The Last Outpost

Scripture Reading: Jude 20-23 20 But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, 21 Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. 22 And of some have compassion, making a difference: 23 And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire

Recently I purchased some old episodes of a forgotten 50s TV show called "Sir Lancelot." On the first DVD there was an episode called the "Roman Wall." In this episode our story takes place in England about the time of 800 AD - 1000 AD. No one knows the exact time as the stories were but legends. Anyway, Sir Lancelot is summoned by a regional king to a mysterious wall in the North of England where the king's daughter was taken captive by Roman soldiers. This seemed humorous at first as the Roman empire had collapsed nearly 400 years before. Yet the north most of England nearly to Scotland was the extreme border of the once powerful empire. There was an outpost of descendants of the Roman regime who to this day were still living and practicing Roman life, not knowing that their country had long since vanished. So Lancelot of course accomplishes his mission and brings great tales back to the modern kings of England.

Of course this is all fictional, but thinking about that remote outpost, still living as though life in Rome were still going on, reminds me of our position in the world as Christians. You see, we as believers are "garrisoned" here in a foreign land much like soldiers were of Rome. The only difference is that our homeland has not been vanquished and laid to ruin. As a matter of fact, our Kingdom is growing and is coming soon.

Christians however live as though we are the last outpost and we are to huddle in fear inside of its walls. How and why is this? Here are some examples:

1. We huddle in our churches as if they had battlements to safely shoot arrows at the world from.
2. We disassociate ourselves with needy sinners lest some of them contaminate us.
3. We hide behind walls of legalisms that only cause problems in our own ranks.
4. We close in ourselves even away from our own King and Lord by our sinful practices

All these things happen when a group of people stayed enclosed in a fortress or structure for their entire lives. The constant enclosure breeds problems, and especially in Christian circles, problems that the Lord never intended.

One of the tenants of the Great Commission is to Go. The reason is straightforward. We need to Go because the people are out there and needy. BUT it is also an Inward command, so that we are not to become stagnant and hysterical, damaging the only hope bearing messenger force God left in the world--us.

At the end of the TV episode, the outside of the fortress is seen as the old gate is pounded and pounded from within and finally knocked open. Then all the inhabitants saw the outside world and breathed new air and it was liberating. This similarity needs to exist in the Christian world today. This is NOT to say we need to go plunge headlong into worldly practice to add variety to our lives, no, but we need to get out more and expose others to the message of Christ.

The largest drawback to the solution mentioned, is Fear. Fear of rejection and persecution most notably. There will be both of these things present that is true, but in the end we will find it better than stagnation.

In America, Christians have it easy, somewhat. That era when freedom of religious speech having been enjoyed for so long is coming to an end. So all the more necessary it becomes to share while we can.

Then comes the King of Kings! Our Divine Liberator who will most assuredly take us Home to be with Him in the Rapture. The Rapture is a true event, never before seen, but nonetheless true. When we are gone and our outpost abandoned, the world will wallow in a sea of evil the likes they haven't even imagined.

Our Last Outpost, the church, is the only barrier between man and the onslaught of unspeakable evil. So then, let us rally to invite men and women to the safety of Christ in His walls, and yet not be so stuck inside them that we don't ever venture out to give and outstretched hand to the needy sinner. We must plead with the sinner to come inside while he or she can, the decision is theirs, but the job of telling them is ours.

In the Scripture reading, Jude gives us instructions to build or strengthen ourselves, we do this in the outpost of the church by building up each other, then he exhorts to go out and have compassion and pull those from the fire. Our Last Outpost is a joyous one, and its soon to be an Eternal one. While we enjoy the fellowship lets not neglect the mission outside its walls. Go out into the world and bid men come before the Master comes and shuts the door to the world.

Lord, help me to cower in the walls of the church or in fear of whatever. Help me to witness to others in my town, my street, my workplace, wherever you put me today. In Your Name, Amen.

Panning For Gold

Scripture Reading:
John 8:32, "And you shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free."

In the 1840s, America experienced what was called "The California Gold Rush." Thousands of "prospectors" stormed over the Rocky Mountains into California. Any stream they could find they started mining near and they would dredge the streams for gold. With a sieve they would shake a large group of gravel substance. The sediment would fall through the sieve leaving the gold behind. The only problem was that many sites did not reveal gold. In fact most of the mines in the early days turned out to be flops. The hype was that there was gold everywhere, which there was not. Men spent their lives and fortunes digging constantly for something that, where they were located, never existed.

