Pressing On!

     We played this video in Church on Sunday as a reminder of our freedoms in this country and for those who give them to us.  Praise the Lord for the U.S.A. and God Bless America. 

     Something we all need to be reminded of from time to time is something called an attitude adjustment.  We can read in the Bible out of    2 Chronicles 33:1-13 about just such an event. 

Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem.  He did evil in the sight of the LORD according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD dispossessed before the sons of Israel.  For he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down; he also erected altars for the Baals and made Asherim, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them.  He built altars in the house of the LORD of which the LORD had said, “My name shall be in Jerusalem forever.”  For he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD.  He made his sons pass through the fire in the valley of Ben-hinnom; and he practiced witchcraft, used divination, practiced sorcery and dealt with mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.  Then he put the carved image of the idol which he had made in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever; and I will not again remove the foot of Israel from the land which I have appointed for your fathers, if only they will observe to do all that I have commanded them according to all the law, the statutes and the ordinances given through Moses.”  Thus Manasseh misled Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to do more evil than the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the sons of Israel.  The LORD spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention.  Therefore the LORD brought the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria against them, and they captured Manasseh with hooks, bound him with bronze chains and took him to Babylon.  When he was in distress, he entreated the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers.  When he prayed to Him, He was moved by his entreaty and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD was God.

            There is an important lesson to be learned from this passage and that is this:  Even though Manasseh was on e the most vile reprobates you can think of, after God gave him an attitude adjustment, Manasseh repented of and turned completely away from the evil he had committed.  The end result was the best Manasseh could have hoped for.  God accepted him back.  Sadly many of the same despicable acts that were mentioned in our text are being committed in this nation today, the sacrificing of children through abortion, the practicing of witchcraft, talking to the dead and idol worship just to name a few.  Given the fact that there is no variation with God, as we can read in James 1:17, it will only be a matter of time before America receives a serious attitude adjustment.

            The same lesson Manasseh learned in the Old Testament still applies to us today.  As the Bible states in Hebrews 12:6 “Whom the Lord loves He chastens”.  So if the Lord corrects you for doing wrong just remember He is giving you an attitude adjustment.

     I came across this story again, I remember using its illustration in a sermon of mine several years ago however, it brought to mind an interesting thought once again.  The story tells of a new owner of a Rolls Royce whose car broke down in a remote area of France.  He called the Rolls Royce dealership.  They flew a repairman in to fix his car.  The next day it was running again and he was on his way.  Months later, since he had never received a bill, he wrote to the company thanking them for being so responsive to his problems when his car broke down in France.  Rolls Royce wrote back, “We have no record of any Rolls Royce ever having mechanical problems.”  They had no record of anything ever being wrong with one of their cars.  I love that.  Not just because they have an objective of giving the appearance of perfection or stabiltiy, but because they don’t want for anyone to ever say anything unsavory about their product.   

     When God forgives you, He comes and restores that which is wrong.  His love keeps no record of wrongs.  The blood of Jesus Christ washes ALL sin away.  No record.  The Psalmist said it best, As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us, Psalm 103:12.  God forgives us not because we are perfect, but because He does not want for anyone to ever say anything unsavory about His prize possession (You and Me). 

     Have you ever talked with someone who is or has been mad at God?  It just goes to show you what kind of a people we have become when WE get made at God.  Why would we get mad at God?  When bad things happen we (and when I say we, I include myself) react all wrong.  For example, as a parent have you ever noticed that when the kids do something wrong it is usually the parents that are the ones that get all bent out of shape?  The parents scream, shout and pull their hair out and the kid sits in the corner and doesn’t move an inch.  Who should be upset the parents or the kids?  The kids are the ones that have done the wrong they should be upset and distraught but it usually is the parents that get this way.  We as a people react all wrong to situations that face us. 

     Next time you are wanting to get mad at God stop and think.  Stop and consider whom it is we should really be mad at.  Satan is the one that has brought death to mankind.  Yet we blame God when someone dies or is killed.  Satan is the father of lies and it is no wonder that he wants for us to buy the lie that it is God’s fault.  Satan took life away and gave us death.  Satan took away paradise and gave us a fleeting world.  Satan took away joy and gave us pain.  Satan took away beauty and gave us lust.  Satan took away obedience and gave us deceit.  Satan can take away heaven and give us condemnation.  Why would we blame God, Satan is who we need to be mad at.

     Get mad at Satan, stay away from sin. Love God and keep His commandments. 

     A man accustomed to songs from the hymnal one Sunday visited another church. He came home and his wife asked him how it was. “Well,” he said, “it was interesting. They did something different. They sang praise choruses instead of hymns.” “Praise choruses?” his wife asked. “What are those?” “Oh, they’re ok, I guess. They’re sort of like hymns, only different,” said the man. “What’s the difference?” asked his wife. He replied, “Well, it’s like this. If I were to say to you, “Martha, the cows are in the corn,” that would be a hymn. Suppose, on the other hand, I were to say to you:

“Martha, Martha, Martha, Oh, Martha, Martha, Martha
the cows, the big cows, the brown cows, the black cows, the white cows,
the black and white cows, the cows, cows, cows
are in the corn, are in the corn, are in the corn, are in the corn,
the corn, corn, corn.”

     Then if I were to repeat the whole thing five or six times, that would be a praise chorus.

     As luck would have it, the same Sunday, a young woman accustomed to praise songs attended a service where they sang solely out of hymnals. She came home and her husband asked her how it was. “Well,” she said, “it was interesting. They did something different, however. They sang hymns instead of praise choruses.” “Hymns?” asked her husband. “What are those?” “Oh, they’re okay, I guess. They’re sort of like regular songs, only different,” said the woman. “What’s the difference?” asked her husband. She replied, “Well, it’s like this. If I were to say to you, ‘Tony, the cows are in the corn,’ that would be a regular song. Suppose, on the other hand, I were to say to you:

Oh Tony, dear Tony, now hear thou my cry;
Incline thine ear to the words of my mouth.
Turn thou thy whole wondrous ear by and by
To the righteous, inimitable, glorious truth.

For the way of the animals who can explain?
There is in their heads no shadow of sense!
Hearken they not in God’s sun or his rain.
Unless from the mild, tempting corn they are fenced.

Yea, those cows in glad bovine, rebellious delight
Broke free from their shackles, their warm pens eschewed.
Then goaded by minions of darkness and night
They all my mild Chilliwack sweet corn have chewed.

So look to that bright shining day by and by,
Where all the corruptions of earth are reborn,
Where no vicious animal makes my soul cry,
And I no longer see those foul cows in my corn.

     Then, if I were to sing only verses one, two, and four, and if I were to do a key change on the last verse, that would be a hymn.”

     Has anyone ever talked to you about their spiritual gift(s).  I’m sure that you are aware of the gifts talked about in scripture and if not you can find them in the following passages, 1 Corinthians 12:1-11, the gifts given by the Holy Spirit, Romans 12:3-8, the gifts given by God, or Ephesians 4:7-16 those gifts that Christ has given.  I have at the bottom of this article a little video that talks about ones “spiritual” gifts.  How spiritual gifts are many times misunderstood for something I like to do.  Just because you like to do something or even do something well does not necessarily mean that it is a spiritual gift.  It may in fact be a gift but that does not mean that it is spiritual for you or anyone else.

     I do want to clear up one thing before I go any farther on this subject.  Spiritual gifts are given by the Lord and cultivated in our lives by how we use them for the Lord and His glory.  Please take note to what was said there.  Given by the Lord and used to His glory.  I believe many have gifts given by the Lord and then the way they use those talents do not give Him the greatest glory possible.  Let me try to give an example. 

     Let’s say that I am blessed with the ability to wash cars.  I can get the dirt off, the bugs, the goo, I think you know what I’m talking about.  I do a good job at it.  I do it for the Lord.  Then I found out that somebody else washes cars too.  This should not upset me and yet it does, a little.  Okay it kind of bothers me a lot.  This is my gift.  I wash cars.  Who do they think they are to have the same gift that I do?  Then I stop and notice that when they wash the cars that they do the same job as I do, you know, off with the bugs, off with the dirt, off with the goo.  Yet I notice or maybe I choose not to notice that on top of all of that they use a special soap and a nice brush to really make the cars shine.  Then when they are finished washing, they dry the car and polish it.  So now as we look at the two cars, the one I washed and the one they washed, let’s notice some things.  First, both cars are clean so I did just a good as them.  Not so fast.  Both cars may be clean but do both cars shine.  Secondly, did I wash just to show them that they are no better than I am.  Or did I wash because I was wanted to get the car cleaned up.  Thirdly, Do I realize that someone else can do this better than I can, and that is not a problem, or is it?  Do I then take the time to realize that they do a greater work in this area than I do?  If that is the case, then great, let them wash the cars and from now on I will work at washing down the sidewalks.  It is a job that needs to be done and you know for now, I do it better than anyone else and most importantly I do it for the Lord. 

     Maybe this illustration has some flaws, maybe it doesn’t.  Either way I hope we all get the point.  It is better to serve the Lord than not and that goes for me and everyone else.  Sometimes we need to realize that someone else is just better than I am at a certain gift.  It is not always easy.  It doesn’t always seem fair.  But stop and think about it, when it comes to the Lord do we want what is fair to us.  Do we want the punishment we deserve?  Do we want the suffering that we should have?  No we certainly do not.  So don’t look at fairness look at faithfulness.  Be faithful to the Lord with all that you can do for Him and then do the best that you can do.  

     As I close, this is not a jab at any one individual or group, it is for everyone to think about.  Just because you have picked out “this” to be your gift doesn’t mean that it is your only gift.  Perhaps you can be of assistance to the Lord in another way, in another avenue.  There are many things that can and need to be done for the Lord.  Find one, do it and do it well.  If someone else can take that to the next level, let them, remember it is for the Lord.  Who knows maybe your gift is the ability to get others to find their gift and then you move on.  Either way to God be the glory.