Going Nowhere, Fast!

 

Today I had to drive a forklift that I am not really used to driving. It's an old gas forklift. The control panel is completely different than the truck that I usually drive. This one has a gear shift like a car does. Forward, push it up. Reverse, push it down. Neutral, leave in the middle. So I hop on the truck, get it started, hit the gas pedal and............nothing. The truck does not move. What in the world. I start looking around to see if something is blocking my way. Nope not that. I turn it back off and start over. Turn the key, the motor starts, hit the gas pedal once more and still nothing. Now I am really getting frustrated. Why won't this thing move?? Then I realize that I still have it in neutral. DOH! Not going anywhere with it stuck in neutral! So I put it into gear, and alas, off  I go. Who knew!

Well if you know me at all, this little event got me started thinking about how many of us are living our lives stuck in neutral? Not moving forward or backward. We're just not moving at all. How many of us are stuck in neutral in our walk with Jesus?

God wants us to grow. Not to stay in the same place as when we first believed in Him.

2 Peter 3:18 Living Bible

18 But grow in spiritual strength and become better acquainted with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be all glory and splendid honor, both now and forevermore. 

He wants us to mature as we walk with Him. How many of us get annoyed with someone when they still act childish after they have reached adulthood? Many of us I would say!

1 Corinthians 13:11 Living Bible

11 It’s like this: when I was a child I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child does. But when I became a man my thoughts grew far beyond those of my childhood, and now I have put away the childish things.

Jesus wants us to engage, not to just sit idly by (staying in neutral). Get to doing. Be Jesus' hands & feet extended. Help someone out. Be the light to somebody. 

Revelation 3:16 New Living Translation

16 But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth! 

He is calling us to action. If we stay lukewarm (neutral) we are useless to Him. Then we go nowhere, fast!

I want to be used by God. I want to say "Speak Lord, Your servant is listening." I don't want to be lukewarm or stuck in neutral. 

I pray the same for all of you. Time to put it into gear!

So, You Think You Can Run Away!

 How many times have we been called by God or called on by God to do something, only to think that we can run away from Him? Saying "nope, can't do that."

That didn't work out so well for Jonah when God asked him to go and preach against the city of Nineveh, for the wickedness that they were doing against God! Jonah said "nope, not today" and ran off in a different direction. God used many tactics to get Jonah to turn around. He caused a great storm to come against the boat that he was sailing on. He was tossed over board and swallowed by a great fish. He finally realized that he could not out run or hide from God! He eventually went to Nineveh like God directed him in the first place.

Jonah 1:2-3 Living Bible

2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh, and give them this announcement from the Lord: ‘I am going to destroy you, for your wickedness rises before me; it smells to highest heaven.’”

3 But Jonah was afraid to go and ran away from the Lord. He went down to the seacoast, to the port of Joppa, where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought a ticket, went on board, and climbed down into the dark hold of the ship to hide there from the Lord.

How many times have we been asked to pray for people in public. Most people I know that would be far outside their comfort zone. They would run away from the task. Or to speak at an event or even in church. They run away from that as well. Thinking that they're not ready or educated enough to do what God is asking of them. God wants to get us out of our "comfort" zone. 

Just like God used a number of events to bring Jonah back in line, He will do the same to us. No matter how much we kick or scream, saying "no, no, no."  God still wants to use us. All of our answers should be "yes & amen." The old saying goes "He doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called!"

Psalm 139:7-10 New Living Translation

7 I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence!8 If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there. 9 If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, 10 even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me.

So I encourage you today. To not run away from what God is calling you too. It doesn't work out for you. I encourage you to embrace what He is calling you too. He will strengthen you, lift you up and give you the ability to do it, even when your flesh says "NO."

God bless!

Access Granted.

 

My wife and I took our first cruise together last week. Before we left on vacation, the cruise line sent us this medallion to wear while onboard the ship. We had to wear it everywhere! By wearing this, it gave us access to some of the things that were available on the ship. We went out for dinner, showed the medallion to get our food. Sitting out on one of the decks, show it to a server and get a soft drink. Walk down the hallway to our room and when we got close, the door would unlock for us.

We had to show it when we got off the ship to do an excursion. Had to show it to get back on the ship from excursion. When they scanned it, a picture of each person would pop up to prove that we were who we said we were. So needless to say. This medallion, although small, was very important.

