Reminder - Larry Gatlin and Me

Come and listen, all you who fear God, and I will tell you what he did for me. For I cried out to him for help, praising him as I spoke. If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. But God did listen! He paid attention to my prayer. Praise God, who did not ignore my prayer or withdraw his unfailing love from me.

Psalm 66:16-20 NLT

I've spent the last few hours going through cards, letters, old bills, old newspaper articles... a sales ad! Really?!? Most of it, I can recycle or shred, but right in the middle of it, some old family pictures. I don't know how they got mixed in with all that. Stuffing the stuff...

In the course of it, I happened upon some great and some not-so-great memories, but in my heart, I "visited" some of the milestones and landmarks of my life. God is so good! I am grateful to be able to remember, and I am grateful that I have the advantage of age to look back with an attitude of gratitude for all God has brought me through! At times like this, I always go back to what turned my life around and brought me to God, and I just felt like tonight, I wanted to share it again.

For me, it was this song. Help Me. Larry Gatlin wrote it and recorded it with Kris Kristofferson in 1972. I bought the record then, but didn't listen to it until sometime around 1980. A brief history of me at that time - paycheck on Friday, go to the bank, go to the liquor store, be drunk all weekend, sober up enough on Sunday to go to work on Monday. Be sick till Wednesday. Be good on Thursday, and start all over again on Friday. Broken. I was so broken...

This is my testimony - the shortened version. I'd been raised in church by a mother who tried, but I decided at 16 that I could never be good enough (I didn't know about God's amazing grace), so I walked away. By the time I listened to the entire song of Help Me, (ten years later), I was desperate. I knew I needed to get back to God, but couldn't find my way. I'd forgotten how to pray. I couldn't bring myself to even try to talk to God after all I'd done in a decade of debauchery. That's when I found the 45rpm record in my collection for the final time and actually listened to it all the way through for the FIRST time. God used my favorite singer to throw me a lifeline.

I am convinced that God gave that song to Larry Gatlin for me. It was the prayer of my life - for my life, of exactly where I was, and exactly what I needed.

If this resonates with you, let me tell you this. You're never too far gone. You've never done more than God will forgive. Jesus has already willingly paid the price for your soul. His grace truly IS amazing. God loves you and He will use everything at His command to get to you. Let Him know when you realize you need His help.

Prayer:

Father,
         I pray for the one reading this right now who needs to know Your saving grace. Please reveal Yourself in a very personal way so they know it's You. Save souls, heal their mind, body and spirit, and set them free from those things that tie them in knots, Father. Put people or things in their way that will point them to You. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

I'd Walk a Mile for...

[About Paul] And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus. This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.
Acts 19: 8-10 ESV

Paul was a very learned man. His education and training gave him the authority to teach in the synagogues wherever he went, but invariably those who were steeped in religion fought him at every turn. It was the Jewish people that followed him into the towns and created chaos and trouble. And here, his greatest strategy for spreading the Gospel sets the standard we can follow.

For 3 months, he taught in the synagogue until he caught a lot of flak from the so-called church folks. So rather than get into it with them, he just took his disciples and went elsewhere. No arguments, etc. Down to the Hall of Tyrannus. It was a lecture hall, not a church. It was a place for thinkers - open to all. He didn't have the written Scrolls of Law like he would have had available in the synagogue. He didn't have a Bible (and I'm sure he didn't know he was writing it). He testified...period. He spread the Good News of Jesus and what He had done in Paul's life and what He would do for everyonee. So that ALL the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord - Jews and Greeks, believers and unbelievers, over a period of two years. History estimates about two million people in all.

In the 30-some years of his ministry, Paul documented over 10,000 MILES of travel. Mostly by foot - walking and talking and telling the world about Jesus. And that only accounts for those trips he mentions. (I don't think he mentioned all of them - the side roads, etc.) Without a Bible, without a phone, without a computer and Internet or email. We have all of those things, so we have to ask ourselves, what are we doing to witness?

Prayer:

Father,
           Forgive us for being complacent. Baptize us anew with the fire of the Holy Spirit. Blow on the embers of our soul until we are ablaze to testify of Your great love. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

No Argument There

As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon possessed begged to go with him. But Jesus said, “No, go home to your family, and tell them everything the Lord has done for you and how merciful he has been.” So the man started off to visit the Ten Towns of that region and began to proclaim the great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed at what he told them.
Mark 5:18-20 NLT

Have you noticed that more and more people like to argue - and sometimes over the least inconsequential matter? Only now they call it sharing... Some like to argue just for the sake of arguing. I'm half-Italian; we can argue loud and long over just about anything. 

People will argue about the virgin birth, where the wise men first saw Jesus, walking on water, healing, belly buttons, for crying out loud. However, there is one thing people can't possibly argue about and that is your testimony of what God did for you. In the simple telling of how you got saved, there is no room for argument. 

Take a minute and allow yourselves to remember the details of how and when you got saved. You don't need to get into a great theological discussion or debate. Go ahead. Think about it. Rehearse it... Pray for divine appointments, then go tell it. They can't argue with your testimony. 

Prayer:

Father,
          Awaken within us a burning desire to spread the Good News to this lost and dying world. Fan the flame within us so that no one within the sound of our voice spends eternity in hell. Bring peace and confidence - a holy boldness, Father. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen.

*This is My Story - Used to Be

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
2nd Corinthians 5:17 NKJV

You've heard it before. My testimony. However, the apostle Paul told his story everywhere he went. I'm telling part of mine again. 

