Praising God in the Midst of the Battle
This past weekend was a typical battle of God vs. satan. We were at a convention which is always prime time for God to use us to encourage those who are overwhelmed or going through trials. We no sooner got to town when our vehicle started making noise. My brother dropped us off and parked and when he returned, he said he was concerned about driving home without the van being fixed. We weren’t sure how we would get the vehicle to the mechanic and get my brother back to the convention but God provided a place where they would pick the vehicle up. (Praise #1)
The next afternoon, the van was delivered back to the convention center along with the bill … a lot larger than I had thought possible. (Forget an arm and a leg; I’m convinced this place would have wanted a whole person if there were one available. I better be more specific in my prayers next time!) I had to thank God that at least He allowed us to get safely to our destination and we were going to be there a couple days so the mechanic had time to fix the van. (Praise #2)
I spent the weekend asking God to help me to focus on Him and minister to the people He brought to the table. Not only did He answer my prayer but He brought a couple people throughout the day to encourage me and minister to me. These people did not know I would need their encouragement but God did and He cared enough to supply it. (Praise #3)
I’m sure there’s a lot more I could mention where God thwarted the enemy’s tactics but my point is that, when life doesn’t go as we expect and we’re tempted to fret or complain, remember that there are no accidents in the Kingdom of God. If you are walking in His ways, you must trust that He knows what is best for you. I still don’t understand the purpose of having us break down away from home where we would spend so much of our earnings to a car repairman but I don’t doubt there was some purpose in it. As it turned out, one of the families at the convention gave us some money to put toward that repair bill and I know God will bring in the rest of the money as well. God’s love and care of His children is just amazing. (Praise #4)
Conviction vs. Condemnation
It’s interesting to me how satan knows the Believer’s weaknesses. It seems like he’s always trying to find a way to bring me down, discourage me, remind me of how far I have to go instead of allowing me to focus on how far I’ve come but you know what? Scripture refers to him as the deceiver. It’s true I still have much to learn and many ways to grow but God is not heaping condemnation on me and His opinion should be the only one that matters.
The Holy Spirit will convict but not condemn a Believer. Conviction should bring repentance and a faith-filled moving on. If you are walking around with your head down, not feeling faith that you will ever change, that is the enemy. He desires you to live that way so that you can’t be effective and you probably won’t change because you allow yourself to believe that lie.
Lift up your head and ask God to show you how He sees you. He may show you areas that He desires to do a work in but there will be a thanksgiving that He is still working on you. There’s comfort in the fact that God loves you enough to not leave you as you are but when you take a step backward, fall on your knees, ask God for forgiveness and get up determined to move forward and hold to God’s unchanging hand. You can live a victorious Christian life. Don’t let satan tell you otherwise.
Mercy
“The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.” (Psalm 103:8)
“It is of the LORD’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.” (Lamentations 3:22)
“Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.” (Matthew 5:7)
I don’t know about you but I am so glad we serve a merciful God who, in spite of being holy, is also compassionate. I’ve been reading the Prophetic books of the Bible and I’m amazed that, even when His people would disobey Him and He had to punish them, He still longed for them to turn around, to stop worshiping idols so that He could take them back into His arms and continue to walk with them. The choice was theirs but so many times they had to learn the hard way.
In a lot of ways, things haven’t changed through the years. As rebellious children, we are always trying to get away with however much we think we can. We do the bare minimum we think we need to do to call ourselves a Christian but our self-righteous works don’t please the Father at all. If we haven’t given Christ everything, we haven’t given Him anything. He longs for us to truly turn to Him, to lay down our idols and our pleasures for His. He waits patiently until finally He allows trials to come. Sometimes that helps for a while as we realize we can’t make it without Him. As things begin to get better, however, we once again decide that we’re really in charge of our own lives. Even if we would never say it out loud, we act as if He is of no consequence. When will we learn?
I don’t want to take advantage of His mercy but I want to receive it and then share it with others. I want to run to Him, take His hand and never look back. I want to show the world that God CAN make a difference in their lives. He CAN grant them joy and peace and love and, yes, even mercy and forgiveness. All they have to do is repent and turn to Him and He is there waiting. Thank You, Lord, for Your mercy!
CD Review: Light On Feet, Ready to Fly (Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver)
The latest release from Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver is another first class CD. It starts with the barnburner, “Light on My Feet, Ready to Fly” and then goes into the ballad “In Your Arms.” I first heard this sung by the Calvarymen from Michigan and I love the way Doyle Lawson sings it as well.
