“I waited patiently for the Lord; and He heard my cry. 2. He brought me up also out of a miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock and established my goings. 3. And He hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it and fear, and shall trust in the Lord.”
Waiting patiently has never been one of my virtues. I have always wanted what I wanted instantly. Patience is still not a virtue of mine, but life has convinced me that I can’t always have what I want now. I have also found that I really have no choice but to wait on the Lord. He just does not move on my timetable, nor does He move on yours. Being the impatient person that I am, I had to learn that it really is best to wait for the Lord and see Him do things in His own way - in His own time. Psalm 40:1-3 is a good example of what I mean. He hears us and takes us “out of a miry clay.” I know what it means to get “bogged down.” I grew up in Southwest Georgia where there is an abundance of red, gooey, clay that is easy to get “bogged down” in. When one gets bogged down, all he can do is to spin his tires. Spinning tires will not take us anywhere. When we get “bogged down” in life and start spinning our tires, it is good to talk to God and wait for Him to get us out of the bog. He has helped me stop “spinning my tires” many times. When the Lord takes us out of the ”miry clay,” He “sets (our} feet upon a rock and establishes (our) going.” It is the Lord who can ultimately put us on solid ground and get us going again. I see a lot of people living life in a bog. I want to take them by the hand and lead them to the Lord and let Him get them out of it. The only thing is that the person has to want the Lord’s help enough to ask for it and wait for it himself or herself. It is not something that someone else can do for you. If you need to get your life going, talk to God about it, wait for Him, and follow His leadership when He answers. The important thing to know is that the rock that He sets our feet on is the “Rock of Ages,” Jesus Christ. It is He who puts us on solid ground in our lives and helps our lives move forward. Give it a try: wait patiently for the Lord. What happens when we wait on the Lord? He brings newness into our lives. The psalmist recorded, “And He hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God.” A “new song” represents that which is new that happens in our lives. I have discovered that there is a “sameness” in life that we have to deal with. If we are not careful that “sameness” will get awfully boring. I have found that as I have served Jesus over the years, He has made sure that I did not get caught in the boredom of “sameness.” It has always seemed that when I have needed “a new song,” He has been willing a ready to put it in my mouth. When we wait on the Lord, we do not get bored and tired of life. The Lord awakens every nerve and takes us to that which is new and fulfilling. If I find myself getting bored with life, I just talk to God, wait on Him, and wait to sing – so to speak. That is when I find real joy in praising Him, and I think that you will find it the same. Verse 3 informs us that when we wait on the Lord, “many shall see it and fear, and shall trust in the Lord.” When the Lord does a work in our lives, He does not let us keep it to ourselves, but enables us to influence others. When we stop spinning our tires, get on the Rock, get a “new song” and praise the Lord, other people will notice. You say,“Yeah, but you’re a preacher, that’s what you are supposed to do.” My answer: “Yeah, but you are a Christian that is also what you are supposed to do.” Wait on the Lord in your life and see what He will do with it. You will find it worth the wait. Do it! You have nothing to lose but a weary way of life. Bro. Joe
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"Order my steps in thy word: and let not iniquity have dominion over me."
NIV: "Direct my footsteps according to your word; and let no sin rule over me." I can't speak for everybody, but the Christian life can be awfully difficult. It seems that the more we try to do better the harder it is. That's why I'm calling this blog "Some Very Good Advice." First, it tells us that if we want to live victoriously over sin, we will have to be directed by the word of God. To the Psalmist the word of God would probably have been the Pentateuch, the five books of Moses. There would be a lot there to follow. It amazes me that people think they can live the Christian life without spending time in the word. Since I have been house-bound the last few months, I have spent hours reading the Bible - two to four hours a day. But I still find myself not being as good as I ought to be. Just think what I would be if I didn't spend time in the word Second, it tells us that if we spend time in the word we can keep sin from having dominion over us. I like the KJV translation of sin better here, because it uses the more expressive term "iniquity." Iniquity means twisted. If we want to keep from getting all twisted up by sin in our lives. If we want sin to lose its dominion in our lives, we will need to be directed by the word of God. Isn't this how Jesus fought the devil in his temptations in Matthew 4? He quoted scripture to the devil in every temptation. People say that advice is cheap. Biblical advice is never cheap and always works if followed. Let's let the Lord order our steps in His word so that iniquity will not dominion over us. Bro. Joe “I can do all things through Him (Christ) who strengthens me.”
