July 27, 2010 Tests 2

Test me, O Lord, and try me, examine my heart and my mind.

Schools day, schools day, dear old golden rules day, reading and riting, and rithmetic, taught to the tune of that hickory stick... Oh yes, it is Tuesday and Schools Day on the line. Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters, it is indeed a beautiful morning here at the Southern Location of the North Pole, it is just beautiful. As you pray for schools today it is time to start really getting into it, if you pass a school building take a few minutes and drive in (no, not into the school, just into the parking lot) and sit there and pray for a while. Take some anointing oil and anoint the flag pole or the sign at the school. Put a little cross on it, in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost...

Today I ask you to please pray for Vicki and her family and her extended family. Pray all lines up for Vicki's surgery. Pray for Pearl, and her family, pray for Ron and Donna (Ron has cancer). Pray for Pastor Tony and his wife Ruby. Pray for food pantries, not just ours, but others. Pray for those who bring in food and the needy who come to the pantries. Pray for New Hope Ministries, who has moved to a new location. And please, please pray for my wife Dolores. I had her to the doctors last evening, she can hardly walk, something happened about two weeks ago that has given her pain that is over the top. And above all today, PRAISE GOD, FOR HE IS GOOD.

Tests 2: Psalm 26: 1 - Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have led a blameless life. I have trusted in the Lord without wavering. 2 TEST me, O Lord, and try me, examine my heart and my mind: 3 For Your love is ever before me, and I walk continually in your truth. (NIV)

Wow, here we see David asking God to test him, "Test me, O Lord." Brothers and sisters, as we saw yesterday with Abraham and his only son Isaac, God does test us. But do we have the nerve to call on God in our prayers and ask Him to test us as David did? And if we did that and if God did test us, would we pass or fail? Would we get a 100% or 0% or something in between? I know for me, I would really want to get that hundred, but I know that I fail often, so while I pray that if God tests me, that I will keep trying to get that 100%. How about you? Brothers and sisters, we need to try our very, very best to walk with the Lord daily and not just when we want to or that one or two hours a week when in church. How has God tested you?

I want to tell you about this really neat and loving lady, her name is Eleanor. She has three wonderful kids (all grown) and recently gave her husband over to the Lord Jesus for care and custody and God took him home. Her kids, two of the three, have also been tested with health issues. Two reside together with their dear mother. I drop in once in a while to see them and I never heard any of them complain about their problems at all, in fact the smiles on their faces and I really mean this, the smiles on their faces show the love of Jesus coming through. This family has been such a blessing to me, as I see what they deal with and what Eleanor has done all of her life with one of the kids. Eleanor has been indeed a caregiver all of her life, and she helps others also. If this is indeed a test from God, well, what I have seen Eleanor is as near to that 100% as anyone walking this earth will get, and while I believe that we all fall short of the 100%, she has not missed it by far. Thanks, folks, and they are on this line, for helping this old pastor walk more in faith each day. Eleanor, you are indeed a great earthly example to follow and I mean that from the bottom of my heart. As for the kids, all of them, no slacking back, they went to work each day, struggling to walk, but went in and worked hard. What a family, and folks, they all set that example that the Lord likes to see.

So how has the Lord tested you? Health issues, money issues, lost that home in a fire, lost your job maybe to no fault of your own, lost a spouse in a car accident, maybe even had a child taken from you. Sometimes we want to blame all things on evil, and while I do believe that Satan tries to take us down daily for walking with Jesus, sometimes Jesus will let things happen to us just to see how we stand with Him. I truly believe that has happened with both Dolores and myself on this line. But we are not going to stop, and I must tell you that there might have been a day when we would have said let's retire from all of this. No as long as we can push, and we pray till the day Jesus takes us home, we are going to pass this test. I told you yesterday that if not for a fellow student named Pat Wells, I would have failed all my tests in high school, except in math, but she helped me with homework each morning in homeroom. But it has changed, and while for a long time in my life I failed all the tests that were given me when it came to Christ, I did come back, and although I am not going to carry that high grade as some, I am trying my best to pass the tests. I am tired of blaming problems on Satan, I am now taking blame for myself. We have ordered Satan out of our lives in the name of Jesus, and that means he has left, for Satan is no match for Jesus. Now understand, Jesus is not going to give us anything that we cannot handle if we work it with Him... He is really not.

Let me give you another example of a couple who deal with health issues. Let me just call them S and O today. I have seen Mrs. S deal with pain to a point she could hardly walk yet she went on working for others. And Mr. O, and I could call him Mr. O. O., works for others so much, the other day I watched as his oxygen bottle ran out, he laid it down and keep on pushing to get a project done for others to enjoy, in fact he got so tired he laid down on the floor to rest. Now he could have said I can't do this, he did not, he pushed on. Does God test us like this? I think he does, and again I ask, how has God tested you today, or in the past? Will you pass or fail the test, will you blame others or complain? How about it... Tomorrow I am going to ask God to give me lots of scriptures on this. I might be late tomorrow as I have a funeral in the morning to pastor. But it is Salvation Wednesday and we need to keep on working for the Lord. Again, are you passing the tests that just might be coming from God, and let's say that Satan has laid one on you, are you going to stand firm in Jesus for that test?

Dear Father in Heaven, our prayer is short and to the point today. Help us each day to walk with You, You have trusted us with the day, and we pray that we can walk it for and with You. I pray that any test that is put before me today, I'm walking arm and arm with You, will pass. Please look over our prayer lists and honor them according to Your will for each person... In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.

Now go forth, passing the tests, and one test from God just might be, sharing your blessings (I do not mean to put you on a guilt trip there) (well maybe). Anyway, share those blessings and know that Jesus loves you so much, and I love ya also. Pastor Dan.

Carry The Light Ministries Inc.
16 Dewalt Drive
Mechanicsburg, Pa. 17050
Phones Home 717 691 8200 Pastors Cell 717 991 0754 Dolores cell 717 991 0763

(why not call Dolores and pray with her on the phone... she would love it.)