In life, people are panning for "gold." Gold in this sense is not the physical metal, but its answers to life's questions. They take a bunch of opinions and philosophies and shake and shake till whatever is left over must be the answer they are looking for. Gold to a searching person comes in the form of truth. Truth sets us free as we find in the words of Christ in our Scripture reference reading.

As believers in Christ we do not have to "pan" for Truths. Truth in the Scripture is not obscure and hidden, but is very plainly seen. The Bible was written for us to mine out Scriptural gold to live by. At first reading though you may seem to find yourself wondering about how to prospect this truth from the pages of Scripture. Here are some helps to either get you started or keep you going.

1. Most Bibles have reference sections and sections that deal with issues that we face and list references to find passages that deal with them.
2. Study guides are available that shows you the Scripture and explains the passage to help your understanding. NOTE, understand, these are men's opinions, most of them are good, but prayer and asking the Holy Spirit to help you discern the Truth is the only way to know.
3. Search out other Scriptures by cross references. These are simply a related passage of Scripture reference found in the margin or center of many Bibles.
4. Good Online Bible study software can be found, many of them for free or a nominal price. These are invaluable for looking up things and cross referencing.

Now with these in mind, there are some hindrances that some believers face when looking for Scriptural Truth. These are with their remedies:

1. The Bible is such a big book, how can I even be sure where to start? Answer: Start in John's Gospel to learn about the Saviour Christ. Start in the book of Psalms to know more about the heart of man towards God. Read the books of Ephesians and Romans to find out about Godly Christian life.

2. What if I have trouble understanding what I read? Answer: The only way to understand anything in the Scriptures is to ask God for revelation. Even the most seasoned student of the Bible must do this. God's Word is not a puzzle for the believer, so ask Him in prayer for the understanding. Like Philip in the New Testament book of Acts, God will send someone your way to help you understand.

3. There are so many versions of the Bible out there, which one do I choose? Answer: In my neck of the woods, preachers will tell you to "stick with the original King James Version." That is not bad advice, but there are other good translations. The New King James and the English Standard Version are excellent choices with up to date language usage. I personally discourage the popular "The Message." It is a paraphrase version of the Bible which takes extreme liberties with the Scripture where there can be no room for such actions. I could elaborate more but what we find is people get their feelings hurt when their version is not listed. This is a shame. But the ones I have listed are great translations of Inspired Scripture. The word of God is inspired by God, not any translation though. Again prayer is the key for guidance.

4. What if I read Scripture that I don't agree with? Answer: There is no variance here. Our validation of Scripture is not at issue. We either believe it or not, we either receive it or not. The Scripture does not change. What we need to do is ask God to humble us and submit to His Word as the authority for our lives, no matter what we agree with or not.

5. Is it okay to ask for human help in understanding Scripture? Answer: Absolutely. In fact a Bible study group really helps grow a person. You need to find a group of like minded believers. Your church has one I am sure. People vary on their opinions of things in the Bible, but, the concrete foundations must be agreed on. Sometimes the best outlet is a good friend who has had more years of study than you, who would be glad to help you in your study.

God does not want us to be ignorant of His Word. God has not given us a desire to know Him and then left us on our own to find Him. We don't have to be like those early gold miners, hoping to find Truth somewhere someday. We have access to God right now, as sure and certain for every believer no matter who they are or where they are.

Start mining the truths today. One thing for sure, no matter where you read in the Bible, you will always know God better. from it.

Lord, take Your Word and place it in our hearts, so that we may know You and serve You more abundantly and with cheer. Thank You for being open to us and graciously provide what we so much need. In Your Name, Amen.

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Your Life in Pictures

Scripture Reading: Mt 5:16 "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

Did you ever want to be a movie star? Lots of kids after seeing their first movie, aspire to be one. They will get out in the backyard and act out some story they make up. Sometimes the stories are good, but most times they make no sense. I remember trying to make a short movie when video first came about, it didn't make sense. Actually I am older than video and remember loading and 8mm camera, to give it a go, to no avail. However that attention people give to actors/actresses does something for the human ego. Being in front of the camera makes some folks feel important, while others it makes nervous.

