Tag Archives: Lessons

Dwelling in History

 Psalm 90: 1-4 “1 A Prayer of Moses the man of God. Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. 2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. 3 Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men. 4 For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night” (KJV).

This Psalm is recorded as the oldest Psalm written. Moses the author and man of God, provides us with a reminder of God’s eternal power and presence. He begins this prayer by addressing God as LORD, “Adonay” God of Power, Creation, and Ruler.

To the ancient people of Moses’ day, mountains symbolized something lasting and dependable. To the Jews, mountains spoke of the everlasting God of Israel. There were six generations between Abraham and Moses, each generation was guided by the Omnipotent God who is All-Powerful (omni = all; potent = powerful).

“Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men”. It is amazing to see how advanced modern medicine has become. How life has been preserved and technology has made these advancements possible. But one thing will always remain the same; we will one day return to the dust of the earth. “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return” (Gen. 3:19, KJV).

 The older we get, the more we comprehend how short life is. Days, months, and years seem to pass by faster and faster. I can remember my teen years, anticipating and eagerly awaiting tomorrow. We do not have the ability to “undo or redo” our past, but we do have control over what we do today. “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (2 Pet. 3:8, KJV). God does not look at our past mistakes. “I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins” (Isa. 43:25, KJV). “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us” (Psa. 103:12, KJV).

“Time”, something many struggle to find more of, squeeze more into our busy days. It may be something we regret, wishing that we could go back in time and do things differently. We may worry about tomorrow; looking into the future may cause anxiety, stress, or depressed emotions. I am reminded that “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever” (Heb. 13:8, KJV). He teaches us that we can learn from our mistakes and not dwell on them.

Proverbs 24:16 “For a just [man] falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief” (KJV).

Isaiah 41:10 “Fear thou not; for I [am] with thee: be not dismayed; for I [am] thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness” (KJV).

History is a record of times past; some of history is filled with great discoveries and some of man’s greatest accomplishments. It also contains some of man’s worst moments. But we have today, this very moment. Today … let go and let God; write his-story of your life. If we attempt to write the story of our lives, it will be nothing more than an old dirty, dusty, and soon forgotten book. But, if we surrender ourselves to the One that is in control, we become the clay and He the Potter. He will mold, carve, and create exactly what He desires us to be.

“But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand” (Isa. 64:8, KJV).

In Christ,

The Silent Preacher

Extra…Extra…Read All About It!!!

Galatians 1:1-9 “1 Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;) 2 And all the brethren which are with me, unto the churches of Galatia: 3 Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, 4 Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: 5 To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. 6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: 7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. 9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed” (KJV).

Paul writes to the believers in Galatia, but something is different. He calls immediate attention to his authority in Christ. The tone of this letter is one of authority, attitude, and action. If Paul was writing this letter today, the headline of the newspaper might read “Extra…Extra… Thus saith the Lord, Salvation by grace through faith”.

Paul immediately calls out the problem, “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you unto the grace of Christ unto another gospel”. The church has been infected by false teachings. I view this as the watered down gospel or the feel good gospel message. How does the gospel message become watered down? Something has been added to it. The church was adding stipulations to salvation (Gal. 6:12-13). God’s glory was being plagiarized by these false teachers. They were taking credit for the work of the Lord. Instead of giving glory to the Lord, they were standing around saying “look how great my church is or look how many people I have saved”. You must be circumcised in order to be saved. You must follow these rules in order to be saved, you must do this or that…the list goes on and on…

It saddens me to hear some of the experiences people have had with churches. A man once shared his childhood experience growing up in a fundamental church, needless to say it was a story filled with more laws than the Old Testament (and I consider myself a fundamentalist). It is no wonder why the man never went back to church. It is very difficult to witness to someone who has had an experience like that. I can understand why Paul is so passionate in his letter. Salvation by works and not faith is infectious and requires immediate treatment. Otherwise, it becomes a life or death illness. In the remainder of the book, Paul goes into great detail to correct this false teaching. Salvation comes through faith, by grace, plus or minus nothing.

Wouldn’t it be great if we turned on the news or read a newspaper that contained nothing but good news? The headline might read “Good News…50 people got saved at church today”. The articles would contain the testimonies of each person. Unfortunately, the news is filled with nothing but eye-catching headlines followed by articles filled with opinions, tainted facts and statistics.

Paul reminds us of the good news and it is called Grace… The salvation message is for anyone and everyone. We have the good news and we can read it every day. We do not have to rely on someone telling us how to live, act, parent, behave, or do anything. All we need to do is read His word. Everything we see and hear, we should ask ourselves this question “what does the Word of God say about that”.

I have to admit, I’m an avid follower of the news. I love to watch and see what is going on in the world. I enjoy listening to political debates. As hard as it is at times, I always try to look at the story from both perspectives. The media is filled with so much biased input that it becomes difficult to discern truth. This is not an easy task to do, but I believe it is one that we should all practice. If we don’t make the attempt to discern truth, then we will become like the believers Paul writes to in Galatia. We become easily distracted from the truth, believing everything we see and hear.

Revelation 22:19 “And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book” (KJV).

