"That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead." -Phil 3:10-11

Did you know you can backslide with a Bible under your arm?  I had more difficulty maintaining my spiritual life when I was in college than any other time in my life.  I'm not putting down college.  It wasn't their fault.  It was my fault.  I started reading the Bible like a math book instead of a love story.  You can know the letter, but the letter kills if you are not clean.  The test of your Bible study is not how many facts you know or how fast you can take apart a Greek verb and put it back together.

The test is:  Are you becoming like Jesus because you spent time in His Word?  May God help us as teachers, and soul winners, and disciples to be using the Word of God to clean us, convict us, and challenge us to be more like Christ. 

Value

"Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the Angels of God over one sinner that repenteth."  -Luke 15:10

A coin is minted for a purpose.  It is meant to be spent, treasured, and valued, but not to be lost.  When a coin is lost, it is worthless to the owner and the creator.  It doesn't matter how valuable it may be intrinsically.  If it is lost, it is lost.  Which is worth more on the ocean floor, a hundred-dollar gold piece or a fie-cent nickel?  As  long as they are both on the ocean floor, both have the same value.

Lost people are like lost silver.  As long as a person is lost, he or she is out of circulation.  God made you for a pupose.  He wants you in circulation to spend and be spent for His glory. 

Think about the relationships you have in your family, neighborhood, and community.  Ask God to put you in circulation as His salt and light to tell others about salvation through Jesus Christ. 

Procrastination

"Therefore to Him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to Him it is sin." - James 4:17

Procrastination.  Just seeing the word, makes me want to put off saying anything else.  That's because I find myself under conviction in that area.  And God has taught me that procrastination is a form of disobedience.

When God tells us to do something and we don't do it, we can label our actions with all kinds of fancy words, but the bottom line is that it is sin.  The days are passing and time cannot be stopped.  You can't call a "time out" in life.  And time cannot be stored like money in the bank.  Really, the only thing you can do with time is use it or lose it.  Someone has said, "  Lost: One golden hour, studded with sixty diamond minutes.  No reward offered, for it is lost forever."  Redeem the time. 

Have you been procrastinating about doing something?  Maybe you are putting off telling someone about Jesus out of fear they will reject you.  Maybe you are delaying asking someone to forgive you because you are feeling ashamed.  Friend, it's time!

Secrets Revealed

A story is told about the famous Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet Michelangelo when he was painting the Sistine Chapel.  One day he was working way up in a corner, out of everyone's view, when someone told him, "Forget that corner.  Nobody else can see the work you're doing there."  Michelangelo interrupted his work to make his view clear:  "I know it's there.  And I also know that what you are in secret is what you are- nothing more and nothing less."

How much better many of us would fare if we held tightly to that same philosophy!  For instance, what about the people who travel a lot and feel lonely in a hotel room?  They flip on the television, can't find anything to watch, and then spot the X-Rated movie offerings.  They think, "Well, nobody would know if I just watched one."  But those individuals are wrong- Jesus is in the room.

My friend, who you are when you are alone- when your spouse, children, friends, and colleagues are not there- is who you really are.  Do you need to make any changes in your life so that you don't have to fear your secrets being revealed?  

Tired?

"It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows:  For so He giveth His beloved sleep." -Psalm 127:2

In the book of Jonah, we learn that Jonah reached a place of physical despondency (see Jonah 4:3 and 8).  He wanted God to kill him.

Have you ever reached a place of despair and thought that everything and everyone was against you and you didn't know what to do?  Maybe you just needed to lie down and get some sleep.  Now, that may not sound like the most spiritual thing to do, but we cannot abuse our bodies without suffering the consequences.  And being a child of God does not make you immune to physical exhaustion.  Have you ever heard of burn out?  Where do you think we got that phrase?  There is enough time in the day to gracefully do everything God wants us to do. 

Do you feel you are on the edge of burn out?  Perhaps you are already there.  Before you turn to toast, ask God for His wisdom to set some boundaries in your life, to learn to say no, to delegate some of your responsibilities, to ask for a day off from work, to ask for a hug, or to perhaps turn to a Christian counselor for help. 

What are you eating?

"The MEEK shall eat and be satisfied:  they shall praise the LORD that seek Him:  Your heart shall live for ever." -Psalm 22:26

Have you ever wondered why people stumble onto inappropriate websites?  Perhaps you even struggle in that area.  It's because they are not feeding on Jesus.  They are seeking satisfaction in the evil pleasures of this world, rather than the eternal promises of eternity.

Suppose you just finished a wonderful meal and somebody knocks on your front door.  You answer it and they hold out a plate full of stale crumbs saying, "Eat this."  You would say, "No thank you, I don't need that.  I'm already satisfied."  When you feast on the goodness of Jesus, you won't be down a dark alley eating tin cans with the devil's billy goats.  "And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life; he that cometh to Me shall never hunger; and he that believth on Me shall never thirst." (John 6:35).

