Month: October 2016

GET TOGETHER- PUT IT ON AND DON’T TAKE IT OFF

 

Col 3:14 But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.

   As I was pasting this passage in it was almost like I could hear my Mother or grandmother telling me to put on something and not to take it off. It could have been a coat, or a cap with earmuffs on it on a cold day during my childhood. Or perhaps it was a life jacket when we went either swimming in the river, or out on a boat with daddy when we were kids. I am not sure when, but I know why. It was for our best interest.  It was for our safety so that we could continue to be a part of this game called life. And for our health so that we wouldn’t catch a cold or something that would make us sick.

 

            The Apostle Paul has just given the church at Colossae some good instructions on what they were to put on.  He told them in verse 12 to put on five things: “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering.”   In verse 13 He tells them to bear with one another and commands them to forgive one another.

 

            All of what I just listed was good.  But to be honest they couldn’t put those things on and neither can we without this final thing that Paul tells us that we must put on.  And that is love. The Greek term for love here is agape, ag-ah’-pay. It means to love someone or something based on great appreciation and high regard.   People come to congregations from many different back grounds with our own strengths, weakness, and all kinds of quirks.  Some like it loud. Some like it soft. Some like it cool while others like it a little warm.  Some like this team and some like that team.

            But as Christians we are to put on such love and have such a high regard for one another that all those things don’t have an adverse effect on our relationships with one another. The Greek term here for bond is sundesmos, soon’-des-mos. It means that which ties us together. It means that which unites us.  Love is that bond.

Actually it is the love that as one old hymn goes is as vast as an ocean. It is the love that was poured out as a sacrifice for our sins on Calvary’s cross by the greatest Love of all time. The Lord Jesús Christ.

 Not only does this love bind us together, but it will perfect us. The Greek term here for love is teleiotes, tel-i-ot’-ace.  It means maturity in thought and behavior.  There are 323 verses in the Bible that have the word love in them in some form. There are 184 in the New Testament.

             Jesus didn’t think that that this love stuff was just a good idea.  He said that loving God and loving our neighbor were the greatest commandments. Mt 22:37-39 Jesus said to him,” ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment” “And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’

 

            Do you remember me talking about perhaps it was a coat my Mother or grandmother was telling me to put on as a child? Think about it this way. If it had been a cold wet snowy day those other clothes wouldn’t have functioned like they were supposed to if I had not had on my coat. In the same way if you want to see tender mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, and long suffering in your life, your family’s life, the workplace, and your local congregation put on love. It is the perfect solution for the follower of Jesus Christ.

 

Let Us Pray

 

Lord Jesus we thank You that Your love is perfect. Your love never fails. Today make us a people who love as You love.

In Jesus Name

Amen

           

 1Co 13:8 Love never fails.

 

Your Friend/Kinfolk

Preston

GET TOGETHER- HE DOES CARE AND HE WILL HANDLE IT

1Pe 5:7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. (NKJV)

            I remember when I first heard about this verse.  I don’t think that I had even read the whole book of 1 Peter at that time. It was early in my Christian Journey.  I was still working in our family business at the time. A good friend who used to stop by and eat with us at the time gave the verse to me.

            At that time, we weren’t sure what our primary calling in the Kingdom was. We were trying to serve the Lord and be His witness where we were. That wasn’t always easy. Sometimes you hurt when you had to let an employee go that needed a job. They could have violated a trust, or have been tardy, or had unexcused absences. That wasn’t always easy. It could have been another time when a customer wasn’t satisfied with the product that they had purchased. Or it could have been when you needed to make some necessary changes that were going to involve and affect others.

Also as parents trying to raise children there were often challenges that could bring you some concern.  So, what I am trying to say is that in life there are lots of things that require our attention and they are not always so pleasant.

            I used to handle things like that with drugs and alcohol. But after I came to Christ I found a better way. It is to cast those things upon Him.  Sometimes as Christians although we may not go back to previous means of coping such as drunkenness, drug abuse, and certain other destructive sinful behaviors, we may resort to worrying and getting stressed out over things that are challenges in life.

            The Greek term for casting here is   epirrhipto,  ep-ir-hrip’-to.  It means to stop worrying and trust. It also means to throw or hurl something onto something else.  Yesterday morning the Holy Spirit gave me this word about something. I prayed and did exactly what the scripture said to do.  This morning I woke up and this came back to my mind. And by faith I had to say no I cast that upon the Lord yesterday. It takes a lot of wasted energy to go pick something back up that is heavy up from where that you have thrown it down to.  Then when you pick it back up and  start to carry it again it will be so heavy that it will beat you down.

            The Greek term for care is merimna,  mer’-im-nah. It means a feeling of apprehension or distress in view of possible danger, or misfortune. It also means worry, or anxiety.  Five times in the Gospel of Matthew Jesus talks about worry. Here is one of the verses: Mt 6:34 “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

            So today let me ask you a question. Is there something that is causing you anxiety? Cast it upon Him. He is more than big enough to handle it. He carried a heavy wooden cross to Calvary and died for you and me so that we could have access to cast our care upon Him. He did it because He cares for us and loves us. So today let Him be God. Cast the big things and the small things upon Him. He loves you and He is more than enough to handle it.

