One of my first memories of going to a doctor was getting my eyes checked. I remember
sitting in a large chair and he brought a large apparatus toward my face. He positioned it, so I could see through the two lens holes. Once in place he asked me to read the symbols on a chart. As a began to read he started clicking and I noticed my ability to see began to change. Each time I heard a click he would ask “Better or Worse?” Based on my decision he would click again until he felt I had the best possible outcome for my eyesight. As we journey through life, we should evaluate each decision we make and ask ourselves which path leaves us “Better or Worse?” There may times we will take the easy path, the open path or the most desirous path to suite our own wants when the correct path may seem hard, closed and not as desirous. Proverbs 3:6 says “In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” If you are a believer in Jesus, have a personal relationship with Jesus your desire should be to acknowledge God in all our ways. Is that your life today? Do you allow God to lead in all your ways? Proverbs 14:4 says “Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men.” Has the ways of the world crept into your life. If so, based on the word of God your life will not be better it will be worse. Better or worse, that is the question. Which will you choose? Jeremiah 6:16 says “Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.” Jeremiah wrote what the Lord said, and the people had a choice. They could choose “the good way” and “rest for their souls” but they did not. They chose the world and were the worse off for it. What will you choose “Better or Worse? Enjoy your coffee! Love you all, Pastor Gary If you read Luke 2:1-7 you will read that Jesus was laid in a manger “because there was no room for them in the inn.” The innkeeper had no room for Jesus that first Christmas
morning and since then, there has been no room for Jesus. During this Christmas season we see people hurrying through their day embracing the hustle and bustle of Christmas. Seemingly the next card, the next present or the next family gathering has pushed Jesus aside. The world that had no room for Jesus when he was born has not gotten better, the world today still has no room for Jesus. I often wonder what the innkeeper was thinking when he was approached by this couple simply looking for a place to spend the night. What possible reason could he have for shutting Jesus out? I think one reason that the innkeeper may try is ignorance. He may try and say he did not know Jesus was the Son of God. He may say that he did not know that Jesus was about to be born. Many will stand before God someday and try to say they did not know. Not knowing will never be a defense in the eyes of God. You know…you really do. How about indifference? Can you imagine what it must have been like? Here’s an innkeeper who undoubtedly has seen many people come and go and knew their plight and he shuttles this pregnant woman about to give birth to a child off into a cow stall! How uncaring would you have to be? He knew Mary was due and what was about to take place and he just did not care. Many today know that they should be putting God first and they just don’t care. Did you plan your day around Jesus? Ignorance. Indifference. Maybe involvement. Maybe he was so busy he just did not have time. His rooms are being filled with guests and his purse is being filled with gold. And like so many of us today, we have no room for the Lord Jesus because we are shopping, cooking, gathering and doing everything else except acknowledging the true meaning of Christmas. Isaiah 9:6 says “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” Everything you need can be found in Jesus. No amount of money, gifts or gatherings will give you what Jesus can. Did you read about God today? Did you pray to him today? When it comes time to gather in his house will you be there? There was no room for the Lord Jesus in His birth, in His life, and in His death. Do you have room for Jesus? He had room for you. Enjoy your coffee! Love you all, Pastor Gary Exodus 32:26 asks this question “Who is on the Lord's side?” I am sure that most people that have any inkling whatsoever of the world around them would answer that they are on the LORD’s side. I mean after all who would want to go up against God? I am convinced that even the staunchest atheist has a profound belief in God or they would not protest so vigorously. So just what does being “on the Lord's side” mean anyway? Every pundit who has a cause will at some point pull out their favorite Bible passage to support the point they are trying to make no matter how ungodly the point may seem or how misapplied the verse may be. They are not necessarily looking to be on the LORD’s side as much as they want the LORD to be on their side in favor of whatever the cause may be.
