The other day, it fell my lot to do some work around the church...
Easter is coming...
Need to fix up the flowerbeds and freshen them up with new colors, etc.
My day led me to Houston Garden Center...
There I began to browse through the different plants and shrubs which were available...
While examining a particularly beautiful blooming shrub, the individual who was with me made the statement...
"When choosing the proper plant for your garden, do not look at the blossoms, but rather the buds."
I was astounded at the simple wisdom of this statement...
It matters very little what is blossoming on the plant right now...
The more important thing is the potential for future blooms...
What is there right now will wither away...
But the buds indicate the life held within the plant...
When facing decisions...
and choices...
regarding the future of your life, family, and ministry...
Choose buds over blooms...
There may be a place available that looks great NOW...
But what will it look like when the current blooms are no longer present...
and there are no buds on the branch...
Choose buds...
Buds do not beautify immediately...
Buds have no smell...
Buds are almost invisible to the casual observer...
However, buds are the indication of a secure future...
Blooms look good now, but wither quickly...
Someone reading this is facing a decision regarding your future...
Choose the buds rather than the blossoms...
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Captive...not slain.
1 Samuel 30
1And it came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire;
2And had taken the women captives, that were therein: they slew not any, either great or small, but carried them away, and went on their way.
As bad as a day could get...
David's emotional forecast was bad and getting worse...
Still on the run from Saul...
And driven away from the Philistines because of his feigned madness...
He and his ragtag band of misfits made their way back home...
As they neared the city, smoke filled the horizon ahead...
Thick, black smoke that could only mean one thing...
Fear and horror gripped the men as their pace quickened...
And over the next swelling hilltop, their eyes fastened upon the scene and their worst fears were realized with a sickening feeling in like a brick in their stomachs...
Ziklag had been destroyed...
Completely...
David and his men were devastated...
They wept until there was no more power to weep...
In fact, his followers discussed stoning him...
8And David enquired at the LORD, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all.
You know why God told him to overtake them and recover all?
Because the women and children...
Which they loved so dearly...
Were merely CAPTIVE...
not SLAIN...
Your life might look like the smoldering ruins of Ziklag...
The small purpose and position of Ziklag...
Lies ruined by fire and smoke...
And the things you hold so dearly have been stripped away...
The tears flowed freely at first...
But now you "have no more power to weep."
You shall pursue...
Overtake...
Recover...
All...
You will recover all...
Because your "ALL" is not slain...
Merely captive...
And...
Like David...
When you walk back in to Ziklag...
You will be returning with more than you lost...
For God has a way of repaying...
I have seen His way...
They are Captive...not Slain.
It's All Good!
t’s All Good
Gen 41:34-37
34 Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint officers over the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years.
35 And let them gather all the food of those good years that come, and lay up corn under the hand of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities.
36 And that food shall be for store to the land against the seven years of famine, which shall be in the land of Egypt; that the land perish not through the famine.
37 And the thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants.
I. Creation.
God is an awesome God…
He is the Creator of all things…
It was the power of His spoken Word…
Word that would later become flesh and dwell among us to atone for our sins…
This Word when it was spoken altered the natural elements…
In fact Genesis 1:1 says “…God created the heavens and the earth.”
1:2 “And the earth was without form and void.”
How could God with so much ability and power create something that was without form and void?
Did He make a mistake?
Did He underestimate cost projections?
Did his material list exceed budget, thus causing Him to cut corners?
I say NO A THOUSAND TIMES NO!
God makes no mistakes…
He does not create failures…
Your life may seem ‘without form and void,’ but you are not here by accident.
He then began to take what had already been created and chisel away at it in order to improve upon His creation.
Your life is a creation of the almighty…
If you have been filled with His Spirit and baptized in His Name, you have the authentication of the Master Designer’s signature upon the canvas of your life.
He began to make improvements upon His creation.
Is anybody here glad that God is still making improvements in your life?
You are in a dangerous place when you no longer feel the abrasive sandpaper of the Word being spoken into your life and IMPROVING you.
God, keep improving me!!
The old Sunday School song says, “He’s still working on me to make me what I ought to be. It took Him just a week to make the moon and the stars, the sun and the earth and Jupiterand Mars. HOW LOVING AND PATIENT HE MUST BE, ‘CAUSE HE’S STILL WORKING ON ME.”
