Does It Matter to You What God Thinks About It?
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6)
WHAT IS SIN LIKE? This is what sin is like: Our own way pitted against God’s way. Sin is living independent of God. If God had not laid out a superior way, our way might not look so bad. Popular crooner, Frank Sinatra sang: “I Did It My Way…” and America loved it! Went wild over it! Thousands of people bought their own private copy of the song so they could play it over and over again.
WELL, WE ARE ENTITLED TO OUR OWN IDENTITY and our own private collection of things. But we can become obsessed over everything being our way. “Our way or the highway.” It’s one thing to say, “My way and not your way.” It’s quite another thing to say, “My way but not God’s way.”
GOD SAID OF ABRAHAM: For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him. (Genesis 18:19)
TODAY'S TEXT PRESSED IN ON ME at least fifty years ago. The basis of all sin is having my way and disregarding what God has said. We tend to be selectively deaf toward God. The devil asked Eve in the Garden of Eden: Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? (Genesis 3:1)
WHAT'S IT GOING TO HURT IF YOU TAKE A BITE of a special fruit from a special tree? The only thing wrong with it is that God said, “don’t do it!” That’s a whole train load of reasons not to do it! There doesn’t have to be any other reason than: “God said “don’t do it.” It may be that God has led you to do something or not do something. That’s your whole world! You don’t know of anything bigger than that.
MY GOOD FRIEND, PAUL FERGUSON, boxing champion and evangelist, told me God told him he would be an evangelist. He would never be a pastor. But Paul wanted to work on the railroad and be a local pastor so he could be at home with his boys growing up. The contest went on for several months. One night the overhead lights went out where Paul was switching railroad cars. While he was waiting for the lights to come back on, something picked him up and set him over several feet. A loaded coal car rumbled by in the dark where he had been standing.
HE THOUGHT HE WAS STANDING BETWEEN TWO RAILROAD TRACKS, but he had been standing between the rails of A RAILROAD TRACK! Immediately, God spoke to him in his spirit as clearly as if He had spoken into his ear: “The next time, I won’t pick you up.” That settled it! Paul fell to his knees and surrendered to be an evangelist. (You can find a used copy of the book “Paul Ferguson The Fighter” at Amazon Books.) Paul was determined to have his way instead of God’s way. That had to change.
THE BOTTOM LINE IS: “Does it matter to you what God thinks about it?” It is human nature to reason things out, so our sin is not too bad, at least it’s not any worse than somebody else’s wrong doing. It’s ok to be slightly bad if it’s not stinkin’ bad. Same old game; it doesn’t matter what God thinks about it. “Hath God said?” Living independent of God is the essence of all sin. ALL SIN!
WELL, MY FRIEND, we don’t know what is coming down the road tomorrow right where we’re standing. The telephone rings, someone knocks on the front door, the doctor comes back into the room with test results in his hand. You simply cannot afford to not care what God thinks about it. Anything! Everything! Stuff going on in your life that maybe nobody knows about. Does it matter to you what God thinks about it? Ω
Read Through the Bible in a Year
MARCH 8, 2019 – FRIDAY
A.M. Deuteronomy 5-7 P.M. Mark 12:1-27
(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)
A Good Verse to Memorize:
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6)
Song for Today:
Have Thine Own Way Lord (1:41) (Heber Vega – Acapella )
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSnBbgsecD4&list=RDjSnBbgsecD4&start_radio=1&t=56
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Health Tip:
Plantar Warts. These warts form on the bottom of your feet. They are contagious and very troubling. I once ended up on crutches for several months waiting for the skin to slowly grow back, shrinking the hole that was formed from the surgery. Some people report getting rid of them by soaking in vinegar and then covering them with duct tape. Here is a report from Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/plantar-warts/symptoms-causes/syc-20352691
Here’s an excellent article at The People’s Pharmacy on plantar’s warts.
https://www.peoplespharmacy.com/2019/03/04/can-you-cure-your-plantar-warts-with-hot-water/?utm_source=The+People%27s+Pharmacy+Newsletter&utm_campaign=b630feb97d-MC_D_2019-03-05%26subscriber%3D1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_7300006d3c-b630feb97d-215154885&goal=0_7300006d3c-b630feb97d-215154885&mc_cid=b630feb97d&mc_eid=b917424292
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