The Struggle - Part 2

You Are Not Alone

Mark 14:38

“Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.”

Last week we began a series entitled “The Struggle.”  We began our series on “There is a Battle.”  We discussed the Root of the Battle (Sin), The Response in the Battle (Shame), and The Results of the Battle (Surrender in Defeat or Serve with Determination).  This week we are going to talk about “You are not alone.” We all struggle with sin, but it seems like we feel like we are the only ones who struggle with sin.  That cant be farther from the truth.  In fact, the Bible shares with us many Men of God who struggled with sin in their lives and yet the Lord forgave and still used them in the service of God.  

• Who the Struggle Affects
• Everyone
• There are many people throughout Scripture that struggled with sin and battle this on a daily basis.
• Paul - “I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.” - 1 Corinthians 15:31
• Romans 7:15, “ For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.”
• Peter - Peter denied the Lord 3 times and even rejected to give the Gospel to the Gentiles in fear of what others would say.
• Matthew 26:69-75
• Galatians 2:11-14
• David - Sin with Bathsheba that led to try and cover up his sin with more sin. No matter who we think we can hide our sin from, it will NEVER be hidden from God!
• 2 Samuel 11
• 2 Samuel 12 shows that God was never in the dark of what David had done.

• What the Struggle Brings
• Shame 
• We tend to feel real shame in our lives about our sin ONLY after it is brought to light.  David felt shame and conviction after Nathan confronted him.  
• Peter felt shame and hid after denying the Lord.
• Adam and Eve did the same in Genesis 3

• Where the Struggle Leads
• This struggle will lead to 2 different places:
• Rebellion
• Demas - 2 Timothy 4:10
• Repentance
• Peter - John 21:15-17

Throughout the Word of God we can see men and women who struggled with sin in their lives.  It is an ongoing battle that will have to be fought until the Lord calls us home.  As we struggle with things, we must never forget that we have a Father in Heaven who loves us and is waiting on His children to come back to Him and seek repentance. (Luke 16)

As you struggle daily with sin, never forget, You are Not Alone!

The Struggle Part 1

“There is a Battle”

A few months back, I was teaching our teens the importance of evangelism.  We went through "The Romans Road", tracts, and lastly personal testimonies.  I asked our teenagers to write out their personally testimonies and give them to me.  As I looked at the testimonies of our teens, I saw a common trend within each one: There are still struggles we have in the Christian life. The Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:31 that he died daily.  This didn’t mean that he killed himself everyday, but he had to die to self.  Everyday there are struggles, it is how we deal with these struggles that shows our true character in Christ. The first thing I want to point out is, “There is a Battle.”

• Root of the Battle – Genesis 3:1-7
• Sin is the Root to our Struggles
• Romans 5:12, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.”
• We all have a Sin problem – Romans 3:23
• The Epistle of 1 John was given to Christians and he says in chapter 2:1, “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous”
• Jesus said in Matthew 26:41, “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

• Response in the Battle – Genesis 3:7-8
• Shame is the Response to our Struggles
• Genesis 3:8, “And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.”
• When the Lord is in our presence we will fear shame for our sin. The Holy Spirit will convict us of that sin. We must react to that conviction by way of repentance to the Lord. 
• 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.”
• Isaiah 6:1-8
• 6:5, “Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.”

• Reaction in the Battle – There will be two very different reactions in the Battle:
• Surrender – A Feeling of Defeat
• There are many who have lost a battle with sin and are living a defeated life.  Christ is just wanting on them to come to Him and repent.  He WILL forgive.  Don’t live a defeated life!  There is forgiveness at the Cross!
• Serve – A Feeling of Determination
• Peter – Denied the Lord 3 times and yet, Christ forgave him and he preached one of the greatest messages that radically changed the local church. Peter was determined to serve even after losing a battle.

So many Christians today are living a defeated life, because they struggle with their sin.  Don’t allow your past and present sins keep you from going to the Father with your struggles.  He wants to hear from you and He wants to forgive you and have sweet fellowship with you once again.

Theology learned from a toilet handle

I know that title sounds pretty crazy but let me explain:  It all started when my 3 year old daughter decided to play monkey bars on our toilet.  That, of course, snapped the handle into and it was completely unfixable.  (Duct tape was not an option) This meant that I had to make a quick trip to ACE Hardware for a fast replacement. (We live 30 seconds from one) When I got back to the house with the new handle, I thought to myself, “This isn't rocket science.” As you may know, there is instructions on the box for a help, but who needs instructions on a project this simple?!? I knew this was not going to be a hard project.  I mean really, how hard could it be to unscrew the old handle and replace it with a new one? 

   After I got the old one off, I started to place the new one on.  Everything was going great up unto the point of screwing on the nut.  I was turing it left and it just wasn't connecting.  I even remember telling myself, “Lefty Loosey, Righty Tighty.”  Yeah, that little rhyme didn't help.  I must be honest, I was getting pretty frustrated with myself and began to think that rocket science had something to do with toilet handles. I then did what must guys would do in that situation, I started to read the instructions. After reading them I realized I had been doing it correctly, but it still wasn't working.  I then had an idea, “What if I try turning it the other way?”  Guess what?  IT WORKED!  I was a hero to my kids.  For some reason they thought that was the coolest thing for daddy to be able to fix that. 

   I got to thinking about why I was having so much trouble with connecting the handle together.  Then I remembered, I was facing the handle from the back side and needed to turn the nut backwards in order for it to work.  You see, if I was facing it the right way everything would have worked perfectly.  There was nothing wrong with the instructions or me knowing how to fix it, what was wrong was my position.  How often do we, as Christians, know what to do, read the instructions (God’s Word) and still find ourselves frustrated and wondering if we are even capable of doing something for the Lord, when the whole time we are not in right standing with the Lord. A very familiar Scripture we hear more and more today is 2 Chronicles 7:14.  It says, “ If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”  

   The first part of that says, “If MY people, which are called by MY name,”  This is talking about Christians.  Those that are blood bought, saved, children of God.  Those who have been to church, those who know the hymns, those who tithed and give love offerings.  “MY people.” Those who know the instructions and where to find them.  Yet, we find ourselves frustrated and wondering where is our help?  BUT the whole time God is trying to tell us, “You are looking at this from the wrong position.”  

   Another verse that is commonly used in 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.” Again, there is something to be said about this verse and also 2 Chronicles 7:14: what is the first word in both verses? “IF.” I-F.  “If my people,” “If we confess.” This means that we must make sure we are following the instructions correctly from the right position.  

   We must first humble ourselves.  This means that we are telling the Lord, I cant do this without YOU, Lord.  I realized after the toilet handle installment, that I try and do quite a bit on my own.  That’s not showing much humility.  Secondly, we are to pray. Praying can be many things, but one of the things prayer can be is asking for help. Too many times in my own life I neglect to pray for help from the One who is “closer than a brother.”  I could imagine the Lord sitting in Heaven watching us make a mess of things and the whole time He is just saying, “Call on Me child,”  The third thing we must do goes along with 1 John 1:9, we must REPENT.  Repentance is a change of mind or direction.  We must turn from our way of thinking and ask the Lord for forgiveness and guidance.  

   I wonder how many times in my own life I made such a mess of things because I “thought” I knew what to do?  How many times I “read the instructions” but never truly understood what to do.  Maybe that is why the Scriptures say to “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”  It became pretty evident in my own life that I need the Lord more now than I ever did.  I need the Lord to revive me!  Do you need revival?  Maybe you have realized that you have been going about your Christian life the wrong way.  Maybe you have realized you are in the wrong position.  If that is you, as it is for me, we must start on our knees.  Remember, “humble themselves.”

   I must admit, I never would have imagined the Lord using a toilet handle to show me just how much I needed revival.  Although, the more I think about it, He did use a donkey to get Balaam’s attention and He used a whale to revive Jonah.  I guess I should be happy He didn't prepare a whale to swallow me or have  Mr. Ed knocking on my door.  I would hope that this post has given you some sense of reflection and encouragement.  I know it has in my own life.  Every time I go in that bathroom now, I think of that handle and it reminds me about my need for revival.  I know that sounds kinda crazy, but I want to thank the Lord for giving me those few moments to show me my need for revival.

“Revive us again, 

Fill each heart with Thy love; 

May each soul be rekindled 

With fire from above.”

Who Ya Gonna Call?

Who Ya Gonna Call?

Psalm 50:15, “And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.”

I remember growing up watching a show called “Ghostbuster.”  The show consisted of 4 men who had these lazor-like backpacks on that would go around town and exterminate ghost.  They even captured a giant marshmallow. (Yes, I had an awesome childhood.) The song started out with, “If there's something strange in your neighborhood, Who ya gonna call? GHOSTBUSTERS!” Now as cheesy as this sounds, I loved this as a child.  I can remember there were nights that I was afraid to go to sleep and I would “call” on the Ghostbusters.  I grabbed my lazor pack (Yes, sadly I had one) and I wasn’t afraid no ghost!

I bet you are wondering a few things. First, “How in the world did you ever get married?” Second question, “How does Ghostbusters apply to my spiritual life?” Well to answer the first question: I got married only by God’s grace! (And maybe because I never told her about the lazor pack) To answer the second question: Ghostbusters has nothing to do with your spiritual life, but the application is there!  Whenever God puts us in situations where we are afraid, He wants us to call on Him!  The Bible tells us in Hebrews 13:5, “…I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”  The Lord will never send us to do His work without Him being there with us.  Yes, God’s will is scary at times.  Yes, God’s work is hard at times, but in times of fear He says to, “call upon me in the day of trouble.” If we do this, the outcome of our circumstance will be that we Glorify Him!

Many people today in church know, in some degree, what God wants them to do.  The major problem is that most say “NO” to God’s will because they are afraid of failing.  God says to call on him and he WILL deliver you!  Christ said in Matthew 5:16 “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” God has a purpose for you and He has a job for you!  The question is, “In times of fear and doubt, who are you going to call on?”  He WANTS to help you, and he WILL help you so that He may GLORIFIED in your life!

Word in Action:

Maybe the Lord has given you something specific to do: teach a lesson, witness to family, or sing at church. It maybe scary, but trust in Him and overcome this fear!

Pray:

Today, I challenge you to pray for God’s help in doing that thing you know He wants you to do!  It may be challenging, but God is with you!

Dig Deeper:

Look at the story of Moses in Exodus 3-4.  Moses was afraid to do the work of God.  Time after time Moses was giving excuse as to why he couldn’t do the job, but God kept providing solutions to his problems!  God was with Moses and He is with YOU!

Why Camp Dies At Church

Last week, some of our teenagers from church went to Indian Creek Baptist Camp in Mauckport, IN. Words cannot do justice as to what the Lord did in the hearts of those that went.  We had such a wonderful time there.  Sunday night we had a testimonial service to share with our church what the Lord done.  Many of the teens that went got up and shared some things the Lord challenged them to do, we had a video of pictures from camp, and I preached a little sermon about what I feared about coming home after camp.  I entitled the sermon, "Why Camp Dies at Church." Kind of a rough title, I know, but honestly, too often when decisions get made by teens at a camp, youth conference, or youth rallies most of the time they never follow through at their home churches for too long.  I wanted to preach a message of encouragement to our church to make sure they hold our teens accountable and also encourage them to stick with the decisions made.  Below is a copy of my notes from the message, the video we showed, and also a link to Indian Creek Baptist Camp.  I pray this will encourage you also.  Too often we can make decisions to serve God or repent of some struggles in our lives, but we never follow through ourselves. God Bless each of you and please pray for all those that made decisions to live for Christ!

Why Camp Dies at Church

Proverbs 27:17

“Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.”

First let me say thank you to the parents for allowing my wife and I to take your kids to the boonies of Indiana, where cell services goes to die. I know it was hard not really “knowing” what was going on everyday, but I can assure you there was no Youtube, Facebook, or texting. 

Secondly, I would like to thank our Pastor and Bro Mark for really encouraging us to go to Indian Creek.  There was many obstacles that stood in our way, but I knew the Lord had to do something for us.

