“Then he (Ezra the Scribe) said to them, ‘Go, eat of the fat, drink of the sweet, and send portions to him who has nothing prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.’”
When I was a Junior in High School, my dad and mom helped me get a 1973 Nova “Super Sport” automobile, and the day dad and I drove it home from a dealer in Albertville, I took it across town to show my Papaw Mabrey. When I pulled into his yard right off the Old Birmingham Highway, I saw Papaw standing in the front yard talking to his brother, Audie who lived in Boaz, just a few miles away. Well, they both loved the car and after a few minutes Papaw suggested he fill my new “used” car with its first tank of gas, so the three of us hopped in and I drove down the Old Birmingham Highway a few miles to a familiar country store-gas station and Papaw, true to his word as always, filled her up!
Well, everything was fine until we pulled back into Papaw’s front yard, I turned off the motor, and we stepped out of the vehicle. My Uncle “Audie” said, “T” (the name my grandad was known by to everyone), let’s check and make sure he has enough coolant in his radiator and before I knew it, as Uncle Audie slightly turned that radiator cap “off,” hot coolant spewed out all over my nice, clean engine! Now no one was hurt, and although I didn’t say anything, old car-perfectionist- Louie wasn’t happy, so Papaw and his brother grabbed a hose over by Mamaw’s flower garden and rinsed off the engine and everything was alright! Then, after a little more good visit time, I drove my Nova home gassed and cooled!
Well, I don’t know about you, but sometimes I don’t behave in a God-like fashion when the coolant spews and the anxieties of life seem to multiply in rapid proportion! I know for a fact that day I quickly replaced the blessings of spending time with my grandfather and his brother as well as receiving my first tank of gas bought and paid for, with a countenance that quickly turned from “joy” to “frown” in a split-second!
In proclaiming God’s Word before a great crowd of worshippers who had gathered at a particular entrance gate at the wall surrounding the city of Jerusalem and in celebration of the restoration of the gates and the rebuilding of the wall itself following their previous destruction by the Babylonians, Nehemiah reports of a day holy unto the Lord. The day when Ezra proclaimed God’s word and commanded God’s people to celebrate and not be grieved any longer following their repentance of sin, “for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” There is a deep-seated joy that only God can provide which comes from the Holy Spirit’s abiding in the life of the Christian believer. This “joy” is a “fruit of the spirit” (Galatians 5:22-23), and it will replace any possession that has taken first-place in your life with His Presence!
Invite Jesus to turn your frowns into smiles for the world to see!
This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us…” Hebrews 6:19-20 (a)
I was blessed to have grown up attending Hewett Memorial United Methodist Church in Albertville, Alabama. I still remember fondly Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, and all those pot-luck suppers surrounded by the presence of the wonderful pastors and members of the congregation I often think of when I recall those special days. And one of my favorite persons to recall was Mr. Rains who was our church song leader in the 1960’s. He was tall and skinny and really challenged the congregation to “sing out” when we stood and led the congregational hymns on Sunday mornings. And one of the favorite hymns of mine and the congregation’s at that time was Edward Mote’s hymn of 1834, My Hope is Built.”
Take time and ponder the four stanzas and the chorus:
1. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
2. When darkness veils his lovely face, I rest on his unchanging grace. In every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil.
3. His oath, His covenant, His blood support me in the whelming flood. When all around my soul gives way, he then is all my hope and stay.
4. When He shall come with trumpet sound, O may I then in him be found! Dressed in his righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne.
CHORUS: On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand; all other ground is sinking sand.
Try this: With pen and paper in hand (or electronic device), make note of all the spiritual benefits given the person who “has built” (and is building) his or her life on the blood of Jesus Christ shed on the cross and who is therefore clothed in His righteousness (Isaiah 61:10, Romans 4:3-8).
Only the Jewish High Priest of the Old Testament could enter within the great veil that separated The Holy Place from The Most Holy Place in the Jewish Temple, and he could only do so once a year. But Matthew tells us how this great curtain was torn in two from top to bottom the day Christ died on the cross (Matthew 27:51)! Now, you and I as Christians have direct access to throne room of God. Read Hebrews 4:14-16 and be blessed!
