Revelations from the Road

Freedom

July 4, 2011 by Bill Leave a Comment

Given July 4, 2011

Years ago, our forefathers had a dream of a nation free from the tyranny of Great Britian. They acted on that dream and formed, “a more perfect Union” by creating the Constitution of the United States. It was difficult but they stood fast and many gave their lives fighting for that dream of freedom. We are still fighting for it today. God also had a dream of a people free from the tyranny of Satan. He acted on that plan and sent Jesus to lead us in the paths of righteousness. It was difficult but Jesus was faithful and gave His life for God’s plan of Spiritual freedom. We still have that opportunity today but Jesus fought and died in our place. By the sacrifices of our forefathers, military, and others we enjoy freedom in our United States. By the sacrifice of Jesus we can have true freedom. Today we celebrate our independence in this country but let’s not forget
the real independence we have through Jesus. “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John8:36). God bless America!

What Are You Giving?

June 26, 2011 by Bill Leave a Comment

Given June 21, 2011

I heard the other day that, on the average, Christians give about 2.5% of their income to the church. It made me think what percentage of our income goes to other things in our lives. That would be interesting to know. Does it show what’s important to us or where our priorities are? I’ve heard it said that the best measure of our priorities is our checkbook. We all need to take a look at that and see where our heart is.

As Christians, we are required by God to give back a tenth of our income to Him, the first tenth too, (See Malachi 3:10 and Proverbs 3:9). God gives us our entire income and expects us to give 10% of it back to Him. Why doesn’t He just keep His part and give us the 90%? That way, we wouldn’t have to worry about it or keep up with it. But He gave us a free will and He wants us to be obedient to Him. Are we? The Bible says if we don’t give back the tithe, we are robbing God! (See Malachi 3:8). Not a good thing to do. What if on January 1, God checked the books and saw what you gave during the past year and multiplied that by 10 and that’s what your income would be for the coming year? Could you live on that?

God is not requiring the tithe to be a harsh taskmaster over us but He wants to bless us. The Bible says over and over if we will give, God will give back to us and we will be blessed. I remember something about, “pressed down, shaken together, and running over”. Now, we don’t give in order to get. That would be like paying for something. We give because we want to, because God asks us to, because He loves a cheerful giver, (2 Corinthians 9:7). But the tithe is not all, God gave us another way to be blessed…offerings. That’s giving over and above the tithe. The more we give, the more it pleases God, and He does good things to those who please Him and honor His commands. It’s not a chore or a duty, it’s something we want to do for the God who has done soooooooo much for us.

Worth repeating: “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.” (Malachi 3:10). One last point, giving is not just money. There are many ways to give and God will provide you with opportunities every day if you’ll just look for them. And it doesn’t have to be a lot. Remember the boy who offered his lunch of some fish and bread to Jesus? (John 6:5-15). He took that little offering and fed thousands that day. Put what you are required to give and some offerings into the hands of God and see what He will do. What was your income this week?

How Many Faces Do You Have?

June 22, 2011 by Bill Leave a Comment

Given June 20, 2011

Who is the real you? Is the “you” people see really you? Who are you really? When we take a serious look at who we really are, we may be troubled by what we see. Or…maybe we already know who we are and do a good job of hiding it. You know at the judgment, “.. they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.” (1 Peter 4:5). Standing there before God, we won’t be able to cover up who we really are. We will be exposed and even have to give an account for every idle word we have spoken, (Matthew 12:36). But then God said, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” (Hebrews 10:17). Is repentance important? You bet!

So what about your faces? Think about it, do you have a “face” you wear at church that is different than the “face” you wear at work or school? What about your face at the ball game when the ref makes a bad call? What face do you wear at the store or around your family? Is it different? And finally, what face do you wear when no one is around? You may think you’re by yourself but, you know, God is always there. How many faces do you have?

The point is that we should have only one face; the face that is the real us. The face that Jesus wants us to wear. The face He planned for us to have before we were born. The face that will be pleasing to Him. That’s the face we should wear no matter where we are or who we’re with even when we’re by ourselves.

