Stay Focused

I was recently at The Cove down in Asheville, North Carolina for a Pastor's Renewal Conference. The Cove is also called the Billy Graham Training Center. Gigi, the oldest child of Billy and Ruth Graham, spoke to some of us about the last words her father said to her before he died. He said, "You need to stay focused on the cross and the person of Jesus Christ."

The Apostle Paul said it this way: "Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith!" (Hebrews 12:2a). The NIV says "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus." 

What does that do for us? It allows us to persevere through the trials of life so that we may accomplish the Father's will and hear Him say, "Well done," when we have finished our race on this earth.

Sometimes we get our eyes off Jesus, don't we? Like Peter, we get our eyes on the waves and off Jesus, and we begin to be afraid. The old hymn was right - we must:

Turn our eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face.

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,

In the light of His glory and grace.

As you go through this day, keep looking to Jesus in faith and prayer. When the waves come, and they will; look up and ask the Lord to let you see Him in the midst of the waves. Remember, the waves are what Jesus walks on to get to you and me!

Dennis Hollandsworth

Why do people reject such Good News?

“A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it.”

Luke 4:5 

What an incredibly simple story – A sower went out to sow his seed. I imagine that every listener in that day saw that image without any trouble. No doubt, they daily watched as farmers went out to broadcast their seed. The Master-Teacher, Jesus, used this familiar image to drive home a spiritual truth.

We know from the story that the seed is the Word of God. The soil represents human hearts. And the sower is anyone who broadcasts the gospel. Psalm 126:5 says, “Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy.” We share the good news of the gospel and are blown away with the reality that most people refuse it – they do not accept the free gift of eternal life. In this parable, Jesus clearly tells us why they reject what we believe is the greatest news in all the world.

To put it simply – men reject the free gift because their hearts are hard. And why are their hearts hard? Because people love sin! (Romans 1:18-31)     

What if you have a hard heart - what can you do? You can do nothing but I know someone that can!

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 36:26

Recipe for Revival

Every time there is a building program in the Bible, it is always accompanied by a great spiritual revival. When Christians pray for a revival, exactly what are we praying for? If you have spent any time in a Baptist church, you might think about a series of meetings during which a church invites an evangelist to come in and reach unbelievers with the gospel. Of course, you have all kind of gimmicks to get unbelievers to come out to the revival service. On children’s nights, you give an iPad to the kid who brings the most guests with him. Then on youth nights, you bring a Christian band, and on adult nights, you give every Sunday school class a pew to fill. That is what we think of when we think of revival. But in the Bible, revivals were not aimed at unbelievers; they were aimed at believers. Think about it: you cannot revive something that is spiritually dead. People without Christ do not need resuscitation–they need resurrection. Revival is for God’s people. Anytime you have a revival in the Bible, it occurred when people who were believers become lethargic in their walk with God, and God awakened them. Here is a good definition of revival: revival occurs when the Spirit of God using the Word of God motivates the people of God to obey the will of God.

Do you want a revival in your life? Do you want to regain that excitement you once had in your relationship with God? If so, Nehemiah 8 is for you. We see a shift of emphasis at this point in the book of Nehemiah. The focus of the first seven chapters is on the material needs of the city, but beginning in chapter 8, the focus is on the spiritual needs of the people. The action in the first seven chapters is the construction of the wall, but the second half of the book deals with the instruction of the people. And finally, the main character in the first seven chapters is Nehemiah, but when we come to chapter 8, the main character is Ezra.

God used three specific men in the return back to Jerusalem. The first guy was Zerubbabel. He came with the first group in 516 BC to rebuild the temple. Then in 458 BC the second man came back. That was Ezra, who was a religious leader. His job was to reinstitute the worship that was to occur in the temple. Unfortunately, he was not very successful in doing that. Fourteen years later, Nehemiah came back with the third group of people. His job was to rebuild the wall, and he did so in just fifty-two days. But that was not Nehemiah’s ultimate purpose. More than just building a wall, God wanted to build a community of devoted believers who would be His representatives in the culture.