Beyond Description

“Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time. And when he saw that (like Peter, took eyes off the Lord)…[He] came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die.”

(1 Kgs. 19:2-4)

Powerless, lifeless, emptiness—do you feel any of these adjectives portrays your church, family, or ministry? And even worse, are they descriptive of your personal life, spiritually? If so, I know one thing for sure, the thrill of the spiritual is gone out of your life. What I mean by this is that you have lost the excitement of the eternal. And if this be the case, there really are no meaningful words in any dictionary to describe your wretched condition. As the little saying goes, “It’s beyond description.”

We can come up with all types of quack remedies for our ailment, but in the end we’ll find no healing virtue in any of them. What got us in the rut is what will get us out of it. In other words, the cure is to be found in the cause. And so, what is at the root of it? It’s actually very simple; somewhere along the way we lost the Wonder of it all. We allowed things to bring about a spiritual eclipse of HIM. Our attention moved from the Giver to the gifts. “He who hath builded the house [no longer] hath more honour than the house.”

May each of us crawl to Christ, begging His forgiveness, for allowing our virtues to become our vices, thereby distorting our vision of Him.

Possibly-You Only

“But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not.”

(Lk. 22:32)

I personally doubt anyone else in this world was praying for Peter at this particular time, other than “The Man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2:5). It came to me after meditating upon this text that I should pray for others as if no one else were. What an awesome responsibility this brings to our prayer life. Everything concerning another’s well being is dependent on us.

Think of it, without another’s prayer for this fainting and faltering saint, he would have been completely abandoned to a merciless devil. Such people with no intercessor can truly say with darling David, “No man cared for my soul.” I recently did an article entitled, “The Golden Rule of Prayer.” Would you want others to pray for you as you do for them?

“Have the clouds round you gathered in the midst of the storm?

Is your ship tossed and battered are you weary and worn

Don’t lose hope: someone’s praying for you this very day

And peace be still is already on the way.

Someone is praying for you, someone is praying for you.

So when it seems you're all alone, and your heart will break in two.

Remember someone is praying for you.”

ARE YOU?

Keep Your Helmet On

"And take the helmet of salvation." 

In the garden of Eden, speaking prophetically, God said Satan would bruise Christ's heal (temporary wound), and that Christ would bruise Satan's head (permanent wound). Because of this latter truth it is imperative as Christian soldiers we put on the helmet the Lord has provided us. A first century Roman soldier when suddenly attacked, after reaching for his sword and shield would lay hold on his helmet.

Satan's main battle is for our minds. That is our intellect, understanding, thinking, our brain if you please. Paul feared Satan would corrupt the minds of the Christians of his day, as he did Eve in the garden. The old communist manifesto said something akin to, "Wars are not won by weapons, but by ideals. Therefore get a man to think your way and you have defeated him."

The helmet the Lord has furnished us with speaks of a mind controlled by God. What a tragedy that so many Christians today have the idea the intellect is not important, when in reality it has so much to do with our growth, service, and victory. Remember, everything that is in your heart came by way of the door of your mind.

In the classic story of David and Goliath found in 1 Sam. 17, we find a great practical truth. When the giant approached the shepherd boy he had a helmet of brass upon his head (v.5). But he had evidently sat down along the way. It says in verse 48, "When the Philistine arose."  Seeing such a small figure he must have become overconfident and left his helmet lying where he had been sitting, thinking it was not needed. But that was the ruin of him.

And so will it be with each of God's elect that do not take seriously the Divine protection of their minds.

The Stars and the Flowers

“He made the stars...Consider the lilies of the field”

We Christians are in great danger of forgetting that He who supernaturally made the stars of heaven also supernaturally made the flowers of the earth. The One who bade us to look at the stars, told us to look at the flowers also.

There are those who like to constantly remind us of this sin-cursed earth, and the “whole world lieth in wickedness.” Thus, they teach, we are to have nothing to do with it, nor enjoy it. But I would remind those who only look at the stars, as though that is more spiritual, to read the scripture that declares, “Behold...the heavens are not clean in His sight.”

The Bible consistently connects heaven and earth. The One who call the stars by name, calls His sheep by name. Throughout the Word, God teaches His children they are to enjoy both the heavenly and earthly. When God made promise to Abraham concerning his seed to come, He not only said, “Look now toward heaven...” but also said, “Lift up now thine eyes and look...” (referring to the dust of the earth).