People frequently ask me where I get the ideas for the Promise. I think God brings every day of our lives into His keeping. Therefore, everyday situations are not something that happen apart from our Christianity, but rather an opportunity to grow and mature - and to recognize the presence of God in every moment. Now with all that seemingly serious profundity, I'll tell you that today's Promise came from thinking about cleaning the coils on my refrigerator.

I'll spare you the gory details... Used to be, when I worked construction, I actually started as a painter. As an apprentice, you don't get to roll right away, you have to cut in and do baseboards and trim. Crawl around for most of the day, up and down the ladder. Great cardio, but boring. I was thinking about all that, and about how we used to knock out 2 to 3 apartments a day (determined by how many bedrooms)...all that crawling and all that up and down. Used to be, I could do that without even giving it a thought. However, cleaning coils on the refrigerator took an engineering epiphany just to get TO the floor; never mind, getting back up.

Used to be, I played competition volleyball. Used to be, I could carry 2 five-gallon buckets of paint up 3 flights of stairs and not even be winded. Used to be, I could lift 100-pound sacks of flour without batting an eye. Now there are days I'd better grab the 5-pound bag just right, or I will drop it.

As I was writing my own Book of Lamentations in my mind, while trying to get UP off the floor after cleaning the coils on my refrigerator, the Lord reminded me about how it used to be. Used to be when I worked construction, I was drunk by 6 o'clock on Friday night and stayed drunk until Sunday night and spent 3 days recovering, so I could start the whole process again the next weekend. Now, I get high on worshipping the Lord.

Used to be when I was lifting 100-pound sacks of flour, I was quietly going out of my mind because of the pain in my soul and the torment in my mind. Now, I battle the powers of hell and live in peace because my mind is stayed on Him.

Used to be...oh, really! Why go there? 

Used to be doesn't live here anymore... and I thank God for that every day. Praise His Holy Name!

Prayer:

Father,
          You overwhelm me with Your love and Your care. I have never done anything worthy to be called Your child and yet, You chose me to be Yours. O for a thousand tongues to sing praises to You! Help me to always see You in every moment of my life. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

* Testify

He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Matthew 16:15-16 NKJV

Have you ever been called to be a character witness for someone? You're brought to a court of law, sworn in and then you proceed to tell what you know firsthand, as it applies to the person in question and the situation. You cannot be a character witness on hearsay. You cannot testify based on he-said-she-said or what you heard from someone else. It has to be personal knowledge. You must have learned it yourself during the time you spent with the person - good times and the bad. You know because you've been there with them, or they've been with you. You are able to testify for them and your testimony is entered into the court documents.

They were in the Caesarea Philippi region when Jesus asked His disciples what people had to say about who He was. They told Him some thought He was John the Baptist, some Elijah, or Jeremiah, or one of the other prophets. Jesus asked what they thought - His disciples - as the ones who walked with Him, the ones who knew Him on a daily basis, they KNEW who He was. They witnessed the miracles not only to the multitudes but in their own personal lives. They were eyewitnesses to the details and the deity of His life and they were able to say unequivocally, "You are the Christ."

Ten of the remaining eleven disciples who walked with Jesus were martyred for their testimonies. And they weren't the only ones. In ancient Rome, Christians were crucified, given over to the lions, beheaded, and burned alive on stakes to light the gardens of Nero. Yet, they held on to their testimonies right to their deaths. So far, that hasn't happened to Christians in the United States, but intense persecution IS happening to Christian brothers and sisters in other countries around the world and we must pray for them.

We are overcomers - victorious - by the Blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony, according to Revelation 12:11. Jesus the Christ died on the Cross at Calvary for our salvation - so the Blood of the Lamb part is already done. It's the word of our testimony that completes the act of overcoming.

You cannot testify to what you don't know. You would NEVER give a testimony that may cost your life or your freedom, based on hearsay. Do you know Him well enough to testify? To overcome? We're not talking about what your Mama says about Him or even what your grandmother said. Nor what the Sunday School teacher or the preacher told you. Who do YOU say that He is? What is He to your life? Will you - can you testify?

Prayer:

Father,
            We want to know You more - in every fiber of our being. We want to testify about Who and what we know. Give us the courage of Your convicting power. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

* The History of His Stories

So commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these words of mine. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. Teach them to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, so that as long as the sky remains above the earth, you and your children may flourish in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors.
Deuteronomy 11:18-21 NLT

When my kids were little, I used to read to them. And like all kids, they loved it. But what they loved more was the stories I used to tell them about other family members - pieces of the history of their lives. Most every family has them - even if your childhood wasn't Ozzie and Harriet - stories they tell over and over because the kids love to hear them. I was reminded of our text and this very thing tonight as my granddaughter, Amelia, and I sat talking about life and how God puts us all together for a reason and a purpose. His stories intertwined in ours.

I used to wonder why it always seemed like it was the older ladies who told the best stories. But tonight, I experienced the God-given "Aha! moment" as to why that is the case. When I was a young mother, I just tried to hang in there well enough to get through life and do what I had to do to keep my head above water. And most days seemed like they came in like a flood. I knew God was out there and I knew somehow He would see me through because His Word said so.

When I was young and declared, "I've never seen the righteous forsaken or God's seed begging bread." I was declaring it by faith! Now that I am older, when I say the same thing, I am testifying of the proven goodness of God!

When I was young and declared, "And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them." I was declaring it by faith! Now that I am older, when I say the same thing, I am testifying! You see, I've got many completed stories. It's the history of His Stories completing our stories.

Prayer:

Father,
           Thank You for loving us enough to bring all of us together, as only You can. Bind our hearts and souls together to You with your love, Lord, and bring all things to our remembrance, so that we don't forget anything You have done for us. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen