Monthly Archives: March 2018

Speakers

Isaiah 55:11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

I am at a stage in my life, Lord willing, that I am having trouble getting my words out, or many times saying the wrong words than what I meant to say. My thoughts don’t seem to be connected to my lips, or it becomes a jumbled blended mess of what I may have intended to say. It wells deep anxieties within me from my families DNA, and even drug abuse for many years before Christ. Stress levels increase these struggles, and I am under great strains right now. Satan takes these anxieties and creates wars within my mind that leads down the highs and lows of those of us that battle the roller-coaster of anxiety and depression. It is my battle, my spiritual war, the greatest weapon my enemy has against me, but my God allows it, sustains me through it, and I draw closer to Him as a result of it. The unseen battle that many of us face, the smiles we hide behind, the reasons behind only what people see, are most times the battles within; (There is more to see, that what you see.) This battle of speech God really spoke to my heart the last 36 hours after a sermon and prayer request at a track-side church Sunday. I had shared how I wish the ministry would grow, and how those on the outside hearing God’s Word proclaimed, would be drawn in. Our pastor shared how he struggled with memory, and how wanted to be able to remember more scripture. His message had a central plea for us to spend more time seeking God so we might discern truth in today’s society.

That got me thinking, God brought this passage above to memory, and the understanding of just a glimpse of how he is working in what we don’t see. A pastor can stand before you, simply clearly read scripture, and somewhere within earshot of his voice, God is stirring a soul within. God’s Word concisely proclaimed will never return void, never be of no use, never wasted to hear itself spoken, never minced with self-proclamation for self-edification, never used for any false ideal, never glorify anything but Christ alone, and never not for anything but God’s purposes in eternity. Where the error comes, is in the more we interpret our opinions mixed with scripture. Matthew Henry said, “So shall my word be, as powerful in the mouth of prophets as it is in the hand of providence; it shall not return unto me void, as unable to effect what it was sent for, or meeting with an insuperable opposition; no, it shall accomplish that which I please.” The prophet Isaiah had just proclaimed a few passages prior of how great God is, and how he is working above all we can fathom. 8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. 9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts. 10 “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower And bread to the eater.

So if our sovereign God and his Holy Word, are always at work and of use, how greatly can it benefit us and his purposes to spend time studying scripture, can it not? God through his Holy Spirit can bring to remembrance the perfect passage, at the perfect time, when you know not where it came from. God takes the study, the hearts plea for knowledge and understanding, and stores it deep within. He may raise a great prophet, a preacher, or simply you and I to encourage someone before us, or even ourselves when he reminds us of his promises at our times of need. Jesus Christ even reminded his disciples, when they were going to be persecuted, and likely even stand trial for their witness, not to worry about what to say. Luke 12:11 Now when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you should say. 12 For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.” The immeasurable gift of God lives within you as a believer; his Holy Spirit is the one who teaches you all truths, who brings those truths to memory, who pains us when we sin, who encourages us when we are down, who tugs us back to Christ when we stray, who is our Comforter as Jesus proclaimed, God lives in you as a seal of eternal security to bring faith and knowledge to those who believe.

If you are like me, and at this time, at any time in your life struggling with memory and articulation, there is one place that will help you – God’s Word. If you will plant God’s Word each day in your heart, the outpouring of it will encourage those God places around you. God will begin to use you through all your highs and lows to bring others into his kingdom. God will give you just the right words at just the right time, and you will know they are his. You may be blessed by witnessing someone before you, seeing their face change as God spoke to them through you. It also may be in Heaven, when they tell you about the speakers at a little trackside church, where God changed their heart for eternity. Amen.

Eternal Deal

Deuteronomy 25:13-16 “You shall not have in your bag differing weights, a heavy and a light. 14 You shall not have in your house differing measures, a large and a small. 15 You shall have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure, that your days may be lengthened in the land which the Lord your God is giving you. 16 For all who do such things, all who behave unrighteously, are an abomination to the Lord your God.

This week has been the peak of a stressful season in the business side of my life. I carry the weight of our company, the inner load is greater than anything physical that we do. To carry the responsibility of multiple families well being, the burden of providing for people outside your own, is a burden only business owners understand. The strain of it likely killed my grandfather who died at work at 52, and my grandmother told me of it’s strains. We signed a lease this week, stepped out into the unknown, and made a huge leap of faith on where I believe God is calling us. Satan knows my weaknesses and has come at me with waves of anxieties, broken sleep, and the inner weights upon my chest that the mind begins to think it is a heart attack; these strains are the inner wars that nobody sees, and I do my best to hide.

