Be A Blessing

1 Thessalonians 5:24 “Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it.”

The key to being blessed is to be a blessing. To be successful in your Christian life is to make everything and everyone you touch a little better.

The essence of Christianity is relationship, first you relate to God, and then you relate to others. People won’t go along with you, unless they can get along with you.

There is a motive for blessing others; you do it because you love them. Blessing is the opposite of manipulation; i.e., using people, or stepping on them to get ahead. You cannot bless others for your selfish purpose.

Do you get more pleasure out of life by helping others, or defeating others?
When you get old, your greatest joy will not be your victories, but the victories you helped others win.

(1) You bless others when you initiate faith in them.
a. You must give your faith to them to help them have more faith. Four men brought a cripple to Jesus, “When He (Jesus) saw their (4 men) faith . . .” Mark 2:5

b. People are always waiting for someone to believe in them. When you believe in them, it helps them believe in God.

c. God helps you see people for what they can become, not just for what they already are.

d. Every discouraged person needs someone with a “yes you can” attitude.

e. When they question God, give them confidence, when they doubt, give them security. When they can’t do something show them a plan by faith that can be accomplished.

(2) How can I know that I am blessed?
a. You don’t mind blessing others.
b. You get energy from blessing others.
c. You get satisfaction from blessing others.
d. You bless others by making yourself valuable to them.

-The better Christian you become, the more you can bless others. Therefore, you must be a life-long learner, to be able to bless others.

(3) Nobody likes these kinds of people.
a. People who belittle you.
b. People who discourage you.
c. People who criticize you.
d. People who don’t believe in you.

-Even critics and complainers want someone to encourage them.
-You must be for more things than you are against.

(4) How can I identify blessed people?
a. By seeing their relationship with God lived daily.
b. By the way they treat others.
c. They live with a purpose they are willing to die for.
d. They acknowledge the source of their accomplishments in life.
e. Their word is their bond and in them you find trust.

(5) Blessed people know and relate to the needs and desires of those seeking answers.
a. They can find their agenda in life.
b. They will ask questions and value their answers.
c. They will always point them to God who adds value.
d. They will tell them how God can add value to their life.
e. They will pray for God’s blessing on them.
f. They will speak God’s Word upon them.
g. They will point them to the way God blesses.

When The Fire Goes Out The Lion Moves In!

1 Peter 5:8, 9 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.”

Proverbs 26:13 “The slothful man saith, There is a lion in the way; a lion is in the streets.”

A doctor and his wife from America flew into the jungles of Africa for a day of bird watching and photography. When night fell they went to bed in their tent with a campfire outside. They had been warned to keep logs on the fire all night or the lions would come in. The fire was blazing hot when they both fell into a deep sleep. Sadly, they left no one to feed the fire and the fire became smoldering embers. When darkness settled in, a lioness stuck her head into the tent and tore off the head of the doctor right in front of his wife.

(1) The devil loves to attack where there is darkness instead of fire!
When the fire is burning hot, people are talking about what God is showing them, scriptures they have read, and God using them in witnessing. But something happens where they become overly-familiar with the fire and don’t continue to put logs on the fire.

Revelation 2:1-5 “Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.
Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.”

(2) The devil loves to go after the stragglers and those who pull away from the safety of the fold!

Romans 12:4, 5 “For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.”

In Africa, lions will lay out watching herds. They know their own strength, but they also know the strength of numbers. When they look at a herd of zebras, they know if they attack one and the herd stampedes, they could be injured. When they see one rebelliously remove him self and independently feed away from the herd it becomes their target. When that zebra gets far enough away from the pack, the lions will pounce, pull it into the tall grass, go for the jugular, and begin eating the meat, even before the herd even knew what happened.
Stay in the strength of fellowship. Don’t be a straggler and remove yourself from family of God. The lion is watching.

Hebrews 6:18 CEV “God cannot tell lies! And so his promises and vows are two things that can never be changed. We have run to God for safety. Now his promises should greatly encourage us to take hold of the hope that is right in front of us.”

Hebrews 10:25 “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”

(3) The devil moves in to feed where there is stubbornness, contention, and constant bickering!

Hebrews 12:14-16 “Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled; lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright.”

When buffalo become aware of a marauding lion, they make a circle and lock their horns. When they sense a lion is lurking nearby, they instinctively lock their horns and put their hind quarters in and make a big circle. The babies are inside the circle of protection of the buffalos. Whenever there is a male and female buffalo with a disagreement and are being stubborn, there is a gap in the circle. The lion will keep circling until he finds a gap and the lion will rush in toward that gap. The buffalos will then rush off and stampede and leave their young vulnerable to the attack of the enemy.