God began to change things that were without form and void, take a step back to admire His work, and this was His commentary: It is Good.
My title today is: It’s All Good.
He saw the light and it was good…
He thought the dry land being separated from the seas was good…
He saw the vegetation: grass, herbs, trees…that was good too
Light was divided from darkness, and that was good…
He created the animals after their own kind and saw that it was good…
Then he made man on the sixth day…
Took a step back to get a good look…
Said to Himself (Because He had searched and found no other God to talk to) “Ii is very good!”
He had just made man…
It was still very good…
Man was His prize creation…
Made in the very image of God…
The first Adam; mirror image of the second Adam.
The most intricate of His creations he saved until last…
Was it because He needed practice?
Was it because He wanted to hone His creative skills?
Did he need to work His way up the creative ladder?
Absolutely not!
The reason that He waited until everything else was done to create man was ….
If He had created man first, God would have heard nothing but Adam informing Him of all that was still not finished.
Look at somebody and say, “It’s all good!”
It may not be finished, but things are good…
II. What’s good about that?
In our text, we peek into the lives of a nation that was on the brink of starvation…
Pharaoh had just had a dream that no one could interpret…
None of his advisors had an answer…
He looked in the universities for an interpretation…
He interviewed his sorcerers to no avail…
But there was a dirty little Hebrew man down in a dungeon…
He had been kidnapped and beaten…
He had been sold into slavery…
He had been resold…
He had been seduced…
Falsely accused…
Falsely imprisoned…
Forgotten by the cup bearer…
Now he is called upon to interpret a dream…
Pharaoh the future looks bleak…
You better enjoy the next few years, because famine is coming…
Pharaoh, an unsaved man, looks at this situation and says, “It’s All Good!”
In his eyes, and in the eyes of his servants the thing looked good.
Facing famine…
It’s all good!
Joseph now is facing his brothers…
All that terrible stuff that has happened to me, you meant it for evil, but God meant it for good…
It’s all good!
Ruth 2:22-23
22 And Naomi said unto Ruth her daughter in law, It is good, my daughter, that thou go out with his maidens, that they meet thee not in any other field.
23 So she kept fast by the maidens of Boaz to glean unto the end of barley harvest and of wheat harvest; and dwelt with her mother in law.
What’s so good about that?
You have lost your husband and your sons…
You have come back home with your tail tucked between your legs…
You are living off of the charity of others…
What’s so GOOD?
She had something in her spirit that was in tune with the mind of God…
It may mot be perfect, but it is good!!
2 Chron 19:1-3
19:1 And Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned to his house in peace to Jerusalem.
2 And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to king Jehoshaphat, Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the LORD? therefore is wrath upon thee from before the LORD.
3 Nevertheless there are good things found in thee, in that thou hast taken away the groves out of the land, and hast prepared thine heart to seek God.
Jehoshaphat, you are heading down the wrong road, but there is still good in you.
Some of you constantly allow the devil to win the battle of the mind…
He tells you that because of your shortcomings, you are useless to God…
I am here to tell you that you may not have all of your ducks in a row today, but there is good to be found in you!!
You still have the potential to become something great for God!
It’s all good!!
Neh 13:30-31
30 Thus cleansed I them from all strangers, and appointed the wards of the priests and the Levites, every one in his business;
31 And for the wood offering, at times appointed, and for the firstfruits. Remember me, O my God, for good.
Nehemiah understood it…
There are a lot of things that God could remember me for…
My prayer is God remember me for the good things that I have done…
I know that there may be fewer good things, but, God, block all of that other junk out and remember the GOOD.
Ps 119:71
71 It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.
David had been afflicted as much as any man…
He had been betrayed…
He had been abused…
Saul had tried to kill him on many occasions…
He was anointed to be king, but he fled to the caves…
He was supposed to live in mansions of royalty, but he dwelt with a band of misfits.
He knew that he deserved better, and that was what hurt so bad…
How can you say that it was GOOD that you were afflicted?