In Christ,

The Silent Preacher

Unlikely Disciple

   Acts 9:6 “And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do” (KJV). Saul of Tarsus was a man intent on extinguishing those who followed Christ. He requested written approval from the Sanhedrin high priests to follow after those Christians that fled Jerusalem. The question “why” came to mind; why did Saul of Tarsus have such a passionate belief that Christians were the enemy? Acts 22:3 “I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feed of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day” (KJV). He was a man taught by a Pharisee named Gamaliel, who was considered a doctor of the Jewish law (Act. 5:34). There is no doubt that Saul had formal education in the Jewish law. His teachings would have included such law as Deut. 21:23 “His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God; that thy land be no defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance” (KJV). Before Saul was blinded by the Lord’s light, he was living by the works of the Jewish law. He believed that Christ died on the cross, but was not resurrected. Since the law was clear that any man who died on a cross was considered cursed by God; certainly he did not think that God would take a cursed false prophet and turn him into the Messiah. The Lord took one simple moment to close the physical eyes of Saul and open his spiritual eyes to the truth, that He was alive. That moment began with conviction upon his heart (Act. 9:5) and turned an unlikely disciple into one of the greatest missionaries recorded in Scripture. Saul of Tarsus became an evangelical soul winner of the lost; now called the Apostle Paul. The transformation occurred on a dusty road as he traveled towards Damascus to persecute Christians. Application Who do we picture when we think about lost souls? What type of occupation, lifestyle, race, economic, or social class of people do we see? Paul was an educated man and I would say he landed in the upper class of the Jewish population. Are we witnessing to all lost souls or do we pick and choose who we are willing to witness too? Maybe we are missing an opportunity to allow the Lord to turn a “Saul” into a “Paul”. Lost souls should not be placed into any other category other than those that are lost; people who need a chance to meet the Redeemer. In Christ, The Silent Preacher

Needing Some Rest

Matthew 11:27-28 (KJV)

27 “All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. 28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

I can remember a time when I was able to work an 18 hour day in the Marine Corps. I would spend the entire day moving, seldom taking more than a few minutes to devour some chow. After working a long day, sleep was never a problem. Getting a few hours of sleep was all I needed, then it was back to work…and the cycle continued for years.

Oh, how those days are but a memory and reminder of my youth. But one thing remains and will remain the same, we all need rest. With the winter months upon us, the long sun filled days are slowly passing away. The frigid cold that will keep us from spending a long day outside, will keep most of us inside for a majority of our day. This may lead some of us to exercise less. Adding to this change is the approaching holiday seasons, which usually adds some additional challenges for some.

Two thoughts come to mind from the text. First, we have a time when things can get stressful. During the holidays we may find ourselves under more stress than usual. Stress is a normal part of life, but there may come a time when our stress becomes dangerous. Second, our stress not only affects us physically and mentally, but also spiritually.

Application

Stress awareness is vital to being able to recognize the signs and the ability to make adjustments in order to reduce added stressors. The same holds true for us spiritually. We must take time out of our busy days to come to Him and find our rest. Think of it like recharging our spiritual batteries. But we can’t recharge until we stop and plug-in. Slowing down will not allow us enough time to fully charge, we have to stop. “Take my yoke upon you…”, teaches us to come along side Christ. This does not mean that we are taking on more afflictions, but calling us to refocus our priorities to ensure we are doing His will. If we come along side Christ and join yokes with him, we will have no other choice but to follow, learn, and serve with him.

In Christ,

The Silent Preacher

Lesson in Life

    Learning a Lesson in Life…

Psalm 90:10-12 “Who knoweth the power of thine anger? Even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath. So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom” (KJV).

One of the many points that a preacher will make from the pulpit is the warning that we may not be here tomorrow. Warning us to make sure we take full advantage of our time on this earth. Our days are numbered and we can all agree that no one knows the exact time of our departure.

Here the psalmist is reminding us that our time in life is limited, regardless of how healthy we are. With the advancement of modern medicine, we are still not living that much longer than we did years ago. Sin takes its toll on the human race, and we no longer see the long lifespans recorded in Genesis.

Sin may be an ugly word for some Christians to ponder; we may shy away from admitting our own sins. But why, I ask? The word sin reminds me of God’s wrath, not something I would like to see or be part of. We don’t like to think about the wrath of God, but every obituary in the newspaper is a reminder that “the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23).

Reflection

Time is a gift and a blessing given to us by our Father. We are responsible for our own time. We have been given full power over the management of it in our lives. If we are honest and take a moment to look back over the last week or our lives; ask this question “Have I given enough time to the Lord”? I can admit that I have not!

I go back to asking myself the same simple question to my own response “Why”. I forgot to empty myself of all that I am; prepared myself to be the lump of clay that the Lord needs in order to mold me. Time is sacred and we should manage it as faithful stewards. Take the time today and ask the Lord for wisdom so we may become better stewards of our time and opportunities.

My Prayer

Lord, forgive me where I have failed you. Cleanse me of all that I am, all those things that occupy my time and keep me from focusing on you. Fill me with all that you are and use me as you desire for my life. Bless those that have taken the time out of their busy schedule to read this post. Speak to their hearts as you have spoken to mine. Lead us to victory over our sin and turn us again unto your righteousness. Thank you Lord for all that you do in my life, thank you for each blessing and gift that you have delivered into my life. Amen!

In Christ,

The Silent Preacher