october 21 i was wrong

 I was wrong Acts 9:5 And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. Jesus stopped Saul of Tarsus as he went about persecuting the church.  The Lord told Saul “it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.”  The word pricks in the Greek is kentron, our English word goad, a point or a sting.  Think of a nurse telling you “now you will feel a little sting.” A sharp pointed stick or instrument was used to prick an animal to make him get on the desired course.  Jesus had pricked Saul. Tried to point him in the right direction but Saul continued to destroy the Christians. Jesus dropped him on His face and Saul repented and became a Christian.  Is the Lord still stinging you to get your attention?  Unfortunately I still cause Him to have to sting me occasionally. May we purpose to live closer to Jesus than we ever have before.  Let's read His Word daily and talk with Him in prayer.  I don't like to be pricked.  In a previous pastorate I looked up the word “pricks” in the Greek and read goad.  But what I saw was gonad.  City boy that I am I didn't remember what a goad was.  But I knew the word gonad...the sex glands.  Testes or Ovary.  So I reasoned the Lord was telling Saul he was kicking Him below the belt.  Sometime later a female church member asked me what the word pricks means.  I explained that Jesus told Saul he was kicking Him below the belt.  She had a look of astonishment on her face and I could tell she was sorry she had asked.  I didn't know I was wrong.  At a later date for some reason I studied that word in the Greek and realized I had made a mistake. What a mistake!  Should I tell her?  Yes! Humiliated and embarrassed I explained the true meaning.  She graciously accepted my apology and that was the end of the subject.  Now my point.  I was wrong.  Unintentionally but I was wrong.  Did I have to explain to her my mistake?  I believed I did.  May I suggest that you too are wrong sometimes?  When we discover the error of our thinking we need to change our course and make amends if we can.  And when we have been wronged by others...intentionally or by mistake...we must forgive them if we want the Lord to forgive us.  Matthew 6:15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Are you Christian enough to admit your mistakes?
 

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 “I don’t want you to get in my way.”  I don’t think he meant to say it out loud.  But he said it.  He called and asked if he could borrow my trailer to move a car.  I told him yes.  Then I offered to help him.  He said he could handle it and didn’t need my help.  Then he added, “I don’t want you to get in my way.”  That stung.  But I didn’t say anything and wished him well.  After the phone call I wondered just how often I get into someone’s way.  When I oversee a project, I orchestrate how it is done.  I wondered if that was wrong.  Too many people calling the shots causes resentment.  That is why in the military there is a chain of command.  A project such as building a wheelchair ramp back when our church was capable to do such a project needed a leader.  Several people injected their ideas, but we had to decide on one approach and dismiss the others.  Feeling may have been hurt.  Leadership is needed for any group project.  Often we must yield to the ideas of others.  Many people have left their church because they got their feelings hurt.  How easily we get offended.  In life we must often “turn the other cheek”. Matthew 5:39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.  Sometimes when we are offended we must just let it go.  Our Lord practiced what He preached.  He let people run over him.  He was not weak.  Actually, He was in charge.  He could have run when the posse came to arrest Him. John 18:6   As soon then as he had said unto them, I am he, they went backward, and fell to the ground. Jesus could have easily walked away.  He didn’t. He waited until they regained their composure and stood up and took Him away.  He was in control.  The suffering he endured bought our liberty from sin and hell if we believe and repent and ask Him to forgive us.  I want to be a blessing, not a burden to others.  Perhaps I am too demanding.  If so, I ask the Lord to forgive me.  I ask Him to give me wisdom.  The procedure we use in completing a task is not as important as completing the task.  We must learn to work together in one accord.  We must give and take.  May we keep our eyes on Jesus and let stinging criticism teach us to be more like Him instead of getting our feelings hurt and taking our bat and glove and going home. 

