Tag Archives: 1 John

When the house of cards falls – and it will

Posted on August 6, 2014 by | Comments Off on When the house of cards falls – and it will

house-of-cardsWhen I was a child, one of the things I enjoyed was building towers made out of simple playing cards. Within a few short days of the discovery of this “new” entertainment, I was making towers of playing cards that almost reached three feet in height.  I quickly learned from the mistakes in design that caused the house of cards to become unstable and collapse. Remembering the lessons learned from those days of childhood, each time the cards would fall, I saw it as an opportunity to try something different and new. Sometimes I would be able to build even taller until I ran out of cards and other times I would simply not even know where to begin rebuilding. How little did I understand in those days that God was trying to teach me an important lesson that I had forgotten until now.

We have all hit stages in our life where we look around and realize that our life is not where we thought it should have been. Maybe you are not as far along in your career as you had planned to be. Maybe you’ve gone through relationship issues that you thought you would be beyond by now. Maybe you’ve experienced something that has opened old wounds that you are having a hard time overcoming. Maybe today you are standing in the middle of the ashes of great plans or dreams you had and you simply do not know where to start. It is very easy during these times to become distracted, to become angry, and if we allow it, to become bitter towards those around us and God.  It becomes easy to become disgruntled and to blame others instead of really seeking to find out what went wrong. God invites us to do just that: Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool (Isaiah 1:18).

In my own life, I have gone through a number of things that did not end the way I thought they should have.  I have experienced the pains of two failed marriages and the feelings of failure, shame, inadequacy, and uncertainty that it brings.  I have experienced the confusion and chaos that the loss of a job can bring when things happen beyond our control. In 2006 and since then, when things have not worked out the way I had hoped, I decided to do just that – to reason with the Lord about why things had not happened the way I had hoped.  It meant for the first time in my life, of being completely candid and honest with myself.  One of the worst things we can do to ourselves is to lie to ourselves; we do it quite often. With my own life, I had a tendency not to acknowledge that my sins were as bad as the sins of others.  In fact, the apostle John wrote, If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us (1 John 1:8) as a warning about the condition of our own heart.  Even the prophet Jeremiah warns, The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9). When we fail to see the condition of our own heart and when we fail to understand why we do what we do, we are setting ourselves up for future failures.

In 2006, as I watched everything I thought was certain in my life collapse around me, I decided to do something I had never done.  I share this with you not because I am claiming to be super-spiritual or that I have all of life’s answers, because I don’t. I am simply sharing what has since worked for me. I needed to find out who I was, what my relationship was with the Lord, and for the first time in my life, to truly seek God’s face and will for my life.  I decided to take a Saturday and instead of my normal routine, I left my cell phone at home and took my backpack, a few bottles of water, my knee brace, and my small Bible, and decided to hike every trail in Giant City State Park, spending the time in prayer and in solitude.  I needed to hear from the Lord.  As I locked my car in the parking lot, I said my first sincere prayer of the day; I asked God to open my eyes and to let me see my life as He sees my life.  Folks, that prayer is not for cowards or sissies.  Before I even took my first step out of the parking lot, I took a few minutes to read two chapters of Proverbs and decided that each time I took a break, I would read another two chapters.  I spent the day either in Scripture, in prayer, or thinking on the verses I had read and evaluating the things in my life that had brought me to that point. Sometimes the only way we can really hear from the Lord is to remove ourselves from our daily routines and to truly seek time with the Lord.

What I began to understand for the first time in my life is the importance of seeking the will of God in all that I do.  Whether it is dating, marriage, or even career choice, all too often we have a tendency to make hasty decisions based on emotions or appeal to our vanity.  Solomon wrote, Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding (Proverbs 3:5) and his father, David, wrote O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is (Psalms 63:1). Both verses offer profound guidance for the Christian seeking to really understand what the Lord Jesus Christ would have them to do. This was something that I had never done; I had acted on emotional appeal, perceived appearances, promised personal benefit, and a number of other factors, but never had I made a decision solely based on guidance of the Holy Spirit. Never had I made a decision after consulting only the Lord or seeking out His will for me.  I simply made the decision on my own and had the audacity to blame God when things didn’t work out the way I wanted.

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Posted in Chrisitian Philosophy, Difficulties and Trials, My Walk

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Have you accepted your diagnosis? Are you ready for the cure?

