Worship the Lord

Worthy is the Lord! Love the Lord with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind and with all your strength. “It is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.’”

For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.

Have you considered that Jesus is worthy of our praise? He is worthy of our love. We are to worship our Lord. Nothing or no one should stop us from worshiping Jesus our Savior. But since mid March the doors of our churches have been closed. Maybe this was the wise thing to do, maybe not. I am reminded of the scripture that says, “And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.” Most of us are not assembling together. We are not able to encourage one another face to face. Nor can we share our hurts or experience the love of God through a hug or tender touch. In fact, we actually fear each other. We are not worshiping together. I am more than ready to return to my church and worship God with my church family. I miss the fellowship. I miss singing praises to Jesus with our congregation. I miss sitting in the sanctuary listening to the preaching of the word of God. I miss everything that takes place at our church when we gather. I’ve been thinking about those who never take advantage of one of the greatest blessings that God provides for his saints. This virtual church falls way short of the experience of actually worshiping with the church body. I have been made more aware of the tragedy found in the practice of not being an active part of the gathering of a body of believers.

We can praise God and worship Jesus wherever we are. If we believe in him as our Lord and Savior we have the constant presence of the Holy Spirit within us. He is in us and we are in him. Our hearts are the sanctuary of the living God. At any time we can fall on our knees and cry out to our Holy God—Holy, holy, holy is our God. The precious Lamb of God has shed his blood to ransom us, to pay the price which has delivered us from the one who had held us captive. Jesus has made us righteous in the eyes of the Father and has given us he right to be his children. Yes, we should always worship God every day, but it is essential, if we are physically able, to regularly worship him together in the fellowship of other believers. And nothing should prevent us from participating in this opportunity. The Father loves his children. He protects his children. So we have nothing to fear. When the storms of life come we must trust the Father and “fear not”. We are to be strong in the power of a His might, and show the world we are not afraid. When God’s people cower in fear, stop worshiping the Lord our God, and start serving and obeying the enemy we will become their slaves. We must worship the Lord our God and serve only Him.

The Whole Picture

 

These two images are only a small portion of the whole. A few might quickly understand what they go with,  but they will never be able to tell exactly what they are until they see the whole. Others, like myself if I didn’t already know, could look at these images and never figure out what they are a part of. The only way to understand and appreciate something is to experience it in its whole. Maybe you have heard the saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” I hate to admit it but  that that is how I picked the books I wanted to read when I was in the fifth grade. Well not just the appearance of the book’s cover, but also the number of pages. Anyway, this saying means that one should not prejudge the worth of something by its outward appearance alone. One must read the whole book to more adequately understand it and judge it correctly.

When we don’t see the whole picture we make decisions that will lack the information necessary to make  wise decisions. There is a good chance we will make some serious mistakes. We want the surgeon who performs our surgery to understand the latest information about our problem. The same is true of the persons we call to fix our appliances, work on our car, or repair anything that is broken. We expect them  to understand exactly what needs to be done and to have the skill to do the job. There are many decisions, crucial decisions, that every person must make, and to make the wrong choice will  have eternal consequences. It seems to me that people today are looking for answers in places which do not provide the whole picture. The answer is not to be found within the humanistic ideology. The answer will certainly not be found in the pagan religions that are plaguing our nation today that have filtered into our cities and even our government. Materialism, sports, the film industry, and not even education will  shine any light on the whole picture. No the whole picture is only found in the Holy word of God Almighty. Only God our Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit will reveal the only truth about how to live in this wicked world, and how to be sure that eternal life awaits us. Jesus Christ is the light of this world and as we allow him to illuminate the darkness which is becoming darker every day we will see the whole picture clearly. As the light of Jesus shines on us and through us, we will see the truth which will overshadow the lies that are told every day to make what is good appear to be bad. Those who don't know Jesus, who never read the Bible, and who never pray except to maybe ask God to bless them or get them out of trouble will never know the truth and will never see the whole picture of God's love and his forgiveness manifested in his Son Jesus Christ. 

If Sherri and I only looked at one corner of our beautiful painting we would never enjoy it the way it was meant to be enjoyed. we would be very foolish if all we ever view was that small corner. my heart hurts for friends and acquaintances who have rejected Jesus and have allowed some of the things that I mentioned to become their passion, their life and their avenue of contention.They have left their first love for the follies of this world. They have chosen the foolish path and are not able to enjoy the beauty that is expressed in the complete, precious view of our loving Savior, Jesus Christ.

