Trust In The Lord

I think a person's maturity as a Christian is tied to their obedience. If a person says that they are a follower of Jesus Christ and do not do what He says do, then how can we call that person a "follower"? Jesus Himself asked the question, "Why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord' and do not do what I say?"

The Lord God calls us to trust Him. Without faith it is impossible to please Him. We are called to walk by faith, believing Him, trusting Him, obeying Him, following Him wherever He may lead. I show my immaturity and disobedience when I choose to ignore His ways, to not trust Him and go my own way and serve my flesh instead of yielding to the Holy Spirit.

For instance, if I have a problem in my life, a struggle with someone who is doing the wrong thing and it is affecting me . . . what should I do?

God's Word tells me what to do --

Fret not yourself because of evildoers; do not be envious of wrongdoers! For they will soon fade like the grass and whither like the green herb.

Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.

Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will act.

He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!

Refrain from anger and forsake wrath!

-- Psalm 37

Will I trust Him? Will I yield to Him?
Lord, help me, I pray.

Thanks Robyn

Thanks to Robyn B over at The Eden Four here are 6 random things about yours truly . . .

1. I've been told by my family that my name "Heath" derives from the name of a character on a 1960's Western TV show, The Big Valley. One of the show's stars was a young Lee Majors and his name was "Heath." My brother liked it, so it's mine.

2. I really like misty, foggy, fall days when the yard is strewn with leaves.

3. I hate finances. Seldom carry cash. Have never balanced a checkbook. Yet, read The Wall Street Journal every single day.

4. I long to visit Wales. There you find my roots.

5. If I could only have one book on a deserted island (besides the Bible of course) I would probably take the Complete Works of William Shakespeare.

6. I've always wanted to wear a tweed jacket, puff a pipe, sit in a leather chair and have long conversations with C. S. Lewis.

Resources

Just wanted to pass along a couple of great new resources . . .

Get This. The English Standard Version Study Bible.

Also, rap music is certainly NOT my favorite genre of music. With that said, however, there is some good rap music out there -- gloifying God and putting forth the Gospel to and in a culture and to a crowd that would likely never visit Fairview Baptist Church. One of these good rap artists is a guy named Lecrae. He recently came out with a new CD entitled "rebel". It is worth a listen. See also the ministry that he works with, REACHLIFE Ministries.

Feeling Left Out

The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that negotiations are ongoing between big cheeses from Citigroup Bank, Wells Fargo Bank, and federal government officials on the fate of Wachovia Bank. Officials from Wachovia were left out of the talks . . . on purpose. Wachovia is just the carcass that the vultures are fighting over.

To me, this is sad in a way. Though I am not a native Tar Heel, North Carolina has been my home for about the past 15 years. In these 15 years I have witnessed a lot of change in this state. NC is no longer textiles and tobacco. With the Research Triangle Park in the "triangle", research & development, bio-technology, computer and other high-tech industries changed Raleigh. In Charlotte, it has been BIG banks that has made Charlotte into a CITY. Bank of America headquartered there. But it was Wachovia -- a true NC bank that made good and made NC standout in the world of finance and Wall Street that also headquartered in Charlotte.

Today, yankee bankers from New York City (Citigroup) and "foreigners" from California are eating it (a true NC bank--Wachovia) up like scraps from a pig-pickin'. Left out. Dead. Like a member of the family that did good but has now passed on. What will the rest of the family do now? What will the closest of kin in Charlotte do?

North Carolina pride has suffered a blow.

Socialism

from The Wall Street Journal, dated October 4, 2008:

President George W. Bush signed into law an unprecedented $700 billion plan
to rescue the US financial system, one of the largest ever government
interventions in the nation's economy -- and almost certainly not the
last.

The legislation ranks alongside other broad federal attempts top prop up the economy, such as Roosevelt's New Deal . . . It will likely be followed by other moves. . . . Looking to next year, Democratic lawmakers are planning to revamp financial-system regulations . . . House Speaker Nancy Pelosi portrayed the legislation as "only the beginning" of the legislative response to the faltering economy.

Proclaim Christ

Acts 8:5 "Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ."

We as Christians make something very simple very complex. We have a story to share with the nations -- our neighbors -- a story of Jesus and His love.

We are born sinners, we inherit this from our parents (all the way back to our first parents) and we are enslaved to sin. We are in bondage to our selves, to our fears, to death, to what others think. This bondage will eventually lead to eternal separation from God -- hell -- instead of heaven, the presence of God.

The Bible story is a story of redemption and love. God, as our Creator, knows our condition, knows that we cannot get out of it by ourselves -- we always fall short in our climb to God (religion). Seeing this, God sent a Savior to us. We don't climb up to God, He came down to us, to rescue us and to set us free from the bondage.

Jesus Christ, the unique God/man, the Son of God, came to the earth and did live a perfect life -- He kept God's laws and ways perfectly (only God in the flesh could). Then, as God planned from all eternity, Jesus went to the cross and died -- why? -- for His own unrighteousness? No; He had none. He paid the penalty of sin, for us sinners. Jesus bore my penalty, for all of my sin, on the cross. Why? So that I may have peace with God, set free to love God and to serve God and my neighbors.

Jesus died. He was buried in a tomb. On the third day He rose again, ascended into heaven and lives forever.

When we recognize our sinfulness and our helpless state, and go to Him for salvation, seeking His forgiveness, turning from our sin and surrendering our lives to Him, He saves us. He makes us His own.

"But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God" -- John 1:12.

May we proclaim Him to a dying world; to our family members and friends and neighbors.

They wait.

Read this story as told by Charles H. Spurgeon:

When the great Biblical critic, Bengel, was dying, he sent for a young
theological student, to whom he said, "I am low in spirit; say something good to
cheer me."
"My dear sir," said the student, "I am so insignificant
a person, what can I say to a great man like yourself?"
"But if you are a student of theology, " said Bengel, "you
ought to have a good word to say to a dying man; pray say it without
fear."
"Well, Sir, " said he, "What can I say to you, but that the
blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin?"
Bengel said, "Give me your hand, young man; that is the very
word I wanted."