Making movies is what I studied in school. I can tell you to professionally make a film involves a lot of hard work. One of the more time consuming job is the editing process. You spend long hours going over and over footage to get it trimmed to the right length. When you think you have it right, it needs more! You see a lot of pictures this way. In fact, for every second the camera is on, it takes either 24 or 30 pictures per second! Each one of these pictures is called a frame. Frames added together make movies, after all, a movie is only a whole lot of still pictures hurriedly shown together one after another. Its nice to have a smooth running film with none of the frames damaged or have any marks on them. Yet, with so many frames there are bound to be a few that are undesirable. Such as it is in our lives. Every moment of every day we present a picture or frame to someone, hopefully those frames are good ones, sometimes we would rather edit out the bad ones.

Our lives compose of stuff and events that all compacts together to make us who we are and who others see us to be. In the old days of film editing, we would have a rack of small reels, which would contain clips of different stuff. You would label that clip and then run it through a viewer to see how it fit with whatever subject or story you would show in your film. It is true that most of a film's footage never gets seen for either it was shot wrong or just didn't help support the topic. How many times in our lives have we said of done something that does not really support who we are in Christ? Wouldn't it be nice to pull off the shelf that bad statement, thought, action, etc and toss it? This is what Christ does when He forgives us. Our bad parts are taken out completely never to be reviewed by anyone.

Physical cutting of film is something necessary to produce a good film. Likewise there are things in life we must physically cut out of our lives or abstain from altogether. Things that seem to fit or seem to be okay, just not our best, are just the things that can be the most harmful. We all would agree that drugs and alcohol is bad for us and certainly hurts our bodies as well as our testimony, it is the seemingly Innocent things that do more damage. The innocent matters of life when compiled stifle our spiritual walk. So many times we get caught up in the temporal that we forget the eternal. This is when we know its time to cut out certain habits, favorites, etc. When God gets lost in the stuff of our lives then the picture we present to others isn't very clear. Its hard to tell a story when you go off on rabbit trails from the main subject. Its hard to show a film that has a lot of extraneous content and tell a story with it. Such it is with your life and showing Christ.

Handling a film with gloves is necessary to prevent scratching and other marring influences. In life we need to handle ourselves carefully according to God's Word. The "Gloves" of the Word protect us from all sorts of failure, fears, doubts, ideas, bad habits, etc. Gloves also clean off dirt that lays on the surface of the film. The Word of God likewise helps us identify and clean areas of our lives that become soiled with sin. The problem is we don't always like to wear gloves. We like to think we can do things pretty well on our own. Some Christians believe themselves to be so spiritually strong that they can look out for themselves. Tragically, when we don't wear the gloves of the Word we end up in bad shape and bring others down with us. Without the correction and protection of the Word, our lives become so dirty that they become unusable, just like film that is not cleaned. A dirty film does not project well. It misses and jumps in the projector and does not show a clear image. Dirt builds up and shows in the projected image as well. So it is with our lives. We don't take the time to clean spiritual selves, we present a poor quality picture to the world around us.

Did you ever think yourself to be in "pictures?" Whether you want to be or not, we are. The good news is that it is God who is doing the editing, if we let Him. He alone makes a finished picture of our lives a masterpiece and a great story of His redemption. It is so important we take aim not to present anything to the all watching world as a deterrent from them seeing Christ projected.

When people see a compelling and clear projected film, it changes some part of them. When people see us, how do they visualize Christ? How clear is our life and example of what others should desire for themselves?

Lord, how guilty we often are of not showing our best of what You have done in us for others to see. Help us Lord to examine our lives and project the best example and testimony we can to win others to you and for others to be an encouragement. Thank You for taking an interest in us to be involved with our lives. We praise You and love You Lord. In Your Name, Amen.

Reunion Grounds

Scripture Reading: Acts 16:26-28a
And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: For in him we live, and move, and have our being;

Mid to late summer in America, particularly in the South, is usually the time for family reunions. Family reunions as well as community or church reunions are always well populated if the interest is kept alive. I can remember going to reunions at the "reunion grounds" usually out in the country. Reunion grounds was sort of a privately owned place that a family owned but let other families gather to get together and renew acquaintances.