Thirdly, I want to thank Ms Tammy, Nathan, and Bro Jesse for going with us and being such wonderful influences to not just our kids, but all those yankee kids. Not only was Christ’s love displayed but they showed what southern hospitality was.

Lastly, I want to thank my wife for being such a wonderful help to me in the ministry.  There have been many difficulties over the years, but she never ceases to amaze me.  I love her dearly and I wouldn't want to be in the ministry with any one else.

With all of that being said, I want to share a thought the Lord gave me while we were at camp.  If we are not careful, the decisions made and the commitments made could fall by the way side if we are not careful.  Too often, we hear of youth and even adults making commitments at camps, rallies, missions trips, or other special services all to let them go by the wayside when they come back to their home and home churches.  I want to share a few things the Lord encouraged me with, and how we could avoid “Why Camp Dies at Church.”

• Differences
• Let me first say there was great Excitement from day 1 of camp.  It didn't matter how hot it was or how uncomfortable the chairs were.  These young people were excited to be in the House of God.
• Psalm 27:4, “One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.”
• Vance Havner once said, “Church starts at 11:00 sharp and ends at 12:00 dull.”
• Have we lost our excitement about coming to the House of God?
• There was also Hunger from the teens.  Sure they were hungry for food (What good Baptist is not?), but they were hungry for the preaching of the Word of God.
• 2 Timothy 3:16, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:”

• Distractions
• One of the biggest reasons why camp dies at church and home is distractions.  It is easy to get right with God when you cant access Facebook, TV, and cell phones.  It’s harder when you get home and it is there just in reach.
• It would be very easy to allow the things in news today hinder the decisions made, but we must not allow this to happen. 
• There maybe friends that you may need to distance yourself from, there maybe music you need to get away from, there maybe tension between parent and teen that needs to be made right.  What ever it may be, it can hinder your walk with the Lord.  
• Hebrews 12:1-2 tells us to lay aside the weights and sin that easily besets us.

• Decisions
• This is by far the most important thing that was done this past week.  We seen the Lord working on Wednesday with our teen girls and the boys followed on Thursday night.  We had a great time, but I encouraged them to not allow the flame to burn out when we got home.  Too often a word of discouragement will quickly put out a fire that has been lit.  We need REVIVAL in our church and I truly believe we could see it if we would just decide right now to allow the Lord to do “inventory” in our lives and yield to Him!  No RESERVE!  Hold nothing back from Him and allow Him to have full control.

We need to encourage those who went and encourage others to go next time.  They truly missed out on a blessing from the Lord.  We need to “sharpen” one another to serve the Lord until He returns.

Here is the video link:

http://youtu.be/SSsNWj0-Dbk

Indian Creek Baptist Camp:http://indiancreekbaptistcamp.com

Happy Birthday to my Superhero!

  Many people have a favorite superhero they admire.  A superhero has great powers and abilities that allow them to do great feats that many others can't do.  Many people love Superman. Who wouldn't love the ability to fly?!?  I mean that guy is pretty amazing. What about Captain America?  He's pretty incredible too. My 3 year old daughter loves Spiderman.  It would be pretty cool to swing through New York in a spider suit.  My favorite superhero is far greater than these.  My favorite superhero is my wife, Jenny. What are some of her super powers you may ask? 

 Well first of all, she has many powers. She is a wife, mommy, teacher, doctor, and even dabbles in construction. (This is just to name a few) I am amazed at how she can make boo-boos feel better just by the touch of her lips.  The boo-boos quickly  feel better after she kisses it. 
  Not only can she heal boo-boos with a kiss, she has the ability to show our little girls to love our Lord. (This is the most amazing one to me)  I see Proverbs 31 more and more in her every single day.  I can't tell you how blessed I am to have this woman as the mother of my children.  I am thankful for the Godly example she is leading for my girls to see.
  Another power she has is to make my bad days good days.  Just a smile from her makes my bad day better!  I see her love for me daily and it makes me want to be a better husband for her because she deserves it. She makes me smile when she hums to songs on the radio she has never heard before.  She makes me smile when she gets tongue tied.  (Which is often)  There are so many things I could tell, but these are just a few things that make me smile. 

