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“Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? And who may stand in His Holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood, and has not sworn deceitfully.”   Psalm 24:3-4  (New American Standard Version)

 

 

“If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:8-9  (New American Standard Version)

 

 

People who run businesses must diligently keep track of their inventory. May times businesses succeed or fail depending on what is or is not on their shelves.  Our spiritual life is the same way, it will succeed or fail depending on what is on our shelves. How long has it been since you took inventory of your heart and life?

 

In the passage from Psalm 24, God’s Word makes it clear that we need to focus on Godly living (clean hands) and Godly longing (pure heart).  Have you done things lately that you know a Christian should not do?  Remember that ungodly living results from ungodly longings in our heart.  If you have ungodly longings in your heart, it is probably because you have “lifted up your soul to falsehood.”  Think about that.

The good news is that, even though every Christian still struggles with sin to some degree, there is forgiveness. 1 John 1:9 is a great comfort to the Christian who has sinned. Your fellowship and joy in God can be restored. However, that will not happen as long as you refuse to get honest about the sin in your own life. Take a few minutes and take inventory of your heart and life; then deal with what’s in there.

 

What might happen this Sunday if every member of our church determined in their heart to come to church with no unconfessed sin in their life?

 

“I will praise the Lord who counsels me — even at night my conscience instructs me. I keep the Lord in mind always. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.” (Psalm 16:7–8, HCSB)

I read these words this morning in my Bible reading and prayer time. As I read them, I thought about all of the times that the Lord’s “still small voice” has spoken to my heart at night before I drifted off to sleep.  Praise Him for the times that He has counseled me at night!  In addition, verse 8 refers to the fact that the Lord is with us and that fact sustains us and helps us not be shaken with the circumstances of life.

However, the key to all of this is found right in the middle of these verses: “…I keep the Lord in mind always.”   Most versions of the Bible say something like, “I have set the Lord before me always.”  That translation does not mean that the Lord is subject to us; it means that we choose to focus on the Lord. That is why the HCSB states it the way it does. Don’t miss the point.  David is saying here that the reason the Lord counsels him in the night and sustains him is because he keeps the Lord on his mind constantly. It’s amazing – the more we focus on Him the more we hear from Him!

I once read that someone famously asked Charles Spurgeon how long he prayed at a time.  Spurgeon replied that he rarely prayed for very long at one time, but he tried to never go very long between praying.  In other words, Spurgeon kept the Lord on his mind always. Certainly, all of us have lots of things on our minds. Our families, careers, financial obligations, and the mundane affairs of life such as haircuts and dry cleaning all combine to consume large hunks of our thought life.  We must meet those obligations, no question.  However, we must consciously choose to keep the Lord Jesus always on our mind, or else “life” will keep our minds off of Him.

Why don’t you take a few moments right now and focus on the Lord Jesus. Praise Him. Thank Him. Cry out to Him.  Ask Him. Then, in a few minutes, do it again!  Maybe you are in a place right now where you can openly and loudly praise Him, or maybe you are at work and the quiet meditation of the heart and mind is more appropriate.  Either way, the key is the same: to keep Jesus always on your mind!  If Jesus is on your mind, two things will happen.  First of all, if Jesus is always on your mind, then you will hear from Him more often.  Second, if Jesus is on your mind, He will come out of your mouth!  You will be a witness for Him to others.

Let’s all determine to have the Lord Jesus on our mind far more in coming days!

For some reason, all this week, I have had a message on my heart that I shared last year during an evening service at Whitesburg.  I want to share it with the readers of this blog. Below are the basic preaching notes that I used in this message…

“Sowing and Reaping”

Galatians 6:6-10

 

You’ve probably heard the expression “the laws of nature.” These are laws that operate the physical world we live in. For instance, there is the law of gravity. If it were not for the law of gravity, we would have had trouble getting to church tonight!  Then there is law of nature that says when water is cooled to 32 degrees it freezes into ice. Laws of nature operate the world we live in.

Did you know that there are spiritual laws that operate in the spiritual realm.  Perhaps the most famous one is the law of sowing and reaping given here in Galatians 6.  Now, the Bible is using farming imagery here. Sowing refers to sowing seed – to planting seed.  Reaping refers to the harvest. The time when the seed we have planted yields a crop. From this text, I want us to see four Biblical laws of sowing and reaping…

 

I.          We reap WHAT we sow

 Look at verse 7.  Now this is really common sense. When I grew up, my family had forty acres and my grandfather would do a little farming on the side. And I learned very early on in my life that if you wanted to grow a field of potatoes, that you didn’t plant corn. If you want potatoes, you plant potatoes!  If you want watermelons, then you go buy some watermelon seed and you sow watermelon seed and then you reap watermelons – not tomatoes.  Whatever you put into the ground is what comes up – every time.  It’s the law of the harvest. You reap what you sow.

““Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you; a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over—will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.”” (Luke 6:37–38, HCSB)

This is true in all areas of life as well. People who sow seeds of anger what do they receive in return?  Anger.  If you sow seeds of dishonesty, what do you reap?  Dishonesty.  If you sow distrust, then distrust grows. However, there is a positive side to it as well.  If you sow seeds of love – what grows up?  Love.  If you sow forgiveness, you reap forgiveness.

 

 “Life is like a boomerang. Our thoughts, deeds and words return to us sooner or later, with astounding accuracy.”

                                       -Grant M. Bright

 

Did you notice that it says, “God is not mocked…”  You don’t outsmart God. You don’t fool God. It’s absolute. You are going to get what you have sown. It might look good on the outside. You might have everyone fooled. But you will not fool the Lord. That’s the idea. That’s a sobering thought. No smoke and mirrors. No spin. No excuses. There it is – you reap what you sow.

Now, there is good news in the law of the harvest: If we sow good seed, we reap good things. Listen, whatever you and I want to reap more of in our lives, then we should begin to sow more of it.  Because the Bible says that we do reap what we sow.  Now, I want us to see a second law of sowing and reaping…

 

II.         We reap WHERE we sow

 Look at v. 8   Here Paul makes a tremendous application to our spiritual lives. He says that we not only chose what we sow, but we choose where we sow.  He says that we can choose to sow into our flesh or we can choose to sow to the Spirit. Now let’s think about that a minute.

 Remember that in the New Testament, our flesh does not refer to our skin, but rather it refers to the seat of sin in our lives. Let’s think about so much of the popular entertainment in our world today. Most of it is simply sowing to the flesh.  

 I don’t have to do a lot of explanation there do I?  Most popular television and movies, not all but most, cater to the base and sinful parts of the human experience. In addition, everything that sows to the flesh is not necessarily wrong.  Entertainment and leisure are not wrong in and of themselves. For instance, I don’t believe there’s anything wrong with a good football game, but that is not a spiritual experience either. Nothing wrong with football in its place. Nothing wrong with a good movie – in its place.  Nothing wrong with good food and good friends in their place.  Our flesh needs food, fun, and friendship. So, don’t think that sowing to the flesh is ALL bad stuff. It’s not. However, because our flesh is the seat of sin in our lives, even something that is OK can become bad for us. Think about it. Nothing wrong with having fun with our friends, but if that is all we live for and all we do, then we won’t do anything productive and worthwhile. Nothing wrong with a good movie, but if all we do in our spare time is watch movies and never read our Bible or pray – then we’ve got a problem.  If we sow to our flesh, we will get corruption.    

 My point is this. Just by living in this world, our flesh will get taken care of!   Our flesh will be stimulated for good and bad plenty just by living in this world.  If we want to grow as Christians, we have to CHOOSE to sow seeds in our spiritual field.  That time of prayer and Bible reading that you start your day with – that’s sowing to the spirit.  That music you listen to in your car that exalts the Lord Jesus – that’s sowing to the Spirit. Worshiping with other believers, that men’s prayer group, praying with your spouse before you go to bed, praying with your kids before you go to bed.  Helping someone in need and telling them Jesus loves them. Sharing the gospel with someone. Those things are sowing to the spirit.

 This is a very important principle here. We choose WHERE we sow. And every single day, we are either sowing to please our flesh or we are sowing to the spirit. Remember, this is the law of the harvest, so if we are struggling with our flesh – struggling with a  particular sin – then do you know what we need to do?  Sow to the spirit. Remember how the Bible said that we won’t fulfill the lust of the flesh?  

“I say then, walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.” (Galatians 5:16, HCSB)

 So, how do we walk in the Spirit?  We chose to sow to the spirit.  Now, back to the farming analogy. When we planted corn, we not only reaped corn, but we reaped corn in the field where we planted it. 

