Part 1

https://youtu.be/tk9h5YCXta4

Part 2

https://youtu.be/6yZecgKNfWc

Dying to Christ Daily

Thank you for having me

1. It is always a pleasure to be here with you
2. Praise God I am able to stand here before you, and share God’s perfect and precious word.
3. We have spent quite a bit of time looking at the “head issues” the traps that Satan has set for us,
4. We will take a slightly different direction today,
5. but when you think about it,
   1. all sermons, even though we may not mention it, have to do with the narrow path, the traps, and the guidelines for passing through successfully.

Sermon

1. Love the Lord Your God with all the heart….
   1. How often I have I said that we are to love God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strength….
   2. I think every time I come here, I mention this,
   3. In fact, I mention the narrow path every time I come here.
      1. Because we must know what we must do, and what we must avoid… we are not on this path attempting to reach the end successfully, no no no… we are on this path to win the race, to receive the reward… anything less is not acceptable.
      2. Loving God with all our hearts, minds, souls, and strength, is the beginning of our walk,

• it is the central theme of our walk,

1. and, it is the climax of our walk
2. In simpler terms…. It is the cornerstone; it is the foundation of our entire life centered around God.

So that is point one…. Building on the correct foundation

 

2. Do all in the name of Jesus Christ
   1. The great Apologist, Greg L. Bahnsen in his book, “Always Ready” states that two distinct mind sets exist,
      1. either as a Christian, or
      2. as part of the world…

• there is no neutral ground

1. God will not allow us comfortable tolerances when it comes to the path to heaven.
2. There are initially only two choices, not many, just two.
3. If we choose the wide path,
   1. there are no more choices to make, just keep happily skipping along until the end, and those happy days will turn to eternal grief, and tears.
4. However, when we chose the narrow path
   1. And there are sub-choices.

So, This Makes Point Two…. When We Choose the Narrow Path, We Are Choosing Christ, and there is work to be done…..

 

3. Walking small in this world but huge in heaven….
   1. There are many sub choices as we travel the narrow path.
      1. Learning about the traps, and avoiding them
      2. Learning the word of God and how to live by it
      3. Learning what work we are called to do

1. And, then learning how to do that work in a way that glorifies God,
   1. if it is cutting the grass around the building, learn how to do that to the best of your ability, make that yard glorify God in it’s very appearance.
2. One of the sub-choices we make after deciding to follow Christ is to follow Him quietly, not tooting our own horn, but to Glorify Him in all things.
3. Christ tells us that he who loses his life for His sake will find it.
4. Matthew 10:37 – 39 He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38 And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 39 He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.
5. The last part here is essentially saying whoever loves self, more than Christ, is not worthy of Him.

 Christ came to this world humbly

1. We should also walk humbly, not drawing attention to ourselves, but letting our works illuminate Christ.
2. Think of Yourself Less
3. Not to think of yourselves more, but to think of yourself less, makes great sense in the Christian walk…. doesn’t it….
4. But this is possibly the greatest trick Satan has up his sleeve… as I have often said, we can’t outsmart him.
5. To have a Christ mindset as described by Dr. Bahnsen is to have a mindset empty of self.
6. Maybe some of this will make more sense if we talk about what real humility is.
7. As C.S. Lewis said, true humility is “not thinking less of ourselves, but thinking of ourselves less.”
8. I want to make sure we get that…. It is not thinking of your self in any fashion…. Good or bad…
9. it is not thinking of yourselves at all, but thinking of Christ…
10. just as I have mention in previous lessons, guilt, grudges, un-forgiveness, judging others, are all stumbling blocks in our minds and hearts that doesn’t leave room for Christ.
11. Good thoughts or bad, takes up time that could be spent on keeping our minds on things above.
12. Is this not the greatest reason for letting go of that guilt?
13. It’s merely a prideful thing that keeps our mind on ourselves, and that extends to all the traps of Satan…. keeping our minds on self, whether it is the guilt, grudges, un-forgiveness, judging others, or painful memories.
14. Satan wants to cause us to have difficult times, at least those on this narrow path, for it will keep our minds on self rather than God, God allows this for it is way of filtering… the conflicts will strengthen the true traveler on the path, and will stop the non-committed traveler in his tracks… spending his time on self-pity, or hate, or whatever.
15. Allow me to repeat that….
16. We can spend a lot of time thinking less of ourselves, but we only end up thinking a lot about ourselves being less.
17. The problem of pride does not boil down to whether we think high thoughts or low thoughts about ourselves but that we think lots of thoughts about ourselves.
18. Humility is fundamentally a form of self-forgetfulness as opposed to pride’s self-fixation. Humility can set you free because when you think about yourself less you are free to think about Christ more.
19. The truth will set you free.
20. Humility puts us on the path of grace; pride puts us on the path of opposition. God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5).
21. Now we have run smack into another of Satan’s deceptions… now we know when we start thinking about Christ and void our mind of any thoughts of self for good or bad… then we have learned the deep secret of overcoming the world, of overcoming Satan.

Colossians 3:17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

 

Matthew 22:37-40 … 37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

Point Three: We can’t keep from thinking about ourselves, good or bad, but we can keep from talking about ourselves, showcasing ourselves, putting ourselves on a pedestal…..

 

Often, we do not recognize the path we are on is actually a great opportunity to honor God, to honor the Savior, allow me to share a story to illustrate the message.

I’m going to wrap up this lesson with a story of a young mothers journey, learning there is no small work in the Lord, and some much greater than you would imagine, yet it perfectly describes the goal we should have in our journey.

I would like to mention we have a faithful Christian brother and sister in Wichita Kansas, Bob and Gail Webb, and Gail shared this story on Facebook recently and I felt like it was a perfect illustration for today’s lesson.

 

The invisible mother ?

By: Nicole Johnson

It all began to make sense, she writes, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I’m on the phone and ask to be

taken to the store. Inside I’m thinking, ‘Can’t you see I’m on the phone?’

