What Is Christmas All About?

How many of us wax nostalgic every year when we watch “A Charlie Brown Christmas”?  My favorite part, of course, is when Charlie Brown shouts out the question, “Can anyone tell me what Christmas is all about?!”  Then Linus, in his quiet firm voice calmly quotes the story of Jesus’ birth from Luke 2.  I get tears in my eyes at that point; how about you?

“A Charlie Brown Christmas” is cute show with a timeless message still valid for today as Christmas time still brings out the worst of American commercialism.  There was another campaign against commercialism in the 1980’s, which oddly enough was introduced to us by commercialism itself.  Those of us old enough can probably remember the advertising phrase that came out on all kinds of items from book markers to coffee mugs, “Jesus Is the Reason for the Season”.    That message is still as valid today as it was in its introduction.

I have been thinking about all kinds of things I can write this month that can express just what Christmas is all about for me, but I guess it comes down to a quote by Napoleon Bonaparte, "If Socrates would enter the room we should rise and do him honor. But if Jesus Christ came into the room we should fall down on our knees and worship Him!" (Shoe-Leather Faith; No. 138).  To me, Christmas is recognizing just Who Jesus is and making it a practice to welcome Him again into and as Lord of my life.

I highly recommend that you take a moment each day and review just what Christmas is all about.  Make it a personal intimate moment where you recognize and acknowledge just Who Jesus is to you.  Let me encourage you to visit the following web page article by Ron Christian and click on one link in the article each day for the next seven days to gain a stronger grasp about Christmas:

http://christiandevotionals.wordpress.com/2012/01/11/how-should-we-celebrate-christmas-worship/

The Voice of Thanksgiving

“Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; test my heart and my mind. for Your loving-kindness is before my eyes, and I have walked in Your truth [faithfully].  I do not sit with false persons, nor fellowship with pretenders; I hate the company of evildoers and will not sit with the wicked.  I will wash my hands in innocence, and go about Your altar, O Lord, that I may make the voice of thanksgiving heard and may tell of all Your wondrous works.”  Psalm 26:2-7 AMP

Yes, this is the time of the year that our thoughts turn toward visiting family, having a delicious meal with turkey, dressing, and all the trimmings.  We traditionally recollect the story of thanksgiving:  the Wampanoag Indians brought the berries and game, the Pilgrims brought vegetables and desserts.  They joined together in what would probably be the last true show of friendship between the two races for more than one hundred years.  The Wampanoag Indians and the Pilgrims gave thanks for their harvest and new friends.

I urge you, brothers and sisters in the Lord, as you enjoy happy times with friends and family this Thursday to also take time to get quietly before the Lord and thank Him for it all.  For without Him you truly are nothing and would have nothing (John 15:5).  Express your love and adoration to Him NOT for what He has done for you but for Who He IS (Psalm 68:35), and tell Him how grateful you are for all He has done for you (Ephesians 5:20).

I guess Colossians 3 exemplifies this season best:

“And above all these [put on] love and enfold yourselves with the bond of perfectness [which binds everything together completely in ideal harmony].  And let the peace (soul harmony which comes) from Christ rule (act as umpire continually) in your hearts [deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in your minds, in that peaceful state] to which as [members of Christ’s] one body you were also called [to live]. And be thankful (appreciative), [giving praise to God always].”  Colossians 3:14-16 AMP

EXPECT THE LORD!

“Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for and hope for and expect the Lord!”  -Psalm 31:24

As Christians we are taught that Jesus is coming back to gather us and take us away from this earth (1 Thess. 4:17; Mat. 24:29).  So we look forward to that day while we struggle with the troubles of living in a sinful world.  We have hope that one day He will come and take us away from it all.  Well, why not expect Him sooner?

How about expecting the Lord while facing economic upheaval?  Have you ever experienced the struggle of not having enough money to make-ends-meet?  I know of a couple who are struggling to do so.  Last month they took 10% of all the income they had and gave it to the Lord through their church.  That meant they would not have enough to pay all their rent, but in faith they gave, in faith expecting the Lord to help.  God came through with an extra job for him which gave him enough to pay the rest of his rent and some extra for gas.

