"JUST DO IT...NOW!"

April 14                 Just Do It…NOW

Good morning from Pastor Glen Brock, Baptist Tabernacle Church, Wendell, North Carolina… Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. 22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. 23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: 24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. 25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. 26 If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain. 27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.  James 1:21-27     The Declaration of Independence concludes with this pledge: "For the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our Sacred Honor." Fifty-six men signed the document. They came from all walks of life. Twenty-three were lawyers, twelve were merchants, twelve were farmers, four were physicians, two were manufactures, one was a politician, one a printer, and another a minister. Almost a third of the signers were under forty years of age; eighteen were in their thirties and three in their twenties. Only seven were over sixty. The youngest, Edward Rutledge of South Carolina, was twenty-six and a half, and the oldest, Benjamin Franklin, was seventy. These men were men of action. I believe they were the first to come up with the Nike slogan—JUST DO IT. The book of James is a practical book that calls on Christians to JUST DO IT. Our Scripture, today, reminds all Christians to quit playing games with God and really do what the Bible says. However, we live in a day where few people really want to do what the Bible says. They seem to think that sin is not so serious and we all have a right to do whatever we feel like doing. I believe the signers of the Declaration of Independence would disagree with that. The signers were religious men, all being Protestant except Charles Carroll, who was Roman Catholic. That is why they could say, “With a firm reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our Sacred Honor.” My challenge to all of us today is to JUST DO IT. Give ourselves completely to God. Let the Lord Jesus be LORD. James says that there are 3 ways we can JUST DO IT by obeying God’s Word. First is to RECEIVE THE WORD! We are to be people of the Book. We have to receive God’s Word as the authority that governs our actions and attitudes. It becomes the way we live, the way we speak and the way we walk. There are two truths about receiving the Word:  It Changes our Actions and It Changes our Attitudes!  The second way to JUST DO IT is PRACTICE THE WORD!   James said that there were 2 types of Christians: The Forgetful Hearer (don’t follow through) and The Faithful Doer.  “Which one are you?”  The Third way to JUST DO IT is SHARE THE WORD!  My Jesus needs me and I am ready to sign on the dotted line if it cost me everything. I’m going to live what I say I believe.  Have you: 1) Received the Word? It will be evidenced in a change of actions. Your life will say to all I reject sin. I’m laying down the sin that is strangling out Christ. It will also change our attitudes. Meekness isn’t weakness and humility really is power. 2) Do you Practice the Word? Are you a forgetful hearer or a faithful doer? Is God’s Word the mirror for your life? Are you living the Word by doing what it says? 3) Are you Sharing the Word? Do you have a heart for God and for others that says—“He’s my Lord and if I have to lay it all on the line today—I’m signing up.”  Stay Strong, Stay Focused… Remember, THE BEST IS YET TO BE!

NOTE: If you have friends that are not a participant on FACEBOOK or that are not internet active, would you share these messages with them? To God Be The Glory!                              Pastor Glen