Obviously not; no one can see if I’m on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping

the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see

me at all. I’m invisible.

The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more!

Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this??

Some days I’m not a pair of hands; I’m not even a human being. I’m a clock

to ask,

‘What time is it?’

I’m a satellite guide to answer, ‘What number is

the Disney Channel?’

I’m a car to order, ‘Right around 5:30, please.’

Some days I’m a crystal ball; ‘Where’s my other sock?, Where’s my phone?,

What’s for dinner?’

I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes

that studied history, music and literature -but now, they had disappeared

into the peanut butter, never to be seen again.

She’s going, she’s going, she’s gone!

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a

friend from England. She had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she

was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there,

looking around at the others all put together so well.

It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself.

I was feeling pretty pathetic, when she turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, ‘I brought you this.’

It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe .

I wasn’t exactly sure why she’d given it to me until I read her inscription:

‘With admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.’

In the days ahead I would read – no, devour – the book. And I would discover

what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could

pattern my work:

 

1) No one can say who built the great cathedrals – we have no record

of their names.

2) These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never

see finished.

3) They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.

4) The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the

eyes of God saw everything.

 

A story of legend in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the

cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird

on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man,

‘Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that

will be covered by the roof. No one will ever see it’

And the workman replied, ‘Because God sees.’

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost

as if I heard God whispering to me, ‘I see you. I see the sacrifices you

make every day, even when no one around you does.

No act of kindness you’ve done, no sequin you’ve sewn on, no cupcake you’ve

baked, no Cub Scout meeting, no last-minute errand is too small for me to

notice and smile over.

You are building a great cathedral, but you can’t see right now what it will become.

I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of

the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work

on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went

so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime

because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don’t want my son to tell the friend he’s

bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, ‘My Mom gets up at 4 in the

morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for 3

hours and presses all the linens for the table.’ That would mean I’d built a

monument to myself.

I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there

is anything more to say to his friend, he’d say, ‘You’re gonna love it

there…’

Mothers are building great cathedrals.

We, she writes,  cannot be seen if we’re

doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel,

not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the

world by the sacrifices of invisible mothers.

?

 

Point Four: We honor God by understanding the work we do, no one sees except God, the work no matter how small or great is equal if it is done to the Glory of God and that is building Great Cathedrals to God.

 

Everyone in this room has been an invisible mother, or father, doing for others, without hope or desire for recognition.

And that is our hope, that is our desire to be able to serve God… not hoping for recognition, or rewards, but that through our work, not seen by the world, nor understood by the world if they do see… but understood by God, seen by God, and when we cross over that chilly Jordan, we will not be concerned how large our funeral is, how many people are screaming and crying over our casket, or how small the newspaper notice will be, we will only be concerned that there are headlines in heaven… another saint has come home.

And I understand when E.V. Hill. Prayed to God asking for something and admitting it was non-biblical, and that he would be forgiven for that indiscretion, that his mother would be allowed to see the success she has had here on earth through her love and quiet devotion to raising a Godly son…

And I think of my grandmother, who raised me, and my sister,  but also her siblings when their mother died, and her own 6 children, and then older cousins of mine, and other people’s children, and finally Linda and I. An old woman, way too short for her weight, who couldn’t drive, unable to work, and didn’t leave her home very often… it was just too difficult…. Yet somehow out of all this mess of children she raised, I can count at least 4 preachers, and there are probably several more that I don’t know, and literally an unknown number of people who know those scriptures inside and out.

This was a woman, among literally millions like her, and fathers as well, who lived very small lives, yet, very high-quality beautiful lives in their own little world honoring God in the way He provided them, building great monuments to the name and glory of God.

Let us pray that we will do His work, that we will pick up our own cross, that we will lose our life here for His sake… and even though we cannot cleanse our mind of self entirely, but that we can do that work quietly, hoping another sinner will be brought to salvation.

That all we do will point to His Glory, and like John we will decrease as He increases…

Let’s do a short recap…. The cornerstone, or foundation of our walk with Christ is loving God with all our hearts, souls, minds and strength.

Let me close with this: In the end, we will think about ourselves, but we can decrease that sin as times goes on, as we replace thoughts of self with thoughts of things above… and just keep on keeping on as the saying goes, quietly, steadily, and committed.

The lesson is yours, and if any are any in need of prayer please come forward as we sing the closing hymn.

 

I have noticed various styles of preaching over the years, a lot of men and women when preaching get excited and yell, some are preaching to a congregation, and yet some like Jim P just speak to his friends, his brothers and sisters in Christ, he doesn’t yell at them, jump up and down, but just calmly speaks to his friends, and that is the style I try to immolate.

My whole  purpose in this is to share a message to my friends, to help them find their way and to touch the hearts and minds of the people I speak to.

In recent months,  I have felt God moving me to speak of our travels, our journey upon the narrow path. It’s not an easy way we have chosen for ourselves, no that is the wide path that leads to destruction. We have chosen the narrow path to eternal life with the Great Creator of all things, the Most Holy God.

I have intentionally illustrated just how difficult it is, how much courage is required, , how we must accept the challenge, fight with all we have in us, and in my last lesson I thought I had wrapped up that series, pointing out that we can’t do it, there is no man strong enough.

It can only be done with the Lord Jesus Christ fighting the battles for us, judging us in the final analysis, and while judging us, also being our advocate, and our redeemer, standing in our place. He is truly our Shepherd.

As I said I thought the last lesson was the end… but as usual that was my thought, my earthly thought, from my weak mind, because God had one more lesson He wanted me to share.

I am going to be reading from two chapters out of the Psalms, and because it is so poetic, so beautiful, I will be reading them from the King James.

 

In chapter 22 of Psalms, visualize yourself on the path, and in 23 see our peace we can experience when we turn it all over to Christ Jesus. These two chapters are known as dual prophesies, both David and Christ Jesus. The words of David becoming the words of Jesus hundreds of years later.

