Scripture
Make me walk along the path of Your commands, for that is where my happiness is found.
~Psalm 119:35, NLT
Quote
What we learn with the mind and understand with the heart must be obeyed by the will.
~Warren W. Wiersbe
The fifth stanza of Psalm 119 is the Hebrew letter ‘he’ and again the subject is God’s word. The Psalmist greatest fear was not of his enemies but of disgracing the LORD and bringing dishonor to His name. For this reason, he wanted to finish strong. Verse 33 is a prayer to this end…Teach me Your decrees, O LORD; I will keep them to the end. A good beginning ought to lead to a good ending but that is not always the case. Solomon had a great beginning but a sorry ending; so did Saul and Joash. Years ago, at an evangelism conference, I heard a speaker pray, “Lord, help me to finish with my testimony in tack.” I’ve prayed the prayer ever since. This stanza is filled with nuggets of truth but verse 35 really caught my attention….Make me walk along the path of Your commands, for that is where my happiness is found. Wow, what a verse! Have you ever meet an unhappy Baptist? I’m talking about people you cannot please. As Bill Cagle use to say, “Some people who would complain if you hung them with a new rope.” There are probably more unhappy Baptist than there are happy and I will tell you why–they are living in perpetual disobedience. Happiness is found in submission to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
I have discovered over the years that this deep misery in the soul that you see in so many church attenders comes from a rebellious heart. My very presence makes some folks feel uncomfortable because I am pursuing my call and they are not. Some of the most unhappy people in the world are those who have been called to preach but will not submit. They are active in church and many become leaders but they are not happy because they are not doing what God called them to do. God has called us all to be a witness but I challenge you to interview a group of Baptist–you will discover that nine out of ten have no intention of being a witness. They are like the Israelites in the wilderness who refused to fight because they were afraid of battle or conflict. These Israelites got to a certain point in their spiritual maturity and then stopped, they hit a wall and it is called rebellion or disobedience. Where ever that point of rebellion is in your life is where you will stop growing. With 90% of Christians, it is sharing their faith. Have you ever meet an unhappy soul-winner?
One other thing: A big part of our success in finishing well is to keep our eyes off of worthless things [v.37]. This world is filled with many distractions and it is easy to get side-tracked. Abraham stayed focus on the City who’s founder and builder was God while Lot cast an eye on Sodom. Abraham finished well but Lot was ensnared by this world and finished in disgrace. He lost everything he had and it was his own fault. Lot is a type of the carnal Christian, they will be saved from the fire but with no rewards. Their life work will go up in smoke because they were seduced by the world. To have one eye on the world and the other on the word is to be double-minded and the LORD will not bless double minded people [James 1:5-8]. Keep your eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting Him, He endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now He is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. [Heb. 12:2]
- Two good services and excellent attendance in both. I enjoyed getting to preach and hopefully the messages will help prepare us for REVIVAL with Wade in a little over two weeks.
- Team Guatemala gets in tonight: I am anxious to see my two little missionaries. I hope Josie kept a journal. I can’t wait to hear their report.
- Just four days until our ROCKYFORD block party. I know the 21st is not ideal date but I had to make a decision and just pick a day. All October Saturdays are busy. I missed Falkville’s pioneer day last Saturday. Concerning the BP, pray for good weather and for me as I present the gospel.
- Today, LORD willing, I will be working on cooking utensils for BP and our new grill. Actually, Terry and Michael are doing the grill; I’m just carrying Brent’s up to them as a pattern. We may do one panel in mesh and the other side a stainless steel griddle. This way we can use it for cooking breakfast as well as dogs and burgers.
- Some of you told me you missed the Trump speech last Friday, October 13 at the Values Voter Summit. Here it is: unless you are a liberal, you will like it.