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5/17/2020

Have Faith in God

     The current coronavirus pandemic is certainly cause for concern and practical steps to slow the spread and protect the most vulnerable in society are under say. Of course, this situation has caused a great deal of fear in our nation. However, I submit to you we must face the future with faith instead of fear.

     Facing the future with faith instead of fear does not mean we throw caution to the wind and proceed to live recklessly. Thoughtful concern for others by maintaining good hand hygiene, at times wearing a mask, and paying attention to the formation of small groups in confined areas makes sense while we work our way through this problem. Proceeding to protect the most vulnerable from unnecessary exposure to potential carriers makes sense as well.

     However, unnecessary fear ends up paralyzing society and creating a host of other problems as bad or worse than the pandemic. Consequently, we must move about to work, carry on essential services, and get the economy going again. We can do so with full confidence the Lord will help and protect us. Remember, most individuals can deal with this virus. It is not life threatening to most individuals (including many who are older).

     Thankfully, the nation has fought back the horrible possibility of overrunning our national health care system. Now that we can fight this battle with sufficient resources in our hospitals, we must move forward. The only real enemy now becomes fear itself.

     Our Lord certainly encourages us to have faith in God. In fact, this must be our response to the whole of life (pandemic or no pandemic). Life throws many trials our way and the proper response is always faith in our heavenly Father. As the Psalmist so aptly puts it, “what time I am afraid I will trust in thee” (Psalm 56:3).

     Indeed, we will trust in the Lord and exercise faith in him. Consider these powerful words from Jesus as recorded in the gospel of Mark and let them build your response to problems as they come:

“And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them” (Mark 11:22-24).

     Our Lord expects us to face the future with great confidence in him. He says, “Have faith in God.” While there are obstacles in life, faith in God moves mountains! We can choose to face the future with faith instead of fear as we engage our battles with prayer. The coronavirus is one of those battles.

     My word of exhortation to you today is simply: have faith in God! Pray over your needs and cast your cares at his feet. Remember, what things soever ye desire when you pray, believe you receive them, and you shall have them. Amen!

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5/9/2020

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Lessons From a Desperate Mother

2 Kings 4:1-7:

1 Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the LORD: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen.
2 And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil.
3 Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few.
4 And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full.
5 So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out.
6 And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed.
7 Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest.

     Now let’s meditate upon this situation. In verse one we discover a wife has lost her husband who himself feared the Lord and evidently served along side Elisha in the ministry himself. Elisha certainly knew him and knew his testimony for the Lord. As time past this dear man died and left his wife and two sons on their own.

     Unfortunately, the family found themselves in debt and now with the husband and father gone creditors came to take the only asset available to them—namely her two boys.

     How many of you know when trouble comes God is still on the throne? This mother is faced with a great trial. Her heart is troubled at the thought of her two boys going into servitude for an extended period of time. Already bereaved of her husband soon her boys would be gone as well.

     So, she cries out to Elisha. She makes him fully aware of her situation with the hope he can help her. As Elisha listens to her plight he first makes it plain that he cannot help her. He says, “What shall I do for thee, or how can I help thee?”

     Like Peter in the New Testament who said to the lame man, “Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.” So, Elisha cannot help this mother by his own means, but he knows the Lord will help her. So he says, “Tell me, what do you have in the house?”

     As we see from the text, the only thing she had in the house was a pot of oil. As soon as Elisha became aware of the pot of oil, the Lord quickened to his heart the answer. What confidence the prophet had in the Lord! He proceeded to tell this mother to borrow as many vessels as possible from her neighbors and once in possession of those vessels she was to shut herself and her boys in the house.

     Elisha then instructed her to take the pot of oil and pour from it into each vessel. Once one was full, they were to set it aside and take another and fill it. They were to continue this way until all the vessels were full.

     The Bible says, “so she went from him,” and she obeyed Elisha. Now I trust you see the faith of this dear mother. As she moved about the neighborhood borrowing vessels, she is embracing the word of the Lord from the prophet. She is moving in faith. She is trusting the Lord for the miracle Elisha is clearly speaking of.

