This World Is Not My Home

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I was recently asked to speak at a Ladies Retreat at Weeki Wachee Christian Camp.  The theme was “There’s Within My Heart A Melody.”  We were to pick our favorite hymn. I was torn between “I’ll Fly Away” and “This World Is Not My Home” but as you can see, I chose “This World Is Not My Home”. I would like to share with you some information regarding the writer of the song. Albert Brumley was born in Oklahoma in October of 1905 into a family of sharecroppers, and so he spent much of his early life chopping and picking cotton on a farm. Sharecroppers were at the mercy of the landowners in many ways, which led to inferior conditions. In 1931 sharecroppers began to form unions protesting poor treatment by landowners, which helps to paint the picture of the environment Albert lived in. It was while working on the farm feeling this frustration and desire to flee the entrapment of painful, laborious work, that Albert started to write the famous hymn “I’ll Fly Away”.

In 1926 Albert enrolled in the Hartford Musical Institute and studied there until 1931. The institute was led by Eugen Monroe Bartlett, the owner of the Hartford Music Company and composer of a song we often sing… “Victory in Jesus”. Though Albert was doing well in school, evidenced by his eventual writing of songs such as “Jesus, Hold My Hand”, “This World Is Not My Home”, and “If We Never Meet Again (This Side of Heaven)”, he couldn’t escape from having to return home some summers to help on the farm. Imagine a young Albert longing to escape the hot, monotonous, and pain staking work of picking cotton on someone else’s land, to a place where lyrics and music paved the way for his escape.

So let’s take a look at the song “This World Is Not My Home”…..

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Ladies, we are on a journey, a spiritual journey.  I want to share with you my perspective, as an older woman, the stages of our journey.   The scripture says in Psalms 90:10 “The days of our years are seventy years; and if by reason of strength they are eighty years, yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.”  The end of my journey is getting closer each day; however, we never know how much time we have left on this earth.  Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5: 1 that our lives on earth are temporary, but that we have an eternal home in heaven, so we need to prepare.  Remember the words of the song…this world is not my home, I’m just a passing through, my treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue.  Matthew 6:20-21 says “Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” We must lay up our treasurers in heaven, not here on the earth.  The Bible says in Hebrews 9:27 “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.” When we draw our last breath, what we have accumulated here on this earth will go to someone else.  After we pass from this life our fate is sealed, and we will be judged by what is written in the word of God. John 12: 48.

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I want us to take a few minutes and examine our lives to see if we are ready for our journey.  We all know that when we get ready to go on a trip, we fill our suitcases with the necessary items.  As a child, we will fill our suitcase with the most valuable things to us, our toys and of course our iPad. Mom will stick in a few clothes.  She may even stick in our Bible.  Understanding what the spiritual journey means to a child requires training.  In Proverbs 22: 6, Solomon writes “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”  Training involves work.  It takes time to teach a child.  While most parents spend a great deal of time, effort and enthusiasm teaching their children to learn their name, their colors, the alphabet and basic reading, but where is the enthusiasm with teaching them the Bible. Many parents believe that it is too hard for young children to learn the books of the Bible. I taught the cradle roll for many years and one of the most exciting things was to sing the song “pat the Bible, one to three, God love Susie, God loves me.” Children love singing, why not sing the books of the Bible to them.  Their minds are like little sponges, they can soon learn to say Bible. We cannot accomplish teaching the child about God with just a bedtime story and a bedtime prayer.  We need to teach our children by example.  Bringing them to Bible study and worship services, even as an infant. Don’t get discouraged if they are a little noisy.   Helping them with their Bible lessons, setting the pattern of Bible study at home.  Showing them that being a Christian is not just a Sunday thing.  Share with the child the importance of the acts of worship.  I’d like to share a story about a little girl who was given two quarters, one for her and one for her to put in the collection plate at worship.  She was going to the corner store to buy some ice cream and while walking she dropped one of the quarters and it went down the street drain, she looked at the quarter in the drain thinking what to do and then said, oops God, there went your quarter.  In her innocence, she did not see the importance of giving to the Lord.  It is our responsibility to share the importance of the journey and to start preparing them at an early age for heaven. We must teach them at this young age to not be ashamed of loving the Lord.  Romans 1: 16 says “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.” And Proverbs 22: 6 tells us “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.”

