I hope you live every waking moment with an unshakable belief that God still speaks today and wants to speak to you!
This morning I heard Him speak to me. I have never heard His audible voice but I like to say I feel His voice. I sense His voice deep within, moments like this morning remind me of the reality of eternity. Feeling the voice of God resonates in the eternal part of who I am, deep. So, this morning I am about to read some in Psalms, reading through the Bible in the year puts us at Psalms according to the reading plan our church is using. I am a little behind in Psalms and was considering picking up with Psalm 31 or in the teens and trying to catch up. God spoke to me about beginning with Psalm 31...and now I know why!
Earlier in the morning I was praying about my sermon for this Saturday, July 4. We are having an abbreviated service, just one hour and then two hours of picnicking and gaming on the grounds to celebrate July 4 and create a wonderful opportunity for those who call TCLC their church home to invite a friend who may not attend church. I knew I wanted to talk about what it means to be truly free, spiritually free...in spite of all the others kinds of freedoms we enjoy, especially those at such a great cost to our men and women in uniform, for many, there is still a freedom they have yet to come to have, the freedom of the heart.
So, this morning in prayer, I remembered something I saw years ago when I was outside. I saw a wasp get caught in a spider's web. The wasp was strong enough o create quite a disruption in the web but not quite strong enough to get free. The spider stayed back assessing the situation. It was clear that if the wasp was allowed to continue, the web would be destroyed. The spider quickly moved into action. The spider approached the wasp with such speed that at first I thought it was going to attack...wow, what a fight this is going to be! But instead, the spider came to an abrupt stop just out of reach of the wasp. With it's long front legs, the spider began tapping the wasp multiple times, as if it were attaching something to the wasp. Then, the spider backed up and began to cut the wasp free...had the spider determined the wasp was too strong for it? Was it now cutting the wasp loose to save its web?
When the wasp fell free, it did not fall very far! The wasp flapped its wings with every expectation of flying away but was then surprisingly forced into an abrupt turn. The spider had tethered the wasp to one of the main supports of the web. Picture a person dangling by a rope attached to a bridge above spanning a canyon. The wasp was dangling below to the web, free to fly as fast and as long as it wanted, but in a circle, about an 8 inch circle. After several minutes, the wasp was completely exhausted. The spider then came, and well, you know the rest!
So I sit down this morning to read Psalm 31 at the leading of God and what words do I find there? Verse 4..."You will free me from the net that is secretly set for me..." Can you believe that! Do you think God knows how to speak to us today or what! I can't wait to preach this Saturday...I know there will be some who think they are fee but are really tethered to destruction. Psalm 31 verse 14 says, "But I trust in You, Lord; I say, You are my God!"
So many people believe that God exists but we are not set free from the "web" of Satan until we surrender our heart to Him, our Creator, and say to Him..."You are my God!"
I hope you find a freedom this July 4 that you have never before known, a freedom of the heart...that too came at a great sacrifice...His Son, Jesus.
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life."
Be free!
Pastor Fred
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Catch of the Day
Three things I look for in a restaurant as I'm entering for the first time are a full parking lot, fat cooks, and retirees! I'm not talking about a spot for your next anniversary or where you might take your business clients. I'm talking about the place where you go when you are ready to give way to avarice, need a bib for your shirt, and leave the hand wipes at home because you have every intention of an unashamed finger-licking culinary event!
If Friday and Saturday nights aren't full-lot-nights, then you know the people who live in the area aren't excited about eating there...chances are, you will not be overly excited about the food either. Heavy kitchen staff you ask? Give me employees who just can not stop eating every time the owners turn their heads; I want them plump and hopeful of their next bite! Retirees may be the ultimate measure. Lots of hair the color of a pure driven snow not only says family friendly but great value. If you are on a fixed income, as many retirees are, you look for healthy servings at a great price. Find the convergence of these three factors, and you've just caught yourself a great restaurant for the day. Hampton Roads is filled with local spots just waiting to be discovered. I hope you make that part of your summer fun.
This idea of criteria that are portents of coming satisfaction, I believe, was God's great motivation in giving us the Holy Scriptures. I want to invite you to read three chapters of the Old Testament book Nehemiah (8-10). You find a profound picture of a city rediscovering the wisdom of God's commands and statutes, ulitmately culimating into the rebirth of a nation. At first they weep, not just because they feel guilty for not having followed God's ways but out of sorrow for all the years they had lost, all the years they had forgone the glory of living in exchange for mediocrity. Then, as you read further, chapters nine and ten, you find them coming to moments of great celebration. Why, because they first confessed their own personal culpability for a life not well lived and also how their lives had led others astray, ultimately leading to the downfall of their nation. They then vowed (covenants) in their hearts and publicly in their assembly to no longer forsake His statutes but rather to forsake a life void of God's direction and embrace a life defining relationship with their Creator, their Heavenly Father. This practice of confession and covenant only and always lead to rejoicing! (As you read, don’t get bogged down in the unique Hebraic practices that comprised their covenant commitments but rather ask God to reveal to you what you have personally forsaken.)
God wants you and I to discover the wonders and splendor of this existence, life this side of eternity. All of Scripture is designed to teach us the evidence that needs to be present in each of our lives if we have any hope of the greatest "catch of the day" -- possessing a life lived well, full. I hope you gleaned from your reading too that an entire nation was reborn through the efforts of two people in the stories of Nehemiah, both he and Ezra. Want to see change in our city...our world? Grasp the life He promises, an idyllic life within all our reach.
Pastor Fred
If Friday and Saturday nights aren't full-lot-nights, then you know the people who live in the area aren't excited about eating there...chances are, you will not be overly excited about the food either. Heavy kitchen staff you ask? Give me employees who just can not stop eating every time the owners turn their heads; I want them plump and hopeful of their next bite! Retirees may be the ultimate measure. Lots of hair the color of a pure driven snow not only says family friendly but great value. If you are on a fixed income, as many retirees are, you look for healthy servings at a great price. Find the convergence of these three factors, and you've just caught yourself a great restaurant for the day. Hampton Roads is filled with local spots just waiting to be discovered. I hope you make that part of your summer fun.
This idea of criteria that are portents of coming satisfaction, I believe, was God's great motivation in giving us the Holy Scriptures. I want to invite you to read three chapters of the Old Testament book Nehemiah (8-10). You find a profound picture of a city rediscovering the wisdom of God's commands and statutes, ulitmately culimating into the rebirth of a nation. At first they weep, not just because they feel guilty for not having followed God's ways but out of sorrow for all the years they had lost, all the years they had forgone the glory of living in exchange for mediocrity. Then, as you read further, chapters nine and ten, you find them coming to moments of great celebration. Why, because they first confessed their own personal culpability for a life not well lived and also how their lives had led others astray, ultimately leading to the downfall of their nation. They then vowed (covenants) in their hearts and publicly in their assembly to no longer forsake His statutes but rather to forsake a life void of God's direction and embrace a life defining relationship with their Creator, their Heavenly Father. This practice of confession and covenant only and always lead to rejoicing! (As you read, don’t get bogged down in the unique Hebraic practices that comprised their covenant commitments but rather ask God to reveal to you what you have personally forsaken.)
God wants you and I to discover the wonders and splendor of this existence, life this side of eternity. All of Scripture is designed to teach us the evidence that needs to be present in each of our lives if we have any hope of the greatest "catch of the day" -- possessing a life lived well, full. I hope you gleaned from your reading too that an entire nation was reborn through the efforts of two people in the stories of Nehemiah, both he and Ezra. Want to see change in our city...our world? Grasp the life He promises, an idyllic life within all our reach.
Pastor Fred
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