     Once in the house with her boys I believe they had quite the church service! She started pouring from her pot into a vessel perhaps two or three times the size of her pot, but as she poured the oil kept coming. She topped that one off and had one son move that one aside as her other boy put the next vessel in front of her. She began to pour again, and the oil kept flowing until that vessel was also filled.

     About right there I think some excitement was building in the house. Mom had to say, “Boys, look what the Lord is doing,” as she kept filling those vessels. Finally, mom said, “bring me another vessel.” But her son said, “mom, that was the last one.” I mean, she was ready to keep pouring!

     Now let me remind you of something. This miracle illustrates to us the limitless supply of the living God. We can exhaust our resources, but we can never exhaust His! When he supplies our needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus there is as much remaining as when he first started. There will never be a run on the bank of heaven because His riches can never be depleted!

     Now look again at verse seven . . . God’s provision paid her debt and the remainder was enough for them to live on.

     Do you know something? God’s provision has also paid my debt. The debt I owed left me in bondage to sin and death. I was destined to eternal servitude facing a debt I could not pay, until God opened a fountain that still flows from a hill called Calvary. My friend, the work of Christ upon the cross is sufficient to pay all our sin debt and set us free!

     Do you know something else? Not only is God’s provision enough to pay my sin debt, but I live on the rest of it. Christ is my Savior, but Christ is also my life!

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Bread for Believers

5/4/2020

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To Die is Gain - Philippians 1:20-24

     With these words the Bible sets forth the power of Christ working within the believer. Again, with these words the Bible sets forth the controlling victory that is the birth right of every believer. Furthermore, the abiding assurance with which Paul speaks can only be found in a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. I ask you, who but a Christian can say, “to die is gain?”

     As you know, most of mankind lives with a gnawing fear of death in their spirit. Death for the average person is filled with uncertainty. Even those who mask their fear with false spirituality cannot say to die is gain. Death remains a hindrance to their aspirations all of which are centered in this world. Not so for those who have victory over the fear of death through the Lord Jesus Christ.

     Please take careful note before Paul speaks of dying, he talks about living. He says, “For to me to live is Christ.” Paul’s victory over the fear of death and his anticipation of departing this life to be with Christ rested in his personal relationship to the Lord Jesus. Many years earlier Paul surrendered his heart to the Lord Jesus Christ. His faith in the Lord Jesus was the source of his victory over the fear of death.

     However, at one time in his life Paul only possessed a generic knowledge of God. While he appropriately respected God and sought to do what was right, he nonetheless lived in bondage to fear (Rom. 8:15). He lacked a personal relationship to God through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. At the root of his spiritual struggles lay the same problem all men wrestle with.

     What is that problem? Hear me well: ultimately every man comes face to face with his guilt before God. It is that guilt and the corresponding alienation from God which produces the fear of death. Interestingly, the current pandemic we face is bringing the fear of death to the surface for many individuals. The thought of an unseen enemy invading the body and thrusting one into the ICU where life hangs by a thread on the effectiveness of a ventilator is producing waves of fear in the hearts of many.

     But listen to Paul after he trusted Christ as his Savior. He says, “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ” (Rom. 8:15-17a).

     Upon surrendering his life to Christ and trusting the Lord Jesus for his salvation, Paul traded uncertainty for a settled future. He traded fear of death for the glorious assurance to depart this life to be with Christ is far better than anything this temporal world can offer.

     The important thing to see in this passage is the absence of fear in the face of death. Paul knew he possessed eternal life. Paul knew the Lord Jesus would not fail him.

Paul possessed the freedom that is only found in a personal relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, whether it be by life, or by death, Paul was ready to magnify Christ in his body. The settled conviction "to die is gain" possessed his heart.

Likewise, all believers can say the same. Our fear of death is gone. Indeed, to die is gain!

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