Consider expecting the Lord in the salvation of a loved one.  A close friend of mine has a son in his late 20’s who has been a ‘speed’ addict for a number of years, already in and out of prison, jail, and recovery programs a number of times.  He knew his mom was a devout Christian but he did not want to have anything to do with God.  She and I prayed often for his salvation and expected the Lord to intervene.  A few months ago he was arrested on breaking his probation and had the choice to go back to prison or one more chance in an in-house recovery program.  While in this recovery program he accepted the Lord as his savior and has remained clean ever since.  Now he is calling his mom and encouraging her with what he reads and discovers in the Bible. 

The first car I owned I purchased in 1976; I have driven myself in the various cars I owned wherever I had to go from that date until 2003 when the car I had at that time had its front end and standard transmission go out at the same time.  It was a 12 year old car and would cost more to repair than it was worth.  I did not have a car for six years and had to take the bus or gain rides from friends and relatives all the time.  I could not afford to purchase a new or used car so I expected the Lord, telling Him in prayer that if He gave me a car then I would in turn use it for Him by giving rides to others in need just as people had given me rides.  In 2009 a couple I know, in obedience and prompted by the Lord, gave me their car when they got a new one.  Now I am able to give others rides and have great times of fellowship and witnessing in that car.

Now that I have ‘started the ball rolling’ so-to-speak, it is YOUR turn.  What stories can you remember where someone expected the Lord and saw Him come through?  I would love to hear them so please send them along to me at kingsmonarch@gmail with “Expect the Lord!” in the subject line.

What needs do you have in your life right now?  How about in your friends and relatives lives?  Are you ready to start expecting the Lord today?

(Psalm 27:14; 31:24; 40:1; 130:5; Prov. 20:22; Isaiah 40:31; Lam. 3:24; Micah 7:7)

  

“So be patient, brethren, [as you wait] till the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits expectantly for the precious harvest from the land. [See how] he keeps up his patient [vigil] over it until it receives the early and late rains.” –James 5:7 AMP

PLAYING CHURCH

Can you guess what this article is going to be about?  A good start to finding that out is to ask ourselves this question:

“Why go to church?”

My first response to this question was the “automatic” response most Christians give:  Because God commands it (Phil. 3:17; Col. 2:19; 1 Thess. 5:11; 2 Thess. 2:1; Hebrews 10:25).  Indeed, God wants us to gather together, encourage one another, comfort one another, and be knit together in love, but not everyone who attends has these goals or attitudes.

A good example of the wrong type of church attendance is what I observed as a missionary serving in Jamaica.  There are more churches per capita in Jamaica than in the United States.  While attending a church in Saint Ann’s Bay one Sunday I observed a service with many people coming forward to give their lives to the Lord.  The next Sunday I again observed a large group of people coming forward, but upon close observation I noticed that it was pretty much the same people who came forward the previous Sunday.  I asked our Mission Team leader, Ron, about this and he told me that they came forward on Sunday seeking forgiveness for their sins then they would go out to the Rum Bars to drink and commit other sins during the week.  By Sunday they would be back in church to get rid of their sins again.  They no longer felt “clean.”  Ron explained that they did not understand what repentance really was and that this was one of the focuses of our ministry there, to take them past forgiveness of sins into repentance and full discipleship in Christ.

We may not have as many churches per capita as Jamaica but we have some of the same problems.  I have observed people in my church attending when things are going wrong in their lives.  They come to have us pray for them then when God answers their needs we do not see them for months, or until they have another need.  Some have attend a few Sundays and asked for financial assistance.  Once they receive some money to help pay their rent or food needs then we do not see them until they are in dire straights again.  Our church tends to have a lot of people with needs:  drug addicts, homeless, prostitutes, homosexuals, and people just out of jail or prison to name a few.