I can remember several reunions as a small boy. I can remember lots of folks coming down the dusty roads. Kids pulling out bikes to ride around. Men would gather to throw horseshoes. People would surround themselves with too much food. Of course the familiar scene would be old folks who were the "patriarchs" of the family. You would hear them tell of their lives and describe their past and get a connection with places and faces long gone.

The eeriest part though is when everyone packed up to go home and the reunion grounds became desolate and silent. No more was there the joyous noises of folks together or the clanging of horseshoes or laughter. If the reunion grounds were near a churchyard all the remainders was the loved ones buried in the ground. Its too bad reunions aren't more frequent.

That being said we turn our attention to the real matter at hand, our relationship with Jesus Christ. How often do we meet with Him? How often do we find ourselves reuniting our hearts and spirit with Him?

Christians today often treat the Master as they treat earthly family, they see each other or talk to each other seldom. They of course desire to get together more often, but it doesn't happen as planned. A person who has little or no relationship with Christ is the same way. We desire to be close to Him, but our desires vs. our actions don't align. We forget how much that He wants us to draw near to Him, and in turn we forget how much we need to draw near to Him, that is, until something bad happens to us.

Walking and reuniting with Christ is the following things:

1. A daily desire and action put into practice
2. A time set aside to shut out all else and draw near in prayer and reading the Word
3. A time of introspect and desire to change our lives in line with His
4. A time of praise and worship in song and in meditation of how great God is and how smallwe are.
5. A time when we bring our needs before Him and depend on Him
6. A time spent just talking as we would to an earthly parent of friend

In summary, walking with Christ really isn't a annual or weekly thing, but a daily exercise, and not one out of obligation but of desire.

Unfortunately, some have it in mind that the reunion with ourselves and Christ occur in the walls of the church on Sunday. While this is certainly the highlight of our week it is not meant to be the total time we spend with Him. Daily walk is key. Some Christians treat church as a reunion ground cemetery. They come to visit with God, but as soon as the Amen is said, they "leave" Him in the pew, on the wall, or anywhere on the church site while we go our own way. "Oh we will be back!" Yet many don't even come to the evening service they full well know their church is having because it interferes with their plans.

You're not going to like this.... If we do not attend on a regular basis, our church services both morning and evening, plus midweek because of whatever reason except for work hours or ill-health, or the few times we need to be away, what we are really saying is that Christ is getting in the way of our lives and our plans, taking more time than He should. Such is the case when God is left at the Reunion Grounds.

Are any of us perfected in our time spent with God? No. Should I personally be spending more time with God? Yes. He spends every minute with us. Of course we cannot read our Bibles all the time, but we can always talk to Him and include Him in our plans, our purchases, our decisions, our future goals, etc. After all, He is in charge of all the previous matters of life, so we should spend time with Him, for these reasons, but moreover out of love and appreciation for His Love to us.

Make sure this week that you take on spending more time with God. Don't leave God at the Reunion Grounds while you spiritually "drive off" to come again one of these days.

The old hymn says, "Take the Name of Jesus with you, child of sorrow and of woe. It will joy and comfort give you, take it then where e'er you go."

Lord, help us to make a regular desiring practice of spending time with You. Amidst our busy life and schedules help us to remember that You need to be in the center and before all things. Forgive us as we fail to do this so often. May this week be one of change towards devotion to You this week we pray, Amen.

Pieces Of The Old Dream

Scripture Reading:
Phil. 2;21
For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s.

Back in the late 80s, country artist and WV native Kathy Matea wrote a very popular song entitled, "Eighteen Wheels and A Dozen Roses." The song chronicles the last few hours of a truck driver who is about to retire after 30 years on the road. The driver is headed home on the last leg of his four day journey. Both he and his wife are looking anxiously forward to finally spending time together after such long periods of absence. Kathy sings, "they'll buy a Winnebago, set out to find America, and do a little catching up a little at a time. With pieces of the old dream, they're going to light the old flame..." Such words evoke fondness in us all.

The title of this article is a phrase from this song. There is something about this phrase that has always stuck in my mind. I believe the reason comes because all of us has had a dream or plans that have been interrupted by something or someone. Even though after many years have passed and our old desire has faded, we still reflect fondly on whatever it was and wish things had gone differently.

Many folks teach that we should never lose sight of our dreams. If those dreams measure up to what God desires for us that is good advice, however, if your dreams are not being fulfilled, it could be a good indication they are not in line with God's best.

Here are some ways to measure our dreams in light of God's desires:
1. Does this goal have any possibility to supersede godly devotion?
2. Does this goal truly have God in the center to glorify Him?
3. Does this dream or goal help us grow in our Christian walk?
4. Does this dream conflict any of God's standards even in the slightest?

Now I realize that these are some steep stipulations, but God's best for us is a high goal.

Many Christians walk around with no or little concept of eternity. We all get into a mindset that this life and the pursuit of pleasure in it is all that will ever matter. God on the other hand is wanting us to see beyond this life and see what will last for eternity not just the here and now.

This does not mean that every goal that doesn't meet everyone of these criteria God will not grant. In fact Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:33 that if the Kingdom is sought first then the other things we desire that are proper for us to have will be met.
Being desirous of the Kingdom will affect our desires. In fact God uses a right heart to filter out wrong desires and replace them with right ones. We find as we put the kingdom first, many worldly things that once seemed important, fade away.

Our one foe that blocks a desire to have whatever God wants, rather than what we do, is the flesh. Selfishness as stated in our text looks only for the immediate. The flesh reasons and rationalizes us into a sinful stupor and can hinder godly wisdom and judgement. Don't let the seeming "wisdom" detract you from God's desire.

God desires His best to be our best. Are there old dreams that may not have been met on account of wrong desires? Are there old dreams that have not been fulfilled that were rightful desires? Only God knows our hearts. Be assured though that no good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly. We can only see the temporary, He sees the outcome of every decision and dream we have and knows how to bless us by either granting it, or, canceling it. When He cancels, He is not being mean, rather though it may not appear so at first, He has a better plan for you.

Measure what you value according to God's standards and He will bring to light in due time what He desires for you.


Father, help us to want what You want and to trust You for all our needs. Help us not to be so consumed with worldly things that we lose sight of You. Help us to keep our minds on what really counts. In Your Name, Amen.

God's Positioning System Part 2 of 2

Scripture Reading: I Peter 3:4-6
And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us. And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them. Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.

The word to use for this discussion is "Intersection." The word means "a point in which two directions cross one another."

In last weeks discussion, we talked about how God knows where we are and that we are not out of His sight. This week we continue on to see how God positions us in someones life to bring glory to God and a blessing to others.

There are so many examples in the Bible where God positioned people to meet. The example that is readily coming to my mind is in our text. Peter and John were walking in the temple. As they were preparing to go to the temple, God was preparing a man who had been crippled most if not all of his life to be at the same part of the temple that Peter and John would be at. As the two groups set out on their journeys, the hand of God moved the cripple into position where he normally sat, and then guided along Peter and John to go right to the spot where he was, so, that the man may be healed.

When we think of our lives and with whom our paths cross, do we stop and think whom God might put in our paths to be a blessing to? I am not talking about preplanned trips say to a hospital where you know the person you are to minister to, but unplanned occurrences. I will be the first person to admit that I don't like surprises. Most of my life a surprise was seldom (though not always) a good thing. I am not a snob or stand offish, but I am not a person who likes crowds, except in a church or other religious gathering, nor do I really do well at personal one on one contact. I am a small intimate group type. However, there are those whom the Lord puts in my path to be a blessing to. Many times God puts people and opportunities in our path to test us, and that I know is what happens to me.

Nevertheless, God puts people and situations in our paths to benefit His Kingdom of whose servants we are. So what are some inward issues that need to be addressed if we are to serve the Lord by those He positions in our path??

First, we must have an open heart.
Peter and John may have not known what was about to take place in the Temple, but they were open to the Lord's leading. They frequented a place where they knew were needs. They were at the temple. Today most Christians agree that Christianity is kept inside the walls of the church. I agree it is and has been. However, there are people in church who have genuine needs of encouragement or help. Such was the case here in the text. Notice that the man was begging alms as he had no other means of support. Now we may not have people begging right in our foyers, but there are beggars in other senses. There are people whom you casually speak to that have a heavy burden on their heart, you may be the one the Lord uses to help bear or relieve them of it. They key is to be open wherever you are to seeing needs around you. I have to pray about this a lot as I am going about. This puts us out of our comfort zone. Most of us get too busy for others, or we don't feel as if they deserve our valuable time. This is a desperate trap we fall into. We need to have a heart that is willing to seek. Of course there are times and places we can't just wander into looking for needs, but as Peter and John found out, the time and place often finds us.

Second, we need to have a ready message.
Peter would go on later to write in his epistles, "always be ready to give an answer for the hope that is within you" (1 Peter 3:15). Perhaps as he wrote this he thought back to the beggar incident. One thing is for sure, we can all do kind deeds for folks, we can listen to them, we can help them, but unless we have shared the Word of God with them, then we have failed them. Not every situation will warrant a sermon on whatever, but share a verse and/or offer to pray with them will be a tremendous help. Sometimes like me, I don't know how to approach the situation and start a conversation tying needs into the Gospel. In those times, we need to pray for God to give us utterance and direction. Sometimes the person you speak to may not give a chance for the Gospel message. In that case, you can still pray for them later. Peter and John saw the man in his pitiful state. The cripple needed worldly means, but the followers of God saw that he had a greater need. Unless we see that need then the message of Hope will not come forth. Such deliverance of the message need to be committed to memory. By that I mean you must familiarize yourself with helpful passages of scripture both in mind and in your Bible. In such cases you will be ready to help.
An old preacher I heard many years ago once said, "A dry well has no attraction to a thirsty man." Don't go out without the Word prepared in you.

Third, we need to look for and ask for opportunities.
Being tied to the flesh, we do not automatically desire to look out for others needs. Rather we look for our own needs and wants. There are ways to do personal witness right and wrong. For example, just going up to a perfect stranger and telling them point blank they need Jesus is not going to work effectively in most cases even though the case be true. However, you can ask the Lord to bring people across your path to intersect with them and to help them. Most usually you will find someone who needs what you have to say. God has a unique way of bringing them to you. The question is, are we courageous enough to seize the opportunities? In a hospital, you may be going to visit a patient in bed 1, but you also need to pay attention to the person in bed 2. The family in a waiting room, or others there may need the Light you have too. When we ask God to help us do good for others for His glory and not our own attention, then He can work with us. The whole ministry of Peter and John was to help bring the Jewish people to Christ. When the man was healed, this gave Peter the opportunity to preach to many of who Christ is. Though you may not have a multitude of listeners, God is interested in the individuals needs.

Has God positioned those in your path for your ministering? Pray for opportunities towards non believers and believers too. God's positioning system is calibrated for effect in the lives of others, but also to you. We receive a blessing for having blessed others in His name.

Father, help us to be of willing minds and hearts to look for those who need your Message and help. May we not be fearful or prideful to do the work You desire. Remind us what our lives are to be about we pray, in Your Name, Amen.


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God's Positioning System

Scripture Reading:
2Chronicles 16:9 "For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars."

It is getting to be a common device in America and around parts of the world, A GPS unit, or "Global Positioning System." Such a system receives signals from an orbiting satellite and then computes in the device, according to the map installed, exactly where you are on the planet and where you need to turn next. If you are in a large city, or have never been to a certain location, a GPS is so handy, it knows the way. In addition to car model GPS units, there are widely available hand held units for backpackers, hunters, etc. These units shows compass directions as well as Latitude/Longitude coordinates. It is these coordinates that can identify your precise location. What a great thing to have if your lost huh???

Another function of a GPS is found in cell phones. Some parents take advantage of this as they wonder where their kids are. They can turn on this function and find the whereabouts of the phone and likely the teen or kid, who in this day and age, will not be found without the phone.

Well, God has the same idea for such a system. His positioning system however uses no handheld electronic devices, nor do the batteries run down, nor do we stick it to a windshield. God uses His Word, the Bible. It is more sophisticated, more durable, and more effective. The reason God has such a system in place is not to keep us under surveillance, but to help us navigate this life towards the life to come. Here are the differences and advantages of a Godly Positioning System.

The Bible differs from a GPS in that it is always ready and on.
My GPS has to be constantly plugged into the 12volt receptacle of the car to be effective for a long time. Worldly philosophies are like this, they only work for a short space of time. When the time runs out, the person listening and following is usually worse off than before. God's Word is however and open Book with no certain times to read it or limitations to seeking God's wisdom. If we ask God to show us something that will challenge and inspire us, even when we do not know where to turn, He will find a Scripture for us, many times just but us opening to a "random" page in the Scriptures. The Word of God does not wear out in its effectiveness as it has stood the test of time. God spoke His words that do not fade away or are affected by time. The same principles in the Bible that were effective in the first century and before are still effective in 2009 and beyond. The book of Proverbs is particularly a good place to find age old wisdom that doesn't know failure, regret, or ineptness.

The Bible acts in a dual mode, Physical and Spiritual.
Sensory technology of today is dependent on certain bands or wavelengths. Remember the old CB radios (citizen band) operated on a different signal than short wave radios or even the 2 Way Radios today. The Bible is not just a book aimed at the Spiritual needs primarily (although that is its main goal), it also addresses the way we are to live and prosper in the Physical world. As mentioned earlier, the book of Proverbs has a lot to say about our physical lives. If you are looking for matters of finances, relationships, practical living, desires, marriage and so on, its all in there. In fact, many of our Founding Fathers, some who were not believers in Christ, saw the Bible for its great moral and social values as the foundation for which the United States should be built upon. Spiritually of course, the Bible is the only key, the only source of knowledge by which a man or woman can be certain of their eternal lives. The Bible is an evangelistic book bound together by the red thread of Christ's blood shed for our sins on the cross. The Bible is a pointer to things yet to come. It tells us what will happen when we die. It assures us Christ will return and not one of His promises ever are empty ones. The Bible tells us how we can have peace and security. The Bible tells us about the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit and the guidance He brings. The Bible tells us where to turn and what to seek that is truly valuable and necessary.
The Bible not only reminds us when we are off course, but shows us the ONLY route to take.
A car GPS will tell you when you are off the planned route. Usually most models will keep saying, "Recalculating" or, "please turn around." When we get off track spiritually, the Holy Spirit reminds the Christian of it. Then He will bring to mind a particular Scripture that speaks to the need of the heart. The main difference in God's way and the world's way of regaining your correct direction is that the world will offer you many many options, none of them truly work no matter how much sense it seems to make. God plainly and simply reminds us that by coming back to Him is the only way to be on track. The reason He prescribes this only method is because only He knows the right path and He desires us to walk WITH Him in that path. All routes we take that is not based on God's directives can for sure end in ruin, because man is blind spiritually. If you desire to know where you are and where you need to be spiritually, ask God as you read His Word to show you what needs to be done and the steps to do it.

The Bible makes getting directions spoken to us in a personal manner through the Holy Spirit
When you ask a person who tends to be "religious," do you believe the Bible? Yes, they reply. Do you know who God is? Again, the reply maybe Yes. But when you ask them, "what does God say to you on any given day?" That is when you lose the connection with them. You see for a religious person not knowing the Saviour, the concept of the presence of the Holy Spirit actively talking and guiding us in our lives is so foreign. The mark of the true believer in Christ is the presence of the Holy Spirit. For lack of better illustration, when your car GPS tells you, "Turn left at....." it is speaking to you. The Holy Spirit in the same manner personally speaks to us. He is much more personable than a machine. He has feelings, wisdom, compassion, intellect (off the scale) and more. All a machine can do is tell you what it is programmed to say. There is no personage involved. With God, there is more than just a person or a voice involved, it is He Himself, the same person who died for us, now cares enough to reside with us. God's Spirit is usually not abrupt, but is kind, says more than just the plain facts, and encourages us with more than what we ask for.

Wherever you are in life, God has His eye on you. He knows where you are. He knows where you are in relation to His will and the Scriptures. He also knows how to let us know all these things through His Word the Bible. It is God's Positioning System.

A GPS works two ways, it tells us where we are and it tells us where to go. Next time we will discuss God's role in positioning ourselves for service to Him and for blessing someone, even ourselves.

Take heart that God truly cares and loves us this much.

Dear Lord, Thank You that you do not leave us alone, but are very interested in our lives. Help us to remember this when we feel lonely or neglected by others. Help us to keep focused on You and give us a renewed trust in Your position in our lives. We thank You in Your Name. Amen.


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