 4:10 there is a prayer recorded by a man named Jabez. Jabez asked God for something that Jabez himself could not produce. He asked for a supernatural blessing and then left his life in the hands of a sovereign God. Like Jabez, we need to present ourselves to God and look to Him for blessings rather than to depend upon fate or luck. We have God and He is all that we need to help us make it through life. Ephesians 1:3-7 tells us that God has already blessed us with spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus. He has chosen us to be holy before Him, adopted us, and made us accepted in the beloved. Through the Lord Jesus we have redemption and through His blood we have the forgiveness of sin. We must agree that because of God’s goodness we are truly blessed and believe that His blessings make us rich and do not bring with them sorrow of any kind. +++ 5/20/24 THE GOODNESS OF GOD Scripture: Romans 2:4 " ... the goodness of God leads you to repentance." When we were children we were wise in our own eyes and many times we could not understand why we were not allowed to make our own decisions. We tried to do things our own way and often despised the correction that our actions demanded. As time progressed, however, we began to understand and appreciate the protection and the benefits of the discipline that we had received at the hands of those who loved us. We saw the wisdom of not being allowed to play in the street where our bodies could have been mangled or our lives lost. We could also appreciate the other benefits that were forced upon us such as good diet and hygiene. We began to understand the value of going to school and studying instead of playing with friends all day. These things were not a means of punishment but were meant for our own growth and development. As we matured, we came to realize that it was good that we were not left to ourselves and our own devises. The goodness of God that leads to repentance is similar to the natural discipline that we received in our youth. Many times we do not understand the workings of God. Our natural desires pull us one direction, which is to enjoy our own lives for a season, while the Holy Spirit strives within us to lead us into the way that is intended so that we can fulfill God's eternal purposes. When we go against the leading of the Holy Spirit a Godly sorrow begins to manifest within our hearts. This Godly sorrow is called conviction and pulls at our heartstrings. God’s Spirit of conviction is never to be despised because God is our loving Father and He is seeking only our good. It is because of His goodness that He deals with us so patiently in an effort to lead us into His paths of righteousness. It is because of God's mercy that He brings us to repentance and diverts us from our own thoughts and plans. Eventually, we understand that His plan was much higher and far greater than our own plan. In II Corinthians 7:10, Paul speaks of the two kinds of sorrow. There is the Godly sorrow, which works repentance and brings salvation, and then there is the worldly sorrow, which brings death. Godly sorrow releases us to experience life and light as we release the things that cause death to our soul and spirit. This Godly sorrow leaves no regrets. Worldly sorrow, however, leads to discouragement, defeat, and death. It condemns and causes us to hate ourselves. The Apostle Paul said, "When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things" (I Corinthians 13:11). There is a time to grow up and go on with life. Repentance means to turn from one direction and go in the opposite direction. To experience life, you must release the things that hold you in bondage, whether it be sins of the flesh or the pains of the past. The bondage of sin and the regrets of the past always cause death to your soul and spirit. God is seeking to change your heart, turn you around, and bring you to repentance, not because He is selfish and mean, but because of His infinite goodness and grace. God knows that His amazing love and His awesome light will drive out the darkness as you repent and release it all to Him. +++ 5/21/24 STRENGTHENED THROUGH SUFFERING Scripture: I Peter 4:16 "Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God on this behalf." Suffering as a Christian is much different than suffering the consequences that result from wrongdoings because it has purpose and brings honor instead of shame. Since Christ suffered for us, we need to have the same mindset and be willing to suffer for His purposes. In verse twelve Peter said, "Beloved, do not be amazed and bewildered at the fiery ordeal which is taking place to test your quality, as though something strange or unusual were happening to you." Peter was fully aware that at times we would look at our tests and trials and think, "This situation is really strange." Or ask, “Why is this happening to me?” He knew that questions would come to our mind but encouraged us to glorify God in the midst of our adversity. We can glorify God because there are strengths that come through suffering. In our sufferings our weaknesses are revealed to us and a dependence upon God is created within us. Through suffering, God destroys our self-reliance, which is the highest form of pride. God does not even like for us to look proud. In fact Proverbs 6:16-17 list that attribute as one of the things that God hates. God gave us an example with the life of the Apostle Paul, who was given a thorn in his flesh to keep him from self-exaltation. Although Paul prayed three times for deliverance, God's response was, "My grace is sufficient for you: for My strength is made perfect in weakness" (II Corinthians 12:9). Paul declared that he was glad to glory in his infirmities so that the power of Christ could rest upon him because in his weakness and dependence upon God, the glory of God was revealed. Suffering also makes us more useable for God. I Peter 1:7 says, "The trial of our faith is more precious than gold that is tried with fire" Tests and trials purify our hearts like gold that is purified in the fire. Only through trials are the impurities burned away and we become pure vessels fit for the Master's use. Another