ARE YOU SINKING IN SAND

OR STANDING ON THE ROCK?

As I continue on my journey here and look around my world, I see many in this path of life that are building their foundations on foundations which will crumble when the storms of life come, when the winds blow with great trials of sickness and pain.  My heart goes out to those who don’t know Jesus, and can’t endure when those times come.  They have no hope, no hope for today and no hope for tomorrow, and no hope when death comes.

“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: 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.  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: 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” Matthew 7:24-27.

Recently, in my rounds in the nursing home, I sat down at the table in the recreation rooms with one of my dear ladies to share the Word with her.  She loves Jesus, and always sheds tears when it is time to share her favorite scriptures, and she always requests me to read out of the Book of John.  Sitting at the other side of the table was an elderly, white haired lady, listening very intently to our conversation.  I asked her what her favorite Scripture was, and her reply was that she had never read the Bible.  I was taken back a bit.

Here in this country, with Bibles everywhere, here was a lady who had never read a Bible verse, and I found out in our conversation that she didn’t even know that Jesus loves her, or that He died for her sins.  So I told her about Jesus and gave her a simple plan of salvation and asked her if she would like to accept Jesus as her own Savior, and she refused.  She said she had to think about that.  I told her that we never know when our time comes to die, she is elderly and frail.  And I shared with her that life has many choices, but eternity has only two.  I continue to pray for this dear lady, that the Lord will deal with her heart and that she will come to know Him before it is too late.  It is so sad to me, that here in America, with the Gospel preached freely, that someone is lost and her foundation is built on sinking sand.  She has nowhere to turn when times of her life are dreary and troubles come.

Down the hallway, I met another precious lady, and this lady’s foundation is built on the solid rock, and that solid Rock is Jesus Christ.  She has a remarkable testimony of God’s grace and mercy.  Just a few weeks ago she was on life support in the hospital, not expected to live, and when they took her off life support, she revived and is there recovering in the nursing home.  She does wonder at times why the Lord brought her back, but she also knows that He must have something else for her to do before her time comes.  So I see in her life, that the rains have descended and floods of trials have come, but her “house” has stood the test.  I will not see this lady again on this side of heaven, as she will be going back to her home, but we agreed that someday we will meet around God’s Throne, and she stated that she will be looking for me.  Oh, what joy to meet someone whose life is built on the solid foundation of Jesus Christ.

Where are you standing today, my friend?  Are you building your life here on earth on things that will not last, sinking sand?  We have no excuse here in this great land, with all the freedom we have to worship.  There are “churches on every corner” and Bibles in every store, on every shelf.  What will you do when the rains of trouble descend and the floods of sickness, grief and pain come to beat upon your house?  Oh, it is never too late to turn to Him now.  This world seems to be crumbling around us, but knowing Jesus keeps us safe built on the foundation of Jesus Christ who is our Rock, the Solid Rock!  When we are built on His foundation, the world may seem to be falling all around us, but we are safe, as this rock will never be shaken, and no matter what happens around us, we are safe and secure in Him. “The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; the God of my strength, in whom I will trust; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge, my Savior, You save me from violence” 2 Samuel 22:2-3.

So as we are standing and built up on the Rock, Christ Jesus, He is our place to hide in times of great storms, He is our strength daily and we can put all our trust in Him alone.  So let the storms come, let the world tremble and shake, and darkness come, but Praise the Lord, we are safe in Him.  What a Wonderful God we serve!

IN TIMES LIKE THESE

“In times like these, you need a Saviour, in times like these you need an anchor.  Be very sure, be very sure, your anchor holds and grips the solid Rock.

This Rock is Jesus, Yes, He’s the One, this Rock is Jesus, the only One; be very sure, be very sure, your anchor holds and grips the solid Rock.

In times like these, you need the Bible, in times like these, oh, be not idle, be very sure, be very sure, your anchor holds and grips the solid Rock.

 In times like these, I have a Saviour, in times like these, I have an anchor; I’m very sure, I’m very sure, my anchor holds and grips the solid Rock.”  (Ruth C. Jones)

We are living in perilous times, and now is the time to be found anchored on that Rock, the Rock of Ages.  When the world seems to be full of terror, He is our only hope, grounded in Him, and grounded in the Word of God, and the anchor in Christ Jesus is the Cross of Calvary.  The Cross stands as a reminder of His for you, for me, reaching out, always reaching for the lost ones, the ones He came to save.

