It Is Well

Tonight at church, our choir performed my very favorite song. I believe it has been my favorite ever since I learned the background of the song. The background is given during this performance. I hope that you will listen and be blessed. Maybe you'll find this a song to add to your favorites list! 

The Key

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The Key to Psalm 23

 

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; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me."

No doubt, one of the most read psalms in the Scriptures is Psalm 23. Often by the bedside of one who is facing death, a pastor will read Psalm 23.  Many times when someone faces a serious surgery, their pastor will read Psalm 23.  Psalm 23 is regularly read at a funeral or grave side services.  It is often read because of the comfort it gives to those facing rough times.

We are reminded that God owns us when the Scriptures say, "The LORD is my shepherd..." We are also reminded that He is our provider in verse 1.  We are reminded that He is our peace in verse 2.  We are reminded that He guides us in verse 3.  We are reminded that He comforts us in verse 4.  We are reminded that He is our protecter in verse 5.  Again in verse 5, we are reminded that He is our power.  We are also reminded that He is good and merciful to us in verse 6.  The psalmist truly gives us a great list of what God is to us.

Yet, the key to this psalm is often missed.  Many times you would think that David was going through a good time when He wrote this, but that is not the case.  The key to this psalm is in verse 4 when the Scriptures say, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death..." It is interesting that David said all of these things about God when death's shadow was over him.  In other words, David was not going through the greatest time of His life, and yet he said all of these great things about God.

Let me paraphrase these verses a bit.  He was saying, though I face death God still owns me.  Though I face death, God is still providing for me.  Though I face death, God is giving me peace.  Though I face death, God is guiding me.  Though I face death, God is still comforting.  Though I face death, God is protecting me.  Though I face death, God will give me power.  Though I face death, God is still good and merciful.  David was saying all of these good things about God when he was going through a rough spot in his life.

Christian, the true test of your Christianity will be how you respond when going through rough times in your life.  It is easy to say good things about God when times are good, but let me remind you that the God of the good times is still God when bad times come. You must not forget that even if the "shadow of death" hovers over you, that God will provide, give you peace, guide you, comfort you, protect you, give you power to face the uncertain and He will be merciful and good to you.

The key to Psalm 23 is that David still responded right when times were tough.  The key to your life will be how you respond through your tough times.  Always remember that God is there for you in the bad times just like He is in the good times.

A Man Child

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A Man Child

 

Revelation 12:5

"And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne."

Twice in Revelation 12, Jesus is called "a man child." The reason He is called this is because He was all man, even from His childhood.  What I mean by this is that Jesus didn't act childish, but He acted like a man from His childhood.  When Jesus graduated into adulthood, He wasn't still acting like a child, but He acted like a man. Jesus was a great example of how we should train our young men.  From a child He started acting like a man, and when He became an adult, He didn't have to learn how to be a man for He was a man as a child.

I was recently talking to my good friend, Bro. Johnny Esposito, who is the Vice-President of Pacific Baptist Bible College in Long Beach, California. Our conversation was about how childish most men are these days.  He told me a few stories of some of the men in his college whose childish actions amazed him.  He then told me that our problem in today's society is that most men have a Peter Pan syndrome.  What he meant by this is that there are men who still want to play like a child and who have never grown up. I concur with his analysis as I look at most men today and see that they still have child-like tendencies.

If our nation is going to be saved, then we need some young men who will grow up.  This nation will not be saved by a bunch of childish men.  When you study history, you will see that the men who changed their society were not childish men, but they were men.  Just like Jesus acted like a man from a child, we need to start training our young men to be men from their childhood.

If this is going to happen, then there are several things we must do.  First, men need to grow up.  You will never make men out of boys when the men are acting like boys. It is sad when you have forty year old men who are still playing video games. Grow up! I'm not against a dad playing some video games with his children, but I am against a grown man being caught up in the video games himself.  Men need to grow up and stop pushing their responsibilities off on their wives.  Men need to grow up and start working instead of playing all the time.  Men need to grow up and stop whining about how hard life is.  I could go on and on, but if we are going to train our young boys to become men, then they need examples to follow.

