The Blessings of Brokenness

Dr. Jay Wolf

Psalm 51:8: "Let the bones which Thou hast broken cause me to rejoice."
 
   

  I recently met a new friend who is blind. While this man lacks physical vision, he overflows with spiritual insight. He explained that his retinas began a process of irreversible degeneration about 20 years ago. He sought every medical option, but nothing could stop the descending mist of darkness.

     My new friend told me that he grew up in a strong Christian family and embraced the grace of Jesus when he was nine years old. However, his lofty educational pursuits included detours from his walk with God. He explained, "I drank at many muddy watering holes along my crooked way." When his physical vision began to lose focus, his spiritual vision refocused. One day his Pastor explained to him the great truth of Psalm 51:8. The wise friend shared an instructive insight about how a shepherd treats his beloved sheep. If the shepherd lived in a dangerous territory where there were many predators and he had a prized lamb that was prone to wander away to become lunch for a lion; the shepherd would occasionally break the foreleg of his lamb. Then, for a season, he would carry the wounded lamb on his shoulders and tenderly nurse him back to strength. The process of moving from brokenness to healing would create a bond between the lamb and the shepherd that would preclude any further wandering away from the shepherd's protective care.

     My new friend declared, "My blindness is my broken leg. God has used this fleshly thorn to gain my full attention and make me completely dependent upon Him."

     We are all broken. Let your brokenness break your rebellion and independence. Let your brokenness create a deep dependence upon Jesus, your Good Shepherd.

     Paul called his brokenness "my thorn in the flesh." Although he asked the Lord on three occasions to remove the painful problem, God's great servant concluded that the Lord revealed, "'My grace is sufficient for you for My power is perfected in your weakness.' Therefore, I will gladly boast about my weakness so that the power of Christ may dwell in me." (2 Corinthians 12:9)

     May God use our brokenness and thorns to develop a deep dependence upon Jesus, our gracious Good Shepherd!

Appreciation for Prayers:

Vev and I want to thank all of you for your prayers and concern regarding Tatum's surgery and recovery for her broken finger/hand. The surgery was successful with pins being placed in the middle finger of the left hand. 

Yes, Camp Poppa continued even though Tatum was not able to join us. We had a very good trip and thoroughly enjoyed being with Tyler and Tindol. Yes, I zipped and rode crazy water rides.....

This week Vev and I will be in Asheville, NC to spend some time with our youngest daughter. We will return for the June 26 lesson..... 

Here is the synopsis of this week's lesson..............

JUN. 19: TRANSFORMED IN MY POSSESSIONS
By Gene Price Pastor, Tumbling Creek Baptist Church, Gleason

Focal Passage: Matthew 6:19-24

This section of the Sermon on the Mount deals with wealth and possessions. Possessions are important to all people of all ages. Jesus warns to invest in things that will last. Life is too short and eternity too long for us to seek fool’s gold and imitation pearls.

In vv. 19-21, we are told to be careful where we store wealth. We are not to treasure our treasures. It is not wrong to have money (I Timothy 6:17). Whatever God has given us, He wants us to enjoy. So there is nothing wrong with having possessions. The “wrong” comes into play when possessions possess the person. In biblical times, much wealth was found in clothing, food, and money. Much clothing was made with wool and it could be eaten by moths. Clothing didn’t last very long. Grain, another source of wealth, could rot. Some people had their wealth in gold or perhaps silver. With no banks in that day, a thief could easily and very quickly steal your money. Jesus warns us not to put our treasures in anything that can be ruined, rotted, or robbed. Knowing that, a person should invest their money in eternal things.

In vv. 22-23, Jesus tells us to be careful how we see our wealth. Just as the physical eye brings light and direction to the rest of the body, spiritual vision helps a person find true happiness and correctly see the true value of things. Eve’s eyes (Genesis 3:6), Achan’s eyes (Joshua 7:21), and David’s eyes (II Samuel 11:2) were out of focus and brought trouble into their lives. Jesus taught that the spiritual condition of our eyes can have direct effects on our conduct. Sin enters our lives by an unfocused eye. When it comes to wealth, if a person sees wealth the way God sees wealth, they will generously invest in God’s work. With proper focus, a person realizes God gives wealth not only to bless the life of the one possessing wealth, but also to be a blessing to others. If the eye is out of focus, the whole body will be in darkness because the person will not see or realize the presence of God. An unfocused eye will deceive people into putting bodily and earthly treasures ahead of everything else, including God and His work.

In v. 24, we are to be careful not to be a slave to wealth. A person cannot serve God and mammon. Just as a person cannot walk in two directions at the same time or think two thoughts at the same time, it is impossible to serve two masters at the same time. Inevitably everyone will serve one or the other. Many in the church serve mammon in spite of Jesus’ warning. The late Larry Burkett once said, “Christ said the greatest threat to Christianity is not drugs, sex, murder, rape, or even politicians; the greatest threat is materialism.” A person is to serve God and not the things of this world. There is only one throne within the human heart. Jesus is to be on that throne, meaning He is to be our Lord and our Master.

In plain everyday language, a person can focus on eternal things and have earthly things. But you cannot focus on earthly things and have eternal things. We were made to serve the Lord and wealth was created to serve us. The days following the events of the disaster of the World Trade Center caused many to change their priorities and not focus on the things of this world. It was a reminder that God should be first and foremost in our lives every day.

THIS WEEK'S LESSON - JUN. 12: TRANSFORMED IN MY PRAYER

PRAYER REQUEST:

Vev and I have a prayer request: Tatum Mitchell, our oldest granddaughter, fractured and dislocated her middle finger on her left hand. After further examinations, it is apparent that the growth plates are cracked and there is concern that knuckle of her hand is cracked. So, she will be having surgery (pins) on Friday of this week in Pensacola at the Anderson Institute's Hand Center. Please be in prayer for Tatum as she goes through the surgery, recovery, and rehabilitation. 

THIS WEEK'S LESSON

JUN. 12: TRANSFORMED IN MY PRAYER

By Gene Price
Pastor, Tumbling Creek Baptist Church, Gleason

Focal Passage: Matthew 6:9-15

Jesus reminds us of the importance of prayer. He warned not to pray as the hypocrites do, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. Now Jesus shows us the proper way to pray and this prayer is often called, “The Model Prayer” or “The Lord’s Prayer.” The first part of prayer deals with God and the second part deals with mankind.  The ingredients of the type of prayer that God answers are found in this prayer. This prayer reminds us what our real needs are in this life. When real needs are determined, then we do not waste God’s time and ours in praying meaningless prayers.

The focus of this prayer is on the Father. Our focus should never be on ourselves, but always on Him. “Our Father” means we acknowledge that we are His children. It is acknowledging that God gives His children what they need rather than what they want. When we pray, our focus is off the earth and looking to our source of help.

Next, The Lord’s Prayer calls for some areas of commitment from His children. God’s name is hallowed, which means holy, sanctified, and set apart. When we come into His presence through prayer, we acknowledge that He is holy and we are committed to personal holiness as well (Matthew 5:48).  “Thy kingdom come” means we are committed to participating in His work. We are to pray for the salvation of sinners and the putting down of Satan and all evil. “Your will be done” means we are committed to obedience to the will of the Father. Whatever our God wills, we pray that will be our will as well.

Following a call to commitment, the prayer calls for petition and deals with trusting God. We are to trust God for physical provision as we pray for daily bread. Daily means every day that comes, or on a fresh and new basis every day. Bread represents food in general or anything necessary to support life. God supplies our physical needs but now we are also to look to Him for spiritual needs. Forgiveness is one of the spiritual needs we desperately seek. Spiritually, a person hungers for forgiveness the way he physically hungers for food. Therefore, we are to trust God for cleansing from sin. Daily we should ask God to forgive us and search our own hearts for unforgiveness. Since we have confessed our sin and have received forgiveness, now we want to do God’s will. We are to trust God for power over temptation. There is a recognition that we are spiritually weak and need to ask God to help us in our daily confrontation with temptation.  The evil one is constantly seeking whom he may devour and we pray for deliverance.

The statements about God and the petitions are climaxed by the doxology. “Yours is the kingdom” focuses on His rule. We humbly claim His name and submit to His reign and will in our lives. “The power” focuses on His sufficiency. God is the power meaning we praise Him for His omnipotence to feed us, forgive us, protect us, and preserve us. “The glory” focuses on His presence. God is the glory meaning He alone possesses the attributes of perfection, eternity, and holiness.

Every element of need in our lives is covered in these words from our Lord. The Master Teacher took time to teach us how to pray. Jesus’ prayer was intended to show us how to establish the prayer life that the Father intended for us to have with Him as His children.

 

Don't miss out on BREAKFAST this Sunday!!!!

A little something to get you through to Sunday!!! Great story at the end.......

