Dear Father in Heaven. Thank You for all that You do for all of us. Thanks for forgiving our sins, and Father, thanks for healing me so I could be with the flock You assigned to me yesterday. Oh, Father, how I love You. Thanks for watching over our family and friends. Thanks for watching over Leslie, and Lord, please keep Your hand of protection upon her. Lord, please be with the Saylor family, the Emig family, the Crocket family, Pam and her family. Watch over Bill, Joni, Doug, Nichole, Jason, Linda, Danelle, Leann and LeaAnne, and Lord, roll Craig out of bed and push him to get a job. Lord, help Helen and be with Tom as he travels home for Thanksgiving. Lord, please bless me now with a message. May it be right from You, and then, please, Lord, dispatch it for me. Now, Lord, please touch Dolores and me so we may work hard for You today. In Jesus' Name, I pray. Amen.
My dear online flock, I pray your weekend was as super as mine. Thanks for your prayers of last week. God woke me Sunday morning on fire for Him and ready to preach. It was great, really great, for there is nothing like when you are on fire for God. Wile I like to be on fire each day for Jesus. Some days the fire is so hot, I pray it will burn Satan. Let me get to the message as we keep working on "A Time."
Monday, November 18, 2013, A Time, Day Four.
Ecclesiastes 3:5 - A time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain. (NIV)
Brothers and sisters, when I think about a time to scatter stones, I often think of the spring when we have the spring thaw and how those dirt roads or dirt driveways become, well, mud. So many times in the spring I have called one of our stone places and ordered stones for the driveway. I think of how those stones had to be gathered first as big rocks and blasted down to those sizes to work into the dirt driveways. Then the big dump trucks bring them in and dump them and you work hard to scatter them. Then as they lay there they get kicked around and you need to gather them again, by racking them and sweeping them back into the place they belong.
Matthew 21:42 - Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures: 'The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes.'" (NIV)
When homes made of stone are built, you can watch as a stone worker will pick a stone and work at it, and he also will find some that he will reject for one reason or another, maybe he thinks he cannot work it into the place needed or it has a flaw in it. That stone put aside might be picked up by someone else and placed at a place where it can show its beauty. In our front yard, we have a very large stone, a big rock if you please, and we have named it our "Rock of Hope." It is one place I like to go to pray and receive that Hope from God. The stone was taken from what would become the basement of Hope United Methodist Church years ago and loaded on my trailer. The stone was not needed at the church, in fact, it had to be moved out for the building of the new church building. Rejected,if you please, and it found a home with us. When I think of how a stone or a rock was rejected, I think of Jesus, our Solid Rock, and how He was rejected and beaten and even put to death for us, for our sins. So when we think of a stone that is rejected, let it remind you of our Lord Jesus. When you pick up a stone in your yard so your mower does not hit it, think of Jesus. When you work with stones, think of Jesus who gives me Hope for each and every day of my life. So always remember that Rock that was rejected will be the one who in the end will have the job of either rejecting us or welcoming us home to be with Him. Please come to Jesus so you are not rejected by Him. He will not reject you here on earth, He is waiting for you, please do not reject Him.
Now let me look at "A Time to Embrace and A Time to Refrain." If you are like me you are one who loves everyone as our Dear Lord teaches us to do. I am also a hugger. I think it is a great way to greet folks, both men and women, however, there is a time to embrace that and a time to refrain, a time not to hug, maybe even someone you know. You or they might be sick and you do not want to spread the cold or whatever you have. Also others you don't know might not want that hug and it might then be considered even a crime. And NEVER, I say never in this day's market, do you touch a child you do not know. When Mrs. Claus and Old Santa are in Santa's House we are never one on one with a child, and they now sit between us. Unless a parent puts the child on our lap, we do not do that. Times have changed. Yes, folks, there is a time to Embrace and a Time to refrain.
Now is the time to embrace our Lord Jesus, and I feel it is time for a sinners' prayer. Maybe someone who reads this does not know the Lord. John 14:6 tells us that Jesus is the only way to the Father, and Romans 10:9/10 tells us that we need to confess with our mouth and believe in our hearts that Jesus was raised from the dead and we will be saved. Will you pray along with me today this sinners' prayer?
Dear Father in Heaven, I confess I am a sinner and I ask that You clean me of my sins and come into my heart to live. I do believe that You died on the cross for me and that You were risen from the dead. I Love You, Jesus, and I want to follow You the rest of my life. Help me with that, Dear Lord. In Jesus' Name, I ask and pray. Amen.
First time ever came to the Lord? Call me, here is my cell phone number - 717 991 0754. I want to pray with you and help you find a church home where you can keep working to get tighter with Jesus. Okay, time for me to run, but first this. Please go forth and share your blessings, and yes, you are welcome to forward what I write, but God gives the blessings as you share your blessings. I love ya. Pass that love on daily.
Pastor Dan
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