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Speaking In the Light with Pastor Rudy September 23 2020

Do you see the cup half full or half empty? As you embark upon the rest of 2020, are you ready to seize the day or are you searching for the nearest bunker? Decisions like these are what separate the optimist from the pessimist. The optimist sees possibilities in the problems, and the pessimist sees problems in the possibilities. One sees open doors to opportunities and the other sees only the size of the very real obstacles standing in the way. But as Christians, we should be known more for our faith than our fear. When you process the days to come through the eyes of Heaven, even the greatest pitfalls can become a great potential for blessings.

Whether we like it or not, outlook determines outcome. If we concentrate only upon the doom and gloom, we are destined to become discouraged and behave as if we have already been defeated.

But if we fix our eyes upon Jesus, then perhaps we will witness the Lord turning graves into gardens and transforming trash into lasting treasure. Looking through the eyes of love certainly influences the manner in which we will tackle today and tomorrow.

When we read the Scriptures, do we truly believe that God can do what He did then in our day? God took Moses’ blunders and after a 40-year hiatus in the back wilderness, it literally made him one of the Bible’s greatest leaders ever. Jesus took Peter’s cowardice and the inability to complete a simple sentence to a slave girl and turned him into the most powerful preacher ever to deliver a sermon. The same God that took us broken and battered sinners and transformed us into His beloved and blameless bride is still looking to work His miracles today! God can take any of us, no matter how bruised and beaten up we may be, and make out of us something wonderful for His glory. Our attitude towards what the Lord is up to today will definitely influence what kind of story will unfold around us tomorrow.

Stop looking at what you don’t have and see the Lord! Stop listening to all we can’t do and let’s get busy with what God is waiting for us to accomplish now. God always starts with what we have before He gives us what we need. Are you willing to lay your abilities down so that God can raise up within us the muster we need to slay the giants that blaspheme our faith? Without faith it is impossible to recognize the movements of the Almighty. Rather than try to impress Jesus with our resume, He would be so much more pleased if we would just surrender our hearts fully to Him. Heroes are born not out of charismatic personalities but out of simple men and women who choose to not stay stagnant. I am not a pawn on the chessboard of chance. I am a child under the influence of an awesome God.

If you have trusted Jesus as your Savior, then you already have everything you need to bring the light into the darkness. Now, instead of whining, why not start with an attitude of worship? God inhabits the praises of His people and when we get a clear view of Him, the other challenges don’t seem as daunting as they once did when we attempted to walk this adventure as a solo. Man’s agenda is to look to this world to satisfy a thirst it is unable to quench. God’s will for us is to find all that we lack in our relationship with Jesus. Whenever we place a higher priority on being happy over the Lord making us holy, we aim for a prize that is no reward at all. If God is not the One who will greet you at the conclusion of this race, you are running along the wrong road. Anything less than eternity is passing away. We must not forfeit the crown of Glory which God has promised for those who are willing to wait upon the Lord just because we get impatient and choose to settle for the cheaper carnival trinkets that are available right now. 

The god of today is the way of the quick fix. When we need to know something, we want instant access to information. When we’re hungry, we settle for fast food. When pain hits, we want immediate relief no matter what it costs. When wrongs occur, we want swift justice. When trying new things, we want immediate success. When starting a new job, we don’t want to begin in the mail room. We want to go right to the top of the ladder. And when God does something we don’t understand, we want to know why! And if God is any kind of worthy Deity, we figure that He won’t dilly-dally around especially when we need Him! But the Lord is not the one on trial; we are. And we will never grow in faith unless we go hard after Jesus. If God doesn’t have a free hand to construct a masterpiece out of our mess, then we certainly are selling our faith short!

What are you singing today and do you have a song at all? Has the circumstances of 2020 caused the church to lose its voice? I don’t think so. I believe that the remnant of the real followers of Jesus will continue to sing songs of praise even in the setting of prison walls. Our song is not one that celebrates our circumstances. The inspiration of the tunes we croon come from the Holy Spirit who resides inside of us wherever we may be. Sing it loud and live your faith boldly. The old Coke commercial used to say, “I’d like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony.” Today’s church should be teaching the watching world that our praise songs are not funeral dirges but symphonies of hope. This is no time to sing the blues. Today is the day to raise the praise. God is everything He claims to be and one day He will rid this world of sin, evil, death, and pain. While we wait, God allows these things to continue and our precious promise is that God uses pain and problems to draw His children back to Himself. I know that being in His Arms is the safest place even in the middle of a hurricane. Where are you today?