WILD HORSE ON THE LOOSE!!

"So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want" . Galatians 5:16-17. My friend, the human body is not sinful; it's neutral. If the Holy Spirit controls the body, then we walk in the Spirit; but if the flesh (sinful old nature) control the body, then we walk in the lust of the flesh. Plato in his book (my college reading assignment) said like this. There is a tamed horse with great discipline who is ready to pull his share of the load, and that horse will respond immediately to the driver. But that horse is yoked with a wild horse, and that wild horse wants to go the other way. He will kick the other horse or bolt or buck or he will be just outright stubborn. This is the problem of humans. This is exactly the conflict between spirit and flesh. How do we solve this problem, you may ask? The answer is simple but not always easy to do. Paul says "Live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature (Flesh). Easier to say than done. Walking in the Spirit means a daily surrender to the will of God. It means disciplining ourselves to respond instantly to the driver. This Sunday morning, brother, let me ask you a question? Are you a wild horse on the loose? Then your so called worship is a drama, drama, drama. Dancing, falling out, running around, and all expression of worship and emotion is a DRAMA. Ouch, sorry!!!!

SATAN'S GREAT SALE!

"Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged". Deuteronomy 1:21. My friend, stop saying "I don't know what to do, I can't get anywhere and nothing is working out for me and I doubt it ever will". See, the devil wants us to become discouraged because discouragement determines our failure or success. No battle is ever won WITH IT, and no battle is ever LOST WITHOUT IT. Have you heard about a "GREAT SALE" held by Satan where he offered his tools of his trade? There were malice, hatred, envy, sickness etc..- all the weapons people know well. But off to one side lay a harmless looking instrument marked "DISCOURAGEMENT". It was old and worn out yet priced far above the rest. When asked why it is so valued to him, the devil said, "See this is the easiest one to use, for no one knows that it belongs to me. With discouragements I can open a heart's door that is tight and bolted against my other tools. Discouragements makes a person give up and give in to me". But my friend, God has given us the power to conquer discouragements. That power is faith in God's word. When devil says, "You can't do it and you are a failure and you may as well quit trying, we reply "No, Philippians 4:13 says' 'I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me". In God's strength, I believe I can do it. Brother, when we guard the door of our heart with God's word and our attitude, the devil eventually will get DISCOURAGED AND LEAVE. Proverbs 24:10 says " If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small". You can easily determine the caliber of a person by the amount of opposition it takes to discourage him or her. Did this help you buddy? Really!

GET RID OF THE SAND!

"Catch for us the foxes,the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom". Song of Songs 2:15. Little Foxes- Humm. My friend it is not often that some large evil overcomes us; rather it is the little things that throw us off balance and rob us of the tender love and presence of Christ in our hearts each day. Isn't it? I still remember in the early eighties a man walked all the way from west coast to east coast, a distance more than three thousand miles for raising funds for the charity he represented. Upon arrival, news reporters asked him "What was the hardest part of his trip". Was it climbing rocky mountain or walking through the hot desert of death valley or crossing swollen rivers or avoiding heavy traffic in the big cities or lack of sufficient cold water or food? He answered "no" to all these questions. What was it? They asked. Finally he replied "it was the sand in my shoes". Brother, do you have sand in your shoes? The greatest weakness in our life is the tendency to become discouraged over trifles. In the Bible, many of God's mightiest men have wrestled with a similar weaknesses but have overcome it through the constant use of their faith in the Lord and their honest worship. Jesus said " If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, "Move from here to there and it will move". Nothing will be impossible for you" .Matthew 17:20. If faith as a grain of mustard seed can move mountains, it certainly can move a few grain of sand out of our shoes- won't it? Don't say it's not a big deal. Get rid of the sands- get get get rid of the sands, Y'all hear me? Yeah, Yeah.

BIRD IN MY PATIO!

"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths". Proverbs 3:5-6. God has His way to teach a lesson to me. Recently a small bird accidentally flew into our covered patio which has many glass windows and only one door. Attempting to find a way out, it bumped into many closed windows. Once it stopped to rest, I tried to help it escape, but the frightened bird again and again flew at the windows insisting upon finding it's own solution for the problem. Finally it became so exhausted that it gave up the struggle. Only then would it allow me to pick up and let it fly away from my hand. My friend, when we find ourselves in perplexing situations how often we, like the bird, try to find our own solutions to our problems. We make one attempts after another until finally we give up and let God shows us the way out. How much better it is when we allow the Lord to help us with the problems when they first arise rather than after we have wasted so much time and effort. It reminds me of another passage "Cause me to hear thy loving kindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee". Psalms 143:8. Brother, Didn't God tell Moses "STAND STILL AND SEE THE SALVATION OF GOD". This is for you my friend!!!

