Let Go. Let God. Live it. Love. You're looking good!

     Whew!  16 degrees up in the country!  It is winter, you know.  I have a warm fire burning in the Buck Stove and we’re counting the days until spring.  No problem.  God has everything under control.

     This past Sunday we had a great day at the Enola Church of Christ with 138 members and guests meeting together for study, worship, and good Christian fellowship.  We are so very thankful for our eldership and their wives and families, our five hard-working deacons and their wives and families, and for every member of the church of Christ at Enola both young and older.  We still have a few out sick with various illnesses and such, but all in all those who have had the flu virus are improving.  God is blessing us with so many rich blessings and we are so very thankful.  As our brother Patrick always says, “We are so thankful for the kind and warm fellowship we enjoy at Enola.”

     This past Sunday we consider the third lesson in our series “The Pathway to Peace.”  We have an enemy.  He is Satan, the devil.  The apostle Peter wrote about him being like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8).  Jesus called him a thief in John 10 and said that all he wants to do is steal, kill, and destroy.  Jesus came to bring and give life, the abundant life.  This enemy, the devil and his minions make it their aim to fill every human being with sin, fear, regret, and worry.  We must LET GO of these things and then LET GOD fill us with salvation in the Son, faith, hope, and love.  After we LET GO and LET GOD, we must live like we have let go and let God.  Too many Christians talk about being saved but think, speak, and act like those who have never known Jesus Christ.  Too many Christians say they have come to believe and know that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, but then live as though they believed in nothing.  Too many Christians talk about hope, but live their lives without hope.  Too many Christians read about love, talk about love, sing about love, and say “I love you,” but when it comes to actually living a life of love, well, Jesus said in John 14:15; “If you love Me, keep my commandments.”  Doesn’t love demand forgiveness?  Doesn’t love demand patience, kindness, gentleness, self-control and the other fruits of the Spirit?  You know the answer to these questions.  Solomon said that the “whole duty of man” is to love God and keep His commandments.  He said that this was man’s all.  In the same way, if we are saved, then we need to live like we are.  If we have faith, then let’s show it at work, at school, at home, at church, everywhere.  If we have hope in God through Christ Jesus, then shouldn’t the world, at least those who know us see this in our daily lives?  If we realize the love of God, then shouldn’t we love one another?

     This Sunday, we would love to see you at the Enola Church of Christ, 253 Highway 107 North.  We will look at the concluding lesson in our January series, a lesson on LOVE.  If you would like to read ahead, read 1 Corinthians 13.  We’ll ask ourselves the question, “Do I love?”  Love is...Love is not and does not…  It is my prayer that every member will be present and that the house of the Lord will be full.

     Take care of yourself.  Pray more.  Pray every day for our world, the country we live in, for your fellow employees where you work, for your fellow students, for your family and friends, for your enemies, and for yourself.  Pray matters because God matters.  He hears and answers every prayer according to His will and purpose. 

Let Go. Let God. Live. Love. The Way to Go!

     Hello, from up in the country.  Yesterday I washed my truck and worked outside because the temperature was a spring-like beautiful 71 degrees with those clear blue Arkansas skies.  Today, the temperature is a brisk 35.  Earlier this morning the temperature was 26, a 45 degrees drop in less than 24 hours.  Someone told me that if you don’t like the weather in Arkansas, just wait a few minutes.  No problem.  We’ll just bundle up and keep on keeping on.

     Remember our thoughts from last week?  If we are ever to live on the pathway to peace we must let go of some things:  sin, fear, regret, and worry.  If we will let these things go from our lives, God will take them and wash them away by grace through faith.  We can do this.  Of course letting go is only part of the battle.  What do we do now?  Well, now that we have let go, we must LET GOD.

     When we let go of sin, we must let God fill us with His Son.  When we let go of fear, we must let God fill us with faith.  When we let go of regret, we must let God fill us with hope.  When we let go of worry, we must let God fill us with His love and His blessings.  In Matthew 12:38 the religious leaders of Jesus’ day asked Him for a sign that He was who He said He was, the Christ.  He told them that the people of Ninevah and the queen of Sheba would rise up in the judgment to condemn them and their generation because they refused to believe the truth.  In verses 43-45 Jesus tells about a man with an unclean or evil spirit inside him.  This text will help us to see more clearly what I would like for us to see in this series of lessons.  Read these verses below or take your Bible and read.

“When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none.  Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’  And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order.  Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state is worse than the first.  So shall it also be with this wicked generation.”

     Another example of my point in this lesson can be established by reading a passage in Luke, chapter 6, verses 47-48a.  Jesus tells us that in order to build a house, we must first DIG DEEP and find the FOUNDATION, which is Christ.

“Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like; He is like a man building a house, WHO DUG DEEP and LAID THE FOUNDATION on the Rock.”

     In both these texts we find the same principle, that of letting go or getting those unclean spirits out of us or digging deep.  The next step toward the pathway to peace is to LET GOD FILL US with His Son, that is salvation, faith, hope, and love.  We need to find the foundation and build.

     Take a look again at Jesus’ words about the man who had the unclean or evil spirit go out of him.  Jesus didn’t tell us how this took place.  Can you think of anything more unclean or evil than sin, fear, regret, or worry?  It could be that the man who had the unclean spirit just got tired of dealing with him and told him to get out.  It could be that the man possessed had help from Jesus Himself to get this unclean spirit out.  It could be that the man’s friends helped him.  It might have been a natural event or a supernatural event.  Jesus didn’t tell us.  The most important point in Jesus’ teaching is this:  After the unclean spirit left the man, he made a grave mistake.  He didn’t fill his mind, his heart, his conscience, his life with THE CLEAN SPIRIT, the Holy Spirit of God. 

