"The Antidote To All Trouble" (With Video Sermon by Charles Spurgeon) - Inspirational Weekend

My photograph above was taken at Seattle's Botanical Gardens.  It rather tells a story about not only the Fall season, but the elderly couple walking their dog along this path are also in the fall season of their lives; they may have already passed away by now as this photo was taken in the year 2000.  They may have taken many right paths in their lives, or perhaps been unwise and taken paths contrary to the will of the good Lord. 

The Bible mentions path or paths often.  

"Thou wilt show me the path of life: In thy presence is fulness of joy;......"   -   Psalm 16:11a

"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."  -   Psalm 119:105

(5) " Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  (6)  In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths."   -   Proverbs 3:5-6

If we follow the lead of our blessed Savior, we will travel in paths that He leads us down and we will have less trouble in our lives.  This does not mean we will never have hardships and trials and tribulation; but, rather, that our outlook from the Lord will help guide us and give us strength and endurance to see our way through our trials.   

When I was a teenager and a young adult, I did not handle trouble very well and resented its interference in my life and my desires.  As I have grown ever closer to the Lord,  I realize there will be troubles and heartaches and the like, but I know the Antidote to all troubles.  The antidote is Jesus !

"Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me."   -  Jesus at John 14:1

Before saying the above to His disciples, Jesus had just told them that He would depart from them.  Jesus was endeavoring to comfort them, and went on to tell them about the many mansions in heaven that awaited them and that He would return again for them.   

Jesus is telling them to trust Him, and to trust God. One commentator has said: "Faith does not grasp a doctrine, but a heart.  The trust which Christ requires is the bond that unites souls with Him; and the very life of it is entire committal of self to Him in all my relations and for all my needs and absolute utter confidence in Him as all-sufficient for everything that I can require."

Trust.

Unless we trust, we shall certainly be troubled.  

If we trust, we may be quiet.  "Trust is always tranquility."

"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee."  -  Isaiah 26:3

"Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength."  -  Isaiah 26:4

"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you.  Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."  -  Jesus at John 14:27

Grief and fear are the two passions which ordinarily most disturb our minds. The remedy which Jesus prescribes against those conflicting passions is a believing in God, and a believing on Himself.  Those who do so have no just reason for any excessive "heart troubles."  

"But I will sing of Thy power;  Yea, I will sing aloud of Thy mercy in the morning:  For Thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble."  -  Psalm 59:16

Here is a lovely song about not letting your heart be troubled:

Following is a 53 minute sermon by Charles Spurgeon titled "Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled."   I pray that you will please take the time to listen to it all.  In this audio sermon, Charles Spurgeon  comments:  "A troubled heart will not help us in our difficulties, or out of them."

It must be said that one should be in prayer constantly and also one must read the Bible daily, in order to develop a strong, close, intimate, personal love relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ.  That in turn will give you faith as you grow to spiritual maturity; faith in God and Jesus will help you to endure troubles and to put the good Lord first in your life.  When you trust in Him with all of your heart and soul, you will receive strength and endurance from on High to face your troubles with full confidence in the Lord.

What if you are an unbeliever?  Not saved?  Then you do not have the Holy Spirit within you to guide you and help you when troubles come your way. 

You will not make it to heaven unless you are born again (John 3:3).

You need to believe that Jesus is the Savior and that His shed blood at Calvary will wash away your sins if you put your faith and trust in Him.

You need to admit that you are a sinner, and that you need a Savior.

You need to go to the good Lord in prayer.....call upon Him in faith and repentance.

Romans 10:9, 10, 13 tells us: (9)  "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that 
God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (10) For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.  (13) For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."

"Jesus answered and said unto him,  Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."   -   John 3:3

Don't delay!

We are living in the last hour of the last days!  Actually, you could even say we are in the last "minutes" of the end times.

Jesus' return is that imminent!  Turn to Him in faith.  Believe on Him as your Savior. 

Jesus loves you and wants you to be with Him in heaven.  He welcomes all who come to Him in faith and forgives all those who sincerely repent.

You do not want to be left behind to face the horrors of the 7 year Tribulation period!  It will be much more difficult to turn to the Lord then.