Where are you standing today, my friends?  If you are standing on the Rock, Christ Jesus, and anchored in Him, you are safe and secure as the storms blow and the water rages around you. Please make sure you are standing firm in Jesus today.  Just ask Him to come in and be Your Rock, He is waiting for you, to give you eternal life and hope in Him.

In Jesus’ Name,

Pastor Sharon

HOW GREAT IS YOUR

FAITHFULNESS, OH LORD!

As I was recently sitting here at my on a lovely almost summer day, I began to ponder about the faithfulness of the Lord in all the situations of my life.  And there are many situations we go through in this life and in our journey to our heavenly home, and in every detail of our life, His blessings or His benefits never fail.

In the past two weeks, I have seen the Lord do marvelous things, and He is still the God of miracles and the God of faithfulness, and we can depend on that faithfulness every day, every hour.  I had a call from a precious saint, now in her 90’s asking for prayer.  She was in great pain at the time.  This lady is confined to a wheelchair, but great is her faith, and she trusts in the faithfulness of her God.  I took her need to the Throne of Grace, and received her testimony shortly thereafter.  She was instantly healed!  All pain left her body, and she rejoiced in the faithfulness of her Lord.

“Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not, they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.  “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, therefore I hope in Him” Lamentations 3:22-24.  Think of that, my friends, because of His great mercies and His great love for us, in sending Jesus Christ to save us from our sins, we are forgiven and set free from sin, and even in our deepest times of grief or pain in our bodies, His great compassion for our pain never ceases.  We are His children, He is our Father God.  And every new day that dawns, there are new benefits and blessings to look forward to as we walk with the Lord, Praise His Holy Name!

I think of those in my own life and in my family and how God has been so faithful in our time of grief in losing our mother.  He brings great calm and peace to our lives, knowing that mom, as she would fondly say, “I got it done.” She finished her journey home and we will see her again someday welcoming us home with that big smile and her open arms.  And mom knew of His faithfulness in every area of her life as she walked with her Lord.

And there are many who are struggling with great health issues, and some of my “little flock” are nearing the end of their journey, and just around the next bend in the road they are ready to go “Over the Sunset Mountains” and home.  God has been faithful to these dear ones.  Let me tell you about a couple of them.  They have been very dear in my life and ministry, and I have seen God do wondrous things in their lives.

This first lady has grown very precious to me in the short time I have known her and visit with her in a foster home situation.  She was a missionary in an American Indian setting for many, many years.  She has loved the Lord and served Him since she was a child, and raised her family to love Him also.  She is looking forward now to the day when He calls her home.  And we have shared of God’s faithfulness to her over the years.  This lady has definitely earned her Crown of Glory given to all those who serve as Pastors, teachers and anyone who serves in these areas, (I Peter 5:2-4).

Then there is my precious friend who is now in a nursing home, confined to bed, and loves to have the Psalms read to her.  She has difficulty in speaking now, but is always so happy when I come.  This dear lady was a neighbor of our church who came to church in her electric cart, as she had had strokes, but lived in her own home.  She came to sing, and sing she did, to the glory of God, and we were always blessed by her inspiring voice.  And she sang in various places around the valley here.  But someday soon she will be singing again, and I can hardly wait to hear that voice of hers as she sings around God’s Throne.  Great is His faithfulness!

Yes, there is much to ponder as I look around my world and know that my God is faithful, even when I see violence on every hand, and trouble in our nation and around the world, and see the hurt in people’s faces as they pass me in the mall or elsewhere.  I see people all around me who are lost in sin and need Jesus.  It seems that darkness of sin abounds. My God still is in control, and someday even though the world seems dark at times, there is a day coming when the Prince of Peace will come, and all this time of darkness and sin will be gone forever, Praise the Lord!

But I look up in the sky, see the clouds, the stars, and look at the beautiful flowers blooming and I am filled with great joy at the faithfulness of our Lord.  Recently we were able to view pictures of the eclipse of the sun, and my heart was filled with awe!  The God I serve, the great Creator, controls and shows His marvelous signs in the heavens.  “The heavens declare His righteousness, and all the peoples see His glory” Psalm 97:6.

 GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS

“Great is Thy faithfulness,” O God my father, there is no shadow of turning with Thee; Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not; as Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.

Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!  Morning by morning new mercies I see; all I have needed Thy hand hath provided Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Summer and winter, springtime and harvest, sun, moon and stars in their courses above, join with all nature in manifold witness, to Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth, Thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide; strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow, blessings all mine, with then thousand beside! (Thomas O. Chisholm/William M. Runyan)

So, my dear friends, look around you and see the faithfulness of God, and recall how He has been faithful to you in your walk with the Lord.  And if you don’t know this Wonderful, Faithful God as your own personal Savior, He is waiting to receive you, forgive your sins, and prepare a place for you in heaven to be with Him forever.  Just ask Him, don’t put it off.  In asking Him to come into your life, you will find the most faithful friend you will ever have.

Blessings,

Pastor Sharon

KING OF KINGS AND

LORD OF LORDS!

Recently I watched the news as Queen Elizabeth of England celebrated her Diamond Jubilee. I watched the pageantry, the beauty of it all.  I saw the Queen’s guards marching, clothed in their beautiful reds.  Then there were the golden coaches and the shouts of joy from the massive crowds gathered there at Buckingham Palace.  And the flags were flying from the towers, noting that the Queen was in residence.  Oh, I am sure you saw it too!  And the pageantry and the honor given the Queen and her court are absolutely amazing!  But, then the crowd had to wait and wait until her appearance.  And then she finally appeared all clothed in white wearing her lovely white hat, and beside her family there on the balcony.

But my mind began to compare the riches and glamor of earthly kings and queens with our King of Kings, Jesus Christ.  And I began to imagine what it will be like when King Jesus makes His appearance with His court, the angels and the saints coming with Him.  There is no comparison.  Earthly kingdoms perish. My King lives and rules forever.  Queen Elizabeth and her court will someday pass away, as other kingdoms will fail.  But we serve a God who reigns eternal. 

As that massive crowd waited and waited for the Queen to appear, so we, His people, are waiting!  We are waiting for that glorious day when He shall appear.  Oh, what a day that will be!  I can hardly wait!

But He calls us to be patient and continue working for Him, but to watch, because no man knows when He will come.  “Therefore be patient brethren until the coming of the Lord.  See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain.  You also be patient.  Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand” James 5:7-8.

James here compares His coming to that of a farmer waiting for the harvest, waiting until the rains come and all is gathered in.  There are many out there who do not know Jesus, and we are called to be witnesses and gather “the harvest of souls” into His kingdom.  “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” II Peter 3:9.

And as I looked at the pageantry of the Queen arriving, I looked there at the crowd assembled, a great multitude shouting with excitement, waiting for her appearance, and I imagined what it will be like in that great day when all of His saints have been gathered in, and He is there on His throne, the King of all Kings, “The Ancient of Days.” (Daniel 7:9-10).

“And I heard, as it were the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters, and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, “Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns! Let us glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready”  Revelation 19:6.

I tried to imagine what it will be like to be in the massive crowd when we crown our Lord Jesus, and as we are gathered around that throne in glory.  Multitudes and multitudes of saints from all the ages, all colors, tribes and races will be there, along with the angels.  And we will all be shouting “glory” and the thunder of our voices will shake the heavens.  My earthly mind cannot fathom the awesomeness of that day.  I can only shed tears of joy as I think about what it will be like to be in that crowd, and see our Lord Jesus and shout His praises forever and ever.  I do pray that you, my friend, will be in that crowd on that day.

After the Queen made her appearance, she stepped back into the palace, and the crowds dispersed.  Oh, there were many celebrations on her behalf on her 60^th anniversary as Queen.  But she has now gone back to her duties as Queen, the celebration is over.  But we will be with our King forever, never having to leave His side, worshipping around the throne and enjoying His presence forever. “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes: there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying.  There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away” Revelation 21:4.

Think of that my friend, in God’s Kingdom, He Himself will wipe away our tears, no more death, crying or pain.  We suffer so much on this earth, as we continue on our journey here.  We watch earthly kingdoms come and go, but we long for our eternal home and His kingdom which will never end.  We can worship Him forever and ever. Think of your King today, who is all glorious and reigns above, but also reigns in our hearts.  So He calls us to worship Him, and tell of His greatness, until that day when we will no longer have to wait and watch for His appearance, we will be gathered with the saints for all ages, and also with our loved ones who have gone before us.  He calls us to “Worship the King.”

O worship the King, all glorious above, and gratefully sing His wonderful love; our Shield and Defender, the Ancient of days, pavilioned in splendor and girded with praise.

O tell of His might, and sing of His grace, whose robe is the light, whose canopy space; His chariots of wrath the deep thunder clouds form, and dark is His path on the wings of the storm.

Thy bountiful care what tongue can recite? It breathes in the air, it shines in the light, it streams from the hills, it descends to the plain, and sweetly distills in the dew and the rain.