I hope you can hear the desperation in the voice of Christ as He came and cleared the path for us.

But it is really more than that, He came, cleared the way, and then bore all our sorrows and grief, he carried all our sins upon Himself, and He cried out to the Father when at His most desperate time, the Father couldn’t look upon the sin, the sin of the world, the grief, the pain of the world, all placed upon that cross… that old wooden cross of Calvary…

Bear in mind, Christ had spent the previous night praying in the Garden, sweating drops of Blood from the stress and fear of the events that were to come, and then had faced the scourging, and now nailed to a cross…

Psalm 22 King James Version (KJV)

22:1  My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?

² O my God, I cry in the day time, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.

³ But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.

⁴ Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them.

⁵ They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.

⁶ But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.

⁷ All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,

⁸ He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.

⁹ But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother’s breasts.

¹⁰ I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother’s belly.

¹¹ Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help.

¹² Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.

¹³ They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.

¹⁴ I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.

¹⁵ My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.

¹⁶ For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.

¹⁷ I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me.

¹⁸ They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.

¹⁹ But be not thou far from me, O Lord: O my strength, haste thee to help me.

²⁰ Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog.

²¹ Save me from the lion’s mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns.

²² I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.

²³ Ye that fear the Lord, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel.

²⁴ For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.

²⁵ My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him.

²⁶ The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the Lord that seek him: your heart shall live forever.

²⁷ All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.

²⁸ For the kingdom is the Lord’s: and he is the governor among the nations.

²⁹ All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul.

³⁰ A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation.

³¹ They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.

So let’s take a look at Chapter 23

In the first four verses of Ps. 23, David takes the gentle picture of a shepherd with his sheep to describe the relationship God has with us and we with Him. Everything makes sense in our understanding of a shepherd leading his flock to green grass and calm waters.

Then we get to v. 4, and it doesn’t fit. The valley of the shadow of death conjures thoughts of a dangerous situation where a sheep’s life is in jeopardy unless the shepherd is alert and attentive.

Why does David switch from talking about God with ‘He’ to talking to God with ‘You,’ and why does it happen in v. 4? Why didn’t he just go on to say, ‘Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for He is with me; His rod and His staff, they comfort me’?”

May I suggest that the change “He” to the more intimate “You” happens in v. 4 precisely because it’s there he speaks of the valley he has walked.

He has felt the shadows closing in. Verse 4 describes the crisis points in his life. And in those times, something deep happened between him and God.

You’ve noticed it too, haven’t you? We’re more prone to talk ABOUT God when we are in the green pastures and more prone to talk TO God when we’re in the dangerous ravine.

In the light, we are prone to wander off in pursuit of greener grass. But in the dark, we hug His knee.

I have noticed this in my life, when things are dark, and difficult is when I move closer to God, and every time it happens,  and I again find myself in one of those dark times, and again I return to a closer relationship, but when it is daylight again, I  stray less further away.

Each time this happens to each of us we start to realize it will be dark again, and we keep the Father in sight, and finally after so many dark times, even when the sun shines again, we stay, we no longer wonder off again, and our journey ends.

David changes from comments about God to communion with God because during his valley time, he stayed ever so close to the Shepherd, never taking his eyes off Him. He had experienced God in a way there that had ushered him toward intimacy with the Almighty Shepherd. Not temporary intimacy only to stray again into the darkness,

but permanent intimacy, where we can rest peacefully in the dark, as Christ did during the storm in the boat.

But why would a sheep be going through such a place? Not because he strayed off in sin; that is not the point here, because the shepherd is pictured as going with the sheep not snatching him back to the pasture he left behind. No, the reason the sheep is going through the valley is because the shepherd leads him there.

The connection between vs. 3 and 4 confirm this: The path through the valley is also one of the paths of righteousness in which God leads. “He guides me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me . . . ”

But why would a good shepherd who would lay down his life for his sheep lead a lamb into a valley filled with danger and death threats? There’s only one possible answer:

“To get to some better place!”

Philip Keller is an Australian shepherd whose wonderful little book A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 includes this observation about these barren valleys:

“The shepherd knows from past experience that predators like coyotes, bears, wolves, or cougars can take cover in these broken cliffs and from their vantage point prey on his flock. He knows these valleys can be subject to sudden storms and flash floods that send walls of water rampaging down the slopes. There could be rockslides, mud, or . . . a dozen other natural disasters that would destroy or injure his sheep. But in spite of such hazards he also knows that this is still the best way to take his flock to the high country. He spares himself no pains or trouble or time to keep an eye out for any danger that might develop.”

When you’re walking through some unfamiliar valley and the shadows linger . . . When you have cancer and have to decide whether it will be chemotherapy or some other way . . . When you’re trying to decide as a matter of Godly stewardship whether to take your money out of the market or let it ride… When your finances are tight, and you are taking on yet another job to make ends meet, and for us here in this prison, we learn to keep our eyes focused upon the lord for we are surrounded by wolves.

remember this:

Your Shepherd has appointed even this hard time as one of His paths of righteousness.

He is leading you through this valley for reasons that probably won’t be apparent. But rest assured, He is taking you to the high country, where the sun is warm and the grass is lush.

Every valley is pathway to something better. As Psalm 84:11 says, “No good does the Lord withhold from those who walk uprightly.” Or as Paul put it, “We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Rom . 8:28). The valley isn’t good, but the Shepherd is. He knows the way.

And, so are we, as Christians vulnerable to these wild dogs, Just a few weeks ago a vicious wolf entered a little sanctuary in Texas and slaughtered 26 of the Lords sheep, little babies, mommies, and old men alike, this cowardly animal proceeded to wound around 25 more, yet when confronted with a man willing to stand against him,  A human livestock guardian, I would even suggest a living rod and staff, This wild dog dropped his weapon and ran.