Does that offend you?  Most Christians these days would have a struggle dealing with or ministering to people with these needs but our Church has learned to reach out to them.  We have taken the vision of our Pastor, “To feed the poor, to clothe those who are in need, to reach out to the young people, to teach Jesus Christ, no other, and to keep it as simple as possible,” to heart.  Are we perfect in this outreach?  No, we struggle with opinions, finances, drops in attendance, of giving to people who show no appreciation and such but the key is we do not see these physical outcomes as failures.  We see successes because in each case we focus on our obedience to what God has called us to do regardless of the outcome.

I know up to this point you thought I was going to say that coming forward again and again to get rid of sins or getting money out of the church then never returning are signs of someone “playing church”.  Actually I see these things as cries for help and God has charged us with building his Kingdom by ministering to and bringing in those who cry out.  I see that the real way to “play church” is to go for the singing and the sermon and never reaching out to the person sitting next to you who may be grieving for the loss of their spouse, or may have just been evicted from their house.  The chairman of Jews for Jesus, Moisha Rosen, said it best:

“The Church is not a country club for saints, but a hospital for sinners” –Moisha Rosen

So, are you going to keep “playing church?”  Are you going to keep sitting in the waiting room of the Sinner’s Hospital reading the literature (Bible, bulletin and newsletter) and listening to the music (praise and worship) or are you going to put on a spiritual medical uniform and reach out to hurting person sitting next to you?  It is time to quit “playing church” and start building it instead.  The decision is yours.

KEEP YOUR FORK

Eleven years ago a friend emailed the following story to me.  With all the uncertainty and hard-times we are facing this year I thought it was time for a reminder of what is yet to come.

        There was a woman who had been diagnosed with a terminal illness and had been given three months to live.  As she was getting her things “in order,” she contacted her pastor and had him come to her house to discuss certain aspects of her final wishes.  She told him which songs she wanted sung at the service, what scriptures she would like read, and what outfit she wished to be buried in.  The woman also requested to be buried with her favorite Bible.

        Everything was in order and the pastor was preparing to leave when the woman suddenly remembered something very important to her.

        “There’s one more thing,” she said excitedly.

        “What’s that?” came the pastor’s reply.

“This is very important,” the woman continued.  “I want to be buried with a fork in my right hand.”

        The pastor stood looking at the woman, not knowing what to say.

        “That surprises you, doesn’t it?” the woman asked.

        “Well, to be honest, I’m puzzled by the request,” Said the pastor.

        The woman explained, “In all my years of attending church socials and potluck dinners, I remember that always when the dishes of the main course were being cleared, someone would inevitably lean over and say, ‘Keep your fork.’  It was my favorite part, because I knew something better was coming-like velvety chocolate cake or deep-dish apple pie.  Something wonderful and with substance!  So I just want people to see me there in that casket with a fork in my hand, and I want them to wonder, ‘What’s with the fork?’  Then I want you to tell them, ‘Keep your fork---the best is yet to come.’”

        The pastor’s eyes welled up with tears of joy as he hugged the woman goodbye.  He knew this would be one of the last times he would see her before her death, but he also knew that the woman had a better grasp of Heaven than he did.  She knew that something better was coming!

        At the funeral, people were walking by the woman’s casket and they saw the pretty dress she was wearing, her favorite Bible, and the fork placed in her right hand.  Over and over the pastor heard the question, “What’s with the fork?”  Over and over he smiled.

        During his message the pastor told the people of the conversation he had with the woman shortly before she died.  He also told them about the fork and about what it symbolized to her.  The pastor told the people how he could not stop thinking about the fork, and he told them that they probably would not be able to stop thinking about it either.  He was right!

        So—the next time you reach down for your fork, let it remind you ever so gently that the best is yet to come!

-         Author Unknown

“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud cry of summons, with the shout of an archangel, and with the blast of the trumpet of God. And those who have departed this life in Christ will rise first.   Then we, the living ones who remain [on the earth], shall simultaneously be caught up along with [the resurrected dead] in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so always (through the eternity of the eternities) we shall be with the Lord!”  1 Thess. 4:16-17 AMP

CRY

Do you know how to CRY?  Today I am going to teach you how.  The first part of CRYing is:

CONFESS

Psalm 66:18 (AMP) – “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me;” 

Regard = cherish (to approve of, to enjoy, to show respect)

What happens when we enjoy sin and pray to God at the same time? We are showing more respect to sin than to God. Would you be under any obligation to listen to someone disrespecting you? Then how can you expect God to?