 
I got kicked out of the library.  It was a few years ago but it still shocks me.  I was sitting there minding my own business typing out my sermon on my laptop when a security guard told me I had to leave.  I asked him. “What have I done?”    “You are sitting there.”  “Yes?”  “You can’t sit there.”  “OK please tell me where I can sit and I will move.”  “Outside” was his answer.  Outside? I asked. Said he, “You are not allowed to sit for any period of time in this library.”  My how disappointed I was.  It was June and I was going to have to find another air conditioned place to sit and complete my sermon.  My wife was working with the choir at the University Of Texas UIL contests.  I went along as a chaperon.  I figured the LBJ Presidential Library would be a good place to sit and write.  Not so. I got kicked out.  I wonder how many other things I take for granted that are untrue.  Many people take for granted the theory of evolution.  My Bible teaches Jesus is the Creator. John 1:3  All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. We read in Colossians 1:16  For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:  This world, the Heavens, the universe, the animals and even man were created by a loving Creator.  Jesus.  I realize this is not a popular belief but I don’t care about being popular.  I care about serving my Lord.  Plus I have found that it takes more faith to believe in the THEORY of Evolution than it takes to believe the Theory of Creation.  Both theories must be accepted by faith.  Neither can be proved. However since I had a personal life changing encounter with the living Christ 58 years ago believing the Bible is easy for me.  I agree I am a simple man.  I actually take that as a compliment.  Since I know in my heart that the Bible is the Word of God, I stand on its promises.  Jesus will never leave me nor forsake me.  He will direct my paths as I trust Him.  He is preparing a place for me up in Heaven. He will work all things together for good in my life.  A song I enjoy has these words: “I’m so glad I learned to trust thee. Precious Jesus Saviour Friend. And I know that thou art with me. Wilt be with me till the end.”  He will be with you till the end too if you will trust Him. Oh and by the way..... the end will really just be the beginning. The beginning of eternity.  Please be there with me. We can do this journey together. More devotions at www.heretheword.com. 

 ”I love you too.”  Those were his last words to me.  The EMTs were about to take him out the front door to the ambulance.  I had just told him, “I love you brother.”  Death is an unescapable fact of life. Except for those who are alive and remain when Jesus calls His children home.  1 Thessalonians 4:15-17   “we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” I don’t know when this verse of prophesy shall be fulfilled. I believe it could happen at any time.  Until Jesus calls His children home, we can expect to one day breathe our last breath and experience our soul which lives forever departing from our body.  Mike was my brother in Christ.  We met through the Christian Motorcyclists Association.  I was his chaplain. The love Mike and I had for each other was a dimension of love only found in Jesus. In the perverse society we find ourselves in the subject of love between two men can raise eyebrows as to if their love is sexual.  Those who have never experienced the life changing love of Jesus cannot comprehend the love between Christians.  There is nothing sexual about it.  Jesus’ love towards us and the love that follows between believers is unimaginable. When we experience His love by repenting from our sins and asking Jesus to save us our lives are changed eternally.  His warm love from His Holy Spirit coming to live inside us is a feeling we have never experienced.  It is a high the world knows nothing of. We can be filled with His Spirit just as often as we want to.  We begin to produce God-like love. Galatians 5:22  “But the fruit of the Spirit is love...”  Are you glad you are part of the family of God?  If you have never asked Jesus to save you right now is the right time to repent of the life you have been living and ask Him to save you.  Then you too will experience and enjoy the love of God. 

