There I Go Sinning Again

I get so tired of failing when it comes to following Jesus.  I mean I want to do the right thing then before you know it I do the wrong thing again. This used to overwhelm me with a feeling of failure, but know that I have grown much in my faith I know that God uses both my successes and my failures to develop me. So when I fail I hate it, yet I press on toward the goal of my salvation which is perfection in Christ. 
It is good to know that God loves me just the way that I am but He loves me too much to let us stay that way. God calls us to a relationship with Him so that He can work out our sinfulness and make us like His perfect Son Jesus. We strive for perfection and we will fail every now and then, but there is coming a day when we will say and do the right thing in every situation. Until then we are free to fail as we work out our salvation learning who we are, who He is and how we get life right.
We live like we are taking a college course and we are overwhelmed with the syllabus until the teacher says you have an A but you still have to do the work. The pressure is gone, so we focus on learning no making grades.  Or we are playing for the national championship in football but the pressure is off because the Lord sends and angel to let us how know we win by 3.  The pressure is off so we have the game of our lives. 

By knowing that one day I will be perfect like Jesus I chose to seek to be like him daily. Since God has predestined me to be conformed into the image of Jesus and I know that God has changed my heart and made me into someone who desires to be transformed. I rest understanding that he Has given me the ability to change through the struggles and failures of my life. I am comforted realizing that when God look at me and my failed behavior He see Jesus not sinful me. Therefore I am compelled even more to peruse holiness so that I will be perfect as He is perfect.  

He Did What We Could Not

Once there was a loving father who had two sons. One was a teenager with lots of wisdom and a good heart. The other was an average 4 year old, only this young fellow had way too much confidence in himself. He thought he was smarter than his dad and that he could do anything. He always wanted to pour the milk on his cereal, but it would spill all over the counter. When his dad painted his room he vehemently insisted that he could paint it himself. Oh what a fiasco that was! So dad, being a good, good father decided to humble the boy through a real life experience. So he told the 4 year old to go get his iPad down and Google “Little Caesars” get the phone number and call and order a medium pizza. By the way dad had put the iPad on the shelf in the utility room way out of the reach of his son. Then he said if you don’t do what I have said I am going to give you a whipping you will never forget. The 4 year old was frantic because he could not read to Google “Little Caesars.” It was then that the teenage brother stepped up and got the iPad, Googled the number and ordered the pizza. The 4 year old was thankful for his brother who did what was impossible for him. He was helpless but his brother did what he could not do.

This is what Jesus did for us, God set a standard we could not meet (perfection) then He sent Jesus to meet the standard for us. Therefore we do not boast in our efforts but in the perfect effort of Jesus who acted on our behalf.  

We were created by God to glorify God. By extending us mercy we become greatful to God. Then by grace through faith we are spared from the penalty of our sin and are compelled to worship our Savior who did what we could not. To God be the glory for the things He has done through the crucifixion of Jesus! 

Good Parenting

As a grandfather of three I now get to look at my children and watch them raise their kids in the nurture and admonition of the Lord just as my wife and I tried diligently to do with our children. Admittedly as parents some things we did pretty well and some things we did not. Here I desire to share a few of the things the Lord taught us as we learned to parent over time. The first and perhaps the most important thing about raising kids we learned was mold their hearts. By bringing them to Jesus and letting the Holy Spirit develop their heart into one that lives and works out of a personal desire to serve God our children became people who obeyed God out of love and not out of expectation of God’s blessing. When a child is expecting blessing they learn to do what brings them a reward. They begin to forget about walking through life in a loving caring graceful way and become task oriented and the task they will be oriented to will be the one that produces personal reward even at the cost of others’ feelings, needs and good.

The second principle for raising kids is model the life of a person who walks in the way of Jesus. When kids see Mom & Dad do things, to them it is a powerful approval of that which is done. Parents are the first authority a child learns. To the little one’s mind the parent is a god, so your behavior becomes the standard for life. If you do something so will they no matter what you say. The old saying “don’t do as I do, do as I say” becomes worthless babble.

Next teach them truth. The only place absolute truth can be found is in the Bible. All other cultural and social norms are subject to the people with the loudest voices. Read the Bible learn what it means then live it and speak it to the young ones in your home. Another piece of advice is discipline yourself out of a job. Find the method of discipline that works with each individual child then use that discipline to develop them into good decision makers who are self-motivated.

