Believe
By Pastor Craig Sicilia
Today I want to talk about that “Believe”
If I was to say believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
You would say I have heard that a million times
You might be sick and tired of it
But do you really know what it means
We have all heard it over and over again
Our Sunday school kids can repeat the text
What we really need to know is how to believe
What is it to believe?
Some would say we all believe that Christ came into the world to save the lost and he that believeth shall be saved
But lets think about it devils believe and our not saved.
Oh yes they believe and must tremble
We must believe on the Lord Jesus and not merely about him
Then you will know what salvation is
I want to now go to John 1:11-12
He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.
I am going to share a rare glimpse into my mind; it’s been off for some time now since my accident. And I am talking more than just the normal off that’s me.
I get these headaches, and when they come I lose some to a lot of my short-term memory and the vision gets weird enough to make focusing on anything a challenge.
Now this has been going on for almost 2 months ]
My bodily injuries have healed nice but my head one has me scared and confused cause I don’t understand whats going on
Before I go on with my story I want to make a point early here, I have not been receiving I stopped after a bit I try to do it myself sometimes I forget I cant or maybe I just stubborn
So anyway my hole life has crashed in an instant, school is on hold for a while I cant retain enough of what I read, if I am able to focus to read.
Those of you who know me I do a lot of web design and I have not been able focus on that much detailed graphics and code on the computer screen.
The worse part of all this is my moods almost my personality changes
I don’t process well and over processing causes some of the head stuff
You ever feel like your just going to go crazy…
I have chased several people out of my life and put walls between others and I cant stop it, those who know me I am easy going, I cant seem just receive Jesus so that he can take the bulk of my burdon.
You ever feel like why, what’s the use in all of this that’s what I have been feeling the anger, the not understanding , the purpose of it all anyways
He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.
Friends we have to constantly be receiving Christ.
If you for get like I have been, struggling with, With Jesus by your side you can make it With out Jesus you will struggle
We get to darn worried about life and its curbs and bumps
Life can change in an instance,
And it makes us bitter
We then forget to receive Jesus; we have to make a conscience effort to keep receiving him.
In my experience we all have the power to receive him.
I am having this major malfunction that we all get from time to time that we have to be in Christ to receive him.
You know the mentality I’m talking about well I go to fix some things first before I to church but just as soon as I fix them ill make it right
Imagine God listening to all of our excuses
These illusions we put into our own heads
Well I got to stop drinking before I can receive the Lord but I believe
I have to quit drugs before I can receive Him, but I believe ill make it right I just got some things I got to take care of.
My gambling Lord I know you just wont accept that but I am going to fix that soon
Me I have so much guilt and depression from what I don’t understand I am destroying my life.
Oh Lord I have so much sin so many bad thoughts you just wouldn’t understand I believe so much Lord but I am not ready
That’s the devil talking friends not God
Who do we think were kidding God knows our hearts we cannot deceive Him.
Who is it anyway that says we have to give these things up
God dose not say give up this or that
God gets so very personal with us, God dose the most incredible act known to man
God says here is my Son who I sacrifice so you may receive him
When you receive him that’s when things start going away, maybe, but things will get better and more tolerable as long as we receive Jesus
We need to give these things to Him sometimes on a minute by minute basis
You see we need to be receiving Him at all times we need to be ready
We can let these things that life throws at us tare us into the ground and turn our life upside down. Or we can give it to the Lord in thanks. In thanks that’s a hard concept sometimes.
My self I got to experience new things like whiplash I always thought it was a sceam to get more money and not anything real- I know its now real
I got to experience mental disorders and depression for the first time I have never been depressed more than a couple of days in my hole life
I have never had a headache before this now I understand how migrans can put a person down
I have gotten to experience extreme difficulty with my marrage putting my poor wife through a living nightmare she has seen so many things in so short of a time.
But I learned I was taking my marriage for granit and figured out the answers to that maybe making what was a fairly strong marriage even stronger.
He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.