All this access to the boat and many things on it got me to thinking about our access to God. How do we access Him? 

John 14:6 Amplified Bible

6 Jesus said to him, “[a]I am the [only] Way [to God] and the [real] Truth and the [real] Life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

This shows that Jesus is THE only way to the Father. Not good works or good deeds. Despite what the Sammy Hagar song says, you can't buy your way into Heaven. It is only by The Son, Jesus! You have to accept Jesus as your savior before you can gain access to The Father. If you don't know Him, you will not know The Father.

1 John 2:23 Living Bible

23 For a person who doesn’t believe in Christ, God’s Son, can’t have God the Father either. But he who has Christ, God’s Son, has God the Father also.

Good news is that you don't have to wait to get to Heaven to know The Father. We can know Him today and receive from Him. How do we do that you may be asking. Well, here are a few things to do.

We as believers are to yield to The Father. Love His Word, pray and then obey. 

I pray that you start a relationship with Jesus today, to gain access to The Father, Son & Holy Spirit.

Finish The Race!

 I read an article last week from NFL player Don Beebe about finishing the race. He was talking about a play in Super Bowl XXVII. The game featured the Buffalo Bills vs. The Dallas Cowboys. The play being talked about was a fumble by the Bills quarterback late in the game. A linemen for the Cowboys picked up the ball and headed for the end zone for an apparent sure touchdown. Little did he know that a speedy receiver by the name of Don Beebe was in the process of chasing him down. The linemen got close to the end zone and instead of just running it in and finishing the play, he decided to stick his hand out with the ball in it. Don caught him at about the one yard line and knocked the ball out of his hand preventing a Cowboys touchdown. The Cowboys were running away with the game and preventing that touchdown would not have helped the Bills win the game. But Don refused to give up. He had to pursue that linemen a long way to prevent that  touchdown, but he did. While Don was talking about this play so many years ago, he kept emphasizing "finish the race". If that linemen would have just kept going he would have had the touchdown. He decided to celebrate a little to early and that cost him. Didn't cost the team anything as they won the game handily. But it cost him. He received death threats. All kind of derogatory mail, calling him names. No matter how good of player he was, he's still remembered for that one play.

As I read the article I kept thinking about God and the race that He sets before us. He sets us on a path to run. It's not a sprint, but a marathon. God wants us to enjoy the race until we cross the ultimate finish line, to spend eternity with Jesus.

2 Timothy 4:7-8 The Message

7-8 This is the only race worth running. I’ve run hard right to the finish, believed all the way. All that’s left now is the shouting—God’s applause! Depend on it, he’s an honest judge. He’ll do right not only by me, but by everyone eager for his coming.

Sure we'll stumble and fall from time to time. But God wants us to get up and keep pressing on to the finish line. He wants us to remain humble and not to show boat as we approach the end of our race.

1 Corinthians 1:31 New Living Translation

31 Therefore, as the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord.”

I am not going to brag about all the things that I think that I have accomplished. I am going to brag about what God has done for me. He gets all the credit, not me!

So I encourage you tonight to finish your race. Finish strong. Don't let the enemy get in your way or knock you off course, because trust me, he will. He would like nothing better.

So keep running towards Jesus and I'll be there cheering you on every step of the way!

God bless you all!

Killing The Beast!

 When you hear the word "Beast", what do you think of? Do you think of a creature that is big, strong and powerful? Do you think of the movie 'Beauty and The Beast'? Does King Kong, Godzilla or even Big Foot come to mind? I know when an athlete in any given sport does something epic, he or she is considered a  beast in that sport.

I know for most Christians, when they hear the word beast, they almost automatically think of Satan, the Devil or Lucifer. He certainly is strong and powerful. But, my God is bigger, stronger and more powerful than the Devil.

One of my favorite bands has a song titled "Killing The Beast". It is by the band 'Bloodgood'. They sing about conquering and killing the devil, aka. the beast! It's a very good song!

One of our jobs we have to do at work is unload tuna from an over seas container. The product does not come on pallets, they come on slip sheets. We have to unload them and then palletize them. It is a painstakingly, not easy to do job. I call it "unloading the beast."

My co-worker and I were working on a couple of these loads this past week. Both days he was just zipping through the loads no problem. I thought of the song and said to myself, "wow, he is killing the beast".