Isaiah 38:14-16 “Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter: I did mourn as a dove: mine eyes fail with looking upward: O LORD, I am oppressed; undertake for me. What shall I say? he hath both spoken unto me, and himself hath done it: I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul. O LORD, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit: so wilt thou recover me, and make me to live.”

(4) The devil moves in when the Father’s Word is disobeyed!

1 Samuel 15:23 “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.”

There was a boy one day in the field with his father in Zimbabwe. He said, “Dad, I know there a lot of chores to setup camp, but I saw a deer. Will you give me permission to go kill that deer and bring back meat for the whole camp tonight?” The father said, "No, it is too late. The darkness is almost upon us and you must stay here and help setup camp." The boy disobeyed his Father and went into the jungle searching for the deer.  He saw it the distance, fired a shot, and the deer fell. As the boy approached the deer, it ran off into the woods and the boy pursued it. It became dark and he lost his way in the woods. The smell of the blood brought two lions into his path and the boy climbed up tree 2 get away from them. He stayed in that tree all night with only two bullets left in his gun. When morning came the boy knew he needed to fire a shot so his father would know where he was. He used his remaining bullet to kill one of the two lions that started to make an attempt to climb the tree. As the second lion angrily pounced toward the tree, the father came out of the jungle and shot it. As the boy gets down from the tree, the father pushes the tree and it crashes down. One more blow and the tree would have fallen because it was eaten with termites.

Proverbs 17:11 “An evil man seeketh only rebellion: therefore a cruel messenger shall be sent against him.”

God is not trying to keep you from having fun. God knows where the mine fields are. He knows if you do what He forbids, you will lose your life, wife, health, joy. It doesn’t mean you are destroyed forever, but that you may be in intensive care for a while.

A Real Friend

What is a real friend?

-A Real friend will defend you when others speak evil of you.

-A Real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks away.

-A Real friend is a living treasure, and if you have one, you have one of the most valuable gifts in life.

-A Real friend is the one who will always be beside you, through all the laughter, and through each and every tear.

-A Real friend is the one thing you can always rely on; the some one you can open up to; the one wonderful person who always believes in you in a way that no-one else seems to.

-A Real friend is a sanctuary and a smile.

-A Real friend is a hand that is always holding yours, no where you are, no matter how close or far apart you may be.

-A Real friend is a feeling of forever in the heart.

-A Real friend is the one whose door is always open and the one to whom you can give your key.

-A Real friend is one of the nicest things you can have, and one of the best things you can be.

We Could Use A Few A Good Men- Acts 1:13, 14

Acts 1:13, 14 "And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James. These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren."

As we approach Mother's Day I am very thankful for the women of the church. If we are honest with ourselves, without the faithful women of our churches today most of us would not survive. Biblically the men are supposed to be the spiritual leaders of their households, but in this generation the men have fallen very short of the mark. that'w why we could sure use a few good men.

(1) We need men that are teachable and who will receive instruction about the resurrection of Christ, their responsibility to Christ, and the return of Christ.

(2) We need men that will become examples of Christ and their hearts filled with conviction, compassion, and courage.

(3) We need men that are founded in their faith, fed daily through the Word, and filled with the Holy Ghost power of God.

(4) We need men who will cry out the message to the lost, preach with convicting power the scripture, bring comfort to the hurting, and help convert the wicked into the righteous.

Let this be our prayer today, "Lord give us a few good men who will take up the banner of holiness and righteousness, be an example to their families and communities, and share the gospel with a lost and dying world."

Yes, God still needs a few good men.

  

It's always sad when one of our idols let's us down. Whether it's the superstar athelete, politician, or tv/movie star it affects us in more ways than we even realized. Our bubbles are burst, our expectations are lowered, and our mind becomes jaded by their failures and mistakes.

That's what happens when idols become more important than God. 

The Apostle Paul knew there was no validity and genuineness to idols and wrote about it several times in his letters to the churches under his supervision. Yet at the same time he recognized who was behind it all, that being the Satan. Paul knew that when people worshiped their false gods, they were actually being guided by demon powers. Idol worship brought man into contact with demons, not with God. Any thing offered to idols had been used to serve the purposes of demons and for that reason, could be considered a polluted thing.

