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John 11 :25-27
The
evangelist C. H. Spurgeon claimed that 98 percent of the people he
met-- including the criminals he visited in England's prisons--told him
that they believed the Bible to be true. But the vast majority had never
made a personal, life-changing commitment to Jesus Christ. For them,
"believe" was not an active verb.
Would you like for me to tell you what hell is like? Well, I think actually I can describe it quite well. Try
being an atheist. Try looking at life's beginning, middle and end and
coming up with a blank. Try passing a cemetery, realizing that one day
your own body will lie there and then think to yourself, Immortality is
only a dream."
Do
I have all the answers? Do you? No, but I have enough and like Einstein
I believe that "Truth is what stands the test of experience."
I
have experienced God more than once and I will continue to experience
Him in special ways at special times and that is enough for me.
I
like the way the blind man who had been healed by Jesus reacted.
Remember his words as he was being questioned by the leaders of the
synagogue as to the character of Jesus. Remember how he said, "Whether
he is a sinner or not, I do not know; but one thing I do know, that,
whereas I was blind, now I see."
"Whereas I was blind, now I see." Do you? See God as wise and personal?
A god who knows what to do, and how and when? Do
you believe that your wisdom is proof of His greater wisdom, your
personality proof that His attachment to man is euqally as personal?
Do
you believe that whatever you see, feel, touch, ask questions about, he
both made and understands? If you do you have a gift not made with
hands but fashioned by your heavenly Father.
"We
live in a sick world, a world with a high fever and Christianity is the
medicine to save it from its delirium. Science can shoot a satellite
into space, but it cannot shape a character, psychiatry can free a man
from his neurosis but only God can free a man from his sin. A good
singer can hold an audience in the palm of his or her hand but only God
can grasp their souls.
Ralph
Waldo Emerson gave a warning to mankind when he said, "A man will
worship something." He, of course, wasn't just a great poet ...he was
pretty good philosopher ...and he certainly knew human nature. Because
what he was saying was what you and I have always known and had better
not forget. People can be fools easily. It comes natural. And one of the
greatest exhibitions of fooldom that can take place is when nature,
abhorring a vacuum goes ahead and fills up an empty spot in the soul
with whatever is close and available.
Goodies
from the Devil or blessings from the Lord. Seems unbelievable people
could make the wrong choice but people do it all the time.
So I say to you and to myself as well; be
overwhelmed with gratitude that God does not care if we are as stubborn
as a mule, as mean as a wild cat or as stupid as an ox. All He cares is
that we are his children, and for us He died upon a cross, and that let
its meaning sink deep to the center of our souls.
It is after all what our faith in the fact we are the object of Good's love. The
giving of God's grace through the sacrifice of the Lord ... to you and I
even though we can never be good enough to deserve it. And what is
important is that it is not so much about what God does but rather
defines who He is.
Let's
put it this way, if you can't in all honesty accept the Lord and His
forgiveness for you ... you are a wretch, well, I'm not trying to insult
you so much as I am being teutonic.
Because
you see wretch in the Old Teutonic language means "wanderer." And
without accepting the Lord love and forgiveness and presence and
friendship and fatherhood you are a wretch, a wanderer, a prodigal son
or daughter, a lost sheep...refusing to approach with awe and
thanksgiving this eternal truth ... this holy fact is one awesome place,
one awesome truth to approach.
How
to approach all this the right spirit. See faith as a verb rather than a
noun. An active force that helps you to go in the right direction more
often than the wrong. That proverbial rock upon which to build your
house rather than to build on sand.
As
you come seeking and finding and growing in spirit, remember...there
are what might be called four imperatives to give it meaning. You may
accept all four, or three, or two, or one, or none and just go through
the motions. But you will obviously be the better off if you accept them all.
There
is repentance which allows you to use a mistake as stepping stone
instead ofa stumbling block. It is renouncing a bad yesterday for a
better tomorrow. How you define it is your choice. Whether you repent or
not is God's imperative.
The
second of the four imperatives is overwhelming love for God and your
fellowman. Sometimes for some people it is easier to say "I am sorry I
was bad"
than
it is "to love the neighbor you have been bad to." To love the unlovely
is a challenge, but that is exactly what coming to Communion is ... a
challenge."
Third,
having asked forgiveness for what you did that was wrong yesterday,
what do you plan to do to improve how you live tomorrow? It isn't that
God isn't patient and loving and you never use up some spiritual quota
of forgiveness, but a little honest effort at improvement would most
likely be appreciated.
Because
from a scant response can grow that which is spiritually super and at
that moment you can feel angel voices ringing from within.
What
criteria should you set up? When, questions such as, will you be a
nicer, make your husband or wife happier, remember the commandments more
often and follow them more often, those who work with you will they be able to see a difference?
A
story to make my point. A young man when he called on a girl for their
second date was approached by her father with the following question, "Well what
are your intentions, young man?" The boy never moved so fast. He was
gone in a second and was down the street faster than can be described.
You see he didn't have any intentions.
Some people have dates with the Lord but never have any intentions ..
And
yes, fourth ... think about how often the word "way" is used in the
Bible. Hundreds of times. "The way of the Lord is perfect." (Second
Samuel) "The way of the ungoldy shall perish." (First Psalm) The
question, when it comes to forgiveness and commitment ... what are your
intentions.
Back
in the old days when you got a soda at one of those long marble soda
fountain counters a soda didn't have ice cream in it.. ,just flavoring.