The reality is that the LORD sets the terms and conditions of being on his side. Only through studying and accepting the Bible as the word of God will we ever be able to answer the question “Who is on the Lord's side?” We sometimes try to formulate a god who will accommodate us. Some want a god who was convenient, comfortable and they could control. Some want to worship as they pleased, when they pleased and where they pleased. We need to be reminded that faithfully following Jesus Christ is not always easy, convenient or comfortable. Some people want a faith that only requires one hour a week. Some people want a faith that does not require them to give any of their money. Some people want a faith that does not require them to change their behavior. Some people want a faith that does not require them to do anything but come and sit on Sunday. God is who he says that he is. The god that some have conjured up or pieced together does not exist. Choosing to worship a false god will do nothing but ensure a person spends an eternity without the true and living God. While some may pick and choose what they want to believe or what they want God to be the fact is God is who he says he is. Get closer to God and know him by who he says that he is through his word. Allow him in every part of your life and make decisions based upon the principals of God. By doing that we can answer “I am” to the question of “Who is on the Lord's side?” Enjoy your coffee! Love you all, Pastor Gary Another Resurrection Sunday has past. Believers have met to rejoice in the fact that Jesus arose. Unbelievers have enjoyed another day to reject Jesus as Saviour. In the two thousand years since the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus no other event has been able to match in importance. No other event has come close in notoriety or significance. Jesus arose as he said he would and was seen by many. Christianity exploded as multitudes believed on Jesus. Yet the world still does not know what to do with Jesus. Pilate said in Matthew 27:22 “What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ?” People today still don’t have an answer to that question. Resurrection Day season was celebrated with pagan rituals or misplaced focus on traditions mimicking the suffering, walk and crucifixion of Jesus. He did not come to provide a means to another holiday. He came to shed his blood and through that we can have a complete remission of sin. There was no other way. Jesus himself said in Luke 19:10 “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” He express purpose for coming to this world was to provide a means of salvation and make that salvation available to all. He was and is the only way to gain entrance inti Heaven and escape an eternity is Hell. Jesus expressed this himself in John 14:6 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” Good behavior or good works does not gain one entrance into Heaven, only accepting him as Saviour does that.
In that day many truly did believe that Jesus had risen. Some believed without seeing him and some believed after seeing him. Sadly, some never did believe and to this day there are those that will refuse to acknowledge his coming, his death and his resurrection. Jesus knew exactly what he was doing when he came to this world as a babe in a manger. He agreed to become the sin sacrifice for all mankind. No one crucified Jesus, he went there willingly. No one could keep him from living again, he rose the conqueror. To him it was worth it all. What Jesus did, what was it worth to you? Was it worth enough for you to accept him as Saviour? Enjoy your coffee! Love you all, Pastor Gary This is the time of year where our state government is in full swing. Everybody has an opinion on what our leaders should do or not do. As a believer what should you do in respect to your government? What does the Bible say? Romans 13 deals the Christian’s role in government. Our duty as Christians, first and foremost, is to give ourselves entirely to God—our bodies, our minds, our wills. Beginning in verse 1 Paul says, a believer must yield to the government rulers. No one rules unless God has given him the power to rule, and no one rules now without that power from God. In verse 2 we read that all government officials are “ordained.” That is, God has set them apart for special service. No matter who our leaders are we as Christians have a responsibility to support the government, to impact the culture, and to be salt and light in the world. We may struggle to respect the individual, but even still, we pay that person honor because we respect the God-ordained office. Now there is one caveat here. In Acts 5, Peter is thrown in jail for preaching about Jesus. An angel appears to him and opens the doors to the jail and says in verse 20, “Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life.” So, Peter obeys the Lord. He walks out of that jail, goes immediately into the public square and begins teaching about Christ. Of course, he is seized by the Jewish rulers and brought before the governing council and they tell him in verse 28, “Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us.” And Peter and the other apostles respond in verse 29 “We ought to obey God rather than men.” If the government ever commands us to do anything contrary to the word of God, then we must stand up for God. However, so long as the requests of the government do not violate Scripture, then you and I are called to submit. Why? Because, again, these people have been appointed by God for their work.
