Andrew Golden's Blog, page 39

Shine Bright

Isaiah 60:1-3

1 Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.
2 For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.
3 And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.

When I woke up and began getting ready this morning, I could see the sun beginning to peak through the trees. It is like that every morning. Even if it’s cloudy, I can still see the light begin to shine. It has never changed in my entire 30 years of life. I began to remember before giving my life to God, I was in darkness. I needed light in my life. Just like he sent the sun to shed light on the earth, he would send a Christian to shed light on me. I began to think of how when I felt like I deserved to set in my darkness, that light would still draw me to it. It may have been a preacher or maybe just someone saying Jesus loves you. There was always that light. I realize now that each and everyone of us can be that light. When we rise and walk in Christ, we can be the light that a sinner whose world is covered in darkness needs. We can help them out of their sins and help them become a light. However, before we do this we have to rise. We have to get up and go to work. If you are a Christian, his glory is already upon you. All you have to do is move forward. You may think that it is not possible for you to be a light with your past, but God can use your past to show how powerful his grace is. So be that light for someone in need.

Find Understanding

Proverbs 19:8-9

8 He that getteth wisdom loveth his own soul: he that keepeth understanding shall find good.
9 A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall perish.

A while back I had a couple of verses on my mind. It was not to preach on the passage. It was just that a few particular scriptures stuck in my mind. For months I studied them and researched commentary on it. I had to find out why they said what they did. When I prayed for understanding, I dug deeper into those verses. Then one night while laying in bed, a light bulb lit up. I had the understanding of that scripture that had been eating at me for a month. The verses were Revelations 1:18, Matthew 16:19, and John 10:9. I preached a message on how he is the door and he has given us the key to enter his grace. After that night I preached of how Jesus defeated death, hell, and the grave. However, I had to wait for God to help me understand it. I had to pray for the wisdom and accept it. Only then, with that understanding, could I preach that message. Many people will read a passage of scripture and never seek the wisdom to full understand it. Many will only look over it. Then they try and teach on it. If they get it wrong and make something up of what they think it means, then they are in the wrong. We need to be ready to find this wisdom and understanding to help others. We need to spend our study times praying to God to open up his word to us. Do not give some generic answer to a question if you do not know the true answer. Seek the wisdom to fully understand and answer it. You may have to wait months to give that answer, but it is worth it I promise.

God’s Timing

Habakkuk 2:3
For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.

Ecclesiastes 3:11
He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.

So many times we become impatient with plans we have. We become impatient on waiting on our answer from God. We act like the commercial that goes it’s my money and I need it now. Well, it is all in God’s timing and he can do as he pleases. Sometimes God makes us wait on an answer because he knows it is not the right time to give it to us. It may not be time for that blessing. It may be that if he moves forward with his plan, we may not be mature enough to see it come to fusion. I remember before my first born I would get so frustrated praying for a child. I thought, is God even listening to my prayers. Now I look back and I would not trade my son for anything. God made me wait on his timing. The time I spent waiting on my son, I matured and was better prepared for the surgeries that came along when he was born. I know it is not easy to do, trust me I know. However, it is part of his plan for our lives. We may have to put in a little work for it, but he is going to answer our prayers. It may not be the answer we want, but he will answer it. God has a reason for making us wait on things. Remember, God knows best and we have to learn to wait on his timing and not our own.

Tend To The Elders

1 Timothy 5:1-2

1 Rebuke not an elder, but intreat him as a father; and the younger men as brethren;
2 The elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, with all purity.

If you see an elderly person unable to work, do you ignore it and go on about your day? What if it is a member of your church? What if it is your grandparents? You should help them. As the young Christians, we are supposed to help the elderly. We are supposed to tend to them. It does not matter if it is carrying in their groceries, picking trash up out of their yard, or even going as far as mowing their yard. While helping them, we learn from them. Listen to their life lessons. Let them teach you the wisdom that the years have taught them. Most have read the bible more times than we can count and have prayed more than we have lived. It is time the younger help the older again. This also helps us talk to them about God. Let them know we still need them in the church. So get up young people and get back to work.

The Flat Tire

2 Chronicles 34:8

8 Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land, and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder, to repair the house of the LORD his God.

This morning my wife woke me up to tell me that she had a flat tire on her car. When we found the hole, I could see something sticking out of it. While I worked to get it out I started thinking, I wish I could just leave it in there and plug the tire, but I knew it wouldn’t last long like that. Then it occurred to me. This is what Christians are doing. They are not removing the sin from their lives. Sin is like what was in her tire, which turned out to be a screw. It haults our walk with God. Before we can repair the damage it has done, we have to remove it. We can’t just paint over it and keep going. We first have to remove the sin then we can get to work on repairing the house of God, because that is what we are now. So if you are trying to just cover up sin. Remove it. Just like that screw, which was a headache to remove, some sin is hard to remove out of your life. However, no one said our journey would be easy. I can promise you this. If you keep your temple clean, it makes you stronger. So remove your sin and repair your temple.

Let The Storm Grow Your Faith

James 1:12

Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

Romans 8:18

For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

I used two verses today to back up the thought I had this morning. It was a weird thought, but once I explain it will make sense. You see I mowed on Thursday and then the last two days it stormed. While making coffee this morning I thought to myself, the storm is going to make the grass grow. It was such a strange thought that a storm would make the grass grow, but it does. Now I know that is a weird thing to point out, but let me explain. In life you are going to face hypothetical storms. I woke up to a phone call one morning to find out my job was shutting down. I was 20 with a pregnant wife. A few weeks later she miscarried. It was a hurricane of a few years after that. It felt like every time I thought I could stand up, my legs would get cut out from under me again. I almost gave up. However, with each storm I got stronger. I grew my roots deeper in God. I learned that each storm passes and if we use it we can grow from it. I went from a man who thought that I could fix my own problems with money to a man who gives it all to God. It is not easy to stand tall at times. Some storms are harder than others. Some will look like there is no hope. Trust me you can make it through it. God is letting that storm come your way because he sees it is time for you to grow. Just like the grass that gets cut, the rain from that storm lets it grow back faster and makes its roots run deeper. So when you end up in the storms of life , let the storm grow your faith.

Trust In God

Psalms 118:8-9

8 It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.
9 It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes.

We all trust in certain people. We believe they will always be there. We feel like they can do no wrong. We forget they are human. They will mess up. They battle sin like the rest of us. They will let you down. It is not always their fault. They may have issues going on as well. That is why we are to put our trust in God. He will never let you down. He will never leave you alone in your sorrow. In your worst days, he is there. All you have to do is say, God I need you. I need you to help me. I promise he will answer you. He is our father who loves us. He is the one to trust. He is the one that will never let you down.

The Truth Shall Set you Free

John 8:31-32

31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

The truth. What is the truth? The truth is simple. Jesus died for our sins. He is the only way to heaven. You get there by accepting him. It is a simple truth. However, there is more to it. The truth is, we have to leave sin in our past. We have to walk with Christ and leave the world behind. It is a truth we must accept. It is a fact of life that without Jesus, we will not make it. So the truth is, if you do not accept Jesus Christ as your saviour, then you will never walk into the gates of heaven.

Stand Even If You Are Alone

1 Kings 18:22

22 Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even I only, remain a prophet of the LORD; but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men.

Now this story shows something amazing. Elijah made a deal with the profit of Baal. Who’s God answered by fire would be the one true God. Baal never answered no matter how much they screamed and begged for him to present himself. When it came to Elijah’s time to call upon his God, he answered. Elijah stood alone. He was the last profit but yet he knew his God would answer. He knew the one true living God would answer by fire. You will go through times where you are alone. You have no one next to you. Everyone else has thrown in the towel but God is telling you to hold on. Listen to that voice and hold on. The enemy is surrounding you. He thinks he has you out numbered. However, if you hold on, God will show up. Just like Elijah we have to take a stand even if we are alone. Sometimes God let’s the enemy build numbers just to show how powerful he is.

Stop Celebrating Your Enemies Failures

Proverbs 24:17-18

17 Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth:
18 Lest the LORD see it, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him.

It is common for us as people to laugh at a wicked person hit hard times. We find it funny when someone we do not like loses everything. We have to stop. It does not matter why you do not like them. We are supposed to be the ones who pray for our enemies. We are supposed to be the ones who help people when they are struggling. That includes the people we do not like. When we do this, we show love. We show that through Christ, we are greater than holding grudges. So when your enemy falls down, help them up. Show them that we are Christians and that we are there to help everyone.