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As we move into our teens and college age, our spiritual journey changes, our suitcase is filled with worldliness.  Music, friends, social media and maybe there’s room for the Bible.  Many of this age have obeyed the gospel but show little zeal or commitment.  Some obey to please their parents.  There is much preparation and work involved in getting admitted into a good college, their focus is on academics, sports and even popularity.  This is such an important, influential and intricate part of young people’s lives.  They must understand that this world is not their home.  Even though we should and must make preparation for our time here on earth, we must also realize that these plans cannot be at the expense of our eternal soul.  Matthew 16: 24 -27 says “Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. "For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? "For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.”   These requirements cannot be placed on hold while we pursue a college degree or a career. Even though we become so involved in the world around us, we must be encouraged to put God first, even if we think that it is just something that we will think about later.  After all I am a “Christian”. I’m young and I have time to study more later. Do you think the ice-skating team thought when boarding that plane, it would be their last day on this earth?   Some think, I do go to worship once in a while with my parents and I even may go to a “church” with my friends.  The Bible tells us in Matthew 15: 8 -9 “These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” We cannot give our hearts and lives to God and have this world as our primary focus.  Matthew 6:33 says very plainly that we must seek first the kingdom of God and that puts us on the track to complete our journey and reach our destination. 

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As our spiritual journey continues, our suitcase becomes overflowing with our family, husband, children, home and maybe a career, but we still find a little room for our Bible.  As you know, Satan has a strong hold on our society.  He is attacking from all angles in all types of ways.  His suitcase is heavily equipped with alcohol, drugs, violence, unwholesome TV, negative peer pressure, pleasure, busyness and many other tools that he has at his disposal.  The only way we can truly overcome Satan and the many tools that he uses is through our faith and obedience to the Lord.  Jesus says in John 14: 6 “I am the way, the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father except through me.”  If we want our families to withstand the pressures of the world, we must be in the Word not the World.  Remember the Bible says in 1 Peter 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour.” Unfortunately, many families are too busy and have decided to put spiritual development on the backburner. We spend quality time in activities such as work, sports, school and recreation, but have little or no time to spend developing our relationship with God.  We may even leave it to the church to provide our only spiritual food on Sundays and Wednesdays.  Because of that, we become spiritually malnourished.  We need to be in God’s Word more.  We need to teach our children the importance of Bible study.  Is this going to be easy, no Satan is going to put many roadblocks in our way.  Difficulties will come, they are a part of life.  The question is not if we will have difficulties but how do we handle them.  This is when we have to put on the armor of God.  Ephesians 6: 11 says “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”  We need the armor of God to protect us from Satan and his devices so that we do not get sidetracked on our journey. As our children grow, we realize that life passes so quickly.  James 4:14 says, “Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.” We must be ready to board our flight as we know not when our ticket will be punched.  We often think we have plenty of time.  Pam Fortune thought she had plenty of time.  She was a dear friend who worshipped with our congregation.  She was in Bible class on Sunday.  She was recently married and was so happy.  After worship, she went home and later that day suffered a massive stroke and passed from this life.  Did she think that was going to be her last day, did we know that she would never attend our class again.  No, but we believe that she did have her suitcase ready.

 

Continuing on our spiritual journey, we look around and notice that our life is much simpler.  Our children are grown, we have less struggles with family, work and outside distractions.  Our suitcase is filled with only the items that we will need to reach our destination, the Word of God and maybe a study guide or two.  When we look at our home here on earth, there is no comparison to what is waiting for us in heaven.  As Paul reminds us in Philippians 3:20 “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” We have a short life to live on this earth and we need to make every minute count towards our heavenly goal. 

 

Let’s look again at the words of the song.  “This World Is Not My Home, I’m just a passing through, my treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue. The angels beckon me from heaven’s open door, and I can’t feel at home in the world anymore”. Our destination is heaven.  Peter says that Christians are merely pilgrims and strangers in this world.  We are sojourners.  This is someone who lives for an extended time in a country that is not their own.  They will be there long enough to need a house to live in but they are not a legal citizen of that country.  As a child of God, we are sojourners, because we live in this world, but our real home is in heaven.  Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5: 9 – 10 “Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him.  For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in this body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” We should not dwell on the things of this world, but instead set our minds on our eternal home.  If our sights are set on heaven, we will do everything necessary to go there and bring others with us.  If we dwell on reaching our eternal home, then our thoughts and actions will be directed toward Heaven.  Of course, it is a wonderful thing to be able to enjoy the material things we have been blessed with during our life here on earth.  When a Christian’s spiritual attitude and duties suffer, this is an indication that the heart is not in the right place.  Our successes and blessings are given by God.  As we give Him the glory, our hearts will remain humble, and our mindset continues to focus on being with Him. As we live here on this earth, we must use our time wisely.  Paul said in Ephesians 5: 15 – 17 “See then that you walk circumspectly, (watch how you walk), not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” We must make the most of our time.