Receiving God’s Blessing of ABUNDANCE!
Dr. Jay Wolf

Jesus boldly promised, "I have come that you might have life and have it ABUNDANTLY!" (John 10:10)

I recently gleaned some encouraging news from the book "Abundance" by Peter Diamandis. The opening illustration was captivating and instructive. In the ancient world, aluminum was exceedingly rare and valuable. For instance, the Emperor of France - Napoleon Bonaparte - hosted the King of Siam for a state dinner in 1812. They used sterling silver goblets and golden plates for the most important guests.  As an extravagant crowning feature of the event, Siam’s King and Napoleon ate with aluminum dinnerware because that metal was exceedingly scarce and rare. However, in 1886 an American chemist named Charles Martin Hall discovered the innovation of using electricity to liberate aluminum. Aluminum is actually the third most abundant element on earth. 8.3 % of the world's weight is aluminum, but it is bound to oxides and silicates and is very difficult to release. Yet Charles Hall's discovery proved to be an innovation that suddenly unlocked aluminum as a source of inexpensive, lightweight, pliable and non-corrosive metal that is now abundantly available to everyone.

Here is the point: History is full of stories about once-rare resources that are now abundant because of innovation. On the spiritual level, abundance is not so much linked to innovation as it is to intercession. In Luke 11, Jesus invites His children to ask, seek and knock and they will receive in abundance. Paul explains that we serve a God who delights in answering His children and will give us "more than we can think, ask, or imagine" (Ephesians 3:20) because our Father desires to supply His children's needs in abundance. "My God will supply all your needs according to His RICHES in glory in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:19) God invites you to ask for His abundance. Then our Father expects for you to use your abundant blessings to bless others! “Your abundance will supply your brother’s needs.” (2 Corinthians8:14)

Let me conclude with the classic story about Arnold Palmer receiving an abundant blessing linked to requesting. In the 1960s, the great golfer was invited to Saudi Arabia to inaugurate their first golf course. Palmer's host explained that the King of Saudi Arabia wanted to give him a gift of his choosing. So Arnold asked for a golf club, expecting to receive a new driver or a wedge. Instead, two attorneys appeared the next day at his hotel and they presented to him a deed to a 36-hole golf club in Florida!

Remember, through innovation and intercession, God releases abundance to His children for your blessing and for blessing others! 

MAY 22: REDEEMED FROM AN UNBELIEVING PAST

Just a note... Vev and I will be in Birmingham this weekend attending the wedding of our nephew. We hope all of you will have a great lesson this Sunday... I am very sure Ms. Pat will handle the lesson as she always does...

Last week we used Cliffs Notes for those of you who had not read the lesson... this week we are using Sparknotes

MAY 22: REDEEMED FROM AN UNBELIEVING PAST

MAY 16, 2016

By Gene Price
Pastor, Tumbling Creek Baptist Church, Gleason

Focal Passage: Acts 26:9-20

Throughout the book of Acts, we are introduced and exposed to the workings of the Holy Spirit. The focus of Acts is primarily on two individuals, Peter and Paul. For the study of this lesson, our focus will be on Paul. Paul was converted in Acts 9 and God’s purpose for Paul was mainly to take the gospel message to the Gentiles. In our text, Paul finds himself before King Agrippa and Paul shares his conversion experience with one of the most powerful men in the world. 

Looking more closely at Paul’s testimony, we find that he shared what his life was like before his conversion experience. Paul explained to Agrippa that before his conversion experience, he hated the cause of Christ and gladly persecuted followers of Christ. In his journey to Damascus in which he was “breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord,” Paul was confronted by the Christ whom he had been persecuting. Like many who do not have a relationship with Jesus, Paul tried to justify his previous actions as noble. Paul enjoyed arresting, persecuting, and putting to death various Christians.  In Philippians 3:5-6, Paul said that this persecution was caused by the zeal of his former religion. Paul discovered that hunting down Christians was clearly not God’s desire. Paul is typical of many today who are not followers of Christ – in that they love to persecute those who follow Christ. Jesus said in Matthew 24 that the hatred of believers would intensify before He returns.

Paul then shared the nuts and bolts of the encounter with Jesus that changed his life. On the road to Damascus Paul saw a light from heaven brighter than the sun, which caused Paul to fall to the ground. Then he heard a voice saying, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” which meant to persecute the followers of Jesus is to persecute Jesus Himself. Jesus changed Paul’s life and Paul was commissioned to carry the gospel to the Gentiles (v. 17). Faithful he was! According to Galatians 6:17, Paul had scars on his body for the cause of Christ. Paul’s life demonstrates the fact that God can save anyone because Paul referred to himself as the “chief of all sinners.”

After surrendering himself to the Lord Jesus Christ, Paul’s commitment proved that he was radically changed. Immediately after his conversion experience, a person could see Paul’s lifestyle changed. He was consistently obedient to Christ.  Paul was blinded by the light on the Damascus Road but after having his sight restored he immediately began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying “He is the Son of God.” Paul began to preach in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all the region of Judea, and to the Gentiles. This commitment to Jesus Christ is proven by the events that caused much personal suffering for Paul. II Corinthians 11:23-27 tells of many of the things Paul suffered: imprisonment, floggings, lashes, stoning, shipwreck, and danger. God spoke to Paul on the Damascus Road telling Paul of the things he would face as a believer, but that was not the last time God spoke to Paul. God continued to give guidance and direction to him for the rest of his life.

Paul shared his testimony before King Agrippa. Never underestimate the power of your personal testimony. Paul shared what his life was like before his encounter with Christ, about the day he responded to Christ, and then illustrated this change through a consistent lifestyle of obedience to Christ. Your testimony may be different from Paul’s, yet all who respond to Christ respond in the same way — by faith followed by a lifestyle of obedience in whatever Christ calls us to do

For Sunday, May 15th, 2016

If you have not read the lesson for this week, here is the Cliff Notes for this week!!!!!

MAY 15: REDEEMED FROM DEVASTATING FAILURE

By Gene Price
Pastor, Tumbling Creek Baptist Church, Gleason

Focal Passage: Luke 22:54-62; Acts 4:8-13

At the Olympic Games every four years, 90 percent of the best athletes in the world do not win a medal. They try but they fail. Likewise, the Bible records many people who failed. Oftentimes we fail at the point of our greatest strength. The Bible says that Moses was a meek man, yet he lost his temper and struck the rock. Abraham was called the father of faith, but he lied twice, stating that Sarah was not his wife. David was called a man after God’s own heart, yet he committed adultery.

Peter’s name is added to that list in that he boasted that even if all the other disciples forsook Jesus; he would not. This is the same Peter who had courage to get out of the boat and also the same man who pulled out a sword to defend Jesus in the Garden. Now that Jesus had been arrested Peter followed at a distance. Peter ended up warming himself by the fire in the courtyard of the High Priest. There by the fire Peter denied Jesus three times just as Jesus said he would. It appeared that Peter was a failure but thankfully failure was not final in Peter’s life.

Peter realized that he was not as strong as he first thought. Peter had said that even if he had to die with Jesus, he would not deny Jesus. Peter was confident of his strength and loyalty. After denying Jesus three times, Peter heard the rooster crow. At that point, Peter realized he had failed in his loyalty to Jesus. Peter had a desire to be a faithful follower of Jesus but now, when put to the test, he had failed.

Peter discovered that God’s love and forgiveness was not dependent on success. Peter discovered that Jesus still loved him in spite of his failure. Verse 61 states that “the Lord turned and looked at Peter.” Warren Wiersbe writes, “It is to Peter’s credit that all that the Lord had to do was look at him to bring him to (the place of recognition of what he had done) repentance.” Peter probably remembered the words of Jesus in Luke 22:32: “But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

Peter learned from his failures. Peter went out and wept bitterly. He had great remorse. Peter’s remorse was different from Judas’ remorse.

Unlike Judas, Peter’s remorse led him to make some changes in his life. Just as Peter denied Jesus three times by the fire, in John 21 Jesus asked Peter “Do you love Me?” three times by the fire.

Peter proved by his actions that he was serious in his love for Jesus. In Acts 4, Peter stood in the same courtyard in which he denied Jesus and boldly proclaimed Jesus before the same crowd in which he had denied Jesus. Filled with the Holy Spirit, the same man who had cursed and denied Jesus earlier was now standing unafraid before the same crowd that called for the crucifixion of Jesus. This crowd realized that there was something different about Peter. They knew Peter was uneducated and unschooled, yet they were amazed and recognized that they (Peter and John) had been with Jesus.

Spending time with Jesus made all the difference in Peter’s life.  Jesus wants to make that same difference in our lives. Do others see through your life that you have “been with Jesus”? The same Jesus that impacted and changed Peter’s life waits to impact and change our lives as well.

Veverly Baird Arrington

You are the type of MOM that every child needs.

I am glad that you are our daughters' MOM because you did an awesome job.

By loving and raising them, you gained an insight on how to be a wonderful Grandmother.

I know all of "our girls" would 

have it no other way!

Again, I stand in amazement and awe, when I see you share your Faith, Compassion, 

and Love to them. 

Happy Mother's Day!