Then that started me thinking about our lives. What kind of beasts do we need to kill? How many are lurking around still rearing it's ugly head in our life?

How about the Beast of Regret? Things that we wish we would have done differently. 

Philippians 3:13 Living Bible

13 No, dear brothers, I am still not all I should be, but I am bringing all my energies to bear on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead.

The Beast of Anger? The things that I get angry about are really trivial in the long run, if you think about it. How many times I have flown off the handle to only be made to look like a fool.

Proverbs 14:17 The Voice

17 Quick-tempered people make fools of themselves, and evil schemers make many enemies.

The Beast of Sin? Probably the biggest and hardest beast to kill. No matter how hard we try, we are all still sinners.

Romans 5:8 The Voice

8 But think about this: while we were wasting our lives in sin, God revealed His powerful love to us in a tangible display—the Anointed One died for us.

God wants us to kill them all. There should be no regrets, anger, or sin, or any other beast in our lives. Get rid of the beasts that are standing in our way of living for Jesus!

Galatians 2:20 New Living Translation

20 My old self has been crucified with Christ.[a] It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

So I encourage you tonight. To do what the chorus of the song says, "killing the beast, killing the beast, killing the beast." No matter what they are or what shape they take. Kill the Beast!

God bless!

Why Not Today?

Me, like most of us are gearing up for the beginning of a new year. New possibilities, new hope, new start, new everything. Most of us use the start of a new year to start a new diet. Start a new workout regime, a new reading program, new anything. 

We usually do this during the year as well. I'll start exercising on Monday. I'll start my new diet on Monday. I'm going to start reading this book Monday. It seems like we always put everything off until the start of a new week, month or year. I don't know what the first of the year, month or week have to do with anything. It's almost like it's a magical date for us to get started. 

That's not how it is when we accept Jesus. He wants us to follow Him right away. Don't put it off until tomorrow. Like the lyric's from a popular song go, *"Tomorrow May Not Be There For You."* You are not guaranteed another day. So why wait to accept Jesus as your personal savior? If you are ready to do it, do it today. Tomorrow might be to late, and then what?

Romans 10:10 Amplified Bible

10 For with the heart a person believes [in Christ as Savior] resulting in his justification [that is, being made righteous—being freed of the guilt of sin and made acceptable to God]; and with the mouth he acknowledges and confesses [his faith openly], resulting in and confirming [his] salvation.

If you don't accept Him right away, today, and pass away without repenting and turning from our sins, you will not inherit the Kingdom of God!

I pray today that if you are seeking God and His salvation that He freely gives. Do it today. Ask him to come into your life and be your Lord and Savior. Don't wait another day. Like I mentioned above. Tomorrow might be to late.

God Bless you in 2022.

 Rev. Keven

* Song lyric taken from the song "That Smell" by Lynyrd Skynyrd, 1977.*

Know Where To Turn.

 The picture above is a flag that I have hanging in my office at work. It is kind of hard to see, but it is a Christian flag. It is all white except for the blue square with a red cross in it. I put it up a few months ago just to let people know where I stand. 

Anyway.

I went on vacation the week of Thanksgiving. My co-worker who filled in for me, told me the following story after I asked him how everything went while I was gone.

He said that one day he was having difficulties with the computer and printer. He grew so frustrated with the whole situation that he had to stand up and get away from the desk. He told me that he ended up by the flag. In fact even the side with the cross on it. He said after a few moments he felt calmed down enough to try the computer and printer again. This time everything worked perfectly. I told him that was God.

You see, even in his frustration he knew where to turn. Even though he is not a believer per se, he still knew to turn to the cross for help. He knew that even a few moments spent in front of the cross, God would give him peace and everything would work out. And it did! I know it's a cross on a flag. It still represents Jesus. Jesus tells us to come to Him when we need.

Nahum 1:7 Living Bible

7 The Lord is good. When trouble comes, he is the place to go! And he knows everyone who trusts in him!

As he told this story to me, I was thinking about the flag and why I insisted I had to have it in my office. Well, here is one reason. I am sure that there will be plenty more to come!

So I encourage you today. If you need help of any kind. Comfort or anything else. Turn to God. He and He alone can help you.

Matthew 11:28 New Living Translation

28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.

As we near the end of 2021, (and what a ride these last two years have been) let's all take the time to rest in Jesus! Refresh ourselves and get ready for the new year that is just around the corner!

God Bless!