Sunday, June 5, 2022

Sunday Praise & Worship Message - Trust the Lord

The last couple of messages that I have written and shared with you were very difficult for me. I do not like to be critical and prefer to have more uplifting messages; however, sometimes messages must be critiques of our faith or lack of faith. Society, as a whole, has, over a period of time, moved further and further from God. It is so easy for us to be tempted by the things of this world. Our desires can easily be satiated momentarily with a mouse click and a credit card. Society doesn’t care about consequences or even think about the feelings of others. In some cases, members of society project their feelings on others and use that projection as a weapon to gain superiority and to hurt others.

I often think back to my youth and the days of growing up in a small Texas town. Our values were so much different then than they are now. People helped one another and we went to church on Sundays. It was a much simpler life. The most difficult question we had was whether we were going to order the medium or large size fries. Our lives were different back then. No one had a cellular phone or surfed the Internet. People went outside and enjoyed the evening and potluck dinners with others. Before we ate, we asked God to bless the meal we were about to share and bless those who supplied and prepared it.

Although we had our fair share of tragedies, we all came together as a family and we strengthened one another with our faith. Nothing could pull us apart from one another because our faith bound us together. It didn’t matter what color we were or anything else. We were all God’s children and we believed in “one nation under God”.

But, that soon changed. We began to listen to the words of the world and we were seduced back into the sinful world. Our faith became secondary and, in time, almost non-existent. Our Bibles stayed on our shelves and began to collect dust. Instead of going to church we began to watch services on the television and substituted a wholesome message with watered down junk of the prosperity gospel. Instead of a message of faith we preferred the self-improvement garbage peddled to just medicate our minds rather than to build our spirits.  

I long for the simpler days, my brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus. It isn’t enough to say that. We must, as Christians, truly want and desire that old time religion that truly built up our spirits and gave us the strength to fight off temptation. That religion is the only way back to the Father and back to building a nation of God-fearing Christians who worship God and love their neighbors.

In Psalm 115, the psalmist writes, “O Israel, trust the Lord! He is your helper and your shield. O priests, descendants of Aaron, trust the Lord! He is your helper and your shield. All you who fear the Lord, trust the Lord! He is your helper and your shield.”     

To return to the Lord, it takes trust and the desire to have faith in the Lord. We have all seen great miracles come from the Lord’s hand. We have witnessed His love and have received undeserved grace from Him. His mighty right hand has swept away our enemies and His mighty arms have shielded us from harm.

After witnessing and experiencing all of these mighty acts of the Lord and being recipients of His many blessings, why have we put aside our faith and trust in the Lord? Does the world offer us more than God?

The reason, I feel, that we have become disobedient and turned away from the Lord is our own arrogance. We believe that we can do everything ourselves and we don’t need God at all. Our society and science have become our new gods. We believe that our salvation can be easily provided for by what we have in this world. Many have openly said that God is nothing more than a fable or children’s bedtime story and that we no longer need God.

Brothers and sisters, I tell you that it is at that very point that we need God the most. When our arrogance allows us to replace God with the things of this world, that is when we need Him most. Society believes that the world can provide everything and anything we want or desire. People turn their backs to God and become disobedient. There is no fear of consequence. People begin to worship the things of this world and their faith in God dwindles away to nothing.

I will tell you this. There will come a time when the trumpet of God will sound and time will truly be no more. We will see God’s wrath released upon all peoples and nations of the world. What will we do then?

Before we get to that point, God has given us a glimpse into the future. We see the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse riding closer and closer to us. I ask you to look closely at the events that are unfolding before us. We see death, destruction, pestilence and famine each day. Diseases are starting to overwhelm not only our medical system but also pushing us well beyond the limits of knowledge. Think of the recent pandemic that we faced.

John of Patmos, in chapter six of the Book of Revelation, writes, “When the Lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the fourth living being say, ‘Come!’ I looked up and saw a horse whose color was pale green. Its rider was named Death, and his companion was the Grave. These two were given authority over one-fourth of the earth, to kill with the sword and famine and disease and wild animals.

Each day we see the results of our disobedience. We see sword, famine and disease throughout the world. God is not-so-subtle showing us the consequences of our lack of faith and our failure to trust in Him. If we trust in ourselves, we will be disappointed. 

With so much to lose and also so much to gain, I implore you to remain faithful to the Lord and trust Him daily. Do not wander from the path of righteousness. Share your faith with others and walk daily with the Lord. Study and share His word with others. Be devoted to your faith and to Him. Don’t be seduced by the things of this world. Be a living testament to God’s love and grace.

If you do all those things, you can make a difference to others and stand, with confidence, firmly in His grace.

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

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