Faith on earth

"I tell you that He will avenge them speedily, nevertheless when the Son of Man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?" -Luke 18:8 

I believe with all my heart that the call needs to go out today more clearly than ever before for Christians to keep the faith.  William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, said, "the chief danger of the 20th Century will be religion without the Holy Ghost, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration, politics without God, and Heaven without Hell."

Are you seeing that today?  We are but one generation away from paganism.  If this generation doesn't keep the faith and pass it to the next, there will be no faith. 

Do you see any ways where you or your church has not kept the faith?  If so, what are those ways?  Ask God to give a vision and bring revival in your heart and life and then fan the flame of revival in your church. 

Finish your course!

"I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith." -2 Timothy 4:7

Do you know the way to finish the course?  Keep looking to Jesus.  I've preached the Gospel for about 4 years now and God knows I have my faults and sins.  He also knows I have repented and aim to get right with Him each and every day.

Although all of us are far from perfect, I can say this same God to whom I have poured out my heart has kept me on course.  He has kept me preaching the Gospel.  Finishing the course God has planned for us is never easy.  It takes discipline and hard work.  It takes picking ourselves up, dusting ourselves off, and starting over.

One of these days you are going to have to look back on your life.  And I hope you will be able to say that you have fought as a warrior and finished as an athelete. 

A thousand years from now

"If any man's work shall be burned, He shall suffer loss:  But He himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire."-1 Corinthians 3:15

A thousand years from now, some of the things that you think are so important are not going to be so important: your meticulously groomed lawn, who won the Super Bowl, your date for the Senior prom, the type of car you drove. 

Now, there's nothing wrong with these things, but I want to ask you:  What is there about your life that is going to remain when the moutains have crumbled?  When the stars have fallen from their sockets?  Wood, hay, and stubble are going up in flames!  But, "if any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward" (1 Corinthians 3:14).  Things are going to look different in the light of eternity. 

Your resources

Last summer, me and my wife took a trip to Virginia.  We were on a tight budget, so we carefully planned for the trip, not wanting to spend a cent more than necessary.  The wife packed meals for us to each every day.  We stayed in a nice hotel, but ate all their meals in our room.  At the end of the week, as they checked out of the hotel, we learned that the hotel had been offering a special that week--lunch at the hotel restaurant had been included in the price of the room!!!!  Are you kidding me??  We had missed out on having free lunches because we were unaware of the resources that was available to us. 

Many Christians live their lives the same way.  They've never considered the resources that are available to them in Christ, so they fail to take advantage of the privileges that belong to them.  The result?  They live like non-believers......

As Christians, we have some wonderful privileges that are available to us.  God has give us the Holy Spirit.  And He comes and dwells inside us and gives us power, peace, and all the resources we need to get through the day. 

What is fear?

"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." -2 Timothy 1:7

If you want victory, you must expose the place of your doubts and fears.  Many of us are not willing to do that.  The devil has intimidated so many of us that we hide our eyes from the Sonshine of God's Light.  There is really nothing to be afraid of when it comes to the devil.

Do you know what fear is?  It is False Evidence Appearing Real.  You can be fooled by false evidence.  Take a bank robber with his hand in his coat pocket pretending it is a gun.  His power comes from the power of deception.  His power is the power of fear!  Friend, victory's arrows cannot be shot through closed windows.

Is there any area of your life that you have been unwilling to open the window on?  Humbly turn your face to His light and give your fears to God. 

What is on your face?

"For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard." -Acts 4:20 

Somewhere in California during the gold rush of 1849, the story is told of two gold miners who struck a particularly rich vein of gold one day.  They decided not to tell anyone else, so they could keep it for themselves.  They went into town to get better equipment to mine the gold, but when they left scores of people followed.  Their jubilation was written all over their faces.

Is what is in your heart written all over your face?  Oh, how I pray each person reading this today will not hide what they have found in Jesus Christ.  I want people who see you today to say, "I don't know what is going on with her, but I want what she has.  I want what he has."  The gift of salvation is for you, but it is also for others to behold and desire in you. 

The Son of the living God

"....We believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God." -John 6:69

Jesus Christ is a fact of history.  All secular historians who have any merit admit that regardless of what they believe about Him, Jesus lived!!  There is no way to explain that the Christian Church exists apart from the fact that Jesus Christ was here.

What did the early church preach?  Not only that Jesus was here, but that He walked out of the grave.  How do you explain that?  Somebody said, "Well, they must have made up the story.  They just said they touched Him, they said they ate with Him."  Oh?  We're talking about men who died for their faith.  Do you think they would willingly, knowingly die for a lie?