Posted on July 3, 2014 by | Comments Off on Have you accepted your diagnosis? Are you ready for the cure?

image-medicationsAs many of you know, I am a Type II Diabetic; I was first diagnosed with the disease in 2005.  At first, I did not take the diagnosis seriously and continued to eat what I wanted to, skip medications, and for long periods of time, I did not even bother to monitor my blood/glucose levels.  As many of you are reading this, you are probably (and correctly) wondering what was wrong with me—the doctor had told me what I needed to do to be healthy, to overcome Type II Diabetes, and how to avoid the complications that Diabetes can bring into one’s life if the disease is not controlled.  It was a hard thing to hear that I was a Diabetic and even more difficult to convince myself of the need to take the doctor’s advice seriously.

Now, having been a Diabetic for almost ten years, I have accepted the fact that I have a disease that can not only be managed, but could be defeated.  Since 2007, I have managed to lose over 45 pounds, have an A1C considered within a healthy and normal range (last lab results were 6.8), and am normally careful about what and how much I eat.  Three months ago I reached a milestone as my weight is where it was over ten years ago.  What made the difference is that I had to come to an understanding with what I was, what the diagnosis and prognosis was in my condition at that time.  I had to accept the advice of my doctor, the nutritionist, and even a physical fitness expert to get my health back on track.  I have done my own research, have modified my diet, and increased the amount of exercise in my efforts to gain control over my Diabetes.  I have reached the point to where my doctors are now considering reducing the amount of medication I take since my lifestyle continues to lead to improved health.

As I share this with you, I cannot help but to think how this is a picture of our lives before we accept the Lord Jesus Christ as our only hope for Heaven.  Solomon, regarded as being one of the wisest rulers that the world has ever seen, wrote, The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise (Proverbs 12:15). Solomon also wrote, There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death (Proverbs 14:12). I don’t know if it was simple denial or just plain stupidity, but just as I chose to ignore the advice of my doctors when I was first diagnosed with Diabetes, many people choose to ignore the Holy Spirit as the work begins to prepare the heart to make a choice that has eternal consequences.  If you’re reading this and have never trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, God puts this question to you: I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live (Deuteronomy 30:19). Why would God call us to make such a choice?  Because in our natural state, we do not see anything wrong with what we are.  We believe that because we don’t display our sins in the open that somehow we are not as bad as the thief or the murderer.  Just as I was trying to deny I had Diabetes, in mankind’s natural state, they do not want to admit that they are a sinner.  Jesus told his disciples, For there is nothing hid, which shall not be manifested; neither was any thing kept secret, but that it should come abroad (Mark 4:22). Although the Diabetes was hidden within my body and I couldn’t see it; but it was still there.  Just because others cannot see the sins that we keep hidden does not mean that they are not there. The apostle John wrote, If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us (I John 1:8).

Jeremiah the prophet wrote, The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9); I have seen this demonstrated as I have tried to share the gospel with others.  No one wants to admit they are a sinner and there have even been a few that have tried to claim that their sins were not as bad as others that they knew.  Truth is, the apostle John said it best: All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death (I John 5:17). Before anyone can accept the prescription that leads to everlasting life and an eternal home in Heaven, they must be willing to admit that they have the sin-disease. The apostle Paul wrote to the early Christians in Rome, As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one (Romans 3:10-12). Even within the Old Testament, the prophet Isaiah proclaimed But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away (Isaiah 64:6). Mankind’s diagnosis, the diagnosis we all share is found in the book of Romans: Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned (Romans 5:12).

Just as any doctor will tell you what will happen if you let your condition go untreated, the Bible tells us where the “disease” of sin will lead: For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:23). Sin has but one course that it runs: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death (James 1:14-15). Just as my Diabetes has its progressive course that would lead to blindness, increased risk for stroke or heart attack, and eventually an early death, sin has its course it runs through.  Sin entices, sin welcomes, sin traps, sin brings about death—an eternal spiritual separation from God and eternal punishment in a lake of fire. The book of Revelation shows the end result of the unrepentant sinner: And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:12-15).

