Your Heart's Trust

Your Heart’s Trust
A Tool to Use
Psalm 28:7

I was recently asked to pray with a lady who was broken hearted. I did not ask any questions, but when I was asked to pray with her and another group of people, I could tell she was really in pain. God knows her pain, and His will be done. Now I can imagine that everyone, at one time or another has their heart broken. We can relate to the loneliness that it brings, and even though people pray with you, it is like you are totally alone in the situation. I can remember the last time I was totally heart broke. I did not have anyone to talk too. My mom was on her death bed, not knowing anyone. My brother had bigger issues than mine to deal with, and I had no family to talk too. It was almost like when you approached people they would try to avoid talking, because they didn’t know what to say. I tried to talk to a couple of good friends, but I found that they had no words for me that gave me comfort, and in turn it made them feel bad. It really is a sad situation to be in.
David wrote, “The Lord is my strength and my shield; may heart trusted in HIM, and I am helped: there fore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise HIM.” In this Psalm, David is praying against his enemies. I find it real interesting at how he starts his prayer. “Unto Thee will I cry, O Lord my rock:” What a powerful statement this is. We are real quick to say that the Lord is all powerful, which HE is, but David seems to have a real understanding of it. How many times have we wished we could hear God’s answer verbally? David says, ‘be not silent to me: lest, if Thou be silent to me I become like them that go down into the pit. Hear my voice of my supplications, when I cry unto Thee” This is one of the greatest requests that I’ve read in God’s Word. He’s saying, “Lord, I need you to hear me and tell me what to do.”
If you read the whole 28th Psalm, you will find that David is addressing a need to the Lord for relief of a burden. Then in the end, David acknowledges that he can do nothing without the Lord. Wow! So what can I learn from this? We see that David continues “Blessed be the Lord, because HE hath heard the voice of my supplications,” verse 6. The burden David had is for the Lord’s protection against the enemies and for the protection of his people. As the King of Israel, he took his job very seriously and I believe he really loved these people.
The burdens we bear at times seem to almost totally unbearable. Heartaches seem to come more often than not. This world causes us to struggle with decisions we have to make. Sometimes decisions are totally out of our hands, but we have to bear the brunt of the force, so to speak. This is why Jesus said, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Mat 11:28 – 30). The burdens that David had were tuff, but I tell you now, he knew who could handle it. This leads him to say, “my heart trusted in HIM, and I am helped”
Trusting in the Lord is the key to a happy life. When people talk about trusting in God, it is general referred to as accepting Jesus as Personal Savior. However, and I do agree that we must trust in the Lord to be saved, this is not the trust that David speaks about. Sometimes, when I really desire something, I try trusting in everything, everyone, or even myself to obtain it; when I should requested the Lord to show my heart what I needed to do, or allow happen. To me, listening to your heart is only good when you know its God speaking from it. We know that the heart is exceedingly wicked, but as a child of the King, you know when HE speaks through it. David was saying in laymen’s terms, “You know what, I gave it to you and I know you’re going to handle it. I am helped.” He worked his faith to the point that he said, “God you have a problem; I’m going to bed.”
It doesn’t matter what kind of problems we have at times, we need to realize that as a child of the king your heart trusted in HIM and HE will always help. Cast all your cares, your worries, your heartaches, and your fears upon HIM, and He will be your help. Remember; He is our strength, and without HIM nothing can be done. The key to that is allowing HIM to handle it.

