SEE GOD’S FACE: OVERCOME THE ODDS…
By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com (Two parts on the family)
TAKING CHANCES? APPOLO 11 was launched IN 1969 BUZZ ALDRIN AND NEIL ARMSTRONG WALKED ON THE MOON…while Michael Collins stay with the orbiter.
WHAT KIND OF ODDS WOULD YOU GAMBLE YOUR LIFE TO ACHIEVE? WHAT ARE THE ODDS WE CAN MAKE IT? 3%? 60? BUZZ ALDRIN JR. WAS ONE OF 3 MEN THAT LANDED ON THE MOON.
In 2961, John Kennedy made a pledge the USA would send man to the moon. People mocked this idea.
There were 3 men in July, 1969 to fly to the moon. Pilot Michael Collins stayed in the module. Neil Armstrong and Edwin (“BUZZ) Aldrin, Jr landed on the moon.
When the idea of going to the moon was suggested that men that would try to go to the moon. The official odds of success was given was 3% chance of survival.
By 1969, by the time of the APPOLO 11 LAUNHED the odds of survival was up to 60%. Would you gamble your life at 60%?
The day looked dark, while landing there was a computer crisis and there was ONLY 20 seconds of fuel remaining to reunite with the mother vessel. WOW, the earth was focused on the TV sets. They made it home.
BUZZ ALDRIN was back on earth to tell the story. 25 years later BUZZ was on the LARRY KING SHOW being interviewed. LARRY KING ask BUZZ ALDRIN JR. what wisdom could he pass on to others?
**Buzz Aldrin said: “FIND HIGH PURPOSE AND BRING TO IT COMMITMENT AND COURAGE! “
WHAT ARE REASONABLE ODDS THAT WE WOULD BET ON OUR LIFE?
Matthew 16:26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
Matthew 16:26 (MSG) What kind of deal is it to get everything you want but lose yourself? What could you ever trade your soul for?
What would you give in exchange for your soul?
Luke 12:19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. 20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
WORLDWIDE THERE WILL BE 108 PEOPLE DIE EVERY MINUTE. THAT IS 6, 480 PEOPLE AN HOUR…
Probably most of those 108 were not expecting to die that minute. They were not expecting this to be their last breath?
Many of those 108 people had plans for tomorrow and the next day? Several of those 108 tied their shoes that morning not expecting the undertaker to untie them, nor how expensive the funeral will be?
Probably many had plans to build a bigger barns and attend more parties, especially birthday parties.
Of those 108 many will be like the crowd in Noah’s day… They watched Noah build the ark and laughed and mocked that crazy man build the ark on dry land? Their thought patterns changed the very moment when water, rain fell out of the sky and things started getting dark.
WILL WE GAMBLE ON LIFE? 108 foolish people thought they had PLENTY OF TIME… DO YOU THINK YOU HAVE PLENTY OF TIME?
ARE WE HONESTLY LOOKING FOR GOD? WHY?
Can others see GOD’S LOVE and GOD’S LIGHT in your face? Are we anger driven? In the news two men were driving on a busy highway. One man cut the other man off… the anger grew, the one man pulled out a gun to frighten the other man. The other man pulled out his gun. There lay two men dead in the street. Two fathers that will never see their children graduate school? Two fathers that will not attend the weddings of their children? They will never hold their grandbabies? WHY? WHY SUCH A TERRIBLE ISSUE? WHO WAS RIGHT? WHO WAS WRONG? TWO FATHERS ARE FOREVER GONE? WHY?
WHAT AM I TEACHING OTHERS? AM I GROWING GIANTS? AM I GROWING PEOPLE TO FACE THEIR GIANTS?
There are several attitudes we can learn and teach when we come to the day we have to face our troubles and trials. WHAT DO WE DO WHEN THE GIANTS and problems are mocking us? CHECK WHAT YOU ARE TEACHING AND GAMBLING WITH LIVE? This cookie? This cigarette? This excessive weight? What are we teaching our kids?
Look at the possible attitudes we are teaching…
*1. WOW! Look at how BIG that giant is…
*2. WOW! Listen to the message of the giant, 2xs a day for 40 days. (Gossip)
*3. Go into your tent and cry yourself to sleep.
