Loneliness

Loneliness is not a common topic in church. To my knowledge, I’ve never heard a sermon on loneliness. Loneliness is a real feeling that Christians must deal with. What do you do when nobody is around and you are lonely? What about when you don’t feel God’s presence? Sometimes we don’t feel His presence. However, we must not base our faith on feelings. If our faith is not founded upon the unchanging Word of God, it will always be changing. What help does the Word of God have for he who is lonely?

1. You are not alone.

“I am with you always” Matthew 28:20

“I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” Hebrews 13:5

No matter how you feel, you are not alone. Believe God’s Word, He is with you.

2. Your Saviour is empathetic.

Sympathy is a feeling of pity that one may have for another who is passing through a situation unknown to the sympathizer. Empathy is different from sympathy though. Empathy is a feeling of pity that one has for another who is passing through a situation that the empathizer has experienced himself. Jesus can empathize with you.

“For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” Hebrews 4:15

One night Jesus shared his last Passover meal with his disciples before He would be crucified. These men had been with Him. These men had seen His miracles; healing the blind, casting out demons, turning water to wine, walking on water, healing the lame, calming the storm, healing the sick…these men had seen many mighty works. No doubt, this Passover meal was one of fellowship and companionship. Jesus then went with three of his disciples to pray in the garden of Gethsemane. He went there with friends, but when He left He left alone. He was betrayed by Judas and then taken away by an angry multitude of people. He would then go through the most difficult time of His life on earth. He would be falsely accused, brutally beaten, and ultimately die the shameful death of a criminal on the cross. From a human standpoint, He did it alone. It is commonly known and thought of that Peter forsook Jesus, but the Bible says that all of His disciples forsook Him.

“But all this was done, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled.” Matthew 26:56

“And they all forsook him, and fled.” Mark 14:50

They all forsook Him, and yet Jesus knew that He was not really alone.

“Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.” John 16:32

Jesus knows, better than anyone, what it is like to face tribulation with none other but God with Him. Yes, He was God in the flesh, and He has perfect oneness with the Father, but He was also man. If anyone knows how you feel, please know that it is Jesus. He knows.

3. If you draw near to God, then He will draw near to you.

“Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.” James 4:8

If you do not feel that He is near you then draw near to Him and He promises to draw near to you. Draw near to Him by reading His Word, by talking with Him in prayer, and by telling the glorious Gospel to others. Draw near to Him, and He will draw near to you.

So, in conclusion, if you are ever lonely, here is some help from the Word of God:

• You are not alone
• Your Saviour is empathetic
• Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you

Este artículo existe en español también, escríbeme si quiere una copia: kylepsheridan@aol.com

A Lesson on Construction

You are building a house...are you wise or are you foolish?

Matthew 7:24-29
24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
28 And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:
29 For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

There are two classes of people among those reading this:
A. Those that hear and do: “whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them”
B. Those that hear and don’t do: “every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not”

1) We are all building a house “whosoever heareth these sayings of mine”
Here are some ways that we hear the sayings of the Lord:
Your friend's blog
Personal devotions
Parents
Pastor
Radio
Sunday School

2) Some builders are wise - Those that hear and do
“I will liken him unto a wise man”

3) Some builders are foolish - Those that hear and don't do
“shall be likened unto a foolish man”

You are building a house...are you wise or are you foolish?

James 1:22
But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

Science in the Bible

The Lord my God is amazing.

I remember when I was in grade school we studied earth science. It was fascinating because this planet we live on is an incredibly complex system. One of the things that always caught my attention was what is called the hydrologic cycle, also referred to as the water cycle. Since this is a cycle, we don't observe a beginning or an end to it. Here are some of the processes involved:

Evaporation- Because of solar energy, water is transformed from its liquid phase to gas (water vapor). Herein it moves from the ground and bodies of water to the atmosphere.

Condensation- The transformation of water vapor in the atmosphere into water droplets(condensed water vapor) forming clouds or fog.

Precipitation- Condensed water vapor falls to the earth; we generally refer to precipitation as rain, snow, sleet, or hail.