In 1st Timothy 2:1-3 we read that we should pray for the government. We, as Christians, are not called to drag up every wrong deed in a person’s past and shame him by putting it on display. We should not be calling them names, but we should be calling out to God on their behalf. Jesus said that we are to be salt and light in our community and in this nation. We have a government that is of the people, by the people, and for the people. Unlike many other nations, all the people of American have a say in what goes on and we do that through voting. Your vote matters and you should exercise your right to have influence over the affairs of the nation. Want to change the direction of America? Introduce people to Jesus. One by one, they must turn to Christ. That is the greatest hope for America. Enjoy your coffee! Love you all, Pastor Gary Ever wonder what God is doing in your life? As we navigate through the challenges of the day is our heart tender enough to look for what God what us to see? Last Tuesday I had the new experience of total knee replacement. What I had was beyond repair and to continue to have any quality of life I needed to have my left knee replaced. I had prayed according to Philippians 4:6 “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God” and asked others to do the same and felt comfortable with the path.
After surgery and getting back into the room everything seemed to be progressing nicely. I had been placed in a room with a Godly man and we rejoiced and praised God for his blessings. What a thrill that was! I was up and walking within hours, pain was manageable and the road to recovery had begun. As the time to be discharged drew closer I had developed a case of hiccups. I had not had a case of hiccups in years. Could not even remember the last time I had hiccups. The hospital staff never gave it a second thought and wished me well as I went out the door. That evening it became apparent that the hiccups were not going to go away. I had tried every remedy I knew, tried others that people recommended and even tried a few that made me wonder if there was not a hidden camera somewhere recording what I was doing. Nothing worked! By the next day the effects of the hiccups began to hinder my breathing, there was no rest and that coupled with the pain of a new knee made the situation challenging. Later that evening we decided to go back to the hospital and as we were going out the door the primary care physician called and said to try a medicine has had just phoned in. Relief came within the hour and the hiccups were gone! Being thankful that the hiccups were gone gave me the opportunity to realize that my breathing was compromised. For the next 48 hours the focus was on trying to get a full breath. By Monday I was back at the primary care physician and another two medications were prescribed to address those issues. By Tuesday afternoon I could see some relief and then reality hit me that I had my knee replaced. I had been addressing everything else that the knee had become secondary. Now suddenly it dawned on me that this hurt! Here is the crux of the story…the reason I share this with you. During all this a leak was discovered under the hot water tank. What could I do? I could barely walk, struggling to breath and fatigue is amazing after surgery. I contacted my plumber who also happens to be a believer that allows God to direct his path. He came, evaluated the situation and found out it was not as bad as we had first thought. As we discussed the repair and all the other things that had been going on Carlos looked at me and said, “What is God trying to show you?” I looked back at Carlos and he just smiled. He repeated the question “What is God trying to show you?” He then gathered himself, walked out the door, said “I will be back, and I love you.” As I watched Carlos walk down the sidewalk I bowed my head and asked God to make it clear. I asked God to make me tender to his will not mine. Make me receptive to his leading not mine. Mold me into the person he wants me to be. The walk of a believer should never be focused on anything other than God. In every situation God is there. When I underwent surgery, he was there. He knew when I got post-operative hiccups (who gets that anyway?) he was there. He knew when I could not breathe and the anxiety that came with that and he was there. He knew about the leak and he was there. At the very time that everything seems to be piling up God sends Carlos to remind me to look for what he is showing me. What a mighty God we have. Enjoy your coffee! Love you all, Pastor Gary This weekend we celebrated what is called “Labor Day.” In some ways, this holiday is misnamed since most of us will do anything but labor during this weekend. The United States Department of Labor defines this holiday as “Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.” While we recognize the labor of the American workforce and the accomplishments down through the years I would like to look at a Biblical view of the labor put forth by man and how God views our efforts.