Frail children of dust, and feeble as frail, in Thee do we trust, or find Thee to fail; Thy mercies how tender, how firm to the end! Our Maker, Defender, Redeemer and friend.  Amen  (Robert Grant)

So we wait and keep looking upward, waiting for that day.  But I urge you, my friend, is you do not know Jesus, as your Savior and Lord, do that today, right now.  Just ask Him to come in and reign in your heart, so on that day, you too, will be in that crowd around the throne shouting praises to our King who will reign forever.

In the Name of Jesus,

Pastor Sharon

WITH JUST THE TOUCH OF HIS HAND!

As we continue on our journey home, sometimes the days are dark and stormy.  There are many out there that are having dark and stormy days in their lives, days of sorrow and grief.  There are days of waiting for a doctor to give test results from a medical procedure, and you may be in fear not knowing what those tests will reveal.  Will they reveal cancer or some other terminal disease?  And you long for the Touch of the Master’s Hand.  You long to feel His presence surround you and give you peace, no matter what the days ahead may hold. 

There are many trials as we walk with our Lord down that pathway upwards toward home.  Sometimes we come to a valley where there is peace for a time, and then we start climbing again and there are steep places, and rocks in the pathway.  There are things that block our way and we are tempted to take a wrong path, coming upon a fork in the road.  But our Wonderful Lord leads us on, despite days of pain, grief and dark shadows across our path.  This precious song was written by Jessie B. Pounds in 1913, and I wonder what was in her life at that time that inspired her to write this song.  But she longed just for the “Touch of His Hand on Mine.”

“There are days so dark that I seek in vain for the face of my Friend divine; but though darkness hide, He is there to guide by the touch of His hand on mine.

Refrain:  Oh, the touch of His hand on mine, oh, the touch of His hand on mine!  There is grace and pow’r, in the trying hour, in the touch of His hand on mine.

There are times, when tired of the toilsome road, that for ways of the world I pine; but He draws me back to the upward track by the touch of His hand on mine.

When the way is dim, and I cannot see through the mist of His wise design, how my glad heart yearns and my faith returns by the touch of His hand on mine.

In the last sad hour, as I stand alone where the powers of death combine, while the dark waves roll He will guide my soul by the touch of His hand on mine.”

“If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest ocean, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me.  I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night, but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.  To you the night shines as bright as day.  Darkness and light are both alike to you” Psalm 139:9-12 (NLT). No matter where you are, my friends, He promises His hand will guide you and give you His strength to go on.  Even if you feel like you are in a dark valley, no light is shining, and it feels like the darkest of nights, there He is shining through the darkness.  When He is there He dispels the darkness around you, so you can see your way ahead through the struggles that mark your pathway, and it is all because of His hand on yours!

“For the Son of Man came to save that which was lost.  How think ye?  If a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, does he not leave the ninety and nine, and seeketh that which is gone astray? And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoices more of that sheep, than more of the ninety and nine which went not astray” Matthew 18:11-13. Sometimes on this road of life, temptations arise and the call of the world beckons, and we may take a wrong turn in the path and find ourselves adrift from the loving care of our Lord.  But in this scripture we see our Shepherd going into the mountains to find that one lost sheep.  Are you one of those lost sheep, my friend?  He goes into the steep places, the crevices of the rock up there on the mountains where you have gone, to find you, to carry you in His arms and bring you safely back into the fold.  And when He does, there is great rejoicing in heaven, because that one lost sheep, you, is back in the care of our Shepherd.  What a precious Lord we serve!

“And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not: I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight.  These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them” Isaiah 42:16.  Sometimes in our walk with the Lord, He calls us to new paths of faith, new places to serve, new decisions to make, and we are not sure which direction we should go, and the way ahead seems dim, and we do not know where He is leading.  But as we step out in faith, in simple trust, our faith will become strong as we see our Lord makes those crooked paths straight and we can see our way ahead in the path He has chosen to lead us.  Praise the Lord!

“Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear not evil:  for thou art with me” Psalm 23:4.  Isn’t it wonderful to know, that as we near the end of our journey, and we walk through that last valley, we don’t have to fear, He is there.  You know, a shepherd never leaves the sheep in the valley, he lead them through it.  So when that time comes for each of us, He will lead us safely through that valley of shadow and over that last mountain, and then into eternal glory.  We will see that heavenly city, and His arms will be open to welcome us home.  And we will praise Him forever for the touch of His hand as He has been with us on our journey and now has led us home, to our eternal home.’’

I pray today, that you will feel the touch of His hand on yours, and that you know Jesus as your own personal Savior.  He is waiting to take you into His arms and give you eternal salvation and a home with Him forever, just ask Him, He is waiting for you.

In the Name of Jesus,

Pastor Sharon