Have you ever wondered why clouds form? Have you ever wondered why if you leave a glass of water out long enough, the water disappears? Have you ever wondered why you can go to Big Bear lake and see lines on the rocks where the water used to be? I mean, did the fish drink it? Have you ever wondered why rain comes down from the sky? I mean scientifically I understand a little how these things occur, but why? Wonder no more of these things, just wonder at God.
Psalm 147:7-8
7 Sing unto the LORD with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God:
8 Who covereth the heaven with clouds, who prepareth rain for the earth, who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains.
Job 28:26
When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder:
Ecclesiastes 1:7
All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.

Call it what you will...the water cycle...the hydrologic cycle...I call it a miraculous work of God.

The Job Diet

Job 23:12
Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips;
I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.

The Job diet is simple. This is it; God’s words are more important than the daily food that your body needs. The diet is not based solely upon this single verse in the Bible. I believe that if a Christian applies the principles of the Job diet to their life, then they will consequently lose that extra weight they've accumulated. You might not even need to lose weight, but you still need the Job diet. Food plays such an important role in our practical lives. We plan meetings around food, we plan dates around food, we plan family get-togethers around food, we plan church fellowship around food, and we schedule our daily lives around food. Many, including myself, often wonder when their next meal will be. The morning does not start with a Psalm, it starts with coffee and breakfast. Instead of meditating on their morning devotion, they’re focused on a good snack or a fatty breakfast food. Break time between classes isn’t a time to discuss the things of God, but I time to run to the snack bar. Free time isn’t a space in your day to fill with Bible study, but a time to snack on chips. Lunchtime isn’t a time that we pull our Bibles out at school or work, but a time that we pull our lunch pails out. Men don’t take their wives to preaching meetings to hear the words of God preached on but they take their wives to restaurants. Men don’t buy their wives cards with Scripture, but they buy them chocolates. Women don’t ask to go to revival meetings, they ask for a night out at a fancy restaurant. Something is wrong here.

I’m not proposing that we stop eating and just read our Bibles (though sometimes a special case may call for prayer and fasting), no, we just need to esteem the words of God more than our necessary food. The first thought in the morning must be, “I have to get some of God’s words, or I’ll never be sustained!” And after a sweet time of fellowship with the Owner of all things, you’ll probably remember that you need to grab some breakfast before you head off to start your day. While on the high clouds of meditating on the precious words of God, food will seem insignificant in comparison. Plan Bible studies instead of dinner dates. Before you have lunch, read a Proverb or two. While your spouse gets a snack out, tell him or her of a verse that stuck out to you in your morning devotions. When you wake up for that midnight snack, why don’t you open up to a Gospel and read of one of Jesus’ miracles?

Do not neglect your body's need for the nourishment of food, but do not allow that to be more important to your spiritual health. Peter writes,
1 Peter 2:2-3
As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

In practice, many babies nurse anywhere from 4 times a day to 15 times a day. One medical source recommends that a newborn baby nurse every 1 ½ to 2 ½ hours. That calculation comes out to 9-16 times a day. The point isn't the exact amount of times a baby nurses a day, but I want you to take note of what Peter writes, “as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.” The fact of the matter is that Christians do not receive the nourishment from the words of God that they should. The problem lies not within the words of God, but within the Christian who neglects them. Most Christians eat at least three times a day, and most snack in between those meals. So, on any given day I’d say that we consume food 6-10 times, but at least 3 full course meals. So, what is the Job diet? Have three hardy meals of Bible every day, esteem those meals more than your breakfast/lunch/dinner meals, and replace your snack times with meditation upon the words of God.

Satan knows full well of man’s temptation of food. That is why the tempter came to the Son of God during His miraculous fast and tempted Him with food. Jesus gave the perfect response,
Matthew 4:3-4 (Deuteronomy 8:3, Luke 4:4)
And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
This passage not only teaches that we must esteem the words of God more than our necessary food, but it also affirms the Bible doctrine of preservation. Not only did God inspire the words of Scripture, but He promised to preserve them. If God hadn’t preserved the words of Scripture (not just the ideas or concepts, but His words), it would not be possible that man should live by “every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” We have the very words of God accurately set forth in the English language. God inspired the Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic words of the Bible (2 Timothy 3:16, 2 Peter 1:21), and He promised that He would preserve those words (Psalm 12:6-7, Psalm 119:89, Matthew 24:35). Find yourself an accurate translation of the preserved words of God (I recommend the King James Bible), and you will have God's words in English. We must respond by holding His precious words in higher estimation than our necessary food.