Due to sin entering the world through the disobedience of Adam and Eve God placed mankind in a position where we must labor or work to exist. In Genesis 3:17 “And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life.” Not only did mankind must work to exist but God cursed the ground or in other words made it less receptive to man’s touch. This passage goes on to say that “in sorrow” we must toil. No wonder we call it work! So, what is the result of our labor? Clearly, we can look around and see what we have gotten with the work we do and the paycheck it brings. All we have will someday perish though. What we do for God is all that will last. In 1st Corinthians 15:58 “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” While we must labor and work to take care of ourselves and our families we should not allow our earthly labor to overshadow our heavenly labor. Enjoy your coffee! Love you all, Pastor Gary This past weekend the Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrined their 2017 inductees. These men spoke of their time in football and the legacy they leave behind. This past Sunday Mt. Olivet celebrated their 165th year as an organized church. Started on August 1, 1852 MOBC has seen changes in people, buildings, our nation and our culture yet throughout all those years they remained faithful to God. I am sure there has been the ups and downs associated with serving God but think of all that took place during those years.
I begin to wonder about the legacy I leave behind. What will I be known for? What will you be known for? In Psalm 71:18 we read “Now also when I am old and greyheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come.” As I read and studied this verse it became clear to me that the legacy I should be striving to leave has nothing to do with anything I have done but should be one that shows the power of God. Everyone should see God in the life of a believer. The strength that he gives, the peace he affords us, the comfort that will cause others to wonder and most of all the grace that he saved us with. No amount of wealth can compare to the salvation we receive by placing our trust in Jesus. Jesus said in Matthew 22:37 “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. If there ever was a legacy that I would like to leave it would be in obedience to God…I would love to be known as someone who loved their God. I can build on that now. I can make sure my life reflects my desire. My success in doing that will be up to me. What will your legacy be? Enjoy your coffee! Love you all, Pastor Gary Sometimes in conversation we refer to someone we may know as being a “friend”. The word “friend” is overused and misapplied. Not all want to be your friend through the times you really need one. What type of relationship does it take to be a friend to someone? To be the type of person they can depend on and come to? What type of person do you need to share with? In 1st Samuel 18:1-3 we read of a relationship between David and Jonathan. This lifelong relationship between these two individuals was based on the concept of love someone like you love yourself. Twice in this passage Jonathan lets it be known that he “loved him as his own soul.” In verse 1 we also read that “the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David.” How do we get to the point in our life that our soul is “knit” with another? Here are some points that you may want to consider before seeking or being a true friend.
Love you all, Pastor Gary The day after Resurrection Sunday I ask myself “Now what?” We just celebrated and remembered the greatest event in history. I do not compare Jesus with other religious pretenders but he is the only one to ever conquer death and the grave. All the others are dead and in their grave. This very day Jesus sits in Heaven alongside God the Father.
As one who believes in God and has asked his forgiveness for sin I challenge myself to answer the question “Now what?” What can we do to remember Jesus until Resurrection Sunday 2018? I am going to put an effort into placing and relying on the promises of God in my life. One of those promises is peace in our life when struggles seem so great. Peace comes through our faith in God. In Philippians 4:6-7 the Bible says, “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Paul wrote from a prison cell to remind believers that giving their concerns over to God would result in peace. Having peace during a trial or a storm will confound the world but to a believer a quiet spirit in a storm of trouble is only natural. The Holy Spirit living within us gives us a peace that truly does pass all understanding. No matter what comes along to challenge our faith, peace grounded in Christ can’t be broken. We cannot let the forces of evil sway us from the path that God has set before us. If we are trying to serve God we should expect satan to use any means necessary to hinder and trouble us. With God protecting and providing for us what reason do we have to be afraid or troubled? What we must do is keep our eyes and our faith focused upon the Lord. Each week we are going to look at one of God’s promises and focus on applying that to our lives. Peace…do you need it? Look no further. Bring your problems to God and leave them there. He is loving, forgiving and desperately wants to be the Lord of your life. Enjoy your coffee! Love you all, Pastor Gary |
AuthorGary W. Hall, Pastor of Mt. Olivet Baptist Church. Archive
January 2021
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