God Bless America!

                The word of the day is rebellion.  It is so prevalent in our society right now that it cannot be avoided.  It seems that a rebellious spirit has overtaken our nation.  We, as a people, have decided that we must have our voices heard, especially if it is in disagreement with whatever is the subject of the day.

                The current debate over standing or kneeling for our national anthem at sporting events has been taken to such a ridiculous level, that it reminds me of the playground debates we had as children.  You remember the ones; my dad can beat up your dad.  My family has more money than your family.  I’m stronger than you.  I’m prettier than you.  Whatever the debate, we just had to make sure our opinion was heard.

                We have taken that frame of mind and twisted it so far that we have thrown away all respectful intentions in our life and embraced this rebellious spirit.  We insist on arguing about and fighting over anything that we disagree with.  People are so divided right now that we can’t see each other as God intended for us to be seen – out of a heart of love.

                Love is no longer evident in most sporting events.  It is difficult to locate in the political realm.  People are speaking words of hate and division simply for the sake of being heard.  We are fighting over respect and in turn are throwing respect out the window.  The fight is no longer about respecting the flag.  It is no longer over the hateful comments of our president.  The fight is over who can yell the loudest and who can give the sharpest jabs.  It’s all about ‘I’m right and you’re wrong.’

                Whether you agree with the professional athletes or not; whether you agree with the president or not, you have a God-given responsibility to respect your brother.  It is your duty to strive for unity among those in your community, county, state, and nation.  And what are we doing but the very opposite.

                Several years ago, I was teaching a class in the prison system and heard a common theme during every session.  These men were continuously talking about others respecting them.  They bragged about how if someone didn’t give them respect, they would take it.  They equated respect with fear.  So, one day I decided to break from the lesson plan and teach on respect.  Nobody in the room knew what the word respect meant.  I taught how respect meant putting someone else before yourself.  It meant listening to someone’s opinion even though you didn’t agree with them.  It meant that if there was only one piece of cake left, you should offer it first to the other person. These men did not have a clue.  Needless to say, after that session, they no longer talked about respect when they were in class.  

                Our society has adopted the same view.  We insist on receiving respect from others, whether we give it to them or not.  If we don’t get it, we think we have to take it.  That attitude is rooted in rebellion.  And we wonder why there is so much strife and dissension in our nation.  We have thrown the rulebook out the window, sewed the mouths of the peacemakers shut, and decided on our own that we are the only ones that are right.  We have taught that any authority figure that does not cater to our wants and needs should be done away with. 

Our children have learned these disrespectful attitudes from us.  Shame on us!  We constantly rail against the president, the boss, and the pastor and then wonder why our children rebel against us.  When we refuse to honor the set authority over us, we are in rebellion and are setting ourselves up for failure in every area of life.  Why are you not advancing on your job like you think you should be?  Because you are constantly complaining and issuing hollow threats against those that you are supposed to be answering to.  Sure, you are honey-sweet compliant to their face but when they walk away you’re cussing them under your breath.  You’re forever threatening to quit and ‘leave ‘em hangin’.

People, it’s time to grow up.  Can we be adults?  Can we show respect for each other?  If we can’t, then we as a people are in serious trouble.  If we can’t, our nation is doomed.

I understand folks have different reasons for not liking certain statues, songs, politicians, or ideals.  Let’s just shut up, get up, and move on.  Life is too short to turn it into a never-ending display of protest and rebellion.  So what if you and I disagree.  We’re still neighbors, going to work every day, shopping at the same grocery stores, and still paying bills.  So, if we can decide to move on past our disagreements and faults, we will see our schools, churches, and nation thrive one more time.  I say, God bless America!

The Love of God

Today is a day that we need encouragement from the Lord.  We are most definitely living in trying times.  Not everything we go through is smooth sailing.  Not everything that happens to us from day to day is a big bunch of pleasantries.  Sometimes they cause us to get down in our spirit and begin looking at just how bad things seem to be.  But today, I just came by to bring you a word of encouragement.

