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Heb 8:12 - "FOR I WILL BE MERCIFUL TO THEIR INIQUITIES,
AND I WILL REMEMBER THEIR SINS NO MORE."
This is probably the greatest piece of news any forgiven person has ever received. When God says, "I will not remember your sins." It doesn't get any better than that my friends. God can't remember our sins when He says, "…I will remember their sins no more." One of my favorite preachers was a man named Don DeWelt. I remember one of his illustrations about when he would visit his elderly mother in a nursing home. Don said, "Every time he visited her she would ask him the same thing. It was if he would pray for the Lord to forgive her of her sins?" Don said, "At first I said, 'Yes' and would ask the Lord to forgive her." Finally, he said, "I couldn't take it any more and the next time he visited her and she asked him, he said, "No. I am not going to ask God to do something He has already done." This is a great lesson for all of us. When God has forgiven us of our sins and we remain in Christ, the blood of Christ continually cleanses us. In other words, God doesn't remember our sins. 1 Jn 1:7 - "...if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin." We all have sinned and fall short of God's glory, but we can have our sins forgiven by accepting the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. 1 Jn 2:1-2 - And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world. The word "propitiation" means "to appease." Jesus' sacrifice of Himself appeased God's holy demand from His creation. I like how the Psalmist has written it. Ps 32:1-2- "How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered! How blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity,…" Have you ever taken the time to sit and ponder how blessed you are because God has forgiven you of your sins? If not lately, now would probably be a great time to take inventory of this tremendous blessing.
The second thing God can't do is break His promises. God not only makes promises He keeps them. One of my favorite promises from God is found in Psalms 34:19 -"Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the LORD delivers him out of them all." You will notice it says the righteous are going to have many afflictions, BUT the LORD will deliver us out of them ALL. I found that in 41 years of ministry a lot of Christians believed they weren't supposed to have any troubles. Yet, it is plain to see God's Word says the opposite. The good news as I see it is God is going to deliver the righteous from ALL their afflictions. What better way to build trust then to be there to help someone in their time of need. God is there for us and that is a promise. We also can be there for others in their time of need. It will give us an opportunity to be more like God. Don't forget we were created in the image of God. Think About These: God makes a promise - Faith believes it, Hope anticipates it, Patience quietly awaits for it. Promises are only as dependable as the individuals who make them. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word
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2 Corinthians 12:7-9 - "… Therefore, so that I would not exalt myself, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to torment me so that I would not exalt myself. 8 Concerning this, I pleaded with the Lord three times that it would leave me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me."
God said, "My Grace is sufficient for you." In other words, come on Paul man up will you, great day in the morning it isn't killing you and we both know what doesn't kill you will only make you stronger. Not only wouldn't it kill him it would make God's power perfected in Paul's weakness. Paul has a change of attitude and then makes this concluding statement - "I will most gladly boast all the more about my weakness, so that Christ's power may reside in me." How about us? Are we dealing with any "thorns in the flesh" today? Many people like to speculate about what Paul's thorn in the flesh was but does it really matter? What matters is he changed his attitude about it after God informed him that God's grace was sufficient and that God's power was perfected through Paul's weakness.
God's grace is sufficient for us and His power is perfected through our weakness. Do we really want to glorify God through our physical being? I would say that we do but we don't always know how to accomplish that. The answer is we may have to glorify Him through some type of suffering or some type of thorn in the flesh. I have seen Christians with all types of thorns in the flesh that glorified God with them. People have been blind, had missing limbs, health issues of all types, and one preacher friend on mine passed over 300 kidney stones. But God used them to bring honor and glory to His name. I can testify having passed two kidney stones that I have never felt anything more painful. He prayed that God would correct his body so that he didn't have to keep passing kidney stones but God never removed that thorn from his flesh.
Moses didn't get the answer he wanted to his prayer. Paul didn't get the answer to his prayer that he wanted and Jesus didn't get the answer that He wanted to His prayer. So the way I see it we are in good company if all our prayers don't get answered the way we want them to be answered. People have asked for years this question -What is their purpose here on earth? According to this passage of scripture our purpose is not to "exalt" ourselves and to allow God's power to be perfected through us. Some of us may have thorns in our flesh and some of us may not but we all are to allow our physical bodies to "Glorify God" with them. Think About These: Conceit is what makes a little squirt think that he's a fountain of knowledge. Don't find fault with what you don't understand. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word Ezek. 46:9 - "But when the people of the land come before the LORD at the appointed feasts, he who enters by way of the north gate to worship shall go out by way of the south gate.
And he who enters by way of the south gate shall go out by way of the north gate. No one shall return by way of the gate by which he entered but shall go straight out." NASU
"Each should leave worship a different person than he came in." This is the best way I know to change your life for the good. When you go to worship make sure when you exit the building you are leaving as a different person from the one who entered.
