Tell a child you have a secret and you have his undivided attention. All of us children - big and little, young and old - love secrets; love to hear them, love to tell them. Today, I am opening the vault and revealing four of the best-kept secrets in the Kingdom of God.
Secret #1 - God has big plans for you. Jeremiah 29:11 says it best. "I know the plans I have for you: plans for your welfare and not for calamity, to give you a future and a hope." His plans for us fall into two categories - earthly and heavenly. Secret #2 - He is not going to tell you what they are. In His compassion, God makes big plans for us. In His wisdom, He does not tell us what they are. He protects us from knowledge of the future for two reasons... (1) We could not handle it. (2) We would mess it up. Suppose you found out that your brothers were going to fake your death and sell you into slavery, and that you would end up forgotten and forsaken in a foreign prison for years. Who could handle such news? Most of us would grieve over such a future and grow bitter toward our brothers and angry at God. In the Old Testament book of Genesis, Joseph experiences precisely such a fate. Suppose the Lord told you that one day you would become the king's second-in-command and live in power and luxury for the rest of your life. Who could handle news like that without becoming distracted? This, too, is the story of Joseph in Genesis. Scripture promises the Lord will not put more on us than we can bear. One way He does that is by withholding details about our future. The burdens would rob us of our joy and threaten to destroy us in advance, while the blessings would distract us from our responsibilities of the moment. Secret #3 - God is working on His plans this very moment. He is getting you ready for the future and getting the future ready for you. Jesus said, "I go to prepare a place for you. If I go away, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there you may be also." (John 14:1-6). He is getting Heaven ready for us. He is getting us ready for Heaven. One way God prepares us for future challenges is by giving us difficulties and hardships. He strengthens us the same way a personal trainer builds our muscles: by laying on stress. "It is good for me that I was afflicted," the psalmist said, "that I might learn thy statutes." (Psalm 119:71) That's how it works. Secret #4 -- Your job is to be faithful today. Bloom where you are planted, as the saying goes. The way to be ready for tomorrow's opportunities is to do our job today, no matter how insignificant or routine. Writing in the Spring 2003 issue of "Columns," the alumni magazine of Louisiana College, Curt Iles pays tribute to science professor Charles Cavanaugh. Early in Curt's sophomore year, he paid Cavanaugh a visit to tell him he planned to drop chemistry. "Prof," said the 19-year-old, "I thought it was God's will for me to become a science teacher. I enjoyed the biology classes you taught last year. But chemistry is killing me. That little rural high school I attended did not prepare me for this. I failed the test yesterday and I am not going to be able to pass this course. So, I plan to drop chemistry. Maybe God will have something else for me since I can't be a science teacher. I need to find His will." Suddenly, the professor cut him off. "God's will? God's will? Son, I'll tell you what God's will is for you! Get in there, go to work, and pass chemistry. That's what God's will is for you!" And he stormed out of the office. Curt sat there in shock. Finally, realizing the professor was not returning, he went back to his dormitory. That night, he studied chemistry, and the next day, made a D on the test. At least, it was passing. "That day," Curt Iles writes, "I decided that nothing was going to stop me from achieving my goal of teaching. I was going to pass this course or die trying." A month later, the chemistry professor said, "Iles, what's happened to you?" He was a student with a purpose. Before leaving the disciples, Jesus began to prepare them for the future. Peter listened, absorbed all he could, then turned to the apostle John. "Lord," he said, "what about him?" Jesus said, "What is that to you? You follow me." (John 21:22) God has big plans for you. He is mercifully not going to tell you what they are. At this moment, He is at work getting you ready for them and them ready for you. Your job is to do the work He has put on your plate today. Joe McKeever "Four Open Secrets About the Rest of Your Life"
