Category: God’s Word

Oh, Those Precious, Pious Statements – Part 2

by Dale, posted in Christian Living, God's Word

Illustration by Rachel Ternes

What would the following men have said if a dear, well-meaning individual said to them, “Well, you know, the Lord won’t put on you more than you can bear”?

Elijah

And the angel of the Lord came back the second time, and touched him, and said, “Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you.” So he arose, and ate and drank; and he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights as far as Horeb, the mountain of God. (1 Kings 19:7-8)

Job

“Why did I not die at birth? Why did I not perish when I came from the womb? Why did the knees receive me? Or why the breasts, that I should nurse? For now I would have lain still and been quiet, I would have been asleep; Then I would have been at rest.  (Job 3:11-13)

Paul

And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me.  (2 Corinthians 12:7-8)

If I read these passages correctly and there are many others, it sounds like to me that the Lord did put on these men more than they could bear!  Truth is, God does give you more than you can handle because He wants you to depend totally on Him.  Think about this lame, spiritually sounding phrase against the backdrop of these passages of Scripture:

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.  (Matthew 11:28-30)

For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life. Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us, you also helping together in prayer for us, that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the gift granted to us through many.  (2 Corinthians 1:8-11)

Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. (1 Peter 5:7)

These passages address this erroneous statement of  the Christianese language.  God does put upon us hardships and trials that are too hard for us to handle.  He does so to develop Christlikeness in us (Romans 8:28-29) and a dependence upon God alone.

Psalm 18:1-3 — I will love You, O Lord, my strength.The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised.

Check Your Cell Bible

by Dale, posted in Christian Living, God's Word, Trials

As we drove to church last night, I made a comment to my wife about the ominous weather system hanging over us.  The sky looked eerie and was accompanied with an interesting calm.  We had already been alerted to the potential of tornadic activity in our area which became a reality as our cell phones’ severe weather alerts sounded off.  As we heard the thunder and rain, many of us went into “checking our phone” mode.  Probably not too much is remembered about the missionary DVD presentation because of us watching the weather radar.  Eventually, to be safe, we moved everyone downstairs to a secure location.  The storm passed to the east of us, we continued our service there and then enjoyed a time of fellowship in the gym eating sandwiches, chips and ice cream.

Our reaction to yesterday’s severe weather reminds me of how we should live in the storms of life.  Think about all the “storms” brewing in the world today:

  • Israeli – Hamas conflict
  • The Russian – Ukraine conflict
  • Persecution of believers in Iraq and Syria
  • Strange weather situations like in the Los Angeles area on Sunday afternoon

So, what is the correlation? In the same way our cell phones had our attention, and in the same way we kept checking it for new alerts/messages, we should be looking at all the “storms” in the world as well as our own life constantly checking our Bibles. Scan  what God has to say about wars, sin, strife, conflict, sorrow, the weather, upheavals, death, etc.  You want to know how to respond in all the storms of life, search the Scriptures. You want to know the latest, check your Bible.  God’s Word is always relevant, fresh, and true.

By the way, your “Cell Bible” just vibrated!  You have a storm alert sent from Heaven!

16.8 Christians

by Dale, posted in Christian Living, God's Word, Prayer, Renewal

Here are some common numbers often thought about in reference to time each week:

  • 7
  • 24
  • 8-5
  • 168

168?  What does that number represent?  This is the total number of hours in a seven day week.  We know that all 168 hours are a gift from the Lord. Since every good and perfect gift comes from above (James 1:18), we are to be good stewards of those hours.  When we think of stewardship, we most likely think of money which is a gift from the Lord as well.  Since we are exhorted to tithe, what about our time?  If you were to give a tithe to the Lord for His gift of time, how much should be given each week?  That would be 16.8 hours-a-week.

Now let’s consider that 16.8 hours in your week.  It comes out to be 2.4 hours-a-day.  In your week, how much time do you give to the Lord in absolute concentrated devotion of study, prayer, communication, meditation, singing, memorization, and listening?  If you really gave Him your undivided attention in Sunday School and the church services as well as on Wednesday night, that would leave you approximately 12.3 hours.  Divide that by six and you have 2.05 hours-a-day.  Now, I’m not suggesting that we literally clock our time with the Lord, but shouldn’t we give the Lord each week an offering of our very best time?  Mary got it right as recorded in Luke 10:38-42.  She chose what was necessary, the best part (10:42).

We tithe on God’s money; shouldn’t we tithe on God’s time? Since God is sovereign over all, we can trust Him with our finances and our future.  He rescued you from hell to enjoy fellowship with you.  He knows what your day holds; He made it.  Give Him the gift of your best time in fellowship and see how throughout the day He orchestrates your life.  You might find that you will be singing in 16/8 time. 🙂  How about joining forces, and let’s be 16.8 Believers?

Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce (Prov. 3:9).

Offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in the Lord (Psalm 4:5).

The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver (2 Cor. 9:6-7).

Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need (Malachi 3:10).

Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you (Matthew 6:31-33).

O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.  Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name (Psalm 63:1-4).

Thanks to Missionary Milo Tomas (Philippines) for his example and leadership to be a 16.8 Christian!  He is definitely a man who treasures “Christ in the midst” of his life (John 20:19-22).

Have Ya Got the Time?

by Dale, posted in Christian Living, God's Word, Prayer, Renewal

There are many reasons why I love living in East Tennessee.   One of which is the down-home common sense bred in the hearts and character of many raised in these mountains.  Today, I have such a one who has agreed to let me share what the Lord gave him last week while studying the Word.  Wayne and his dear wife, Vickie, are dear members of our church and have gone through the furnace of affliction for the past six years.  These words are born out of a life that has been touched by the Master and continues to walk by faith and not by sight.  It is totally unedited just as he penned it.  Thanks, Wayne, for sharing your heart and letting me share with the readers today.

“Have ya got the time?”….I’ll bet its been a spell since you’ve heard that question. This day and time lots of folks have wrist watches, and most of the people have cell phones, so knowing the time is no problem.

Speaking of time, puts me in mind of the time Uncle Roby ordered him a pocket-watch from Sears and Roebuck. It finally come in the mail to Lansing NC post office. It had a fancy fob on one end and about 8-10 inches of gold colored chain with a genuine Elgin Pocket Watch, big as biscuit, on the other end.

Word gets around in Lansing pretty quick, so the next time Uncle Roby was in Walter Osbornes’ store, everyone was quizzing him about his new watch. Ole Doc Keyes up and says, “well Roby, what time is it”

Uncle Roby proudly pulls out his watch, flips up the lid and says, “there she be,” ..Ole Doc says, “well danged if it ain’t”…..neither one could tell time..such as it was in bygone days.

Now let me ask you, “have you got the time?”

We’ve got the time to get up on Monday morn and get to work at the correct time. We’ve got the time to stop and fill up the gas tank when the hand is close to the E. We’ve got the time to set down at the dinner table when suppers on. But, do we have the time to hear what God is saying…?

And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the LORD: Gen 19:27.……Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice. Ps.55:17.….To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night, Ps.92:2.……I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me. Prov.8:17.…..

It seems like early and in the morning is a common time to hear from God. Some of my best times with God has been early in the morn. Its quite, its peaceful, the business of the day has not started. My Bible in my lap, the Spirit of God in my heart. He reveals to me my short-comings and then His wonderful forgiveness. He reveals to me His will, and then that my will should be lined up with His will. Most of all, I guess, is He revels His love for me. So, try it one morn, get up a little early and seek Him…ponder on that a bit and remember…O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; Ps 63:1.

Shepherding Smartphones

by Dale, posted in Discipleship, God's Word

Psalm 78:72 speaks of God’s continual involvement in the life of Israel, So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands. Every day is an adventure for the believer. Our lives take us through the valleys and over the mountains of life. None of us know what a day will bring. How much we need our Shepherd (Psalm 23:1-6). How much we need His multiple tugs and spoken words. How much we need His leadership as we grow and change into the likeness of Christ.

There is an app for your smartphone or to be used online that will help you join up with your Shepherd for encouragement, edification, growth and accountability throughout your day. You can find it at goTandem. Check out the website and on the Menu scroll down, click on About. After reading the page, be sure to watch the video at the bottom.

One of the descriptive lines says, “With goTandem, you’ll receive customized biblical content based on your unique spiritual needs, designed specifically to move you closer to Jesus on a daily basis.” I have been using this app for about month and am grateful for someone sharing it with me. Today, I’m doing the same with you. So, join up with your Shepherd and goTandem.

The Living Word

by Dale, posted in God's Word

Last Sunday, what a powerful time we experienced in the presence of God as the whole congregation of BCBC read out loud Psalms 145:1 – 150:6.  As a result, the Word prompted genuine worship, confession, and praise from God’s people.  It had to be somewhat like what is described in Nehemiah 8.  This morning, I want you to watch this video of Pastor David Platt reciting from memory Romans 1-8.  Please note how the Word has gripped his heart as well as the response of the audience.

May I challenge you to really read the Word today?  Perhaps read a lengthy passage out loud and let its truths ring back into your ears and into your heart!  Worship the Lord in reading as He speaks to you.  Sing songs to Him!  Let the living Word impact you for your good and His glory!!

David Platt Romans 1-8  –  Watch the video from about 29:10 to 51:55