But we are more often attacked spiritually

And as Satan attacks us, we as the flock of the Lord expect Him to stand up for us,  against Satan, and Satan and all his demons will Trimble, beg, plead and like the Texas coward…run.

He restores my soul, my spirits are lifted for I know I have a shepherd, whose Rod and Staff protect me. He is my shepherd, this eludes to we being sheep. Sheep are full of fear and very nervous, and often will not lie down, out of this fear, for they have absolutely no defense system whatsoever. They can’t swim, and will not go near water that is not absolutely calm, and easy to access, and shallow, for if they fall in, they can’t get out, they will drown.

Do you see how vulnerable they are?

Their only protection is to stay together in a group. And as we walk through this world seeking God with all our hearts, minds, bodies, and souls, this is how vulnerable we are.

There are places in Scripture that are powerful, so deep, that to recite them is to experience them. Psalm 23 is one of those places. As one scholar said, “The psalm itself is green pasture; the psalm itself is still water; the psalm itself restores my soul.”

It is precious to us, a balm to our wounded souls. And what makes this a constant friend is that it covers all of life. With simple beauty, it speaks of green pastures and still waters as well as dark valleys and enemies and adversities.

But what comforts us and helps us is the psalm’s confidence. David really believes this about God. We realize as we linger over these words that what David writes is not poetic exaggeration or theoretical theology.

He has experienced God in these ways, heard His voice, followed His lead, felt His care. Beneath the beauty of his words there are solid convictions, formed in the trial of crisis.

And remember as we could plainly see that from verse 22, it may be David writing, but his experiences, his words are formed again hundreds of years later by the Messiah, our Lord and savior Jesus Christ.

But now let’s move to chapter 23,For this is where we live today,

But let me begin by telling you an old story about a priest who was celebrating his 50th Anniversary of Ordination.  For this occasion he had invited his personal friend, Richard Burton, to come and recite his favorite Psalm 23.  Richard Burton agreed to do this on the condition that the priest would also recite it after him.

At the appointed time, Richard Burton stood and proclaimed the popular psalm with such oratorical mastery the congregation immediately applauded.

And then this humble pastor stood up and began to recite, from heart, this beloved Psalm.  After he had finished his not nearly so professional recitation, the congregation was in awe, and some moved to tears.

Someone in the front pew with Richard Burton leaned over and asked him, “Why did people loudly applaud you and yet were silently moved by the pastor?”  Burton replied, “Because I know the Psalm, but he knows the Shepherd.”

You see to truly understand this, it must be in the right heart, so with that in mind, with the hopes of putting our hearts in the right condition

I would like to share an experience I shared with Jody many years ago, about a man who knew the shepherd that has never left me, and never fails to move me, and I have told it here before.

When Jody and I were volunteer chaplains with Hospice of Texarkana, we would visit those who were dying, some a few weeks, some only a few hours.

We had one patient, whom we visited on a regular basis who had been a member of his choir all his long life. Now Jody always sang a song about heaven to these folks, but on our last visit to see Chet Wood, who was to die just a few days later, he wanted to sing to Jody, now understand Chet was dying of a lung disease, could barely breath, yet he sang to Jody, probably the very last song of his long life, and he barely gasped out I come to the Garden Alone.

We heard the angels sing that day.

Now as I read this beautiful psalm please let your minds drift back to that old priest, or to Chet Wood who gasped out his final song, a gift to Jody and I, and a statement of his position, and a tribute to the Savior he was soon to meet.

They Knew the Savior!

23 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

² He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

³ He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

⁴ Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

⁵ Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

⁶ Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

He makes me lie down in green pastures, because of Him, I can face life, I can face today, and I can face tomorrow.

Because He lives I can face tomorrow….

Thank you for your time, and as you walk through this valley of the shadow of death, remember, you have a shepherd who loves you, and will protect you.

In reponse to a Christian Lady who had questions about knowing the end days signs.

From a facebook post:

I would like to first thank you for your response and agree no one can know the day or hour. In addition, I would like to state that I am not an end times preacher, but more of a casual observer (most people will reach his/her own end time before the last day arrives). I am an apologist (defender) of the scripture.
The verse I find most interesting is Daniel 12:4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.

Words are/ is knowledge. Knowledge is the one-word definition of Science, so Daniel is being told to seal up these words until the time of the end. He placed a condition on how long this knowledge/ science would be sealed up… until the end of time. He (God) Goes on describe the end times… there will be an increase in knowledge and people will be running to and fro… I don’t think we have to defend the statement there has been an increase in knowledge, for example my grandmother (Leslie’s great grandmother) raised me, she came to Kansas in a covered wagon from Illinois in 1902 at the age of 12, it probably took her months to get there. When she died we were taking regular vacation trips back to Illinois and making the trip in about 3 days in a car, and before she died America had gone into outer space. From covered wagon to space rockets/ ships certainly covers both statements of the end times, an increase in knowledge and people running to and fro. I think this puts us into those last days, especially when you add all the other signs as well.
I think Eddie Sax describes knowing the seasons best.
Times and Seasons for First Century-ites Only

In Acts 1:6-7, just before Jesus was caught up into heaven, His disciples asked, “Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” Jesus answered, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.” In this passage, Jesus is speaking to the disciples about what will happen to them at their specific moment in time. Notice that they use the words “at this time” in their question. That would indicate that they meant “in their lifetimes,” or “the generation in which they were living.”

Was Jesus speaking here to a First Century audience only or was He also telling you and me, living in the 21st Century, that it is not for us to know the times and seasons either? The answer to this question is simple. We, of this generation, will definitely know the time and the season. Jesus said so in Matthew 24:34. “Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.” “This generation” refers specifically to the people who live to see the signs of the end times that He describes in the chapter, including the still-future abomination of desolation.