Thought of the Day

Waiting on the Lord
A Way to Grow in Strength
Psalm 27:14

There is a young man in our church’s youth group that is an encouragement to me just about every time I see him. He’s really disciplined in the way he takes care of himself. He is going to be a senior in high school, where he plays football and lifts weights. As I look at him, I wonder some things about myself and some other people. If our spiritual lives for God were seen as muscle to God, what would you and I look like? This young man is disciplined in the way he eats, they way he exercises, and the way he lives.
The Psalmist wrote, “Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.” Many of us have read Isaiah 40:31, where the scripture tells us, “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” Many have sung this verse in a song. This takes a discipline that many Christians do not have. The biggest discipline you’ll ever learn is waiting. Waiting on the Lord takes disciplines like my friend has in his life. So let’s look at some of these and just see what we can learn from it.
Learning to wait upon the Lord is learned by what we eat. Think about it for a second. If we eat what old Satan feeds us or this world feeds us, we soon develop, what I call, the attitude of Nike. The huge shoe monstrosity developed this saying when Bo Jackson played for the Oakland Raiders and whatever baseball team if played for. The world has this attitude toward anything; “Don’t think about it; just do it.” Christians develop this attitude and call it faith. However, when it falls short of what we want, we state, “Well I just didn’t have enough faith.” That’s not necessarily true either. There are things we do need to step out on in faith, and pray that God will use us. However, in our day to day lives we sometimes may huge decisions without waiting on the Lord’s instruction. I have learned, the hard way, that when I wait upon the Lord, He never leads me wrong. If I learn to wait upon HIM all the time then I become fit spiritually and don’t become ‘fat and lazy,’ as a Christian, lol. Lesson to learn; do not believe the world’s instructions, because it will always lead you in the wrong direction.
Learning to wait upon the Lord is learned by how we exercise. Physical exercise seems to be in the past tense for me. Amazingly, when I was 16 – 25 years old, I stayed in good shape, because I participated in sports such as baseball, softball, football, and weight lifting; and no I was not what people call ‘cut’. When I was 26 – 36 I still got some exercise, but it went way down. At 48, and yes I know I’m still a youngster to some, some exercise I get is just being able to get up out of bed, because I’m so stiff, or my back hurts, or something hurts, etc. You that are my age or older know what I’m talking about. Spiritual exercise is apparently no different in our spiritual life. I am 28 years old in my salvation. I’ve gone to church most of my life and even though I know that I do not know everything about God’s Word or God, I feel okay spiritually. However, there have been many times that I was not even okay. Spiritual exercise comes through daily Bible studies, daily prayer, and a good regiment of church faithfulness. The more we use these spiritual exercises, the easier all the things such as witnessing, preaching, working for the Lord, etc, become to us. This young man can lift more weight than I can, because he works out daily. He was not able to accomplish these goals over night, but instead he was faithful in these exercises. Spiritually strong people can do more when we exercise spiritually daily.
Learning to wait upon the Lord is taught by the way we live. I am reminded of many examples that Jesus used in the Bible that were not able to live for Christ, because of the way they wanted to live for the world. Jesus told us that we cannot live for HIM and the world at the same time. Money is the root of all evil and we all want that root. In an earlier ‘thought of the day,’ I made the comment that we need to be content. However, many of us are never content. We have to have more money. A rich young man came to Jesus and asked him, “What can I do to inherit the Kingdom of God?” Jesus told him to keep the commandments, and the young man told Him, “I have done this since I was but a youth.” Jesus said, “Then give all your money to the poor, sell all you have and follow me.” The man went away sad because he thought that was too high of a price, for he was very wealthy. Living for Christ takes a huge regiment of eating the right spiritual food, exercising with our weights daily (studying, praying and worshipping), and living our life like each day is our last day for Christ on this earth.
Many things you can learn by watching discipline athletes, but I can honestly say that God has told each of us how to become stronger for HIM. As I examine myself, I have decided that I don’t look like a big body builder in my spiritual life, but I know how to start building that way. How about you?

