Okay! Cry!!!

Psalm 6: 6

I am weary with my groaning; All night I make my bed swim; I drench my couch with my tears.

Why is it that we will sometimes do anything to keep the tears from flowing?

I think in general, men have more of an issue with this than ladies do.

I met a young couple yesterday who are preparing for their wedding.

I asked if either of them might get emotional during the ceremony, and the lady said… “I do my best crying in private, and not in public.”

Sometimes there’s nothing better than a good cry.

I’m told tears help wash away the pain.

A.W. Tozier once said… "The Bible was written in tears, and to tears it yields its best treasures."

That sure seems to make sense.

On the other side of tears, there is learning and experience, and often times, great victory.

So why do we put it off, like we seem to do?

I believe every one of us one day, will be driven to tears, when we step into the presence of the Most High God.

It’ll also be great joy, to have Jesus wipe every one of them off our faces.

That may be a tear jerking experience, but that’ll be one I’m actually looking forward to…

Rooted and Established!

Ephesians 3: 17 – 18

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ…

 

The love of Jesus is far too complex to even consider—or is it?

Do you know His love today? I truly hope you do.

 

Living in this cruel/cold world, can distract us from the love of Jesus.

Sometimes this world can take us away from considering the love of the living God.

 

Love actually brings power, when we can begin to harness it’s depth.

Maybe today, you need to reconnect with His love. It may just bring you the peace you need to get through today.

 

This verse is actually a prayer offered by Paul for the church of Ephesus.

It is my prayer for all of you today—and for myself.

 

Paul isn’t saying we can’t grasp the love of Christ, actually he wants us at the very least to try.

I am amazed that Jesus loves me the way He does.

 

Often times, I wonder why He does.

Nothing will change that today though, and we don’t even have to wrestle with that thought.

 

He took our place at the cross.

Instead of making this more complex, we should just simply grasp it significant depth…

On the same page!

John 15: 7

“If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.”

 

I have friends and siblings who make separate decisions, and for the most part go in different directions.

In general, we act on a individual basis.

 

My wife and I on the other hand, have to be on the same page, to function in harmony.

We need to make decisions together. We have to have the same vision—the same goals and the same dreams.

 

The more Debbie and I think alike, the more our relationship satisfies us.

It’s actually the same way with Jesus.

 

He wants to connect Himself to us, in a permanent relationship.

For our relationship to work well, we really need to be on the same page.

 

Are you on the same page with Christ?

How can you be sure?

 

When we operate with our own plan in mind, it could get pretty frustrating.

Actually, I know many church people today, who are frustrated in their relationship with Jesus.

 

Maybe we need to check our dreams, and see if they would match those of our Savior.

When our goals match His, we will most definitely see Him respond to our prayers.

 

Fellowship with Jesus matters.

Maybe if you’re not hearing from Him, it may be because He isn’t part of your plan… at least not yet… 

Press on!

Philippians3: 13 – 14

Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,

I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

 

There are believers in the church today, who truly have no desire to become advanced in the faith.

They are some of the people who are still preoccupied with the lessons they learned way back in Sunday school.

 

The average church today, are filled mostly with people who have never gotten beyond the first level of learning.

Most are OK with that lack of progress.

 

If a Pastor should suggest that people get serious about pressing on toward the goal, they might become disgruntled.

It’s a good bet that those same people will begin to pray, that this dear shepherd head to greener pastures.

 

Can you imagine spending 20 years in the first grade of elementary school?

And yet, that’s where many people are, in their faith walk today.

 

Paul said that we should be straining toward what lies ahead—and forgetting what was.

Paul was never satisfied with spending too much time in the status quo.

 

How about you?

How will you press on, to win the prize today? 

Prayers!

Psalm 86: 7 – 8

Hear my prayer, O Lord; listen to my cry for mercy. In the day of my trouble I will call to you, for you will answer me.

It is said that prayer actually widens our relationship with God.

Prayer is also the tool the keeps families together, forever.

If that’s true, it makes me wonder why more people don’t pray.

It also makes me wonder why husbands and wives allow strife to get in the way of their prayer life.

Praying as spouses affirms their love for their Savior—and for each other.

When is the last time, you affirmed your love for Jesus in prayer?

The times when we pray together as a church, it allows us to step for a moment into the shoes of the person praying.

We begin to have a deeper understanding of what’s going on in the other person’s heart.

The way people pray, tells an awful lot about what they’re going through.

Prayer becomes more significant, when you listen intently to the burdens other people carry.

Prayer should be an expression of honesty.

Before a loving and caring God, there is absolutely nothing to hide.

Do you have something to hide?

Is something getting in the way of your effective prayer?

Maybe it’s time to give it up to God, and then leave the outcome up to Him….

Get out the way!

Acts 2: 47

And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

 

They say that pictures are worth a thousand words.

I’ll be willing bet that when you open the one attached, it might just draw you to silence, instead of a bunch of words.

 

Would your community, even know if your church closed up shop?

Would they even realize that you’re gone from the scene?

 

The longer I’m in ministry, the more I have to wonder why such schism take place inside each church.

People will often take their problems to another church, when they can’t have their way in the one they used to attend.

 

This verse is a good one to use, as a health indicator in the church.

One can look around, and try to identify the health of the church, but the numbers being added or not added.

 

Is it safe to assume, that no new numbers, equates to self centered people?

That would appear to be the logical explanation.

 

What are you going to do today, to change that in your church?

What needs to happen, to see people saved for the glory of God?

 

Maybe if we just got out of the way, and then let God have His way, the tides would actually turn…. 

A Dilemma!

Nehemiah 8: 3

He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand.

And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.

Talk about a long worship service.

Ezra read from the book of the law for a number of hours.

What Pastor in this world today, could get away with that?

There isn’t a day that goes by, when I don’t hear someone say… “We’re losing ground in the church, aren’t we?”

That’s why Ezra spent so much time reading God’s Word.

Is the church too far gone, for it to return to the glory it once knew? Only God knows that answer.

To get that answer, we have to spend time with God.

Someone in our morning prayer group on Sunday, asked God to give them a deeper desire for prayer.

Maybe the church needs another great awakening?

Maybe it could actually start in that small church over in Winneconne?

I mean with God, anything is possible.

So what needs to change in your life, for God to come and do an awakening?

Maybe it’s time for God’s spirit, to stir the hearts of His people again.

Maybe it’s time for the faithful of God, to come to the end of themselves.          

Look and see what Rev. Leonard Ravenhill said about this dilemma we’re in;

“The American church is not dying because of the strength of humanism, but the weakness of evangelism.” Leonard Ravenhill