Early He Speaks Come To An End

On December 14, 2017 I launched my blog, Early He Speaks. That first post was entitled “ A Christmas Unlike the Others”. There were 191 views for that post. The next 99 posts ranged anywhere on average from 150 to 600 views. The highest number of views during that period was 919. I have no way of knowing how many people were actually reading those posts. I always posted these blogs to Facebook. There were usually 30 to 40 of my Facebook friends who read my posts unless I wrote something funny. When I did that I would have as many as 100 to 175. As those of you who regularly read my posts you know that I write devotions pretty much every time.

Now the point I want to make is that of those 150 to 600 views I had on those first 100 posts most of them were from countries all over the world. I think the last time I counted I had views in 76 countries. There were a few others, but I stopped writing them down. During the two and a half years I have been doing this blog I had regular readers in Germany, France, Poland, Spain, and even Russia. At one point I was having over 100 regular views from Russia. There would be sporadic views from Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Egypt, Brunei, which is almost all Muslim, and Pakistan. All of these countries as you know are predominantly Muslim, and most of the people have never heard the gospel message. I was always very excited when I saw that someone in one of these countries had had the opportunity to read about Jesus.

The next 350 posts were up and down as far as the number of view. There were times I would have close to 2,000 views and some days they would drop back down to less than 100. And that was fine. One hundred was a great number if just one person who had never heard about Jesus read what I wrote about him. But the last two months the most views that were recorded were about 3 on average. And I happen to know those three people. They are not from some Muslim country. They are from North Carolina and they know Jesus. I am thinking that possibly my blog is being blocked. I cannot imagine that all of a sudden people would stop viewing my blog. I am wondering if my conservative, biblical devotions about Jesus being the only hope for this sinful world is the reason for the sudden decline in my viewership.

Anyway this post is number 500. I began this blog on December 14, 2017 and today on June 8, 2019 it is coming to an end. I will be searching for another blog site to start another blog. In the meantime I will post my devotions on Facebook only. Just as God gave me messages when I was preaching, he gives me words to write each day. I can’t explain it, but everyday a thought, an idea, a scripture passage comes to mind, and I sit down and begin writing. This experience I have with God’s Spirit speaking to me is the most wonderful part of my day. God continues to use me to proclaim the gospel message. I don’t know if my posts will again reach into countries like those I mentioned, but if God wants them to they will. I will just continue to write and see what He does.  

Proud of Our Grandaughter

Our granddaughter Holly Starr graduated tonight from North Raleigh Christian Academy. Sherri and I are very proud of Holly. Her work ethic all through high school has been exceptional. She managed to perform well academically while spending hours each week rehearsing for her school musicals, take voice lessons, dance lessons, practice with her coral group, and several mornings each week be at school early for drama lessons. NRCA is one of the best Christian schools in Raleigh with a very highly rated scholastic program. Much is expected of their students. So we are extremely proud of what Holly has accomplished.

Holly will be going to Liberty University in Lynchburg Virginia this fall where she will major in business and minor in voice. She also intends to try out for musical and drama opportunities. Of course Sasha and I believe she will be picked to perform in many of these productions and look forward to going to watch her. We also are looking forward to going to her voice recitals.

The graduation program tonight was very good. The main speaker is a pastor and author from the Miami Florida area. He talked to the graduates about following their hopes and dreams and letting Jesus be the center of everything they do. He talked about setting goals. He said his dad told him that it is better to aim at the moon and miss than it to aim at a skunk and hit it. That hit home for me because when I was in the eighth grade I did aim at a skunk and hit it. The problem was the skunk was in our back yard. I sure did get in trouble for that. The problem today in our society is too many people are choosing to aim at and are hitting those things that are stinking up our country. I was encouraged tonight as I listened to those young Christian graduates as they sang, prayed, and spoke about allowing Jesus to guide them in the trying days ahead as they launch out into a world which will test their faith at every turn.

The speaker told about his dear mother who had been abused sexually when she was a young girl. A pastor found her on the street when she was fifteen, helped her and told her about Jesus. She gave her life to him and has never looked back. She married a Christian man, and together they had several sons and daughters who have had many sons and daughters who in turn are producing many sons and daughters. He said his little mother now has around fifty children, grand children and great grand children who are serving Jesus in some area of Christian vocation. Here is a woman who could have given up and let go of whatever hopes and dreams she may have had, but she didn’t. God has blessed her over and over again and again because of her faithfulness.