 

In the second verse of the song, it mentions “my Savior pardoned me and now I onward go”.  Jesus died on the cross for me and gave me a chance to be forgiven of my sinfulness and join him in everlasting life in Heaven.  He did it for all of us.  He did not have to and yet He did.  His cruel death pardons us from sin and allows us the opportunity to join him in heaven.  Also in the second verse, it says “I know He’ll take me thru tho I am weak and poor”.  We are weak.  We do sin.  But through God’s grace we have been promised strength and rich blessings if our faith is in Him and not in this world. Satan constantly tries to trap us with earthly pleasures and troubles.  He wants the faithful to lose sight of God’s promise and to be consumed with earthly concerns.  Prayer and fellowship with other Christians will provide us strength to prevent these temptations.  God’s promise to the faithful should give us peace that the troubles and weaknesses of this world are only temporary.  The chorus says, “O Lord, you know I have no friend like you”.  How do we define a friend?  A friend is that special someone who we can share our secrets and confide our personal weaknesses and failures.  We call someone a friend who we can spend enjoyable time with.  Someone who is there to comfort us when we feel that we have nowhere else to turn, who will cry with us when we are in pain, and who will rejoice with us when we are happy.  A friend is someone who will tell us the truth even when we do not want to hear it and who will correct us when we are on the wrong path.  When I say “ O Lord, I have not friend like you” it means that I turn to God first in the times of sorrow and times of happiness.  It means that God is the one who comforts me when times are hard.  It means that God is the one I talk to most.  It means that God is the one who I want to spend time with.  God provides me with all the answers through His word and provides for me a heavenly home.  As the chorus says, “the angels beckon me from heaven’s open door”.  As human beings we cannot begin to imagine how great and wonderful heaven will be. We can’t comprehend its glory.  Revelation 21 tells us that heaven has golden streets, jasper walls, gates of pearls and a foundation of precious gemstones, some I never heard of before so I looked them up on the internet and their colors are beautiful.   Chalcedony  is made up of many different colors, one was  green and white like the ocean waves rolling onto the beach and  beryl can be yellow, blue, green, red and yellow.  He also tells us there will be no more sickness, death or tears.  Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 2:9 “"Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him."  And in 1 Peter 1: 4 it says we have “an inheritance incorruptible and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you”.  As humans we have a soul that lives forever in one of two places.  We make the choice as to where we will go while we are here on earth.  Our number one goal in this life must be for heaven to be our home.  Matthew 7: 13- 14 says  "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it".  No one will accidentally go to heaven. Heaven takes preparation. As Paul said in 2 Timothy 4: 7-8 “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous judge will give to me on that Day and not to me only but also to all who loved His appearing.”

 

As the chorus continues “and I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.” Philippians 1: 21 says “ For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” My suitcase is packed, I have my ticket in my hand.  Won’t you pack your suitcase and join me on this spiritual journey?

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"But Even If He Doesn't

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Daniel 3 tells us how three men didn't lose faith, wouldn't deny God, wouldn't bow down and worship other gods or statures, wouldn't waiver, even in the face of death.

They were perfectly content with whatever outcome happened.  If God saves them and rescues them from the blazing furnace that the king wanted to throw them into for not worshipping his gods, fine.  "But even if he doesn't," they were fine with that too.

So the king does throw the three men into the fire.  Then the king is shocked to see four men walking around inside the flames, unharmed "an the fourth is like the Son of God!"