 Listen, you have the harvest in the field where you sow your seed.  No wonder so many Christian’s today come to church and say they don’t get much out of it.  They’ve sown their seed all week long in the flesh’s field and then come to church for an hour on Sunday morning and expect to reap a spiritual harvest!  It doesn’t work that way. We reap WHERE we sow in addition to what we sow.

 Before we move on, let’s make sure we connect the dots here. The law of the harvest says that I reap what I sow where I sow.  So, there is good news in that.  If I want more love in my home, then what do I need to do?  Sow love in my home.  If I want integrity in the life of my children, then I sow integrity into their lives. If I want my church to be more friendly, then I sow friendliness in my church. If I want my Sunday school class to reach out, then I sow outreach in my Sunday school class.  The Law of the harvest gives hope. 

 Now, I want us to see a third law of sowing and reaping…

 

III.        We reap WHEN we sow 

 

-Verse 9 teaches us this principle.  Now, this does not mean that we will necessarily reap at the moment we sow, but we are assured that we eventually will reap. If we sow, we will reap eventually. Don’t ever forget that. 

“Therefore, my dear brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work, knowing that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:58, HCSB)

You know, we live in an age of instant, fast everything. Have you noticed that?  Fast food, high-speed internet, express check-out. That’s why it’s hard for us to really let the impact of the scriptures sink in because the Bible was written in an agrarian society.  They understood sowing and reaping because it was their livelihood year in and year out.  Today, our idea of sowing and reaping is getting paid and going out to eat and then to Publix. It’s hard for us. American’s don’t do well with patiently waiting. 

We are like a farmer who planted a field of corn one day and then quit farming two days later because he didn’t have a field of corn!  Remember, v. 9 speaks of reaping in “due season.”  When it’s time. When God is ready. Sometimes we don’t reap because it is not the season. Maybe you are in one of those seasons. Money is low and your blood pressure is high. Everything you do is hard. You are seeing no results. It feels like your prayers are not getting above the ceiling. KEEP SOWING.  That’s what v. 9 says. Keep sowing and you can rest assured that the harvest will eventually come. On the other hand, seasons change and there are seasons of reaping in life. Ecclesiastes says that to everything there is a season!   Have you ever had a season of reaping?  I have.

 

IV.       We reap IN WHOM we sow

 V. 10 At first this almost seems out of place. Like it starts another section. And then one day it hit me. It’s like the Apostle Paul, after all of this talk about sowing and reaping, tells us to look around and find someone to sow into their lives. It’s not just about your life. Make a difference in someone else.  Really, the longer I am in ministry, I learn that what truly lasts in the changed lives. What truly lasts is the difference that you make in the lives of others.

 

What am I sowing?

 

Where am I sowing?

 

In whom am I sowing? 

 

 

 

This Monday morning I was up early and praying. It’s a big and busy week of ministry.  Even though my daily Bible reading finds me in another section of the Bible, I could not get the 23rd Psalm off my mind today. It really spoke to me in a fresh way…

“A Psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” (Psalm 23, NASB95)

No matter where you are in life this morning, I will guarantee you that a section of this Psalm speaks to you. No wonder it is so beloved!  As many times as I have read it and preached from it, Psalm 23 was a fresh source of encouragement, strength, and guidance for me this morning.  As we enter this work week, may we drink deep from this famous Psalm and draw a simple reminder from a familiar place.

On several recent occasions, I have overheard conversations among people about their investments. Sometimes people share about their investment adviser, and other times they discuss the latest stocks that have performed well. There is certainly nothing wrong with attempting to invest wisely – I do it myself.  However, we must remember that the most important things we invest in have nothing to do with money.  For Christians, it’s a tragedy if we invest financially, but we fail to invest in the most important ways. Let’s take a look at the most important investments we will ever make…

Invest in the Word of God

“How sweet are Your words to my taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth! From Your precepts I get understanding; Therefore I hate every false way. Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.” (Psalm 119:103–105, NASB95)

You don’t have to go to seminary in order to appreciate and understand the Bible. We are privileged to live in a time when we have unprecedented tools  for studying the Bible and more good, solid Bible translations than ever before in Christian history.  No excuses. If you can understand your portfolio, you can understand the Bible. If you can understand football, you can understand the Bible. If you can balance your checkbook, you can study the Bible.

Invest in prayer

“pray without ceasing;” (1 Thessalonians 5:17, NASB95)

Maybe you are thinking, “Well, I can’t just sit around and pray all the time.”  That’s certainly true, but how often do you pray?

Invest in your family

“Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband. Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise), so that it may be well with you, and that you may livelong on the earth. Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” (Ephesians 5:33–6:4, NASB95)

It’s sad to see Christians who are more passionate about their portfolio than their marriage.  It’s really tragic. No matter how much wealth we may acquire for our family, the truth is that the the most important investments our families need involve our time, our attention, and our influence.

Invest in your church

“and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:24–25, NASB95)

Certainly, I believe the Bible teaches that every Christian should tithe to their church, but being invested in the church means far more than our money. Every single Christian can make a difference in their church in some way.  In fact, most Christians are capable of making far more of a difference than they ever dreamed.

Invest in the next generation

“But as for you, speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine. Older men are to be temperate, dignified, sensible, sound in faith, in love, in perseverance. Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored. Likewise urge the young men to be sensible; in all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified,” (Titus 2:1–7, NASB95)

Certainly all of us who are parents should invest in our children, but I believe we should look even beyond them.  There are scores of young adults all around us who crave relationships, models, and mentors. They are far more open than you may think.  Many of them are married (or want to be married) but have never seen a healthy marriage.  Others are trying to be fathers or mothers, but never had much of a relationship with their own father or mother.  Look around and pray. I almost guarantee you that you will find some young adult that you can invest in.

You see, the Bible gives us the best investment advice. It does speak to financial investment and those matters, but it also instructs us in investing for eternity. Every single one of us is investing our time, talent, and treasure.  The question is:  “How are we investing it?”

Last night during our Wednesday evening service, I finished a series on the life of David.  Over a period of several months, I covered all the major events in his life as recorded in scripture.  Like every preacher, I had preached some messages on some key events in David’s life, but I had never looked at it in depth and preached its entirety. I have enjoyed preparing and preaching this series as much as any in some time.  It impacted me personally in profound ways.  There is much more to David’s life than the victory over Goliath and the incident with Bathsheba.  Here are some of the most important lessons I learned from the life of David…

1)    Have courage to do what God wants you to do.

David was certainly a very gifted man, but many gifted men have lived and died without accomplishing much.  David had a deep faith, but he took courage and did what God had for him to do.  It took courage to face Goliath.  It took courage to conquer Jerusalem and unite the kingdom.  It took courage win battles and greatly expand the kingdom. It took courage to “keep on keeping on” after terrible sin, humiliation, and trouble in his own family. It takes courage to live for the Lord today. It takes courage to stay married. It takes courage to raise children. It takes courage to grow old. It takes courage to endure grief and loss. David is a great example of one who had a courageous faith.

2)   We choose to sin, but we do not get to choose the consequences. 

David sinned terribly with Bathsheba and then sinned more terribly by trying to cover it up.  Those were his choices.  However, the consequences were God’s choices. David paid a heavy price in his family for years to come in ways that he never dreamed.

3)   Accept the fact that you will die with unfulfilled dreams.

For all of the great things that David accomplished, there was one great dream he did not get to accomplish: building God’s temple.  Why?  The Lord himself would not allow David to do it. David went to his grave with no temple for the Lord. It was an unfulfilled dream, but David did not get bitter about it. One of Satan’s favorite strategies is to make us bitter over one or two things that did not go our way and overlook hundreds of great blessings!  How did David keep from bitterness?  Rather than focusing on what God did not let him do, David focused on what God had enabled him to do!

4)   Stay humble and appreciative of God’s grace.

Even though he was a wealthy, powerful king, David always remembered that he was simply a shepherd boy that God had chosen.  David expresses his absolute amazement that the Lord had chosen one like him to be king and rule the people of God.

5)   Help the next generation succeed.

In the last recorded words of David found in scripture (1 Chronicles 28-29) a powerful exchange takes place. David recognizes the Lord has chosen his son Solomon to succeed him and be the one who would get to build the temple.  David spends exactly one verse talking about his kingship and then quickly turns his attention to Solomon – encouraging him and instructing him.  David actually helped the next generation succeed.

6)   Determine to point people to the Lord until your last breath.

As David came to the end of his life, he gave glory to God and reiterated that everything was the Lord’s!  Even with all he had been through, David did not die bitter. He died praising the Lord.

7)   The plan of God is awesome!

There are tons of great things to know about the life of David, but the most important one is that God’s covenant with David (to establish his throne forever) was ultimately fulfilled in Christ.  Read Matthew 1:1 and see how it ties together David and our Lord Jesus Christ.