Dr. Woodrow Kroll writes, “God is under no obligation to listen to prayers that come from disrespectful hearts…we might as well save our breath.”

Is there something in your life that you really love but know it is just not right? CONFESS it to God the Father. Does He need to hear it? No but He knows you need to say it.  We try to hide the things we are ashamed of.  Confession brings those things out of the shadows and exposes them for the truly hideous ugly things they are. He knows you need to bring it out into the open so that you can fully acknowledge it.

REPENT

Acts 3:19 (AMP) – “So repent (change your mind and purpose); turn around and return [to God], that your sins may be erased (blotted out, wiped clean), that times of refreshing (of recovering from the effects of heat, of reviving with fresh air) may come from the presence of the Lord;”

Repent = to feel remorse, turn around and walk the other way

Do you want to connect with God? You must forsake all sin. How can you keep evil from interrupting your connection with God? Abandon all the sin in your life.  Give it up! What if you do that sin again? Then you did not really repent.

Dr. Ronnie W. Floyd once wrote, “All prayer, to be acceptable to God, must be connected with a purpose to forsake all sin.”

YIELD

Romans 6:13 (AMP) – “Do not continue offering or yielding your bodily members [and faculties] to sin as instruments (tools) of wickedness. But offer and yield yourselves to God as though you have been raised from the dead to [perpetual] life, and your bodily members [and faculties] to God, presenting them as implements of righteousness.”

Yield = produce, give up, surrender

Will confession and repentance complete what God is asking of us?  No. To be complete you have to yield to Him. Yield those things that draw your attention from Him. Yield anything that comes between you and God.

Oswald Chambers wrote, “The first thing I must be willing to admit when I begin to examine what controls and dominates me is that I am the one responsible for having yielded myself to whatever it may be. If I am a slave to myself, I am to blame because somewhere in the past I yielded to myself. Likewise, if I obey God I do so because at some point in my life I yielded myself to Him.”

Are these steps a once-and-for-all event?

            No, CRYing needs to be done on a regular basis.

Did you…..Confess

Repent

Yield……..today?

"LET THERE BE LIGHT!"

“Let there be light!”  (Genesis 1:3 KJV)

Light, something we take for granted.  Think about if for a moment.  Without light there would be no color.  Have you ever been in a dark room?  What color did you see?  Can you imagine living in a world without light?  There would be no green plants, no cars, no books, no stoves or fireplaces, no television, and no coffee, to name just a few things that use light.  Without light you would not be able to read this sentence.  I would not be able to write it.  Is it any wonder that God’s first spoken words in creation were, “Let there be light!”?

The very Being Who was Light (1 John 1:5) said, “Let there be light!” and there was light and it was not only suitable to His purposes but pleasant as well (Genesis 1:4 AMP).

God also spoke to us individually about His Light.  We are now Light in Him and He commands us to lead the lives of those native-born to the Light (Ephesians 5:8 AMP).  “But oh,” you reply, “what good can I be?  I’m just one little light in and ever darkening world.”

A Number of years ago I took a tour through Shasta Caverns.  Near the very end of our tour our group collected itself in a large underground room in the main cavern.  With well over twenty of us in this room the tour guide turned off all the lights.  It was totally black.  It was void of all light.  My eyes kept trying to adjust but there was nothing to help them focus.  The darkness was oppressive.  Then the tour guide struck a match and the whole cavern lit up.  I could see each of the other people around me, the shapes of the stalactites and stalagmites, the colors of red, yellow, green, blue, white, purple, etc. of everyone’s clothes, and the faces stunned in awe at how much that little match could light up the entire cavern.  Just one little short-lived match lit the whole cavern and drove away the oppressive blackness.

Oh brother and sister in the Lord, God wants to strike His Light through you to drive the darkness of the enemy away in the lives of the people of this world.  You do not have to TRY to be perfect to be His “match” for this season of oppressive darkness; He has already made you pure and perfect through His shed blood.  All He wants is your willingness to be there for Him and He will do the rest.