Second, start training your boys to become men in their childhood. Teach them to work as a child. One of the greatest things that has destroyed our youth is the work permit.  I know there will be some who don't like this, but to say a child can't work until they are fifteen is crazy.  I'm not for them working forty hours a week, but I am for children learning as a child to work hard.  Boys will not be men if all they do is play, boys will become men by working.  Dad, take your boy with you and let him work with you.  Furthermore, stop babying your boys.  Every time they get a little boo boo, you don't need to baby them. Mom, if it is just a little scratch, you don't need to pamper him.  If it needs a bandaid, then put it on the hurt and let your boy learn how to be toughened up a bit.  Don't let your boy whine every time he gets hit on the football field.  This is good for your boy.

Last, teach your boys responsibility. Give them responsibilities at home for which they are in charge. Teach them how to make decisions.  When they don't fulfill their responsibility, admonish them and use it as a teaching aid to train them to follow through on responsibilities.

We are in desperate need of men. Boys will only become men if they are trained to be a man from childhood. Be sure that you are training a man and not a Peter Pan.

How Great

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What a Great God!

 

Revelation 2:9

"I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan."

In the first three chapters of the Book of Revelation, God reveals Himself to John by showing us four great attributes about Himself. In the writing of this book, John was exiled on the isle of Patmos for preaching the Word of God.  You must realize that John is experiencing persecution, and God is using this opportunity to reveal Himself to one of His chosen saints.  This revelation of Himself to John is certainly helpful for us as we look at the greatness of God.  There are four things that God says about Himself in these chapters that should be encouraging, and yet convicting to you as a Christian.

First, God calls Himself the "I am." Several times in the first chapter you will see this phrase.  What is so encouraging about this phrase is that God did not say, "I was," but He said about Himself, "I am." Christian, God is a present tense God.  He is the God Who is very present in all of your needs.  It doesn't matter what you may be facing today, you can rest assured that God is present with you to help you through your rough times.  It matters not where you live, God is an ever present God to help you through all of your troubles.  He isn't just a God Who helped people in the past, but He is a God Who is presently able to help you with whatever you face today.

Second, God says, "I know." Not only is God a present God, but He is a God Who is an all-knowing God.  As you can see from the Scriptures, He knows all that you do.  This can be convicting or encouraging depending upon what actions you take part in.  If you are living in sin, He knows.  If you are doing right and wonder if anyone notices, rest assured that God knows.  He knows whens others do not notice what you do for Him.  He knows how you feel as you go through trials.  He knows your fears and concerns of each day. He is a God Who knows everything that you do and think.  Christian, you may feel like it is worthless to do right, but let me remind you that God knows.

Third, God says, "I have." We can look at this phrase in two different ways. First, God reminded the churches that He had "somewhat against" them.  Oh, how you should desire not to live your life so that God would have something against you. Life is hard enough without God having something against you. If you are doing wrong, then immediately get it right so that God won't hold that against you.  But, we can also look at this phrase and see that God is a resourceful God.  He has the resources to meet all of your needs.  Your needs may be great, but God is greater than your needs, and He has the resources to meet them.  You need not worry, God is capable of taking care of you.

Last, God says, "I will." This little phrase reminds me that God is a God of action.  He will bless you if you do right. There are many who think that God sits on the sidelines and lets life play its way through, but according to the Scriptures, God is a God Who is very involved in the lives of His children.  He will bless them if they do right, and He will punish them if they do wrong.  If you do right, He will be there for you to help you through any obstacles you may face.  Ask God for His help in all that you do because He is a God Who will.

Take these four phrases and remember that God is a great God.  Everyday, remember that God is, God knows, God has and God will.  These four thoughts should help you to realize that you serve a great God.

Condemn

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Dealing with a Condemning Heart

 

1 John 3:20

"For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God."

In the verse above, John talks about Christians having a condemning heart. Though many times people feel that a condemning heart is more of a present day problem, we can see from the Scriptures that people from all ages have had this problem of dealing with a condemning heart.  This is because sin is an every person problem.  Sin has existed since the Garden of Eden, therefore you will have people who have a condemning heart. Dealing with your condemning heart will determine whether or not you have the confidence needed to serve the LORD.

Let me first of all remind you that the past is the past.  Too many people let their past beat them up when they need to remember that they cannot undo the past. One sad thing about life is that there is no reset button. Once you have done something, you will have to live with that action for the rest of your life.  You can't undo what you have done, so stop letting your past condemn you. What you need to do is move on and start doing right.