Thought of the Day - July 28th

Contentment in Christ
Seeking to find His will
Philippians 4:11

As I woke up this morning, it took me a little while to gather my wits about myself. Many would say that I do not have many wits about me, and at times I would agree with them. When I finally got myself going I realized it was my birthday. First I thanked God for allowing me to have another good night’s rest, and I thanked Him also for allowing me to wake up to spend another day to try to do HIS will in my life.
I have had time to ponder on the forty eight years of my life today. I have to wonder if I’m as content as I need to be. Paul wrote, “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content,” (Phil 4:11 KJV). I know that I’ve not always allowed contentment to override my wants. I have desires, or wants, that do not seem to be available.
Today, I heard on the radio about a girl who started off on the wrong foot as a teenager and allowed God to bring her to where she is today. During the trying times of her life she was molded by God and she allowed Him to direct her path into a better life. She allowed the mistakes of her past to be used, by God, to make her content to be the person she is in the present. I can say that if we allow God to mold us the way He wants too, HE will put us in a place that will honor and glorify HIM.
As I look on my life, I can remember some of the horrible mistakes that I have made. There is not enough time or space to cover them all. I know that probably one of the biggest mistakes I made was not listening to my mother when she tried to lead me. At times, I wonder how my life would have changed had I really listened to her. Maybe some of my heartaches would not have occurred had I listened early in my adult life for sure. Even with all those mistakes, I have many great things that happened in my life too. I have a loving wife, whom I love very much, three great sons, mistakes to the side, and most importantly I know Jesus as my personal Savior. I met HIM on October 3, 1982 and I answered the call to preach in 1999. Even though I’ve never considered myself a good speaker, I love sharing HIS WORD with people. I thank God He called me to the ministry, and look forward to the next work HE has for me, should HE have one.
With all the positives and negatives in my life I realized that God has been molding me into what HE desires for me to be and I know HE is not finished. I can’t say that I’ve always gone in the direction He wants me too, but I can say that HE is always there to keep me on track. I can’t say I’ve always been a good husband, father, or person either. However, I can say that God has forgiven me for things I’ve done wrong, because I asked Him too.
I can recall when the only church I’ve ever pastored called me. I was so excited about the opportunity and I can honestly say that the people there showed their love toward me and my family. I can remember preaching at that church, and looking back, I can see a bunch of mistake that I made in my short time there. I cannot say I was a good pastor either. However, I can say I had a desire to be one. I had a desire to be friends with all them members and they treated me like family. I still feel that I failed miserably in areas that I could have been better in. However, it wasn’t about me being a pastor. It was about me making myself available to be used of God. God used me as a tool to convey HIS thoughts and we saw several saved during the time I was there. The first 2 ½ years, I did make myself available to HIM, but the last year of my pastorate brought me much discouragement. I’ve come to believe it was mainly because I allowed myself to loose focus on my calling. I became so discouraged that I didn’t know what to do. I prayed a lot, but I saw things happening in the church that I didn’t like, which caused me to be discontent. Therefore, I grew even more discouraged. People were leaving after we had a small growth spurt, many telling me that it wasn’t me, and some who were faithful just dropping out all together. They said that they just wanted to do something else, and unfortunately I still took it personal and allowed it to discourage me. I started feeling that I was not liked anymore and I became lonely. I allowed that to cause me to loose focus and I got in the way of God doing a great work. Some of them had grown discontent just as their pastor had. I believe it is because we all stopped praying as we needed too. As any pastor does, I wanted that church to be in better shape than what it was when I arrived, should I have to leave, and I can’t say it was.
When I accepted the church, I had no plans of ever leaving. I was very happy and satisfied, and I was there until Jesus came, but things change. I lost my wife and I needed a wife who would support me and minister with me, but that was no longer there either. I needed people to pray with and for me, and there didn't seem to be anyone available. I had lost control of something I should have never tried to control in the first place. After all, it is not about me. I grew even more discouraged. Discontentment leads to discouragement.
I left the church that August and felt like I had done the Lord such a poor job as a pastor that HE would never use me again. I will say that I loved the members of that church with a deep convicting love, and even after leaving those members are still on my heart and mind. Not long after I arrived back home, I saw my current pastor. He invited me to church, but I really didn’t have a desire to go anywhere. Some of the other pastors didn't seem to want to have anything to do with me. However, he encouraged me and prayed with me and I finally gave into going on a Sunday morning. As I listened to this man preach it was like I was totally by myself. I had no family with me and I didn’t feel like I had a friend in the world. After all, I failed the only true friend I’ve ever known, Jesus. I had met the woman I would eventually marry, but I still didn’t feel like I was loved by anyone, and I sure didn’t feel of any use any longer. After services, the pastor came up to me and said, “Come back tonight and preach for us.” I told him, “I don’t know about that,” as I thought God doesn’t want me behind a pulpit anymore. I went to church that night dressed in jeans and a golf shirt, not planning on preaching, but just to try to get a hint of the vigor I had for Christ again. The pastor asked me, “Are you ready to preach?” I said, “I guess, but you don’t have to let me,” hoping that he would say okay, I’ll preach tonight, because I didn’t really feel like it. I felt like I didn’t want to make another fool of myself and that’s exactly what I felt like I was going to do behind a pulpit. I felt that if God really wanted me behind a pulpit I would have stayed at my church. What a horrible thought! God will use a willing heart. He was showing me something.
God put me in the church I’m in now for a reason, and I’m very thankful for my church family. When I first started going there, I was still very discouraged. I didn’t want to be in a church setting. I kept blaming myself for doing God an injustice behind the pulpit and the duty HE gave me. I have thought and prayed, ‘God give me one more chance to prove to you that I can do a better job, and I will give it my best,” but my prayers haven’t been answered in that direction yet, and I’m not guaranteed they will be. I was still discontent. I can only hope that the members of the church, which allowed me to be their pastor for 3 ½ years can find the love in their heart to forgive me for not being the great pastor for Christ that I needed to be. I am like any human, I could say that the reason I failed is not totally my fault, because I didn’t feel like I had the support that I needed and desired, but that would be passing the blame. That could be part of the problem, but as I look back, I see that the real problem was me. I was not content to allowing God to use me in a miserable situation as HE had in better situations; again, discontentment brings discouragement.
I have a great class that I wished was larger at times, and there are people who really love God in it. It’s a ministry for me, and I can only hope that God is using me in a way that will honor and glorify HIM. Periodically I’m asked to preach there and I love trying to do just that. I still have a deep desire to pastor another one of the Lord's churches, but for now I must learn to be content where God has me. Maybe this is the lesson I needed to learn.
I’ve said all this to state the conclusion I have come too. If we really desire to work for God the opportunities are out there. We make the decision to take those opportunities or let them pass by. When God opens doors, be ready to go through them. My prayer for this next year of my life, should God allow me that time, is that God will show me the opportunity and give me the faith to walk through those doors that HE does open. And on top of all that, I pray that HE will help me be content in whatsoever I do. Contentment in Christ is a desire that Christ has for us all.

