Archive for April, 2009
April 30, 2009 at 5:41 am · Filed under FCA, First Baptist Ocala
I am at rest in God alone; my salvation comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I will never be shaken…Men are only a vapor; exalted men, an illusion. On a balance scale, they go up; together they [weigh] less than a vapor. Place no trust in oppression, or false hope in robbery. If wealth increases, pay no attention to it. God has spoken once; I have heard this twice: strength belongs to God, and faithful love belongs to You, Lord. For You repay each according to his works. Psalm 62: 1-2, 9-12
Does your testimony reveal your daily witness? So many of us desire the free gift of salvation and God’s grace in our lives, but we also enjoy living out our lives as we see fit to meet our selfish needs. We seek the things of this world and feel that with God on my side if something goes wrong I can run back to the safety of His shadow. The imagery of God as our “rock” is not meant to be some safe zone when we stumble and we are attacked by the reality of this world. God is not some one who will pick us up and dust us off like some genie in the bottle when our plans for wealth, fortune and fame cause us to fail. God says plainly, choose this day whom you will serve, because you cannot serve both God and desire for things of this world. God will not be mocked as a genie put away until you feel the need to call upon Him.
If you truly love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, you will seek the way of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ, and trust in God’s will, ways and the wisdom of His Word completely. You will have the confidence of knowing God is your rock and your salvation and your stronghold in both the good times and the bad times. For know this, without God in your life, you live in constant danger of bad times.
Verses 1&2 are bold confidence words that testify to a life of faith. Can you claim that kind of confidence in the Lord? If so, you are my brother or my sister and we know relying on men of this world is a worthless exercise; in eternal matters they offer no value to the one relationship that will never be moved or shaken. Do you proclaim and live out a personal relationship with the Lord of Lords and King of Kings? When you genuinely know Him, you will understand the value of His relationship in your life and the security it brings to your daily walk. Should you desire to know more, please let me know.
Coach
April 29, 2009 at 5:14 am · Filed under FCA, First Baptist Ocala
This I know: God is for me. In God, whose word I praise, in the Lord, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not fear. What can man do to me? I am obligated by vows to You, God; I will make my thank offerings to You. For You delivered me from death, even my feet from stumbling, to walk before God in the light of life. Psalm 56:9b-13
How confident is your faith? Do you believe with all your heart, soul and mind that God is working in all things towards the good for you and your life? The Faith that God seeks is more than saying the name of the Lord as if it is some magical incantation. Has your faith given you the desire to enter God’s covenant without reservation or exception? Have you vowed before God to invest in His Word as the guide for your daily life? Or, is your faith banking on God’s mercy while you walk through life pretending to be someone you really are not. It is in the tough times when our faith gets tested that one reveals the nature of their faith in God. Is there panic and constant petition in those really challenging times, or is there calm and confidence amidst the storm? Which illustrates a right relationship and which illustrates genuine faith in God’s covenant relationship?
Take the time to search your soul today and ask God to reveal the reality of your faith…unless you know the answer before you pray about it. God desires all to be His chosen children, but remember His salvation is a gift of His grace received only by our genuine faith. Have you accepted the Lord’s gift and shared it with others? Begin today…
Coach
April 28, 2009 at 5:21 am · Filed under FCA, First Baptist Ocala
But I call to God, and the Lord will save me. I complain and groan morning and night., and He hears my voice. Though many are against me, He will redeem me from the battle unharmed…Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will support you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken. Psalm 55:16-18, 22
Jesus said in Matthew’s Gospel, Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. All of you, take up my yoke and learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for yourselves. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. I believe the parallel is more than a coincidence. The message is clear whether seeking help in the Old Testament or the words of Jesus in the New Testament. Yes, man will face hardships and challenges in this life, and man will cry out to God for help, but those who truly trust in the Lord will benefit from Lord’s presence in their life. The psalmist says we will escape from the battles in life without injury when we trust in the Lord. All we need to do is “cast our burden” onto Him, He will relieve us of the total burden. The “yoke” image is an image of sharing the burden, not removing the burden.
These are difficult times for many of us and many are feeling like they have been left out and left behind. Don’t quit, cast your burdens upon the Lord and He will share them with you, and help you through these tough times. Just do not try to walk alone because you will find yourself defeated and dejected, yet the Lord was offering to help all along. God hears our voice…knows the voice of His people, and promises to extend His covenant care upon those who seek Him with all their heart, soul, mind and strength. Keep knocking, seeking and asking and you will find the help you desire.