Yes the earth is cursed, and the heavens are not clean. But for now, it’s like having a lovely child hideously scarred in a car accident; the scars do not take away all the child’s lovely characteristics. Someday there will be a New Heaven and a New Earth. God will perform an eternal plastic surgery and reconstruction on all those things that have been cursed by the fall. But never forget, until then we can enjoy both.

David enjoyed the stars. And a greater than David said we could take delight in the lilies of the field as well.

The Key to Our National Problems

“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

Contrary to many preachers, as well as laymen, the solution to our national problems is not Political, but Spiritual! The former never fixed anything permanently; it’s the same-old, same-old; promises, promises, all we get is promises. I speak from experience; I have lived through thirteen presidencies.

If you read the story of Balaam and his donkey, it is apparent that God locked him in so that he had only one way out of his predicament. This is true also with the Lord’s people today; He puts us in a position where there is no escape except the one of His choosing. We often say in dire times of testing, “All we can do now is pray.” The truth is, that’s all we could ever do. Maybe if we prayed before the crisis like we do after the crisis, we would not have as many crises.

The little plaque says, “Prayer changes things.” But the way many Christians handle national emergencies, they wasted their time putting it up on their wall. Their philosophy seems to be, when all else fails, try prayer. They go from a standing position to a kneeling one; Daniel went from a kneeling one, to that of standing. And believe me; this praying prophet knew what a national crisis was like.

Whether it is the nation Israel or any other nation in history, God blesses them for the sake of His people. Whenever He causes it to rain on the just and their crops, the unjust get in on it. You see, the latter are simply beneficiaries. Therefore, the Spiritual state of the Church is the key of His blessings upon our nation. I would remind each reader of this article of the old, old, gospel song, “It’s not my brother, nor my sister, but me, O Lord, standing in the need of prayer.”

Everyday should be a National Day of Prayer.

(rds)

A Beatitude

“Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.”

(Matt. 5:5)

Someone has said, “The Beatitudes are the attitude-to-be-at as a Christian.” The Sermon on the Mount is not a set of rules and regulations; it is the life we live once we yield to the indwelling Christ. At our conversion Jesus imparts to us His disposition. The workday world of this generation needs desperately to see His Beatitudes manifested once again in the life of His people.

One such Beatitude is meekness. If you take a concordance and search this word in your Bible, you’ll find God puts a high priority on this godly characteristic. Every man and woman who names the name of Christ should show forth this inward trait, outwardly. I say inward because of two main scriptures. [Jesus said’]“ I  am meek and lowly in heart.” (Matt. 11:29); and to the godly woman it says, “But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit” (1 Pet. 3:4).

Most today mistake meekness in the life of the godly. It is not weakness, timidity, fearfulness, or cowardness. It is inward moral strength held in check. Like a broken horse, it is energy or power under control. I like to say, “Meekness is strength with a bridle.” Moses was a man’s man, yet we are told, “Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.” (Num. 12:3) Christians today would not consider him so.

Paul said, “Shall I come unto you with a rod, or in  love, and in the spirit of meekness?” One can possess both!

“Meekness is a quiet strength.”

(rds)

Those Hanger-ons

I’ve read the Spartan’s of old, after conquering cities around them, would leave one close by. The purpose was, said they, was to keep them always alert and vigilant. In the book of Judges we find God left certain nations to prove His people. David seems to be calling attention to this in Psalm 59:11, where he asks the Lord, referring to his enemies, “Slay them not, lest my people forget.”

We can apply this, I believe, to a Christian’s individual life. The scriptures seem to bear out the fact this is also true of us. After one’s conversion, God leaves something of our old life that stays with us throughout our pilgrimage here on earth. Rather than being a hindrance, as most of us believe, actually, it’s a great help. It is the thing that keeps us humble and dependent upon Him; a constant reminder of the weakness of our flesh. Pray and plead all you want for its removal, but like Paul, who prayed fourteen years for God to take away his thorn; you will also get an emphatic “No.”

The very thing we have been praying against is the thing that has made us (if we are of any use at all) what we are today. The old Puritan had it right we he said, “Paul’s thorn was the tack that held back the veil, so he could see the face of Jesus more clearly.”

“Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities…for when I am weak, then am I strong.”

Maranatha-The Lord Cometh

“And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints.”