Saturday!

Saturday! I have a day off......lol. Well, this week seemed to go by quickly. Summer time always flies by, but it becomes miserable when it is hot and dry. I had the opportunity to go to camp again on Wednesday. I was able to talk to people whom I haven't seen in several years. Bro. Paul Clark and I visited for a while. He just recently lost his dad, but is excited to know that he is in Heaven. He preached on Wednesday night and I enjoyed it. The message was entitled, "Seven Bad Things About Heaven." The camp had about 250 registered campers and I believe they had 23 saved and 3 young men to surrender to the ministry of our Lord. That is exciting. On Thursday night Becky was able to go to camp with me and I introduced her to all my friends. Roger and Carla Bachelor were there, and I've known the them for a long time. They are members of Pinkham MBC in DeKalb, Texas. They may have a new pastor already and I pray that he is the one God wants there. Camp seems to just get started good when it is time to go home. I know that anytime I've spent the week there that Friday seemed a long way on on Monday when we arived. However, the week flies by and I always wanted to stay longer. It's such a great place to get away from the world. Becky told me to schedule a week off for camp next year. I hope that God opens the door to a church, which I can take to camp. That would be the greatest thing to me in the world.

I received two calls from churches this week looking for help. One is in Avenger, and Bro. Gould is wanting someone to help him with the church. The church is struggling in attendance, and the man that lands this job will hopefully be used of God to help it grow. I will know in a few weeks if I'm to go there. I also received a call from a church in Aubrey, Arkansas who is looking for a pastor too. I've got a while to prepare for this one as I am not scheduled to appear there until September 7.

I fill in for Bro. Dale tomorrow night and I'm still working on the message.....later on this one.

Camp Time!

Yesterday brought back many memories for me. I took a load of suitcases, ice chests, and many other objects, along with my niece and Albert, to Pine Springs Baptist Encampment, in Laneville, Texas. I had the opportunity to see many friends I have not seen in years. Our church took 34 to camp this year, and I believe it was the largest for this church in some time. This is camp no. 4, the camp I was raised up in for over 30 years. I was not able to attend it every year, but I do have many friends who still do.

It was good to see many pastors whom I attended school with at TBI. They all wanted to know if I was pastoring anywhere, lol. I haven't had that special opportunity in almost 4 years. There are many of our churches seeking pastors, but it seems like God has not opened that door yet; but, HE will, one day. I always enjoyed taking kids to camp when I was pastoring, and even when I was a youth director also. The picture of this tabernacle reminds me of lots of things that happened there from the time I was a youngster to a teen. God has saved many souls in this building and continues to do so. The preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ is what does it! Camp is one solid week without the world dictating you something to do. It also gives you one solid week of fellowship with other brothers and sisters in Christ, to worship Christ, and to preach the gospel to a lost bunch. I may try to go to camp next year, with CMBC, should I not be anywhere else.

