Olive Hill Baptist Church

        So also we, when we were minors, were enslaved under the basic forces of the world.  But when the appropriate time had come, God sent out his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we may be adopted as sons with full rights.  And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, who calls “Abba! Father!”
       So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if you are a son, then you are also an heir through God.  Formerly when you did not know God, you were enslaved to beings that by nature are not gods at all.
       But now that you have come to know God (or rather to be known by God), how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless basic forces? Do you want to be enslaved to them all over again?

(Gal. 4:3-9 NET)

 

       I sit here in my office at home on the afternoon of July 4th, pondering the state of our nation today.  So many things bother me about the tremendous changes in our society today, but one of my greatest fears about our nation is the lack of understanding among our young people (and many of our older folks) about how great this nation really is.  The freedoms that we have today have been bought with a heavy price.  No nation in the history of man has the freedoms that we currently have in this country.  Yet, so many wrongly believe that our nation is evil and unfair.  No, it’s not perfect, but no country will be until we reach the one that God has prepared for us.

 

“These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.
(John 15:11 NAS)

 

Can a Christian have fun?  Does God allow us to enjoy life?  I believe too many Christians believe that we can’t possibly have fun… too many “you can’t do that”.  If a Christian really did have fun and joy in their lives, then they aren’t spiritual enough or they aren’t serious about their faith.  Our churches, over the years, have bought into the this hogwash in some way or the other.  God desires us to enjoy this life He has given us.  He wants us to be joyful!

 

Yet, too many believers are struggling.  By the time they get to church, (if they are still coming) they are tired, weary and beaten down by this same world we are to be joyful in.  For some reason, the singing, the lessons, and the message doesn’t make them joyful at all.  If fact, they feel worse than they did when they first came.  Now some of that can be attributed to our idea that church services are so serious and emotions have nothing to do with worship.  Fiddlesticks…

 

Yet, the church services aren’t the real problem.  Some Christians believe that their problems in life are dragging them down so that there is no way that they can be joyous.  I must admit that the problems that I face in my life aren’t conducive to me jumping up and down and praising Jesus, so I understand.  Yet, the Apostle Paul tells us that we are to be content in all of life’s situations.  In fact, there were times when he was imprisoned, he sang praises to God.  He was joyous.  Hmm.

 

Then there are the pious believers whose life consist of nothing but church.  They are so concerned about the do’s and the don’ts of life they forget to actually live.  No, I’m not saying that it’s OK to sin.  Nope.  It’s just that they refuse to do so many things in this world that is good and pleasurable because they believe that it is sin or can lead to sin.  For instance, there are believers that didn’t (and some still) watch television because there was an ungodly show on one of it’s channels. Hey, how about just not watching that program!  The list of things go on and on… you can’t do that because it “might” lead to sin.  The point is, I believe that these folks might be scared to live in a world that is ever changing.  Look, if you think Facebook is the devil’s site, then I’m sorry, I just love keeping up with my friends and seeing all those cute pictures of my grand kids. Besides, don’t you think the Apostle Paul would’ve been all over the internet with the Gospel?  

 

In some ways, these are marvelous times in which we live… enjoy them.  We have too many folks just dredging through life without any real joy. 

 

But back to the question… Can a Christian have fun?  The answer is YES!  Of course the next word is but…  but, read the first part of the above verse: “These things I have spoken to you, that…”    You want His joy in you?  You want your joy to be overflowing?  If yes, then you need to read what He said before verse 11.  If you don’t want joy, then don’t.

 

What does He tell them so that their joy may be full?  

 

First off, He tells them to abide in Him.  What does it mean to abide?  It means to remain in Him.  Don’t stray from Him.  Put Him first in your life.  Stop putting other things ahead of Him.  He talks about the vine and the branch.  He is the vine and we are the branches.  We have to abide in Him in order to produce fruit.  Nothing is more joyous than being productive.  It gives meaning and purpose to our lives.

 

Then He tells them to abide in His words.  What does that mean?  Is He talking about the ten commandments?  No, that’s been tried and we failed miserably.  There are two great commandments,  “Love God with all your heart, body and soul”  and “Love thy neighbor as thyself”

 If we do that, we will have no problem with all the other commandments.

 

He tells them to abide in His love.  Do we abide in His love or do we desire the love of someone or something else in life.  When we love someone, do we love in the way that He loves us?  Too many are looking for love in all the wrong places.  Placing their love in all the wrong things.  All of those people or things will disappoint and let you down.  You need to abide or remain in His love.

 

Then He says that His joy can remain in us and that our joy can be overflowing.  Even when things are going badly in our relationships, our work, our finances, our health… we can have joy and happiness in our lives because our happiness will not come these things, but from the Lord Himself.  He will give us that peace that passeth all understanding.

 

I know that He wants me to enjoy this life He has given me.  Each day, each breath, is a gift of God… not something to dread.  We just need to abide in Him, in His words and in His love.  After all, in a hundred years from now, none of these things that makes unhappy today will matter,  we will be in the presence of God!  So take a deep breath and and say  “OK God, here I am, let’s have fun today” 

 

Love ya,

Brother Randy

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,”   (Heb 12:1 NKJ)

 

When I read that passage, I always get a picture of all the  saints of God who have gone on before us all lined up at the finish line in a marathon.  It is near the end and I am tired and weary.  I don’t think that I can go on another step, but the encouraging  saints are cheering me on to keep on going, shouting “Your almost there… It’ll be worth it!”!!!

 

I then realize that I can go on if I can get rid of the excessive weight of sin that I am carrying.  So, while the saints who have run this race before us are encouraging me,  I decide to lay aside the sin that besets me and take the next step in my journey.  What a difference it made.  Then before I knew it, I crossed the finish line, exhausted, and there my Jesus was there to personally welcome me.  He tells me, the race is over, your labor is finished, abide in my rest.

 

We all have those who have run this race before us and finished it.  They know what lies ahead for us at the finish line.  Sometimes, we forget what’s ahead for us.  Sometimes we fall in love with the race and not the One we are running to.  We need to be reminded that this life is not our goal or purpose, but it is just the means to get where we are supposed to end up.  We get distracted by the things along the race that we think are great or wonderful.  We begin to think the places that we stop to rest as good enough or maybe even better than the place we are running to.

 

We also run this race with the idea that we can take on all the garbage (sin) of this world and still run this race.  It is amazing how when times get tough along the way, we tend to add to the weight instead of shedding it. How we entangle ourselves in sin that trips us up.  

 

Then we want to give up… We can’t… there is a prize that awaits us at the end of this life.  This is all worth it.

 

When this happens to me, I imagine looking ahead and seeing, Abraham, David, Paul, my grand-parents all cheering and yelling at me to get up and keep moving.  Take the next step.  Get rid of that burden, that sin and keep going.  We’ve got Someone waiting for you.

 

Don’t give up… but give in to God.  Pray for strength to finish running the race.