Wednesday 5/21/14 Wars

Dear Father in Heaven:  I love You very much.  Please, Lord, forgive  me of my sins.  Lord, please be with those who yesterday gathered around a table and shared our thoughts with each other and with You.  Help us in those requests, dear Lord, and help us honor Your will in these matters.  Lord, I am, as You know, behind in my messages for You.  Please help me now with the message and help me get it dispatched.  Please, Lord, heal Bobbie Jo and clear her of cancer.  In Jesus' Name, I pray.  Amen.

It is Wednesday and that means it is Salvation Wednesday on this line, the day that we who are "Born Again" work harder to help seek out the lost and get them to the feet of Jesus to be saved.  Also this week keep me in prayer as I start a series on "Wars" and why we have them, according to the Bible, of course.  It was great to  have our dear friend Tom Sansoni in church with us on Sunday.  Also please keep "Grandma's" family in your prayers this week.  This 96 year young lady was jut known as Grandma to all her friends.  Grandma went home to Jesus.

Salvation Wednesday, May 21, 2014, Wars and what causes them! (Day One)

James 4:1 - What causes fights and quarrels among you?  Don't they come from your desires that battle within you?  2 You want something and don't get it.  You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want.  You quarrel and fight.  You do not have, because you do not ask God.  (NIV)

Maybe instead of asking about wars and what causes them, I should ask what causes fights in a family or a neighborhood or at work and/or even in a church.  We sometimes wonder why wars get started and wonder why countries cannot get along when indeed members of a family do not get along.  Sin, along with something else, is the root cause of all this trouble.  Sometimes we just pass it back to God and say it is in the Bible about Wars and Rumors of Wars.  Let's take a peek at that scripture.

Matthew 24:4 - Jesus answered:  "Watch out that no one deceives you.  5 For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many.  6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed.  Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.  7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.  8 All these are the beginning of birth pains."  (NIV)

So we see a case where we can just pull out a scripture and say, yes, there will be wars and rumors of wars and we are not to be alarmed.  So we pass of why the wars get started by saying, well, God tells us this will happen.  So I ask you, what might be the root cause of these wars?  I want you to think about it.  Also think about what might start trouble right in your own family or in your own home.  Let's start with a "three letter word."  SIN!!  We can look at a few other words also.  We might try and blame it on Satan, but do you think Satan really wants to start a war with God?  Satan must know he will lose.  However, Satan's workers, who I think work harder than we who work for Jesus, will attack you any way they can.

So for this series, I want you to read and understand what Jesus was saying, that we will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but I want you to really think about the causes of them.  And while I give you the three letter word for the cause, can you help point out some of the root causes of those sins?  Brothers and sisters, we do not just sin, there is a reason or reasons for our sin.  Think about it.  I don't think we get up each morning and say, I am going out and sin some.  I am just going out and sin.  What are you going to do?  Sin.  Well, what sin are you going to do?  I don't know, I am just going out and do a sin or two.  Maybe I will do one of those easy ones.  I will go and tell a lie!  No, I am going to one of those all you can eat places and load my plate and then not eat it.  I am going to waste food.  Maybe I will do a little road rage, or maybe I will text on my cell phone while I am driving.  Texting while driving is a sin?  Sure, you want to see it in the Bible?  Maybe I will just speed.

Titus 3:1 - Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, 2 to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate and to show true humility toward all men.  (NIV)

Titus 3:1 - Put them in mind to be subject to principles and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work.  (KJV)

Brothers and sisters, authorities and magistrates are "peace officers" or as we know them today, "police officers."  We need to obey the laws of man and obey our fine, fine ladies and gentlemen of our police forces.

So tomorrow we will look deeper into "Wars and what causes them."

Now go forth and share your blessings.   Love ya.  Please pass on God's love and mine also to others.

Pastor Dan