“Don’t let others spoil your faith and joy with their philosophies, their wrong and shallow answers built on men’s thoughts and ideas, instead of on what Christ has said.” (Colossians 2:8 The Living Bible)
This morning I was going to tell you a long story about a man named Bradley, an individual who was ready to give up on his marriage, only three months past his wonderful wedding day. I was going to tell you how he blamed himself because of his inability to change his behavior and how he felt that it was not his spouse’s fault at all. Bradley believed his drinking habits, and his partying with his “boys,” grown men, and his focus on doing all he wanted to do was part of the initial information I was going to share with you this morning. Included in my report on Bradley was how he let his pessimistic attitude rob him of any optimistic thoughts. Yes, I was going to tell you how Brad went from feeling he could not change his actions that were aggravating his marriage, assailing his sense of peace, and assaulting his confidence in an array of other interrelated circumstances of life. Yet, that story was too long for a Sunday morning. But instead of leaving you in suspense, let me tell you how Bradley ran into his childhood pastor and how this man of God reminded Him of how the things impossible with man are possible with God, and the verse that says, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” Am I taking too much of your time? Well, then let me share some more because I don’t know what to write about this morning.
The pastor told him, withholding no applicable and great advice for Bradley’s sake on how he needed to get the Lord back into his life and let Him lead you! He told Bradley, “Hear what He has to say from His teachings; lessons that would bring about change in his life. You listen to everything else! Give the Lord a chance.” Lastly, the pastor pulled out a “concealed weapon,” his Bible, the sword of truth, and he read a passage out of Philippians that would help him think right and how thinking right would lead to doing right. I used it as a closing scriptural reference. The pastor’s final words to Bradley was a quote from Norman Vincent Peale, “Change your thoughts and change your world.”
Well, that is what I was planning to write this morning, believing that we all can list three or perhaps maybe more ways we can change our thinking and consequently our doing, and inevitably, change some situations or circumstance in our lives. That was going to be my challenge to you. Nevertheless, know for sure that I had you in mind and pray that the peace of God shall be with you.
I guess I’ll write something meaningful Monday morning, write something more helpful tomorrow to see you through whatever you need to change in your life. Today, I will just share something I saw on a church outreach card in Los Angeles earlier this week while helping at a Thanksgiving ministry outreach fellowship. The card said, “There is a seat saved for you,” implying that there was room for you at that church. Let me add on to what I read by saying that not only is there a seat saved for you at your church or a church near you if you do not have a church home, but there is also a saving waiting for you; either a saving from the penalty of sin, or a saving from the power of sin, or a saving from the very presence of sin…in this life and the life to come. Wait a minute! I guess I do need to tell you, considering the time of year, that you can even be saved from the holiday blues that will creep up on you and try to control you, and tell you how you can be saved from the temptation that will try to change your focus on the Christian’s celebration of Christmas to the commercial oriented focus with no “Christ” in your “Christmas.” Enough of “having nothing to say!” Get to church where a seat is saved. and a saving is reserved just for you; tailored to your specific need(s)! Enjoy worship! Be blessed!
“Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life. Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.” (Philippians 4:6-9 The Message Bible)
Still committed to the climb,
Mark L. King