Second, every action has consequences. If you don't want your heart to condemn you, then you need to realize that every action has consequences.  There are consequences to being unfaithful to your spouse.  There are consequences to quitting on God.  There are consequences to surrendering to temptation. If you don't want to have a condemning heart, then stop doing those things that the consequences are condemning.

Third, you might not have to live with people, but you have to live with your heart.  Many people think that they can do something and no one will ever find out.  Well, you might be right about no one finding out, but the problem is that your heart will know what you have done.  You may do wrong with someone else and never see them again, but you will have to live with your heart for the rest of your life.

The only answer to dealing with a condemning heart is God and His Word.  If you will start listening to God and doing what His Word commands you to do, then you can silence your condemning heart. Doing right has a way of quieting the condemning heart.

According to the verse above, the result of an uncondemning heart is confidence.  You will never have the confidence you need to serve God until your heart stops condemning you. It is amazing how confident you will become in the Christian life when you start doing right. You will have confidence to teach God's Word.  You will have confidence as a soul winner.  You will have confidence as you walk through life.  Confidence will be natural because you will know that what you are doing is right.

Christian, my desire for you is that you live a confident life because your heart doesn't condemn you, but it commends you.  Always remember that you have to live with your heart, so only do the things that will cause your heart to commend your actions. Be careful today, and every day, to do those things that you won't regret years down the road.

Resist

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Resist to Submit

 

James 4:7

"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."

The Christian life is often accomplished through opposites.  What I mean by this statement is that in order to obey God I must disobey the flesh.  For instance, in order to properly love I must hate.  I cannot love something without hating what which will hurt that which I love. Therefore, love without hatred is not true love. Thus, the whole Christian life is accomplished by balancing the opposites of life.  Whenever I get out of balance, I end up committing sin and harming my testimony.

No doubt, one of the greatest battles you will face in your Christian life is overcoming the Devil.  Let me make this very clear, the Devil is a real person.  If you believe in God, then you must believe there is a Devil, for God tells us that he is real.  In fact, I believe that not only do most people believe there is a Devil, but most people will tell you that they hate him.  Yet, the truth is most Christians end up succumbing to the Devil's temptations.  Though we hate him, it is amazing how we end up listening to him. In the verse above, God gives us the way to overcome the Devil.

If you are going to overcome the Devil, then you must first submit yourself to God.  The word "submit" means "to place yourself under ones authority." In other words, you will never succeed in overcoming the Devil until you place yourself under God's authority.  Until you yield yourself to God and stop making yourself the authority, you will never succeed in overcoming the Devil.

Moreover, in all submission there must be resistance.  Follow me carefully as I try to explain this.  Submission is not doing something when you want to do it. Submission is doing something that you are told to do when you don't want to do it, and have the power not to do it.  That is why God said you must submit to Him in order to overcome the Devil.  There will be resistance in your attempt to submit to God.  For instance, when God commands me to go soul winning, there are times when my flesh does not want to go.  Thus, though my flesh may resist going soul winning, I must submit to God's authority and push myself to do it.  This can be said about anything in the Christian life. Submitting to God is not easy because you will always find resistance either from your flesh or from others.  Therefore, you must expect resistance when you submit to God.

Furthermore, God says the way to submit to Him is to resist the Devil.  The easiest way for you to submit to God is simply to resist what the Devil tells you to do.  The easiest way to submit to God's instruction to be faithful to church is to resist the Devil's invitation to stay home. The best way to submit to walking daily with God in His Word is to resist the Devil's invitation to stay in bed.

Likewise, the way to resist the Devil is to submit to God.  Too many people are trying to give you all kinds of "Christian psychology" regarding overcoming the Devil when it is as simple as submitting to God.  If you want to resist the Devil, then simply submit yourself to God and His authority.

Submitting to God and resisting the Devil ultimately comes down to a choice.  In every choice of life, you must choose to submit to God and resist the Devil. You must understand that if you submit to God, then you are resisting the Devil. Yet, if you resist God's authority and what He wants you to do, then you are also submitting to the Devil. You simply must decide to whom you will submit.  Let me encourage you to submit to God, and you will be successful in resisting the Devil.