 

Let Us Pray

Lord Jesus please forgive us when we try to play God and not trust You to take care of the things that rob us of our peace. Today Lord we pray for faith to arise in us  so that we will cast our big cares upon you, our small cares upon you,  and all of our cares upon you.

In Jesus Name

Amen

 

 

 

You pray for me that I won’t go back and pick up what I have cast upon Him and I will do the same for you.

Your Friend/Kinfolk

Preston

 

GET TOGETHER- HE WON’T QUIT LOVING HIS CHILDREN

 

 Romans 8:37-39 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.  For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (NKJV)

 

There is an old George Jones song that some of you might remember.   I can remember hearing broken hearted people play it on the jukebox. Sometimes they would play it over and over again. The name of the song was He Stopped Loving Her Today.

            The song is about a man that has been jilted by someone that he really loved. He had told her that he would love her until the day he died.   In the song we hear and can practically get a picture of the lonesome man’s house when a wreath is placed upon his door. The song tells us that this is the day that the man stopped loving the woman that left him so long ago.     

Isn’t it great for us to know that there is one who never stops loving us.  Isn’t it great to know that our Heavenly Father is a lover that will never jilt us? The Apostle Paul says that death can’t separate us from the love of God. More than that he says that no created thing can separate us from the love of God.

 

            Let me ask you something child of God? Has the enemy used some of your mistakes or shortcomings to try to convince you that you are no longer loved by God?  Don’t buy into his lies. Stand on the word of God. Nothing can separate you as a born again child of God from the love of God.

  There may even be some of you reading this that are living in sinful lifestyles and you don’t believe that God could ever love you. I know how you feel. I have been there.  The Bible tells us that God loved us while we were living in sin. “Ro 5:8-10 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.  For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. (NKJV) If that is you God is saying leave those false lovers and come to the Lord Jesus who truly loves you and wants to forgive you of your sin and bring healing into your life.

 

            The man that George was singing about was a man with an extremely broken heart. His dreams were shattered. The one that he had loved with all of his heart had left him. You may be reading this and you might can identify with the man in the song. If you do I have some good news for you. There is one who came to heal the broken hearted. His Name is Jesus!   This is what He came to do: Lu 4:18 “The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed.”      The prophet Isaiah prophesied it this way about Jesus the Messiah and what He would do: Isa 61:3 To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.”

 

 

So today rejoice that there is One who will never stop loving you. They tried to put a wreath on His door over two thousand years ago, but the grave couldn’t hold Him.  He will never leave us, nor forsake us. He is with us always even to the end of the age.

 

Let Us Pray- Lord Jesus thank You for dying on the cross for us. Thank You for rising from the dead. We thank You that You will never stop loving us.  Help us to love others as You love us.

In Jesus Name

Amen

 

God is always at work redeeming every moment of our lives.

Your Friend/Kinfolk

Preston

 

 

 

 

 

GET TOGETHER-   REBUILT, REDEEMED,AND REPAIRED

   Isa 58:12 Those from among you Shall build the old waste places; You shall raise up the foundations of many generations; And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, The Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.

(NKJV)

 

aOne of my favorite areas of ministry is here in Hamilton at the Hamilton A&I Correctional Facility.  I must admit that I get a whole lot more out of going out there than I give.  Most of the time my night to go out there is the first Saturday of the month. They have a Praise Team out there that in my opinion is really anointed by the Holy Spirit.  And to be honest all of those guys are very talented as well.  They have such joy in serving and every time that I go out there it is a time of great healing for me.

 

Perhaps because it is on Saturday night and when the guitars begin to play every once in a while, there will be a twang that reminds me of when I used to go to the nightclubs on Saturday night and the lonely nights that I spent in a lot of them while all the time putting on a good front. Perhaps it is sometimes the strains of the guitar take me back to sitting in my house alone listening to the rock music of the seventies and trying to medicate the pain with the drugs.

 

Then when I look around at the men who will not be going home after the service I am thankful to the Lord for allowing me to live on the outside. It helps me not to gripe or complain about some of the minute challenges that come with ministry and in life.

 

All of us have been broken in some way. Most of us have hurt someone with our sin and have been hurt by someone else’s sin and our own sin.   God is in the business of healing. Jesus came to do just  that : Lu 4:18  “The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to  the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed;

 

 

 Many times our healing comes when we begin to pour ourselves into the lives of others.  We become more thankful. We realize that God has had His Hand upon us even when we were not serving Him. He was protecting us until we could come to that place and say yes Lord I will serve You.  My prayer for you is that you know that He is ready to redeem every part of your life.  He is ready to repair and to restore.  The Bible tells us that He redeems the time: Eph 5:16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil.(NKJV)  Let Him redeem,repair, and restore you completely. He won’t do a shabby job.

 

Let Us Pray

 

Lord today we thank you that You are the God of Restoration. I speak and release through the Holy Spirit restoration, rebuilt lives and time redeemed over all who read this today.

In Jesus Name

Amen

 

 

 

 

Love you all. God loves you more than I do.

Your Friend/Kinfolk

Preston