accomplishment of suffering is that the trials and tests that we go through provide us with experience to encourage others. II Corinthians 1:4 tells us that God comforts and encourages us in every trouble so that we may also be able to comfort and encourage others. Through suffering, we learn to minister, for we can only bring someone out of a valley that we have gone through or rescue them from a storm that we have encountered. When facing trials and tests, do not consider it a strange ordeal, but rather put your trust in God and depend upon Him. God’s grace is sufficient enough to help you endure the purifying fire. Rejoice to know that you will be strengthened through your sufferings and never be ashamed in your affliction. Rather, give glory to God, knowing that He is qualifying you to minister to others with the same comfort that He is presently extending toward you. +++ 5/22/24 TRUTH WITH NO FINE PRINT Scripture: II Corinthians 1:20 "For all the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him Amen." I saw a picture of a decorative flower cart in a mail order magazine. The advertisement pictured it with what looked like several normal sized flowerpots and said that it was 43" in length. I got real excited about this bargain because I had just recently seen one at an antique store, which cost about seven times the amount of the one in the magazine. I assumed that the huge difference in the price was because the flower cart had to be assembled. I figured that even with the shipping cost, I would still save money and have a beautiful cart for my plants on the patio. I thought that I had made an incredible find. To my surprise, however, when the cart was assembled, it turned out to be much smaller than what the picture indicated. I thought there must be a mistake so I looked up the item in the catalogue to make sure that I had not misread the measurements and to verify that I had received the correct item. Sure enough, the magazine read 43" in length, but in very fine print to the side, it said, "with handle". The length of the handle was counted and included as part of the length of the cart. The flowerpots that were displayed on the cart must have been miniature ones. The advertisement was misleading to a degree and I could have sent the cart back, but the cost of the postage was nearly as much as the cart. After the shock and disappointment, I enjoyed a good laugh at myself because it was entirely my fault for not paying attention to the fine print. This incident reminded me of the goodness of God and the integrity of His Word. We do not have to be on guard when God speaks because He is never misleading and His promises are never empty. All of His Words are true. When He told us that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life, that is exactly what He meant. There is no fine print to distort God’s promise. If you believe on Him and receive Jesus into your heart as Savior and Lord, you will be saved. His Words are never meant to deceive. When He painted us a picture of Heaven by saying that the streets were of pure gold and the gates were made with huge pearls, He was speaking the truth. He was not trying to lure us into Heaven by showing us an enlarged photo of an actual miniature. God declared His love for us and said that His mercy endures forever, and we can believe it, for He does not hide a lie beneath the mask of truth. Isaiah prophesied that the Lord would be anointed to bring good tidings to the meek, bind up the broken hearted, and preach the gospel to the poor. He would give us beauty for ashes, joy for mourning, and a garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. The Lord will never repent or back away from these promises. If God has spoken it, it will come to pass, for He is not a man that He should lie (Numbers 23:19). All of God's promises are yea and amen. God’s Spirit of integrity will not allow Him to lie. We can always depend upon His Word because there will never be any fine print that is intended to deceive or to nullify His truth. +++ 5/23/24 TIMES AND SEASONS Scripture: Daniel 2:21 "He changes the times and the seasons." In the area where I live, which is in Southeast Texas, the change of the seasons is often very confusing. We have a saying; "If you don't like the weather right now, just wait a few hours. It will change." We go from overcast skies to sunshine and from drought to flooding rains. In just three or four hours, the temperature can drop from the mid-seventies to the low forties. We have beautiful days and we have days that are filled with hurricanes and tornadoes. Our seasons follow this same pattern in that they are rarely strictly defined. We may have a couple of days of cool fall weather that requires the use of a furnace. Then the season will revert and in mid November, we must turn on the air conditioner. Occasionally, we use the furnace and the air conditioner on the same day. Without a calendar, this changing back and forth would make it difficult to discern the season. Many times the seasons of our lives are like this. It may seem like a new season is about to come into our lives and we may take faith in that hope. We sense a change and trust that it is for the better. For a short period, our finances improve, relationships strengthen, our health is restored, and all is well with our family. We rejoice in the peace that we feel, as it seems that the springtime of our life is on the horizon. Yet about the time we become comfortable in this season, circumstances revert and we find ourselves back in a season that is uncomfortable and very discouraging. Our situation is marked by extreme spiritual drought or times where it seems the raging storms and floods are going to take us under. Everything about us seems mixed up and out of sync. We must remember that our seasons are held in God's hands. Acts 1:7 says, "It is not for you to know the times or the season, which the Father has put in His own power." The Lord controls the seasons of our life just as He controls the seasons of nature. Everything that happens is in His sovereign design and all the events that take place in our lives are divinely appointed. Ecclesiastes