Well, it was not easy, but it was good…
It was not pleasant, but it was good…
It was painful, but it was good…
It was embarrassing, but it was good…
He knew that even though he had been anointed as a young man, he still had to pay his dues…
This is a message for all young whippersnappers who have had the anointing oil poured over your nappy head and hairless face…
You may have the oil, but you still have to earn your place!!
You don’t deserve the the PALACE until you have PAID.
You don’t deserve the THRONE until you have come THROUGH some things.
Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
As long as you love God, and you are following His purpose for your life, It’s all good!!
Your way may not be easy, but it will be good.
“All things”
Have you ever seen a mosaic piece of art?
All of those little fragments of glass…
Fragments of previous purpose…
Shards of shame and second guessing…
Somehow God, the Almighty Artist, is able to take all of those fragments, pieces, and shards and piece them together into a masterpiece that cannot be purchased with silver or gold, only blood…
Have faith today!!
Your life may not be awesome yet, but it is good.
Your family may not be great, but it is good.
Your marriage may not be perfect, but it is good.
Notice that God did not look at creation and say it is “finished”…
He said it is GOOD…
Ps 37:23
3 The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.
You may not be a great man, but you are good…
Because you are good, your steps will be ordered by God.
Ordered steps are easier to take…
Ordered steps have direction…
Your church may not be perfect, but it is good…
My home is not awesome, but it is GOOD!!!!!
It’s All Good!!
Gen 41:34-37
34 Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint officers over the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years.
35 And let them gather all the food of those good years that come, and lay up corn under the hand of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities.
36 And that food shall be for store to the land against the seven years of famine, which shall be in the land of Egypt; that the land perish not through the famine.
37 And the thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants.
I. Creation.
God is an awesome God…
He is the Creator of all things…
It was the power of His spoken Word…
Word that would later become flesh and dwell among us to atone for our sins…
This Word when it was spoken altered the natural elements…
In fact Genesis 1:1 says “…God created the heavens and the earth.”
1:2 “And the earth was without form and void.”
How could God with so much ability and power create something that was without form and void?
Did He make a mistake?
Did He underestimate cost projections?
Did his material list exceed budget, thus causing Him to cut corners?
I say NO A THOUSAND TIMES NO!
God makes no mistakes…
He does not create failures…
Your life may seem ‘without form and void,’ but you are not here by accident.
He then began to take what had already been created and chisel away at it in order to improve upon His creation.
Your life is a creation of the almighty…
If you have been filled with His Spirit and baptized in His Name, you have the authentication of the Master Designer’s signature upon the canvas of your life.
He began to make improvements upon His creation.
Is anybody here glad that God is still making improvements in your life?
You are in a dangerous place when you no longer feel the abrasive sandpaper of the Word being spoken into your life and IMPROVING you.
God, keep improving me!!
The old Sunday School song says, “He’s still working on me to make me what I ought to be. It took Him just a week to make the moon and the stars, the sun and the earth and Jupiterand Mars. HOW LOVING AND PATIENT HE MUST BE, ‘CAUSE HE’S STILL WORKING ON ME.”
God began to change things that were without form and void, take a step back to admire His work, and this was His commentary: It is Good.
My title today is: It’s All Good.
He saw the light and it was good…
He thought the dry land being separated from the seas was good…
He saw the vegetation: grass, herbs, trees…that was good too
Light was divided from darkness, and that was good…
He created the animals after their own kind and saw that it was good…
Then he made man on the sixth day…
Took a step back to get a good look…
Said to Himself (Because He had searched and found no other God to talk to) “Ii is very good!”
He had just made man…
It was still very good…
Man was His prize creation…
Made in the very image of God…
The first Adam; mirror image of the second Adam.
The most intricate of His creations he saved until last…
Was it because He needed practice?
Was it because He wanted to hone His creative skills?
Did he need to work His way up the creative ladder?
Absolutely not!
The reason that He waited until everything else was done to create man was ….
If He had created man first, God would have heard nothing but Adam informing Him of all that was still not finished.
Look at somebody and say, “It’s all good!”