“Therefore, my dear ones, as you have always obeyed [my suggestions], so now, not only [with the enthusiasm you would show] in my presence but much more because I am absent, work out (cultivate, carry out to the goal, and fully complete) your own salvation with reverence and awe and trembling (self-distrust, with serious caution, tenderness of conscience, watchfulness against temptation, timidly shrinking from whatever might offend God and discredit the name of Christ).  [Not in your own strength] for it is God Who is all the while effectually at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire], both to will and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and delight.”   (Philippians 2:12-13 AMP)

HARVEST

“Put in the sickle, for the vintage harvest is ripe…”  (Joel 3:13a AMP)

“Harvest”, what kind of image does that word bring to mind?  If you are from the Northeast of the United States you might think of tapping maple trees for sap and firm crisp apples.  If you are from Florida, Texas, and Southern California you might imagine fresh bright oranges, lemons, and limes.  If you are from the Bible-belt your thoughts might turn towards irrigated crops of sugar beats and corn, and if from our Island State of Hawaii you are probably remembering twelve foot stalks of sugar cane and pineapples.

When I think of “harvest” I think of the rolling hills of the Pacific Northwest covered with the yellow and red-brown fields of wheat and barley.  I think about many of my friends who have just now finished harvesting their wheat and barley, spending 14-16 hour days to get everything in before a chance rain brings the moisture content too high for harvesting.

“And he said, the Kingdom of God is like a man who scatters seed upon the ground, and then continues sleeping and rising night and day while the seed sprouts and grows and increases – he knows not how the earth produces (acting) by itself – first blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.  But when the grain is ripe and permits, immediately he sends forth (the reapers) and puts in the sickle because the harvest stands ready.”  Mark 4:26-29 AMP

Thinking about harvest also makes us think about leading people to the Lord.  The church is quite familiar with this concept; we hear missionaries share that familiar verse:  ”the harvest is great, but the laborers are few”.  I would like to suggest that there is yet another harvest, the harvest of your heart.  Song of Solomon speaks of us as God’s garden and, in loving interchange, we actually go past inviting Him into our hearts; we offer Him the “choicest fruits” He finds there (Song of Solomon 4:12-16).

How does someone make a garden produce the best yield?  They first have to get it ready for planting by digging up the dirt, breaking up the hardened ground so the seeds can be planted.  How do we prepare the gardens of our hearts?  We break up the hardened areas of our lives by seeking God Himself through prayer and reading His Word.

“Break up your uncultivated ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, to inquire for and of Him, and to require His favor, till He comes and teaches you righteousness and rains His righteous gift of salvation upon you.”    (Hosea 10:12b AMP)

We prepare the soil by digging into the Word, but we do not have the seed.  God does.  He not only provides the seed but He also provides the increase from it.

“And (God) who provides seed for the sower and bread for eating will also provide and multiply your name (resources for) sowing and increase the fruits of your righteousness (which manifests itself in active goodness, kindness, and charity).”  (2 Corinthians 9:10 AMP)

So our job is easy, break up the hardened ground:  read His Word, study it, and prayerfully consider it.  When the ground is ready God will plant seeds of righteousness and they will grow as we continue to read, study, and prayerfully consider His Word.  Then, like the man in the Mark 4:26-29 parable, we will not know how the plants grew in our hearts but they will produce the choicest fruits for our Lord’s delight.

“Let my beloved come into his garden and eat its choicest fruits.”  (Song of Solomon 4:16b AMP)

THE ACT OF WORSHIP – Part I: Worship Starts In the Heart

“Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you to revere and worshipfully fear the Lord.”  Ps. 34:11 AMP

Webster’s Dictionary states that worship as a noun is “religious exercises; reverence; loving devotion”, and as a verb it is “pay divine honors to; and idolize”.

Most Christian churches call their Sunday morning church service the “Worship Service”.  This is where Webster’s “religious exercises” come into practice.  We go to church, sing songs and hymns and call that worship but could there be more too it than that?

