In His Grace

Sermon 7-25-2010

2010-07-25T12:18:00.000-07:00

Psalm 23:1-4
The Promises of Psalm 23

Today, I want to look several promises that can be found in Psalm 23, but before I do I want to give a quick background about the author of Psalm 23. We are all familiar with David. He was the courageous boy who went out to slay Goliath, he was a psalmist, he was a warrior, and He was a King who helped unite Israel and lead the lsraelities into battle and was able to lead them to victory.
But for everything that David did and everything that we can say he was I know I often forget that David was first a Shepherd Boy. Why is that important? A Shepherd just like a King is the provider and protector of his flock the sheep are helpless without the Shepherd. In the Old Testament, the leaders or (Kings) of the people are called shepherds, In Jeremiah 3:15 it says then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding. In (Ezek 34:23-24) it says 23 I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd. 24 I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them. This leads us into the first verse of Psalms 23. King David wrote this Psalm in the latter part of his life and right away David tells us who The Great Shepherd is. Vs1 “The Lord is my Shepherd,” I shall not be in want.
David is not only telling us who the Great Sheppard is David is also telling us that He is placing himself as a sheep in the flock of Jesus. By doing this David shows that while in Christ he has no fears and all his needs are met in Christ. I will admit I know nothing about being a Shepherd and I know nothing about tending sheep but I have done a little research and I do know that in order for the sheep to follow you they must trust you. The must know that you will provide for them and keep them safe. This is the same exact thing that David is describing in this first verse. David has trusted The Lord completely and relies totally on HIM. Can we say here today that we rely totally on Christ?
What happens when we allow Christ into our lives and our hearts? V 2 tells us that “He makes me lie down in green pastures he leads me beside quiet waters”. Let’ stop right there. In that one verse we find 2 promises. “He makes me lie down in green pastures.” We find Rest and “he leads me beside quiet waters” we find Refreshment. I remember when I first read this Psalm I thought of a time when I was young I used to like to stay up late because my parents were up and my 2 older brothers were up so I naturally thought I should be able to stay up as well. When I tried to explain my case to my parents they told me that I had to go to bed because they said so. For some reason they felt that if I stayed up I would be in a terrible mood in the morning. After some encouragement from my father I decided that it would be in my best interest to go to bed, but my point is my parents knew what was best for me. They knew I needed rest otherwise it was going to be a long day not only for them but for me as well, but as I read this Psalm more and more I realized that is not the type of rest or refreshment that is being described here.
If we look at the verse it says Lie down in green pastures. What does that look like to us? This is a picture of eternal rest or death. As Christians this is not something that we should dislike because from a Christian perspective to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. This is where we all want to be anyway. In the first part of verse 2 David tells us that GOD makes us lie down in green pastures. Why would GOD make us do this?
God knows we need rest HE knows we need to be refreshed, GOD allows us to face death because for us it is a consequence of sin. Romans 6:23 says 23For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in[a] Christ Jesus our Lord. We will revisit that in just a little bit as well. This seems harsh but it is actually a blessing. Death brings the Christian into a state of freedom from the toil of sin. What do I mean by this? Let’s look back at Genesis for just a minute. When God created the world HE said it was good. The world was free from toil.
If we pick up in Genesis 2: 15 it says “The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” Notice that this took place before the fall of man. This is important because GOD gave work to man as a gift. This moment in the Garden is a picture of paradise because it is a picture of man working in a right relationship to his GOD. This is also a picture of the biblical rest and refreshment that David was referring to in Psalms 23: verse 2. In relationship with a Holy GOD, without the burden of sin we are at peace, we are at rest. This picture of peace, this view of paradise, this biblical rest and refreshment in the Holy GOD is what we lost when the fall of man occurred. The good news is that it is not too late we can still find that rest, we can still have that peace and we can still be a part of that paradise. GOD made the way possible for us through his SON Jesus Christ when HE sent him to die on the cross for us.
Notice what happens when sin enters into the world. Genesis 3:17-19 says "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return." You see the connection? Now sin brings toil, rest becomes heavy labor. We lost rest, but the great thing about GOD is he wants to restore us.
Just like a Sheppard would lead his flock, just like David led his sheep as a young boy or the Israelites as King and just like God wants to lead us now. The first promise was the promise of rest the next promise was the promise of refreshment. This by the way is not the only time we see that promise. We also see that promise in Isaiah 49:10 “They will neither hunger nor thirst, nor will the desert heat or the sun beat upon them. He who has compassion on them will guide them
and lead them beside springs of water.”
