“You Don’t Mess Around with…”

“You Don’t Mess Around with…”

April 1st, 1972 is probably not a date that you would remember well, but on that day, Jim Croce released his song, “You Don’t Mess Around With Jim.” The song tells the story of a pool hustler named Jim who hustled one too many people and ultimately received his comeuppance. In the chorus, Croce sings, “You don’t tug on Superman’s cape. You don’t spit into the wind. You don’t pull the mask off the ol’ Lone Ranger, and you don’t mess around with Jim.” It is this comical list of things that made the song famous. It rose to number eight on the billboards. Are there some things that you “don’t mess around with” in relationship to God?jim mess

Don’t mess around with faith in God! Psalm 14:1 declares, “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” Why is that? The Psalmist says in the rest of the verse, “They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good.” Their motives are focused on evil, and therefore they don’t believe. Belief in God interferes with their plans.

Don’t mess around with God’s Son! Hebrews 1:2 says, God “has in these last days spoken to us by His Son.” That means that there is only one way to the Father, and that is through Jesus Christ (John 14:6). Salvation comes through no other (Acts 4:12).

Don’t mess around with obedience! One may believe in God, accept Jesus as God’s Son, but then neglect to obey God’s word. Jesus only saves those who obey Him. Hebrews 5:9 says, “He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.”

There are many things that a person may do in this life, but don’t mess around with these.

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Joyful Shouting to the Lord

Joyful Shouting to the Lord

“Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands! Serve the Lord with gladness; come before His presence with singing” (Psa. 100:1-2). These are strange words when one considers all the trials David faced. They began at the slaying of Goliath, continued for years as a fugitive from the jealous wrath of King Saul and then the rebellion lead by his son after he became king. Joyful shouts? Serving with gladness? Singing in His presence? How can one possibly find joy and gladness in the midst of all of this adversity?

Yet David did. Look at the thoughts which follow the opening words of this psalm. As you think about them, make application as to how you can find true joy in the midst of all that has happened to us in the midst of dealing with the threat of covid.

True joy comes from exalting Lord as God. “Know that the Lord, He is God.” While we may have become disheartened over the months because we have had little control in most aspects of our lives, one eternal truth has not changed. Our Father is greater than any trial we face. How do we face our Goliaths? A shepherd boy stood before a man almost twice his size and proclaimed, “I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts….This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand….For the battle is the Lord’s and He will give you into our hands” (1 Sam. 17:45-47). Knowing that God is in charge will always result in our victory, and our response will be the coming into His presence with joyful singing.

True joy comes from realizing He has made us. Continue reading that psalm. “It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves.” Whenever we think that our happiness and fulfilment come from our dealing with adversity, we are doomed to failure. He is the Creator, and we are the created ones. We are not in charge and looking inward will never bring happiness and fulfilment. David destroyed the giant but not from his own skills as a warrior. Those who were warriors in that day cowered in fear of the battle. David knew that the Creator was the One who fought against his enemy. The result is joyful praise and thanksgiving.

True joy comes from coming before God and praising Him. Look carefully at David’s words. We must make joyful noise to the Lord; come before His presence with singing; enter into His gates with thanksgiving; enter into His courts with praise; be thankful and bless His name. Covid has robbed us of assembling over the past several months, and we have been robbed of coming into His presence and His courts and finding the joy which comes from singing and praising His name as we once did.

We must not let Satan rob us of true joy!

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The Power of Your Hand

The Power of Your Hand

Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it. Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and to morrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee. (Proverbs 3:27-28 KJV)hand love

To whom is “good” due? The New Testament tells Christians that they are to do good unto all men, especially their fellow Christians. What is meant by doing “good”? In the context here, it is something that we have a limited opportunity to share. The “good” could be showing benevolent love in providing some physical sustenance. Or more importantly it could be by showing love for their eternal welfare and speaking to them about spiritual matters.

The focus here is on the urgency of the matter at hand. This might be your or their only opportunity to give or receive. Life promises us nothing beyond this very moment. Who knows when the Lord will return or when we or our neighbor might come the end of life’s journey?

Read Galatians 6:10; James 4:13-17

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The Divine Vaccine for Disease

The Divine Vaccine for Disease

For the past year, we have dealt with the onslaught of a powerful sickness which has infected the entire world. Every newscast has given us the number of new infections and the daily total of those who have died. The life of every Christian has been changed because of its presence. However, we may have lost sight of another “disease” which has rapidly spread all over the world and threatens every person in every home on the earth. That “disease” is sin. It has killed far more every day than Covid-19 has in a year. Sin brings death to all who are infected by it, but we should be ever thankful that there is a Divine vaccine to deal with it.

That vaccine is a life built on faithful obedience and service to the Lord. Sin has captured billions of individuals on this earth, but a life of faith removes its power from our lives. In both the Old Testament and the New Testament we find this simple truth, “The just shall live by faith” (Hab. 2:4; Rom. 1:17; Gal. 3:11; Heb. 10:38). Sin brings death but a life which is built around trusting God and doing His will “vaccinates” us against the power of sin and Satan.

Look at how the Divine vaccine empowers us and assures us that we will not become slaves to the bondage that sin always brings.

The life of faithful service removes from us the consequences of past sin. When Christians look at the mistakes of their past lives, they see it different. There is no need in the heart of His children for them to carry the heavy burden of the guilt of sin. While we can never remove the knowledge of our sinful past, we must always remember that day when God forgot about them. That person who is raised from the waters of baptism is a new creation. That sinful man with all of the horrendous, stupid mistakes has been crucified and has been buried in the waters of baptism (Rom. 6:3-6). When he walks out of the baptistry, he is a new sinless person! There is no need for guilt because God does not even remember our past!

The life of faithful service removes sin and its guilt from our lives after we are baptized. Do we do wrong? Yes, to deny this is to make God a liar, but hear these words about every wrong we have done after we became a Christian. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). The blood that dealt with past sins deals with our daily sins for “…if we walk in the light…the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). Sin has taken up residence in the lives of all mankind, but it does not reside in His children. The blood of Jesus, the Divine vaccine, always protects us. Is there any wonder He said, “Be faithful until death and I will give you a crown of life”?

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True Grit

True Grit

In 1969, John Wayne starred in a movie title “True Grit,” and in 2010 the movie was remade with Jeff Bridges as the star. The movie was based on a book written by Arkansas author Charles Portis and first published in the Saturday Evening Post as a series of stories in 1968. Set in the late 1870s, the story tells of a Deputy U.S. Marshall and a Texas Ranger who help a young girl pursue her father’s murderer into Indian territory to exact “justice.” The name of the movie comes from the girl’s evaluation of the Marshall’s gritty qualities.

john wayne grit

There is only one John Wayne.

The word “grit” as used here means one who has a tough character or imperturbable spirit. It describes a quality that many lamentably do not possess today. This is the ability to stick to something even when things are difficult. There used to be a saying, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” It’s not in vogue these days because most simply give up instead. Such an attitude has invaded the Lord’s church to some degree. The notion of sticking with something through thick or thin has gone out of style. What prevents us from ending the good works of the church? True grit. We need faithful men and women who will step up and continue what others have begun. Paul wrote, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58). The Lord’s church has a great work to do. Let’s not give up on it just because times are hard. Let’s find that true grit that we need to carry on.

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