Look at how the early church worshipped God in Acts 4:24 - "And when they heard this, they lifted their voices to God with one accord and said, "O Lord, it is You who MADE THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH AND THE SEA, AND ALL THAT IS IN THEM,…" Every place we walk and everything we can see is because of God. If you go and sit in a grassy field it is because of God. If you go and throw rocks in a creek, or put your feet in the ocean it is because of God being the awesome Creator He is. When I look into the sky at night and see the millions of twinkling stars they are there to look at because of God. When Leah had her fourth son she named him Judah, when you translate the name Judah it means "to praise." Gen. 29:35 - And she conceived again and bore a son and said, "This time I will praise the LORD." Therefore she named him Judah. When you correctly Praise the Good LORD for who He is and what He has done it will change you. Ps 34:1 - I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. Secondly, I believe we should Remember the LORD and for what He has done for us when we worship. This is what Moses and the children of Israel did after being freed from their Egyptian bondage. They remembered what the LORD had done for them by defeating Pharaoh and his army. Ex 15:1-6 - Then Moses and the sons of Israel sang this song to the LORD, and said, "I will sing to the LORD, for He is highly exalted; The horse and its rider He has hurled into the sea. "The LORD is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation; This is my God, and I will praise Him; My father's God, and I will extol Him. "The LORD is a warrior; The LORD is His name. "Pharaoh's chariots and his army He has cast into the sea; And the choicest of his officers are drowned in the Red Sea. "The deeps cover them; They went down into the depths like a stone. "Your right hand, O LORD, is majestic in power, Your right hand, O LORD, shatters the enemy. What great things has the LORD done for you that you need to remember as you worship Him today? The one great thing God has done for us is that He has freed us from the bondage of sin. Think About These: Too many people try to get something from worship without putting anything into it. Worship should be a place where you meet God and impossible to forget Him. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Charlie Kirk Tribute at the end of this Pump Up
Luke 1:13 & 18 - But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your petition has been heard, & your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, & you will give him the name John." … Zacharias said to the angel, "How will I know this for certain? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years." NASU
He answers prayers with a Yes, No, or Wait a while. He doesn't always answer our prayers immediately. Some times He has us wait for years for the answer, as was the case with Zacharias and Elizabeth. I am quite sure when they were much younger than they are in the above passage of scripture, they had prayed to God and asked for their lives to be blessed with a child. We can see now that God said, "Okay, but you will have to wait." The hard part is we don't audibly hear God say, "Okay, but you will have to wait." We interpret the waiting time as God having said, "No." We are not told how long they waited. We are told Zach is an old man and Beth is well advanced in years. Usually people pray for children right after they get married when they are young. We know Zacharias isn't 50 years of age because once a priest turned 50 years old he had to retire according to Numbers 8:23-25 - Now the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "This is what applies to the Levites: from twenty-five years old and upward they shall enter to perform service in the work of the tent of meeting. But at the age of fifty years they shall retire from service in the work and not work any more.
There is no doubt this can be frustrating if we allow it to be. The best thing we can do is remember that an all loving Heavenly Father is providing for us. I would like for you to read what Jesus said: Matt 7:7-11 - Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. "For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. "Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? "Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him! We must remember God answers prayers according to His time table, which is always correct. Think About These: God has never called us to Calm a Storm, but He has called us to be Calm in a Storm. God has never asked us to Walk on Water, but He has asked us to Walk with the One who did Walk on Water. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word Charlie Kirk Tribute This Pump Up was written before the assassination of Charlie Kirk and I was out of town on vacation with my wife and unable to write a new Pump Up addressing this horrific event. It is a shame to see what has been happening in the USA. I grew up during a time where we had free speech and didn't have to worry about getting killed because we believed something different from someone else. In my day our big differences were which car was the best. Some believed it was a Chevy, some believed it was a Ford, some believed it was a Pontiac or an Oldsmobile and some believed it was the Mopars, but we didn't kill anyone who believed different than we did. Charlie Kirk's death is awful and I pray for his family and I pray that free speech in America will come back to what it once was. Anyone who believes killing Charlie was a good thing needs to repent. He who is without sin can cast the first stone is one of the lessons Jesus taught and we all know what that means no one will be in the rock throwing business because we are all sinners. John 1:19-23 - This is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent to him priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?" And he confessed and did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ." They asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?"
And he said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" And he answered, "No." Then they said to him, "Who are you, so that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?" He said, "I am A VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, 'MAKE STRAIGHT THE WAY OF THE LORD,' … NASU
In the interview process James was asked, "Will you be honest if we hire you?" James answered, "I will be honest regardless of whether you hire me or not." John the Baptist knew who he was and if you want to live a richer life I highly recommend this pathway for a better life. Know who you are. He wasn't the Christ nor was he trying to be the Christ. He was completely satisfied with being the "Voice of One Crying in the Wilderness." Don't try to be anyone else. Just be yourself and the best way to be yourself is by knowing who you are. Know who you are.
Sometimes parents try to motivate with incorrect methods. We have probably all heard children called names such as "stupid, clumsy, lazy, idiot" or a plethora of other names. Parents think this will motivate their child. Maybe you heard: "You will never amount to anything, or You don't have a lick of sense do you? or Why can't you be like …?" It has been said, "It is easier to build up a child, than repair an adult. Choose your words wisely." I read about Steven Spielberg's life and I found one part rather amusing. He applied and was denied entrance twice into the prestigious film school at USC. He later applies and is accepted at Cal State University in Long Beach. He graduates from CSU and goes on to direct some of the movie industries' biggest blockbusters. What I found really amusing is in 1994 USC gave him an honorary doctorate degree. The same school that said in essence: "You are not good enough to attend here." Would bestow upon him an honorary doctorate degree. Go Figure!
He was given a goal to accomplish and this is what motivated him. What is your goal? The greatest blessing you can give yourself is a goal. So, what is your goal? Let me ask you this one question, "Who Are You?" You must answer this question. You need to tell yourself in very positive affirmations who you are. It is imperative that you have a positive mental attitude about yourself. Now go and do great things for yourself and others. Think About These: It is your Attitude not your Aptitude that determines your Altitude. Some people entertain ideas; others put them to work. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word |
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