Andrew Golden's Blog, page 31

Where You At, Elders?

1 Peter 5:1-3

1 The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:
2 Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;
3 Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.

Every elder wants to say that you are supposed to respect them and I am not disagreeing. You should show them respect and listen to them. They have lived more life than you and have learned a thing or two about scripture that can help you. However, if the elders are setting back and not doing what they are supposed to do as an elder, they are failing at their job and have no right to complain about the newer generations being lazy. The elders are only following suite. Elders are supposed to live by example to teach and train newer Christians how to be christ like in the eyes of God. Elders where are you at? Are you going to keep sitting back complaining that the next generation hasn’t stepped up? Are you going to continue to complain that the younger generations know little to nothing about scripture? Get up and start being the example so they know how to act right. Stop ignoring them and start teaching them. Stop complaining about the problem. Start being the elders and fix them. You have set back to long elders. Wake up and get back to work.

He Formed And Redeemed You

Isaiah 43:1

1 But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine

If you are born again and bought by the blood of the lamb, God has redeemed you. He has given you a whole new life. Know that God is the one who created and formed you. He brought you to life for a reason. He made you for a purpose. He knew you would fall and struggle in life. He knew that at times you would start struggling with faith. However, he still gave his only son for your redemption. If God loved you that much, then know that you are not worthless. Know that you are one of his redeemed and that you are a child of the one who spoke the everything into existence. Do not ever think you are a waste or that you are nothing. You are formed and call by name by the heavenly father and you are his.

Just Give It Your All

Deuteronomy 16:17

17 Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD thy God which he hath given thee.

I have not told anyone this, but lately I have been wondering if I can ever give God enough. Will I ever be able to give enough to God that will make me worthy? I ask God when I preach have I given enough of myself? I have wondered is there anything I can do more even when I am giving it my all. Then a good friend, actually a brother sent me this verse. I don’t think he knew how bad I needed it. I set there and read the verse ten times. I know now that as long as I am giving it my all, I am giving enough. As long as when I pray and pour my heart into my prayers it is enough. When I preach and pour my whole self into it, God is happy. God blesses you and wants to see if you will bless someone else in return. He may give you more food than you need to see if you will turn and help someone else. He may give you a little extra on a check to see if you will give just a little back to him. God knows our limits. He knows when we try to stretch too hard either financially, physically, or emotionally. He only wants you to do and give what you can. If you are like me and wonder if you are giving enough of yourself, know that as long as you are giving it all you can, then you are giving enough. You will know this because the blessings just keep coming in.

Participation Trophy

Matthew 25:46

46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

John 3:3

3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

In todays world all you have to do is participate to win a trophy. People think that this is the way everything should be. It is getting to the point that people believe that this is the way our walk with God works. They think that as long as they go to church they will be fine. As long as they throw some money in the offering plate they will be fine. As long as they amen the preacher they will be fine. They get to a point they do not see a reason to surrender their lives over to God. They do not see a point in accepting Jesus, because they go to church on Sundays. It does not matter how much you participate in church if you are not born again through the acceptance of Jesus Christ. You will not get a participation ticket into heaven because you went to church on Sunday. You will get the losers reward, which is an eternity of torment. If you accept Christ you get and eternity of peace and love with our savior. It is all up to you on what you decide, but I pray you stop living like God gives out participation trophies and accept Jesus as your lord and savior.

Speech Impediment

Exodus 4:10-12

10 And Moses said unto the LORD, O my LORD, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.
11 And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man’s mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD?
12 Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.

The people who know me will tell you that I have a speech impediment. I have something called a lisp. I also have a slight country accent. When I first started feeling my calling to preach, I struggled with the thought of people not being able to understand me. I told God he had to fix it or no one would ever listen to me. However, God reminds me of Moses. He had speech problems and he stood up against the Pharoah. He did not do this on his own. He let God be his voice. You see it doesn’t matter if you stutter, have a lisp, or just are slow to speak, if God wants to use you to spread his word, he will use you. Just remember to step back and let God take control. Don’t worry about people hearing your speech impediment. Just keep preaching and teaching the message God sent you to deliver.

Where Is Your God?

Psalms 42:3

3 My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?

The world asks where God is. They ask if he exist. Why he is not stopping the evil. They challenge us to call him down and have him stop the bad in the world. However, they do not see what we see. Even though we shed tears, we know he is there building us up. Even though we experience loss, God is holding us and giving comfort. When we have financial trouble, God will give us a blessing that the world can’t explain where it came from. When the doctors say there is no hope, God steps in and performs a miracle. So ask me where my God is? He is everywhere and in every situation. Just because the world thinks we are struggling and sees us fall down, does not mean that our God is not there. He is just waiting to show himself in a way that makes the world admit a miracle has happened.

Keep Your Progress

Ecclesiastes 3:14

14 I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him.

Matthew 24:35

35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

We live in a progressive society. If we do not agree with the way they live then we are standing in the way of their progress. If we stand on the true word of God then we are stuck in the past. We are shunned from the social norm. They tell us that if we disagree with abortion, same sex marriage, or sin in general then we are not welcomed into society. To be honest, I am good with that. I am good with being on the winning team. I am good with standing on the truth. It does not bother me that my preachng offends your infinite number of imagined genders that don’t exist. In the end it does not matter that the world progressed to be kind to everyone because when it is all said and done all that will remain is the word of God and if you followed and lived it. So this world can keep its progress and I will keep my Bible and the word of truth.

Get Back Up

Proverbs 24:16

16 For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.

Have you messed up? Have you made a mistake? Have you done something and then it hit you, I just sinned. I am sure each and everyone of us have. I talk about this a lot. We all fall short. It doesn’t matter who you are, you will mess up. You will get knocked down. However, it is in this moment you decide, do I stay down, or do I rise back up? You can throw in the towel or you can simply admit to God that you have fallen, ask for forgiveness, and get back up again. You don’t have to stay down in sin, you can rise again and become stronger against the temptations of the world.

Who Are You?

Matthew 3:17

17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

1 Corinthians 12:27 

Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.

Does it matter more who you are or what you are? Who and what are you? Before you say your name with a proud smile, I am not asking your name. I am asking who and what you are. I am asking who you are. Think of it like this. People asked who is this man named Jesus? God said this is my son who I am well pleased. Who was Jesus? He was a carpenter. What was Jesus? He was the son of God and the messiah. So which matters more? Well you can be whoever you want to be, but what you had better be is a child of God saved by Jesus Christ. You see, your name is who you are. You can wear it proud to the point it consumes you. It does not matter who I am. My name means nothing. What I am is a child of God. I am saved by the blood of Christ. So stop boasting of who you are and start proclaiming what you are. I pray that you are a child of God.

The Coming Reward

2 Corinthians 5:8

8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord

Psalms 71:18

18 Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come.

This morning I begin to think of a song my Grandmother sung in church. It went “I’m not a getting older, I’m only getting closer to home.” I remember her in her seventies and eighties going to the nursing home to pray with the elderly, as she called them, even though she was older than most of them. She would tell people that as long as God gave her the strength she would continue to do his work and go and take care of the elderly. She made it clear when she could no longer do his work she wanted to go home to be with Jesus. She went home in 2016 and I still think about the lesson that little woman taught me. That no matter how tired and old I get, keep working. She always said, one day you will be as old as me, your hair will turn gray, your body will hurt, and your health will decline. However, keep doing the work for God. On day when you don’t want to get up, make yourself get up and keep going. She would grin and say, our reward is not here on earth, but it is worth the wait to get there. I realize that now. Granny never stopped working until the day she opened her eyes in the arms of her savior. She was always willing to talk about Jesus. We have to be that same way. Don’t look for the money that serving Christ can bring. Don’t look for the fame and glory it can bring. Instead, rejoice in the work and know that our reward is greater than anything this world can offer. I know the day will come when I get to be present with my Lord Jesus Christ. I will get to hug my Granny’s neck and walk through heaven with her. However, until that day come I pray God gives us the strength to keep going. I pray that as we grow older, we continue to stand firm in the Lord Jesus Christ. Once day we will receive our reward, but until then let us continue to spread the word and love of Jesus.