Lightening Strikes a Jesus Statue

If you have not heard or read about the incident of the "King of Kings Jesus" statue getting struck down by lightening, read it here http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_lightning_strikes_jesus_statue.

Now, there are a lot of anti-Christians who are having a field day with this. But here is the brief, and simple truth - God never has, nor never will, want any statue erected of himself, for himself. There are so many verses from the Word of God that deal with this issue, here is just one:

Psalm 97:6-7 The heavens declare his righteousness, and all the people see his glory. (7) Confounded be all they that serve graven images, that boast themselves of idols: worship him, all ye gods.

If you think that God is not in the idol/statue taking down business, then maybe you should read 1 Samuel chapter 5. What happened the other day is nothing new, it has been happening since the times of the Old Testament. What we have witnessed is Old Testament actions being played out right before our eyes.

The Evidence of Sanctification - Galatians 5:1-15

SERIES: THE GREATNESS OF GRACE
TITLE: THE EVIDENCE OF SANCTIFICATION
TEXT: GALATIANS 5:1-15

I. EVIDENCE OF SANCTIFICATION IN YOUR LIFE IS THAT YOU ARE NOT DEPENDENT OF THE LAW - 5:1

1. You will not Exit from Sovereignty - "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free"  
2. You will not be Entangled in Sin - "And be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage."

II. EVIDENCE OF SANCTIFICATION IN YOUR LIFE IS THAT YOU ARE NOT A DEBTOR OF THE LAW - 5:2-6  

1. Those who are debtors to the Law are Constrained by the whole Law - 5:2-3
2. Those who are debtors to the Law are Casualties of the whole Law - 5:4
3. Those who are NOT debtors to the Law are Conquerors of the whole Law - 5:5-6

III. EVIDENCE OF SANCTIFICATION IN YOUR LIFE IS THAT YOU ARE NOT DRAWN OFF-COURSE BY THE LAW - 5:7-15

1. You stay on course by Purging all Sin - 5:7-9
2. You stay on course by Protecting your Soul - 5:10-12
3. You stay on course by Perferring other Saints - 5:13-15

Never Satisfied

Proverbs 27:20 Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.

We live in a day and age were few people are ever truly satisfied. Just as Hell and the grave are always ready to receive the next person, the eye, or desires of man, are never satisfied. In ministering to individuals, I have observed how many are never satisfied when it comes to their job or their spouse. Their eye is always drawn to the negatives and the flaws and not the positives and the blessings. They always think that there is more to be offered and that they could do much better somewhere else with someone else.

 

Many people in America have become spoiled and now look at their faith and their Christianity in the same manner. The common mindset is, "What can I get out of it?" instead of, "What can I give to it?" People now walk into churches with shopping lists, and are no longer Spirit led. The problem with this is that we will never find the perfect church because it does not exist here on this side of eternity. There will always be some facet of it that does not meet your expectation. Yet, if it was the perfect church, you would not be allowed to join!  The real danger with this mindset is that it puts us in a critical spirit. A person who tries to serve the Lord in this manner will always feel as if they sacrificed and lowered their standard just to join a church.

 

We need to put aside the mindset of Lot (who looked and chose Sodom because of what it could offer), and take the mindset of Philip (who obeyed the leading of the Holy Spirit and left a very successful area of ministry to go and reach one Ethiopian eunuch in the desert). I leave you with a quote from Evangelsit Jayson Godsey (http://evangelistjaysongodsey.com/): We need to put aside the grocery shopping/garage saling mentality when looking for the will of God.

Do We Have Power Yet?

Psalm 62:11 God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God.

Yesterday was Memorial Day, a day that is set aside to honor the memory of those great men and women who have given their life for our country and the freedoms that we enjoy today. So, with that in mind, understand this: I AM NOT COMPLAINING! I did a little bit of studying in the morning and early afternoon, then headed down to the basement of the house to finish building an eight foot closet (Yes, I actually built something from raw materials on my own with no help or blueprints - another post for another day). Just as I began to start, the power went out.

This was not the first time it happened, but this time it was a little different. This storm was a fast and violent flash flood with lots of wind and lightening. As I looked across the street, the neighbors tree in their front yard was split in two. At first I thought it might be lightening, but upon further inspection the tree was rotted from the inside and the wind just tore it in two. As I was looking across the street, a fire engine comes down the street with lights on. As I followed it to the end of the street, I see were the problem started: a very large tree fell and ripped the top of a power pole completely off and power lines were everywhere.

I stayed around for a while, but decided to leave for about 4 hours. When I came back some of the neighbors were standing outside and the obvious question was asked: Do we have power yet? Have they given any time table? Well, long story short, when I finally fell asleep at 2am the power was off, and when I woke up at about 5:45am the power was on. It made for an interesting night - but I am NOT complaining!

I told you all of that to share with you a quick thought about one of the many things I learned through this night: I have no power of the power! This reminded me of the verse from the Book of Psalms that I quoted as I started this entry. All power belongs to God, and through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit we have access to this power every day. Yet, many days I am afraid Christians go with, "no power." I wonder how many times people have seen us and want to ask the question, "Do you have any power yet?" I was so worried about not having any power, and when it would be turned back on - but are we worried when we have no spiritual power?