We can learn a lot from the Apostle Paul’s experience. From the day that he became a Christian his life was in danger. When Paul became a Christian, he did a complete U turn from his former way of life. He went from persecuting Christians to preaching Christ. It was very difficult for Paul’s former friends to accept his new life. This would make a difference to a lot of people, but it did not make any difference to Paul. When Jesus saved Paul, it was a real experience and he could not be turned from it because of the problems that his conversion created for him. The problems that people caused for Paul could not stop his life in Christ, nor could they stop His commitment to serve Christ. We need some of what Paul had. What can we learn from Paul’s experience? We can learn that being a Christian is not always a “bed of roses.” There are some people who teach that when one accepts Christ, he or she will have a problem free life. It is for sure that when Christ is in our lives He will help us either around or through problems, but life will certainly not be problem free. Leonard Ravenhill wrote that everywhere Paul went there was a revival or a riot. When he was in Philippi with Silas, he and Silas ended up in prison because they healed a demon possessed girl. Their feet were actually anchored to the floor in stocks. Now, I would call that a problem. But this problem did not stop Paul, for after he and Silas were delivered from that experience, they went on to other places preaching the Gospel. Paul knew that it was not about him but about Christ. We have a tendency to want to quit when we encounter problems, for example, at church. We will quit if we think that it is about us instead of Christ. When we put Christ first, we can get up and go again after we have fallen. When we put Christ first, quitting is not an option. I don’t know what problems you are encountering now in your life, but don’t let them keep you from serving Christ. We can learn that we can “do all things through Christ who strengthens (us).” That is found in Philippians 4:13. We are timid sometimes about what we can do for Christ. Believe this: If Jesus wants you to do something, whatever it is, in the church or in the community, He will give you the wherewithal and the power to do it. There was very little in Paul’s background that prepared him for serving Christ, but Christ used him anyway. There was very little in my background that prepared me for the service that I have rendered for over fifty years, but He has given me the strength to do it. There might be very little in your background that prepares you to do what you know that Christ wants you to do. Step out by faith and do whatever it is. If Jesus didn’t think that you could do it, He would not have put it on your heart. Get up off of it and serve the Lord, for He will give you the strength to do it. We can learn that the anxieties of life do not have to get us down and keep us from the joy and happiness that we can experience in Christ. Paul wrote in Philippians 4:6-7 “Be careful for nothing (do not be anxious about anything) but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and mind through Christ Jesus.” If anybody had things to be anxious about, it was Paul. But his anxieties could not keep Paul down, because he prayed and depended on God to get him through. We are no different from Paul. The same God who helped him overcome anxiety and get on with his life is the same God who can help us to do the same. I pray that we can all learn from this great man’s experience. After all, we serve the same Lord that he served. Bro. Joe “Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles, one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
You probably already know what happened on the Mt. of Transfiguration. Jesus took Peter, James and John to Mount Tabor, which is the traditional site for Jesus’ transfiguration. Jesus was transfigured before these three apostles, which means that they caught a glimpse of His heavenly light, and appearing with Jesus were Moses and Elijah. Wow! Can you imagine seeing Jesus and two of the greatest Old Testament prophets at one time? Like Peter we would have been in awe, and we might have wanted to say something profound and meaningful. However it came out as rather inane and insipid. Jesus just ignored it for the inane expression that it was. It reminds me of a story I heard one time about an airplane that was about to crash. Someone said, “Quick somebody