The Lord is the best partner and friend you could have when you are in trouble, He will stand side by side against your enemy, and will have your back as you move forward to face your fears.
Coach
April 27, 2009 at 5:17 am · Filed under FCA, First Baptist Ocala
The fool says in his heart, “God does not exist.” They are corrupt, and they do vile deeds. There is no one who does good. God looks down from heaven on the human race to see if there is one who is wise and who seeks God. Everyone has turned aside; they have all become corrupt. There is no one who does good, not even one. Will evildoers ever understand? They consume My people as they consume bread; they do not call on God. Psalm 53:1-4
Who is the greater fool: the fool who follows after the fool or the fool who walks in his or her foolish ways? The fool firstly is a fool because they believe there is no accountability about the way they live their life, and the influence they have on other lives. God’s greatest command is based upon a proper relationship that exists between Him and His people, and also the relationships between His people with each other. The fool tries to exist by ignoring those relationships even denying their value to him and professing to others likewise. Sadly, in the nature of man exists a desire to be like God, and thus man will listen when given the choice of walking on his or her own, or heeding the guidance and direction of God as their Lord. It requires courage to follow the Will, the Way and the Word of the Lord, but a fool’s courage is found in his or her folly of trying to live out life identifying bad as good and good as bad, thus when God searches the hearts of mankind He finds that when we are left on our own, there is no good, none at all.
So what is our hope? Do what a fool will not do - call out to God and admit your foolishness. Stop listening to the world which cries out there is no God, or believing in God is for weak people. Quite the contrary, it takes a courageous person to admit that God is their Lord and place their faith in His Lordship. Yet, what courage does it take to deny any truth and make up your rules of good and bad? That is like those who claim to be bold yet follow the crowd who is led by a fool. They want to be different, yet they all walk and talk alike. They want to standout in the crown, yet in reality they lean on the crowd trying to fit in. However, it is the Godly that stand out in the crowd, and usually are the ones that eventually others are drawn to because they are different from the rest.
So, do you walk as the fools walk, or do you walk in the Will, Way and Word of the Lord?
Coach
April 25, 2009 at 6:44 am · Filed under FCA, First Baptist Ocala
God, create a clean heart for me and renew a right [steadfast] spirit within me. Do not banish me from Your presence or take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore the joy of Your salvation to me, and give me a willing [noble] spirit. Then I will teach the rebellious Your ways, and sinners will return to You. Psalm 51:10-13
When we learn how to restore our relationship with the Lord in a manner pleasing to God, then the spillover benefit is we learn also how to restore relationships in our lives as well. Teenagers and parents get their relationships all screwed up because of the struggle for independence and learning to let go. Life is too short to allow for egos and our pride to become stumbling blocks in our most valuable relationships. There are many friendships that get ripped apart by silly issues of pride and selfishness. And, when it is all said and done, we are remorseful but often too proud to restore the relationship that we crushed in our blindness of a heated moment. Consider how forgiving the Lord is to you before you write a friendship off or walk away from family relationships.
There will come a time like the psalmist proclaims where you will genuinely want to renew your relationship with even the Lord, learn that you must trust the Lord and know for certain that He will accept your sincere heart back into His arms. Likewise, trust others that we have stumbled away from will hopefully do the same. Even if they do not in the beginning, let them know of your genuine and sincere desire to restore your relationship with them and seek their forgiveness. Begin by seeking a cleansing out of old issues from your heart to allow for the flowing of compassion and mercy tobegin again. By revealing your confessed and newly refreshed heartfelt desires you may be providing the door of opportunity for someone else to experience the joy of restoring right relationships in their life, beginning with the Lord Himself.
Coach
April 24, 2009 at 5:17 am · Filed under FCA, First Baptist Ocala
Why should I fear in times of trouble? The iniquity of my foes surround me. They trust in their wealth and boast of their abundant riches. Yet these cannot redeem a person [himself or a brother] or pay his ransom to God - since the price of redeeming him is too costly, one should forever stop trying - so that he may live forever and not see the Pit. For one can see that wise men die; the foolish and the senseless also pass away. Then they leave their wealth to others. Their graves are their eternal homes, their homes from generation to generation, though they have named estates after themselves. But despite [his] assets, man will not last; he is like the animals that perish. This is the way of those who are arrogant, and of their followers, who approve of their words. Psalm 49: 5-13
In consideration of the economic turmoil we find ourselves in consider that the palmist proclaims “A man with valuable possessions but without understanding is like the animals that perish.” (v. 20) One must realize that the reason we are where we are in our country is because of our arrogance and ignorance. We listened to the growing call of society to buy more to fit in with everybody else. We have bought bigger and fancier houses than we could afford, and drove fancier, newer cars because that is what everyone else was doing, and we spent lavishly on vacations that we believed we deserved, and we bought the latest stuff to fill our empty lives because we thought happiness comes from being surrounded by the latest stuff. WELL, WHAT HAS ALL THAT “STUFF” DONE FOR US?
