A Life Of Determination

Bible Reading: Psalm 119:153-160

Key Verse: Verse 157 – “Many are my persecutors and mine enemies; yet do I not decline from thy testimonies.”

Key Words: Many are my persecutors and mine enemies

It is easy to go downhill. Anyone who rides a bike knows that. It is easy to go zipping along on a flat road; that calls for very little effort. But going uphill is another matter. Even a slight incline calls for more determination, and taking on a steep grade calls for all the strength and resolution a person has. But going downhill?  Anyone can do that. Many a cyclist, faced with a really steep hill, will simply turn around and coast back the way he came. The reason, of course, is that he was not really going anywhere in the first place. After all, he was just out for a joyride.

Being a believer, however, is no joyride. The psalmist was facing a stiff grade:  “Many are my persecutors and mine enemies,” he said. Everywhere he looked he saw unfriendly faces. The temptation was to give up. “Yet I do not decline from Thy testimonies,” he added.

John Phillips tells the following story. “As a boy I was brought up in a town that was avidly devoted to soccer. It was the big game. On Saturday afternoons thousands of people would flock to the stadium to see the weekly match. In those days most people walked, took the occasional bus, or rode a bicycle. Very few people had cars. When the match was over and the crowds poured out of the stadium, the sidewalks would be jammed with people walking back toward town.  Anyone could have gone with that crowd. A small person could have picked up his legs and been carried along by the crowd, the people were so tightly packed. But try going against it – that was different. To go against the crowd called for determination. It was a struggle every single step.”

 In spite of the struggle, we need the determination of the psalmist, “Yet do I not decline from thy testimonies.”

                                                                                                Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do: 

✞Take care of what God has entrusted to you.

Christians Are Faithful

Bible Reading:  Revelation 2:1-11

Key Verse: Verse 10 – “Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.”

Key Words: be thou faithful unto death

F.B. Meyer signed many of his letters, “Yours to count on.”

Meyer also is credited with saying: “A little thing is a little thing; but faithfulness in little things is a very great thing.”

The one ability that is within each of us is the ability to be faithful: faithful to our family, faithful on our job, faithful in our church attendance, and faithful in our giving.  Just be faithful!

 After the tragic bombing of a marine base in Beirut in October of 1983, the steadfastness of one young soldier moved and heartened Americans back home.  He had been critically wounded in the explosion of the revamped hotel where he and his fellow marines had been staying.  Many of his buddies had been killed.  He was covered with bandages and a jungle of tubes were attached to his body.  He could not speak.  Yet when he was visited by General Paul Kelly, Commandant of the Marine Corps, he indicated that he wanted to write something.  Painfully, he wrote the words semper fi, a shortened form of the U.S. Marine Corps motto, Semper Fidelis, which means “Always faithful.”

                                                                                    Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do:

✞ Be faithful: it’s just that simple.

Bible Reading:  II Timothy 2:1-13

Key Verse: Verse 3 – “Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.”

Key Words: as a good soldier in Jesus Christ

A Christian is a soldier and should fight the good fight of faith, not becoming entangled in the affairs of this life.

The Greek word translated entangle means “to entwine.” This reminds us of Samson, the mighty soldier who lost his power because he became entangled with Delilah, or maybe Lot who became entangled with Sodom, or Rehoboam who became entangled with power.

One of my granddaughters wanted to wear one of her momma’s necklaces.  As I walked by the room where my granddaughter was dressing, I heard her grunting and sighing and such. Finally, I heard a loud sigh that sounded like someone speaking in tongues.  In fear and trembling I knocked on the door to see if I could help.  My granddaughter looked at me and muttered something that sounded like an angry bull snorting at a matador.  I calmly asked if I could help, still not knowing what the problem was.  She said, “Sure,” tossing the necklace on the bed.  “But I can tell you now it’s hopeless.”

Being her Paw-Paw and her pastor, I reassured her with soothing words that where there is life there is hope.  So I walked over and picked up the item off the bed to find a necklace entwined in seemingly a hundred or more knots.  I worked with the necklace for several minutes, which, in actuality seemed like several hours, until I found myself speaking and snorting in a muttering tone, totally frustrated with the job that was before me, when finally I declared to my granddaughter, “This is hopeless!”, only to hear her reply, “I tried to tell you.”  

 The point is that we are useless as a soldier of God when we become entangled in the world.  I encourage you as a Christian soldier to fight the good fight of faith and don’t let yourself become entangled with the things of the world.

                                                                                            Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do: 

✞ Endure hardness as a good soldier and be leery of the enemy – the world.

Being A Christian

Bible Reading:  Acts 11:1-26

Key Verse: Verse 26 - “And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.”

Key Words: And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch

There is a difference between being born again and being a Christian.  Being born again is when we accept what Jesus did for us in dying, being buried, and raising from the dead.  Salvation is what Jesus did for us; being a Christian is what we do for Him – not because we have to but because we want to.

The very word Christian means “to resemble, to identify with.”  So a Christian is one who can be identified because they resemble Christ in words and actions.

The young son of a humble, consecrated pastor became very ill.  After the boy had undergone an exhaustive series of tests, the father was told the shocking news that his son had a terminal illness.  The youngster had accepted Christ as his Savior, so the minister knew that death would usher him into Glory; but he wondered how to inform his son that he would soon die.   After earnestly seeking the direction of the Holy Spirit, he went with a heavy heart through the hospital ward to the boy’s bedside.  First he read a passage of Scripture and had a time of prayer with his dear child.  Then he gently told him that the doctors could promise him only a few more days to live.  “Are you afraid to meet Jesus, my boy?” asked his devout father.