To get an understanding and feel for worship I encourage you to read Psalms and see how they reflect what the writer was going through.  These are not just nice songs composed by people who know how to write songs.  They are “heart-felt” cries to God and praises of Him.  They reflect the very nature of God and how even in the midst of trial and turmoil He works mightily on man’s behalf (Psalm 138:7).  They stir our hearts to reach out and touch the heart of God.

Let us examine the life of a man that God Himself said was “a man after His own heart” (1 Sam. 13:14 AMP).  King David is accredited with composing a number of Psalms.  These songs to and about the Lord sprung from his heart and relationship he had with the Lord.  What did King David say worship was?  He stated that worship was to bless the Lord at all times, continually praise Him, and that His actual life would be a boast in the Lord (Psalm 34:1-2).  He then encourages the reader of Psalm 34 to do the same (vs. 3) as he goes on to tell of how he sought the Lord “of necessity and on the authority of His Word” (vs. 4 AMP) and that God heard him and delivered him from ALL his fears!  Just think of it, ALL OF THEM!

King David never did things halfway and he worshiped with the same focused attitude:  “I will confess and praise You [O God] with my whole heart; before the gods will I sing praises to You.”  (Psalm 138:1 AMP)

With these things in mind what about the church member who, goes to church every Sunday, sings the songs, gives 10% of his income, attends Bible studies, and joins in numerous church activities.  He says and does all the right things.  Is he worshiping?  Most people observing him would say so, but we know that God does not look at us the way most people would.  “…For the Lord sees not as man sees; for man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”  (1 Samuel 16:7b AMP)  Unless he is worshiping with his “whole heart” then there is no truth to his worship.  It is just a façade.

“A time will come, however, indeed it is already here, when the true (genuine) worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth (reality); for the Father is seeking just such people as these as His worshipers.”  (1 John 4:23 AMP)

Let us apply that to ourselves.  When you go to church do go to “feel” the blessing of God or do you go to bless God?  Are you genuinely worshiping, or are you going through the motions?  Are you the type of person that the Father is seeking as His worshiper, or are your actions just a façade?

Worship starts in the heart.  Examine yours today and make a choice to be the type of person the Father is seeking as His worshiper.  The choice is yours, you know.

“My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is steadfast and confident! I will sing and make melody.  Awake, my glory (my inner self); awake, harp and lyre! I will awake right early [I will awaken the dawn]!  I will praise and give thanks to You, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to You among the nations.”  (Psalm 57:7-9 AMP)

COMPLETE

Would you like to be a complete and whole person?  What would you do to find completeness?  What would you give? 

I struggle in my walk with the Lord.  Does that surprise you?  I have had people share with me that I always seem to have it “all-together.” “Linda, you always dress well and are well groomed.”  “If I had your beauty I could have gone far.”  “You always have a smile on your face; I wish things went as well for me as they go for you.”  They turn to me to ask about scriptural things.  “Is there a scripture in the Bible about _______?”  “Ask Linda, she probably knows.”  They also comment about my singing.  “I love to hear you sing, you have such a beautiful voice.”  People see me for how I look, what I do and what I know, but they do not know that all this is just the ongoing manifestation of my struggle as I walk with the Lord.  You see, like you, I am a work in progress:

“So then, my dearest friends, as you have always followed my advice—and that not only when I was present to give it—so now that I am far away be keener than ever to work out the salvation that God has given you with a proper sense of awe and responsibility. For it is God who is at work within you, giving you the will and the power to achieve his purpose.”  Philippians 2:12-13 (Phillips Translation)

This verse used to confuse me but now I understand it.  When I accepted Jesus as my Savior He redeemed me, saving me from the death sentence my sins required.  But there is a part of me that the redemption is not completed in yet.  That is my soul (mind, will to do, intellect, and emotions).  Therein lies the struggle of walking with the Lord, for as He calls me one way my emotions often tug me the other, or my logical mind does not grasp the way of His Spirit, or my desires (will to do things) are opposite of what He wants.  Struggle I will until I yield to Him in each area that finds itself in opposition to God.  You see, every area people see as a success only became so because I yielded each and CONTINUE to yield each to the Lord.  He is my success Maker.  He is making me complete.  Ah for the day when it is finally accomplished and I stand before Him complete.

