Friday 8/31/12 The Story 5

Matthew 3:1 - In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the desert of Judea and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."  (NIV)

Matthew 3:13 - Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John.  14 But John tried to deter Him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?"  (NIV)

Matthew 3:16 - As soon as Jesus was baptized, He went up out of the water.  At that moment, heaven was opened, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting to Him.  17 And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, who I love; with Him I am well pleased."  (NIV)

Salvation Friday, and it is about all gone, my dear brothers and sisters, so we pray anyway.  It seemed each day this week I had early morning appointments and then things just happened all day.  Salvation Friday and the day we pray for all the unsaved, and also pray for those who are saved, and those going into the fields of harvest for Jesus, to help bring in the lost to be saved.  Only Jesus can save your soul, but we must, we must get the folks that are unsaved to Jesus to be saved.  Also I just received this list of prayer requests.  These ar all new.  Cindy who had her appendix removed and while doing that the doctors found a tumor on a kidney, so now more surgery is coming.  For LaRoy, who has cancer, for Michael, marriage problems, and Beverly, depression.

Dear Father in Heaven, please forgive us of our sins, and Father, thanks again for today when we received some additional blessings for the food pantry.  Lord, as we get more and more people coming to get food, we thank You for supplying the needs of the pantry.  Father, please be with all those who are saved, and please help us all to bring in the lost to be saved.  Hear our prayers from the list and heal according to Your will, and Lord, please, please touch the eye of Art again.  Thanks, and praise this day, Lord.  In Jesus' Name.  Amen.

The Story (Day Five).  Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is Near, REPENT, FOR THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS NEAR.  Yes, that was John The Baptist, that folks say more than likely looked like I look, sort of rough and unshaved.  John was the forerunner of Jesus, going throughout the land and telling them that Jesus The Savior was coming.  Remember that John is only about six months older than Jesus.  Now I would like all of you to put yourself in the sandals of John and tell me how you would feel if Jesus walked up to you and you were busy baptizing people, and pastors, think of this also, you are baptizing people, and up walks Jesus and He tells you to please baptize me.  John did not want to do this, and said this as recorded in the book of Matthew.

Matthew 3:13 - Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John.  14 But John tried to deter Him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?"

But Jesus wanted John to baptize Him, and so John after awhile agreed.  What would you have done if you were John?  Think about how you may or may not want to do that baptism.  So again I say put yourself in John's sandals and see how you might feel.  So you decide that you will baptize Jesus and then this amazing thing happens.  Look, check this out ...

Matthew 3:16 - As soon as Jesus was baptized, He went up out of the water.  At that moment, heaven was opened, and He saw the Spirit of God, descending like a dove and lighting to Him.  17 And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, who I love; with Him I am well pleased.

Wow, the heavens opened and He saw the Spirit of God, and we, in John's sandals, were there to see it happen.  Then we hear this voice and it tells us, "This is my Son, who I love, and with Him I am well pleased."  So through the eyes of Jesus and John we see this event happening.  I ask that you close your eyes and see if you can picture this event in the life of our loving Lord Jesus.  And then I want you to ask yourself this, and I am asking myself also, by the way we are living right now, the way we act, the way we treat others, does our Heavenly Father look down onus and say "sons and daughters, you are my children and I love you, with you I am well pleased?"  Well, let me answer for me, and you can all address yourselves.

Our Heavenly Father, looking down would call us sons and daughters, for we are his children!  Yes, we are the children of God, made in His image.  Also, He would be telling us He love us, because there is no doubt that God is Love.  And we know that Jesus loves the little children.  And now that last part ... With you I am well pleased!  Again, I am addressing only me here.  And I think this statement to me would be, yes, I am well pleased with you now, but not completely, for you can do better.  My son (note the small s in son), I really do love you, and I have forgiven you of those sins, but DANIEL, yes, here, I think he would raise His voice a tad and say, DANIEL, you need to do a better job of repenting, forgiving and even in your daily walk.  I think He would lovingly say, you, son, are doing well, but you really can do better.

So as I close out today, one thing I must do better is getting my message out in a timely fashion for all of you.  And as I close out today, I am asking all of you this question.  If you are doing good for God, how many of you think you could really do better?  I would just love to hear from all of you but I know that you are busy, but maybe just some could write these words, "Yes, I can do better."

Do you remember the WWJD wrist bands?  I do, in fact, a little guy named Sean Fortney gave me one when he was about in first grade, and I wore it for years and years, day and night, in the shower and out.  Sean is six years into college now, and my wrist band wore out long ago, but it did last for years.  Maybe we could get a bracelet made up that would be "YICDB" for "Yes, I can do better," and then get another WWJD bracelet and put it side by side or one on each arm.  What do you think?

Go now and share those blessings and have a safe, healthy, and happy Labor Day, and remember Labor Day is a holiday, but there is no day off from working and living for Jesus.  Love ya, Pastor Dan.