In America we have created idols that seperate us from the holiness of God. These idols all have their personna and charisma and we pattern our lives after and emulate them. There's nothing wrong with having heroes, but if you are a partaker of the things of Christ by faith, there are some things that you dare not touch or let overshadow the presence of God in your life. God wants His people to be separated from all forms of evil and from wicked persons.

Why does God demand that of us? He does not want us to take a chance on being mislead and corrupted by the influence of people who care nothing about God. I believe that is why the whole tone of the Word of God is that there should not be an "unequal yoke."

One of the reasons why God commanded Israel to utterly destroy the wicked inhabitants when they conquered a city, was so the people of Israel would not be polluted and mislead by the heathen whose territory they were conquering.

People today are weaker today on separation from evil than we ever have been. We get so use to sin, that the strong convictions we once had in the church seem to be going out the back door. Everything that anyone wants to do today is alright. Why? We have lost sight of a holy God who wants His people to be a separate holy people.

I am sure there are many people who have run headstrong into some relationship, without the approval of God, who wishes they had not begun the relationship in the first place. It pays to listen to the Bible and follow its teachings and principles.

God takes holiness much more serious than we do in our lives. If it took the shedding of human blood to keep His people holy, he meant for blood to be shed. That is how seriously God takes the matter of His people living and associating righteously.

When we see God’s attitude toward separation in the Old Testament, it is not difficult to understand what Paul meant when he said, "Be ye not unequally yoked with unbelievers"- that means in business partnerships, marriage relationships and a host of other things.

Idolatry was a tremendous temptation in Corinth. It was a city of idolatry. Most people in the city were non-Jews- most of them being Gentiles. There were idol temples scattered throughout the huge city of Corinth. Idolatry was a great temptation there because of the peer pressure to be involved some way in its practice.

What does that have to do with us? We are tempted to idolatry, though there are not little images that we worship around our house.

-Idolatry is giving to any creation or human creation, the honor or devotion which belongs to God alone.

-Idolatry is giving human desire precedence or a greater importance than God’s will in our lives.

-Idolatry is defined as coveteousness in Colossians 3:5. To "covet" something is to desire something without due regard to the rights of others. A greedy desire to have more and to have something that belongs to someone else. The Bible says we are not to "covet" our neighbor’s wife in Exodus 20:17.

I believe it is best seen in our lives in two ways:

-Putting our will above God’s will.

-Your will can become your God.

If some one is going to accuse us of anything, let’s be found guilty of following the Lord wholly. Let’s give proper attention to Him and proper allegiance and follow after idols or false gods in and off this world. He has called us to be separated from an ungodly world and to know the fulness of His blessing. Let God be God in your life and break the stranglehold of the enemy. the devil is defeated when you allow God to be the Lord of all your life and refuse to let the enemy take control.

The Grave Is Empty

Luke 24

Though you may not visit the empty tomb in this life, you can take a trip through God’s Holy Word. The empty tomb was a place of happenings. It was located right at the foot of the hill where Jesus was crucified. The body of Jesus was placed in a borrowed tomb, belonging to a rich man, by the name of Joseph of Arimithea.

Our Lord’s body was buried late on Friday afternoon. The women rested on the Sabbath which began at sunset that evening. They purchased anointing oil after sunset that closed the Sabbath or Saturday. Very early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, the women left Bethany , which was about 2 miles from Jerusalem, and arrived at the tomb just after sunrise. The sun had already risen before they reached the tomb.

-Verse 2 "They found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre."

Why was the stone removed? Not so Jesus could get out. Later Christ meets with the disciples and with the doors shut in the upper room, all the sudden He appears in their midst, with all the doors being shut. Christ did not have to open the door to get in, He simply walked in, while the door was shut, just as there was no door. Since that is true, we know that He would not be necessary for an angel to remove the huge stone so He could get out. The stone was removed so the women and the disciples could look inside and see that death could not hold Him down.

He is still rolling away stones in our lives that would get in the way of us catching a proper glimpse of Him. Satan tries to bring huge stones into our lives that would keep us from gazing by faith upon the Lord Jesus, but believer, greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world..

-Verse 3 "They entered in and found not the body of the Lord Jesus."

It was not removed by Jesus enemies or stolen by the disciples, but there had been a resurrection. Verse 12 says when Peter came into the tomb that the linen clothes were laid by themselves. It had not been some kind of haphazard theft of a body from a gravesite, the clothes were neat and in order. Christ came through those grave wrappings. They had not been disturbed and wrapped off as they were wrapped on. Christ simply came through those grave wrappings as though they were not around Him. That left them in a very neat state--all intact in one spot where His body had been laid.

