Our Savior Is A Tender Lord

When we are functioning as believers should, we will be a light to this world, showing them the way of God and the way to God.

Matt. 5:16, Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

But how many times have we seen our light nearly extinguished, our faith and our witness grow dim? 

We become weak and unusable to the Lord — like when I got out of church those five years.

It would have been easy for the Lord to quench our feeble flame and simply snuff us out. 

But Jesus is always willing to forgive us, restore us and rekindle us when we call on Him confessing our sins, 1 John 1:9.

The saints have a Friend in Jesus. Our Savior is a Tender Lord.

Phil. 1:6, “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:”

Ideas for this unprofitable blog are taken from The Sermon Notebook—Biblical resources for preachers and teacher of the word of God. They allow these sermons to be used as the Lord leads but not for profit without their permission

This I Know

I don’t know much, but what I do know, I like. 

I know about a Resurrected Redeemer. I know He knows me and loves me in spite of my faults, and I love Him. 

I know that born again Christians never die — they just go home. Their soul goes to Heaven and their bodies to the dust from where they came, Gen. 3:19; 1 Thes. 4:16-18; 1 Cor. 15:51-52. 

I know I’ll see Jesus some day and that He will come back to reign on earth. 

Like Job, I’m overwhelmed by this. 

Job 19:25-27 For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: 

[26] And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: 

[27] Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.

I find a lot of comfort, hope and strength in what I know.   

When life is rough and you feel defeated, read Job 19:25-27. 

Ideas for this unprofitable blog are taken from The Sermon Notebook—Biblical resources for preachers and teacher of the word of God. They allow these sermons to be used as the Lord leads but not for profit without their permission

The Lord, He Is The God

For the most part, the Israelites had turned their backs on the Lord and gone after the Canaanite god Baal. 

So the prophet Elijah comes with a message from the Lord — a call for repentance. 

Things come to a head and there is a showdown on Mt. Carmel. Which god will consume the burnt sacrifice by fire?  Baal didn’t answer the all-day prayers to him. It’s Elijah’s turn. 

1 Kings 18:37-39   Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again. 

[38] Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. 

[39] And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The Lord, he is the God; the Lord, he is the God.

When we are willing to separate ourselves from all the other gods that compete for our attention and we yield to the God of Heaven, then we will find ourselves drawn to Him in true heart worship. 

Nothing in this world is more precious than a heart that is aflame with love for the Lord and a heart that burns with a desire to see God glorified —  whatever the cost.

Ideas for this unprofitable blog are taken from The Sermon Notebook—Biblical resources for preachers and teacher of the word of God. They allow these sermons to be used as the Lord leads but not for profit without their permission

Spiritual Contentment

If we are going to obtain true spiritual contentment, we must learn to deal honestly with our sins in humble confession and repentance as God draws us to Him. 

If David had been praying instead of playing, he would have avoided his sin with Bathsheba. He succeeded in covering it up from most folks for about a year.  

While living with unconfessed sin, he was a different man. The soldier lost his strength; the singer lost his song; the saint lost his satisfaction, and it brought sorrow into his family.

There are benefits to spiritual contentment. The Lord has all the resources we need to escape the dangers at hand, 1 Cor. 10:13. 

The saints of God are not exempt from troubles, but they are kept in them and strengthened by them.  

They enjoy the best this world has to offer and have hope in the next world as well.  They are literally “compassed about with songs of deliverance.” 

Psalm 32:7 Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah.

Ideas for this unprofitable blog are taken from The Sermon Notebook—Biblical resources for preachers and teacher of the word of God. They allow these sermons to be used as the Lord leads but not for profit without their permission

The Freeway Eulogy

While traveling the rolling, green, foot hills of southwest Missouri last Saturday, my mind mused on the Eulogy I prepared to give at my sister’s memorial service. 

She drove an 18-wheeler across country for many years and called me often from the freeway. 

Whether a blond joke, a question about the Bible, politics, family or telling about the turkey flying through the windshield plastering her with feathers and blood; I looked forward to her calls. 

The most exciting freeway call was to tell me she had just gotten saved and wanted me to send her some gospel music — Jake Hess music — to play in the truck. 

At the end of the service I had them play a recording of Jake Hess singing “I Have Never Walked Alone”. It was so appropriate. 

Psalm 9:10 And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.

Ideas for this unprofitable blog are taken from The Sermon Notebook—Biblical resources for preachers and teacher of the word of God. They allow these sermons to be used as the Lord leads but not for profit without their permission