So, I ask you again, would you like to be a complete and whole person?  What would you do to find completeness?  What would you give?  A man asked Jesus how to accomplish something similar:

“And behold, there came a man up to Him, saying, Teacher, what excellent and perfectly and essentially good deed must I do to possess eternal life?  And He said to him, Why do you ask Me about the perfectly and essentially good? There is only One Who is good [perfectly and essentially]—God. If you would enter into the Life, you must continually keep the commandments.  He said to Him, What sort of commandments? [Or, which ones?] And Jesus answered, You shall not kill, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, honor your father and your mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as [you do] yourself.  The young man said, I have observed all these from my youth; what still do I lack?  Jesus answered him, If you would be perfect [that is, have that spiritual maturity which accompanies self-sacrificing character], go and sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven; and come, be My disciple [side with My party and follow Me].  But when the young man heard this, he went away sad (grieved and in much distress), for he had great possessions.”  Matthew 19:16-22 AMP

Are you ready to start your successes.  Again I ask, what would you do?  What would you give?  What is it that is hindering you from that complete walk with Jesus?  What is so precious to you that it stops you from going “all-out” for God?  Do not go away “sad (grieved and in much distress)”; quit struggling and give it to him.  Start your journey to completeness today.

PROCRASTINATION

What do Pharaoh, J. Wellington Wimpy, and America’s youth have in common?  They all love to procrastinate.  I even venture to say that we all have become a society struggling with procrastination.  Give me a moment to explain:

Pharaoh

We have heard the stories about Moses asking Pharaoh to let the Israelites go.  Of course Pharaoh would not, so God sent the first plague upon Egypt:  all the water (streams, rivers, pools, and ponds) were turned to blood.  This plague lasted seven days, and then because Pharaoh would still not relent God sent the frogs.  There were swarms of frogs going in and out of houses, into bedrooms and even onto Pharaoh’s bed!  They were in their ovens, in their cooking bowls and pots and even in the bread dough!  They also hopped onto people, their servants as well as right on Pharaoh himself.  Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and asked them to beg God to take away the frogs from him and his people, stating he would let the people go.  Now here is the part of the story that surprises me.  Moses said, “dictate when I shall pray [to the Lord] for you, your servants, and your people, that the frogs may be destroyed from you and your houses and remain only in the river,” (Exodus 8.)  If it had been me, I would have said, “Right now!” but Pharaoh did not say that.  He said, “Tomorrow”.  Why not right away?  It sounds like Pharaoh still wanted to have a chance to work it out on his own.  We tend to want to do the same as Pharaoh with the unpleasant things of our lives, “I’ll probably figure it out on my own by tomorrow.”  Waiting until tomorrow is procrastination.

J. Wellington Wimpy

I enjoyed Popeye while I was growing up.  I read about his antics in the comic strips and watched them on television.  One of my favorite characters was Popeye’s best friend Wimpy.  Since I love food I guess I could always relate to him.  He loved hamburgers.  I mean he REALLY loved them, but he was also a cheapskate.  He was always saying, "I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today."  He wanted instant gratification without having to pay the price, or at least without having to pay the price right away.  It seems very evident that society today deals with this form of procrastination, especially when we look at how much is bought on credit in our country.  “I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday….”  Putting off paying the price is procrastination.

America’s Youth

Young people today have an ingrained philosophy that they do not have to “get right with God” because they are young with long lives ahead of them.  They reason that there will be plenty of time later to “do the religious thing.”  They really have no concept of mortality, no context with which to truly understand the finality of it, so they just do their own thing and enjoy life.  I felt this way when I was a teenager, but one night it dawned on me that I could be killed by a drunk driver and then I would have to stand before God face-to-face.  I was not ready for that so I accepted Jesus as my Savior.  Putting off becoming a believer is procrastination, and is eternally dangerous!