chapter three tells us that there is a time to be born and a time to die, a time to weep and a time to laugh, and a time to get and a time to lose. Each season has a purpose and no man can fully understand its meaning because God is working. His ways and thoughts are higher than ours could ever be. We just have to trust Him as He changes the times and the seasons. In God's perfect timing, all will come to pass as He planned and as He purposed. +++ 5/24/24 GO AND POSSESS Scripture: Deuteronomy 1:21 "Behold the Lord your God has set the land before you; go up and possess it." The Promised Land was a prosperous place that God wanted His chosen people to have so He set it before them and then told them to go in and possess it. The land belonged to them because of God's promise, but it did not come to them as they sat idly by. They had to possess the territory by their own faith and use the skills that God imparted to them. It was necessary for them to sacrifice their homes and leave everything that was familiar. They had to travel through the wilderness, trusting God, one miracle at a time. They received water from a rock and were sustained forty years with daily manna from Heaven. They had no maps or instructions but were led by a fire at night and a cloud during the day. Their experience was a long journey of trust in God, which many did not finish because their faith failed in the process. Those who finally made it through the wilderness were faced with another challenge. They discovered that there were giants in the land, which they had to drive out in order to possess the promise that God had given to them. Times have changed since God led His people out of Egypt. Yet, but our challenges are no different because we all have our own individual Egypt or bondages to deal with and barren wildernesses to cross. Their experiences were recorded for our benefit and the lessons are valuable because we face some of the same things. We make it through some ordeal using all the faith that we have and then discover like the Israelites, there is still one more giant to conquer. We learn to trust God on a daily basis because every promise that He gives comes to us with a challenge. His Word to us, "Go and possess," is a call to battle and a charge to conquer. His promises are true but it is our responsibility to possess the new territories. It is exciting when God shows us something new that is beyond ourselves and gives us permission to go in and possess it. We rejoice when we see that He is enlarging our borders, moving us to higher levels, and taking us to places that we have never been. We are very ready to move forward with God's new plan, but then reality shows up. We begin to understand the commitment that we must make and the scope of our own personal responsibility that comes with the promotion. Suddenly, the glorious new place becomes an overwhelming challenge to our natural mind. Success on any level is never handed out on a silver platter. It is gained through sacrifice, determination, and labor. God's promises only come to fruition when we take action to possess that which He offers. God gives us a mountain but He expects us to climb it. He gives us a vision and a hope, but our actions of faith bring the promised blessing into being. Victory will not come easy or without sacrifice but we have an assurance that God will be faithful to His Word and will be with us every step of the way. What has the Lord spoken to you? If He has filled your heart with a vision or given you a word of promise, He wants you to have it. He gives you permission to go after it and a promise that He will be with you. So define the new territory that God has promised you and prepare your heart to go in and possess it. +++ 5/27/24 GOD'S MEMORIAL DAY Scripture: Exodus 12:14 "And this day shall be unto you for a Memorial." This scripture is in reference to the institution of the Passover, which began when Moses was leading the people out of Egypt. This event was a shadow or an illustration of the redemptive work that Jesus was to accomplish for us on the cross. At this first Passover, Israel was instructed to take a lamb without spot or blemish, kill it, and apply the blood to the doorpost of their homes. God told them that when He saw the blood, He would pass over them and not kill the firstborn of that house. He promised that death would have no dominion over them if they would simply apply the blood of the slain lamb. God grants us a Memorial Day such as this. Jesus is our lamb without spot and blemish. When John the Baptist saw Jesus, he said, "Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). Jesus was slain on the cross of Calvary for our sins and because of His sacrifice, we have a promise of eternal life, and death no longer has dominion over us. However, just like the first Passover, God's work is not complete until we personally apply the blood of Jesus to our lives by receiving Jesus as our Savior and Lord. God gave such simple instructions to His people. They only had to take the lamb, kill it, and apply the blood. Yet, many people in Egypt did not respond to these instructions and faced the judgment of their choice. You also have a choice. Eternal salvation is just as simple, for God has made a way for you by sacrificing His own Son, Jesus. Please respond to His great invitation, for the steps to salvation are as simple as ABC. A) Acknowledge your sin, for all have sinned. (Romans 3:23) B) Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. (Acts 16:31) C) Confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, and you will be saved. (Romans 10:9) Today we celebrate Memorial Day in America in honor of those who have given their lives for this country. So when you see the red stripes on our great American flag think about those who have fought and have paid the ultimate price with their blood for your own personal freedom. And also remember the great sacrifice that Jesus made for your eternal freedom and the crimson blood that He shed for the remission of your sins. +++ Copyright © 2024 Mary Padgett Ministries. All Rights Reserved www.widsonline.com |
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