Does that sweet tooth often get to you? Instead of a chocolate fix, why not dive into the sweet honey of God’s words;
Psalm 119:103
How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
Psalm 19:7-10
7 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is

sure, making wise the simple.
8 The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.
9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.

Do not allow food to consume your time. Don’t meditate on your last or your next meal, but meditate on the words of Almighty God. Your mouth must pant for God’s words and your nights and days must be consumed by them. When you wake up at two in the morning don’t be comforted by a warm glass of milk, but fulfill the Scriptures by meditating on God’s words.
Psalm 119:131
I opened my mouth, and panted: for I longed for thy commandments.
Psalm 1:2
But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
Joshua 1:8
This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein

day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein:

for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

This is not a foreign concept, the Bible is frequently referred to with the picture of physical nourishment like milk and meat. See these references,
Hebrews 5:12-13
For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
For every one that useth milk is unskillfull in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
1 Corinthians 3:1-2
And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as

unto babes in Christ.
I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.

What is our responsibility? We are responsible to esteem the words of God more than our necessary food. Will you commit to the Job diet? Don’t do it to lose weight, but do it “that ye may grow thereby.” I pray that you will be able to join with Job and say, “I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.”

Nuggets in Job

I’m not completely sure what the life of a gold digger is like. I imagine it involves a great amount of sifting. Each nugget is not something that he stumbles upon, but something that he was looking for and was filled with great joy when it was found. That is how my personal devotions are with the Lord. By personal devotions, I mean a quiet time that I set aside at least twice a day to read the Bible and pray. You could call them appointments with God. You cannot have a relationship with someone that doesn’t talk to you, and to whom you do not talk to. So, I talk to God through prayer and He talks to me through His Holy Words in the Bible.

This last week or two I have been in the book of Job. God has been showing me some great nuggets. I am overjoyed when I find them and I think I ought to share them.

The book starts out with letting you know you'll be making a trip into the land of Uz. Not Oz, that's Dorothy. This is about a man named Job, in the land of Uz:

Job 1:1
There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.

We are told that Job is a perfect and upright man, one that feared God, and eschewed evil. Now you may want to say, "God bless you," but I didn't sneeze. The Bible says that Job was a man that eschewed evil. That means that he shunned and avoided evil. Within my generation there is a great dearth of those that would eschew evil. Not only did Job eschew evil, but he was a perfect man. Since the 1600's (the King James Bible was translated from Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic in 1611) this word "perfect" has changed a little in the manner that we use it. Webster's 1828 dictionary informs us that this english word can mean any of the following; "Finished; complete...Fully informed; completely skilled...Complete in moral excellencies." In reference to Job, he was not without flaw, but speaking of his piety, Job was considered to be a complete and well-rounded moral man. He was upright, meaning that he was just man. He was not crooked. If Job entered into a business deal, you wouldn't have to worry that he would "do you wrong."

Most importantly, Job feared God. In this, Job was wise and his great wisdom is reflected later in the book.

Job 28:28
And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.

The truth that the fear of God is synonymous with wisdom is not an uncommon theme in the Bible. Here are some more Bible references where wisdom is coupled with the fear of the Lord:

Psalm 111:10
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth forever.

Proverbs 1:7
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Proverbs 2:1-5
1 My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee;
2 So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;
3 Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding;
4 If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;
5 Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.

Proverbs 9:10
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.

I urge you to take heed to the Word of God. Will you be wise? Fear the Lord. Reverence Him. Stop using His Holy name in vain. Realize that the fear of the Lord for a Christian is not so much being afraid that His mighty hand will come crashing down upon you, but a fear that His gentle hand of blessing in this earthen life will be lifted from you. The fear of the Lord for a non-Christian is a fear and terror of God's great wrath against a sinner; to escape this wrath, please see the article titled "The Gospel" from Wednesday, April 23, 2008.

Ecclesiastes 12:13
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

Proverbs 3:7
Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.