“Do not boast of [yourself and] tomorrow, for you know not what a day may bring forth.”  Proverbs 21:7 AMP

Rich Wilkerson once said that “Procrastination produces a nervous weariness, and in the midst of that the devil comes in.”  When a person procrastinates, that thing they are putting off tends to hang over them just enough to nag a little at the back of their mind.  When you procrastinate long enough you become hardened toward that nagging.  Once you have done that, it is easier to become hardened toward other things, especially the voice of the Lord.

I share this subject with you because I have struggled with procrastination all my life.  It was not until I asked God to help me deal with it that I started changing.  Am I perfect?  Have I “arrived”?  No, but like us all, I am a work in progress, longing for that day when I am complete and never have that nagging voice in the back of my mind ever again.  Until then I remind myself, there is too much to do for God’s Kingdom for me to be procrastinating, so I cry out for His grace and get on with the work He has set before me.  If you are struggling with procrastination I encourage you to cry out to God for His grace to enable you to change.  He will help you, you know, and it will be all for His glory.

“In the day when I called, You answered me; and You strengthened me with strength (might and inflexibility to temptation) in my inner self.”  Psalm 138:3 AMP

SORROW AND AFFLICTION

“My eye grows dim because of sorrow and affliction, Lord, I have called daily on You; I have spread forth my hands to You” Psalm 88:9 AMP

“How long must I lay up cares within me and have sorrow in my heart day after day?”  Psalm 13:2a AMP

If you are going through a tough time I want you to know THERE IS HOPE, but you cannot just sit and wait for things to change.  The more you sit and consider your situation the more the darkness of your situation looms over you.  There are some things you can do.  The first thing is to cry out to God.  I am not talking about you asking God in prayer to fix things; I am talking about an absolute cry of need from the depths of your soul to the only One Who can work on your behalf.

Consider Hanna, a woman who could not have children and was ridiculed because of it.  She went to the Temple (tent of the Lord) and “…in distress of soul, praying to the Lord and weeping bitterly.”  What was the end result of this cry from her soul?  God granted her petition and she became pregnant and had a son.  (1 Samuel 1)

Another person to consider is David.  Before he was crowned king of Israel he had to flee and run away from King Saul, his own father-in-law, because King Saul wanted to kill him.  Hiding in rural townships, deserts, caves and even in Israel’s enemy territory you can read how he felt deep down inside his soul when you read the psalms like Psalm 13:3-4 “Consider and answer me, O Lord my God; lighten the eyes of my faith to behold Your face in the pitch-like darkness, lest I sleep the sleep of death.  Lest my enemy say, I have prevailed over him, and those that trouble me rejoice when I am shaken.”  After penning this cry to God he must have felt better because he was able to write, “But I have trusted, leaned on, and been confident in Your mercy and loving-kindness; my heart shall rejoice and be in high spirits in Your salvation.”  Psalm 13:5-6 AMP

The Second thing to do is to read the Psalms.  They speak of hard times and how God can help you through them, “You shall not be afraid of the terror of the night, nor of the arrow (the evil plots and slanders of the wicked) that flies by day.”  Psalm 91:5 AMP

The third thing to do is to seek out someone who has gone through tough times themselves and come out the other side in victory and stronger in the Lord.  Ask them to share their story about how God delivered them.  Ask them to pray with you for your own deliverance or need (Matthew 18:18-20).

The most important thing to consider is that God’s deliverance is the best.  We may have our own idea of what would be best for us but in the long-run what God chooses to meet our needs with is the best.  Just remember though, He may choose to not deliver you out of the circumstance, but THROUGH it instead, as evidenced by Paul’s thorn in the flesh.  God did not remove the thorn but made His grace sufficient for Paul to live with it (2 Cor. 12:6-8).  In other words, God’s grace enabled Paul to not be distracted or bothered by the thorn in the flesh so that he could continue his ministry.

“In the multitude of my anxious thoughts within me, Your comforts cheer and delight my soul!”  Psalm 94:19 AMP

“For I am persuaded beyond doubt (am sure) that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things impending and threatening nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  Romans 8:38-39 AMP

THERE IS HOPE; reach out and grasp it!