Paul confirms this teaching. He wrote in I Thessalonians 5:1, “But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.” In verse 4, he goes on to say, “But ye, brethren, are not in darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief.” Paul is telling us specifically that we will know the times and the seasons. If we will watch, we will see the day coming.

Is this a conflict in scripture? In Acts 1:6, Jesus says, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons.” But, in I Thessalonians 5:1 Paul says that we will. Of course, there is no conflict! It is obvious that Jesus was speaking to a First Century audience in Acts 1:6-7, not to us!

So we have now answered the “times and seasons question.” What about the “day and hour” question? When Jesus said that no man knows the day and hour of the Lord’s coming, does this also apply to our generation?
Paul Said we Will Know the Day

Here’s another perspective. I Thessalonians chapter 5 teaches us that the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night. Matthew 24:42-43 relates the same story. It also says that the Lord will come as a thief in the night, and that the goodman of the house will not know what hour the thief will come.

The thief is clearly representative of Jesus Christ. But what does the goodman represent? Whoever the goodman symbolizes, the passage says that he will not know the hour of Christ’s return. For example, if the goodman represents the church, then the church will not know the hour of the Lord’s coming. It would be that simple. So let’s look at the context.
Question: Is the goodman the church?

Answer: No! The goodman of the house clearly represents unbelievers, not believers! He is not portrayed as a Bible-believer, but rather, he was living in darkness, and was not ready for the Lord’s coming. This passage teaches that it is the unbelievers who will not know the hour of the Lord’s coming. This conclusion is verified by I Thessalonians 5:4-5. There, it states that the only people who will not know the day of the Lord’s coming are the people living in darkness. But you, saint of God, are not living in darkness. You are a child of light, and the day of the Lord shall not overtake you as a thief!

Unbelievers will not know the hour of His coming. Does the Bible say that the church won’t know the hour of His coming as well? No. The fact is, it seems to indicate the opposite! The Lord will not overtake His children of light as a thief in the night. According to these passages, the church will know the hour.

Let’s keep studying the scriptures. We will know the generation, and we will know the times and seasons. And as the time draws nearer, perhaps we will also come to know the day and hour!
By Eddie Sax
I would simply like to add to this that we all know the left, especially the far left has no idea/ no understanding of scripture, or end times, and generally think is merely one of the fairy tales that Christians cling to from their book of fairy tales.
They live in the Darkness. The Christian (generally gathered in the right) do understand the bible is not a book of fairy tales, but is a historically reliable book filled with information given at a time when men could have had no idea of why they were writing what they were writing, and when found to be factual gives witness to the fact the word had to be inspired by a higher intelligence (God) for instance in Job 38:16 we are told there are “springs” in the bottom of the ocean… it wasn’t possible to verify this until 1977 until oceanographers with the use of deep diving research submarines built to withstand 6,000 lbs. of pressure per square inch explored the ocean floor and discovered “springs” on the ocean floor, written about in the bible over 4,000 years ago. This is only one example of over a hundred examples of what is now known as Scientific facts, and when coupled with the prophecies that have been fulfilled perfectly, it leaves no doubt in the honest man’s mind that the bible is indeed the inspired word of God.
Thus Christians live in the light!!!

by Jim Carmichael

A few months back God put it on my heart to study, and teach about How to Get to Heaven from Here. So, I have been working on a series of lessons and this is the forth in that series.

I started with a lesson on how to develop greater faith, the kind of faith James says we need for God to hear us. In the following lesson, I talked about the principle of becoming what we think, by totally believing we are what we are, not someday, but now.

In the last lesson, I used quite a bit of John Bunyan’s book “The Pilgrims Progress” to illustrate how fierce the battle is, and especially how fierce it is in the village called “Vanity Fair” where the bodies of many former Pilgrims could be found.

Many people who become Christians, fall away. In fact, as much as 90% of all new Christians fall away within the first year.

I believe there are two reasons for this, one is failing to teach Christian apologetics along with the bible instruction for the new convert.

The second reason is commitment. And that is the focus of tonight’s lesson.

 

Luke 19: 1 Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. 2 Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. 3 And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way. 5 And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” 6 So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully. 7 But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, “He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.”

You see, Zacchaeus was a rich man, and when the bible says he was rich, he means rich, Donald Trump kind of rich… he had everything that the world could offer him, so he could easily see what he lacked… a relationship, a true relationship with God, and having experienced all the worldly wealth, he could see that clearly.

But that should also give insight to the falling away of Christians, Most of us do not have all this world can offer, and often lack much, sometimes even necessities, so that need for a relationship with God is blurred by our worldly needs, and often our worldly desires.

We are bombarded with all that glitters as we pass through this place called Vanity Fair, and we are told, and often convinced, how much better life would be if we owned this or that, or looked this way or that.

Can we see our real need? Are we “short” as Zacchaeus and need to climb to a high place and look over the crowd of physical needs and worldly desires that cloud our sight?

If we are to complete our journey, arrive at the gates of glory, it will require total commitment from us for there is no middle ground with scripture, and there can be no middle ground with us either if we are to expect eternal life in Heaven, if we are His disciples, He demands our all and has a right to do so, He created us, and everything around us, and committed His all to us.

I am standing before you here today declaring if your intention is eternal life in Heaven it requires a full and complete commitment to Christ, to the word, to seek God with all your heart, mind, body, and soul.

To do that we must know and understand the truth, and not just the truth of the bible, the entire truth of life. We must know the scripture, we must know how to defend it, we must know the truth of our own short sightedness, we must realize we are every bit as short as Zacchaeus in our spiritual stature.

I would like to share a few bible “stories” with you

Mark 8: 22 -25

Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him. 23 So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town. And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything.24 And he looked up and said, “I see men like trees, walking.”25 Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly.

