Month: October 2018

GET TOGETHER- EVERYONE GETS TO PLAY

Eph 4:16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

I don’t use football illustrations in these because I know that can be divisive and some people may get turned off because I used one of their rivals as a positive example. With that said I won’t mention the names of the two teams that were playing in a game that I was watching this past weekend.

One of the teams was behind with around a minute and twenty-four seconds to go in the game. They were primarily a running team. They had the ball on their own end of the field. Their passing game had been anemic.

I am not going to go over play by play how the team came back and won. But there was one play that I felt like the Holy Spirit told me to mention. One of the players caught a pass and ran out of bounds with about four seconds to go to give his team an opportunity for one more play. The next play there was a penalty that set up the winning touchdown. I felt like the Holy Spirit had me to take note that if that player had tried to win the game on his own and would have stayed in bounds most likely he would have been tackled and the clock would have run out. That showed discipline and a team first attitude.

As members of the Body of Christ we all can do our share. We all get to play. With that said we also must realize that it takes discipline for us to do our share as members of the Body of Christ. We also must realize that it is about bringing glory to the Lord Jesus and fulfilling the purpose that He has called us to fulfill.

It appears that the team that came back to score and win the game had a strategy and a plan. God has a plan and a strategy for us as we serve Him. Like the player that resisted the temptation to forsake the plan and instead stayed with the plan we must do that as well. When we attempt to be “lone rangers” in the Kingdom we set ourselves up to fall into the temptation of self-glorification.

Sometimes we get to be used by God to make “the big catch.” At other times we may be called to serve in a less visible role as others make the “big play.”

Like the player that wisely chose to follow his coach’s instructions to get out of bounds and stop the clock. We want to follow the Holy Spirit’s guidance and fulfill whatever role that God has given us to fulfill.

How are you fulfilling your role in the Body of Christ? On His team every person’s role is important. 1Co 12:20-23 But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty.” Be sure that you are fulfilling your role. How you fulfill your role could have eternal ramifications for others.

Let Us Pray

Lord Jesus we thank You that You have chosen us to be a part of Your blood bought team. We realize that the prize that we are competing for is not a perishable one, but an imperishable one. Today Lamb of God help us to fulfill our role so that others may live forever.

In Jesus Name

Amen

May the Lord be with you all in a very special way as you go about eternal things!

Your Friend/Kinfolk

Preston

Get Together- A Holy Double Play

Ps 34:4,5 I sought the LORD, and He heard me, And delivered me from all my fears. They looked to Him and were radiant, And their faces were not ashamed.

Many years ago, I would have been watching the baseball playoffs this time of the year. I don’t watch them anymore because several years ago I basically lost interest in all professional sports. I always enjoyed playing baseball as a child and slow pitch softball as an adult.

With all of that said I can still remember how important it was to turn a double play in a baseball, or softball game. That is how you got out of an inning and stopped a scoring threat. In this Psalm we see two threats that the enemy would like to use to inhibit us as children of God from living a blessed life and experiencing the abundant life that Jesus came to give us. One is fear and the other is shame.

The Hebrew term for fear in this passage is meg-oo-raw’. It means to be frightened or fearful. Many of us at different times have had different fears. For some of us it could be a fear of flying. For others it could be standing up in front of a group of people. It may mean being afraid to stay at home alone when there really is no good reason to be fearful in that way.

Fear can keep us from fulfilling what God has called us to do in our journey with Jesus Christ. At one time I had a fear of flying. The Lord delivered me from that several years ago. I still pray over the planes that I fly on. I even anoint them with oil, but I am no longer afraid to fly. There are places that God has called me to go to and the only way that I can get there is to fly. How about you? Is there something that God has called you to do, but you are letting fear keep you from experiencing what God has called you to do? Do what the Psalmist did. He sought the Lord! He carefully sought and inquired of the Lord. It worked for him. It will work for us. He was delivered from all his fears. God will do the same for us.

That other runner that we want to get out is shame. Shame can make us feel like we aren’t qualified to be in the ballgame. Shame is an attempt to make us believe that we not forgiven, called, and set apart people of God to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. When we fix our eyes on Jesus Christ we know that He has taken away and forgiven us from our sinful pasts. Jesus took our sins to the cross. When He did He took our shame to the cross: Heb 12:2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Through the Blood of Jesus Christ actually both of these runners were out before they stepped into the batter’s box against us.

Let me ask you something today. Where are you looking to overcome those fears that rob you of living the abundant life? Some of us have looked to drugs, drunkenness, and other sinful behaviors to overcome our fear and to deal with the shame. The good news is that Jesus has dealt with all of this at the cross.

Today if fear and shame are robbing you from experiencing life and life more abundant seek the Lord with all your heart. Keep your eyes on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of your faith. When we do this the enemy can’t even get into scoring position.

Let Us Pray

Lord Jesus we thank You so much for shedding your precious blood so that we could be delivered from all of our fears and that we could be saved, healed, and delivered from any shame that is associated with our sinful pasts. Today Lord empower us with the Holy Spirit in such a way that we can walk in the victory that You have provided.

In Jesus Name

Amen!

With those two out you are ready to go to bat in the Kingdom. God will use you in the Kingdom to hit home runs for His glory!

Your Friend/Kinfolk

Preston

GET TOGETHER – The Best Friend Forever

Pr 18:24 ¶ A man who has friends must himself be friendly, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. (NKJV)

The other night on Facebook I posted about how God has blessed J.J. and I with so many wonderful friends. Friends are a great gift and blessing from God. I must admit that I have not always been a perfect friend to some of my friends. And that was especially true before I came to Christ. And even since I came to Christ there have many times that I have fallen short of being the friend to one of my friends in a time that they may have needed me. Perhaps all of us may have at times either before we came to Christ, or after we came to Christ have missed an opportunity to be a friend to one of our friends that were hurting and needed a friend at some time.

One day this week I was with one of my real good friends somewhere. All of a sudden, I started singing What a Friend We Have In Jesus. My friend joined in and began to sing the words from some of the verses. Here are a couple that I remember us singing:

What a friend we have in Jesus,

All our sins and griefs to bear!

What a privilege to carry

Everything to God in prayer!

Oh, what peace we often forfeit,

Oh, what needless pain we bear,

All because we do not carry

Everything to God in prayer!

Have we trials and temptations?

Is there trouble anywhere?

We should never be discouraged—

Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Can we find a friend so faithful,

Who will all our sorrows share?

Jesus knows our every weakness;

Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Isn’t it great to know that our Lord, our Savior, our Master, our King is our Friend? Think about it. The Creator of the universe is our Friend and is on our side. The Bible tells us that Abraham was a friend of God. Jas 2:23 “And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God.” (NKJV)

As New Covenant followers of Jesus Christ we are blessed by being friends of God. As our Friend he will stick closer to us than a brother. That is close!

Today perhaps you are going through a challenging time in your life. There may be some of you who feel like you are all alone. I have some good news for you. Take some time to talk to the Lord as a friend. He knows everything about us. But He loves to engage in friendly intimate conversation with us. He will listen to you and He will speak to you. No matter if you are in the car, your shower, your front porch wherever you may happen to be He is there for you. And never forget the promise that His Friendship is forever! And through Him we can all be friends forever! Now will you join me in singing the rest of this ageless hymn by Joseph M. Scriven that is filled with so many great truths :

Are we weak and heavy-laden,

Cumbered with a load of care?

Precious Savior, still our refuge—

Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?

Take it to the Lord in prayer!

In His arms He’ll take and shield thee,

Thou wilt find a solace there.

Blessed Savior, Thou hast promised

Thou wilt all our burdens bear;

May we ever, Lord, be bringing

All to Thee in earnest prayer.

Soon in glory bright, unclouded,

There will be no need for prayer—

Rapture, praise, and endless worship

Will be our sweet portion there.

Let Us Pray

Lord Jesus we thank you that You are willing to be our Friend. Thank you that there is nothing that we cannot come to You about. We love You and we thank You for being willing to meet us wherever we are and take us to wherever that You want us to go. May we all take that time to be with You friend to friend.

In Jesus Name

Amen

It is a blessing to call all of you friends. If it was not for Him the greatest Friend that anyone can have, we wouldn’t have the blessing of being friends with one another.

Your Friend/Kinfolk

Preston

GET TOGETHER- WE NEED GOD-ADE

Isa 40:28-31 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall, But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.(NKJV)

Do you remember the quote in the old Gatorade commercials an athlete would be tired and then a friendly voice would say: “you look like you need some Gatorade?” People often drink Gatorade, or Powerade to replace electrolytes that have been lost due to hard work, exercise, or athletic competition. In life we often have energy drained from us physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

Physically human beings may experience loss of strength due to an accident, or some medical condition. When this happens people may have to go through some type therapy to regain their strength and to function in the way that they were before.

Emotionally and spiritually energy can be drained from us through various life experiences. Sometimes it may be due to the death, or long illness of someone that was very close to us. It may come sometimes when we have been ministering to other people. There are many different things that can cause us to be emotionally and spiritually drained.

No matter what the situation is there is good news for all of us who are followers of Christ. We are told by the Apostle Paul in 2Co 1:20 For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.” (NKJV)

So therefore, we can stand on the word that is promised to us by the prophet Isaiah. Let’s look at some faith builders in this passage that will help us to do just that.

First, we are children of the everlasting God. His power is limitless. He unlike us never gets tired or weak. I can remember a young man who is a missionary told me about going to a country in the Far East. He said that he went to a temple where people of one of the Eastern Religions worshipped. He said that the practitioner of that religion had to ring a bell to wake up the god that he worshipped. My friend told him that the God that we worship does not have to be woke up. He neither slumbers, nor sleeps. Isaiah tells us that He neither faints or is weary.

Today as New Covenant children of God we can rejoice that He gives us power through the Holy Spirit. If you are running on empty today, ask Him to fill your tank. Sometimes He may fill your tank by having you to rest. When you pull your car up to the gas pump you must turn it off for the refueling to take place. Although we aren’t really turned off from thinking we can take time to just be in His Presence, spend time in His word, and spend time in prayer. We also need to spend some time with our families as well as with some good friends in some good clean wholesome activities. By the way laughter is a big help in this process as well.

We are also told by Isaiah to wait upon the Lord. The Hebrew term for wait here is qavah, kaw-vaw’. It can mean to expect. Isn’t it great that we can expect our God to come through for us? Perhaps you are tired today. Maybe that child that you have been praying for still hasn’t come back to the Father’s House. Maybe you have had a loved one pass from this walk of life recently. This can be emotionally and spiritually draining. Ask the Lord to renew your strength. Maybe you have a broken bone or some other medical situation that you are recovering from. Believe that the Lord is going to help you to once again run and not grow weary. That you will be able to walk again as you did before.

Perhaps you have grown weary in your calling and you need God to renew your zeal for Him and what He has called you to do. Ask the Lord to help you to mount up to help you to soar like an eagle and to ascend to the heights that God desires for you to ascend to.

Let Us Pray

Lord Jesus we thank You that You are always with us. We thank You that You are the One that renews our strength. We thank you that we don’t have to wake You up, but you awaken us. We thank You that You do renew strength. We thank you for the promise that we can count on that we will mount up with wings like eagles and run and not grow weary. We pray over each person reading this today. That they will mount up, run and not grow weary, and walk and not faint!

In Jesus Name

Amen

God Bless you all! Thanks for your prayers and for your love!

Your Friend/Kinfolk

Preston