"But even if he doesn't"

• save your loved one

• fix your marriage

• solve your problems

• financially bless you

• keep a roof over your head

• give you children

• heal you

• make your depression or anxiety go away​

 

You are not abandoned.  You are not unloved.  You are not unworthy.  You are not being punished.  You are not forgotten.  "But even if he doesn't" rescue us from whatever flames you're walking through right now, whatever life has beat you down with, whatever devastating situation you're in, Jesus is in the fire with you.  No matter how bad it burns, how bad it hurts, how scary it is, how broken we feel, you are never alone. If God took care of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, he will take care of you.​

 

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Flight #2023

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Hello, welcome to Flight #2023.  We are prepared to take off into the New Year.  Please make sure your Attitude and Blessings are secured and locked in an upright position.  All self-destructive devices should be turned off at this time.  all negativity, hurt and discouragement should be put away.  Should we lose altitude under pressure, during the flight, reach up and pull down a prayer.  Prayers will automatically be activated by Faith.  One Faith is activated you can assist other passengers.  There will be NO BAGGAGE allowed on this flight.  The Captain (GOD) has cleared us for takeoff.  Destination GREATNESS.  Book your flight today!!

 

 

 

Drinking from My Saucer

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Do you remember older generations drinking from their saucer?  John's grandfather always did and I thought it was because his coffee was too hot.  Then I came across this poem that made me feel there was more to it than just being too hot.  The poem was written by John Paul Moore.

   I've never made a fortune and it's probably too late now.

But I don't worry about that much, I'm happy anyhow.

And as I go along life's way, I'm reaping better than I sowed.

I'm drinking from my saucer, 'Cause my cup has overflowed.

I don't have a lot of riches, and sometimes the going's tough.

But I've got loved ones around me, and that makes me rich enough.

I thank God for his blessings, and the mercies He's bestowed.

I'm drinking from my saucer, 'Cause my cup has overflowed.

I remember times when things went wrong, my faith wore somewhat thin.

But all at once the dark clouds broke, and the sun peeped through again.

So God, help me not to gripe about the tough rows that I've hoed.

I'm drinking from my saucer, 'Cause my cup has overflowed.

If God gives me strength and courage, when the way grows steep and rough.

I'll not ask for other blessings, I'm already blessed enough.

And may I never be too busy, to help others bear their loads.

Then I'll keep drinking from my saucer, 'Cause my cup has overflowed.

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Let us thank God for all the blessings that we receive and never complain about the things that we don't have.  As we start the new year let us have a thankful attitude.

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Came across this article and thought I would share.  We may not be baseball coaches but it applies to each and everyone of us today.

 

17 INCHES" - you will not regret reading this an excellent article from beginning to end. Twenty years ago, in Nashville, Tennessee, during the first week of January, 1996, more than 4,000 baseball coaches descended upon the Opryland Hotel for the 52nd annual ABCA's convention.

 

While I waited in line to register with the hotel staff, I heard other more veteran coaches rumbling about the lineup of speakers scheduled to present during the weekend.  One name kept resurfacing, always with the same sentiment — “John Scolinos is here? Oh, man, worth every penny of my airfare.”

 

Who is John Scolinos, I wondered.  No matter; I was just happy to be there.

 

In 1996, Coach Scolinos was 78 years old and five years retired from a college coaching career that began in 1948.  He shuffled to the stage to an impressive standing ovation, wearing dark polyester pants, a light blue shirt, and a string around his neck from which home plate hung — a full-sized, stark-white home plate.

 

Seriously, I wondered, who is this guy?  After speaking for twenty-five minutes, not once mentioning the prop hanging around his neck, Coach Scolinos appeared to notice the snickering among some of the coaches.  Even those who knew Coach Scolinos had to wonder exactly where he was going with this, or if he had simply forgotten about home plate since he’d gotten on stage.  Then, finally …

 

“You’re probably all wondering why I’m wearing home plate around my neck,” he said, his voice growing irascible.  I laughed along with the others, acknowledging the possibility.  “I may be old, but I’m not crazy.  The reason I stand before you today is to share with you baseball people what I’ve learned in my life, what I’ve learned about home plate in my 78 years.”  

 

Several hands went up when Scolinos asked how many Little League coaches were in the room.  “Do you know how wide home plate is in Little League?”

 

After a pause, someone offered, “Seventeen inches?”, more of a question than answer.

 

“That’s right,” he said.  “How about in Babe Ruth’s day?  Any Babe Ruth coaches in the house?” Another long pause.

 

“Seventeen inches?” a guess from another reluctant coach.

“That’s right,” said Scolinos.  “Now, how many high school coaches do we have in the room?”  Hundreds of hands shot up, as the pattern began to appear.  “How wide is home plate in high school baseball?”

 

“Seventeen inches,” they said, sounding more confident.

“You’re right!” Scolinos barked.  “And you college coaches, how wide is home plate in college?”

 

“Seventeen inches!” we said, in unison.

“Any Minor League coaches here?  How wide is home plate in pro ball?”............“Seventeen inches!”

 

“RIGHT!  And in the Major Leagues, how wide home plate is in the Major Leagues? “Seventeen inches!”

 

“SEV-EN-TEEN INCHES!” he confirmed, his voice bellowing off the walls.  “And what do they do with a Big League pitcher who can’t throw the ball over seventeen inches?”  Pause.  “They send him to Pocatello !” he hollered, drawing raucous laughter.  “What they don’t do is this: they don’t say, ‘Ah, that’s okay, Jimmy.  If you can’t hit a seventeen-inch target?  We’ll make it eighteen inches or nineteen inches.  We’ll make it twenty inches so you have a better chance of hitting it.  If you can’t hit that, let us know so we can make it wider still, say twenty-five inches.'”  

 

Pause.  “Coaches… what do we do when your best player shows up late to practice? or when our team rules forbid facial hair and a guy shows up unshaven?  What if he gets caught drinking?  Do we hold him accountable?  Or do we change the rules to fit him?  Do we widen home plate? "

 

The chuckles gradually faded as four thousand coaches grew quiet, the fog lifting as the old coach’s message began to unfold.  He turned the plate toward himself and, using a Sharpie, began to draw something.  When he turned it toward the crowd, point up, a house was revealed, complete with a freshly drawn door and two windows.  “This is the problem in our homes today.  With our marriages, with the way we parent our kids.  With our discipline. We don’t teach accountability to our kids, and there is no consequence for failing to meet standards.  We just widen the plate!”

 

Pause.  Then, to the point at the top of the house he added a small American flag.  “This is the problem in our schools today.  The quality of our education is going downhill fast and teachers have been stripped of the tools they need to be successful, and to educate and discipline our young people.  We are allowing others to widen home plate!  Where is that getting us?”

 

Silence.  He replaced the flag with a Cross.  “And this is the problem in the Church, where powerful people in positions of authority have taken advantage of young children, only to have such an atrocity swept under the rug for years.  Our church leaders are widening home plate for themselves!  And we allow it.”

 

“And the same is true with our government.  Our so-called representatives make rules for us that don’t apply to themselves. They take bribes from lobbyists and foreign countries.  They no longer serve us.  And we allow them to widen home plate! We see our country falling into a dark abyss while we just watch.”

 

I was amazed.  At a baseball convention where I expected to learn something about curve balls and bunting and how to run better practices, I had learned something far more valuable.

From an old man with home plate strung around his neck, I had learned something about life, about myself, about my own weaknesses and about my responsibilities as a leader.  I had to hold myself and others accountable to that which I knew to be right, lest our families, our faith, and our society continue down an undesirable path.

 

“If I am lucky,” Coach Scolinos concluded, “you will remember one thing from this old coach today.  It is this: "If we fail to hold ourselves to a higher standard, a standard of what we know to be right; if we fail to hold our spouses and our children to the same standards, if we are unwilling or unable to provide a consequence when they do not meet the standard; and if our schools & churches & our government fail to hold themselves accountable to those they serve, there is but one thing to look forward to …”

 

With that, he held home plate in front of his chest, turned it around, and revealed its dark black backside, “…We have dark days ahead!.”

 

Note: Coach Scolinos died in 2009 at the age of 91, but not before touching the lives of hundreds of players and coaches, including mine.  His message was clear: “Coaches, keep your players—no matter how good they are—your own children, your churches, your government, and most of all, keep yourself at seventeen inches."

 

And this my friends is what our country has become and what is wrong with it today, and now go out there and fix it!

 

"Don't widen the plate."

shared by James Morris and Bruce Moulthrop

 

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Shining Light

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As I ponder on what words of inspiration I could write for this month, I realized that we are all surrounded by such negativity in the world through technology.  The world is more connected than ever. However, we have become a slave to social media and for the most part it is not positive.  Social media does offer us opportunities to be a voice of truth in the middle of lies. Our children are bombarded by TicTok challenges that are destructive.  They are faced with negative comments on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter discouraging their self-esteem.  But what about us as ladies?  We must fight against the temptation to allow social media to overcome our lives, both physical and spiritual.  Your Facebook post has the power to build up or tear down the one who is reading it.  Remember everyone on the other end of that device was made in God’s image.  Colossians 3: 16 – 17 says “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.  And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”  If you looked at your previous Facebook/Instagram/Twitter posts, can you say that you are glorifying God the Father or are you getting sucked into the world of negativity.   What if we were to look at social media through this scripture and posted a TicToK video to challenge everyone to do EVERYTHING to glorify God. Or at least challenge everyone to do something positive towards others.  What if we pulled up our Instagram/Twitter feed and prayed for each person who posted something?  How do you think these small steps could change the way that each of us interact with our phones and social media?   Do we spend more time on Facebook or watching YouTube videos than we do studying God’s word?  As I wrote in the previous post, the Bible tells us in Hosea 4:6 “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.  Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.”  Why not use technology to share the gospel.  Why not use technology to increase our study and knowledge of the scriptures.  The devil is “like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” 1 Peter 5: 8 and is using technology to destroy the soul.  Let us not get caught up in being devoured by Satan.  Instead, be the shining light to the world.  My challenge to you is to use your Facebook/Instagram/Twitter posts to be the shining light in a world of darkness.

 

 

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True Knowledge

 

As I listened to John’s sermon Sunday entitled “True Knowledge”  with the scripture text coming from Hosea 4:6-11  “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…” my first thought was oh how true.  When we look at those around us,  we see God becoming less and less important in their lives  Even those in the church do not know the word of God.  Why you ask?  Because we do not take the time to study His word. I came across this blog and wanted to share with you excuses that we come up with to justify why we don’t have the time to study.  See if you have used any of these excuses.

 

Are You Making Excuses?

   “I would go to ladies class every week…but it’s just repetitive, I know the stories…Jonah and the whale…Esther…Jesus was born in a manger.  I know what I need to, and the rest I get from services.  You know I’m just too busy!” 

   That’s a statement from a member of the church when she was invited to join us for ladies class awhile back.  At the moment, I shrugged and we laughed it off and we went our separate ways after services.

   Now I look back on it, I wonder, is that a valid excuse for not studying God’s word?  We each have excuses that wiggle into our lives, whether we notice it’s an excuse or not.  “I didn’t sleep last night because I was up watching that movie on Netflix…so I’ll just nap.”  “You know what, I feel like we should be getting healthy, so I’ll empty the junk out of my cabinets, go grocery shopping at Whole Foods and then hit the gym.”  “I had a really stressful day.  The kids wouldn’t do their homework, my husband came home mad, I burnt dinner and I forgot it was my parent’s anniversary.  I’ll just take a bubble bath and go to bed early.”  “I was called into work today when I should have been off and I missed my favorite shows.  I’ll binge watch them on the DVR when I get home.” “The kids have band practice, soccer practice, ballet, gymnastics, football…not to mention the little one I have to have everywhere I go.” I’m just so busy.”

   The excuses pile up, until they overflow, taking away your extra time.  So studying daily may be replaced with going to the gym.  Praying every night before bed may become forgotten because you fall asleep watching movies every night.  You may just be so busy with work or your kids that your bible lays, collecting dust.

   Am I saying that we should be denied some relaxation every once and awhile?  Definitely not!  Life gets rough and we need to unwind.  But should excuses overgrow our life so that God get pushed out into the back of the closet?  Again, definitely not!

   We need to be sure that we do not let our spiritual selves starve.  We look at people in third world countries, thin and bony.  People feel bad for them, pity them for their state of being.  But in reality, many of our spiritual selves are the same as that starving child.  They’re craving the word of God, yet we will not give it to them?  Who are we to deprive ourselves from the Lord of Lords who gave His only son to suffer and die on the cruel cross of Calvary?  He has done so much for Him, and we do not return any sort of gratitude except for on Sundays.  We should truly be ashamed of ourselves.

   I challenge each and every one of you to carve out more time and effort into your Christianity.  Yes, it is hard, but so was leaving heaven to live amongst sinners, and being murdered although Christ was innocent.  Open your bible.  Mature spiritually and show God you truly do appreciate being saved.

 

1 Peter 2: 2 “Like newborn babies, crave pure and spiritual milk, so that by it, you may grow in your salvation.”

 

Taken from a blog of  springladiesretreat.weebly.com

 

   This writer challenges YOU to pick up your bible, open it and commune with our Lord.  I’m challenging you to be like the Berean brethren who searched the scriptures daily, Acts 17:11.