We need to remember this it is so important we don’t become complacent
A flock of wild ducks were flying in formation, heading south for the winter. They formed a beautiful V in the sky, and were admired by everyone who saw them from below.
One day, Wally, one of the wild ducks in the formation, spotted something on the ground that caught his eye. It was a barnyard with a flock of tame ducks who lived on the farm. They were waddling around on the ground, quacking merrily and eating corn that was thrown on the ground for them every day. Wally liked what he saw. "It sure would be nice to have some of that corn," he thought to himself. "And all this flying is very tiring. I'd like to just waddle around for a while."
So after thinking it over a while, Wally left the formation of wild ducks, made a sharp dive to the left, and headed for the barnyard. He landed among the tame ducks, and began to waddle around and quack merrily. He also started eating corn. The formation of wild ducks continued their journey south, but Wally didn't care. "I'll rejoin them when they come back north in a few months," he said to himself.
Several months went by and sure enough, Wally looked up and spotted the flock of wild ducks in formation, heading north. They looked beautiful up there. And Wally was tired of the barnyard. It was muddy and everywhere he waddled, nothing but duck doo. "It's time to leave," said Wally.
So Wally flapped his wings furiously and tried to get airborne. But he had gained some weight from all his corn-eating, and he hadn't exercised his wings much either. He finally got off the ground, but he was flying too low and slammed into the side of the barn. He fell to the ground with a thud and said to himself, "Oh, well, I'll just wait until they fly south in a few months. Then I'll rejoin them and become a wild duck again."
But when the flock flew overhead once more, Wally again tried to lift himself out of the barnyard. He simply didn't have the strength. Every winter and every spring, he saw his wild duck friends flying overhead, and they would call out to him. But his attempts to leave were all in vain.
Eventually Wally no longer paid any attention to the wild ducks flying overhead. He hardly even noticed them. He had, after all, become a barnyard duck.
Sometimes we get tired of being wild ducks-followers of Jesus Christ. It's not always easy to be obedient to God and to discipline ourselves to hang in there for the long haul. When we are feeling that way, that's when Satan tempts us to "fall out of formation" and to join the barnyard ducks - the world.
But look what happened to Wally. He thought he would just "check it out" for awhile and then leave when he wanted to. But he couldn't do it. Sin is like that. Sin is a trap, and it has a way of changing us into people we don't even want to become. Eventually we lose touch with who we really are--the sons and daughters of the Most High. We become barnyard ducks.
He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.
I thank God for the opportunity to do this message it serve me as a reminder to receive and give it to Him. If not it will eat like a cancer from my inside out.
Receive Him every minute of everyday then you will be able to forgive and forget- to see life’s happy things and not the bad
We need to let his influence guide our decisions and follow that path
We need to ask like Jesus would have us act.
We will fall short often but if we let the burdins of this life hold us here and when he comes if we not ready, if we are not receiving him where will we be
The bible tells us he will come like a thief in the night will you be receiving him when he comes,
And we are told he will come in the hardest of all days, there will be more death and distruction ever seen by man.
There will be confussion and fear, hunger and decease there will be war and turmoil
Will you be ready will you be receiving him in those times or will you forget like all of us do when times are good and bad
We need to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and receive him and keep him in our hearts
We need to be ready and by being ready you will be making this world a better place to live while we wait
Let us close
Jesus
Prayer for those lost of heart
If there’s part of my heart left that’s goodness flickering a glow
Let this spread and grow
That my whole being may also know
That Lord your Hand’s upon me,
Hope within me is not lost
All emotions within enshroud
In dark moments of my despair
Yet there is compassion deep
In my troubled heart ever there
And In Jesus name I ask
If he consider this may truly be there
For if I am corrupt or poisoned
Let me drift away, surely die
But if not Lord please then heal me
Open up my wings to fly
Faith alone asks this of you Jesus
Nothing more tis sweetly true
Laid is my life for you to see
And all my thought right through
For at lowest times of uncertainty
If I’ve ever hope to show
Take the smallest good part Lord pray
Let this within me grow