We must pray for every graduate that they will have hopes and dreams that include Jesus Christ. I am thankful that Holly and Brady were able to attend this wonderful Christian school. Brady graduated last year and has done very well in his first year of college at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He wants to be a youth Pastor. We are confident that Holly will also do well in her freshman year at Liberty.

Honoring The Hero’s of D Day

I’m not sure where my dad was on D Day, but he was somewhere in Europe, most likely in France. He drove a tank in one of Patton’s battalions. He was young. He was homesick. Many times he was afraid. He saw some horrible things during the battles in which he fought. I know he felt very blessed to make it home alive. He had friends who died fighting for our country. How sad it is to think of the thousands of U.S. soldiers who died on D Day. What a great sacrifice those men and all who risked their lives made during that terrible war. I’m blessed that my dad survived and did return home.

The picture of my dad holding me was made sometime in 1949. He had been home probably about four years at the time. He had gotten married to my mother and a bit later I was born. It’s hard for me to wrap my mind around the fact that in such a short time one of the most vile, evil men that has ever lived had been defeated and kept from adversely changing the lives of millions of people all over the world. All because of the men who died on D Day and those like my dad who were more than willing to give their lives if necessary so that we could remain a free people.

I think I was a little less than a year old when this picture was taken. My dad, Victor Brady, looked so happy. Who would have thought that 22 years later he would be gone? My dad died on May 2, 1972. He was 54 years old, I was only 23. I’ve been without my dad for 47 years. My memory of him has gotten a bit fuzzy. But I am thankful for the 23 years I had him in my life, and I am thankful that he was a wonderful Christian man who taught me to love God, to love others and to be kind. That is what I remember most about my dad. For 47 years I have been missing my daddy. I am also thankful for the veterans who gave so much by serving our country to secure our freedom.

Guarding the Mouth

Our mamas gave us a lot of good advice when we were children.  Much of that advice was given, and we were expected to heed that advice immediately. “John Paul, if you don’t leave your little brother alone I’m going to go get the fly swatter!” By the tone of her voice I knew she did not intend to swat flies. As I got older her warnings to me for not obeying her advice included getting my dad involved in the discipline end of her plan for me, and I do mean END! Everyone has been given good advice from their moms and dads. One bit of advice, I suppose, that most of us heard was, “If you can’t say anything nice about (fill in the blank) then don’t say anything at all!”

Of course now that we are adults we remember what our parents told us about saying only nice, uplifting, encouraging things when we speak. We remember to not say cutting, hurtful, degrading things about others. This is especially true in the political arena. We can always count on this being the case in the work place. And we certainly understand that when we are with those or talking about those within our church family we never say anything bad.

Sadly, today, people in all areas of life show  little restraint in what they say. Proverbs 18:2 describes our current political arena, “Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions.” Who hasn’t been the victim at work from people who are like those mentioned in Psalm 52:2-3, “You love evil rather than good, falsehood rather than speaking the truth.You love every harmful word, you deceitful tongue!” And even at church we find fellow Christians who, “With the tongue praise our Lord and Father, and with it they curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing.” And James says, “My brothers and sisters, this should not be.” James 3:9-10

During my 40 plus years as a pastor, and even now as a member of a wonderful church I hear words that should remain unspoken. I notice individuals, who want to be noticed and praised for what they do, go on the attack blasting those who haven’t shown them the respect they think they deserve. No where in God’s word does it say that we have the right to do this. It does say of our speech that we are to always be gentle toward everyone. We are to be peaceable and compassionate. Speaking of good advice our mamas gave us, she might well have told us to pray the payer found in Psalm 141:3, “Set a guard over my mouth, LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips.”

Most Awesome Privilege Ever

Some are privileged to get backstage passes for concerts and plays. I’ve never gotten to go backstage at any of those types of events. Several years ago I did get to go in the Kentucky Wildcats dressing room after a game. At the time I thought that was pretty neat. If you are a big fan of some famous person it is a privilege to be invited into their presence because few are permitted to do that.

If you are disappointed that you have never gotten such an invitation, and you feel slighted or left out perhaps this will excite you. I don’t care who you are or what your status in life may be, you do receive an awesome invitation each day from your Heavenly Father. His invitation is for you to come into his presence through prayer. In fact he calls each of us into his presence. He wants to spend personal time with you. Getting a backstage pass to be with some famous person pales in comparison to receiving a daily invitation to come into the presence of God Almighty. Do you believe that prayer is a privilege? My pastor says that we can tell that we believe prayer is a privilege if we consider it a delight rather than a duty. I hope that spending quality time with the Heavenly Father every day  is something that rocks you life.