Pastor Louie
and Mountain Sermonette 84
Lamentations 3:22-23
The Disobedient New Shoes
“Because of the Lord’s great love (mercies), we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”
Lamentations 3:22-23
When I was in my early twenties, I decided to wear contact lens, but they burned and reddened my eyes, so after several visits to my local optometrist, he set me up with a colleague of his at the University of Alabama School of Optometry to see if they could help solve this ongoing problem. Well, the doctor there confirmed my local optometrist’s diagnosis that I had a problem with the inner eyelids which would make my wearing contacts very difficult. So, I traded my new contacts for my old pair of glasses and have been happy to this day.
However, when dad, mom, and I left the University on that cold morning, we were hungry because we had not had time to eat breakfast, so dad found a Sambo’s Restaurant (Similar to a “Big Boy’s) located on a nice little corner street in the suburbs of Birmingham. But when we entered through the front door the excitement began! Mom had on new pair of shoes all accessorized by her big winter coat, and she started slipping and sliding all over the restaurant’s tile floor so much so that Dad said, “Jeanine, you need to stand up straight because people here are going to think you’re drunk!” But mama couldn’t help it and she started to laugh and so did I, but dad wasn’t! The other problem was the restaurant was full, no one had come to take us to a table, and the only booth available was in the far-left corner of the room. But eventually, dad was able to get mother to that booth and we all sat down, but before a waitress could come over, Dad had gotten up found the manager and told him he was going to have to do something about those “slick” floors” because his wife couldn’t stand up on them! The manager very politely told dad that they had indeed dressed the floors that morning with a new cleaner that was causing other people to slip and slide as well and that they would do something about it. So, after our meal which we enjoyed, we left, mother made it to the car just fine, and I believe dad began to laugh about it, too.
The Bible says God has the best floor plan for His children to walk upon; one not slippery but solid and stable. The flooring is God’s unchanging faithfulness to His children (those who have personally received His son Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord), and our walking (living out our lives) on that floor is in the loving, worshipping, and obeying Him in faithful trust simply because of who He is!
Christian, can you and I really imagine what the prophet Jeremiah is getting at here? Each morning, you can eagerly and confidently step out your front door and receive unto yourself your new package filled with all the unconditional love, mercy, forgiveness, courage, compassion, and provision the Lord has for you that day: Marked, “God’s Overnight Delivery.” Why? Because He is faithful, and He loves you so much!
Pastor Louie
Sand Mountain Sermonette 85
Psalm 55:22; Psalm 55; Matthew 11:28; Peter 5:6-7
The Day the Frozen Chickens Went for a Ride
“Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you. He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.” Psalm 55:22
One afternoon following my father’s funeral several years ago, I was sitting on the front porch of my parent’s home in Albertville with my mom, my wife Nancy, and my Aunt Sue, when my Aunt Sarah and her husband, my Uncle Billy, drove up to offer the family their support. And while we were sitting there, Uncle Billy told a story about my dad that I had never heard before. It occurred back in the early 1960’s when my dad was driving the big tractor-trailer trucks for a living. It seems that dad invited Uncle Billy to ride with him to pick up a trailer load of frozen chickens somewhere out west and then deliver them a fair distance away.
Uncle Billy said they had been traveling down the road just fine for a little while when all of the sudden, something went wrong with the truck’s transmission as far as I now understand it, in which, as one professional trucker recently told me, “Your dad probably had to keep his right hand on the shifter because of the weight distribution misalignment with the trailer of frozen chickens.” And he added, “Your dad was good!” Uncle Billy said he had never seen anything like it before—my dad holding constantly onto that shifter with one hand and the big steering wheel with the other! And yes, dad and Uncle Billy made it to their destination in time but unfortunately the chickens had thawed to the point the receiving department would not accept them. But things still worked out okay for my dad who, although he was upset, soon got over it and couldn’t wait to make his next run.
Proper weight distribution is not only crucial in truck driving but is vital to the Christian life as well. We often carry unnecessarily heavy weights on our backs that in turn produce worry, discouragement, and bitterness in our lives. In Psalm 55, David was dealing with the weight of an intimate friend who had misaligned their relationship by betraying him. But his response after a season of discouragement was a healthy one for mind, soul, and body: to cast his burden on the Lord who would sustain him through this very difficult time in his life. And why should we “release” our burdens into the Lord’s hands? Because we can trust in His sustaining power, patience, and love to be true to His promise that, “He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.”
Did a problem you’re facing keep you awake last night? Remember David who did not deny the “burden” but who cast it on the Lord by taking his hands off both shifter and steering wheel as he let God do the driving and deal with all the consequences he was facing in His life at that time. “Come unto Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28). (Also, read I Peter 5:6-7). Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow!