Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Thirsty

Think back to the last time you were thirsty.  I'm talking super-duper thirsty.  That thirsty that says I'll drink out of the same cup as a total stranger with those bumps on their lips thirsty.  The only thing I can think about is getting that cool, refreshing, long lasting relief drink.  I just ate a saltine cracker with peanut butter and it's sticking on the way down kind of thirsty. The kind of thirsty that if I don't get a drink, and keep on drinking, then I will not live kind of thirsty!  It's the only thing I can think about thirsty.

Drinkable liquids are essential for human life.  The number one liquid being; that’s right, you guessed it… Sweet tea!  For us here in the south there is nothing greater than sweet tea that is made right.  You have to add the sweetness to the tea while it is still hot before cooling it down with ice.  Wow!  Makes me want to go to the nearest golden arches drive-thru and say, “One sweet tea please!” 

Okay, in reality, the most important liquid for life is water.  You may be reading this and wondering when the last time you were thirsty enough to drink a big, ice cold, refreshing glass of water.  Many people go through life trying to avoid water at all cost.  They will drink anything and everything except water.  No matter how thirsty they are; they refuse to drink water.  Even when a paid, professional doctor tells them to drink water; they don’t.  We often don’t recognize how important water is until we don’t have any available.  A summer drought hits or a water main breaks causing us to pay a little more attention to our need.

How thirsty are you right now?  While reading this article, have you thought about getting a drink?  Are you on the verge of dehydration every day, but do not even know it?  Do you want water, the best liquid known; or do you want to substitute the best with something less valuable?  Of course there are other things that are good to drink, and good for you too.  However, what is the best?  The best is water!  Our thirst is a powerful indicator of a deep and real need.  Hydration is necessary for sustaining life.

Here is what the Bible reads about thirst.  Psalm 42:1-2 (NLT) “As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God. I thirst for God, the living God... 

How thirsty are you?  Do you want a drink of the best?  More than water, do you thirst for God?  God desires a relationship with you!  The next time you take a drink of water, or even sweet tea, ask yourself if you are going after God in a similar manner to that deer going after the streams of water.  Are you thirsty?  Are you filling that thirst with the best?  Are you filling that longing deep inside of you with the living God?  Nothing else satisfies real, physical thirst like water.  Nothing else will ever satisfy you in this life either, except Jesus. 


Jesus said this about the difference between the water from a well and what he gives to people who come to Him in John 4:13-14 (NLT), “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again.  But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”

In Christ Alone and continuing in prayer,

Chad (Senior Pastor, Henderson General Baptist Church)

Get biblical reminders on being a #JesusFollower on your phone 2-3 times a week to challenge/encourage you; text "@jesusfo" to 270-282-7195.



Thursday, August 14, 2014

Faith in Action: What is a Lord?

In a previous blog I stated that “We need a Savior and Lord!  However, what does it really mean to have a “Lord?”  In the Old Testament we see God’s name (YHWH; Yahweh) given and translated into English with the use of all capital letters as ‘Lord.’  We often confuse the name of Jesus with this and think His name is Lord Jesus Christ.  To be very brief and overly simplistic; Jesus is His name, and Lord and Christ are titles given to Him (though I realize Romans 10:13 is used as a name in reference to Joel 2:32).  Jesus is the ‘Christ’ or the ‘Messiah.’  The Lord is who Jesus should be to you.  So what does it mean to make Jesus “The Lord” of your life?
 
In the “We need a Savior and Lord!” blog, Romans 10:9-10 was used where Paul writes, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.”  I have personally read those verses many times during my life.  Even for the other blog, I was using the verses for the idea of our need for a Savior and believing in Him to be saved.  After I posted that blog, I read it out loud again and I caught it.  I am fearful to say most people miss it too because we are all looking for a Savior and not a Lord.  The beginning of those verses reads, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord…”

Still being very simplistic; the word “Lord” is translated from the Greek word “kurios.”  To make him Lord, then I must make myself his “slave,” translated from the Greek word “doulos.” The issue has never been if you are a slave or if you have a lord.  The issue is who are you a slave to and who is your lord?  “Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living [Romans 6:16].” 

We cannot break free from the power of sin with our own strength and self-discipline.  We need a Savior to set us free from the chains of sin in our life that holds us captive to its will and its way of doing things! “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord [Romans 6:23].”  This free gift is here for anyone who will accept it.  Our Savior Jesus accepts everyone right where they are.  However, the Lord Jesus has no intention of leaving anyone there.  “Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living [Romans 6:18].” We have been set free from the power of sin in order to live our free life in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. 

After you have asked Jesus to be your Savior; make certain to declare Him the Lord of your life and not just a consultant in your life.  So... have you confessed with your mouth that Jesus is your Lord?  If so, then “let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up [Hebrews 12:1]."  If not, then don’t wait another moment longer.  “Confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord…” 


In Christ Alone and continuing in prayer,
 
Chad (Senior Pastor, Henderson General Baptist Church)

 
Get biblical reminders on being a #JesusFollower on your phone 2-3 times a week to challenge/encourage you; text "@jesusfo" to 270-282-7195.