(Jude 1:14)

I have known prophetic Bible teachers so dogmatic about every little detail of Christ’s coming that those who were not of the same mind were treated like dogs! There is never an excuse for being uncharitable to a Christian brother. Great and godly men have differed on minor details throughout the centuries. The early Christians greeted one another with, “Maranatha” (The Lord Cometh). Not how or when He was returning, but the fact of His return. They were not dogged over details of little consequence.

It is possible to lose the blessed of the “Blessed Hope.” It’s not a rapture we are to look for, but our Redeemer; not a Kingdom, but rather, the King. We are not to be enthralled with an event, but a Person! Much of what is written about the Second Coming today needs to be put in the fiction section of bookstores, not alongside books about facts. To some, prophecy is no more than a novelty.

Many things about prophecy we will not understand until after it comes to pass. Jesus told His disciples, “I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it come to pass, ye might believe.” The implication is that they would not understand the full significance of foretold things until they were fulfilled. Hindsight, if you please.

“Maranatha! The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.

(1 Cor. 16:22-24)

The Spiritual Realm

“If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”

(Gal. 5:25)

There is no secular and sacred to one whose life is lived in the Spirit. All ground is holy ground to them, whether it is at church, play, or work. Those who live a life in the Spirit are characterized as being filled with the Spirit, led by the Spirit, walking in the Spirit, praying in the Spirit, etc. Such people are not religious oddities, who try to impress by flamboyant externals. You can decorate a Christmas tree, but it has no life. The thing that marks a spiritual person is their inward disposition. They are under Divine control in a world that is out of control.

These types of believers are not bound and shackled by a list of legalistic do’s and don’ts, dictated by someone who has appointed himself both judge and jury. They are not actors upon life’s stage, living by a script written for them by the hand of man. But rather, they are free men living by the Scriptures, written by the finger of God. These need no prompter behind the scenes, giving them their lines and dictating their every move. They have them written and engraved in their hearts, and an inward prompting directs all the right moves for them.

"We would rather live by a set of standards than live in the Spirit."

(Salle Jo Sandlin)

I Don't Care Anymore

Speaking to a friend by phone I made this statement, “Sometimes we Christians must have an, ‘I don’t care’ attitude.” Let me explain. In the area of which I speak there are two types of care: first, the legitimate kind you can do something about, and secondly, the illegitimate sort, of which nothing can be done. We must never worry about anything that cannot be affected or changed by us.

Paul tells us we are to “be careful for nothing” (full of care). That is, the latter kind mentioned above. Jesus taught His followers this type of care will cause one to lose their joy, and that the bounce in their spiritual step will cease. Unhealthy cares will directly hinder your fellowship with your Lord, as well as your brethren. Ask Martha, if you doubt me.

Those things in life we can do nothing about need to be thrown to the wind. Family, business, health, and politics, along with all other unsolvable problems, need to be treated as the chaff the Bible speaks of. “Let them be as chaff before the wind...like the chaff which the wind driveth away.” If you do not, that chaff will smother you to death. As Oswald Chambers has said, “It is okay to be on top of the feather bed, just don’t let it get on top of you.” My friends, let’s stay on top of things, and throw the rest to the wind!”

Finding Out for Yourself

Concerning a scripture found in the Old Testament book of Hosea, Jesus challenged the religious crowd of His day to, “[Go] ye and learn what that meaneth.” Evidently they didn’t take the time to discover its sense, for later on He says to them, “…if ye had known what this meaneth.” They knew what it said, but not what it meant. The former has to do with the letter, the latter with the spirit. It takes two wings to fly, if you’re to soar into the Heavenlies.

Far too many of us are echoes of what others say and believe. Such resonance from us carries an empty, hollow sound. Paul said we are to be fully persuaded in our own minds. And Jesus tells us that to accomplish this you must go and find out for yourself. There are times when you will spend days, weeks, yes, even months and longer, mulling over one text and its meaning. Read about some of Daniel's experiences along these lines, if you doubt this. The deep things of God are not revealed to shallow, superficial saints.

"The Bible sure do shed a lot of light on dem Commentaries!"

(quoted from an old-time black preacher)

Enjoying Life

“Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works.”

