God Knows Me!

 

“O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways.” (Psalms 139:1-3)

 

 

    Thus begins what for me, is the best of all the Psalms. It is an awesome discourse on the magnificent, and all knowing God that is our personal Lord and Savior! King David, moved by the Holy Spirit ( see 2 Peter 1:21), reminds us that God knows us intimately. He knows when we sit down and when we stand up. He knows what we are thinking, even if we are all alone in a dark room, and He knows every detail about our being. Do you have some secrets from your spouse, your parents, or your best friends? God knows all about them.

 

   “Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O Lord You know it all. You have enclosed me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it.” (verses 4-6)

 

   Our Lord wants us to spend time with Him in prayer and discourse but it is not because He doesn’t know everything you have to say already. He wants to have a personal relationship with you and He wants to hear you talk to Him and have Him in your confidence.  He has provided protection for us in the front and in the back. That is something that is so wonderful; that the creator of the universe wants me to know Him, that we really have a hard time grasping that concept. David says “It is too high, I cannot attain to it.” (See what Isaiah says about that: read Isaiah 55:8-9)

 

   “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, Even there your hand will lead me, and Your right hand will lay hold of me.” (verses 7-10)

 

   There is not a place in this universe where God is not. He is with you where you are whether it is the place you want to be or not. I am currently rereading a book about a soldier that was a prisoner of war of the Japanese in Burma during World War II. No place on earth could be described as a worse kind of “hell on earth” than those POW camps. Yet God was there with Him and his fellow prisoners! A great awakening of God was experienced, under the power of the Holy Spirit, and thousands of lives were changed to live their lives for Jesus under the worst of conditions and their lives were transformed to live the remainder of their lives for Him!

 

  Where are you now? It doesn’t really mater because He is with you and He will carry you through whatever difficulty or challenge you are going through. He is our creator and He knows us intimately. The question is: Do you know Him and are you taking time to know more about Him and His plans for you?

 

 

PRAY

 

 

1.    Lord, I praise You and thank You for being such a loving and all powerful God for me.

2.    Thank you for creating me in You image and allowing me this time to live on the planet You have created just for your people.

3.    Help me today to draw closer to You in the reading of Your Holy Word and by talking to You in prayer at least once a day, and hopefully much more!

 

    

Independence Day

 

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, The people He has chosen as His own inheritance.” (Psalms 33:12, NKJV)

     When the Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4th, 1776, there was great joy and enthusiasm in the American colonies! (minus the loyalists and British Army, of course.) John Adams, one of the signers and future president of this new republic, penned these prophetic words to his wife Abigail: The day on which the Declaration was passed “…..will be the most memorable…in the history of America. I am apt to believe it will be celebrated by succeeding generations, as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the Day of Deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illumination from one end of the continent to the other, from this time forward forevermore.” 

    "You will think me transported with enthusiasm, but I am not. I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure that it will cost to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. Yet through all the gloom I can see the rays of ravishing light and glory. I can see that the end is worth more than all the means. "(John Adams, “The Light and the Glory," p. 310-311)

     Most of those activities have been going on for 245 years, but lately, it seems that there are those who want to belittle or downplay just what a magnificent document the Declaration is, and what a singularly extraordinary country it helped spawn. Now is the time for all Americans to stand up and celebrate what a truly momentous day July Fourth stands for, and celebrate it with fervor and thankfulness to our God for raising this country up to be a lighthouse to the world for freedom and an example of the sovereignty of God! 

“‘Blessed be the name of God forever and forever, For His wisdom and might are His. And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise And knowledge to those who have understanding.’” (Daniel 2:20-21)

PRAY

1. Lord thank you for loving us so much that You sent Your son to die for our sins and to adopt us as your children.
2. Help us to thank you everyday for the blessings You have poured out for our nation and to us as individuals.
3. Help me today to keep my eyes focused on You and to allow Your Spirit to live through me today, and every day that You so graciously allow me to live on this earth You have created for us all.

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Have you met the Master?

  “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

 

    I was listening to Pastor Chuck Swindoll on the radio the past two days and he was delivering an excellent sermon on the passage above. He explained how the word picture that Jesus is using of a yoke was very well known by His audience two thousand years ago, but maybe not so well known today. The yoke was a wooden instrument to connect two oxen together so that they could pull a plow, and that each yoke would be specially crafted to fit the individual oxen being worked. Jesus is telling us that He is the one who has a yoke individually crafted for us and that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. That is something we all need to be reminded of on a regular basis! Have you learned to rest in Him, and allow Him to give you rest for you soul?

 

   Pastor Swindoll then read a poem that I think is worth sharing with you also:

 

When I met the Master Face to Face

 

“I had walked life’s path with an easy tread

Had followed where comfort and pleasure led;

And then one day in a quiet place

I met the Master, face to face.

