The King's Invitation

"...and He will give you the desires of your heart."  Psalm 37:4 is a verse which is misapplied quite often.  It's taken to mean God will give you whatever you desire.  It's really quite absurd when you think about it.  That would make God an enabler to some of the terrible decisions we make.  So what does it really mean?

Having our desires fulfilled makes us happy.  God wants us to be happy, but sometimes our desires are not good for us.  Think about it; an alcoholic desires another drink - but that's not what God wants.  Let's look at the context starting at verse 3... "Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.  Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.  Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.  He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.  Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him..."  First, we should notice there are some requirements for us here - trusting in the Lord being the underlying theme.  You see, God does want to give us the desires of our heart... he wants to take the desires we have and replace them with His desires, desires for the things of God.  Remember, this life represents just a fleeting moment in our existance, and the material things of this world have little or no value in the overall scheme of things.  When we completely trust in His judgement and in His timing, then our hearts will desire only for the things God wants us to have, and of course He'll give them to us, and gladly!

(c) Randall Buchanan

STOP going to church!  It’s all wrong!  Somewhen along the way, we got this so messed up, how can we ever fix it?

Ok, before you start casting those stones, let me clarify;  I regularly attend services at my local place of worship, and I encourage you to do the same.  But we’ve got to get out of this idea of “going to church”.  WE ARE THE CHURCH!  Some of the older generations called Sunday services gathering with the church.  I like that!  When we come together, we are uniting as the Body of Christ.

You see, for a long time, I had it all wrong.  I was residing in the world and on Sundays and Wednesdays would leave the world to go to church.  How can we live victorious lives when we are only a part of the Body of Christ for a few hours a week?  Now I am in the church all the time, and only go to the world to work, etc.

Maybe you’re thinking “what’s the difference”?  The difference is critical, especially in regards to evangelism.  If we’ll walk daily as part of the church, walking in prayer, walking in repentance, walking in relationship with Christ, and be separate from the world, we can be true witnesses.  Lift up Jesus to the lost, instead of conducting a church membership drive.  Stop trying to convince your lost friends and relatives to go to church, and show them instead how to go to Jesus.

Take the church to someone today!

© 2008, 2011, Randall Paul Buchanan

KING’S INVITATION MINISTRIES

Ever been to the point where you had nothing left? No hope? No way out?

   In the beginning God said, Let there be light, and there was light. (Genesis 1:3) Before that moment, no light existed. He didn’t move it from some other place, he CREATED it! Right there, right then.  He spoke it into existence.  Where before there had only been darkness, God spoke, and SOMETHING came out of NOTHING! That’s the God I serve!

   God told Abraham, “I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son.” Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age; and Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?” And the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.” (Genesis 18:10-14)

   In her womb there was NOTHING, and the hope of NOTHING. But God can make SOMETHING out of NOTHING!  Sarah laughed because she felt she was too old; too far gone to ever have what she wanted. She was PASSED the age of childbearing; the age of childbearing had PASSED her by.

   The Lord Himself asked Abraham why Sarah laughed. He said, “Is there anything too hard for the Lord?”  Have you ever laughed to yourself when someone suggests God can do a certain thing?  Maybe you believe he CAN, but do you believe he WILL?  From Sarah’s empty womb, SOMETHING came from NOTHING! That’s the God I serve!

   When Jesus’ friend Lazarus died, Jesus arrived four days after his death. The family and friends thought it was TOO LATE. But Jesus said, “Thy brother shall rise again.” Martha saith unto him, “I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” Jesus said unto her, “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.” (John 11:23-26) Jesus went to the tomb, instructed them to ROLL AWAY THE STONE, and called out “Lazarus come forth”, and he that was dead came forth! Though it seemed all hope was gone, SOMETHING came from NOTHING! That’s the God I serve!

   Maybe you feel like there is NO HOPE. Maybe you are in a dark place where there is NO LIGHT. Maybe you feel that you are backed into a corner and there is NO WAY OUT. Maybe you want that stone to be ROLLED AWAY, but feel things are TOO FAR GONE, time has PASSED YOU BY. Since God can bring light from where there had only been darkness, new life from a barren womb, and rebirth from a hopeless tomb – imagine what he can do FOR YOU, IN YOU, WITH YOU, and THROUGH YOU!  Believe, trust, and obey the one who makes SOMETHING out of NOTHING!

Take the church to someone today!

© 2011, Randall Paul Buchanan

KING’S INVITATION MINISTRIES

P.O. Box 501

Foxworth MS 39483

Ever wonder why there are mountains in our path we have to climb?  Why there are giants we have to face?

The real question is… how do we approach those obstacles?  When the men Moses sent into Canaan to spy out the land returned, all but two feared the giants in the land and wanted to turn back.  Joshua and Caleb, however, viewed these obstacles differently.  Caleb said, “The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land.  If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which flows with milk and honey.  Only rebel not against the Lord, neither fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us: their defense is departed from them, and the Lord is with us: fear them not.” (Numbers 14 : 7-9).  While the others feared, Joshua and Caleb wanted to press forward.  Caleb said the giants would be their “bread”.  They would eat them up.  When you eat it makes you stronger, it renews you, it builds you up. How was it that he had this view?

