“For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Colossians 1:13-14
When I was in the first or second grade, I encountered something that brought home to my little soul the unfathomable depths of the meaning of the word, “rescue.” I went with my parents to visit my great grandfather Hood’s farm located several miles out of town. Now “Granddaddy Hood” as we called him, was my mother’s grandfather and that day, the day my first cousin Gary and his family visited “Granddaddy” from California was a day to remember!
Granddaddy’s farm was neat! He lived in a classic wooden farmhouse featuring a big barn across the road and next to that, a big pond you could walk all the way around. Another sight for sore eyes, was my cousin Gary, who was my age and had brought official pirate swords all the way from California for us to play with. After receiving my sword, Gary and I proceeded to walk across the road that morning to be the swashbucklers we had always dreamed of being. Granddaddy’s barn became our ship, and his pond, the Caribbean. We proceeded to go to one side of the pond to play while my dad, my Uncle Benny, and Granddaddy walked to the other side of the pond to talk a spell. In the meantime, Gary played in the muddy bog at the shallow end of the pond where we were located, while I laid down my sword, grabbed a stick a little taller than I was, and walked out into deeper water.
After I had walked out into the water up to my shoulder blades, I decided to reach out about two feet in front of me and position my stick into the bottom of the pond so I could catapult myself into the deeper water. The problem was, I couldn’t swim, and after having made this bad decision, as the stick sank into the bottom of the pond, I found myself sinking into water over my head! I still remember fighting my way to the top and calling out to Gary who couldn’t swim either, and who was laughing for he thought I was just playing.
Then, after I went down a second time, I managed to fight my way to the top once more, and in doing so, I saw my dad and my Uncle Benny looking at me from our side of the pond as I went down for what I knew was to be the last time. And amidst the bubbles and the panic I could see my dad’s body splashing into the water above me. Dad pulled me out and pushed on my chest and later told me, “A ton of water came out of you, son!” And for the rest of the day, I sat on my father’s lap, leaning upon his chest knowing I had been rescued and was now safe in his arms as the cash bills from my father’s wallet placed between the windshield and windshield wipers of his car dried in the afternoon sun.
The greatest rescue ever occurred the day Jesus defeated the power of sin and the penalty of sin being death, on the cross! The Bible says Jesus blood was spilt publicly on the cross of Calvary and your sin-debt and mine was nailed to the tree! Paul says, “He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” His blood paid for our sins in full! He died on the cross in our place! No greater love for you and for me, by name, exists or ever will. Paul says in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Have you repented of your sin and invited Jesus into your heart as Savior and Lord? When you do, you will be taken from darkness, deception, and destruction, and transferred to the clean, white, and peaceful place of His presence, now and forever!
In His Name, Pastor Louie
Sand Mountain Sermonette 47
Luke 22:42; Ephesians 1:13-14; John 14:26; 16:13; I Corinthians 2:14
The Great Kitchen Adventure
“Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.”
Luke 22:42 (Jesus’ prayer to His Father offered in the Garden of Gethsemane).
When I was a little preschooler, I would stay with my dad’s mom, my Mamaw Mabrey, during the day while my parents worked. And, to this day, I will never forget the great kitchen adventures we had!
Mamaw would take me to the kitchen and allow me to play on the floor with all the pots and pans and other exciting things I could find and remove from the cabinets below her kitchen counter tops. And, while she was preparing one of her delicious meals, I would position her kitchen utensils into little carnivals, forts, and the like. But the one kitchen tool I loved and remember most was Mamaw’s sifter: the classic one featuring the revolving center and the little red wooden nob located on the outside handle. I would spin and spin the sifting device as I was intrigued with its inner workings.
Dear one reading this devotion, God loves you so! He has a plan for your life; an exciting adventure that begins when you trust (or when you trusted) His Son, Jesus Christ, as Savior and Lord of your life. A plan He does not purposefully want to keep hidden from you, but the plan He desires to reveal to you day-by-day as you trust and follow Him.
And, in doing so, God has given the Holy Spirit (the Spirit of the Living Christ) as a deposit not only guaranteeing the Christian’s salvation (See Ephesians 1:13-14), but also to be the believer’s “sifter” in discerning the will of God daily. And, when it comes to those crossroads in life that eventually calls for a decision; one in which we may not be sure in which direction to follow, the “Sifter” Spirit of God knows what one is to keep and pursue as truly given by the Lord as opposed to that which is to pass right on through and out of the way when discerning God’s will on a certain matter at hand. The Bible also tells us the Holy Spirit is our Teacher in understanding and apply the Scriptures to our lives when discerning God’s will for our lives (See John 14:26; 16:13).
In other words, Christian, you have something the unbeliever does not have, the Holy Spirit living inside you (See I Corinthians 2:14). “Dear God, may the Spirit speak to each reader of this devotion: the believer and the unbeliever” with all the love and encouragement, conviction and direction, that you so desire so that he or she may know that Jesus died and rose so that He could live in them and assure them of the Your love and leadership today and forever.” Amen.
Pastor Louie
Sand Mountain Sermonette 48
Luke 22:42; Jeremiah 29:11
Sand Mountain Sermonette 48
The Open Door
“Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.”
Luke 22:42
About a year or so before I met my wife Nancy, I was working at a job in my hometown of Albertville, Alabama, when a friend of mine walked in and, within the course of our conversation, asked me a couple of interesting questions. He asked, “Louie, what do you think you will be doing in the future? “Do you believe you will be working here? I responded, “Yes, as far as I know I will probably still be working here.” Later in our conversation he asked, “Have you ever considered being a preacher?” To which I said, “Yes, for the past year or so I have found myself wondering what it would be like to be a preacher.”
Well, it wasn’t long afterward that I met Nancy and we were married and God led me to Florida where, one day driving to work at a place that featured similarities to my job in Albertville, I was so overcome by the Spirit of God that I had to pull my AMC Concord off to the side of the road, for the Lord was telling me I was to pursue ordained ministry. And, although other doors have closed in my life, this door has remained open to Nancy and me ever since God’s calling on my life (our lives). He has been faithful!
More than anything else, Jesus’ passion was to obey the will of His Father. And He did this, because He loved His Father more than anything else next to His loving us so much that He completed His mission to die on a cross so we could be dead to the power of sin and alive; really alive, now and forever, in Christ! To seek, find, and obey the will of God should be the passion of every Christian but oftentimes we allow our fleshly impulses to rule rather than the Holy Spirit who indwells every Christian believer.
The Bible teaches when God has a plan He wants to unfold in the life of one of His children, He will plant a desire in that believer’s heart, provide the opportunity, and then, open the door. Jeremiah 29:11 tells us, God’s plans for His people are to offer them soundness, completeness, and peace on all fronts rather than evil, distress, or injury, in order to give them a future and a hope (New American Standard Bible).
What a glorious adventure it is to seek where God will lead you wherever that may be: across town or from Florida to a seminary in Kentucky and back to Florida again. Will the road always be easy? “No.” Will I ever be afraid? “Yes!” but, the Lord will always be present and when we are following His leading, blessings will always follow, and oftentimes in the most surprising ways. Praise God for He has a plan for your life!
Surrender your heart to the Spirit, He will never fail you!
Pastor Louie