Blinking away a few tears, the little fellow said bravely, “No, not if He’s like you, Dad.”

In our daily walk we should strive to reflect Christ in our lives.

                                                                                            Dr. Mike Rouse 

What to do:  

✞Let others see Jesus through you.

Sleeping People

Bible Reading:  Acts 20:7-12

Key Verse: Verse 9- “And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep: and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead.”

Key Words: being fallen into a deep sleep

Now, Eutychus is not the only one to fall asleep in church.  I have watched couples nod off in magnificent rhythm.  I mean perfect timing.  Why, there are our spiritual church sleepers, they fall asleep, wake up long enough to say amen and then doze back off into never-never land.  Then there was the lady who had the strangest wheeze and smile while she was snoring, it reminded me of a chattering chimpanzee.

Why do people fall asleep in church?

Training:  That's right, we were trained as small children to stretch out on the pew beside our parents and sleep away.  Habits are hard to break.

Physical Factors:  Medicines we are on.

Indifference:  Some people would rather sleep than be fed God's Word.

Boredom:  Let's face it, some messages can be boring.

So much for the diagnosis, what about the remedy?

The Service:  Must be conducive for worship: good music and a few good, hearty amens every now and then help congregation involvement.

Physical Preparation:  Get a good night's rest on Saturday night, get up on Sunday morning in time to get ready without a lot of helter skelter.

Spiritual Preparation:  Take time to have prayer for the service before coming to church.

The Speaker:  Should be alert and ready, have his message well-prepared.  We are not in the entertainment business but each message should be interesting.

 I trust you will get the sleep you need, but not in church!!

                                                                                                        Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do:

✞Go to bed on Saturday night and be ready for Sunday. 

Committed People

Bible Reading:  Psalm 37:1-10

Key Verse: Verse 5- “Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.”

Key Words: Commit thy way unto the LORD

The following letter was written by a young Communist to his girlfriend breaking off his relationship with her because of his commitment to the Communist cause.  The letter was given to the girl’s father who had the letter published.

“We Communists have a high casualty rate.  We are the ones who get shot and hung and ridiculed and fired from our jobs and in every other way made as uncomfortable as possible.  A certain percentage of us get killed or imprisoned.  We live in virtual poverty.  We turn back to the party every penny we make above what is absolutely necessary to keep us alive.

“We Communists do not have the time or the money for many movies or concerts or T-bone steaks or decent homes or new cars.  We’ve been described as fanatics.  We are fanatics.  Our lives are dominated by one great, overshadowing factor: the struggle for world Communism.  We have a philosophy of life which no amount of money can buy.  We have a cause to fight for, a definite purpose in life.  We subordinate our petty personal selves into a great movement of humanity; and if our personal lives seem hard or our egos appear to suffer through subordination to the party, then we are adequately compensated by the thought that each of us, in his small way, is contributing to something new and true and better for mankind.

“There is one thing in which I am in dead earnest about, and that is the Communist cause.  It is my life, my business, my religion, my hobby, my sweetheart, my wife, my mistress, my bread and meat.  I work at it in the daytime and dream of it at night.  Its hold on me grows, not lessens, as time goes on; therefore, I cannot carry on a friendship, a love affair, or even a conversation without relating it to this force which both drives and guides my life.  I evaluate people, looks, ideas, and actions according to how they affect the Communist cause, and by their attitude toward it.  I’ve already been in jail because of my ideals, and if necessary, I’m ready to go before a firing squad.”

Oh, Lord, give us believers with commitment for you.  Psalm 37:5, “Commit thy ways unto the Lord.”

 

                                                                                                Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do:  

✞Evaluate your commitment to God and His cause. 

Did You Know About These Heroes?

Bible Reading: Hebrews 11:32-40

Key Verse: Verse 38 - “(Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.”

Key Words: Of whom the world was not worthy

One of my favorite World War I stories is about The Lost Battalion.  Someone has written:

“Neither lost nor a battalion, they were 550 stalwart soldiers, the tattered remnants of New York’s famed 77^th ‘Statue of Liberty’ Division, fighting their way through France.  Commanding them was a bespectacled Wall Street lawyer, Major Charles Whittlesey, who won the Medal of Honor for his deeds.

“When Allied forces began the 1918 drive that would end World War I, the 77^th faced the Argonne Forest, a formidable German stronghold.  Whittlesey’s exhausted troops had been fighting steadily for weeks; nonetheless, General John J. ‘Black Jack’ Pershing ordered the Americans to advance ‘without regard of losses.’  When the major’s protest was refused, he responded: ‘I’ll attack, but whether you’ll hear from me again, I don’t know.’”

One hundred and ninety four of the battalion did survive and until their deaths they were modern day heroes. Now they are deceased heroes.

In Hebrews 11 there are thirty-two heroes, not heroes from a physical world war, but a spiritual world war that has gone on for years between the Lord and Satan.  Well, I’ve read the last chapter – the good guys win.  Now it is men and women such as those who are mentioned in Hebrews 11 that should be our heroes.  Amen and amen. 

 

                                                                                            Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do: 

✞ Be thankful for, not just your physical heroes, but your spiritual ones as well.