Let’s continue to:

Mark 9: 21 – 24 So He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him? “And he said, “From childhood. 22 And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”23 Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”

Luke 18:35- 43 Then it happened, as He was coming near Jericho, that a certain blind man sat by the road begging. 36 And hearing a multitude passing by, he asked what it meant. 37 So they told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. 38 And he cried out, saying, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”39 Then those who went before warned him that he should be quiet; but he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”40 So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be brought to Him. And when he had come near, He asked him, 41 saying,

“What do you want Me to do for you?”

He said, “Lord, that I may receive my sight.”

42 Then Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has made you well.” 43 And immediately he received his sight, and followed Him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.

Those three bible stores have confused me over the years, first Jesus had to heal a man twice, how is that possible? Why would the Son of God, God Himself in the flesh need to make two attempts at healing a man? He’s God, right? He created all the universes with just a word, yet now He had to heal a man twice? He couldn’t get the job done the first time? Really?

He first healed his blindness, and then healed his brain so it could understand. Maybe we are also in need of “two healings”

In the 2^nd verse Jesus asked the man if he believes and he responds yes, I do believe, but please help my unbelief… now in one breath he says he believes and he doesn’t believe. Excuse me? So which is it, do you believe or not?

Does this man also need two healings? One for the Healing, and one for his belief?

In the last verse Christ asks an obvious blind man what he wants, and we answer, well that’s obvious, he wants his sight restored.

C.S. Lewis once told a story about a young man who asked to be made pure, to be delivered from his desires, just not today.  That story comes from a confession of Augustine.

Do we really know what we want; do we see the real need? Do we really need two healings, first being healed of our lack of true desire to be healed, and the second to be healed for the physical or spiritual need?

Luke 5:12 -13 And it happened when He was in a certain city, that behold, a man who was full of leprosy saw Jesus; and he fell on his face and implored Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, you can make me clean.”13 Then He put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately the leprosy left him

Leprosy affects the body’s nervous system, concentrating on the cooler parts of the body. Affected areas are skin, eyes, and muscles in the hands and feet. In more extreme cases as the disease progresses, the symptoms only get worse: numbness in hands and feet make the patient vulnerable to cuts and infections that can’t be felt, stiffened muscles cause clawed hands, loss of the “blinking reflex” leads to total blindness, and in some cases amputation of fingers, an arm or leg is necessary.

We have a form of leprosy among us today, it’s called sin, and it destroys both body and soul, and causes spiritual blindness.

We are always willing to have our bodies healed, but are we willing to have our soul, our hearts, our spirits healed? Are we completely willing? Or are we like Augustine who prayed for Sexual purity… just not yet?

This means changing our thinking, our lives, our very being. But, we can’t do it on our own, we must have Christ, He must first heal the desire to be healed. In other words, our first prayer should be lord I desire to be spiritually healed, heal my unwillingness to that healing, place in my heart a true, overwhelming desire to be spiritually healed. Just as the father in the story asked for help with his unbelief. Lord, I pray that you will give me an overwhelming desire to be healed, so I will honestly seek Your healing with complete iron-clad conviction, and commitment to the healing.

We can easily say, yes, I desire to be healed of this leprosy of my soul, please help my desire. Christ will heal us of our sin, and must heal our desire to be healed before a true spiritual healing can take place.

Why would God have to ask the man what he wanted? He was obviously blind. The answer I came up with is simply this, God didn’t have to ask what he wanted for His own information, He already knew, it had to be because He wanted to make sure the blind man really knew what he was asking for, as a lesson for us…

This also explains to us why we must confess sins that God is already aware of, so we will know. It helps us to study ourselves, to look into the true mirror of life, to recognize our true shortcomings.

We are taught to confess our sins to one another, and that doesn’t mean we have to give details, but confess we are sinners, and desire to be healed of that sin… now… not later.

And, Do we pray “lord heal me of my sins, and make me better at making money while you’re at it.”

Now let me clarify this, yes, we absolutely need our desire to be healed first, then we must pray for the desire for the spirt to be healed of this spiritual leprosy, that we may have a full, complete healing so we will, like the blind man in the first story, have our sight fully restored which will lead to a full commitment to our discipleship of Christ.

But we must walk in the world, not be a part of it, but we must still walk in it, and we do have other commitments, obligations and we must be fully committed to them as well. And, as in all earthly things, they are used or should be used as an example of our spiritual life. As a witness to others.

So, here’s a Question: “What does the Bible say about commitment?”

Answer: There are many commitments for the believer: to our families, neighbors, employers, the church, our health, and in all things, we do and say

Ephesians 6:5 Bondservants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ;

Be committed to your job, to your employer as you are to Christ

Hebrews 10:25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

Be committed to each other and the assembly, again as you are committed to Christ, for this is the body of Christ.

1 Corinthians 6:19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?

But the Bible also teaches that the chief commitment of our lives is to God Himself. Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment” (Matthew 22:37-38).

This says to me, with everything we have, all our hearts, all our souls, all our minds are committing our lives to God, Job, family, and each other.

Jesus is telling us that every fiber of our being, every aspect of our lives must be committed to loving and serving God. This means that we must hold nothing back from Him because God holds nothing back from us (John 3:16).

Furthermore, Jesus tells us that our commitment to Him must supersede our commitment to even our families: “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after Me cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26-27). Such commitment means our family relationships may be severed. It means our commitment to Christ demands, if given an “either/or” situation, we turn away from them and continue with Jesus (Luke 12:51-53). The bottom line is that those who cannot make that kind of commitment cannot be His disciple.

In other words, the love you have for your family must look like hate when compared to your love for God

Allow me to repeat Luke 18: 39 Then those who went before warned him that he should be quiet; but he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

This blind man was not going to be stopped, and I believe if we knew the whole story, or the rest of the story we would find that blind man had been questioning people about this Man who was healing people and manipulated his situation so that he would be where Christ was going to be, positioning himself for this confrontation.

We must be like this blind man…. No one will stop us from seeking the Lord, no one, no matter what weapons they use to do so, intimidation, ridicule, or whatever source Satan provides them, no one will stop us.