Forty-five years later, after the land of Canaan had been conquered, there was still one stronghold of the Anakim, or giants.  That was the mountain of the Anakim, and the city of Kirjath Arba, Arba being the name of the king of the Anakim.  Caleb was about 85 years old at this point, but what did he say?  “Give me this mountain of which the Lord spoke in that day; for you heard in that day how the Anakim were there, and that the cities were great and fortified.  It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall be able to drive them out as the Lord said.” (Joshua 14 : 12)  Caleb still had no fear of those giants, he had no reservations about tackling that mountain.  He didn’t try to avoid the issue, he said “give me that mountain.”  He didn’t try to go around, he marched right up the mountain and faced off against the giant, like David did against Goliath.  They took the mountain, the city was renamed Hebron, and there was finally peace in the land.  What did they know that we don’t?

Consider 100-year-old Abraham, having been promised by God a son in his old age.  The book of Romans tells us that Abraham, “being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about 100 years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara’s womb:  He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.” (Romans 4 : 19-21).  What did Joshua, Caleb, David, and Abraham have that we are missing?  They walked daily with God, so the knew Him, and knowing Him, they trusted in His promises.  They understood God knows the end from the beginning.  Instead of focusing on the “problem” they walked by faith in the sovereignty of God, without trying to figure things out for God.  God doesn’t need our help, he just wants our faith.

Take the church to someone this week – you’ll both benefit. 

© 2008, 2010 Randall Buchanan

King’s Invitation Ministries

P.O. Box 501

Foxworth MS 39483 

One of my favorite old songs is "Everybody Will Be Happy Over There".  Great concept, but sometimes we sing it wrong.  Sometimes we sing it as if to say "we'll have to wait for over there to be happy".  That notion leads many Christians to lead defeated lives, and a defeated Christian is a poor witness for Christ. 

If we are born-again followers of Jesus Christ, we should also accept the promises He gave.  Jesus said, "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.  In My Father's house are many dwellings, if it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also." (John 14:1-3).  He said He would go to prepare a place for us.  Of course we'll be happy "over there" - JESUS is preparing a place for US!  The apostle Paul said "eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those who love Him" (1 Corinthians 2:9).  Doesn't that sound awesome?

So we're going to be happy over there - that should be a given.  Nothing this world can do to us can take away what we have in Jesus, and if we REALLY BELIEVE we're going to actually be over there with Him someday, then we should be happy over here now!  I'm not talking about rejoicing in the miseries of this world, and I'm certainly not talking about putting on a fake happiness just for show.  I'm talking about an inner joy, based on our belief and trust in the promises of God, a joy that shines as a light in a dark place, drawing others to Christ.  This life is just a shadow of what is to come for those who believe in Christ and follow Him.  And yet, sometimes we get so focused on our troubles over here, we lose sight of what we already have over there.  If Christ is in you, you are not defeated - you are victorious!  Share that victory and joy with the people around you.

Take the church to someone today - one life to another!

(c) 2008, 2010, Randall Buchanan
King's Invitation Ministries
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I managed a video game store in a college-town mall for several years.  Many kids (and some adults) would come in with tattoos, piercings, green hair, etc.  Like a lot of people who consider themselves Christian, I felt those things were wrong.  Certainly not something a follower of Jesus would do.  But God began to show something to me...

This world is flawed by sin.  America, even if you wouldn't want to live anywhere else in the world (and I wouldn't), still has a lot of problems.  It is not difficult for a follower of Christ who studies His Word to see this is not how it was meant to be.  But even if you aren't a Christian, God has designed His creation to testify of Himself.  Psalm 19:1 says, "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows his handywork."  Most people, especially the young, respond to the testimony of nature and understand this world is flawed, even if they don't know God.  And they seek ways to separate themselves from this flawed existence.  Maybe that means a tattoo, or a piercing, or coloring their hair some unnatural color.  They want to be different, special.  And they should!  So should we!

We are God’s peculiar people, His special treasure.  We are called to be sanctified, which means set apart, separate, different.  I'm not saying let's all go get tattooed.  I'm not even saying its ok.  What I am saying is, don't turn away from an opportunity to minister to someone just because they wouldn't "fit in" at your church.  Just because they look different.  Maybe they are seeking the same thing you are, but they haven't been told about Christ, or (more likely) haven't seen HIM in US.  The real issue is this : maybe we look and act too much like the world to stand out as something special.  We are supposed to be different.  We have an everlasting hope in Christ who died for us while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8), and a guarantee of everlasting life in a place where God has prepared for us things so wonderful we cannot even imagine them (1 Corinthians 2:9).  We should be living with joy.  We should be living and loving like Jesus.  Are we?

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• the desires of my heart
• STOP going to Church!
• The End of the World
• something out of nothing
• don't fear the mountain
• Why can't we be happy?
• Tattoos and Green Hair
• 3-year-old touches God
• a bad church experience
• the mighty oak of Thundergod
• Binding Wounds
• Go Home and Publish!
• God took my wristwatch
• The best gift I never knew I always wanted!
• we are out of time
• The Real Meaning of Hope
• Plugged-In or Unplugged?
• spiritual junk food
• Passion (for real men only)
• God put salt in my oats
• the salesman
• an uncertain sound
• are you wanted?
• people are like bottles of pop
• how to break a man

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