 

With station rank and wealth for a goal

Much thought for the body, but none for the soul;

I had thought to win life’s mad race,

When I met the Master, face to face.

 

I had built my castles and reared them high,

Till their towers pierced the blue of the sky,

I had vowed to rule with an iron mace,

When I met the Master, face to face.

 

I met Him and knew Him, and blushed to see

That eyes full of sorrow were turned on me;

And I faltered, and fell at His feet that day,

While all my castles melted away.

 

Melted and vanished, and in their place

I saw naught else but my Master’s face;

And I cried aloud: ‘Oh, make me meet

To follow the path of thy wounded feet.

 

And now my thoughts are for souls of men,

I’ve lost my life, to find it again.

E’er since that day in a quiet place

I met the Master, face to face.”----Lorrie Cline

 

   Have you met the Master (Jesus) face to face? Now would be a great time! Get alone with your bible now and read the book of Matthew alone. Look for Him and He will find you if you are looking with a sincere heart.

 

“Seek the LORD while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near.” (Isaiah 55:6)

 

“And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:13)

 

Pray

 

1.    Lord I long to know you better, and I ask you to help me today get to know you better by reading your Word, and applying it to my life.

2.    Thank you for dying on that cross and giving Your life as a ransom for mine and for paying the price for my sins. 

3.    Fill me with Your Holy Spirit today so that I can allow You to live Your life through me and lead me to a holy life that will be a pleasing sacrifice acceptable to You.

The Weeping Prophet

 

   “Oh that my head were waters, And my eyes a fountain of tears, That I might weep day and night For the slain of the daughter of my people! Oh that I had in the wilderness A lodging place for travelers; That I might leave my people, and go from them! For they are all adulterers, An assembly of treacherous men.” (Jeremiah 9: 1-2)

 

   Jeremiah was called the “weeping prophet” or the “prophet of loneliness” as he faithfully proclaimed God’s judgment on His people for 40 years. During that time he endured opposition, beatings, and imprisonment. I think it safe to say that we are all happy that God has not called us to such a difficult and lonely work! But we can be thankful that Jeremiah was faithful to do all that God commanded of him. Even as a youth God spoke to him and said:

 

   “’Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.’” (Jeremiah 1:5) and “’Do not say ‘I am a youth,’ For you shall go to all to whom I send you, And whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of their faces, for I am with you to deliver you,’ says the LORD. (Jeremiah 1: 7-8)

 

    So chapter after chapter we read the faithful words of Jeremiah proclaiming the Words of God to the people; words that were often very painful to speak and even more painful for the people to hear. The majority of the people of Judah in captivity, were not interested in hearing it, and were prone to treat him badly and try to stifle his messages. In chapter 9 verses 3 through 8 he tries to spell out their problem in graphic terms:

 

    “And like their bow they have bent their tongues for lies. They are not valiant for the truth on the earth. For they proceed from evil to evil, And they do not know Me,’ says the LORD. Everyone takes heed to his neighbor, And does not trust his brother; For every brother will utterly supplant, And every neighbor will walk with  slanderers. Everyone will deceive his neighbor, And will not speak the truth; They have taught their tongues to speak lies; They weary themselves to commit iniquity. Your dwelling place is in the midst of deceit; Through deceit they refuse to know Me.’ Says the LORD.” (Jeremiah 9:3-8)

 

    I have to admit when I read this passage I have to think that it is a great description of the people who we live with today. When was the last time you watched the news and saw all the violence and slander that is practiced by so many of the people of our land? God, through Jeremiah, pinpoints the problem very succinctly: “Through deceit they refuse to know Me.” (verse 8)

 

    As always in Scripture, God has some good advice for us, even though we may have been well described above as a people who are liars and bent on doing evil:

 

   “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Let not the mighty man glory in his might, Nor the rich man glory in his riches; But let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,’ says the LORD.” (Jeremiah 9:23-24)

 

   Did you hear that? Our God wants you and I to know Him and to understand Him! He exercises “lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth.” He is the one who wants to have a personal relationship with you and desires to spend time with you everyday. He told Jeremiah that He had formed him in the womb and that He knew him! That is true of you also! He knew you when He formed you and He knows you now. He has a purpose for your life and you just need to get in touch with Him, and as you get to know Him and are obedient to His Word, He will guide and lead you for His purposes on this planet. Doesn’t that sound like something your heart has always wanted? Get to know Him today. Take that first step. You will not regret it!

 

 

PRAY

 

1.    Lord, I surrender my life to You today! Please accept my humble prayer to forgive me of my sin and help me today to put You and Your plan for me first in my life.

