The other day I was sitting and speaking with a stranger and, as it always seems to do, the topic of God came up. I guess it’s probably because most people I know, know me. They know my beliefs; they know what I do; and they know of my passion for God.
This gentleman, a little older than myself, was telling me about troubles he was going through and the problems it was causing him at home, work and amongst his friends.
Naturally, I suggested he turn to God for answers. After I just “slipped that one in there,” he said… “Why should I ask God? What has He done for me?”
Okay, now I’m sure all of you are thinking, “Oh boy, this had to set Pastor Woody off!” Guess what? You’re right… it did and that statement woke my spirit up and I knew, right then and there, there was a message in this one.
Most of us here this morning have found our path to God. Some of us for the first time, and others, have found their way back as I have. This gentleman, clearly, has either lost his way or has never met our God nor did he understand the promises He has given us.
I’d like to talk a little about this topic this morning and, additionally, I’d like to give you just a few examples of why we need God and how important it is that we convey this message to all the lost souls around us.
As A Person
God’s Plan – Our purpose in general.
Jeremiah 29:11 – “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
How many of you know what God’s plan is for you? How many of you are still searching? If you’ve turned your back on God, how will you ever know what it is or in what direction you should go with your life?
This gentleman I was speaking to, clearly did not have any idea what God’s plan was for him as he has been bouncing in and out of jobs for most of his life.
He blamed it all on the people he worked for and those he worked with. I think he simply didn’t know who, exactly, he should have been working for!
Colossians 3:23-24 - “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.”
He has spent, or wasted, his entire life not knowing this valuable lesson. He was supposed to working for God!
We need to understand that everything we do, whether it turns out good or bad, is a lesson from God. He puts us through various challenges throughout our lives to train us, to teach us and built certain characteristics into our very being that will shape us into what it is He eventually wants us to be and do!
Once we have a better understanding of this and why we go through what we do, it’s easier to put the pieces of life’s great puzzle together.
One day, as we work as our Holy Father would have us, we will finally see “that plan” that God had put in place for us from before we were even born.
There are some here today that are actively looking for a job. I spoke with one of those people just the other day. They were truly upset because they had what they though was a “great interview,” but didn’t get the job.
I asked them, “Do you know what that means?” They didn’t, so I further explained, “God didn’t want that one for you… He has something better planned!”
Here is the proof… today, I spoke with that person and they have since “landed” a new job with a greater position and higher pay!
Do you not think that God had something to do with that? I most certainly know it to be true!
Our Family – Honor your Family.
Proverbs 17:6 – “Children’s children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children”
Our family means the world to us… as they should. Our children have grown-up with us… we have grown with them. They know our likes; our dislikes; all the little things that make us tick!
Imagine how putting God into our family can help us grow together. We have spats. We have arguments. We don’t always agree… but if you start and end your day giving thanks to God and talking with Him, we can watch all these little things simply fade-away. Try it yourselves and see!
Our Friends – Sometimes closer than family.
Proverbs 18:24 – “One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”
Okay, here is another one. How many friends have you been through in life? I’m sure there were many but how many of them are still with you today?
Sometimes, our friends will know us better than family. After all, they may not judge us as our family might. They may be willing to “overlook” some of our little mistakes in life.
Once again, each and every person that you may have called “friend,” God has put there for you. It may have been to get through a difficult time; it may have been for you to learn another lesson. We may never understand why friends come and go but what we should know, God brings these people to us.
In Sickness – Our God will heal us.
I felt badly for this gentleman as he told me his wife was ill. She was undergoing treatment but the outlook wasn’t good and the financial burden was putting his family in great debt.
Again, I spoke of our God. I asked him if he had prayed; had he asked God to help his wife and remove the burden from his family. Sadly, no.
Exodus 23:25 – “Worship the Lord your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you.”
If we ask our Father in Heaven, He will most assuredly help us, and those who suffer around us, find our way through these tribulations.
Sure we can talk about the modern-day advances of medicine today. Treatment has come a long way in many areas and a lot of people are being cured.
Did you ever think of this? When you pray to the Lord, don’t you think, even for a moment, that…
• Medications - He may be the one that puts the thoughts into the chemist’s brain as they develop new pharmaceuticals.
Jonas Edward Salk – Cured polio – 1955
Alexander Flaming – Invented Penicillin – 1940’s
• Machines - He may be the one that the scientists and engineers are listening to as they create the new machines to battle cancer.
Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen – The X-Ray – 1895
Do you think these people didn’t have God’s guidance? Or was it like a chef discover a new recipe by just tossing some oregano in the mix?
• Doctors - He may be standing right beside that surgeon as he lays the scalpel to your skin.
There are so many ways our Father in Heaven WILL help us but it’s up to us to recognize His great glory and continue to pray in our sickness as well as remembering to give thanks when our own sicknesses are healed… we definitely should never forget that one!
Our Value to God
It isn’t what people think of us.