Luke 12:51-53 Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division. 52 For from now on five in one house will be divided: three against two, and two against three. 53 Father will be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”

Jesus is warning us in advance. The reason for such commitment and loyalty is that the trials we may have to endure will be quite demanding; our allegiance to Him at times may be difficult (John 15:18).

Last month I spoke of the battlefield, we will be bloodied and bruised. The narrow path is difficult, dangerous, and few find it and even fewer remain upon it.

Jesus alerted His disciples: “Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:20). The apostle Paul echoed His warning: “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12).

 

Jesus has made it plain the cost of discipleship: “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it” (Luke 9:23-24). In essence, the true cost of commitment to Christ is one’s total self-denial, cross-bearing, and the continual following of Him. These imperatives picture for us sacrifice, selflessness, and service. A cross epitomized ultimate punishment and humiliation (Galatians 3:13). More than that, it fully demonstrated the love of God (Romans 5:8)—selfless and sacrificial in the giving of His life for the world (Matthew 20:28).

Paul followed the Lord’s example of commitment in sacrifice and service. Paul said, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

Total commitment to God means that Jesus is our sole authority, our guiding light, and our unerring compass. Being committed to Christ means being fruitful; it means being a servant. Our truism is simple and concise: “For me to live is Christ” (Philippians 1:21).

We have come to the end of the message, yet I still need to tie this lesson together, and tie it with the previous lessons in the series.

Let’s list the commitments we must make:

First Commitment: To recognize our sins, our weakness, our unhealthy desires. To truly see who we are, to look into the mirror and see the true reflection of who we are.

Second Commitment: To be truly healed, First our Desire, Secondly the healing of our physical or spiritual need.

Third Commitment: To be totally committed to families, jobs, each other, and the church

Fourth Commitment: To study the scripture daily.

Fifth Commitment: To learn and share Christians defenses, and learn how to share this information properly for the greatest success in converting others

 

Ok, I am going to conclude the lesson by summarizing it. We must know the scripture inside and out, we must know how to completely defend our faith with facts and figures, we must already see ourselves as committed disciples of Christ, we must get on the path, expect to bloodied and bruised, we must see our own sin for what it is, pray to have the desire to be healed, pray to be healed of the sin, and be fully committed to Christ and demonstrate that in all aspects of our lives, our work, our play, our families, and our brothers and sisters in Christ, yet all those commitments must pale in the presence of our commitment to Christ.

The way to heaven is not easy, we must pick up our cross and carry it to our Golgotha,

 

 

Faith

Prison Sermon by Jim Carmichael

May 2017

What is faith

What does Faith consist of?

I would like to start by giving a description of faith as I have observed it in Scripture, and we will start in Genesis 2:7 for you see, I see patterns in everything and I see a pattern set before us in the very beginning.

Genesis 2:7  And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

God, formed the Body, and then breathed life (himself, for God is life) into the body, and from these two elements, came a living soul.

Let me illustrate this, if we have nails and boards, and assemble them in a certain way we will have a box, remove the nails, and we no longer have a box. It takes the combination of the two elements for the third element, namely the box to exist.

It takes the two elements; the body, and the spirit for the living soul to exist.

By now you’re wondering what this has to do with faith, so lets look at James 2:28 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also

James just compared works to the spirit, and again in Revelation 14:13 Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.”

Ecclesiastes 12:7 Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, And the spirit will return to God who gave it.

God gave the spirit…

And where do the works come from?

Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

The pattern? The body when it receives the spirit becomes a living soul, the belief when it receives the works, becomes a living faith.

So, let’s make this statement when the element of Belief and the Element of Works come together comes the third element:  a living Faith.

Faith is the most crucial foundational pillar of our Christian life. All rests upon this one attribute, having faith.

Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. (NKJV)

It is a fundamental duty

John 6:28-29 Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”(NKJV)

And, Christ says;

In 1 John 2:3  Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. 4 He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. 6 He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.

Romans 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.(NKJV)

So is it just hearing? Or might there be more, or maybe the word hearing has a little more depth to it than just hearing someone talking about it.

Just as belief has a little more substance to it than just believing, for even the demons believe, but are not saved, no they tremble…

James 2:14-17 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead..(NKJV)

James 1: 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6 But he must ask in faith, without doubting, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That man should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.…

So we learn from these two verses we shouldn’t expect to receive anything from God if we doubt, and any faith without works is dead, and we can’t expect to be saved with a dead faith, so without works we should not expect to receive anything from the Lord… And yet, there is so much we do want to receive from Him isn’t there, we want Him to hear our prayers, and we want them answered, generally for a desired result, but we must expect and accept a no occasionally.

There is one thing we want from faith we do not talk about much, and that is the moment to moment peace of mind that all is well, God is in His place and overseeing our activity, and that no matter what happens it will be to his perfection and our eventual benefit, and that when that fateful day arrives, that last day on this earth, we know we do not have to fear it, for we have that total conviction; that absolute knowledge where our next place in eternity is… heaven.

Many here seek freedom, but are you seeking the true freedom, the true freedom is in God, and eventually eternal life in heave.

Psalm 56:3 Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You(NKJV)

We want that faith, just as the apostles did;

Luke 17:5 And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”(NKJV)

2 Corinthians 5 7 For we walk by faith, not by sight.

Galatians 5: 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.

Hebrews 11 as most of us knows gives example after example of those who walked in faith, and what their act of faith was, and we must follow their examples.

So, we want God to hear us, but how do we gain that faith, that faith that is stronger than ajax as the old saying goes.

We want God to do it for us, just to give it to us, and to some extent He will, but as in everything else, action is required on both parts. And we also know there is a growing, we grow in our faith.

Well, we already know we must do works for our faith to be a living faith, and when it is living we need to know how to strengthen it, what our part is, that is.

