Do you remember as a child ... listening to ... or reading ... nursery rhymes?
Some of them were a little freighting ... at least they were to me.
Three blind mice.
Three blind mice.
See how they run.
See how they run.
They all ran after the farmer's wife
Who cut off their tails with a carving knife,
Did you ever see such a sight ... in your life,
As three blind mice?
The carving up of three blind animals ... mice or not ... is not a real uplifting story ... before bedtime.
Now ... The Three Blind Mice ... Nursery Rhyme ... has been around since the 16th century.
And according to tradition ... the Farmers wife represents Mary the 1st .... The Roman Catholic Queen of England ... also known as ... Bloody Mary.
And the three Blind Mice ... who were carved ... ... represent the three Anglican martyrs ... Hugh Latimer, ... Nicholas Ridley and Thomas Cranmer, who Mary had burned ... at the stake.
But as a Child ... all I could picture were 3 mice ... who could not see ... being carved up with a big butcher's knife ... by a crazy lady.
Now with that picture in your mind ... your mom tucks you into bed and says ... (Slow) sweet dreams honey.
Not happening.
Then there's the famous Mother Goose Rhyme .... Humpty Dumpty.
Remember Humpty Dumpty?
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall;
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall;
All the king's horses ... and all the king's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again.
Did you have a Humpty Dumpty when you were a child.
To me ... he looked like a big egg ... with a face on it ... that had Legs and Arms sticking out.
Yet ... according to the story ... when he fell ... no one ... including all the men in the Kingdom ... could put him ... together again.
Supposedly this Nursery Rhyme is based on an English drink called ... a "Humpty Dumpty" ... which was a 17th Century Intoxicating English drink ... made with Brandy ... boiled with ... Ale.
It would probably be difficult to even sit on a chair let alone a wall after a few ... "Humpty Dumpties".
Well Shortly after our Children were born ... my wife Lee found a book titled ... The Christian Mother Goose.
In the book ... Instead of three Blind Mice .... there were three Kind Mice... who by the way ... did not have their tales carved off.
And there was Humpty Dumpty as Well:
Open the Book
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall
Humpty Dumpty shouted Amen
God can put me together again.
O' Beloved ... we have a loving God ... who loves us deeply.
And we should look at life ... with joy ... in our hearts.
A glass that is not half empty... or half full .... but one overflowing.
A life bearing good fruit ... bearing the fruit of the Spirit ... in all that we say ... and in ... all that we do.
A life that can continually shout ... Amen!
For when we fall ... for when we are broken ... God in deed can put us together .... again.
Our text from Deuteronomy shares a promise to those who keep Gods commandments.
For those that walk in His will.
Hear God's Word: BIBLE The LORD your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your cattle and in the fruit of your ground. For the LORD will again take delight in prospering you, as he took delight in your fathers, 10 when you obey the voice of the LORD your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes..." END Deuteronomy 30:9-14
Beloved ... We are a new creation in Christ Jesus.
Called to bear fruit ... in all that we do.
Set apart for good works ... so that we will lead lives worthy ... of our Lord.
Our hope is not of this world ... or in this world ... our hope is in .... Christ Jesus.
And Paul also shares this hope in Christ ... to the Colossian Believers ... and to all ... that call themselves .... followers of the Christ.
Hear Paul's prayer from our text from Colossians: BIBLE ".... that you will lead lives worthy of the Lord, ... fully pleasing to Him, .... As you bear fruit in every good work ...and as you grow in the knowledge of God; .... May you be made strong with all strength that comes from his glorious power, ..." END (Colossians 1:10)
A life bearing fruit in every good work ...is truly ... Living life ... to the fullest. (Pause)
So many people ... even some who call themselves followers of the Christ ... have much activity in their lives .... yet little ... or no progress.
For all their busy-ness .... Are they really going anywhere?
Are you going anywhere?
Have you found a purpose in and for your life? (Pause)
Beloved... Purpose ... gives meaning to our lives.
It gives one the ability to say, .... "I know .... why I'm doing ... what I'm doing!"
And ... the Question needs to be asked:
Are you living ... are you experiencing life ... or are you ... just ... existing?
There is a difference; ...... a tremendous difference.
Living is often defined as ....... "Vigorous, ... alive ... ... full of life."
Existing is described .... as quote ... "to have being."
To that of just ... being there... (Pause)
How many ... are sadly ... just existing ... and not truly ... living life?
How many are just existing ... and not bearing fruit ... good fruit?
So many wake up, .... and follow a routine of busyness ... each and every day.
They go about their busyness, .... but they have no real sense of ... purpose.
Their happiness .... their fulfillment of life depends largely .... On others.
On life circumstances.
If they were completely honest, .... they would admit ... that inside, ......they are empty ...... they are not filled to the brim ... with life.
(Slow) Now.... I am not saying ... that we have to live lives of liberality, .... with a new, .... wild change every day.
However, .... we can learn to live lives that are abundant ... that are full of vigor and livelihood .... rather than being content with just .... "being."
Of just .... existing.
Beloved: Carpe (Car-pa) Diem... Seize the day.
(Slow) ... Seize each and every day.
If you surveyed this country, .... probably most people would say ... that they want a life ... that will ... "Seize the Day.
No one wants life .... to be mediocre.
We want our lives .... to be ... full.
Yet......We are wrapped up in deadlines, .... commitments, .... problems and priorities ...... and it just does not ... seem to happen.
And therefore.... We do not ... "Seize the Day".
Yet .... There are ways to ... "Seize the Day", .... to seize each day .... of your life.
And.... the apostle Paul shared ... The way ... to seize the day... to seize life.
Paul knows his sure-fire purpose for living.
Do you know .... the purpose ... for your life? (Long Pause)
What is the primary purpose of an ink pen?
To write, .... of course.
A $250 dollar, .... 24-karat gold-cross pen .... that is out of ink .... is nice to look at, .... but is a failure .... as a pen.
It does not fulfill ... its purpose.
When it comes time to sign a document, ... you will bypass the empty solid gold pen ...... and go for the 29-cent Bic .... that works.
Just like the pen, ...... we will fail ... unless we know our reason for being, .... our purpose in life.
Paul proclaims his reason for living with these words: Hear God's Word BIBLE "I want to know Christ ... and the power of his resurrection .... and the fellowship in sharing in his suffering, ...becoming like him ... in his death, .... and so somehow to attain resurrection ... from the dead." END (Philippians 3:10)
Simply put, .... Paul's reason for living ... is to be like Jesus.
To be transformed ... to be conformed to Christ.
To be Christ like.
Should this not be our reason .... Should this not be our purpose for living.... to be more like Jesus?
We can seize each moment ... by allowing ourselves to be molded each day ... just a little more ... into his image.
Secondly ... in order, to seize the day, ... Paul tells us, .... to forget the past ... and press on to our heavenly goal.
Hear Gods Word: BIBLE "One thing I do: .... forgetting what is behind .... and straining toward what is ahead, ......I press on toward the goal to win the prize ......for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." END (Philippians 3:13-14)
So many hold on to the past.
Holding on to ... past hurts and sometimes ... even ... past joys.
Yearning for the way things used to be ... the way they were in the past.
Beloved we must strive forward ... and as the scriptures state forgetting what is past.
Of course we learn from our past ... but we must press on to the goal ... which God has called us to ... and ... seize the day.
Beloved, ... God has called us to finish this marathon called life .... and to finish well.
God proclaims in Isaiah, BIBLE "I am he who blots out your transgressions, ... for my own sake, .... and remembers your sins ... no more." END (Isaiah 43:25)
Praise God, ... if the Lord God can forget our transgressions, .... If the Lord can forget our past ...then we should ... do the same?
We can learn from our sins ... from our failures ......but do not let them be a yoke ... around your neck.
The yoke of the Lord is not heavy ... It is not a burden.
Remember our Lords words My yoke is easy, and my burden is light saith the Lord. (Matthew 11:30) (Pause)
Beloved .... (Slow) ... Live in love, ...and love ... to live! REPEAT
For ... The time we stop loving .... is the time we stop living.
And the time we stop living, .... well, .... then we will only exist .... and we will not .... Seize the Day.
Hear me on this ... "God is not like Love" .... (Slow) "God Is Love". REPEAT
The Scriptures state: "These three remain: faith, hope, and love, but the greatest of these is ... love." (1 Corinthians 13:13)
Faith ....... is the foundation of God's message.
Hope ...... is the attitude ... and the focus, ....
But Love ... Love is the action.
Love ... Christian Love ... always requires action.
When faith and hope are in line, .... you are free to love completely .... and then .... you can truly ...... "Seize the Day."
We can learn ... We must learn to stop existing .... and to start ... living.
Live in God's Love ... live in his Agape love.
What does this love look like in our lives
Beloved sacrificial love ... should look like: joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23)
There is only one Fruit... One Fruit that encompasses these nine attributes.
If the Spirit of God is at home in you, ... the first evidence ... will be the love of God ... flowing in you .... and flowing through you ....to others.
The Scriptures go on to tell us these strong words: BIBLE "Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother or sister ... is still in the darkness." END 1 John 2:9
IF we can claim ... we are in the light, ... that we have received the Holy Spirit, ... but we do not love, ... we are simply ... deceiving ourselves.
Beloved... Joy ... Joy is also ... evidence ......that the Holy Spirit abides within you.
Joy is not happiness.
Happiness is based on things being as you would like them ... Things as they are ... in the moment.
God's joy ....is deep ...... God's joy is abiding in you.
Beloved... The joy of the Lord is our Strength.
The Spirit filled Christian.... will know a joy ... and know a peace ... that is unexplainable.
I am not saying ... that a believer ... must express all the qualities of the fruit of the Spirit perfectly ....... all of the time.
Yet ... If you allow the Holy Spirit to permeate your very being ... to work within you .... Then these qualities ... will be apparent in your life. (Pause)
We are called to not only have this love ... but to share this love with one another ... and to those that God places into our lives.
It is imperative to share this love, ...this grace ... especially to those who will not ... or cannot return it. (Pause)
Many people ... try to force these qualities in their life ... through their own strength ... and will.
And they may be successful for a time.
But in the end, ... we will fail .... if we do not abide in Him.
Beloved ... We ARE ... You are ... a new creation in Christ Jesus.
Called to abide in the vine.
And if we abide in the vine ... and allow His DNA ... to flow through us:
If we allow the power of the Holy Spirit to transform us:
Then you and I will blossom ... with the Fruit of the Spirit.
We will overflow ... with God's love.
And His love flowing through us ... gives us the desire ...to shower unexpected grace ... to shower his love ... on others.
Love gives us the Desire ... To allow the power ... the grace ... and the love of God ... to flow ... from our very being.
And gives us the capacity ... to see others through our Lord's eyes. (Long Pause)
And we have this assurance ... that if we fall ... if we fail ... if we are broken ... If we turn to him ... he will indeed put us together again.
He is the Vine ... we are the branches.
Abide in the vine ... and allow the DNA of the Holy Spirit to flow in you ... and through you.
And if you do ...you will be transformed more and more into the image of Jesus.
Let us fight the good fight.... Let us finish the race. Let us finish well.
Beloved .... Carpe (Car-pa) Diem...
(Slow) "Seize the day"
Yield to Jesus ... Turn to Jesus.
For he is ... the author and He finisher ... of your faith. (Hebrews 12:2)
(Sing)
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.
Amen!
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