Once upon a time, I lived a life, that from the time I woke up until I went to sleep, I was looking over my shoulder to see what was going to happen next.  I worried about everything.  I pretended not to be afraid but my nerves would sometimes get the best of me and I felt like giving up on life.  I made some terrible decisions that almost destroyed my family.

Can I tell you today, that the devil thought he had me in his hip pocket?  But when I thought I couldn’t go any further, a man named Jesus came by my way and pulled me up and out of the miserable pit I was in.  He showed up in a way that I would have never expected.  He showed up when I least expected Him.  He showed up when I wasn’t even looking for Him.  But the main thing is, He did show up.

Jesus came in and turned everything around.  He gave me reason to keep on going.  He gave me a reason to get up in the morning.  He gave me a reason to live.  My fears began fading away.  My worries fell off by the wayside.  I began singing a new song.  I began walking a little lighter.  The Creator of heaven and earth saw fit to come into my room and save me from hell and from myself.  Hallelujah!!!

As some of you today are grieving over a loved one that has passed on or over a relationship that has seen its better days, I came to tell you that it’s time for you to live.  You or a loved one may be suffering from depression or anxiety and can’t see the light of day.  Well, Jesus said that “I have come that you may have life, and have it more abundantly.”  So, that means that your grieving or your depression cannot keep you from the comforting arms of a loving God.

He gave everything for you.  Yes, you!  He loves you with an everlasting love.  And if there is anything I have learned, it is that He will never abandon you or give up on you.  It doesn’t matter how bad you might have messed up.  It doesn’t matter how many times you may have cast doubt on whether He cares or not.  The plain and simple truth is that He is a loving, caring, comforting, longsuffering God.  He knows all about the thoughts and feelings you’ve had while trudging through your struggle and He still loves you. 

I’m not talking about a God that is distant, even to the point of being dead.  I’m talking about a God that is ever-present, even when you don’t feel Him.  He is our awesome God.  He is our Redeemer, our Deliverer, our Strength, our Joy and our Peace.  He is our Healer, our Way-maker, and our Peace-speaker.  He is our Way, our Truth and our Life. He is!!!  He lives and He loves you.

Be encouraged today by who He is and by how much He really does love you.

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Just Give Me Jesus!

We read in St. Luke chapter 2 of a man named Simeon who was at the dedication ceremony for the Christ-child.  Simeon was a man of God.  The bible says that the Holy Ghost was on him and revealed to him that he would not leave this world until he had seen the Glory of God in Jesus.  He had waited for years for this promise to come to pass.  Then one day he heard that Jesus had been born and was on His way to the temple for His own dedication.

We read of how, when the baby was brought in by His parents, Simeon held the child up and blessed God because he had now seen the Glory in the person of Jesus.  That was the moment he had lived for.  He waited and longed for the promise of God to be fulfilled and on this day he was not disappointed.  He didn't give up at any time during his wait.  He prayed, served God, and waited.

The modern church could take a lesson from Simeon.  We don't have the steadfastness to hold on and believe God for years on end.  We get so impatient waiting for even a sandwich to be made.  We get impatient waiting in line at the bank.  Simeon waited for years just to see Jesus, the Glory of God.  He did not allow anything or anyone deter him from his chief desire.  But, us?  We get discouraged so easily if things don't happen exactly when and how we want them to. 

It's time for us to get a Simeon spirit about us.  By that, I mean that we need to stand up tall and make up our mind that nothing will hinder us from receiving the promises of God.  Yes, we're saved and on our way to heaven.  But we aren't totally convinced that the promises spoken of in the Word of God are for us.  We can believe for other people to be healed.  We can believe for someone else's relative to be saved.  But we have trouble believing it for ourselves.