I had a person tell me once to never pray for added faith, that is when trouble comes, because that is often how God strengthens us, is by testing us, pulling us, pushing us, and so on. I read a story about faith once that included a story about a hatching egg, if you help the chick out of the egg by breaking the shell for it, the chick will not survive, it is the struggle to get out of the egg, breaking through the shell that gives it the strength it needs to survive, and that is how faith is strengthened, through struggle.

So go ahead and pray for faith, and when difficulty arrives at your door, just thank God He has heard your prayer.

Most of you know my focus here is teaching classes on apologetics, which is the Greek word for apologia which means to give a legal or logical defense. This also increases faith, strengthens it because it gives us that intellectual knowledge and power to defend what we believe, not only to the non-believer, but to ourselves during moments of doubt. At those times, instead of falling back we can fall forward, knowing beyond any doubt the bible is provable to be the inspired word of God. Our faith, our belief, is not a blind faith, no it is based upon solid historical, scientific, and prophetic facts, unshakable facts, undeniable facts… it is the truth.

With all that said, I want to take a look at another path to faith, knowing the word. It makes sense doesn’t it, we should know what it is we are defending? God gives us wisdom…. How? Maybe by the inspiration to study His word. To know it so well that it is literally a part of us, that it becomes part of our DNA.

I recently had my DNA checked for genealogical purposes, and wouldn’t it have been cool if it said I was not only 25% Scottish, and Irish, 50% French/ German, 10% Spanish and Portuguese’s, and less than 1% African, Jewish,  but also 100 % Christian, well that’s a physical DNA, and I bet if we could have our Spiritual DNA checked we would find out we are 100% Christian… Sons and Daughters of God….

In the beginning I quoted Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.(NKJV)

How do we seek Him? What is the most basic way to learn about God, or for that matter anything at all?

Study the words written about the subject, and in this case God is the inspiration of every word written in this book we refer to as the scripture.

So let’s take a look at what the scripture tells us about studying the word.

Principles Governing Kings

Deuteronomy 17:14 “When you come to the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and possess it and dwell in it, and say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me,’ 15 you shall surely set a king over you whom the Lord your God chooses; one from among your brethren you shall set as king over you; you may not set a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. 16 But he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, for the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall not return that way again.’ 17 Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away; nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself.

18 “Also it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book, from the one before the priests, the Levites. 19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes, 20 that his heart may not be lifted above his brethren, that he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left, and that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children in the midst of Israel.

Growing in the Faith:

How strongly does God feel about us knowing His word?

Deuteronomy 6: 4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

6 “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Deuteronomy 27:8 And you shall write very plainly on the stones all the words of this law.”

2 Corinthians 3:3 clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.

Has anyone here ever stated they knew a song by heart? It means by memory doesn’t it, and it the same here, know it by memory.

We are told to have the words on our hearts… First Question… Why?

1 Timothy 1:3 As I urged you when I went into Macedonia—remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine, 4 nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith. 5 Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith, 6 from which some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk, 7 desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm.

We are told to have the words on our hearts… 2^nd Question… how do we get them on our hearts? And, I am talking about the scripture, we all know we can’t just hold the bible up to our head and all of a sudden we know them…. And there are very few who can just read the word and retain it, in fact the average is around 8 times that you must read the bible to even start grasping it… so let me share something with you from outside scripture about physically writing something, so that it becomes engraved upon your heart, in other words, committed to memory…

 

Writing and Remembering: Why We Remember What We Write

Dustin Wax

The following are excerpts from the actual blog:

In a nutshell he writes in his blog after a study he performed on memory, he found that those who take notes and those who don’t

1. both remember about 40% of what they hear, however those taking notes remember the key points, those who don’t take notes remember random pieces of information.
2. Writing something down helps us to remember (I was once told by a school principal that I should use blue or green ink, it helps in the memory department, and to write in caps or small caps).
3. When we take notes, though, something happens. As we’re writing, we create three-dimensional relations between the various bits of information we are recording.
4. 3-D tasks are handled by another part of the brain, and the act of linking the verbal information with the 3-D relationship seems to filter out the less relevant or important information
5. What this and other tests suggest is that when we write — before we write, although indistinguishably so — we are putting some degree of thought into evaluating and ordering the information that we are receiving.
6. That process, and not the notes themselves, is what helps fix ideas more firmly in our minds, leading to greater recall down the line.
7. But there’s something else going on, too.
8. When we write something down, research suggests that as far as our brain is concerned, it’s as if we were doing that thing.
9. Writing seems to act as a kind of mini-rehearsal for doing.
10. visualizing doing something can “trick” the brain into thinking it’s actually doing it, and writing something down seems to use enough of the brain to trigger this effect.
11. Again, this leads to greater memorization, the same way that visualizing the performance of a new skill can actually improve our skill level.

 

How does this help our faith

It was when I spent hours every morning just writing scripture that I found the most joy, and beyond that, I can honestly say it was exciting like a great adventure, and it was this activity that led me from being a pew warmer, to being active in the church, to do what I could to obey the sacred duty to take the word to the world as commanded in Matthew 28: 18 – 20 and to do it without fear, on the contrary with great courage, and excitement.

It is this one activity that helped my faith grow more than all other activities, and by the way, it is one of the works, and commands of Christ.

Let’s recap and call it a night:

Belief and Works are the two components of Faith

Pray for additional faith and expect the trouble that follows that will strengthen your faith

Know how to defend the faith, and by the way we are teaching apologetics right here in this room on Monday mornings starting around 9:15

Physically write the words on paper so they have a better chance of being “written” on your hearts/

The result will be a well-rounded three-dimensional unshakeable faith, the faith needed to be heard by God, the knowledge needed to be heard by other inmates, the Faith needed to get you through the moment to moment trials you face, the Faith needed to please God, the Faith needed to keep you on the narrow path to lead to eternal life in heaven where there will be no more tears, no more pain, and no more death.

And, I’ll see you there.