Are you willing to die for the cause of Christ?  This man who died for you--are you willing to die for Him?

Can God save you?

"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." -Romans 10:9 

Have you ever done something so awful that you are serving or have served time in prison?  Maybe you murdered someone, abused a child, embezzled money, or raped someone.  To many, you are a heinous criminal and the judicial system has declared that you have no redeeming value to humanity.  Well, I am here to tell you, God can change all that.  God says, "though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool" (Isaiah 1:18).  Every blur, every blemish, every stain that ever came upon your soul can be cleansed by the blood of Jesus.

Jesus said, "All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me; and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out" (John 6:37).  Jesus will save you if you ask Him. 

God is concerned with you

"O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me." -Psalm 139:1

God sees everything you do.  God knows all about you.  God loves you.  It is an amazing thing that the Lord would feel this way about any of us, when we are smaller than a grain of sand compared to the universe He has created.

There is no more reason for God to be interested in us, than for the President of the United States to be interested in an ant floating on a piece of cheesecake in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.  And yet, God is interested.......very interested.  The sun that stays in the sky and warms the earth will ripen a bunch of bananas like it has nothing better to do.  In the same way, the Almighty God runs the universe and is concerned about you as though you were His only concern. 

The Resurrection

"Who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justificatin." -Romans 4:25

There was a skeptic who was talking with a little girl one day.  She love the Lord Jesus with all of her heart.  He was trying to shake her faith and he said, "Young lady, Christianity is not the only religion, you know.  There are plenty of religions in the world.  There are plenty of Christs.  Which Christ do you believe in?"

She thought for a minute and said, "I believe in the One who was raised from the dead." AMEN! That's the One I believe in, too!  The death of Christ on the cross without His resurrection cannot save you.

If Christ died on the cross and that is all that happened, then Jesus was just one more religious leader.  Do you know what the proof positive is that God accepted His payment for sin?  He raised Him from the dead.  If Jesus is still in the grave, your hope of Heaven is not worth half a hallelujah.

Why not celebrate this week by remembering the powerful promise of His resurrection, replenishment, and restoration?

Step out!

"Hearken, my beloved brethren, hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which He hath promised to them that love him?" -James 2:5

Perhaps there is a decision you need to make today, but you don't know what to do.  Friend, let me tell you the way to find what God wants for you.  Take hold of the Lord with both hands and in faith, tell Him, "sink or swim, live or die, once and for all, now and forever, I'm going for You, God." 

John Dryden, the famous English poet, said "Reason saw not, till faith sprung the light."  Charles Haddon Spurgeon said, "Faith goes up the stairs that love has made and looks out the window which hope has opened."  You don't know what God can do through you until you step out in faith.

"Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ." -Colossians 2:8

Jesus never approved of putting the traditions of men above the Word of God (see Mark 7:1-13).  What about you?  Are you willing to change your life in order that God may use you or had you rather hold on to your traditions?

There are 3 qualities, which i believe every Christian should exhibit:  availability, expendability, and adaptability.  We need to be walking with the Lord so closely that we ought to be ready to witness at a moment's notice.

It is God's ability and your availability.  It is His power and your personality.  It is His work and your witness.  That's God's plan!!

God's perspective

"He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love."  -1John 4:8

Wisdom is not gained by seeing the works of God.  It is gained in knowing the ways of God.  When the Israelites were wandering in the desert, they could only see the works of God.  But, God allowed Moses to see His ways.  The Israelites were infatuated with God at first.  But when troubles came, their love affair with God quickly died out.  They began to murmur and complain.

However, Moses saw the wilderness from God's perspective and approached God in humility and honor.  As a result, God taught him to lead His people out of darkness into light.  Have you learned to see life from His point of view?  Or are you still trusting in your view of life to get you through the hard times?

Do you know the ways of God or just the works of God?  Bow before God and ask Him to ignite a vision for His glory, a bold desire to lead the lost to Him, and an unconditional passion to love Him. 

Wait on the Lord!

"Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." -Psalm 30:5

God allows us to have "blue" seasons where there is more weeping than laughing.  What we must remember is that they are only for a season.  That is important to know.  Joy will come in the morning, just as sure as the sunrise.

If you get up tomorrow morning to see the sunrise, let me tell you what not to do.  Don't try to make it hurry up.  You can't do it.  You can get a high school band and cheerleaders, but that sun is not going to come up one second sooner than God intends.  Waiting on the Lord is like waiting on the sun to come up.  You can't hurry it.  You also can't stop it.  God is going to bring a sunrise to your soul.  Just wait for it.  And trust Him while you wait.