DIAL 9

"I will praise you, Lord, with my whole heart". Well my friend, are you complacent and feeling detached from God and the fervency you had is gone. It's true that you are singing, praying, reading the scripture on the screen along with your pastor and nothing happening inside and just going along with the motions? Bible says " The word became flesh and dwelt among us". John 1:14. I want you know that he was touchable, approachable, reachable, and he was ordinary. If he were here today you probably wouldn't notice him as he walked through a shopping mall and nobody would turn their heads by the designer cloths he was wearing or the jewelry he flashed. Recently I was in my doctor's office and I forgot my cell phone. I really wanted to call home and I dialed the number three times and the call was not going through. The office clerk said "sir, you have to dial nine first to call out". Brother, if you really want to call heaven and reach God about your spiritual condition, you have to dial 9 too- Psalm 9 that is. David here expresses his heart felt praise to the Lord. 1) Open your hearts and let praise roll forth and then review all the things He has done for you. Rejoice, be glad and sing. Count his blessings and name them one by one. V:(1-2) 2) Acknowledge that He is your refuge and He defends you.(V 3-9). 3) Talk yourself what He has done for you and receive His mercy and rejoice in His salvation. (V 11-14). Then you will reconnect with God and you can joyfully sing and praise Him. Come on.. sing "I am a friend of God // and He calls me friend". ////

CAN YOU STAND TO BE BLESSED!!

"Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? Matthew 13:55. Humm. Trying to belittle you bringing the past! My friend, don't worry if they try to resurrect the past in your life. When God gives an assignment, he also gives the skill. Your uncanny ease with numbers tells you that you are a mathematician. Your quenchless curiosity about chemistry tells you that you are a chemical engineer. When I stare at blueprints and yawn; you read them and drool. God gives assignments to people according to their ability. The question is "can you stand to be blessed"? Many people can't and don't survive their own success. Many people lose their own identities in the excitement, and it ebbs, as it always does, they have lost sight of the more important issue of self, home, and family. Once you become accustomed to to your new success and life style, it is very hard to go back to what you once thought was sufficient. Be careful what you ask the Lord, may be you will get it. Brother, don't change your values as you progress. I am hoping that your morality does not change but your sense of what is and what is not acceptable should. To add complexity of this issue, when you are blessed and is in a different place in your life, you are still surrounded by people in the other stage. Learn to deal with envy and criticism. They are the people who called Jesus "the carpenter's son". CAN YOU STAND TO BE BLESSED? YEAH, YEAH, Good!

GOD OF SECOND CHANCE!

"Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works". Revelation 2:17. Years ago, a NFL player announced his retirement saying "All of a sudden that passion isn't there anymore. He said, I could still do it physically, but it's not like it used to be". My friend, something that once energized you has become a burden? A career can be changed, but the deepest matters of heart , especially our relationship with Christ? The risen Lord praised the church in Ephesus for their FAITHFUL SERVICE and PERSEVERANCE, but added, "NEVERTHELESS I have this against you, that you have left your FIRST LOVE". In another words, THEY HAVE HEART TROUBLE. The prescription the Lord gave was "Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works". Three things, 1) REMEMBER. 2) REPENT. 3) RETURN. Brother, our God is a God of second chance. But not in the world. "It's now or never". "Around here we don't tolerate incompetence". "Gotta get tough to get along". "Not much room at the top". "Three strikes you are out". "It's a dog-eat-dog world". If Jesus is here now, He would say "Then don't live with the dogs". Right? If your spiritual passion has grown cold, remember again the great sacrifice of Christ for our sin (Hebrews 12:3), turn away from grudging service and allow the wonder of His cross to rekindle our love for Him. Hey, hey, It's not everyday that you find someone who will give a second chance- much less someone who will give you a second chance everyday. YOUR JESUS WILL GIVE YOU BOTH MAN. He is a God of second chance. Did you hear?