Finally pray for your children as though their lives depend on it because it does. Ask God to give them wisdom, protect them from evil, show them the way of Jesus and to send them a mate who will bring out the best in them later in life. Don’t just assume your kids will turn out all right. Children are complicated and need lots of quality time. Many advertisers, religions and social movements are coming after them. You need to protect them and point them toward being the gracious, loving, caring, productive person God created them to be.

Spread the Word

“I have made you a light for the Gentiles to bring salvation to the ends of the earth.”

Acts 13:47

As followers of Jesus we look forward to the time when Jesus returns to earth to set up His Kingdom. Then and only then will everything be as it should be. The curse of sin will be removed and every person will live in a way perfectly aligned to God’s will. Everyone will say and do the right thing. Life will truly be “Heaven.”

But, so far, Jesus has not returned and it may or may not be a while before He does. Until then we are to persist in praying and asking the Father to make right the wrongs caused by sin’s destructive force.

We pray for justice and we explain to everyone that there is good news even in this world of chaos. We let them know that our future in the Kingdom of God is set when we realize we cannot fix ourselves but that God can. In repentance we humble ourselves before Him and through faith save us by His grace. 

When Jesus returns we will be like Him. We will be perfect as He is perfect. Until then we simply realize our failure and cry out to God for mercy. He supplies mercy and grace as we humbly fall at His feet. He lifts us up and makes us people who are becoming more like Jesus. He is holy so He makes us holy as we learn and apply the Bible to our daily lives.

Missions Giving Opportunity

In the month of July we are receiving a general missions offering. This offering is used to supplement short-term missions. For several years now each July you have participated in praying for and giving to this endeavor. Thank you for your prayers and generosity. You have made a tremendous difference if the Kingdom of God. 

From the family at Ridglea we have sent people to Kentucky, Nevada, New Orleans, Honduras, Guatemala, Southeast Asia, Africa and Haiti. In addition we are able to take the gospel to our very own county via Home of Grace, the Women’s Shelter, Seaman’s Center, Stephen Center, the Haven and Our Daily Bread. Also we are able to go to the Mission of Hope, Ronald McDonald House and The Baptist’s Children Village. What a joy it is to Pastor a people who are so mission minded, a people who understand the importance of the gospel! You the individual people at Ridglea hear the call of God and take it seriously.

You give your money and time to be on mission with God. I am asking that those of you who are able and are not called to go out of our home county to look and see if God has supplied you with something extra to give. If He has, I assure you this is a worthy cause.

May the Lord of the universe bless you as you give out of what He has blessed you with. My prayer for you today is that God would allow you to give above and beyond your ability. Lord bless the gifts and the givers.

In Paul’s letter to the church at Corinth he stressed loving others. In the final chapter he says, “Do everything in love.” When a disciple sees the depths of God’s love for them it pushes them to seek holiness and as they become more holy the Holy Spirit takes up a greater portion of their heart. The Spirit then produces the fruit of love in ever-increasing quantities. The disciple learns the meaning of love through their walk with Jesus as the Holy Spirit takes their knowledge of God’s Word and causes them to do for others as they wish others would do for them. They not only love other believers but they grow in love for the unlovely. By God’s power they see others through the eyes of God and treat them with kindness, compassion. Godly wisdom guides their daily action. They developed into people who are not just heares of the Word but doers as well. 

Independance Day the Geart of the Matter

Jesus said, "You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free."  Those are good words for us today as citizens of the good ol' USA.  Our nation was founded by men who knew what it was like to be under the yoke of an oppressive rule.  So they set out to form a more perfect union where each man could be free to live as he saw fit yet walk side by side with men of differing opinions. 

Laws often have unintended consequences.  The rulers of a land pass laws to regulate man's behavior, then the man finds a way around the regulation to do what his heart intended to do anyway.  Laws are not the answer and Jesus knew this.  As He dealt with the Pharisees (experts in the law), He began to show them it's not the law that matters, it is the intent of a person's heart.  God has always known this.  If a man or woman will yield their heart to God's Holy Spirit, that heart will develop a deep love for God and a genuine love for people.  This love will motivate them to look out for and care for those they are around daily.  

As a nation we would do well to stop forcing people to be conformed to man made rules and introduce them to the very one who will forgive their failures and cause them to have hearts that long to do what is right and take care to be kind, loving, and compassionate to all other people. 

To those in positions of political authority I say, slow down on passing new legislation and spend time getting to know God and His Son, Jesus.  As you do, you will come to know the truth, and that truth will set you free from the bondage of sin and make you a better leader. God has a heart for people.  Let Him show you the way to true freedom.  For His yoke is easy and His burden is light.

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