Ants and Honeybees

 

Ants and honeybees are both social insects with similar traits.  But they can teach us about very different methods of Bible study.  Ants will show up at your picnic and in a few minutes will be carrying away crumbs off your table back to their colony food pantry.  If you have sandwiches, they will carry away breadcrumbs.  If you have potato chips, they will carry off little crumbs of potato chips.  Whatever food you have, they will use.  But honeybees make their own food.  Honeybees will gather nectar from flowers, bring it back to their colony, and make honey out of the nectar.  They make their food straight from the source.  When you study, do you read what doctor so-and-so said about the Bible, or do you read the Bible itself?  Does your doctrine reflect what your church says, or do you read the Bible yourself and let the Holy Spirit interpret the Words of God for yourself?  Are you a Baptist or a Catholic or a Presbyterian because you follow your church teachings or do you read the Bible and decide for yourself what the Bible says.  Are you a student of the Bible or a follower of a system?  John 16:13, “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth,,,”  Oh, there’s nothing wrong with listening to good preaching, but does the preacher (or priest) quote the Bible or preach only his opinion??  Paul wisely said in I Corinthians 11:1, “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.”  Hey, close down facebook, read your Bible, and decide for yourself.

Trouble

 

Marleen went to a ladies’ meeting Saturday in Cleveland.  The tone was somber as the host pastor’s wife is fighting for her life with cancer.  The guest speaker, Shelly Hamilton, lost her husband to cancer and a son to suicide.  Wow!  But really, that’s the human experience.  Job summed it up well in Job 5:7, “Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.”  Pastor Roth used to say, “You are either in trouble now, you have just finished going through trouble, or you will soon be going through trouble.”  How true!  Brother Jamie has asked me to preach for him tonight, and my topic is “Trouble.  Finding God’s Relief in the Midst of Pain and Suffering”.  Hey, join me at Calvary tonight at 6 pm or watch it live stream: Calvary IBC on facebook.  It’s not the preacher; it’s all about the Word of God.

Confidence

 

In 2015 I renewed my Georgia CDL driver’s license.  But when I got it in the mail a week later, the clerk had misspelled my last name.  I knew the error would be a problem when I traveled overseas, so I went back to the Georgia DMV and explained the problem.  After filling out a form, I submitted the paperwork, and in a week, I got another Georgia driver’s license spelled correctly.  But they never collected the misspelled one!  So for 5 years, I had two valid driver’s licenses!   The following spring in Romania, I was pulled over for “an illegal driving move”.  I had swerved to avoid a huge pothole and had “recklessly” crossed the yellow line.  The Romanian policeman was attempting to extort a bribe.  The officer said firmly in broken English while shaking his finger at me, “I could send your license to Bucharest and you would have to travel 600 kilometers to get it back!”  I shrugged and said, “Fine.  Do it.”  The officer was caught off guard by my confidence and let me go.  I was bold because I had given him my duplicate misspelled driver’s license.  Unknown to him, I had a spare.  Hey, we can face spiritual attacks with boldness.  The Creator of the universe has our back!  David said in Psalm 118:6, “The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?”  Today, don’t be afraid, God is right there with you.  Stand confidently with the good Lord behind you and let Him fight for you!  If you belong to God, He will take care of you because you are His own precious child.