You may be thinking, “I realize now my closet is full of masks.” “What do I do?” It must involve the renewing of our mind, (Romans 12:2). Get into the Bible, memorize scripture, listen to Bible-based preaching, and pray, pray, pray. Your thoughts will begin to be changed, your Spirit will become stronger than your flesh, and these changes will filter down to your heart. And what’s in your heart will come out of your mouth, (Luke 6:45). Your words will change and you will react biblically to situations. The whole while the Holy Spirit will continue to train you, “from glory to glory”, (2 Corinthians 3:18), until you find that the face you wear at the ball game, around your family, or by yourself is the same face you wear at church.

Let’s all make it a point to begin getting rid of the faces that came with our evil flesh and more and more wear the face of the One in whose image we were created. Who’s with me?

Photo from David Shepherd – Life At The Center.

Good Sermon Pastor

June 18, 2011 by Bill 1 Comment

Given April 2009

“Good sermon Pastor.” Have you ever said this to your pastor? He prays, listens to the Holy Spirit, and prepares the message you need to hear. Your pastor is God’s servant doing what God instructs him to do. So what’s our part in this? Imagine this…you say to the pastor, “Good sermon today Pastor, it really spoke to me.” And the pastor replies, “Thank you, now what are you going to do with it?” “Uh…do with it?” “I have to do something with what you taught?” Yes we do! “Do what God’s word says. Don’t merely listen to it, or you will fool yourselves.” (James 1:22, God’s Word Translation). We can listen to many sermons, teaching CDs, or MP3s and be able to quote fifty scriptures but if we don’t put into practice what we’ve learned, what good is it to anyone?

Jesus told his disciples, ”All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore GO and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20). Jesus had been teaching them; they had “heard” the Lord say many things from God and now He was telling them to go, baptize, and teach, (all action words), what He had told them. Basically, “Now guys go and do what you heard.” It’s the same for us.

What have you heard? What did you learn? What are you going to DO this week? “Good message Pastor. Now I’m going to go put it into practice.” And Jesus says, “Great! I’m going with you.”

Is Your Offering Enough?

June 11, 2011 by Bill Leave a Comment

Given June 11, 2011

The apostle Paul urges us to, “..offer your bodies as living sacrifices that are holy and pleasing to God,” (Romans 12:1). What does that mean? Have you ever said this to God, maybe in a morning prayer? We sing the old hymn, “I Surrender All”, but what is ALL? Would we dare pray, “Father God, I offer most of my body a living sacrifice to You but I’m gonna keep part of it for myself.” Or sing, “I surrender some. I surrender some.” Sounds silly doesn’t it? But, I’m afraid, that is exactly what many of us do.

The Levitical sacrifices of animals were such that the animal was killed, its blood sprinkled or poured around or on the altar, and the remainder of the animal was burned either entirely or consumed in some manner. But when the sacrifice was over, there was no animal left. The animal’s body was offered as a sacrifice and it surrendered all. Are we willing to do the same?

Actually, I don’t want to keep part of me to control because I’ll mess it up as we have all done. I want God to take all of me but that is hard to do. Jesus said, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you as well“. (Matthew 6:33). He says to put all these other things, even our bodies, desires, wants, back down the list and seek God first. Give Him all that, (offer Him everything), and see what happens. We can’t even think or imagine what will happen, (see Ephesians 3:20). Remember the rich young ruler in Luke 18? He was invited to “surrender all” and follow Jesus and could possibly have been the next disciple but he refused because he, “was very wealthy” (verse 23).

Let’s think about what it will take for us to “offer our (whole) bodies” and “surrender all”. Are we willing? It will take a commitment similar to the commitment an Olympic athlete makes compared to the commitment of a 5 year-old in T-ball. God wants us. He wants us all and ALL of us. Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice so we could do the same. The time is now.

Freedom

What Are You Giving?

How Many Faces Do You Have?

Good Sermon Pastor

Is Your Offering Enough?

Thanks for reading

Recent Posts

Thanks for reading

Recent Posts

Tags

Revelations From The Road