Jesus | 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?

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.

Speak To Me Lord

May 12, 2011 by Bill Leave a Comment

Given May, 6, 2011

I have recently taken a second retirement job which requires me to drive about 30 minutes to work each morning. The time is well spent because I get to listen to preaching and pray. And, as the title of this blog suggests, God speaks to me during this time as He has for years which gives me “revelations” to share with each of you.

On this particular morning, I was feeling kind of low and as I prayed, I said, “Lord, speak to me this morning. Give me some sign that you are with me.” Immediately, He said in my spirit, “My word says I’m always with you.” (Hebrews 13:5). “Maybe you are not with Me!” Then, again, a scripture came to my mind, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” (James 4:8). I thought, “Yes, maybe that is the problem.” So I said out loud, “Lord, I draw near to You and I thank You for being with me.” Suddenly an overwelming , tearful feeling of the presence of God surrounded me. I felt His loving arms around me and knew He was right there. With tears dripping down my face, I said, “Thank you Lord.”

Then I was reminded that those scriptures which immediately came to my mind were residing in my heart because I had been reading my Bible and listening to teaching from servants of God. “I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against You.” (Psalm 119:11). It”s good to have God’s word in you so when a situation or emergency presents itself, you know what to do according to that word. This is so important. Do you read the Bible every day? A good plan to use is the Project 345 Plan from the Ark Church which our church has been doing since January 1, 2011. Check it out.