2.    Lord, help me to spend time in the Scriptures today so that I can know You better and I can understand what You require of a Christ follower.

3.    Thank you Lord for saving me and allowing me to be a part of Your family that I may dwell with You for eternity when I die of when You return to take you church with You to heaven.

Road to Emmaus

 Two men encounter Jesus (although they don’t recognize Him.) on their way to the town of Emmaus, and explain to Him what they think happened on Easter morning:

 

    “’Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us. When they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive. And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but Him they did not see.’ Then He (Jesus) said to them. ‘O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things to enter into His glory?’ And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Him.” (Luke 24:22-27 NKJV) 

 

 

   On this glorious Easter morning we can reflect today on what happened that original morning when Christ arose from the dead and defeated Satan and sin once and for all! He is risen! He is risen indeed! We have eye-witness accounts of that day from Matthew (Chapter 28), Mark (Chapter 16), Luke (Chapter 24), and John (Chapter 20). All four accounts give slightly different details of the same miraculous event:

 

1.    The soldiers guarding the tomb are knocked down and the stone rolled away.

2.    Mary Magdalene and others find the tomb empty and go to tell the disciples.

3.    Jesus greets Mary and shows her He is, in fact, alive!

4.    The disciples come and find the empty tomb and the grave clothes. 

5.    Jesus appears to the disciples, minus Thomas, in a house.

6.    Jesus appears to two men on the road to Emmaus.

 

 

   What a glorious day in history! What a glorious day for all who want to know that death can be conquered! Yes, we will all die one day. Even Lazarus, who was raised from the dead by Jesus, later died. But Jesus proved that He has power over death, and He has promised that He will provide a place for His followers in heaven after we have died!

 

   “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself; that where I am you may be also.” (John 14:3)

 

  He also told the thief on the cross: “Assuredly, I say to you, today you shall be with me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:43)

 

   So that brings us to one question; it is the same question that Pilate asked the crowd on Good Friday: “What then shall I do with this man Jesus who is called Christ?” (Matthew 27:22) The crowd shouted that He should be crucified! But what is your response to this question?

 

   Because He was crucified for our sins and not His sins, (He was and is sinless!) we can now be saved if we give our lives over to Him and obey what He has taught us through His disciples who wrote the Scriptures we hold in our hands today.

 

   Has there ever been a time when you gave your life to Christ? Today is a perfect day if you have not. “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold now is the day of salvation.” (II Corinthians 6:2b) If you need to talk to someone after the service today, someone on the staff will be available to help you make that decision. If you are reading this at home and need to talk to someone, call the church office and someone will talk to you about whatever you need to talk about.

 

   If you are a born again believer are you living for Him everyday? Is your life a witness of His wonderful grace and are you reflecting His Spirit by the spirit that lives within you? You have a new week ahead of you; make it a week where you are living controlled by the Holy Spirit and being obedient to our Lord’s leading in all you say and do.

 

PRAY:

 

1.    Lord, thank you for dying on that cross to pay the price for my sins! Fill me with your Spirit today and live Your life through me so that others will want to know You too.

2.    Help me to be more faithful to spend time with You daily in prayer and in the reading and meditating on Your Word so that Your love will be reflected in all that I do today.

3.    Thank you that You have promised that You will never leave me nor forsake me, and that I can count on You to help me with whatever challenge I face in this time we have on planet earth.

 

 

 

 

Behold your King!

 

  “The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went out to greet Him, and cried out: ‘Hosanna! Blessed is He who come in the name of the LORD!’ The King of Israel!’ Then Jesus, when He found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written; ‘Fear not, daughter of Zion; Behold, your King is coming, Sitting on a donkey’s colt.’’ (John 12:12-15, NKJV)

   Verse 15 is a quote from the prophet Zechariah, writing over 500 years before that first Palm Sunday. This fulfillment of prophecy is one of over 300 prophecies that Jesus fulfilled in his life making it clear that He was, in fact, the Messiah and He had come to save His people.

 

   The problem with the Jewish people and their leaders at this time in history is that they were not looking forward to the type of Messiah that had come. They were looking forward to a King who would set up his kingdom on earth, but that is the kingdom that He will set up the next time He comes! The prophet Isaiah lays out just what kind of Messiah will come first. He says:

 

    “He is despised and rejected by men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.”  (Isaiah 53:3) 

 

   Although there was great celebration that day in Jerusalem, they were a fickle crowd and when they found out that He would not be setting up a new kingdom for the Jews and getting rid of Roman domination, they turned on Him and asked Pilate to crucify Him the following Friday. I have to confess when I was a younger man it always pained me to read of how the people could sing Hosanna on Sunday and then cry for his death the following Friday. But as we look at the whole picture, we can see clearly that it was God’s plan all along. Isaiah continues in his book to explain to us almost 700 years earlier just why the Messiah must suffer and die.