Corey Hensley sings the high lead on “Teddy Bear Revival.” Next is “He Will Remember Me.” “It’s a Mighty Hard Road to Travel” is an uptempo song which talks about how hard it can be to stand when everyone’s against you and the enemy’s hammering hard. “I Live for Him Cause He Died for Me” is next. “The Hammer of Sin” has an excellent message and is a fast song which I really like. “Zion Medley” consists of “Is That the Old Ship of Zion” and a song I’m not familiar with.
Other songs include “Mountain View Missionary Baptist Church,” “My Lord’s Gonna Move This Wicked Race” and “Oh Heaven.”
Getting Back to Prayer
The weather is finally getting warmer and I’ve taken a couple prayer walks for the first time since last Fall. Oh how I’ve missed them. There’s nothing like looking up at a big blue sky, singing “How Big is God” at the top of your lungs, and then thanking God for His goodness and His love. Call me crazy but I can almost feel His arms around me as I walk and commune with Him and ask Him for ears to hear.
It’s interesting to me that so many seem to neglect prayer as part of their daily lives. It’s such a basic tenet of the Christian faith and yet people seem to forget that it’s much more than thanking God for our food and asking for intervention when going through a crisis. To have a close relationship with Christ, we must talk with Him. He wants to hear about our joys and sorrows. Sure, He knows everything before we tell Him but He doesn’t tire of hearing from us. I’m sure He wonders why we tell everybody else what’s on our mind but we don’t talk to Him. I confess I’ve been guilty of that too but I’m changing that pattern. God has been my best friend and I want to treat Him as such.
If you’re one whose schedule doesn’t accommodate taking time for God, take time to change your schedule. You can’t afford not to. Your day will be much more productive and less stressful with God at the center. When He’s left out, chaos reigns. Get back to prayer today and let it start with repentance for letting Him take any place besides first.
CD Review: Altogether Lovely (The Edwards Family)
I met Adam Edwards about four years ago but didn’t realize at the time that he was part of a singing group called The Edwards Family. Therefore, I was delighted a few months back when I received a CD from this family group. I’ve been hard pressed to know what category to put their music into. It’s quite a mix of bluegrass, traditional and yet some of their songs have a sound similar to the McKameys which I suppose would be considered traditional but a bit different. The group consists of Adam and Patricia Edwards, and Patricia’s mom Anna Scott.
One of my favorite songs on the project is “This One Thing I Know.” I’ve only heard the Primitive Quartet sing this song but the Edwards Family does a great job as well, incorporating a banjo in the break. They also sing the McKamey’s song “Altogether Lovely.” “Nothing Can Hold Me Here” is an old Mike Payne song which The Edwards gave a bluegrass sound to. Another song I like on the project is “I Can’t Quit.”
Other songs included are “I’ll Live Again,” “You Are Never Alone,” “I Can Trust Jesus,” “The Blood of Jesus,” “Something to Shout About,” “Behold His Coming, “Wall of Prayer,” and “For God So Loved the World.”
If you like southern gospel music, you should also check out Adam’s blog, Southern Gospel Critique.
Stay Close to Jesus
“This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16).
It’s really a simple command but one few people live by. It’s easy to look around and comment on how hard it is to live a holy life but if your relationship with Jesus is what it should be, you will not be looking for other loves. When you are walking closely with Him, you begin to see as He sees. The things that used to appeal to you no longer have their luster. People who used to be fun to be around now become a weight that pulls you down. You begin to love the things God loves and hate what He despises. That is how closely we should be walking with Christ.
When you come to know the Lord, you begin learning His ways. You do that by reading His Word and learning to hear His voice. You find out early on what pleases Him and what displeases Him. At first, you are so in love that you would not do anything to hurt your Master so you strive hard to honor Him in everything you do. After the initial “honeymoon” phase wears off, however, you realize that the Christian is not exempt from pain, suffering or even temptation, and that’s when it’s easy to begin to go back to the old way of life.
Friends, life is too short. You can’t afford even a second of pleasure that is not given to you by God. His blessings are numerous but so much of what we desire is not what He has for us. We need to learn how to walk in the Spirit. It’s not a suggestion; it is a command.
The day will come when God will separate the wheat from the chaff. We need to be serious about our relationship with God so that we don’t find ourselves saying, “Lord, Lord, when did we see you in need and not minister to you?” Once you hear “Depart from Me. I never knew you,” it will be too late to turn. Now is the time. If there are things in your life which you know are not pleasing to God, I beg you to repent before the Lord and begin to live your life for Him. It doesn’t matter if you’re an elder, deacon, pastor … you may be an upstanding citizen to the eyes of all around you … but you know your heart and, if you don’t, God does. Ask Him to show you and then surrender the areas that you still have control of.