I saw a man I've not seen in about 4 years. Bro. Paul Clark is one of the men whom I count as a great friend. He loves the Lord and preaches the gospel with a fire. God has used the Clark family for many years. He just recently lost his dad, Bro. Clyde Clark. Brother Clyde was a warrior for God too. Bro. Paul pastors in Hillsboro, Texas, and God has blessed him so much. His son, Brother Jason is a missionary to France, and I'm glad to see that God is keeping HIS ministry going on through this loving family. My prayers go out to this family during their time of sadness. However, we know that Bro. Clyde is at the feet of Jesus and suffers no longer.

For those friends of mine, who read my blogs, which I don't seem to have much time for anymore, I ask that you pray for me as many have contacted me about possibly being interested in pastoring their churches. I've really prayed hard about this, but some of the contacts I've had, have not called back as I was told they would. Just pray that God will show me without a doubt what HIS will is, and that I will have a heart to accept it and continue in what I'm doing until HE puts me where HE has plans for me. Also, pray for several churches without pastors. May God send to them the man HE wants them to have, and may these churches see who he is. Thanks.

What a weekend!!!

Monday morning! We woke up with rain, even though it wasn't more than a half inch, but it was rain. Thank the Lord for that. This past weekend was really busy. I worked on the lawn mover, and didn't get it running still, the swimming pool pump went out, had to get a new one, my Boston terrier had 5 puppies, and I was asked to preach on Sunday night. I was contacted by a church in Alexandria, LA, about preaching for them, but that didn't materialize and then I was able to go to work this morning; in the rain. LOL.

I preached from 1 Samuel 3:1 - 11 last night. The message was intitled, "Hearing God." We did have a couple respond, but I just love when God takes over and gets me out of the way. I really enjoyed preaching though. We have 2 churches in our area without pastors right now. I hope I get a chance to preach some more. I really love sharing God's Word with churches. We will see.

VACATION

Well, Monday is here! Back to reality. Becky and I just finished up a vacation that started with a wedding were Aaron and Shae were married, and then we went to Unity MBC, in Denison, Texas. We were there in their pastor's absence. We always enjoy the visit with this church. God really seems to be blessing this church, and I thank God for that.
On Monday, June 30, Becky and I stayed at home and got some things done; namely, planting trees, bushes and other plants.
Tuesday, July 1, we made the trip to Houston. Highlight of the day; Going through Norstroms, in the Galeria, on the way to eat at the Cheesecake Factory. I saw a suit coat for 1095.00 dollars and a ladies blouse that might go for 25 dollars in Wal Mart for 289.00 dollars. We enjoyed the meal and returned to the hotel. We stayed in the Indiglo Hotel.
Wednesday, July 2, started off at Chic-fa-le and then took us to the Johnson Space Center and Minute Maid park. There were some interesting things at Johnson Space Center, but overall, it was boring. It had been about 35 years since I had been there. Minute Maid park was fun, even though the Astros were beat by the Dodger 4-1. There was a nice fire work show after the game.
Thursday, July 3, took us to Galveston, after breakfast at McDonalds. We went fishing. Becky had never salt water fished before. She caught a lot of Whitings and on nice red fish, 20" long, weighing between 3 - 5 pounds. I enjoyed watching her. I helped a man with a flounder and caught one small whiting. Becky wanted to swim, but must not have been in the cards for this vacation. We stopped a Pappa's Sea Food to eat on the way home.
Friday, July 4, we slept till 8:00 a.m. We stated off at IHOP again, and then we went to the Houston Zoo and had planned on going to another park for a concert and fire work display. The zoo brought back a ton of memories for me, but the rain put a damper on some of the things. We spent most of the day there and then we went to the Katy Mills Mall, where Bass Pro Shop is. After eating at the Rain Forest Cafe, we looked around and decided to leave just before the mall closed. As we got to the parking lot, we notice thousands of people sitting on their cars and in chairs and found out that there was going to be a fire work show right there; so we stayed. It was really nice. Arrived back at the hotel around 11:00 p.m.
Saturday, July 5, we checked out of the hotel and went to IHOP for breakfast. We stopped at a Houston Plant and Flower store just north of Houston, but did not buy anything. Then we made the last minute decision to go fishing at Lake Livingston. After a quick stop at Wal Mart, we were off to the state park where we fished from yet another pier. I caught on striper and we both fed the fish until about 4:00 p.m., when we decided to come home. We arrived back at our house by 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, July 6, we went to church, shelled purple hull peas and basically rested. Now it is back to reality with our everyday life of work.