So, in the first 2 verses GOD has provided exactly what we needed both mentally and physically in order to follow HIM, but what about the spiritual? Well verse 3 says “He restores my soul He guides me in paths of righteousness for HIS name sake.” Verse 3 brings us the 3rd promise which is Restoration, because we lost our rest and our ability to be refreshed He must lead us back and HE will do that through a process called restoration. If we look at Psalms 19:7 it says that the law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. Why is that verse important to what we are talking about today? That verse is important because it tells us how the Lord is going to restore us. HE will do it through his law or HIS word which we know from this verse is perfect which causes it to revive the soul. Nothing in this world can save us, only God’s word can do that.
God is asking us to lie down and die to ourselves and in turn die to our sin. GOD wants us to leave the toil of sin behind. The type of restoration that we are talking about right now is not something that can be achieved by ourselves. This restoration can only come from one place and one GOD and it did through HIS son Jesus Christ. The rest of verse 3 says that He guides me in paths of righteousness for HIS name sake. In that second half of the verse we find yet another promise. It is the promise of Guidance. So why does GOD want to restore our souls and why would HE want to guide us in paths of righteousness?
GOD wants to revive us, HE wants to restore us and guide us so that the paths we travel, our daily decisions and choices that we will make are done for HIS name sake. David has written a Psalm in which he lists promises that we can count on GOD doing for us. GOD will provide us rest, GOD will provide us refreshment, GOD will restore our souls and GOD will guide us in paths of righteousness for HIS name sake so that we know that we have a GOD who loves us enough to not let the enemy prevail. In our lives we all face hardships, suffer through trials , have fears realized and are met with disappointment, but if we have trusted in the Lord and allowed him to restore our souls then we do not face those hardships alone, or suffer through those trials by ourselves because Christ is with us in those times of need Christ is guiding us through those times of need and HE is guiding us even when things are good.
I want to look at verse 4 and then we will close. Verse 4 says “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil, for you are with me your rod and your staff they comfort me.” The beginning of this verse makes reference to the valley of the shadow of death.
We have already talked about Romans 6:23 which says “23For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in[a] Christ Jesus our Lord.” The price we must pay for denying Christ is death, but what we gain for accepting Christ is eternal life in Christ Jesus. Back when I was a freshman in college I had just moved into the dorm and my brother who had been talking to me about Christ all summer was trying to get me to meet with a man who wanted to talk to me about Christ as well.
I was not at all eager to meet with this guy but I loved my brother and I looked up to him so I met with him. We talked for 2 and half hours over lunch and he told me everything I had already heard from my brother, but this time was different. You see I had not made a decision for Christ because I kept focusing on what I would lose or what I would be giving up if I asked Christ to forgive me of my sins. What I did not understand was I was focusing on the wrong thing. I should not have been focusing on what I was giving up or what I would lose, but I should have been focused on what I would have been gaining in Christ.
I did not know it but for the entire year before when my brother was witnessing to me, praying for me, having other people pray for me something was happening and I was unaware it was going on. GOD was softening my heart so that when the time came I would not focus on what I would give up, but I would focus on that fact that if I refused GOD I was facing eternal death and no matter what I thought I was giving up it would not be worth facing, a life without Christ which is no life at all. So on that day in September I asked GOD to forgive me of my sins and I realized what Romans 6:23 was saying.
David knew this as well, which is why the valley of the shadow of death is a mere reflection for David. Death is not the ultimate enemy but only a shadow. You may not walk through a wall without getting hurt, but you can pass through a shadow unharmed.
The verse goes on to say that I will fear no evil for you are with me your rod and your staff they comfort me. We notice here that David says your rod and staff which were instruments used by a shepherd to discipline the sheep are a comfort to him. God’s Discipline is a comfort. We may not enjoy discipline but GOD uses it to shape us so that when we see HIM we will be like him. Today we have talked about promises throughout the first 4 verses of Psalms 23. We have asked the questions why would GOD provide us rest or refresh us. Why would GOD restore our soul or guide us in paths of righteousness? The answer is this. God desires a personal relationship with us. HE desires the type of relationship that we looked at in Genesis before the fall of man and the only way we can have that type of relationship is to die to ourselves and allow GOD to restore our souls. David knew this and considered himself part of Jesus’ flock.
Today if you are looking for rest, if you need to be refreshed or if you are searching for restoration and looking for guidance, then if you are willing to die to yourself and live in Christ you will be able to rest not only the promise of Psalm 23 but you will be restored in Christ and you can consider yourself part of Jesus’ flock.

