Pastor Craig
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Sliding through LIFE By Pastor Craig Sicilia
Good Morning fellow sinners,
Today my lesson is on sinning, mind you not that we need instruction on how to do it… I think we all have that down quite well.
But rather in recognizing that we do, do it. We are sinners and the need to combat our sinner constantly.
I am quite sure most of us have swayed from the path of Christ’s walk several times already today.
But here we are, in church because of our recognition of our sin,
Because of the wonderful gift of forgiveness of our sins
We are here because of the grace of God through Jesus Christ and His love for us
We know deep down that we are sinners and only with Gods help can we hope to walk closer to Him.
Have you ever heard it, or maybe you have said it or thought it.
That God is not fair
That God isn’t just.
During such times we ask ourselves, Dose God really care, we even will battle His existence in our heads.
We will wonder if God really cares, is He concerned after all?
In ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the king's wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the king for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the stone out of the way. Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. After the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the king indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The peasant learned what many of us never understand. Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition.
Friends I am here to tell you with prayer, faith and Gods inspiration we can walk our walk with the hope of tomorrow.
The enemy of this world cannot touch as when we are clothed in Christ’s righteousness.
Friends it can only affect us,
And how it affects us is up to us
Don’t let this world make you bitter and angry,
You need to be focusing on Jesus
And when someone is bitter and angry do not let that change your path, it’s a trick the devil wants you on his road.
Keep focus and Jesus and ask Jesus he wont lead you wrong,
I know when I die I want the world that my path touched to be a better one because of my walk.
I am not here trying to tell you that is easy,
The constant battle I fight is never ending, in every circumstance of my life the enemy is forcing his toe in on my door of life,
He is putting stones in my path,
He’s betting ill take the easy road every time
But you know what brothers and sisters I fool him a lot of the time anymore
Through Gods inspiration I find myself talking the difficult road, taking the right road
I have a truth to share with you, its one that amazes me still, every time I take Gods road it stops the devil cold
You see the devil won’t walk on Gods road; he can’t walk on Gods road
You see friends he can only lure you and me onto his roads
He has no power on Gods road
Psalm 73 2-3
But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold. For I envied the arrogant When I saw the prosperity of the wicked
David here is telling us a story of an experience that he had gone through
David is talking about an experience that every child of God has and will have gone through at some time or another.
David said when he looked around him and saw the prosperity of the wicked, when he saw how they seemed to get along well in the world
When it seemed that everything their hands touched prospered and they did not seem to have trouble like others
This came very close to tripping him up and causing him to lose faith in God
I know I lose my step sometimes on a constant basis
I wonder how many of us have had that experience already today
I can not count how many times I have heard men say it doesn’t pay to be honest or to work hard or keep your word.
But lets look at those people; now keep in mind that we are all those people some time or another in our lives,
So when I say lets take a look at those people I mean lets take a look at us when we are acting that way.
We get like that when we leave God out of our lives,
We live in all sorts of sin and ungodliness at times don’t we?
We can bite someone’s head off in a second because of jealousy or selfishness can’t we?
Do not kid your self for a millisecond that, that’s not the devil tiring to put a wedge in things. He is an opportunist, when he sees that we are weak he is right their saying go ahead, its ok, that’s very acceptable under the circumstances who would blame you…
If we let him lead us soon we will be cheating and swindling in our interactions and business with each other and live with out any thought of God.
After David got his feet back on the rock and regained his faith in God And was firmly and securely anchored again, he felt stupid and ignorant In verse 22 So foolish was I and ignorant: I was a beast before thee
The devil uses everything and anything to upset the faith of a child of God People all over the world who are trying to serve the Lord are asking , Why doesn’t God stop some of the things that are going on the suffering and devastation
Friends that’s the devils style, he uses every misfortune that he himself causes to upset our faith in the hope that we will be to embarrassed to talk to God because of us so foolishly accusing God. He hopes we pick the easy path that he sets out for us And don’t be tricked he makes that path look good; he will even help you justify your path with so-called fact his facts.
The truth of the matter He brings out the petty selfishness and envy and desires, He tells you, you have the right to feel good, He tells you its all about you don’t worry about others, after all they wouldn’t worry about you. He says its ok, he can even trick you into thinking he is God, but deep down you know the truth he is not your God.
Some have thoughts like this because they are trying to serve God, they think He ought to deliver them form all trouble and never let them suffer. It don’t work like that, not only do we have the free will to do right, we have that same will to do wrong and evil. And if God made our life easy and plentiful with no effort of our own what would that turn us into.
That is not the crowd God wants. If a person joining the church were guaranteed that he would nevermore have any sorrow or trouble and heartaches, the entire devils crowd would be in the church.
God is seeking children who will love Him because He is love. Worship Him because He is God Adore Him for who He is Have faith in Him Not for what He dose but for who He is He wants those who would rather suffer affliction with the people of God Than to enjoy the pleasures of sin
When misfortune comes, the devil will use it to try to upset our faith in God and cause us to doubt Him
Let us not question Gods plan for our life Moving the rock A man was awakened from sleep one night by the Lord, who showed him a huge rock in front of his cabin. The Lord said, "Push against that rock with all your might." The man did so. For years. Hours each day he toiled in sun, rain and snow. Each night he would be sore and worn out, thinking he had worked in vain because the rock never moved. He said, "Lord, I have labored long and hard in your service, putting all my strength in doing what you asked. But I haven't budged that rock an inch. What's wrong? Why am I failing?" The Lord answered: "My friend, when I asked you to serve me and push that rock with all your strength, you obeyed. I didn't tell you to move it--just push against it. You think you've wasted your time. But look at yourself. Your arms are strong and muscled. Your back is sinewy and brown. Your hands are callused from constant pressure and your legs have become massive and solid. You have grown and your abilities have increased a hundred-fold. You have been obedient. You trusted my wisdom. Now I'll move the rock for you." You know, good friend, sometimes we hear from the Lord and we obey and nothing seemingly happens. But all God wants is our obedience and faith in Him.
When sorrow comes, you can’t understand, and many times you ask why? A love one has died or terminally ill and the family stunned by the blow. The devil is right there He is whispering in your ear with his insinuations That God is not fair He tells you that God is not just And if you are not careful you will listen to the devils lies And then your feet like David’s will be on a slippery slope
I want you to notice where David found the answer to his question and the solution to his problem
How he regained his faith in God and got his feet out of the slippery places and on the rock again
I bring you this message because if ever a generation needed this question settled, If ever a generation of Christians needed their feet planted firmly on the rock once for all, it is this one
Friends, as we look around at the world today we know that it will take real faith in God for us to weather the storms we may have to face.
The devil is abroad in the world, and he is using every means he can to trip up God’s people. He knows the end is near and he wants to keep you from God.
How did David keep his footing,
In Psalms 73:17 I went into the sanctuary of God: then understood I
Friends, nothing can take the place of worship at the house of God
Some may say I can worship God as well at home as at church
If you think that the devil has deceive you, and your feet are on slippery ground
Yes, you can meet God in other places, but He has always had an appointed time, and appointed day of worship and a medium of approach
And think about it how many people who say I can worship at home do worship him. When Israel wandered in the wilderness, God told Moses to build a tabernacle and set it up every time they stopped wondering so the people could bring their sacrifice and have access to God
I have met God so many times in unexpected places. Sometimes when I’m out on the highway driving along alone, Jesus takes a seat beside me and we ride along together in wonderful fellowship
There is no place on earth where you God gets as close and is as real as in the house of God. Jesus said, where two or three are gathered together in my name there am I in the midst of them.
Why I am putting so much emphasis on getting our selves to church is because we need the full strength of the Lord in our lives.
If we hope to have God help us from sliding into sin we need his inspiration. If I was not able to come to church for any length of time, I know I would begin to back slide I need him in my life constantly
And dear friends do not over estimate the prosperity and happiness of the wicked, more times than not their not as happy as they might appear.
The grass always looks greener on the other side of the fence, I bet if you could look in to the hearts of others you would not trade places with them for anything
Don’t be part of the problem either, happily and gracefully walk the path that God has put forth
Let people wonder why you are so happy, and as they take a closer look they will see that it is because of God
What a way to bring people to Christ Just the opposite is the way to chaise people from Him
Brothers and Sister you will slide, but come right back to God don’t let the devil tell you your not worthy, he wants you to think your not worthy. Don’t let his influence hurt others because you will leave scares
The Nails There was a little boy with a bad temper. His father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, to hammer a nail in the back fence. The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Then it gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence. Finally the day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper. The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone. The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said, "You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won't matter how many times you say I'm sorry, the wound is still there. A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one." Friends are a very rare jewel, indeed. They make you smile and encourage you to succeed. They lend an ear, they share a word of praise, and they always want to open their hearts to us.
Friends we are all sinners, only through the grace of God are we forgiven, only through Jesus Christ can we enter heaven If anyone ever tells you any different don’t believe them Come back to the book the bible if you have doubts it will not lead you astray Come to Gods home and talk with Him He will give you the answers you need, Don’t let the devil deceive you from heaven don’t let him shake your faith Come home to God for the answers He is the only one who will always have the truth you need.
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pastor Craig Sicilia productions
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