We see others prospering in life and wonder why it's not us that are riding down easy street.  We see others getting healed and wonder why we haven't gotten our healing.  That's because of what I said in the preceding paragraph.  We don't fully believe the Word of God for ourselves.  And why, you may ask, do we not fully believe it?  We don't fully believe because we haven't fully sold out to Jesus the Christ, the Glory of God, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.  We haven't fully sold out to the life-giver, the way-maker, the chain-breaker and the peace-speaker.  And until we devote ourselves totally to Him, our faith will continue to fall short of where it needs to be.

The bible tells us that faith can move mountains.  We tend to view the mountains from a pretty good distance away and by the time we get to it, we have convinced ourselves that it's too big for us to overcome.  If we were to learn a lesson from Joshua and the Israelites at Jericho, the closer we got to the mountain the stronger our faith would be and we could just shout that mountain out of our way.  But we will never be able to do that until we give everything we've got to Jesus.  He should be our number one priority in life.  Every day when we wake up, He should be the first name we call out.  His praises should continually be in our mouth, no matter the situation.  If we would develop that lifestyle, no mountain would be safe.  No enemy would be able to stand before us.  We must get back to our first love.  And His name is Jesus!

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Freedom!!!

Freedom is a wonderful thing, if it is recognized and responsibility is maintained.  We can be free from something and still be hindered because we haven't acclimated to our unrestrained access to the newness it provides.  For example, riding a bicycle.  That may seem like a childish example but bear with me. 

As a child, it took me a while to learn how to ride a bicycle.  I couldn't go out riding with the other kids or with my brother.  I was stuck at home because I couldn't keep up on foot.  Once I finally learned to ride, I felt free because I could then go when everyone else went.  I could ride where they rode. I was no longer bound by my inability to operate that piece of childhood equipment.

Problem was, though, I thought that I could ride as fast and hard as I could without paying much attention to my surroundings.  On one particular ride, I was flying down the road to my house, wind in my face, with total abandon.  I wasn't looking down at the road to see what I might encounter in the immediate future.  Then, it caught me totally unaware - a pothole.  I was moving so fast that when I hit the pothole, I flew over the handlebars and onto the pavement.  I was scratched up from head to toe.  Blood and sweat inter-mingled for a very unpleasant walk home.  I was in too much pain to get back on the bike just then.

You see, had I been paying attention to my surroundings, I could have easily avoided that pothole and continued to ride on into the evening.  I wasn't ready for my new-found freedom.  We may experience the same thing in our relationship with God.  When He sets us free from, say, an addiction or even a bad attitude, we aren't mature enough to handle that new freedom and end up taking on some weight that we have no business carrying around.  You may have been set free from a drug addiction, but just because you're free doesn't mean that you are ready to go back and immediately begin witnessing to your former supplier or people you used with.  They will drag you right back into what you just came out of because of your naivety concerning the responsibilities of your freedom.

True freedom consists of two parts.  The first is the immediate deliverance from the taste, sound, feeling, and/or thought of the binding behavior.  That's when God moves on you in such a way that you know you've been touched and changed in that particular moment in time. At that point, you have absolutely no desire to go back to what you used to do.  The thought of it literally repulses you.

The second part of freedom consists of taking the stairs.  Your new freedom is a process.  Steps must be taken, in order, so that you are able to remain free.  Embracing your new relationship with God is paramount.  Prayer and an appetite for the Word of God are essential to growth.  Without those, you will fall quickly.  Then, learning where you should and shouldn't go and who you should and shouldn't be around will allow you to remain in your area of freedom until you are mature enough to venture out a little bit further.

Don't rush the process.  Allow yourself time to grow up spiritually, mentally, and emotionally.  We weren't made to be able to withstand but a certain amount of pressure before we succumb to the tremendous weight of the burden.  Don't try to do and get everything at once.  Enjoy the fact that God saw fit to pull you out of bondage and set you up on a rock, saving your life, and preparing you to live a new life in Him.  Don't abuse your freedom.  Maximize it.