True Faith

2010-01-28T17:07:00.000-08:00

I have learned that I don't blog that often, but I thought that I would share this. This past October I was given the privilege to preach at a Church in India and I thought it would be cool to share it with whoever wants to read it. So here it is.

True Faith
(Background)
Today I want to talk to you about True Faith. What is True Faith? What does Faith under trial look like in your life? Is it possible for you to remain faithful when it appears that GOD isn’t? To help with some of these questions I want to take a look at the life of Job.
First, I want to share a little background about Job. Job had 7 sons and 3 daughters. Job was a livestock and landowner. Job owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen and 500 donkeys. The author of Job said this about Job in Ch1 verse 1. “In the Land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright he Feared God and shunned evil.”
It is important to note that just because Job is called a blameless and upright man it does not mean that Job was sinless; this is referring to Job being spiritually and morally upright. You may ask yourself what is the difference between being sinless and being spiritually and morally upright. Let me give you an example. If you and I have GOD in our hearts, and we are living the life that GOD wants us to live which means trying to be good to people, helping others when they are in need, loving your enemies. Allowing GOD to sit on the throne of your life instead of you or I trying to control what we do, then we could be considered spiritually and morally upright.
Being spiritually and morally upright is about doing the right things and saying the right things, it has to do with your actions and thoughts. To be sinless would mean that we were perfect which some may say puts us equal with Christ. If we were able to lead perfect lives then GOD would not have sent his son to die on the Cross for all our sins. Jesus took our punishment and paid the price that you and I should have paid. No one is perfect, no one is sinless there is only one man that is perfect, only one man who is sinless and that is Jesus Christ.
(TEST 1)
So, what does Faith under trial look like in your life ? In order to better understand what Faith looks like in your life, let’s first discuss what True Faith means. To me the best way to explain what True Faith is is something we have already touched on. It is the Cross! Our Faith is the belief that GOD sent his one and only son to die on the Cross and whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
So what does Faith under trial look like in your life? Let’s take a look at what it looks like in Job’s life. In Job Ch 1 we see that Job is facing his first trial. All of Job’s sheep, camels, oxen and donkeys have either been stolen or burned. Then as we read on we notice that a mighty wind comes along and blows down a house where Job’s 7 sons and 3 daughters are, and it kills them all. In a little less than a day Job has now lost all his children and his entire livestock.
So, Job is under trial, his faith is being put to the test. How do you think he reacts after losing his children and all his livestock? In Job Ch 1:20 it says “At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away, may the name of the Lord be praised.”
How easy do you think it would be to blame or curse GOD for something like this happening to you? I believe that we would all agree that it would be very easy, but that did not happen here. Job proved his faithfulness to GOD. The bible says that Job fell down in worship and praised the name of the Lord! Why is this important for us to understand? This is important because Job shows us that under what has to be the hardest thing that a parent can go through, the loss of a child or children he does not lose his Faith. Job’s faith is strengthened by this event and it will ultimately draw him closer to GOD. Job falls down in worship and praising the name of the Lord. What an awesome sight that must have been to see True Faith like that!
(Test 2)
Let’s look at another example of Job’s Faith. We notice a little later that Job has now been afflicted with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. So, here sits a man that is still mourning the loss of his children, the pain of losing his entire livestock, and now he has painful sores that stretch the entire length of his body.
The bible says in Job Ch 2:8 that “Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes which is symbolic for mourning.” So Job was a broken man in terrible pain and an individual who is still in mourning for his children. Now in verse 9 we read that Job’s wife said to him, “Are you still holding on to your integrity?” Curse GOD and die!”
Satan is trying to tempt Job to curse GOD by using Job’s wife in the same manner that Satan used Eve to tempt Adam. So how does Job respond to this attempt by Satan? In Ch 2:10 Job replies “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from GOD and not Trouble? In all this Job did not sin in what he said.” So Job’s faith remains firm in the Lord through this trial as well.
(Friends)
Over the next several chapters we learn that Job has been visited by 3 friends that came to sympathize with Job and through their conversations we understand that Job’s friends have been attempting to get Job to admit that the only reason he has suffered so much pain and loss is because he has sinned against GOD, so Job has decided to take his case directly to GOD himself. We read in Job Ch 13:3 “But I desire to speak to the Almighty and to argue my case with GOD.” How many of us want answers when something bad happens to us? I know I always want answers. It is in our nature to want answers that is why Job wants to take his case to GOD directly. He feels that he is justified in his request for GOD to answer why he has afflicted him with so much pain. The problem is, at the time Job does not realize that GOD is not doing any of this because Job has done something wrong. GOD is allowing Job to be tested because it will bring Him Glory and Job’s Faith will be even stronger and he will be even closer to GOD when it is over.
I believe at the end of the day that is what we should all want. We should all desire to be closer to GOD and to have a more meaningful relationship with GOD as well.
Job finally gets what he wants. GOD begins to answer him, but GOD does not answer Job in the manner in which he expected.
In Job Ch 40:1-2 “The Lord said to Job will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let him who accuses GOD answer him!” Job responds- Ch 40: 4-5, “I am unworthy how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth. I spoke once, but I have no answer (pause) twice, but I will say no more.”
Job Ch 40:6-8 “Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm: Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me. Would you discredit my justice? Would you condemn me to justify yourself?
Then in Ch 42:1-6 Job replies to GOD. “I know that you can do all things no plan of yours can be upset. You asked who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge. Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. You said Listen now and I will speak; I will question you and you shall answer me. My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.” After Job repented we see in Ch 42:10 that the LORD made Job prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before. Job has twice as many sheep, oxen, camels and donkeys and the LORD blessed Job with 7 more sons and 3 more daughters. After Job had been fully restored he lived 140 years. He saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. So he died old and full of years.
Today, we talked about True Faith and we talked about what true faith under trial looks like. What is True Faith? It is a promise that all who believe in him will not perish but have everlasting life. It is freedom from sin, it is joy and it is Glory. It is Christ dying on a Cross and three days later rising again. Today as you leave I want you to think about a couple things. I want you to think about Job and his story of True Faith. I want you to think about using this story of Faith as an example for your everyday lives. Lastly and most importantly I want you to think about the Cross. Remember that the Cross stands for our salvation. Know that I am praying for each one of you and I will be lifting you up in prayer to our Father in Heaven.

Eye's Wide Open

2008-10-23T15:54:00.001-07:00

On October 12, I returned from my trip to India. I was there for about 2 weeks and in that time I was able to see and be apart of things that I would have never been able to understand while living here in the USA. It is impossible for me to tell you everything In one blog so I hope to be able to share my experience through multiple blogs which will cover a wide range of things.

The first blog tonight I will talk about the experience I had at the Taj Mahal. The morning began at 4:30am. We had to be up and at the train station by 6am to catch the train leaving Delhi going to Agra. On the way to the train station, riding in the cab we, on occasions were forced to stop not by stop lights or policemen directing traffic, but by the shear grace of God preventing us from wrecking.

Once we were stopped there would be 5 to 6 children that could not be older than 6 or 7 that would be at your window playing drums, dancing or trying to sell you something so they could get money from you. This of course broke my heart to see these little kids in the middle of traffic begging for money. We were told not to give them any because most of them would take the money back to another individual who would keep the money for themselves giving barely anything at all back to the children.

Once we arrived at the train station you saw a mass of people coming at you at once all wanting money, begging, pleading, offering to help you carry your bags so that they may have something to go buy food with. Due to the number of people you did not dare pull any money out for fear of getting rushed by the crowd. Once you were on the platform you were able to see people laying everywhere sleeping and begging for money because they had no where else to go.

Moving on, the train ride itself was unique because it gave you a much different perspective that what you saw in Delhi. In Delhi, things are not as dirty or as run down. Once you are outside the big city you begin to see and only partial begin to understand the magnitude of what poverty is really like.

Once we arrived at the Taj Mahal we were made aware that it was a Holiday and that Muslims would be coming to the Taj Mahal to pray and the price of admission would be free. Once we made our way through the gate the Taj Mahal came into view and it is truly an unbelievable site. I have to be honest though the thing that amazed me the most was seeing so many people gathering to pray in one area.

It made me think of what it will be like in Heaven, when all of God's children are bowing before HIM and singing HIS praises. Just thinking about that, it got me very excited for that day. After I began watching the prayer a little more I started thinking just how lost people really are and how desperately people need Christ.
After the prayer was over there were a number of people who made it very clear that they did not want our group there, either through a look or something they said that I could not understand, but it was one of those things that you did not need a translator for you just knew it was not good.

Then, another group of people that had just got done praying wanted us to take their picture and were very receptive to us. So the difference between the people was truly amazing to see and I cant help but believe GOD wanted us to experience that difference. Well that is the day at the Taj Mahal, I looked forward to sharing more soon. Enjoy the pictures.
In His Grace

Testimony

2008-08-06T17:15:00.000-07:00

Recently, I had to write out my testimony and share it with a group of people. As I was writing my testimony I began thinking a couple of things. One, how have I shared my faith as of late? Two, How can I help make a difference in someones life, by something I either say or do. As I prayed about that I realized that I already had my answer. First, let me share with you my testimony and then I will let you in on what God revealed.

Growing up my mom would take me, my two older brothers and two younger sisters to church every Sunday. My mom wanted God to be something that we had in our lives at a very early age. The problem was, at least for me it got to be something that I was being forced to do instead of something I wanted to do. I remember trying to get out of going to church by talking my friends into asking me to spend the night on Saturday night in hopes that my mom would let me skip church just that one Sunday.

I could not understand why it was so important for her, for all of my brothers and sisters and I to go to church, it just did not register. As I got older I became less resistant to the idea of going to church because I did not want to hurt my mom’s feelings, but I certainly was not going because I wanted to be there, I was going because I had friends that went to the same church and I wanted to go see them. As, time went on the brother that was closest to me in age, Steve and I got to be very close. We did everything together.

His friends were my friends and we hung out all the time. Then it came time for him to go to college. I assumed I would see him on weekends, holidays etc. The first year it was pretty much like I remember it even the second year he was away was pretty normal, but when I became a senior in high school something very odd happened. My brother would come home and start talking to me about Christ. He would ask me questions like on a scale from 1 to 10, 10 being absolutely positive how sure are you that you are going to heaven? I remember I told him I was about a 6 or 7.

That entire year every time he came home he was talking about Christ and what I need to do to be certain that I am going to heaven. Needless to say there was a change in my brother and I noticed it. I did not like those conversations with him I always felt like I was a bad person and I felt guilty for the things that I thought or did. Little did I know at that time it was God beginning to work on my heart.

My senior year was coming to an end and I only applied to two colleges NCSU and APP. I was a die hard wolf pack fan and I was bound and determined that I was going to NCSU. Then the school I wanted to go to so badly put me on the waiting list. APP however did not, they accepted me and since I was very stubborn I told NCSU to forget it and I was on my way to the same college that my brother was at. Again, this is God working in my life!

So, during the summer I remember my brother telling me all the people he wanted me to meet which was not odd because we always hung out with the same people anyway, I figured it would be the same in college as well. He also spent the entire summer talking to me about Christ. I continued having a heavy burden which I felt very strongly and I was not sure what it was all about, but move in day arrived and I remember my parents dropping me off at the dorm and leaving me in that dorm room and I never felt so scared and alone before in my life.

A couple of days into my first year of college my brother told me he had someone he wanted me to meet and would I be willing to talk with him over lunch. I knew right away that this guy was going to talk to me about Christ, and I did not really want to listen to it but I agreed for my brother’s sake. So I went to meet a guy by the name of Shane Seagers. He was a staff member of Campus Crusade for Christ. We sat down to lunch and like I thought he was talking to me about Christ and what I need to do to be saved.
Shane and I talked for 2 hours that day and at the end of the conversation he looked at me and said Keith God is calling you, are you ready to let him in? Are you willing to ask God to forgive you of your sins so that you can share in the eternal life that HE has promised us? If you are you can pray right now and God will hear you and he will change your life forever.

That was the day that I prayed to receive Christ as my savior. If it had not been for God giving me the brother that would not quite talking to me about Christ or the Mother that would not let me skip Church or a man like Shane Seagers that was willing to talk to someone that he had never met before in his life and talk to him about Christ, I may not be the man that had to write his testimony and post it today. So, what was it that I realized? I realized that God was working in my life, even when I was blind to who HE really was. I realized that God already had everything under control and that HIS will is perfect! Has God been working in your life? It may be time to let him in!

In His Grace.