do something religious.” A Baptist preacher was on board and he took up a collection. That collection probably did as much good as what Peter said. Peter was in awe and building tabernacles was about the most religious thing that he could think of. Peter needed to learn, and did in time, that following Jesus is not about religion or being religious. What is it about? Following Jesus is about a personal relationship with Him. Certain people make fun of us when we say that Jesus is our personal Savior, but that it is what being a Christian is. Jesus has promised to be with us when we are worshiping Him. Jesus is not like an idol that we come together to worship. He is our Savior who comes to the place of worship with us. The “woman at the well,” in John 4, mentioned that the Samaritans worshiped God there where they were standing, and that the Jews said that the place of worship was in Jerusalem. Jesus said that the Jews were right, but that the hour was coming when “true worshipers would worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” The woman wanted to argue about religion, Jesus wanted to discuss relationship with the seeking Father. Following Jesus is not about religious observance as much as it is about fellowship with fellow Christians. Of course, there are observances that are important. The writer of Hebrews reminded us not to “forsake the assembling of our selves together.” But why did he write this? He explained why: “But exhorting (encouraging) one another.” We meet together with each other under the power of the Spirit of Christ and we encourage each other in Christian worship and service. Our observances are constant reminders of our need for Jesus and our need for fellowship with each other. When we attend worship together, we are not “doing something religious;” rather, we are ministering to each other so that we can be encouraged to witness and minister to the world around us. Following Jesus is not about doing religious things that make us feel like we are serving God; rather, it is about actually serving Him on a daily basis wherever we are. Jesus has empowered us by the Holy Spirit to serve Him and that is what we are to do. I think sometimes that instead of serving Jesus, we try to build “tabernacles” to Him, and think that this is what satisfies Him. What satisfies Jesus is saving us, empowering us to serve Him, and enabling us to spend eternity with Him. Jesus doesn’t want our “tabernacles.” He wants us. Bro. Joe I hear people talk about how Christ came to bring peace on earth. Please don't misunderstand me, because I don't believe that Jesus ever failed, but if that was the case He failed. In fact, He told us that we would hear of wars and rumors of wars until He comes again. He even declared at one point that He did not come to bring peace but a sword. What He meant was that people would have to make a choice about who they were going to obey - Jesus or someone, or something, else.
But Jesus did come to bring peace to people. He came, lived a perfect life, was crucified, arose and ascended in order for us to have peace in our hearts. Philippians 4:6-7 illustrates this for us: "Be careful for nothing ("do not be anxious about anything"), but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be known to God. 7. And the peace of God which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Now, this is the peace that the New Testament is all about. It is peace that comes from a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, from a prayer relationship with Him. Paul simply declared that if we want peace, we just need to pray. He didn't mean that we should utter a few words in the direction of Jesus, but to really get in touch with Him personally. Jesus is the "Prince of Peace" because He offers great personal peace to us in our daily relationship with Him. People who don't have that relationship will not have that peace. Jesus said, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." (John 14:27) He also promised: "These things have I spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." (John 16:33) This is is a description of real Christian peace. Bro. Joe “To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and has committed unto us the word of reconciliation. 20. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be reconciled to God. 21. For He has made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin: that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.”