*4. WOW! Look how SMALL my 5 smooth stones are…
*5. WOW! Look how BIG MY GOD IS… I CAN HANDLE ANY GIANT THAT OPPOSES MY FAITHFUL GOD!
I am going to RUN toward that mean giant and TRUST this problem by FACING THIS PROBLEM HEAD ON…
Remembering that IMMANUEL --- GOD IS WITH ME!
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.
1 Samuel 17:47 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.
WE MUST LEARN A VAULABLE LESSON WITH GOD ALL THINGS ALL POSSIBLE AND WE CAN OVERCOME THE ODDS. WE TEACH BU=Y DAILY WORDS AND ACTIONS…
Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
Are we teaching DIG THE WELL DEEP? HEAVEN OR HELL?
1 John 2:13 I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father.
ARE WE TEACHING LOVE? FORGIVENESS? KINDNESS? OR ARE WE TEACHING RAISED VOICES? HATE? BITTERNESS? MEANNESS?
GROWING PEOPLE IS NEVER EASY! NOT MANY FATHERS… MAYBE A LOT OF DADDYS? SPERM DONORS?
1 Corinthians 4:15 For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.
1 Corinthians 4:15 (MSG) There are a lot of people around who can't wait to tell you what you've done wrong, but there aren't many fathers willing to take the time and effort to help you grow up. It was as Jesus helped me proclaim God's Message to you that I became your father.
CAN A WOMAN FATHER A CHILD? Often times there are women who HAVE TO step up and become a FATHER FIGURE to minister to the needs of a child.
WHAT ABOUT A MAN THE STEPS UP AND BECOME A FATHER TO A CHILD THAT HE NEVER WAS THE BIOLOGICAL PARENT?
WE READ OF A YOUNG MAN THAT HAD A WONDERFUL GRANDMOTHER, LOIS… HE HAD A WONDERFUL MOTHER, EUNICE… BUT NOTHING MUCH WAS SPOKEN OF HIS FATHER? WE DO KNOW TIMOTHY’S DAD WAS A GREEK? BUT GOD GAVE TIMOTHY A FATHER TO LOVE AND GROW HIM TO BE MORE LIKE JESUS.
1 Timothy 1:2 Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.
2 Timothy 1:2 To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
WHAT IS A FATHER? Is a father more than a male parent? Is a father the man that begat a child? Is a father the man that makes a woman in the family way? Is a father the one fixed to paternity?
GROWING PEOPLE REQUIRES A LOT OF PATIENCE… WE MUST LEARN TO WAIT WITH A POSITIVE ATTITUDE AND POSITIVE WORDS.
Isaiah 40:31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
Isaiah 40:31 (NIV) but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
Isaiah 40:31 (MSG) But those who wait upon GOD get fresh strength. They spread their wings and soar like eagles, They run and don't get tired, they walk and don't lag behind.
DUE SEASON? DO WE WANT CUCUMBERS OR MIGHTY OAK TREES?
Cucumbers grow and die in one season? An OAK TREE can take 100 years to reach full maturity
Galatians 6:9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
LEARN A LESSON FROM THE CHINESE BAMBOO TREE.
The Chinese take BAMBOO SEEDS and plant them in the soil. They plant the seed very carefully and they place fertilizer around the ground supporting the seed. The water the seed on a regular basis. Let us come back after a year of watering the BAMBOO SEEDS. WHAT DO WE SEE? NOTHING, THERE IS NOTHING VISIBLE AFTER A YEAR’S WORK.
So the second year the BAMBOO FARMER fertilizes the ground and waters the UNSEEN SEED daily. At the end of the year the farmer CAN SEED NOTHING! No new life, all that work and NOTHING. Two years of almost daily work and there is NOTHING!
So in great patience the FARMER invest more fertilizer and waters the seed on a daily bases. The THIRD YEAR, all this labor and sweat the farmer invest. At the end of the THIRD YEAR, NOTHING, NOTHING VISIBLE TO HIS EYES.
We come to the end of the fourth year, four hard years of toil and labor… the bamboo farmer has seen zero growth, zero, nada, nil, zilch, empty, barren, in vain, useless, futile, senseless…
SO THE FARMER BY FAITH FERTILIZES THE BAMBOO SEEDS AND CONTINUES TO WATER THE SEEDS DAILY. SUDDENLY THE BAMBOO SEED SPRINGS OUT TO THE GROUND, FINALLY AFTER 5 YEARS OF NOTHING THE SEED BREAKS THE THROUGH THE GROUND.