  I stepped on a nail.  Not very pleasant. Since I had received a tetanus shot within the past five years I did not need to get another shot. The bacteria on a rusty nail invades your bloodstream through the open flesh and sickness or even death can be the result.  Our Lord gave us skin to be a border to keep the bad germs out. When punctured our God given defense system goes into action to attack the invading germs. I praise the Lord as I watch a wound heal.  It may take several weeks for the wound to completely heal but it can also take some time before the enemy within the body can become crippling.  I have tenderfeet.  For that reason I try to not go barefooted outside. It is good to guard our body from potential harm by keeping our borders well protected. Have you ever tried to walk after stepping on a nail? Now imagine this, both of your feet have been nailed to a cross. In addition our Lord had his wrists nailed to the cross. The weight of His body would have pulled His hands through the nails and His bones in His hand would have been broken.  Old Testament prophesy said not a bone of our Savior would be broken. John 19:36 For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken. The Jewish Passover lamb was a shadow of Jesus dying on the cross for our sins.  The Israelites were not to break a bone of the sacrifice.   Exodus 12:46 neither shall ye break a bone thereof.     Numbers 9:12  nor break any bone of it   Psalm 34:20  He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken. If even one of the bones in Jesus’ body had been broken these prophesies would have been broken and Jesus could not have been the final sacrifice for our sins. The soldiers broke the legs of the two thieves but they did not break Jesus’ legs.John 19:32 Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with him. 33 But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs:   Jesus allowed Himself to be the final sacrifice for sin.  How we should repent and ask Him to be our savior.  One last thought.  On resurrection Sunday Jesus walked with two of His disciples about six miles.Luke 24:13  And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs. Can you imagine walking six miles on Sunday after having a spike driven through your feet on Friday? Jesus did. He arose with a glorified body. He loves you so much.  Will you repent and put your faith in Him? More devotions at www.heretheword.com.

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  I wish I were dead. I know that sounds terrible.  Let me explain. The Bible says: Romans 6:11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Those who have repented of our sins and asked Jesus to save them have been adopted into His family.  Now we belong to Jesus.  Our hearts desire should be to serve Him faithfully until He calls us home.  As we grow in grace and become more like Jesus our desires switch from selfishness and enjoying sin to kindness and holiness. This is a long journey.  We still have fleshly desires but at the same time we desire to be like Jesus.  When we sin the Holy Spirit within us is grieved and He lets us know we have sinned.  When we agree with him that we have gone astray and ask Him to forgive us..... He does.1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. The old man, our sinful nature, still is within us but as we become like Jesus sin loses its grip on us.  It is against the law to shoot a deer with a 22-caliber bullet. That size bullet is frequently too small to drop the deer. He may run and run and run so far that you can’t find him.  Then he lays there and slowly dies an agonizing death.  Now that God’s Holy Spirit lives within you your sinful nature becomes weaker and weaker, but it never dies until you graduate to Heaven.  Paul says we need to reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin. Picture a dead man leaning against a wall on the street.  A drug pusher walks up to him offering to sell him drugs.  He is dead.  No sale.  A prostitute walks up and tries to entice him with her body.  No sale.  He is dead.  As Christians we begin to die to our fleshly desires.  But our sinful nature still kicks.  We are capable of committing horrible sins so we must never think of ourselves as better than others. So, when I say I wish I were dead I mean that while some desires have lessened  their grip on me I still struggle with other evil desires. I wish I was as Holy as Jesus.  Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. I have a new life in Jesus.Philippians 1:21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.  I am on a new adventure.  Will you join me on this journey?  More devotions can be found at www.heretheword.com/videos.  

  It gets about six miles per gallon..... of antifreeze.  It’s an older truck.  The water pump went out in another state and it ran hot.  Apparently the head gasket is blown, or the head is cracked or the block is cracked.  Water vapor pours out the exhaust like smoke from a mosquito fogger.  But it has no water in the oil. I have tried numerous sealers and continue to add sealer and antifreeze.  It still gets me around. Locally that is.  It’s paint is cracked and the hood is covered with rusty blotches.  It is an eyesore. I probably don’t have to be concerned that it will get stolen. Eventually I hope to put another motor in it.  Thankfully it is not my main vehicle for transportation.   But I still use it.  Why do I tell you this?  Because it is still productive.  I can put my weed-eater and gas cans and chain saw and shovels in it and not be concerned about damaging the interior. Now let’s look at human life.  If we live long enough we get old, wear out, slow down, lose our attractiveness if we ever were attractive, and we just have to realize our limitations.  But we can still be useful to our Lord.  Moses was eighty years old when the Lord called him to deliver His people from their Egyptian slavery.  Listen to the words of Joshua when he was eighty-five.  Joshua 14:10 lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old. 11 As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in. 12 Now therefore give me this mountain,  Please don’t let age be an excuse to be put out to pasture.  Sure, you are limited but not dead yet.  Even a bed ridden person can be a blessing by being a prayer partner.   Don’t concentrate on what you can’t do but rather ask the Lord what you can do.  Be as productive as you can.  Enjoy the Christian adventure.  Don’t give up.  People ask me how old I will be when I quit preaching.  My answer is I will preach until people stop inviting me to preach.  Paul said, 1 Corinthians 9:16  For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel! A man who is called to preach has to preach to be happy. Jesus will call you home when He is ready for you.  Until then present yourself at His service and stay busy. More devotions are at www.heretheword.com. 