It may not be finished, but things are good…
II. What’s good about that?
In our text, we peek into the lives of a nation that was on the brink of starvation…
Pharaoh had just had a dream that no one could interpret…
None of his advisors had an answer…
He looked in the universities for an interpretation…
He interviewed his sorcerers to no avail…
But there was a dirty little Hebrew man down in a dungeon…
He had been kidnapped and beaten…
He had been sold into slavery…
He had been resold…
He had been seduced…
Falsely accused…
Falsely imprisoned…
Forgotten by the cup bearer…
Now he is called upon to interpret a dream…
Pharaoh the future looks bleak…
You better enjoy the next few years, because famine is coming…
Pharaoh, an unsaved man, looks at this situation and says, “It’s All Good!”
In his eyes, and in the eyes of his servants the thing looked good.
Facing famine…
It’s all good!
Joseph now is facing his brothers…
All that terrible stuff that has happened to me, you meant it for evil, but God meant it for good…
It’s all good!
Ruth 2:22-23
22 And Naomi said unto Ruth her daughter in law, It is good, my daughter, that thou go out with his maidens, that they meet thee not in any other field.
23 So she kept fast by the maidens of Boaz to glean unto the end of barley harvest and of wheat harvest; and dwelt with her mother in law.
What’s so good about that?
You have lost your husband and your sons…
You have come back home with your tail tucked between your legs…
You are living off of the charity of others…
What’s so GOOD?
She had something in her spirit that was in tune with the mind of God…
It may mot be perfect, but it is good!!
2 Chron 19:1-3
19:1 And Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned to his house in peace to Jerusalem.
2 And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to king Jehoshaphat, Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the LORD? therefore is wrath upon thee from before the LORD.
3 Nevertheless there are good things found in thee, in that thou hast taken away the groves out of the land, and hast prepared thine heart to seek God.
Jehoshaphat, you are heading down the wrong road, but there is still good in you.
Some of you constantly allow the devil to win the battle of the mind…
He tells you that because of your shortcomings, you are useless to God…
I am here to tell you that you may not have all of your ducks in a row today, but there is good to be found in you!!
You still have the potential to become something great for God!
It’s all good!!
Neh 13:30-31
30 Thus cleansed I them from all strangers, and appointed the wards of the priests and the Levites, every one in his business;
31 And for the wood offering, at times appointed, and for the firstfruits. Remember me, O my God, for good.
Nehemiah understood it…
There are a lot of things that God could remember me for…
My prayer is God remember me for the good things that I have done…
I know that there may be fewer good things, but, God, block all of that other junk out and remember the GOOD.
Ps 119:71
71 It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.
David had been afflicted as much as any man…
He had been betrayed…
He had been abused…
Saul had tried to kill him on many occasions…
He was anointed to be king, but he fled to the caves…
He was supposed to live in mansions of royalty, but he dwelt with a band of misfits.
He knew that he deserved better, and that was what hurt so bad…
How can you say that it was GOOD that you were afflicted?
Well, it was not easy, but it was good…
It was not pleasant, but it was good…
It was painful, but it was good…
It was embarrassing, but it was good…
He knew that even though he had been anointed as a young man, he still had to pay his dues…
This is a message for all young whippersnappers who have had the anointing oil poured over your nappy head and hairless face…
You may have the oil, but you still have to earn your place!!
You don’t deserve the the PALACE until you have PAID.
You don’t deserve the THRONE until you have come THROUGH some things.
Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
As long as you love God, and you are following His purpose for your life, It’s all good!!
Your way may not be easy, but it will be good.
“All things”
Have you ever seen a mosaic piece of art?
All of those little fragments of glass…
Fragments of previous purpose…
Shards of shame and second guessing…
Somehow God, the Almighty Artist, is able to take all of those fragments, pieces, and shards and piece them together into a masterpiece that cannot be purchased with silver or gold, only blood…
Have faith today!!
Your life may not be awesome yet, but it is good.
Your family may not be great, but it is good.
Your marriage may not be perfect, but it is good.
Notice that God did not look at creation and say it is “finished”…
He said it is GOOD…
Ps 37:23
3 The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.
You may not be a great man, but you are good…
Because you are good, your steps will be ordered by God.
Ordered steps are easier to take…
Ordered steps have direction…
Your church may not be perfect, but it is good…
My home is not awesome, but it is GOOD!!!!!
It’s All Good!!
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