  Today is her birthday.  She deserves much more than I could ever give her.  She is more beautiful than she will ever know, and I am truly blessed to have her in my life. 

  I love you Jenny and hope you have a SUPER birthday!

Abiding Under a Juniper Tree

After the death of actor Robin Williams it seemed like “depression” was all of a sudden on everyone’s radar.  Some people looked at this as a new thing.  “I mean how could someone with some much joy in public have depression?”  Being raised in church pretty much my whole life “depression” seemed like a fictitious dirty word.  As a matter of fact, one of the books I was looking at today had illustrations on depression.  Each one of them was pointing out that all a person needs to do is focus on Christ and His goodness.  I agreed and disagreed with the statements in that book.  True, one can think on the things of God and began to be joyful.  In fact, Paul said in in Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”  The Bible says we are to “let this mind be in you which is also in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 2:5)

            I 100% agree with the fact that our minds must be focused on Christ.  However, I want to share something with you that I believe gives proof that Christians can have a degree of depression as well.  I want to look at a passage of scripture in the book of 1 Kings and chapter 19.  Many of us know the story of 1 Kings 18.  Elijah had just defeated the prophets of Baal.  It was 450 men of Baal versus 1 Man of God.  This was a great victory for the Lord.  After reading that chapter you might think, “WOW!  Nothing in the world could slow Elijah down from serving the Lord!” Don’t take this the wrong way, but I am soooooooooo thankful for chapter 19!

            After Elijah brought a great victory for the Lord, it was then he faced another obstacle.  It’s been said that after you have a great victory for Christ one should be on guard because the Devil will fight you harder. Personally, some of my greatest trials have come after preaching the Word of God and people were saved. Looking at this passage of scripture I can see a few things that the Lord has shown me.

1.)    Elijah felt alone – So often when someone is depressed they feel like they are the only ones doing anything for the Lord.  Elijah was no different than you or I.  He even said in verses 10 & 14, “And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.” What is so wrong about this comment is that there was another prophet of the Lord named Obadiah who was hiding other prophets from Jezebel. Often it can be easy to not pay attention to what others are doing for the Christ.

2.)   Elijah needed to hear from the Lord – No matter how “alone” one may feel, God is always with them!  Elijah was ministered to by an angel of the Lord and later was given instruction by God.  While Elijah was under the juniper tree praying for death, God sent His angel to build up his strength to labor for Christ yet again. We quote the scriptures time and time again that I fear we lose trust in them.  Yet the bible says, He (meaning Christ!) will never leave us nor forsake us!

3.)   There is more people that need reached and trained for the Cause of Christ – Even though Elijah was feeling depressed in his life, God was still not through with him because there was a young man named Elisha that needed to be reached.  After Elijah had his “pity party” God told him to go and find Elisha and anoint him.  After this happened Elisha was inseparable from Elijah until the Lord took Elijah home to be with God. The work for the Lord is not over until He calls us home!  We must never forget that. There are Elisha in our lives that need to be reached!

   You may be wondering why did you write all of this.  Well it’s simple….I struggle with depression and I needed a reminder of these great truths from the Word of God. There are many days where I feel alone in God's work, yet I know there are so many of my friends that work circles around me in the ministry.  I love them all and respect them greatly.  There are some days that I just need to sit back and hear from God.  The most important reason is because I know there is a younger generation coming up behind me that needs to see the importance of growing in Christ and sharing His Gospel.  That, my friends, is why we must never allow our “feelings” to hinder the work of the Lord.  It’s much bigger than us.  We get to be used by a Great and Almighty God who loves us and WANTS to do great things in our lives.  

   There is so much more on this I can write, but for the sake of a “post” I will end it with this:  Depression is a real thing and just because someone is smiling on the outside doesn’t mean they are not hurting, crying, and yearning for help on the inside.  I pray this post helps someone, and if you have read this far down…I ask that you say a pray for me.  Today has been somewhat of a “rough” day, and I know there will be others but I know HE is with me and HE loves me regardless of who I am!