We bought what we could not afford through credit we did not deserve because the financial institutions said we could, now both the lender and the borrower are in trouble. The false prices that came from the high demand for things finally caused the bubble to burst and what we owe on our stuff is far more than it is worth and that leads to financial ruin. When we cannot buy our stuff anymore, people lose jobs and companies that thrived on greed crumble before our eyes. Even the greedy, arrogant, belligerent government officials only know one answer to the problem, SPEND MORE MONEY THAT WE DO NOT HAVE! Go figure… And yet what does the psalmist say about all our supposedly lust for wealth? It is simply a waste of effort. None of it amounts to anything because it will not buy our eternal security, nor will it even travel with us into the grave.
So who is riding out the storm of these times? The faithful who have lived within their means, do not borrow to live at a level they could not afford and did not deem necessary. The faithful who have lived wisely according to the will, way and the wisdom of God’s word. Have the faithful been affected by the difficult times? Yes, but they are much better able to ride out the storm with confidence that the Lord will give them calm and peace through the storm.
For all you young people, the good thing about these times I pray is that it will be a warning to you about the way you live your life in the future. And, always remember the future you need to be most assured of is your eternal future. Wealth is a relative relationship with the things and values of this world, whereas wisdom comes from the Lord for those who know how to live rightly in this world preparing themselves for a right relationship in the next with their Lord and Savior.
Coach
April 23, 2009 at 5:15 am · Filed under FCA, First Baptist Ocala
God reigns over the nations; God is seated on His holy throne. The nobles of the peoples have assembled [with] the people of the God of Abraham. For the leaders of the earth belong to God; He is greatly exalted. Psalm 47:8-9
Our country is in a mess. In recent years we have become a divided nation politically. There are red states and blue states, there are Democrats with their platform, agenda and worldview, and then there are the Republicans with their agenda, platform and worldview. They attack back and forth each other jockeying against each other for power and positions of authority. The media has fresh material to play off of every day. As a result, we are becoming a nation in turmoil. Our indivisibility, the characteristic we pledge to daily, is showing signs of weakness and vulnerability.
Even our churches face the same challenges as our country. We are a country and a people without a common vision or focus. Why has this happened? Well, I believe our focus has been on ourselves as a nation of spoiled, over-indulged people. We are a people that has lost its focus upon the God that supplies the unity our country was built upon. We have bgun to take credit for what has been our greatness and turned our back on the God that open the doors for our country to be settled and eventually established as the nation we have become to the world. Our arrogance wreaks in other corners of the world. Our reputation has been hurt by our selfish pride.
So what should we do? Confess our sins, accept the dominion of the Lord over all the nations, including our own first and foremost. Rather separate church and state, promote religious tolerance and diversity openly as the gift of our Sovereign God who created us. Teach our children why we proclaim daily we are “One Nation Under God.” The Lord God Almighty of the Universe is the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords - we can deny it by our actions and attitudes, but that will not change the reality of the fact. Our rebellion of the fact will have dire consequences if we continue down that road. As the Apostle Paul proclaimed to the church when rulers were trying to dismantle the church in its infancy nearly 20 centuries ago, ”Everyone must submit to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist are instituted by God… For the government is God’s servant to you for good…” Romans 13:1,4 Right behind that statement about the authority behind the government, Paul declares our role in the church is to be the example of “love” to everyone, because in the end it is God’s power and influence that will change the hearts of men and women for the purposes of God. Because, ”now our salvation is nearer then when we first believed…” (v.11) Let us quit picking fights and begin mending fences beginning with those who know best - you and I.