  It’s good to be sad.  We don’t like to be sad but we all experience it. Grief has always been part of our life.  Death is a reality and no family is immune from the grief it brings.  Some people live in  grief for many years.  It is natural to grieve.  Jesus gave us tear ducts so we can cry.  Even Jesus wept.  It is okay to weep.  But it is not okay to let grief ruin your life.  Did you know the Bible says it’s better to have sorrow than laughter?  Ecclesiastes 7:3  Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better.I personally would prefer to laugh over cry any day.  How can sorrow be better than laughter?  The answer is: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better. I will have a better heart when I experience sorrow.  How can that be?  Sorrow causes us to stop our busy life and think.  What is life all about?  What can I do to avoid this horrible grief?  Why does there have to be death? Perhaps the most important question that comes to mind is...Where will I go when I die?  Where will you go when you die?  The Bible says it’s better to go to a funeral than to go to a party.  I would much prefer to go to a party.  How can going to a funeral be better for me than going to a party?  Ecclesiastes 7:2  It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart. A funeral is better for us because it reminds us that death is the end of this life on this earth and we need to lay it to heart.  Consider that someday we too must breathe our last breath.  What happens then?  I have found that answer.  Psalm 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; When I repented of my sins and cried out to Jesus asking Him to please save me...He did.  He took away the fear of dying.  He fills my life with His Holy Spirit.  He is my comforter.  He assures me I won’t walk that lonesome valley by myself.  And for us Christian’s death is not “good bye.”  Its, “I’ll see you later.” 1 Thessalonians 4:13  But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.   

 Killed by God for serving God.  King David had conquered Jerusalem.  The Ark Of God had been out in the countryside for years.  David wanted to give it a special home in Jerusalem.  A new cart was built especially to transport the Ark.  We should give respect and our best to our Lord.  A parade of about 30,000 people led by David escorted the Ark towards Jerusalem.  It was a real parade with instruments from fir wood, harps, psalteries, timbrels, cornets and cymbals all playing giving glory to the God of Israel.  An ox stumbled.  Uzzah riding on the cart grabbed the Ark to steady it.  God struck him dead.  2 Samuel 6:7  And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God. The parade was over.  No more singing and dancing or joyous music.  David fell face down in the dirt.  Why?  God we were just trying to help you.  We were showing you honor.  Uzzah just reached out to steady the Ark.  Why did you kill him?  Have you ever questioned God?  I have.  Sometimes He doesn’t make sense.  It seems He doesn’t appreciate all the things we do to honor and serve Him and give Him glory.  Why is He so hard to please?  Doesn’t He know our heart?  Our love.  Our desire to please Him?  Where is He when we need Him?  Yoo hoo...God are you listening?  I hope you have never felt that perplexity.  I have.  Fortunately for us Jesus knows we are human. Like grass.  Here today.  Gone tomorrow.  1 Peter 1:24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away. I wonder sometimes why He puts up with me.  Can we ever please Him?  We are so far from being holy.  Psalm 8:4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?  So why did Jehovah kill Uzzah?  He disobeyed God.  Years before God commanded that the Ark be carried by the Levites.  Later when the Ark would be moved again David would instruct the Levites to carry it. 1 Chronicles 15:2 Then David said, None ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites: for them hath the LORD chosen to carry the ark of God, and to minister unto him for ever.  David learned what the Bible taught the hard way.  Ignorance of the law is no excuse.  Study the Bible.  Find out for yourself. Let God speak to you. Perhaps you are sinning more than you are aware of.