Chocolate soda, vanilla, sarsaparilla soda, strawberry soda and then way
over at the end of the all the lovely options was a knob that was
labeled "Don't Care." When anyone would come in and couldn't make up
their mind, they say, "Don't care" and that's what they'd get.
Which,
as you approach this monumental finding and follow through time you
need to ask yourself "What are my intentions?' "What do I want?" "What
do I want to be?" or "To be honest one of these days I will really care,
right now I care but not enough, so Lord just pull the knob "Don't
Care."
How does that scripture read, "Whatever you shall truly seek, that you shall surely find."
+++++++++++++++++++++++
POSTED ON WYRICK'S WRITING THOUGHTS ENTITLED "Arrogance and Humility' (Series Continued)
If you were asked, "What is the most important discovery or accomplishment in your life? " how would you answer the question?
POSTED ON WYRICK'S WRITING THOUGHTS ENTITLED "What Do You Want from Jesus?"
Do you want from Jesus all the joy that can be gained from fully accepting the fact that you are truly the child of a King? So that when you die you will not have to ask that someone write on your tombstone, “Born a human being, died a question mark.”
POSTED ON WYRICK'S WRITING THOUGHTS ENTITLED "Are you a Peacemaker or a Peacebreaker?"
Someone has said that peace is merely that brief, glorious, moment in history when everyone stops to reload their weapons.
POSTED ON WYRICK'S WRITING THOUGHTS ENTITLED ""Arrogance and Humility
When a company takes over another company, there is often a sign placed outside the premises announcing, UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT.
Such a sign accurately summarizes what takes place in Christian conversions. When Christ takes over a life, that life is literally under new management.
So consider, is God now managing your pride? Or is your pride still managing you?
click on the following
TO TAKE YOU TO THE WYRICK'S WRITING'S SITE
Yes, God loves you the way you are but he loves you too much to let you stay that way.
+++++++++++++++++++++++
Click
on the URL below to WATCH NEIL IN HIS WORLD FAMOUS ONE MAN
DRAMATIZATIONS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN, BEN FRANKLIN, CHARLES WESLEY AND
MARTIN LUTHER
To Order and Read Neil's 9th book THE SPIRITUAL ABRAHAM LINCOLN
GO TO amazon.com
QUOTES ABOUT THIS WONDERFUL INSPIRING INFORMATIVE book
STILL RECEIVING RAVE REVIEWS 8 YEARS AFTER IT'S PUBLICATION.
"Positive,
powerful utterances...skillfully enhancing our understanding and
appreciation of Lincoln while revealing the Divine source of his
strength."
Lt. Colonel C.A. Olsen (Ret.) Asbury College (Professor Ret.)
"The Spiritual Abraham Lincoln is an
extremely well written book that investigates what might be termed the
spiritual side of President Lincoln. It's both scholarly and very
readable. I came away impressed at Mr. Wyrick's portrayal of the
President and with an altered and enlarged vision of the man:'
William Hoffman, Award winning fiction writer; author of Blood and Guile, and Wild Thorn
"Wyrick
has authored a wonderful examination of the spirituality of one of
American history's most devoutly religious leaders...a pleasant and
readable book that has a rich depth of information."
Maynard Pittendreigh Presbyterian minister
"When
it comes to invoking religion in support of any of their decisions,
politicians need to sit at the feet of Abraham Lincoln. Reinhold Niebuhr
once called him 'America's greatest theologian.' Why so great? Because
he invariably distinguished between human works and the works of the
Almighty. As Wyrick
says, 'He wore the mantle of humility easily: because he was more
impressed with what God was doing in the world than with what he,
president of the United States in the midst of an awful crisis, was
doing. That is why in his last major speech he distinguished between
both human causes in the Civil War and the Almighty's 'own purposes.'
Lincoln would have agreed that it is better to leave God-talk out of
politics than to decorate human proposals with divinity. This is a book
for our American time. Through his careful study of Lincoln's career,
Wyrick compels us to remember that piety belongs in politics only when piety transcends politics."
Dr. Donald W. Shriver
Emeritus professor at Union Theological Seminary in New York. Author of An Ethic for Enemies: Forgiveness in Politics
"v. Neil
Wyrick's fine work allows the reader to appreciate Abraham Lincoln's
Christian commitment and his prophetic role in American history. Should
have a wide readership."
James H. Smylie Professor of Church History (Ret.) Union Theological Seminary, Richmond, Virginia
"Neil Wyrick's The Spiritual Abraham Lincoln should be read
by anyone attempting to understand the man who was probably the most
complex person to ever hold the office of president of the United
States. Dr. Wyrick is intent on demonstrating that the spirituality so
often expressed in Lincoln's writings and speeches was not merely lip
service to a Deity, but rather expressions of a profound faith in a real
God. It was this faith that provided the wisdom, compassion, insight
and sometimes steel that Lincoln would need in full measure
as he led the United States through the Civil War. Dr. Wyrick's clear
and unpretentious style of presentation is very much in keeping with the
character ofhis subject, and in so doing, Wyrick makes his point very
well that Lincoln, his beliefs, and the faith that formed them, are as
relevant to a troubled America in 2004 as they were in 1863."
Daniel Allen Butler, author of "Unsinkable"; The Full Story of the RMS Titanic, The Lusitania and The Age o f Cunard
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