Tell a child you have a secret and you have his undivided attention. All of us children - big and little, young and old - love secrets; love to hear them, love to tell them. Today, I am opening the vault and revealing four of the best-kept secrets in the Kingdom of God . Secret #1 - God has big plans for you. Jeremiah 29:11 says it best. "I know the plans I have for you: plans for your welfare and not for calamity, to give you a future and a hope." His plans for us fall into two categories - earthly and heavenly. Secret #2 - He is not going to tell you what they are. In His compassion, God makes big plans for us. In His wisdom, He does not tell us what they are. He protects us from knowledge of the future for two reasons. (1) We could not handle it. (2) We would mess it up. Suppose you found out that your brothers were going to fake your death and sell you into slavery, and that you would end up forgotten and forsaken in a foreign prison for years. Who could handle such news? Most of us would grieve over such a future and grow bitter toward our brothers and angry at God. In the Old Testament book of Genesis, Joseph experiences precisely such a fate. Suppose the Lord told you that one day you would become the king's second-in-command and live in power and luxury for the rest of your life. Who could handle news like that without becoming distracted? This, too, is the story of Joseph in Genesis. Scripture promises the Lord will not put more on us than we can bear. One way He does that is by withholding details about our future. The burdens would rob us of our joy and threaten to destroy us in advance, while the blessings would distract us from our responsibilities of the moment. Secret #3 - God is working on His plans this very moment. He is getting you ready for the future and getting the future ready for you. Jesus said, "I go to prepare a place for you. If I go away, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there you may be also." (John 14:1-6). He is getting Heaven ready for us. He is getting us ready for Heaven. One way God prepares us for future challenges is by giving us difficulties and hardships. He strengthens us the same way a personal trainer builds our muscles: by laying on stress. "It is good for me that I was afflicted," the psalmist said, "that I might learn thy statutes." (Psalm 119:71) That's how it works. Secret #4 -- Your job is to be faithful today. Bloom where you are planted, as the saying goes. The way to be ready for tomorrow's opportunities is to do our job today, no matter how insignificant or routine. Writing in the Spring 2003 issue of "Columns," the alumni magazine of Louisiana College , Curt Iles pays tribute to science professor Charles Cavanaugh. Early in Curt's sophomore year, he paid Cavanaugh a visit to tell him he planned to drop chemistry. "Prof," said the 19-year-old, "I thought it was God's will for me to become a science teacher. I enjoyed the biology classes you taught last year. But chemistry is killing me. That little rural high school I attended did not prepare me for this. I failed the test yesterday and I am not going to be able to pass this course. So, I plan to drop chemistry. Maybe God will have something else for me since I can't be a science teacher. I need to find His will." Suddenly, the professor cut him off. "God's will? God's will? Son, I'll tell you what God's will is for you! Get in there, go to work, and pass chemistry. That's what God's will is for you!" And he stormed out of the office. Curt sat there in shock. Finally, realizing the professor was not returning, he went back to his dormitory. That night, he studied chemistry, and the next day, made a D on the test. At least, it was passing. "That day," Curt Iles writes, "I decided that nothing was going to stop me from achieving my goal of teaching. I was going to pass this course or die trying." A month later, the chemistry professor said, "Iles, what's happened to you?" He was a student with a purpose. Before leaving the disciples, Jesus began to prepare them for the future. Peter listened, absorbed all he could, then turned to the apostle John. "Lord," he said, "what about him?" Jesus said, "What is that to you? You follow me." (John 21:22) God has big plans for you. He is mercifully not going to tell you what they are. At this moment, He is at work getting you ready for them and them ready for you. Your job is to do the work He has put on your plate today. Joe McKeever www.joemckeever.com Everyone needs a verse of Scripture to call his own. Here is mine.
