A WORD FROM THE LORD!!

I once knew a pastor who got all his sermons from books or from the hierarchy of the denomination. As a result, there was no passion or fire in his preaching. He never got a "word from the Lord' directly. He hadn't spent days or nights in prayer seeking what God would have him preach for his congregation. He simply gave book reports week after week.

I asked him if he had ever heard from the Holy Spirit on this matter and he looked at me quite puzzled. His reply was very alarming, "No, I don't believe I've ever heard from the Holy Spirit" This pastor was honest, at least, but I'm afraid all too many ministers repeat other men's sermons and never get their message straight from the source.

In the Old Testament, we read about Moses, who went to the mountain top to speak with God. God told him what to tell the people and the people knew that he had been with God because his face shone with the glory of the Lord. The analogy is simple. We need men who have been with God, who get their message from God, and who shine with His glory. A man who has heard from the Lord Almighty will preach with a passion that will ignite his people. The Bible will come alive to the those in the pews and the guy in the pulpit alike.

When I go to church, I want to hear the Bible taught and preached, but I want to hear it from a man who has been with the Lord. Everyone would listen when that man spoke.

The One True God!

I read somewhere that "one knows when he has created a false god, when your own enemies are God's enemies". Rather than completely accept the God that is presented to us in the Bible, we attempt to create or at least reconstruct God in our own image. We each carry around a box that we try to fit God into. Every box is of a different size and shape. The size and shape is one of our own design and built around our own beliefs. There are even some who skip the box altogether and try to fit God into their front pocket!

Through the years, man has formed lifeless statues with his own little hands and said, "Here is God." Still others have built great cathedrals or vast religious organizations and deified them. O, can't they see that we are not God's creator, but He is ours!

Won't we be surprised when we meet Him face to face and realize He's way too big and far too awesome to fit into any box that anyone of us may have. God has been and always will be the God of the Bible and all the wishful thinking or philosophical, hocus pocus religion will not change that fact.

Throw out all your preconceptions about our creator, and especially the ones from Hollywood. You will find the true God in the pages of the Holy Bible. It is here that He reveals His true character and nature. If you can accept the one true God as presented in the Bible, you have a solid foundation in which to build your faith, salvation, and redemption.