"(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)"  -  2 Corinthians 6:2

Keep watching!

Keep looking up!


Have a Christ centered weekend .... and life !!

"Faith,Hope, And Perseverance In The Last Days" (Charles Spurgeon Video ) - Inspirational Weekend

Yellow African Tulip trees, such as in my photograph above, are not as plentiful in Hawaii as the bright red-orange ones, which are my favorite.  But because something is more common or more widely viewed, does not mean it is necessarily better.   Take, for instance, religious views - or lack of any religious views.  What is popular does not indicate that it is better, or to be preferred.  Remember, religion can be dead wrong.  Look at all the various religious cults, for instance.

I prefer to think of Christianity as a loving, intimate, strong relationship with God through His Son, Jesus Christ; and that it is  is very true.  How do we attain this intimate relationship; what do we need to do to be strong in the love and guardianship of the Father?

 We need a strong and vibrant relationship with the good Lord to communicate with Him effectively, and to enable us to grow ever closer to Him and to not be afraid of these horrific world events and lawlessness that is prevalent in our world today.  We must pray daily, without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17) and we must study and read the Holy Word - the Bible - daily in order to grow to know the Lord intimately.  With Him by your side, you can rest assured that you will be strong to face whatever this old world throws at you; whatever the devil stirs up to try to tear you down.

Charles Spurgeon has said, "I know the devil can blow very hard, but I don't believe he can blow out the candle that God lights, much less that he can blow out the bright sunshine of the Gospel."

We have the threat of another world war looming over us, for one thing.  Just yesterday, March 28, 2019, President Trump signed an Executive Order proving an EMP cyber attack could be a serious soon threat.  If you are keeping up with current events, I do not have to go over and over what threats and concerns the USA and the world faces today.   My intent is to focus on good things, but I need to mention the bad to stress the good which we have to look forward to -  that is, if you are a born again believer in the Savior, Jesus Christ.

I had intended to stress fear in this post and the cure for fear, but I have written several articles on fear in the past.  Just go to the search  box on the right hand side of this page, and type in "fear" and several posts will appear for you to read.   There is no need to repeat all that I have written before; however, I will repeat certain Scriptures that are pertinent to our faith and walk with Jesus.

Charles Spurgeon has a different take on fear.  He says that many true believers are afraid that they may, perhaps, not be truly saved.  He also says that , "He that fears the most, believes the most."  Following is  a 14 minute sermon audio video of Spurgeon that goes into more detail:

In the sermon above, Spurgeon repeats the fact that all true believers are familiar with: "... it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before Him."

We need strong faith to persevere in this old, evil, and chaotic world we find ourselves living in;  this last hour of the last days, according to Bible prophecy.  Speaking about prophecy, many things spoken of in the Bible concerning the end times are occuring right now!  Or are at least, some of them, are precursors to said prophetic events.

Remember, we need faith to please the heavenly Father.

"But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." -  Hebrews 11:6

If we have a deep, abiding faith in the good Lord, we will not be consumed by anxiety and fear.  

"Be careful [anxious] for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests  be made known unto God.  And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."  -   Philippians 4:6-7

"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth in Thee."  -  Isaiah 26:3

True believers need to be like the determined tree in my photograph above.   Despite what seems like an insurmountable obstacle (the precarious angle of the land in which it has its roots reaching out every which way), it has the determination to hang in there and grow strong and tall.  Things may not be perfect for it, but the tree has adapted and has reached for the sky above where it thrives in the light of the sun.  We, as Christians, need to be as determined as that tree, as we look above to the Son for growth and sustenance; as we have a faith that overcomes all obstacles. 

   I enjoy my time with you as I write to you each week.  I pray that if there are any out there who are not born again, not a true believer in Jesus Christ the Savior, that you turn to the Lord now in repentance and faith in Jesus.   He loves you.   You do not  have a guarantee that you will even  be alive tomorrow.  Turn to the Lord now, before it is too late.

Romans 10: 9,10,13 tells us:  (9) "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (10) For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.  (13) For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."

"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.  Believest thou this?"   -   John 11:25-26

"Jesus saith unto him,  I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me."  -  John 14:6

Have a blessed and Christ centered weekend..... and life !