Old Job was having a time of it. After the death of his children and the loss of his wealth, disease racked his body, leaving him covered with sores. Then, three friends showed up to comfort him - with accusations and blame. He needed a defense attorney and got instead three prosecutors! The first speaker begins to set Job up for a fall. He's going to accuse him of having sin in his life which has brought the judgment of God. But first, he reminds him of the way God has used him in the past. "Your words have stood men on their feet; you have helped the tottering to stand." (Job 4:4) Tell me if that is not one of the finest attributes one man could ever pay another. It has become something of a goal for my preaching, that my sermons would be so filled with life and faith that the falling and the fallen would hear and stand up again and get back into life. What power words have... When Eric Plumb entered the fourth grade, he missed the first two weeks due to a case of the mumps. As a result, he never caught on to the math they were studying that year. The teacher was a crabby, negative, cruel woman who was retiring at the end of that school term, the worst possible representative of her profession. She pounced on Eric and held him up to ridicule at every opportunity. When he missed an answer in arithmetic, which was often, she would say, "Eric is dumb. Eric Plumb is dumb. Eric Plumb is plumb dumb." The students laughed at her put-down, no doubt glad someone else was her target for a while. To no one's surprise, Eric grew to hate school. Not until the tenth grade did something happen to change Eric's perception of school. It was an English literature class, just after lunch when students and teachers alike had trouble concentrating. During a discussion of Shakespeare, the teacher was stunned to see Eric raise his hand for an observation, something he had never done before. When he finished, she said, "Why Eric - how perceptive." For the rest of the day, Eric basked in the glow of those words. "Perceptive. She thinks I'm perceptive." Eric says, "I'm not going to tell you I became class valedictorian as a result of her comment, and I still hate math. But that one word from my English teacher turned around my self-confidence and helped me believe that maybe I wasn't the total loser I had come to believe. I became a different student for the rest of my schooling." Cut down by one teacher; stood up by another. The incredible power of words. No wonder Scripture describes the Word of God as a two-edged sword. In a sense, all words are double-edged with power to cut and power to heal. A couple of years ago, Frank Pollard retired from a lengthy pastorate of the First Baptist Church of Jackson, Mississippi. This man is so accomplished a speaker that Time magazine once named him one of America's top preachers. Most people are shocked, however, to learn of his humble beginnings. Frank tells it on himself. When Frank was a child in Olney, Texas, a man named Claude Olney sought him out for his Sunday School class of ten year old boys. He introduced Frank to Jesus, the greatest thing one person can do for another. Then, when Frank was in college and God called him to preach, practically no one believed in him. His classmates wondered how someone too shy to speak to them could ever stand in a church and address crowds. When Frank gave his first sermon, instead of coming up to shake his hand, people headed for the doors. Only one man in town, Mr. Beverly King - the richest man in the little community -walked up and bragged on him and told him, "I know you will make it." In college, Frank worked as a janitor of the Baptist Student Center and when no one else was around, would preach to the empty seats. He grew discouraged and frequently thought of quitting. And he would have, except for one thing. Every week, Frank Pollard received a postcard from Mr. King back in Olney saying, "I love you, Frank. I believe in you. You can do it." Frank Pollard confesses, "I am in the ministry today because of that man." A man whose words stood him on his feet. Standing people on their feet with words is a most Christ-like thing. Jesus said to a paralytic, "Rise, take up your bed and walk." And he did. He said to a fallen woman, "Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more." To a thief dying on the cross, Jesus said, "Today, thou shalt be with me in paradise." Bill Glass was an All-American at Baylor and an All-Pro defensive end for the Cleveland Browns football team. These days, he spends a lot of time in prisons telling men how to be truly free by trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ. I first heard him over thirty years ago tell of a great lesson he learned early in his football playing. "When I started playing football in school," Bill said, "I thought when you got knocked down was a good time to get some rest. Then I realized you get stepped on and fallen upon, so I started getting up. Then, I began to notice that in college and pro ball, most of the tackles are made by people who were either knocked down and got back up or knocked off balance and kept on going." Bill paused and said, "Now, there's a parallel in life. The devil knocks you down through temptation or hurtful words from someone or your own foolishness or a hundred other things. But it's not enough for him to knock you down, he's got to keep you down. And the way he does that is by working on your guilt." "'Some Christian you are,' the devil tells you. 'What if the people down at the church could see you now. They'd be ashamed of you.' And he keeps you down. But then, someone comes to you and says," If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (I John 1:9) Get back up and get into the game!' You hear that and believe, you confess it and reaffirm your faith in the Lord Jesus, and you get back into the game." As long as you are flat of your back, wiped out by your own sin or the cruel words or harsh treatment of another, lying there in your misery and self-reproach, the devil doesn't have to worry about you. You'll do the Lord no good and the enemy no harm. But the moment you start believing the Lord and stand up and re-enter the game, a cheer goes up from the grandstand. (See Hebrews 12:1) A champion is back and ready for the next play. I have not always spoken healing words that stand people on their feet. For many years, I took delight in cutting people down to get a laugh. Eric Plumb's cruel teacher had nothing on me. But I was blessed by a few people who refused to let me get by with it. A mother of a teenager called to ask why I had embarrassed her daughter in front of a theater-full of people the night before. I almost had trouble remembering what I had said, it was so thoughtless and meaningless on my part. And I was her pastor! The humiliation of going to her home and humbly apologizing to the teen and her family seared on my soul the cost of idle words that cut and bruise. Someone needs to hear words of love and affirmation from you today. Don't assume they already know that you love them. Tell them. When Fred Rogers was a little boy, his parents would take him into the country for brief visits with his Grandfather McFeeley. Sometime during the visit, the wonderful old man would take the child aside and say, "Freddie, never forget that I like you just the way you are. Don't ever change. God made you this way, and you are something special." Mr. Rogers lived the rest of his life telling children all over the world how special they were. Standing them on their feet. Joe McKeever Last night, I spoke about Samuel's great statement of the responsibility of praying for the people in our lives. He said, "As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you." That's 1 Samuel 12:23. The outline of the message went like this...
1. "I pray." That's the privilege of prayer. What an honor to be invited by the Heavenly Father to participate in His work throughout the world simply by bowing our heads and expressing our thoughts and worship and requests to Him. 2. "I pray for you." That's the responsibility of prayer. We need each other so much. We have not been sent out simply to pray for everyone everywhere, otherwise, we would get the phone book down and get started. However, we each have a circle of people who depend on us for prayer. In my case, it's my immediate and extended family first, then our church leadership and membership, and so on. 3. "I cease to pray for you." That's the danger of prayerlessness. Many of us used to pray for people we no longer mention to God. What could cause us to quit? In Samuel's case, he had been rejected by the very people who were now asking for his prayers (12:9). He would have been within his rights to tell them to buzz off. But his devotion to them was not conditional on their response, so he would keep right on praying for them. 4. "Far be it from me to cease praying for you." This is the commitment to pray. Samuel is not merely hoping he will pray or even asking God to help him pray; he is announcing to the people his intention of praying for them, period. He promises to intercede with God on their behalf. 5. "Far be it from me to sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you." This is the holy burden of prayer. It is a personal matter between the Heavenly Father and me. When I quit praying, I not only disappoint you and weaken myself, more importantly, I sin against God. After all, "Whatsoever is not of faith is sin." That's from Romans 14:23 and it applies to prayerlessness if it means anything. I told the people about our recent meanderings around Manhattan by subway. Now, some of the Louisianans in our party had been there before and had some experience finding their way via the tube, but the rest of us were novices. We clustered around maps of the city, trying to find where we were, where we wanted to go, and which train to take. A few times we took the wrong train or missed our stop and had to back track. But everyone was in good spirits - we laughed a lot - and tried to learn from the experience. Then, there were other times when we calmly walked to the correct station, took the right train, and got off at our stop with hardly a thought. Those were the times we had a guide along, a resident of New York City who negotiates the subways every day of their lives. Think of that as a parable of life. God has given us the map, the Bible, to show us the way. But if He did nothing more - if we were on our own here - we would huddle around it trying to figure out where we are, where we want to go, and how to get there, making mistakes galore. But God took pity on His wayward children and gave us a Guide - Himself. The Holy Spirit knows the way and we follow Him. His leadership is always in accordance with the Map, since He wrote it! Our task is to stay close to Him and go where He leads. This morning my daughter-in-law Julie called. "The Lord has really been impressing on me the need for praying for my children, and your message last night was from Him." She added, "Every morning when I take Grant (her 8 year old third-grader) to school, he says, 'Mom, did you pray for me this morning?' I assure him I did, and then he says, 'Are you going to keep praying for me all day?'" I said, "Wow. I had no idea he was so attuned to the need for prayer. That is so wonderful." We pray for our little ones to open up to God and to become spiritually minded, and when it begins to occur, it takes our breath away. A church member wrote on his worship registration form last Sunday, "Pastor, my wife and I pray for you and Margaret every day." I am so touched by those who call my name to the Father. God alone knows the debt we owe them for their intercession and the difference they make in our labors. I once heard someone say, "My prayer doesn't count much. I'm only one person." I said, "Do you know anyone who is 'two'?" "I'm only one person" is the one excuse no citizen of planet Earth can use to get out of anything, since we are all 'ones' and no one is two. Therefore, all of us 'ones' may go ahead with the privilege and responsibility of prayer. There are people counting on my prayers today. God help me not to let them down. Dr. Joe McKeever www.joemckeever.com Everyone needs a verse of Scripture to call his own. Here's mine.
Old Job was having a time of it. After the death of his children and the loss of his wealth, disease racked his body, leaving him covered with sores. Then, three friends showed up to comfort him - with accusations and blame. He needed a defense attorney and instead got three prosecutors! The first speaker begins to set Job up for a fall. He's going to accuse him of having sin in his life which has brought the judgment of God. But first, he reminds him of the way God has used him in the past. "Your words have stood men on their feet; you have helped the tottering to stand." (Job 4:4) Tell me if that is not one of the finest attributes one man could ever pay another. It has become something of a goal for my preaching, that my sermons would be so filled with life and faith that the falling and the fallen would hear and stand up again and get back into life. What power words have... When Eric Plumb entered the fourth grade, he missed the first two weeks due to a case of the mumps. As a result, he never caught on to the math they were studying that year. The teacher was a crabby, negative, cruel woman who was retiring at the end of that school term, the worst possible representative of her profession. She pounced on Eric and held him up to ridicule at every opportunity. When he missed an answer in arithmetic, which was often, she would say, "Eric is dumb. Eric Plumb is dumb. Eric Plumb is plumb dumb." The students laughed at her put-down, no doubt glad someone else was her target for a while. To no one's surprise, Eric grew to hate school. Not until the tenth grade did something happen to change Eric's perception of school. It was an English literature class, just after lunch when students and teachers alike had trouble concentrating. During a discussion of Shakespeare, the teacher was stunned to see Eric raise his hand for an observation, something he had never done before. When he finished, she said, "Why Eric - how perceptive." For the rest of the day, Eric basked in the glow of those words. "Perceptive. She thinks I'm perceptive." Eric says, "I'm not going to tell you I became class valedictorian as a result of her comment, and I still hate math. But that one word from my English teacher turned around my self-confidence and helped me believe that maybe I wasn't the total loser I had come to believe. I became a different student for the rest of my schooling." Cut down by one teacher; stood up by another. The incredible power of words. No wonder Scripture describes the Word of God as a two-edged sword. In a sense, all words are double-edged with power to cut and power to heal. A couple of years ago, Frank Pollard retired from a lengthy pastorate of the First Baptist Church of Jackson, Mississippi. This man is so accomplished a speaker that Time magazine once named him one of America's top preachers. Most people are shocked, however, to learn of his humble beginnings. Frank tells it on himself. When Frank was a child in Olney, Texas, a man named Claude Olney sought him out for his Sunday School class of ten year old boys. He introduced Frank to Jesus, the greatest thing one person can do for another. Then, when Frank was in college and God called him to preach, practically no one believed in him. His classmates wondered how someone too shy to speak to them could ever stand in a church and address crowds. When Frank gave his first sermon, instead of coming up to shake his hand, people headed for the doors. Only one man in town, Mr. Beverly King - the richest man in the little community - walked up and bragged on him and told him, "I know you will make it." In college, Frank worked as a janitor of the Baptist Student Center and when no one else was around, would preach to the empty seats. He grew discouraged and frequently thought of quitting. And he would have, except for one thing. Every week, Frank Pollard received a postcard from Mr. King back in Olney saying, "I love you, Frank. I believe in you. You can do it." Frank Pollard confesses, "I am in the ministry today because of that man." A man whose words stood him on his feet. Standing people on their feet with words is a most Christlike thing. Jesus said to a paralytic, "Rise, take up your bed and walk." And he did. He said to a fallen woman, "Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more." To a thief dying on the cross, Jesus said, "Today, thou shalt be with me in paradise." Bill Glass was an All-American at Baylor and an All-Pro defensive end for the Cleveland Browns football team. These days, he spends a lot of time in prisons telling men how to be truly free by trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ. I first heard him over thirty years ago tell of a great lesson he learned early in his football playing. "When I started playing football in school," Bill said, "I thought when you got knocked down was a good time to get some rest. Then I realized you get stepped on and fallen upon, so I started getting up. Then, I began to notice that in college and pro ball, most of the tackles are made by people who were either knocked down and got back up or knocked off balance and kept on going." Bill paused and said, "Now, there's a parallel in life. The devil knocks you down through temptation or hurtful words from someone or your own foolishness or a hundred other things. But it's not enough for him to knock you down, he's got to keep you down. And the way he does that is by working on your guilt." "'Some Christian you are,' the devil tells you. 'What if the people down at the church could see you now. They'd be ashamed of you.' And he keeps you down. But then, someone comes to you and says, 'Hey, friend, if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (I John 1:9) Get back up and get into the game!' You hear that and believe, you confess it and reaffirm your faith in the Lord Jesus, and you get back into the game." As long as you are flat of your back, wiped out by your own sin or the cruel words or harsh treatment of another, lying there in your misery and self-reproach, the devil doesn't have to worry about you. You'll do the Lord no good and the enemy no harm. But the moment you start believing the Lord and stand up and re-enter the game, a cheer goes up from the grandstand. (See Hebrews 12:1) A champion is back and ready for the next play. I have not always spoken healing words that stand people on their feet. For many years, I took delight in cutting people down to get a laugh. Eric Plumb's cruel teacher had nothing on me. But I was blessed by a few people who refused to let me get by with it. A mother of a teenager called to ask why I had embarrassed her daughter in front of a theater-full of people the night before. I almost had trouble remembering what I had said, it was so thoughtless and meaningless on my part. And I was her pastor! The humiliation of going to her home and humbly apologizing to the teen and her family seared on my soul the cost of idle words that cut and bruise. Someone needs to hear words of love and affirmation from you today. Don't assume they already know that you love them. Tell them. When Fred Rogers was a little boy, his parents would take him into the country for brief visits with his Grandfather McFeeley. Sometime during the visit, the wonderful old man would take the child aside and say, "Freddie, never forget that I like you just the way you are. Don't ever change. God made you this way, and you are something special." Mr. Rogers lived the rest of his life telling children all over the world how special they were. Standing them on their feet. By Joe McKeever www.JoeMcKeever.com |
Ana & Andre Schoonbee God uses us to motivate and encourage the body. Authors
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