IN SIX WEEKS THE BAMBOO SHOOT GROWS NINETY FEET TALL. NINETY FEET IN SIX WEEKS? WOW? LET ME ASK YOU AN HONEST QUESTION? DID THE BAMBOO TREE GROW NINETY FEET IN SIX WEEKS? OR DID IT GROW NINETY FEET TALL IN FIVE YEARS? HAD NOT THE FARMER BEEN FAITHFUL FOR FIVE YEARS TO WATER AND FERTILIZE THE BAMBOO SEED, WOULD WE EVER SEE THE NINETY FEET OF GROWTH?
Luke 21:19 In your patience possess ye your souls.
Luke 21:19 (MSG) Staying with it—that's what is required. Stay with it to the end. You won't be sorry; you'll be saved.
I CAN SEE GOD’S FACE IN YOU. GOD CAN REPAIR BROKEN FAMILIES WITH TIME --- ALL THE OLD BITTERNESS AND STRIFE WAS HEALED… GOD CHANGES A FAMILY FROM HATE TO LOVE… I CAN SEE GOD’S FACE IN YOUR FACE…
REBECCAH AND ISAAC MARRIED AND HAD TWO SONS, ESAU AND JACOB SEEMED TO FIGHT WITH EACH OTHER IN THE WOMB. THEY WERE BROTHERS. AS A MATTER OF FACT THEY WERE TWIN BROTHERS. THEIR FAMILY WAS VERY DYSFUNCTION. They had many problems. Jacob loved ESAU, Rebecca loved JACOB. Esau sold his birthright for a bowl of soup. JACOB and REBECCA deceived ISAAC and trick the old man. Jacob got the blessing of his father.
JACOB LEFT HOME IN A RUSH, ESAU HAD VOWED AS SOON AS DAD DIES I WILL KILL YOU JACOB. AS JACOB RUNS FOR HIS LIFE. He will never see MOM again. Jacob was CHANGED WHEN HE HAD A PERSONAL ENCOUNTER WITH GOD… HE DREAMED AT BETHEL OF ANGELS ASCENDING AND DESCENDING TO HEAVEN…
*Jacob the cheater was changed because HE MET EL-ELOHE-ISREAL--- (EL- ELLA- HEM) GOD THE MIGHTY ONE…
JACOB BUILDS AN ALTAR THAT ALTERED HIS LIFE. Jacob was changed to ISREAL … prince with God and man.
MANY YEARS LATER JACOB RETURNS TO HIS HOME AND HE FEARS ESAU’S ANGER… So Jacob divides his family into small groups to protect them.
Genesis 33:4 (MSG) But Esau ran up and embraced him, held him tight and kissed him. And they both wept.
Genesis 34:9 Esau said, "Oh, brother. I have plenty of everything—keep what is yours for yourself."
10 Jacob said, "Please. If you can find it in your heart to welcome me, accept these gifts. When I saw your face, it was as the face of God smiling on me.
CONCLUSION: GOD GIVES A FAMILY BABIES! WHAT YOU DO WITH THAT BABY IS OUR GIFT BACK TO GOD!
As Americans we have many great strengths, but we have A TERRIBLE WEAKNESS. We call it IMPATIENCE. Russia thins of growth in terms of 10 years, the look at decades. China looks at growth in terms of 100 years, or centuries. We in the USA think of instant chance --- we think in terms of minutes, hours, weeks ----
BUT IF WE THINK OF GROWTH, EDUCATION AND IMPROVEMENT WITH LASTING GOALS WE NEED NOT EXPECT OVER NIGHT SUCCESS. HOW FOOLISH IS INSTANT GRADIFICATION? --- NO WONDER WE WILL FACE SO MANY DISAPPOINTMENTS? Love your spouse and be patience! Love your children and be patience. Bear your pains and trials calmly and not become annoyed. Learn to wait patiently dealing with problems and difficult people and situations. LET US SEE GOD’S FACE IN EACH OTHER. Are you showing God’s face?
His servant, Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com