(Eccl. 9:7)

Enjoying life is a reoccurring theme in Ecclesiastes. Solomon brings it up on five different occasions. The Bible says we are to live life to its fullest. Jesus came not only that we might have life, but have it more abundantly! Yes, death is coming, but we are not to sit around and brood; but, rather, we are to enjoy richly all the things God has given us. There is a segment of Christianity today that is miserable, waiting for a Rapture to find joy, never realizing God has rapturous joys now in this life. Peter speaks about those who love life, 1 Pet. 3:10.

The man or woman, who knows the God who made the sun, can enjoy everything He gives us under the sun. There is nothing wrong with eating, drinking, and being merry as long as we do not (like the rich fool) leave God out of it. The prodigal son found out these things could be a blessing or a curse. Doing these things in the far country brought no joy, but once there was a sacrifice, he was able to enjoy them. Eating, drinking, and being merry can be devilish or delightful. It all depends on whether we find enjoyment in the things themselves or see them as special gifts from God. If the former, they are empty enjoyments; if the latter, there is fullness of joy.

"We can make the things of this life sensual or spiritual. It all depends on which side of the sun we view them from."

(rds)

Our Euroclydon

“But not long after there arose against it a tempestuous wind, called Euroclydon.”

(Acts 27:14)

*Please read the entire chapter

As we journey through life, each has his or her Euroclydon. The name is associated with a cyclonic tempestuous northeast wind that blows in the Mediterranean. Hence the old sailors’ yarn when a northeastern arises, “It’s going to be a Euroclydon.” That is, its a storm that is as bad as it can get, one where possibly all hope is taken away, as in our story.

Paul had been through many storms in his life and ministry, but there comes into each believer’s life what might be called the storm of all storms, one big one that each of us experiences only once, generally speaking. Job had his, Esther had hers, and yes our blessed Lord had His — a storm in which there is no light, where most everything has to be cast overboard, even some essentials.

What is one to do at such times? When all hope seems to have fled, when the tempest is tossing you up and down, when you have been stripped of almost everything, when no light has been seen for a long period of time? It is imperative at such a time for us, as Paul did before those hopeless mariners, to say, “BE OF GOOD CHEER: FOR I BELIEVE GOD, THAT IT SHALL BE EVEN AS IT WAS TOLD ME” (Read Rom. 8:28).

For some years I have worn an I.D. bracelet with an inscription on it of just three words. It has given me an opportunity to witness on various occasions. Recently a nurse at the VA noticed it and asked what it said. I showed it to her, tears welled up in her eyes and she choked up. After she contained herself she read it outloud, “I BELIEVE GOD.” Then added, “O, Mr. Sandlin, you’ll never know how much I needed that today!” I need it everyday, don’t you?

An Evening Stroll

During a walk with the Lord last evening I mused on the following glorious thought.

1. We were crucified with Him..."I am crucified with Christ..." Gal. 2:20

2. We were buried with Him..."Therefore we are buried with him..." Rom. 6:4

3. We raised with Him..."Wherein also ye are risen with him..."Col. 2:12

4. We're seated with Him..."And made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." Eph. 2:6

5. We are coming back with Him..."For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him." 1 Thess. 4:14

6. We will reign with Him…” We shall also reign with him.” 2 Tim. 2:12

7. We will live eternally with Him…”And so shall we ever be with the Lord.” 1 Thess. 4:17

AMEN, AMEN, and AMEN!

There Are Still a Few Left

“And he [Elijah] said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left….“[And God said] I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him...Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.”

(1 Kgs. 19:14,18;Rom. 11:5)

Whenever I hold the door for a woman, I always whisper as she passes, “There are still a few of us left.” Many of God’s good people today, and understandingly so, feel there is no one else out there, that they must go it alone. But at such times one must listen for that still small voice saying, “There are still a few of us left.”

No matter how bad it may appear on the surface, God has always had His fragment of followers, those who have“turned the world upside down,”as Luke’s inspired history tells us in Acts. You may not hear much about them but nevertheless they’re there. No need to fall into the Elijah syndrome; you’re not left alone!

One has coined the phrase, “The silent majority.” Old Dr. Bob Jones Sr. used to say to the young preacher boys leaving his school to go into various towns to start a work for God, “Boys, remember: into any community you enter, you and God make the majority.” Paul put it this way, “If God be for us who can be against us?

A young lieutenant with a railroad spike for a backbone told his outnumbered men, “Men, the enemy is all around us, don’t let one get away!”