Got A Minute?

Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD!   (Psalm 27:14 NKJV)

What are they ordering? I sat in line at the local burger joint, having an appointment pending, as the person two cars ahead of me was talking to the little black box. Don’t they realize there are those of us in line that need to be places? Don’t they know that you should not place ten orders at the drive through? I yelled out the window, “Hey! Go inside if you are ordering for an army!” Well, no, I really didn’t do that but I wanted to. Ever been there?

Waiting is something we have been trained not to do. Microwaves and internet phones have caused us to get used to 4G speed. Seventy mile per hour speed limits seem to slow. TV commercials change scenes every 3.1 seconds. Cable news covers world events every ten minutes.

Christianity has not escaped the hurry up mode. It seems that two hour long church services are for those who don’t have a life. We have come to expect what we want in a matter of minutes. Want it, need it, get it; now. God is not into speed; He exists eternally. He does not measure time; there are no limitations in eternity. His methods reflect His character; everlasting to everlasting. Jesus told us that God knows what we need and will supply it. He did not say immediately. There is strength to be found in waiting. Imagine that. I forfeit courage and strength every time I refuse to wait upon God to answer my prayers. I ask, and then act if He does not jump at my beckon call. God is not in a hurry; I am. I measure time in seconds, minutes, hours, days, months, and years. I waited 32 years before I submitted my life to Christ. 32 years; if God had been in a hurry for me to get saved He would have given up long before then. He waited on me, now I need to learn to wait on Him. I need to be patient in worship. I need to be patient in prayer. Help me Lord!

Life: A deep creek with strong currents.

Psalm 37 (New Century Version)

²³ When people's steps follow the Lord, God is pleased with their ways. ²⁴ If they stumble, they will not fall, because the Lord holds their hand.

A thought came to me the other day while fishing. I was wading and was crossing the creek in a swift current to go around a deep hole. I have a staff I use because of my clumsiness and even with it the current was pushing so hard against my legs that I could only take one step at the time and place my foot very carefully between the slippery rocks. After making it to shallow water I let my staff go as I have it connected to me by a cord, and it floated along side while I fished. Then it came to me; that is what God meant when He said in this Psalm, “If you follow Me you might stumble, but you will not fall.”

Life is like that creek sometimes. The current pushes hard against us as we try to navigate our way across the rough times to the calmer times. The Lord is like my wading staff. I knew I would get across the stream so I took my time and prodded along. Pushing my staff ahead of me into the water to test the depth and then putting my weight on it to uphold my next step. Slowly but surely I made it over safely.

The key to walking through the hard times of life without falling is to follow the Lord Jesus. He is already at where we are going. He is not standing on the other side just motioning to us and instructing us in our journey to follow Him. That would be a very impersonal god. No, He has hold of our hand in this life and upholds us as we walk toward Him.

How about you today? In the middle of a deep creek with a strong current trying to wash your legs out from under you? Stop where you are, call upon Christ and take His hand when He extends it to you. When you reach the safety of the shallow water don’t let go but keep Him connected to you; always with you. Because before you get out of this creek of life you will wade into some more deep spots and strong currents.

Got Joy?

Psalm 51:12
Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit.

Intense and especially ecstatic or exultant happiness is the definition the dictionary gives for joy. Many among us have lost theirs. Once upon a time they knew exultant happiness. They were elated and jubilant. Then something happened; something that changed their lives forever and put an end to their joyfulness. Something they had was taken away from them or something they had hoped would happen did not happen. They expected a good report from the doc. They expected a raise. They expected they would pass. They expected God to heal them. When the unexpected happened instead they were sent into a tailspin. It is like an aircraft that stalls and plummets to earth out of control heading for a crash. You may be one of “them.” As you read this message you may be experiencing exactly what God impresses upon me to write today. God impresses you to write? Brother Mike, you mean you just don’t sit down and come up with something to write? That might be your thoughts. Yes, He impresses ideas, words, and even phrases upon me as I sit with my fingers on the keys. He does that because He knows I may not even know you, or you may not know me: but He knows you. Even if you and I are acquainted I still may not know what you are going through or facing at this moment: but He does! He wants you to know that. He had you mind for this message.

If our joy is founded upon our well being then it can be lost. David had lost his joy and in the moment of crisis it came to him why. David remembered the one thing that brought him joy to begin with. That was the salvation that comes from God. His earthly trials had overtaken him and then he remembered that his earthly life was only temporary. We might say it this way in our language, “Remind me again Lord what You did for me on the Cross. Bring back to my remembrance the fact that I have not lost my salvation. Pick up the broken pieces of my life and put them back together that I may feel whole once again.” Job found out the hard way that earthly trials are not the result of God giving up on someone.

Let David’s prayer be yours today if you are one of “them.” Jesus has petitioned God on your behalf: But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. (John 17:13).

Gods Wheelbarrow

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. (Proverbs 2:5-6 NKJV).

The crowd watched as the man walked a tight rope stretched across Niagara Falls. Then the second time he adorned a blindfold and walked the line across and back. On his third trip across he pushed a wheelbarrow over and back. Once again he accomplished his feat with the wheel barrow blindfolded. The crowd cheered each time he preformed his acts. The guy then asked one of the people watching, “Do you believe I can push that wheelbarrow over and back again without the blindfold?” Based on his previous feats the person answers yes. The man then says to the person, “Then get in the wheelbarrow.”

            That is what God asks us to do; get in His wheelbarrow. It is easy to say we have trust in the Lord but when tested we sometimes doubt. We doubt that He will take care of the situation. We doubt that He will heal us. We doubt that He really cares about the little things. This Proverb reminds us that we can put our complete trust in Him even though it may not seem logical to us. When all is going well in our lives it is easy to trust Him so we must learn to trust Him the same way in times of trial. Next time you are faced with a decision or find yourself in a circumstance that you cannot fix; take a deep breath, look to heaven, and get in the wheelbarrow and hold on.

When Is Conviction Encouragement?

(John 16:8 NKJV)
And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.

When does conviction become encouragement? The word convict brings to mind being charged with a crime and found guilty. When we use it in a spiritual sense we refer to it as being charged with sin. Conviction can be encouraging though. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit with the mission of convicting us. Think about it as being diagnosed with a disease. You feel poorly, maybe have a temperature, your joints ache. You know something is wrong just by the way you feel. You visit the doc and find out that you have a virus of some sort, get some meds, and end up feeling better. If left undiagnosed and untreated you could end up with a more serious health problem. Spiritual conviction works the same way in regards to our soul. The Holy Spirit diagnosis’s our condition and offers treatment. Sin is the disease, forgiveness is the cure, and Jesus is the Doctor.

There are people who live their lives in bitterness and anger every day. They never seem to have any joy in their life. Their outlooks are negative, they are pessimistic and cynical. If they would simply ask God what’s wrong He would have His Holy Spirit diagnose them. Other folk are generally spiritually healthy but when the Holy Spirit diagnosis’s them they either feel guilty or angry. They accept the diagnosis and feel guilt or they reject it and get angry because He pointed out the problem to them!

Conviction is encouragement from God to get healed spiritually. Allow the convicting power of the Holy Spirit to have free reign in your life; every minute of every day. Listen to Him when He points out something that if not taken care of will lead to more serious spiritual problems. Take the medicine of repentance and accept treatment from the Great Physician in the form of forgiveness. You will feel much better.

Its About Time

But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law (Galatians 4:4 NKJV).

Time was created by God for us. Time is an unseen creation that the world is subject to. Sometimes it is referred to as “father time.” Men have said that time waits for no man. We cannot actually save it. We may utilize a segment of it more efficiently but we cannot bank it and draw it out later. We sometimes think that eternity is just unending time but that is not the case. There is no limit to eternity. Time is a segment carved out of eternity for the purpose God intended before the earth and all that is in it was ever created.

Time pulled us from the womb of our mom. Time pulled us from infancy into adolescence. Time pulled us out of high school and pushed us into adulthood. Then one day it took us by the hand and led us into retirement. Eventually it will push us off the face of the earth and we will be engulfed into eternity. There to be, where ever we end up, eternally existent. Time is Gods servant. He has ordered its every move. Christ came, in due time. Christ was crucified, in due time. Christ was resurrected, in due time. Christ will return; in due time. God calls it the “fullness” of time. In my Ivanhoe vernacular that means the time has come.

We are somewhere between the Creation of the world and the end of it. Time is marching straight ahead to the edge of the cliff God has prepared for it. It will finish its mission one day falling back into eternity from which it was taken out of. You and I are at its mercy. You and I are living in a window of it. Time has pushed millions out this life quickly and some others it has pulled along for years. God has another event planned and in the “fullness of time” it will happen just as His birth, death and resurrection did. The event is referred to as the “Rapture.” The word is a term taken from Latin meaning “to snatch away.” Jesus will come and take all His people out of the world. Those bodies that time has left behind in the grave will be joined up once again with the spirit that once inhabited it. Those of us who are alive when He comes will experience a change of our bodies. It will happen so quick the blink of an eye will miss it.

Friend, are you one of His people? Have you asked Jesus to save you? If not, please, please do it soon; very soon. Time is pulling us toward it at this very minute. Don’t wait, you don’t have “time”, it has you.

He Lives To Deliver and Rescue!

For He is the living God, and steadfast forever; His kingdom is the one which shall not be destroyed, and His dominion shall endure to the end. He delivers and rescues, and He works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, Who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions. (Daniel 6: 26b -27 NKJV)

Hear that roar in your mind? That thought that causes you to tremble and stress out every time you think of it. The thought planted there by the enemy of your soul, Satan. The one God called the accuser of the brethren. You are not the first person to ever have to battle such a thought. The enemy devised a trap that he may find a way to put Daniel to death. The first attempt under Nebuchadnezzar had failed. King Darius liked Daniel because God had given Daniel favor with him. When the king found out what his decree had set in order for Daniel he was grieved in his heart. Like Pilate did for Jesus, he labored to get Daniel pardoned. Unlike Pilate, King Darius told Daniel that his God whom he served continually would deliver him. Then he experienced that roar. That thought the enemy planted in his mind that said; there is no God. There is no one to save Daniel. All night the king fasted and prayed for Daniel’s safety. He had heard about the men being delivered from the fire no doubt and he was now depending upon God to save Daniel from the lions. He did and that prompted King Darius to send out another decree commanding all to fear the God of Daniel because of the words in our text above. He delivers and rescues he wrote. This is not just a historical record, this is a prophetic promise to you. What He did for Daniel He will do for you.

You may be battling the roar of the enemy in your soul today. Worried about how things will work out or be resolved. Fearing the worst while hoping for the best. Mustering up as much faith as you possibly can while the lions of the enemy, those thoughts, keep telling you there is no God. There is no help. Luck is all you have to depend on. Read the words of King Darius again and listen to what God is saying to you right now: He saved Daniel, He will save you. While Jesus hang on the cross unbelieving men said, “He saved others, but He cannot save Himself.” You and I are the “others” that He has saved by dying for our sins. As for Himself, He is always alive. The body of Jesus died on the cross; not God. God did not come back to life, He always lives to make intercession for you and I (Hebrews 7:25). When the “lions” roar in your mind remind them of that fact. That will close their mouths.