What is Moses speaking about in the passage above? He is addressing dishonest business practices, the same practices that the sin within us drives the economy today. If you have a scale that allows you to buy more for less, then a different weight that allows you to sell less for more, your profit margin is much greater. The person that is buying and selling from you is trusting you and your scales, and we can see the evil within us tugs to make bigger profits however we can. Look how the wisest man who ever lived addressed the dishonest business man in Proverbs 11:1 Dishonest scales are an abomination to the Lord, But a just weight is His delight. 2 When pride comes, then comes shame; But with the humble is wisdom. 3 The integrity of the upright will guide them, But the perversity of the unfaithful will destroy them. 4 Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, But righteousness delivers from death. 5 The righteousness of the blameless will direct his way aright, But the wicked will fall by his own wickedness. 6 The righteousness of the upright will deliver them, But the unfaithful will be caught by their lust. I deal with and make decisions every day against my competitors, many of who practices dishonest sales techniques, false promises, high pressure, lying, cheating, and selling less for more just as the Bible talks about here.

Do you see where Solomon in Proverbs tells us God is watching us? God knows all that we do, the dishonest dealings to make more money. The little lie that we hid inside, that closed that deal, that got us that bonus, and nobody knew……but God. David wrote in Psalm 139:O Lord, You have searched me and known me. 2 You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. 3 You comprehend my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways. 4 For there is not a word on my tongue, But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether. Seek to honor God in all that you do, the seen and the unseen. Seek to trust God in all that you do and know that he will sustain you, never leave you, and build in you a testimony unto himself for all to see. Put down that dishonest deal, walk away from it, and testify why you are doing so, and God may reach that person you are sharing your faith with. You may play a part in an eternal deal.

Why Not Start Today?

Matthew 6:33-34 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

As I sat and prayed just now, thoughts flooded my mind of all going on in my life and this world around me. I thought of how God, of how the name Jesus Christ alone, has been mentioned more openly in public arenas this week than any time in recent history. Billy Graham brought the good news of Jesus Christ to more people that likely anyone by the design and grace of God. The highest compliment I heard, was he was the greatest man to deliver the gospel since the Apostle Paul; he truly could carry that title in my eyes. We have seen a unity, a humble respect paid to the man who wanted no accolades, yet his faith was what triumphed. Many a news reporter stepped out in their boldness and crossed the lines of corporate policies to boldly proclaim Jesus in front of cameras and print. Many felt the call of God to be obedient at levels new to them, and Jesus Christ was proclaimed from the rooftops this week; Matthew 10:27 “Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. May by the power and grace of God, you feel the tug to be bolder in the proclamation of your faith; may this week bring boldness to your witness and you honor your generations greatest evangelist too.

The grace of God is upon me, and I am in a huge season of transition. I am stepping out on faith in many ways, and so Satan comes at me with anxieties and likely the storms of depression in his arsenal. God blessed our business last year to the point we must expand again, taking huge steps of faith and signing leasing contracts for warehouse space. God seemingly laid before me a young Christian man, a new employee, who applied because we openly proclaimed our faith. God laid out before me the perfect building, in a place not so long unattainable, under budget and answered prayers. God is clearly laying out this path for me, for our company and the lives of us in it, all to draw glory to him. Isaiah 30:21 Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” Whenever you turn to the right hand Or whenever you turn to the left. Our little HVAC company is no different from where you work, no different from where you are each day, all your days can be used to draw glory to God. I get asked sometimes how I hear God’s voice, and my reply, the root of my testimony past the gospel, is the passages above.

How will you ever hear God if you don’t seek him daily in prayer and his Word? How will you ever discern God’s voice in your ears if you don’t know what he sounds like? How will you begin to comprehend his voice, until you have heard it first in his Word? It comes not audibly, but as a still, small, whisper within you. A voice that does not repeat itself; attention must be paid and eagerly sought. If you want your life to change, you must change your life. If you want to hear from God you must seek him every, single, day, in prayer and his Word. I promise you, I can attest you to, you cannot remain the same person as the day before when you do both of them. He will begin to make you more like Christ, his ultimate goal for all our lives, each and every day you seek him with all your heart, mind, body, and soul. Why not start today?