Coach
April 22, 2009 at 5:33 am · Filed under FCA, First Baptist Ocala
God is our refuge and strength, a helper who is always found in times of trouble. Therefore we will not be afraid, though the earth trembles and the mountains topple into the depths of the seas, though its waters roar and foam and the mountain quake with its turmoil… God says, “Stop [your fussing] - and know that I am God, exalted among the nations exalted on the earth.” The Lord of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold. Psalm 46:1-3, 10-11
What calamity is going on your life that would remove you from the loving care and presence of God? If natural calamities such as hurricanes, earthquakes, tidal waves, tornadoes, and volcanic eruptions will not cause God to run, why would anything that is going on in your life be any different? He promises us that He will be our place of refuge from the storms of life. When you find yourself in a tough spot, don’t close your eyes in fear, but actually open the eyes of your heart to see the Lord present in the storm with you. He will place Himself around you and deliver you through the challenges and calamities of your life. Is His promise trustworthy? Well, the Lord proclaims it is our faith that quakes and trembles in times of trouble. Our cries of panic and our anticipation of pain, emotionally and physically, are easily heard by the Lord because He is right there at your side. Thus, the Lord says to us: “Hush your fuss! I am right here, just as I promised. You have nothing to fear.”
As a final thought, how can we hear Him during the difficult times? Well, consider this: If we don’t reach out to Him in the everyday times and converse with Him regularly, how will we recognize Him and His voice in the tumultuous times of our life? The Lord is not like a “Fire Emergency” box in the schools or offices, which says do not open except in emergencies. The Lord is our heavenly Father who is there to care for us and guide us in good and bad times. Now, go ask Him about it and see what He says for yourself.
Coach
April 21, 2009 at 5:06 am · Filed under FCA, First Baptist Ocala
As a deer longs for streams of water, so I long for You, God. I thirst for God, the living God. When can I come and appear before God? My tears have been my food day and night, while all day long people say to me, “Where is your God?” I remember this as I pour out my heart: how I walked with many, leading the festive procession to the house of God, with joyful and thankful shouts. Psalm 42:1-4
When you love your Lord and Savior as a child loves his or her father, you hate the lonely feeling you get when your father is not visibly present. The security and peace that is present when he is near is absent when he is absent. I can remember when my father traveled a lot when I was young, and I was always overjoyed upon his return. The key to the joy is that even when he was away I knew he would return. That should be the feeling of the child of God, a faith that says I love you lord and even when it seems you are away from me…I know that You will return, and You will always be there in my time of need.
It is sad to hear from others who claimed to love and worship God that God had turned His back on them and God no longer seeks them in their lives. The bitterness turns them to challenge your faith. However, your faith is a beacon of hope for them as you remind them of our Heavenly Father’s faithfulness and love.
When God seems far away it is not that He has left you, but you have turned your back on Him. God will never leave you nor forsake you…He is merely waiting for you to return your focus upon Him; His ways, His will, and the Wisdom of His Word.
Coach
April 20, 2009 at 5:15 am · Filed under FCA, First Baptist Ocala
I waited for the Lord, and He turned to me and heard my cry for help. He brought me up from a desolate pit, out of the muddy clay, and set my feet on a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord. How happy is the man who has put his trust in the Lord and has not turned to the proud or to those who run after lies! Psalm 40:1-4
There is nothing more difficult than to “wait”! We are a part of the immediate satisfaction generation. Microwaves, drive-thru fast food, computers and ATM’s are all a part of man’s desire to satisfy our want it now attitude. We are a disposable society because we do not want to fool around with preserving things - we want to use it now or then throw it away. Time is money and don’t want to waste either. So, how hard is it for us to “wait patiently on the Lord”?
Yet, consider the benefits of a little sacrifice of our comfort zone: He rescues us from tough situations in the proper time; He inspires us to sing new lyrics of praise and joy that change our life and circumstances; He enables us to find true happiness! Love, security, trust, and happiness are attributes that all men desire, and the Lord is the surest way to find all of them by simply waiting patiently for Him, yet we senselessly often follow the lies we hear in the world, because they claim to offer a shortcut to gain what we desire the most. Oh, the lies that have been told to sway men’s hearts for the sake of greed and avarice. Yet, for those who have sought the Lord’s ways, He uses their testimony to redirect others from the mistakes of following the easy, well trodden path of the “me” generation. The Lord seeks those who will hear His Words by the testimony of others and pours His blessings upon those who turn away from the proud and their lies of fast living and immediate satisfaction.
It is so easy to get caught up with quick fixes and seeking shortcuts in life to fulfill our basic desires, but so many have tried and so many have failed to ever become satisfied in this life by choosing the easy way offered by others. However, there are some who saw through the scams and schemes and stood their ground even in tough times to wait upon the Lord and His ways, and they were blessed. They found a peace, security, love and happiness that other men can only pursue and dream about - So, what about you? Are you on the fast track, or the right track in your life?
Coach
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