             The good news is that you don’t have to go there.  You don’t have to suffer the deterioration, pain, and death that sin brings.  The “cure” is Jesus, Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved (Acts 4:12). There is no cure for sin outside the shed blood of Jesus.  There is no other way into the eternal presence of God but through Jesus: Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me (John 14:6). When I became serious about managing my Diabetes, I asked the doctor what all I needed to do to get it under control.  If you’re to the point in your life where you realize your way is no longer working and you want to try something different, you’ve reached the point where you’re now asking as many before you have asked, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? (Acts 16:30b). The good thing about God is that he made the “cure” easy.  There’s no complex diet to follow, no calories to track, or even religious sacrifices that needs to be performed. Paul summed it up in one verse: For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (Romans 10:13).

God doesn’t care about your race, how much money you have in the bank, who your parents are, or even what nationality you are; For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him (Romans 10:12). The apostle Peter, whom had denied the Lord Jesus Christ three times on the night of His trial, wrote, Humbleyourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you (I Peter 5:6-7). Even Jesus taught during His earthly ministry, For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God (John 3:16-18). Yes, it actually is that easy and the high cost of our sins has already been paid. The only part of our salvation that depends on us is our acceptance of what Christ has already done for us: That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved (Romans 10:9).  If you’re lost and have  not accepted Christ as your savior, you now have the diagnosis, prognosis, and the cure; the rest is up to you. 

This entry was previously published in the July 2014 issue of Gospel Light Baptist Church of Henderson, Kentucky. 

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Wherever you are at in your storm, God is there

Posted on March 18, 2014 by | Comments Off on Wherever you are at in your storm, God is there

Young-black-man-with-head-007

This morning as I was doing the daily posts to The Daily Walk‘s Facebook page, a theme began to develop that I have felt led to continue into today’s discipleship study. Today, there are Christians out there who are struggling through the storms, they are wandering through the valleys, or maybe feeling like their entire life is on trial.  It is at these times when we feel the most forsaken, alone, unloved by our fellow Christian and at times, we can even feel abandoned by God.  It’s hard to remember the promise, Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee (Hebrews 13:5) when it seems no one cares.

The apostle Peter learned this lesson the hard way and in the storm of his own choosing.  The story begins as Peter and the disciples see  Jesus walking across the Sea of Galilee to meet them as they journeyed across. The account, as recorded in the book of Matthew, tells of the apostles debating if it were a spirit or some other entity and not Jesus.  As Jesus identifies himself to the men in the boat, And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? (Matthew 14:28-31).  Although Peter had chosen this trial his own self, he still took his eyes off the Lord Jesus Christ and and not depending upon his faith in God, he chose to rely on his own understanding.  It was only when he became broken and cried out for deliverance that Jesus restored him.

It is easy in these times to take our eyes off the Lord Jesus Christ. Almost all the storms I have faced in my life since surrendering to Christ has been because I chose the storm or the valley.  At first, I had a hard time admitting that many of the circumstances I found myself in were because of my own doing and not some test or tribulation sent to try my faith. It is too easy for Christians to excuse the consequences of their sins and claim that God had let these things happen as a means of testing our faith.  Yes, as a Christian, God does forgive us when we do fail him; we have His promises: My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous (I John 2:1), If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (I John 1:9), and As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us (Psalms 103:12). But just because the sin is forgiven does not mean that we still will not have the repercussions of those sins.  Even though Jesus lifted Peter from the depths of the waves and restored him to the sea’s surface does not mean that Peter’s shoes and clothes were made dry.  He still had to bear the wet clothing that was the results of his doubts.

I am not saying that every storm we encounter is because of choices we have made.  There are some that we will endure that will be nothing more than tests of our faith.  Several are recorded in the Bible – Paul and Silas, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, Job, and Abraham all had their faith tested.  Each one was victorious and have something in common – the storm was a test of faith that brought glory and honor to God. We learn not only about ourselves, but we learn that God does not abandon us during our times of need.  He waits for us to call out and look: God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble (Psalms 46:1). It is during these times of storms and tribulations – ones that were not caused by our indulging of the flesh – that God’s glory is made visible to all. It should be these times that we easily choose to call upon God yet many of us still rather try our own solutions and come to the end of ourselves before we call upon God to deliver us from these times.

Whether it is a storm of our own making or one that is sent to try us, the one thing that is the same is that God has not moved.  He is still there, with an outstretched hand offered to us if we will only reach out to Him.

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