     What about you?  Are you ready to let go?  Are you tired of dealing with the unclean evil spirits of sin, fear, regret, and worry?  If you are, you can be free.  Put your faith and your life in Jesus Christ.  His invitation is found in Matthew 11:28-30 and boy, is it beautiful.  Repentance is a qualifying decision for salvation.  Peter and the apostles preached repentance in Acts 2:37-38.  Confess Jesus.  He is the Son of God and Savior of all who are saved (Acts 8:34-39 – This is the account of Philip, a preacher and a nobleman from Africa).  Be baptized by the authority of Jesus Christ.  When I baptize a person, I always follow the example in Matthew 28:18-20.  Upon our baptism we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  The unclean is gone.  The clean fills our minds, our hearts, our consciences, and ourselves, our lives.  Let go and let God fill you with His Son in salvation.  Let God fill you with faith, hope, and love.

     Know that if you let go and then fail to let God, those unclean spirits of sin, fear, regret, and worry will return too soon to check to see if they can come back home to you.  If they find your mind, your heart, your conscience, your life empty, look out.  Look back and see what Jesus said about the last state and the beginning.

     I’m still preaching this series.  This Sunday morning we will focus on LIVING.  Let go.  Let God. Live.  You know, when we let go and let God, we need to live like we have let go and let God.  More next week.  Have a good week, my friends.

The Pathway to Peace Series - God bless us in 2014

     Well, it’s been a little while since I have posted on my blog.  No problem.  Just took at break for a few weeks to close out the old year and get a fresh start on 2014.  I love new beginnings.  When you think about, new beginnings are all around us.  Every year, every month, every week, every day, every hour, every minute, even this very second can be a new beginning for you and for me.  I began a series of lessons this week entitled “The Pathway to Peace – The Pathway of Peace.”  I will present two lessons to help us get on the pathway and then a final lesson to help us stay on the pathway. 

Lesson One – Let Go

Lesson Two – Let God

Lesson Three – Live and Love

     Consider this first lesson.  There are things that we must let go of if we are to have the peace, joy, and happiness that can be ours. 

     We must LET GO OF SIN in our mind.  We do this when we repent and are baptized into Christ.  Take a look at Acts 2:37-38, a few verses before and after.  When those who crucified Jesus finally realized what they had done, they were certainly sorrowful and asked Peter and the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”  Peter commanded them to repent of their sin and be baptized so that their sin would be remitted.  Saul had his sins washed away in Acts 22:16 in baptism. 

     We must LET GO OF FEAR in our heart.  Fear can certainly rob us of our peace.  Fear of God, fear of the devil, fear of death, fear of sickness, fear of losing a job, fear of disappointing someone, fear of not being the person I need to be, fear of the unknown…we could go on and on.  We must let go of fear if we are to get on the pathway of peace.  After we repent of the sin dominates our mind, we must realize God’s grace and mercy in our lives day in and day out and allow Him to restore us.  1 John 1:7 tells us that if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have the confidence that our sins are washed away.  What are we afraid of?  God promises to provide for our needs according to His will.  We need to trust and obey and rely on Him.  He has never let me down and never will.  In Psalm 51:10-12, David asked God to create a new heart clean heart and a steadfast spirit within him.  He asked God to restore in him the joy of salvation.  God can and will do this for us too when we decide to let go of our fear.

     We must LET GO OF REGRET in our conscience.  The conscience is a good thing, given to us by our Creator.  Of course, a conscience must be trained to know what is right and what is wrong.  Some people have not properly trained their conscience as is evidenced by so many in the world today living lives that are so very frustrating, exhausting, hurtful, and sinful.  Regret can certainly rob us of our peace.  Thinking about what I should have done, could have done, or would have done can certainly drive any of us mad.  We let go of regret when we decide to live only today.  Yesterday is past.  Tomorrow may never be.  We all (Jesus excepted) have made mistakes.  We cannot remake the past.  We can however, learn and live today better and thus make peace with ourselves and with God in His great grace and power.  Think about Simon Peter in John 6:68 when he said to Jesus, “Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.  Also we have come to believe and know that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  Now move forward a few days to Matthew 26:75 when the rooster crowed and this same man had denied Jesus not once, not twice, but three times.  Oh, the regret.  He went out and wept bitterly.  Now move forward a few more days to Acts 2.  Who was it that lifted up his voice to preach Jesus and Him crucified on the Day of Pentecost?  Peter.  He let go of regret.  You can too.  So can I.

     We must also LET GO OF WORRY in our bodies.  Worry can actually cause sickness, disease, and even death.  When we let go of sin, let go of fear, let go of regret, then letting go of worry automatically follows.  If we have our sins forgiven, our fears vanquished, and our regrets put behind us, what do we have to worry about?  Nothing.  Not too long ago, I friend of mine stopped by my office to talk about an issue he was having at night.  He couldn’t get to sleep.  And when we did finally sleep, he was restless and worried.  I asked him about the last thing he did before retiring to bed.  His answer:  He watched the late night news.  No wonder he couldn’t get to sleep.  I suggested he watch the news earlier then maybe try some Bible reading and prayer just before retiring to bed.  Later on, he came back by my office and told me “Thank you.”  My recipe for a peaceful night’s sleep for him was successful.  Oh that we could let go of what it is that is robbing us of our peace.

     I’ll share lesson two with you next week about this time.  Sorry about taking a few days of from blogging.  I hope to be more faithful in sharing from now on.  I love the Lord, His word, and His people.  May God bless you and yours in this new year with all that you need.