 

    “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed, All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned everyone to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:5-6)

 

  So we can be excited today, not as we think about His joyous entry into Jerusalem and the fulfillment of prophecy, but in the fact that Jesus is who He claimed to be; The Messiah, the Son of God, Our Savior, and Redeemer! He entered Jerusalem on that exciting day but has He entered your heart and life? He went to the cross to take away our sins and to allow us to have fellowship with Him though the shedding of His blood on the cross. Have you accepted this free gift and surrendered your life to Him or are you still living in rebellion and disobedience? 

 

   Today is the day you can change your life for now and eternity. Accept the sacrifice that Jesus, the Son of God, made for you and for me. If you are already a born again believer, are you living for Him everyday? Now is a good time to evaluate and make a decision to serve Him daily. 

 

“For He says: ‘In an acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you.’ Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” (II Corinthians 6:2)

 

 

PRAY:

 

1.    Lord, thank you for coming to this earth to live among us, to teach us what a loving and faithful God you are, and to die on an old rugged cross to bear our sins.

2.    Help me today Lord, to spend more time with you in prayer and in the reading of your Word so that I may know You better and be obedient to your precepts and commands.

3.    Lord, help me to be faithful to pray for others to come to church next Sunday and surrender their lives to You. We need You desperately, and our nation needs You desperately!

 

 

 

Who was Saint Patrick?

 

“How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger of him who brings good news, Who proclaims peace, Who brings glad tidings of good things, Who proclaims salvation, Who says to Zion, Your God reigns!” (Isaiah 52:7 NKJV)

 

   Although my name is Patrick, (I was named for my mother’s favorite uncle, Patrick Malloy), I have never been too interested in learning about who exactly Saint Patrick was. I knew that he was a Christian who had brought the gospel message to Ireland many years ago, and that it gave everyone an excuse to celebrate “Irishness,” and drink green beer on Saint Patrick’s Day.  That was about the extent of my knowledge, until recently, when I bought a book for my grandchildren about Patrick.

 

   It turns out that Saint Patrick, so designated by the Catholic Church, (although as I read the Bible, the title of saint applies to all Christians who have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ) lived in the fourth century A.D. His family had some wealth and had a beach villa on the coast of Britain and when Patrick was 16 some raiders from Ireland attacked the villa and captured him, and several other members of the household, and took them to Ireland to be sold as slaves.

 

   During that time he gave his life over completely to Christ and said in his autobiography “Confessions” that: “The Lord opened my senses to my unbelief, so that…I might remember my many sins; and accordingly I might turn to the Lord my God with all my heart.” He served as a shepherd for his new master for 6 years and many of his fellow slaves called him “Holy Boy” because he never ceased to talk about his Lord Jesus. 

 

   When he was 22 years old he had a dream that he would return to his old country and then later in another dream he was told, “Come and see where your ship is waiting for you.” He escaped and walked 200 miles to the shore and there saw a ship off the coast. He yelled to a sailor to allow him to come aboard but was refused. Then the sailor said that the other men wanted him to come so he went aboard. The journey took a 28-day stop on another small island and when they ran out of food the captain of the ship, who had heard him talk of God, challenged Patrick to ask his God for food. Patrick told the captain that “nothing is impossible for God” and immediately the crew turned around and there was a herd of pigs! The crew feasted for days and gave thanks to God.

 

  Patrick was returned home after a trip lasting 2 years and his family was overjoyed to have him back. He then studied to become a priest and once again had a dream that the people of Ireland wanted him to return and live among them. He purposed in his heart to return to Ireland and, even though his parents and the church leaders were opposed to his plan, he knew that it was God who was calling him and he must go.

 

   Back in Ireland he shared the gospel with his former slave owner, who refused to hear it, and then he traveled all over the island preaching the gospel. Many persecuted him, but many more accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior! He was imprisoned at times and briefly enslaved again also. 

 

   He shared Christ throughout Ireland until his death on March 17^thAD 461. Later the shamrock was introduced into the holiday celebration, as it was believed he used them to demonstrate the Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. His courageous life should challenge us all to be bold witnesses for Jesus Christ today, and until the day we die!

 

  “But sanctify the Lord in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.” (1 Peter 3:15)

 

 

 

 

PRAY:

 

1.    Lord, thank you for Saint Patrick and for the example of obedience he has given us by his wiliness to take the gospel to a difficult and dangerous land.

2.    Help me today to not be afraid to talk to others I encounter about Jesus and all that He means to me and all those who call Him master.

3.    Lord, fill me with your Spirit today so that I will be guided by You and not by my own selfish desires.