I heard a gospel song this morning that really caught my attention. It went like this: “Had it not been for a place called Mount Calvary; had it not been for the old rugged cross; had it not been for a man called Jesus, forever I would be lost.” This went right to the heart of the gospel that we believe in, hold dear, and share with the world. 2 Corinthians 5:19-21 speaks to this issue and goes to the heart of the gospel. It is through Christ that God reconciles us unto Himself. It all came about by grace, i.e., we didn’t deserve it but God did it for us anyway. Paul wrote that in reconciling us to Himself through Christ, God did not “count men’s sins against them.” (NIV) This reminds me of Romans 5:8: “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” We didn’t have to get better to be saved; rather, we had to get saved to be better. Ephesians 2:8-10 assures us of this: “For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. 9. Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them.” When we are saved, God gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit who begins a work of growth in grace in us. God doesn’t count our sins against us because of His grace and also because we realized that sin was our problem and would doom us for all eternity if we did not repent, confess and give our lives to Jesus. Verse 21 reveals what I call a startling fact: “For He has made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin: that we might be made the righteousness of God.” It is my opinion that this was the “cup” that Jesus wanted to pass from Him when He prayed in Gethsemane. Jesus had known the challenge of temptation, but He had never known the agony of sin, but He knew that on the cross He would suffer the agony of our sins. I think that is why Jesus cried out: “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me.” God the Father cannot look upon sin, and He turned away from God the Son at that moment. It was that moment that Jesus “became sin for us…that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” The heart of the gospel is that Jesus died on the cross to save all of those who would come to Him by faith. This is Jesus’ definition of the greatest love: “Greater love has no man than this that he lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13) That is what Jesus did for us. We are saved by grace through faith – period. But when we are saved Christ calls us to be His ambassadors to a lost and dying world. Notice verse 19b and verse 20: “and has given to us the word of reconciliation….Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us…” We who have been reconciled have been commissioned to bring others to the reconciliation that we have experienced in Christ. We do not do this to be saved; we do this because we are saved. We are ambassadors for Christ to the world. At the end of each gospel, Jesus challenged His followers to go out into the world and spread the message about Him. We are to take the heart of the gospel to the hearts of men and women, boys and girls. Let’s do it! Bro. Joe I always stand amazed in the knowledge that God loves all people and wants the best for all of them. However, not everyone accepts or returns that love, and not everyone wants the best of what God wants for them. It is true based on the Bible and Christian experience that God loves us. I want to take a little of your time and revisit John 3:16 and see what it tells us about the God who loves us.
God’s Love Is Universal: “For God so loved the world….” "The world" refers to everyone in the world. There is no one in the world that God does not love. No one can truly say that he or she is unloved. Jesus revealed this love in His earthly ministry. We read in the gospel accounts of Jesus that He loved the rich and the poor, the sick and the well alike. For example, Jesus loved the wealthy Zacchaeus, who was the wealthiest and the most hated man in Jericho because he was a tax collector who had stolen from the people. At the same time, we note that Jesus loved the blind beggar Bartimaeus. The cartoon character, Charlie Brown, or it might have been Lucy, said: “I love mankind, it’s people that I hate.” Well, God does not just love mankind in general; He loves every person in the world individually. This means that He loves you too. It also means that He loves those people that you do not particularly care for. God’s Love Is Sacrificial: “That He gave His only begotten Son….” Observe that God did not just send His Son – He gave Him. God revealed His love for every person by giving Jesus, His Son, to die for each one. In Matthew 1:21 the angel , told Joseph: “And you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” The meaning of this verse is revealed in Romans 8:23: “He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all.” We further read in Romans 8:34: “It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is ever at the right hand of God, who also make intercession for us.” God gave His Son to die and rise again in order to make salvation possible for everyone. He gave His Son to die for you. You can truthfully say that “God gave His only begotten Son to die for me.” It is God’s intention that every person should take John 3:16 personally. God’s Love Saves: “That whosever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life….” According to this “whosoever believes in Him” can be saved. Notice that our responsibility is to believe. Those who believe in Jesus, those who trust their lives to Him, are saved, and “will not perish but have everlasting life.” There are many people who will not acknowledge the sacrificial love of God. They want to save themselves or find some other means of salvation. It is a pity that so many people who are loved by God refuse His great salvation and perish. This is not cruelty on God’s part, for in His great love He has done all that can be done to ensure eternal life to all. What more could people ask for than the life of God’s Son? What simpler course could people take than to believe in God’s Son? “Whosoever” includes you. You can be saved by believing in and giving your life to Jesus. “Whosoever will” also applies to all of the people to whom you need to witness. You can, and should, share the love of God with other people by the way you live and by witnessing to them. All people need to know that they are part of “whosoever.” Let’s celebrate the love of God. There is no other love that is both universal and sacrificial. There is no other love that can save. Bro. Joe “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God has dealt to every man the measure of faith.”
There is one thing that we learn as we grow into adulthood: We will always have to deal with people – all sorts of people. We have to deal with them at work, at church, and in the communities in which we live. But there is one main person that we have to deal with and this is self. This is the person that we have to deal with twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. This is the person that we look at in the mirror every day. Our relationships with others will depend a lot on how we deal with self. Paul gives us some advice on this business of dealing with self. First, he tells us “not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think." That is, that we should not be conceited and think that we are better than everyone else. In order to keep from being conceited we need to not think of ourselves more often than we should think. If we aren’t careful, we will find our days consumed with thoughts about ourselves, and everything that we think or do, has to do with how things will affect “me.” To a certain extent this is natural, but when we think of self too much, we will spiritually and emotionally alienate ourselves from other people. Self preservation is a natural instinct, but to be obsessed with self preservation is not only unspiritual, it is unhealthy. Everything is not about us and how things affect us. Preoccupation with self interferes with our fellowship with each other. Take a little time and consciously try to think of yourself less and others more. Try not to make everything about yourself. Second, he tells us to “think soberly” about ourselves. This means that we should give serious thought to ourselves and be honest with ourselves about ourselves. We should take an honest look at ourselves, and if we are thinking about ourselves too highly or too frequently, we should ask God to help us to have a healthy view of self. I know from personal experience that it is sometimes difficult to look at ourselves honestly and to tell ourselves the truth about ourselves. It will horrify us sometimes that we are as preoccupied with ourselves as we are. Jesus is certainly our example here. I think that Jesus had a healthy view of Himself, and He certainly wasn’t hampered with feelings of inferiority, but He always took time to think about and minister to other people. Even when Jesus tried to get away and spend some time alone, He would always end up ministering to the people who came to Him. He looked with compassion on other people. It is at this point that we need to ask ourselves if we are compassionate toward other people, or if we just tolerate them. Think honestly, now, about your relationships with people. Does “self” keep getting in the way? Third, he told us to think “soberly, according as God has dealt to every man the measure of faith.” We don’t usually think about faith as a gift from God, but it is. He has given us a “measure of faith” so that we can look at ourselves soberly and put ourselves in line with what faith is demanding of us. In the Bible, people like Peter, Andrew, James, and John had to think soberly about themselves. Would their faith enable these ordinary men to give up their occupation as fishermen, follow Jesus and become “fishers of men”? It was by faith that these men surrendered “self” to Jesus and went about doing what He would have them do. Maybe it is time that we took a look at ourselves and ask ourselves what difference our faith is making in our lives pertaining to decisions that we make about service for the Lord. Bro. Joe “Then said Jesus unto His disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me.”
This statement of Jesus followed the first prediction of His death and resurrection. Peter declared that this would not happen, meaning that he would protect Jesus. Peter had not yet learned that as a disciple, he was to proclaim Jesus, not protect Him. Jesus told Peter that his mind was not on the things of God, but on the things of men. Jesus’ death and resurrection were God’s will, and Peter could not stop God’s will. Jesus’ message to Peter, and to us, was that true discipleship will not diminish the spirit of sacrifice inherent in the Christian faith, but will join in that spirit. Verse 24 explains what real discipleship is. Jesus said, “If any man (anyone) would come after me…” Real discipleship is not open only to an elite corps of religious people. The Bible clearly teaches that “Whosoever will may come.” The people who come to Jesus in real faith will become His real disciples. No one is excluded from discipleship who, by faith in Jesus wants to be included. You are called to Christian discipleship. Your past sins cannot exclude you, for in Jesus you are a new creation. A real disciple is one who has been saved whose life has been changed, and is indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Jesus said of the one who would come after Him: “Let him deny himself and take up his cross.” Real discipleship makes demands on the lives of believers. It demands self-denial, which is not a major theme of American lifestyles. The act of being saved calls for denying self, for it demands a surrender of self to Jesus. According to Paul, we are no longer our own but have been bought with a price – the price of the blood of Jesus. This being true, it is no longer merely what we want for ourselves but what Jesus wants of our lives as well. Real discipleship demands taking up a cross. The cross is not some problem that we have or some difficult person that we have to deal with. It means to serve Jesus under all circumstances, even if it calls for suffering. A false disciple will serve Jesus only when things are going well. Peter learned that lesson well as we learn from Acts and early church history. Jesus said that “If anyone would follow Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” Real discipleship means to follow Jesus. Real discipleship will be found where the real Presence of Jesus is, where the real work of Jesus is taking place. Real disciples do not chase after every fad, nor will real disciples be “tossed about by every wind of doctrine.” Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” (John 10:27) Real disciples will follow Jesus regardless of circumstances. For a great example of this read the accounts of Paul’s missionary journeys in Acts 13-28. The Holy Spirit leads us to where Jesus wants us to be – and we follow. Perhaps real disciples will not be right on target all of the time, but they will surely try. Based on Matthew 16:24 are you a real disciple? As you think and pray through this, you will find it to be a humbling experience. I know it has been for me. In our affluent society it is not easy to think about sacrifice. We have so many comforts that the New Testament disciples did not have, but the demands of discipleship are still there and sometimes we just have to step out of our comfort zones and do what Jesus leads us to do. This is what real disciples do. Bro. Joe “And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha you are careful and troubled about many things: 42. But one thing is needful; and Mary has chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”
We are going to revisit Mary and Martha and see what they can teach us. You will probably remember that Jesus was visiting in the home of Lazarus and his two sisters, Mary and Martha. Martha was concerned about the meal, and whatever else, and Mary was sitting at the feet of Jesus. Martha was upset with Mary and wanted her to come help her in the kitchen. Luke 10:41-42 is the answer that Jesus gave to Martha. The problem was that Martha was distracted. To be distracted is to have one’s attention diverted from one thing to another. In this case, Martha was distracted from the presence of Jesus and Mary was taking advantage of having Him present. What distracted Martha was not a bad thing. In fact, if it had been anyone but Jesus, she would have had a case against Mary. I think that the lesson here for us is that we shouldn’t let things distract us from our closeness to Jesus. What are some things that can distract us if we aren’t careful? World events can distract us. As I write this, the world is concerned that Russia has invaded Ukraine. It is something to be concerned about, but it should not distract us to the point that we worry about it. We can’t do anything about it anyway. What we need to do in a case like this is to go to the feet of Jesus, as Mary did, and give all of the worry about that to Him. He told us in Matthew 11:28: “Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest." We should take Him up on that offer. Jesus knows what is going on in the world, and he does not want us to worry about those things. Personal problems can distract us. I am not being judgmental here, because I know something about the distraction of personal problems. Whatever the problems are, family, school, work, church, health, etc., they should not distract us from going to Jesus with them. Jesus knows what is going on in our lives, and He knows what is going on in the lives of other people who might be of concern in our distractions. He wants to minister to us, and He wants us to know that He is with us through whatever the problems may be. Some people take this to extremes and blame God when bad things happen in their lives. This is not unusual because great Bible characters questioned God at times when they were having personal problems. Psalm 13 comes to mind. In the first verse, David wails:“How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord? Forever? How long wilt thou hide thy face from me.” (Don’t judge David too harshly here, because all of us have probably thought that at one time or the other.) In the ensuing verses, David lays out his case and draws closer and closer to the Lord until he concludes in verses 5-6: “But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart rejoices in thy salvation. 6. I will sing unto the Lord, because He hath dealt bountifully with me.” If we will take our minds and hearts off of the problem and put them on Jesus, He will give us an answer, or give us what we need to cope with the problem. We will discover as David did, that God has, indeed, “dealt bountifully” with us. Whatever is troubling you, hurry, hurry to the feet of Jesus with whatever it is that is troubling you. He knows, and His presence will comfort you. I have dealt with only two things that can distract us from fellowship with Jesus, but I think they illustrate what we need to do when we get distracted by the world. Satan is in the business of distracting us, and he does a very good (evil) job of it. Remember that when our attention is distracted away from Jesus, it is Satan at work trying to discourage us and bring us down. Don’t let him do that to you. Bro. Joe |
AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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