Jesus loves you so much. He desires to stay close to you. All He asks is that you draw near to Him. Feel His arms around you, look Him in the face, and tell Him how sorry you are for the way you’ve been living. He will forgive you and give you the strength to start anew. Then don’t look back. You won’t be sorry.
Reflection on the Week
David Wilkerson’s death has me once again reflecting. It seems like one by one, the men of God are being taken Home. As I look around, I wonder: who’s going to take their place? Is there anyone who is willing to say, “Here I am, Lord. Send me!”? It’s too easy to sit back and let others do the job which we ourselves should be doing.
For myself, it just reinforces what I’ve already been praying. Lord, help me to be faithful. Faithful men and women are hard to find but, as we near Jesus’ return, it’s that much more vital that we as Believers be the example that this world needs. We need to be leaders and mentors of the young ones who are following us. Are we imitating Christ so that others can imitate us and continue on to an even closer walk than maybe we’ve attained?
Jealousy is rampant today. Selfishness is exorbitant. But Christ tells us to seek first the Kingdom of God. How many people do you know who are doing that? Are you?
If you feel I’m being preachy, I’m preaching to myself as well. If we’re ever going to see revival in our country, it MUST begin with the house of God. And, friends, we can’t afford to go without revival much longer. Besides David Wilkerson’s death, I have friends who have ill family members. I’ve heard numerous stories of the devastation caused by tornadoes and flooding across the country. We need to hold fast to what’s important and let go of the things that aren’t. If you have friends or family members who have experienced loss, pray that God will show you how to be an encouragement to them at this time. If you are the one who is hurting due to loss or devastation, remember that you still have a God who loves you. He has not abandoned you. His arm is not too short. Please stay close to Him and let Him draw near to you. You won’t experience a greater comfort than that.
Thoughts of David Wilkerson
I realize David Wilkerson is not associated with southern gospel music but I hope you’ll bear with me as I share my thoughts this morning.
For those who haven’t heard, Mr. Wilkerson was killed in a car accident last evening while driving with his wife in Texas. Please pray for Gwen Wilkerson as she is in critical condition.
My initial thought when I heard of Brother Wilkerson’s death was that America’s in a lot of trouble. Few are the Godly men who are willing to dedicate their whole life to God and who will challenge the Church to live holy, consecrated lives. There are few role models in the world but Mr. Wilkerson was one of them.
I never had the opportunity to meet him but his life was a testimony. I couldn’t look at David and Gwen without smiling. They always looked so sweet and peaceful, and it was obvious that the light of God was all over them.
I’ve no doubt that God chose this time to take David home for a reason. God’s timing is always perfect but I for one will miss Brother David. I pray that others will rise to the challenge that he often gave–to live for God no matter what and to offer hope to a dying world. These weren’t just nice words; they were the words by which he lived. If ever there’s a time to seek God, it’s now. As David was driving down that Texas highway, I’m sure he didn’t have a clue that yesterday was the day he would see his Savior whom he devoted his life to serve. In a way, I’m envious but, as one who’s left behind I’m sad. I do know, though, that one day I will get to meet him and let him know what a blessing he’s been to me. Until that day, may I be faithful as he was to do the work God’s called me to do and to be a light for Him.
In closing, I would encourage you to read David Wilkerson’s blog. I’m thankful the words God gave him will continue to minister to people even though he’s gone.
Shannon Childress is Home with Jesus
I just found out that Shannon Childress, the former pianist for the Hoppers, went to be with Jesus this afternoon. Although I’ve seen the Hoppers in concert twice, I only saw Shannon with them once back in 1993 or ’94. He struck me as someone who was not always in the limelight but who was very talented. He was a good songwriter, arranger and producer. When he stopped traveling with the Hoppers, I was sad to see him go but I knew God would continue to use him in whatever He called Shannon to do.
Today is also my birthday but, in spite of how wonderful my day has been, I know Shannon’s has been better. He’s gone where there will be no sorrow, no sickness, and no pain.
My favorite song that Shannon wrote was titled “Anchored to the Power of the Cross.” If you haven’t heard it, I would encourage you to do a search for it on YouTube by the Hoppers. My prayers are with Shannon’s family but I know that our loss is Heaven’s gain. I’m thankful God allowed Shannon to touch the lives he did and I praise God we will one day join him “where there’s no time to cry, no time to die, we will be where there’s no time at all” (quoted from the Hopper’s song “No Time at All”).