If you were to go the grave of those who began religions like Budda, Mohammed, or whoever else you may name, you will find their bodies are entombed in various locations around the world. But, not so with Jesus. We are the only faith, founded hundreds of years ago, whose leader cannot be found in a tomb.

-Verse 4 "Two men stood by them in shining garments"

They women entered into the sepluchre, and were very perplexed. To be "perplexed" is to be baffled, perplexed, confused, befuddled, dumbfounded, or puzzled.

Why were the garments of the angels shining? Why did they have a brilliance about them, that human garments do not have? They were the ministers of God with the brightness of the glory world about them. They gave a little glimpse, simply by their appearance of the glory of involved in the resurrection of Christ.

-Verse 6 "Why seek he the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen."

What good news that was to the women who came. They didn’t really expect a resurrection to occur. They were bringing spices they had bought the previous evening to come and anoint the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is difficult to anoint a body when it is not there.

When they heard that He had arisen, though they did not expect it, what glad tidings it was to them! How wonderful it was to know that the cruel jaws of death, could not hold down the Lord Jesus Christ!

-Verse 7 "The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again."
The Bible then tells us, after hearing what the angel said, about what Jesus said concerning His resurrection, "And they remembered His words."It is a wonderful moment when we remember the word of the Lord concerning the resurrection of believers.

1 Corinthians 15:42-44 says, "It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body."

1 Cor 15:51-53 declares, "Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality."

-Verse 9 "They told all these things to the eleven and to the rest."

After seeing what they had seen, they could not help but to tell others about the empty tomb. We need some more "just can’t help it,"witnessing in our day and time. A witness is one that declares what he has seen or heard. The main reason there is so little witness of Christ today is that most folks have not heard anything from Him, or seen anything of Him.

-Verse 12 "Then arose Peter and ran unto the sepulchre; and stooping down, he beheld the line clothes laid by themselves and departed, wondering in himself at that which was come to pass."

He was anxious to get involved in the things of Christ. If you will remember, he denied the Lord three times, just outside the Hall of Ciaphas, the high priest, just before the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ. Peter was no doubt a believer and that bothered him greatly. The Spirit of God and his own conscience had convicted him of what he had done. Now he wanted to see Jesus again.

Yes, the grave is empty and Jesus is alive. If you don't know Him, ask and he will find you and set you free. He's the only one who truly can give you life eternal.

A Message To Younger Preachers

A young preacher will be wise to learn from older preachers who have already traveled the road they are getting read to trod. Experience is a valuable teacher. If you learn from those who have already experienced what it is to make right and wrong moves in the church, it may just keep you from heading down a wrong pathway that will lead to your destruction.

(1) Seperating yourself from evil-I Timothy 6:11
-Abstain from fleshly lusts. I Peter 2:11
-Should not have fellowship with unfruitfulness. Ephesians 5:11
-Abstain from all evil. I Thessalonians 5:22

(2) Don't get caught up in gossip. I Timothy 4:7
-Recognize the error of gossip. James 1:26
-Do not be a talebearer. Leviticus 19:16
-Let your conversation should honor Christ. Philippians 1:27

(3) Understand the power of prayer-I Timothy 2:1
-Pray with faith. Matthew 21:22
-Pray with humility. II Chronicles 33:12
-Pray with earnestness. I Thessalonians 3:10

(4) Rely on the power of worship-I Timothy 3:15
-Worship God in spirit and truth. John 4:24
-Worship with reverence. Exodus 3:5
-Worship with rejoicing. Psalm 122:1.

(5) Show respect for others-I Timothy 5:1-3
-Listen the burdens of others. Galatians 6:2
-Always show hospitality. I Peter 4:9
-Minister unto others. I Peter 4:10

(6) Be an example to all believers-I Timothy 4:12
-An example in good works. Titus 2:7
-An example in speech. Job 2:10
-An example in conduct. Hebrew 11:2

(7) Contend for your faith-I Timothy 6:12
-Defend the faith. Romans 1:16
-Preach with boldness. II Corinthians 4:13
-Proclaim the Word of Life. Philippians 2:16

As a minister with 39 years of experience I know I keep learning something new everyday. The learning process never stops. However, if I can help some young preacher from making some of the mistakes that I did along the way it is my responsibility to do so. It is my hope that something in this blog today will help some young pastor in a time of need.