The More you know............Part 2
Good Morning
Stand with me and lift up your bible and repeat after me.
This is my Bible.
I am what it says I am.
I can do what it says I can do.
I am going to learn how to be what it says I can be.
Today I will learn more of the word of God.
The indestructible, never ending, living word Of God.
I will never be the same.
I will never be the same.
In Jesus Name
The more you know, the less you don’t know. This actually is part 2 of what we shared about the more you know in a previous message.
Sometimes we need to slow down and catch what is happening around us and realize that we need to know more of the basics in life that The Lord wants us to do.
Here is story for you that I read a little while ago.
A man sat at a metro station in Washington D.C and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousands of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.
Three minutes went by and a middle-aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule.
A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and, without stopping, continued to walk.
A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly, he was late for work.
The one who paid the most attention was a three-year-old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried, but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally, the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.
In the 45 minutes the musician played, only six people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 people gave him money, but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.
No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.
Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats averaged $250 each.
This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste, and the priorities of people.
The outlines were, in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour:
I have a few questions for you and I.
Do we perceive beauty?
Do we stop to appreciate it?
Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?
One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be that if we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?
Turn with me to Psalm 115:18 and say, “Amen” when you are there.
Psalm 115:18 But we will bless the LORD from this time forth and forevermore. Praise the LORD!
I asked this in part one of this message.
Praise the Lord! Forever more?
How can we praise God sometimes with all that is going on in our world today?
How about listening to God?
Has anyone been doing that? Listening to God before we make a step each day?
I am getting better at it since I shared part 1.
I am finding that the habit is a good one.
And I am also finding out that my relationship with me is better and so is my relationship with the Lord.
The last verse we covered in part one of this message was Ecclesiastes 3:11
“He has made everything beautiful in its time.”
As we continue to grow in our relationships, we grow in what we know.
There are two ways of growing, our way or His way.
How do we grow with Him?
Turn with me to Hebrews 8:13 and say, “Amen” when you are there.
Let’s read it together, “In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.”
When we make Jesus the primary part of our life, He changes us and makes the old in us into a new thing.
Here is an example. In the first part of the previous message, I shared a story about Charlie Brown’s sand castle. It was built and then destroyed by the tide as it came in.
I bet Charlie did not build his next sandcastle close to the water. He probably calculated how far the tide would come in next time and built another castle but probably a lot better one. And I am also pretty sure He enjoyed it. Amen?
That is what life is about, a new life with Jesus. It is not just perfect from the moment it happens. It creates something called life experience so we can learn every moment of every day, how to enjoy life even in these times.
Every day is a new day and people like you and I can look forward to every moment with an excitement that becomes a habit.
Here is a story of an Atlantic passenger laying in his bunk in a
storm, deathly seasick. A cry of "Man overboard" was heard.
The passenger thought, "God help the poor fellow-there is nothing
I can do."
Then he thought at least he could put his lantern in the port-hole,
which he did. The man was rescued, and recounting the story the next
day he said, "I was going down in the darkness for the last time when
someone put a light in a port-hole. It shone on my hand, and a sailor
in a lifeboat grabbed it and pulled me in."
Weakness is no excuse for our not putting forth all the little strength
we have because who can tell how God will use it? That story came from a website called Godswork.org
Some of us need to slow down a little. Automobiles a long time ago when they were started to be manufactured had to use a stick shift to change the gears in the transmission to make the car go at different speeds. 1st gear was the slowest, 2nd gear a little faster, 3rd gear a little more, and 4th gear was fast.
Some of us are like the gears in the old transmissions but we are trying to go from 1st to 4th without using the gears in the order we need to. We are headed for disaster.
Our transmission, (us) is going to burn out. We have to go through life as the gears that God created for us are supposed to be used. One at a time.
Slow sometimes and fast at other times.
And sometimes cruising along in 3rd gear.
Fast is not always the best.
There are great examples in the past that were actually
An old Hanna Barbara cartoon showed the race between a turtle and a rabbit. Everyone thought the rabbit would win hands down, even the rabbit thought that. The rabbit had an attitude and started quickly but got caught up with the crowd and other things that distracted him and guess what?
He lost the race. The turtle just continued along at steady pace and won the race.
We need to do that. Amen?
Our new Covenant is to live and enjoy life with Christ and go through the journey, through the good and bad, spending more time with the Lord in our life.
When we make Him first, He loves that, but when we live with Him as the first in our lives we do also.
Turn with me in your bibles to Matthew 6:33 and say, “Amen” when you are there.
“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”
The one of the greatest gifts that goes along with salvation is what that verse says. Seek God kingdom and all that He has for us in what we do.
Live life with the fullest each day and enjoy life.
Play your violin.
Build your sandcastles.
But most of all, slow and steady in life with the Lord, is a great race to run.
We just have to shift our gears when we need to. Not when we want to.
Amen.
Let’s go to the Lord.......