Sometimes, as we go through these trials and tribulations, we lose sight of our own value. We feel unworthy, lowly and of less value than others. We forget how much we mean to those around us; to our families; to our friends and, most importantly, to God!
Matthew 6:26-27 – “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?”
That’s a very simple little lesson there from Jesus. We really should be remembering this every day. I can’t tell you how often I watch the animals around us. I am still enthralled as I watch an eagle fly over my head…sometimes, it’s even a little dangerous as I may be on the highway, in the middle of traffic, but I can’t help but stare up at the sky and be in awe of the majesty of an eagle soaring through God’s great skies.
• The Birds – I think of Christ’s lesson in Matthew.
• Our Pets – How they adore us and are so loyal.
• The Ants – How small and insignificant they seem but, nonetheless, they toil-along every day doing whatever it is that God has them doing.
Love – There is none greater than God’s!
I asked the gentleman I had been talking to this simple little question: “Do you Love your wife?” To which his response was, “Of course I do, why would you even ask me?”
If you Love your wife then I would think its time that you show her just how much by asking the God, who Loves you more than you can possibly understand, how to show your Love for compassion on her as well.
I reminded him what Moses wrote in Deuteronomy…
Deuteronomy 7:9 – “Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments.”
…and who could forget?
John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Our Father truly Loves us!
I reminded him that, until we know the Love of God; the Love of Christ and all the sacrifices He made for us, we could not possibly understand Love fully and give it to others freely.
If we Love someone, let them know – Take them by the shoulders; squeeze them with all your strength; look deeply into their eyes and say, with conviction…
• I Love You!
• I Will Always be Here for You!
• I Will Never Leave You or Forsake You!
• I Will Sacrifice my Very Life, for Yours!
This, my friends, is what Love is all about and exactly what Christ has said and done for you and me… and reminds us every day!
As A Nation
We also talked, as it couldn’t be avoided, about all that’s going on in the world around us. Of course, my new friend, asked me why God is letting all of this go on.
We all know, if you’ve been paying attention, that this nation was built on the basic fundamentals of the Bible. Surely, we’ve gone astray from our early beginnings.
If you’ve read the Declaration of Independence or The Constitution, you know this already, but, here are a few quotes from some of our founding fathers about God and the Bible.
Some Facts
“It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor.”
– George Washington (Our first President)
We have this day [Fourth of July] restored the Sovereign to whom all men ought to be obedient. He reigns in Heaven, and from the rising to the setting of the sun, let His Kingdom come.
– Samuel Adams (One of the signers of the Declaration of Independence)
...and this one worries me the most
God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that His justice cannot sleep forever. (It’s going to happen!)
– Thomas Jefferson, (Our third President and principal author of the Declaration of Independence)
Can anyone give me the simple answer to the question that my new friend posed to me that afternoon (How can God)? You know what it is… I’m pretty sure everyone sitting here today could answer this question. Does anyone want to give me one or two explanations?
Here’s a few to think about…
• Free Will – We know this, God give us free will. If we don’t ask God, our decisions and the results of our decisions, are our own!
• Ever-Changing – This country is no longer steadfast. The laws change, the people change, the beliefs change but God remains the same always!
• Not Answering – In Revelation 3:20, it states “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.”
Our Nation is no longer “Opening that door.” We’ve closed the door on God as a country; we’ve closed the door on Christ and we ignore The Holy Spirit.
How then, can we ask the question, “Why has God turned His back on us?!” NO… we’ve turned our back on Him!
In Conclusion
We all need God. There can be no doubt of this whatsoever. I’m not sure at all if the gentleman I was speaking to understands this yet but, it is my hope, that everyone here today most certainly does!
• We Need God’s Plan – Otherwise we’ll wander around this world in total darkness, never truly understanding the lesson God has given us or blatantly ignoring them!
• In Our Sickness – Who better than the Almighty God to cure all that ails you. Sure, we may all go through pain and suffering but, in the end, despite the fate God has chosen for you, His Love will endure!
• Knowing Our Value – We need to understand how much we are worth to God. Despite the insignificance we feel living in the devil’s playground, our value is great to God!
• Love – Who knows Love more than God? Who gave us His only Son that we might live and be forgiven of our sins? WE NEED GOD’S LOVE!
• As A Nation – We had better start getting back to God when it comes to this country. We need to remember our history and why we were so successful in building such a wise and powerful nation!
The next time someone tells you they don’t need God… remind them of these few things. There are so many more reasons we need God we simply don’t have the time this morning to discuss them all
Go home tonight, bow your heads to God. Give Him thanks for all that you have and all you are yet to receive. Think about it earnestly, and realize, without God… our lives our truly meaningless.
PUT GOD BACK INTO ALL ASPECTS OF YOUR LIFE AND BEGIN TO REALIZE HIS GREAT GLORY!
Go with God; be good to one another; always stay humble; always be kind… God Bless (Amen)!
