THE POUND
PROCLAIMER
Volume III
January 2008
Number 3
Sing
to the Lord, bless His name; proclaim the good news of His salvation from day
to day. Psalms 96:2
I HAVE JESUS IN
MY HEART
We shy away from using the jargon
of the denominational world. This is a good practice because it keeps those who
hear us from getting the wrong impression about our beliefs and teachings.
There is, however, a down side to the practice. It may leave the impression
that we do not believe or teach a biblical truth.
Take for example the
phrase; I have Jesus in my heart. The denominational concept of Jesus abiding
in the heart does indeed have some false beliefs attached to it. Aside from the
false ideas some have about having Jesus in the heart, the Bible teaches us
that Jesus must dwell in the heart of the Christian. It is this fact that is
addressed in this article.
Life is filled with
blessings. My work as a preacher has allowed me to share in more blessings than
I deserve. In September of nineteen hundred ninety six, a wonderful blessing
came into my life. It began as a way to help a young mother who had two
children in diapers. Her birth came only seventeen months after her sister, so
Nila and I volunteered to baby sit as often as needed. It became a weekend
event that we relished. This remarkable bundle of joy came to grace us on a
regular basis. Her visits were a joyous occasion for the Young’s house. As she
grew, these times became to be known as ‘sleepovers’, which is what she called
them.
This precious little house
guest became a harsh bedfellow as she grew to toddlerhood. Although our bed was
king size, it wasn’t quit big enough. It is amazing how active a ten month old
can be even while sleeping. The end result of her sleepovers was a lack of
sleep for Nila and I.
An example of this is seen
in the following account which I wrote when she was sixteen months old. “We had
our house guest sleep over again last night. We went to bed at eleven. At one
fifteen, I suggested to Nila that she might settle down if her diaper was
changed. At three, she and I went to the dining room to share a glass of juice.
We retired after refreshing ourselves with Hawaiian Punch and some stimulating
conversation with fuzzy bear. This morning we arose to the smiles and giggles
of a special little visitor.”
You may be wondering why I
would desire to have someone over who would disrupt my sleep. The answer is
simple. This little bundle of joy had
crawled inside my heart and had set up residence there. I could not bear the
thought that she might never come back for a sleepover. You see, when someone
gets in our heart, the crosses we bear to be with them become minor annoyances.
It didn’t matter how bad my
day was going when our special little visitor came over everything became
wonderful. When she was five years old, this bundle of joy would come over and
all my cares vanished away. We would sit and talk about everything. We would
cook scrambled eggs (her favorite thing to do at my house). We would tell
stories (her favorite was the “Headless Horseman”) and color pictures. It
mattered little what we did. Everything was fun. Sometimes we would just sit on
the couch. She would either be on my knee or reclined against me. I would have
my arm around her as we sat without speaking. Special moments like this brought
joy to this old heart. It was most certainly a foretaste of Heaven.
Please permit me to use my
memories as a means to illustrate the kind of relationship we should have with
the Lord Jesus Christ.
Then Jesus told his
disciples, “If anyone would come after
me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” Mathew 16:24. There is no doubt that
following Jesus is going to place some burdens upon the follower. How the
follower reacts to those burdens gives us insight as to whether or not they
have Jesus in their heart. When it becomes more important to rest than it is to
attend Bible class on Sunday morning or Wednesday evening, it is a good sign
that Jesus is not in the heart (Whoever
loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it
for eternal life. John 12:25).
When it is more important to spend time with the family than to make Sunday
evening services, it is a good sign that Jesus is not in the heart (Whoever loves father or mother more than me
is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not
worthy of me. Matthew 10:37).
When Jesus has set up
residence in our heart, our love for Him will cause us to endure any
unpleasantness just to have the opportunity to be with Him. The words, ‘too
hard’, or ‘I can’t’ will not be uttered by the one who truly loves Jesus when
asked to obey a command of the Lord (If
you love me, you will keep my commandments. John 14:15). No annoyance is so great that it will keep the true
believer from his Lord. When the Lord Jesus lives in our heart, it is joy
unspeakable!
One last point: Because of
some unfortunate events, we no longer have this precious child in our lives.
There is a hole in my heart that will never heal. At times, the pain is
overwhelming. I would do almost anything to make things as they once were. I
mention this to illustrate that those who have Jesus in their heart will do
anything to keep Him there. We often question why it is that some Christians
will forsake the Way of Christ for the world. Could the answer be that they
have not kept Him in their heart? Do you have Jesus in your heart?
I pray that you will feel the pain and loneliness of not
having Jesus in your heart. If that is your condition, please let Him in by
obeying His gospel or as a child of God by repenting of your sin.
The Editor’s
Page
Many of us have set our
hopes on heaven. This is a worthy desire, but that desire is not determined by chance
as if one is lucky enough to win heaven’s lottery. It is the end of a life that
has been lived by conscious choice. In heaven, we will exist in a state of
spiritual maturity that can only be attained by those who choose to grow in
that direction while living their earthly lives.
We are all painfully aware of the flaws
in our characters that create a substantial breach between what we should be
and what we are now. As we presently exist, we are in need of a purer state of
spiritual mindedness. This spiritual mindedness only comes through growth in
godly character and does not take place by accident.
We know this is the case because Paul
informed us in Ephesians chapter four that the Lord “…
gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to
equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,” (Ephesians 4:11-12). No
doubt the Lord has given us the ‘tools’ to become the spiritual minded being
whose hope of heaven will be realized. Therefore, it behooves Christians to set
deliberate goals. Without these goals, Christians will be “tossed
to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human
cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.” (Ephesians
4:14). The absence of goals will, more often
than not, cause the Christian to fall backward into neglect and worldliness.
The most common
problem with goal setting is that our goals for spiritual growth fail to be
high enough. Goals should create in us a greater ambitiousness for spiritual
growth that exceeds our personal dreams. Our modest personal goals
underestimate the power of God. God is greater than we give Him credit. He can
help us to gain the objective of a greater spiritual mindedness.
How can we do a
better job with goal setting? For one thing, our goals need to be specific. It
is a common mistake to make goal too general. The attitude that says, “I need
to be a better person” will never accomplish its desire. Each one of us needs
to take an honest inventory of our spiritual needs and then take definite
action by setting goals accordingly.
When our confidence
in accomplishing these greater goals is based upon God being our Helper, we
will experience a change that will extend to our very character.
THE LAST WORD
Preaching A Sermon
The church’s building swelled with the
unusually large gathering. A few more latecomers shuffled down the aisle and
leaned against the wall.
As Joe entered, he smiled that special
smile until he saw that "his" spot on the back row was filled.
Regular attendees usually left the seat empty, knowing that Joe would arrive
late from the home for the mentally challenged. He looked confused as the
opening song ended and he had found no place to sit. It was then that Joe made
his way up the center aisle to the large clearing in front of the podium. He
lowered his huge body to the floor, crossing his legs Indian style.
As the rest of us sat down, an elder in
the church for many years, left his place in the pew and started up the center
aisle toward Joe. A hush fell over the assembly as this eighty-year-old
servant, much loved by all of us, made his way to Joe. The minister gripped the
sides of the podium and watched. Slowly Tom shifted his lean frame onto his
cane and lowered his aged body to the floor beside Joe.
With tears in his eyes, the minister
closed his Bible over his sermon notes. “Our sermon has just been preached,” he
said.
If this incident had happened at Pound,
what would have been your reaction? Would you have been embarrassed for Joe?
Would you have gone up front, taken Joe by the arm and moved him to a more
appropriate place? Would you have asked the visitors to give Joe back his seat?
Would you have gotten up and given Joe your seat? What do you think should have
been done?
Jesus took every opportunity available
to associate with the less desirables of His day. For that reason, He was
accused of drunkenness and gluttony (Matthew
11:19). Yet, He did not refuse to give them
His compassion and concern (Luke
7:36-50).
Our Lord teaches us
that we are to extend a helping hand to all those who need it, not just to the
privileged few (Matthew
25:34-40). The apostle Paul understood this and
became all things to all men to win them to Christ (1 Corinthians 9:22).
Do you know
someone with a ‘special’ need, someone sick, someone
who seems to have no friend? Why not make an effort to touch their life in a
special way? You just might preach a sermon!
