HALITOSIS OF GIANTS... MOUNTAIN CLIMBERS?
By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com
CLIMB THE MOUNTAIN --- STAND UP AND BE COUNTED...
Martin Niemoeller lived from 1892 to 1984...
Martin penned theses words: In Germany they first came for Communists, and I did not speak up because I was not Communist. Then they came after the Jews, and I did not speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionist, and I did not speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I did not speak up because I was Protestant. THEN THEY CAME FOR ME, AND BY THAT TIME, NO ONE WAS LEFT TO SPEAK UP.
Matthew 17:20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
HOW INSIGNIFICANT ARE WE? (small, unimportant, , little position)
WE MUST REFUSE TO ALLOW THE HALITOSIS OF GIANTS TO HINDER OUR WORK...
SEEDS CAN GROW, SMALL MUSTARD SEEDS, CAN SUPPORT LIFE...
My first week as pastor of a small mountain mission was exciting. I asked to see the ACMR for 1980. Joe Arnett pulled the annual church report out of the file cabinet. The 1980 report reflected the average attendance for the Sunday morning worship was 3. Wow! There is only one way to go --- GO UP!
One old lady pulled me aside and told me to my face: BETTER PREACHERS THAN YOU HAVE BEEN HERE AND FAILED! She was right! Often the enemy would "throw up" those words to me! This bad breath has often haunted me in my ministry?
I probably did not need her assurance of the facts. I stayed there 8 1/2 years, 1372 sermons. We saw several hundred saved and baptized many.
Let me tell you something. I have been gone 28 years from that mountain work. Recently I was called back to baptize 3 people, 28 years later... SEEDS THAT I HAVE SOWN ARE BEARING FRUIT. I also had the honor of returning back to the mountains to preach my dear friends funeral that told me: BETTER PREACHERS THAN YOU HAVE BEEN HERE AND FAILED!
THE HALITOSIS OF GIANTS BREAD FEAR --- FEAR CAN CRIPPLE AND HINDER GOD'S PLAN...
DO WE EVER PLAY MIND GAMES? CAN NEGATIVE SITUATIONS DICTATE TO OUR SPIRIT?
When we moved to Smiths Grove, my oldest son was in the 8th grade. He was on the football team for his first time.
He was around 140 pounds. We played a team from the area that many consider backward and very rough. When he lined up for the first play, he saw "THE GIANT OF A PLAYER." The 8th grade student had a full beard. He was 6'4" and weighed 240 pounds. Someone spread the rumor that the 8th grade student may have had several children? One boy said: THAT MAN HAS BAD BREATH!"
After the kick off, the team came to the side line. My son said to me: DAD, DO YOU SEE "THE MAN" WITH THE BEARD, THAT IS MY MAN? WHAT AM I GOING TO DO?
I only played one game as a football player before I joined the band. I did not know, BUT I SAW THE MIND GAME! Everyone was talking about "THE MAN" on the team. All I knew was a line my dad told me, THE BIGGER THEY ARE THE HARDER THEY FALL! So like any Father that does not know what to do, I faked it.
I said, Son, the very first play HIT "THE MAN" AS HARD AS YOU CAN! AND SAY TO HIM: THIS IS FUN. My son then said: THEN WHAT? I said: THE SECOND PLAY, LINE UP ACROSS FROM HIM AND SMILE AND THEN BLOCK AND HIT HIM AS HARD AS YOU CAN. DO IT AGAIN ON THE THIRD PLAY. THEN, LET'S SEE WHAT HAPPENS?
After three plays the "BIG MAN" was bruised and battered. He said: THAT LITTLE KID CAN REALLY HIT HARD. The rest of the game, the "MAN" did everything he could do to avoid those hits. Finally the "MAN" would shrink in sons eyes. I CAN DO THIS... Five more years of football, and my son was a valuable player and leader on and off the field. Much of his success started on the field facing: "THE MAN" STRAIGHT UP --- THIS MOUNTAIN HAS A PURPOSE!
MY FRIEND, SOMETIMES YOU MUST TURN OFF THE HYPE AND THE NEGATIVE AND LOOK THE GIANT RIGHT IN THE EYE... GIANT, YOU WALK ON TWO LEGS JUST LIKE ME AND WE CAN HANDLE THIS... THIS MOUNTAIN WILL MAKE ME A BETTER MAN...
MANY PEOPLE HAVE SMELL THE HALITOSIS (BAD BREATH) OF THE GIANTS... AND RAN
THIS MOUNTAIN WILL MAKE ME A BETTER AND STRONGER BELIEVER WHEN I STAND ON TOP OF THIS MOUNTAIN AND GLORIFY GOD!
We cannot stop giants from occurring... GIANTS OUR BUT OPPORTUNITIES ---
A BIG CHALLENGE... A NEW PROMOTION... A CHANGE OF SONG...
SAUL HAS SLAIN HIS 1,000'S, DAVID HIS 10,000'S...
1 Samuel 17:23 And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the armies of the Philistines, and spake according to the same words: and David heard them.
This giant's halitosis (bad breath), this mountain is a chance for GOD TO SHOW HIS STUFF...
WHEN WE ARE FINISHED WITH THIS MOUNTAIN GOD WILL BE KNOWN...
1 Samuel 17:45 Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. 46 This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. 47 And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD'S, and he will give you into our hands.
YOU MUST USE WHAT YOU HAVE... THIS MOUNTAIN IS NAUGHT TO ME!
LET US CHANGE OUT THINKING PATTERNS TO: CAN DO? OR CAN DO!!!!
THE SONG CAN CHANGE...
It is not enough just to have a brain ---- WE MUST USE OUR BRAINS TO CREATE NEW HOPE, NEW LOVE AND NEW PEACE...
It is not enough to HAVE FAITH ---WE MUST USE OUR FAITH TO LAUNCH US TO NEW LEVELS...
Luke 17:5 And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith. 6 And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.
WE DO NOT NEED MORE FAITH ---
WE NEED TO USE WHAT FAITH WE HAVE...
USE IT OR LOSE?
The more you exercise the stronger you will be...
GET UP, GET MOVING, TRY HARDER... USE YOUR BRAIN COUPLED WITH FAITH....
When I was a kid my mom had gall bladder surgery, she was in bed 30 days...
Today we have a friend that had gall bladder surgery about noon and went home in a few hours...
LIVING WITH MY EYES CLOSED? IT MAY SEEM VERY TRUTH THAT WE HAVE DEVELOPED A FEAR OF THE MOUNTAINS?
I married Linda, she is from Illinois. The land where she was raised is flat. You have to drive for miles to see a hill. When we married and lived in eastern Kentucky, east Tennessee and south west Virginia there were mountains everywhere. She would lay down in the seat and kept saying I am going to sleep. She was afraid of the mountains and hated the hair pen curves. She would lay with her eyes closed. She had a fear of the mountains, she missed many beautiful sights because fear KEPT HER EYES CLOSED.
I have a differing opinion. I love mountains and lived much of my life in those same areas. Mountains were a part of life. Besides that, if I am in a bad wreck, I want to see it... !!! I do not want to be laying in the back seat with my eyes closed and my mouth shut.
WHY DO WE ALLOW THE HALITOSIS OR BAD BREATH OF GIANTS AND MOUNTAINS TO DEFINE OUR EMOTIONS...
FEAR, WORRY, PAIN CAN INITIATE MORE PAIN AND FEAR...
Psalm 121:1 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. 2 My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.
YES, HURT PEOPLE HURT PEOPLE. YES, ANGRY PEOPLE ANGER PEOPLE.
What is the difference between a mountain and a molehill? How much dirt there is...
MY FRIEND, LAY YOUR SHOVEL DOWN, QUIT DIGGING UP DIRT!
We must learn to climb mountains. THERE ARE MOUNTAINS IN HISTORY that the people of God faced and so will we...:
***1. MOUNT SINAI=== a rugged, rough mountain, relationship with man and God...
***2. MOUNT MORIAH=== The Mountain of trust, Abraham offers his son...Isaac
Abraham's promise sealed on this mountain, Solomon's temple
***3. MOUNT CARMEL=== The mountain of worship, Elijah climbs this mountain..., slays Baal's preachers, false worship,
***4. MOUNT HERMON=== The mountain of refreshing, dew sustains in the dry times,
fellowship, 9,200 feet high, snow brings moisture...
Psalm 133:1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
2 It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments; 3 As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.
***5. MOUNT OF OLIVES=== Gethesemene, the struggle, confrontation of self. Sweat/blood.
***6. MOUNT CALVARY=== Golgotha, LOVE, sacrifice, forgiveness, REDEMPTION...
CONCLUSION: We will always have a mountain top experience. Seems I am either on top of the mountain, or the mountain is on top of me... EITHER WAY GOD HAS A PLAN AND PURPOSE. The lessons are clear, CLIMB HIGH UPON THE MOUNTAIN...
His servant, Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com
